Resources – 5 hats

Get Organized

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Artists MBA, Foundation ProgramSome of the greatest time management challenges aren’t about time; it’s a lack of organization!

Some of the greatest financial challenges have nothing to do with money; it, too, is a lack of organization! And relationship issues? Don’t get me started!

 

Lack of organization costs us:

  • Time looking for the things we’ve misplaced
  • Money because we neglected to pay the bill that was buried under the piles on our desk
  • Opportunities because we missed the due date – it was jotted on that post-it note buried under the 40 other things that came in that day

These are the obvious penalties. But having a disorganized space filled with clutter also costs you energy, creativity, and freedom. It affects your self esteem and your mood.

Are you ready to GET ORGANIZED?

Listen to this class, where you’ll learn:

  • How to set your space up so that it works intuitively
  • Easy new habits that allow you to stay organized
  • Tricks for maximizing your space

Additional Resources for this Class:

Prerequisite Class:

Listen to the Class:

Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Foundation, Professional, Mastery Program members only. Click here to login.

Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy to access these classes today!

Your Tuition ($5 for first 14 days then $39 per month) includes all Foundation level classes PLUS the Time Management Mastery Course & App.

Read the Class Transcript

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Next Class:

Ready to get serious? Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Professional Program to access these classes today!

Your Tuition ($79 per month) includes all Foundation level classes PLUS the Professional level classes PLUS the Time Management Mastery Course & App.


Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Foundation Program members only. Click here to login.

Get Organized

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A lack of organization costs in so many ways. We lose time looking for lost things. We lose energy as clutter sucks away our life force. We lose focus because each stray paper distracts us.

“The problem with clutter is that it blocks the energy circulation in your home and in you.”

David Daniel Kennedy, Feng Shui for Dummies.

Have you ever made a resolution to get organized? So why doesn’t it stick? The essence of organization is a combination of internal habits and external systems. Most people try to do one or the other, but the missing link is making them work together. To create organization AND maintain it, you must match your systems with your habits and your habits with your systems.

Start Your Organization With What’s True Now

In Organizing from the Inside Out, Julie Morgenstern asks you 5 questions:

  1. What’s working?
  2. What’s not working?
  3. What items are most essential to you?
  4. Why do you want to get organized?
  5. What’s causing the problems?

“Although going through the Analyze process takes a little extra time compared to just diving in, it is the most important investment you can make toward achieving your ultimate goal: becoming truly organized at last.”

Julie Morgenstern, Organizing from the Inside Out

What are your habits? Do you walk in the door and dump your stuff? I do! And in my current space, the coat closet lives as far from the front door as physically possible! Result? Piles of coats on the floor! So, I got a coat rack. I wasn’t going to create the habit of walking all the way to the back when I first came home. So, I created a system in the front, a rack to hang up my coat and bag and a bowl for my keys, cell phone and sunglasses. Voila! Piles gone!

Once you determine what your current habits and spatial situation are now, the next step is to visualize and decide what purpose each segment of your space will serve. I’m a big fan of floor plans, myself. It’s so much easier on your back to rearrange furniture on paper first.

Do Not Expect To Do All of It at Once

Organize one room at a time. Unless you’re ready to hire a team of 15 people like those organization shows, you’re not going to make it happen in a single day.

It will look worse before it looks better.

Start with a single section of your space and remove everything that doesn’t serve the purpose of that area. Toss it or put it in the location it will belong in according to your vision (but resist the urge to organize that space!). Once you’ve got it cleared, then you create containers to keep the new space organized.

Use your creativity to inspire beauty in the order.

Set aside several blocks of time over the next few weeks, until you get your entire space organized. Then, assess and adjust. Things may seem like a good idea in your head, but when put into action they may not work. There will be a period of adjustment. So, don’t worry if you don’t get it perfect right away. If a particular space gets cluttered again very quickly, go back to the original questions. I bet you’ll easily figure out why it doesn’t work and be able to make adjustments.

