Tip of the Week Archive: 2007

By Jeffrey P. Fisher

January 2, 2007 -- Saw a few movies the last couple of weeks and was reminded of something I suggest in my Cash Tracks book. Find a visual sequence you admire and then find five different music pieces. Play the video and switch between the music tracks to see how the meaning changes. Try it with some family and friends and then discuss each person's response to the different musical choices. What you learn can make you a better soundtrack composer.

January 8, 2007 -- Some students recently asked me for help with an audio problem. Their dialog tracks for a video scene were stuttering and dropping out. And while glitch music can be fun, it doesn't really work for dialog. I immediately suspected a bad video capture and suggested another go. However, when I heard the bad audio coming off the tape (analog), I suspected another problem. Turns out the cameraperson had re-used an old tape (for the third or fourth time!). In the DV/HDV world you should *never* reuse a tape. So, their shoot was ruined by not spending $10 for a fresh DV tape. Funny how people will spend a lot of money on gear, but cheap out on something as critical this. Invest wisely as the initial upfront cost will usually be far less than having to redo a project completely.

January 15, 2007 -- Had a conversation with a distributor wanting to bring one of my resources to a specialized market. He wanted to buy at rock-bottom cost (a buck or two) and then kick back a 15% royalty. He claimed his cost of marketing to this group was very high, and that that deal was the best he could do. Typical in publishing (and most products for that matter) is to give the distributor 50-60% off the retail price (essentially they get half and you keep half). I didn't take the deal, obviously. And my opinion on the whole thing is this: You can't deviate so far from the business norm (15% vs. 50%) and expect people to work with you. And if your cost of marketing is so high, maybe the group isn't worth selling to.

January 22, 2007 -- Fear can be a powerful immobilizer when your worry stifles your inertia into inaction. Contrarily, fear can be a terrific ally and mobilizer when your fight or flight instinct kicks in. You may use fear as a motivation for fighting for what you believe in. Or, you may see a bad situation and decide to run away fast. Humans especially live in fear, some rational, many irrational. We fear failure and the embarrassment that losing can bring. Unusually, many people fear success, too. Reaching a pinnacle can bring with it a fear of discontent. We dread we may get there and say: "Is that all there is?" More people have been paralyzed by their own cold feet than any other obstacle. Recognizing what you fear, and working to overcome these fears, is another important step when taking on your musical journey. (This was excerpted from MoneyMaking Music. See Resources below for this week's special deal).

January 29, 2007 -- A primary fear is that of failure. Nobody learns to walk without falling down a few times. Your music career won't be anything special without falling down occasionally either. A mistake can be costly if you let it get the better of you. Mistakes can also be opportunities. They let you know what doesn't work. Now use that knowledge to make sure matters come out as expected next time.

February 5, 2007 -- Building and nurturing your network of contacts is something you should never take for granted. As the saying goes, "A wise man knows everything; a shrewd one, everybody." Have you worked on your elevator pitch? Develop a 25-50 word introduction of who you are and what you do. For example, mine goes something like this: "Hi, I'm Jeffrey Fisher. I compose and produce original music for film, TV, and commercials. What do you do?" Practice delivering this primary promotional message and then start using it to strike up conversations everywhere with other people. You never know where they might lead. Finally, always remember that networking is more give than take. When you help other people first, they must just reciprocate and help you down the line. Never make their helping you a condition of you helping them, though.

February 12, 2007 -- Building trust and maintaining it with your clients and fans is important. The other day my car battery died so I took it to the local NTB. I left it there and picked it up a few hours later. Driving home, I decided to listen to the CD I'd plopped in the center compartment. I opened the case and the CD was gone. I thought it was weird as it was unlike me to leave it in my CD player or computer drive at my office. When I arrived back home, I checked the obvious places and there was no CD to be found. There was only one possibility. The only other people to have access to my car was the NTB repair shop. I called them and told them the story. Of course, nobody would own up to having stolen the disc. They offered to replace it, but frankly I didn't care about the $15 disc. What bothered me the most was the whole idea. I trusted them to look over my car, and while in their care, they let this happen. Makes you wonder if they were lying about the battery being bad. Trust is a tenuous element, so don't let a lack of it come back and hurt you. I will never use NTB again, and I just told a few thousand people about my bad experience, too.

