I recently started working with TLC Septic Service to build their website and online presence here in Bozeman, Montana.  Now to many, the word septic conjures up unpleasant images, but the truth of the matter is, we can't escape this very real part of life.  It might be dirty business, but somebody's got to do it, and TLC Inc., is doing it with style. We're creatures of waste.  We consume, use, and then discard, the digested, processed, or unused things in our lives and go about our merry way, expecting that someone will take care of that.  There shouldn't be any shame in this sense, but there should be an awareness to the fact that when we create waste, it has to be cleaned up, disposed of, and ultimately recycled back into our eco-system, if possible. I think as I continue to age, I become more aware of waste and think about how to minimize it, and also think about those who deal with waste in the world.  I remember as a teen going to landfills to dump things and just being shocked at all the garbage there.  It was mind blowing.  All that trash, sitting there, seeping into the ground and being buried deeper and deeper with each new round of waste.  I just couldn't believe all that trash had been left behind by us...the human race.  And that was only a tiny micro-cosim of our global waste management system. My introduction to septic service first came back when I worked as a cook in restaurants in my early twenties.  We'd eventually have a backup in the pipes and things would begin to smell not so savory.  It was gross, but this is what happens when you've been cooking, have waste and some of it goes down a drain into a mysterious, dark place.  Either city sewer or a septic tank.  These tanks have to be cleaned out, maintained and serviced regularly to keep things flowing. Being that I was a kitchen manager, I'd often deal with the calling and paying of these service providers to our restaurant, and the more I dealt with them and learned about what was going on, the less gross it seemed and the more interested I became in it.  Now flash forward to about a month ago when, in the frozen tundra of Bozeman, Montana (well actually Belgrade), our septic tank got a blockage from freezing waste in the pipe.  The sink started gurgling and coughing up coffee grounds and such and we got wise to the fact that maybe we needed to call somebody.  A few phone calls later we were connected to Wes Dooley, owner of TLC Inc., and their septic services division came out. There was an entire process of having to locate where the septic tank was, dig down to it, identify the problem and ultimately fix it.  Wes and his team got it done very efficiently and with a level of service that made me smile.  Being that I've been in service industries for almost half of my life, I'm always very keen to note the level of service I receive and how I feel about who's doing the serving.  Wes had a very calm, warm demeanor, that was reassuring as well.  He'd come in and give updates as to what was going on, what they were doing and you could feel his passion and commitment to excelling at what he did. Once the problem was all taking care of, Wes came inside and we started chatting.  I asked him about his business, what the local competition was like, inquired about what all his company did, and overall, we just had a nice conversation about business, the economy, marketing and service.  I liked Wes right away and as we talked I liked him even more.  I asked about what he was doing for advertising and lead generation and he explained to me about the Yellow Pages and how he was paying around $1000/month for ads that weren't making the phone ring.  This of course troubled me, but it is the truth and part of why I do what I do in my business (That being helping local businesses get online and visible so as to bypass ineffective advertising and flushing that money down the drain). Wes was very interested in what I told him about being online and capturing the eyes of hungry searchers, looking for the services his business provides.  I gave him my card and then kept working with current clients.  A few weeks later, I got a message that Wes and TLC would like to have me do their website for them and get them online.  We set up a meeting and that day I had a new client. As we sat in Wes's office and I met his wife Lori and learned more about their company and business ethics, I began to care even more about these people.  Wes and Lori Dooley are the real deal.  They are genuine, warm, caring people, who want to help make the lives of their customers easier and better.  That's one reason TLC has several company branches and does just about everything. There is a snow removal division, a landscaping services division, excavation, street sweeping, septic, porta-potty, and the list goes on.  Wes decided to create these branches so that he could provide his customers with one place to manage all their different needs and provide them with excellent and affordable service. TLC Inc., is almost a $1 million/year company and they may be there now, but that's based on some past research I'd found.  Anyhow, the point here is that Wes has built a company that continues to flourish because of his business sense and ethics.  He and Lori were at a point 20 years ago where they had $8 dollars to their name and from that they spent half on food and the other half on gas so they could drive around and find people they could do some work for with yard maintenance and landscaping.  From that incredibly sparse point, Wes has continued to just provide amazing service, and the rewards continue to flow in. I'm really honored to be working with Wes and Lori and helping them to get even more business and exposure through their website and online presence.  We're just a few weeks in, but already page one of Google and climbing the ranks for some of their key terms. To learn more about Wes, Lori, TLC and how they're excelling in business, this article from Pumper Magazine is a really neat read, and a good insight into what makes a business stand head and shoulders above their competition, like TLC Inc. is doing. My company Artist eVolution offers businesses a way to get online, maximize their exposure, and ultimately get more business.  If you'd be interested in seeing how we can do what we're doing for TLC Inc. for you, your business, or a business of someone you know, then please get in touch.  For a look at some past clients, you can visit my website design page and to contact Artist eVolution, go here.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links for Social Media Marketing Machines and I receive some commission on sales

*Note: Social Media Marketing Machines has closed it's doors. To still take advantage of these tools and techniques to effectively grow your business, please visit my company site, Artist eVolution Marketing to get a Free White Paper and see how we can help you.

What's Holding You Back From Your Dreams of Financial Freedom?

If you're like me, then you've probably spent a lot of time thinking about how you want to break free of being tied down to a J-O-B, and how you can successfully become an entrepreneur, gain financial independence, have the freedom to live life the way you want, and enjoy what you do to support your lifestyle and family. That's been a quest of mine since I was 7 years old.  I knew I never wanted to work for someone else, but I've done a lot of work for a lot of other people and struggled to ever work for myself and truly be financially independent.  Can you relate?  I think we all dream big as kids...it's like we know what's out there waiting for us, but no one has shut us down or dashed our hopes yet.  We haven't tasted the bitter defeats of life, and particularly adult life, when we're out here just doing what we have to do to survive. It can be so frustrating to see ourselves living the opposite of our dreams.  For me, this frustration reached such a head that I made a solemn promise that I would NEVER work for someone else again.  I had to finally bite down on the bullet of life, take a huge risk and figure out how to survive on my own, create wealth on my own, and live the dream that's been calling to me for 23 plus years. Two years ago I was a musician living in New York City, trying to figure out the music game and how to get myself online and making money from my music.  This quest would lead me to start learning all about the internet and how to market oneself here.  Basically, what you need to know is I kept working jobs to save up enough money to quit, dive into studying, take action, run out of money, and get a job again.  This cycle continued for a few years and I moved all around the US. 6 Months ago, I bit the second bullet, invested around $10,000 in my internet marketing education, and wound up in Montana, out of money again, a ton of information and skill in my head, but no real guidance for how to make something successful of it.  Now I follow all the gurus in internet marketing, I get all their emails, watch all their product launches and training and know the game fairly well.  I've always known that Mike Koenigs was one of the best deliverers of tools, but I didn't know that Mike was so big on training you how to use his amazingly powerful tools.  Trust me when I say, Mike Koenigs is probably one of the smartest internet marketers on the planet.  The guy creates industry leading tools.  He's worked with Tony Robbins, Alex Mandosian, Brian Tracy, David Bach, and the list just keeps going.  When Experts and top business people need help understanding how to make money from the internet, Mike's who they call.  So early this week, when Mike released his latest system of tools and training, called Social Media Marketing Machines, I took a keen interest.

