Archive for Art & Artists
Phone A Friend
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Over the last decade, it has become normal for me to hear from my clients about once a week to discuss an idea, obstacle or need in their business.
This casual relationship, with constant communication, has allowed me to stay in touch with my clients and be most effective in answering issues immediately.
I’m offering a subscription for what has essentially become a “phone a friend” relationship.
Having my personal creativity and attention applied to your problems is will save you thousands.
Having someone to speak with in a candid and confidential manner will save you thousands.
Having access to the talented people in my network, only when you need them, will save you thousands.
Having my experience to prevent you from making a mistake will save you thousands.
Applying my creative strategies will make and save you thousands.
JOIN HUNDREDS OF PAST CLIENTS that have benefited from my personal attention, creativity and strategic advice. Your subscription, solutions and problems remain confidential (and that’s why my clients aren’t plastered all over my website).
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- Unlimited Q&A on the Forums (other professional contributors)
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You will immediately experience the value of our services or you can cancel at any time.
PERFECT FOR STARTUPS, INVENTORS, ARTISTS & DISTRESSED BUSINESSES – START NOW!
The #1 question I get asked is to solve a problem on a specific budget. I have yet to fail in charting a realistic course for success within a client’s budget. I can show you how to do things that many businesses spend ten times as much for (without half the insurance measures I show you how to include).
How many people can you call who know your industry well enough to give you an intelligent opinion?
How many of those people can you be completely honest with, share your REAL concerns, and receive unbiased confidential advice? I don’t SELL anything…I help business owners arrive at cost-saving conclusions for rescue, launch, efficiency, growth and sanity.
I make my living by providing unique creative solutions…and mapping routes to revenue. I don’t sell anything other than my brain (and you can rent it for the bargain basement price of $99/month). I expect you to cancel this subscription once we we figure out the best way for me to be available to you down the road. Until then, I’ve made it as affordable as possible to “try me”.
Subscribe now (no cancellation penalty – buy it, try it, cancel at any time):
Marketing Results, Guaranteed
I am SO VERY PLEASED to announce that I am now making a few of my unique proprietary marketing tools available to the public. This service represents an incredible value…and I have to confess that I’m totally excited about turning the marketing & advertising world on it’s head.
FOR A LIMITED TIME – ACT NOW!
AN ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION costs $1200/year (80% off)!
REGISTER BY August 31, 2011 and receive my “Phone A Friend” package for FREE ($1,200 value).
Here is how it works:
- Contact us with interest in marketing a website product or service.
- We analyze your products and services for the best application of our proprietary tools
- You pay us $1,200 to be included in our marketing and referral system (for one year)
- We coordinate with you and your webmaster to place the most useful/relevant hosted solutions on your server (sometimes it is just a tracking code).
- We track and monitor the progress of your internet traffic and sales.
- After 12months you decide if you received $1200 worth of services and results.
As long as you ride it out for the entire 12 months, I will personally honor any refund request…for ANY REASON (I only ask that you tell me personally why you felt it wasn’t a value). It couldn’t be easier.
I defy you to find anyone in the SEO, Web or Marketing world who is willing to GUARANTEE RESULTS. I not only guarantee results, but I guarantee you will experience growth in your business as a result of our relationship. This will be an exciting relationship and you will enjoy your business more as a result of hiring my company.
- A substantial boost in web traffic (within 45 days)
- A substantial boost in online sales and incoming phone calls (within 90 days)
- Tips and Tricks to help you in other areas of your business (at no fee)
Our internet traffic and sales generation tools rely on a human referral system (not some automated search engine work-around). Visitors to your website are REAL…and they will read every line of your page.
Not only is it legal, ethical and amazing…it is extremely affordable. Our techniques are a trade secret (don’t even think about asking “how we do it”). Follow instructions and you’ll be pleased. Our integrity is our most important asset. That is why we screen companies (instead of just adding a “buy it now” button to our page).
Where else can you get a marketing campaign that promises to give you measured results AND offers a money-back guarantee (let alone at $1,200)?
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If you don’t see the value in our program and strategies we don’t want you as a client.
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If you aren’t willing to commit $1,200 to promote your business we don’t want you as a client.
(that’s why I’m willing to refund the entire amount to anyone who sticks with us for a year…and why I have set the budget so low that there is no excuse for even the smallest of companies).