February 19, 2007 -- Conducting research is important to building and sustaining your career. You need to know where to start, where to go, and how to sift through the often conflicting data and opinions to arrive at something advantageous. Also, your research should help you find ideas and niche markets for all that you sell. However, just because you can find out a lot of information, doesn't mean you know what to do with it. Critical thinking requires using your head (your experience) and your gut (intuition) to make better decisions. You learn to trust your intuition through a track record of successes. And there is a direct correlation between success and confidence. The more you achieve, the more confidence you will have to set your goals higher.

February 26, 2007 -- Build a core, then go explore. Establish a base income doing what you do the best. It should include your own music products and services along with those produced by others that complement, augment, support, and parallel what you offer. Then, dabble a little in other areas to test the waters and potentially expand your earning opportunities. Limit the downside of these explorations to 5-10% of your resources. This may yield some surprises and new ways to earn more music money. Alternately, it may expose some bad ideas to avoid without losing your shirt.

March 5, 2007 -- I just returned from speaking at the Midwest-region annual Self-Employment for the Arts conference (SEA, www.seaconference.com). Students who attend have the opportunity to connect with self-employed artists and learn what it takes to succeed making your art while putting bread on your table. The conference is part inspiration, part motivation, and part information about a variety of art and business topics. Two major themes ran through the program. Get started and finish. If you want to make your art, then don't be lazy. Go make your art. Don't talk about it. Just do it (with all deference to Nike). And most importantly, finish what you start. The final product may not be perfect, but it will be done and nobody can ever take that away from you!

March 12, 2007 --I was recently hired to do some audio work. When I asked where this client found out about my services, her response surprised me. She said she saw my name in the course catalog from the local college where I teach. She Googled me, landed on my Website, and purchased a few of my books. After reading them, she decided she needed additional help and contacted me for consulting. You never really know where gigs will come from. What I do know is that having your name out there everywhere it makes sense to be is vitally important. It's all part of building credibility and a reputation.

March 19, 2007 -- 18 million +. That's the current YouTube download count for one notorious Justin Timberlake-SNL sketch Christmas Box "song". That's an amazingly popular entry that people are viewing and listening to for free. Now I won't debate the merits of the song's content -- it's somebody else's art, and who am I to pass judgment on it? My point is simple. The reach of YouTube and the potential for this kind of viral marketing is immense. Nobody is getting any money from these viewings (that I know of anyway), but it certainly isn't hurting SNL's or Timberlake's reputation. In fact, I think it was a *very* smart move by Justin. It took some guts to participate in this song, and he's a big part of its appeal. It's given him street cred and a new audience of people who would never have given him a second thought let alone a listen. That's an intelligent strategy to his ruthless self-promotion that appears to be working well.

March 26, 2007 -- Opportunity. Are you ready to drop everything when it comes a-knocking? My experience shows that sometimes when a person gets presented with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to do something important ... they decide against proceeding. For whatever reasons, they don't take the important risk. I'm not suggesting that you proceed ahead blindly and take everything offered to you. It's just that occasionally -- or maybe only once -- the opportunity is there and inertia blocks the right path. You know you should do it, but you don't do it anyway. Be alert for those critical decisions that can often make or break a career. You may only have one shot. Don't blow it!

April 2, 2007 -- I started reading David Lynch's book, "Catching the Big Fish" with his thoughts on creativity and meditation and how he applies all of it to his life and films. It's a short piece that should be read a little at a time so you can ponder the meaning -- how what he says applies to your situation. I feel we all need a little inspiration from time to time. And learning how others approach their art is worthwhile. This book is especially poignant as it's not a biography. It's a bunch of random thoughts on random topics that somehow, like most of Lynch's film, seem to sum into a greater whole.

April 9, 2007 -- I am a huge proponent of mixing by using a consistent, fixed monitor gain. I calibrate my speakers so that -20 dBFS pink noise reads 83 dB SPL (C-weighted) per speaker using a sound level meter. It is truly a liberating way to work. Loud will be loud and soft will sound right. You won't be reaching for the limiter or volume maximizer and you will create mixes that take advantage of the full dynamic range. How to do it and the test files you need are here.

