Creativity can be applied to any medium

June 26, 2020

Good friend and thought leader David Cutler just released a mini-documentary entitled "Classical Music and Creativity."

Ideas on applying creativity into the realm of classical music, or walking… or anything.

Pulling Splinters: Marketing For the Long Game

February 16, 2021

by Eric Branner

A Year In Review: The Best Advice For Small Business Owners To Take Forward

OK, this is a tough post to write. Working as the editor on Fons Amplify this year has been a huge privilege. I’ve worked with some fantastic business owners who write kick-ass copy. Choosing my…

Looking for a new hat to try on for your business?

July 16, 2020

The COO is often the least understood yet highly critical element in the C-Suite periodic table.(CEO, CMO, CFO...) CEO brings the vision. CMO brings it to the world. CFO keeps the company solvent.

New Fons Demo

7/28/20

Take a gander at the new Fons product demo.

How To Balance Your Business Time AND Keep Learning

As an entrepreneur, you may feel overwhelmed and overstretched when it comes to running your business. The demands of work and home life can mean you take less (or no) time off and end up working…

How to Create Your Niche To Stand Out

You may have just earned a degree or certification, or you’ve read every book and knuckled down to some serious research. Either way, you have all this knowledge that’s ready to be put to use…

How to Find Your Perfect Clients with Facebook Groups

In March of 2017, there were more than 1.94 billion monthly active Facebook users — which is an 18 percent increase year over year! Then on June 27, Mark Zuckerberg announced that there are now two…

How to Incorporate Games into Your Business

In just a few decades, video games have gone from a hobby, to a massive billion dollar industry. Major electronics manufacturers like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have entire segments of their…

How to Market Your Business on Facebook Without Coming Across Sales-y

Facebook is a great place to connect with your ideal clients. And being a small company or single person can actually give you an advantage. Here are five ways to market your business on Facebook…

How to Stop Putting Out Fires: Time Blocking 101

So there you are: It’s the end of your week, the end of your day and for the life of you, you canNOT remember what you actually accomplished and worse IF you actually accomplished anything at all…

How To Use Spotify To Be More Than Just A Music Teacher

If you’re a music teacher, you’re probably not thinking about your super powers. “I’m just a music teacher,” you say. You are a cultural ambassador — opening doors to an entirely new world. You are…

How To Use Your Clients’ Best Tool: A Plain Old Notebook

Every business owner has a preferred way of helping their clients stay organized and keep track of notes and assignments. Mine is a plain old 8.5 x 11 inch spiral bound notebook. As a music teacher…

I’m Giving Away My Guitar Method

I’ve decided to give away The Blackforrest Guitar Companion as an ebook at no cost. I’ll also support the book with video lessons outlining all of the information in the book. I’m doing this because…

Is a Coworking Space Right for Your Business?

Finding the right space for your business is a headache. It’s difficult to find a workspace that matches your needs, those of your clients and doesn’t cost the Earth. You could choose to run your…

Listening to New Music: How To Boost the Vitality of Your Business

As a music instructor, I’m always looking for ways to capture and keep the interest of students. While some students choose Beethoven over Beck or Liszt over the Lumineers, many others enjoy playing…

Planning for the Unplanned: How Improvisation Will Benefit Your Business

Wikipedia defines musical improvisation as: “the creative activity of immediate (‘in the moment’) musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental…

Reciprocal Advantages: Asking For Help From Your Community

For small business owners, our dreams can be as big as mountains are tall. Growth to rival the next Amazon.com might be part of your five-year-plan, and when you shop for partnerships and…

Recital? Or Guitarbeque!!!

Public performance is one of the great motivators to any practice. Athletes need to compete, musicians need to perform and dancers need to take the stage. Most instructors would agree that there is…

Simplify Your Lesson Policies for Private Instructors

A clear lesson policy is as an absolute must for any instructor. A policy sheet lays out the ground rules for a student-teacher relationship. It explains the instructor’s rate, accepted payment…

The Double-Edged Sword of Amazon Prime

As I wait for my brain to settle, imagining the creative juices that are responsible for my very career in the arts are reaching a rolling boil, preparing to write about Amazon Prime, I am tempted to…

The Private Music Teacher’s Website Checklist

It’s extremely rare that a music teacher won’t need a website. However, it’s not unheard of. Take, for instance, my very own mother who is a Wyoming piano teacher with a long waiting list of future…