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Top 5 Podcasts for Creatives & Entrepreneurs

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The podcast market is well and truly spoiling us creatives and entrepreneurs! Whether you are a creative, an entrepreneur, or a creative entrepreneur, a good podcast can be insightful, engaging, and inspiring. Let’s show you five of our favorite podcasts so you can develop your skills and refine your life, all while driving the car or cooking your dinner!

Being Boss

A great starting point for any creative entrepreneurial freelancer. If you are daydreaming about quitting your job, or you have been in charge of your own life for a while, there is a wide variety of insight into routines, mindset, marketing, processes, and everything else involved in doing the thing you love. The hosts Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon provide a warm and engaging partnership that reminds us all that we’ve all got to start somewhere.

The Strategy Hour Podcast

We’re not all business-minded in the strictest sense, even though we run a business. If you are looking for marketing tips and strategies to grow your business, this is a podcast that will truly inspire you to work harder at doing what you love. The hosts Abagail Pumphrey and Emylee Williams from Think Creative Collective may have successful six-figure businesses, but they share the nitty-gritty details on how hard it was on the way up. Truly, this is a podcast about the meat and potatoes parts of running a business. The variety of entrepreneurs providing in-depth, real, and human perspectives on somewhat in-human components like sales and affiliate marketing make it a wonderful aural stepping stone to becoming a creative entrepreneur.

The Tim Ferriss Show

The lessons in running a business all begin with the lessons you learn yourself. Tim Ferriss has constantly searched for the “minimum effective dose” in his life, whether it’s working smarter, becoming physically fit, or running a business. And this long-running podcast provides an amazing insight into anything that you want to get better at. Guests like Tony Robbins have shone a light on what they do when they wake up in the morning, and others from a variety of industries remind us all the goal is simple: to learn function at our optimum. When you are trying to run a business, this is crucial.

Badass Creatives

If you are on a mission to change the world, this is the ideal podcast. The host Mallory Whitfield provides a plethora of personal and business advice for creative types. It’s one for those creatives who are looking to delve deep into the creative process, without necessarily going down the typical businessy aspects. While the host is a marketing expert, she is also an artist and speaker, which is an inspiration for anybody that may feel stuck in the digital realm but just dream of becoming creative in the most freeing sense.

Creative Pep Talk

If you want to build a creative career, you may feel you have to make concessions in life. If everybody around you is trying to talk you down, you need a pep talk like this podcast! The host Andy J. Pizza is there to give you insight and interviews with a wide variety of creative professionals to show you that everybody experiences difficulties in trying to achieve their dream!

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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Freelancers: Start Creating Financial Security With These Top Passive Income Ideas

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Each year, more and more individuals are choosing the freelancer lifestyle. Having the freedom to work remotely, set your own pay, and follow your passion is an appealing career path for people of all ages. However, with all of its benefits, becoming financially secure is one top challenge experienced by many freelancers — especially at the beginning of their journey.

One solution to this problem is setting up streams of passive income. Not sure how to do this for yourself? Keetria offers her top recommendations for creating quality passive income streams that offer greater financial security.

Write a book.

As a freelancer, you’re already an expert in one (or more) subjects. From writing to photography to graphic design, you understand more than most about your field of work. Leverage this expertise by writing a book about what you know. Research publications in your industry to see what already exists. After conducting your research, brainstorm ways to cover a specific aspect of what you do from your unique perspective. Once you’ve self-published a book (which is more affordable than ever before), you can earn a sizable passive income for years to come.

Launch a business.

Not all business ideas require you to put in hours each day to earn money. On the contrary, many can be run in such a way that you can earn a passive income. Start your new business by choosing what you plan to sell. The best ideas for generating passive income include selling online courses – (check out The Ultimate Guide To Creating Courses Online), eBooks, website templates, and the like.

After launching your business, it is crucial to have the right marketing strategies in place to promote your brand. To keep your marketing as hands-off and effective as possible, consider enlisting influencer marketing services, which you can easily find through online job platforms. Prior to hiring anyone, you can weigh reviews, delivery times, and proposed fees.

Build your own app.