2 Habits of Harmony:

Once you’ve got things set up to work, create 2 new Daily Habits of Harmony Maintenance. First, completely clear the project in front of you, before you start another. Meaning, when you’re done with a project for the day, or even for the moment, put it away. Clear one thing before you begin another. That will serve to de-clutter your space as well as your mind.

Second, designate 15 minutes a day to organize and straighten up. Each day, focus on a different room. Unless you live in a mansion, you’ll be able to maintain order in your entire home every week.

Resources for Organization

Organizing from the Inside Out, second edition: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life by Julie Morgenstern

Julie Morgenstern has written an organizing book that covers a new way of looking at the task of organizing effectively without labeling or blaming the person behind the lack of organization. Then she gets down to work helping you figure out an organizing system that will really work for you, not more cookie-cutter concepts or systems.

Feng Shui for Dummies (Paperback) by David Daniel Kennedy

The ancient Chinese art of harmonious design -demystified at last Feng Shui can help bring positive energy into all areas of your life, from family and relationships to money and work. Packed with ready-to-use Feng Shui tips and remedies, this friendly guide will help you arrange your home or office for maximum energy – beginning today!

www.flylady.com
Step through the door and follow FlyLady as she weaves her way through housecleaning and organizing tips with homespun humor, daily musings about life and love, the Sidetracked Home Executives (SHE™) system, and anything else that is on her mind.

More Resources

Business Management for the Creative Mind Or How to Run Your Art/Music Business

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Artists MBA, Foundation ProgramHow many times have you thought to yourself — I’m an Artist. I’m just no good at business!

In this dynamic, interactive workshop, I’ll dispel this myth and help you identify and apply your unique talents to create a successful business without sacrificing your art or your integrity.

You can expect to learn:

  • 5 Hats of the Business Owner
  • 5 Biggest Challenges and how to overcome them
  • 3 Keys to Success with your business
  • Designing your business to match your style

Whether you’re freelance, self-employed or working around a day job, acknowledging that you are a small business owner is key to creating success with your art.

Additional Resources for this Class:

Prerequisite Class:

Listen to the Class:

Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Foundation, Professional, Mastery Program members only. Click here to login.

Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy to access these classes today!

Your Tuition ($5 for first 14 days then $39 per month) includes all Foundation level classes PLUS the Time Management Mastery Course & App.

Read the Class Transcript

Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Mastery Program members only. Click here to login.

Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Mastery Lab to access the transcript of this class today


Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Foundation, Professional Program members only. Click here to login.

Next Class:

Ready to get serious? Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Professional Program to access these classes today!

Your Tuition ($79 per month) includes all Foundation level classes PLUS the Professional level classes PLUS the Time Management Mastery Course & App.


Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Foundation Program members only. Click here to login.

Succeed in the Arts Business – an Interview with Gilli Moon

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artists-marketing-business-academy-interview-with-expertsI am privileged to interview Gilli Moon, author of the book, I Am A Professional Artist – The Key To Survival and Success in the World of the Arts.

 

Listen in for some practical steps to succeed and survive in the arts business and enjoy your artistry at the same time.

 

You will learn:

  • The importance being “a business”,
  • How to define success on your own terms,
  • How to narrow down your strengths and uniqueness to find your competitive edge,
  • And how to develop the right relationships.

Additional Resources for this Interview:

Additional ArtistsMBA Classes on this Topic:

Listen to the Interview:

Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Professional, Mastery Program members only. Click here to login.

Ready to get serious? Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Professional Program to access these classes today!

Your Tuition ($79 per month) includes all Foundation level classes PLUS the Professional level classes PLUS the Time Management Mastery Course & App.


Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Foundation Program members only. Click here to login.

Read the Interview Transcript

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Attract Success

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Artists MBA, Foundation ProgramHow to make the Law of Attraction work for you
in your business and your life

Why does Visioning work? Why do some people just seem to magically get what they want? Why is it that sometimes things just seem to flow into your life with ease, and other times, it’s like you’re slogging through mud?

