Successful artists, leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators have the most interesting ideas. Not just because they’re somehow magically smarter or more creative. Part of the formula is that these individuals are voracious readers, impacted dramatically by the perspectives of thought leaders. They’re also experts at synthesizing information—taking something intended to address one situation and adopting it to another. Reading the right books challenges how you think, expands your horizons, and helps you imagine new possibilities for your art.

Below are 10 of the most influential books I read in 2011. This year, my reading list focused around the topics of institutional change, education, leadership, business models, and marketing. Notice that not one of the titles on this year’s list is written specifically for artists. But all are deeply relevant to the challenges faced by this sector in our quickly changing world. I hope you’ll find some of these helpful and beneficial to your own evolution.

1)      There’s a Customer Born Every Minute: P.T. Barnum’s Secrets to Business Success. By Joe Vitale. The world may be changing at a breakneck tempo, but what it takes to get noticed has not. This book examines the life and practices of the greatest arts entrepreneur of all times, circus mastermind P.T. Barnum. With engaging and powerful prose, this biographical account introduces ten “Rings of Power” that are spot on today for artists who hope to attract maximum attention. A great read!

2)      The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It. By Michael Gerber. While several points addressed here probably aren’t the right approach for artists running the small business of their career (he often points to the fast food McDonalds model), I learned a ton from this book and so will you. Gerber explains how to methodically create a business model and life that works for you, rather than being overwhelmed by the frantic antics practiced by most artists and small business owners. This will alter your approach to creating a career in the arts.

3)      Linchpin: Are You Indispensible? By Seth Godin. When reading this, I was delighted to learn that “Our economy now rewards artists far more than any other economy in history ever has.” Wow!!!  As someone who has devoted much life energy to helping artists maximize professional and personal success, this assertion definitely caught my attention. But just because you’re involved with the arts doesn’t make you an artist. So are you indispensible? (Find more thoughts HERE.)

4)      Who Moved My Cheese? By Spencer Johnson. This short 94-page book takes literally less than an hour to read. It tells the story of two mice and two littlepeople who live off cheese in a maze. When their supply runs out, the mice immediate move on in search of new riches. But the smarter and more complex littlepeople have a much harder time adapting to their new circumstances. Throughout the evolutionary process, many valuable lessons are learned. Inspirational and vital words, especially during our industry’s current metamorphosis.  

5)      Buy In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down. By John P. Kotter. Let’s face it. No matter how good your idea, there will be scores of doubters and naysayers eager to tear it to shreds. Kotter urges that advocates of change initiatives welcome all feedback, even by the fiercest critics. He then outlines the four most common categories of idea squashing (fear mongering, delay, confusion, ridicule), and suggests appropriate and potent responses to the 24 most common attacks.

6)      Change the Culture, Change the Game: The Breakthrough Strategy for Energizing Your Organization and Creating Accountability for Results. By Roger Connors and Tom Smith. Though the writing style of this book is a little dry and academic, it offers specific and actionable steps for changing institutional culture. To do this, the entire results pyramid must be altered—from bottom to top—Experiences, Beliefs, Actions, Results. A must read for any leader hoping to help evolve an arts organization or institution.

7)      Catching Up or Leading the Way: American Education in the Age of Globalization. By Yong Zhao. Claiming that America’s pre-college education system is broken is about the least controversial claim one can make. For evidence, just consider our pathetic standardized test scores when compared with other first world nations. However, Zhao points out that China, South Korea, and other high scoring societies understand that their education system is also broken. Innovation, creativity, and leadership in these nations are disturbingly low. As they increasingly try to emulate aspects of American education, such as creativity and individualism, we ironically embrace ineffective measures that will not serve us well. A fascinating perspective, and one that suggests (among other things) the true potential of arts education.

8)      In Defense of Elitism. By William Henry. After hearing a provocative talk by Norman Lebrecht suggesting that classical music become more elitist (my reflections HERE), a colleague suggested I read this. Without a doubt, it is the most controversial text I’ve read in years. Henry, the late NY Times reporter, argues that America has made a clear decision to embrace egalitarianism (the notion that everyone and every idea should be equal) over elitism (celebrating excellence) across the board. In terms of art, he argues that classical music is simply superior to pop music, end of story—a position far away from the egalitarian view I tend to espouse. Addressing everything from educaction to the job market, many of his points didn’t sit right with me, but others were quite compelling. If you want to be challenged, this book won’t disappoint.  

9)      Start Something that Matters. By Blake Mycoskie. The founder of the for-profit company TOMS, whose business donates a pair of shoes to poverty stricken children for every pair they sell, argues that giving is good business. “If you incorporate giving into your business and life, you will see greater returns and rewards than you ever imagined. So many good things happen to you when giving is integrated into your business—and I’m not even talking about the wonderful results of the giving itself…I’m talking about the business.”  Inspirational, and a great position for artists.

10)  The 29% Solution: 52 Networking Success Strategies. Though not particularly high-level or groundbreaking, this book provides many helpful networking strategies. It reminds us just how important word-of-mouth marketing is, and urges that hours each week be devoted to this practice. He also stresses that it’s not “net-SITting” or “net-EATing” but “net-WORKing.”

Related article: 2010 Best Reads from the Savvy Musician

At what point, if any, does extending brand uniqueness create a tipping point that then threatens the very foundation of the brand itself? Lately I have been asking myself this very question about the Starbucks brand.

Starbucks 1st store location in Seattle's Pike Place Market, 1971

As we all know, back in the 90′s Howard Schultz transformed the second most consumed drink after water, and the second most traded commodity after crude oil, coffee, into a unique retail destination for us all between work and home.

Putting people before products, Schultz used intuition more than “brand strategy” in those early days to develop Starbucks into the social place outside of work or home most of us did not even realize how much we needed. Schultz’s vision and intuition allowed Starbucks to leverage a low cost commodity, coffee, and transform it into a “$4.00-human-interactive-experiencial-brand.”

And now with Howard Schultz’s recent return to Starbucks as CEO, after a series of setbacks and financial downturns after his departure, the question is can he add more value to the bottom line while retaining the “human soul”- the uniqueness- he built into the Starbucks brand? Or is he reaching for the tipping point leading to the erosion of it?

According to Merriam-Webster something that is unique is defined as:

1. Being the only one.
2. Being without a like or equal.
3. Distinctively characteristic: peculiar.
4. Unusual.

There is no doubt Starbucks has managed to create a unique retail store environment with their friendly customer oriented staff, great music, comfy chairs and heartfelt emotional connective messaging.

And they have quite successfully been able to extend the feeling you get from their brand outside their stores too spending far less on advertising than other large retailers and consumer products companies to achieve tremendous brand loyalty.

Check out these 2006 comparative stats of what other companies spent on advertising for their brand.

