How to Resurrect Your Music Career and Come Back Better Than Before!

Whassup Peeps?

There are a lot of people in the music business. Some music artists become wildly successful and have a career that supports them all their lives. Others are barely even noticed and they never make a dime.

Then there are some in the middle who become successful to a degree and all of a sudden, they seem to vanish into thin air. You don’t hear from them in years and all of a sudden, BOOM! They come back on the scene and shoot straight to the top again.

Is there a technique for doing this or is it just a random occurrence of luck…or both?

One thing these types of comeback artist have that allows them to comeback is previous success or track record. It’s easier to build on your successes that people remember such a having one or more hit songs. Having a hit song that is familiar to your audience makes it easier to connect with them.

Some good examples of artists who made a great comeback are El Debarge, Twista, and Maxwell.

All three of them were very successful at the very beginning of their careers then they faded away and people always wondered what happened to them. We enjoyed their legendary music even when they were not actively releasing new music.

Some, like El Debarge, were extremely successful in the 80’s. Then, there was nothing. He resurfaced a couple of years ago on an awards show singing one of his hits. He was well received and as of this writing has a radio hit song, “Lay With You”, with another artist called Faith (who had also been out of the spotlight for a while). This song is bangin’.

In the Hip Hop world, one of the greatest comebacks in my opinion was Twista. Twista is a Guinness World Record holder for fastest rapper. He had several hits early in his career and then for a while he was not putting out hits. Then all of a sudden, he teams up with Kanye West and Jamie Foxx for “Slow Jamz” and creates an ultra hit record. It was almost like he never missed a step.

Even a Grammy Award Winning artist like Maxwell had an insanely successful comeback. After his first few albums he was rarely heard from for a few years. People were wishing he would come out with more music. Out of nowhere he comes out with a wildly successful album, “BLACKsummers’ night”, that earns him another Grammy!

One thing that makes all of these artists successful is their passion for the music. When they comeback, they put out great music. I think their love for music is what drives them to be successful again. They already have a good core fan base that would support them anyway but they make the music so good that they end up with lots of new fans as well.

In addition to making good music, they have a good music business team around them. This is not to be forgotten. At the end of the day the music business is still a business and its better to take a shot on a proven winner than to create something entirely from scratch.

That is not to say something brand new will not work for surely that is not the case. But an artist that has a great following can come back over and over again and you can take that to the bank.

The Rap Beat Creator Podcast Episode 12

Whassup Peeps?

I know its been a while since I hit you with a new podcast. I finally put one together for you. Here is the link to Episode 12 of The Rap Beat Creator Podcast.

http://www.rapbeatcreator.com/rbcpodcast12.mp3

Feel free to download it to your cell phones, mp3 players, computers, or burn it on a CD! I'm always interested in your feedback.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

International Music Marketing: How Hip Hop Artists Can Leap Ahead Of The Competition By Promoting Rap Music Overseas

I was inspired to write this article after a message I received in my inbox from my friend and fellow Hip Hop music artist John Robinson (also known as Lil Sci). He sent me a video of him being interviewed by South African reporter. In the interview he mention he gets more support and love from overseas markets than he does at home in the United States. He was not saying the States do not show him any love but what he was saying is the people overseas embrace his music more. At the time of this writing, he was in South Africa performing live shows and promoting his music.

In my own experience, most of my rap group Prophetix support came from outside of the United States. One of our songs was number one on a radio station in Tokyo, Japan for several weeks. We had other songs that received airplay and sales in Europe and Canada. About half of our fans came from overseas.

If you want to stay local and be a hometown favorite that is fine. However you must have a global outlook if you want to have success in the international markets. People overseas do listen to the commercial artists on the radio but you would be surprised by the amount of people who listen to underground Hip Hop.

The 3 main places to market Hip Hop music are Europe, Asia, and Africa.

I like Europe and especially England for on obvious reason: they speak English! This makes communication a lot easier when we both speak the same language. Actually fans all over the world speak English. Its really the music and the culture itself that do the communicating. Your job as a marketer is to find those people who like what you have to offer and give it to them

How do you do find these fans? We are in the Information Age so there are no excuses to why we can not have access to information. The Internet has leveled the playing field between the independent artists and major label artists. The friend I spoke about in the beginning of the article is independent and he has been that way since I have known him.

What is the difference between him and most other independent artist? He has done his market research and he understands he needs to cultivate the international relationships he has built over time. They are the relationships which keep him traveling overseas several times per year.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist

For more music business tips check out www.RapBeatCreator.com!

