Made it in China

Made it in China features the personal experiences and lessons of international entrepreneurs who have left their own country and built successful businesses in China. 

China is the issue for business in the 21st century. Since the country initiated its market reforms at the end of the 1970s it has made huge strides and now virtually every business around the world, whatever its size and wherever its location, has to include the “China factor” in its business planning.

The book focuses on the practical experiences of nine entrepreneurs as they grew their companies in this new and developing market—each of these entrepreneurs was invited to participate for the expertise and focus they bring to the book. Their stories are both practical and entertaining, combining first-hand anecdotes about the challenges they faced and how these were met with their own observations and thoughts for dealing with each situation.

China is different and proud to be different. For businesses without experience of the country, there are a whole range of new cultural, political, legal, and economic challenges to be faced.  The vast majority of businesses that go to China fail, and fail for reasons that they don’t ever get to comprehend. It is a brutal market for those who do not understand it and there have been many major global organizations that have had their fingers burned due to their incomplete grasp of the country and its culture.

The nine entrepreneurs will highlight the challenges and lead you through the maze that is doing business in China, and explain the implications for businesses outside the country.

Further Information

You can read more about Made it in China at: http://madeitin.com/china.html.

You can read more about the nine entrepreneurs featured in Made it in China and the focus they bring to the book at: http://madeitin.com/chinapeople.html.

Made it in China is the first book in the Made It In… series of books. You can read more about the Made It In… series (including the next books in the series) at: http://www.madeitin.com.

Rocking Your Music Business

Making music is only half the story if you want to earn your living making music: the other half is the business. Rocking Your Music Business:

• introduces the business of music, and
• tells you how to set up and run that business–both in terms of what you need to do, and the tools you need to run your business at home and on the road. As part of this, the book also looks at how you can use your existing tools, such as a desktop computer, a laptop, or a Smartphone/iPhone, to carry your office in your pocket.

You don’t need a major record label to have a career–especially with all of the changes that the industry has been undergoing in the last few years–but you do need a successful business and business infrastructure, and Rocking Your Music Business is the handbook that should be on the bookshelf of every musician who wants to take their business as seriously as they take their music.

For further details, go to: http://noisesculpture.com/rymb.html.

As the article notes, there are many opportunities to make money from music.  These opportunities exist for the musician and the entrepreneur, and while the music industry has seen its business convulsed over the last few years, the new business opportunities continue to grow.

There will always be a place for new artists.  This provides the music entrepreneur (whether a performer or someone working behind the scenes), with a guarantee of access to the market.  However, when coupled with these recent industry developments, the music industry becomes a highly compelling place to be.  Just look at some of the changes:

• With the new distribution channels, profitability has increased: you can earn more by selling a $0.99 download than you can by selling a $10 CD and so you can be profitable with a much smaller fan base.
• As there is no need for a physical product, the scalability of some elements of the business are now unlimited.  Downloads also mean there are no logistical questions about producing and distributing CDs.  Nor do you have to deal with wholesalers, returns, breakages, or a host of other problems.
• In a wired-up world, word of mouth will sell products better than any paid-for advertising.  All you need to do is stand in the right place and get swept along by the wave.
• There are new and emerging outlets for music, such as ring tones.  Some of these markets can be incredibly lucrative, for instance while a download of a whole track may cost 99 cents, a short snippet sold for use as a cell phone ring tone may cost the equivalent of $9 (yes, that’s nine US dollars, it’s not a typo).   Figure out which might generate more income for you.

The entrepreneurs—whether musicians or business people—who will succeed will be those who understand the key relationship is with the fan base (in other words, the income source), and nurture that relationship as an asset of their business.  These people will not let their asset depreciate when the band has its inevitable “musical differences”.

Building a Successful 21st Century Music Career

Your career in music begins today: decide to begin your career and you’re off. Don’t wait for a record company to call and offer you a contract, because they won’t. All you need to do is decide to start your career. 

Building a Successful 21st Century Music Career is about how you can proactively start, and manage your own music career so that you can earn your living through making music—whether as a musician playing pop, rock, soul, R&B, classical or any other style of music; as a songwriter or composer; or as a producer.

To find out more, go to noisesculpture.com/c21.html.