There Has NEVER Been A Better Time to Make Money Through the Internet than Right Now

If you've been curious about making money through the power of the internet, or recognize that there's a big shift happening in business and commerce moving online, then you will want to keep reading. The internet is huge, and the devices that we use to connect to it are massive in force.  The world's population is turning to the internet for all their needs and especially when it comes to looking for information, products, and services.  But rather than have me tell you about it...I think it's probably best to let the Expert, Mike Koenigs, tell you about it and what it can mean for YOU!

What If the Businesses You See Everyday Were Desperate to Get Online and Wanted to Pay YOU to Help Them Get There?

If you've been wanting to create your own business and gain financial freedom, Social Media Marketing Machines is a system that you can use to create residual income by helping hungry business owners get themselves successfully placed online.  This system of tools and training will dramatically increase a business's presence and effect online, and can be an entire social media marketing and online marketing company for you to run for other people and be extremely well paid for your expertise and skills. Imagine, auto running Twitter, Facebook, video, content publishing, website design, copywriting and more, all the while being even more effective than those manually struggling to keep up with these things.  If that sentence sounded like a mouthful, don't worry.

It Doesn't Matter If You Have NO Experience In Marketing or Online Business

You can have no previous experience of the online world, and the training and tools in Social Media Marketing Machines will help you to become an expert, and a well paid one, in a very short amount of time.  Again, I could tell you what I've already learned about Mike's past students, but I think you should hear it straight from the horses mouth so to speak.  These are some really powerful stories, of real people, like you and me, who took a risk and made an investment in themselves that really paid off.

If You Found A System that Would Turn You Into A Highly Paid Social Media and Online Expert What Would It Be Worth to You?

I think one thing that happens to us is when things sound cool or exciting to us, and we see an opportunity, is that our own doubts start jumping right in and we rationalize and justify all the reasons why we can't do something or won't succeed, or aren't ready yet.  I don't know if that happens to you, but I know it happens to me.  What I have to keep reminding myself of is that it's okay to feel afraid and uncertain, but it's vital to take on these fears and step into opportunities rather than excusing them away. One thing that happens a lot in the internet marketing world is people over promise and under deliver.  Mike isn't that kind of person and he really over delivers with giving you all the things to help overcome the lack of internal belief and self-confidence.  We seem to be programmed to sabotage ourselves, but with enough support it becomes easier to see ourselves actually succeeding. I think the value of a system that puts every resource you need at your hands to run a business and know what to say to people to get them to give you their business is such a big bonus.  Confidence is one of those things, that no matter how "confident" we might be, we will always doubt some parts of ourselves and not feel ready. The truth is we never can be completely ready, but by taking action, we step into a state that prepares us to meet any obstacles with enthusiasm and a mindset to solve problems that may arise.

Imagine Finally Having the Freedom to Live Your Dreams, All By Helping Other People

Once we begin involving ourselves with other people to help them out, we begin to radiate and find our best creative spark.  This is when your business and you personally take flight and soar above those trying to make a buck and chase this dollar and that.  By being of service, we in turn feel a vast amount of significance and contribution and the passion to continue helping fuels us on. Freedom is a mindset, fueled by having the ability to schedule our own time, to manage our own internal pressure, rather than having someone else tell us how and when to do things.  You won't work less hard by working for yourself, in fact, you'll work harder, and put in even more energy than you thought you had.  If you've been a good worker for someone else, you will be a great worker for yourself.  Your commitment to excellence and your personal integrity are what take you to your dreams when you follow your passions and serve those in need.

The Internet Is Taking Over But Most Businesses and People Don't Understand How to Leverage It

If you've been interested in the internet or followed what's been happing these last ten years or so, then you know we are in a dramatic shift in how information, goods and services are found, interacted with and consumed.  This rapid shift has left a lot of businesses feeling helpless and stuck as they see those who've jumped on board go by.  Businesses know they need to be online and need to be socially interacting with their customers.  If they knew what you'll know by using Social Media Marketing Machines, then they would be leading their field.  They just need YOUR Help! These local businesses that you see and frequent everyday aren't leveraging the power of the online world effectively.  They're too busy running their business to be able to have the time to catch up with everything that's been happening, but they continue to watch and feel the push that they need to invest in someone who can take their business and move it into the online and social world.  The internet isn't hard to learn and master, but it would take a lot of time if you weren't able to leverage the knowledge and systems of those who've already succeeded and figured things out.

If You Understood Not Only How to Leverage the Internet, But How to Dominate It, Imagine What Your Value Would Be

I think you're probably getting the picture.  The value to a local business for getting themselves online and beating their competition is HUGE.  Maybe it's worth $500, $1,000, $5,000 a month to have someone setup and manage this world for them.  How much authority do you now have to go to other businesses in your area with.  How much freedom can you have?  That is totally up to you.  As far as you want to go, well that's as far as you can go. I don't want to be making this sound like a pipe dream, but the reality of the situation is businesses have to invest in marketing and advertising and always are paying out to other companies to help them in these efforts.  You become that company for the businesses you want to work for.  You become part of their revenue chain and as long as they continue to have consistent and growing revenue, your efforts are succeeding and you'll continue to have consistent and growing revenues.

The Tools and Training of Social Media Marketing Machines Will Help You Become This Expert

If you're still reading, then you're probably feeling some emotions of excitement and that maybe this is an opportunity and program you could really use and succeed with.  I believe that those feelings are our dreamer coming through.  The dreamer is the part of us that brings magic into our lives, brings changes we never could have expected and causes us to look back with wonder and gratitude as we see how we've changed. So many times we lose our dreamer.  Maybe at some point in your life you had your dreams shut down, you felt the disappointment of believing in yourself, stepping out, and then falling down.  To quote one of my favorite lines from Batman Begins, "Why do we fall Bruce?...So that we can learn to pick ourselves up."  Life will bring us challenges and obstacles to test our resolve, to test our character and cause us to question ourselves.  But the measure of living life on our terms, living fulfilled and happy, is to face our fears, doubts and obstacles. The extensive tools and training that you get with this program help move through all these patches of self-doubt, fear and overwhelm that can take place.  The live support you can get at anytime is there to help you as you meet new and unknown paths.

