Artist As An Entrepreneur

Artists As An Entrepreneur

You are an artist and you are trying to make a living with your talent, but no one takes you seriously.How can you convince everyone that you are a serious artist?  You can accomplish this by presenting yourself in a professional manner, and by objectifying yourself to your potential "clients".  Yes, you are trying to secure clients when you are trying to convince someone to allow you to showcase your talent, and your talent is the product which you are trying to sell.  Most artists have to make "cold calls" when trying to gain new clients, and you must have a professional looking proposal to present when seeking out these potential clients.  What should be in your proposal?

One: Professional Head Shots.
As an artist your main product is You.  If you were selling computers, you would provide a picture of the computer, as well as, a description of the computer and what it could do.  You would not send a Polaroid of the computer, so you shouldn't send a Polaroid of yourself.  Hire a professional photographer to take several different head shots so that you can adjust your proposal based on the purpose of the proposal.  You need a "corporate" image shot for the times when you are trying to gain print clients, such as magazines and newspaper editors.  You need a "fun" shot for your book cover if you are an author or CD cover if you're a singer or musician.  You also, need a "sexy" shot for purposes of advertising on posters or television.

Two: Professional Bio.
Again, when making a "cold call", you need to present your potential clients with a description of the product you are selling - You!  Using the example given above, you would not provide a description of the computer handwritten on notebook paper or with spelling and grammatical errors.  Misspelled words and missing punctuation may be necessary to get your point across if you are an author; however, it appears unprofessional when present in your bio.  Your bio is often times the first look a potential client has of our product, You.  Your bio should appear professionally written and should provide a complete description of you, your talent, and how long you have been pursuing your talent professionally.  However, you should treat your bio the same as you do your resume and limit it to no more than two (2) pages.

Three: Press Kit
Your press kit serves as your business proposal to your potential clients.  Your press kit should be just that, a kit.  It should be in a professional looking "case which, in most cases, will be a folder of some type.  It should include a head shot, your bio, a few professionally written press releases announcing a live performance or the release of your "product" (CD, Book, Painting, Sculpture, etc.), a "sample" of your work (CD, pictures of artwork, a portion of your book/screenplay/etc) and some actual newspaper/magazine "clippings".  You can use resume folders that contain pockets, as well as a built in business card slot  in which to place all of these items.  You can also use report covers which are typically made of plastic, and contain clear sleeves in which you place your head shot, bio, releases, and clippings.

You are bound to be viewed as a professional artist if you employ the three techniques above before venturing out into the entertainment business, and seeking potential clients.

Note1:  The material presented above was originally composed in 2005 before everything became electronic, however, that doesn't mean that it is outdated or obsolete.  It just means there are alternative ways to distribute your information which I will outline in notes below.

Polaroid was a type of picture that was popular back in the late 80's early 90's as the picture could be viewed instantly, and it was rather bulky and very unprofessional looking.

Note2: Current day press kits are referred to as EPKs - Electronic Press Kit, however, these kits should contain the same information listed above.  If you have had a story printed by the media, you should ask the reporter/journalist for an electronic copy of the story that appeared in their publication so that you can still include "clippings" in your kit.

While it may be tempting to include as much as you possibly can in an EPK, keep in mind that large amounts of data travel slowly over the internet and if too large won't arrive at their designated destination.  So limit your EPK to what you would include in an actual "hard copy" press kit.

Note3: It can be beneficial to have two (2) bios prepared and ready to distribute at all times.  The short bio should be no more than two (2) paragraphs, 500 words or less, and should include awards/accomplishments/etc..  This bio would be used to introduce you at seminars, conferences, etc., and also for promotional publication for example on a web site or electronic announcement for an event at which you will appear.  The long bio is what I described above, and would be sent to reporters/journalist prior to being interviewed so that they have a base from which to formulate questions to ask you during the interview.

Hope you found the information in this post (and the whole blog) helpful as this is the last entry in this blog!  Yes, it's over!  I've given you all the information I can under this title!  However, don't fret, I will begin a new blog later this week or early next week for those seeking careers behind the scenes in the entertainment industry.  And if you're an author, you can check out my other blog "So you want to be an author" at GStylfire.blogspot.com.

It's been fun chatting with you!