Have some tech development skills? Turn your passion into an app. Related to your freelancing business or not, apps have the potential to generate serious passive income from ad revenue, purchases of your app, and in-app purchases.

Rent out your home or apartment.

If you own your own space — and your HOA or condo board allows it — start renting out your dwelling on one of today’s top vacation rental websites. According to the latest figures, the average host on Airbnb makes $11,000 annually.

Being a freelancer means that you need to have a solid system in place to keep you financially stable as your workload fluctuates. When you set up multiple streams of passive income, you can quickly and easily achieve this goal. Rather than having just one stream of passive income, work to set up between 3–5 for maximum results.

Among her many titles, Keetria is an entrepreneur, lifestyle wellness coach, and business consultant. For more empowering content that leads to your success, visit Keetria’s blog.

 

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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Communication Skills Every Entrepreneur Must Master

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Being an entrepreneur means being able to communicate with your employees, your shareholders, your customers, the list goes on… Here are a few tips to communicate effectively

Communication Skills for Entrepreneurs – Being an entrepreneur is more than just coming up with a great idea. It’s more than simply putting that idea to practice, too. As an entrepreneur, you more than likely are going to spend 99% of your time working with others to bring your ideas to life. If you can’t communicate your thoughts and ideas to anyone else, well, unless your business plan calls for a one-person show, you’re out of luck. 

Communication is a critical skill for all entrepreneurs. Even the best idea will never grow if the person who came up with it can’t communicate it effectively. Communication doesn’t just mean talking, either. There are many skills within the subset of communication, from body language to writing to negotiation, which are all critical to success as an entrepreneur. 

Eric Porat, an online entrepreneur shared with us six key communication skills you must master as an entrepreneur. 

1. Listening

Communication Skills for Entrepreneurs – Listening? You might be confused, but a good listener is on the fast track to becoming an excellent communicator. Entrepreneurs are often so caught up in their own brilliant ideas that they don’t stop to hear the thoughts of those around them. It’s a recipe for disaster.

Try to always focus on the person speaking to you and be sure you can summarize what they said in your own mind before you choose to respond and build on the conversation further. Good listening skills will allow you to serve your clients and manage your employees more effectively, because you’ll be able to identify and respond to their concerns and thoughts.

2. Conversing

Conversation is one of the most basic forms of communication, but because of that, it’s also the foundation for almost every interaction you’ll have as an entrepreneur. Basic conversations with your employees will build trust overtime, and they also can help you realize issues before they blow up and become serious. Meanwhile, a chat on the subway with a stranger just might become a sales opportunity.

If you can learn to speak in a friendly way (listening goes a long way here), you’ll be able to apply it to tons of situations, from sales pitches to conflict resolutions and more.

3. Conflict Management

Communication Skills for Entrepreneurs – Conflict management is one of the key parts of being an entrepreneur. Many managers spend nearly half their day dealing with conflicts. It might be between two employees who hold different opinions about their work or responsibilities, or it might be two of your vendors who had some sort of lapse in communication. 

In all cases, the trick is acknowledging both sides. Put yourselves in the shoes of each individual and figure out why they’re upset and what their point is. If you can’t understand both sides, you can’t resolve the issue. Come from a central ground and give each side their fair due.

Also, if you want to resolve conflicts successfully, you need to learn how to push back productively when an employee is in the wrong. That said, make sure any and all pushback is polite and productive, while remaining non-personal. A good plan is to focus on clarity at all times in conflict management. If you can communicate your thoughts clearly and concisely, it makes it a lot easier for people to listen and understand where you’re coming from.

4. Body Language

Much of communication is nonverbal, so mastering your body language is extremely important. Also, if you’re good with body language, you’ll learn to understand your employees and clients much better just from watching their body language. Posture is extremely critical. Sit or stand straight, keep your shoulders back, and hold your head high. ALWAYS look people in the eye and avoid fidgeting. Keep your hands out of your pockets, as well. 

These are mere basic techniques, and there are dozens upon dozens more. Becoming a body language expert is a great way to master communication subtly, because most people won’t even realize what you’re doing, but YOU will. 

