|
About This Author
|
La Bene Vita
I am a professional musician  , worship leader , small business owner , songwriter , aspiring author and freelance nonfiction writer with a chemical engineering degree .
But that's just my resume.
My profile of qualifications is only one of the ways in which I am unique. Here I chronicle my personal and professional goals and my efforts to achieve them. Occasionally I fail. Mostly, I take daily baby steps toward all my long-term goals. Much like the stories I pen, the songs I compose, and the businesses I run, I am always a work in progress.
December 25, 2010 at 7:54am December 25, 2010 at 7:54am
| |
My wonderful boyfriend gave me a Kindle for Christmas! I am in LOVE (the boyfriend is nice, too.) But I have a serious dilemma: What shall be my first Kindle book purchase? It's sort of a monumental decision. So I decided not to buy anything at all. I downloaded about 20 free classics, and I'm starting with Around the World in 80 Days.
So I'll see you in just under three months! Maybe I'll finally kick that computer game addiction. |
December 23, 2010 at 8:57am December 23, 2010 at 8:57am
| |
It's the holidays. I'm eating. There will be 2011 Resolutions. *nom nom nom*
Writers: Funny story. Maybe you can relate. I Just rewrote the sentence above three times to avoid a potential grammatical  . First, I wrote,
"There will be New Year's Resolutions." I stared at it for a moment, then deleted the apostrophe, because I thought, "Those resolutions belong to ME, not the New Year." I stared a few more moments. I entered "New Years Resolution" at Dictionary.com and was rewarded with a redirect to Ask.com, with a search-engine-esque list of possibly-related links, none of which looked remotely reliable. I went back to Dictionary.com and typed, "resolution." I was hoping to find a sample sentence with my sought-after subject. No dice. Screw it. I deleted the whole damn thing and replaced it with "2011 Resolutions."
I cheat like that all the time in my writing.  |
December 18, 2010 at 2:35pm December 18, 2010 at 2:35pm December 15, 2010 at 9:54am December 15, 2010 at 9:54am
| |
I want to write original songs. I want to perform them live. I want a band. I want a promoter, and albums. I have a friend from high school who is now a Facebook friend, and she's been recording and touring and has a website full of gorgeous promo shots, and I was hit with a stab of jealousy. (1) Shame on me! I should be promoting her, not envying her; I will start by buying all of her albums. (2) WE MAKE OUR OWN DESTINIES.
I saw Christian pop artist Chris Tomlin perform live here in Columbus last weekend, and the concert was great. It was in a big church, not a concert venue, but he still had professional sound and lighting, a talented band, and an amazing backup singer. WinterJam is coming in a month to the Schott, and that *is* a big concert venue. Every year, I go to WinterJam, and I feel like I missed my calling.
I knew starting a business would consume all of my time. I've dropped from six days a week at Potbelly to five. I've started to delegate out the wazoo at church, which is probably good, because it makes me a better leader, but still, I miss performing - really performing. And I miss writing original songs. I took on this small business venture, which I knew would occupy me for at least five years. After all, that's my lease commitment.
But then I started to think about it. Business is growing at more than double my original plan. When I get to 350 students, I have a budget for a site manager. The sooner I get to 350 students, the sooner I can pay off my small business loan, replace myself with a site manager, and still pay myself a small owner's salary just for being moi. And the sooner I can step away and concentrate on the next thing. It was supposed to be Studio #2 in a nearby town. Maybe it will be a performance career. In either case, it will be different
New goal: REACH 350 STUDENTS BY 12/31/2011. |
December 14, 2010 at 10:18am December 14, 2010 at 10:18am December 13, 2010 at 9:44am December 13, 2010 at 9:44am
| |
 Pending for this week, but recitals are the obvious topic. I'm waiting for my photographer, who should have pics to me early this week.
Business priorities for MTMS :
 Scheduling and retention databases.
The spreadsheet Chris created keeps track of retention, so we can incorporate it directly into the scheduling database. The one I'm going to develop. Someday.
