January 1, 2001 -- Resolve this year to live a more healthy lifestyle. One significant concept in Taoist thought is the concept of Ch'i or life energy. Taoists believe that Ch'i is the basic energy source in nature. Cultivating Ch'i keeps a person healthy. Whether you subscribe to this belief or not, you can still benefit from its basic tenets. According to author Laurence Boldt in his groundbreaking book, "The Tao of Abundance", there are ten simple ways to cultivate Ch'i: "(1) Be cheerful, (2) Breathe, (3) Move your body, (4) Rest your body, (5) Master your emotions, (6) Meditate, (7) Simplify, (8) Spend time in nature, (9) Eat well, and (10) Cultivate an awareness of your surroundings." It all sounds simple enough to implement in your daily routine. In practice, following this advice takes hard work. Still, as it's often said: an ounce of prevention ...
January 8, 2001 -- Have you ever thought of bartering products and services with other people? For example, let's say you need a guitar part for a project studio track, but have no money to pay the player. Offer the guitarist free studio time in exchange for her playing on one of your tracks. The guitarist can use her time to record a demo, for instance. You need to be aware that the IRS has specific rules covering bartering in business situations. You must record these exchanges as regular business income and expenses. However, when this trade is like/kind, the affect on your taxes is zero. Following the above example, let the guitarist bill you for her time on your track and then you bill her the same amount for your studio time. The two invoices effectively cancel each other out. She owes you no money and you owe her none either. More importantly, you both have the legitimate paperwork you need for your tax preparation.
January 15, 2001 -- Once again, Turner Classic Movies is sponsoring the Young Film Composers Competition. You score a short segment from a silent film to enter the competition. If you win, you get to score a whole movie with help from some industry pros. This could be a terrific opportunity for those of you wanting to break into the film music field. Even if you decide not to enter the contest, you might want to download the segments and try your hand at composing for film anyway. I'm doing one myself (unfortunately, I'm too old to enter to contest). You can get all the details and download the clips by following this link.
January 22, 2001 -- Several computer problems forced a complete reinstall recently. Therefore, I thought I'd share my backup strategy (which saved my butt) in case the same happens to you. Backing up to CDRs is probably the most efficient method today. Your backup strategy should include computer files such as system files, programs, tweaks, patches, and so forth. Backup these files after any major change to the computer (new software, OS update/patch, etc.). Also, backup your personal files (word processing documents, bookkeeping files, etc.). I usually burn a single CD backup of all these files once a month, backing up new files to floppies in the interim. Backup your audio files, project files, and session notes, too. Backup the raw files after a session concludes. This way no matter what happens next, you can always return to the originals. Make periodic backups as the project progresses. For audio projects backup up the computer audio files to a data CD and also burn an audio CD of the mixed finals. Make multiple CD-R backups of final projects and store one set off-site. Make sure you clearly identify your backups on the CD itself and the box that holds it.
January 29, 2001 -- I recently sat in with a writer's group when one person read a nice children's story with a good life lesson aloud. She then asked if she should publish it herself and give it to her sisters, nieces and nephews, and grandchildren. I advised her to get started right away, that the book would be a terrific gift, even a legacy, and that she would learn a lot about finishing the book, putting it together, printing it, and so forth. She still wasn't sure. This is the kind of person who will never be a success at what she wants to do. Just because you aren't "in it for the money" doesn't mean your personal work is totally in vain. I self-published my first book not because I couldn't get another publisher to buy it, I did it to learn about the industry. And I learned far more than I could ever get from a book or class alone. If you're contemplating creating something (song, CD, book, whatever), do it and learn from the experience. As author Laurence Boldt says, "Do the things you love. Follow the impulses of your heart. If you love to sing, but know you will never become a professional singer, SING ANYWAY. If you love to write but can't imagine how you will ever get published, WRITE ANYWAY. Whatever it is that you love to do--DO IT."
February 5, 2001 -- If you sell anything on-line -- music, samples, books, widgets, etc. -- you need to accept credit cards. Unfortunately, unless you do large volume, you will have a tough time securing a CC merchant account. Instead, choose a third-party provider to handle your on-line payments. There are two well-known firms: Kagi and CCNOW. These firms provide custom, secure on-line order forms that your buyers access from your Web site. Your clients choose the products they want, enter their address and CC payment information, and Kagi or CCNOW processes the order. They even send an order confirmation e-mail to the buyer and another one to you. You then ship the products yourself. Best of all, there is no setup fee nor minimum monthly fee, instead both Kagi and CCNOW take a percentage of each sale (under 10%). They pay you the remaining amounts regularly. Kagi is great for single products while CCNOW supports a shopping basket system. Check out how I've implemented CCNOW processing here on my Web site. Also, make sure you read and fully understand their agreement terms before signing up with either firm.