5. Presenting

As an entrepreneur, presenting will have to be your bread and butter. You might be presenting your financials to investors, presenting your services to a client, presenting your business to a buyer, or something else. Even presenting the ideas behind entrepreneurship at an event or convention of sorts may be something in your calendar one day. 

Be clear, be concise, and remain poised at all times. Avoid talking too fast and avoid interjections like “um” at all costs. Good body language, like we talked about above, is critical when presenting. If you can present well, you’ll excel in a variety of settings, so work on your presentation skills today!

6. Writing

You don’t have to be the next Hemingway or Faulkner, but you do need to learn how to write concisely, communicating your thoughts in written form as simply and clearly as possible. Email is probably the most common form of communication in the modern business world. Texting and Slack messaging aren’t far behind. You MUST be able to communicate your thoughts clearly via the written word and avoid misinterpretation as much as possible. Being a skilled writer is a great way to become a superb manager.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!



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Organization Tips for Entrepreneurs – 5 Tips for Organizing Your Day

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Organization Tips for Entrepreneurs – Have you ever been in a situation where no matter how hard you tried you never seem to get things done on time? One thing you might be lacking in your work-life is organization. General organization and having a clear view of what you are going to accomplish for the day can make all the difference in your productivity. Here, we will discuss a few tips that will help you organize your workday. 

1. Write Things Down

The first thing is to write things down. Just write the tasks you are going to do for the day or make a to-do list. As you complete each one, cross that out. It also helps you keep things in check, and you don’t have to recall them repeatedly throughout the day. 

2. Prioritize Things

We’ve all been guilty of prioritizing tasks that aren’t as important as we make them out to be. Make a schedule for the day in which you will write about the tasks in order of priority. Do the tasks & assignments that are most important first. Practicing a habit of prioritizing also releases work stress, and you perform better. 

3. Delegate The Tasks

Get into a habit of delegating work and tasks to the people in your circle who can assist you with – you can’t do everything and you shouldn’t want to. In order for you to be successful, start working towards delegating people for different things. As stated above, you cannot handle the whole workload on your own, so don’t overwork and overwhelm yourself. 

4. De-Clutter

Organization Tips for Entrepreneurs – Clutter and mess, whether in your personal life or your work life, can hinder your prosperity. If you feel like there are things that are of no use and are in your office, put them aside. Even people who are pulling you down and becoming an unnecessary intervention in the way of your success; cut your ties. The fewer, the better!

5. Don’t Procrastinate

Lastly, don’t procrastinate. You will be surprised to know that 84% of us face procrastination. It is that one thing that makes you put off your work for no reason. The best way to deal with it whenever you think of doing something later, get up and do it right away. Your taking action is what will fight this. 

These are our tips that will help you organize your day a bit better. Check out the video above and try these tips. We’re sure they will be the core factors in your success after hard work.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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5 Essential Skills Entrepreneurs – Skills Every Entrepreneur Should Have

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5 Essential Skills Entrepreneurs – If you’re an entrepreneur or interested in becoming one, be sure to visit my video as I share five skills every entrepreneur should have. With an increasing number of new entrepreneurs choosing now as the right time to jumpstart their business endeavors, having the right skills in place will save time, energy & money. Although I’m only sharing five here in the article & video, there are more defined skills and personal abilities that will go a long way in helping anyone on their entrepreneurial journey. 

5 Essential Skills Entrepreneurs – I believe entrepreneurship is a constant state of ebb and flow. It’s a learning process that takes determination, faith, and a decent amount of personal will. Becoming a successful entrepreneur will only work if you have the right skill set and are committed to taking action. So, without further ado, here are five essential skills every entrepreneur should have to build and scale their business. 