Having A 100% Satisfaction and Money Back Guarantee Doesn't Hurt Though

Mike is offering a totally 100% money back guarantee to Social Media Marketing Machines customers.  That is something that I feel is really important and I'm sure you do to right?  I mean, when we're looking at investing our hard earned money it is reassuring to know we have a safety net there if we feel the need to bail or don't feel happy. It's always great to be able to "peek" under the hood and get a feel for something, while knowing that you can backtrack if needed.  I actually had to do this once with another great teacher on internet marketer, Jeff Walker.  You'll hear of him someday if you haven't already.  Jeff is such a nice guy and has such great information, I felt bad having to bail out of his course, but I just couldn't justify the expense and my panic buttons kicked in.  I feel I made the right decision at the time and I felt very comfortable and even trusted and liked Jeff more after I had to ditch his training.  Funny isn't it? Anyhow, the point is that I was able to start his course, get training and information, implement things and feel I was moving forward and learning a lot, yet I was able to leave when the refund deadline approached, get all my money back and feel safe and secure in my decision and quite grateful for the experience and knowledge gained.

You Can Try Social Media Marketing Machines Completely RISK FREE for 30 Days

By having a full 30 days to jump in, learn, use the tools and resources, how far could you get?  How much could you learn?  And more importantly, how much money could you make?  Maybe even pay for the cost of the course.  I don't know what you could do or what you will do, but I believe because you're still here and still reading, that you possess the character and mindset to ultimately succeed at your dream of having financial freedom and following your passions in life, to live on your terms and make a difference in the world for not only yourself, but for others. With the assurance that you can get out at anytime, you can start learning immediately and you'll have coaching to help you take each step, I personally believe the choice is a no brainer, if you feel this is the right opportunity for you.  I am personally buying and taking the course and couldn't talk about it if I wasn't myself doing it.  Now as I said earlier, I've already spent $10,000 some dollars on my previous learning, and I believe that all that knowledge I gained is already included with Mikes systems and training.

This Opportunity Will Close Saturday, Dec 18th Forever

This course and training is going to close down in just a few days and Mike has assured he's not ever going to offer the course like this again.  Next time he gives access to his tools and materials, the training will be gone and the price will be double. There is a special FREE training that his team is doing today.  It's live and it will really help you get a deeper knowledge of the power of Social Media Marketing Machines.  I am going to be attending and I highly recommend you do as well.  Click the image below to access that free training program, happening today, Dec 16th at 11 am PST.

Be Sure to Check Out Social Media Marketing Machines Before It Closes and See If It's Right For You

It is my sincerest wish that you succeed in your goals and dreams in life.  I believe there is no better pursuit than that of following our dreams and heart to live a fully, open, and vibrant life.  I think that serving others is a huge part of that equation and I also firmly believe that we must have mentors and coaches to help guide us along as we navigate the often difficult waters of life. It isn't easy to follow your dreams and keep an open mind.  It isn't easy to change either, but by holding yourself to these standards, you will find what you're looking for.  It is the ability to step out and take action that defines our successes and happiness in life. I've really enjoyed writing this letter and if you're still reading, I hope you've enjoyed it to the end!  I would love to hear any of your thoughts, comments or questions and also look forward to seeing you inside this revolutionary new system Mike Koenigs has given us.  Please do leave a comment below and "like" this to share it out with those you think might also be interested.

There Has NEVER Been A Better Time to Make Money Through the Internet

If this sounds interesting to you and you'd like to...

• Take advantage of the HUGE online opportunity to make a lot of money
• Be your own boss and stop being a slave to life
• Help other people and provide tremendous value to them
• Become an authority and leader in business marketing and strategy
• And be doing something that is ethical, feels empowering and can be a long-term and life altering business

Wishing you the very best of success and hoping to see you inside. Andrew Hand P.S. - Social Media Marketing Machines is now closed, but if you'd like to learn how your business can still be taking advantage of these tools and ideas then please get in touch with my company Artist eVolution Marketing and we can help you implement these tools and strategies to grow your business.  When you visit the site we have a Free White Paper you can download and use to see how effectively you're harnessing the power of the social, mobile and online world.

