Respect and Responsibility

Responsibility is a learning experience. There are reasons for why people chose a conservative life. Everything in life is a risk. There are even flaws in popular ideals about living.

Robert Frost is know for writing the poem "the Road not Taken." It is popular belief music, art and acting are the path less taken, yet there are several jobs in art related fields of study. Regardless of vocation, there are varying levels of success. Precautions, such as: school and work experience assist in finding work. Work availability is scarce when limiting options to Top of my Field.

Personal experience in the art community reveals complications with being an Artist. It took awhile to decipher information and decide what the differences were between successful, moderately successful and unsuccessful Artists.

Talk to people as a precaution. It defines a plan. My current market is more important than any other option to me. I live in a large city. It is known for computers and science. Large cities known for animation, art, acting and music are several miles away, yet there is an existing market close to home. Online marketing is accessible. There are fewer risks living at home. It is expensive living away from home. I should have competitive skills before risking a lot of money if having to move to another city.

There are unknowable circumstances in any business venture, work or life. The only way to develop a plan to handle competition, marketing and skills is to talk to other people. The internet has rules about proper behavior. As a regular person, I was able to determine better methods to handle competition. School and this site summarizes normal work experiences to prepare people for what might happen. Some concepts are more important to an Individual than other concepts.

Responsibility is best explained through a personal experience in middle school. I already knew business might be a vocational option. I was an Office Assistant for a semester. Going to each class to pick up folders, Students noticed another Student alone in the hallway more than responsibly.

Some Students knew it was a responsibility. I collected folders and performed basic office tasks to pass the class. Sometimes I filed or stopped by the Principle's door. It is a boring job.

I do not need supervision because I am responsible. A Friend decided the job would be great. They failed the class because they saw an opportunity to talk to other Students. They were restricted to an area outside the office from the door to the vending machines. This was harmful to their grade average and the person they wanted to talk to most wanted to talk to someone else.

It was not a complete loss, yet life has a method of showing how actions have consequences. They did not get the girl. I thought it was shady. Teachers became aware of his "tendencies." Several other Students though it might be the beginning of a criminal history.

Responsibility is also risky. Bloomberg Businessweek reports College Students are locked into debts that they are unable to payoff. Is college is the safest bet? Currently several Graduates are unable to payoff student loans. Jobs are scarce. Everyone wants the job market to inflate and going to college is a financial burden to sever Young Adults in the United States of America. Hopefully college is still the best option. Even if coming true through pure force of will power.

Another experience involves two locally successful Musicians. One had a two year degree. The other did not. After experiencing success, one became a Test Musician for a manufacturer of instruments. The other had trouble keeping a job though finding steady work at a fast food restaurant. After becoming slightly famous, there was difficulty getting a job. Too many people knew they could do better. All their help and expectation became a problem. Knowing that could happen is important.

Reading about Famous Celebrities, there is something noticeable in their work history. At first they only had jobs occasionally. Eventually, they can work year round; however, several films are independent. There is time in between getting high profile, high paying jobs.

I believe they made decisions to stay in good health and home while working to get the next opportunity. With this information, I want to work in the arts. It does not matter if I become famous. I love art. It is easy waking up and thinking of the next idea that should help society. Hopefully something will help someone live a better life. That thought makes me feel good.

The logistics on this are important. I need to know and understand how to accomplish goals. I could have gotten a degree in Acting. Most of my experience is working in offices. However, it is important to be in good health and home in order to be ready when another opportunity is available.

This modifies the plan. I do not want to spend time working on whatever. It makes sense to remain part of the art community. I can look for opportunities, while working on something to build my art resume. This is not a fallback plan. It will be an ongoing part of my life.

With a plan, past experience becomes a part of future experience. I do not want to be mean, yet I have to protect myself. I will not abuse power. Power is not a method for making friends. I might make friends, yet it is more important to be responsible for my own work and reputation. I will not be overly aggressive in protecting myself from gossip.

A weird phenomenon is phishing. There is confusion about my actual life. Even before internet, there was confusion between people with a similar name. It is nice. It is mean. Sometimes it is a circumstance. They never heard of me, yet several people prefer believing they are me. That must hurtful and hurt them. They are also a real person who deserves respect.

I imagine trying to open a business in the future. If becoming popular, there might be other companies who essentially phish. They have pictures of me and say they are endorsed by me after visiting my actual business. I was at work somewhere for awhile and could not be there in person. They walk around and decide it is a scam. Then they opened their own business with the an idea to appear endorsed by me and maybe they will be as successful. They do not understand the truth.

After they are arrested for false advertisement; there are rumors of a fake company. Now it is difficult knowing who is whom. I could avoid the issue by scheduling regular times to talk to everyone in person. I would have to pay for transportation, yet not legal fees on that issue. There is a responsibility to protecting my reputation that also protects them and people in the community. It is handled immediately, so there is less desire to take vengeful actions.

