Accidentally Like A Martyr

Facebook For Musicians And Fans.

2013-11-02T18:18:00.002-07:00

Facebook is the largest marketing channel for most musicians and bands. Surprisingly, it's also the one they know least about. In this entry I will break down why Facebook is important, how it works, and most importantly, the steps to make Facebook work for musicians and fans.

Musicians can't be blamed. Many musicians developed their social networking habits on Myspace, Twitter, or YouTube. These platforms are (or were) a lot more straightforward than Facebook. In most cases you post it, forget it, then maybe check the numbers later. Not only do these inattentive social media habits fail on Facebook, they can actually hurt musicians in a very quantitative way.P

Furthermore, Facebook largely ignored music for most of its existence. By the time Facebook introduced musician/band pages and musicians started amassing an audience there, these musicians got dropped into an unfamiliar, fully-formed social networking culture—without any sort of learning curve, burdened with the behavioral baggages of outdated social networks.

But Facebook is really not that hard, and if done right, you have a lot to gain. By numbers alone, there are more people that regularly sign into Facebook than Twitter + Myspace + YouTube combined. It's really important now more than ever to optimize your Facebook presence.

Photos, Photos, Photos: Photos do well on facebook. Always consider a good and relevant image upload to accompany a status update. This one tactic alone can multiply your distribution, so be generous with the photo uploads. If possible, orient a photo in a square or portrait alignment (more engagement since it doesn't get cropped in the news feed.) But don't worry too much about it—a good landscape-oriented photo is better than no photo at all.

Geo-targeting: Does it makes sense to geo target? You can geo-target posts by city, state, provinces, or country. Geo-targeted posts usually reach a higher percentage of fans in the targeted location. Consider geo-targeting for tour dates, radio support, local appearances, etc.Tip: Are you geo-targeting a post to an international country? Post in their language. Seriously, you will get a ridiculously good engagement % from this.

Say More With Less: Shorter posts generally do well, so keep it snappy. Exceptions: heartfelt, substantial, personal, emotional, soul-baring, or narrative posts. Avoid being too self-promotional. Promote it gently. Be funny! Be surprising! Be authentic! Show personality! Dance on the line of what's acceptable or not. If you can elicit a guttural respons, you're more likely to get engagement.

Interact With Fans: Spend a few moments after posting interacting with fans who leave comments on your status update. Like their comments, and respond to them in your own comment box. As your fans see likes and comments coming from your page, they're a lot more likely to leave a comment & vote elsewhere as simply as that in the hope that you might see their comment. Plus, it's an easy and quick way to make your fans' day. Questions can work well. Try ending any given status update with a question that directly relates to your post. It can help jump start the commenting.P

Celebrate: Holidays are the ultimate zeitgeist moments; they are a great opportunity to engage with your fans. Put up holiday-themed posts on the day of, including unofficial ones like Valentines day, Mother's/Father's day, Halloween, etc.P

Say It With a Lyric: Are you a lyrical musician? Spell out your own lyrics in a status update, especially if it's relevant to whatever else you're pushing in the status update (links, videos, pics, etc.). Your lyrics are akin to a secret code language with your fans, especially if they've already emotionally connected with your words in song. Fans like that. Format lyrics to imply that they are indeed lyrics. And make it easy on the eyes, make it flow like the cadence of the song. The quicker the fan can recognize the lyrics, the quicker they will "like" the post.

In-Line Previews: Are links properly displaying in-line preview? You can adjust the image and description in the in-line preview before you post. Make edits as necessary.

Pins and Highlights: Pinning moves a post to the top wall. To pin a post, click the pencil icon that shows up when you mouse to the upper right-hand corner. Highlighting expands a post across the full width of the wall. To highlight a post, click the star icon that appears when you move your mouse to the upper right-hand corner of any post.P

The Psychology of Click-throughs: Oftentimes your main objective in posting a given status update is to get click-throughs on a link. In this situation, you still want to write to maximize engagement because that gets you distribution. But you need to mind the goal of getting click-throughs as well. To that end, write a message that gives your fans a really good, direct reason to click through. Think like a fan, make them want it. Think of how the most trafficked bloggers use headlines to lure their audience to click through: oftentimes they'll tease you into clicking through to the full article. They'll appeal to your sense of surprise, novelty or exclusivity. For example, a lot of them use the tactic of priming your curiosity, holding back key info to compel you to click-through to satisfy your itch.

The Beatles Were No Accident

2013-09-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

During the 1950's and early 60's, there were countless "do wop" groups, rock groups, singers and songwriters but until The Beatles hit the charts, there had been very few bands which contained talented songwriters. The vast majority of jazz and rock bands recorded songs written by songwriters who were not performers, with occasional exceptions like Duke Ellington and Buddy Holly. As time goes on, it's increasingly clear that Lennon/McCartney songs are brilliant classics which will never be forgotten. Now here's why The Beatles are the most creative band of all time:

1. BEST EXAMPLE OF FORM = CONTENT

As I sit here writing this at the keyboard of my computer facing a unique and colorful framed Beatles poster in my bedroom, I'm aware that I have been directly and indirectly inspired by John Lennon's music as well as by the way he lived his life offstage. Squarely in front of me is a full color poster of all four Beatles standing in a heavenly-like flower garden at about the time of the Abbey Road album. Paul is angelic in his pink suit with a white laced shirt. John is enigmatic peering out from the background. George is charismatic staring directly into the camera from the lower right. Ringo is on the left with a stylish blue suit and his pink ruffled shirt. I always wished I could dress like those guys but obviously there's a bit of a problem with a money differential there. Surrounding this gorgeous poster which I have never seen elsewhere are my 45 speed original Beatles hit records, including I Want to Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, Please Please Me, Twist and Shout, Can't Buy Me Love, She's A Woman, Yesterday, and of course, Hey Jude. And surrounding all that is a chain of 1-1/2" long orange flicker flame lights which are the most beautiful and unique Christmas lights I've ever seen. I chose to decorate the wall directly in front of my work station this way because, as I've written elsewhere on this site several times, the Beatles were my major musical influence and having them on the wall in front of me inspires me to write web pages like this one. I was also among the millions of people who were inspired by how The Beatles were actually living their off stage lives. The Beatles' music creatively stimulated millions of people to change the way they were living, and The Beatles behavior encouraged people to have fun by trying new life style experiences. That's what I call a perfect example of FORM = CONTENT. In this case it means that the creatively and masterfully varied music The Beatles were producing (form) embodied the real life styles which each of the four Beatles were living (content), together as a band as well as separately as unique individuals.

2. BEST SONGWRITERS

This should be self-evident, but just because Paul McCartney has the title of the most popular songwriter in history doesn't necessarily make him the best songwriter in history. The qualities which do make both Paul and John the best songwriters in history go beyond writing the greatest number of catchy classic songs. "Catchy" means that their melodies and lyrics are instantly memorable. "Classic" means that they stand the test of time. But both Paul and John wrote very sophisticated melodies that moved beyond the simple groups of 2, 4 and 8 patterned phrases used by almost all other songwriters. John and Paul's melodies soared, floated, cascaded, dived and peaked with true dynamics, naturally following the syllabic lyric patterns - but not always. Sometimes the melodic and lyric patterns were independent of each other, almost counterpoint in nature, and as a songwriter, they never ceased to astonish me with their brilliance and originality. In the beginning, their lyrics were simple and their songs were simple love songs. But they soon began exploring new territory by writing about subjects that hadn't been covered before. Inspired by Bob Dylan, they wrote true poetry with feeling and depth, using evocative and unusual words. Rubber Soul marked the beginning of their evolution as mature songwriters, Revolver was a break-out album, and Sergeant Pepper was an historic landmark album in terms of new and innovative songwriting as well as production. Every song they wrote was significantly different from the last one even though each song had their unmistakable sound.

Most songwriters are only average players on their instruments, but John and Paul are both sophisticated guitarists who were able to integrate their playing into their songs and even into their song structure so that the "licks" they played became as catchy a part of their songs as the choruses and verses. Blackbird and Dear Prudence are only two examples of songs which couldn't possibly be written by any other songwriter because of the guitar playing which forms an integral part of the song structure. In similar fashion, Lady Madonna is the best example of a great song which derives from the unique and beautiful bass part which only Paul could possibly have created.

Average songwriters achieve the catchy quality by repeating a phrase endlessly or by beating a chorus to death. John and Paul found countless ways to be memorable without ever overly repeating something. The only time they repeated something over and over again for a long time was in Hey Jude, and what they chose to repeat is so gorgeous that one can only wish they had never ended the song. The Beatles were my biggest musical influence and I used to think, "If I could write just one song that's as good as John and Paul's worst song, I'd be happy." People tell me I accomplished that goal and they say one good example is John is Alive, which is my sincere tribute to Sir Lennon.

3. BEST SINGERS

Even Ringo could sing when he got a little help from his friends who lived in the yellow submarine. But to say that Paul and John are two of the best singers in rock and roll is to state the obvious. Combining John, Paul and George created the best harmony vocals the world has ever experienced. Even their two part harmonies were unusual, catching us all by surprise on their first hit record with the fast harmony melisma in the chorus of I Want to Hold Your Hand. John had a knack of placing a unique low harmony line underneath Paul's high melody line so as to form a second melody which created unusual harmony effects. He did that right from the beginning in the verses of She Loves You. Both Paul and John could blast out screaming rock and roll (i.e. Long Tall Sally and Twist and Shout), and both could break our hearts with touching, deep feeling ballads (i.e. Yesterday and Julia). There seems to be no end to their emotional vocal range, and John even explored the heights of vocal psychedelia in songs like She Said (Revolver) and Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.

