Why Bringing Your Demo to a Record Label Is a Bad Idea

Why Bringing Your Demo to a Record Label Is a Bad IdeaWhy Bringing Your Demo to a Record Label Is a Bad IdeaWhen youre eager to for the decision makers at a record label to listen to your demo, the idea of stopping by their schreibstube, CD in hand, is tempting. But is it ever a good idea? A resounding NO. Why Bringing Your Demo to a Record Label Is a Bad Idea In almost every instance, dropping by a record label office unannounced to give them your demo is going to backfire and heres why Its uncomfortable No one at the label wants to be subjected to listening to your demo in front of you, and they dont want to accept it from you in person either. Its not because of an uppity attitude nor is it a reflection on your music. Rather, everyone at the label understands how much your demo means to you, and the vast majority of the demos any label hears will be turned down. Giving the label the space to judge your demo on their own terms will work in your favor. Putting them on the spot w ill not. It might not be an office This one only applies to small, indie labels, but you might be surprised how many of your favorite music businesses are operating out of someones bedroom or garage. Turning up at someones house? Awkward. And a little scary...for both of youThe receptionist is ready for you On the other end of the spectrum, major labels have front desk receptionist who have dealt with people bearing demos thousands of times. Youre not getting past them. Plus, a vast majority of labels that have receptionists dont accept unsolicited demos. Youll be remembered for the wrong reasons It might seem like visiting a record label with your demo shows some spunk and go get em attitude. It may seem like a great way to make an impression. You might not be forgotten. And youre unlikely to be remembered fondly. Record Label Demo Policies Almost every record label has a demo policy clearly listed on their website- follow it to the letter. The demo policy isnt there to discour age you. It exists to establish an ?efficient method to deal with the demos that pour into even the smallest labels. The label wants to give your demo gets the chance it deserves, or alternatively, to save you from wasting your time approaching a label that cant be of help. Here youll also find acceptable demo formats (eg, CD, mp3 clips), their mailing address, the name of a specific demo (AR) rep to whom you should address your package, and the follow-up guidelines indicating whether its acceptable for you to call or email. Now, the caveat Every rule has exceptions. You may happen upon a label that invites drop-in visitors, and there undoubtedly a musician somewhere, who got a deal by bursting into a label office with a demo. However, your best bet with demos is to stick to the guidelines.

5 Ways to Spin Your Next Team Meeting

5 Ways to Spin Your Next Team Meeting 5 Ways to Spin Your Next Team Meeting So, how do you create excitement for the weekly routine? I thought youd never ask. Below are five ways to spice up your next team or department meeting and, hopefully, bring a new level of interest and enthusiasm to your employees andwell, you.RelocateMost often, team meetings are in the same place at the same time on the same day. Its already becoming redundant just writing about it. Why not move your next meeting to a different location, preferably outside of the office. Try a nearby Starbucks or caf that allots the needed space for you and your team to gather. Employees can purchase their favorite caf treats (or you can provide them as an added bonus) to get them in the relaxed, loose mood and away from the normal, boring office setting. Sometimes its just nice to get away.Show, Dont TellMost meetings consist of talking. As a matter of fact Im not sure how youd conduct a successful meeting without commun icating. Lets take the norm out of your next gathering and cut down on so much talking. Demonstrate ideas, concepts or new initiatives to employees instead of outright telling them about these things. For example, if lack of communication is an issue to discuss on the agenda, give your team puzzle pieces and split them into groups. Have each team work together to rebuild the puzzle (a small one, of course). Afterward, explain how important communication is for the successof the team, justhow it welchesto build the puzzle. Team members can also discuss how they communicated and why during the activity to ensure an active discussion. Showing versus telling takes the boring out of listening. (whew)Order InDo you usually provide food during team meetings? Even if its a short meeting, offering refreshments such as fruit, tea and snacks, helps. You can even put a theme on your weekly meetings to liven up the attendees. Why not have Taco Tuesdays or French fry Fridays? Or you can change th e food type each meeting. One week can be Italian, the next Greek, the next American, and so forth. Food always brings in the crowd.Share the PowerThe boss usually groe nachfrages the meeting, after all, thats one of the things he or she is paid to do. Try sharing the power during meetings. Maybe one meeting out of each month a different team member has the responsibility of running the meeting. Workers can send the employee items to put on the agenda and he or she will have full range to run the show. This can engage your team members and help them feel like one unit with equal parts. Of course, at the end of the day you are the boss, but sharing a little power every now and then can help workers feel dependable and valuable while simultaneously valuing your role as a manager.Surprise, SurpriseWho doesnt love a surprise? Bring in guest speakers or key people from the company every now and then to address staff during weekly meetings. The best surprise of all? Cancel the meeting