Close October/November books and update projections and break-even
I have done some analysis, at least. The more I analyze, the more analysis ideas I generate. We have so much good data! It will be very helpful when we open Studio #2. I wonder if our competitors analyze their data?
 Fill Samplers
Um... actually, we have a piano sampler "starting" Wednesday with zero students enrolled. *cancel* We've seen a decline in both private lesson and class enrollments this month, and we're hoping it's the holiday frenzy keeping everyone at bay. They're just too busy to call us and sign up. We hope.
Drums and soundproofing.
Volunteers mounted the soundproofing and installed the door sweeps! I'm pretty sure they help. Now we need to hang soundproofing in one of the voice lesson rooms, because it has a drywalled ceiling instead of acoustical tile. That was just a cost savings, because the ceiling was already there, but a BIG MISTAKE. The echo in there is terrible. *marks that on the Studio #2 checklist*
Customer appreciation event or activity.
Once I get those recital photos, we print cute pictures framed with our logo and give them to the parents.
Hire a voice/piano instructor.
Interview is scheduled Wednesday.
Advertising.
We did manage to get into the paper this week and next and put some ad copy in the recital programs. Now I need interior signage and window signage for the studio, the former of which I hope to get hung today, but I have a flat tire. 
Prepare for recitals.
YAY! Recitals were AWESOME. The kids did great, energy was high, parents had fun, students who had been too nervous to perform in the past overcame their fears, and they're all asking when the next recital is. February, for the curious - with a  theme, of course. (Yes, I'm a marketing sellout. Or a theme nerd. Both of those.)
Launch one new performance repertoire song per week.
Nope.
One load of laundry per day.
Keith spent the day catching it all up yesterday.
Achieve a weight of 150 by 12/31/2010
Weight: ?
Meals:
7:00 Half bagel with cheese (3.5) and coffee (2)
TOTAL POINTS: 4.5 (Goal: 25)
The last couple days have been BAD. Mexican Thursday night, donuts and other sweets at church yesterday morning, Mexican again last night, and I don't even remember what I ate Saturday. Happy Monday! We start fresh again. |
December 10, 2010 at 6:14pm December 10, 2010 at 6:14pm
| |
OMG, please make it stop. The world revolves around the 9-year-old in this house, and if for a split second she doesn't get her way, I'm the "Mean Girlfriend." Never mind the fact that I'm the only one between Mommy, Daddy, and the "Mean Girlfriend" who thinks it's a *good* idea to get her the phone she wants for Christmas. Never mind the fact that I got the blender out and came up with alternative smoothie recipes when we ran out of milk. Never mind the fact that I'm willing to bring her along with me anywhere she wants to go, from church to praise band practice to music school to Potbelly. Somehow, I'm still always the bad guy and responsible for every time she doesn't get her way.
I guess I need to just suck that up, because somebody needs to teach her that you don't always get your way in real life. |
December 9, 2010 at 9:19am December 9, 2010 at 9:19am
| |
Post at MichelleTuesday.com at least once per week.
Done! Ha, ha! All I needed was this reminder. Yep. In order to remember to keep up with my MT.com blog , I just need to keep up with my WDC blog. 
Business priorities for MTMS :
 Scheduling and retention databases.
Nada. DAMN, this needs to be online. NOW.
Close October/November books and update projections and break-even
Nada. I went to see Chris Tomlin perform last night instead of working on business plans and budgets.
Fill Samplers
Um... actually, I need another student in a piano sampler that starts next Wednesday. Maybe we should call our potential students.
Drums and soundproofing.
I delegated this to the drum teacher last night, and he had a one-hour break. I wonder how much he got done. I'll find out in about a half hour.
Customer appreciation event or activity.
Nada.
Hire a voice/piano instructor.
I have resume, and am planning an interview next week. I also posted an ad on Craigslist (no replies yet) and researched Monster.com pricing. It's reasonable. I'll consider it.
Advertising.
