Giving Purpose to Your Name

As people continue to learn more about themselves and grow into their professional careers, many feel the need to give a part of themselves to others. No matter what all you give to your fans, there’s always something more that they can appreciate more than just your talent. 

Many big name celebrities find non-profit organizations to donate their money and time to. NBA star Dwayne Wade founded Wade’s World Foundation, which made it their mission “to provide support to various educational, health and family service programs, in particular those that benefit underserved communities.” This passion came from him growing up in Chicago within a small family unit and him not wanting to forget where he came from. Wade has been recognized numerous times for his various efforts within these less fortunate communities.

Actor Matthew McConaughey started Just Keep Livin’Foundation along with his wife Camila. Their mission is “empowering high school students to lead active lives and make healthy choices to become great men and women.” McConaughey founded his organization after his father passed and he continues to team up with various public schools to teach the youth about creating healthy lifestyles and remaining physically fit.

Another NBA star, Carmelo Anthony, has felt compelled to donate his time in support of others. He founded the Carmelo Anthony Foundation, which has a mission to "positively impact the lives of those living in under-serves communities through 3 key focus areas - education, recreation & community outreach." Born in Brooklyn and raised in Baltimore, Anthony turned to sports as his way of getting away from the troubles of his youth. Being able to give back to those who are growing up in a similar fashion as himself, he's able to help them to direct their focus as they get older while instilling priceless values in their lives.

As we each build up a positive reputation for our own names, we should not forget about the other people within the world that may be in need of our help. By creating a purpose for ourselves, we not only gain respect from our fans but from our colleagues as well. No matter what direction our careers may take us, we can always give that extra effort to someone else.

Sources:

Carmelo Anthony Foundation

Just Keep Livin’Foundation

Wade’s World Foundation

Music Publicists

When a person is pursuing a career within the music industry, they have many routes to choose from. This especially lends to those that don't have an interest in being an artist. With the endless possibilities that the industry provides, it's easy for some to see why this industry is always shifting. This industry seems very suitable for someone that enjoys being able to express his or her freedom of creativity. The top benefit of a great career is to be able to actually make a decent living. Upon doing research on marketing, advertising and public relations, one particular title that many people are very cautious about filling is the position of a publicist. According to AMP3 Public Relations, "Publicists are expected to create pr campaigns for their client that will promote their brand and make them more visible within their market."

Many young artists are always depending on their managers to fill this need for their career. One thing that most people don't realize is how important it is to have a publicist on your team. This role does not hold all of the responsibility for making the artist famous, nor does the role of the manager. By hiring a publicist, artists are presented with more positive opportunities that a manager just may not have time to work on for them. The difference that many aren't aware of is that a manager is there to handle all of the business (and sometimes financial) deals that the artist has going on. They make sure that the artist is there to attend all of their meetings and performances. When it comes to a publicist, their job is to take care of the artist's brand. They make sure that the artist isn't going to be affiliated with anything that may damage them as an artist. If they are seen in a negative light, it's the role of the publicist to find ways to spin it back to being positive.

Just as the role of the manager, a publicist may have just one client that they work with or they may have multiple clients. But the real challenge is to keep in mind that they must abide by confidentiality if they do have more than one client. You don't want to "compete" clients for the same job unless you know for certain that your original client is not going to be useful for the particular project. A great publicist won't deal with this type of situation often because they should already know their client well enough to know what projects they can be booked for and there not be an option for others to take their place.

For any artist that is just starting their career, they want to make sure that they are building the right support team for themselves and not just focusing on cutting out all overhead costs. There are plenty of costs that they can remove from their budgets but they should always make room for a publicist to join their team. They may not really understand exactly what the publicist is doing for them but they will begin to understand once they seem how their effective their brand can become.


--- Jackee Walker



***** Sources:
AMP3 Public Relations
Have You Hugged A Music Publicist Today?