The Pros and Cons of Being a Music Recording Artist Versus a Music Producer

How many people have gotten in to the music business game as an emcee (or rapper) and had their hopes crushed because they were “not what the industry was looking for at that moment”? The truth is, not everyone can be a successful emcee. Emceeing requires a certain skills set that most people are not willing to work at to be successful. What about being a music producer?

Music producers are the backbone of the music business. Without a producer, there is no music. Simple enough right? Many people want to live in the limelight like their favorite emcee or rock artist but there can only be so many at the top. With music production, the chances of success are much greater and the pay is greater as well.

As a producer you do not have to just work with one artist. You can have your music in front of many different artists, songwriters, publishers, movie directors, television programmers, etc. In the traditional scheme of the music business, the music producer usually gets paid upfront and if the deal is negotiated correctly, the producer is also paid royalties in the future. A recording artist is typically paid last after everyone else has been paid.

I never really liked this concept as an artist but that is the way the traditional music business game is played. Being a recording artist requires a large degree of patience and then when you do finally get paid, it is usually not what you are expecting.

A music producer can make money in other ways such as writing a jingle for radio or scoring a soundtrack. A well established producer can collect upwards of $200,000 in upfront fees for a song before the song is even released to the public. The song may not even make half as much money as the producer was paid so who really wins: the recording artist or the music producer?

Here is some homework for you to do:

Take a look at the Billboard Rap Singles Chart on any given week. Then go research which producer actually produced each song. While the recording artist and/or the producer may or may not be new, if the producer was smart, he got paid upfront for the use of the music and will continue to get paid as long as he negotiated the terms in his favor.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com
www.Beats4ADub.com
www.MusicMarketingPromotions.com

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The Top 10 Excuses for NOT Achieving Music Business Success

Over the years, I’ve heard many excuses from aspiring artists on why they are not successful in the music business. I’ve compiled a list of the “Top 10 Excuses for NOT Achieving Music Business Success”. The difference in winners and losers is winners take action and losers make excuses for not taking action.

Here is my list of excuses:

1. I’m too young
2. I’m too old
3. I don’t have enough money
4. I don’t have enough contacts
5. I don’t know what to do
6. I just don’t have the look
7. Other people are holding me back
8. I don’t live in the right city
9. I have too many other obligations (kids, marriage, job, etc.)
10. I’m not getting enough exposure

Let me attack these excuses one by one.

1. I’m too young

There have been many young people who have made it in the music business. In fact most people get started when they are young. Currently, there are young people who top the music charts like Justin Bieber. Michael Jackson started when he was 5 years old. Destiny’s Child found success when they were teenagers and look at there members now. Who hasn’t heard of Beyonce? If you are young, I say you probably have a better shot at being successful than someone in their 70’s. We’ll also dispel the “old age” excuse in #2.

2. I’m too old

I remember one of my friends stating to me that if he was not successful by the age of 30 in the music business, then he would quit altogether. Well, the music business is very strange and instead of focusing on making great music and being a great entertainer, my friend focused on his age. Al Jarreau was well past 30 when he became successful. Most recently Susan Boyle has become an international success, not because of her age and her looks but because she has talent.

3. I do not have enough money

I’m sure glad I got over this excuse early. If you do not have any money then you should find someone to invest in your music career or learn how to advance your career without using too much money. There are all kinds of guerilla marketing techniques that aspiring artists can use to further their careers. Go to the library and get a book on guerilla marketing and you see what I mean. Better yet, Google it!

4. I do not have enough contacts

Once again let’s shoot this excuse down for good. We are in the information age. There are networking sites like MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and many others online that will allow you to make all the contacts you need. In the offline world, you can go to music industry conventions to learn about the music business and build lasting relationships. I can’t even remember all the contacts I’ve build over the years but I will never say I don’t have enough contacts.

5. I don’t know what to do

This is another tired excuse. There are plenty of books in the public library on everything from how to make a demo to how to book your own shows and make money. If you really don’t know what to do, find a mentor and follow their path. Even if you don’t personally know them, success leaves clues. Figure out what they did and duplicate it.

6. I just don’t have the look

Of course there are plenty of gorgeous artists in the entertainment industry but if you don’t think you have “the look”, then you probably need to quit anyway. I’m serious. There have been some really blockbuster successes that were not “lookers”. Besides, beauty is in the eye of the beholder which means different people are attracted to different things. This is more of a self–esteem issue and you should probably work on boosting your self-esteem first if you plan on being in the music business. Sometimes people can be mean and if you have thin skin or are easily offended, this business is NOT for you.

7. Other people are holding me back

Really? Unless you are incarcerated or someone is holding you against your will, no one can really keep you from achieving your music goals. You need to look at the “man in the mirror” and figure out what you need to do to get going with your plan.

You do have a plan don’t you?