February 12, 2001 -- You need to understand this formula: Image + Credentials = Reputation. You must establish an image for your music industry career. An image wraps up everything you are about into a tight, neat package that's easy to promote and sell. You earn credentials in several ways. For example, a band must have a live act. This goes beyond just playing; you need to be entertaining. No band is legitimate without a CD; it's a testament to your skills and professionalism. Comments and reviews from the media and testimonials from satisfied clients are other critical credentials you must secure. The last credentials are awards such as winning a battle of the bands or, ultimately, a Grammy. With a carefully crafted image and supporting credentials, your career earns a deserved reputation. That reputation instills confidence and trust in people who would buy your music products and services. Because of your reputation, these buyers are less skeptical and therefore, more likely to open their wallets. While I've used a band for this example, the formula applies to whatever music industry career you pursue. Adapt these tenets to your particular situation and reap the rewards accordingly. And when it comes to promoting your music industry career, you'd better be ruthless. You can't sit on your hands and wait for the phone to ring. Get up, get out, and get going on reaching the people who need the music products and services you sell. Where to start? Try the proven techniques in my definitive guide, "Ruthless Self-Promotion in the Music Industry." This huge, richly detailed, and practical resource has the information you need to succeed.
February 19, 2001 -- According to a well-placed source at artistPRO.com, the average test score for the recording courses is a C. Average. MOR. Nothing special. That also tells me that the clear majority of sound engineers out there are only average, too. To remain competitive, we all need to learn more and constantly hone our skills. With today's technological advances, it is increasingly more crucial to know, understand, and use the fundamentals, inside and out. If you think you know all there is to know about recording and mixing music and sound, I urge you to register at artistPRO.com and take a few of their FREE, Web-based professional audio training courses developed by Bill Gibson, one of the leading experts in the field. Audio files, text, and illustrations bring the courses alive. Plus, you can take an exam at the end to find out how you did. If you score poorly, you'd better go back and improve your skills. If you score better than average, look for ways to get better still. Courses include understanding the mixer, essential EQ theory, dynamics processors, effects processing, microphones, digital recording, hard disk recording, and instrument recording including drums, guitar, and vocals. You must be a registered user to take the course. Also while you are there, check out my new commercial music forum, with essential advice about making it in the soundtrack and jingle world. I'll be answering questions and sharing experiences with all of you who want to stop by to chat.
February 26, 2001 -- Using e-mail to promote your music products and services? Follow these tips. Don't send spam, but do send promotions to people who have already identified themselves as wanting to hear from you. Be careful what you write in the subject line. If it looks like advertising or other junk e-mail, your message might get deleted before being read. Try to personalize the letter. Either write to a person one-to-one or use a generic description: "Greetings to all yourbandname fans!". Make sure the e-mail is easy to read. Use short, simple words and short paragraphs. It's OK to include some hard-sell, just make sure you liberally sprinkle in plenty of benefits for your readers, too. Try to include testimonials or other endorsements that support whatever music products and services you are selling. You can increase response by including special offers that also have time limits: "Hurry! This offer expires on March 1". Don't forget to encourage immediate response and ask for the order: "Get your copy of our latest CD now." Make it easy for people to respond by providing a clickable link or two in your message. To make that work, be sure to write the entire address e. g. http://www.jeffreypfisher.com . Include a P.S. to restate your most compelling offer and to reemphasize your call to take action. Optionally, you can include a money-back guarantee or other additional information to support your promotion.
March 5, 2001 -- People continue to ask me about the setup at my project studio. I first described my equipment in detail in my "How to Make Money Scoring Soundtracks and Jingles" book. Well, a lot has happened since that resource was written and printed. Almost all of the gear mentioned in that text is gone. The latest incarnation of my workspace has changed drastically from that previous version. Click this link to read the rest of my Project Studio Makeover article.
March 12, 2001 -- What do you do if you suddenly come into a substantial amount of money? Do you blow the wad on frivolous frills and tawdry doo-dads? I hope not. First, make sure you understand the tax ramifications of your windfall. Do you need to pay income taxes on the amount? You would if this was regular income, but probably wouldn't if this was a gift or an inheritance. If you do owe income taxes, take that amount right off the top and put it in a safe, interest bearing account until the tax bill comes due. Second, use the remaining amount to pay off your consumer debt, the biggest offender being credit cards. If you're paying the minimum amount at the usually huge interest rates, you are wise to get rid of that debt fast. Third, look at your career and promotion plan to see if some of this money should go toward increasing your business substantially. Fourth, invest some money in yourself, specifically improving your skills and therefore your marketability. Fifth, do you need some new resources? Use some of the cash to acquire what you need, new gear, for example. Sixth, set aside the usual 10-15% you normally sock away for a rainy day or in your retirement plan. Last, use a small token amount of your gain for fun and recreation. Take a simple vacation, go out to dinner, buy those CDs you've been meaning to add to your collection. Carefully and wisely managing the money can really make such an unexpected windfall that much sweeter.