When such innovation produces new demand, wealth is created. From this standpoint, one can simply describe the function of the entrepreneur as one of merging a variety of factors in an inventive manner to generate value to the customer. It hopes that this value will surpass the cost of the input factors, therefore spawning greater returns on investment. So the main differences between entrepreneurship and small business is that the entrepreneur takes a risk and hits the ground running with the intent of immediate, and hopefully massive payoffs, whereas the small business generally starts smaller, with less risk and the income and success builds over time under very controlled planning.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Using Virtual Events & Meetups to Grow your Audience

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For the last several months, I’m sure we’ve all noticed the increasing amount of virtual events and meetups. While some companies and brands host virtual events (special events, tradeshows & conferences) to gain their footing as the world pivots, smaller virtual meetings are likely at the request of employers. And the more casual meetups via Hangouts, Zoom, and FaceTime have been a fun way to connect with family and friends.

Whether you are a lifestyle company, startup software outfit, or an influencer, there are several ways to use virtual events and meetups to connect with and grow your audience. Below are three tips on how to best leverage virtual events for business growth.

Virtual Events & Meetups for Business Growth

Build Momentum Before Launch – Prior to your virtual event, spend some time building momentum through all of your social channels. The key to success is making sure your message is uniquely crafted for each social audience – the demographic of your Facebook audience is likely different from those who follow you on Snapchat or Twitter. Craft meaningful messages that outline who the event is for and why they should attend. 

Instead of the traditional promotional post, take the time to conduct social media surveys and contest to gain interest. You can also create a special landing page for the event and give out free resources and other digital goods to those who sign up to attend. 

Be Personable & Encourage Participation – Whether you’re chatting with several friends during a Zoom call or hanging out with them via FaceTime, nothing says, “I care” like genuinely listening to what someone else has to say. Don’t dominate the meetup, it’s not all about you. Be sure to let others speak- encourage participation if you have to!

Businesses can also benefit from this by inviting virtual guests to connect during or after the event. The connecting doesn’t necessarily need to be in reference to business. Think about creating a sort of “after hours” spot for your virtual event where participants can meet and network with each other on social. This way, you end up adding value to all your guests and attendees. Also, your audience is more likely to connect with your brand via social because of the enjoyable experience associated with your event.

A Gesture of Kindness – You know the saying, “Kindness always wins.” This is true – whether you see the direct results of your gesture or not. Identify ways you can go above and beyond to be helpful to those who support you. Whether it’s your client, customer, or someone in your social media audience, make sure to show your appreciation. 

One idea would be to send a customized gif via social media to those who attended your event. Yeah, I’m aware it takes work and time but remember out of all the events people could have attended they support yours. Do something nice. And, if you’re really pressed for time – consider an old-fashioned phone call. Or, for the more modern folks – a text message. Come up with creative ways to give a shout out to those who show up for you. It’s a great way to show how much you care.

In Short

Leveraging virtual meetings can be a great way to grow and maintain meaningful connections with your customers, audience, and friends. As we adapt to this new way of meeting and connecting, we must also take into account the way we engage and interact virtually. Showing genuine interest in your audience, offering value and understanding is the way to go.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

How to Overcome Perceived Self-Limiting Beliefs

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During my entrepreneurial journey, I’ve learned several lessons, sometimes twice, about the importance of overcoming self-limiting beliefs. It’s easy to forget the personal growth and small victories obtained along the way. We simply don’t give ourselves credit for being enough and going at our own pace. Today, we’re taking a few ways to overcome self-limiting beliefs that are keeping us from achieving our goals.

“We don’t celebrate our talents and abilities as we should – not realizing that if we did, we’re bound to access our true potential.”

Failed attempts at reaching a goal or overcoming an obstacle can be discouraging. What’s important is that you don’t lose sight of your vision and keep making forward progress. It’s easier said than done though — this is why you have to make the conscious decision to move your mind beyond any doubts or any self-limiting beliefs you hold about yourself.

3 Tips for Overcoming Self-Limiting Beliefs

Moving Beyond Self-Limiting Beliefs takes desire, commitment, and practice. In this Morning Minutes chat, I go over three tips for moving beyond self-limiting beliefs that often lead to self-sabotage and defeat. 

1. Cut the Negative Dialogue – Be mindful of the things you say about yourself – to yourself and others, watch your thoughts, and closely monitor your words. Words create reality. The words we use can very well be the primary source of personal defeat. 