1. Microsoft – more than 20 percent of their annual revenue or $11.5 billion
2. Coca-Cola – more than $2.5 billion
3. Yahoo – more than 20 percent of their annual revenue or $1.3 billion
4. eBay – 14 percent to 15 percent of its revenue – which was $871 million, much of that to advertise on Google
5. Google – In the millions rather than billions of dollars – with $188 million
6. Starbucks – $95 million

In 2006, Starbucks spent just $95 million on advertising with 7.8 billion in sales demonstrating their amazing strength as an “experiential brand”.

But is it possible to continue to expand the human experience of this brand while Starbucks’ transition into what Schultz hopes will be the first company to excel as both a retailer and a purveyor—in supermarkets and other mass-market channels—of consumer packaged goods?

According to Schultz, “This is a unique inflection point for Starbucks; I think we’ve identified a very big opportunity to do something that really has not been done before. And that is the following: there are many, many companies, domestically and around the world, that have built a domestic national footprint around retail stores, just like Starbucks—the Gap, Costco, Wal-Mart, Coach, Zara. And there are many consumer-packaged-goods companies—Pepsi, Coke, Kellogg’s, Campbell’s. There hasn’t been one company I can identify that has been able to build complementary channels of distribution by integrating the retail footprint and the ubiquitous channels of distribution—in our case, grocery stores and drug stores.

So the model is, Starbucks can seed and introduce new products and new brands inside our stores. We introduced VIA instant coffee in our stores. Instant coffee is a $24 billion global category that has not had any innovation in over 50 years. And no growth. If we took VIA and we put it into grocery stores and it sat on a shelf, it would have died. But we can integrate VIA into the emotional connection we have with our customers in our stores. We did that for six to eight months and succeeded well beyond expectations in our stores. And as a result of that, we had a very easy time convincing the trade, because they wanted it so badly.”

And while it’s true Starbucks has tallied up five years of positive earnings and five years of positive free cash flow, again, in part, under Schultz’s leadership, Starbucks stock has only just recently seen a rise above mid 2006 values.

However, food stocks should be on the rise. It makes sense that with unemployment up, the housing market down, and the world economy on shaky ground that food-makers would deliver stable sales.

So the question is can Starbucks continue to introduce produces like VIA into their stores and translate the uniqueness of their brand through them into distribution channels?  Will their customers buy into all the products they introduce in their retail environment, bond with them, and then readily buy them from their local grocery store or drug store?

I don’t know about you, but I for one was completely turned off by VIA’s introduction at Starbucks.  My sense of embracing the serenity of my “home away from work or home” felt threatened by the through I was being encouraged to take a little packet of dried coffee home as a substitute for the experience of being in their retail environment. I have always bought into Starbucks being an ” escape,” a destination, a home away from home. To add insult to injury, I was told if I liked their dried coffee, which I also perceived as cheapening the brand,  I did not even have to come back into the store- I could buy it elsewhere. It almost felt like an invitation to never come back- I felt like I was losing a friend.

Howard Schultz in his 2011  book Onward: How Starbucks Fought for Its Life without Losing Its Soul specifically talks about his mission in a way that’s very different from most CEOs. “Everything we’ve tried to do,” he writes, “is steeped in humanity.”  I certainly find Schultz’s new goal as being very problematic for the brand.

Purveyors use distribution channels and have retailers who connect with end users for a reason- because retails act differently than purveyors. I have witnessed this first hand within the music industry. The clarinet company I represent, Buffet Crampon, increasingly in the 90′s adopted some of my best practices working with customers. Increasingly they acted more like a retailer than a distributor, or the purveyor they are, by increasing the attention they paid towards potential end users. They threw private parties and gave potential customers the opportunity, before retailers, to see and experience new products.

In the end, it pissed off retailers who felt side stepped and while left uninformed were expected to close the sale with the majority of the customers anyways. I am not sure how much it really did to help them grow their brand then but they have abandoned most of those practices now. While I realize, Starbucks first and foremost is recognized as an extremely well established retailer- a significant difference from being a purveyor dabbling in retail,  placing people over products simultaneously in both distribution channels and retail environments will be challenging. Distributors exist to move product and retailers exist to sell those products to people. The motivation of each is different and as a result using the same messaging for both won’t be easy to effectively manage.

While I think Schultz’s idea is very interesting to try and be the first company to excel at both,  how will Starbucks lead me or anyone else to rediscovering why we’re best friends with this as their end game strategy in their retail environment?

I don’t know about you, but I spend time with a best friend.  I get to know them. I also frequently see them in the same places and I don’t just spend money on them. While distributors and Schultz alike may hope Starbucks can convincingly sell us many products at the local grocery from an experience or two in their retail environment, it is yet to be seen how well they can translate the uniqueness of their brand into repetitive buying decisions in locations outside their own doors.

The guts of this handbook I am sure will be helpful to some artists, but don’t you think they could have made this handbook a lot more enticing with some creative artwork on the cover?

By Artspire, Co-Published by the New York Foundation for the Arts

NEW YORK (October 28, 2011) – “How will I pay for my studio space?” “Where can I find money to produce my play?”  “How should I market my book?”  Every day, artists everywhere ask questions like these – and more.  Now, there is a place to find the answers.

Artspire.org, New York Foundation for the Arts’ (NYFA) online community for artists and arts organizations, presents The Profitable Artist; the first complete “how-to” guide to being a professional and profitable working artist. This handbook features techniques in the areas of strategic planning, financial management, marketing, fundraising, and legal rights and obligations, aimed to assist all artists, including those in performing, literary and visual arts.

Artists are critical thinkers and problem solvers.  They possess a strong work ethic and emotional fortitude.  They are fiercely independent.  In other words, they have all the skills necessary to become highly successful entrepreneurs.  What they often lack, however, is professional development training.  The Profitable Artist demystifies the business of being an artist and provides an easy-to-follow framework for making informed decisions and ensuring sound career management.

“The Profitable Artist is a best-practices, hands-on approach to the business side of a thriving career in the arts,” said Michael L. Royce, Executive Director of NYFA.   “This book provides clear, usable information that will put artists of all disciplines in a better position to achieve their professional goals.  It is one more step toward NYFA’s overall objective to train and develop business skills in artists.”

The Profitable Artist compiles a wealth of information gathered by arts professional and NYFA through more than thirty interviews and in-depth case studies. At the end of each section of the book is a list of online resources relevant to that section.

The Profitable artists is being published by Skyhorse Publishing/Allworth Press. It will be available in paperback for $24.95 but you can order it on Amazon for $16.30.)

About Artspire
Artspire is an online community that supports the needs of artists and arts enthusiasts across the country and around the world. It is a program of NYFA, which has been providing essential services  to artists in all disciplines since 1971.  With 40 years of institutional experience in arts education, the New York Foundation for the Arts as co-publisher brings and authority and legitimacy unmatched by any single author.

I read more business books than anyone I know, which is ironic because I can’t stand most of them.  That’s not to say I hate all business books — after all, I’ve written one — but 95% go on one of two lists: “if you don’t know this already, you should be working at the DMV” and “if you do these things, your company will become the DMV.”