A college degree and work experience is risky. Life is risky. We still live. There are no guarantees the future will follow a plan. Planning reduces consequences. Advice is a method to protect a person from the worst outcome. Responsibility assists in acknowledging what happens in life. I enjoy working in where everyone acts respectfully. There is a calm when everyone does their job as it should be done. I imagine everyone notices the difference.

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Dispersing Risk

Insurance is another method to reduce risk to a company. Record labels and acting agencies benefit from a type of insurance. Though diversifying investments, it is a method of raising money from a collection of people, so money is available to assist someone who is part of the group.

Not every record label or acting agency utilizes types of insuring their company will stay in business; however, it is a worthwhile idea. Believing in honesty, Business Owner's should represent themselves in a trustworthy mannerism. Advertisement for Talent Managers, though a Booking Agency, gets causes people to mistrust talent management companies.

For example, people with talent and interest in music audition for a record label. The record label wants to make money to stay in business and fulfill obligations to music purchasable in the market. There are only so many people who audition and the person hiring knows the Band has a chance of succeeding.

For Bands to succeed, they need promotional fliers and music. They will need access to a recording studio and other equipment to perform and make money. They make money by selling music, tickets to concerts and other miscellaneous items.

Knowing some people in local bands, Bands have to afford expenses. This includes fliers, music, booking a venue and travel expenses. They might schedule a vacation to surrounding states and decide it is a business trip.

They risk losing money when buying a hundred compact discs to sell at live gigs. They might not be able to schedule a live gig. Before performing live, they have to buy equipment. Equipment includes sound boards, guitars, microphones, drums and amplifiers. The club, bar or gazebo provides lighting. There are several expenses before auditioning for a Talent Manager.

Hypothetically, they decide to promote themselves. They need demo music to audition for local clubs. They must choose between paying for studio time or paying for space at a venue to make money as Musicians. They could try both. It is a few hundred for studio time or booking a venue stage. They will also need marketing fliers.

This is the job of the record company or Manager. They organize events. Managers should be able to make decisions and purchases in a concise mannerism after successfully promoting a Band. They know what music Club Owner's prefers and a reputation for hiring excellent Musicians assists in being able to knowing about more gigs.

Perhaps the Talent Manager knows performing live first is better for gaining a reputation. They might find that it is important to have music available before scheduling live gigs. They might know preliminary live shows do not sell compacts disks, so they will wait to buy compact disks.

It is a serious job and people want to work with excellent Talent Managers. It is a relief not having to worry about the financial side of music or acting; however, promoting Talent with their money or loans is expensive. They want to make money back quickly or only spend money on functional cost, such as: heating, cooling and office space.

There is a limit it how much money is spendable on each venture. This means collecting money from Potential Talent. Managers might say the act is not ready and recommend classes. They are really saying, "I am not sure your will generate income after paying for everything."

With this in mind, there is also a method to knowing if it is a good audition. Acting agencies are notorious for being superficially nice to people. They do not want to hurt anyone's feelings. There is also a additional layer of placing people into the category they feel is "best for them right now."

There are a few Actors that walk in for an audition and the Manager knows it will be worthwhile to pay for photos, composition cards, photography time and travel. They might pay for free training. Then there is another tier of Talent. The Agent knows they have potential, yet are only willing to pay for some things. The Talent will have to pay the Photographer, yet the Manager pays for copies. The Agent pays for Travel. The Talent pays for acting workshops. There is belief in their Talent. The Manager wants to reduce risk on the venture.

There is a Talent Manager who people question their validity. The Manager has the ability to book Talent, yet they will not pay for anything. They help everyone; however, they offer workshops and connections to Photographers. There is a requirement for everyone to take expensive classes and then they have another audition to decide if they will send Talent to auditions. It is equal treatment for everyone; except, the method for earning money to pay off classes is only available to anyone who is sent to auditions and books shows.

They are not actually dishonest, yet how much would a person pay for their classes. They give everyone an opportunity, yet only some will be sent on audition. This means Talent is not paying for classes to prepare them for an acting or modeling career. This is a dispersal of fund raising across several people, so someone in the group benefits when needing money.

Another method to reduce risk is to only work with Talent they believe will earn money through booking gigs. Everyone else is given a referral to an music or acting school. This an honest business approach and how many people believe businesses function. If the school is a subsidiary or franchise of their company then it is actually a method of insurance. The school might generate a profit.

Franchises use this method to stay in business. Someone buys a franchise. They no longer worry as much about success or failure. If one location is not earning a profit, another franchise is making enough money to balance gains and losses. They remove risk of going into debt for millions of dollars.