4. MOST CREATIVE PLAYERS

Paul brought a new style of melodic playing to the bass guitar, reaching a new high of creativity on Sergeant Pepper with a level of sophistication never heard before. Many other musicians besides me recognize Paul as being one of the best bass guitar players ever. George is underrated as a lead guitarist by people with average or below average musical knowledge or ability, but most guitarists (including Eric Clapton) know better. George's strength is in melody, pure and simple. It would be difficult to find a George Harrison lead which is not melodic, and each of his leads has a strong beginning, a stronger middle and a well defined ending. In fact, that's Eric's definition of what makes a good guitar lead. George continually developed new guitar sounds for each Beatles song. John and Paul are also excellent guitarists and both recorded great leads as well as innovative rhythm tracks. All three of the Beatles guitarists may lack showy technical fireworks but they make that definition of guitar mastery irrelevant by overwhelming the senses with creativity, style, and pure melody. The exact same thing can be said about John and Paul's keyboard playing. Ringo may be underrated as a drummer by the public but he is not underrated by other professional drummers. Ringo mastered the art of drum sounds. No drummer has ever recorded so many different sounds on so many different sounding records. Ringo invented a new style of slow drum playing, epitomized on A Day in the Life and Strawberry Fields Forever. John said many times, "Ringo has the best back beat in the business" and the successful studio drummers understand why John was correct.

5. TOTAL CHARISMA

A good definition of charisma needs to include "an unusual ability to influence people and arouse devotion" and "a personal attractiveness which enables a person to influence others". No musical group prior to or after The Beatles features true charisma emanating strongly from the entire group as well as separately from each member. The Beatles stunned the world with their photogenic quality, their charm, their bubbling and lovable personalities, their cuteness and their unique style. Even before The Beatles achieved fame, people in Liverpool were imitating their haircuts, the way they dressed, the way they behaved, and the way they lived. Such a simple subliminal message about smoking marijuana got communicated to all the hippies who were waiting to happen without actual words ever being spoken. The Beatles had a lot to lose by being explicit on that subject, but they successfully avoided trouble by keeping it very subtle while at the same time clear enough so that we all got it. The Fab Four kept changing their styles rapidly, almost with each album cover, and soon the message became one of explicit spiritualism. After visiting India, The Beatles introduced eastern mysticism and meditation to the Western world for the first time through the mass media. John's long saga with internal angst, drugs, spiritualism, politics, personal battles, and ultimately his marriage to Yoko played out like a movie the whole world got to watch in fascination. Paul's happy life with Linda, George's great focus on meditation, and Ringo's equanimity throughout were all perfect examples of the power, the truth, and the effectiveness of true charisma.

6. SEXUAL AURA

Need I say it? Ask the millions of girls who were screaming and fainting at the very sight of them. "The Boys" didn't move like Elvis or dance like Mick, they just stood there shaking their "mop top" heads around, smiling, laughing, and looking gorgeous as they performed great music and that was it. On their first visit to America, some enterprising weirdo from New York City managed to cut up the hotel bed sheets The Beatles had slept on into 1" square pieces, and these things were actually sold to girls over the public airwaves by adult DJ's on the AM radio stations who should have known better. The Beatles phenomenon went way beyond the rock and roll sex star status that had been seen before. Teenage girls in uncountable numbers fell in love, their hearts to be trapped, their heart strings to be continually plucked, and ultimately, their hearts to be broken by the unobtainable object of their love. Worshiping a star from afar? Infatuation? Obsession? Not real love? For many of them, it was their first experience feeling love for a man/boy. Whatever it was, it was very real to all of them, and we all soon understood that The Beatles were The Real Thing.

That's why I call The Beatles the Most Creative Band of All Time. They were The Real Thing. The Creative Zenith. The high point on the bell curve of musical history.

Turn Your Music Fans Into Buyers

2013-07-27T20:07:00.000-07:00

The purpose of this blog entry is to assist independent musicians with promoting their music and how to convert followers into customers without pleading.

From the outside you look like a very successful independent musician. You're getting a lot of visitors on your website, Twitter and Facebook. You've got enough 'friends' to start your own fairly large city. Everyone is raving about your music. You're being played on Internet radio stations worldwide. So why aren't you making boatloads of money?

Here are several thoughts, questions and suggestions that will help you find the best ways to get your fans to buy your music and attend your shows:

Visits to your website or social network page are not equal to fans. Stick around long enough and you'll amass visitors organically. 'Friends' are also not the same as real fans if they have never even listened to your music. Find and cater to those people in the masses who really love you and your music -- the ones who actually mention individual songs or who reply to your comments. You may want to work to get a few people to spend a lot of money each, rather than a lot of people trickling in a few cents here and there. It will add up quickly.
There is an enormous amount of competition out there. What are you doing to keep people on your website or social network page long enough to make that crucial buying decision? 30- or 60-second samples of your songs often won't do the trick. Stagnant pictures are often not enough. However, videos of you performing, being interviewed, living life off stage, for example, are all ways to keep people glued to your page or website. Interesting blogs, contests etc. can also do the trick.
Do you know who your fans really are? Do they have money? Is it disposable as others, especially when the economy is depressed.
Do you cater to a demographic that buys music online? Some demographics are known to purchase a lot of music online, while others still prefer CDs. Some purchase a lot of ringtones, while others do not. Know your fans and their buying habits.
Do you make it easy for your fans to purchase your music? Is there a link on every one of your social network pages and on your website to purchase music on the spot, or do they have hunt to try to find your music on another website to buy it?
Where are your most ardent fans? If you know this, you can set up your tours to coincide with where your largest and most dedicated fan bases are. You can learn this with surveys and other fan-tracking widgets. Be sure to collect zip codes when your fans sign up for your newsletter, so that you can specifically market to them when you're going to be performing in their region.
People can listen to music for free all day long. Many are used to not paying for it. So, are you giving them a reason to buy your music? For example, does buying your music enter them in a contest for a grand prize? If they order your CD can they buy an autographed picture, or a t-shirt for 1/2 price? How about offering a couple of free downloads if they buy your CD. You need to convince them that it is worth both their time and money to take their credit card out and spend their hard earned money on your music. Always give them more value than they are paying for!
Are you building relationships with your fans, or are they just numbers to you? Do you have a newsletter that you send out monthly to your fans? Do they know more about you than just what you sound like? Are your communications robot-like, or do you actually carry on a dialogue with your fans? Do you have candid videos or photos or is everything 'professional'? Fans want to get to know you. They want to feel like an 'insider' -- a real friend -- not just another email address.
Are you touring? People love to buy music from acts that they have seen. They buy a reminder of the experience. Touring helps you create a buzz! This is especially true if you perform a lot in just a few select regions rather than scattered all over. By returning to regions every few months, you give your new fans a chance to show off their 'find' and bring their friends to see you. The cycle repeats itself each time you return, to the point where eventually you have enough fans in each area to move up to bigger and higher-paying venues!
Are you giving people reasons to buy now rather than later? For example, can you offer a limited pressing of a CD? An example would be, "We are only selling 500 copies of this CD with this cover and an autographed insert." There's a reason why infomercials have that famous line... "Order in the next 10 minutes and you'll also get___"
Is your music priced to sell? Would you rather sell 5,000 CDs at $10 each and make $50,000, or 1000 CDs at $15 and make $15,000? Do you want 200 people to buy a $10 ticket to your show to clear $2,000, or 50 people to buy a $25 ticket to clear $1,250? Remember that 200 fans at a show will enable you to sell 4 times the CDs and merchandise after the show! Know what your fans are willing and able to pay.
Are you creating anticipation in advance for your new music, or are you just putting it out there when the recording is done? Are you counting on your 'friends' to return to your site on their own to see if you're released new music, or are you driving them there to hear something they've been anxiously waiting for? Are you feeding them 'sneak peaks' of your newest music? There is a reason why you see commercials for movies that won't be in theaters for another month. It's all about building the excitement and anticipation.

The bottom line is that there are thousands of independent musicians trying to sell their music to the same people you are. Your job is to give your fans a reason to buy your music and merchandise instead of or in addition to someone else's. Get creative. Engage them enough that they want to take something with them when they leave your gig or website!

Networking For Independent Musicians

2013-04-20T03:49:00.000-07:00

If you are an independent musician, then I know that coming up with great music promotion ideas is one of your main goals. Gone are the days where rappers, musicians and artists have to rely solely on record deals to make the big bucks, in fact who the heck wants to right? With the rise of "The New Music Industry" the possibilities of success are literally limitless.

One of the most effective ways to market yourself and your music is through social networking sites as well as having your own website. But, the trick is driving traffic to those sites and social network profile pages. Fortunately, through the use of search engine optimization, this is not an impossible music task and if you (and other band members) are covering all bases, so to speak, then S.E.O. is verging on unnecessary. Using strategically placed words, phrases and title tags throughout your site will definitely help you to achieve these results. Get your link out there. Post it on your MySpace page, your Twitter profile pages, your friend's pages and exchange it with others.