April 23, 2007 -- Back from NAB where I experienced an amazing show of people, creativity, inspiration, and gear, glorious gear. Heard the ADAM A7 speakers with silky smooth top end and amazing imaging, even outside the sweet spot. Gave a test spin of the Korg MR-1/MR-1000 DSD recorders. The 1000 is particularly attractive with its 1-bit/5.6 MHz sampling rate (that's megahertz, folks!). The new MXL V88 warm, full, broadcast mic looks ... er ... sounds promising. Heard a comparison of a Neumann KM-184 into an SSL preamp and an MXL .008 USB mic. The 184 was better (duh!) but the .008 held its own. On the video side, the Mic Light puts 50 LEDs in a ring that slides over a camera shotgun windscreen. Cute and practical. While gas prices continue to rise, there is a distinct fall in G.A.S. prices (for those of us afflicted with Gear Acquisition Syndrome). Today you can get so much more for your money than even five years ago. On the NAB floor were dozens of solutions that only a scant few years ago would cost a quarter million. Now the same real-time technology sells for $10k. And similar off-line technology is under $500. What a wonderful world we live in full of amazingly cheap, cool tools for realizing our creative visions for both audio and video projects alike. That's it for NAB 2007.

April 30, 2007 -- As a side note, I co-led a student group to the NAB show as part of a career class at the college where I teach. I feel that NAB is an ideal opportunity to research career opportunities. In film, video, and TV there are often rather narrow views by students of what jobs there are. NAB can really open up your eyes to the possibilities. Plus, a career search is really a double-sided quest. It's about discovering both what you WANT to do and what you definitely DON'T want to do. One student had a particularly enlightening moment. Torn between a love of fashion and of film/TV, this student was unsure how to proceed. At the show, the student met a makeup artist who specialized in make-up for high-def shoots. A-HA! The seed was planted for a possible career path that encompassed both passions.

May 7, 2007 -- How do you juggle the routine and minutia of business along with the highly creative aspect of music and sound? To be a successful artist requires some mastery of business. Therefore, I don't see art and commerce as being separate. Handling business matters is just another aspect of a creative endeavor. While I may spend time on just the right guitar line. I also spend time on the invoice and related banking matters. And while business may be more left-brained and music more right-brained, I still immerse my whole self and intellect into each of these endeavors. I would agree that some business matters may be boring and not fulfilling. However, I've also experienced some disappointing musical forays, too. I hold out for what's good with both my art and my commerce. Because when the moment is fruitful, whether that is a decent piece of music or completing the sale of a lucrative project -- it's all very good. Also, have a healthy attitude about what it really is that you do. There's a yin and yang to most every undertaking -- good and bad. You can't have one without the other. And there is always a seed of good even in the most bad thing. And there is usually some downside even in the best of times. Take it all in stride. It is this ebb and flow that makes the journey interesting and worthwhile.

May 14, 2007 -- Do you have an automatic investment plan? I have two. One I started a long time ago personally and a mandatory one at the school where I teach part-time. All AIPs work the same. You set a percentage or dollar amount to be automatically deducted directly from your checking account regularly (e.g. monthly) and invested in the stocks and/or mutual fund(s) of your choice. This automatic investment program keeps a constant flow of money into your investment account. I've been rather aggressive with my personal AIP and have been quite happy with its performance. I regularly increase the amount deducted until it just about hurts, but after a few months, the higher amount doesn't matter -- but the bottom line keeps growing. The school AIP is 15% right off the top, so I never miss money I never really had. (Plus, I teach for other reasons, not the pay!). I've been amazed at the growth there despite a part-time gig. There's no time like today to start your own AIP.

May 21, 2007 -- The old saying goes that nobody beats a path to your door and hires you. You have to take the initiative. And the best place to start is to hang out where the work is and connect with people who are already in a position to hire you. Take your message to the buyer. Don't just sit on your hands a hope and wait for them to find you.

May 28, 2007 - Outsourcing is good way to expand your career/business without further taxing your resources. Essentially, you hire others (not as employees, but as sub-contractors) to perform services you do not already provide yourself. This allows you to take on more projects than you can usually handle. And you can make more money than you would in any other circumstance. A simple example would be for a studio to farm out duplication services. There are two ways to handle the money when outsourcing services. One, your supplier can bill you a fee directly. You can then mark up that fee, from 15-20% or more, and bill your client that amount. Two, your supplier can bill your client direct and kickback a commission to you (again, 15-20% is good).

