I have my business registered and I'm official. What do I do now??

Congratulations on starting your business!! This is the first step of many in becoming an entrepreneur. As stated previously in my post on obtaining our L.L.C., we were able to start Beat Geek Music, LLC. This was the biggest step in stepping out on our own! So what did we do next?

Every company that plans on generating an income and paying money will need an EIN. According to the Internal Revenue Service, an EIN is more commonly known as the Employer Identification Number or Federal Taxpayer ID number, and it is used to identify your business as an entity. You will need this to file taxes on income and expenses generated by and for your business. This was our very next step. It's relatively easy and thanks to the IRS online system, you can receive your EIN within minutes after completing the application.

Here's what you need:
Go to the IRS website first and answer the questions you see below to determine if you need an EIN. You can access it by clicking here. The survey looks like this:

If you answer YES to any of these, you will need an EIN. Once you click YES on any of these; you will then be directed to the application page, which is located here. It will walk you step by step on how to apply online, mail, fax, or telephone! Online was the fastest and easiest option for us. You can only apply during operating business hours, which are Monday through Friday in Georgia. 

Once you complete the application, you will receive a document that lists the name of your company and your new EIN within minutes…no, literally…minutes. It took ours about 2 minutes before we had it. One important note…make sure that you list everything exactly how it is on your business papers because that is what will be needed when you open a business account with a bank. This will be discussed in another post. 

Once you've obtained your EIN, you are finished with registering with the IRS. Congratulations on completing the next step of becoming an entrepreneur! Leave a comment and let us know how your process has gone thus far! I look forward to sharing experiences with you all!

We did it! Obtaining an LLC and Trademark

I am a firm believer in practicing what you preach. In an April 2014 post entitled Copyrights, LLC, Inc. and Trademarks, I discussed the importance of protecting your name, company, or slogan. Lee Morin, entertainment attorney, was my guest interviewee and she explained how to go about obtaining this protection. After making the post, the creator of The Beat Geeks and I decided to hire Ms. Morin as our attorney. We then began the process of obtaining a Limited Liability Company.

This blog post is to walk you through the steps that we had to take to obtaining the L.L.C. so that you will know first hand what it takes! In obtaining any attorney, a retainer fee is required. Information obtained from lawyers.com indicates that most attorneys/lawyers require a retainer fee. This fee allows the attorney to represent you. As the attorney conducts business with and for you, money is withdrawn from this retainer. Always, always, check your balance and invoice to show where your money is going! Once you have obtained the attorney you can now begin your process.

With obtaining the L.L.C., four important things were needed: 1. Name of the business 2. Registered Agent 3. File Articles of Organization and 4. Operating Agreement. As stated in How to Form an LLC in Georgia by Stephen Fishman and by Ms. Morin, the cost to file the Articles of Organization is $100 dollars. This is a minor fee for such a huge accomplishment. The operating agreement can be completed after you obtain the L.L.C.

So how long does the process take and how do you know when you receive it? Well, from personal experience, we filed ours on July 10, 2014. We received the L.L.C. on July 16, 2014! This took no time at all. We received an email that had the filing certificate, the domestic initial filing form, and the invoice. This lets you know that your business is officially an L.L.C. You can also check on Georgia Secretary of State website or your local Secretary of State website for your business.

This was a huge accomplishment for my team and we wanted to share our experience and success with the readers! Our trademark adventures will follow soon as we take on the wonderful world of trademarks! Leave a comment about your experience with obtaining an L.L.C., Inc., or trademark! I'd love to know the obstacles and to congratulate you on your success as an entrepreneur!

Celebrate with us as we welcome Beat Geek Music, LLC to the business world!

Experts Views on the Value of Business Plans

What are the experts saying about writing and developing a successful business plan? In this post, I will introduce you to two experts in the field of writing and reviewing business plans. You will have their background as well as links to their pages to learn more about them. 

The first expert is Tim Berry. Tim Berry is known as a successful business plan writer and reviewer. He is the founder of Palo Alto Software, bplans.com and the co-founder of Borland International. He has an MBA from Stanford and has written numerous books and software for starting business plans. Guy Kawasaki uses him as a business plan expert (www.timberry.com). The Huffington Post (2014) found that from 1982 to 1994, he consulted for Apple Computer's business planning. He also teaches business planning at the University of Oregon. 

The second expert is Jim Blasingame. Jim Blasingame is the creator and host of The Small Business Advocate Show, which is a radio talk show for small businesses. He is also the founder of Small Business Network, Inc. He has written books for starting small businesses and Google ranked him number one for the small business experts in the world. He is known for his keynote speeches on how to start and compete in the business marketplace (Small Business Network, 2014).

