Vision and Planning
by James T. Horan, Jr.
I met Jim Horan when he came to speak to the Entrepreneur and Small Business Academy Meetup. I very much enjoyed his whole approach to this most daunting of subjects. I often recommend this book to my clients.
The product description on Amazon.com was perfect for this book – where brevity is key:
“The Fastest, Easiest Way to Write a Business Plan”
by David J. Schwartz
I recommend this book with one caveat. I’ve seen clients mistake fantasy for goals. Setting goals to make $10,000/month from their music in 3 months when they’re currently barely pulling in $50 a week from their music. Yes – it is key to think big. And it’s also important to make a plan with incremental steps to reach the big picture.
On the other hand, if you decide that you could never reach your dreams because their too big to be realistic – well, you will indeed be proved right. Not because you couldn’t reach them but because you were unable to take the risk of thinking big. And that’s why this book is a critical piece of your entrepreneurial mindset.
Amazon says:
One of the world’s foremost authorities on motivation, Schwartz shows how thinking big can bring big results. Learn how to set high goals and exceed them in a big way with this easy, step-by-step approach.
by Blair Singer
Great champions in sports, business and even families have one thing in common. It’s a legitimate secret weapon. It is something that lies deep in the genetic code of winning organizations. It appears when pressure is high, when the stakes are critical and when everything is on the line. They know how to work as a team. Blair Singer’s The ABC’s of Building a Business Team That Wins offers a set of simple, powerful rules that govern the internal behaviours of any business, organization, family or individual. They are rules like ‘Never abandon a teammate in need’, ‘Be personally responsible for all mistakes’ and ‘Be on time’. This book will step you through the process so that you can create championship results any time, any place.
Last week, in the Artist’s EDGE Membership Q&A call, I fielded an interesting question about procrastination.
How do you get yourself to do the things you’re afraid to do?
It’s one thing to take the BIG SCARY steps. You can work yourself up to take those actions, holding your breath and leaping. But what about the day-to-day things, the small scary steps? How do you motivate yourself each and every day to take those small steps which feel so hard?
It’s been said, “Do what you fear, until you fear it no more.” And it’s true that repetition of a feared action will lessen your fear of it. But how do you get started? How do you get yourself to do it, over and over, while it still feels scary and hard? This requires a different kind of courage. This brand of courage requires perseverance and tenacity and a certain kind of stubbornness.
Here are a few tricks that work for me:
Just like writing this blog post – not so hard, right? Phew!
What does that mean, really?
We talk a lot about values, family values, good values – whatever. But do you really know what your values are – consciously?
And how exactly do they affect your career choices and path?
In this interactive class, we’ll look at:
Your values are the basis of your self-esteem, self-confidence and how you experience the world. What could be more important?
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.
Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Mastery Lab to access the transcript of this class today
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.
Goal setting is a skill critical to creating success in any area of your life. But expressing what you want in your life in a goal that really works can be a complex and challenging process.
Because its not just about writing what we want. Setting goals brings up all kinds of challenges for people because of past failures and future uncertainties.
Trying to move forward without a goal creates confusion, overwhelm and burn-out.
“If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.”
– Andrew Carnegie
In this class you will learn:
With a solid, specific and inspiring goal, you will be empowered to move past your obstacles, stay on track when distractions beckon and be able celebrate your wins.
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.
Enroll in the Artists Marketing & Business Academy Mastery Lab to access the transcript of this class today
I 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:
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.
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.