tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099771857717081562.post7369399285757568426..comments2009-06-10T01:38:00.361-04:00Avatar of Avatarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10589571922251173043noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099771857717081562.post-286180401127988482009-06-10T01:38:00.361-04:002009-06-10T01:38:00.361-04:00Changes that need to happen in this economy involve both short and long term items. For the short term, you have to review all your expenses and start cutting back without sacrificing too much of your quality. For example, you can reduce overtime, hours or even some headcount. If you don&#39;t have a lot of staff to begin with, there won&#39;t be a lot you can cut, but small things do add up. This is only a stopgap measure. When bookings are dropping fast, you might not be able to cut fast enough. <br /><br />The the more important task involves asking yourself why clients are not booking your studio. Unfortunately, the action items generated in this step will not yield results right away. This is why you want to constantly be asking this question.<br /><br />The immediate action item is drumming up business. The first step is going through your Rollodex and calling every one of your past clients. You start by leveraging your existing or established relationships, no matter how old. This is an excellent time to get feedback on their experience and ask what changes would induce them to come back. It is important to ask for referrals as well.<br /><br />Next step is to reach out to your local community, i.e. music schools, local AES &amp; NARAS chapters, rental companies, music stores, pro audio dealers, publishing companies, ...etc., to ask for referrals and see if you can work with local bands and musicians with introductory deals. Again, this might not immediately pay all the bills, but might be a quick way to establish new relationships. <br /><br />To establish longer term relationships (e.g. with record labels, established engineers &amp; producers) require networking (starting with referrals, getting introductions and going to lots of meetings), legwork and some patience.<br /><br />When Gordon Ramsay goes into a restaurant, he reviews the restaurant&#39;s overall concept, menu, food quality, ingredients used, chef, staff &amp; personnel, operations (communications, chain of command, division of labor, reservation system), reputation, decor &amp; presentation, ...etc. One can come up with comparable equivalents in the studio business.<br /><br />More specifically, changes may have to be made to your operations (how you book, invoice, collect money, even the tone of your voice when you talk to clients on the phone), your positioning (are you known for tracking, mixing, overdubs; are your clients labels, ad agencies, video gaming companies and/or indie bands; are you charging too much / can you charge more), your marketing (how do clients find out about you), your assets (gear too old, need targeted maintenance, need better/different gear, need better assistants) just for starters.Avatar of Avatarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10589571922251173043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8099771857717081562.post-8403858691929995672009-05-27T07:39:23.571-04:002009-05-27T07:39:23.571-04:00Your blogs are very interesting. Could you share what you see as some of the changes which need to take place? I interviewed with Tino Passante last week for working (interning) at Avatar, and we discussed this a bit.<br /><br />Mor<br />mmezrich@yahoo.comMorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00835395640680886128noreply@blogger.com