So what do the experts say are critical and key components in a business plan? Guy Kawasaki (2007) found that strategy should be one's focus. You have to find out what you are doing better than everyone else. What makes you different. The business plan should have three qualities: 1. set priorities, 2. specifics, and 3. cash flow (Kawasaki, 2007). These items are key to any business plan because you have to know your goals, how much it is going to cost to achieve these goals, whose responsible for these goals, and you have to plan for a growth spurt within your company which will generate cash flow.

Marty Zwilling's article What do investors look for? These six competitive element, explains the six elements that investors look for in regards to a successful business plan. Those six elements are:

1. It must have real intellectual property

2. A product line, rather than just a single product. 

3. Cost reduction

4. A team with connections

5. A brand and a customer base

6. Strong focus and differentiation

An investor needs to know that your product or service is worth their time and money. You are basically selling it to them so that they will invest in you. It has to be beneficial to both parties. If you cannot sell your product to an investor, then you cannot sell it to anyone else. This is where the importance of having you elevator pitch ready comes in. All of the elements and components listed are key to having a successful business plan that someone will want to hear and invest in!

Reference not included in links above:

Kawasaki, G. (2007). How to write a business plan: Ten questions with Tim Berry. Retrieved from http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/07/how-to-write-a-.html

Beyonce and Jay Z: The right way to capitalize off of bad press!

By now, everyone should know or have at least heard about the video that was leaked regarding Beyonce and Jay Z and Beyonce's sister, Solange. If not, where have you been? For those of you that have not heard about it, let me catch you up to speed! On May 12, 2014, TMZ released the following video which shows an upset Solange fighting and kicking Jay Z, while Beyonce stands to the side and keeps her composure as Bey does best! So here's the video:

Now that you're up to speed, what happened next? Well, neither party decided to post anything regarding the fight. However, Solange was said to have deleted picture of her and her beloved sister from her Instagram page (this was not true). Beyonce and Jay remained professional and continued their lives as if nothing happened. They were spotted at a game together after the video was leaked. Everything seemed fine in the Carter household.

So, how did Beyonce and Jay Z capitalize off of the bad press? They faced it head on and with grace and poise if I might add! They released a statement that basically said what we all say when we go through something within our family. LA Times quotes them as saying: "At the end of the day families have problems and we're no different. We love each other and above all we are family. We've put this behind us and hope everyone else will do the same." Sonic Light Bulb mentions the old proverb of "all press is good press" when describing how celebrities capitalize off of good and bad press. Of course the video of Solange attacking Jay Z was bad press (although the media and fans ate it up) it was still a chance for the couple to show that they are just as normal as everyone else. Although they may have more money, their family has trials and tribulations just like yours and mine. Guy Bergstom writer of 4 Ways to Respond to Bad Press mentions the importance of not covering up a story when it is bad but true. During these types of situations, one should talk about it and be honest with the information. Just speak on it and acknowledge it. This is exactly what Beyonce and Jay Z did. 

Not too long after the release of the fight video, Beyonce posts the promo video for their upcoming On the Run Tour. Talk about great marketing and perfect timing. What a better way to capitalize off of everyone searching for new news about Beyonce and Jay Z than to post a promo video of their upcoming tour! The trailer is set up like a real movie trailer which draws the fans in even more. I'm not a huge Bey or Jay fan but I must say, this trailer was right on time and was produced well! Check it out for yourself:

Beyonce and Jay Z have a powerhouse for a marketing and public relations team. They always keep their cool and capitalize off of every opportunity that they can. This is great for up and coming artists to look at and follow. You never know what may happen during your journey to stardom. It won't always be good and I can guarantee that you will have some WTH moments. What matters most, is how you handle it.

Digital Marketing: What you need to know!

As an up and coming artist, getting your music out to the masses is your number one goal. Besides, how can anyone know who you are if they have never heard your music.  Digital marketing is becoming the new way to market compared to the old way of using a street team and hand delivering music by selling CD’s out of the back of your trunk. So in a world where everything is going digital, what do you do to grab the attention of your potential fans?

Erik Koral author of How to manage an effective street team in the new digital decade speaks about the importance of still having a street team. He calls it an online street team. Not only are Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, important they are also supportive in the “going green” movement.  What better way to get your music out to your potential fans than to broadcast it over these sites? Take Beyoncé for example; she used one video on Instagram to promote her self-titled album. Her fans did the rest of the work and all of her digital marketing for her!

Beyoncé’s fans are her street team. She uses the “Bey Hive” to help push her music. Beyoncé also uses the points that Erik lists in his article. She utilizes social media to help her make huge announcements. She sends out missions to her hive and rewards them with early release tickets, special invites, free downloads, and so much more. She allows them to participate in contests that not only benefit them but also the community. In the end, everyone wins and her music is promoted for free!

