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"Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.”  

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 A new innovation in web-sites? [ this will work for you  ]

Stroke is a killer  [learn this simple way to recognise one]

Les Paul R.I.P.

Testimonials

Subscriber's Section [ the best way to handle lots of Emails? ]

The gags: .....      [ Rude but funny? From Paul. ] 

 

A new innovation in web-sites? [ this will work for you  ] 

My son is a top show biz. consultant and has astonished me in telling that, in his experience, it is rare to see an agent/promoter/management friendly site selling an artist’s/songwriter’s wares.. 

So, he has designed the ultimate agent friendly site … in fact he has designed four top sites and now is in a position to provide a service for artists and music makers to have the same cutting edge site working for them. 

The reason the sites are so good is they are a ‘one stop’ solution … every bit of information is available in the one, short, slick, ‘today’ presentation … biography, gallery of high resolution pictures, High Resolution Banner for posters/flyers … High Resolution Poster for editing … Video snippets, Audio snippets and the all important diary …. Finally, precise, complete contact details and a personalised Email ready to be sent by the agent searching the site. 

Database collection is included on each page plus Twitter, Facebook and MySpace. 

Check out http://www.DecCluskey.co.uk launched this week .. this site is to promote the ‘speaking’ side of my career .. which I adore doing. 

Then Email me at info@DecCluskey.co.uk should you want a site in similar fashion for your music business … I will then give you all contact details for Oliver, my son, responsible for the design. 

 

“Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.”  

Stroke is a killer  [learn this simple way to recognise one] 

A top neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim within  3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a stroke...  totally . He said the trick was getting a stroke  recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient medically  cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.  

RECOGNIZING  A STROKE – this could save a life.  

Remember the '3'  steps, STR . Read and Learn!  

Sometimes symptoms of a  stroke are difficult to identify. The stroke victim may suffer severe  brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms  of a stroke.  

Now doctors say a bystander can recognize  a stroke by asking three simple questions:   

S  * Ask the individual to  SMILE.

T  * Ask the person to TALK  and SPEAK A SIMPLE SENTENCE (Coherently)(i.e. It is sunny out  today.)

R  * Ask him or her to  RAISE BOTH ARMS.  

If he or she has  trouble with ANY ONE of these tasks, call emergency number  immediately and describe the symptoms to the  dispatcher.  

New Sign of a  Stroke -------- Stick out Your Tongue  

Another  'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person to 'stick' out his  tongue.. If the tongue is 'crooked', if it goes to one side or  the other , that is also an  indication of a stroke.

 

“I'm not a complete idiot -- Some parts are just missing.”  

Les Paul R.I.P. 

When I think who influenced me most in recording techniques and innovation I always think of one man … Les Paul.  He died this past week aged 94 … a good innings?  And still playing gigs. 

I always advise new guys coming into this business to read and study everything about this man … how he designed the first solid electric guitar … and his Les Paul design is still the Industry Standard.  How he designed the first multi track tape recorders … developed the sel-synch idea for multi tracking … became the first to ‘do it all himself’ … yes, every instrument on the records was played by him. 

Make a study of Les … his You Tube stuff … his life story …. His astonishing talent and genius in every respect … and the fact that he was still playing and sitting up all night answering Emails from all and sundry until he died …. He did not know what ‘rest’ was ….  Les Paul … an inspiration…. Thank you Les. 

Start your education at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiJZDg3RT6s … then progress to the tracks with Mary Ford and the live stuff …. Wow!   Then go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdrHVwJKrJM&feature=fvw

Then prepare to be amazed http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4E8OrHAMa4&feature=related

And finally …. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CNJ0txKXSo&NR=1 

But I will bet you will spend half the day marvelling at these videos … I know I did! 

Jim Marshall [the guitar amp man] once told me of the many times he met and hung out with Les … “I love him dearly but I can never get used to that “kissing on the lips” thing!”

 

“Out of my mind.  Back in five minutes.” 

Testimonials 

“Hi Dec

We’ve swapped emails in the past, and I found your course on ‘making money from music’ a great help in setting up my business.

I’ve just finished a book with my thoughts on business, with a reference or two and a ‘thank you’ to you, and sent you a complimentary copy.

Best wishes

Paul Hurst”

“NyQuil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning

        medicine.”

