Beth Bombara

I didn’t win the Blog Challenge. I’m not going to pretend that it’s not a little disappointing. But, things move on. And there are really exciting things ahead to look forward to. We just got the test pressings in the mail. On first listen, things sounded a little off, but thankfully it turned out to be our turntable. Other listens on various turntables sounded great, and got me SUPER excited. It’s really surreal to hear my voice coming off of a vinyl record. 

Also, if you haven’t seen it yet, a cool video was posted online of Kit and I performing 2 songs on the top of the City Museum, courtesy of Lo-Fi STL.  See it here. 

And very soon, an interview we did will be aired on KDHX the first two weeks of Nov. as a part of their Local Artist Spotlight series. 

Things are happening. It’s gonna be alright. 

I’m still so excited about everything I learned through participating in this blogging challenge. But it’s not just about learning, it’s about building results. The MOST exciting result I’d like to share: getting my album funded through Kickstarter.com.

By utilizing the chapter about social networking for musician’s, I’ve been able to connect with a lot of people who’ve been really supportive of my music. Mainly using twitter and facebook, we’ve been able to raise the $2,000 to get the album pressed on Vinyl. I seriously am beside myself, it’s so awesome! 

The blog challenge has definitely helped me see how to better connect with people through social networking, and most of all, not to be scared to ask for help. Like, asking your fans collectively for money to manufacture your album, among other things. 

Also, I’ve noticed more recently people coming to me and asking for a cd to review, a song to post on their blog, or to set up a live video performance, etc. People asking to give me publicity? That’s crazy. All I can say is, thank you Ariel Hyatt. 

Wow, I can’t believe week 9 is already here! Well, it’s probably been a little longer for me but who cares? I’m excited because I’ve learned some amazing things, and it seems like the idea of a continuum program is the cherry on top. I’ve already got the top level of the “funnel”, which is a free mp3 download in exchange for an email address. That has been getting consistent sign ups, and I’m still working on actively growing my list but it’s not there yet. 

A few ideas I wrote down to include in the funnel: promoting a $.99 download “single”, limited edition t-shirts, starting a Song of the Month club, and offering private concerts. Eventually having a premium fan access site is a great idea as well. 

But I still won’t be able to make the most of these things unless I continue to build my list up. That is the most important thing I’ve learned. Aside from that, I feel like I’ve accomplished so much in the past couple months to help push my career ahead. I attribute most of it to going through Ariel’s book, “Music Success in 9 Weeks”, and participating in this blog challenge.

To summarize: I finished recording my first full length album, and started a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to press it to vinyl. I’ve set up some interviews and live performance tapings, gotten reviews, played some sweet hometown shows, and set up a mini-tour. There’s more to do, but I feel more empowered and encouraged now than I ever have. The goals are in place and I’m running.