If you crave celebrity, this post is for you. It is no surprise when I say that our country is obsessed with celebrity. Celebrity sells and celebrity images are pumped out to the point of exhaustion. I think that most young artists, if honest with themselves, would admit to having celebrity lust. They, themselves, in fact, may be using their educational environments as a stepping stones towards what they believe will increase their odds towards achieving celebrity and the schools that cater t... Read Full Story

I have been around many individuals who have launched, and failed to launch, successful creative enterprises over the last 25 years. Those who succeed the most quickly and easily usually have sought out support in the form of education and/or have hired a consultant to help them.  The Institute for Arts Entrepreneurship represents the best of both of these worlds by offering both education and one-on-one ongoing support for two years at a fraction of the cost of what others charge. IAE studen... Read Full Story

Uncle Eddie is drinking a little too much and grandma can’t hear. The kids tore the hinges off my office door and another took a crap behind my daughter’s playhouse. Yea! It’s Thanksgiving time! That time of year that many of us cling to the possibility that this time…it will be magical (and it is going to be magical, by god…if it friggin’ kills all of us…)! Mmmm. Thanksgiving. La la la la la. It is the holiday time. During your holiday ritual, allow yourself to drift back and think about the... Read Full Story

The incomparable Matt Groening (his self-portrait, below right), creator of the Simpsons, spoke here recently as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival. Alongside cartoonist and former college friend Lynda Barry (who frankly overshadowed him with her bubbly storytelling), Groening (pronounced “Gray-ning”) shared a bit about how he got started and a few keys to the success of the Simpsons, still making us laugh and cringe after 21 years. Amazingly, he still publishes his original ... Read Full Story

What is personal freedom, for the rest of your life, worth to you?  What would you be willing to pay right now to know you can have it?  Would you trade 3 years of your life plus $30,000 for it? What would your life be like if you were 100% in control of your daily routines? What if the job you had was one you designed and it completely fit your personality and included all your interests? Would you really like to do better than scrape by?  Are you tired of not making daily, or even weekly pr... Read Full Story

I’ve been thinking about creative thinking. And then, given the season, this led me to thinking about creative thanking. This then led me to an idea: the “Timely Test of Creative Thanking,” a riff on the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking. The TTCT is a well known measure of creativity. It measures not your creative style (how are you creative), but your level of creativity (how creative are you). One of the versions is a Figural Test, were you are asked to create images fro... Read Full Story

“Would you trade four hours for $100,000?”  That’s a question I recently asked a class of musicians.  Most raised their hand.  A few wanted to know what they’d have to do.  “Nothing hard or illegal,” I assured.  Then the ante was upped.  “What about for a million dollars?”  Suddenly all hands were reaching high in excitement. What they didn’t expect—my question wasn’t simply theoretical. Four hours of time could actually lead to a million plus dollars.  And the proposed activity is easy.  Yet... Read Full Story

I’ve been thinking about creative thinking. And then, given the season, this led me to thinking about creative thanking. This then led me to an idea: the “Timely Test of Creative Thanking,” a riff on the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking. The TTCT is a well known measure of creativity. It measures not your creative style (how are you creative), but your level of creativity (how creative are you). One of the versions is a Figural Test, were you are asked to create images fro... Read Full Story

So Which Type Are You? If you took The Self Directed Search, as I recommended from Part I of this post, while you may have had a strong hunch which personality traits were most dominant for you, I bet you were also surprised by what the tool revealed to you about your second and third strongest skills. Developing this self-awareness in itself  often can dramatically influence and change your goals and career pursuits immediately. In order to help you see into how important the position is of ... Read Full Story

Features and benefits are being bandied about.  And as important as they are, they need to be constantly in front of the consumer to do work their magic.  It is said that a buyer needs seven times to have a product in front of them before they buy.  How do you make sure there are repeat peformances of the benefits of your product? I  have found two resources that pay off – Newsletters and Blogs.  New, constantly updated information around the main subject on a regular basis.  And that&#... Read Full Story