Another way to achieve this is by placing your music for sale on sites that cater to independent artists trying to maximize their online exposure. For example sites like CDBaby, TuneCore and Even Amazon are great for this. My favourite, however, (for digital downloads) is Bandcamp. No up-front cost & YOU name the price of your album or single. I highly recommend checking Bandcamp out. These sites list your CDs for sale and end up giving you a pretty fat chunk of the profits. This is a relatively new music promotion idea but quite a few artists are reaping the benefits. Remember, this is in addition to offering your music for sale on your own site.

When making your CDs, include a barcode on the package. This way, you can offer local music stores the opportunity to sell your album. Local music stores tend to be particularly favorable to Indie musicians from their area. In addition to music stores, contact non music stores and retail outlets as well. I know one band in our area that has their music for sale in Starbucks and they sell a good amount of music ever day. So be creative with this stuff, independent music promotion doesn't have to be difficult, you just need creativity and the drive to succeed.

Whist talking of things creative, I jumped into the deep end of mobile music apps. They took a lot less know-how than I expected and helped push my name up the Google search page no end. Once I had as many varied apps (and not always music-based) that I thought sufficient, I was unsure of 'how' to market them. His advice was simple. Begin with making free apps visible in as many places as possible, remembering to tell folks that there was an expiry date. Shortly before the 'free' apps had served their purpose, I launched and promoted my 'paid apps' in the same way that I do with my music. Due to the nature of the mobile work, the initial sales of paid downloads is a drop in the ocean. It's the content that lies within the app. Music, blogs, news, photo's, video, etc.

You should also look into getting a Facebook 'Page' page if you don't already have one. Facebook Pages are a powerful tool for unsigned artists and independent music promotion. You gain maximum exposure and it will cost you absolutely nothing at all. You can't beat that!

Another crucial thing to do is to simply include your web address on every piece of material that goes out. This will ensure people get the word out about your site. Your website will be your connection to the world around you. Keep it current and up to date, no matter what. The easiest way that I find is to keep my site 'dynamic' by having a blog. Keep it interesting and constantly changing. No one wants to constantly visit a boring site that always has the same images, info and music on it.

I made light of it at the beginning of this article, but if your ultimate goal is to get signed then with hard work and dedication it will happen, but you have to show the labels that you are serious. Implement the above techniques into your online music promotion routine and you will be on the track to raking in profits and hopefully fame and fortune! Keep in mind that you are always learning. Don't be afraid to seek help for problem areas but most importantly, stay extremely positive!

Don't Be A Martyr To Mobiles

2013-02-27T16:55:00.003-08:00

When we talk about phone then instantly Android come in our mind, and we know that Android platform is growing at a hasty rate worldwide. Several updated phone coming with Android platform. More than 500K android apps for over 500 android devices have flooded by android market. To make Android market more popular Android Application are free for everyone, he/she can download from numerous website. Millions of free apps been downloaded daily by Android user.

Have you thought if you got the chance to develop Android application of your choice and your interest seems cool, I am suggesting 5 easy sites that will help you to create your own Android apps for free in few minutes.

5 Sites To Create Your Own Android Apps for Free

1. Free Android App Maker

Free Android App Maker is one of the best free utility to create an android application. Here one can submit Android application at app store in just few minutes. Android App Maker make easy to create an app of your own. There are some easy steps in making first of all you have to choose a template then add your content (text) of your choice and even pictures. Finally you have to submit your application for review. Here you have many free layouts/templates to customize and easily edit your Android application of your choice.

Once your application gets shortlisted and accepted then you can download it from Play Store. Otherwise it will be only downloaded from own site

2. Android 3 Apps

Android 3 Apps is another free utility to create an android application for your Android gadgets of your choice. It has three simple steps to make Android application. First of all you have to choose an app then customize your content (text) of your choice and even pictures. Finally share it. This site provide many types of preloaded categories like Trivia Game, Photo Gallery App, E-Book App which allows you easily create a perfect application according to your requirements. Android 3 Apps also provide application like Radio Station, Band Music Apps, Quotes and jokes, Slider puzzles, Choice Games, Quiz Games, Truth or Dare, True or false, Question App, Video Player, Web Photo Portfolio, Android Website builder, Blank App Templates which can be used. Android 3 Apps will make easy to develop Android Apps as per the requirement.

3. Apps Geyser

Apps Geyser is a free service provider, which help you to convert your application and make money through it. It has more than 118,602,408 installed application, more than 260,193 created application and more than 3,610,134,404 ads served. By using Apps Geyser one can create an application in simple steps. Click on create button here you have different option like website (Enter URL), HTML Code Create or Paste HTML) and

YouTube Videos, Enter keywords or use Channel URL and many more and then distribute it. Apps Geyser gives you facility to make ad-supported apps and make money through that. It has also a unique feature that make if different through other service provider that is sharing features, sharing of your apps to all major social network. Supporting of HTML 5 to display pop-up notification like deal of the day or some important announcement to the users. So by seeing all features of Apps Geyser I can say that it offers creation, monetization, management of your android app.

4. App Yet

App Yet helps to create apps for website. App Yet helps you toconvert RSS feeds into an android application for Android OS. Here you have the freedom to list/sell created application on Market(s) or earn money through advertising. Using App yet you can turn a website or blog into application and share it with your friend anywhere in globe.

5. Andromo

Andromo gives you a fabulous platform to create professional apps for you. All type of business can be promoted share even can be used to discuss a new project. Very few mouse clicks is enough to make an apps and generate money through adding advertise to those apps. Apps can contain interactive photo galleries, blog/news feeds, maps, mobile websites, YouTube videos and even more. You can generate money by selling your application to Play Store using Andromo.

; So these 5 website are vey useful who try to do something new and have the creativity or for Android lover. You need some knowledge of HTML or Java, than you can make application of yours for your Android.

I hope these stuffs on Sites To Create Your Own Android Application for Free will help you making your own Android apps and share to your friend and entire world & most important making money through Android Apps.

When we talk about phone then instantly Android come in our mind, and we know that Android platform is growing at a hasty rate worldwide. Several updated phone coming with Android platform. More than 500K android apps for over 500 android devices have flooded by android market. To make Android market more popular Android apps are free for everyone, he/she can download from numerous website. Millions of free apps been downloaded daily by Android user.

Have you thought if you got the chance to develop Android apps of your choice and your interest seems cool, I am suggesting 5 easy sites that will help you to create your own Android apps for free in few minutes.

My personal favourite is 'AppsmakerStore.' Admittedly there is a free plan but for $9.00 (USA) the monthly fee is a small price to pay for it's ability to reach current supporters and a fantastic way for attracting new followers, particularly if you organise it exactly to your needs & also to the needs of your followers whilst maintaining it as a free download for them. If you wish to make your mobile device, then I highly recommend submitting it to 'Google Play.' If you do, your app. must provide EVERYTHING that your supporters want.
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If you are unsure of what app format, content, , etc & wish to enquire further, simply click here.

Android Over iPhone

2013-02-05T19:20:00.001-08:00

The competition in the smartphone world these days is between phones running on Android and those manufactured by the Apple. Instead of betting on the side of Apple, the world's renowned smartphone maker, developers seem to not care about it; thereby deciding to bet on the green side of Google's Android. This should be one of your considerations when you are contemplating selling your old smartphone. Should you stay with a smartphone or should you switch to an iPhone?

But before you go ahead and made a decision, here's a brief overview of Android for those who are used to iPhones.

What is Android? It just happens to be the world's most popular mobile platform. Android is an operating system created by Google to run on mobile devices. Each version is named after a type of sugary sweet food (for example, the latest version of their OS is the Ice Cream Sandwich). It is based on Linux and is the main competitor of iOS on the market.

The Android is an open source OS, meaning that many companies have created handsets running on Android and resell them for free if they wish. In fact, a majority of mobile devices these days run on Android. Samsung, HTC, and Sony Ericsson are just some of the manufacturers of smartphones that run on Android technology. Used by numerous smartphones, such as the G1, Droid, and Nexus One, Android is open source, meaning it is not linked to a particular cell phone manufacturer or service provider.

The Android OS also supports third-party apps, which are often downloaded from the Android Market, Google's online software store, which has been renamed Google Play. As of the moment, Google Play, despite being used by more people for more gadgets, seems to have fewer apps, not to mention that in certain areas, its functionalities are fewer. For example, in Asia and South America, only apps are available, meaning an Android user can source music, eBooks, and video files elsewhere. In the iTunes store, any iPhone user anywhere in the world can buy anything from it, as long as you have an iTunes account. If you are a traveller or love to stay overseas for long periods, you may want to consider this in deciding whether or not to sell your used smartphone and switch to an iPhone or not.

What It Does?

Android powers millions of phones, tablets, and other devices and brings the power of Google and the web within your reach.

By having an amazingly fast browser, multi-tasking capabilities, more convenient ways to connect and share, cloud sync, and the most common Google apps (and thousands of other apps available on the Android Market) your Android powered device is way more than just being 'smart.'

According to Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, "Android is going to be attracting the lion's share of developer interest over the next six months, with developers preferring to create apps for Android's Ice Cream Sandwich rather than Apple's iOS. "

With all of Android's promise, the iPhone is finally paying attention to Android as a serious contender. What's behind the seemingly magical allure of the iPhone? Your guess is as good as mine, but if you are excited to get cash for used smartphones, there's never been a better time than now. Explore the possibilities and you'll never be sorry.