It’s all about the Law of Attraction!

The fundamental principles of the Law of Attraction are a basic tenet of the work that I do here at Artist’s EDGE. In this month’s Toolbox Teleclass, you will:

  • Use the Law of Attraction to effortlessly magnetize what you want into your life
  • Use “negative” experiences, emotions and beliefs as tools to move you forward
  • Build your belief, trust and confidence that you can actually have what you want!

WARNING: This class wholeheartedly embraces the Woo-Woo. Please mute your Skeptic Alarm for the duration. And even if (or especially if) you think all this Woo-Woo stuff is pure hogwash, I invite you to willingly suspend your disbelief and join us for this critical discussion.

Without action the Law of Attraction is just the Law of Attr…”
Debra Russell

Additional Resources for this Class:

Prerequisite Class:

Listen to the Class:

Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Foundation, Professional, Mastery Program members only. Click here to login.

Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy to access these classes today!

Your Tuition ($5 for first 14 days then $39 per month) includes all Foundation level classes PLUS the Time Management Mastery Course & App.

Read the Class Transcript

Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Mastery Program members only. Click here to login.

Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Mastery Lab to access the transcript of this class today


Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Foundation, Professional Program members only. Click here to login.

Next Class:

Ready to get serious? Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Professional Program to access these classes today!

Your Tuition ($79 per month) includes all Foundation level classes PLUS the Professional level classes PLUS the Time Management Mastery Course & App.


Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Foundation Program members only. Click here to login.

Booking Strategies, An Interview with Jeri Goldstein

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artists-marketing-business-academy-interview-with-expertsThis month we interview Jeri Goldstein, author of How to Be Your Own Booking Agent: The Musician’s & Performing Artist’s Guide to Successful Touring.

In the call, Jeri will help to make the dreaded task of promoting yourself easier, less stressful, and more productive, for musicians and non-musicians alike.

You’ll learn:

  • Why cold calls to prospective promoters can actually reduce your chances of a successful booking
  • 4 powerful steps to help you reduce your cold calls and turn them into referral calls
  • How to mine the raw gold of valuable contacts buried in your own files
  • The amazing networking power already in your possession or within your reach
  • How to make booking an easier, more satisfying experience … and get more positive responses

Additional Resources for this Interview:

Additional ArtistsMBA Classes on this Topic

Listen to the Interview:

Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Professional, Mastery Program members only. Click here to login.

Ready to get serious? Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Professional Program to access these classes today!

Your Tuition ($79 per month) includes all Foundation level classes PLUS the Professional level classes PLUS the Time Management Mastery Course & App.


Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Foundation Program members only. Click here to login.

Read the Interview Transcript

Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Mastery Program members only. Click here to login.

Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Mastery Lab to access the transcript of this class today


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Jeri Goldstein

Debra Russell, Artists Marketing and Business Academy, Jeri Goldstein, Internet Marketing, Social Media MarketingJeri Goldstein, often referred to by her students and clients as Dr. Gig, teaches self-motivated musicians and performing artists how to Get Great Gigs and create tours that make more money. Become a Gig Magnet using the artist-tested strategies and resources Jeri has developed. Learn how to book more events in your uniquely targeted niche market more easily. Jeri helps you narrow your focus to expand your audience and build a larger, more appreciative fan-base. Touring is often the life blood of a performing artist. She is committed to providing you with the tools you need to create profitable tours and achieve your career goals.

Working Smarter, Not Harder

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In February, we did a call for the Artists Marketing & Business Academy called, “Create Systems – Work Smarter, Not Harder” to begin to address one of the key mistakes artists make in their business. The essence of this mistake is to think of yourself in terms of a self-employed freelancer, going from gig to gig or commission to commission. This places you in an endless cycle of recreating the wheel. You spend all of your time looking for the next job, because if you don’t work, you don’t eat. Does this sound familiar?

