Get a piece of the Government's pie. Believe us three of us have received money from grants and commissions when we were starting our careers and now that we look back these grants were a big push to putting our careers on the fast track. With a little bit of knowledge and now guidance from us take advantage of all this money the GOV has to give away. Even music artists like Madonna, and Sting have received grants....why not you. It's business
The amazing part is its FREE money. Believe us it really is!!
Click here to get the full scoop.
Your Credit Report/Score
Most artists we encounter and talk about personal finance we are always shocked how little emphasis they put on having a good credit report and good credit score. No matter what any artist is planning on doing, a time hopefully sooner than later will come when you'll need a loan from the bank either to grow and expand your business, invest in a home (very cool!) or even just a loan to get by while we wait for the big check.
Specially now a days with all the identity thieves out there, you should be staying on top of this to make sure there's no wired things on it. The good thing about checking it is that you will be able to report any discrepancies and get these erased by the credit report companies. Most of the time even if you have a bill oon collections you can report it, pretend like you dont know about it and they'll erase it.....
Check your credit. Dont be silly.
Click here to do it for FREE
The Basics (part 1)
Basic rules:
- Don’t be late ! – this is one of the biggest problems in the industry today believe it or not. If you want to be successful be on time, if your not, there will be hundreds of other hungry artists waiting in the wings to take the gap.
- Be reliable. If you say your going to do something do it !
- Think long term – being an artist is a lifetime journey. Try to build as many positive relationships as possible that might help you in the future.
- Work hard – this goes without saying but remember things take time. Most cats who make it have been working hard for many years.
- Develop other skills – there is nothing wrong with working in a job and being an artist at the same time. Having a job will make you the money you need to make a demo and will take the pressure off your art.
- Have fun – this is an exciting industry
Tax Tips for Artists
If you're a working artist looking to keep more of your income in your own pocket rather than it going toward taxes, here are
some helpful organizing tips.
Create a business log
When doing your taxes (or in case of an audit) the most useful documentation you can have as a working artist, besides receipts, is to keep a business log book. You can use a notebook or a computer spreadsheet, a calendar or a date book for this purpose. Each time you travel anywhere or purchase anything that is tax deductible, make a notation in your log.
Just click on the pic and you can
read the complete article.
Comply NR-101 High Tech Noise Reduction Earphones
For all you musicians: Take care of your hearing. Your health should be your biggest investment.
The Comply NR-10i earphones were specially designed with iPhone owners in mind, and they will utilize the same patented technology used by U.S. Army helicopter crews and Special Forces - ensuring you get to benefit from amazing noise reduction, superior comfort and secure in-ear fit, and among the benefits derived are crystal clear conversations and music experiences despite wading along in noisy environments. These Comply Foam Tips that come packaged with the earphones offer superior noise reduction in both communications and music-listening situations. They are made from high-tech, viscoelastic polyurethane foam, and the tips themselves are able to conform to the individual shape of each ear canal without being an irritant when in place. The foam is able to create passive noise reduction by sending sound directly into the ear canal while sealing out unwanted noise.
In addition, the Comply NR-10i earphones comes with an integrated microphone/function switch on the earphone cord that enables users the option to receive and end calls as well as skip songs to one that they like at the touch of a button. You can pick up the Comply NR-10i earphones for $99.95 a pop.
setup your cordless office
Setting up a cordless home office is one of the best things we all agree that we have coincidentally done. Not only did two of us go out and hire someone to set it up for us (which by the way we later found out we could have done it ourselves) but it has saved us so many headaches as well as made our time and office super efficient.
"Time is not worth money, time is worth MORE than money"
Click on the pic to read a great article.
7 Important Money Saving Tips For your home office
You don't need me to tell you that the economy is in dire straits; it's heavily covered on every news channel and website. More and more, people are scratching and clawing to improve their personal finances whether it's new techniques to save more money or creative ways to earn extra cash.