A cynical view? I don’t think so.  Here’s why.

First, most business books use stories to cover over their complete lack of insight. This week, I read a galley of a book that I hope will never come out.  After some catchy anecdotes about hero CEOs, it advised, among other things, that leaders figure out what’s really important, then do those things. It went way out on a limb by saying that great leaders are remarkable at forming relationships.  And (are you sitting down?) the best leaders are honest when a strategy isn’t working.

Are you kidding me? How about we add that true leaders can dress themselves, use full sentences, and bathe before work.

Second, the stories themselves often highlight the wrong message. Here’s an example. I mentioned Zappos in a talk I gave, and Tony Hsieh, the CEO, was kind enough to endorse my work. Now I get lots of emails asking for an introduction to him. I almost never pass them on. Why? Because Tony, like me, is tired of repeating what no one ever hears: the Zappos story isn’t about Tony. It’s about a group of people that aligned on the same vision of what that company could become and pulled it off by sacrificing, working hard, and participating. If people copy only Tony’s actions, they won’t end up with a Zappos; they’ll end up bankrupt.

Business success isn’t a checklist, and that’s the implied message from many business books: do these things and you’ll be the hero. Business success is a dance: with the market, employees, investors, customers, landlords, and creditors — not to mention spouses and kids.

Third, most business books are air sandwiches: empty in the middle.  One of my mentors told me to read the first and last chapters of a book, because everything in the middle is either stories or takeaways so simple that watching Mr. Rogers is a better use of your time.  I’m too obsessive-compulsive to follow this advice, but in 95% of cases, it would be better if I had.

Business leaders need a reboot on the ideas that make organizations run. Is your time best spent reading business books, or talking with people with radically different ideas? Put down the business book and go interact with ideas that challenge you, frighten you, or piss you off.

People often ask me what the best business books I’ve ever read are.  Here’s my list: The Odyssey, Atlas Shrugged, and Ender’s Game.  None are about commerce or strategy. Read The Odyssey to understand character, purpose, and discovery.  Read Atlas Shrugged to clarify your own position on how the political economy should run.  And read Ender’s Game for how genius and leadership pull people in opposite directions. (Two of the three are well written — you can figure out which is the outlier.)

None of these books have takeaways, or to-do lists. None preach. They will make you think.

Anyone brave enough to venture into these waters with me?  What are your favorite non-business books that teach you a lot about business?

About Dave Logan
Dave Logan is a USC faculty member, management consultant, and the best-selling author of four books including Tribal Leadership and The Three Laws of Performance. He is also Senior Partner of CultureSync, a management consulting firm, which he co-founded in 1997.

Written by Peter Spellman, Berklee College of Music

Put on your marketing hat for a moment.

Market position is often related to niche. The “mass market” has given way to a market of niches. The music market in particular continues to segment and each segment has beome a “world”, a cultural/economic portal, through which niche companies can create value and success.

Maybe your specialty is tube amps, or Latin jazz arrangements, or songs with a nautical theme. Whatever it is you can create a niche from it, a distinctive offering that stands out in the marketplace of useful things. As the saying goes, ‘Dig a hole an inch wide and a mile deep,’ and work it.

In order to help you strengthen your distinction, here are ten questions you should ask of your market positioning strategy:

1. Is it relevant? Relevant means applicable, connected, germane. The distinctions you create must be valued by a sufficient number of fans and customers.  Your distinction needs to con _nect.
2. Is it different? Being different for the sake of being different isn’t enough. Offerings must be genuinely different. What compelling reason is there for customers to switch their attention from existing brands to yours?
3. Will they care? Your point of difference must be truthful, authentic. Truth cuts through the clutter. Claims must not be empty, otherwise your audience will see through your ‘spin’.
4. Get emotional? Customers and fans must make a lasting emotional connection with your brand.
5. Are you the best? Superior quality alone is not enough to ensure market distinction, but it’s crucial. Quality is relative to consumer expectations. Raise expectations by delivering the best.
6. Can you say it? Every aspect of promotion should contain your differentiating idea presented in an easily digestible form. Creative concision is challenging but always effective.
7. Who are you? You are ultimately offering a human experience to fans and customers. Define your brand’s values, identity and personality in light of the experience you want them to have.
8. Are you innovative? Competitors will think nothing of stealing your ideas and calling them their own. Pre-emptive positioning based on innovation cannot be easily copied.
9. Can they afford it? Can buyers afford to pay for the difference? Improvements to products and services can be costly, but value is what you’re after and value transcends mere “price”. People pay for uniqueness.
10. Can you make a profit? The reverse of affordable—there must be sufficient profit margin once you have created your differences. After all, this isn’t a hobby you’re involved in – it’s your bread and butter!

Run your own positioning strategy through these ten questions and see it get stronger.

For more great food on this topic see, The Collapse of Distinction by Scott McKains (2009) and Career Distinction: Stand Out By Building Your Brand by William Arruda and Kristen Dixon (2007).

About Peter Spellman
Peter Spellman found his way into music as a guitarist in various New York bands and then switched to drums after seeing the Police perform in the late 1970s. Since then he’s performed and recorded with reggae outfit, The Mighty Charge, world music ensemble Friend Planet, and now with the Underwater Airport crew. He’s scored films for the National Science Foundation, composed video games for Massachusetts General Hospital, and coaches music entrepreneurs at Berklee College of Music. He is author of “The Self Promoting Musician” and “Indie Business Power: A Step by Step Guide for 21st Century Music Entrepreneurs”. Find him at mcareerjuice.com

Our 2010 most read posts are interestingly some oldies but goodies. From our top 25, 14 are from 2007 through 2009. Our oldest post from 2007, which also happens to be our #1 post, is about my  journey writing a book.

So for all you writers out there, this list just goes to show you that it’s important to get your writing our there because its more likely to become well read with the passage of time.

#1 Starving Artist Not
#2 The Four C’s of 21st Century Education
#3 Oh the places you’ll go by Dr Seuss
#4 Tongue twisters for actors and speakers
#5 Characteristics of successful entrepreneurs
#6 Ten steps to finding your artistic voice
#7 Best and worst marketing campaigns
#8 How to create a badge for your blog
#9 An artistic entrepreneurial case study: The story of blue man group
#10 Ben Cameron on change transformation and renewal in the arts
#11 One blank piece of paper
#12 Dinner in the sky
#13 Conservatory made me successful in business
#14 How to make your creativity explode create your own strategic implode
#15 North Africa Economic Partership announced between Aspen Institute and U.S. Department of State
#16 Top 20 arts entrepreneur blogs
#17 What does fame mean to you?
#18 I’m not an entertainer. I’m a lot closer to a paramedic, a firefighter, a rescue worker
#19 Artists as social entrepreneurs
#20 Our dirty little family secret
#21 The definition of a calculated risk
#22 Innovating through artistry
#23 Paradigm shifts build innovative companies
#24 Overcoming mediocrity
#25 What is your imagination worth to you?