Web Developers, Search Engine Optimization “experts” and Marketing Executives HATE ME… Not only do I tell them to their face when they waste my client’s money, I consistently prove that I can do more with a dollar than they can do with $1,000. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve solved complex problems in 30seconds or less, right in the presence of high-paid pretenders. IT DRIVES THEM NUTS!!! Ideas are free but you can’t put a value on real talent and common sense.
It only motivates me more to know that my creativity is capable of frustrating people who work in the “creative” industry. 
This is, without a doubt, the smallest single budget scope of work I have offered in my entire consulting career.
More Traffic, More Sales, An Expert Business Strategist, and Marketing tools at your disposal for a whole year. My competition can’t even touch it. I defy them to even try.
I’m either completely out of my mind or I have actually figured out a way of making marketing so affordable and profitable that nobody else can even come close to creating this level of value. After over a decade of consulting for small businesses, artists and inventors, which do you think it is?
I look forward to working with you and having a truly measurable POSITIVE IMPACT on your sales! (I guarantee it or your money back).
- Mark Mahar
Free Website for Startups
Attn: Entrepreneurs
It is challenging to start a business in any economy, let alone an economy as uncertain as this one.
We believe that small business is the heart of the American way of life. It is the engine of our economy. As a service to innovative and enterprising entrepreneurs, we are offering free websites for qualifying businesses.
Here’s how it works:
- Register for the forums [SUPPORT FORUMS]
- Visit the “Welcome (General Stuff)” Section
- Read the “Free Website for Entrepreneurs” post
- Post a brief reply, explaining why you should be chosen to receive a free website for your business
The free custom site will consist of 5 pages of static content, featuring the products and services, a BLOG and other unique resources related to the business. The complete hosted web solution will consist of WordPress Content Management Software (open source) with custom modifications and templates. All modifications are made online, by you (the owner)…and you won’t need a web developer to maintain your website.
QUALIFYING WEBSITES:
- At least one market ready, featured, product or service
- Paypal or Google Shopping Cart account
- Engaged Business Owner (with a blog and frequent entries)
- Highest consideration given to:
- national products & services potential
- “made in usa”
- clear business plan
- art & innovation
- maintainable by owner
- active blogger
Candidate will work with me and my team to arrive at the best presentation/branding. We can retool your existing site or create an entirely new one.
The last recipient of our free website launch was VictorianTailor.com
The Victorian Tailor already had a website. The problem she had in her business was a constantly changing inventory (constant web support for a small company). I don’t like seeing small business owners handcuffed so I imported her existing design into WordPress, added custom templates and functionality, which turned it into a blog site with more “search engine friendlly” content and keywords. I then trained the owner, Celeste, on how to manage all the web content herself. She never has to hire a web person to change her products again. All the content you see on that site was put there by Celeste – if she can do it, you can do it!
Every 90 days, we will select one business to receive a website (it gets launched before the next site is selected).
If no qualifying candidate site is found among the applicants, we reserve the right not to select any applicant.
We are running this promotion to give “business ready” entrepreneurs a leg up on achieving a professional web presence that they can maintain themselves. We want our visitors to use our forums and we hope to have more of a relationship with our internet audience in general (while introducing them to great new companies). We decide, at our sole discretion, if the website you need is within our skill-set (and if your business is ready for it).
Our decision to support your business with a free website revolves around one internal question: “Are we interested enough in being associated with your success that we will invest the cost of launching your website?” (the more creative, grassroots, self-sufficient and prepared your business is, the more likely you’ll be one of the businesses we pick to support).
You must have a domain name and hosting (about $120/year) and we take care of the rest.
Domain name and hosting can be bought through www.HighwayMerge.com
We HIGHLY recommend that you at least own the domain name PRIOR to discussing it on our public forums. Don’t make a post that says “I want a website for mybusiness.com” if you don’t own “mybusiness.com”.
One business is scheduled to be selected on the following dates:
August 15th, 2011
November 15th, 2011
February 15th, 2012
May 15th, 2012
August 15th, 2012
We look forward to helping you succeed on the internet.
Visit the forums now.
(If you’re a web designer or developer interested in helping us make a positive impact with entrepreneurs through this free service, please contact us @ info@maharenterprises.com)
Sad State – Advertising Industry
This is one example of how music and broadcast production is deteriorated by a slow take-over by technology savvy (but otherwise inept) “advertising and media” talent.
The Advertising industry is going to crap…for what I think are obvious reasons.
