07.30.2008 Wednesday: Research

Picture of: a historical marker that I pass every day on the way to the post office.

Today I: read a set of postings by Liz Warren; went to the post office; was inspired by Liz's post to pay attention to the history of my own area- so started a research project on the "Lateral 22. Over the weekend, I will write more at my storytelling blog and link this when it is done.


::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

07.29.2008 Tuesday: The Vanishing Post-Show Soda.

Picture of: me telling stories to kids in the school gym today. Musta been a wide angle lens.

Today I: made the post office run; packed up for the school show and took daughters #3 and #4 as well as cousin #3; presented two storytelling school shows; bought my assistants fountain drinks on the way home. Learned that there is a problem with counters that have cut-out holes for trash cans below, "Umm, Poppa, my drink just vanished off the counter...oh there it is down there."; followed up with client regarding previous invoice; did some historical and on-site research into some local history stories (more on that tomorrow); responded to some good comments about a new model for a storytelling conference; made a steamed colcannon dinner for my family.
::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

07.28.2008 Monday: Can You Hear Me Now?

Picture of: mail from my PO Box.*

Today I: drove out to the post office; took check from the mail and deposited it in the bank; balanced bank statements (this time of year it's easy to do LOL); prepped for tonight's telecourse; baked blueberry bread in my bread machine; presented telecourse- the conference service had many audio problems tonight- thanks for hanging in there; re-did flyer for California client that vanished off my laptop this weekend (the flyer not the client); got a package of 40 hours of audio I need to review- yikes!; prepped for school show tomorrow; created invoice for school district for July shows

*Blogish stuff: We're about 2/3 the way done with 2008 and you'll notice I post a lot of the daily minutiae of being a working artist. For example it's another picture of mail today. Although I don't post every gig I have on this blog but here is just a thought for those of you contemplating a career as a full-time artist: I hope this blog helps you to recognize the daily grind of this lifestyle. A grind like every other job also has. I am honored to work with my audiences, but the storytelling business is a business. It's not all hearts, unicorns, peace and flowers. It's a job. One I love and one I am lucky to have created...but it is a job. Our telecourse tonight was about this as well. I always appreciate your comments and thank you for sharing them.
::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com:

07.27.2008 Sunday: Blech.

Picture of: the top of daughter #3's drink cup at the fast-food place.

Today I: did a quick trip to the store; ate early lunch with daughter #3; prepped broadcast messages for Monday's telecourse; spent the rest of the day ill so there's not much to report today about my storytelling business. Food and illness not connected, btw.

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

07.26.2008 Saturday: Oodles of Noodles.

Picture of: assistants peering at rows and rows of drying homemade noodles.

Today I: took the day off and made chicken soup, spicy vegetarian soup and spinach noodles for both and was assisted by assistants daughter #4 and cousin #3. Blog of this event is at this link here.

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

07.25.2008 Friday: The Enemy is Us.

Picture of: a storm. Got it at this website.

Today I: remembered that my role is to be the lightning rod anytime somebody doesn't want to look at the future of storytelling or take it past where it is; also watched "Joan of Arcadia" running again on the sci-fi network- great quote from there: "The first rule of the game of chess is to not play the other guy's game, just play your own."; was reminded that my style of teaching is not good for those who prefer unicorns and butterflies- when you come to the "Outside In Storytelling Marketing Boot Camp" in just a few weeks (space available), I and my people will treat you like gold but I will tell you what you need to hear not what you want to hear about the realities of being a working artist; it rained like crazy tonight. Oops, I used italics and quotes at the same time.

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

07.24.2008 Thursday: Make a CD and Close a Bookstore

Picture of: the road (out the window of the van) near my house as daughter #3 takes a picture on my daily errand run.

Today I: made the errand run to the post office and bank; spoke with a client about a new creativity workshop I'd like to do for her in California; made the official annoucement to the vendors that we are closing the storytellingproducts.com store; bought a few groceries; sorted through an old stack of paperwork; presented the latest of our telecourses on making a storytelling CD; spoke afterwards to a new coaching client regarding their audio work.
::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

07.22.2008 Tuesday: Of Chocolate Chips

Picture of: me telling stories to the 2nd grade and under group at a local summer school show.

Today I: prepped for the storytelling school show and talked with their staff; travelled to the show and set up with daughters #1 and #3; performed two shows; did the post office run; attended yet again more marketing telecourse-workshops presented by others; laid out the plan for new storyteller products to be released from Storyteller.net; posted a blog about today's show; ate daughter #3's cookies she baked- nicely done.

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

07.21.2008 Monday: Teaching and Learning

Picture of: the schedule for the Tuesday school shows I am doing this month.

Today I: took my kids to the movies and the other kid to work; did a post office run; at the bank, dealt with a bounced check presented to me by a client- mistakes happen but yikes it's expensive; updated and adapted the "Ancient Secrets" telecourse; presented the telecourse; worked on a new "back of the room" product; attended a telecourse presented by another person; started to inventory what promo products I have and which I do not have; prepped through some ideas for the school show tomorrow; answered emails I was behind on; spoke to a person on the phone who was mad I did not return their sales call- that's just a low priority for me; realized I don't have enough energy to respond to all the blogs I'd like to respond to; realized that I can't spell "tomorrow" and "scissors" ever correctly the first time.
::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

07.17.2008 Thursday: TeleCourses Some More

Picture of: My oldest daughter (young adult) playing on the floor with kittens. She volunteers (around 5 years now) at a no-kill shelter every Thursday. Folks, please get your animals spayed or neutered. Really.