2. Say NO to Negative People – We don’t have to look hard to find someone full of negativity. We may have close family members or friends who have a natural tendency to bring the room down with their negative energy — make it a habit of staying away from those types of people. Plain and simple.

3. Try Something Different/New – Venturing into new territory puts us in a different state of mind; We are forced out of our comfort zones and eventually break the monotonous cycle of routine habits. 

Check out the video and please be sure to tune in, subscribe to the channel, and drop a LIKE or Comment.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

How to Record a Podcast Remotely And Get It Right The First Time

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Remote interviews are a fact of life for every podcaster, and in today’s era of social distancing, more so than ever. Since you rarely get the chance at an interview do-over, nailing down your remote recording workflow is essential. We’ll show you how to prepare for and record a remote interview, so you get it right the first time — with some additional tips along the way to make sure all your bases are covered. 

Choose the right remote recording setup for your podcast

The first step is to determine the remote recording setup that best suits the format and content of your podcast and your production and editing workflow.

In most cases, your best solution will involve recording remote interviews on Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, or a similar online conferencing service. This low-friction setup makes it easy for guests or co-hosts to contribute, but you’ll need to make sure you have the right software to record these interviews.

It’s also wise to make sure you can record phone calls. Phone interviews don’t offer great audio fidelity, but they make a great backup option in case of technical problems or schedule changes. Phone interviews probably won’t be your first choice, but it’s a good idea to be able to record a phone call just in case you need to. 

If you’re recording with the same remote co-host on each episode of your podcast, consider a double-ender setup, in which you and your co-host record your own audio tracks locally and combine them in post-production. For most podcasters, this isn’t the most convenient solution, but it does translate into the highest audio fidelity for you and your co-host.

The best way to record an interview is to prepare for it

When it comes to interviewing — especially remote interviewing — a little preparation goes a long way.

Do some research into your guest’s background, expertise, and projects. Who are they? Why is their work notable? What do you (and in turn, your audience) hope to learn from them?

Putting together a rough outline of the questions you’d like to ask will come in very handy. Write down a handful of specific questions and key points, but keep your outline broad and high-level. That’ll allow you to more easily adapt to the flow of conversation.

Maintaining that conversational flow remotely can be substantially trickier than doing so person-to-person. Prime yourself to listen more than you speak — in particular, try not to interrupt your guest. Editing out awkward silences between speakers is much easier than dealing with too much crosstalk!

When it’s time to record the interview, take a couple final preparatory steps to ensure a clean recording. Close all unnecessary software and set your computer to “Do Not Disturb” mode to make sure unwanted distractions don’t pop up (or worse: end up in the recording).

How to record a Skype call, Zoom interview, or Google Hangout

For most remote recording situations, Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts are your platforms of choice. All three are easy to set up, simple for guests to use, and feature audio fidelity good enough for most podcasts. 

Both Zoom and Skype offer built-in call recording functionality, but Google Hangouts currently limits this offering to enterprise users. There’s an additional caveat: the file format (.MP4 or .M4A) that each platform outputs may not be what you want, depending on your podcast production and editing workflow.

For maximum control over your final product, you’re better off using third-party apps to record computer system audio directly into the recording software of your choice rather than relying on their recording functionality.

If you’re on a Mac, BlackHole is a great open-source tool that allows you to route audio between apps, which means you can record the audio output from Zoom (or Skype, or Google Hangouts) directly into your preferred recording software. On Windows, Virtual Audio Cable offers similar functionality. 

If you’re already using Descript to record, you won’t need to use additional audio routing software (currently limited to Mac users only, but coming soon for Windows). When recording audio into Descript, open the Record panel, choose Add a Track, select your input, and choose “Computer audio.” Click the Record button whenever you’re ready, and audio from Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts will be piped into Descript. 

No matter which remote recording setup you use, make sure you test it — and test it again — with a friend or colleague before you’re actually recording your podcast. Troubleshooting when you should be interviewing ranks near the top of everyone’s Least Favorite Things To Deal With, so make sure everything is in order before your guest is on the line.

