This is my last post for 2006 so I'm going to ramble a little bit and tell you a bit about my year (2006) and about some of the exciting things that I'll be sharing with you in 2007.
End of year's are all about getting a bit philosophical and reviewing the year and figuring out what we learnt, where we got off track, what worked and how can we make next year better.
Like many other 'southerners' before me, this year I made the move up north. In May of this year I moved with my partner from our home city of Melbourne (Victoria) to Brisbane (Queensland). We drove up here (around 2000 Km) towing a trailer filled with our belongings. We sold and gave away so much 'stuff' before we left and it was a good feeling to clear out things we didn't really need or use and to start fresh with a lighter load in a new environment. We had lived for the last 8 years in a reasonably large old style 2 storey house in inner Melbourne and had managed to accumulate so many things. I don't think I ever had a spring clean? Nope - can't remember having one.
We've both been enjoying Brisbane and we love the beaches and surf of the surrounding areas - The Gold Coast - Northern NSW and The Sunshine Coast. If I had to 'complain' of anything it's not having daylight saving time like the rest of the east coast states :-( The independent music scene up here is smaller than Melbourne where they have a thriving live music scene - but Brisbane is a growing city and has musicians and music lovers just as passionate as any other Australian city so that can only be a good thing to help grow the Brisbane live music culture.
Whilst working temporarily (but full time) in a job (in Brisbane), I finally launched my e-book 100 Aussie Gigs which I'd spent the previous 18 months preparing and putting together whilst working full time in Melbourne. It was a huge job, I'm glad I didn't realise what I'd be up for before I started or I may not have started at all! So many things just 'fell' into place to get the book finished and make it available on the www. I had very few Internet skills beyond emailing and looking up websites so I had a huge learning curve to climb. All the skills I needed to learn, I had to learn along the way and surprised myself with what I could achieve when I put into practice one small piece of advice - The Only Failure Is To Give Up.
I'm very pleased to say that the response to the book has been a positive one and shows that the book is definitely worth my while keeping up to date with venues, booking contacts and other indie musician resources.
I created the book from my own frustrations of booking gigs. I always wished I'd had a time saving and easy to use resource for finding and booking gigs. Because I never found such a resource I decided to create one myself. Now that it's out - I'm really thrilled with it and it makes it all worth while to have other musicians tell me how much it will help them. We all win.
I spent around two months (October & November) developing business ideas and putting together a business plan and have been able to get some financial assistance for the business as well as a partner to help me in some of the areas that aren't my expertise. Now I can concentrate on the business full time in 2007 which is a dream come true for me.
2006 has like so many years before it, taught me many of life's valuable lessons - most of which I'm still learning (I'm a slow learner!). Patience, persistence and going with your energy flow being some of the key lessons.
So try it yourself - REALLY. Make 2007 a year where you really start to live your dreams and not those of other people. You really will be amazed at what you can accomplish if you take that first courageous step. It doesn't have to be big steps, little steps will get you there too :-)
This seems so simple and we hear it all the time, but it's incredibly powerful if you really GET IT and then, even more importantly DO IT.
DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT? It really is as simple as just figuring out exactly what you want. Many people either don't know or are vague on detail. Time you spend figuring this out now will be time well spent and saved in the long run.
WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU WANT Get your goals down on paper. Somewhere where you can read them frequently. Make your goals specific and don't be too afraid to make them big goals. If this doesn't seem 'realistic' to you, just go for a goal that will advance your life in the direction you are seeking. That's success. There's a quote (yes, I've got plenty today) - You Get What You Focus On - and it's absolutely true so be very careful of what you spend most of your time focusing on.
TAKE THE FIRST STEP I don't know if I heard or read this somewhere, I mentioned it above and I like it so I'll pretend I made it up. I've tweaked it a bit - You Don't Have To Take Big Steps, Little Steps Will Get You There Too - Go ahead, take the first step, you can do it, be brave, what have you got to lose? Actually, you'll have a lot to lose if you don't take some action towards your goals and dreams.
For what it's worth this is my humble advice to everyone for 2007.
Tonight (NYE) I'm going out for tea with my wonderful partner. We're eating at a Nepalese restaurant on Moreton Bay. I'm looking forward to it, neither of us can recall having eaten Nepalese food before so it'll be something new.
As for 2007 - I wont be resting for too long into the new year - maybe a day or two! There's plenty of work to do ahead.
The fantastic new and updated 2007 edition of 100 Aussie Gigs is almost ready to go and as well as being able to purchase the book online, you should find it popping up in some other places soon. I'll keep the blog updated as that happens.
Other things to look out for in 2007 are:
Website for The Indie Musician - The site is currently in development but it will be up very soon. I'll announce it's arrival on this blog - so stay tuned as they say!
There will be indie musician resources and FREE stuff available at this website. I'm really excited about the products that The Indie Musician will be launching in 2007, they are truly unique and will give indie musicians a great advantage.
The Indie Musician blog - (that's this one!) Will be growing bigger and better everyday. Why not subscribe via an RSS feed. That'll be up very soon too. And why not add a comment to a post or share your own experience or advice. I'll create a post especially where you can share your unique experiences.
So, 2007 is shaping up to be an exceptional year. I've got many exciting things to bring to independent musicians. I hope you'll join me. It's truly an exciting time for independent musicians. There has never been so many marketing tools, resources and opportunities available.
Wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2007.
See you next year.
Jo
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