To my utter shock and delighted surprise, I discovered that the house remix of my track "Could This Be Love" with Cuebur and Shimza had hit no. 1 on the radio station on 5 April 2012 - two weeks ago already! The track was at no. 5 in March. This means that the music has now truly gone international! I performed the track at a gig in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, in November last year, and now it has moved onto neighbouring Namibia.

I posted the news on Facebook, and the encouragement received from family, friends and fans was amazing, as follows:

Wahooo!!! My "Bel Canto" teacher makes it to number 1 on 100FM Radio in Namibia! What an achievement! (Lisa - singing student, on HER Facebook profile)

‎"CONGRATULATIONS!!!!" ... "mWAH!". This is fantastic to say the least. The hard work is starting to pay off Rob!! (Lisa - singing student, on MY Facebook profile)

Well done Rob! This is just the beginning of a whole string of number one great hits for you all around the world!please Don't ever give up on something that will soon be a awesome future for you. Remember, don't reach for the stars, reach for the galaxys (Sascha Orlofski - fan)

WELL DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Diana Cavill - sister and brilliant novelist/scriptwriter)

2 nice (Bojwa Seewell - former music business student, DJ, music entrepreneur and fan)

Go Rob thats awesome!!! well done!! (Debbie - former colleague from my 'day job' days)

congrats my bro dats my song of da year 2011 (Harold Lebese - DJ)

You go rob!! (very proud) (Master Sdj SA - DJ)

Well, there you have it. It is wonderful to be acknowledged for one's art and craft and hard work, and when the going gets tough it's achievements like these - and the support, love and encouragement of people - that really makes the journey, which is sometimes perilous, really worthwhile.

Musica, grata Deo.

1. Always start earlier! I was only able to afford the cost of the physical production at the end of November, so I only got my stock in December. It was way too late, and I did myself a grave disservice and damaged my sales by doing it so late.


2. It always costs you more than you think it will! Stores don't take duplicated CDs, they only take replicated CDs. It's a much more expensive exercise, and the minimum quantity is 200, so save money!


3. People will let you down... I had guaranteed distribution into a whole bunch of CD stores that had been confirmed in writing. Just a few days before Christmas I still couldn't find my CD in certain stores. It was disheartening, but hey, I just had to be grateful for what I got. This leads me to my next point:


4. Nobody owes you anything! And my next point:


5. You have to get off your rear and do it yourself. This is a hard lesson to learn... Once you start doing this, and people see you are serious about your career, then they start taking you seriously. Before that, you might as well be an Idols finalist.


6. You can NEVER do enough marketing! So, I got a CD into stores. So what!???! If nobody knows about it and nobody knows who you are, then it means very little. I always say marketing has 2 simple elements to it: i) give people what they want, and ii) tell them that you have it! Sometimes knowing marketing from a book (I am doing my doctorate in marketing communications for music) is different to actually getting down and doing it on the street...


7. It's a tough and competitive world out there! Especially over Christmas, there is a lot of competition. My album was up against old Christmas favourites like Mariah Carey, Josh Groban, Andrea Bocelli and Celine Dion, and Michael Buble's new Christmas CD, which was everywhere. I was swallowed up by the big names. But I take solace from the fact that the big names were once small names too. You just gotta start somewhere...


8. I am building up my bullet-proof vest. Every time I release something new and get it out there, I am becoming more used to the hard graft involved, and I am better able to handle the disappointments and deal with the hard knocks. If the Rolling Stones go out on tour every time they release a new album (and they are a 50-year-old brand in 2012), then what the hell is my excuse?


9. If I could, I would do it all again! I have no regrets about releasing my music for all the world to hear. It is my calling. It is my telos. I will release more albums in 2012 and beyond...


10. I still love music and the music industry. I can sometimes get so discouraged by the toughness of this industry. But I have to remember what Seth Godin said: "Hey, if it was easy, everybody would be a rock star!" The truth is, I really love singing, and I really love music. That is never gonna change, no matter how much I fail. As my friend Obita always says too: "You cannot change your design. It is who you are." I just love that!