The solution is to stop thinking of yourself as a freelancer and start thinking of your art as your business. You are a small business owner. Successful small business owners work on developing their business as well as working in their business. It’s a significant change of perspective. Think of your art as a product and think of your business as a series of systems that need to be honed to run smoothly without wasting resources. Create a plan to set your business up so you could actually take a few weeks off and your business continues to run and you continue to make money. Yes, I’m talking about a paid vacation!

If you dream of quitting your day job, if you dream of making a prosperous living doing what you love, you must learn to think of yourself as a business owner and run your business accordingly.

The Art of Outsourcing – An interview with Tiamo De Vettori

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Artists MBA, Professional ProgramThis month we interviewed the LA Music Awards’ Male Singer/Songwriter of the Year, Tiamo De Vettori, on The Art of Outsourcing – how to get volunteers to enthusiastically do the things that you don’t like to do.

He also touched on cross promotion – how to minimize your work and multiply your fan base, and on creative ways to make money in the music industry (and other arts fields).

Additional Resources for this Interview:

Additional ArtistsMBA Classes on this Topic

Listen to the Interview:

Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Professional, Mastery Program members only. Click here to login.

Read the Interview Transcript

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Debra Russell, Artists Marketing and Business Academy, Tiamo de Vettori, outsourcing, music business, music promotion, relationship building, team building, Contact Management, Time Management, OrganizationTiamo De Vettori

For music fans who want to feel connected, inspired, uplifted, and part of something bigger, we’ve found the artist for you. Often described as a cross between Jason Mraz and John Mayer, motivational acoustic-pop singer/songwriter, Tiamo De Vettori, was recently named L.A. Music Award’s “Male Singer/Songwriter of the Year” & San Diego Music Award’s “Best Songwriter”. Tiamo has been featured on FOX, CBS, NBC, and MSNBC and recently performed on stage at the Jimmy Kimmel Show. With a powerful voice, captivating stage presence, compelling lyrics, and melodies impossible not to sing along to, fans around the world have gravitated to Tiamo’s positive vibe and love for life.

Something that makes Tiamo so unique is that he is also a motivational speaker who combines his on-stage charisma with his inspriring personal stories, orginal songs, and acoustic guitar. Tiamo has performed and spoken to over 32,000 people around the country at seminars, trainings, colleges, and conferences, and has shared the stage with best-selling authors and speakers such as T. Harv Eker, Les Brown, Lisa Nichols, and Dan Millman. Tiamo has moved audiences since he was seven years old. During his childhood, he had the extremely rare opportunity to perform and tour the world with his Italian father, Franco De Vettori, an international opera singer.

Despite growing up on stage, Tiamo’s career as a singer/songwriter didn’t quite materialize until he intuitively hopped on a Greyhound bus headed for Virginia…just a few days after graduating from the University of Arizona. Shortly after, a close friend who had read Tiamo’s poetry and heard him sing, insisted that he explore the combination of songwriting and performing. Needing a friendly push, Tiamo had a hard time turning down his friend’s eventual offer to buy him a guitar as long as he kept one promise to his friend — get the guitar, let it sit in your living room, and as Tiamo’s friend put it, “the songs will just flow out of you”. Surely enough, Tiamo looked at his new guitar one rainy night, picked it up, and without any previous guitar experience, “accidentally” wrote his first song.

Tiamo has climbed to #4 and #18 on the Australian top 40 radio charts and is receiving radio play in 12 countries including the U.S. Aside from his international success, Tiamo can be found performing at some of the most popular venues in his home town of San Diego such as the highly celebrated Humphrey’s by the Bay, large college campuses including the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University, and other highly regarded venues such as the House of Blues, the Belly Up and Hard Rock Cafe. He has also performed live on San Diego’s most-watched morning news shows, News Channel 8 and News Channel 10, and and has been featured on some of Southern California’s most popular radio stations such as KPRI 102.1 FM.