Accidentally Academic

2012-10-18T01:25:00.000-07:00

In a perfect world, school curriculum would include interesting, relevant and useful lessons that would inspire students to learn, develop and seek more education.

But, alas, we live on Earth where perfect exists only in our imagination. As anyone who has ever been to school knows, a lot of what's taught there is boring, irrelevant and useless.

The result? Kids hate school. They hate it so much they quit. A recent report from the United States, it was revealed that 7,000 kids drop out of school each day. That's one every nine seconds. One out of four American high school freshmen won't graduate with his or her class. When you consider their frustration with our flawed educational system, it's understandable.

Understandable but still regrettable. Because as twisted and irrational as school can be, it's still good. It's still important. It's still valuable. Getting a diploma and getting a degree will always be better than not getting it.

The reason, although easy to understand, is just not communicated to kids as much as it should be - that battling their way through our imperfect schools inadvertently prepares them to battle their way around our imperfect planet.

Obviously, schools won't promote this. "As bad as we may be, stick it out because we're preparing you for reality." Yet it's true. Education, sometimes in spite of itself, works. For example, it reinforces Darwin's major point: Adapt or die! Our less than ideal schools unintentionally teach students how to adapt in four ways:

1. Successful students learn how to adapt to different teachers with different styles, different rules and different expectations. Over the course of their school-age years, kids will be exposed to great, good, fair and poor teachers. Learning to cope with the weak ones may, ultimately, teach them more than what they learn from the strong ones. It's the Knight effect. Legendary (and controversial) basketball coach Bobby Knight was so difficult to play for that, after dealing with him, his players could work with anyone.

2. Smart students adapt to their classmates. In our public schools, kids are randomly thrown together into incredibly diverse clusters. I'm always amazed at how well my socially successful students adjust to the idiosyncratic propensities of their peers. Again, perfect classmates are nice, but learning how to deal with the exasperating ones may spur more growth.

3. Strong all-around students - and, right or wrong, kids can't get into college without being sound in all subjects - must adapt to their different courses' requirements. Some kids are math/science kids. Others are English/social science kids. But the best students are industrious, and that enables them to adapt and make the grade in any class, from art to P.E.

4. Tough students gut it out and adapt to the lousy physical conditions in which they're supposed to learn. They have to endure uncomfortable chairs in crowded, too hot or too cold classrooms. Too often, their bathrooms are disgusting and their campuses are ugly. The working conditions at most fast food restaurants are better than the learning conditions at most public schools.

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Accidental Affirmation

2012-09-27T05:53:00.000-07:00

Living things vibrate. The quality and rate of the vibration may vary, but the fact of the vibration is sure. Your language and thoughts vibrate, too. When your language and thoughts match the vibration of what you want to create in life, those things can be expected to arrive. When you dwell on those things that frustrate and disappoint you, that "dwelling" is bringing you into alignment with their vibration instead. It becomes an "accidental affirmation."

* More than anything, Charlene said that she wanted to lose weight. Of course there were other things she wanted, too. A partner, better health, less body pain. But she attributed her loneliness and health problems to being overweight. What was the common theme running through her mind throughout the day? "I've gotta lose weight. I'm so lonely! Why can't I find a partner?"

Can you find the accidental affirmations? Charlene is focused on weight, loneliness, and the conviction that she cannot find the partner she wants. What's showing up in her life? Weight, loneliness, and no partner.

Let's help her out. How do you think Charlene's life might change if her affirmation switched to something like this: "My body and my life get lighter every day. I'm so happy being me!"

* Dan was so frustrated. First off, his back was killing him. Add to that his money problems and the fact that most of his relatives weren't speaking to one another and he'd had a heck of a week. What kept playing itself in the back of his head? "Man, this pain is getting to me. How am I gonna pay the bills this month? Why can't everyone just get along?"

Let's look for the accidental affirmations. Dan is focused on his back pain, a big pile of bills, and his stated belief that his family cannot get along. What's showing up in his life? Pain, bills, and family strife.

How might Dan flip his affirmation? "My family and my body heal easily, a little more every day. We have plenty of resources to meet our needs."

* Little Calvin just didn't know what else to try. His first grade teacher was so mean! She told him to do good work, so he did his best. Then she told him to work faster. How can he do his best work when she's so mean about the deadlines? The teacher must be stupid. Either that or he is stupid. Ohhhh.

What's going through little Calvin's mind all day? "Boy, I hate this place. My teacher is mean. She thinks I'm stupid. Maybe I really am."

You should be getting pretty good at this by now. What are little Calvin's accidental affirmations? "I hate school, the grown-ups here are mean, I must be stupid." What keeps showing up in his life? Confusion; dislike of school, learning, and teachers; the belief that it's all hopeless anyway because he's probably just too stupid to do well.

What can we do for Calvin? How do you think he'd do with something like this? "I'm smart enough to do a good job quickly. It's fun to learn new things!"

So enough about all of them. Let's go ahead and apply this to you:

* What regularly goes through your head?

* What are your accidental affirmations?

* What's showing up in your life right now as a result?

Finally, take a moment to consider whether or not you're producing the results you want in your life at the moment. If so, hurray -- keep it up! If not, how could you change the message to match the outcome you would prefer?

Create An Online Advertising Agency

2012-08-18T03:13:00.000-07:00

Prospects of creation of online advertising agencies are becoming brighter with the spread of internet and thrust on going green. This is one of the numerous online jobs that can be started from the confines of one's home. Traditionally, most advertising has been done through paper. There is now a definite shift to more and more online advertising.

Persons with copywriting and designing skills have got a tremendous opportunity to venture out in this exciting career. With online advertising, you don't need too much of an investment and elaborate infrastructure. If you have can imagine things and design proper ads, you have got an interesting internet business at hand.

Every business needs advertising. There is vast scope for tapping the needs of businesses that are yet to benefit from the benefits of internet advertising. Facebook springs to mind immediately. With the right tools (which are very cheap these days), advertising costs of businesses have gone considerably down. This has made it affordable for small and medium businesses to advertise. With this tool, they can not only save costs but also reach a wider audience.

If businesses have to survive, they need to advertise. Many businesses which had been relying solely on newspaper advertising, have seen the benefits of internet advertising and they have been shifting their offline advertising budget.

Businesses need advertising for various reasons like increasing sales, introducing new products, creating brand image or generating online traffic to a website. Achieving these objectives is necessary for the survival of any business. Without proper advertising, it is not possible to achieve any of these.

Not only that existing big and small businesses want to reap the benefits of internet advertising, even businesses that have not been doing any advertising have to tap the internet in order to achieve their goals. The result is increased internet advertising.

The thrust of web based advertising can be both local as well as international. Online advertisements can be tailored to both the types of internet marketing. Online advertising makes it possible to suitably modify advertising any time according to circumstances and new developments without incurring any extra costs.

Another major advantage of this is that you can measure the impact of advertising at short notice. This makes it possible to change the thrust of advertising within minutes. This way a business can always do trial and error till one is satisfied with the results. All this can be done without incurring heavy costs and wastage.

Numerous benefits of web advertising make it possible for any one to create an advertising agency and provide advertising services to businesses. For a budding agency, small businesses that have not tapped internet so far are the obvious choice to start with.

An advertising agency has vast scope. With more and more businesses going online and new businesses coming up, the potential of web advertising has only to go up. At a time when world economies are passing through recession, setting up of an internet advertising agency will be the right thing to do.

Online commercial advertising can be done through various means like online newspapers and other publications, AdWords, writing, press releases etc. Persons opening advertising agencies have to be conversant with different techniques of internet marketing.

Among several other requirements of this type of online job, is knowledge of graphic designing, writing, industry competition, knowledge about other markets etc.

If you can demonstrate your impact of advertising, your business is all but to go up.

Online agency provides a vast scope in making money online and earning decent incomes. This is an exciting online job and can withstand downturns.

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Home Business Ideas

2012-08-08T04:07:00.000-07:00

Are there secret home business ideas that will help you to earn money? Of course there are, however, the secrets are not as mystical or as shrouded in darkness as many would have you believe. The real secrets to make money from home business ideas are sometimes as simple as following the advice of the professionals who have accomplished exactly what you desire to do.

The stark reality is that real secret business ideas are usually nothing more than things you have not tried or learned yet. Moreover, the true secret is knowing what works and what does not in your quest to earn cash online.If you want to know the 'secrets' to a successful home business ideas, you will need to listen to the professionals in the home based business world in order to learn how to make money.

One of the things you rarely hear an Internet Marketer tell you is how you need to find a good niche for your online business, before you start out. In other words, the best home business idea to earn quick cash is to first determine what it is you want to do. Just like in the brick and mortar world of business, you want to start a business after you decide on a product.

This fundamental home business idea will lead you in the right direction as far as having a defined plan on which to build your business. Many people, when they start out, fail to qualify their quest to make money online by not using this real secret to success.

In order to get results and to make money in your own Internet business, follow these two important pieces of information. Call them secrets to home business ideas, if you like; however they really are true common sense approaches to success. First, define a product or niche you wish to pursue and secondly, follow the advice of a proven and successful marketer that will show you how to make money in your chosen niche.

