- create 2 thumbnails for GLS for their YouTube channel! 😉 - Re-record/correct vocals I recorded for Villainize and get production started! - Shoot 4 cinematic short form content reels at Wyrd Leathery and Mead (Viking themed Bar) - Finish editing notes for last week’s short form content reels at Rocky Butte! - Begin reaching out for pricing on Villainize artwork. - Begin scripting Villainize’s 3D lyric video details and requirements. If there is time (bonus): - Stop at a library by my house and pitch the Geocaching idea with their acting manager/support staff. - Create a name and title of the Lyrizone Short Series.

- Review and schedule 3 posts to 3 different platforms via buffer. - Record vocals on Friday for Villainize & resume cover design notes. - Shoot 4 conceptional reels for social media at Wyrd in Portland. - Create an impromptu style post on FB in the style that performed well earlier this week and post on Facebook on Friday afternoon. - Put together a set of 5 LUTS that I want to use for my profile and brand.

Post Into the Light to BandCamp Get together with vocalist to go over Shadow's Fall lyrics and moods for the song Maybe make another stems of Bells to Josh for the bridge of Fearless Love Social Media post

First impression (Let’s rip off the bandaid): The packaging came in very standard. No branding, no custom polymailer. At first, that felt like a red flag. It looked a little cheap compared to more personalized packaging I’ve used before. Then I noticed they ship through stamps.com, which told me something important. They’re likely optimizing for commercially viable shipping at scale instead of aesthetics. Less romantic, more realistic. Personally, I do prefer branded packaging. MyMerchGuy nailed that part and it felt more personal. Might not be a big deal to you or your customers but that’s just my little pet peeve. However, the shirt itself changed the entire perception. - Print quality was clean and accurate. Colors matched the design closely, which is always a concern when customers are ordering something they’ve only seen on a screen. I’ve had it happen, shit sucks. - Front and back prints were equally sharp. No mismatch, no fading, no weird texture differences. - I did a stretch test. This is something I always check because poorly treated prints crack or split early. Nine times out of ten, that shows up after a few washes and turns into a customer service nightmare. This one held up, thank the holiday gods. Because of that, the initial packaging concern ended up being not as detrimental and more of a personal taste thing. Next step: I’m placing another small order, one shirt and one hoodie, before making any full promotional push or switching fulfillment services completely. No rushing. No assumptions, ya know? I wanted to post this here because at least how discipline for dreamers at least for me, looks like: - Testing before scaling - Separating emotional reactions from actual product performance - Making decisions based on repeatable results, not first impressions - Coming to terms with your own mistakes and making the steps to grow from them. Hope this helps someone who’s building in a similar lane and trying to avoid learning expensive lessons the hard way.

I’m reforming the company again, specifically how I handle merchandise, and this time the focus is on keeping things realistic and sustainable. Lately, I’ve been making sure I’m not oversupplying product when the demand just isn’t there. One of my endorsement partners recently shut down their entire program. Nothing went wrong maliciously and there was no bad blood on either side. The reality was that sales across the board weren’t strong enough to justify keeping it running. They were taking losses from discounts and storefront upkeep, and I wasn’t moving enough volume to make sense of keeping the store open. We ended things clean, with mutual respect, because it was simply a business decision. Honestly, it helped knowing this wasn’t isolated to one artist. It was a widespread issue, and sometimes that perspective matters. Because of that, this became the first year since 2017 that I had to find a new company to print my shirts. Instead of turning it into a why me moment, I focused on figuring out the next move and fixing the problem. Back in the early days of my music career, there was a company called Store Frontier. The concept was simple. You paid to have the design made, and from there they handled the printing, shipping, and fulfillment. There was no inventory to manage and no risk of overstocking something you weren’t sure would sell. That model made sense for where I was at back then. Fast forward to now, Store Frontier is gone, but one of the co owners has launched a new platform called MerchYeah. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been talking with them to see if this could be the right move as I restructure again. We’re starting with a test batch to see how things go. If it works out, I plan on sharing the experience here, including an unboxing once the shirts come in. My hope is that this helps someone else who’s building their fan base the same way I did, by growing with demand instead of sinking money into inventory before it makes sense. It’s not about what happens. It’s about how you handle it, right?