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Message to Artpreneurs

How Hip-Hop Got Started

Where did Hip-Hop get its start? Hustlers standing on the street biding their time in between “deals”, whether they were braving the cold of winter or enduring the heat of summer, these entrepreneurs began “talking” about their lives through the use of rhyming prose, and as with anything in the hood eventually someone took it to the next level. Another aspiring entrepreneur decides to put some music to his prose, and his boys decide to “chorus” in on his story and thus “Rap Music” is born. Passer-bys liked what they heard and came back regularly to hear it again, and then another entrepreneur decides to put together a contest to see who sounded the best and thus “Spit Boxing” was born. These spit boxing tournaments generated so much interest and revenue, another entrepreneur decided to record this music and sell it to the rest of the population who could not see these “Entertainers” live. If these lyrists had merely put their rhyming prose on paper and published it in book form, would they still be charged with the down fall of humanity? Instead of persecuting these individuals on these unfounded allegations, let’s look at what good they have done for their peers, society, and Corporate America.

The world of Hip-Hop has created a new wave of entrepreneurs; it has given hope to people who had no hope. Conventional employment was not to be had for most of the individuals who began the Hip-Hop movement nor were their families well to do, so they did what they could to make money and were entrepreneurs in the purest sense of the word. They created their own “job” by hustling their product(s) on the street, and each entrepreneur expanded on the basic idea of another much the same as Corporate America does today. Then rappers merged with R&B singers and created Hip-Hop, much the same as conventional corporate mergers

Today’s Hip-Hop moguls have expanded their companies to include clothing, shoes, perfumes and cologne, accessories, charitable foundations, movies, alcoholic beverages, record companies, and more. They offer employment opportunities to individuals that conventional Corporate America does not consider employable, and those who do not wish to work in the traditional corporate world. While most people believe that most Hip-Hop individuals are street thugs with little or no education, quite a few of them are educated and function as accountants, business managers, lawyers, and personal assistants. Society today needs to realize that the structure and image of traditional Corporate America has changed much as the people who run those corporations.

Let’s examine the merits of the traditional street rapper, which will further be referred to as the Artpreneur (an Artist as an Entrepreneur). Artpreneurs have to function as sole proprietors of their corporation whose only product is their talent. As sole proprietors, these business owners have to function as production managers, marketing mangers, promotion managers, sales managers, contract negotiators, finance managers, office managers, inventory controllers, administrative assistants, etc.

The Artpreneur has to produce and package their product, which is their talent. Once the product is ready for sale, they have market the product or get the word out about the product. Along with the marketing comes the promotion of the product so that they can develop a clientele. The promotion of the product leads to the roles of business manager, contract negotiator, and finance manager. The Artpreneur has to determine where to market and promote their product, and determine the price to be paid for the product in order for them to make a profit. If the promotion of the product occurs in another “Corporation’s Conference Room”, the price of admission and how the proceeds are to be distributed must be negotiated. As product is sold, the Artpreneur must keep track of inventory and determine when more product must be produced to meet their sales quota.

As their businesses took off, these entrepreneurs moved off the streets into Mobile Offices (their cars), and began traveling to different cities with their product. They then had to increase their business knowledge and skills as they became travel agents as well as being promoters, producers, and performers in local clubs and other venues. As they accomplish these feats, the belief that these “Hip-Hoppers” are not educated is shown to be nothing but a myth. There is no way they could have succeeded in “The Game” without knowledge or business savvy. As they became known to the entertainment world, they began producing more and more product, and had to increase the number of “employees” to meet the demands of their business thus “Street Teams” were born. Now these Artpreneurs have to manage their staff and a payroll in order to further their business goals of becoming a major player in the game. The Street Teams were responsible for advertising and marketing, thus the entrepreneurs had to learn the art of advertising campaigns and marketing concepts. They had to identify their target audience, and design flyers, brochures, posters, and the like to catch the eye of their current and potential customers better know as their fans.

As the Artpreneur’s “Corporate Identity” became a household name, other corporations approached them to engage in friendly mergers and even hostile takeovers. Major record companies wanted to cash in on the success of these urban entrepreneurs and branch off into a new lucrative market, and thus the Hip-Hop explosion. Some of these entrepreneurs did not like the idea of giving up total control of the business they worked so hard to create, thus the birth of Hip-Hop sub-labels. Many of today’s top corporations were begun in much the same way as these Hip-Hop labels, and a lot of these labels are evolving into diverse corporations and moving on to Wall Street.

So, look out Wall Street as these Artpreneurs continue to evolve into Corporate Moguls as they branch out into clothing, shoes, colognes and perfumes, film producing, record labels, and beyond. To those still on the Urban Streets, don’t stop doing what you do because Wall Street is only a few blocks away.