There can be negative people in your life but if that is the case then if you are an adult, you can remove yourself from their negativity. So many artists hear the words, “I don’t think you can make it in the music industry.” If someone is telling you that, you need to get as far away from them as possible because you’ll begin to doubt yourself and your talent.

8. I don’t live in the right city

Thirty years ago this might have been true but once again the Internet shoots this excuse right in the heart. There used to be a time where you had to live in New York City, Los Angeles, or Nashville to make it in the music business. The Internet has leveled the playing field so that no matter where you live, you can make money and get discovered if that is you goal.

9. I have too many other obligations (kids, marriage, job, etc.)

I actually struggled with this one for a while. I put my music dreams on hold to take care of my family and that was a very noble and responsible thing to do. However, I never stopped writing and moving forward with my goals. I learned how to make beats and I learned how to market myself on the Internet as I’ve said to you so many times before in this article.I did not make excuses for what I was doing. I just need to find a different way of achieving my goals and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this approach. Even if you have to spend 30 minutes a day doing something toward making you music dreams come true, that’s better than doing nothing at all.

10. I’m not getting enough exposure

I can lump this excuse in with some of the others above but here is a different viewpoint on exposure. Internet, Internet, Internet! All you need are some basic pieces of equipment and you’re on your way to getting massive exposure. You first need to take a course in guerilla marketing so you can learn how to market yourself with little to no money.

I would also suggest getting a digital camera and/or a camera that records video. You can post pictures and videos all over the Internet for your fans to see. Need to do a live show? Have someone record you performing live and post it on the Internet on sites like YouTube. Posting on a site is not enough though. You need to learn how to bring traffic to your postings and that is why I recommend learning Internet marketing.

People are making a killing on the Internet and it doesn’t take millions of people or millions of sales to make you successful.

I’m sure there are more excuses than I’ve listed here but I do believe these are the ones I’ve heard the most. If you are using any of these excuses above, I suggest you take a good look at yourself and actually figure out if this business is for you.

In closing, I would like to leave you with a quote. I’m not sure who the author is but when you start making excuses, always remember this:

Excuses are the tools of incompetence. Those who use them build monuments of nothingness that shall not amount to anything. Therefore, there are no excuses.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com
www.Beats4ADub.com
www.MusicMarketingPromotions.com

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3 Ways to Stay Focused on Your Music Business Goals

Are you an aspiring musician who feels like you have what it takes to be successful in today's music business? Do you seem to get sidetracked by life little interruptions? If this sounds familiar then you may have a lack of focus and without a "laser beam" focus, its doubtful you will be successful in the music business or any business for that matter.

Some independent artists tend to want to handle all of the details of starting their business themselves. While this is admirable, its not very smart as a long term business strategy.

Here are 3 ways aspiring music artists can stay focused on their goals.

1. Write Your Goals Down

The most successful people in the world have written goals. Written goals take your dreams a big step closer to reality. Getting S.M.A.R.T. goals written down on paper can help you create a laser beam focus to become successful in your music career. S.M.A.R.T. goals are (S)pecific, (M)easureable, (A)ction-oriented, (R)ealistic, and (T)imely.

Write your goals down exactly as you desire them to happen and set a realistic deadline for making it happen. This will put you ahead of the majority of other artists because most artists do not understand the music business is a business first.

Review your goals daily if possible and work toward making them reality everyday. With written goals, you know where your want to go and what it looks like when you get there. Most of the time the end result is better than what you expected.

2. Do Something Everyday

Writing your goals down is only the first step to realizing your music business dreams. Once you write them down, you must follow up with action. Do something everyday toward reaching the goals you have set. If your goal is to complete 3 songs this week, then you should do what is necessary to get those songs written. Grab your pen and paper, word processor or whatever and get moving toward the goal you have set.

Nothing replaces action and the more you act on making your goals a reality the more successful your career will be.

3. Find a Mentor

There are plenty of examples of successful music artists who have experienced the joy of handling their business correctly and reaping the benefits of good business sense. There are more examples however of what not to do as well. A good mentor can help you figure your way around potential pitfalls that are surely to occur as your career grows.

You do not have to know an artist personally to learn from them as a mentor. Success leaves clues so why not study successful artists? Having a mentor is like having a guide through the mountains and valleys of the music business. Using their experience and knowledge can help put your career on fast forward.

Using these 3 methods will help you move toward your music business goals faster than you ever expected. Sure there are other methods but you will find the most successful artists practice these 3 ways in some form or fashion.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com
www.Beats4ADub.com
www.MusicMarketingPromotions.com

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The New Music Industry: The Online Revolution

Technology has leveled the music industry playing field. It used to be that artist had to make a demo, submit it to many record labels, and hope and pray they were at least called.

