From performers who bask in the spotlight to those who find inspiration in the midnight glow of a computer monitor, the world has no shortage of creative people. While the day-to-day realities of a ballerina may be quite different from that of a novelist, actor, graphic artist, musician, or software developer, they share many things in common. Chief among these is the desire to make a living with their art. Maybe you're working to build a sustainable, full-time creative career. Or perhaps you're happy in the corporate world but would like to turn your love for music, dance, painting, or programming into a steady stream of extra income. Either way, if you're like most creative souls, you tend to focus on your passion to the exclusion of all elseand you may scorn the details of business and promotion. Yet as Have Fun, Get Paid: How to Make a Living with Your Creativity shows, developing business skills couldn't be more important for those who want to achieve success and generate steady income from their work. With decades of professional experience in creative fields such as music, software, writing and speaking, bestselling author Christopher Duncan demystifies the path to getting paid for your artistic talents. With lighthearted stories and down-to-earth advice, he starts with the basics and shows you how to build a solid, dependable career. All that's required is consistent effort and a bit of commonsense. In Have Fun, Get Paid you will learn how to: Find paying work and get the gigs Market your talent without selling your soul Build an image as a highly sought after professional Manage the business details of your creative career Harness the power of relationships for long term success With advances in technology and the global reach of the Internet, creative people are empowered today as never before. Have Fun, Get Paid will show you how to take control of your dreams and bring them to life. What you'll learn After reading Have Fun, Get Paid, you will learn: What success means to you, no matter whether it entails becoming rich, earning personal validation from your work, or gaining the freedom to do things your own way How to avoid focusing on your passion to the exclusion of all else so that you have the time and energy necessary to manage your business Who your customers are, what value you provide to them, and how to keep them coming back for more How to become an authority in your field by teaching others to do what you do The ins and outs of sales and marketing, from the basics to new strategies Who this book is for Whether the goal is a full time living or a steady stream of part time income, creative people of all disciplines will gain the practical insights necessary to building a reputation as a professional. This image, coupled with effective promotion and the ability to foster lasting relationships, is the key to a rewarding career in the arts. Success is not reserved for the fortunate few but rather for those who are willing to roll up their sleeves and put in the effort required to achieve their goals. InHave Fun, Get Paid, you'll learn how to do exactly that.

The crucial wisdom-guide to surviving within the programming industry in 2006. Provides raw material for surviving and thinking smart in today's industry. Delivered with the wit and aplomb to make a serious topic entertaining and palatable TE Conquer Master self-defense techniques to shield yourself, your project, and your code from corporate politics, arbitrary management decisions, and marketing-driven deadlines Explains how the individual programmer or project manager can work within the existing system to solve deadline problems and regain control of the development process

Every day, customers see the results of divided companies. Regardless of the manner in which their company's fractures manifest themselves, however, corporate leaders must find a way to rid their workplaces of the divisions that threaten to undermine their company's productivity, profits, and survival. That's why, inUnite the Tribes, bestselling author Christopher Duncan provides corporate leaders with a ten-step plan for joining their company's divided ranks together in a way that helps employees achieve their goals while also accomplishing those of the company. Using the metaphors of the company as empire and the disparate groups that form within companies as tribes, Duncan explains that the formation of tribes within an empire is unavoidable, and to some extent, it may even be natural. After all, regardless of the situation in which they find themselves, human beings are social creatures that have aligned themselves with those whose goals and motivations match their own for centuries. The job of corporate leaders, however, is to build a cohesive, powerful, and enduring empire which is why, inUnite the Tribes: Leadership Skills for Technology Managers, Duncan reveals: How to build alliances and a spirit of unity across all levels of a company in order to achieve higher employee morale, greater profits, and increased productivity; How to effectively communicate to employees the reality that their long-term prosperity as individuals operating within a company depends upon the long-term prosperity of the company itself; The many forms of conflict that can form both within and without a organization; How todiscover what truly fulfills employees of a company and help them acquire it; And much more. WithUnite the Tribesas their guide, corporate leaders will learn thatthe way that great empires of the past have been established has been through the efforts of visionary leaders who understood that they could prevail only when they were able to convince their tribes of a simple but crucial truth: Alone, you are weak and vulnerable. United, you are invincible. What you'll learn Readers of Unite the Tribeswill learn: Practical, down-to-earth approaches to problem solving and productivity that make sense to corporate leaders who have to do real work in the real world. How to arrive at a plan for uniting the disparate groups that operate within their company when faced with the daily reality of office politics, maneuvering, ambition, incompetence, and short-term thinking. How to convey the company's purpose to employees in a way that is realistic and meaningful so that all workers can contribute to the company's greater good. How the Ten Pillars of the Empire (Vision; Leadership; Organization; Mobility; Competitiveness; Persuasion; Strategy; Brilliance; Morale; Unification) can help their employees and their company achieve their individual and joint goals. Who this book is for Regardless of the industry in which their company operates, those serving in leadership or managerial capacities (i.e., those overseeing one or more employees) at workplaces plagued with division and dysfunction will find the solutions they need to rally their employees to join forces inUnite the Tribes. In addition, leaders and managers of companies whose cohesion is still healthy yet is being threatened with fracture will be provided with real-world strategies for reinforcing the glue that holds their company together in this practical, applications-driven guide.

No matter what business you're in, at the end of the day, it's all about people. Workers are people, and so are managers. Every day, millions of people wake up, get dressed, and go to work. The fact that all of them do different jobs and have different levels of authority has been used for ages to divide us. The truth of the matter, however, is that we're all just trying to make a living and provide for the ones we love-and that's a powerful common bond. If you can grasp that one concept, you'll have the power to change your world for the better in ways that you never dreamed possible. When you reach people at this fundamental level-letting them know that you care about what's important to them and showing what's in it for them personally when they join forces with you-nothing is beyond your grasp. Unite the Tribes: Ending Turf Wars for Career and Business Success presents the "Ten Pillars of the Empire" for just this purpose. You don't have to become a great charismatic leader to make them work. Each pillar speaks to you as an individual employee and shows you how to improve both your career and the company's bottom line in a practical and organized manner. These principles and tactics are designed for the real world, where things inevitably do not always go right. The pillars are at once practical, sensible, and applicable in the hectic realities of the workplace because they focus on people, which you'll come to see as the most unstoppable force in a company's dynamic. The workforce doesn't have to settle for less any longer. Working together, we have the power to build a better tomorrow. Unite, and be invincible!