June 4, 2007 -- As you find your way in music and life, follow these three edicts. Do work that #1) Helps other people in some way (even if that simply means to entertain them), #2) Allows you to put bread on your table and a roof over your head, and #3) Makes you proud to be alive and to have contributed to humankind.

June 11, 2007 -- Are you feeling a little frustrated? Perhaps you've been promoting and plugging away, but to no avail. You're not landing gigs or getting hired. It seems like the world is ignoring you -- and you're probably right. People are busy; just look at your own life. Your prospects and clients are no different. If they have established ways of doing things, it can be hard, if not impossible, for you to break their mold. That doesn't mean you should throw your hands up into the air and give up. In my opinion, artists quit too soon. Right when things seem darkest, they walk away. However, that's also where a glimmer of light may spark. It may only be a tiny LED in the distance, but the right number of LEDs can burn brightly. Effort is what it takes. Make a subtle shift in your way of thinking. Don't go looking for sales. Look for clients -- people with whom you can build a long relationship. You want a win-win situation that benefits you both equally. They get your music, and you get some bank. Work to build the steady business that keeps you busy and pays your bills. If you scramble for every cent, then it's hard to find the right clients that result in lucrative work.

June 18, 2007 -- Persistence pays off. Don't expect to make the big sale that puts you on top. Usually, it's a series of slow gains that accumulate to craft a career. And the journey is what's interesting and fulfilling -- not always the destination. I know some people that when they reach a pinnacle, they can do no more. They seem to say that once you're "there" where else is there to go? While that's rather pessimistic, I see it all the time. There are two sides -- those who give up too soon and those who give up and quit once success comes their way. Either person is a sad reminder of a sorry state. Don't let that be you. Work hard and set goals, reach them and tick them off and then add to roster of more to come. Don't rest on your laurels. As the saying goes, keep on keeping on.

June 25, 2007 -- This week marks the TENTH ANNIVERSARY of my MoneyMaking Music Tip of the Week. I started this humble little blog -- before there was such a word in our language -- in June of 1997. I saw it as a way to connect with readers, to share ideas that could augment my books and other resources, and so forth. I loved the challenge and the discipline required to meet a weekly deadline. I can't say it has been easy. Lately, it has been rather difficult for me to keep this newsletter viable. I realized that ten years would be a good milestone. HOWEVER, now that the day is upon me, I'm not sure I want to stop. But, I'm not sure I can continue either. Stay tuned ...

July 9, 2007 -- So, you follow some of my advice and have a track or two that you give away for promotional purposes. What happens should your track get picked up and used in a TV show? You should still earn your Performance Royalties (ASCAP/BMI/SESAC). So, make sure that all your tracks carry your affiliation and that you put a line in about reporting broadcast use of your free sample. For example: "Please indicate music composed by Jeffrey P. Fisher (BMI)" on your productions and make sure you list all titles used so that BMI-affiliate broadcasters can file accurate cue sheets with BMI when your productions are aired."

July 16, 2007 -- Collections have recently reared their ugly head recently. I've had to expend energy trying to collect on past due bills. It is something I have always abhorred, but -- I guess -- a necessary evil in the business world. Getting some money up front is one way to control this issue. Progress payments on longer projects is another. Not releasing final material until paid in full is yet another tactic (but in our need-it-now mentality of today's world, that's not so easy). Often, I find myself making little "deals" in an attempt to close off receivables. Whatever works, I guess. Personally, I pay all my bills on time, so I don't understand while others neglect this common courtesy. Often I depend on being paid so that I can pay others. So, there's a ripple effect involved. And I have bills, too. Counting on payment, and then not getting it, can really throw off the cash flow. And cash flow is one of the most difficult things to master -- it took me years.