March 19, 2001 -- Your promotions can spread like a virus. A good virus, not one of those destructive ones. Your promotional virus can be much like a good joke that gets forwarded to e-mail inboxes around the world. Your promotional message can spread the same way as more people pass it on. First, give something valuable away -- a tip sheet, helpful article, free music, etc. Make sure your full contact information (such as a link to your Web site) goes with the free item. There should be no strings attached to this free thing, but it must be good enough to get people to want to see what else you have to offer. Essentially you want these people to buy more from you right away after hearing, seeing, and/or reading the free stuff. Encourage everyone to pass on the free thing to spread the promotional virus further. Does this work? Yes. I send articles to many on-line resources (Web sites, e-zines, newsletter, and so forth). They publish these pieces and people grab them and send them to their friends, family, and often re-publish the same articles on their own Web sites, in their newsletters, etc. These free things spread out across the world generating more and more traffic to my Web site (and increasing sales, too.) One obvious drawback, you don't get any money from the free thing. Its purpose is to generate sales of other music products and services you offer. You must be willing to give up this free things forever to make this concept work.
March 26, 2001 -- "The Rebel Rules" is a new resource by Chip Conley, founder and owner of innovative Joie de Vivre Hospitality. The book explores the new rules for business success and profiles the four primary traits of today's real business leaders: vision, passion, instinct, and agility. Also, Conley exhaustively includes exercises and action plans for implementing his rebel rules. And while the management ideas in these pages typically apply more to traditional business structures, a reasonable portion of the advice does work for small and one-person music business types -- like us! I was particularly inspired by his approach to defining core values and then integrating them into your business career. Conley summarized these concepts best when he said: "The ideal rebel company is full of balance: the balance between achieving (accomplishing results) and connecting (maintaining relationships), the balance between core values and financial performance, the balance between home and work." Highly recommended reading.
April 2, 2001 -- Do you want to make money selling music on the Web? First, don't limit yourself to selling only your own music on-line. You can also recommend other music and music-related products and earn a little (or a lot!) of pocket change on the side. Can you use an extra $200-$400 a month? Just follow the strategies outlined in this FREE article here on my Web site.
April 9, 2001 -- If you have an established, strong customer or fan base, there may be some advertisers that want to reach the same people. You may convince them to sponsor your business or band. In short, they pay some of your costs in exchange for promotional opportunities. The established band with a couple of dozen gigs lined up is in a better position than the novice band with nothing under their belt. Create a promotional piece that tells your band's (or business) story including details about the people you reach. Next, setup some sponsorship opportunities and the dollar amount involved. You must explain the benefits to each sponsorship level (and you can have various levels: $100 Web banner, $1,000 sign, $10,000 summer tour sponsor, etc.). Sponsorships could include logos on the band's sign, posters, swag, and so forth, banner ads on the Web site, full-blown ads tucked in with CDs, prizes for contests, and other opportunities. With this in hand, approach possible sponsors and show the benefits of backing your band or music business.
April 16, 2001 -- Here are ten fundamentals your band must do at every gig. (1) Send a nice handwritten thank you note to the person who hired you. (2) Make sure your gear is working well. Also, stop by the venue before the gig to see what the sound people need (or you need to bring). (3) Make sure all the people in the band and crew have business cards and/or other promotional material. Plus, make sure everybody can talk intelligently about the band. (4) Create flyers/postcards profiling upcoming gigs, CD release, and Web site. Place these promotions on every table when you arrive and refresh them during the gig. (5) Provide the club with a rubber stamp with www.yourbandname.com to use when stamping hands at the front door (of course you need a Web site to make this work effectively). (6) Give something free away -- sticker, magnet -- when people sign up for your mailing list (get postal and e-mail addresses at the same time). (7) Set up a display on stage that promotes your CD, swag, and upcoming gigs. (8) Set up a sales area to sell your CDs and swag. (9) Sell your stuff in $10 and $20 increments (easy to make change). Try to upgrade every buyer to the next monetary level. (10) Have a contest where the winner gets a free CD or T-shirt. Choose the winner just before the break. Escort the winner to the sales area taking everybody else with you at break time.
April 23, 2001 -- Are you willing to complete a short survey about your music career? I want to hear from you right away. Following the success of my Project Studio Survey, it would be great to share a wider range of music industry activities. Note: your responses will not be anonymous. This is your chance to share your story, provide some advice to your peers, and promote your career, too. These Pro/Files will include your e-mail address and Web URL so people can find out more about you -- including buy your music industry products and services. Go to my survey Web page to get the twelve questions and to see examples of what I'm really looking for. Carefully think about the questions and complete the survey by e-mailing your answers to me at jpf@jeffreypfisher.com. We all benefit from the information we provide one another. Please consider helping out.