Artists, thought of as 'the isolated many' aren't isolated from the economy. Contrary to what many might think, Art isn't a zero investment job; there are some significant costs associated with it. Since they are living in the same world and a part of the same economy, it's important for them to gear up and tackle the situation in a way that can cut costs without hurting their business.
If you are a web worker, consider starting with the following tips and then see if you need to cut more on certain other aspects of your work.
Identify Expenses
It sounds crazy but it's common for most artists to not have an organized way to calculate total income and expenditure. When you are taking projects and small jobs from dozens of people or companies, much of your time could be spent as bookkeeper, and well, that is not increasing earnings.
Hence, the first thing you should do is sit down and make a detailed account of your income and expenditures. Either hire an accountant or do it yourself, but make sure it is crystal clear what your home and business expenses are. You will find people you forgot to bill and you will find expenses you forgot to write-off.
Isolate the Absolute Essential
Saving money doesn't mean that you will ditch broadband and go for dial-up internet; . There will be other such absolute essentials depending upon the type of work you do. Identify them and isolate them from the cost cutting process. And yes, be prudent in picking the essentials.
Go Paperless
Believe it or not, going paperless could save you a great deal of hassle and money. It will make your home office clutter free and will keep you from spending hours searching for that important file or notepad. There is some great software and tools available and they can easily replace your paperwork.
Use Freeware
Since I talked about software, I'd say freeware is the way to go, unless of course there isn't a great alternative (like for photoshop). But for most of the paid software out there, there some cool open source alternatives available. Sites like Osalt will help you in finding them.
Use Skype And Reduce Phone Bills
Phone bills could turn out to be a major cost for most artists, especially for those who have local clients. If you are one of them, I'd suggest you suppress the urge to use your cell phone to make a call every time and instead, use a tool like Skype to make calls.
Look for Free Learning Material
Self-study is an important thing that absolutely shouldn't be overlooked. There is no doubt that paid courses could be of better quality but the web is full of free, quality ebooks and guides. Try to find such stuff and use them for gaining knowledge. Free pdf search engines like PDFGeni could help you in this search.
Swap Books & DVDs
You'd love this tip. Did you know that there are services like SwapaDVD to exchange DVDs with others and PaperBackSwap or BookMooch to exchange books ?
7 Simple Time Management Rules For the Super Busy
Throw out your schedule and you'll never feel guilty about not keeping it again. Get organized and manage your yourself like a businessman in charge a large 500 company. There really should not be much difference.
Read a great article by clicking on the pic that will give you some great starting management principals. Enjoy!
Motion Tracking Web Cam
Monitor your home and office when you're on tour or out of town.
This web camera automatically tracks motion and can be controlled from a remote location via the Internet, allowing you to surveil real-time video images of your home from anywhere in the world. When the camera detects motion it pans up to 180° and tilts up to 60° to follow and record the movement. You can set the camera to automatically send notification to your personal e-mail account when it detects motion, or you can view real-time video and control the camera manually from a remote computer using the included software. The camera captures 640 x 480 resolution video at 30 frames per second and has a 4X digital zoom, ensuring crisp pictures. A built-in microphone records sounds from up to 20' away. Includes software for control ling the web camera and a USB cable. Requires Windows XP or Vista, and a high-speed Internet connection for real-time video. Plugs into USB 2.0. 4 1/4" H x 3" Diam.
Arm-Rest Table Pad
Rest your muscles. I
If your budget is low and you can not afford a comfortable working chair that has arm rests, letting you sit on a plastic stool all day long, perhaps it is time you considered investing $19.99 in the Arm-Rest Table Pad. The name of the device is pretty much self-explanatory - it was specially designed to attach to most work tables, with the aim to reduce arm fatigue, prevent injuries and save money on medical bills in the long run. Constructed from sturdy metal, you won’t need a single tool to assemble this and comes in handy at both home and the office. Just make sure the table is no thicker than 5cm and you’re good to go. If you need to get this for the office, we doubt that you can claim the $19.99 from the Claims Department either.