July 23, 2007 -- Had a quick trip to LA to conduct some Sound Forge training. Plane rides can be really boring. I read a little, work a little on my Dana, use my laptop 'til the battery dies, snooze, eat, and generally get bored silly. Of course, I listen to music the whole time more to drown out the noise -- and there is plenty. Still I'm always amazed at how I can go into the little sausage-shaped vehicle and emerge four hours later on the other side of the country. Then, I do a little bit of business, catch up with a friend or two, and then back home in another day. I only needed my backpack this time -- crammed, mind you, with a few changes of clothing, my laptop, and less than 3 ounces of various sundries in a clear plastic baggie. I like packing light when I can since typically I jet around the country like some modern pack mule carting gear, personal items, and myself. When I travel for personal pleasure, I am sure to take VERY little just for the change of pace. If it doesn't fit in my pocket, it's checked. So that usually means my cell and MP3 player. On business trips, I always have big and bold plans. I take work to do figuring that on the plane, in the terminal, and in my hotel room at night, I'll get it all done. I never do. You have to have time to recharge, rest, and do something other than work. I even play the tourist and walk around wherever I'm stranded. Alas, business travel is only glamorous for those on the outside looking in. Right now it's time to turn off my electronics and be bored for the next 20 minutes sliding into LAX. No baggage to collect, but I'm sure the hotel shuttle will leave me waiting for a little while! Then, a spot of dinner followed by getting ready for nine hours of training the next day. I'll be exhausted 'cos teaching requires you to be sharp and "on", and it takes a lot out of you.

July 30, 2007 -- Find out what it is you truly want to do and accomplish. Then, arrange your life accordingly to make it happen. Become who you want to be and experience what you need to satisfy your desires. Along the way, collect the knowledge and experience you need to realize your life vision in your own way. Don't let anything interfere with your vision. Work to overcome any obstacles placed in your way. Don't put your trip off; get started today in some small way. Most of all, embrace your destination when you reach it, and enjoy your journey, too.

August 6, 2007 -- It's very difficult for me to get away on vacation. It's the burden of a small business. But this week I managed (or shall I say am managing) to do it. It does take a little preparation to make it work. Tell all your clients that your business will be closed while you are away. Give some advanced notice, too and perhaps an emergency alternative contact. Better still, schedule a regular vacation time each year and tell your clients you will be "closed" and don't budge on it. Complete any projects and deliver anything you've promised before leaving. Create a "vacation" message for both voice- and e-mail. Enjoy the break. This is your time to refresh. You both need time off and truly deserve it.

August 13, 2007 - Let me tell you about a music project I've been busy with for a while now. They are called TRAK PAKs and are essentially modular music with variations that can be arranged into a myriad of different combinations. It's for the film, video, TV, radio, podcasting, games market -- people who always need music -- and gives these producers a way to customize their music scores. The music is royalty-free and ready to go. The first four volumes are already released with the plan to release new volumes regularly. Details, samples, and more are on-line at VASST. I'm excited about the project and I hope you find it interesting, too.

August 20, 2007 -- Here's a handy-dandy new Website that can save you time and money. It's called SoundSnap. It's chock full of free sound effects and music loops uploaded (legally!) by your peers. Not only can you find some useful and cool sounds, you can (and should) contribute to the community by uploading your own original sound effects, sound design elements, music loops, and such. Just like a visit to a Website like Artbeats can inspire me visually, I find auditioning sound effects and music loops equally invaluable for my work.

August 27, 2007 -- Having a worse-case speaker available for checking your mix is important, too. I wrote that sentence while sitting in a hotel room with my MP3 player hooked up to a mono clock radio. Despite this horrible audio system, I could still understand the vocals and hear the primary elements of the music (though many subtleties were lost). Do your mixes work equally well on the junk as they do on the good stuff? Avant Electronics (www.avantelectronics.com) has a solution with their MixCubes Mini Reference Monitors. These are worse-case reference monitors. They are like having a second opinion in the control room when mixing. I'm constantly asking myself: "Sure, it sounds good on the BIG monitors, but what do the MixCubes think?"

September 4, 2007 -- If you record voice, spoken or sung, invest in this little VO Booth. It's inexpensive, portable, and sounds great. Best of all you get a nice, dry, resonant tone to your recordings. You can even take it on location. Read the full article here.

September 10, 2007 -- Be careful when you work for free or for a discount. Sometimes those clients turn out to be the biggest PITA. Here you have already done them a huge favor and now they are nit-picking through everything. It's not that you should turn in shoddy work, but when a client offers endless changes, the project seems less worthwhile. For example, changing the script after the voice talent has recorded and left results in paying the VO all over again. I suggest that you carefully explain every detail *in advance* and the steps involved. This can help to avoid problems in the future. And move away from these nickel-dimey clients as fast as you can!