April 30, 2001 -- The fundamentals of closing more sales are straightforward. First, find out what people want, need and desire. Second, show these people how your music products and services give them what they want, need, and desire. Always focus on the buyer and what she wants to achieve (not on what you sell). Provide clear benefits and the results of using your music products and services. too. People usually want only two things: to gain something or to remove some pain. As you prepare for sales presentations, frame your emotional and logical appeals using both tactics. For example, you can promote a gain such as: "Make money recording on-hold messages." Or you can promote how you remove pain such as: "Stop spending too much on library music, get our Melomania music library and SAVE!" Another important sales tactic is to upsell or re-sell buyers. Once you demonstrate how you can help them, work to get them to the next spending level. Convince them to buy additional music products and services from you either right away or soon after the first sale. Once the person is "sold", it's often easy to increase the dollar amount they spend with you. You must, of course, have additional products and services to sell.
May 7, 2001 -- What's the best way to insure your music and sound gear? If you consider your gear personal property, your homeowner's or renter's insurance policy should protect it. Ask your insurance carrier to be sure. However, if you do use your equipment for business (and hopefully exploit the tax advantages of this strategy) you MUST check with your insurance carrier. You may need a rider to your personal policy or even a separate policy altogether. Go visit your insurance agent in person and explain your situation fully and accurately. Here are some of the questions you need clearly answered ... Read the rest of this article here.
May 14, 2001 -- One form of promotion, closely tied to publicity, is the plug. In essence, you want some media source to either let you plug your latest project or plug it for you. What is the essence of the plug? Follow this simple equation: Provide value:earn a plug. The amount of plug you get is directly proportional or equal to the value you provide. For example, a celebrity appears on the Letterman show wanting to promote their latest film. They provide value (entertainment) to the talk show and in exchange for that, the TV show let's them show a clip and plug the movie. Here's how this concept can work for you. Let's say you want a newsletter to plug your CD. How do you cultivate this plug? You could write a short how-to article for the newsletter about how you produced your CD or the lessons you learned. This article provides value -- information and knowledge -- that the newsletter can use to help its readers. In exchange for that valuable item, the newsletter lets you promote (plug) your CD. It's that simple. BTW: You can take my music industry survey and share your experiences. In exchange for that valuable information, you earn some additional promotion. Get started today providing something of real value to media sources and earn the promotional plugs you need.
May 21, 2001 -- When you think about making more money the usual thing that pops into your head is to get more clients. In fact, there are two other ways that can put more money in your pocket. You can get people to spend more with you when they do buy and/or you can get them to buy more often. What if I told you that you could increase your revenue 33% with only 10% more effort. Let's say you have 100 people who spend $10 with you twice each year. You'd make $2000. Now if you increase those numbers by a mere 10% (110 x $11 x 2.2), you'd clear $2662. That's a 33% increase in dollars. What can you do today to get 10% more clients to spend just a lousy 10% more, and repeat buy from you a little more often? You should launch some promotions that land a few new buyers. Increase your prices slightly or create special package deals that entice people to spend more. Also, create new products and services regularly that get people to buy again faster.
May 28, 2001 -- When composing music, I feel there are four main steps to the creative process. 1) Collect material. You usually jot ideas down, strum a few chords, maybe even the hint of a melody. This is often just playing around; the musical equivalent of doodling. You are usually unfocused and disorganized. 2) Idleness. You appear to be doing little, if anything. You may feel frustrated at this point because you just can't seem to do anything good. However, this is often the crucial step that lets ideas swim around in your brain waiting for the spark. 3) Inspiration. Suddenly everything just starts flowing and you scribble down the lyrics, chords, melody, and perhaps start recording, too. This step is usually effortless and your work seems to come from beyond you. 4) Perspiration. Now the hard work begins as you start pulling together what you did into a cohesive musical piece. You make something special out of your creation and give it the polish it needs to be real. Not every piece you do will follow these steps exactly, but what you may discover is that overall, most creative people follow this process unconsciously. Knowing this can help you get through the "writer's block" we often face during step two.
June 4, 2001 -- There are four keys to your success in the music industry: talent, creativity, self-promotion, and relationships. Your talent must be as good or better than others offering the same music products and services. What you do and how you do it in new, creative ways helps you set yourself apart from the crowd. Promoting and selling what you do is crucial to making your career the way you want it to be. Nobody beats a path to your door. You must take the initiative and promote yourself ruthlessly. Building relationships with other people is vital to maintaining the longevity of your career, too. It's often more who you know (and who can help you) than it is what you know. There's no time like the present to start nurturing your networks.
June 11, 2001 -- After going to the annual Book Expo here in Chicago last week, I was immediately struck by the sheer volume of work out there. I saw more books in a few days than I ever thought possible. The music industry is no different. A speaker at the Retail Music Expo (part of the Book Expo) was so full of BS that I almost screamed. First, she told everyone that the music industry was in such disarray, and that she really wished it went back to the way things once were. Her main contention was that acts should concentrate on the music and let others, such as traditional labels handle the marketing and promotion. She must be living under a rock. If a band doesn't take an active role in promoting their music, who will? She also thought the packaging of acts into an image was bad. She obviously knows nothing about what it takes to sell products and services. Packaging an image is what promotion and sales are about. Here's what I say: music will be available in basically two places: the Internet and the big, mass market retail stores such as K-mart and Wal-Mart. K & W will mostly feature the mainstream popular artists. That means it will be increasingly difficult for some music to get heard and distributed through these chains. That's not what we all want to hear, but it's true. There is too much music out there, probably more than there should be, because it is oh-so-easy, fast, and cheap to make and package music. This makes finding an audience that much harder. Now more than ever promoting your work is vitally important. People have far too many choices and often aren't willing to take the time to find new music. That means you must spend your promotional resources on the Internet and touring. Without promoting your music, nobody wins.
