Many of us participate in arts and entertainment projects. We long to be discovered. Funny thing is, if you’re like me, most of your friends don’t even know about your creative side. We should be our biggest promoter, yet we don’t take advantage of many opportunities to promote ourselves, our projects and our art. Here are 6 tips that helped me increase my visibility. Spread the word and get noticed! 1. Believe It I had to start believing that I was a successful artist and entrepreneur before I could become a successful artist and entrepreneur. Instinctively, we know that we create our own reality. If you don’t believe you’re successful, how can you be a success? I set aside time each day to think about what my life will be like when I reach my goals. What does that feel like? Pretty good! 2. Talk About It I bet most of your friends and colleagues have no idea that you are an up-and-coming artist. How can people support you if you don’t talk about your projects? At least once each day, work your project into the normal flow of a conversation. You’d be amazed with the results. 3. Get Business Cards If it’s in black-and-white, it must be true! Design, purchase and carry business cards that reflect the successful you. I designed beautiful fine artist cards with one of my paintings as the background and business cards with the Amused Now logo. Include images from your work. Maybe even get a logo. If you’re strapped for cash, I’ve seen great logos from fiverr.com. Try 99designs.com to get input from multiple designers. When you talk about your project with people you don’t know you, always leave your card, so they can get in touch with you afterwards....

“Baby you’re the best.” These lyrics play at the end of my recent interview with Sam Wesst. I know I’ll be singing those words to his song “Six O’Clock in the Morning” when the world discovers, as I already have, that he is a substantial new musical and writing talent. This song could receive a Grammy. That’s all I could think of as I finished watching the edited version of my interview with Sam. Sam is a humble, powerful, talented soul who reminded me of John Denver when he sang “Cotton Jenny” and made me tear up when he told her story on our video interview. This is the type of man the world does not have enough of. Men like my husband, solid, caring and true. If I know anything — and I believe in my instincts — Sam Wesst will soon be very well known. He wants be a part of the Amused Now e-commerce website when it launches and we’re delighted! His album of 9 songs, picked first by him and then approved by Tate Publishing, is being cut in June for a fall release. Members from Reba McIntyre’s band will be accompanying. He’s staying humble about it, but I doubt Tate pulls out the stops for every artist they work with. Sam’s book, Wounded Warriors is in Barnes and Noble, on Amazon.com, on www.tatepublishing.com and is soon to be on www.samwesst.com. It is about a group of covert soldiers in Vietnam, not owned by the army or the country they serve. When they return, one of them comes back with evidence of their secret mission in Nam. They gather in a pack on motorcycles and ride to a remote location called Desert Rose. There they must fight to protect the...

In 2012 I wrote my first novel, Bushido. The gritty tale about a down on his luck Yakuza general that is forced to take up arms against his old boss (and a thousand other Japanese miscreants) immediately caught the attention of Kathy Ullman at Bantam Dell books and went on to become a New York Times bestseller. Or at least that’s how, up until last year, I wanted the story to go in general terms. Maybe I’ll do without a hundred or so baddies (there is such thing as overkill, you know?) But I digress. I mean the story of my book being published. Don’t you get the feeling that nowadays everyone considers him/herself an artist? With the advent of cheap DSLR cameras and mobile phones with shiny photo filters, waterfalls of information on how-to-this and how-not-to-that, accessible bundles of raffia, and well, not a lot of thrilling opportunities at your average nine to five; it’s no wonder that throngs of hopeful thespians, playwrights, scribes, and doodlers spend whatever reserves of time and energy they can tap into and seek that elusive pair: fame and wealth. Or perhaps they’ve always been among us, hiding behind glasses of absinthe and crammed inside dimly lit studios. The difference is, most certainly, that thanks to the wonders of the Internet we can see them now. I am not ashamed to admit that, at first, I was a snob. Big time. When, a couple of years ago, I started to see my Twitter feed flooded by these so-called authors who would peddle their homespun words as if they were peas in a market, I thought to myself, “what a disgraceful way of treating the written word,” and “I will never stoop that low.” But then an apple fell...