I tried to use the online do-it-yourself advertising for a local publication, but my uploaded .pdf looks like a black blob, and that made me nervous, and I was afraid to hand over my $$ until I could see the proof properly. So I sent an email, but nobody replied. I also would like to hang some in-studio signage and window signage.
Prepare for recitals.
Working on programs. I need to include some ad copy for my December promotions.
Launch one new performance repertoire song per week.
Ha! Did you read my MT.com blog ?
One load of laundry per day.
Well, I did three yesterday. And I folded one today. (weak!)
Achieve a weight of 150 by 12/31/2010
Weight: 161.2.
Meals:
7:00 Half bagel with cheese (3.5) and coffee (1)
TOTAL POINTS: 3.5 (Goal: 25) |
December 8, 2010 at 9:09am December 8, 2010 at 9:09am
| |
My blog has always been about priorities. Ironically, keeping up with my blog has not been at the top of my priority list lately. You may have noticed.
But there are long-term goals and short-term goals, and if we fail to keep our long-term goals in front of us, we simply fail to accomplish them. And so, if I truly plan to publish my New York Times Bestseller, "How to Start a Wildly Successful Music School" or "How to Become a Famous Acoustic Folk Rock Star" or "How Michelle Tuesday Took the World By Storm: An Autobiography" (because no other author could write it quite as well as I), then I need to actually *log how I did it*. So, without further ado (okay... maybe with more ado), here are my goals and progress over the last... *scrolling down to the last time I logged my goals* twenty days or so.
Post at MichelleTuesday.com at least once per week.
I knew I was forgetting something. Maybe I should hire this out.
Business priorities for MTMS :
Scheduling and retention databases.
Gah. Sometimes this is a really big deal. Most of the time, our Excel workbook does the trick. I've been too busy fighting fires to even think about it. Maybe I should hire this out, too!
Close October books and update projections and break-even
Hmmm... we updated our projections and break-even. I have a fantastic hiring plan for office and computer lab staff. I never did close the books, and now November is done. In fact, I could review my November data and close that month as well. Duh... THAT is why my momCFO sent me an updated business plan with November data.
Fill Samplers
Eh. We have a back-up plan now, and it works great. We have a (insert a completely arbitrary, made-up, but really high number here) percent conversion rate from samplers. We love samplers. We wish all our private lesson students would start with samplers, because (1) they make us more money when they're full, and (2) we have a lower withdrawal rate from sampler-converted students.
Drums and soundproofing.
Oh, shit. I need to do this today. I should be doing that instead of blogging. I had soundproofing hung in the drum room, but we tore it down over Thanksgiving to hang it up better, and then never got back to it. Poor Drew had to teach in a disaster of a room last week. Although... he could use the band room again. It worked well on Saturday, and I'm pretty sure there are no classes in there while he's teaching tonight. Hmm... I retract the "oh, shit." I should just pay Drew to do it.
Customer appreciation event or activity - Delegated to a customer. She came up with the greatest idea: to record a holiday CD of teachers and advanced students performing to mail to all our clients.
I completely didn't do this. One of my teachers has a recording studio, and although his quote was reasonable, I thought the budget was too big during my start-up. I have another plan that I might be able to throw together quickly, but damn it, I need a frame thingy! My photographer was supposed to make me a frame (strictly digital) to go around student photos, and I would print them and send them to parents along with a holiday card. Recitals are this weekend, and she'll be there capturing the event, so I'll have photos of almost everyone. I'll have to beat her up about the frame. I fear that this goal may be neglected altogether.
NEW GOAL: Hire a voice/piano instructor.
Our first voice instructor has officially resigned due to overcommitment and a vocal polyp, and our second voice teacher, who was supposed to help relieve the load the first voice instructor was carrying, got the lead in an opera (YAY! except she had to cut her hours.) So we're in the same boat we were in a month ago, and we're still signing up students. I have stopped taking students of my own and have even been working to give away my students, because (1) OMG, I teach waayyyyy too much with all the subbing, and (2) have you SEEN my goals list??? Sheesh.
NEW GOAL: Advertising.