Affiliate Marketing Mistakes

2012-07-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

You may not realize it, but there is a very high incidence of failures within affiliate marketing. If you are an affiliate marketer or are considering becoming one, you need to step back for a moment and try to analyse what it is that successful affiliate marketers are doing. One way to do that is to consider things that do not work when it comes to affiliate marketing. I have listed what I consider to be the top 5 mistakes people make.

1.Choosing the wrong market. If people are already spending money within a certain niche, then it will be easier to make sales in that niche. Researching the various markets is probably one of the most important steps before launching your website. Choosing the wrong market to start an affiliate business is a sure fire way to affiliate marketing failure Incredible as it may seem, niche markets such as weight loss or diet, golf, work at home, health, and many others appear to always have room for another website and never seem to reach a saturation point. Affiliate programs chosen within these types of niches will generally mean success.

2.Trying to run before you can walk. Make sure you have one website up and running profitably before starting another. This is a very common mistake many affiliate marketers make and they end up jumping around from one website to another and struggle to make money in any of them.

3. Not focusing on a specific product. There are many affiliate websites that have so many products on them that they never make a sale. Initially you are far better off to focus on one product and create a profit from it before adding more products.

4. Using the website provided for you by an affiliate merchant. There are many different reasons for this, but the main one is you are not going to differentiate yourself from your competition when you use the same website as everyone else. If you do use a website provided for you, make sure that you are able to make changes to it yourself to make it unique.

5. Not using lead capture pages and sign-up forms is another common mistake many affiliate marketers make. Successful affiliate marketers realize the importance of building a list for marketing to in the future, this is true regardless of the niche that they are in. Having an email marketing list is probably, aside from your website, your biggest asset and one which you can continue to tap into for many years to come. Therefore you need to build a list as large as possible contacting your subscribers regularly for them to get to know and trust you before you expect them to purchase from you.

If you truly want to be successful in affiliate marketing, follow these five tips and watch your affiliate business grow.

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Blog Advertising

2012-07-12T03:11:00.000-07:00

Why should someone monetize his or her blog? The best answer will probably be: why not? Making money from your blog is not illegal or impossible. Not only can a blogger earn some cash through their effort, this is also a reward to the blogger. With those extra cash, it can also provide extra income stream for you to live a better life. To make money from blog, blog advertising would probably the way to go. However, not all advertising methods will provide equal result to your blog. The result depends highly on your choice of blog advertising method and the content of your blog.

Therefore, learning about how to choose the best blog advertising strategy will both promote your blog and maximize your potential of earning.

3 Blog Advertising Categories:

Here are 3 types of blog advertising categories you can choose from:

Pay-per-click/PPC: Advertising using PPC is probably the most basic form of blog advertising a blogger can use. Here is how it works: you put a PPC ad to your blog and, the advertiser will pay you every time a visitor clicks on their ad. As a blogger, the amount you receive on each click is different. It is depended on what kind of ad it is, the keyword value and who your advertiser is.

Pay-per-action/PPA: advertisers sometimes prefer PPA, as blogger will only get paid when their visitors perform certain actions. For example, a visitor needs to subscribe advertiser's newsletter, sign up for a membership site or response to a survey.

Pay-per-View/PPV: Blogger will get paid for each time an ad is shown on your blog and view by visitors. Doing PPV required some strategies to target the right audiences. But if you do it right, you can make a lot of money by implementing PPV.

How to choose the best web blog advertising method?

The three types of blog advertising method talked above can work with different types of ads. They include:

Contextual ads: The content of contextual ads that will be shown is based on what your blog content is all about. Therefore, the key to success in contextual ads is relevance. In other words, if your blog is talking about wedding and marriage, you will not expect to see any ad that is talking about automobile. If you decided to use contextual ads as your blog monetizing strategy, it is important that your blog should focus on specific topic and be updated frequently. A blog that focused on specific topic will drive targeted traffic, and show relevant ads.

Text link ads: Compare to contextual ads, text link ads will often be shorter then that of contextual ads in terms of text length. But text link ads are working the same way as contextual ads. Text link ad is shown based on the content of that page. If your blog content varies from page to page, it may be better to choose text link ads.

Affiliate ads: Unlike text link ads and contextual ads, affiliate ads provided bigger monetary return. Here is how it works: you are going to join a company's affiliate program and, when they accept your registration, you will use their promotion materials, like banners, and post it on your blog.

Therefore, if your blog is talking about topics that related to certain products or services, affiliate ads will provide great return to you. For example, if your blog is about health and fitness, you can place a link that promotes some health food program or eBook on diet. Visitors who see your content may be also interested in those products.

Direct ads

Direct ads work in a way that, blogger will work with advertisers directly and independently. Advertisers will go to find blogs that are both related to their products and services. Then they will contact to those bloggers directly, discussing about possible cooperation on promoting their product or service. At the same time, bloggers can also find advertisers and tell them that there are ads spaces available for advertising. To success in using direct ads, blogger should have a high traffic blog and strong niche market. Pricing and payment method are based on the agreements that blogger and advertiser negotiated.

Successful Pay-Per-Click Advertising

2012-06-28T04:26:00.001-07:00

Advertising advertising (Photo credit: Toban Black)The top success tip of writing the advertisement is to grab the viewer's attention as much as possible. You will discover and learn great tips and inside secrets on writing the successful advertisements in PPC. It is obviously that those tips will help you to write better or even highly successful advertisement in PPC online advertising.

1. Write to Your Targeted Audience.

The first step of writing the highly successful advertisement is to write your own advertisements directly to your targeted audience. With the better understanding in your market and audience, it is easier to write your advertisements directly to your targeted audience. It is obviously that your advertisements will not success if they can not lead directly to the targeted audience.

The real secrets of PPC online advertising are to: (1) identify the small group of people in the market and (2) research effectively and get better understand people in the market.

2. Address the Benefits Rather Than Features.

There is no doubt that you have to identify the benefits of your products or services, rather than the features of products. It has proven that benefits can lead you to sale, but features can not. It means benefits can sell your products to your potential customers whereas the features only tell your products to them!

The real secrets of PPC online advertising are to: (1) list down all possible benefits of your products and (2) emphasize your benefits into your advertisement.

3. Insert Your Niche Keywords into Your Advertisement.

Inserting your keywords into your advertisement is very powerful and attractive approach. It has proven that if you insert your keywords into the advertisement, the opportunities to increase the click through rate (or CTR) will be opened and grown. With those keywords, it is easier to grab the viewers' attention.

The real secrets of PPC online advertising are to: (1) insert your keywords into the first line of your advertisement in PPC and (2) insert those keywords as much as possible into the advertisement.

4. Include a Strong and Solid "Call to Action" Phrase.

Another powerful tip is to include a strong and solid "call to action" phrase into your advertisement. For example, you include: "Sign up", "Register now", and "Save on". Otherwise, the prohibited phrase could be: "Click here", "Visit here", "Come see" and "Press here".

The real secrets of PPC online advertising are to: (1) include your "call to action" phrase into your advertisement always and (2) do not include the prohibited phrase or break any PPC search engines' term and use of condition.

5. Use the relevancy display URLs.

It is great idea to include the relevancy display URLs into your advertisement. Obviously, the more relevancy display URLs are, the more opportunities for people to click on and visit are! You have to use the relevancy and active display URLs.

The real secrets of PPC online advertising are to: (1) embed your keywords into your URLs and (2) use the existing and workable URLs only.

6. Use Proper Grammar and Correct Spelling.

Obviously, you have to use the proper grammar and correct spelling in your advertisement. Without them, your advertisement will look non-professional advertisement.

The real secret of PPC online advertising in this tip is to ensure that your advertisements look professional. It is a great idea to review and ensure that you use the proper grammar and correct spelling before submitting your advertisement.

7. Ensure that Your Advertisement is Easy to Understand and Straight Forward.

The last tip to write the highly successful advertisement is to write your easy-to-understand advertisement. You have to keep your advertisement short, clear and direct to the point. You have a limited space to write your own advertisement. Thus, it is a great idea to keep your advertisement clear, complete and concise.

The real secrets of PPC online advertising are to: (1) get better understanding about the products or services you are trying to write ads and (2) keep your advertisements clear, complete and concise.

Finally, writing the highly successful advertisements is one of the most significant components for your online business in PPC online advertising. With the highly successful advertisements, the opportunities to increase the CTR in PPC online advertising will open and increase. The real secrets of writing the successful advertisements are: (1) write direct to your targeted audience (2) address the benefits of your products (3) insert your keywords in the first line of advertisement (4) insert a strong "call to action" phrase (5) use the relevancy display URLs (6) use the proper grammar and correct spelling and (7) keep your advertisements clear, complete and concise. Apart from these great tips, all you have to do next is to monitor, track and evaluate your advertisements for improvement in the future.

Don' Forget Offline Advertising

2012-05-31T00:52:00.000-07:00

yellow-pages-nz (Photo credit: Doug Beckers)

Intensive marketing and advertising is the need of the hour for non-established online businesses. Today, merely advertising and marketing a business online isn't quite enough. Out of the box thinking is, most certainly, the best method to fight it out in the mega competitive world.

Aggressive online promotion is a good way to market your business venture. But online promotion, in some way or the other, is what nearly everyone does. To get noticed and make a mark, you've to think different, do different and be different. To be that one step ahead of your competitors, you'll need to adopt an entirely new method: advertise and market your business offline.