Lisa Canning, Founder of EntrepreneurTheArts.com, TheIAE.com and LisasClarinetShop.com

Well, today I leave for Washington for my first PNB-NAPEO (Partners for a New Beginning- North Africa Partners for Economic Opportunity) Summit. Madeline Albright will kick off our meeting and then we will spend two days in meetings that range from a PNB overview from the ground to Entrepreneurship for Women in the Middle East to clean water initiatives. Great stuff.

IAE is supported by Partners for a New Beginning’s North Africa Partnership for Economic Opportunity (PNB-NAPEO), a public-private partnership created by the U.S. Department of State.  The mission of PNB-NAPEO is to build a network of entrepreneurs and business leaders in the United States and North Africa where both communities can identify projects that will foster entrepreneurship and job creation, especially for youth.

The meeting will be loaded with a lot of business folks interested in PNB’s mission from different vantage points. Gosh, what a big help this is going to be to The IAE. And what fun it is going to be attending such a high-voltage education oriented networking meeting. This will be a great opportunity to grow my network of support for The IAE and continue the transformation process- from idea into reality. Are YOU ready to transform from a caterpillar with 16 legs into a butterfly who, with just a single pair of wings, can fly?)

At the Summit, I am looking forward to meeting Naeem Zafar. Check out this blog post he wrote about the initiative.

Check out these ebooks that Naeem has written. I can’t wait to meet him. Imagine the possibilities for art and culture, as a ‘sector’, to create innovative new businesses and job strands in the U.S. and North Africa? I am.

Market Research on a Shoestring!

Get a Reality check on your big idea for under $100. By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkeley

Entrepreneurs don’t like to do market research. Whether they find it unnecessary, think it takes too much time and money, or are simply terrified by the idea, they often start up their businesses without the necessary preparation or understanding of exactly what they are getting into.

But market research doesn’t have to be an expensive, unbearably time-consuming nightmare. It is an essential aspect of starting a new business that can be conducted quickly and easily if you know what to look for and where to look. Market Research on a Shoestring is full of techniques, tricks, and secrets that will help you ask the right questions and find the answers you need to better understand your business and the market it faces. If you want to raise funds for your startup or simply maximize your chances of success, you need this book!

 

Get Funded!

A Definitive Guide to Seeking the right funding at the right time and from the right source
By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkeley

Entrepreneurs need funding at various stages of their companies’growth. This to-the-point book is your essential guide to the funding process. Organized into three sections, this book outlines the likely sources of funding and how they operate, how to approach investors, and the 12-step process of getting funded.

As a valuable bonus, Get Funded! includes the names of several hundred angel investors and venture capital firms.

If you are serious about seeking funding for your startup or simply want to know your options, you need this book! This book is the complete guide to seeking and getting funding that all entrepreneurs look for and seldom find.

 

The Entrepreneur’s Legal Guide to Starting Up

By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkeley

A simple, to-the-point guide that outlines the decisions all entrepreneurs must make when setting up a legal entity. This eBook is packed with practical, time-tested tips and suggestions about incorporation, hiring the right lawyer, registering patents, and
minimizing your legal bill. The eBook includes a step-by-step guide to finding and hiring the right lawyer for your company and offers proven strategies that will save you thousands on your legal bill. There’s also an easy-to-understand chart explaining the differences between the various corporate structures and offering a quick guide to the most common legal issues plaguing entrepreneurs, as well as effective methods for overcoming them.

Knowing the ins and outs of setting up a startup and picking the right lawyer isn’t a matter of intelligence—it’s about experience and expertise. You may have a great deal of both when it comes to your industry, but most entrepreneurs don’t know much about the law. Your strengths lie elsewhere. As a result, you may find yourself intimidated by the idea of selecting legal counsel.

 

The Definitive Entrepreneur’s Guide to Lawyers:

35 Little-known facts, secrets, techniques, and tricks to making sure you get every penny’s worth of value from your lawyer By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkeley

Containing nearly three dozen money-saving, angst-minimizing tips, The Definitive Entrepreneur’s Guide to Lawyers is a go-to resource for the entrepreneur who wants to streamline the budget while leveraging the most effective legal services available. The guide includes a step-by-step guide to finding and hiring the right lawyer for your company, an easy-to-understand chart explaining the differences between the various corporate structures, proven communication strategies that will slash your legal bill by half each month, and a quick guide to the most common legal issues plaguing entrepreneurs, as well as effective methods for overcoming them.

Knowing the ins and outs of picking the right lawyer isn’t a matter of intelligence—it’s about experience and expertise. You may have a great deal of both when it comes to your industry, but most entrepreneurs don’t know much about the law. Your strengths lie elsewhere. As a result, you may find yourself intimidated by the idea of selecting legal counsel.

 

Finance Essentials for entrepreneurs:
A Simple Guide to Understanding and Creating Financial Statements for Your Business. By Naeem Zafar, University of California, Berkele

Finance Essentials for Entrepreneurs is a startup owner’s indispensable guide to basic finance. Zafar draws on two decades of entrepreneurial experience to create an eBook that offers a simple, proven method for understanding the most important elements of financial management for businesses. Zafar understands what entrepreneurs need to know about business finance. He also knows that their time is precious. In Finance Essentials for Entrepreneurs, he delivers that knowledge in practical, to-the-point language free of technical jargon and longwinded discourses. Spreadsheet examples
are clear and relevant.

 

About Naeem Zafar

• A member of the faculty of the Haas business school at the University of California Berkeley, Naeem teaches Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the MBA program. Naeem is the founder of Concordia Ventures and focuses on educating and advising entrepreneurs on all aspects of starting and running a company. Naeem’s entrepreneurial experience includes working directly with six startups, and he has extensive experience in mentoring and coaching founders and CEOs. Naeem is now the president and CEO of Bitzer Mobile, a company that simplifies enterprise mobility.
• Until 2007, Naeem was the president and CEO of Pyxis Technology Inc., a company specializing in advanced chip design software for nanometer technology. Naeem has also been president and CEO of two other high tech startups (Silicon Design Systems and Veridicom, a Bell Labs spin-off that invented the silicon fingerprint sensors today found on most laptops). Naeem has held senior marketing and engineering positions at several companies including Quickturn Design Systems that had an IPO in 1993 and grew to $125M in revenues.
• Naeem holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Brown University (magna cum laude), Rhode Island, and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota.
• Naeem is a charter member of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs www.TiE.org ).He is also a charter member of OPEN (www.OPENSiliconValley.com ) where he serves as the president.

 

How do you start a movement with a marker pen? What’s the connection between the nun who invented disco, and file sharing? How did a male model messing with disco records in New York in the 1970s influence the way Boeing design airplanes? Does hip-hop really hold the secret to world peace? How did three eleven-year-olds revolutionize the video game industry by turning Nazis into Smurfs? And what’s going to happen to Nike when it’s possible for kids to download sneakers?