Dear Rob

At our year-end wrap-up meeting today the Demartini staff were asked to nominate the clients that they thought had been an inspiration for them in 2011, and we wanted to share the below comment that was made about you:

The Inspiring Client of the Year Award goes to ROB RODELL. He came on board as a client a bit skeptical, but has subsequently embraced the work and continues to consistently manifest new opportunities and has grown in a very real and amazing way! Rob is an inspiration for doing ‘the work’ and living his values and dreams!

We honour you Rob and thank you for being such an inspiration to us at the Demartini Institute

Wishing you a successful, empowering and loving 2012

Kindest regards

Clarissa, Gail, Heather, Hugo, Kirsten, Dana, Minalli, Maryna and Blair

GAIL FREATHY

Manager

Whenever I have a bad day this year, and in the years to come, I am going to remember this! Someone who is extremely close to me had a nephew who committed suicide last year. He had just been accepted to AFDA, the film school, where he was going to study a BA in Motion Picture - no easy task! He chose instead to end his life, causing much sorrow to those around him who were left behind. I say what a waste! If he had seen how much he could have offered the world I know he would have thought and felt differently.

I have much respect for John Demartini and his team, who have taught me to stop feeling sorry for myself and get off my bum and make a contribution to the world. That is what I intend to spend the rest of my life doing, and of course, the biggest contirbution that I want to make to the world is in the field and endeavour of music.

Carpe diem! Musica, grata Deo.

When I first met with them, I told them, "I have to do this about music, or I will never finish it." They told me initially that they wanted me to do a study on socio-cybernetics, which involves systems theory, complexity theory, and change and chaos management (think The Butterfly Effect). It would no doubt have been a fascinating study, given that the music industry is forever changed when we get a new technology (vinyl, tape, CD, MP3). But it's not as sexy as doing a study on people as music brands.

When my supervisors attended the Freddie Mercury lecture, they immediately thought of me and what a great angle this would be for my doctorate. I am so thrilled that they did. This is the kind of topic that will get me out of bed in the morning, and I can use it to build my own music brand. For the first time this year, I am actually excited about my doctorate again - and I love it, because this study will force me to build my own music career, and I have no excuses not to.

As I wrote perviously, we can sometimes not see how the things in our lives are linked, and I used to wonder what marketing communications and music had in common in my life. I see it more clearly now than ever.

As I listened to the lecture on Freddie Mercury, I felt happy, sad, angry, relieved, encouraged, discouraged, envious, inspired. My dad loved Queen, so it also reminded me of him, and I felt a twinge of nostalgia and realised again that my life is so blessed and so perfect, simply because each and every experience I have had is on the way, not in the way, as my guru/mentor John Demartini reminds us.

I also loved what the speaker said, as I asked him after the lecture if I could set up an appointment with him to discuss my doctorate. I said I wanted to do a comparative study on the biggest music brands in the world (which would probably need to include The Beatles, Elvis, Michael Jackson, and of course Freddie Mercury). He said something amazing to me, which I will remember for the rest of my life: he said they all had the balls to be different. This reminded me that in order for me to become my star, I need to have the balls to be different. He said that Freddie Mercury had the courage to grow, and the courage to face the challenges of the music world, to become a brand. As Julie Andrews sings in The Sound of Music, "I am seeking the courage I lack."

But I am gettin' there, baby... Each and every day, I grow in confidence to move my music career forward, and I am loving the journey.

Everybody bandies about the branding thing: branding this, branding that, build the brand, protect the brand. I think sometimes people have no clue what that means, but when you have had a plethora of brand experts tell you that everybody is involved in building the brand, it should come as no surprise that everybody talks about branding.

Allow me to indulge my narcissism for a minute: I actually studied branding! It was the topic for my master's degree in marketing communications. I have used that knowledge to build the Rob Rodell brand, and it has become one of my lifelong pursuits.

Imagine then, how happy I was, when I went to the Wedding Expo at The Dome in Jo'burg this past Sunday, and a woman photographer said to me, "Oh, but I've seen your logo somewhere before. Why does your name sound so familiar?" You couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I whooped with glee! I am finally building my brand's equity, and brand familiarity is slowly starting to take root. I ain't a global megastar yet, but even the world's greatest brands had humble beginnings.

This is what I live for, baby! Building a powerful music brand is the most fun in the world...