How to record a phone interview with Google Voice

Social distancing means nearly everyone has gotten used to handling calls and meetings on Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts. But maybe your podcast guest is really old-school, or their computer is on the fritz, or maybe they’re simply only able to access a phone during your scheduled call time. It’s likely phone interviews will never be your first choice, but being able to record an old-fashioned phone call will come in handy.

Recording phone calls can be tricky, but using Google Voice to make an outgoing phone call from your computer means you can use the same remote recording setup detailed above to record the call.

Follow Google’s instructions to set up Google Voice and then learn how to make an outgoing call. Once everything’s set up, you’ll be able to record phone calls with Google Voice just like you’d record an interview on Zoom or Skype. 

Again, make sure to test with a friend and then test again before your interview. 

If lossless audio quality is a must, record a “double-ender”

For most remote recording situations, Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts are your platforms of choice. All three are easy to set up, simple for guests to use, and feature audio fidelity good enough for most podcasts. 

But if you have a remote co-host that regularly appears on your podcast, and you want to maximize the quality of your audio, a “double-ender” is the way to go: Each host or guest records themselves locally, and audio tracks are combined in post-production. For an additional cost, you can use third-party recording platforms that simulate double-enders without each speaker managing their own recording software.

A traditional double-ender sees each speaker recording their own audio track using their recording software of choice (Descript, Audacity, Quicktime, etc.), and then the host or editor combines each speaker’s recording into a finished product. Each speaker should have a decent microphone — if they’re using a laptop microphone to record, you probably won’t hear a substantial advantage with a double-ender over a Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts recording.

Alternatively, you can simulate a double-ender by using a platform like SquadCast, Zencastr, or Cleanfeed. These services record lossless audio from each speaker, upload each track to the cloud, and combine them automatically. These platforms cost money, but they’re a great alternative to a double-ender when guests or co-hosts don’t have the time or wherewithal to fiddle with recording themselves locally. Again, make sure each speaker has a decent microphone — otherwise you won’t reap the full benefits of lossless audio.

Make remote recording hassles a thing of the past

Recording your podcast remotely isn’t painless, but once you get the hang of it — and nail down your workflow — it’ll become second nature.

In the meantime, download Descript and give it a try. Not only will it streamline your remote recordings, but it might just change the way you think about podcasting and audio editing altogether. Give it a shot and see for yourself!

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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How Can Rappers Fulfill Their Dream of Producing Great Rap Music?

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Producing great rap music that captures the imagination of the masses is great for every budding rapper. Dreaming is great until the reality sets in. Your dream of producing great music cannot be achieved by merely visiting a recording studio, recording an album, releasing it on social media platforms, and waiting for a potential breakthrough. There is a lot more that you need to do if you want to outsmart others and be the star rapper. Here are a few things that will help you fulfill your dream of producing great rap music.

  • Know who your target audience is

You cannot compose a song if you don’t have a specific target audience. Know your target audience, whether it is youths or older adults, men or women, and create great rap music that they will resonate with. Composing songs that emotionally connect with your fans would be a great choice too. You should identify something that you have in common with your audience or a similar problem that you share with them and try to provide them with a solution through your lyrics.

  • Choose the right musical instrumentals

The rap beats of the song are the first thing that impresses the listeners. The beats and the message portrayed in the song determine whether it turns out to be a flop or a big hit. If you aspire to be a successful rapper, you must invest in quality beats and instrumentals. There are many websites online where you can buy beats and instrumentals produced by other rappers. Better instrumentals will lead to better music. So make sure you set aside a budget for instrumentals as it’ll pay off in the long run.

  • Create a social media presence

As a musician, creating a social media presence is something that you must prioritize. If you’re not utilizing social media, you are definitely missing out. Social media will allow you to connect with your loyal fans and have a better relationship with them, you can even ask them for ideas if they want to hear songs about something specific. Also, it is very easy to go viral on social media. If you can come up with the perfect rap songs, chances are you will find yourself trending worldwide.

