Posts Tagged ‘Networking’

Your Future: Trending Up

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

“If you build it, they will come” was the mantra in the 1989 baseball classic, Field of Dreams staring the incomparable Kevin Costner. Finest actor of our day, IMHO.

Well, our mantra at Velvet Singer is that “If you can see it, you can improve it.” Say it with me — “If you can SEE it, you can IMPROVE it.” That is the truth.

Do you believe that? Do you believe that one of the barriers between you and success is simply clarity and understanding?

Automatic Trends Email

I am so excited about this new feature that I built earlier this week that I am not even waiting until it is released before announcing it. Because we overhauled the Trends module in the last update (v2.9.2) it is was a simple step to add an automatic email report.

Now whenever you log out of Velvet Singer, you will get a clean and clear snapshot of where you stand and where you are headed:

  • Are you performing more often?
  • Are you making more money?
  • Are you learning new arias?
  • Are you singing more lessons?
  • Are you faithfully journaling?
  • Are you networking more regularly?

And so you will have clarity on where you stand and can spur yourself along to greatness.

Need accountability? No problem! Because the report will be a nicely formatted HTML email, you can forward it along to your teacher, friends, family or supporters to involve them in your journey.

Look for this and much more in the next release!


Here is what the full Email report looks like:


Velvet Singer

www.velvetsinger.com

James Testdata

lyric baritone

 
Session Update

as of 6/1/2011 10:12:28 AM

Summary

During this session, I added records to the following tables:

Journal

673 total

10 new entries

Auditions

274 total

1 new audition

Contacts

274 total

5 new contacts

Repertoire

114 total

1 new record

Finances

283 total

6 new transactions

Email

633 total

No new emails

Projects

61 total

No new projects

Events

739 total

21 new events

 

 
 
Trends Update

Journal

Trending

Average

Journal Line Items

Up ↑

150 journal line items per season.

1346 journal line items in 9 seasons.

16 journal line items per month.

673 journal line items in 42 months.

Journal Forms

Down ↓

31 journal form entries per season.

153 journal form entries in 5 seasons.

4 journal form entries per month.

162 journal form entries in 42 months.

 

Audition

Trending

Average

All Auditions

Up ↑

39 auditions researched per season.

274 auditions in 7 seasons.

All Sent Applications

Down ↓

19 applications sent per season.

134 applications in 7 seasons.

2 applications sent per month.

134 applications in 70 months.

All Sung Auditions

Up ↑

9 auditions sung per season.

54 auditions in 6 seasons.

 

Contact

Trending

Average

New Colleague / Peer

Up ↑

22 new colleagues entered per calendar year.

112 new colleagues in 5 calendar years.

All New Contacts

Down ↓

55 new contacts entered per calendar year.

274 new contacts in 5 calendar years.

5 new contacts entered per month.

274 new contacts in 51 months.

New VIP Contact

Up ↑

11 new important contacts entered per calendar year.

55 new important contacts in 5 calendar years.

 

Repertoire

Trending

Average

Solo Repertoire

Up ↑

6 audition selections learned per season.

37 audition selections in 6 seasons.

Role / Work

Down ↓

5 roles learned per season.

21 roles in 4 seasons.

 

Finance

Trending

Average

Income

Up ↑

$13,924 in income per calendar year.

$55,698 in income over 4 calendar years.

$1,547 in income per month.

$55,698 in income over 36 months.

Profit

Up ↑

$11,732 in profit per calendar year.

$46,928 in profit over 4 calendar years.

$1,311 in profit per month.

$46,928 in profit over 36 months.

Expense

Down ↓

$2,192 in expense per calendar year.

$8,769 in expense over 4 calendar years.

$230 in expense per month.

$8,769 in expense over 38 months.

 

Project

Trending

Average

All Projects

Up ↑

14 projects added per season.

56 projects in 4 seasons.

 

Event

Trending

Average

All Events

Up ↑

106 events totaling 198 hours per season.

739 events totaling 1384 hours in 7 seasons.

12 events totaling 22 hours per month.

739 events totaling 1384 hours in 64 months.

Voice Lesson

Up ↑

1 voice lesson totaling 1 hour per month.

33 voice lessons totaling 30 hours in 38 months.

Performance

Down ↓

27 performances totaling 76 hours per season.

109 performances totaling 304 hours in 4 seasons.

Voice Lesson

Up ↑

8 voice lessons totaling 7 hours per season.

33 voice lessons totaling 30 hours in 4 seasons.

Coaching

Down ↓

21 coachings totaling 20 hours per season.

83 coachings totaling 80 hours in 4 seasons.

2 coachings totaling 2 hours per month.

83 coachings totaling 80 hours in 37 months.

Practice / Vocalizing

Up ↑

7 practice sessions totaling 8 hours per season.

29 practice sessions totaling 32 hours in 4 seasons.

1 practice session totaling 1 hour per month.

29 practice sessions totaling 32 hours in 35 months.

Teaching

Down ↓

1 lesson taught totaling 1 hour per calendar year.

4 lessons totaling 4 hours in 3 calendar years.

0 lessons taught totaling 0 hour per month.

4 lessons totaling 4 hours in 26 months.

 

©2011 Velvet Singer, LLC. Chicago, IL 60640
www.velvetsinger.com
All rights reserved.


Survey of University / Conservatory Curriculums

Monday, October 25th, 2010

As I have been traveling around to many music schools, I inquire how they handle the business of singing material.

1) A few schools have courses specifically designed for singers, 2) many have entrepreneurship courses designed for all musicians and 3) many are not able to find any room in the curriculum for this material, so they bring in seminars “a la carte.” Some schools have very active and involved career services departments while others handle career preparation more heavily within the vocal department.

That all said, there seem to be some patterns across class syllabus and seminar offerings.

Topics / Seminars

  • Business Plans
  • Finances / Taxes
  • Marketing, Networking
  • Resumes, Materials, Promotions
  • Time Management / Organization / Goals
  • Technology / Websites
  • Mock Auditions
  • Recital Programming / Program Notes
  • Career Options / Brainstorming
  • Artist Management
  • Health / Yoga

Course Materials

Assignments

  • Business Plans
  • Informational Interviews
  • Lists (Professional Contacts, Repertoire, Auditions)
  • Journal Submissions (Auditions, Coachings, Lessons)
  • Reading, Blogs, Research
  • Sample Recital Programs
  • Audition Repertoire Book

I would also suggest the following books for any singer: