Sure, playing music is fun, but you can’t make any money!

Ever heard that? Ever thought that it was true? Well, I’m happy to say it isn’t. You can make money as a musician. Through lessons, selling music to other artists or companies, busking, sell merchandise, and performing, you can make money as a musician.

Make an Hourly Rate by Giving Lessons

Everyone has to start somewhere. And when someone is just starting out, they want to work with teachers who are knowledgeable, successful, and talented. Don’t save all of your talent for audiences – share some with the up-and-coming musicians.

Depending on how well known you are, and the sort of clientele you work with, you can make anywhere from $25 – $50+ per lesson. Either providing your services through a local music store or freelancing through Craigslist or fliers around town, this is a great way to make money as a musician.

Use Teamwork to Make Money by Selling Your Music to Other Artists

One of the best ways to make money in the music business is to sell your songs to other artists. You could make a deal where a percentage of whatever the artists makes off of your song(s) goes directly to you. So, while they are out there performing, making deals, you can sit back and rake in the money coming from this one-time deal that you made. And this is the sort of thing that spreads. Once one of your sold-songs becomes successful, don’t be surprised if other more well-known artists are knocking on your door, interested in paying healthy amounts of money for your material.

Make Money as You Practice By Busking

Take your music to the streets! Performing out in the open, for anyone to see is fun and you, as an artist, can get a lot from it. For instance, you can see which of your songs people instantly respond to, which ones people dance to, which ones pay, and which ones flop. This information can be very useful when it comes to preparing the set-list for your next show. Also, busking gives you an opportunity to play out in a way that you might not be able to in your home/apartment. And while you’re playing out / practicing, you’re making money – that beats playing along in a bedroom.

Make Money by Selling Merchandise

Whenever you play a show, have something there for people to buy. Whether it be a demo album, a full-length album, or some sort of t-shirt, several members of your audience would like to support you by purchasing something from you. So be sure you have something there for them to buy. And while you have these things to sell at your performances, have them available to buy online. This will give you a source of income in addition to the money that you earn from in-person sales.

Make Money by Performing

Even though it’s getting cheaper and cheaper all the time to enjoy listening to recorded music (here’s more about how to get your music fix on the cheap), it’s just as difficult as ever to find an opportunity to see a quality live performance – help meet that need! Whether you are touring or staying in your hometown, research venues. Find venues that frequently host artists that perform the genre of music that you do, and get in contact with them. Then negotiate a time and fee for your to perform at their venue. This can be a great way for you to gain exposure, while simultaneously earning money for your performance.

So, despite what you may have heard about it being impossible to earn money as a musician, it’s not – it simply takes creativity. Luckily, that’s something that musicians have in spades!

Intro: Dan is an accountant in his late 20s who lives in Calgary. He has never had any consumer debt, has a professional accounting designation and rarely pays full price for anything. He is happily married with one spoiled dog. He writes at his site called Our Big Fat Wallet.

With the weather finally warming up and the sun starting to shine, it’s time for our annual spring cleaning purge.

My wife and I recently bought a house, and although we have only lived in it for less than two years we’ve found it very easy to accumulate ‘stuff’ – old DVDs we hardly ever watch, magazines we have already read and plastic containers that have slowly piled up over time.

image via https://www.flickr.com/photos/nbklx17/

Related: How I Graduated with No Debt and $10,000

Last spring we decided to ‘purge’ our house of the items we no longer used – and there were lots of them.

One weekend we decided to hold a garage sale and the turnout was a huge success – a few hours of organizing, sorting and cleaning earned us $432.

What Sold – and What Didn’t

It was our first garage sale ever, and we learnt quite a bit on what was popular (and what wasn’t).

The biggest surprise came when we sold an old antique clock which we had no use for and didn’t ‘fit’ with the rest of the décor in our home. We bought it about 3 years ago for $40 and sold it for $80.

Other items that sold almost immediately were children’s toys, children’s clothing, household tools, small kitchen appliances and vintage movie posters. The children’s items were a hot seller for moms looking for a bargain.

Items that weren’t so popular? DVDs, scrapbooking supplies, an outdated PVR and old camera equipment. We found people we no longer interested in outdated technology – even at cheap prices.

Pricing Strategies that Worked

We knew we wouldn’t get top dollar for our items and we were completely ok with that, since many of the items we no longer used.

We priced our items similar to a discount retailer – items we knew would be a tough sell were in the ‘discount bin’ – where prices were significantly lower than normal (even for a garage sale).