The Pirate’s Dilemma tells the story of how youth culture drives innovation and is changing the way the world works. It offers understanding and insight for a time when piracy is just another business model, the remix is our most powerful marketing tool and anyone with a computer is capable of reaching more people than a multi-national corporation.

Ideas that started within punk, disco, hip-hop, rave, graffiti and gaming have been combined with new technologies and taken to new heights by the generations that grew up under their influence. With a cast of characters that includes such icons as The Ramones, Andy Warhol, Madonna, Russell Simmons, Pharrell and 50 Cent, The Pirate’s Dilemmauncovers, for the first time, the trends that transformed underground scenes into burgeoning global industries and movements, ultimately changing life as we know it, unraveling some of our most basic assumptions about business, society and our collective future.

As a result people, companies and organizations are now struggling with a new dilemma in increasing numbers. As piracy continues to change the way we all use information, how should we respond? Do we fight pirates, or do we learn from them? Should piracy be treated as a problem, or a solution? To compete or not to compete – that is the question – that is the Pirate’s Dilemma, perhaps one of the most important economic and cultural conundrums of the 21st Century.

I am teaching a new class I fashioned for the Stuart School of Business at the Illinois Institute of Technology called “Got Creativity? Strategies & Tools for the Next Economy.”

This is part of a new effort at the school to instill a core set of competencies in their graduates. These skills have been identified by Dean Harvey Kahalas as Creativity, Sustainability, Entrepreneurship, Incisive Decision Making, Innovation and Leadership.

My goal is to impart not just the intellectual appreciation of the role that creativity plays in our economy but to expand and deepen the student’s own creative muscles.

So, on January 29 I asked dancer and choreographer Darrell Jones to visit the class. Darrell is on the faculty at Columbia College’s Dance Center and recently toured the U.S. with the Ralph Lemon Dance Company.

I asked one of the MBA students, Ketan Patel, if he would tell us what happened.

“What happens when a professional choreographer shows up at an MBA class? Well, to clarify “MBA class”, let me explain that this is not just your average, run-of-the-mill MBA class with Financial or Accounting number crunching.  No sir!  This is Prof. Tresser’s brand new course at Stuart School of Business at IIT which is supposed to prepare tomorrow’s business leaders (MBAs) to be creative thinkers.

The class is very diverse in terms of students’ educational background as well as their countries of origin.  The class is made up of students who are American, African American, Chinese, Indian, Indian American, and Saudi Arabian.  I had read up a little bit about our visitor, Darrell Jones before the class and was already impressed by his CV of performances.  But, I was totally blown away with the experience with him in the classroom.

After a brief introduction by Prof. Tresser, Darrell pretty much took over the class.  We were all seated in our chairs behind rows of desks.  The first thing he asked us to do was to change the space, the environment so we were all standing instead of seating. We were not only standing, but we were standing close to one another in a big circle.  Darrell explained that the re-arrangement of space was required for him to be creative and also get us involved in his creative experience, not just be spectators by seating behind our desks in our chairs while he did some sort of lecture on creativity.  He immediately asserted control by getting us to move the tables and chairs out of the way to create this “creative space”.

His demeanor was completely inviting.  He was always smiling and maintaining eye contacts with the entire group standing in one big circle.  He, then, slowly began to bring us all into his world.  He did this by a very natural and inviting way.  He acted as a master facilitator while getting the group to follow his instruction.  So, what were the instructions?  Well, to start off, he simply kneeled and clapped his hands and said  his name aloud.  He then asked us all to repeat it simultaneously.  He was a very good listener.  He would get us to follow his instruction to do a particular activity and then applauded us for our efforts and at the same time invited our feedback – how we felt about doing a particular activity.

He changed the activities slowly but at a pace that kept the discussion engaging and interesting.  We did more activities as sub groups and then with two groups at a time.  It was a blast and at the same time we learned a great deal about being creative, expressive and knowing our peripheral vision.  Darrell’s grace, friendliness and cool demeanor made the exercises very enjoyable.  For that hour, I forgot that I was in an MBA class!  It was truly a unique experience.

Professor Tresser could have just lectured us through some slides, but he chose to make this an experience that very few of us would get in typical MBA classroom. It was an exciting experience!!”

Ketan Patel is currently pursuing part-time MBA at Stuart School of Business at IIT while working full-time as Sr. Product Manager at Nokia, Inc. through acquisition of a start up that created solutions for Mobile Internet.  Ketan has over 20 years of professional experience in a variety of engineering and business leadership roles in different industries.

So what is the connection between performance and business?

Ketan touched on a few connections. It was wonderful to see my students loosen up, laugh and really push themselves into new territory as the workshop progressed. Students of all ages love to be challenged and then succeed. In the realm of creative behavior we often find that FEAR is the number one killer of creativity. So to be able to try new things and succeed – as adults – in an advanced learning environment – is a great experience.

He mentioned “peripheral vision.” This was a skill that came up as the students attempted to create small dance routines with three colleagues using the simple step they had created in the “say your name and make a move” exercise. Being able to do your move in series and in combination and coordinated with your colleagues is not as easy as it sounds. When you then combine two such groups and are asked to start and stop together, it is quite a challenge. So having refined peripheral vision allows us to keep aware of what is happening at the edge of our sphere of awareness. How might this skill be useful in a hyper-competitive world where threats and opportunities arise from unexpected places?

Another student commented that her peripheral vision will help her judge her own performance and manner as she works with and leads teams.

But there is much more going on here. In “Artful Making – What Managers Need to Know About How Artists Work”  Rob Austin and Lee Devin suggest that because the economy has shifted to a knowledge-driven system of creating value the world of work has changed radically over the past 50 years. Because of that the way we manage and make value has changed – or it should.

They identify four essential “artful” qualities that are regularly practiced by performers that managers should adopt for their businesses:

(1)   Release – “A method of control that accepts wide variation within known parameters. Release contrasts with restraint, the usual method industrial control.”

(2)   Collaboration – “The quality exhibited by conversation. In language and behavior, during which each party, released from vanity, inhibition and preconceptions, treats the contributions of other parties as material to make with, not as positions to argue with, so that new and unpredictable ideas emerge.”

(3)   Ensemble – “The quality exhibited by the work of a group dedicated to collaboration in which individual members relinquish sovereignty over their work and thus create something none could have made alone: a whole greater than the sum of its parts.”

(4)   Play – The quality exhibited by a production while it is playing for an audience; or the quality exhibited by interaction among members of a business group, and ultimately between the group and the customer.”

The lessons that business can draw from the artful world of performance have been explored by a number of works, including “Artistry Unleashed – A Guide to Pursuing Great Performance in Work and Life” by Hilary Austen of the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management; and in “Management and Creativity – From Creative Industries to Creative Management” by Chris Bolton, director of Creative and Media Enterprise Program at the University of Warwick.

There are also works that draw lessons from the world of jazz and improvisation. One fascinating read is “Organizational Improvisation” edited by Ken Kamoche, Miguel Pina e Cunha and Joao Vieira de Cunha.

What are all these researchers trying to communicate to business leaders?