June 18, 2001 -- When a reader recently visited, he was first quite surprised that I worked from my home. He told me he was expecting some fancy high-end recording studio. Well, my basement project studio is spartan, with just a smattering of gear. I do nearly all my work entirely on my computer using very little hardware: mic, mic preamp, guitar processor, and single MIDI keyboard that just supplies notes to the computer, not sound. I have other gear, but rarely use it (some of it isn't even hooked up). Later that same day a music catalog arrived with over 200 pages of gear -- expensive, space hogging gear. I just don't get it. You can do so much on a computer, from sampling and synths to recording and mixing, why would you want all that single purpose hardware? Computer-based gear is often far less expensive and sometimes more powerful than the hardware counterparts, too. For example, one synth that used to cost $3000 new can now be bought as a software synth for $199. My visitor was sold on my approach, especially once he heard some of the sounds and music that originate in my little corner of the world. If you are starting out or retooling, take a long, hard look at computer-based music and sound tools and forget about all that extraneous hardware.
June 25, 2001 -- If you don't need the money to live on, your music royalties are ideal for your long-term investment program. Here's a way to make them grow. Sweep those checks into an investment. Your retirement fund is probably the best bet as you can save money on your taxes, too (traditional IRA, SEP, Keogh, etc.). Depending on your age and risk tolerance, choose some appropriate investments and expand those same royalties into your nest egg for the future. Personally, I channel all my book royalties to my retirement plan. Since royalties have a way of diminishing over time, this approach lets your retirement fund grow during the same period. That gain should offset (even exceed) the declining revenues of your royalties.
July 2, 2001 -- Income - Expenses = Profit. It's a simple equation. If you want to make more money, you need to sell more music products and services. You should get more clients, get them to spend more money with you, and get them to buy from you more often. Also, don't neglect the other part of the equation. You will keep more money when you cut your expenses, too. Lowering your costs means you don't need to earn as much money to support your chosen lifestyle. You can take time off to pursue your music, or work part-time to support your creative endeavors. What do you do with the profit? Save and invest it to generate additional income for you now and in the future.
July 9, 2001 -- The Tax Relief Act of 2001 means you may be getting some money back from Uncle Sam. The IRS is sending out letters in July to let you know when your rebate check will arrive and how much you can expect (up to $300 for singles, up to $500 for heads/household, and up to $600 for joint filers). This rebate is automatic for ALL 2000 tax filers. What are you going to do with your windfall? Probably the best advice is to sweep it into your retirement plan and let it grow further. Alternately, invest in your music business to make it stronger -- launch a promotion (or two), finish a new product, and/or start a new ancillary service. In short: put this rebate money to good use so ultimately you make even more music money down the road.
July 16, 2001 -- Picking up the phone and calling past clients to remind them of what you have is the single most effective way to generate new sales. When you have something new to sell (or you sell a service that people buy regularly), use your phone to make contact. I generate 90% of my repeat business through phone calls. Making cold calls is another necessity. Break through your fear. You don't have the gig now, right? If you don't call you still won't get the gig. But if you do call, there's a chance you might get hired. Take the chance! Worse case, you get rejected. Don't despair. Find out why you were turned down and use that information to try again (here or elsewhere). Not so worse case: you get told about another possible gig. Try to land that gig instead.
July 23, 2001 -- Have you joined the ranks of the '"digerati"? All you need is a wireless phone and a personal digital assistant to get beyond the velvet rope at this exclusive club. You can take your office anywhere and conduct business more efficiently. Let the wireless phone be your only business line and use a PDA to manage your affairs. I'm a recent convert to PDAs and now use a Palm and its parent program, Palm Desktop, to manage business contacts, all my appointments and deadlines, to-do lists, and draft memos. Synchronizing data between my office and the Palm is a snap. I'm not sure how I ever got along without it (a refrain I've heard from many digerati cohorts). For meetings, I take along a portable keyboard for the Palm, which makes taking notes and jotting down ideas a snap. So far, I've not been impressed with the Palm music programs, but I'm sure some new stuff will to come along soon. If you're disorganized, or just plain busy, you might better manage your daily music industry routine with a prudent purchase of a Palm.Also, I liked a little Palm application called "Band Mate". The program lets you track gigs (including costs), contacts, and set list. It's nothing fancy, but it does keep your band information close at hand in one place. You can use the other built-in Palm applications for managing other aspects of your business.