Maybe you’ll agree, maybe you won’t, but I happen to think the actual production solicitation I just received is absolutely priceless (blow off your holiday weekend to present an idiot who knows nothing about music your speculative rendition of their crappy lyrics…for scrutiny by a “huge” ny agency):
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
[GREETING OMITTED]
Below is a special opportunity that we wanted to give you a heads up about. Just got the word about this project today, and need the music by 6:00 PM PDT on Saturday July 2nd, 2011. You can find this listing [COMPANY INFO OMITTED].
HUGE NY Ad Agency needs a SINGER/SONGWRITER SONG for a national NUTRITION/HEALTH BRAND’s TV COMMERCIAL. It’s estimated that this gig will pay $15-$25,000 up front, but the back will bring in more dollars–LOTS of national airplay coming down the pike. This is going to be a little complicated so read VERY carefully!
The TV spot features a male/female duet singing about taking your nutrition to the next level. It’s starts with a guy, playing guitar and he begins singing at 3 seconds into the spot. Ten seconds into the spot, he’s joined by a young woman who sings background vocals and plays tambourine. She becomes a one-woman band as she begins to ALSO play a kick drum and a keyboard–added in that order, and introduced one at a time.
All this needs to take place in 30 SECONDS, while they sing the lyrics below! The good news is that this is a DEMO, and the agency folks know the lyrics they’ve been handed by their client are on the fat side. Your job is to keep the CRITICAL parts of the lyric in tact, while cutting SOME fat to bring this song in at exactly 30 seconds. You can trim a “yeah, yeah, yeah” down to just one “yeah,” etc., but you MUST keep “Anthem” and “Go Nutrients” and as much of the original concept as possible and MOST of the lyric in tact. Quoting the Head Creative guy at the agency: “Write a great SONG with as much of the client’s lyrics as possible.” Easy, breezy, nothing to it, and bring it all home in 30 seconds!
Musically, this SONG needs to be UPTEMPO, HIP and FUN, and in a Jason Mraz or Bruno Mars-like style of putting (vocal) doubles or triplets on top of half notes. That could give it a cool, fun, funky feel while helping you get most of the lyrics nailed in 30 seconds. Melodically, your song needs to sound like a HIT with a KILLER HOOK–it needs to be infectious, memorable and singable.
This product will likely generate a series of TV spots, so nailing THIS one COULD get you to the front of the line for others. If your DEMO is chosen to be presented to the agency and client, you’ll need to be able to make minor changes (if needed) on Monday, July 4th so the final version can be presented on Tuesday morning. If you’re not fully available Sunday (dinner time) through Monday (dinner time), please DO NOT submit for this listing! Welcome to the intensely fast-paced, whacky world of music for advertising!
Lyrics:
You take a multivitamin every day
But you want to add a little something (hey hey hey)
So you reach for new [OMITTED] from [OMITTED]
Can I get a funky beat on the bass drum
Take Omega 3 to help your heart
Helps your eyes and brain too…so state of the art
Probiotic for when your system feels out of whack.
Immunity? No problemo! And support that digestive tract. (Uh-huh.)
Fruit & Veggie has antioxidants galore!
Will make you glow for the one you adore. (Grrrrr)
Get on up, throw your hands in the air.
Take your nutrition next level, Start a love affair!! (Yeah yeah yeah.)
Broadcast Quality is needed, even though they may ultimately use NY session singers for the vocals. You must own or control 100% of the Master and Composition rights. If you are chosen, the AD AGENCY will contact you DIRECTLY. The agency is not sure at this time if this will be a Work for Hire deal or exactly what form the deal structure will ultimately take. Bottom line, it will certainly be in line with whatever the Industry Standard would be in a situation like this. This is a HUGE agency, and they’re not in the habit of risking their reputation by cheating musicians–it’s not like they’re a record label – LOL!! Please submit one to three songs online or per CD, include lyrics. All submissions will be screened on a YES/NO BASIS. NO CRITIQUES FROM [OMITTED]. Submissions must be received no later than SATURDAY, JULY 2nd, 2011 at 6:00 pm (PDT). [COMPANY OMITTED]
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
NOTE: I’m still laughing…and somebody is gonna get $25k to produce this piece of crap. A “HUGE” NY agency is actually charging money for this (and I could probably do a self-perpetuating national campaign for your business for what this one spot is costing to have customers laugh at a product and an artist). Sad state of affairs indeed.
Just thought it was worth sharing.
Career Clock (wage earners)
Understanding where you are in the arc of your career or project is important to determining your aptitude for risk or earnings (two different things):
1. Your value as an employee
2. Your preparedness for risk as a business owner
I developed this illustration as an answer to frequent clients that are starting their first business.
