[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KylMqxLzNGo?rel=0]
Give a man a fish, he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish he eats for a lifetime!
Having been a musician all of my professional career and especially since being in the challenging world of opera I was logically always getting to know a lot of fellow musicians who were in the business. In the United States, the price of an education in music is ridiculous when you consider the chances for financial success after you graduate. The reason I came to Europe and Germany is so I could get a ”real job” that pays regularly every month and provides benefits all while singing all of the opera you can get into your head and your voice. When you are an opera singer, what you really are is a multi-lingual actor, musician and usually have no time or energy left to think about the extremely boring topic of money. The result is that people in the arts in general usually don’t have much money. You can do well in music and in opera, I did well by all accounts for a long time. But, the reality is things don’t stay the same. One day you are the flavor of the month and the next day the phone stops ringing, for whatever reason. It is fair to say that Germany has the greatest support system in the world for the arts and artists, and I love it for that. Musicians can actually have a life here and there are all of these social systems in place to provide security benefits.
Now, that is Germany, and obviously not every singer or musician in Germany is capable of getting a ”real job” doing their art, or actors either for that matter. So, they piecemeal together an existence. Just about everywhere else it is a real struggle to make ends meet. So it is not uncommon for people to have to go out and get a ”regular job”, that is waiting tables, bartending, temping and so on. Artists are qualified to do their art, but you wouldn’t hire one to manage a business. So here you have an entire body of talented and well trained people with a fabulous work ethic doing little jobs for little money just to keep themselves in a dumpy, tiny apartment in a big city, wearing used clothes and still taking lessons, coachings and doing auditions to get some gig out in Whoknowswhere, USA.
It is time for artists to stop doing little jobs for little money!
All over the world artists are doing little jobs for little money to be able to continue doing their art. It would be much better for artists to learn how to make money and set up a lifetime income. That would make sense. But it isn’t so easy for artistic types because in general they don’t really care about money. So, when you talk to them about anything like Network Marketing or any thing of this nature they look at you as if you have lost your mind. It makes much more sense to teach 40 little Susies for 40 dollars an hour how to play the violin or sing than it does to work on building a residual income that can actually pay the bills, provide you with a good standard of living and give you the free time to actually be a musician, artist or an actor. Also, if you are making the right kind of money you can still teach little Susie if you want, it is an incredibly rewarding thing to do in terms of enriching a kids life and spending time with great kids and people who are into the arts. Making money doesn’t prevent that, it makes it possible at a much higher level!
Artists work very hard on their art. They put their entire life’s blood into it. Being an artist is not a job it is a way of life, it is a calling, the highest one there is. Today it is possible for artists to be rewarded with a standard of living that is representative of their lofty ideals.
In my book Boredom to Brilliance, I promised to find real solutions for artists and I have found several. But, the best opportunity for artists is the company I am a part of and believe in. The goal of this company is to empower people to be the full potential of themselves and to end the life of little jobs for little money.
Whether you are an artist at the professional level, a hobby artist or a live at home parent, getting into this business is the best way to provide well for yourself, your family and your passion that I have seen. I urge you to give this a serious look. Do it NOW!