July 30, 2001 -- Finding clients to sell your music to
is crucial to your success. Several directories have the contact information
you need.
-- The Recording Industry
Sourcebook on-line and in print is the definitive guide. Start here
first.
-- Music Registry has
directories to various parts of the music industry including the A&R
Registry, the Film/TV Music Guide, and the Music Publisher Registry.
--
Musician's Atlas directory shows up
on newsstands regularly.
-- Mix Master
Directory is another newsstand regular.
--
Film Music Magazine provides
directories, books, annual rate survey, and so much more.
--
LA411 and NY411 also publishes the Agents
and Managers 411 and the 411 Digital (guide to game, software, and multimedia
developers).
-- The International Buyer's
Guide details labels, publishers, wholesalers, distributors, suppliers,
associations and more. They also publish the The International Talent &
Touring Directory.
-- The Independent
Musician's Contact Bible is available from Indie Music
(www.indie-music.com)
-- Association for
Independent Music publishes another resource directory specifically suited
to independents
-- Look for local directories published by a chamber of
commerce, local business magazines, newspapers, or other resources. A little
detective work is really all you need to find possible contacts.
August 6, 2001 -- Do you have a project studio? Do you want to know how to use it to make more money? My new, just published resource -- "Profiting From Your Music and Sound Project Studio" -- has the information you need to succeed. To celebrate the book's publication, you can read a free article that shows you how to make more money from your project studio today!
August 13, 2001 -- Are you looking to make bank with your project studio? A critical first step toward growing your project studio is to examine the skills you bring to the table. Many project studio owners are musicians first and the gear they need, or already have, may differ from someone wanting to record radio spots. Take time to determine the goals you have for your career. What kind of music and sound work do you want to do? Also, figure out how you will reach those goals. What experience, gear, and money do you need? You may feel you already have the skills you need. Great. Alternately, you may consider adding independent contractors to fill in gaps in your knowledge and skill. You may even work with a partner who augments or complements your skills. Knowing what you can do yourself and what you want to do lets you turn your attention to acquiring all the resources you need to help you and your project studio meet and exceed your expectations.
August 20, 2001 -- Another tip toward "Profiting from your Music and Sound Project Studio". The
vast majority of project studio owners consider themselves in the service
business and focus on selling their time. The next crucial income stream is
adding products into the service mix. Products allow you to package your
limited time and resell it repeatedly. You spend the time to create a product
and then collect the money as you continue to sell it to others. You can be
working on a new product while the other one continues to put money in your
pocket. This is the real advantage to products. They allow you to constantly
make income without zapping up your valuable time. Although the products you do
sell will rarely bring you as much money as the professional services you
provide, they can generate a tidy, steady supplemental income.
Also,
consider selling products made by other companies from your project studio. You
may already do this when you make a cassette dub for a client and charge her
for the cost of the blank tape. You can sell many existing products from your
project studio--books, CDs, gear, swag, etc. You don't need to invent the
wheel. For example, a recording studio I used always had fresh bass and guitar
strings available for purchase. They also used a lot of new gear and sold it,
too. They once let me use a new amp simulator to record a guitar solo, and I
loved the sound so much that I bought it from them. Your goal is to upgrade
every sale to make just that much more. Don't look at this as some mercenary
tactic. Just make sure you sell the kind of value-added products your clients
really need. Providing a book about music promotion to an ingénue act
shows your real regard for the band's success. You want to help them succeed
for two reasons: it's the right thing to do and when they succeed they'll bring
your project studio more business!
August 27, 2001 -- After attending my high school reunion, I was struck by how so few people were excited about their work. When queried, the majority said something along the lines of: "Oh, I work at an accountant's office." Only one said: "I AM a chef." He didn't say "I work at a restaurant" or "I cook". His simple choice of "I am" signified he'd transcended "working" to "being". For you to benefit from your music work, you too need to BECOME what you truly are: "I am a songwriter" as opposed to "I write songs" for instance. This mental shift is crucial to both contentment and on-going success. As Joseph Campbell so aptly put it: "Follow your bliss." Find out what it is you truly want to do and accomplish. Then, arrange your life accordingly to make it happen. Become who you want to be and experience what you need to satisfy your desires. Along the way, collect the knowledge and experience you need to realize your life vision in your own way. Don't let anything interfere with your pursuit. Work to overcome any obstacles placed in your way. Don't put your trip off either. Get started today in some small way. Most of all, embrace your destination when you reach it, and enjoy your journey, too. Have you found what you're looking for? Are you even searching?
September 3, 2001 -- This week's tip comes from long-time colleague, Bob Baker: "It's important to make mental notes of the words and phrases that people use to describe you and your music. Why? Quite often, the view you have of yourself is different the way music fans perceive you. For example, when I started publishing "Spotlight," the local music magazine I published for a decade, I called it a newspaper. Since it wasn't printed on slick paper, I felt it was misleading to call it a magazine. But the impulse for readers to call it a magazine was overwhelming. After years of fighting this uphill battle, I realized the power of public perception was not supporting my broader view of what the magazine stood for. Once I started using the "musician's magazine" as a selling point, I landed just about every music store and recording studio in town as advertisers. Bottom line: Listen to what people are saying about your musical offering. Start taking the words and phrases they use and put them in your ads, fliers, press releases and more."