I work with many career employees who are making their first risk in business (inventors, artists, startups, technology, etc…). After years of working for someone else they are ready to strike out on their own. Many, however, don’t truly appreciate how insulated their life has been as an employee. Employee positions do not involve any personal risk (one is simply trading time, talent and responsibility for a given wage). It may be worth discussion, but if you are considering self-employment or business ownership it is a good place to start.
If you are already an owner (or self-employed…and there is a difference), this illustration may turn your wheels a little about where your value is in a business (and what other talent you may need to surround yourself with, in order to be most profitable). This is titled “Wage Earner’s Career Clock” for a reason (owners don’t typically derive their income from a wage; earnings and wages being two distinct things).
In this illustration, MONEY exists outside the circle. Getting to the money requires four things:
- Time
- Talent
- Responsibility
- Risk
MEINC_CareerClock1 (printable PDF)
Support Forum Up & Running
It is official – the new Online Support Forum is up and running.
I realize that actually GETTING clients and associates to migrate their topics and our working relationship onto “yet another internet interface” may not be the most convenient thing (let’s face it – we all have enough login screens to navigate in our lives). Why then would I create a “Forum”?
It has benefits for everyone (existing clients, visitors, consultants and me).
* CHEAPER access to my services (and the services of my professional associates)
* EASIER FOR ME – I aim to somewhat centralize my customer service and support (while documenting it for others who have similar questions). Some days I get 150 emails and “some” (cough) emailers still insist on excluding the content of the original message. Want free advice? Post it publicly and get free advice (where I don’t have to rely on my memory to know what I told you last).
* Access to information and services that you may not even know are available through Mahar Enterprises, Inc.
* CONSULTANT AWARENESS - a place for the many faces who have stayed behind the scenes for far too long (and some new faces who hope to be part of your “answer bank”).
* SEARCH ENGINE RELEVANCE – I’m not going to publish 500 pages of web content for all the crap I know how to do, just so a search engine can find me. It’s gratuitous and confusing. The more conversations that take place on the forum, the more “words” are associated with everyone – use it accordingly (as a client or a contributor – registration is free).
I hope you find it useful.
Everything starts somewhere. However humble the beginnings, the Support Forum is officially “open”.
(a permanent web link lives in the black footer on every page of our site – “SUPPORT FORUMS” – look down)
Cheers & Thanks,
Mark
Discounted Rates for “exposure”
For more than a decade I have dealt with hundreds of independent artists. I have found them to be what I consider the most generous people in business. Why? As “wage earners” they are the most willing people I’ve ever met to immediately “discount” their services in exchange for “exposure”.
Unfortunately, many of them misinterpret “exposure” (and misinterpret their own value).
I am writing this article for one reason and one reason only: Night Clubs
If you really examine the night club owner & manager mentality (or have worked on the night club circuit), you’ll find that it is the default position of club owners & managers to assume that they are doing a band or artist a favor by giving them “exposure”. (See my recent article on “Valuing a ‘service’” – and figure out your rate vs. what the clubs in your area actually pay). Really? Exposure? Let’s examine the argument of “exposure” from a reality that club owners completely ignore:
- Having something like a musical act in a night club provides a venue with FREE marketing in every “event listing” available in the region (print, web, “night out” services, etc…). If they didn’t have an act at their club they would not qualify for this FREE advertising.
- 98% of “club venues” (my guess – not statistical data) in New England have downsized so much to make “survival” practical that their maximum occupancies are under 200 (and many in the Boston area have occupancies under 100). Not for nothing, but more people visit the websites of the artists I work with on a daily (even hourly) basis than can fit in those clubs – and they don’t have to leave the house for that audience.
- Most venues have countless televisions and other crap going on in and around the venue…all of which make it nearly impossible for a musical act to garner the attention of the small attendance they have. After competing with TV’s, juggling bartenders and scantilly clad “jello shot” girls…how many of those people can the band actually connect with to accomplish their mission of “selling a CD”, “Getting a Mailing List Subscriber”, or “Getting a REAL booking”. Entertainment is about “connection” (and that’s why it is losing ground – not because people don’t appreciate good music but instead because venues insist on bombarding patrons with everything BUT good music).
- Entertainment keeps patrons in the venue longer – is intended to enhance the mood (which should result in more sales). If it doesn’t result in more sales there might be a different problem. Hiring a band for one night…or trying a “steady Wednesday for three weeks” is about the weakest attempt possible at resolving attendance and patron spending.
