Hello friends… I just wanted to check in here to say hello and share my journey.  My name is Jason Scheff and I have a pretty crazy story as we all do… we’re musicians/artists!  haaaaa

I’ve been the tenor lead vocalist and bass player for the band Chicago having replaced Peter Cetera when he went solo in 1985.

I was a snot nosed kid, or shall we say, *something* in the nosed kid that caught a great break and enjoyed several years of the dream… making some hit records, singing some, writing some… it was wonderful.

I also was right inside the belly of the beast watching the industry decline, in the 90s.  It was ALL about the undervalue of the c.d.

1, maybe 2 songs being good and the rest crap.  Not because I’m in the band but we always were trying to put a great *album* together.

But what was really weird was when it was all changing and it looked like our recording days were over.  We were fortunate to have the *book* though and it still keeps us touring.

But what about new music?  It was really dormant for many years… I started going back to Nashville through a kid leaving me a message at a gig… the kid was the bass player for Rascal Flatts, Jay DeMarcus.  He woke me up in 2002 and I started going back to Nashville and caught fire, for really the first time, as a songwriter.  Wrote a TON over a span of 2 years.  Culminating into Chicago 30 which was really my baby.  Wrote 7 of the 12 songs including a duet with Rascal Flatts… only to see the record NOT sell… not on the level we/they were used to anyway.

So the climate was very dismal.  Looked like we wouldn’t be doing it anymore… but I was still cranking… just didn’t know what to do with the music.  (I was still thinking like the rest of them… major label artist… HAS to be big)

I started searching for alternate ways to plug the holes of royalties plummeting so I ventured into other business ideas and stumbled into the world of internet marketing… 

Took several courses and they always intrigued me.  I knew there was something there… but, nobody I had connected with really knew what to do with me.  Jeff Walker, Ryan Deiss, etc. but I kept studying…

And then….. Oszajca!  HAAAAAAA!  Sorry John but it’s fanboy time from me!  

Since I’m pretty fluent with all the technical stuff… wordpress and how things work, I got MMM 3.0 a couple of weekends ago while on the road over the weekend and put my funnel together… a simple one… just like it says in MMM… only wrote a blog post with my new sidebar opt in and immediately got about 65 or 70 opt ins.

I did a webinar yesterday and pretty much told the 70 people who showed up that I’ve found my path.  I am an INDEPENDENT ARTIST.  What that means is someone who HAS to create, and follow through to deliver… I’m looking for my tribe and they are showing up.

I have to thank John right here for the clarity.  Not only are you a completely legit artist but SO bright, focused and a great teacher.

As anybody who’s studied some of these sales and marketing gurus… the step by step style is SOOOO money.  And I just got my first couple of people saying they couldn’t download the stuff, (smartphone)… I just listened to the lesson on how to set up podcasts for smartphone delivery… I mean, come on you guys!  Brilliant!

Obviously I’m over the moon… I have several people in the funnel about ready to get the LTO so we’ll see what happens but I’m just so grateful to have a plan now.  I’ve been giving for years… webcasts… streaming jams, etc. giving my tunes away but never had the focused choreography or marketing because in the end… if the music isn’t getting done… getting distributed… nobody wins.

I wrote John an email that I’m sure was probably way too long, just like this post!  And Steve today in response to a tech question about the Viral Music tool… so again, I’ll apologize for my lengthy rant and promise not to make a habit of it… just wanted to document the beginning here of what I anticipate to be a great relationship with this group.

Oh… and if anybody wants to check out my squeeze page, and my album page, (for now), I’ll give the links here… 

I’ll look for a proper place in the forum to post for critique because I want it.

Thanks again gang… 

All my best to everybody out there.

Jason

jasonscheffmusic.com

jasonscheffmusic.com/