September 17, 2007 -- When writing music to picture, don't match the action too closely (a 'hit' point) or the result will be cartoonish (called Mickey-Mousing). Of course, if you are writing for an animated project or for comic effects, ignore this advice. Strike a balance between direct musical emphasis and general enhancement. Don't forget that the simplest musical hit is starting (or stopping) a music cue at a dramatic or other appropriate point. Don't eliminate musical hits altogether, though. Choose your cues carefully to minimize hitting action constantly. That way when you choose a big hit, it will be very dramatic. Besides, following the action is not the only purpose of original music. Underscoring the emotion is typically more vital anyway.

September 24, 2007 -- John Cedres wrote: "I work at the Boys and Girls Club of Oceanside in CA, in their very up-to-date music studio. And part of the program I run is based on your "Ruthless Self-Promotion in the Music Industry" book. My teachings are also influenced by your "Profiting From Your Music and Sound Project Studio" book. Using information from these books, I've seen teens not only succeed in making money off of their own music and project studios, but I've also seen them develop, what we like to call "Project Production Companies." One of my students, a former gang leader, has converted his gang leadership into becoming the leader of his own "Project Production Company". He has singers, engineers, rappers, instrument players, promotors, managers, and you name it. He's still figuring out how to make the bigger money, but he seems to be well on his way." Thanks, John, for the kind words and for sharing this story. It makes me happy to know my work continues to inspire those who take a few of my tidbits and run with them making their art and their life better.

October 1, 2007 -- A subscriber asked me how to properly bid on a project. "This question was spawned somewhat from your EM article a few months ago where you describe the scope of the project [The Craving Heart] you were working on to be sound design, music composition, and then post mixing -- three distinct jobs on large film projects. It seems that most composers are charging per minute of music or based on a percentage of the budget, re-mixers – by the hour and sound designers charge by the created effect or by the hour. How do you handle it when you end up doing everything? Do you give clients an itemized invoice? Or do you estimate the time needed and the amount of music and FX required and then give them a project price? This seems to be the type of question that often pops up on various composer forums. I am finding myself doing more jobs like this, whereas in the past, I've been either composer, or sound designer and quoting the project was pretty straight forward. It also seems that more and more low-budget indie films and local industrials want a one-stop-shop for their audio needs; under-quoting a project could become a problem." Though I sent an answer, I thought it would be helpful to hear YOUR opinions, too. How do YOU quote these kinds of jobs? I've been a one-stop-all-things-audio shop for a while. I suspect many of you have hit the same challenges. Time to dish the details! Send in your replies, I'll compile them, and present the findings in a week or so. If you have some dollar ranges, I'll share that, too (anonymously, of course) so we all get an idea of prevailing rates in the industry. Thanks and I look forward to a vibrant discussion on this issue.

October 8, 2007 -- I'll be speaking/training at a few industry events in the coming weeks. First up, it's music career issues briefly October 21 here in Chicago at Bob Baker's must-see seminar. You can also catch one of several sessions at the NYC Post-Production conference, October 23-25. And a few weeks after that, the Government Video Expo in DC. These last two will cover sessions on mics, audio-for-video, voice-overs, scoring, and such.

October 15, 2007 -- Making the money real is a terrific way to gauge your moneymaking music career. Let's say you work part-time and want to make an extra $500 a month. What does it take to get there? Well, to make this $500, you need to have your music career generate $115.47 each week, $23.09 each day, or about $2.87 per hour (per eight-hour day). What are you doing today to make that 23 bucks and change? If $50,000 a year is your goal, that's $4166.67 each month, $961.54 each week, $192.31 each day, and $24.04 each hour of that day. After you finish reading this, you'd better start putting some wheels in motion to grab that $24 before the hour is up. Having income goals, and relating your effort to those goals will help keep you on target.

October 22, 2007 -- Lori Martin asked me to pass along this unique opportunity. Her company, "AudioGirl has been asked to produce a satellite radio show of Christian music for Hosanna Broadcasting. The two-hour show, 'Into the Night,' will air five nights a week in Africa, India, the Middle East and parts of Europe. At this time there will be no airing in the US. Aside from featuring “stars” of Christian music, we want to do an “UNSIGNED ARTIST” segment. So, if you know of any “unsigned” Christian artists who would be interested in submitting their music: 1) Have them contact us for particulars. 2) Be sure to put 'Into the Night' in the Subject line. This is a wonderful opportunity to witness to almost a billion people (!) with their music."

