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Are you a good employee?
Anyone who does hiring will tell you, it’s hard to find good employees. We live in a time when folks act like they’re doing you a favor by showing up to work and it’s sad. You certainly don’t have to kill yourself working for someone else, but appreciating the gift of having a way to bring income into your household should be valued and respected.
If you have dreams of one day owning your own successful company, the best thing you can do for yourself is learn how to be a good employee. Every great Boss was once a great employee. So let’s address some basics that may seem like common sense to some, but in reality some people are never taught these things so that’s why I’m sharing it. What makes me the expert? I wouldn’t call myself an expert but I do have a decade of experience teaching employment skills, hiring, managing, supervising, and eight years of self-employment so I’d at least consider myself a reliable source.
Accepting a Job
When you accept an offer of employment, realize what is actually happening. You are agreeing to preform the duties outlined in your job description and follow the company’s policies for an exchange of a certain amount of money (hourly/ annually). There are far too many folks who come into agreement with this written contract (which is everything most people don’t really read and just sign on multiple pages within the application) and don’t uphold their end of the bargain.
It’s extremely hard to fire someone who preforms the duties they agreed to and it is almost impossible to fire someone who does their duties well. Why? Because Unemployment Insurance costs money. The more people you fire, the more people collect and the more expensive it is to carry insurance. Employers are in the business of making making money, not loosing it. Employers seek to hire individuals that they think can become an asset, not a liability. Most companies evaluate their employees on a 90-day, 6-month, then annual basis. Within these evaluations are basic questions, do you or don’t you do the job you agreed to do?
If you agreed to preform certain duties and follow certain policies, the very least you can do to keep yourself employed is keep your word. Far too many people have no problem cashing a paycheck and not upholding their end of the bargain. Far too many people get a job, then behave like it’s an entitlement. One of the hardest lessons you will ever learn in the working world is that anyone can be replaced. If you are a person who strives to give 100% in everything you put your hands to? That will always work in your favor. If you’re not a person who strives to give 100%? You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do, but the least you should do is do what they’re paying you to do.
But I don’t really like my job, I only work there because I need money….
So what? Seriously, so what? Nobody told you that you had to like anything but if you have a need (income) which they (the job you don’t like) are providing to you and your household? Suck it up. Did you like going to school everyday? Do you like when the kids make a mess? Do you like paying bills? Nobody likes everything but there are things we have to do in order to provide for our household or fund our dreams. If you really are that bothered? Look for a different job. However, while you are employed at a place you don’t like? Show up with a good attitude and do what they’re paying you for. You may very well need that reference checked one day and although it is illegal for any company to give an opinion (non-factual information) about you , things like your attendance is factual. Sometimes a tone of voice or simply saying a person is not eligible for re-hire is all that a new potential employer needs to hear in order to make a decision about hiring you.
Every great Boss was once a great employee
A great Manager is one who has worked multiple positions within a company before getting promoted. A terrible Manager is normally one with no experience. Working your way up a ladder will teach you skills and lessons that you can’t obtain any other way. Some of the lessons you learn will be fair and some won’t be, but it’s important to have both so you know exactly what to do and what not to do.
For those of you who desire to be your own boss, be the kind of employee you’d want working for you. Would you continue to pay someone who had a bad attitude and was always doing the minimum necessary to get by? Take every opportunity you can to learn about the business and policy so that you know what to do when it’s time for you to run your company. Even if your job isn’t in the industry you desire to operate a company in, there are many things that are just standard for running a business of any kind.
Corrective Feedback
Learn to be a person who accepts corrective feedback. There are far too many people who take it personally when someone offers them corrective feedback. If your supervisor is evaluating your job performance or offering corrective feedback about something in the work place, that is not a personal attack against you as a human being.
There is a huge difference between someone belittling you and correcting your job performance. The first time I had a supervisor pull me to the side, I felt bad. I felt like I screwed up. I however took heed to what she said and within the next three years following her pulling me aside, I was promoted twice.