I think the key lesson is that the skills, experience, mindset and values of the artist are of intrinsic and extrinsic value to the world of commerce. The performers have much to offer the merchants. And it’s way beyond selling tickets. I hope to develop this theme in future posts.

Let’s dance.

1)    Buzzmarketing: Get People to Talk About Your Stuff, by Mark Hughes. The most successful artists are not necessarily the most outstanding ones.  Instead, they’re the people who can get others talking and generate a buzz.  This book provides an arsenal of powerful ideas relevant to artists hoping to increase their celebrity.

2)    Free: How Today’s Smartest Businesses Profit by Giving Something for Nothing, by Chris Anderson. You’ve probably heard the phrase, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.”  Well, it’s true, according to this book.  In it, he proves how many of the strongest businesses today generate tons of profits from free stuff. As a musician, it helped me imagine multiple ways that giving away recorded music and other services can help propel a career and generate income.

3)    Business Model Generation: A Handbook for Visionaries, Game Changers, and Challengers, by Alexander Osterwalder.  This book is a piece of art in itself.  If you don’t have a lot of business background, much of the material may seem vague and “business-y.”  But it is consistently built around a business model canvas which is brilliant in it’s simplicity and depth.  Whether you are a freelancer, private teacher, presenter, or arts administrator, this canvas will prove an indispensable tool for having your determine your business (career) model.  In fact, we used it during the inaugural IAE Boost Camp. 

4)    Rework, by David Heinemeier Hansson and Jason Fried.  This book, which can be read in a matter of hours, features a series of short (1-3 page) chapters challenging conventional wisdom and offering prescriptions for success. A lot of great tips here are applicable for artists of all stripes and artistic aspirations.

5)    The Music Teaching Artist’s Bible: Becoming a Virtuoso Educator, by Eric Booth.  In the past decade, a career field of growing influence and potential is teaching artistry (teaching and integrating art forms into arts and non-arts curricula through residencies).  Though this book is a little academic and dense in tone, it lives up to it’s title.  Absolutely inspirational and instructional, it should be required reading for every performer and arts educator, whether or not teaching artistry is in your career profile.  It will change your life and perspective.  One of the best music books I’ve read in years. And this is definitely applicable to artists of all disciplines (in face, Booth is an actor by trade).

6)    Crisis on Campus: A Bold Plan for Reforming Out Colleges and Universities, by Mark C. Taylor.  This year, I read quite a few books about higher education, and recommend you do the same if you’re a current/aspiring college professor, student, or anyone else interested in the future of academia.  In  all readings, consider how the views expressed relate to the arts. In the past few years, stacks of books from both the left and right have been published, calling for major reform and making dire predictions about the future of America’s second largest industry if significant change is not realized.  Among other things, Crisis on Campus calls for more interdisciplinary collaboration, greater integration of technology, the end of tenure, mandatory retirement, a reconsideration of “research,” and other radical suggestions.  While you may not agree with everything written here, it offers a fascinating perspective.

7)    DIY U: Edupunks, Edupreneurs, and the Coming Transformation of Higher Education, by Anya Kamenetz.  Another book higher ed book.  The first half examines how academia arrived at its current state, while part two explores new educational options and the ways they will impact current institutions in the near future.

8)    The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need—and What We Can Do About It, by Tony Wagner.  This important work focuses on secondary education.  It argues that even the “best” high schools in American (translation: those with the highest test scores) are failing our youth by not providing them with “Seven Survival Skills” they’ll need to thrive in life.  Listing issues such as critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, initiative, entrepreneurship, curiosity, and imagination, it struck me that the arts are ideal forums for cultivating these underdeveloped areas, at least if teachers are willing to restructure their curricula.

9)    Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose, by Tony Hsieh.  This book exceeded expectations. Written by the founder of Zappos (an online shoe company with whom I have never dealt), the most inspiring aspect was learning about the culture developed within this company.  Not only is their top priority WOWing customers, but they create an environment where creativity, honesty, team spirit, innovation, risk taking, and fun are celebrated.  We often hear of orchestral musicians who are miserable in their position, despite the fact they’re playing some of the greatest music ever written alongside world class colleagues.  Applying Hsieh’s principles could transform this kind of organization.  These guidelines are also valuable for chamber groups and other types of arts organizations.

10) Leading Change, by John P. Kotter.  The best book on leadership I read this year, Leading Change outlines an 8-step process for leaders to make transformational change.  These lessons are valuable for leaders within orchestras, arts departments/schools, and any other arts organization that hopes to redefine itself for maximum success and impact on our quickly changing world.

Please let me know the great reads you’ve discovered on your own.  Happy reading, and happy new year!!!

Check out David Cutler’s

THE SAVVY MUSICIAN: Building a Career, Earning a Living, & Making a Difference

“Hands down, the most valuable resource available for aspiring musicians.”

— Jeffrey Zeigler, Kronos Quartet

As human beings, the fact we are merely mortals carries with it a certain need for success, I think. The clock is ticking and there is something we must be here to accomplish before its over, right? So, we stumble through our lives making choices. Some right and some not so right.

But we always focus on only those that were PERFECT. Those others sing our praises for. No one ever seems to want to hang around us much when we belly flop- especially when we flop big. Most scatter as far from us as possible, leaving us alone with the mess. It’s a shame really because it makes us think inappropriately about the meaning and value of failure to our growth and development.

Thanks Chip Hessenflow for the link to this article. Readers keep them coming!

From The Chronicle of Higher Education
November 21, 2010 written by By Evan R. Goldstein

Nothing Succeeds Like Failure

This year the artist Michael Landy built a 130,000-gallon trash can inside a London gallery and invited fellow artists to toss their unsuccessful works into the garbage. One thousand pieces were destroyed during the exhibit’s three-month run. Landy called his pile of disposed art a “monument to creative failure.”

Landy is not among the contributors to Failure (MIT Press), a collection of meditations on misfiring edited by Lisa Le Feuvre, but the spirit of his “Art Bin” is present on nearly every page. Le Feuvre, who is director of sculpture studies at the Henry Moore Institute, in Leeds, England, culled previously published interviews, journal and magazine articles, and books to amass a wide-ranging compendium. Søren Kierke-gaard, Karl Popper, John Cage, and Giorgio Agamben are among those Le Feuvre turns to for insight.

Perhaps most interesting is an interview with Scott Sandage, an associate professor of history at Carnegie Mellon University and author of Born Losers: A History of Failure in America. Sandage explains that America’s relationship with failure has evolved over time, noting that the word initially applied only to matters of business, not character. Up until the Civil War, he argues, people who suffered economic misfortune were described as making a failure, not being a failure. Sandage asks: “Why have we as a culture embraced modes of identity where we measure our souls using business models?”

The answer, he suggests, has to do with the end of slavery. Around that time, Sandage says, the two primary identities in American life shifted from “slave” and “free” to “success” and “failure.”