Note: It takes 200-225 people for the “door” to be “equitable” (for even the most affordable professional band – that includes even the sacrificial perspective of a club date with a small cover charge).
In addition to the claims of “exposure”, many clubs want the artist to “bring people through the door” (of course – that’s the whole aim of having an “attraction” – to attract). There isn’t an artist I know who doesn’t push to get people through the door – that’s their goal…but clubs regularly put the demand of attendance squarely on the ARTIST (instead of relying on marketing and advertising)…without providing any marketing support.
My favorite phrase from club owners is “and you’ll get paid on top of it” (as if their offering of $75/head is the icing on some glorious cake [ignoring that the artist is also the farmer, baker and waiter for this little confection]).
I would like to examine that “who’s job is it?” thing as well: Why exactly would someone discount their rates by a substantial amount (the overhead and margin they rely on to pay for things like marketing and advertising) if they still have the responsibility of doing the marketing & advertising? Remember – a club is offering “exposure”…and they get a discount because they are providing it. (right?)
- A club owner could negotiate to have Elvis Presley himself do a surprise comeback “I’m still alive” special in their otherwise dead night club on a Thursday night for $600…but if nobody knows about it what value is gained from paying Elvis $600? NONE - you’re gonna have an empty club and you’ll cry to Elvis’ manager that you can’t afford to repeat the event next month because “the math just doesn’t seem to be working”…or the so-called “promotion” doesn’t seem to be catching on. (I love that whole “we tried it, without really trying it” thing that club owners bail with)
- With rare exception it is MARKETING (not artists) that drive attendance – if you’re hiring a band with a huge mailing list it is because you want butts in seats. That makes perfect sense…but club managers need to acknowledge that they aren’t hiring an artist in that case – they are hiring a marketing promotion. $300 is not enough for a marketing promotion (even if you do get free advertising in all the local event listings).
- Even if an artist can rationalize that they are taking a serious wage cut in order to achieve an important component in their career plan (like email lists or subcribers to their YouTube channel or plain old “networking”)…those things are a device of the audience that is IN ATTENDANCE. The AUDIENCE is the clubs selling point for exposure…so it is the CLUBS responsibility to provide the audience (and the artist’s responsibility to KEEP THEM THERE and GET THEM TO SPEND MONEY AT THE BAR).
WHAT DO CLUBS DO TO ACTUALLY PROMOTE ARTISTS? (apart from hiring a band and relying on them to spread the word).
HOW EXCLUSIVE TO THE ARTIST IS THEIR MARKETING? (is the band just filling a slot on the club’s weekly 80′s night and nobody knows the band’s name?)
If you are a nightclub manager reading this (and are the exception to the rule), you have my sincere appreciation for including “artists” in your legitimate “promotions”. I’ve known a few managers like you…but only a few. To the rest of you: Stop pretending to be “ambassadors of exposure” for artists and just admit you’re too lazy to engage in professional marketing efforts (and sadly, a local band with a mailing list is better at spreading the word about anything than you will ever be).
THE QUESTION
What then is the real benefit of performing in a night club? There are benefits. It is up to artists however to determine if those benefits are worth discounting their rates (in some cases by 90%).
This article may come off as a financial rant but it really boils down to time and energy (time is money and every artist needs to inject efforts into their “career” where it really matters…where it really has a return on their investment).
When considering a club date, here are the “decision questions”:
- Does the date satisfy my “survival rate” (see my last article on “Valuing a ‘service’”).
- Does the marketing, advertising and audience reach justify the discount (can you buy the marketing for less [perhaps you already have that many people visiting your website and need to get better at converting them to customers]).
- Is it a paid opportunity to rehearse or is it an underpaid commitment to fill a room? (especially when the part of your wage reserved for marketing was discounted to the club owner already)
If those things exist (and the need exists in your career)…GO FOR IT!
REALITY
I’ve worked with many clubs on promotions (and negotiated with countless others to no avail). Club owners don’t understand the concept that a musician should be making more than the “jello shot” girl does in tips. They don’t view it as hiring a one-night promotion (or understand what it is a band is truly trying to promote)…and they certainly don’t appreciate that “music” is a trade just like any other.