  • Don’t underestimate the importance of lyrics

If there is one thing that separates great rappers from good rappers, then it is surely lyrics. Rappers who produced songs with great lyrics are considered great because their music stood the test of time while others who only concentrated on the beats fizzled out. You should aim at influencing your fans through your words and come up with masterpieces that will keep you relevant in the music industry for long.

  • Creativity is key

If you want to be a great rapper, being creative is key. You should be creative enough to outthink and outperform other rappers. You must come up with creative ideas that make you seem different than the rest. Think outside the box, be bold, and create suspense so that listeners pay more attention to the lyrics.

Introducing Gemtracks

Gemtracks is a marketplace started by singer, songwriter and producer, Jesse Neo. Jesse has been releasing music for several years and have even worked as a composer for several big YouTube channels. The aim of Gemtracks is to allow producers and artists to buy and sell beats, offer their services and book recording studios.

“Gemtracks has been going very well, lately!” Jesse told us. “Today, we have a lot of producers that have worked with big labels selling beats. These producers include Beowulf, IYFFE and Taylor Carroll.”

With Gemtracks, rappers can easily access cheap resources to make their musical career dreams come true. A frequently updated blog filled with informative tutorials is available on the website.

Connect and follow on Facebook at www.facebook.com/gemtracks

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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Music Streaming Just Got More Interesting with Beammob

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When self-taught mobile and web developer Randell Escoth left a promising career in the financial sector before jumping into software development, he had no idea that he’d go from making beats and producing music to creating a game-changing platform. The creator of the new music streaming platform and community Beammob, Randell was driven to create an interactive hub for artists and fans to enjoy and engage with music without having to worry about tricky streaming functionalities, unfair pricing & compensation models, or messy music distribution concerns.

Beammob is the premiere playlist interaction platform that allows music creators and artists to interact directly with their audience of fans. What’s even more exciting is Beammob not only allows fans to create playlists of their favorite artists’ songs but they can also customize them or simply get paid just for being a fan. 

“The major big draw for fans is the ability to customize their favorite artists’ songs on the fly and by doing so gain self-recognition and get a piece of some of the profits if you take up the role as the number one fan/owner.”

In essence, Beammob works like this It gives fans the power to be instant DJs by creating simple sound drops in realtime and offers payout incentives for both artists and fans. 


Beammob is unlike any other music streaming platform. While joining the Beammob community as a fan is free, music creators and artists are by invite only. Music creators and artists interested in having their music added to Beammob can request an invite at beammob.com.

I asked Randell his thoughts on the evolution of entrepreneurship and what he enjoys most about his journey:

“Straight up, I stopped trying to save the world. The majority of my past products that were semi-successful centered around me trying to make the world a better place first and then seeing how I can profit from that. This product, much like my early iOS apps, focused on me having fun, challenging myself, and letting profit and other perks be the byproduct of that. I now frequently ask myself “what is it I really want,” “what is the true result that I’m looking for” and I start there.”

I know exactly where he’s coming from. Entrepreneurship certainly has its ebbs and flows. However, there’s always something magical going on in the creation process that balances out and things just flow. I asked his favorite part of the creation process:

“Definitely learning more about programming and libraries were my favorite parts. I often worked on Beammob after I finished all my other tasks for the day. There was a reason for that. Even eating had to be prioritized because once I sat down with Beammob the day was done. I wasn’t getting up to do anything even to use the restroom.”

During the creation of Beammob Randell faced several challenges such as knowledge gaps in the programming language, figuring out the math behind the payouts, contracting honest developers, and overall product functionality but things eventually panned out. 

On the flip side of those challenges, he wound up with the finished product. Thankfully, he didn’t waiver and now, we can all “listen different” with Beammob. In the spirit of entrepreneurship he offers these words to those headed down the entrepreneurial path:

“If you are an aspiring entrepreneur seeking encouragement I bet you have already found your inspiration on YT, IG, or another social platform just like I did. From there you can borrow my personal mantra which is, “Give God Something To Work With.” Don’t stand there with your cup empty and arms stretched out. You can, at very least, pour yourself some water. And as you know, he turns water into wine.”

Music lovers can signup to the new platform at www.beammob.com  Connect on social: Twitter, IG and Facebook.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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