The importance of local businesses establishing an online and mobile presence cannot be overstated.  In today's world it is vital for businesses to adapt to the current world that we live in and take advantage of the shift in information dissemination and consumption that has taken place.  If you have a local business then I'm sure you know this and have heard or thought that you need to be online. The reason that this is so important is due to the shift in where people are going to find your business.  In the old days, people used to have only a few mediums to reach new customers...Print Advertising, Television Advertising and Radio Advertising.  These of course could be very expensive and difficult to track the effectiveness of, but it is what we had.  So why are these mediums becoming obsolete? It's no surprise that radio has died...it just has.  People don't listen to the radio anymore.  Now there are podcasts and such but we really don't want to be hearing commercials there as consumers.  There is a revolt against how we used to be marketed to.  We are sick of the old way and don't want to go back to it, regardless of how many businesses keep hanging on to the old way and still continue to force it upon us. Print advertising is also not very effective.  The costs are so high and the return is low and very difficult to actually track.  You might notice that the word "track" keeps popping up.  The importance of tracking is everything and is one reason that the new options we have for promotions are so strong.  With the leap in technology, we are able to track everything.  By just using some special tracking codes, we can get exact and detailed reports of how effective our advertising and promoting is and exactly what it's costing us per conversion. Television has also died.  Now of course that's a bold statement, but with shows being available online and on-demand, and with the vast amount of videos available online to learn from and be entertained from, we don't turn to television like we used to and hence, the advertising done there is far less effective.  If you have watched a show online or watched a sponsored YouTube video, then you know that advertising is still being put into these mediums, but I wager that it is less effective, and to me personally, it is still quite annoying. I think what we have to look at here is how to provide REAL value to our customers.  If this is made the tantamount goal, then we don't have to feel the need to bombard people with our message and ads, it's just not cool man!  I don't expect that my take on things is going to be adopted sooner than later, but if businesses started taking this approach, then we would see much more customer loyalty and ultimately lasting sales.  We wouldn't have to rely on creating bombarding campaigns to grab attention, if we just continued to provide immense value to our loyal and regular customers.  If you try to get everyone and ignore those who have helped build your business, then you run the risk of losing those who supported you early and have kept you alive.  Rather, the smarter move is to keep the tribe and organically bring in new members by referral. I'm sure you know the saying, "word of mouth advertising is the best advertising that money can buy."  This is so very true and also ties into where technology has taken us in our interactivity.  Today's world is a social and mobile connected world.  We find out about what our friends are doing and liking through their updates and social profiles or websites.  We choose who and what we want to keep up with and we have it delivered to us.  This channel of inter-connection is where businesses should focus their efforts.  By making yourself an appealing source of content and service to your true "fans" or customers, you then leverage that relationship to be able to reach their friends and family and thereby transfer some of that trust and goodwill with nothing else required. I think this is where so many businesses are failing.  They focus so much on getting leads, finding prospects, making offers, but forget to identify who is their real, loyal fan, customer, and trusted source of revenue.  What is the value of the relationship they have with this person and how can they continue to increase that relationship value?  If this were to become the norm, then we would see a dramatic shift in the stock of these companies.  By stock, I'm not referring to the stock market, but rather the 'value' stock that they hold in people's minds and ultimately wallets.  Of course nothing happens all at once, and we'll never live in a utopian world, but for business who get this and implement it, the results will be revolutionary. I recently just got a local Bozeman Chiropractor set up online and we are building this online and value based business structure for his company.  If you'd be interested in having my company help you take advantage of this new online world, then please contact me to find out more about how we can help you. I'd like to ask one favor of you...if you enjoyed this article or have anything to say, please leave a comment below and share your thoughts.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Is making money online easy? I think this is a question that more and more people are finding themselves asking.  The online world is growing by leaps and bounds and we are seeing more and more of the world population turn to the internet for their consuming needs and their entertainment, learning and business ventures. The Internet is overtaking many businesses Although I don't anticipate that we'll see doctors go away and car salesman, we are seeing many businesses finding that they can make more profit online than they could through their old brick and mortar businesses.  This trend is facilitated by just how easy it can be to get yourself up on the web and doing business.  With the explosion of Facebook, we now see that word of mouth advertising is also being replaced by a cute little "Like" button. The Power of Facebook's Like Button shouldn't be dismissed The Facebook phenomenon is very interesting and a powerful look at just what the online world can offer us.  Now I'm sure there are many people bemoaning the growth of Facebook and all this 'online nonsense', but I would have to say that those people are ones who resist change and aren't adopters of new things.  To truly succeed in the world we have to be early adopters and quick adapters.  The world we now live in is changing faster than it ever has before.  It is truly staggering to look back 10 years and see how far we've accelerated.  Remember MySpace? But back to the power of what Facebook is doing... Essentially what Facebook has done is taken the globe and connected them to each other through the old six degrees string theory.  Not only are we connected, but we're seeing what our connections are liking, doing, saying, reading, buying, eating, etc...the list really just goes on and on.  As human beings, we just like to know what's going on with other human beings, and more importantly, human beings which we care about.  So how does any of this relate to making money online? The World being connected means buyers are magnetized to sellers The cool thing about all this connectivity and social sharing is that, because we're a capitalist world (mostly), commerce drives our lives...buying and selling is what makes things go 'round, and the sellers are able to reach the buyers without having to do any old world annoying 'selling tactics.'  This is what I LOVE.  The reason that I love it so much is because I hate salesman.  I mean who doesn't?!  We know we're going to be sold to, we know we're going to buy, but we want it to be from real people, who have good and valuable products that can help us in our life.  We don't want some hyped up, spammy product being shucked upon us.  We've evolved, and thank goodness!!! Becoming a seller is Easier than Ever For those who feel they have something good and valuable to offer, it is now easier than ever to take that offering and share it with the world.  Creating websites has become incredibly easy with tools like Wordpress, Four Square, Joomla and more.  A custom Wordpress Theme added to some great plugins can have you running an e-commerce site in literally hours and the investment is so far below what it would take to create a physical business, that it just doesn't make sense to not take advantage of the online world, if you have products or services to share. The Web is so full of Training that anyone can become an Online Master It might sound bold to say that 'anyone' can really become an online master and success, but it really is true.  There are of course pre-requisites and, as with all things, it takes time...because you have to learn and implement and learn from your implementations, but how fast you go is really up to you. My personal story is one that started two years ago and I'm just starting to take things and combine them together.  At first I came to the online world, because I just wanted my music out there.  This lead me to learn about marketing and websites and how to set something up online for sale.  All these types of things that often can be grouped into the term Internet Marketing, can be learned even quicker than they were for me two to three years ago.  I also suffer from being a bit resistant to change.  For those who really embrace change and like to move fast, it is alarming just how fast you can have success online. Even if you have Nothing to Sell, You CAN make Money Online Much like Facebook is using the power of referrals, so too can a person get themselves online and start referring others to what they like and use.  Now of course, you could refer people to stuff you don't like and never would use, but that's not really cool.  The real power comes when you use your desire to help other people by letting them know what's helped you.  This is why so many businesses throughout the ages would tell you they didn't advertise, but relied on 'word of mouth.'  There is no better advertising than someone you know and trust saying, 'hey, check this out.  I really like it and I think you might too.'  With the internet being full of sites dedicated to affiliate products, it isn't hard to sign up to Clickbank or ShareASale, Commission Junction or Upsell Network and begin letting people know about things you like. At some point I think we all should create our own product, we should share our own perspective and expertise on what we're passionate about with others.  But that can take time and our own fears often will keep us from creating or sharing our gifts and talents with the world.  I have personally had to face this mental blockage to just creating a product.  This is one reason that the ability to make money online through sharing products and services you've liked and used is so valuable.  It can allow you to begin building up residual income that could, depending on how quickly you learn and implement, replace your regular income and give you more time and freedom than you've ever had.  Thereby allowing us to do the things we really want in life. Although It Ain't Hard, It Ain't Always Easy If this post has intrigued you and you're thinking of jumping into the online world, then I first salute you!  Second, I offer this advice...It won't always be easy, and there will be times you'll feel very frustrated and overwhelmed with all it seems you have to learn.  The good news is that everyone feels this way and faces these obstacles.  The benefits of continuing to move forward, learn, and take action will out weigh all those tough times.  This is what I and my company Artist eVolution are passionate about doing.  Helping people gain knowledge, tools and training to help them express themselves artistically, creatively and to live a joyous and full life.  We are all artists and it is time to evolve, to keep growing and stepping into this brave new world. I've put together a few tools that I think could really help you get online and up and running very quickly.  If you're at all interested in the web and all it has to offer in helping you to make money, then start here.  Please note that many of the links in this article are affiliate links and I will earn a commission if you do decide to use the products and services I've recommended.  This is part of what allows me to stay in business and keep sharing more of what I'm learning and doing, to help you.  I'm here to help you in any way that I can, so please don't hesitate to ask a question. Be sure to leave a comment below and if you'd do me a favor and use the "Like" button to let your friends know, I would appreciate it a ton.  I look forward to hearing from you! Warmest Wishes, Andrew