As you endeavor to spread the word about your talents, it is true that club dates can be a PIECE of your income and marketing strategy but it should not be your WHOLE strategy. Making it on the club scene just means you succeed in conquering the lowest rung on the income ladder at the paltry average of $100/night (plus tips if you’re lucky enough to have a gig where tips are part of the customer culture). If you work 365 days/year that’s $36k before taxes. That may be fine for a garage band composed of members who all have a full-time day job, but it does not a “career” make. Just food for thought: A good waitress or bartender makes more than that.
Your income strategy should include other opportunities for “exposure” which can result in real revenue:
- Mailbox Money (licensing, royalties, digital downloads, retail sales, merchandise)
- STUDIO TIME DRIVES MAILBOX MONEY (let me repeat that, “STUDIO TIME!!!”)
- Song Contests / Music Reviews
- A good website (where you can attract those 90 visitors who might see you in a tiny night club)
- Private Engagements (where you can be paid to perform without the burden of “marketing”)
- Contagious Materials (videos, content and art that can be “shared”)
- Agency, Brand & Promoter Relationships
- Self-Produced, Ticketed Events (where you take the risk and actually get compensated based on the success of your promotional efforts)
That may mean your investment should be in home recording gear or video editing or hiring a camera man for your club dates…or saving money to rent a venue (“four-walling” as they call it) but it doesn’t mean you have to surrender to the illusion of “exposure”. If you do take a club date:
Sell CD’s, get email addresses, plug your upcoming dates, website, youtoube page, etc…and know your rates off the top of your head in the unlikely event someone says “can you perform for a private engagement?”.
An artist/band that can sell 10,000 CD’s can make a really decent living. If you can do that in a club THAT is where you need to be. If you can’t…welcome to the reality of the music business - invest yourself in your “career”.
BOTTOM LINE
As an experienced promoter / producer – If I had to choose between booking a band for a club date at $500 and a charitable event for $300 I’m going to choose the charitable event. If you have to ask why you’ve missed the concept of “exposure” and you’ll continue to be a victim of people who use that word as a weapon to undervalue your contribution to THEIR business.
Very best,
Mark
PS. There is a distinction for NY artists about the term “club dates” – for the purposes of this article, a “club date” is a night club venue promotional night (not ticketed but maybe a cover charge). It is not meant to describe private engagements (or as many NY musicians generally refer to club dates – as any ”non-concert” performance).
Valuing a “service”
One constantly shifting factor in a service business is finding that magic “happy medium” between the divergent concepts of “cost” and “worth” (what it costs your business to be useful to a client and what you think your clients are willing to pay for something useful).
In today’s economy, keeping a steady workload can sometimes force you to abandon both of those considerations in favor of approaching the problem from a more survivalist approach: “How cheaply can I afford to offer my services?”
Before you undervalue your services for survival (or undermine the market your competitors have established FOR YOU), let’s take a look at the cost of doing business. In this example I’ll break down a Owner/Operator service business (Self-Employed “wage earner” as opposed to “business owner” who employs many).
There is a dramatic difference between earning a wage and owning a business – I’ll discuss that in another article.
In either case “time is money” as they say – so I’ll start with wages (and some assumptions):
- Assumption 1: Let’s say you’re a billable independent service provider w/$15k in supporting equipment and/or software (musician, photographer, videographer, graphic designer, web designer, writer, analyst, etc…).
- Assumption 2: You don’t have any employees and your business operates with the least amount of overhead possible. Whenever something gets out of your area of expertise you hire other subcontractors to help you pick up the slack.
TIME: For this example I’ll use a $50,000/year salary as a baseline (rough national average).
For a W2 employee earning $50k/year it would cost the employer about $65,000 per year (taxes, benefits, insurance, etc…). Sole Proprietors are not W2 employees but they do still have liabilities on their earnings and a responsibility to their retirement planning, all of which will likely make their costs about the same. That means if you want to earn $50k/year you have to bill $65k/year (that is the base pay multiplied x 1.3). Want $100k a year? Use $130k for the math.
MATH:
- $65k/52weeks = $1250/week
- $1250/36hours = $35/hour
Why 36 hours? Even if you work a 50 or 60hour work-week it isn’t all billable to a client – you own your business and you don’t charge your customers by the hour to do your own books, deal with your accountant, plan your marketing and advertising, pay your bills and bid jobs, etc… It is reasonable to assume you will burn at least 10hours a week that you aren’t paid for.
