Promotion and the art of self-promotion are key. Here are some tips on how to get your music heard outside of your immediate area and circle of people:

• Give away your CD to clubs and restaurants — or any other place that plays music. It's a great way to get heard. With luck, it just might get played, and someone is bound to ask, “What was that?”

• Get your local record stores to stock your CD. It's great exposure.

• Start with your own Web site. What, you don't have one? Get one! It's now expected that you will have one. Get your CD and sound samples on there too.

• Post a page with a site that hosts songs for free. Such sites ( www.iuma.com are two examples) are haunted regularly by many adventurous Internet music seekers looking for up-and-coming music. You get a simple page with your music, links to your site, and places to buy your CD. Many bands have gotten their start this way and you can too. Harness the power of the Internet.

Promotion is all about creating excitement and buzz about a product. The more work you do to create excitement for your project the better you will do. Use the examples above or try your own. In the end, success is the end result of a great deal of legwork and hard work. Promotion takes patience and diligence. You can do it!