Neil Sattin.com

It’s been many moons since my last blog here on NeilSattin.com, and I think it’s time for an update!  When last we met, I was leaving my regular routine of blogging to “follow my dream” – which, as a reminder, had evolved into writing/performing/recording music for kids and their parents.  At the time I was just getting started, with my songwriting kicking into high gear, and I had recognized that it was going to take a significant amount of time and effort to get to the next level.  So blogging took a back seat while I shifted my attention onto the world of children’s music.  That was last February (2008), and here’s how it’s been going since:

My first order of business was to spend some time booking shows, since there’s generally several month’s delay between when the show is booked and the actual performance date.  By March of 2008 I was booking shows that weren’t taking place until the summertime and fall.  How did I book shows?  I basically picked up the phone.  Even in a world blessed with the magical Law of Attraction, you still have to DO something in order for things to happen.  I also played a showcase for the Maine organization of Park and Rec departments.  The results:

1. Regular shows at libraries, schools, and a festival or two.
2. A call to perform at a regional old-school vaudevillian theater as part of a live late-night talk-show as the musical guest.
3. Co-performing at a school with Maine’s premier children’s musician, Rick Charette.
4. Playing a show on the Children’s stage at the Maine Common Ground Fair (complete with stage diving 5 year olds!).
5. More shows booked, including New Year’s Eve at L.L. Bean!

As you can see, the only real obstacle to becoming a children’s music performer was to – well – become a children’s music performer.  And to put some serious effort into making calls, connecting with people to arrange shows, practicing, and, finally, letting the “rest take care of itself”.

I’m quite psyched with the results.  Am I supporting my family entirely through musical endeavors yet?  Nope!  But I see a path towards having the music that I play become a significant contributor to my family’s bottom line.

The main thing that needs to happen, in order to get to the next level, is to get my first recording together.  I’ve already pre-paid for some studio time, but I’ve faltered a bit in my pre-production (read:  arranging the tunes for the CD).  Once that gets back on track, though, it’ll be into the studio for me.  A CD will make it much easier to market myself outside of the state AND give me another potential source of revenue.  The process of making the CD will also be a way for me to deal with my old friend “perfectionism” – which I’m sure will make for some great blog articles.

On a personal level, we were pretty close to scraping the bottom of the barrel, income-wise, by June of 2008.  I made some enquiries about work at my old employer (Full Discourse, a software development and consulting firm) and fortunately they had a spot opening up on their team for me.  That’s been good for keeping things together, financially, but it’s been tough to find time for my outside-of-the-day-job endeavors.  For instance, in order to write this article I’m sitting in bed at 6 in the morning – one of the only moments of the day that isn’t spoken for with work or family time.

We are preparing for the arrival of another new little one (codenamed Pickle – a daughter who was due to arrive on Dec 14 2008 – i.e. she should be here any day now), and I have been slowly continuing work on my other personal projects.  I’ll discuss those soon, as I revisit the question of whether or not you can make money as a blogger (quick answer, a resounding “yes!”).

I’ll also be adding some more diverse content yet again – probably going back to the theme of relationships – knowing when to leave them, knowing when to keep them, and essentially dealing with all of the emotions that you experience along the way.  If there’s anything in particular YOU want to talk about, please feel free to drop me a line using my contact form.

Neil and Dash quick pose for the camera

It all started with the “Reveal Your Dream” meme that we kicked off several months ago.  My personal dream (articulated as though it’s actually happening) was something like “I’m playing music in front of 2000 people.  Everyone is singing along, and we’re having a grand time.”  Simple enough.  That dream evolved into writing music for children (well, family music, really, as it’s also meant to be enjoyed by parents), and that’s what I’ve been working on since.  At the moment I have nearly an album’s worth of songs, I’ve begun playing live shows, and I’m working on all of “business” aspects of the dream.  That’s how it happens, of course.  You state your intention, and the universe begins mobilizing to make things happen.

First things first:  A call for subscriptions to Neil Sattin .com

You might notice that in the upper left hand corner of the page (at the top of the sidebar) there is now a link that allows you to Subscribe to the Neil Sattin .com RSS feed – either with an RSS reader, or using an e-mail address.  Why subscribe?  For one thing, when it comes to personal productivity, you are going to save time by being able to go to one place to get updates from all the blogs you care about (I use Google reader, which is a free service – and there are many others out there as well).  Whenever I write something new, that new content will automatically appear in your RSS reader (or your e-mail), which eliminates the need for you to check back here looking for new content.  Depending on how many blogs you read, centralizing them all into one reader could save you quite a bit of time on a daily basis.

Now embarking on this journey as a children’s musician hasn’t diminished my enthusiasm for the world of personal development.  How could it?  It was writing about personal development, after all, that led me to this path!  I recently realized, however, that following through on my path as a children’s entertainer is going to take a lot of time and commitment – especially right now as I get things off the ground - and I’m not sure how regularly I’m going to be able to write articles for NeilSattin.com.  I WILL still be working on my mission here, of course, which is to provide you with tools and insight that will (hopefully) serve you well on your own mission – to follow your dreams and live the life that you want to be living.  I just won’t be able to do it as often as I have been.

By subscribing to my site, you will ensure that whenever something new appears here, you’ll get the news delivered directly to you.  So whether it’s Relationship Advice, my Children’s Music Giveaway, Product Reviews, or anything else that you’ve seen here – it’ll be continuing, only on a slightly more “relaxed” pace.  We’ll also be publishing articles by some pretty awesome guest authors on occasion – not to be missed.  So please, subscribe, and allow me to continue serving you to the best of my ability as I embark on this new life path.  And when the blogging does swing back into normal speed, you’ll have much less catching up to do. 

Following My (Your) Dream

To that end, along with the standard fare, I plan to give you updates on everything that’s happening as I work on following my own dream.  My hope is that through seeing many of the things that I’m thinking about and working on, you’ll get a sense of what it really takes, on a practical level, to make your dreams a reality.  Just because I’m writing about becoming a children’s entertainer doesn’t mean that the words won’t apply to you in your quest to <insert your dream here>.  We can become dream-following colleagues, sharing the process of discovery with each other.  If you have specific questions I’ll still be available to offer you feedback – and I am definitely looking forward to getting feedback from all of you!

Thanks in advance for subscribing!