SEEK SOUND ADVICE FROM CREATIVE PEOPLE

No matter what business you are in seek the experience from creative industries. Look for inspiration within inventive sources such as artists, musicians and painters.. A few weeks ago I did just that. I had the opportunity to chat to legendary songwriter Dana Cooper. I asked Dana about the changing industry, what young musicians dreaming of making it in music need to look at and what these musicians and other people with dreams be  in life or business can do to take the first steps. The great ideas can come from the most unusual places and the music industry is one of those interesting places that has a lot of creative people with inspirational nuggets. Dana is one such person.

Dana has over 40 years of song writing, performing and life experience and is equipped with a wealth of solid practical information about what it takes to be a working songwriter. He has recorded 22 albums, worked with 2 major record labels, several independent labels and discovered how to thrive as an independent artist. After seeing Dana play live more than once and interviewing him I can only say that this musician has great wisdom to share in business and life.

After talking to Dana Cooper the take-homes I received for myself were to set goals, decide if it’s a way of life or a living, and tap into the new worldwide distribution channels  on the internet such as YouTube, FaceBook,  and Twitter. 

Drop the Monkey Business and seek out your creative mentor.

SHARE YOUR SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

Today I met with brother/sister team Mark and Claire McCole, world famous Irish dancing sensations who spoke to me about their achievements and why it’s so important to share your skills and pass on your knowledge with others.

If you look at our ancestors, they were experts in this. They’d pass wisdom down from generation to generation. There were no books or computers. All was word of mouth and all was with the intention to improve the skills and knowledge of the next generation. It was a human characteristic to give one’s learning to the person beside you. I believe we lost this to some degree, but it is coming back. People what to learn and as much as they love to learn people want to teach. Like Mark and Claire have done with the Irish dancing ask yourself what learning, teachings, talents or wisdom can you give, be it business tips and techniques, be it a skill or a hobby. There is a student and a teacher in all of us. In many ways this blog is my classroom. I am the student. I am the teacher. What or where is your classroom in this wonderful world?

Drop the Monkey Business and share your skill and knowledge

PUSH THE POSSIBILITIES

I just finished reading Richard Branson’s book called” Screw it, let’s do it”. From the word go Richard really shines with great ingredients that make a good business person. He has a lot of fun. He’s full of enthusiasm. He’s not afraid of failure and he believes in possibilities. The best business people in the world have failed one hundred times before they had their success story. Success can almost always be defined by one’s willingness to fly in the face of fear and take risks that others may see as silly, dangerous, a waste of money or time. People that take risks have belief not only in the person that they are, but in the possibility of their vision or dream becoming a reality. This is where all logic and reasoning goes out the window and so it should. In my world everything is possible. The only thing that limits possibility is the fear of such possibilities manifesting themselves. Stop fearing the outcome that you don’t wish to have so that you can allow the best of you to glow.  Put simply, fear the worst case scenario and you’ll end up with the worst case scenario, so push the possibilities of what you want and not what you don’t want.  Believe in yourself and your ideas. Be more like Richard!

Drop the Monkey Business and push the possibilities.