Allen C. Paul's Blog, page 31

Making Money Management Stress-Free with Financial Coach Connor Tripp

Most artists, musicians and creatives do what we do for the love of the art. But love doesn’t pay the bills! We can’t really focus on making beautiful things, writing great songs, or performing at a high level if we’re unable to make a living – and that means we have to know how to make money and manage it well.

Unfortunately, many creatives still assume that having control over their money isn’t possible when their incomes are so unpredictable.

To help you defeat this ‘starving artist’ min...

The Price of Principles: How to make tough choices in your creative career

Have any of the following situations happened to you?

Maybe you’re a singer, and you’ve wanted to get a contract with a label. Finally the opportunity comes through. But when you read the fine print, there were stipulations in the contract that made you uncomfortable.

Perhaps you’ve been presented with an opportunity to work with a highly successful or famous artist, but you’re not sure you agree with everything the artist is doing. You’re torn because you’re not sure if it’s the right move...

Best Of: How to Successfully Balance Music, Legacy and Relationships with David Chiverton

Valentine’s Day is all about love, but there’s more to love than just romance. There’s faithfulness, honor, respect, and family involved. In this “Best Of” episode, we’re returning to a conversation with renowned drummer and producer David Chiverton about how he learned the value of treasuring the most important relationships in his life, and how he balances life as a high-demand musician with his commitment to family and his responsibilities at home.

David has recorded and toured internatio...

The Integrated Creative: How to embrace the business side of being an artist

It’s a bit of a paradox.

As a creative, you’ve likely avoided focusing too much on the business side of things. You don’t want your creative energy spent on things like spreadsheets, rates and receipts.

The problem is, the less you focus on those things, the more time they eventually take from your creative moments. Bills, expenses, and financial issues pop up at exactly the wrong time.

Even worse, when you do deal with issues like what to charge for a gig or service, how much you should b...

7 Lessons I Learned in My Journey from Musician to Creative Entrepreneur

Can a musician make a living without playing major tours and recording in the best studios? If you change course mid-career, does it mean you’ve failed? Can a musician reinvent themselves while continuing to perform, and add profitability and a higher purpose to their passion?

Here’s answers to all those questions, from a very personal place of experience.

There’s a lot of things that are unpredictable about being a musician, but the one thing we can predict is that it won’t go the way you th...

More than an Artist: Why creativity shouldn’t be the core of your identity

How do you identify yourself when you meet new people?

Do you call yourself an artist? A singer? A musician? Is it one of the first things you mention when introducing yourself?

What we say about ourselves as artists says a lot about how much stock we put into our creative identity. You might be used to saying phrases like “If I wasn’t a creative, I don’t know what I do!”

That’s probably true of most of us creative people. Personally, I would have a hard time imagining life without music. I h...

3 “Old School” Promotion Strategies that Never Go Out of Style

Everyone loves to change things up at the beginning of a new year, and that includes musicians, artists, creative freelancers and entertainers who want to take their careers to the next level in 2019. However, there are some promotional strategies that never change, and even if they seem a little ‘old-school’, you should keep on using these strategies to build your creative business, get more gigs, and share your art with more people. 

Notable Topics we cover:

Why the old-fashioned business...

Is Being “Gifted” Enough? [Encore Post]

Thereâs something about a gift that makes everyone happy.

Whether itâs a for birthday, a holiday, or just because, thereâs nothing quite like the moment that someone is presented with a gift. Even the people who know whatâs inside the present watch with eager anticipation, waiting to see the gift revealed and the reaction of the recipient.  Something about the process of opening a present makes us want to be a part of it.

As a creative, youâre probably accustomed to people referring to you a...

How to Successfully Change and Expand your Creative Career with Fredrick “Bam” Scott

Have you ever thought about making a big change and trying something totally new in your creative area? Is it possible to achieve major success in an entirely new artistic field, while continuing to thrive in your original career choice?

As a musician, actor, entrepreneur, Grammy Award-winning producer and DJ,  Fredrick âBamâ Scott, founder of Big Bam Entertainment, LLC., has proven that itâs more than possible. As a musician, he found early success as a producer and percussionist, but late...

Emotional Labor: How to Maximize the Power of Preparation (Part 3)

âGive me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.â  – Abraham Lincoln

It was both the most crowded and the loneliest place on campus.

You might wonder how can a place be full of people and yet also a solitary experience. I’m speaking of my years in college as a music student at the University of Miami. And the place I’m referring to? The Bertha Foster practice room building.

Every minute of the day that the building was open (and sometimes when it was...