This is essentially Bands, Actors and Actresses in the other hypothetical model. Five Bands apply. One is fabulous at selling tickets to shows Three breakeven and one sells three tickets to friends. With five Marketable Bands, they might breakeven. The Band who does well on their own makes an additional amount of money. The Bands that breakeven are able to perform again to see if they make more money. The Unpopular Band may try again, yet they must breakeven to continue with the record label.

It seems harsh, yet Talent does not risk thousands of dollars debt, because risk is offset through the agency. Instead, they take personal risks of rejection and loss of some money. It is a good opportunity to assess how much money is being spent in relation to one person's opinion.

The dispersion of risk across a greater number of people in generating revenue makes it possible to stay in business. People complain about fees. They believe they will be successful if given an opportunity. Truthfully, they might make a lot of money. They could lose a lot of money. Even if becoming a Winner after finding a Manager, it is better to feel good about helping everyone. The idea of bankruptcy is prohibitive.

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Warning!

Tactical Business Modes

Business modes are warlike in nature. Competitors want to build an unstoppable empire. In doing this eliminate other businesses livelihood by taking their customers. The main mission is to build and grow. While it is best to be ahead in technology and service, often companies develop to counter methods to lessen the impact of a competitor. For example someone develops a camera phone. Someone else develops a digital network. Now each has leverage to barter and obtain competitor features.

In war, regardless of the enemy having something of value tension rises to a level in which the opposition does not care to barter, understand they can take the object of value by force, live well without the object of value, or a combination of circumstances. When they only want to remove competition "Art of War" proves its benefit.

BOOK III: 111 The cause is that it is more important for one to guard against being hit than it is important to hit the enemy.

Generally true; however, later on in book seven there are several stories of how people in the Middle Ages perished because the enemy camped close enough no one would leave the castle, yet remained a distance so darts and arrows were unable to harm them. Therefore, a person has to determine whether defense or offense is better. When both sides employ the same strategy it becomes a waiting game. In addition, guarding against an enemy does not always maintain a defensive stance.

Taking advantage of starving people by setting food outside their door is low; however, it would be better to not starve. A company should never allow another company to limit resources when competitors have the ability to replenish without limitations. Sometimes people gain contacts to limit ability to grow. The struggling company must get what they need within the company (keep livestock in the castle), find another way to get resources (built an escape tunnel out of the castle), find new alliances (send carrier pigeons for help) or risk an offensive attack (release the soldiers while they can still fight).

BOOK III: 120, 127-8 And for [the same] cause for which I did not have it fire a second time, I was not going to let them fire the first, so that the enemy would be unable to fire even the first time…. There's nothing that makes greater confusion in an army than obstructing its view. Hence, many very hardy armies have been beaten by their sight having been obstructed either by dust or by the sun. And there's also nothing that obstructs the view more than the smoke that artillery makes in firing. Therefore, I would believe that there is more prudence in letting the enemy blind himself than for you, blind, wanting to go to find him.

Fear often blinds people. Deceit is a common method of creating a smoke screen. This deceit occurs internally and externally. People taut and bolster by appearing to be larger than they are. This is also systematic of fear. The action relieves tension caused by fear; however, it also creates a reason to be afraid.

Constant attacking blinds soldiers until they are useless in defending themselves against competitors. Reasons relate to how competitors prepare for a larger enemy, become defensive then offensive and confuse actual capabilities creating conceit. This is an impossible situation which could have been completely evaded by avoiding boasting and encouraging confrontation. Of course, it feels good to vent; therefore, an ongoing problem for most people.

BOOK IV: 118 I believe I have reasoned with some of you another time that he who stays in the country cannot flee the battle when he has an enemy who wishes to fight in any mode. He has only one remedy: placing himself with his army at least fifty miles distant from his adversary, so as to have time to get out of his way before he goes to find it.

This statement in itself is interesting, because if someone wishes to flee they must completely remove themselves from a battle. The armies in a foreign territory assume evaders only flee in order to attack again. I believe this statement suggests a tactical means to return to their own country where they are stronger, because Machiavelli also states an army who always pursues the enemy will eventually lose.

These appear to be opposing statements; however, even a fleeing encampment has a chance to rejuvenate, hunt, forage and plan an attack after gaining knowledge enemy tactics. Even when a treaty is secured, peacetime battles continue to fester. It is far less deadly, yet it is difficult to dismiss a fierce enemy as a company cannot go bankrupt or sell the business. Assuming they are reorganizing and planning a new strategy to re-enter competition is understandable. Who chooses death when realizing enemies are relentless?

While all of this is intriguing it is not so much a guide for how to live life or ultimate truth. It is a series of events and philosophies for planning strategies. If one could avoid all this chaos, I am sure they would. If unable to gain this luxury it helps to review different tactics to win or survive. As Friedrich Nietzsche stated, "That which does not kill us only makes us stronger."

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Quirky Books
Art of War by Niccolo Machiavelli