Offline advertising can go a long way in creating a brand factor as also substantially marketing a website. For one, you'll have a much larger base to target. The more people you introduce your website to, the more visitors are you likely to get. What more, you'll generate traffic from sources different than the ones your competitors tap. So in all likelihood, you'll have a huge target base at hand, with hardly anybody to compete with.

There are scores of methods you can put to use; there really is no end to creativity, is there?! Use some of the ones mentioned here or come up with concepts of your own to announce your online presence to the offline world.

BANNERS AND SIGN BOARDS: Put up banners in places where your target audience are regulars. Perhaps a super market you visit regularly, or a gym you frequent; a club, a sauna or a parlour. It can't get better if these happen to be places you visit often too. A good friend here and there and you might not even have to shell out much valued green bills!
CLASSIFIEDS AND YELLOW PAGES: Book yourself space in yellow pages and classifieds. Come up with some good copy for your ad since there will be plenty others on the same page. The idea is to grab your audiences' attention and, at the same time, impress them with whatever little you get to say.
PRESS RELEASES: Again, come up with a good press release that adequately covers your business, products and success story. Mention your website URL and keep it as simple as possible. Take care not to come up with run-of-the-mill stuff as nobody's gonna bother reading it.
SPONSOR EVENTS AND EXHIBITIONS: You've a steady business and the one thing you need is public awareness with regards to it. One good way to do this would be by sponsoring a couple of events or exhibitions that are expected to attract masses. As the title or associate sponsor, you're more than likely to grab people's attention.
ANSWERING MACHINE AND CALL WAITING: Include your website address in the message on your answering machine. And set the same on your line holding and call waiting instead of a boring tune, jingle or message. When clients call, ask if they've access to the net and send them over to your website to have a hands-on experience. As added incentives, you can offer free consultation and/or discounts on orders placed through your website.
OFFER DISCOUNTS, FREE STUFF AND OTHER GOODIES: Free coupons and discounts are a great way to engage your target audience. People may know zilch about your business but the prospect of tucking in some free goodies is sure to attract them to your website.
STATIONERY: Use your website logo and URL every time you send e-mails or letters. Have corporate stationery printed. Apart from looking professional, this will also give your recipient the chance to check out your website and get to know more about your business. Goes without saying that you're to have your website logo and URL on your business card too.
PROMOTIONAL ITEMS: Purchase items such as t-shirts, sweatshirts, scribbling pads, attractive calendars, diaries or even cute stuff such as pens and pencils. Put on your logo and website URL and send them to people you know: relatives, friends, friends of friends, and even your clients. You could also send a box of goodies for festivals and other special events. Another good idea would be to print bookmarks with catchy or witty one liners, accompanied by your business logo and URL. Have these distributed in book stores, libraries, coffee shops and other such places. People who frequent these places are sure to take note of this unique method.
CONDUCT FREE CLASSES/ SEMINARS: Spend time and organize a seminar or a series of classes on topics related to your business and its overall functioning. Make sure you select areas that will be of potential use to your target audience. People who enjoy and benefit from these classes are more than likely to tell others about your business and website. You can couple these classes or seminars with free demos of your products and services.
PARTICIPATE IN LOCAL EVENTS: Participate and speak at local events in your city or town. People often recognize public speakers as experts in their fields. You'll hardly have to convince anyone with regards to your business or website once they revere you as an expert.

addit: I would like to thank Berry Beresford for her contribution to this entry.

Blogging And Money

2012-05-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

Blogging Heroes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Blogging is very popular nowadays. Many people are hooked on it. This is probably because it is fun to do. But do you know that you can also make money blogging? It is not just a hobby for some. It is also a means of earning income.

If you want to make money blogging, here is everything you need to know.

You can earn money several ways. You can earn from it using both direct and indirect methods.

Direct monetization. This uses methods where you earn directly from your own blog.

1. Offer ad spaces for advertisements in your blog. Ad spaces could be for banner advertising, textual advertising or text link ads. Banner advertising is an old form of advertisement where ads appear using a combination of photos and texts. Textual advertising uses only texts and links. Text link ads on the other hand are done by mentioning in your blog a product which is linked to the product's own website. You can get these advertisements by connecting with an advertising network or you can look for them yourself. You earn from these in three ways. You can earn on a CPC or cost per click arrangement. This means that you get paid for every click on an ad in your site. You can also earn on a cost per thousand arrangement. This means you earn based on the number of times an ad is displayed on your site. Lastly, you can earn on a CPA or a cost per acquisition arrangement. This means that you get a commission for every sale made.

2. Use your blog to promote your own product. If you have a product to sell, you can promote it in your blog so you don't have to pay others for carrying your ad. You can write your own promotional gimmicks exactly the way you want to.

3. Promote products for different companies in your blog. You can connect with business owners and write product reviews and promotions for them. The danger with this is that your readers might be turned off in the sense that they might question your honesty. Commissioned product reviews sometimes do not appear truthful since they are paid ads after all.

Indirect monetization. This uses methods where you earn because of the blogs that you write. You can make money blogging using these methods only after you have built a good reputation and you are already considered an expert in a certain area because of how you blog. When you write blogs and people read and believe what you write, you become an authority in that topic. Once you are considered an authority you can earn through the following.

1. Writing for other people. Some blog and website owners do not write their own blogs. They employ bloggers to write about a certain topic for them. Others get the services of bloggers to maintain their whole site.

2. Speaking in conferences. When you are considered an expert in a certain field, people may get you to speak about that field in conferences and summits. You become their resource person.

3. Writing books. Publishers may ask you to write books for them about your expertise. You earn from writing the book and you also get royalties from the sales of the book.

All these will help you make money blogging. You just have to remember that you have to be serious in this blogging business so will earn good rewards and have staying power.

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Cuts See Nurses Stretched To Breaking Point

2012-04-22T18:06:00.000-07:00

A&E sign common in the UK. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Tasmania's nurses have had enough.

They say lives are being put at risk each day as a result of the State Government's budget cuts and are calling for support from the public. In the last four months, Tasmania has lost more than 84 nurses who have moved interstate to escape the cuts. Ten North-West trained graduates also left the state because there were no positions available.

Emergency departments are overflowing because there aren't enough beds on the wards for patients and nurses are working double shifts, some on their feet for 19 hours.

In 22 years of nursing, emergency department clinical nurse Jan Robinson has never seen things this bad.

Mrs Robinson said the full effects of the budget cuts were only just being felt.

There are more cuts to come as the government looks to save $500million from the health budget over four years.

"Since the cuts, access has been blocked pretty much on a daily occurrence. Ward B was closed back before Christmas and we knew that we wouldn't see the full effects of that right away because theatre sessions were reduced over Christmas," she said.

Mrs Robinson said for the past month there had been patients kept in the ED for more than 24 hours because there were no beds available on the wards. "Studies have shown, and the information tells us, that it is dangerous for people to be in the ED. Mortality rates are higher." Mrs Robinson said a different type of care was required to look after patients once they were treated in the ED and the staff and expertise for that was on the ward. Incidents of ambulances banking up because the ED is full, increased staff sick leave and overtime claims are all being attributed to the cuts.

"Last week in the emergency department, we had seven staff out of about 27 work double shifts. Those shifts ranged from 15-19.5 hours," she said. "We're doing double shifts and getting paid double time, where's the economy in that?"

If things don't improve, she said the public would have to reduce their expectations as service levels could not be maintained with the current situation. Mrs Robinson said nurses had done all they could and needed the public to help them fight the cuts. A public health forum will be held in Devonport tonight - Mrs Robinson and a number of North- West doctors and nurses would be speaking at the forum about the cuts and how it is affecting the region's health care.

The forum will be held at the Devonport Entertainment and Convention Centre, 145-151 Rooke St from 6.30 tonight. Members of the public are invited to attend.

Avoid Dental Problems

2012-03-14T22:44:00.000-07:00

teeth three years ago (Photo credit: darwin.wins)
Ever since I was a small child living in Scotland I have suffered from dental problems. My first recollection of this was at the age of 4. I was laying in the back of my parents car, I had a fuzzy feeling in my head and couldn't feel my mouth at all, which was purpose-knitted by my Grandmother for the occasion....yellow and white, if you don't mind. I still have the scarf.

I digress. The next thing that I can remember was my Grandmother giving me a rather small but sharp-tasting drink. It turned out to be a 'hot toddy,' which is a Scottish term for whiskey, hot water and sugar. It must have worked a treat as the next thing I knew it was the next day.

The reason that I suffered dental problems at an early age was that my teeth grew very rapidly; so rapidly that I had my second set of teeth removed when I was 9. I can recall this dental excursion much more vividly. The dentist, in his wisdom, first tried dental braces. This had the exact opposite effect that he was after. Despite me being ever so pedantic with my dental care several of my teeth began to decay from the constant contact with the dental braces. I recall him clearly that my second set of teeth would have to be removed and that I would most likely have dental problems all my life. He was right.

After the removal of my second set of teeth and my almost phobic care of these teeth, I thought that I had my dental woes behind me. My dental woes stayed behind me until I emigrated with my family to Tasmania in 1979. To this day I do not know what made me do a complete turnaround with my teeth and totally neglect them. With the benefit of hindsight I consider myself extremely lucky. I did not begin suffering further dental problems until I was about 22.

