Hey friends, S:^)
Well, this is it: the last day of the Indiegogo campaign to raise funds to
manufacture my Simple Calming Music CD, "Inner Contacts: Instrumental
Meditations on Dolphin, Whale, Dragonfly and Seagull". We're close to touching
75% of the goal, and there's less than 24 hours left.
If you haven't made it over yet,
http://igg.me/at/simplecalmingmusic
The "Story" section (just below the video on desktops, via the "READ FULL
STORY" link on smartphones) starts off with a private Soundcloud link to the
album in full, for pre-listening.
One neat thing with Indiegogo is that it permits to break down stats relating
to visits and contributions, by source, by location and by date. What I've
discovered? Despite the sharing on Facebook (and I thank IMMENSELY all who
shared it on Facebook, as it brought in a LOT of traffic), ultimately 100% of
the sales came from... three mailing lists (unofficially four) in which I am a
member. While many people visited from Facebook, only one or two contributed...
and I know both through at least one of the lists I mentioned. While the
promotions I did helped to boost the Indiegogo campaign somewhere in the
website's promotions, it seems I would constantly had to get help promoting the
project, day in, day out... And for an $800 goal, it seemed to make little
sense to spend anywhere above $80 to promote it (and I stopped somewhere short
of that). Ultimately, I know and have repeatedly spoken with every person who
contributed to the campaign, prior to the campaign even being hinted at. In
other words, all friends to begin with. S:^)
Some of you may also know I've set up a website and mailing list via
www.simplecalmingmusic.com . True, there's an upcoming partnership with a
wellness/intention motivational coach/speaker (for use of my instrumentals in
exchange for focused exposure and free advertising amongst her customer
base/mailing list... I've benefitted from her services before so I know she's
pretty legitimate, and I lose no money in the agreement): that alone may
justify keeping the website and the mailing list open to promote Simple Calming
Music. But so far, out of all the people I've informed via my mailing list,
_one_ person clicked on the link in the emails I sent them, to see and hear the
album which I've been promoting. While I'll be keeping the website and the
mailing list open until I'm satisfied I've seen enough results from the
motivational coach/speaker's client base to determine for sure, right now it
looks like I won't be spending almost $20 a month just to keep a mailing list
which does virtually nothing.
All in all, I am sitting comfortably amongst people who have repeatedly
confirmed over to me through the years, "We are your friends". And as I'm
posting this on a mailing list in which I've been a part for years (and close
to saying _decades_), I feel at ease saying you all may have curtailed me from
giving up on music entirely. I still intend to phase out certain parts of my
"musical career" in order to let others grow and blossom. Up until this
Indiegogo campaign, I was unsure if anyone on this Earth was even remotely
interested in the musical directions in which I wish to focus my energies. Now,
I have a lot more faith, and quite a deal of hope. And for that, I thank you.
S:^)
I'm not even bothering to send this out to my own personal mailing list. This
"THANK YOU!" is for _you_ guys and gals, as you've directly helped me yet again
in believing in the directions which I want to take, both directly and
indirectly: New Age calming/focusing (with Simple Calming Music), my own brand
of power-pop/power-rock variants (participating in a commercially promoted
compilation CD very soon through a good friend's company)... and classical
guitar (audition DVD sent... Bach, Ponce and Villa-Lobos). Oh, and maybe a
prog-rock project I've yet to openly discuss (but of which some of you already
know). S;^)
Thanks again, and may you fully enjoy the weekend (for once,weather forecasters
over here are refusing to commit to saying whether there _will_ or _won't_ be a
storm here this weekend. All I know is, once the campaign is done tonight (or
even before), I can rest... or start prepping those digital audio files for
distribution... or cracking open Segovia/Torroba's "Castles of Spain" to learn
a piece or two... Or... S;^)
In friendship and music, S:^D
Glen (aka Barney Rubble)
Sent from my iPhone