Related: Raising Financially-Savvy Children

We also placed similar items together and offered a discount based on quantity. For example, we asked $10 for one pair of shoes but put all pairs together and marked them as ‘$15 for 2’ or ‘$25 for 3’. This way people saw the value in buying more – they paid a lower price (per item) and we increased our sales.

We hardly ever got the full asking price for the items we sold – but all prices were reasonable to begin with, so people felt more comfortable making an offer.

Haggling Strategies

We found that most (if not all) people offered a price that was lower than what we were asking.

We would sometimes offer the buyer to ‘meet in the middle’ of the asking price and the offer. This usually worked well since it showed we were willing to settle on a fair price for both.

Related: How I Saved $684 on Cable and Internet

On other occasions we would combine all items a seller was interested in and agree on a price for everything.

Helping the Environment

By selling our ‘stuff’ we no longer used, we were able to make some extra spending money and help the environment at the same time.

The items we would have thrown away (and wasted) would get some extra use by others and they would be reused rather than replaced by new ones.

We also donated everything that didn’t sell to a local thrift store, which meant virtually everything we would have thrown out would get some extra use by others.

Have you ever held a garage sale? If so, what worked & didn’t work?

You have a great idea. You are already with the business plan to make your idea a hopping business, and the previews about the business have been great. However, there is one small problem. You are wondering how to start an online store quickly.  How do you convert your idea into a great online business and ensure that it becomes a success? You are right to think about this, as every Tom, Dick and Harry has his own website online. Some of them succeed while others do not, and you want to make sure that your website becomes a success. Your website has to be distinctive and unique to catch the reader’s attention. However, you are entering the field of online business for the first time and you might make mistakes, says Small Business Canada.

To help you on the path to making your website and business successful, here are the most common mistakes made by entrepreneurs when they set up online businesses.

Mistake 1: Trying to Do Everything Yourself

It is your business and you want to be as hands-on as possible, but running a small business is not simple. It’s a good idea to delegate as much of the business as possible. For example, you should hire professional website designers, content writers, accountants and tax professionals to help you get your website up and running.

Mistake 2: Not Having a Business Plan Ready

Planning is extremely important when starting an online store. Most entrepreneurs now prefer to write a complete business plan before they do anything else. Writing a business plan is complex but it actually makes you think through your entire business on paper. The process will also clear up in your mind any cash flow issues, expansion ideas and financing problems before you actually set up the business.

Mistake 3: Not Being Unique

This is the most important aspect of any business. For example, clothing websites are a dime a dozen, but a few websites are far ahead of the others. This is because they offer some unique features that make them attractive to customers. As a business owner, make sure you check out the competition and incorporate these features into your website. If possible, try to make your business and website unique enough to instantly capture the customer’s eye.

Mistake 4: Not Listening to Customers

Customers are clear about what they want, and they are usually very vocal about what they want. As a business owner, you should pay careful attention to your customers. Incorporate changes or solve problems immediately. Your online reputation depends on how quickly you satisfy customers and that means paying attention to what they do and say online.

Mistake 5: Targeting a Small Market

The Internet is vast and you never know what kind of customer will come across your website. Do not make the mistake of targeting your website to just one geographical area or one niche market. The more diverse your website, the better the chances of becoming popular and getting a lot of business. Choose a large market and target your product to the widest customer base possible to ensure success.

Mistake 6: Ignoring the Competition

Your competition is successful and they have done something right to make that happen. If you have a website in the same niche, make sure you follow your competition and find out what they are doing different from you. Incorporate these features into your website to help you beat the competition.

Mistake 7: Not Doing Market Research

There is only so much that the market can take in the form of business. For example, a geolocal business such as dog walking is restricted to one area. If you do market research properly, you should find out how many businesses are located in the same area. If that region already has more than 20 different dog-walking businesses, there is a very low chance of your business becoming a success. This is why market research is necessary before you set up your business.

Mistake 8: Not Paying Yourself

Most new business owners make the mistake of not paying themselves. Don’t make the simple mistake of plunging all your profits back into your business — it’s important to pay your own expenses first of course. And if possible, keeping a little aside will help you when the business goes through cash flow crunches.

Most entrepreneurs have great tips about setting up online businesses and making them a success, says the financial advising team called Jan and Alicia.  Do yourself a favor and do as much research as possible, noting down common mistakes that may affect your business. This will prepare you for any eventuality. Keep in mind that almost every business has teething problems that will cause troubles in the first few years. Deal with these issues proactively and your website business will eventually become successful.