How Nice is Too Nice at Work (Quiz) - The Muse

How Nice is Too Nice at Work (Quiz) - The MuseHow Nice is Too Nice at Work (Quiz)Your company is all about collaboration. They value team players, individuals who make time to work with others, you know, people who are open to offering their expertise or just serve as someone to bounce ideas off of. And so youre careful about being available, helpful, and generous with both your time and knowledge. Sometimes, though, its at the cost of putting your own work dead last. Or turning to your solo assignments after hours, when none of your colleagues are likely to seek your assistance.It turns out that theres such a thing called generosity burnout and if the above rings true for you, you could be headed there. elend sure if youre doing an OK job of balancing your workload and devoting resources to co-workers whore asking for help? Take this eight-question quiz from Harvard Business Review to discover if youre a selfless giver, an inconsistent giver, or a sustainable giver. Depending on whe re you land, you might want to reevaluate how far youre willing to be the offices go-to savior. Burnout, in any shape or form, isnt a desirable direction to be headed. And dont worry, its not that you cant lend a hand ever again- but rather that you need to set boundaries and clear expectations for your colleagues. In an article on setting boundaries at work without making anyone resent you, Muse career coach Melody Wilding recommends taking a moment to evaluate the individual demand and its potential effect on your schedule, well-being, and goals before saying yes to any request.Do that, and you should be able to find some kind of balance that works for both you and your teammates.

Are you surprised by who predicted the future You will

Are you surprised by who predicted the future You willAre you surprised by who predicted the future You willHope youre enjoying the day off in the mountains, on a lake, at the beach, or wherever your work cant find youThis Memorial Day, its a trip down memory lane to TV ads from the early 1990s that remind us how crazy far weve come.ATTs You Will ads were just that - crazy dreams that were brought to us by the dominant phone company. If you recall seeming them live on TV, every one of these ads seemed improbable, pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking, a fever dream of the future.Which was kind of the point - even your ol phone monopoly could dream big wild dreamsBut when you watch them today, its remarkable how completely obvious, and even out-dated, some of them already seemHave you ever gotten a phone call on your wrist?Have you ever paid a toll without slowing down?Have you ever watched the movie you want to, the minute you wanted to?Have you ever attended a meeting in your bare feet? Have you ever had a classmate thousands of miles away?These predictions seemed outlandish and hopelessly optimistic about what the future could bring. They were all stuff of a science fiction made-up drama, about as realistic as Captain Kirk or an I Dream of Jeannie re-run.And theyve all come true.We are living in the age of miracles and wonder, folks. And this Memorial Day weekend, as we thank all of those who made it possible for us, let us also be thankful for the everyday magic we have in our lives.Im rooting for you

5 Out of Bounds Job Interview Questions

5 Out of Bounds Job Interview Questions5 Out of Bounds Job Interview QuestionsBecause you have sat through nerve-wracking interviews when you were the person being grilled, you promise yourself you will do your best to make job candidates comfortable when you are interviewing them. But keeping things comfortable is one thing asking friendly questions that could be illegal could get you into lots of hot water and could potentially put your company at risk of being sued.From hiring managers who know the score, here are five job interview questions inexperienced managers should avoid asking job interviewees and interviewees should know are out of boundsHow many children do you have? It seems innocent, but personal questions not directly related to the job are off-limits. If you want to know about the interviewees time flexibility, you may ask if they are available to work overtime if needed or are comfortable working flexible hours.Where do you go to church? Unless you work for a reli gious organization, questions about religious affiliation or the holidays people celebrate are a no-no.How long have you lived in the U.S.? While you can ask if someone is legally allowed to work in the United States, you cant ask questions about whether they are citizens, how long theyve lived in the U.S., or what country they are originally from.Have you ever been arrested? In some states, employers may only ask potential hires whether theyve ever been convicted of a crime, not whether theyve been arrested. People are often arrested and later cleared of any wrongdoing, and it is unfair for employers to discriminate against those individuals. Make koranvers you understand what the laws are in your state.When do you plan to retire? Asking when a person plans to stop working could lead to charges of age discrimination if youre not careful. If youre trying to get a sense of how long a person plans to stay in the workforce, better to ask about long-term career goals.

Top How to Put Babysitting on a Resume Tips!