Friendly & Friends
You do not get paid at any job to make friends. Most people get friendly with co-workers, invite them to weddings, they show up at funerals, and some you may even spend some recreation time with. In reality, you normally spend a lot of your time at work and you get friendly with folks. Your being friendly, should never blind you from the fact that you’re there to work or compromise your job performance. Professional Boundaries are extremely important. If you have ever supervised someone who was a friend or family member you know exactly what I’m talking about. Work is work, friendship is friendship, and not everyone has an easy time making that separation.
Simple Steps to being a good employee
- Show up on time, call if you’re running late, minimize tardiness
- Do your best to schedule your time off according to company policy
- Follow policy
- Have a good attitude
- Finish your shift responsibilities, don’t leave your work for other people to do
- Be a team player
- Put in a reasonable effort, do what they pay you to do
- Keep non-emergency personal calls/ texting to your break times. Nobody pays you to be on your phone and most companies have a cell phone policy you probably signed off on and didn’t really read
If you want to be one of those above and beyond employees? Ask if there’s anything else you can help out with once your work is done. It’s not that complicated folks, sometimes we need to change our perspective. For every shift that you get to work and generate income for your household, there is someone who wishes they had that same opportunity. If you don’t believe me, feel free to have a chat with anyone who is currently homeless or was recently released from a correctional facility and is now job searching.
#HipHop101 for New Artists: Releasing Your Music
Once you come out? You stay out.
When you’re a well established artist (with an established fan base) your fans will find your stuff as soon as it’s out and listen to it. This takes YEARS to build and the reality is it may or may not ever happen. Who are fans? The people (not your few friends that know you and tell you everything you do is good) that don’t know you at all and they genuinely like the music. My recommendations to any new artist would be to start by drop singles only until you can regularly pull 500 legit plays on a song. Once you’ve done this a few times and you see that your numbers are growing and consistent, then drop a whole project. During the time you’re dropping and promoting singles, you should be recording and STACKING music. If you prematurely drop a full project and you have no real audience, who’s going to download it? *crickets* …… Then all of the time & money that went into the project is basically wasted.
Generally speaking, you should have something in rotation every season (i.e. if you just started yesterday, that is one song per season). Full projects like Albums or MXTPS should be promoted HEAVY for the first 6 months and still promoted for the remaining 6 months of the year.What happens is to an artist the music is old to you, so you’re bored. This is exactly why artists need assistance in Management and Marketing. The music is not old if people haven’t heard it. Everything should be planned and timed. Each release should have it’s own momentum or build up. For example, if you’re releasing a single that is just as important as a whole project. A whole project should ideally have a promo flyer, commercial, you release the first single, 2-weeks later drop a second single, 2-weeks later drop the entire project. Then the whole project should be the focus of promotion for an entire year. What happens most time like I said, artists get bored. The worst thing you can do to yourself as an artist is record, release, record, release, record, release what you’re doing at that point is your not putting the proper promotion time behind your release (video, single, project). What happens when you don’t put the proper promotion time behind a project? Wasted time and money. This is where you will see an artist with 20 songs on Sound Cloud and nothing has over a few hundred plays … if that. One of the worst ideas you can have is buying plays, likes, and views. Why? BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT REAL. Although most people do it to “give the impression or appearance” that there song is better than it is, it profits you absolutely nothing but “feeling” like a rockstar for five minuets. If your music sucks? It sucks. Not everyone that can use a band aid or knows CPR is qualified to be a surgeon now are they? It is in your best interest if you are SERIOUS about your music is get a legit feel for how it does. Otherwise you’re going to basically just keep wasting money. You’re not fooling Jay-Z, Diddy or anyone else you tweet your You Tube video to with 10k purchased views.
