Press Kits

As I am developing my artist career I am always looking for new outlets to go through to see how I can benefit from them. Recently I have been working with a gentleman who is currently acting as my public relations. Since I am just starting in my career he has not been charging me for his services. As such, I really can’t ask much from him since I am not paying him.

I decided to do some research on my own and started inquiring on how much I would be charged for a service like this from a professional. For every firm that I contacted they all required a physical press kit. So I guess where I am going with this is that I thought we we’re moving to a digital and paperless era? So, why are they asking for a physical paper press kit? This really caught my attention and drove me nuts!

I guess after all not everything is going digital. People still prefer things the traditional way with paper and something physical that they can hold in their hands and feel. I have been thinking all day and have tried to find the logic in this, and why they want it physical and I still have not been able to find a logical reason for it. I feel as if I am going to have trouble with this, as I have never created a physical press kit, at least not as I can recall. I have gotten use to having everything digital. I am at a point where I have come to the conclusion that I dislike paper very much. Well! I guess it’s time that I go out shopping for materials again. I will be placing Staples a visit after a very long time.

Professionalism!

This week I realized something really important in the music industry. I have a friend who is currently staying at my house for a short period of time until he gets his feet off of the ground. He is a very well known producer in Puerto Rico and has worked with the best artists in the industry. He came to the mainland because he was going to start working with a new artist. The first 2 days he spent going all over Miami in a bus. The purpose was to meet with different people and to get everybody on the same page with the project.

As a result of everything the project fell through due to the lack of professionalism from the actual artist himself. The lesson of this issue is that you must have your things set and have the professionalism in order to be successful. You can’t go crazy and travel to a new country thousands of miles away from home without having your things planned and set.

This is a very fast paced business that moves very fast. You need to be able to keep up with it in order to maintain your success in it. Being cordial and professional is a must! That is what many people look at the most. Anyone that is going to go into business with you the first thing that they are going to look at is how responsible you are about your businesses and you professionalism. It is the number 1 key to success in this industry. Always maintain a positive energy around you and the people that you are around with. This will help you to have a successful career in this very fast paced music industry. Always carefully plan things before taking them into action. Patience is a virtue!

Simply the best year yet!

So as I am closing out the last month in my masters program. I am starting to get a feeling on how my life and my career is starting develop on its own. This year by far has been the best year in my life. My music career is taking off; I am starting to make a name for myself. My knowledge is growing and I am becoming wiser. The masters program really helped me settle in my decision that my life is basically going to revolve around the music world and the entertainment industry, as I am now starting my pursuit in my law degree in entertainment and sports law.

I am now growing a brand not only locally or nationally but also internationally. My brand is starting to get recognition from across the world. My brand is starting to venture in new grounds by developing a clothing and hat line. All in all I am truly blessed and happy to know that I am finally making a difference whether its personally or through my line of work I am glad to know that I will always be remembered by the person that I am, by the perseverance and drive that I have.

In conclusion all I can say at this point is that I am ecstatic on all the things that are currently going on in my life. One of the biggest things is the completion of my Masters degree. This has really opened my eyes to a lot of new things that are going to come in the near future. I am currently working on new projects that are going to take over in the Latin industry. The teams of professionals that I have that work under my direction are a great group of people and thanks to their determination and belief in me we are going to take over of this whole thing!!!

Business Plan's

So as I’m in the last month in my masters degree we are preparing the final pieces in our business plans. Although I am already established as a business, I have really learned new things that as an entrepreneur. This last class helped me understand how to really go by speaking to investors and persuading them to fund me as a business owner. I was able to perfect my communication and persuasion skills in order to get what I am looking for.

Through different institutions like, The Small Business Association, and many others. I learned that there are different sources of funding, whether it is through government contracting, or through venture capitalism. There is many different ways and outlets to get the funding you are looking for. There are various qualifications that you need to have in order to receive these types of funding such as; licenses, and permits.

The sites also provide information on how business owners can find special grants or governmental help based on the sector that the business is in. They provide the name and contact information of the various agencies whether it is governmental or not. That way the people can contact them directly and get the needed information in order to qualify for these special grants. These grants are also based on the situations of the owners of the businesses. Whether the owners are disabled, Hispanic, single women, minorities or even African Americans, there is a program where each of these qualify for and can get the help that they need.