The first dental problems that I began to suffer from were plain old toothaches; nothing that a couple of over-the-counter painkillers couldn't fix. As time progressed the toothaches incrreased in severity and duration. I the began suffering pain in my gums and in my jaw. If you take just one thing from this entry I would like you to go immediately to a dentist if you experience gum pain or jaw pain. Your cranial nerves are extremely close to your jaw area, particularly each side of the middle of your chin. If the pain is caused by infection it will quickly travel to the brain with a devastating or fatal effect.

Again, I digress. This first infection was the first of many to come. I refused to have teeth pulled out unless

it was under a general anesthetic. As time went on, fragments of my teeth began to fall out....and without pain. I knew that this wasn't good but pressed on. It became cyclical....Toothache, painkillers, antibiotcs, toothache, etc, etc.

The final crunch came in 2008. My entire left jaw was swollen out like The Elephant Man and the pain would have been enough to kill an elephant. I went to the local dentist, who is very good. He told me that removal of my entire top teeth was a 'must.' No questions asked. He took an X-Ray and on my next visit he pointed out previous infections by location and year. I was impressed. He wrote me a referral to a Scottish dental surgeon who travels over every 3 months. Luckily I was able to have everything arranged for 5 weeks ahead of that day.

Surgery went well and I made a quicker than expected recovery. There were 2 appointments with my orthodontist to adjust my full top dentures as shrinkage to my top palate hadn't quite settled down.

Having said this, I still have occasional pieces of dental matter pushing through my gum and it isn't 100% painless.

Despite my 'luck,' and that's what I call it, with dentures I do not recommend them unless your dentist deems them a 'must.'

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Selling Your Music For Production

2012-01-16T20:45:00.001-08:00

All through the improvements that have impacted the music industry, a very important factor that has always been consistent is music for production. This usually has, and can remain, just about the most desired markets for composers as well as musicians. Music for production is very important to a production's success. Each and every film, TV show and also corporate video requires music to lift their final product... they usually have and will be always. Record labels could only get you so far, but bringing a tune in a TV show may gather its returns for a long time.

Production music libraries in many cases are requested by composers and musicians about how precisely to publish their very own music for production. An excellent library should be available to a stable circulation of fresh material from both experienced or veterans and new musicians. Who knows what undiscovered talent is waiting around in the wings! While all of us devote most time of our day online, connected to our email and the world wide web, it's very easy to deliver out an MP3 with a link to a site to browse around. Yet, a bit of work in your production can surely significantly help. Posting a demo CD featuring your very best work, with all clearly branded might have longer desk pile life than an email that's very easy to delete and tag as spam. The majority of production music libraries hold the greatest submissions on hand, generally organized by genre, for upcoming projects. Do not be blown away to listen to back from a library one year after, when they eventually comprehend they do need an album of mariachi rock music for production.

For some music libraries, composer agreements are made on a work-for-hire basis. The library will have the masters and copyrights, and will keep 100% ownership of publishing shares. But, the composer is eligible to take part in all writer performance royalties. Agreements may change among various music for production libraries, although many work on a work-for-hire basis to be able to support the type of music for production libraries as a one stop licensing shop.

Publishing indie music for production is actually a the same process. But, the management contracts differs from exclusive to non-exclusive deals, varying term period and publishing share splits. Many music supervisors, who be given a continuous stream of submitted music for production, highlight the value of exclusive agreements. It's within their greatest interest, as well as your best interest as a composer/musician/artist, to do business with just one company to try to sell your music. By doing this, all parties included are clear in terms of the prices and true ownership/representative of the music in use. You do not wish to contend against yourself and also have the music supervisor settle for a less expensive license fee. You may be losing out on well-deserved license earnings!

Thus, just what occurs when all the parties agreed and your music is used in a TV show such as Grey's Anatomy or Fringe? Hopefully you are a registered writer with either of the US Performing Rights Organizations (PROs), namely ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. These PROs are every author as well as publishers' very best friend. These people are responsible to keep sending you those royalty checks each quarter, yet most importantly, they help safeguard your rights as a composer and publisher.

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<p>&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://bobfindlay.bandcamp.com/album/mean-business"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Mean Business by Bob Findlay&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

Music Business And Managers

2011-11-25T21:17:00.000-08:00

Image via WikipediaFor the purpose of this entry I am referring largely to independent rock bands who are performing on a regular basis. Hopefully, musicians working outside of this scope may find parts of this blog financially beneficial.

Most artists and bands want to achieve success in the music business, for instance earning enough from travelling and playing their beloved instrument to quitting their day job. Good administration is almost always necessary to achieve any measure of success in this tough business. Many musicians are intelligent and resourceful, and certainly have the capacity to manage their own affairs, but the artist that can handle all this and progress in his art without losing focus and/or sanity is rare.

The basic question is when do you need a manager?

The simple answer is....when you have something to manage. This sounds pretty obvious but it is the most

accurate answer I can give. Many artists and bands tend to seek business administration far too early in their careers, but others wait too long. Some artists and bands look for management to take over every aspect of the band's business so they can just "show up and play...". Even if the manager could do it all, bands must understand that the success or failure is solely the band's responsibility. Not the manager's.

The main reason an artist or band tends to seek a manager is because they want to be playing regular gigs as well as get extensive media attention to help promote the artist and their music. From the very first day, a good manager will be driven by an artist or band's achievements, which may be as simple as having a great song written or access to a decent PA or an opportunity to perform for an A&R scout. Any "successful" regional act will tell you that practicing and playing are only a very small part of the job of being in a band; meeting club owners, networking with other bands, and studying the music industry are just a few of many responsibilities. Remember, it's called the music business for a reason.

If you or your band is lucky enough to have a close friend outside the band with respect for the band and

music, some computer skills, motivation to succeed, and basic business knowledge, you're in luck!

Most up-and-coming bands aren't in the financial position to pay a manager or even pay their rent for that matter, so be sure to respect the free labour you're receiving for what it is. Once your band is has established itself and written some material to perform live, utilize your resources to record a good demo tape, write a band biography, and have some professional pictures made. Basically, a killer press kit. Then, use those tools to help create some business to manage!

When you know you're ready for a manager and haven't got the full time to focus your attention on playing as well as your administration duties, its essential to find the perfect manager.

Mean Business by Bob Findlay

How To Share Your Knowledge Online

2011-10-25T22:05:00.000-07:00

Anybody who has spent a certain amount of time on the internet will have no doubt heard about blogs. It took me about 2 years to actually know what a blog was. I was too busy being overwhelmed by the fact that I could get my music heard on the world stage to bother. Blogs are growing in popularity each day, with focuses on every subject one could think of; people from all over the world can interact with each other, no matter the hour where they live. Naturally, in an attempt to appeal to the masses and stay current, some businesses opt to create a blog to talk about their products and services. Many, however, are not sure of how to use said blogs to market their business. By reading the below tips, you can learn how to effectively market yourself using this internet tool.

1. Post interesting content. You are not writing for yourself; on the contrary, the focus of the blog is meant to entertain your reader. If you want people to become interested in your product, do not discuss how great it is or how professional your company is all the time. If you overdo it, your visitors will be less likely to take you seriously; they may even leave based on your saturation method. The blog should not be one big sales pitch, in other words. Make even those who would not normally care about your business want to visit.

2. Make your readers relate to you in some way. This can be achieved by sharing stories from your everyday life. Did you have a challenging time finding a birthday gift for your grandmother? Talk about it.

Did the tires of your car blow out while you were driving down the highway? Share this event. When they start to see you as a real person, as opposed to simply a cold business suit on the other end of the computer screen, customer loyalty may result. Weave in how your situations relate to your services, as well.

3. Update the blog frequently. Many people who run blogs find themselves falling into this trap, but it is quite important in the long run. You do not have to update several times a day, but posting once a week or month is not an attractive move. Should someone come across the blog and discover how infrequently it is given attention, they may lose interest. In fact, they may believe that you are not professional, or are out of business entirely. This is a terrible blow to your marketing goals; do not make this mistake.

4. Provide information that cannot be acquired any other way. In other words, make it feel like you are giving away special "insider" information . Give notice on upcoming sales; tell them about what is selling the best in your industry, and so on. Educate them; make it fun for all involved. However, do not give away anything that might damage your reputation, such as how much your fellow employees drank at the annual Christmas party. Stick to "safe" topics, but do not make them boring.

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://bobfindlay.bandcamp.com/album/mean-business"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Mean Business by Bob Findlay&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Tasmanian Musicians. Carry That Weight

2011-06-22T20:11:00.000-07:00

Since recently dabbling in assisting bands increase their public profile by way of an online music newspaper that was initially called "Music In Tasmania," I was underwhelmed by the lack of responses that I received after contacting them. The major response was/is a surefire winner. A chap called Mat from "Argusband" contacted me with other websites that the band is on so I have tweeted them with the relevant hashtags with moderate success at this stage.

I didn't bother contacting Rod Fritz as his online presence is making my job pretty easy as far as "Music In Tasmania" goes.

What took me aback was that I received four letters complaining that they hadn't been featured and the bands that I have featured are "....crap...." "rubbish...." "....wankers...." and so forth. Such letters were the first correspondence that I had received from these bands. Needless to say, they're off my schedule.

