Someone calling himself or herself Cheryl Engelhardt writes:
Dear Paul,
I'm in tech-hell, crying my eyes out. I'm trying out a new platform to streamline how I share music career tips (mostly so I can give just as much value but also have more time to work on my own music career a bit more) and I think I sent you duplicate emails! THIS IS LIKE THE MOST ANNOYING THING TO ME and I am SO SORRY if you did, indeed, get two. If you've stuck with me, I adore you, and we can hopefully move forward together.
Okay. I'm shaking it off. Onwards and upwards, we've got more important things to do than worry about a silly little accidental duplicate email.
Okidoky. As I mentioned in my previous email[s], I'm sending a quick series in the next week or so to do a little getting-to-know-you so we can really start to dig in to YOUR awesome music career and show you how it can all connect! Here's the next bit of the story! (And more of this plus some great career-boosting tips on Tuesday's live video workshop- free to signup here.)
So you now know that I had my first job as a government SCUBA diver for a bit before turning to music. But it wasn't a full-on, OMG YES I MADE THE RIGHT DECISION moment when I switched to music.
There were odd jobs in between my full-time job and becoming a full-time musician.
So. Many. Odd jobs.
I mean, I was a bouncer, a personal trainer, a mailroom messenger, piano teacher, and a recording studio intern. I landed a "steady" job as a composer at a jingle house, but kept training and teaching because, you know, touring is expensive, even when you're only doing it over long weekends. Life was a bit of an emotional (and financial) rollercoaster.
Three years into the music house gig, what I was describing as my "dream job", I got laid off. That was actually scary as sh&t. But you know what I learned in the following four years where I went full-time as a touring musician (peppered with some piano lessons)?
I learned that road to a real music career is filled with unpredictability... and that I liked it. It was no coincidence that I get bored easily. (Not just with jobs... Sorry past-boyfriends! You can see why I married a mountain guide!)
You go into music with big wild dreams and amazing ideas. But the every day, day in and day out can be tough. There are extreme highs and lows.
Which is why support is so damn critical.
And it's okay to ask for it!
We are the D-I-Y, YouTube generation, but I'm sorry... no YouTube video or college course on how a publishing company works can replace my mentors, coaches, and community of hard-working and like-minded musician friends.
So how 'bout you? Have you been in this music thing alone until now?
D-I-Y does not mean Do It Alone!
Hallelujah, because... not to be rude... but going at it alone is a really dumb idea.
I made some stuff for you so we can do it together. To get started, sign up for The Perfect Pitch course so that you can make every interaction one that propels you forward. It's a quick and easy course that walks you through HOW to ask for whatever you need in a powerful way and get a YES. Sounds good, right?
xoxo,
~Cheryl
cheryl@cbemusic.com-----------------------------------------
Dear ~Cheryl
First of all, thank you for apologizing for sending this e-mail twice. Actually I only got it once, which was fine with me. However, sending me an e-mail without any prior contact and pretending i was already on your mailing list is always a sign of a scammer. So, whatever you're selling, I'm not buying.
That said, my friend the Exiled Nigerian Prince has replaced his djembe that he lost track of somewhere in the Caribbean and has been practicing up. He and his young friend Shucks have recently been bumming around Chicago bars, playing open mics and the like, and they're starting to get a following. I'm sure Mutabe (the Prince's given name) would love to buy whatever it is you're selling. In fact, I showed him your web page and he's so excited that he's perfectly willing to invest, say $50K into your program, to get as much of your coaching as possible in the near future.
If you've never heard of Mutabe, you can probably get a good idea of who he is and what he does by scanning the other postings on this forum. If Mutabe's offer of $50K up front to help him get started in the indy music business sounds interesting to you, please go to his contact page [
http://exilednigerianprince.com ] and enter the requested information, including the bank account number and routing code of the account where you would like the money to be deposited.
Excited to see the true value of such collaborations, I remain,
Paul Race, Creekdontrise.com