With the international release of his CD entitled “Back to Love”, a vision of creating positive change in the music industry, and a gravitating persona, you can’t help but cheer on this modest, rising star.

Creating Your Niche – A Conversation with Nancy Moran

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artists-marketing-business-academy-interview-with-expertsEverybody says you have to have a niche. But how do you create a unique and profitable niche that suits you?

In this month’s Interview with an Expert, we’ll be interviewing successful performer Nancy Moran. We are talking with Nancy about niche marketing – one of her favorite topics.

We’ll examine some real-life case studies of musicians you’ve probably never heard of who are making a whopping full-time living doing music and nothing else! And we’ll discuss a zillion different ways to brainstorm, create, and discover new ideas that can help you develop your own niche.

Additional Resources for this Interview (quotes are hers):

[This book gets rave reviews on Amazon even from non-musicians as a comprehensive guide to packaging and successfully selling any form of art or information]

(Nancy: “I said on the recording that I thought “3” was spelled out…oops! I was wrong.”)

Additional ArtistsMBA Classes on this Topic

Listen to the Interview:

Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Professional, Mastery Program members only. Click here to login.

Ready to get serious? Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Professional Program to access these classes today!

Your Tuition ($79 per month) includes all Foundation level classes PLUS the Professional level classes PLUS the Time Management Mastery Course & App.


Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Foundation Program members only. Click here to login.

Read the Interview Transcript

Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Mastery Program members only. Click here to login.

Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Mastery Lab to access the transcript of this class today


Thank you for your interest. This content is visible to ArtistsMBA Foundation, Professional Program members only. Click here to login.

Nancy Moran

niche marketing, business, sales Nancy Moran is a professional singer and independent performing songwriter who hasn’t had a “day job” since 1991. Instead, she has released four CDs on her own Azalea Music Group label and currently tours the country as a member of the highly acclaimed, all-female folk troupe, The Four Bitchin’ Babes. She is a frequent keynote speaker and workshop leader on music business topics at national music conferences such as NSAI’s Spring Symposium, TAXI’s Road Rally, 2NMC, and SGA Week. She is an instructor on SongU.com, the co-author of the audio series “The Songwriter’s Survival Kit,” and the former Assistant Editor of American Songwriter magazine.

Procrastination vs. Keeping My Word to Myself

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How do I get myself to do what I’m “supposed” do? So often, that’s what procrastination looks like. I’m supposed to be doing “A”, but instead I’m doing “B”. I’m supposed to get up and shower, but instead I’m cuddling with my kitty and drinking more coffee.

But perhaps the problem is in the way I think about it.

Who says I’m supposed to be doing A?

The problem when you’re a self-employed, small business owner, working for yourself, is that it’s you. It’s all you. And we are not trained to be responsible to ourselves. We are trained to be responsible to others – our parents, our teachers, our bosses. So, how do we learn to be responsible to ourselves?

And therein lies the real skill of time management: being responsible to yourself, keeping your word to yourself. Because I create my own schedule and so, keeping my schedule is keeping my word to myself.

And therein also lies the trap. If I don’t keep my word to myself, what do I make that mean? Does it mean:

“I’ll never be successful.”
“I’m not worthy.”
“I’m a hopeless lazy flake.”

There are so many ways I can torture myself about not keeping my word to myself. But this is just another method of procrastination. Do you see the trap?

The way out of the trap is to embrace the process. Each success or failure doesn’t mean anything in and of itself. It’s all part of the process of me learning to keep my word to myself. I will make mistakes; I will fall on my ass, probably many times. But if I recognize that this is the process of learning to be responsible to myself, no individual failure means more than that one failure.

And so I can learn from that failure and grow.

What did I learn from not keeping my schedule this morning? I learned that the day after I work out, I tend to need more sleep. So, in the future I can schedule accordingly. Going to take a shower now….