In the arts, Le Feuvre emphasizes in a brief introduction, failure is central to the creative process. A number of artists explain how falling short can be a catalyst for innovation; or, as Le Feuvre nicely puts it: “Through failure one has the potential to stumble on the unexpected.” The conceptual artist John Baldessari adds this bit of wisdom: “Art comes out of failure.”

And for some, failure is itself the stuff of art. For instance, incompetence is a central theme in the work of the Swedish artist Annika Ström. In a short video titled After Film, Ström documents the failure of her first (imagined) feature movie. In the script, friends and neighbors speculate as to why Ström, in the wake of the movie’s bombing, has disappeared. The critic Lotte Møller argues that Ström’s work questions “the predominant values of a success-oriented society.”

Failure brims with inspirational quips. “To be an artist is to fail as no other dare fail,” according to Samuel Beckett; the painter and filmmaker Julian Schnabel describes his work as a “bouquet of mistakes”; the sculptor Joel Fisher insists that “the failures of big ideas are more impressive than the successes of little ones.”

Reading page after page of paeans to failure has the effect of turning conventional wisdom on its head: Perhaps it is not failing that should worry us most.

BELOW ARE LISTED SOME RESOURCES THAT I ARE USEFUL REGARDNG PRESENTATIONS. 

BUT WHAT I AM MOST INTERESTED ARE

SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

THAT I WILL ANSWER HERE REGARDING PRESENTATIONS AND COMMUNICATION FROM THE VANTAGE POINT OF AN ACTING COACH, ACTRESS AND DIRECTOR.  SO FIRE AWAY.

Dos and Don’ts of Oral Presentation, Voice For Success
http://voiceforsuccess.com/doc3_pub.html

Making an Oral Presentation, University of Toronto
http://www.ecf.utoronto.ca/~writing/handbook-oral.html

Bippus. A., & Daly, J. (1999)
What do People Think Causes Stage Fright? Naïve Attributions about the Reasons for Public Speaking Anxiety
Communication Education, 48, 61-72.

Dodd, J. (Ed.). (1997)
The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors (2nd ed.)
Washington, DC: American Chemical Society.

Menzel, K. & Carrell, L. (1994)
The Relationship Between Preparation and Performance in Public Speaking
Communication Education, 43,17-26.

Mills, G. (1952)
Composing the Speech
New York: Prentice-Hall.

Ochs, D., & Winkler, A. (1983)
A Brief Introduction to Speech (2nd ed.)
New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

Sullivan, L. (1994)
Preparing Great Speeches: A 10-step Approach
College & Research Libraries News, 55 (11), 710-714.

Wilder, L. (1999)
7 Steps to Fearless Speaking
New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Earlier today, I sat on a panel at the annual conference of ATHE (Association for Theatre in Higher Education) entitled “Will We Just Survive or Will We Thrive? The Challenge of Implementing Entrepreneurship in Theatre” at the invitation of the panel organizer, Carolyn Roark, editor of the journal Ecumenica. In her preparatory email, she said that her thoughts on the topic were informed by several concepts among them Pine and Gilmore’s “The Experience Economy: Business is Theatre and all the World’s a Stage.” In my opening remarks, largely in response to that book, that I’ve written on this blog before: we need to stop saying “hey, let’s use the skills and creativity of theatre to make business better” and start saying “lets use the skills and creativity of business to make theatre better.” This reversal was met with a polite smattering of chuckles, which I took to be a positive response.

Later in the session, in response to an audience comment about producing plays being a bad business model, Carolyn made a rather brilliant statement, which I can only paraphrase here so won’t capture her clarity or poeticism. She said basically that we have to stop thinking of what we do solely as producing plays. Rather, we should think about “putting on plays” as only part of the portfolio of what a theatre artist does. We then ran with that together to provide examples of how theatre’s ability to make meaning can reach new and different audiences that in turn can earn money that enables one to produce plays – because that’s still important too.

I was a bit skeptical going into the session, but left feeling energized and ready to tackle tomorrow’s plenary panel, “Elephants in the Curriculum: A Frank Discussion about Theatre in a Changing Academic Landscape.” But that room seems awfully big…..

Speaking of conferences, the schedule for the second bi-annual p.a.v.e. symposium on entrepreneurship and the arts is shaping up nicely. We’ve added John Cimino to the schedule of the April 1-2 event. He’ll be leading a workshop on “Self-knowledge and Directions of Growth: Building Your Personal and Creative Infrastructure.”

“Difference is a commitment to the unprecedented…a commitment to letting go.” ~Youngme Moon

I love Harvard professor Youngme Moon’s sub-subtitle of her new book, Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd: “Succeeding in a World where Conformity Reigns but Exceptions Rule.” In her book, she makes the case that true innovation — and success — comes when a business offers something meaningfully different.

As much as we Americans often claim the mantle of individuality and freedom to be different, most of us rarely are. From what we wear to what we talk about, from the party at the bar to the big wedding we attend, conformity reigns and rains and, as my poor friends here in Chicago have heard too much from me lately, I’m feeling all wet.

Moon makes the case that almost every success story of the past couple decades has been the exception to the rule, the outlier that has rejected orthodoxy, the difference-maker that did not simply compete in the same game as others. “Differentiation is not a tactic,” she says. “It’s not a flashy advertising campaign; it’s not a sparkling new feature set. It’s not a laminated frequent-buyer card or a money-back guarantee. Differentiation is a way of thinking. It’s a mindset. It’s a commitment. A commitment to be different, not in a superficial, I’m-going-to-offer-a-couple-of-features-my-competitor-doesn’t-offer kind of way, but in a way that is fundamental and near impossible to replicate.”

Now I happen to be allergic to too much conformity, but I realize that it’s often easier, and even satisfying, to conform. But creativity — which we need more than ever in our organizations and for our own personal success — requires deviance, a willingness to be different. A willingness and a mindset and a drive to be the one who doesn’t do it that way, who draws outside the lines or creates meaningful new lines, who risks the stares and comments (and there will be many) from the conforming majority.

Moon’s wonderful Anti-Creativity Checklist video (above) shares her top 14 ways to keep your place in the conforming majority and ensure that you won’t be a difference-maker in your organization.

Want more from Adam?  See his Innovation on my Mind blog.

Daniel Pink, author of the ETA essential read A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, spoke recently in Orange County to a packed house of educators, business types and arts supporters about why, exactly the arts matter.  The Orange County Register did a great piece on the event, and it sounds like it was an exciting time for some exciting thinking:

Pink was in O.C. to talk about the importance of arts education in forming a well-rounded, competitive job-force warrior — apparently a subject of intense interest in Orange County, not only among teachers (of which there were many in the audience) but within the business community as well (they were the ones in the dark suits thumbing away on their Blackberries).

Teachers and school administrators are looking for new ways to justify the conservation of arts curriculum in an era of draconian cutbacks. H.R. types, trying to keep abreast of the rapidly changing needs and conditions of the workplace, are rethinking the definition of the well-trained and adaptive employee.

