Another week of Music Success in Nine Weeks and we finally come to something I'm admittedly pretty bad at - networking in real life.

One of the strengths I've developed over the last few years is socializing online - working from home has helped that along, but at the detriment of my "real" social skills. Some days I don't talk to anyone other than my family at home and most of my conversation is with myself - I have to say I'm pretty good company! Why, thanks Me - you're not so bad yourself!

So this chapter offers advice on talking to people, and most importantly being memorable. Ironically the best way to do this is to let other people talk about themselves - something I try to do if possible. I have a very good memory for some things, but remembering people's names has always been tricky for me. I need to start to use their names directly when I talk to them - I think it's a habit that will develop and get easier.

I use technology to help me develop a relationship with somebody - my computer/iPhone address book not only contains the information you'd expect (Name, phone number, email) but also any information I pick up on them. For example: their anniversary; names of their kids and partner; hobbies and interests... it gives me something I can always take a quick peek at in order to get a conversation started.

Just like the book says, I've found it's often best to try to start up a conversation with somebody who isn't directly related to the music industry or your career. That lady picking her kids up from school might be married to a record producer. The guy sitting alone at a bar might have a son who is a fantastic drummer. The butcher's best friend might be the owner of the hottest music venue in town.

I have one saving grace in my networking skill set - I am a pretty good listener. I have to try to avoid getting caught in the trap of talking to other good listeners who feed questions that result in me talking about myself too much, but if I can do that I find listening and looking interested very easy!

I'm a bit late this week blogging about chapter 7 of Music Success in Nine Weeks because I've needed to let this one sink in a bit and try to let my mind do it's own thinking outside of the box.

The aim is to build my email newsletter list. Making sure family and friends are included was the first step and was simple enough – nobody has asked not to be on the list... yet! The next step is to approach other more casual acquaintances and I'm in the process of doing that now.

The web site is already set up to try to persuade people to part with their email address in exchange for free downloads. However I've not found this to be particularly effective – I think people still have a sense of insecurity in giving away their details. I'm going to try putting a prominent notice alongside the signup form to try to reassure potential subscribers that their information is safe. Hopefully that will catch some of those people who have hesitated and changed their minds.

I have a number of ideas for getting new subscribers at live concerts, but at the moment I'm not gigging so I'm going to keep some of these private for the time being (I want to be the first!). Ideas revolving around raffles, competitions and giveaways do sound like they could be very effective though so I'm excited about trying them out.

There's another idea I may try – aiming for the local market. I've got a huge pile of business cards that I've never used. I'm thinking about writing on the back of them – something like "Local area musician seeks your support - free download on the web site" and then getting rid of them by posting them through letterboxes, leaving them in cafes, on the bus etc. Also, I've got an idea for approaching local newspapers that could gain some interest.

Ariel suggests putting time aside each week to concentrate on building your newsletter list – a great idea because it's something that would otherwise be put on the "I'll do that when I've got more time" list and would never get any attention.

So, that's this week – anyone reading who wants to join the newsletter list can do so simply by using the signup form, or the "free downloads" button at http://jestamusic.com – and I'd be very glad to have you!!

It's often said that "content is king" and during the course of reading Music Success in Nine Weeks I'm beginning to realize just how true this is. A lot of the notes I've taken recently have started with the word "More" - more photos, more video, more anecdotes, more audio... of course the word "Better" should always be applicable too! The whole content creation process comes together to provide a backbone for this week's topic in the book - connecting with fans using newsletters.

Firstly, if you'd like to sign up to receive the newsletter, it's simple to do so – just use the mailing list form on this webpage, or if you have any trouble just contact me and I'll add you. I have a strict policy of not giving out your email address to spammers, or anybody else for that matter. I'll send newsletters no more than 2 or 3 times a month unless there's particularly exciting news, and you'll be amongst the first to hear about any competitions, free downloads and much more.

So, obviously a newsletter is potentially a great way to contact people – unlike social networks people know that important things come into their email box and are far more likely to check it regularly and far less likely to ignore things - particularly if the content is good.

I've drafted up a few ideas for future newsletters and it's become very obvious that having those "More" things I mentioned is going to be of great importance otherwise the newsletter is going to be somewhat sparse! I need to begin to document my music creation more often, so that I'll have plenty of content to choose from that may be of interest to my fans.

The next step is to begin to get into the habit of sending newsletters regularly – just like blogging it's probably one of those things that becomes much easier the more you do it!