Internet Marketing, for those of you who don't know, is the world of taking a business and using the internet super-highway to conduct your marketing and sales process and conversion.  I jumped into this fire pit back in 2008 and it has been a fast, wild and often overwhelming journey. The reason for this particular article, is not only to inform and share my journey thus far, but specifically because I NEED help.  The last piece I'm searching for is the most important to any business...Customers, or in the internet marketing world "Traffic".  Traffic is king, just as customers are king to any brick-and-mortar business.  I need traffic and I'm seeking to learn from two masters of internet marketing and traffic, and more specifically Facebook marketing and traffic.  You might be thinking 'Why Facebook?', but we'll touch on that in a second. The two gentlemen that I seek to learn from are Robert Grant and Ian David Chapman.  Together these guys represent some of the best information available in the world with regards to online marketing and traffic generation, plus conversion of that traffic into capitol.  Their information is packaged and taught through an amazing course called "Crowd Conversion".  For those unfamiliar, conversion refers to the process of taking a prospective customer and turning them into someone who gives you permission to communicate and develop a relationship with them, (the business term would be "to market to them") and in fact are hungry to hear from you and receive your information and services.  Now you mix in the "Crowd" to that and then you clearly have a booming business opportunity.  The better you convert from the large crowd, the better you do.  It really is simple in theory, and just common business sense, but things are never as easy as they seem. The truth is that most things actually are "Easy", but we have to learn them first.  Without learning them, they remain "hard" and seem complicated.  That's the wonderful thing about systems and teachings that use systems.  If you're not learning from a model that has been proven to work, then you are wasting your time and money on ineffective information.  This is just one reason that Robert and Ian are doing it right.  The bottom line is to learn anything that's "easy", you have to put in time and usually money to succeed in the implementation. The Crowd Conversion system is a teaching and training course that their private clients pay over $50,000 dollars to learn.  Ian and Robert are experts in their field, and as I stated earlier, their field is specifically building multi-million dollar businesses through Facebook.  This is probably some of the most relevant information and training around on the internet.  The reason being, Facebook has now overtake Google as the most traffic'd website in the world.  As Robert points out, if Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world.  This is HUGE!  Google's strangle hold on internet traffic is being leveled and a brimming new opportunity and playing field is upon us. So you've gotten a brief intro look at basic ideas of internet marketing and the vital reason that crowd conversion is so important to the pie slice of the traffic that you're able to attract from this ocean of information seekers.  Even if you don't really know what I'm talking about or the first thing about running an "online business" you probably feel that indeed, traffic is what this online world would require to make any money, and as I stated above, this has been my achilles heel.  Granted I'm only two years in, but I feel I should have figured this out by now. My story started with being a musician who was frustrated at the results of just having my music online and not making a penny from it.  I figured there must be a way to get people across the world to find my music and buy it.  So back in my bedroom in New York City, huddled over my computer, I began my quest.  My quest for answers, for salvation from the rat race of being enslaved to another person for survival.  I wanted to be on my own, able to create my own wealth and reach a vast number of people with information that could help them.  I would go from someone who had very little understanding of the actual workings of the internet, to someone who can create websites, push content across the internet and is passionate about continuing to grow in and with this online world.  I love that as an internet marketing community, we literally have global reach, and are able to provide extremely valuable content to people, with whom ten years ago, we would probably never have been able to connect with. Now back to my story...2008, New York City... I've continued scouring the web for information on what I need to be doing to succeed online.  I start stumbling into those who others say are the experts, I watch their results and then I learn from them.  The wonderful thing about the online world is that it is based on a ton of good will and results in advance when done right.  Those who are most successful want to share their information.  They will gladly give out free content that helps you and proves their expertise, if it leads to conversions and sales of their more in-depth and comprehensive work, it clearly makes good business sense.  You can literally gain thousands of dollars worth of knowledge for free, but at some point, you will have to invest and go deeper.  I used, and continue to use free resources, but I finally plunged into investing in 2010.  I chose well and picked two of the most successful online marketers and branding gurus in the world. The first guy I'd been following is sometimes called the godfather of internet marketing and is a pretty cool dude.  That's Frank Kern.  The second guy that I came across (through Frank Kern) was Brendon Burchard.  Brendon is also a pretty cool guy and specializes in expert branding...that is to say, he teaches people how to create a deep and cohesive presence across the four modalities for making money through information.  That is through being an Author, Speaker, Coach and Online Marketer. Now both Frank and Brendon teach information way below the actual value that it will bring to you if you successfully implement it, but the investment is viewed as a lot by some.  I gladly made this investment and with those two courses and related expenses, I dropped $7,000 and put myself into the most debt I've ever been in.  I felt happy, excited, and like I was on my way to being a millionaire.  You always think it's going to happen faster than it actually will.  I believe in where I'm heading and know I will succeed.  I don't bemoan any choices and would tell another person, that investing in yourself, and your further education, is the best place you could ever put your money.  It is important however to address what can happen and what happened to me. I flew to California to attend the live conferences for both of these online courses.  They happened to be back to back, one in San Diego (Frank loves San Diego) and one in San Francisco.  I'd already gone through the online courses and begun implementing the teachings.  I set up a guitar teaching website, created videos, built a list of interested prospects and began providing value to these good people and set the system up as I'd been shown.  Now of course, I expected because I was a good student and implemented what I was learning, that I would get results.  The truth is, I did get results, but on a micro-fractional level.  This would leave me feeling more overwhelmed and discouraged. What ended up happening is I couldn't return to New York, moved in with my mother, and am continuing to learn and implement more internet marketing information.  I'm trying to pay off this debt and have no real source of income.  I've managed a few freelance web-design jobs, but that has barely done anything but pay off the interest on my investments.  What failed, where did I go wrong? I don't actually believe I've failed and I believe I'm on the right path...it just needs tweaking and some more time.  I feel absolutely desperate though and must get things working.  This is why I need help.  I need someone to show me how to really get a lot of people to engage with my content and how to best leverage my relationship with these new contacts into capitol.  I don't have anymore money, or I'd invest it, but I have my passion and belief in what I'm doing.  It's iron-clad, even when I feel it's not and I'm failing, the armor is there, underneath, pushing me forward.  I need someone to extend a helping hand, to believe in my potential and just help me get over the hurdle that's been blocking me from soaring. It is now that I ask Robert and Ian...Please, teach me.  I can't afford to take their course, but I am so ready, so hungry and so passionate, that I would do anything I could to learn from them.   The funny thing is that Robert was once in a similar position, his back truly against the wall, as his job was literally killing him.  He reached out to his then guru Ian, and asked him for help.  He was desperate, hungry and passionate.  Robert finally got Ian to teach him, took action, and eventually had amazing results that led to he and Ian becoming business partners.  Now that's impressive! Aside from just asking them to teach me, I ask for a scholarship to their Crowd Conversion program.  I believe whole-heartedly that these guys are ahead of the curve and leading the way into the new world of internet marketing.  They don't even have a scholarship offer set up, but I hope that my passion and intention is well stated enough here that perhaps they will consider creating such a spot.  They say when the student is ready the teacher will appear.  I'm ready...