I think it’s hilarious that big companies are now realizing that an MBA isn’t the only route to well-formed business savvy.  It’s a recent change…I remember my freshman year of college as a film major, one of our professors spent an entire day of class discussing why a theatre and film degree would soon be the new MBA.  Despite still being in full-on “art for art’s sake” mode at the time, the idea stuck with me…and it’s great to hear it validated more and more in legit circles.

Check this out:

Pink’s approach…makes a much bolder claim: in a world where entire industries can disappear seemingly overnight and highly trained workers are made redundant by new technology and outsourcing, arts education isn’t merely a marginally helpful addition to the well-rounded curriculum; it’s an essential rung on the ladder that will lead American workers to full and meaningful employment in fields of the future — a level of preparation that American education does not currently provide.

Do they know about the Institute For Arts Entrepreneurship?  Should we tell them?  He also discusses the concept of turning the curriculum core of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) into STEAM (science, technology, engineering, ARTS and math).  I love it.  Because unlike a lot of technology systems, the arts are a constantly learnable field that continues to evolve without ever becoming outdated.  You can learn to think creatively and not have to worry about your creativity becoming redundant in six months time…because you CREATE how you CREATE.

Check out the whole article at the Orange County Register. For more info on Daniel Pink, check out his website. Dan!  We should talk!

In this compelling video, Arlene Goldbard argues the importance of putting artists to work in order to aid the cultural and economic recovery. A provocative independent voice for our times, Arlene Goldbard is a writer, social activist, and consultant who works for justice, compassion and honor in every sphere, from the interpersonal to the transnational.

Goldbard’s 2006 publication New Creative Community: The Art of Cultural Development is highly recommended. It is an inspiring, foundational book that defines the burgeoning field of community cultural development. Through personal stories, rousing accounts, detailed observation and histories, Arlene Goldbard describes how communities express and develop themselves via the creative arts. This comprehensive, photographically- illustrated book, which covers community-based arts such as theater grounded in oral history and murals celebrating cultural heritage, will appeal to the curious non-specialist reader as well as the practitioner and student.

Each day, we make decisions based on conventional wisdom: what makes a good parent, where to spend money, why education is important, how to view politics, which activities lead to happiness and success.  We are unduly influenced by sound bites that dominate the news headlines, and seek simple short-term solutions to complex predicaments. The problem with this, of course, is that conventional wisdom is often wrong.  At the least, there’s a hidden side to just about everything.

That’s the argument presented in Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, which I just finished reading.  Though not one of the top 10 books I would recommend to musicians, it does present an interesting perspective and valuable lessons.  In it, the authors systematically challenge the conventional wisdom behind a number of topics, as only economists could do.  They explain why real estate agents often don’t work to get their clients the best home price; prove that teachers often cheat; clarify why drug dealers live with their moms; and confirm that a rose by any other name would indeed smell just as sweet (he compares a convicted felon named “Winner” with his brother “Loser,” a celebrated police officer). 

By having a more nuanced understanding of the principles at work around us, we can make savvy and informed decisions, rather than adhering to often misleading conventions of the day. 

So what are the assumptions we cling to as artists?  Where do they come from, and what do they truly mean?  Consider the hidden side of statements below:

• Conditions are harder for artists than ever before
• The arts industry is dying
• Practice makes perfect
• Nobody cares about quality art today
• All serious artists go to grad school
• Artist = starving artist
• Making money through the arts requires compromising your artistic integrity
• Artists can’t have families
• There are just three career options for artists: making it big through a traditional opportunity (i.e. the orchestra), teaching, and Starbucks
• Better get management, so you can focus all efforts on the art
• A talented artist who pursues a non-arts career path is a failure
• You can’t possibly make a living through the arts—better get a “real” job

First, a big thanks to fellow ETA blogger David Cutler for featuring Fifth House Ensemble in his new book, the Savvy Musician, advance copies of which are available on his website prior to the full release in November. If you’ve been reading his posts, you know that David brings an incredible energy to the concept of being a working, entrepreneurial musician, and his book is sure to be a great resource all of us who are working to create new opportunities in the field.

In an article published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, David’s mention of 5HE’s dual business model was mentioned. When we formed in 2005, we created both a 501(c)3 nonprofit (Fifth House Ensemble) and an LLC for our private events business (Amarante Ensembles, LLC). Same folks, different purpose.

As a young group, we knew we wanted to provide a wide variety of services, including those that would serve the public good (performances, educational programs), as well as those that would help to keep us fed (weddings, private events). We formed both businesses at the same time in order to be able to keep these activities separate financially, and in order to be able to market them in completely different ways.

Since the article was published, I’ve been getting many inquiries from arts organizations both established and emerging about how and why we did this, wondering if the same model would work for them. Interestingly, in most cases the concern is less about the types of services being provided and the best business structure to manage them, and more about how to raise the most money in the shortest amount of time. Inevitably, those who began as a for-profit think that they will raise more from donated funds as a non-profit, and vice-versa.

My first question is always, “why do you want to do this?” A business structure is about the most effective way to manage the types of services you want to offer, so you have to consider what is a good fit for your goals, not just your bank statement.

If you are a performing arts organization that is committed to work in the public schools and bringing performances to underserved audiences, changing from not-for-profit to an LLC will not help you raise funds from venture capitalists, unless something changes about the services you offer. What will you tell them about their return on investment? And do the people you are serving have the resources to pay big bucks for what you do?

Conversely, if you are a for-profit company that has been successful selling tickets to shows, merchandise, and DVDs, and you are attracted to the extra money you think you will bring in as a non-profit but loathe paperwork, is switching to 501(c)3 status really a good fit? Given that you don’t want to be the one to do grantwriting, annual reporting, financial management worthy of public scrutiny, board agendas, and all of the other tasks that go into managing a nonprofit, you may end up paying staff a large part of the added revenue you would see from changing structures.

The only real reason to have a split structure (in my opinion) is if you have services that are distinctly different enough to warrant that. If there is overlap, not only is the purpose for your choice not clear, but you also risk running afoul of the IRS. I remember fondly the conversation I had with Mr. Botkins, the IRS agent who reviewed our 501(c)3 application, about how we had created these two entities for the sole PURPOSE of keeping for- and non-profit activities separate. The IRS doesn’t like seeing for- and non-profit organizations to be connected in any way, via common control (similar officers/managers), contracts, or other financial arrangements.

Know yourself, the type of work you want to do, your tolerance for paperwork, and the types of people you want to serve. Be realistic about how much you have the potential to earn or raise. If the structure you are considering isn’t a good fit for your services, don’t be tempted to follow what you perceive to be the greener pasture, or you may certainly find yourself out in the cold. The best way to get more green is to make sure that what you do is serving the people around you in the best possible way, which will inspire customers to pay for your work, or donors to support its creation.

Melissa is the flutist and Executive Director of the Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble. Like what you read here? For more music entrepreneurship tidbits, visit www.playingclosetothebridge.wordpress.com, brought to you by members of 5HE.