October 29, 2007 -- One thing I've discovered after years of dealing with clients (and teaching students alike) is never to assume that they know what you are talking about. It's all too easy to get mired in the lingo of the trade and lose sight that the person opposite you has no idea what ADR is, or what ostinato means. They sometimes nod politely, but they are really and truly lost. And probably too embarrassed to ask for clarification. So watch your jargon. Keep it simple and take the extra time to explain your ideas, thoughts, and workflow. When you see that blank expression of uncertainty on the person in front of you, back up and take a different tactic with your explanation. This approach will usually result in fewer misunderstandings down the line.

November 5, 2007 -- Many of you may already know this, but one of my formulas for success is this: Image + Credentials = Reputation and it is your reputation that people buy. One way to earn credentials is through your work and another is through recognition of that work via awards. I'm happy to announce that two short indies that I served as associate producer and sound department for have won some big awards. I was recognized for Best Sound Editing (Jeffrey P. Fisher) at the FAIF Film Fest for my work on "Everyone's A Victor." Another film where I did video editing, animation, sound editing, mixing, and some music composition won at two festivals, Best Foreign Language Film (Stan Harrington) FAIF Film Fest for "El Percance Perfecto" and Best Foreign Language Film (Stan Harrington) INDIEFEST USA also for "El Percance Perfecto." Writer, director, producer, Stan Harrington, accepted the Sound Editing award on my behalf and you can see his speech here . These films will continue on the festival circuit and eventually be available on DVD.

November 19, 2007 -- During my trip to DC last week, I was in a small greasy spoon for breakfast one day. The owner was very nice to me as I stepped up to the counter for some java and eggs. He kept filling my cup, bringing over the paper to read, asking if I needed anything -- in short very warm, welcoming, and GREAT customer service. However, he was a split personality when it came to his employees. Being close to the kitchen, I could eavesdrop on his heavy-handed conversations with his staff. He would yell, stomp his feet, and generally make their life a living hell. Then, he'd emerge from the kitchen all smiles and Mr. Nice-nice again. While I'm a big fan of treating your clients well, I also firmly believe you extend the same courtesies to those who work for and with you. Treat everyone as you expect to be treated yourself.

November 26, 2007 -- A reader recently asked if locating the business in a "production center" would result in more scoring business. I responded and emphatic "YES!" It always pays to hang out where the work is. The only caveat is you must be really good, 'cos if you ain't, swimmin' with the big boys is all for naught. That said, if you are near the people who need music for their productions, your proximity is convenient and can lead to more gigs. Plus, you will have ample time to hang out and network which can often lead to better things.

December 3, 2007 -- "I'll be ready to go ... once I get my demo done ..." That's a phrase I hear all too often as people connect up and tell me all their excuses as to why they CAN'T do something. It's an endless barrage of "if only this" that increasingly annoys me. For example, aspiring voice over talent seem to feel that they can't do anything until they get a demo. And that's just not true. You can audition without a demo. While doing these test spots, you'll accumulate a real-world demo by default. Real credits are always better than the "made-up" ones so typical of the ingenue demo. My point is not that a demo is bad. What is bad is to use the missing demo as an excuse for inaction. Your career should not stall because you lack a single component. I've said this before, but it bears repeating. ALL artists have constraints placed upon them. The successful ones embrace these challenges and forge ahead doing their finest work with the resources available and not worrying about what they don't have.

December 17, 2007 -- Here's a last-minute gift idea for the guitarist in your life: the definitive DVD and print course on taking your guitar playing to the next level. Check out Logical Lead Guitar for details on this ground-breaking course.

January 14, 2008 --I was approached to sell another product alongside my existing line. I do this from time to time, but under strict guidelines. The product must be complementary, not competitive to my own products/services. It must be very strong, and not thin and useless, . Most of all I must have seen, used, and profited from the product myself before I will lend it an endorsement. Period. Anybody can recommend a product -- and many do -- but I will only recommend the best that I know you can benefit from immediately! So, if you approach anybody with a business proposition, do your homework first.

January 21, 2008 -- This week, I'm sending you elsewhere for tips. Read this important article about the the music loudness wars, a personal pet-peeve of mine. And check out this great article on film sound.

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