You can see Bey’s promo here: http://instagram.com/p/h2YFO6Pw1d/ as well as see why she chose to do a visual album here:

So how can one get people to still want to purchase an actual album in a world where everything is going digital? In 7 ways to bring back the physical albumexperience in digital music written by Chris Bracco, he discusses how album artwork, metadata, low costs, and building an experience are ways that help people want to still have that physical experience.  

Album Artwork/Visuals

If we refer back to Beyoncé’s digital release of her album, she used visuals for each song. This gave the fans something to look at while listening to her new music. You work hard on your music, so give the fans something to look at while they listen to it. Design a cover for each song or a slideshow that changes throughout the song. It will keep your fans engaged!

Meta Data

Meta data is also a way to bring the physical to the digital world. I will discuss the use and importance of Meta data in a future post. Meta data is important to your music because it tells the listener the name of the song, who it’s by, and can even give the fans your lyrics right on their iPod. So many artists forget to add this and when someone purchases the music through iTunes, there is no information of who the artist is or what the song is titled. How frustrating can that be?

Low Costs

Having a decent priced album or single can make or break an artist. No one wants to pay $20 for an album that has only 2 really good songs. Price your music based on what’s affordable to your fans and what you are delivering. If your music only has five tracks, you cannot expect your fans to pay $15 for it. Price your music accordingly.

Digital marketing is the quickest way to get your music in the right hands. It still takes hard work and dedication to perfect your masterpiece and to get it out to the masses. If you have the drive and the right team, you can use digital marketing to your advantage and make it just as good, if not better, than the age-old physical marketing.

Can I become self-published with YouTube?

Self-publishing has become the new way for up and coming artist to get their name out to the masses. Many self-publishing and print-on-demand (POD) sites such as TuneCore, CD Baby, and Lulu, allow the artist, writer, etc, to be self-published. What about social networks and media outlets such as YouTube?

YouTube is known for being the first step to getting noticed on the Internet. Artists such as Justin Bieber, Karmin, and Alex Day, were discovered from their views and fans on YouTube. YouTube gives artists an opportunity to use their talents to earn money. You can do this through AdSense or through a publishing opportunity with YouTube. YouTube is the ultimate marketing tool for up and coming artists. Granted you may not get paid for covers of songs; but if you do enough covers and get yourself out there, you will build a big enough fan base that will help push your music when you do original songs. Take Karmin for example. They did one cover of Chris Brown's Look at me now and blew up. The song has well over 89 million views on YouTube. That one song, although they did not get paid for it, took them all the way to 106 and Park and the award shows.

"YouTubers are tastemakers." They know what sells and what causes people to listen and subscribe. Look at all of the beauty and fashion YouTubers that have millions of views. Research some of your favorite people and message them to ask how they started. Or message them and ask if they would like to use some of your songs in their videos. The quickest way to get subscribers is to have someone with millions of viewers Tweet or mention you in their videos and post a link directly to your music. It never hurts to ask questions that may help you become self-published. Utilize your resources and your surroundings. Having the resources to become self-published right at your fingertips is an absolute up side to an industry that is so hard to break into.

Is music your passion or your side time hustle?

I have had the pleasure to meet with numerous up and coming artists that say that music is their passion.   Yet, they have all of these other jobs and dreams that seem to get in the way. Sometimes these side hustles are excuses because they aren't getting to where they want to be in the time that they want to get there. I always ask what their ultimate goal is when dealing with music. Many just want to be heard around the world, others want a Grammy, and most want the fame and fortune. My question to them is, is it your passion though and are you putting in the work to get what you want. This goes to the old saying of "do what you love and you will never work a day in your life."

The secret to your success is having passion. Having a passion for something means that no matter what happens, you still believe that your dream is possible. No one and nothing can stop you from reaching your goal. "Passion mandates that you get back up and keep moving." You have to have the passion to do what you do in order to make it as an artist. Many artists want the easiest way to the top. So they hire a manager, PR, marketing, assistant, etc., way before they need them. They don't want to do the work themselves. What most up and coming artists need to realize is that you don't need a manager if you have nothing to manage.

Let your passion drive you. It will cause you to do the work that is needed no matter the cost. Your passion should be so strong that you want to learn each persons job. This will help you in the long run when it is time to hire that manager or PR person. You will know what to look for and what should be brought to the table. Passion will allow you to get out what you put in. If you put in the hard work, time, and dedication, your career will prosper. There is no easy way to do anything. There is a right way and a wrong way. Choose to follow your passion and not just what makes you money in your spare time.