The next best thing to getting a record deal was starting your own label but doing so was expensive & risky. There was no guarantee of success and all the rules still applied for a traditional business: most of them fail within the first 5 years. Let’s not even talk about “Industry Rule #4080” and the shadiness that exist with some of the people in the industry.

There are countless stories of artist who have gotten jerked in the music business. From poor money management to getting robbed of publishing rights, it’s all happened.

In comes the Internet to change the music game forever.

Most music websites in the beginning of the Internet were static webpages. You had sites that allowed you to put up a picture and some words. Then came websites with sound bites and finally the ability to upload songs. Later the ability to upload videos was developed and the game changed.

With services like Paypal, artist could sell songs and beats directly online. With sites like YouTube, artists could post videos of themselves online to widen their fan base. The Internet kept expanding and sites like MySpace were created to help music artists get massive exposure. MySpace and other social networking sites allowed artists to get worldwide exposure and seek out people that would be interested in their music.

It was like putting your marketing on steroids! Regular Average Joe’s started popping up on the Internet and getting major deals because the big labels started coming to the Internet for the next big thing. These artists basically had a built-in fan base and this made them easy to market and promote because essentially they had already done the initial legwork.

Some artists even got smart and decided to diversify and figure out other ways of making money online. In addition to selling songs online, some artists began to sell music information products, sell website advertising space, affiliate marketing, and offer web design services.

Let’s look closely at these other ways of making money off the music industry online.

Selling music information products online include things like ebooks and video courses. There are courses on everything from songwriting to how to market your beats online. Information products are cheap to produce and they can be sold over and over very inexpensively.

Many artists have written about what they have done to be successful in the music business. There is no shortage of people trying to get into the music business and people will gladly pay money to learn how to the get ahead of the game faster.

Another way of making money offline in the music industry is create a website or blog and sell advertising space. If you have a high traffic website you can place ads throughout your website that are targeted to your fans. There are companies that will pay you to bring traffic to their sites by clicking on special links that you have place on your site. The more people you send to their sites, the better for you.

A different and popular way of making money online is affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing is when you sell other people’s products and services. You do not create the products or services but you get paid a percentage of every sale that comes from your special affiliate ID. There are plenty of music affiliate programs all over the Internet. Most of them are free to join.

You should do you homework when picking out products to sell. There are different programs and rules for each merchant. Read up on any merchant that you like and find out as much as you can about their company and product.

Last but not least, some artists not only sell music on and offline, they also sell other services like web design. Most businesses online hire web design professionals to carry out the company’s vision for the future. A good freelance web designer can make a living building quality websites.

The online revolution has definitely changed the music industry. An artist who once would not have had a chance to get exposure in the music business can not only get that exposure online. They can also generate money online as well to help them advance their career and allow them to do what they love more easily.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist

www.RapBeatCreator.com

www.Beats4ADub.com

www.MusicMarketingPromotions.com

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Systemize Your Music Business

We’re in the second month of 2010. Yes, I said it: the second month!

How are you coming with your New Year’s Resolutions? Even better than Resolutions…how about your GOALS?

I set some goals for 2010 and it’s been a crazy month so far. What I’ve learned and working to apply in my business is systems. Systemizing your business helps you put it on autopilot. Successful businesses are run by systems and those systems are run by people.

What is autopilot? It simply means your business runs without you, the owner, being there. Just let that sink in for a minute.

A true business is one where the owner doesn’t have to be there for it to operate. In fact, in some cases, the business will run better if the owner wasn’t there.

This is done by systemizing your business.

How do we apply this to the music industry?

Let’s say you are an artist who wants to start a label. You really don’t want to be a day-in, day-out businessman, you just want to write, record, and perform music.

You need a team of people around you to help you realize that vision. You need a personal manager, a business manager, and an entertainment attorney. You will also need a booking agent when booking shows gets to be too much for your personal manager.

These people help manage you as an artist. Now as far as your label is concerned, you are going to need to systemize recording your music as well as mixing and mastering it. Once you have that completed you need to find a good distributor.

In the meantime, while all this is going on, you still have to have a marketing division so that fans will know who you are.

The most successful artists have done this WELL! Look at artists like Jay Z & Ludacris who own labels but are still artist. They have their companies on autopilot. Another example would be the Rolling Stones. They have been in the game for years.

Even though they don’t own their record label, they still have their careers on autopilot. They only have to focus on recording and performing music. People are hired to run systems that do the other parts of the business.

Wouldn’t you like for your career to be like this too?

So how to we systemize?