Using the above math we have established that your survival as a “wage earner” (not a business owner) requires you to bill for your time at a minimum of $35/hour and for a minimum of 36hours/week (assuming all client expenses are reimbursed at exactly what it costs you). That’s the cheapest you can work (before factoring in anything like additional equipment, job materials, insurance liability on subcontractors, etc…). It doesn’t matter if you work in your business (or on your business) for 60 hours each week – you still have to bill at least $35/hour for 36 hours (or $1250/week).
OVERHEAD / SUBCONTRACTORS:
To determine whether you are charging the appropriate markup on subcontractors/vendors, you simply need to determine three things:
- Does the difference between what you pay your vendor and what you bill your client equal your minimum rate after factoring in the amount of time it takes to manage/communicate with that vendor? ($200 in markup in a situation that takes you 10 hours to coordinate the work of your vendor only equals $20/hour).
- Can your subcontractors/vendors provide services at lower rates than you presently charge your client? (if there isn’t any built-in margin you will want to either raise your rates to create a natural margin or value a quote using #1 to calculate the margin)
- Is the perceived value of what you can provide by using a vendor or subcontractor worth the “perception” it has on your rates? (if you charge a customer $35/hour but your graphic person is charging $100/hour what is the perception of your talents to your client? This is how you determine whether you quote a “project” or an “hourly rate” because the perceived value of a project may be completely different than the perceived value of your time).
ASK YOURSELF (do these assumptions match your business):
- Can I bill 36hours/week in my field? (If not, you need to divide your weekly target by however many hours you can actually bill to a client).
- Can the clients that I have access to afford my rates?
- Can I deliver my service reliably at this rate? (and have client successes result in more work)
- Is my rate too affordable (this is a perception…and is mostly based on the market you work in – sometimes pricing yourself too low can actually hurt your ability to be taken seriously)
- Am I valuing the cost of my education?
- Do I have more than $15k in equipment?
- Are you above or below “average”?
In Short (this example): The least you can charge is $35/hour. The most you can bill is 36 hours. Is that a value for a useful service? Is that enough to survive in your world?
PERSONAL TAKE:
At Mahar Enterprises, Inc. our base rate is $65/hour (which is based on my personal baseline for all consultants).
The only time we charge more is when we can’t handle a scope of work with our existing pool of talent (or when travel is required). Travel changes everything – if only because most of the expense of my business is the equipment, software and technology which all live in my office (it isn’t as mobile as I am personally, people still need it in my absence and it has to be “duplicated” at a cost that is always applied to the job at hand for my clients). We have established a few services which are budgeted lower because we have made them more efficient (and in some cases they even replace “advertising” – a cost we would otherwise incur, so we can afford to apply the savings to that service).
Our competitors charge $250/hour for some of the services we provide. We have chosen to undercut the market so aggressively because the concern of “perceived worth” is less important to me personally than is actually “delivering something that any client can afford” (and doing it better than someone who charges so much more).
Because our core services are either “Delivery” or “Management”, we can remain focused on the simple cost of “our time in delivering the service” (and not worry about the perceived value of what we are delivering). Vendors worry about that, not us.
Each business is different. I value services based on my ideology of “removing handcuffs” from business owners. Everything has a cost. We operate on the most basic “Cost +” mentality rather than the value method our competitors and clients use (their method being more of a salespitch or rationalization which says, “this saves you $X so it is worth $X”).
Let’s be honest: If it doesn’t save you money or make you money it’s not worth doing. The perceived value and the cost are two different things. I couldn’t care less what someone says a service is “worth”…all I care about is that my clients can afford the “cost” (and that the cost is worth incurring). In answer to that question we’re always the most affordable and creative solution so I don’t have to defend the perception of “value”.
TO BE CLEAR: We don’t always recommend the “Cost +” approach for our clients in THEIR BUSINESS because the reality is that successful business revenue models rely on exploiting “perceived value” (in my business, however, I’ve reserved perceived valuations for PRODUCTS…not SERVICES). For the purposes of Mahar Enterprises, Inc. we’ve simply shaped our perceived value as “the most affordable solution for a truly necessary service” (rather than demonstrating “return on investment” in order to emotionally provoke clients to choose us over our competition). I personally find it easier to clearly say to business owners “once you decide something is necessary to your business, we are without question the most affordable place to get it done properly”. That approach may or may not work in your business but it works for mine (but I am also a business “owner” instead of just a “wage earner” – as mentioned, I’ll discuss the distinction in another article).
Feel free contact me to schedule a valuation study of YOUR RATES. We can do it under an hour, in real time and it costs $65. We conduct our services with complete confidentiality.
