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MZ Hi Melinda, it’s such a privilege to be able to
interview you. Please, tell us briefly about your background? I am a former school teacher and I grew up signing all of my life. I am not from a musical family at all but my family is very close and we all love ministry. I am the youngest of two girls.
MZ You’ve been writing since the age of 12, how
would you describe your music, does it belong in any particular genre and what influences your
style? My style is influenced by the women of Gospel like Shirley Ceasar, Yolanda Adams, Cece Winans, as well as other country artists like Shania Twain, Reba McIntyre, Natalie Grant.. I have a ‘jumbalya’ in my heart and it comes out in my music!
MZ Could you explain to us here in the UK what ‘Gospel Dream’ is? Gospel Dream is the Gospel version of American Idol.. and it is on the Gospel Music Channel network..Contestants from all around the US compete and I was blessed to be the 2008 winner! MZ Tell us about your personal experience when you auditioned for Gospel Dream? I was very reluctant because I wasn’t sure if it was what God wanted me to do.. But once I got there Martha Munizzi said “you are the one to beat “ it was a lot of pressure, but I also knew then that it was God’s plan for me to be there. I had a lot of fun in the process and the people were really great! MZ As well as your music, you have founded two charities called ‘Heaven’s House for Girls’ and ‘Project Sunday’, please tell us what they are about? These are local charities that support at risk teenagers. These programs provide a safe haven for young girls and it gives them an outlet from their surroundings that are potentially negative for their lives. MZ You’ve worked with some great producers in the industry for you album ‘People Get Ready’ such as PAJAM, Bernie Herms, Aaron Lindsey and Fredwah. How did this come about and what was those experiences like? I prayed for them!! LOL I really wanted to work with producers that
had the same kind of heart and work ethic that I did. I knew they would be able to take the music in a certain place.. So I prayed that they would say yes and they did!
MZ What do you want people to
experience when they listen to your music? I want people to believe again.. To realize that we have a hope, we have a God is is all powerful and no matter what kind of times we are living in God is in control. I want people to remember their first love!
MZ What advice would you give to up-coming artistes, who aspire to achieve what you have managed to achieve to date? I would say grow where you are planted.. Be committed to your church and your spiritual coverings. I would say.. be diligent in the things that God has asked you to do and the things you know you should do!! Prepare yourself..as much as you can and God who is ultimately in control will give you what you need and desire at the right time.. Just trust God to do everything! So now that you have launched your album, what else should we expect from Melinda Watts in the coming year? I will be on a fall tour… I even have another mini project that I am working on.. Expect me to really get involved in my community and impact the lives of children/teens that are at risk..Expect me to keep great music in my heart and hopefully in the ears of the people!!
MZ
Contact Details: Public Relations Back2BackPR International Carol Crawford +1206.355.9543 back2backpr@hotmail.com
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by Ewan Denny People are ruled by their emotions, and emotions are contagious. If someone yawns, you yawn. If you see them laugh, eventually you will laugh. If you watch a sad movie, you might cry. A sales man should think positively when making a sale and have these expectations or else if he seems not to care or shows no energy, the prospect is less likely to buy. Every time a person comes into contact with a company, he leaves feeling better or worse, or the same about it and it’s how those employees manage those moments of truth every day which ultimately determine how successful the business will be.
In times like these, when the credit crunch is having such a serious adverse effect on the lives of us all, it is even more important for people in business or who are self employed and working for themselves, to do all that they can to win new customers. This is not an easy thing to do because there will always be competition from your business rivals and so it is critical that the skills and competencies required for creating new customers are learnt, and indeed mastered. A sales man must show enthusiasm in what he is selling because people will be more convinced by attitude than logic.
Resolve a complaining customers problem on the spot and the odds are heavily in your favour that he will do business with you again. Mishandle the complaint and you lose him forever, not to mention the 8-10 people that he will tell. Remember this important fact – you as the business owner or manager may allocate the money, but it is the customers who determine how much of it there is! Winning and keeping customers depend on rewarding people. Fancy sales pitches, high powered marketing strategies and clever advertising can be very important attention getters and they persuade people to become your customer but keeping customers for any period of time depends on how well you reward them.
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How to create customers for your business
Furthermore, it’s the rewarded customer who tells everybody else just how wonderful your product or services are that in turn creates more customers. Customers only spend their money for two things, good feelings and solutions to problems. People don’t usually buy what they need but what they want and what they want is based on feelings. People buy with feelings then justify their purchase with logic. For example, you need food but you want a steak for dinner tonight. You need transportation but you want that BMW convertible that you saw in the showroom last week. And once you decide that you really want it, you will think up lots of reasons for buying it, such as it gives good mileage, it’s easy to park, and the dealer threw in free insurance for one year. So you buy and convince yourself that it was a sound business decision. But that’s not the real reason that you bought the car. You bought it because of how you will look driving that down the road. The admiring looks that you will get as you look so cool behind the wheel. The feeling of success that you will feel
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and what such a flash car will do for your image. In short, you bought the car because it makes you feel good. It’s feelings not logic that causes people to buy in the vast majority of cases. People buy where they feel good about parting with their money. The secret is to use emotions and logic in your selling. Emotion causes customers to buy but logic keeps them sold and coming back. Don’t sell if you believe they are making the wrong decision, just explain it to them, back off and leave it up to them. Otherwise they will suffer from “post decision remorse” in other words, they will leave happy but wake up in the morning and regret buying it. Then they will return for their money back.
Ewan Denny’s book ‘The Marketing of Jesus Christ’ can be purchased from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other leading stores.
For business advice or speaking engagements contact Ewan Denny on 07962 630 724
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