Speaking of money…. your music is going to cost you thousands of dollars and there is a 90% chance you will NOT make back what you spent and a 100% you’ll end up broke (some of us more then once depends how many years in the game you hang on) before you make one cent. An artist being talented or a song being good has very little to do with the Artist’s success. To quote a very good friend, GRYNDHOUSZ (Indie Artist with over 70k sold) “You are not a singer or a rapper. You just sing or rap until you can feed your family off of it”. BEFORE YOU RELEASE ANYTHING, you should have a plan and budget for promotion. It is a waste of time and money to release a project and have no money saved to promote it. Each project (single, video, MXTP, etc) should have a strategy for release & promotion. This includes researching the best yet most cost effective way to get your music out and in as many places as possible. The general public thinks that you can just “get your music on the radio”…. sure you can, if you have $80-100K to launch a Clear Channel campaign for 6-months. (If you’re not sure what Clear Channel is, it proves you really didn’t research the career field you say you’re in). Any artist you hear on a main stream radio station has spent six figures to get there. I’ve had people say to me “Well when a label signs me, they’ll pay for that.” Again, this proves how little you’ve researched. No record label in the world is going to invest that kind of money into someone who is not already an established money maker you have a better chance of winning the lotto.
It always makes me laugh when a brand new artist starts charging for versus. First of all, WHO ARE YOU? Seriously, who are you? There is nothing wrong with asking to cover your studio time. Honestly you shouldn’t even THINK about charging anybody anything until there’s a reason (i.e. you’re pulling thousands of LEGIT views, plays, etc. ) LOTS of artists prematurely TRY to start charging just because they’re tired of spending all of their money and not getting rich and famous fast enough, which of course realistically probably won’t happen at all. When it comes to money and your music, the best piece of advice I can give you is do it for the love. If you do it for the love, you’ll never be disappointed.
What I have just shared with you for FREE, would have taken you years and cost you thousands to learn, if you ever ended up learning it at all. Take heed, Be Wise, You’re Welcome.
INDIE ARTISTS: This is a must read, trust me! It will save you time & money http://www.thegryndhousz.com/10-indie-commandments
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Battlegrownd Entertainment via Queentheprophet.com is running the following social media promo specials for the Summer (Sale ends 8/31/14) :
BANNER SPOT: Have your business, book, service, album, or mix tape in the banner spot on Queentheprophet.com for 7-days $25
The Banner is seen by all site visitors. This blog is promoted daily, so you inherit the free promotion/ exposure.
BLOG FEATURE: Have your business, book, service, album, or mix tape featured $15
Your blog feature will be hosted on the site and seen by all site visitors. Your feature will be promoted/shared on Queentheprophet’s other social media links (Twitter & Facebook) for 7 days with no additional cost. Your blog feature stays active for the life of the blog article, free promotion ends in 7-days.
To maximize your feature & exposure, when you see the link to your article have your team or hire a team to circulate your article via social media. You can add the Banner Spot to your feature for $15.
INTERVIEW: Customized Interview $25
Your interview will be hosted on the site and seen by all site visitors. Your interview will be promoted/shared on Queentheprophet’s other social media links (Twitter & Facebook) for 7 days with no additional cost. The link to the interview stays active for the life of the blog article, free promotion ends in 7-days. To maximize your feature & exposure, when you see the link to your article have your team or hire a team to circulate your article via social media. You can add the Banner Spot to your feature for $15.
BANNER SPOT, FEATURE, & INTERVIEW $50
Battlegrownd Entertainment via Queentheprophet.com is running the following services to indie & underground artists for the Summer (Sale ends 8/31/14) :
Consultation/ STRATEGIC PLAN- $65
Regular price for consultation is $100 per hour. For the next few weeks, I will customize strategic plans for new /indie artists that cannot afford official Artist Management. Basically, $65 will buy you free consultation from an experienced Artist Manager/ Developer and a detailed written plan (course of action) customized for you personally and instructions on how to do it all yourself. The consultation will include a 60-minuet phone assessment at no charge. Who would benefit from this? An indie artist that cannot afford formal management, wants to release a project and has no idea how to do it or where to begin. If you feel you would like more support afterwards, add 1.5 hours of Artist Development and pay $100 for the entire package.