Video marketing is something that any internet marketer knows they need to be using.  In our industry it is being preached over and over, that you MUST be using video.  Why is this?  The answer is really quite simple and plays to some built in human psychology. For those unfamiliar with the world of internet marketing or online marketing as it's sometimes called, all you need to know is that the online world is overtaking the offline world as a preferred means of commerce and information gathering.  With sites like Facebook and Twitter, we can only hope that humans don't begin forgetting how to actually socialize, but online socialization is very important and offers many benefits to the human race.  Back to video marketing for now though. So why is video marketing so important, and what is the benefit of it.  I think one really important thing to note, is that a video can be played over and over again.  Often times we become overwhelmed when we're taking in information and in fact, we only remember about 7% of what someone tells us.  Words alone are easily forgotten.  When you throw in the visual component, it ups our memory retention.  That's one added bonus of video content over print or audio alone, and when we're overwhelmed, we can return later after further processing has taken place. Another reason that helps explain the value of video is our inborn ability to read people based on facial expressions.  This goes back to our very beginnings as human beings and is part of our social survival, as well as physical survival.  We read the emotions of people when we visually see them and immediately gauge whether this person is to be trusted or not, or if they pose some kind of threat.  We might not consciously know what we're doing, but we're always analyzing and judging the input we receive from others.  Video allows for not only audio, but the visual component as well. In the internet marketing world, those who are teaching others how to implement online business strategies are all using video marketing and building multi-million dollar businesses by doing so.  The perceived value of their content becomes higher in our mind, because we are actually having face time with a guru or expert.  We believe that if we follow their teaching, we can have similar results.  By nature of the fact that we can visually see them, we tend to build stronger trust pathways in our brain.  Now I'm no psychologist or brain doctor, so I can't truly speak to what goes on in the brain, but the more that our brains become stimulated, the more weight interactions have upon us. We now come to the flip side of the coin, the video content creators.  As creators of video we have a very strong ethical obligation to be honest and transparent with people.  If we don't hold ourselves to a high standard, then more sub-standard material will proliferate the online world.  There is no way to negate or deny that video is a huge part of sales.  Our world revolves around sales, and one must acknowledge this to succeed.  We no longer live in a bartering society, and therefore, we exchange money for goods and services.  We live in the information age and nothing is priced higher or prized more than cutting edge information.  However, any good actor can create content that seems to be relevant and valuable, only to be misguiding those consuming it, perhaps all in the name of value.  What I mean by that is that a product which offers the moon, yet at a fraction of the cost, generally is only going to deliver a fraction worth of value.  We all know the 'slick oil salesman' motif, and there's no reason that it can't and isn't prevalent in the world of internet and video marketing. I suppose to wrap this post up, I just want to stress the importance of creating valuable, authentic content that really provides immense return to the consumer.  As an audience, we deserve to be treated with high value for our investment and time given to business, and as businesses, we have a responsibility to create trust worthy and useful information at a fair price.  Any man who will sell his soul to make a buck is a man that will ultimately pay the price, but for everyone of these types, we lose a measure of trust collectively and must work all the harder to regain that link with our customers.  So use video wisely, and be a good person! :-) Thank you for reading my thoughts and please be sure to leave a comment below and share this content out through Facebook, Twitter or anywhere else you so choose.

Internet marketing is one of the largest growing industries in the world.  The specific branch that has really been exploding is that of information marketing.  That is teaching people how to do things through your expertise and information.  If you've never heard of internet marketing then this post is for you. The basics of internet marketing are these:

1. The internet is responsible for 80% or so of the world's search for information
2. We attract those searching for our solution to their problem or quest
3. We provide valuable and relevant content to help them
4. We offer further valuable and relevant information to them in exchange for information and permission to communicate with them
5. We create a strong relationship with these seekers and develop trust and good will and then we offer them our salable products and services to further help them
6. This cycle is repeated over and over again

Now that might sound simple, or confusing, or even vague, but that is what the internet marketing business is all about.  It's one of the fastest growing fields.  This isn't all that surprising, as the internet is one of the fastest growing things on the planet.  I'm sure you've heard of Google and I'm also sure you've heard of Facebook.  These two sites are the top two traffic'd sites in the world.  One is thought of as information or search based (Google), and one is thought of as social or community based (Facebook). If we can capture some of that traffic, fulfill a need and sell that solution, then we are being effective internet marketers.  Again, I know it's all a bit simple sounding, but the complexities are just simple steps and systems that are learned to implement these components.  Often these 'easy' steps are looked at as being quite hard, and in fact, they can be pretty overwhelming and take up a lot of time and energy.  But they're not really all that hard.  I think that's the way it is with anything.  It seems like Goliath, but once you've done it enough, you become David and just knock it down. For more on internet marketing, you might want to check out this post: Internet Marketing - Why Crowd Conversion is Everything

Poverty, why does it still exist, why are so many still in need and suffering?  I think that poverty songs are an important part of asking these questions and looking at what we can do to help end poverty in the world.  The question might be simple, yet the answer is complex.  The world has so many different components that make up its sociological order and dissemination of goods.  The idealist wants the world to be free of poverty, hunger, war and hate, and the realist would like to see those things, but recognizes the challenges to brining these realities to light. Often an idealist lives in a dream and is not able to take ultimately effective action and often a realist becomes too jaded and loses the belief that change is actually possible.  So the dilemma remains...the questions continue, and we as artists and thinkers can help raise awareness for the things that are going on in the world and create calls to action.  We can organize and begin to take one small bite off of the giant problem that is world poverty. If we believe that we're in it alone, the task is far too daunting.  If we have a small group, the task still can seem overwhelming.  If we create cells of action, wide organization, and micro action, these actions add up to much larger work.  I remain an artist, asking questions, wondering at the discord in the world and believing that there is a solution.  This is my first 'poverty song' to address these global questions. If you enjoy the song then please be sure to leave me a comment with your thoughts or suggestions.  If you enjoy my music, then I invite you to join the fanlist over on the right.  This will give you some downloads sent straight to you as well as updates on what I'm doing. Thank you for stopping by and taking time to listen to the song.

