“The only things worth learning are the things you learn after you know it all.” — Harry S. Truman

What a day this has been! I had an “appointment” with the IRS this afternoon to “review” my tax records. Apparantly I’d been “randomly selected for further examination.” (That’s a fancy word for AUDIT) Don’t worry, I passed. They just wanted to tally up my receipts and make sure I was being honest. Not a big deal except it cut way into my studio time.

We finished up the audio track to One For Me today; it’ll ready for vocals on Sunday! Can’t wait to hear how it turns out. Don’t worry, I’ll keep ya posted!

Many people ask me about what’s more important, the music or the marketing behind it. I’m gonna answer that, but in a roundabout way…

See, I got some great advice today from a teacher of mine named Alex on how to get started in a new project. This is true in music and business. It’s so basic and yet hardly anybody takes the time to do this…

Ready for a little marketing lesson?

Before you begin ANY project, first develop an ACTION PLAN. There’s 4 basic steps:

1. Decide on your TOPIC OF EXPERTISE
I’m a veteran newcomer to the music industry. I’ve been stuck at the starting blocks for 3 years now. I’m an expert at knowing HOW to get started in a music career. I’m doing it right now.

2. Narrowly define your TARGET MARKET
This is SO important. Most people try to do this much to broadly and generic. God is in the details people! For me, it’s new musicians who have big dreams to make it big in the industry one day, but have no idea to get started. It’s people who have a love for genuine music — a great lyric, not just manufactured pop.

3. Prepare and practice your AUDIO LOGO
I show musicians step-by-step how to get yourself off the ground and work towards a record deal. And I show them from my own experience. You can watch it happen.

4. Conduct an ASK CAMPAIGN within 21 days
I’m working on it. You’ll see a new “Ask Nick” page on the site within the week. What is your single biggest question about getting a record deal in 2006?