We are just under 100 private lesson students (about 130 students including classes), which is fantastic, because we only planned for 40 by 12/1, and we stopped advertising because we weren't sure it was bringing the students in (most found us online or drove by and saw the 30-foot sign). But the honeymoon may be over. The phones have slowed down. So we are considering our advertising strategy for the holidays. We're too late to get into many publications we would have considered, but we're trying a new weekly publication (in progress), and there's always Google advertising (done).
NEW GOAL: Prepare for recitals.
Our recitals are this weekend. This past spring, my recital was one hour long, and 30 minutes of that was taken up by my studio band, Sapphire Blaze. Our summer recital was 1.5 hours long, and Sapphire Blaze only played a couple songs. This weekend, we have three hours scheduled Saturday and three hours Sunday! Lots of students. I need programs, setup/teardown checklists, and to get the last of the students signed up.
Launch one new performance repertoire song per week.
 Launched the holiday repertoire, and even created a new folder. It's still a bit incomplete, and I probably won't make any more progress on it this season.
One load of laundry per day.
Catching up.
Achieve a weight of 150 by 12/31/2010
Weight: 163. Yes, as in higher than the last time I reported. I've even seen the scale read 64-65 range, but not consistently.
Meals:
7:30 Half bagel with cheese (3.5) and coffee (1)
11:00 Granola bar (2)
1:45 Skinny roast beef sandwich (7)
2:00 Coffee (1)
7:00 Half Wendy's double stack with a couple fries (5)
TOTAL POINTS: 19.5 (Goal: 25)
Total points Monday and Tuesday of this week were both under 30. For now, my "drop-dead" goal is to keep it under 30. This is a lifestyle change, and it's hard to turn on and off. Keeping it reasonable will keep me from bailing. I was so proud of myself yesterday when I sent the waitress away with the bread basket. Go me!
UPDATE: 163 was a few days ago. I weighed in today at 161.2. |
December 1, 2010 at 10:12am December 1, 2010 at 10:12am
| |
At MTMS, teachers have 20-minute chunks of time in their schedules. For example, Angela has an open spot on Tuesdays at 6:00. For the purposes of databasing, I want to name this 20-minute chunk of time, specifically on Angela's schedule, regardless of whether it's open or she has a student booked in the spot. Sometimes the spot is booked with a private lesson. Sometimes, it's a class (or, more likely, part of a class, since classes are longer than 20 minutes.) "Spot" and "Chunk of Time" seem like stupid words. "Session"? Not perfect, but okay if nobody comes up with a better idea.
The floor is open... Writers: Ready, Set, Go! |
© Copyright 2025 Brandiwyn🎶Prep starts 10/1! (UN: tuozzo at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
Brandiwyn🎶Prep starts 10/1! has granted InkSpot.Com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.
|
Even better if she can whistle to the tune of Mozart or something. 
Comment • View 1 comment 
, also known as Michelle Tuesday, is a musician, educator and writer hailing from Columbus, Ohio.![Merit Badge in Music
[Click For More Info]
To a dear friend whose talent for writing music is sensational. May you have a fabulous New Year, (((Brandi)))!!! *^*Kiss*^*
Big hugs,
Sherri *^*Heart*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/genre-Music-1050.gif)
![Merit Badge in Organization
[Click For More Info]
I don't know how you do it, but I assume there's magic involved *^*Bigsmile*^* I have really enjoyed this month of planning and preparation for NaNoWriMo and I love how organized it all is. Thank you for hosting a great challenge and for your dedication to helping so many of us prepare with confidence and trepidation for National Novel Writing Month (known to sane folks as 'November' *^*Laugh*^*) at your [Link To Item #1474311]](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Organization-1150.gif)
![Merit Badge in Leadership
[Click For More Info]
For your hard work, commitment, talent and innovation in running the October NaNoWriMo Preparation each year, which helps many of us get our scattered thoughts together for November's novel-writing. And also because this badge has ducks on it.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Leadership.gif)
On the bright side, I spent the whole day with Keith! He took off to help me get the tire taken care of, and it was nice to hang with him for awhile.