Top How to Put Babysitting on a Resume Tips Getting hired as a babysitter in the present competitive job market isnt easy, that is the reason youve got an excellent continue to help get a babysitting location. If youre looking for a babysitter job, you always have the option to include things like different responsibilities in your resume so that you can readily shortlist them. While searching for an alternate job you need to cause a how to earn a perfect continue. Finding jobs as a babysitter is about taking the perfect steps. Babysitter job isnt a cool job, its a really responsible job. Nannies perform jobs which are wrongly thought to be easy. Fully being an excellent babysitter requires a lot of work, care, and ingenuity. At the close of the day, bear in mind that the purpose of a nanny resume is to convince a loving family that youre trustworthy enough to be a member of the household and attention for their son or daughter. For other helpful ideas, take a look at our complete time nanny resume example below. A strong cover letter has the power to make your app stick out by the crowd. Ultimately, remember that your resume cover letter could develop into a superb tool which can help you have the correct small small geschftliches miteinander advisor job. Adding your resume is only one of one of the most essential elements of landing your ideal job. Bear in mind, your resume is just the very first step. Besides babysitting, you also incorporate some household duties that youre capable of doing for some excess money. Based on the specific family youre working for, as a babysitter you could need to become involved in performing additional tasks. You wrote a terrific babysitter resume. You will be regarded as an outstanding babysitter with good communication abilities. The Debate Over How to Put Babysitting on a Resume Your resume should quickly persuade the possible employer that youre a superior candidate for the nanny job and the most su itable person to manage their children. You need your resume to clearly demonstrate the employer what schrift of employee you will be. When an employer is truly interested in you, odds are shes going to ask you to give employment references. The majority of them have an extremely brief attention span. Your experience, academic qualifications, and skill set are a few the most critical things that you may want to concentrate on. Its possible to easily test whether someone does or doesnt have a distinct hard skill. For someone searching for an excellent person to employ as a babysitter, utilizing the above mentioned skills in your hiring process can help you discover the individual. Babysitting is a means to demonstrate responsibility and a willingness to work, along with many self-management abilities. Learning CPR for infants and kids is also a valuable asset to grow your resume. Applicants for babysitting positions sometimes make the error of including irrelevant sides of t heir prior experience on their resume. To write such a powerful resume, one should refer to the subsequent Babysitter Resume Samples that have the ideal templates and format together with an extremely impressive personal summary that will highlight all the traits of an ideal babysitter and a number of them also include cover letter and other guidelines. Looking at examples are able to help you make a decision as to what type of content you should include, in addition to how to format your resume. If you need a complete collection of what you could learn from babysitting, following is a list of 28 unique skills which you could potentially put on your resume Our resume library has an excellent selection of samples. What to Do About How to Put Babysitting on a Resume Some very simple recommendation letters are offered in the post below. You shouldnt incorporate a ring-back on your phone or give them a hyperlink to your FB account if youve got plenty of questionable posts for ev ery person to see. If you include all the information above when you write your resume, youll have a fairly good document to share. A follow-up email provides you an additional shot at getting hired.

How Going Back to Work Mirrors the Post-Christmas Return Line

How Going Back to Work Mirrors the Post-Christmas Return Line Ah the day after Christmas one of the most infamous days for store returns. Today is the day that parents flock to stores to return gifts that were broken upon unwrapping or that their kiddies didnt quite like (clothes too). Teens stand in line to exchange the parents just dont understand type of gifts while others wait to exchange its-the-thought-that-counts gifts that theyd never use. Oh, what an exciting day. And for those who have the luxury of standing in linethat is being off worka great deal of Americans were forced to trudge back into the schreibstube. They woke up to an exciting, gift and family filled Christmas Day only to wake up to the back-to-work routine the next morning. Bummer.Standing in line and sitting in a cubicle post-Christmas Day can both be equally dreadful. How can consumers and workers cope?Below are four simpl e steps both groups of people can take to ease the day after Christmas activity blowStrike up conversationYoure going to be in line for awhile, right? Might as well strike up a conversation with the person in front of or behind you to pass the time. Maybe you both can share your post-Christmas Day horror stories from previous years. Who knows where the conversation will lead? And you just may get a few laughs from doing this, a surefire way to lighten the long-line burden.The same is true while at work. Talk to your co-workers about their holiday plans. Swap stories about gift exchanges, time spent with family and the previous days activities. You can even vent about how youd rather be home than in the office a good conversation usually lifts the spirit.Pop in headphonesMaybe you dont feel like talking to anyone as you wait in line why not pop in your headphones and listen to music? At least you can help pass the time listening to your favorite tunes and drown out the post-holiday c ommotion.Listening to music at work always helps one to tune out distractions and focus. You can play your favorite holiday album to cheer yourself up. Or maybe youll decide to ditch the headphones and play your tunes at a comfortable office volume so your co-workers can enjoy as well. I mean, who can stay bitter about being at work with chestnuts roasting on an open fire ringing in their ears?Exercise patienceThe day after Christmas return line is sure to be long store workers are sure to be frustrated and other standees are sure to get tired of waiting. You will certainly have to exercise patience today as you wait for your turn. Offer the cashiers a smile and inquire about their holiday. Wish them a happy New Year as you depart, and dont forget to thank them for their time. A polite attitude and gesture of appreciation always makes one feel betterespecially one who doesnt have the benefit of sleeping in post-Christmas Day.If you do have to work today, you may need to exercise pat ience as well. Your co-workers may be disappointed with having to work today as well, or your team members may be stressed about finishing projects before the New Year. Be kind and courteous to everyone. And dont forget to smile, which is most often contagious.Stay busy to pass timeFind a way to keep yourself preoccupied as you wait in line. Make a phone call, a to-do list, clear out the memory on your phonewhatever you can do with any devices you have. And if all else fails, Candy Crush should definitely help pass the time.Staying busy in the office is a great way to quickly get through the work day. Make a list of assignments when you first arrive and tackle each one-by-one. As you steadily work and focus on the tasks at hand (as opposed to being out of the office) youll be surprised how fast 5pm arrives.