To conclude this post I have been able to learn about new programs in which I as a disabled Hispanic business owner might qualify for and possibly get free money for my business. This is something I will definitely continue to look into.

My view at Business Plans

This was a very interesting month for me. Since I am a semi-established entrepreneur already. I kind of was taught a new perspective this month on how to look at business plans. I studied 2 very known and very smart business plan writers. The things that I have learned in the past 4 weeks have been more than what I have learned in a very long time. I created a new perspective on how to view things in order to get what I want. This has caused me to tweak my business plan a bit, but for the better which is all that counts.

Most of the changes that I made to my business plans were with the numbers. I learned from these gentlemen that the banks really don’t care about the explanations and things like that. What really matters to them and what they mainly look at is the numbers. They want to see that you are able to show at least a break-even status or preferably a profitable status. What really matters is that they feel comfortable lending you money when they know that you are going to be able to pay it back.

As mentioned before what really matters is the numbers so, therefore I believe that is the most important part of any business plan. That is the first thing that any bank or investor is going to look at. Before wasting any time meeting with you or anything.

I really appreciate this month’s class because; it helped view the industry a bit better. I am able to understand it a bit more, and feel more efficient within it now. I am now on my way to become a better and more successful entrepreneur than what I was before. Definitely by far the best class period.

The Business Plan

As I am reaching the end of my studies for my Master’s Degree, the current class is about business plan and how to prepare them. While working on my business plan I decided to do some research on the experts of developing business plans. I was interested in their perspective of plans and how they should be developed.

The first expert that I came across to was Carl Schramm. He is a PhD Economist and was the President and CEO at Ewing Marion Kauffmann Foundation. His definition of an Entrepreneur is an outsider that asks hard question and presses leaders on the “why” around status quo. The one thing that I do like about Mr. Schramm is that he has a very conventional view about business plans. He believes that they go out of date really quickly and that numbers in forecasts almost never match.

In my opinion investors really don’t care for the gibberish about the market or the sweet and dandy stuff that we tend to put in the plans. They see every business plan as their for of income. All they really care about is the numbers and how realistic you are with the numbers.

The last expert that I researched was Chuck Blakeman. He is a serial entrepreneur and a business success mentor. As well as Mr. Schramm he caught my attention based on the fact that he does not believe in Business Plans period. He think thinks that business plans are to forecast the future. It is his opinion that developing is a waste of valuable time, as the future cannot be foreseen. It is time that should be invested in the actual business and getting it off the ground.

After doing my research I have learned the real significance of business plans and the affect that it has in the industry.

http://bpexpertviews.blogspot.com/

http://chuckblakeman.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/allbusiness/AB12322189_primary.html

A simple DJ fix

Today I was at one of my best friends daughter 1rst birthday. And oh am I upset at what I witnessed today. So they had a DJ already reserved and he called in the night before saying he couldn’t make it. So they called in someone else at the last minute. WOW! Was this guy dumb or what? So the sound was absolutely horrible and full of static. I analyzed him the whole afternoon, and he would unplug all the cables and blow in them and plug them in again. It still did not fix anything. It got to a point that I got really upset, and approached the guy and asked him if everything was okay. Mind the fact that it was really windy out today. His answer was that the wind was affecting his equipment. I mean this guy just pissed me off at that point of how illiterate he was sounding at that moment.

I politely asked him if I could intervene and possibly resolve the situation, he said yes. The first thing that I immediately did, was turn everything off and unplug the speaker cables. I ran to my car and swapped the cables with some spare cables that I had in my car. I came back and plugged in the new cables and turned everything back on. The music sounded crystal clear with no more problems. I simply told the gentlemen, wind has nothing to do with it, it was the cables that were bad.

I guess what I’m trying to get across with this. Is that there are a lot of people out there that are ripping off people for something that they have never even done in their life. This makes us the professional’s look really bad. People need to be conscious of what they are doing before they go out in public and make themselves look really bad in front of everybody. At the end of the party the guy went to the dad of the birthday girl and gave them their money back.

http://www.howtogeek.com/66124/how-to-fix-damaged-or-broken-audio-cables/

http://www.guitarcenter.com/DJ-Gear-Pro-Audio.gc