Make a list of all the tasks it takes to operate your business. You really have to break your business down. In the food industry, McDonald’s is the perfect business model.

Actually, McDonald’s is the perfect business model for any industry.

The owner of a Mickey D’s franchise doesn’t have to work the register, cook the fries, flip the burgers, and work the drive-thru window. McDonald’s has its systems in place. When you buy a McDonald’s franchise, everything is already set up for you and anybody can operate it.

You should think of your business the same way. A good business system can be duplicated, packaged up, and sold.

It’s good to have an exit strategy as well for your business. At what point would you sell your business?

Jay Z and his partners built Roc-A-Fella Records from the ground up and sold it. Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons did the same thing with Def Jam Recordings. These businesses were valuable because they were systemized.

Truly systemizing your business is the way to be financially free in the future because it frees up you time to do the things you really want to do.

There is a business saying that holds true and stands the test of time:

“Work on your business and not in it”.

This means delegate the mundane, time consuming tasks that need to happen but suck up all your time. You should be using your time to be creative and grow your business.

Start by brainstorming everything you want to do this week.

Pick the top three tasks so you won’t get overwhelming trying to systemize your whole business at one time.

Take those tasks and break them down step by step. From this list, you create a procedure manual anybody from off the street can pick up and implement to run that particular system in your business.

That’s how you know when your business is truly systemized.

Let’s Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist

www.RapBeatCreator.com

www.Beats4ADub.com

www.MusicMarketingPromotions.com

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What Is Your "Why" For Making Beats?

Check out the latest Rap Beat Creator Podcast, "What Is Your "Why" For Making Beats?"

Click here to listen now or copy and past the link below in your browser:

http://free-hot-rap.com/rbcp_ep8.mp3

As always let me know what you think...

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.Free-Hot-Rap.com
www.RapBeatCreator.com

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The Rap Beat Creator Podcast Episode 8

I know you've been waiting for this. It's been hectic but I finally put together another Rap Beat Creator Podcast. Episode 8 is called "What is Your "Why" for Making Beats?" Its from an article I wrote a couple of weeks ago.

Click on the link below to hear the mp3 file. It will play instantly on your media player and you can even download it.

"What is Your "Why" for Making Beats?"

If the link won't play, you can copy and past the link below into your web browser and it should begin to play.

http://www.free-hot-rap.com/rbcp_ep8.mp3

Let me know what you think but most of all, use it!!!

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com
www.Free-Hot-Rap.com

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What Is Your "Why" For Making Beats?

I've been working on this blog post in my mind for several days now. I learned this question from a top producing real estate broker several years ago. I was at a seminar and he was the main speaker. One of the things he said that really stuck out then and it still rings in my head today is: What is your "Why" for doing what you're doing?

What he meant by your "Why" was what is your core motivation for doing what you want to do. What are you primary reasons?

That really struck a lasting note for me and every so often I ask my self that question.

What is my "Why" for being in the music business?
What is my "Why" for making beats?

My "Why's" may be different from your "Why's" but its crucial to identify what your "Why's" are.

Some of my "Why's" for being in the music business include being passionate about my art and being in control of my own destiny. I am big fan of being self-employed or operating a true business where you don't even have to be present for it to operate.

Another "Why" would be because I like to travel and the music business gives me the ability to do just that. Its great to get paid to perform in a place you've never been to but have always wanted to go. I've been from Vermont to California because of my involvement in the music business.

Some of my "Why's" for making beats include being able to record lyrics whenever I want and with the sounds I want. I want the music to sound as close to what's in my head as possible. Another "Why" is the ability to create another stream of income. The music producer gets credit for writing songs as well.

So there you have it. Think about his question and memorize it. Use it as a gauge to constantly measure how you feel about making music. Once you know your "Why", its like you'll always have an internal compass to guide you on your path to success.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.TheRapBeatCreator.com
www.Free-Hot-Rap.com

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How I earn money with my music web site

If you've been following my blog or have been on my email list for a while, you know I've been building The Rap Beat Creator website since 2007. I've had some ups and downs but I still make money everyday. I'm not saying I earn millions or even thousands of dollars but I know I'm on the way. What I have learned, through lots of trial and error, is that there is a better, simpler way.

I've been online since 1995. I started with a simple America Online dial-up account. All I knew how to do was send email and surf the web. I knew the web would be big and I knew that someone was making money but I didn't know how.

I read about affiliate programs back in 2001-2002 but I wasn't focused at making it work. I even had the free Affiliate Masters course that Internet marketing guru Ken Evoy offered but I wasn't ready for the work commitment it called for.

By the end of 2002, my group Prophetix, had a professionally built website and the webmaster added a blog to our homepage (http://www.prophetix.net/). This was great because I could connect with our fans and back in 2002, almost no one had a music blog at that time.