Understanding Keys in music is often a source of great confusion and frustration for those who have just begun to learn the language of music.  Although our site is about learning guitar, the language of music is the same for all instruments.  All of us are given the same 12 notes to work with (known as the Chromatic Scale). What Exactly Is A Key? I'm glad you asked! :-)  A musical key is defined by its scale.  If the scale is Major, then the key will be Major, and if the scale is minor, then the key will be minor.  Simple right?!  If you're unfamiliar with what a scale is, you might want to see this lesson: Learning to Play Guitar Scales, which is relevant regardless of your instrument.  As a brief explanation though, we have our 12 chromatic notes in music, we pull out 7 of them to create the Major Scale and we then create chords from that scale by harmonizing each of the 7 tones, using a 1, 3, and 5 of the scale (this means with each separate scale degree as a root, we just pick every other note in the scale for 5 notes, thus leaving us a root, 3rd, and 5th).  If that has you confused at all, then see this lesson on Triads: Learning Triads for Guitar. If we look at this example for the key of 'A Major', that key is built off of the 'A Major' scale (A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G#).  What this means is that all of the chords, melody and harmonies will use these 7 notes, and only these 7 notes.  Sticking within the scale's note range is known as Diatonic harmony.  As you advance, you'll learn that it's possible to add in notes outside the Diatonic scale, but for beginning it's best to get very comfortable with just staying in the Diatonic Key. A song in the ‘Key of C Major’ uses the notes of the C major scale  (C-D-E-F-G-A-B) and a song in the 'Key of C minor' would use its 7 notes (C-D-Eb-F-G-Ab-Bb) and so on for every 24 of our scales (12 Major and 12 minor, one for each chromatic note). Any major scale or natural minor scale can serve as a key for a piece of music. Understanding the Center of Keys - The Tonic The Tonic note is the same as the root note of a key or scale and serves as the center of the key.  It's the same with chords, as we briefly touched upon above.  An 'A Major chord' has a tonic, or root of A, a third of C#, and a 5th of E.  The same applies to the 'A Major Scale' and 'Key of A Major'.  The tonic is the starting and ending point, as the notes create a tension that wants to resolve back to the start.  The tonic is pronounced (TAWN-ik). A good way to think of the tonic and keys/scales, is that as you play through the notes or chords of that scale or key, a distance is being created that gets farther and farther, until your ear just has to hear the circle come back around.  The reason this happens is due to the intervals or steps between each of the 7 tones.  More on that later. When playing our keys and scales, the music constantly is being drawn back toward the tonic, or root of the key.  The tonic is the most resolved note in a key and thus the key's center. So what's the big deal about this tension and pulling?  This aspect of music is partly what makes it so enjoyable to listen to.  The music can stretch us and take us on a journey, creating excitement for our ears and body.  Rhythm is another key aspect of music being pleasing to listen to, but that is for another lesson and also a bit more subjective. Understanding Tonality and the Role It Plays We've talked about music being centered, having a root, or beginning, and cycling back to the end, which is also the beginning...the resolution.  This sort of music is called tonal music because it possesses tonality, consonance and tempered movement.  Basically all the music that we listen to today is tonal.  When music is missing a tonal center it is called atonal.  Although there is atonal music out there, the majority of people would find it actually painful to listen to. Training Yourself to Know the Tonic One great way to become more aware of the tonality in the music you listen to is to just actually listen...really pay attention to the movement of the music and where you hear/feel it resolving.  Most songs will end on the tonic, it is very common practice and not doing so can leave you with an odd feeling, or lack of resolution.  Analyzing music will greatly help in your understanding of it and its movement. When Can I Get Outside the Key? In due time grasshopper...in due time.  As I stated earlier, it's really a good idea to become very familiar with Diatonic harmony and be able to spell out any key signature (all 30 keys) and be sure to know your note names and interval relationships.  Doing this assures you will have a command of musical movement and you'll be ready to start mixing it up by adding in notes outside the key, as well as changing keys.  One genre of music that a lot of beginners start with, and then fail to get out of is the Blues.  Now I don't want to knock on the Blues, 'cause it's a foundation to rock music and just has some great things going on, but it breaks the Diatonic world and a lot of musicians find the blues and never get out of it or bother to learn why it works from a tonal and theoretical point of view. There definitely will come a point when you are ready to move outside of Diatonic harmony, but until you master it, I recommend waiting.  It WILL pay off in the long run to get your head wrapped around this world, I guarantee it. Just How Many Keys Are In Music and Do I Have to Learn Them All? Okay, well we touched on this earlier, but let's revisit it.  There are 12 notes in the chromatic scale (that's all we've got in the Western World) and hence, there is a key for each of the 12 notes, and each key has a minor and Major variety.  This gives us the sum of 24 keys, but really only accounts for 12 unique keys since every Major key has a relative minor key (the relative minor shares the exact same notes as its Major cousin, just starting on a different note).  As an example: 'C Major' (C-D-E-F-G-A-B) has a relative minor of A.  The A minor scale or key uses the notes A-B-C-D-E-F-G, which as you can see are the same notes.  All we did was begin the scale on the sixth degree of our parent Major scale.  This always holds true...the sixth scale degree of any Major scale is the relative minor. In addition to our 24 keys (really 12 unique ones), there are three of the Major keys that can be named in different ways.  The reason this happens is due to the usage of sharps and flats.  Sometimes it becomes more convenient to write the keys in flats rather than sharps.  So this gives us a total of 15 different spellings. If we look at the Keys of C# and Db as an example, we see they contain the same notes.  Db is spelled (Db-Eb-F-Gb-Ab-Bb-C) and C# is spelled with the same notes, but using sharps instead (C#-D#-E#-F#-G#-A#-B#).  It really just comes down to a matter of what other keys you're transposing to and your personal preference.  If you were starting a song in a sharp key and wanted to modulate to another of our multiple spelled keys, you would want to pick its sharp variety so as to maintain congruence in your notation and brain.  It can get confusing jumping between the two! The 12 Became 24, the 12 Became 15, and the 15 Become 30 (Yikes)! Okay, really don't worry though...it's not anything to freak out about.  If you get the 12 key idea and understand that each of the 12 keys has a relative minor key, with the same notes, just starting from a different root (the 6th of the parent Major) and that there are three different spellings for each of the Major and minor keys based on the notating of either sharps or flats, then you're set.  As with all things, practice makes perfect and the more you practice writing different keys out, the more comfortable you become.  So don't be afraid of jumping into sharps and flats.  It can be tempting to stay in the safe 'C Major' but really that's just no fun at all. To really begin understanding key movement and the ability to break out of keys, you need to understand the Circle of 5ths (Also known as the Circle of 4ths), but that is for another lesson.  Until then, practice and have fun!!! Wishing for your greatest success, Andrew P.S. Be sure to leave a comment below with any questions or thoughts you have, it really helps me keep helping you in your musical journey.