 

Subscriber's Section [ the best way to handle lots of Emails? ]  

“Hi Dec 

Question:  Oh ok. I see. You're a pretty busy man - then 300+ emails a day - that's crazy. I could probably boast that many too - but it's all spam! :)- 

R****** 

My Reply:    

Our rules are "one short reply to ONE question on music FOR NON-MEMBERS, Members of 'The Serious Writers Guild' have unlimited personal access to Dec by direct telephone, Fax and Email, apply at https://secure.mistral.co.uk/makehits/swgappsecure.htm ".     

[Any advice given here shall not be deemed as financial or legal advice under any existing or future laws of any country] 

R****** 

We have found that Sp*m eradication is something you have to work at hard for a few weeks.  Then gradually it gets easier. 

We concentrate on 'unsubscribing' ... the genuine sites and Emails will always have that facility. 

Then your ISP should supply a good anti sp*m system before the Emails get to you.  We pay a lot for our business ISP and they give us a system we can tweak ourselves on-line. 

Then we have our 'Outlook' tweaked pretty well to take care of the p*rn stuff and vi*gra etc. 

Sadly, we have a lot of downright malicious emailing to me .... this is designed to clog our systems and not a lot we can do about it.  They have random generated Email addresses .. they are aimed at our pop-ups and subscription pages plus our URL link applications.  So it also clogs up our Mailloop system [this picks up and organises subscribe/unsubscribe requests].  Mailloop is an indispensible tool in our office …. Quite the best database and newsletter organising software we have seen.  http://www.marketingtips.com/mailloop/t.x/633813 

The cheeky sods who organised that malicious clogging of our systems actually warned us they were going to do it!  So now they have their systems permanently in place churning out this rubbish directed at us.  It is easy to spot, however. 

All in all, we feel that we are getting more and more sophisticated .... so the 300+ emails are mostly taken care of by Mailloop and I have to attend personally to about 30-40 per day. 

I've made a lot of mistakes in my life -- some of them pretty embarrassing. But I have to admit, the BIGGEST mistake I made with my business is not automating sooner... particularly my e-mail chores.  

If you're a perfectionist like me, you want to be closely involved in every aspect of your business. You want to talk to every customer... send every package... and personally respond to every e-mail.  

But holy cow! It doesn't take long for all that time to add up until you're spending 6-7 hours per day on e-mail!  

So the personal touch may be nice -- but it may be KILLING your profits and leaving you with NO free time!  

A marketing expert by the name of Derek Gehl, the boss of Internet Marketing Center really opened my eyes about this...  

Derek tells this great story about how, when he was just starting out, he and his team AVOIDED automating -- everything! And it nearly killed them.  

At first, they worked "regular" hours, but then as the business grew, their e-mail snowballed out of control until he was working from 10 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. EVERY DAY!  

That's when Derek says they really "hit the wall"...  

But you know what? Fast-forward to today, and they're making a whopping $7.6 million in online sales. And $2.2 million of that is from e-mail marketing!  

And you know how they did it? They automated their e-mail using that extremely powerful piece of software called "Mailloop" that they had custom built.  The one we use. 

If you're in the same boat, or you're planning to grow your business BIG, definitely check out Derek's software at:  

http://www.marketingtips.com/mailloop/t.x/633813 

Regards

Dec [Cluskey]  dec@makehits.com  

2 Gold discs in 2008!  Decca have relaunched their ‘World Of’ series on the back of those hits.  Readers Digest are now promoting a triple album set …. Do you think I can help your music career succeed?  

Check out 'How to Make A £Million From your Music' at http://www.makehits.co.uk.  Secure purchase at https://secure.mistral.co.uk/makehits/swgappsecure.htm or fast cred*it card line: +44 1323.728005 or UK 01323.728005 

Please consider the environment, do you really need to print this email?  

 

 “How to Make A $Million From Your Music”. To see the course go to http://makehits.com/products090707/million.html   fast cred*it card line: +44 1323.728005 or UK 01323.728005

 

To purchase go direct to: https://secure.mistral.co.uk/makehits/swgappsecure.htm 

“3 Minutes on the Radio with Dec” …. Available immediately at http://www.myspace.com/makehits 

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The gags: .....      [ Rude but funny? From Paul. ]  

Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams & Elton John were walking over a  bridge. 

Kylie trips and gets her head jammed between the railings. 

With a couple of sideways glances Robbie pulls down her knickers and sh*gs her senseless. 

He stands back. "Your turn", he tells Elton. 

But Elton starts crying. 

"What's up?" asks Robbie. 

Elton sobs, "My head won't fit between the railings!"

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