Monday December 17th, 2012 – Fox Lake, IL
Clue phone, line one. I have to get something lucrative or at least somewhat profitable going in 2013, or it’s going to be an even longer and harder year than 2012. The thought of that scares the fuzz off my fanny - and also gets said fanny in gear to do something about it. I have zero choices.
I had plenty of choices early on, and every one of them lumped together has placed me exactly where I am today. That doesn’t say a lot about my ability to choose, but it really could be MUCH worse and I realize that every day. I admit I made some rotten choices, but I made good ones too.
Now I have to keep making more good ones and stop making so many bad ones and see if that won’t help change my standing in life. Right now, I’m struggling to just barely scrape by month to month. Hell, it’s been week to week more often than not recently and sometimes day to day.
I’ve been hovering at that level for most of my life except for a few short periods of prosperity over the years when I had a double income coming in from comedy and radio. Those times were fantastic, even though I didn’t have two free seconds for myself. Why would I care? I was doing exactly what I love to do day and night, and I can’t think of any better lifestyle to be into 100%.
I had plenty of money during those times, and I made it go a long way. My standards are about as low as standards get, so it didn’t take much to make me feel like a big star. It won’t take much for it to happen again, but it needs to be steady and hopefully a little more long lasting this time.
My radio jobs came and went so fast, it was hard to keep track of them all. Just when I’d begin to settle in somewhere and start socking away some scratch, I’d get blown out the door and have to start all over again someplace else – usually halfway across the country. That’s no way to live.
Comedy was a nice way to fill in the holes between radio gigs, but there’s no future in it except doing the same thing over and over week after week. There’s no residual income, and unless one can pack big theatres it’s little more than stop gap money. It pays a few bills but that’s about all.
It’s time to step it up, and that’s what I’m focusing on. I have to look at all my projects I’ve got in various stages of completion, and see how I can make them pay off as soon as possible. I need some income right now, and multiple streams of it would be just what the doctor ordered. I could use a period of security after a lifetime of taking risks and having everything blow up in my face.
Today I had lunch with Mark Filwett who is my webmaster for the Schlitz Happened show. He really gets it, and I’m impressed with his work. His website is www.lakecountygeeks.com and he is available for hire for anyone who needs quality web design. I hope to have a site up in the next few weeks and start promoting live shows in the Milwaukee area. It’s a product totally my own.
If done correctly, I can create a brand that’s known locally and have steady income for years to come. It might be with a limited audience, but those people are loyal and if I can capture them it will be well worth the effort. If I don’t, I’ll be driving a school bus. I can’t see myself liking that.
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