Rising Star Systems

5-Year Plan: Got Goals? Get a Plan

Artists MBA, Professional Program

Why would you go on this journey – your life’s journey – without a plan?
In this hands-on session, we’ll work through the 5 steps to a 5-Year Plan. You’ll find that creating your life’s Plan isn’t so hard or complicated after all! And you will walk away with a real-world plan for your goals and the tools to get you into action.

Meetup.com Creating Community in Your Community

social media, networking

Meetup.com was mentioned in response to a question from the March 2009 Ask Coach Debra call.  The question was about finding and/or building community with fellow artists.  I have found meetup to be an incredible tool for finding and creating community centered around common interests. I have been both a Meetup organizer with my Bay Area […]

Debra Recommends Songsalive

songwriting, business

Since 1997, Songsalive! is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to the nurturing, support, promotion and education of songwriters and composers worldwide. Founded in 1997, by Gilli Moon and Roxanne Kiely in Sydney, Australia,  Songsalive! is run by volunteer songwriters for songwriters and has reached the far corners of the globe with over 25 chapters worldwide. […]

3×5 Contact Management System

Back in the good old days, before such things as computerized contact management systems, salesmen created a physical contact management system.  I learned this system many years ago, while working in the Network Marketing world.  For those of you who prefer the tactile sensation of a physical contact management system, but are finding that just […]

Debra Recommends Google Apps for Business

Internet, marketing, administrative

Google Applications is a web 2.o solution for email, calendar and more. I’ve been using it for my business for about 9 months now and I’ve been very happy so far. I was using Microsoft Outlook, but when I would search for an email it would literally take 5-10 minutes. And with Google, without getting rid of any of my 10,000+ emails, it takes me under 5 seconds to find an email.

Debra Recommends Daylite – More than CRM for Mac

contacts, relationships

So, first let me say – I am not a Mac user.  However, I have a lot of clients who are, and so I have been looking for a CRM solution for my Mac clients.  One of my clients brought me this product and he is thrilled with it.  So, I wanted to pass it […]

PR vs. Advertising

Small Business owners who do not have a background in marketing often confuse PR (public Relations) and advertising.  Advertising refers to a very specific thing – buying space/time in a public medium such as print, radio, TV, or billboard.  Public relations refers to everything else we do to promote ourselves and our business. Frankly, unless […]

Creator’s Block

creative, coach, business

Whether you are writing words, writing songs, painting, taking photographs, sculpting, designing jewelry or in any way creating on a regular basis, creator’s block can happen. So, in this month’s newsletter, I’m going to look at creator’s block, give you an overview of possible causes (which I’ll be writing more about in my blog) and a technique to help you break through your block.