But I still wanted my own personal music related website where I could become financially independent.

In early 2007, I bought a course on Internet marketing from one of the leading Internet gurus Derek Gehl and I got lots of valuable information from that course. The thing I didn't like was designing the website myself. I could have paid someone else to do it but I didn't have the money to pay anybody. I took too long for me to built and I'm more of a marketer than a designer. I made a few sales but I really didn't have a good blueprint to make money consistently.

But I still kept on going with the website and I ended up learning more about affiliate marketing. I revamped my whole business model and web site to recommend affiliate products. I bought another course from affiliate marketing guru, Rosalind Gardner, and I learned a little bit more and...

...I made a few more sales.

Then one day while I was reading Rosalind Gardner’s book, I saw a reference to the Affiliate Masters course that I talked about earlier by Ken Evoy. I decided to read it again...this time all the way through. Finally, I realized I had found it. This was the blueprint I needed! And the best part about it...

It was still absolutely FREE!

All these years had passed and I had a great step-by-step roadmap at the palm of my hands that could have made me financially independent long time ago.

No use crying over spilled milk now, right?

I had previously read another on of Ken's free e-books called "Make Your Content PREsell". I knew he had been around the Net for a while and he had some good quality material.

I began to change up my site using his materials and I began noticing my revenue going up! What really got me hooked on using some of his strategies were some of the case studies that he offered on his site.

He calls his customers, his "fans" and here's why:

Honest to God, no kidding, one of his "fans" created a web site about the healthy benefits of juicing. Yep you heard it right. Juicing. Literally squeezing juice out of oranges, apples, and other kinds of fruits to drink. Its healthy and its what she likes to do. And she's making enough money online to quit her full-time job, but she likes her job so she doesn't want to quit.

But that's her choice. She has achieved financial freedom.

Another man built a site with his sister about organizing kids birthday parties and within the first 2 months, he was making over $2,000 a month. By the next year he was financially independent. I'm serious as a heart attack. Check out the case studies for yourself.

Checking out these case studies made me rethink my strategies and revamp my site even more. I had set a goal this month to increase my revenues by 20% and using Ken's strategies I did it!

How cool is that?

If I had to start over again, I would have used Ken's flagship product, Site Build It (or SBI! for short) to build my business. When you are building an online business from the ground up, there are so many things you have to learn, its ridiculous.

You have to learn about web hosting, securing a domain name submitting your web site to search engines, etc. SBI! does all this for you and if you follow the steps and stay focused I believe you can duplicate the results of his best students.

Starting a business is risky and many businesses fail within the first 5 years. SBI! teaches you how to build and operate a business and how to minimize the risk for success.

Even if you don't purchase SBI!, he still teaches you how to build a successful affiliate business and he gives you his flag ship products to sell. This dude is serious. I signed up as an affiliate again this time because I saw how SBI! was changing lives and its growing my business already.

Another young lady I follow named Lisa Irby is a successful SBI student as well. What's crazy is I discovered her on YouTube. She was doing a video on Internet Marketing and I began to check out her site. She admitted to being financially independent since 2006. She even made a video about how much money she had made from Google Adsense in July 2009. She made almost $6 grand ($6,000.00 USD) and called it her best month ever from Google.

I knew the game was REALLY serious after I saw that video.

So for anybody who's ever asked me how I earn money with my web site. This is the way. I just follow the steps of the people who did it before me. But if I could do it all over again, I would have stuck with the free Affiliate Masters course Ken Evoy offers and followed it step-by-step.

If you want to learn how to build an online business and become financially independent doing something you love, I highly recommend learning from Ken Evoy and SBI!. Start with his free stuff and learn all you can from him. Its like having a license to print money.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
http://www.rapbeatcreator.com/
http://www.free-hot-rap.com/

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Marketing Your Act With Your Own Music Videos

When it comes to marketing your music, television is the granddaddy of all marketing mediums. Some people, including your target market, watch countless hours of TV every week. Music videos are a great way to market your band. Look at the impact music videos had on Micheal Jackson's (R.I.P.) career. One video, Thriller, literally changed his life and the way music videos were made forever.

But making a music video for television isn't cheap. You may get lucky like my group did and get a TV quality music video for a few hundred bucks but generally that's not the case. How do you record and market a music video to help you get the buzz that you're looking for?

Advancements in technology have made it feasible for an artist to make and market a music video with a digital camera, a computer, some inexpensive software, and the Internet. A few years ago my DJ, Jon Doe produced a video with my partner-in-rhyme Eddie Meeks. He used a digital camera from his job and recorded a music video right in our studio which happened to be in his basement.