Damien Cripps, Indie musician, has the heart of a poet, the soul of a musician and the mind of a lawyer. He is all three ~ I was delighted to discover in our interview this Saturday. We are social media buddies going way back. We hadn’t Skyped in a long while, neither had I seen him online until lately. So he surprised me with the lawyer part! He took a hiatus from his online time, kept up his music and went to law school. He’s now moonlighting as a lawyer during the day and playing his music in the evenings and on weekends. That sounds like Damien. His passion is and always will be his music. We talked about a conversation we had a few years back about Indie musicians and I asked him how they had changed the face of the music business. He explained that Indie musicians had not changed so very much, but the internet changed everything. Suddenly, the Indie musician’s voice became much louder in the mix. He is”noisier” as Damien put it and not to be ignored. There is more music out there, and the large bands with the big names are forced to go out on tour. The audiences win out all the way. There is more music, but often musicians give their music away for free. We talked about Amused Now and our plans to make it easier for musicians to be paid online for their music and to gain exposure. The power of the business, Damien maintains, is always the music and it will find a way. Even with Social Media and the tremendous tools it gives the musician to get the word out, the music is the ultimate engager, not the friendly persona of the...

Is there anything fun about being a starving artist? Not really. If truth be told, maybe you’re not starving, but I bet entertainment is not your full-time gig. You’ve probably tried lots of ways to get noticed in hopes of being discovered.  Hopefully, you’ve made some money along the way, so you can keep investing in your creative future. Here are some suggestions to help turn free into paid: 1. Tell your fans how they can help A website is the best way to communicate with your fans, and you can customize it with information that jumpstarts your career. If you cannot afford your own website, take advantage of what’s free, build a business Facebook page or Word Press blog. Make sure your website tells your fans how they can pay to support you by including: Schedule of your upcoming gigs and personal appearances. Links to your paid content, where you sell your music, books, films and fan gear. If you are a member of multiple projects, include links to those sites too. The best way to contact you for paying gigs and appearances or to buy more content. At minimum, include an email address. 2. Lead fans to your paid content Turn free into paid. Research popular websites that specialize in selling your type of entertainment, be it music, books or films. Choose a site that you can afford. Keep the content fresh. Now link your free content to your paid content. At minimum, free content should link to your website which links to your paid content. 3. Get  their contact information Never miss an opportunity to get your fan’s contact information. Sign up for an email service like Mail Chimp or Constant Contact. Your website you ask your fans to join your email list. Take...

Welcome to the Amused Now Blog, the first step in my online journey to help artists make a living doing what they love. The world is full of talented artists. I want to provide the opportunity for talented artists to sell their art for profit, so the world has the opportunity to experience their creations. I understand. I create fine art and I live with a family of musicians. My husband is a world-class singer and electric bass player. My son plays bass violin in the oldest youth orchestra in the United States. I’m working to change the paradigm that expects artists to give away their art for free in hopes of becoming famous at some unknown future date. The internet provides an excellent method for artists to take the control of their destiny, distribute their artwork and promote themselves. Later this year, I plan to soft-launch the Amused Now marketplace: Storefronts for distributing digital entertainment, starting with music, films and eBooks. Pricing that allows independent artists to recoup their production expenses. Talent scouts that spotlight exceptional talent through hosted videos (imagine YouTube meets MTV). This Amused Now Blog is about artists helping artists with business and promotional advice. I plan to outline tips and techniques that help turn hobbies and dreams into profitable businesses. Our audience and fans will support us if we offer them the opportunity. Join me on this exciting journey: Spread the word to other artists. Participate and leave comments. Share your knowledge by offering to guest blog. As more artists make it on their own, it paves the way for even more artists to make it too. How cool is that? Cynthia Kahn @Amused_Now YouTube Facebook...