Regarding MY VALUE: I look at it this way - if a client doesn’t feel it is worth $65 to formally dissect their rates/business and gain access to some really candid/helpful advice, they might as well stop shopping consulting services in general because my competitors start at $150/hour….and I already gave them free advice (above).
Doing business is easy…but only once you’re valuable and useful…as an enterprise. That starts with “rates”.
- Mark
UPDATE: 9/24/11
After 11 years of operating with minimal overhead and providing all services exclusively with in-house talent, our workload has required that we add production personnel and programmers (all of whom are $100/hour or more). As a result, we’ve been forced to modify our rates.
Beginning October 1, 2011 our 2012 rates will go into effect at $130/hour (which is a 30% margin on contractors, and includes use of all production facilities at our disposal [no room rental fees for any production, taping, broadcast or commercial media]).
ASCAP, BMI, etc…
…just quickly, because I get asked a lot:
Nightclubs, Artists and Web Designers need to know how to appropriately license the music they plan to use.
Artists who want to know the finer points of whether they should associate with a performance rights organization can ask questions below, or contact me. I will be eventually dedicating an entire portion of the forums to this topic.
BUYERS may have to deal with all of the organizations (or limit themselves to the “library” of one organization).
PUBLISHERS & WRITERS can only be represented by one organization.
www.ascap.org (ASCAP; American Society of Composers, Authors & Poets)
www.bmi.com (BMI; Broadcast Music, Inc., as an answer to ASCAP)
www.sesac.com (SESAC; fastest growing…because it is the newest)
If you’re using music in your media, presentations, nightclub, website, and/or business (even for automated phone attendants), you’re supposed to have a license for the content. This is how songwriters and publisher get compensated for bringing music into the world.
We are happy to walk clients and artists through the process and equip them with what they need to know about licensing, for two reasons:
1. We’re a publisher and it is in our interest to keep things above board.
2. It is REALLY EASY to operate legally – and usually it inspires people with ways that THEY CAN PROFIT from the licensing dance.
As with all things – do it right the first time. It takes us about 30seconds to answer a question (and it saves you the headache of hearing from somebody’s lawyer).
Example: In order to use the original recording of the Cheers Theme Song for a promotion (for THE Cheers! Restaurant in Boston), I had to license the song rights from the artist. Licensing the actual recording used in the show came at a proposed cost of several thousand dollars (not attractive for a one-time promotion or simply for use on their website). Think about it though - They haven’t been using the song for over 3 decades because the second they did it represented a hit to their bottom-line. Or DOES IT?
Solution: After 20 minutes in the studio (recording a new/similar piano& vocal track), I licensed the mechanical rights for the original and handed them a track they could use. Their total cost ended up being $120…and they can do whatever they want with it now.
Seriously – One of the most recognizable brands in the country and they waited 30 years to add their most recognizable theme-song to a promotion. Knowledge is power. I’m happy to demystify this and many other topics for my clients (don’t wait 30yrs for a $120 solution).
Two things are owned when you hear a song on the radio:
1. Mechanical Rights (the words and music – as it would appear on a piece of sheet music) – extremly affordable
2. Master Recording (the owner of the actual audio recording that you hear) – not always affordable
- Mark
1 Day Film School
(utilizing licensing for retail products)
Prolific Film Industry Professional, Bobby Logan, teamed up with Image Icon Entertainment (with the support of Mahar Enterprises, Inc.) to create a valuable resource for emerging film-makers.
“Bobby Logan’s 1Day Film School” on 2 DVD’s is available at an amazingly low $99 [Buy It Now]
Here’s a small sample of the subjects covered in Bobby Logans’ 1 Day Film School DVD set:
Part 1 – “Creative Elements”
- Coming up with a clever, commercial idea
- The script – length, 3-act structure, re-writes
- What does the audience want? And how to give it to them
- What do distributors want? What elements are important?
- The genres that are always in demand
- How to direct/handle actors
Part 2 – “Technical Requirements”
- Crew positions
- Hiring the right crew – and at the right price
- Getting your film equipent – for little or no money
- How is it, you dom’thave to know a thing about technology
Part 3 – “Business”
- Shopping your completed film
- Dealing with distributors
- The politics of film festivals
- The business of casting – you need names to sell the film
- Producing a high-quality film on a shoestring budget
Educational DVD Credits:
Licensing - Mahar Enterprises, Inc. / Mark Mahar
Production, Editing, Artwork & Packaging - Image Icon Entertainment / James Benti / Jim Smith
Educational Content – Bobby Logan