Wow 😱...

I wanted to do some research on how I can promote my blog. I want it to get it out there. I'm trying everything.."I can".. to get people to listen to my music.

Off course I knew I'll find a ton of information. We live in the internet age now. However something struck me like hammer on the head....Here is what real blogs look like. I feel like a kindergarten kid looking at college jockeys and cheerleaders.  I think what I'm doing should just be called "blo" without the "g". It doesn't qualify yet 😂😭

Anyhow, here are two great links for people who want to promote their blogs:
(I didn't do much search. These were my first finds. First page on Google)

https://coschedule.com/blog/how-to-promote-your-blog/#automatedcontentpushes

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/blog-promotion-tactics#sm.000l7x1is1e56fsexjd1egrsocfrt

When you read them, please share with me, since I only scrolled through the documents, with my mouth opening wider, the further I went down the page 😳 That's a lot of information and tactics. I need more hands and brain.

Here is something I spent some time on. The Music Video for "Down The Aisle"

I know the video is not perfect but I'm proud of it. You should've seen the first 4 cuts 😬

It took me around seven months to create this video. Here is how it came about.

While working on "Down The Aisle", I knew that I needed a video to increase the chance of exposure. People are more visual on the internet. They are more receptive to hear a song accompanied by a video, if the video is good enough.

I always felt the song is a celebration of love, and thought that either a compilation video or a 2D animated video would be great. I had no budget but wanted to do something decent at least.

Sometime in February 2016 while still producing the song, I started searching the net for videos. I had a story in mind and wanted to see if I can find videos to tell it.

I was really let down by my initial search. It was very hard finding quality videos plus the internet connection in Egypt is so bad, downloading and cataloguing was gonna take forever. I thought about scrapping the idea.

I started thinking about outsourcing the video. I thought about releasing the song and asking people to help me create the video. I thought about creating the 2D animated video. I even went as far as trying to contact a director who had great stop motion work on the internet. I thought if he replied, I'll just say "To hell with it" and spend whatever money I have to create the video. 

Thank God he didn't answer 😂

The animated video would've followed the narrative of the compilation video but with more story and faster pace. It would've played something like the opening montage in Disney's "Up".

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Verse 1: Meeting. Falling in Love. Prom and Graduation.

(I dabbled with the idea of starting with line art (Black and white). Their pupils become colored when they meet eyes. Then color builds up. For example, when they touch hands, color spreads a little, on them and the surroundings. Full color with the first kiss)

Chorus 1: Proposal, marriage.

Verse 2: Moving in small apartment. Living together. Promotion. New house.

Chorus 2: Pregnancy. Preparing for the baby. Excitement. 

Bridge 1: Accident. The woman loses the child. She can't get anymore.

Guitar Solo: They're in the dark. Slowly, they come out together. Adopt a girl.

Chorus 3: Girl birthday. Girl growing. Leaving to college.

Bridge 2:  Girl Brings boyfriend. Her marriage. Giving birth. Grand kids grow. Big family photo.

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It would've been cool to see this. 

Since a lot of times I chicken out. I decided it's not wise to spend everything I have on something I'm not sure would bring any return. I'm not alone.

I came back to the compilation idea. Back at square one, but this time I had no other option.

I upgraded my internet connection. 4MB is the maximum my line can handle 😖

It's Ok, I'll work with what I have. I started seriously around June, 2016.

I probably watched thousands of videos. I knew I needed around 200, 2 second clips. I downloaded around 1500 potential videos. Some were extremely long. I needed to fit the story with what I can find and work around what I can't find. I dabbled with long distance relationships, homecoming, following the lyrics visually, etc. I tried many things and I would go back and download more videos.

The first few cuts were terrible, at least according to the few people I showed them to. I was also not convinced it was good enough.

I didn't work on the video in chronological order. I started that way but ended up changing so many things. The first scenes to stay in their places were the proposal scenes. Followed by the marriage scenes. The marriage scenes were supposed to end by the end of the bridge but got extended until the beginning of the last chorus. That was a relief since the guitar solo was giving me nightmares.

I kept going back and forth, making changes and getting feedback. Choruses were the easiest and verses were the hardest. It was easy to find videos for occasions (Prom, marriage, etc). It was very hard to push the story forward during the verses.

Wow.. I wrote too much....

Eventually, I finished it in the first week of January 2017. It came out good.

I made the assumption that people will share it because these kinds of videos are extremely popular on the internet. And boy was I wrong...