Real Serial Entrepreneurs

Most entrepreneurs want to refer themselves to as “serial entrepreneurs”, which seems like they may not really have a clue to the meaning of the word, serial entrepreneurs.

And for a minute, just forget about the hype of the Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, etc.

The real serial entrepreneur is Scott Jones. He is the definition, the epitome, and the true serial entrepreneur. I admire him.

He’s not so well known in the mainstream public views, but he has created some of the world’s best, highly used, but may be underrated companies and services than anyone else.

“Ever heard of voice mail? Well, when Scott was only 25, his company Boston Technology invented the system used by nearly all the telephone companies around the globe.” (ChaCha.com, founder too).

Filed under: Internet, Web 2.0, advertising, blog this, business, news, technology , chacha, internet search, scott jones, serial entrepreneur

How to Produce a Successful Music Concert

There are some people who constantly ask how does one become or organize or plan to produce a concert?

Well, here is what you may do;

You already know most of the artists, you listen to music all the time, so you basically know which most people, your audience like and listen to most; so that’s who you want to focus on booking for your next concert.

The type of the artist you are considering has to be able to fill the venue you have in mind for the concert. I have worked in the past on concerts with artists like Seal, Boyz II Men, Simple Minds, Paul Simon, etc., so I don’t really know how to book an artist, not so huge for a small concert. The type of the artist you are considering has to be able to fill the venue you have in mind for the concert.

I have worked in the past on concerts with artists like Seal, Boyz II Men, Simple Minds, Paul Simon, etc., so I don’t really know how to book an artist, not so huge for a small concert. I am currently in the middle of the negotiation to produce a great live conference event and music concert with some of the world’s best acts in Sandton, Johannesburg in October 2009.

So, this is what I usually do when I plan to produce a new live concert; I first figure out the type of music I want to have for the concert and the artist(s), and then I check out the venue, it has to be the appropriate venue, the venue that my prospective artist(s) can fill out at full capacity.

And then I check out if that artist is on tour and if he or she is, if she or he will be in the proximity area. Because if they are on tour, you’ll get her or him cheaper, because they already are scheduled to be in the area.

And once I check out their tour schedule, and even if they are or not on tour, then I contact their management. You can find their management contact information everywhere, CD covers, official web sites, etc., and if you can’t find his or her management contact info, I usually just contact his or her record company, and this is what I say when I contact his record company.

Hi, my name is this and that, would you please give me the booking contact info for your artist “artist name”. And they will be gladly give it to me, no further questions asked.

And then I contact their booking agent, and this is what I say. I am this and that, “my name”, with “company name” and I am interested in booking your “artist name” for a show in “city name”, and then they may cut me right off and ask me, what venue, and I tell them the venue. If they are not familiar with the venue, they will ask me how many audience does it hold, and then I tell them because I have already checked it out and know it well.

And then, they may ask me what is our budget, and here is where I don’t tell them how much I have, because they are simply trying to figure out how much to charge me. And I simply tell them that I’d like to know their fees, and they will ask me how much will I sell the tickets for, and then I give them a bulk figure.

Then they may ask me if the artist will be the headliner and or will there be other artists and I tell them yes or no, depends on what/how I am doing the concert.

And then they give me a bulk figure of how much the artist charges, including lodging and air fare and ground transportation. Then if the price is reasonable, I may proceed. What they will need from me from there on is an official offer from me stating exactly my offer to the artist, fees, etc, for the artist to do the proposed show.

This is where the catch comes in. Your letter has to be worded professionally and on a company letterhead. Because they will take that letter and evaluate it and then decide whether to accept the offer or not.

If they accept the offer, they will contact me, and if they don’t contact me sooner, then I contact them to follow up in a day or two. Then once I or they call me back, then they will, not me, draft up an Agreement with all the details; including their Rider Agreement, which simply details their production requirement and stuff, such as their sound, lighting requirement, etc.

They will likely require a deposit depends on your letter offer, they may require 50% up front and the rest on the day of the show before the show or a few days before the show, this is really just depends on how they trust you and or believe in your financial ability.

But before you sign and pay your deposit, make sure you also have talked and secured the venue for the exact date and time.

There are many details and stuff that follow and leads up to the show. I used to do this full time for a minute. I am a certified audio and multimedia engineer, worked for a major TV network and other Film companies around the world doing live TV news, ENG, live sound, studio recording, engineering, mastering, sporting events production, etc., and concert production. I co-founded a record label and production studios, I have worked on many numerous concerts around the world, at one of the worlds’ largest out door concerts with The Rembrandts, and many other acts. So, I have the experience and skill in doing this.