Below is a letter to Tripp Lanier of The New Man Podcast Hey Tripp, Andrew Hand here and I've definitely enjoyed following you and The New Man Podcast since finding you that day long ago with your interview of Derek Sivers. Being a musician, like yourself, listening to Derek has been a big part of my journey in music and marketing, and I loved that interview. I definitely resonated with your style, so I subscribed! One thing that I really love about you and The New Man Podcast is that you keep motivation real, you don't gloss over the human emotions and I think that's something that a lot of gurus don't address. They're always trying to get us out of depression, out of overwhelm, and into empowerment.  Those things are all great and have a time and place, but sometimes we just need to sit in those states, study them, embrace them and find the lessons we need to learn, so as to emerge reborn and reinvigorated for life. My story is one of landing in the world of being an adult at 18 and having a flood of overwhelm hit me. What was I supposed to do, how was I supposed to create the life I dreamed of?  It seemed like there was so much I had to figure out.  I wanted to be an entertainer, to be on stage, to reach and connect to people since I was 7 years old, but now here I was going for a college education, getting a job to pay for that education and not knowing how I was ever going to get where I wanted to be in life.  Eventually I ended up dropping out of school, after a long, on-again, off-again relationship with higher education, and decided I'd just keep working, saving money, and get out of where I was to get on with my dream. I became pretty depressed and the years kept rolling by with me spending my money (should have saved more), and when I wasn't working, I'd just tune out of life through video games and movies. I mean, I was a video game addict. Owned every console, bought every new hit game, and played them all until they were beaten, day after day after day. I built a DVD collection of 400+ movies, went to see every new movie in the theatre, and would watch 6 movies or more a week. I had a theatre tradition...I called it the 4-for-1 Friday. One movie ticket, first showing of...(whatever), and then I let that gift keep on giving, until I just couldn't see another film (I'm not proud of being a movie hopper, but I was).  I knew that how I was living wasn't going to get me to my goal of being an actor, being an entertainer, being able to reach people and make a difference in the world, but I just felt so fearful and overwhelmed with how to make this dream happen. Bottom line is that after 5 years of this behavior, I'd had enough, something snapped inside of me and I said, 'I have to make a change or I'm going to go crazy.' So I put in my notice at work (gave 'em a year, more for me than them), saved up enough money, and moved to NYC to pursue my dream. While in NY I began shifting more toward my growing passion for music. I'd been making songs back in my bedroom before leaving for NY and felt I was getting pretty good (I assure you I wasn't) and had continued making music since. I decided to contact some producers, as I had no musical training, and have them help me make a demo. I was gonna get signed and become a star. Have the money and freedom to finally help and touch people and have an impact on this world. That didn't happen though. Now what?! The demo had gone nowhere, despite being told I was like Eminem and that I could get a million dollar deal from my producer. Empty promises to my pipe dream. I had to stop smoking that dream! I realized pretty quickly that having to rely on others for my career wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to be in control. I moved to Walla Walla, Washington to stay with my mom while I taught myself guitar and music production. I wrote and recorded a ton of songs and then decided it was time to get a band together. To make a long story short, that journey led me back to NYC, now making music on my terms and also writing from a different place. This once angry rap/rock artist had exhausted his ego and pain through writing 200+ songs spit out in 2 years.  It had brought me to a place of searching for deeper meaning to my song craft.  I'd begun reading spiritual books and re-aligning with the idea that there was perhaps something more than just this life out there.  I was now making rock music that seemed to be infused with an optimism about life and choosing to move out of our pain, hurt and darkness.  I couldn't seem to not write these songs.  They just kept coming out. To make this story, which is actually becoming quite long, short...I took my passion for personal development and hired Tony Robbins' life coaching group, jumped into the Internet Marketing world and spent every last penny I had and didn't have, determined for success. After this whirlwind, information overload, I created what I felt to be my calling...Unleash Your Artist (http://unleashyourartist.com) and sent it out to my list. The response dropped me flat. Nothing! One person signed up to go through my program and it was FREE too! Boy did this kick me in the gut.  It was like I had been this balloon, filling up with so much motivation, planning, action, ideas...and POP!  I was done, spent, exhausted and overwhelmed. I'd failed. What I felt was my purpose, passion and true power had failed me. Depression set in. I actually felt like I just didn't want to live anymore. If I couldn't have significance and impact in the world, when I'd tried so hard, it would just be easier to get off this rock and step into the unknown. I wasn't suicidal by any means, but I was just ambivalent about living.  I told myself that I was ready to go and if it were time for me to go, to please bring it upon me.  Weird to read that now, as I know it's not my time yet. I've begun coming out of this state, and reflecting on what it's meant. It has been a winter, a time to regroup and look at myself and life with fresh eyes. I call it optimistic depression. I know I'm going to be okay. I know I'm finding my place and that I've needed this let down to bring me back into focus. So I'm back living with my mom, out of money and in debt, but I keep taking steps forward and believing I'm on the right path. I'm working on my guitar teaching website and just made a new video for Unleash Your Artist that addresses these Winters of the Soul and why we need them. Why it's vital to not push aside depression, overwhelm and anxiety, but to sit with them, understand them and learn how to be comfortable amidst the discomfort.  You can watch the video below... I know at my core, at your core, we are vibrant, creative beings, here to live lives of purpose and significance. We're here to learn to follow our hearts more deeply and tap into the emotional experiences of life, to learn what living is all about. It's a big old melting pot of us...Happy, Sad, Depressed, Angry, Up, Down, and All Around. This is life, and the more we learn to go with the flow and love, the more we learn about what really matters. The New Man Podcast has been one piece of this understanding for me. Tripp Lanier gets it and more importantly, he shares it with others...A lot of others. We need more people in the world like Tripp, who keep it real and remind us to embrace who we are, whether we're kicking life's ass or life is kicking our ass. If you are interested at all in the video above and would like to check out the Unleash Your Artist program, you can do so by signing up below.  You'll be able to jump right into the free program that walks you through getting in touch with your core being, the part of you that holds your creative, bold and free spirit, who is just waiting for you to open up to it, to Unleash It. For more information on Tripp Lanier and The New Man Podcast you can check them out here: Tripp Lanier's Kick Ass Show Wishing you the very best, Andrew P.S. - Don't forget to leave a comment below and share your thoughts or feedback