Weebly Free Websites
What can I do with Weebly?- Create a free website
- Easy drag and drop interface
- No technical skills required
- Dozens of professional designs
- Free domain hosting
Content elements, such as videos, pictures, maps, and text are added to your website by simply dragging them from the Weebly bar to your webpage. We have a bunch of cool elements and add more all the time. Are we missing an element you'd like? Suggest it, and we'll include it as soon as we can.
Deciding on a look for your website couldn't be easier. Click over to the "Design" tab and you'll see thumbnail pictures of available designs. Hover your mouse over a thumbnail to preview the new look instantaneously or click the thumbnail to select it as the design for your website.
Once elements have been added to your page, customize everything just by double-clicking. Double-click a picture to upload a new one, double-click text to change it, or double-click a map to set the address. Rearrange the elements by dragging them into a new order.
Very eay to use everyone. Use and abuse it!!!!!
Smart Year-End Tax Moves
Cash Can
These compact specialty containers can hide cash yet keep it close at hand. It is also a classy way to gift money. This cool little cash keeper is for just one bill, which is to be folded in thirds, then rolled around the center bar. The bar then slides into the outer piece, and through a hole in the top. A ring then goes through hole in the bar. The assembly cannot accidently come apart as long as the keyring is thru the hole. Genius you say? Yes I think so too. The best part is there are no threads and the container is waterproof, made so with rubber o-rings at each end. This is an ideal gift for your groomsmen and also a swell graduation or birthday gift. Buying in quantity at wholesale prices can make this an attractive promotional gift item as well!
Wi-Ex ZBoost 510
This cell phone booster will increase your signal strength by one or two bars. If your home or office has dismal cell phone coverage, as mine does, this booster can make a difference. Often a spot outside your building, or on top of your building will have better coverage. This device picks up the signal from a small stick-like antenna and relays it via a cable to a book-size station where you want the signal. Using this in my studio I can now get two bars where before I had none. The zBoost is the least expensive signal repeater I could find.
iPhone Pro
Here's the new iPhone Pro, something that we don't expect at MacWorld 2009 at all. However, we do expect something like this to come at a later date. Why? Because it just makes sense.
SANDISK CRUZER MICRO USB FLASH DRIVE
This device looks like a typical USB thumb drive, until you realize that it not only allows you to carry data around in its flash memory but also software applications and even your desktop wallpaper.
GARMIN STREET PILOT I3
Garmin is working to stake out a leadership position in the PC-Electronics-GPS world, and offers a full lineup of both consumer and commercial navigation devices including the Street Pilot i3 -- which installs in an automobile and guides the vehicle's driver with a 32K Color, "sunlight readable" TFT Display. For the corporate driver prone to getting lost, the $299 list price could be made up quickly in eliminating wasted gas while riding around looking or that missed exit.
VISIONEER ROAD WARRIOR SCANNER
Imagine a world where you're on the road, at some trade show or another, and you can take all of your receipts for out-of-pocket expenses, scan them, and upload them to your server at work. No mess, no fuss and you become the hero of the accounting pool for getting all of your expense sheets on time. Well, you don't have to just imagine it. With the Visioneer Warrior Scanner, a mobile workforce can be every bit as close to the document workflow as the workforce back in the office. It's listed at 10.6 ounces and scans at up to 600 dpi resolution, and can power up via USB port.
Working Artist 3.0 software
This does everything you’ve hopefully been doing — it just accomplishes it easier and faster. It’s specifically designed to help artists manage the business of art. There are over 300 forms and reports here that will let you catalog your work, manage your patron contacts and track all of your show entries and sales. There’s a price grid, a place to create a biography and manage other tasks. Hobbyists who purchase the software and only dabble in art will be lost, but you won’t.
Visioneer Cardreader 100
Enter business cards into your computer without typing! The CardReader 100 accurately scans business cards via USB to your PC, Palm or WinCE device and turns contacts into exportable data for popular contact applications. It is compact and USB-powered. Not just a business card scanner, the CardReader 100 solution can accurately scan and OCR a business card with up to 28 words
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