New Business Start-up Consultation/ Strategic Plan – $65
Social Media Music Promotion- Contact for details, packages start at $25 and Up
Digital Promotion Consultation/Strategic Plan- $40
Digital Promotion Consultation will customize a digital promotion package as well as a directory of where to purchase the services at little or no cost to meet any budget.
Legal Services Consultation- 1-hour $40
If you are a new artist and have no idea where to begin with the legal aspect of music? This is for you. We will address name registration, trade marks, copy writing, and basic music law.
ALL INQUIRIES SHOULD BE EMAILED TO: queentheprophet@gmail.com PLEASE BE SURE TO INDICATE WHICH SERVICE YOU ARE INQUIRING ABOUT.
HELL RAZAH presents : GHETTO GOVT USA (Under Seraphim Authority), Volume 3
***DISCOUNTED MXTP SLOT RATE ONLY AVAILABLE VIA QUEENTHEPROPHET.COM*** Non-GGO slots are $100 MENTION this ad on Queentheprophet.com slot is $75
email GGOMXTPS@gmail.com YOU MUST MENTION THIS AD IN YOUR EMAIL. NEXT MXTP SUBMISSION DEADLINE: OCTOBER 31st
queentheprophet.com offers FREE assistance 2 #Entrepreneurs 4 2014
Greetings Family!
2014 is going to be an even better year! I don’t know about you, but I’m excited!
It is far better to give then receive, not just at Christmas. Some folks haven’t figured out that if you sow good, you reap good and that is my entire claim to fame. Ever hear the saying “they see the glory, but don’t know the story”? That about sums it up.
Anyhow, in order to kick the New Year off right, from now until the end of January 2014 if you are an independent artist or entrepreneur and you have questions about how to start a business, marketing, promotion, project release, recording, production, social media, applying for a grant, or artist development and you can not afford to pay for it, I will help you for FREE on behalf of Battlegrownd Entertainment/ Ghetto Govt.
In your email, please be sure to specify exactly what it is you need assistance with. Email inquiries to queentheprophet@gmail.com put “NEW YEARS BLOG OFFER” in the subject line.
Be blessed-
Q
#OPERATIONREVOLUTION #FLORIDA #CERTIFIED RESOURCE #BEASTHOODINC @kingmagma
The Man, the Mission, the Motto enveloped in the embodiment of one word…..BEAST.
Beat Everything Against Self Triumph.
Johnny Magnum, CEO and Founder of Beasthood Incorporated, has made it his sole mission to bring back purpose in the lost art of Self Expression. Music Writer, Artist Manager, Poet, Graphic Designer, Marketing Material Producer, Business Consultant and overall Tech Geek Mr. Mag is nothing short of a new age renaissance man ready to delve into any and everything possible to bring forth the revolution of solid principles, ethics and potent hard hitting lyricism back to the forefront of not only rap music, but Hip Hop Culture.
Networking is something Beasthood Inc is HEAVY into. Already linking up with Enviious Media Designs, Brossette Music Empire and On Point Entertainment into an already impactful empire of progression the Movement is set to further expand with Battlegrownd Entertainment and embody the #OperationRevolution movement. If you are fed up with the watered down gimmicks of society, join up, contact em and let them know what you need or stay mad and impotent.
“Get Wit it, or Get Livid” ~Johnny Magnum
Website: http://www.Beasthoodincorporated.com
Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/Beasthoodinc
Twitter: @KingMagma
Soundcloud: http://www.Soundcloud.com/JohnnyMagnum
Johnny Magnum
Founder/CEO
Beasthood Inc
Email: JohnnyMagnum@beasthoodincorporated.com
Web: http://www.BeasthoodIncorporated.com
QueenTheProphet.com 