Here's the video below. Click the play button to check it out!




With the power of the Internet you can upload your music video on to sites like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, etc. for the world to see. Even though I've had a music video on BET, this was more economical, simpler, and quicker to produce.

Will this make you a millionaire overnight? Probably not but it will get you some exposure on the Internet and it will definitely get you some more fans. You never know whose watching your music video. It may just be the break you're looking for.

Another great way to market you video is to record a live performance. This is also a great way to connect with your fan base as well as showcase your work to music executives.

If you use this music video marketing method correctly, you can set it up as an big event where your have you fan base tune in for the live performance right at the comfort of their computer.

Like I stated in the beginning, television is the granddaddy of marketing. If that's the case, then the Internet must the direct offspring. Putting your music video on the Internet is the next best thing the getting exposure on TV because you get all the same benefits with more reach and less hassle.

If you don't have a music video yet, then you should start planning on making one as soon as possible if you're serious about your music career.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

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Music Downloads: Can Your Fans Find Your Music?

The music business is constantly changing because of the Internet. Let's face it: the World Wide Web isn't going anywhere and more and more people are using it everyday. Music downloads are revolutionizing the music business. An artist who is not taking advantage of the Internet and posting their music on the web for downloading is not going to be ahead of the game.

There are plenty of sites where you can post your music downloads. MySpace.com is one of the biggest social networking sites that specialize in music downloads. Its catered to artists of all genres so if you don't have a MySpace artist page then you're missing out on some really good exposure.

In fact, record labels are looking to MySpace and other social networking sites to sign new artist. For example, 2 big music success stories include Tila Tequilla & Soldier Boy Tell 'Em. Tila Tequilla even had her own reality show. Soldier Boy Tell 'Em was picked up by Atlanta music producer Mr. Colli Park who had previous signed platinum selling acts the Yin Yang Twins. He's had several Billboard #1 hits since he got signed a few years ago. You could be next but if you don't have web exposure, its a good chance you might not get a label nod.

In addition to getting a label to sign your act, you may also build your own fan base online. MySpace keeps track of your music downloads, how many times your music has been played, and how many times your individual page has been viewed.

MySpace isn't the only site that offers music downloads. There are other sites like IMEEM and Soundclick.

Even though you post your music downloads on other sites, you should strive to get your own web domain name and web site. Having your own site willl offer you more flexibility as your market your music online.

Music downloads are the present and future of the music business. It's still good to make demo tapes and press kits because you can put something physical in your prospect's hands. Making your music available online gives you another option for marketing your act.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com


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The Power of Planning In Your Music Career

There is an old saying that goes, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail."

There is also another saying, "There's nothing new under the sun."

Let's put these two sayings together and apply them to the music business. In reference to planning, you REALLY need a plan if you want to succeed in the music business. In reference to the second saying, planning is not something that was just created within the last 10, 20, 50, 0r 100 years. Planning has been around since the beginning of time.

Ancient warriors would plan their attacks on their enemies, way before there were guns & cannons. Planning not only gives you the advantage over your competition but it gives you a compass to help you reach your goals.

If you plan to make beats online or make your own beats, then you will need to do some planning if you haven't started yet.

How do you make a plan? What are the first steps?

The first thing you must do is write down your goals. Make sure you make your music goals S.M.A.R.T. goals. This means your music goals must be Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Timely.

Let's say your goal is to make beats online and post those beats up on MySpace.com for the world to hear. The first thing you would do is WRITE IT DOWN! Once you write your goals down, something magical happens. You take your goal from being a thought to something physical, something tangible.

From there you will set a deadline for reaching your goal. A goal without a deadline is dream.

Once you have a deadline then you need to figure out what steps its going to take to reach your goals within the deadline you've set for yourself. Make sure to give yourself some realistic but challenging expectations. Set a deadline for each step in the process.

This next step is where most people fail because it takes action. Do something everyday toward the completion of your steps to reaching your goals. You must do something. Nothing is going to happen by accident. It could happen but would you really want to bet your life on that?

Putting this in practice would look something like this:

"In 30 days I will make beats online and post my music on MySpace.com.

In order to do this, I need buy an online beat maker like Sonic Producer. Once I make some beats I really think are hot, then I'm going to export them as mp3 files so I can upload them to MySpace.com.

On MySpace.com, I will upload my mp3 songs and post them on my profile page on MySpace. "

This is a very simple plan and anyone can do it. Once you really understand the benefits of planning and setting goals in your music career, you'll wonder why you hadn't planned a long time ago.

Don't hesitate start working on you plan today.

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

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Are You Proactive or Reactive In Your Music Career?