Today I: did the last of this week's TeleCourses. Three in a row; set up registrations for future Telecourses; responded to inquiries about future show dates for some libraries; researched a new project for corporate tellers; replied to conversations on a forum about working challenging gigs; ran to the bank and post offices many times over the last few days; weeded out old Emails that were clogging my mail system'; updated my mailing address database; began work on a letter to "lost clients"; created some coaching offers
::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

07.13.2008 Sunday: Rain. Opportunities

Picture of: daughter #4 walking around in our rain-soaked back yard today after one of our monster (really) monsoon storms.

Today I; exchanged emails with a California man who wants to work a joint-venture project with me creating stories for some of his work- interesting; worked on the storytelling store and created some coupons; took my family to the bookstore; picked up the eldest daughter; enjoyed the rain (when taking the picture for today, daughter asks me, "Is this going to be in your blog?"); listened to tons of training .mp3's; answered Emails; wrote lessons for my free email training course; checked the registrations for this week's free telecourses (wow!); goodnight
::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

07.12.2008 Saturday: TeleCourses

Picture of: the outline for the TeleCourse I presented earlier today.

Today I: took my eldest daughter to work much earlier than I ever see the sun, let me tell you; reviewed the "So You Want to be a Professional Storyteller" telecourse notes; presented the telecourse- we had more folks on the call than ever; must remember to include a brief moment or two on etiquette for telecourses- if you are in a noisy environment, then move or mute your phone; did the bank and post office run; worked on distribution files for other events; researched another telecourse style; answered emails; did some phone coaching; watched a movie with my wife and kids

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

07.11.2008 Friday: Old Stuff

Picture of: old pictures of me and my performing arts troupe ("Friday's Faces") from years back: we started in 1986.

Today I: talked at length on the phone with someone who may be coming to Arizona for the next "Outside In Storytelling Marketing Boot Camp.";sorted through tons of old paperwork including old press kits from 15-20 years ago; sorted through (my wife did most of the sorting) old paperwork from our old "brick and mortar" store and training center we had back in 1993/94; I will have to blog on daughter #4's reaction to the idea that her parents had a center with a bookstore, "Wow...were you rich?" "No, we weren't"; worked on new registration forms for more of this month's free telecourses; sent out a storyteller.net update which I realized I have not done in some time; picked up my van from the repair shop and exchanged a huge pile of money for the keys...sigh; went shopping for frozen pizza and treats for family dinner; watched "Joan of Arcadia" on TV; listened to two conference calls on book marketing and unique speaking niches...fascinating
::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

07.08.08 Tuesday: "Hot" School Show

Picture of: me telling at summer-school program today.

Today I: slept in a bit, my brain hurts; ran my morning errands to the bank and post office; grabbed a quick early lunch and wrote notes; talked to a school district about a semester of school shows; packaged up my school show equipment, was pleasantly surprised when my daughters #3 and #4 decided to go with; picked up daughter #1 from work (planned for her to go) and drove out to school show; set up and presented two storytelling school shows- split ages are best- I especially love it when the adolescents stop breathing while listening; building had a choice between an air conditioned gym that had the loudest a/c fan EVER or a room that was 1/2 as quiet and no a/c, we were between a loud rock and hot spot; finished the show, took detour to have oldest kid look for copies of rare books at booktrade store; attended a great teleconference on corporate marketing; prepped for my teleconference Wednesday morning; fixed registration form for Tuesday's teleconference
::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

07.07.08 Monday: Picking and Chosing.

Picture of: pile of letters on my desk, waiting to go out tomorrow.

Today I:Over the last few days I: Laid low for the holidays and worked out what to keep and what to throw away; updated my mailing database with another handful of new clients and interested parties; worked through some registration issues for the OISBC Marketing event; produced a mailing for a super deal on camp registration- I can't tell you HOW DEEPLY I FEEL THE NEED FOR YOU TO JOIN US AT THIS CAMP in August of you are trying to build your business- a hard economy makes it a GREAT time for marketing opportunities; had dinner with a kid who used to be in one of my youth groups a long time ago, he's not such a kid now; edited audio files for release; added more lessons to the free Ecourse I am running (join); rewrote the scripts for the next free TeleConferences (join them too); prepped show order for school show tomorrow; sorry for missing days with you, some days there is only so much energy left in my fms-filled days; spoke on the phone to a storyteller in a nearby state about the state of storytelling in our states.
::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::

07.01.2008 Tuesday: Hey, We're 1/2 Way Through 2008.

Picture of: school kids gathering for my summer school storytelling show today.

Today I: updated and recreated my Google Adwords promotions; prepped equipment for storytelling school show; drove my eldest to work; drove to and set up for school show; performed one-hour storyteller show for kids; packed it up and drove back towards my side of the city across 116F/45C temps; met with my hotel contact for the August "Outside In Storytelling Boot Camp" to talk about final meeting room spaces. You really want to come to this camp in August. Sell something you own to raise funds if you must, but come. Small intimate group. Come join us; did some postings online with some author who I think needs therapy not a publisher; read some powerful marketing advice from the guy who wears the question mark suits on television;

::C2008. Picture blog for storyteller Sean Buvala ( www.seantells.com). My written blog is at www.seanblogs.com::