September 10, 2001 -- The fundamental philosophy of this newsletter is to help you manage your own music industry career (whatever that may be). Follow this basic advice and you will succeed. First, decide the course. What do you really want? Second, prepare what you need to get you there in advance. Get your resources together: skills, people, time, equipment, money, and more. Set short-and long-term goals that are realistic and achievable. Review, update, and augment them regularly. The unexpected always arrives so be flexible and ready to face it, too. Three, take action toward those goals. And keep going.
September 17, 2001 -- Creative people often find it hard to focus on one particular aspect of their working life. My advice: then, don't. Instead take four distinct paths. One, select a main course for your creative music career. Set aside the majority of your time, money, and other resources toward reaching your goal. Two, pursue an alternative goal, one that is more long-term in nature. This secondary objective should complement/augment your primary pursuit. Use a smaller amount of your resources to explore this area. Three, dedicate some resources to whatever it is that funds your lifestyle and let's you meet your financial obligations (day job, other moneymaking music activities, etc.). Four, balance your work through another passion that is totally unrelated to the other three (exercise, hobby, travel, volunteering, and so forth).
September 24, 2001 -- Samples allow people to try before they buy. As Cervantes said: "By a small sample we may judge of the whole piece." Free samples will help you sell more of your music, too. I recall reading a story of a paper boy who wrote a letter to all the people on his route who didn't subscribe. In his note he offered to deliver the paper free for one week (the cost came out of this kid's pocket). In a short time, this tenacious paper boy tripled his earnings. The promotion lesson: contact potential buyers, give them a sample of what you provide, then convert as many of these people into paying customers. Don't think the free sample idea works? Three letters: A-O-L.
October 1, 2001 -- Outsourcing (hiring other people as independent contractors) is a terrific moneymaking music strategy with several benefits. You can expand your music business by offering additional services that you do not perform yourself. It allows you to take on more projects than a single person can usually handle. Outsourcing lets you create more value for your clients without taxing your resources. And this technique enables you to make more money than you would in any other circumstance. A primary outsourcing example would be for a project studio owner to offer duplication services to her clients. She completes the music tracks then send them to a duplicator who handles the rest. The project studio owner makes a commission on the duplication services her client buys. Are there ways you can use outsourcing to put more money in your music pocket?
October 8, 2001 -- Now it's easy to sell promotional merchandise as part of your moneymaking music business. You can place your logo, CD artwork, Web site information, and more on mugs, T-shirts, caps, and other swag. Here's the best part. Instead of paying money up front for stuff that might not sell, you can design your swag and have it produced one piece at a time on demand through a Web-based service called Cafepress. You sign up for free and they help you develop a Web store that buyers can access from your Web site. You upload your designs, choose the merchandise, set the price, and start selling. Cafepress handles the orders, processes the payments, makes the merchandise, and ships the gear to your clients. You just get people to buy your stuff and sit back to collect your checks. You can also buy your own designs and either use them yourself, give them away, or sell them at gigs. Click here and check out how I've implemented this concept. Then, get started selling your own promotional swag, too!
October 15, 2001 -- Networking is a key element to establishing and sustaining your musical success. You need two distinct networks. First, build a support network. Creative people need nurturing. Sometimes you need somebody to hold your hand while you cross the street of uncertainty. Other times you need a cheerleader to scream D-E-F-E-N-S-E in times of strife and to yell HOORAY when you succeed. You need friends who don't judge you, but urge you to do better, too. A sycophant is the worse because while they may stroke your ego, they do nothing to improve your case. Second, you need a network of people who can help you. This network includes people in the industry, media, and others. The best way to build this network is to join and participate with the right people. For example, a soundtrack composer must associate with those who need music for the projects they produce. Always remember that networking is both give and take; you helps others and they help you in return.
October 22, 2001 -- It's far too easy getting lost in the world of promotion -- fancy ads, flashy web sites, cool giveaways, and so forth. These kinds of promotion can cost you a lot of money while delivering little return. If your sales are lacking, consider getting back to basics. Are you selling benefits? Are you making the right offers? Are you asking for the order? Pick up the phone and call both past clients and new leads. Remind those previous buyers how you helped them in the past and can do so again. Pitch a discount or trial offer to the new lead. Draft that sales letter and mail/e-mail it out. Follow up those mailings by phone. Type up that news release and send it to land some free publicity. Consider giving something away as the hook for the news release. That encourages people to contact you where you can try to close a sale. Do SOMETHING to promote yourself every single day. These are the tried, true, and tested ideas that really work.
