Doing it for Money.

DOING IT FOR MONEY

by Bob Fraser

Let's start with an underlying truth behind all the info and advice I'll be passing along to

you in these weekly newsletters:

People who depend on talent, training, looks, age, or their 'connections' - have a smaller

chance of achieving a dream of success in show business than those who depend on

making a living doing what they love.

In fact, it is a misplaced emphasis on the 'craft' elements that causes most people to fail

and eventually quit trying.

The people who succeed are those who determine early on that what they are engaged

in is a ... BUSINESS.

One of my hobbies, during my active career, was watching the results of other show

biz folks. I kept journals for about 5 years, then I noticed that I didn't need to keep a

journal because it was becoming redundant. The fact is, that all the successful people

I met over 50 years, (and when I say ALL, I mean 100%) were capitalists.

I don't mean 'capitalist' in a political way - I'm talking about a kind of store-keeper

capitalism. All the successful people I've known in the show business are successful

because they are good business people ... good 'store-keepers.'

The other side of the coin is the unsuccessful actor, writer, director, producer, etc.

Believe me, most of them are not untalented, or untrained, or unconnected. Generally,

their real problem is that they are just lackadaisical business people.

The biggest mistake I see is the total time and energy those poor unsuccessful folks put

into the business side of their careers.

This amount of time can be called: NOT ENOUGH.

IMPROVE YOUR PRODUCT

If we are not working at our career to keep things running smoothly on a daily basis, if

we ever sit back and wait for things to happen, stop marketing and promoting, or quit

trying new ideas to get people into our store (to buy our product) well, every business

around us will say a big 'thank you' - and grab our customers.

If we don't devote enough time to our business, if we don't plan what we're doing, if we

don't put in a lot of thought and energy, if we don't have vision, if we're not excited by it

all, then the sad truth is that we're just not going to get very far. We are going to be

crawling along, while all around us, hard working capitalists will be charging past us to

the red carpet.

What can you do to become a better business person?

A good start is to understand the difference between being in business and just having the

store open.

The number one way to improve your business is to improve your product. The best

product is not always what the customer buys - but it's always the product the customer

wants. Your odds improve as your product gets better.

ADVERTISE

You will undoubtedly notice that I include a lot of ads in everything I do - website,

newsletter, giveaway items, etc. ... and I do that for a very important reason: I want to

be successful.

To be successful in business (any business) you must be willing to 'market' your product

or services.

A lot of folks don't like to do this part. The focus on the art and ignore the advertising

and marketing. That's why a lot of folks are not very successful. Be warned, if you want

to be in business, you must advertise.

If one kind of advertising isn't working - try something else. (Get new headshots until

you get one that works.)

You also must engage in 'selling.' If you don't like selling, then you are unfit to run a

business. Every business is all about selling. (Even acting, writing and directing - and,

in fact, the underlying idea of putting on a show is to convince the audience to 'buy' it.)

Which is why you shouldn't worry about hiring a salesman (an agent) until you've done

a lot of advertising and selling, yourself.

That's because you want a good salesman - and a good salesman knows better than to

try to sell an untested and unproven product.

An agent cannot afford to sell one of his customers (studios and producers) a sub-par

product. Keep in mind that your salesman will probably represent a lot of different

"lines" and she will give more attention to the ones who work hard at their business.

Always show the product (you) in the best possible way.

The key to good business is to accentuate the benefits of the product and work hard to

eliminate any reasons for the customer not to buy. This requires a lot of thought.

After all, your product is a human being and we all have flaws - which sometimes (after

some thought) - turn out to be benefits.

WORKING HARD AND SMART

That's what capitalism is: Taking your product out into the marketplace, defining your

customer base, doing good product testing and research, hiring good salespeople,

advertising well, and keeping the store open late.

Watch the capitalists around you. You know, the folks who run their own dry cleaning

store, sandwich shop, or quick print center. If they are successful, study them carefully

and find out how they run their businesses.

Believe me, you will discover that most of them ... WORK VERY HARD.

Is it worth working very hard?

Well, their dream is probably just financial success. Our dream, on the other hand, is

fame, fortune, respect and a bit of immortality. AND financial success.

Don't kid yourself, it's a capitalist's dream ... with a twist and a cherry on top.

The question is: how hard are you really willing to work to achieve your dream?

Keep in mind that the number one benefit of capitalism is the money - and money

equals freedom.

Freedom. I think that's a dream we can all get behind.

"Reprinted from The Show Biz How-To Newsletter. Get your own
free subscription here: http://www.showbizhowto.com
Copyright © 2010 Bob Fraser Productions All Rights Reserved"

Celebrities With Big Dreams That Paid Off

When you set out to find a career, it seems there are two warring camps you have to decide between: doing something you love or doing something that pays well. The dream, of course, is to find something that fulfills both goals, and it is possible. Here are five big names that made it by following their hearts, and ended up filling their wallets.

1. Jillian Michaels

The ferocious trainer from NBC's The Biggest Loser went from (in her words) fat kid to fit kid. She revealed at an eDiets.com conference that she left high school at age 17 to start training others. At age 24, she decided she needed a "real job" and went to work as a motion picture packaging agent, a job she says made her wake up every morning and "wish for death." At 27, she went back to training and considers her job now what gives her life meaning. Since leaving her "real job", Jillian has created a fitness empire under the company name Empowered Media.

2. Stephenie Meyer

Now a household name for her authorial debut, Stephenie Meyer was a stay-at-home mother of three until a dream on June 2, 2003 changed her life forever. Over the course of three months, that dream became her first novel, "Twilight", which debuted at #5 on The New York Times bestseller list. Since then, the first book alone has sold over 47 million copies worldwide and the subsequent novels in the series fared even better, with "New Moon" hitting #1 on the Times' list and "Breaking Dawn" reaching 69 million copies sold.

3. Matt Stone

Trey Parker and Matt Stone are best known as co-creators of the Comedy Central show South Park. Matt Stone graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder as the first student to hold the double major of film and mathematics. Their passion for film, music and entertainment led them to create the Comedy Central's highest-rated and longest-running program.

4. Mark Zuckerberg

The founder of social networking site Facebook.com, Mark Zuckerberg began the site when he was a student at Harvard with the help of fellow students and roommates. In 2004, after dropping out of college, he went to Palo Alto with nothing but his fledgling site to his name. With the help of $12.7 million in venture capital, Facebook became the number one social networking site in terms of monthly visits with over 1.19 billion hits in January 2009 according to compete.com.

Now take what you've learned, and start working on your Acting, Directing, Writing, or Producing Business. As an Artist, it's important to keep in mind that you are the Product that you are selling to the Buyers in Hollywood. Let go of the 'starving Artist' Mindset, and embrace the Entrepreneur/Artist Mindset.

The Internet has shifted power back to the Artist's who take responsibility for their own careers, for marketing and promoting themselves and their product.

See you at the top,

Mike.