Solution #9: Creativity Blockage
What it feels like: You feel so blocked. When you do get a few minutes to be creative, it just doesn’t flow. You sit down to create and nothing comes, or what comes feels horrible. You have been pushing so hard and working so hard that you feel burnt out and there is nothing left […]
Solution #10: Lack of Belief
What it feels like: I don’t really believe that I can make it in this business. No matter what you do or what you accomplish, it just doesn’t “feel” good enough. That little voice on the inside keeps bringing up all your obstacles: “You don’t take your art seriously enough” “You just suck at the […]
Internet Marketing 101
SEO! SEM! PPC! Oh My! The internet has paved the way for the Artist Entrepreneur to create your own career without waiting for the record deal, the publishing deal or anybody to “discover” you. But learning what you need to know and figuring out how to apply it to your business can quickly become overwhelming. […]
Websites and the Artist Entrepreneur
Internet Marketing Part Deux In last month’s Newsletter, I talked about the importance of not only having a presence on the Internet but having a presence that would be easily discoverable by your prospective customers, clients and fans. And that the trick to being found is through the use of good key words and SEO […]
Music Marketing in the Real World – An Interview with Michael Brandvold
KISS, yeah the band. The guy who spits blood and sticks out his tongue. The band that wears more makeup and higher heels than your mom. What can you learn about marketing from them? KISS is alot more that just caskets and condoms. Michael Brandvold will share with Debra Russell some of the marketing lessons […]
Internet Marketing and the Artist Entrepreneur
Whether you’re in music, film, dance, the visual arts or writing, the presence of the Internet has significantly changed your industry in the last 20 years. For many of the big corporations who in the past controlled your industry, these changes have been terrifying, threatening their very existence. For the artist entrepreneur, the DIY artist, […]
WordPress Websites for Musicians – An Interview with Middle Tennessee Music
I’ve been saying it for years, MySpace, Facebook, ReverbNation – I don’t care – If you are (or want to be) a Professional Musician or financially sustainable Band: YOU MUST HAVE YOUR OWN WEBSITE! Thanks to platforms like WordPress, building your own website or hiring someone to build it for you no longer has to […]
S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Step 4: How to Create The Plan
Once they’ve set a goal, most people make the mistake of jumping right into action doing the stuff they think they should. Which may get them to a level of success, but more often they get stuck at that level, because they are only doing what they already know to do – And they don’t […]
How to Manage Your Marketing – The Contact Management System
Marketing is creating an environment in which people feel comfortable enough to buy from you, over and over again. Sounds like a great idea, right? But what exactly does that mean in terms of day to day actions? And how do you systematize creating that environment? Does this sound familiar? You’ve got a pile of […]
Procrastination is Keeping Me Waiting
One of the most frequently asked question in my Ask Coach Debra calls is how to deal with procrastination. Very often we know what we need to do. And yet somehow, we can’t get ourselves to sit down and do it! All of the Time Management structures and systems you’ve learned to create in the […]
How to Manage Cash Flow for Your Art Business
Do you know the number 1 reason businesses fail? Cash Flow. Or to use business terminology, insufficient capital or operating funds. Knowing how to manage your finances (business and personal), manage your cash flow and plan your cash flow management is critical to your success. In this class Debra will show you how to take […]
MUSIC INDUSTRY SECRETS – Trends in Radio Panel
I was invited to attend this panel sponsored by ReverbNation and hosted by The Knitting Factory last week. The Panelists were: Moderator: Valerie Gurka, Marketing Director – Knitting Factory Entertainment Lynda McLaughlin Producer – Premiere Radio Networks, Founder/Partner – LYVA Music and Espresso Sounds Publishing. Liz Berg Assistant General Manager – WFMU Radio Seth Hillinger, […]
Time Management Bookends – A Framework for Success
Time Management is the Number One System that will enable you to achieve sustainable success in your business and your life. If your Time Management isn’t working – nothing else will. I have worked with literally hundreds of clients on the issues that a poor time management system creates They include: Procrastination Difficulties with prioritization […]
Social Media – The Art of Engagement
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube – OH MY! Social Media is everywhere and it’s clear that there are some Artists and business owners in the Arts & Entertainment Industry (including the Music Business, Film Industry and Publishing) who are using it to build real world success. But there are a lot of people who are overwhelmed […]
Time Management 101 – The Art of Juggling
“If only I had more time! Then I could do all that I want to do!” There are 24 hours/day, 7 days/week. That won’t change. So how do you use what you have to create the life that you want? The solution isn’t by figuring out how to do more stuff. It’s figuring out how […]
Multiple Streams Step 8: BOP Positioning
The final step of the Multiple Streams of Art / Music Income process, establishing your BOP (Bold, Outrageous, Provocative) Positioning, is bigger than your Branding, or your USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Your BOP Position is about who you are and what you stand for as an artist, as a business and as a human being. […]
Get the Learning – the 5th Key to Maintaining Focus in the Face of Chaos
As I teach in How to Use Feedback and Criticism Constructively, every experience is fodder for growth and development, if you are willing to get the learning. Assessing and adjusting as you go will make you more successful, because the ability to be flexible and adapt to changing conditions is a key success principle. So, […]
Manage Your Emotions – the 4th Key to Maintaining Focus in the Face of Chaos
Just to refresh your memory, in the 1st Key, we looked at the big list, and in the 2nd Key, took everything off the plate that we could. In the 3rd Key we talked about getting help and delegating. But one of the biggest problems in maintaining focus during times of chaos and stress are […]
Ask for Help – the 3rd Key to Maintaining Focus
In the 1st Key, we looked at the big list, and in the 2nd Key, took everything off the plate that we could using the first 3 of the 4 D’s from Julie Morgenstern’s Time Management from the Inside Out: Delete Delay Diminish Delegate The 3rd Key is all about delegating. It’s about taking the […]
How to Create Focus
At any given moment, on any given day, the average person is thinking about 14 different things – Does that sound familiar? Between the Day Job (for many Artists), family, your personal needs (such as exercise), and your ambitions for creating your business as a professional in the Arts & Entertainment Industry, life can be […]