October 29, 2001 -- Create a sample CD with a few (2-3) cuts of your music and use it as a promotion. Use this sample to convince skeptical buyers that you have what they want. With the sample, people can hear your music first before they either come to your show or buy your full CD. Label these CDs with your full contact information and encourage people to listen AND pass them on to other people they know. Keep your costs down by burning these CDs at home, adding sticky labels, and putting them in cheap, see-through paper envelopes. Distribute these CDs like Halloween candy. Put them everywhere: stick them on bulletin boards/kiosks, hand them out on street corners, give them away at performances (including *other* people's performances), and more. Get creative!
November 5, 2001 -- You should set income goals for your music business. They serve as constant reminders and motivation for each and every day. Let's say you want to make $10,000 this year just from your music. If you work 50 weeks a year, that $10,000 means you must make $200 a week, $40 per eight hour day, $5 each hour during that day. This way of looking at things helps you really see if what you are doing makes sense. You might want to set goals for each music activity (composing, gigs , and CD sales) you pursue rather than just one overall goal. The way to really use YOUR income goals is, once you set them, start doing whatever it takes to reach them. Push hard and start selling your music products and services. Make deals. Have sales. Put out special offers. Approach past buyers, grab new leads, and more. If you are falling short of this week's goal, do something fast to reach the mark or you'd better make it up next week. If you pass the target, don't stop. Keep working harder to make even more beyond your goal.
November 12, 2001 -- According to one supplier of on-hold messaging equipment, the average client updates their phone hold 2.5 times each year. You often have to push hard to convince clients to change their messages. Instead, suggest they change the music only. They keep their existing messages, but update its sound through fresh music. For example, pitch an update to holiday music. If you use a software-based multitrack, as I do, you can go back to the original session, delete the old music, drop in new holiday music, and burn a new CD. Charge a token fee for the change ($50-75). Even if you only get 25% of your regular fee, you make more than you would otherwise (zero!). Plus your costs, time and a blank CD, are ridiculously low. Find out how to make good money producing on-hold messages.
November 19, 2001 -- I read an article and jotted down these three rules: "Live within your means. Take care of your future. Maximize your pleasure." (I apologize to the source for not recording where I read this.). Those are sound ways to run your music business career. Don't overextend your resources (time, money, creativity, or people whom you rely on). Set aside some money to fund your retirement and at the same time, develop income sources that bring a constant stream of money into your life. Last, do that which makes you happy. Follow your dreams. Take on the projects from which you get the most satisfaction. Spend time on your treasured relationships. And always give thanks for all you've been so fortunate to achieve.
November 26, 2001 -- To promote your music act, consider scheduling some in-store appearances. Talk to store managers at your local record stores and pitch the idea. You can setup a small display area and play an unplugged set or two, spin your current CD, hand out flyers about your act, including upcoming gigs, autograph merchandise, and more. Promote these appearances through publicity and by letting your fans know about them, too. Don't expect to sell a lot of CDs this way, maybe only a few copies, but certainly more than if your CD is buried under more famous acts. Alternately, do the same thing as a street performer wherever you legally can. Play acoustic sets and then play your CD during breaks using a portable boombox. Hopefully you'll sell some CDs and earn a little scratch performing, too.
December 3, 2001 -- One simple and often effective way to promote your music business is sending a postcard. An eye-catching, benefit-filled postcard can help you promote just about anything: upcoming gigs, new CD release, a new service, special discount rate, and more. Limit any postcard promotion to one main idea, a hard offer (buy now), and a soft one (visit our Web site for more information). Use the postcard to grab attention, state your benefits, and get people to take action right away. Also, make sure you include your complete contact information, too. A terrific place to get full-color postcards is Modern Postcard. Their work is surprisingly affordable and high quality. They can even help with design, too.
December 10, 2001 -- Today's music business is what I call an R&R business: relationships and reputation. You must work to build relationships with the people who buy what you sell. And you must work hard to build a track record of success that you can promote to skeptical buyers. Nothing beats being where the buyers are. Never wait for people to come to you, actively seek out possible prospects for the music and sound products and services you sell. For instance, go to industry events and hang out with the movers and shakers. Swap contact information and follow up these contacts. Work hard to earn credentials that give you a specific reputation. Now use that reputation to your best advantage.
December 17, 2001 -- Do your friends say your music sounds like movie or game music? Do you find yourself hearing radio and TV commercials and saying to yourself: "I could write a better song than that"? If you answered yes to either of those questions, you may have a future in the commercial music industry scoring soundtracks and jingles. Read the rest of this article here.
December 24, 2001 -- Many people ask: "What are the most successful ways to promote a music industry career?" I've detailed the top eight promotional methods in an article. Read it free right here on my Web site.
December 31, 2001 -- Possessing the right information can sometimes mean the difference between success and failure. The music industry, both its commercial and technology aspects, are constantly in flux. Where do I go for the latest, most reliable industry information? Here's my secret list: MusicDish, ArtistPro.com, Musicplayer, and Audio Forums.
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This document Copyright Jeffrey P. Fisher, 2001
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