Humor and Business

I get it. It's not really funny sometimes. You're working. Business is a serious thing, and if you don't make money, you can't afford to work. So you keep your head in the right place, work hard, and try to grow your business. It's all about keeping that balance. What you may not know is that you need to balance your temperament just to continue to grow.

Every manager is different. Every owner has their own strengths and weaknesses. The question is what type of employer does an employee want to follow if they're working.

No one wants a clown. You're the boss. Insert a stern demeanor when handling business issues. It's all about making sure you're in charge. So where do you sprinkle in that sense of humor that makes people want to follow you? No employee enjoys a supervisor that can't laugh at something funny. You can be alienated from other workers, as well as seen as not being able to lead very well by your own supervisors.

So here are a few tips for being able to handle humor in the work place:

1. Remember to laugh at your employee's jokes. Not every time, but during moments when it's acceptable.
2. It's okay to make a joke yourself. Make sure that it's not out of taste or offensive, but orient the comedy towards the job itself.
3. Laughter encourages people to work more rather than distract them from the work place.
4. it is more important to create a work environment that is not focused on sex jokes or anything to do with racist humor.
5. Success is always measured by the better the team rather than the better one person can be.

Check my less intellectual thoughts on Twitter- @kadesound or listen to my music on myspace.com/nicholas.kade I'm also on Youtube under Nicholas Kade. Thanks!

Business Sense

Business is all about keeping yourself organized so you can handle the unexpected. Busy times are the times when you shouldn't focus on changing something, but instead run with what you have. Your moments in business that are light are the moments where you need to attack your objectives, not take a breath and relax. If there is a mess, clean it, but don't throw that mess to the back of things. Focus on how to utilize what resources you have to implement fixing the problems and moving on. Don't get upset and don't dwell on issues. Push past the problems and focus on the business itself.

Good luck and happy hunting. Money makes this country strong, just as peace and love are supposed to make it strong. Generate wealth and you generate the capability to provide core values to those who care for them.

The Drive

             I have been working on music now for years, singing since I was four years old, piano since I was thirteen, guitar since i was seventeen. I've played in four different bands, each with amazing musicians that i've learned so much from. The life of a musician is hard. Getting into the business is tough. You need either a lot of money, or a lot of talent. My own experiences make me want talent over money.

             It's a hard road. I didn't have a lot of money at the end of college, I worked three jobs just to put myself through. My first guitar i bought from a New York sweatshop online for $40, and my fingers bled for two weeks while i learned my first chords and songs. After my third band, I started a solo project, ONX, where I managed to get my hands on professional recording software, and I started teaching myself how to professionally record. the first album had music that sounded wonderful, and music that i had no idea how to record correctly. So i released it among my friends and among a few fans and went back to work.

           It's that long road ahead that i've been facing, it's the drive that i've kept pushing through. It was a car that i first had the next inspiration for my music, and a car that I talked to one of my closest friends about another solo project. "Be yourself," she said. "why try to be anything else?" I applied that same idea to my music, and started writing again. Now i'm getting to the end of that album, and it's my friends and fans that have encouraged me to be the best.

           That same drive has been applied to a new band, with more music, more sound. Both albums are going to be released soon, the first for the band, the first for my brother Paul, who has taught me so much and agreed to play music with me. It's been a lot of work and a lot of time spent perfecting this art, making something out of nothing.

           The ability to create is one of the hardest things humans have to do. Where there is Peace, so War will follow. It's the conflict within ourselves that we fight to succeed, the question of whether we will be good enough to handle all of the problems we face. So no matter what you are doing in life, find the drive to push though what you are doing, and get to that peace. It's not the scoring that counts all the time, but the game itself.

Music for the Mind

Music, like so many other art forms, is becoming a business. The question for artists is simple. Where does the art end and the business begin?

In retail, the power of your business is in selling. If you sell clothes, you look for the people who would be interested in buying those clothes, then attempt to convince them they need more of them. If the prices of the clothes drop too far, you need to sell even more to make up for what you're losing, just to make your profit margin.

In the service industry, there is a need for repeat customers who are satisfied with their service and willing to continue paying money for it. For example, internet industry fights back and forth between cable, verizon fios, and satellite. Which service is most reliable? Which service is most expensive? Which service gives you the most?

So for music, there are a few things you can sell. T-shirts, pictures, videos. Each article brings you closer to your fans and gives them the feeling that they're apart of something. People will like your music for the beat, the words, the sounds. You can use that to sell your t-shirts and cds, use that to gain popularity, and so be able to go farther and see more people than you saw before.

So which part can't you really sell? Which part is the real deal?

I think that part is you.

When you create your project, whether it's in a band or a solo project, everyone becomes a character that people listening can identify with. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Third Eye Blind, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Jay-Z, Eminem, each artist has a defined character. I believe they're more successful if they're real people that are presented.

More importantly, it's a journey, your journey that you share with your growing fan base. Your first music video might not be perfect, it might be an inexpensive camera and a few shots on a cell phone, but the question your fans will ask: Is there soul? Is there heart?

Better to start small and finish big, than to never give a piece of yourself that allows the world to grow.

The Fading Times

Media. It literally tells us what's going on everyday, causing us to make decisions immediately that affect our lives so quickly. We love this vast network that we so easily get lost in, but we come together over some of the greatest moments in time, as well as the worst.
    i have a twitter account (@kadesound) and i like to mix in both heartfelt emotional statements about what is going on around me with idiotic/comedic commentary about things that are affecting my life. So far my vulgar statements have been ignored, while my smarter moments also seem to be untouched for the most part. We all say stupid things, right? No big deal. Yet it seems to be a great deal.

After recording a video of myself playing guitar, i checked my account and saw a statement by Ashton Kutcher yesterday, saying he didn't quite agree with firing Joe Paterno, the legendary Penn State Lions coach. The statement was made without Mr. Kutcher knowing what was going on with the sex scandal at the school, and the issue of Mr. Paterno not reporting what he had heard to the police. Ashton Kutcher quickly apologized and noted that he had not heard the entire story. A day later, Mr. Kutcher then made a statement saying that he would no longer control his own twitter account after his mistake. I wanted to know why.

The backlash at Ashton Kutcher was intense, people from all over the country attacking him for his statement after he apologized and then updated himself on the news. I noted that so many people felt it would be alright to scream at a celebrity, yet why were they angry at a mistake? Mr. Kutcher literally had nothing to do with the actual sex scandal, but as a football nut, was merely remarking on losing a historical football figure.

Welcome to the fading times, where a person can't make a mistake. If they do, they're publicly humiliated and crucified for it. Look at the anger of the people directed at Ashton Kutcher and Joe Paterno, when neither of them were sexually assaulting children. If you want to be angry at someone, Jerry Sandusky was the architect of that moment in our lives, the moment when we found out children hadn't even been given a chance to keep their innocence.

If I recall correctly, Ashton Kutcher has been involved in helping people most of his adult life, being more of a humanitarian than people would believe him to be. Yet people would lash out at him. Times are fading. We're losing our focus on what matters most, giving in to attacking the nearest target instead of finding the RIGHT target.

Remember, we're all human. If YOU say something wrong, but have done so many good things in your life, how would you feel?

Above is the video I was filming. It's about trusting your friend to help you and having a good time.