Just five more days until the big day.  It looks like I will not have any shows on St. Patrick's Day proper, but my St. Patrick's Day music preparations are going great.  I finished two Paddy's Day shows for the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast.  The Celtic Music Magazine has a bunch of new articles and free Celtic MP3s.  I just need to finish up my annual article and matching podcast, then I'm done with most of my online promotion.

Now comes the big struggle… Functioning today…  Kenzie woke up at 3am this morning.  I have enough trouble staying on topic with my promotion when I'm not wiped out by a four-hour's night sleep.  So instead, I'll ramble on about Celtic music, St. Patrick's Day and music marketing.

In my brain dead state, I spent the morning looking at charts.  Some people waste time with email, others with facebook.  I waste mine by staring at music charts to see the success of my promotions or to see where else I should try and insert my foot.

In my never ending quest to make a semi-decent living as a musician, podcaster, and stay-at-home dad, I've been trying to scout out new areas to do so.  One thing I've learned with all my internet marketing is that entertainment is not the way to make money online.  I'm really pretty blown away that the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast has done as well as it has.  People seem to love it, and so they promote it.  They join Song Henge.  You are the reason I keep producing it.

As much as I love the Celtic Music Magazine, if it wasn't for the new editor, Mattie Dalton, I would've been forced to let abandon it, or turned it strictly into the newsletter for the podcast.  The website is a financial drain.  It doesn't make any money.  It doesn't show up in the search engines.  Yet, it requires a LOT of maintenance.

Ultimately, entertainment is not super profitable unless you have a hit.  That goes with music, books, movies, whatever.  Some marketers call it “The Long Tail”.  You don't really need a hit if you have a LOT of products that fill the Long Tail.  I have albums that make pennies each month.  Those pennies combined with the more successful Celtic CDs, makes a semi-decent income.  That's one reason why I release so many albums.  I try to capture keywords like “Best Irish Drinking Songs” and add to my long tail.

I've said it before.  One of my favorite CDs I recorded was The Bridge.  But it sells poorly online.  “The Bridge” is not a good album title.  I should've listened to my instinct… Hmm… Maybe I should re-release it with a different name… I may well do that.

Anyway, one of the thoughts that has crossed my mind is trying to create an educational website.  But then, what do I teach?  Yes, I'm good at music marketing, but there are countless music marketing websites.  You have to set yourself apart.  Some thoughts include: “How to Top the Charts”, “Folk Music Marketing”, “Solo Music Marketing”…

Nothing's grabbing me yet though.  While I DO want to finally release my music marketing book featuring articles from The Bards Crier Music Marketing Tips website.  One thing hindering me is the thought of updating it with new media stuff.  I semi-hate social media.  I feel overwhelmed as it is.  So using it can be exhausting.  But it's an important marketing tool.

[tangent] Hmm… I wonder if part of my exhaustion with social media could have something to do with being an introvert.  Work with me here.  I know it seems weird.  Being an introvert means you get your energy from being by yourself.  Extroverts get their energy from being with people.  I wonder if social media could come across as exhausting because it prevents the introvert from having that mental alone time… Hmmm… It's an interesting thought anyway…[/tangent]

So education… I met a lady the other day who teaches people how to use an iPad at a community college. What cushy job!  There thousands upon thousands of jobs for the creative person who's willing to push the limits.  The problem for me is that I'm not sure how many limits I'm still willing to push.  When I was in my 20s, I would do just about anything to make it as a musician.  Now, I know my limits and I allow them to guide me.

Booking is a great example.  I hate booking.  That's not entirely true.  I don't mind it if I can chat with an agent by email, but most venues (outside of Sci Fi cons) want to talk to a person.  It's like most things in life, it's about building a relationship.  But spending so much time alone, not networking, I become even more introverted and less willing to try and network.

When I was living in Austin and single, I realized networking was a necessity.  So I drove down to venues like Maggie McGuinness Pub and talked to the owner directly.  Mind you, it just frustrated me since he really just wanted to take advantage of desperate musicians.

Alright.  Kenzie's hungry.  I'm blabbering.  I'll stop for now.  Slainte!