Having a small population base put me behind the eightball to start with. Having such useless and pointless comments from some bands narrowed my field even more. This saw me launch straight into 'Plan B.' This entails a name and content change for the paper. It is now called "Music And Arts In Tasmania." It is now including tourism, art, photography and theatre as well as the original topic of music.

Where am I going with this blog? I was heading away from my original theme of discouraging musicians from being aloof when nobody knows who they are for a start. Added to this, it's not a good idea to send unprofessional slurs about other bands to the likes of myself with my mere 26 years as a professional musician. My word travels far and fast. Make it work FOR you. It's not rocket science!

If any bands are viewing this entry as criticism, then you're way wrong. It's the music business. Are you into your music as a hobby or are you treating it as a business? If your answer is the latter then I suggest spending some time exploring legitimate and worthwhile to your specific needs. It really is worth it. You don't have to upload you're entire catalogue of music to each site. I do recommend, however, having a consistent bio. and profile picture.

The music business has been around longer than we have so they know all the tricks. You can make yourself stand out simply by being easily reachable via Google search. This is where consistency comes in. People will be more likely to 'join you' on another site if your presentation is consistent with the other sites that you're on.

It takes time for each site to 'generate' you and make you Google friendly. Patience is a virtue.

The best promotion that I can offer you is via "Music And Arts In Tasmania" (below) which is heavily reliant on my Twitter activity. All you have to do is send an occasional tweet my way and I can get you great mileage; namely in the form of a "featured article." In order to keep up to speed, simply subscribe to the daily edition of my newspaper.

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://bobfindlay.bandcamp.com/album/mean-business"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Mean Business by Bob Findlay&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

Tips To Selling Your Music Online.

2011-06-12T14:47:00.000-07:00

In an era where digital music is frequently pirated and distributed freely around the internet, it might seem highly difficult to discover new methods of selling your tunes. Sure, there is always going to be listeners who download albums illegally, but allowing it to ruin your day or marketing strategy isn't going to help anyone. Finding true success within the digital market is by no means easy, but never impossible if you have a decent product and the right plan.

Right off the bat, you must ask yourself what about the music influences people to purchase it, and drop their hard earned cash on one of your creations. Obviously, writing material which is inspired and enjoyable is the first step, but even this might not be completely enough. Listeners need to love the music so much it's impossible to resist, and something they can't help but share with friends and family, hoping it will evoke a similar positive reaction.

Creating a deep, diverse selection of music is another critical step in making some cash off your tunes. Perhaps if some people aren't interested in one album, there's another with a slightly different style which will pique their interest. Building an impressive discography allows potential fans to experience multiple sounds and ideas, and with enough of them, they are bound to discover something they can jam to. Once someone purchases a few songs, they'll become inclined to download more, becoming thirsty for another taste of your music.

While constructing your discography, it's also significant to remember that quality will always outweigh quantity. Just because there's an extra five tracks or so you've been dying to dust off and post online for sale doesn't quite mean they're ready for public consumption. Capturing accurate emotions, feelings, and inspiring people is what truly pushes fans to spend money, and you're more likely to capture new audiences with top notch material, rather than some B-side you don't even enjoy. Making sustainable, powerful music should be the top priority, and always before a marketing or distribution plan.

Once a record or single is touched up, completed, and prepared for release, it's time to devise an effective strategy to create some buzz and compel more listeners to try out your latest product. Utilizing social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace is a free, easy method to spread the word and drive some more traffic to your web pages. Affordable and sometimes free press release services are available online as well, which help to distribute information to the appropriate music blogs, message boards, magazines and sites. Make contacts with other bands or record labels so you can reach their audiences as well. If you've created something special, people will be listening, and the reflection will hopefully become evident in your bank account.

As long as you're focused on writing and producing top notch music, there's always a way to create some income through attracting people and generating digital sales. Stay away from rushing your products out the door, and ensure each and every release is absolutely of the best quality. Marketing and promotion is equally important, but all the fancy Flash animation and website hits in the world won't make poor music profitable.

Mean Business by Bob Findlay

Music And Legal Matters

2011-05-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

Whether you realize it or not, the creative side and the business side of the music industry is inevitably linked. Unfortunately, for artists, the business side of the industry is boring and overly technical but that does not change the fact that you must be informed to stay successful. These two sides become linked with talk of music contracts. Music contracts are legal documents that specify terms and conditions for all parties involved in any type of situation.

No matter how great of an artist you are, when it comes to music contracts, you need to operate like a professional businessman or businesswoman. Aside from just contracts, your music career can be affected legally by record contracts, publishing contracts, copyright law, name protection and business organization.

The legal aspect of the music business is unavoidable, that is why you have to educate yourself. And don't just educate yourself on the legal requirements of the artist in music contracts, study how a music contract can affect everyone involved, engineers, agents, managers, producers, recorders etc...

Every individual working in the music business today should convert themselves into a business person in addition to being an artist. Here are some things you should understand to be a success in your music career.

- Learn who is involved in the music industry, the main players, who they are and when you may need them.

- Your music career is your business, so aside from just music contracts, you need to know how to run your business, your finances, your administration and your rights.

- What legal issues are a unique concern to artists and songwriters? You need to grasp copyright law, recording agreements and publishing agreements.

- Explore the common types of music contracts including club contracts, distribution agreements, production contracts and label agreements.

- In music contracts there are several parties that play a role including; managers, agents, producers, club owners and investors. Understand the roles of everyone involved.

- Lastly, keep yourself informed of changes in legal issues concerning artists in the music industry.

I completely understand if this all sounds overwhelming to you but at the same time, it is vital to your success. Take a course on the legal aspects of music contracts and the music industry. At the very least, read some books on the subject. You really need to arm yourself with knowledge in this industry before you sign any music contract. Don't be apart of the rising statistics of great artists who failed because of signing bad music contracts.

Mean Business by Bob Findlay

Download Music Legally

2011-02-08T17:37:00.000-08:00

Music is the essence of communication. It connects us with worlds and emotions that are sometimes buried so deep within that we almost forget that they exist. Thanks to all the advancement of technology we can now explore all the interesting music genres right in our own homes. This convenience comes with great responsibility and most people lack the maturity to understanding that. To appreciate music you have to be willing to make a small investment for those that open up the portals of self-expression and communication.

The world of mp3 music is now an extended orchard, ripe and ready for the picking. The industry of downloading music illegally is now noticing that in order to get better quality with less guilt then legal download is the best way to go. The reasons are endless as to why you should opt for downloading mp3 music legally.

It is clear that society is not highly interested in paying much for anything, but often the asking price for legal music download is so little one can actually ridicule it. There are many sites that offer the download of mp3 music legally. These help provide an efficient service for people. The basic concept is that people can get their favorite music instantly by paying a very low fee. This type of fee can be per download or subscription. Besides being able to download the music legally you get the opportunity to read some of the reviews written about your favorite artists which can be quite interesting. Most start from as little as $1 per hit downloads. Sites like mp3.com, emusic.com, musicmatch.com and so forth help make this process as easy as taping a few keys.

With such convenience its no wonder more and more people are entering this music world. The best part is that one can carry their music with them whenever they go, with the little assistance from mobile phones and also mp3 players and such technological gadgets.

So the world is all about exploration and the path is paved with legally downloaded mp3 music. Why bother with the hassle of illegal music when you can have your conscious free from the claws of the law.

The appeal with legal mp3 music download is that you know that you will be receiving the same quality as a store bought CD. But something that most music fans seem to understand and appreciate from the services provided by the legal mp3 music downloading sites is that it is a community. This means you are become part of a growing network of music fans. Legally downloading mp3 music is also mainly about appreciating the legal rights of artists. With people lacking so much in the respect for other people's property it is good that most music downloading websites are doing their part in preserving a sense of honesty.

Independent Muiscians And Social Media

2011-01-07T21:26:00.000-08:00

Since the creation of the music industry, artists have been scrambling to find the address to major record labels in hopes of effectively shopping their demo and signing a record deal. Those days are long gone, though because new technology is making it easier to not only record and distribute your own music, but now you can start your own record label with very little effort, and nowhere near the capital.

Shareware, freeware, and open source software are typically free or extremely inexpensive to obtain. Programmers and software developers create these accessible programs in order to establish their credibility in their field of expertise. This benefits you because it allows you to get your hands on the equipment you need to record your own demos and albums.

Social networking and social media programs on the internet also make it very easy to share your music with friends and family, and also to start building a fan base. You can establish yourself as a credible, quality independent musician or artist without the usual marketing and production that can take months to create. The need for administration becomes negated and will save a lot off stress and time.

Once you are able to distribute music, you can officially consider yourself a record label, and with some paperwork, you can make it legal too. The first thing you will need to do is choose a label name and file a Fictitious Name Statement, which is basically a form of copyright. This way you are not illegally using a name that someone else owns, but it also protects you from someone else using your name, intentionally or otherwise. It also protects you from slander and libel.

Next you will need to decide if you want to manage a sole-proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation. This depends on how many people are involved in decision making, investing, and who makes profits. Obviously, the first option is a solo, independent business. The second option explains that multiple people equally invest and benefit and third represents most of the record labels that you know about. These are large businesses with varying levels of employment and require legal counsel before establishing.

Once you know what kind of business you want to run, you need to file for your tax ID. This puts you into the taxman, so you have to pay the necessary taxes, but it will also allow you to take advantage of the tax benefits that go along with owning your own business and band administration manager with minimal fuss.

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