I still do that, but only part time though, because I love it and now, I mostly volunteer doing sound at my church, The Potter’s House, and yes, it has one of the finest sound and TV production equipment. Feel free to come visit with us and check out our system.

So, if you need help in producing your next show, feel free to contact me. And boy, typing these long stuff is just too much time consuming, but I don’t mind helping out. And I am located in Columbus, Ohio and I go back and forth to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York. So, if I can help, just let me know.

Hopefully this helps a bit and good luck!

Filed under: concert, events, production, promotion , concert, live events, live music, music, produce concert, production, promotion, sound

Explosive Vanity License Plate Business

In the 90’s, a new phenomenon explosion of new business emerged that instantly made some of the most creative minded entrepreneurs millionaires, and that was the domain name registering, buying and re-selling in the after-marketplace.

Today, there’s a new explosion of emerging market in the Middle East, no, not oil, but the buying and re-selling of vanity license plates.

Read the article below and if you have money like that, go to Dubai and participate in this new lucrative emerging market.

Vanity plate sold for $14 million in UAE
Yahoo News
Sat Feb 16, 10:51 PM ET

A license plate with nothing but the number “1″ on it went for a record $14 million at a charity auction Saturday.

Saeed Khouri, a member of a wealthy Abu Dhabi family, wouldn’t say how many automobiles he owned or which of them might carry the record-breaking single-digit plate.

“I bought it because it’s the best number,” said Khouri, whose family made its fortune in real estate. “I bought it because I want to be the best in the world.”

The oil-rich UAE began auctioning off vanity license plates last May.

Ordinary automobile license plates issued to drivers here — and even most other vanity series plates — carry both Arabic and Western numerals and script, defining the issuing city and country.

Khouri’s plate, however, has only the Western numeral and no letters.

The record sale surpassed the $6.8 million that was paid for an Emirati license plate at an earlier auction with the Western number 5 on it — also without Arabic numerals or letters.

Proceeds from the auctions, which are held in a lavish hotel here, go to a rehabilitation center for victims of traffic accidents.

On Saturday, 90 license plates were auctioned off in all, raising a total of $24 million. The previous five such events raised more than $50 million.

Filed under: Dubai, UAE, article, business, economics, economy, finance, news , business, Dubai, economy, Fed, finance, inflation, money

Barack Obama – Time is Now, Phenomenally

History is being written and re-written right before our very own eyes and if you are denying it simply because of his race and color of his skin, then you’re denying yourself the gift of being part of it.

During the days and times of Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, John F. Kennedy, Mohandas Gandhi and other great personalities, those of us who were not yet born or were too young to know it, experience it, hands-on feel it, literally see it with our very own eyes, and hear it with our own ears, now have a chance to live and re-live it, feel it, see it, hear it, and not just stand on the side line, but being part of it, and that’s the new voice, the fresh wind which is currently blowing from the East to West, South to North parts of the United States, the cultural phenomenon of the son of man, Barack Obama.

There are times when I just wished I was part of the Martin Luther King Jr’s and or Mohandas Gandhi’s movement, but I was not yet born, but now, when my children and grand-children, and great-grand-children will ask me; “dad or grandpa, how was it, when Barack Obama became the first African American President of the United States in the history of the U.S.?”

Then I would like to tell them everything, how since he stepped up on the podium in 2004 during the Democratic national convention, when the majority of the Americans and the world didn’t know anything about him or have never heard the name Barack, for the first time for the whole US to get to know him, hear his eloquent voice and speech, his vivid passion, and the gift to capture and captivate all those who hear him speak.

Barack Obama is the real deal today; he’s the voice that cries out in the desert, the vision, and the deliverer. He’s today’s cultural phenomenon.

But I am richly blessed and passionately grateful, because I was part of the movement and the history that ended the South African Apartheid movement. I didn’t just stand on the sideline, but just like most of us then, in Namibia and South Africa, was part of it.

I was part of the history when Nelson Mandela was released from the Robben Island prison; I was part of the history when Sam Nujoma arrived back in Windhoek from many years in exile. Now, I am richly blessed again to being part of the Barack Obama’s phenomenal movement in the U.S. and around the world.

Where would you be? Go out and vote, be part of it, let your vote be counted and be part of the historical movement.

Time is now, it’s true – Yes We Can.

Filed under: Barack, Obama, article, blog this, election, life, news , Barack Obama, Clinton, election, Huckabee, Obama, president, presidential, Romney