Are you REALLY serious about your music career?

One way to know if you are serious is to determine if you are proactive or reactive. Let me give you the definition and example of each one:

Proactive: controlling a situation by causing something to happen rather than waiting to respond to it after it happens. For example, you have a show coming up in 2 weeks at a local club. A proactive response is to email your fan base (if you've been collecting email addresses like you should be doing) the info about your club date. You know that doing this will help you gain more exposure so you take it upon yourself to do it ...not someone else.

Reactive: reacting to a stimulus. This means that in order for you to take action, something outside of you has to happen first. For example, you are a great emcee but you don't like to rehearse for shows. Your friend has to tell you to rehearse over and over but you always wait until the last minute to do it and your performance never comes off as it should. This is an example of a reactive person.

You've heard proactive people called "movers and shakers" or "hustlers". Reactive people are often called "lames", "busters", "lazy", etc.

There's a saying that goes, there are 2 types of people in the world: those who make things happen and those who wonder what happened. Don't be one of the 2nd types of people.

So as you read this, give a good look at you life and your music career. Are you being proactive or reactive?

Holla back!!!

Vocabulary definitions by WordNet (http://wordnet.princeton.edu/)

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

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Unlimited Potential to Make Your Dreams Come True

I was thinking about something the other day. Its a question you've often heard from many motivational and educational speakers.

I think its worth repeating over and over again.

What is the one thing that you would do if you knew you couldn't fail?

Or put a different way, if you had $1,000,000 ($1 million) dollars and you could do whatever it is you wanted to do, what would you being doing?

The answer to these questions can point you in the direction of what just may be your life's work.

Why am I even bothering to talk about this? And why, right now? We'll I remember going through these questions and even though I'm older (and hopefully wiser) I still ask myself these questions and I still come up with same answers:

I'd be doing music.

Preferably performing with a live band similar to The Roots. And no matter how much I try to "do" something else. I still have this yearning or passion to perform live on stage with my own band. I mean I've performed with a live band several times and those were some of my most high energy performance. To put it simply, I felt great.

No other feeling for me can substitute that feeling of being on stage rockin' out with a band.

Now, am I saying this is what every artist should feel like? Nope.
Am I saying this should be every artist ultimate goal? Nope.
Am I saying this is the only way to be involved in the music business? Nope again!!!

What I am saying is this IS my calling. Even if I'm not performing on stage, I'm always doing something music related. It maybe behind the scenes helping out another artist. It may be making beats, it may be writing this blog, recording a podcast or video, or teaching aspiring artists how to break in the music business.

Whatever it is, you can rest assured, that music is involved some kinda way.

So think about these questions long and hard. Give it your full concentration. Set aside some time just to reflect on the answers to these questions. They may give you just the right insight you need to move forward in your music career or even to a career that you desire more than music. Who knows? You may discover deep down that music ain't for you but you love writing graffiti and drawing. You'll never know until you follow your heart...

Mello Melanin, The Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

P.S. Time waits for no man. Get busy moving in the direction in which you want to see you life unfold.

The Rap Beat Creator Podcast Episode 7

If you missed the videos about Music Publishing & Copyrights, you can always download or stream the live audio of The Rap Beat Creator Podcast Episode 7, right here on The Rap Beat Creator Blog.

Click here to listen now!!!

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
www.RapBeatCreator.com

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Something I Found Out I Can Do With Reason 3.0

Yep it's official! I know I should have figured this out a long time ago but sometimes things don't always work out. What have I figured out how to do?

Sampling!!!

I know you might be saying, "Mello, come on bruh. You're just figuring that out?" Yep, I am.

So since I've added this new powerful tool to my arsenal, it means I have more capability to experiment with different beats and sounds.

Stay tuned folks. I'm about to come with dat heat!!!

Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist

www.RapBeatCreator.com

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Insider's Secrets to Music Publishing & Copyrights

Whassup,

I just recorded my newest podcast dedicated to the late Michael Jackson. I haven't put it in mp3 format yet but if you have access to watch video, then you MUST check this 2 part video out.

I'm not sure if you know this (most artist don't) but the real meat of the music business is music publishing. Michael Jackson knew this and he has many songs credited under his name. He even bought the Beetles catalog which is worth millions!

In these videos I touch on some little known facts on music publishing as well as copyrights.

Let me know what you think. I encourage comments for dialogue.

Here is Part 1:



Here is Part 2:



Let's Make It Happen!!!

Mello Melanin, The Hot Instrumentalist
http://www.rapbeatcreator.com/

P.S. You gotta know I love doin' this right? How many other YouTube videos will you see the host rockin' a wife-beater tank top??? LOL!!! Holla...