How to Put Together a Cabaret Act

One of the best showcases for new talent is the cabaret act. Whether you are planning to strut your stuff in front of industry executives and area audiences, or are just looking for a way to keep up your chops while earning a few bucks, you can plan the perfect cabaret act by following these tips.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Make a list of your musical likes and dislikes. Make another list of your vocal strengths and weaknesses. Write a list of your favorite songs or songs that communicate something that you feel strongly about. Using your lists, prioritize the elements that you most want to incorporate into your act.

2. Step 2

   Once you have an idea of what you wish to communicate and the type of music that suits your voice best, get specific. Plan a 1-hour show on paper. Your material should be fresh and unique, not songs that are over-performed or boring standbys. Instead, look for original or obsolete material that communicates what you are about or tells a story. Listen to old record albums, or visit the music section of your library to research songs from different eras which can be updated or interpreted in an original way by you and your band.

3. Step 3

   Start seeking venues so that you have an idea of the seating capacity of each one and what available dates they may have coming up in the future. Don’t book a venue yet, but make notes about the ones you visit. Decide if you will pay outright for the room or give a predetermined percentage of your cover charges to the room in lieu of rental.

4. Step 4

   Figure out a realistic budget for the venue, arrangements, musicians, lighting and sound person, mailings, performance clothing, sheet music and any other expenses you are likely to encounter. It could be helpful to speak to someone that has done a cabaret act recently to get a breakdown of her expenses.

5. Step 5

   Find your musicians. If you are on a strict budget, you may opt to keep it simple—a good pianist can accompany a cabaret act as effectively as a small band, if the arrangements are good. You may wish to hire an arranger to make sure that your musical selections are presented in a fresh way. Look in the classified sections of your local newspapers, or find online musician sites where available musicians post notices. Another way to find good musicians is to frequent clubs where they play. Speak to other singers for recommendations, or ask bar managers and studio engineers if they know of musicians looking for work. You may have to negotiate a payment schedule based on future earnings, but some musicians want to be paid up front for rehearsals. Have them sign a contract that states explicitly the dates they will be available for rehearsals and performance, as well as the terms of payment.

6. Step 6

   Choose your venue, and present a portion of your act to the cabaret’s booking agent, if required.

7. Step 7

   Create a mailing list with the names of everyone you know, everyone you know knows, anyone you have every worked with in any capacity, the names on other people’s mailing lists if you can access them and the mailing list names from any performance organizations that you belong to, such as MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabaret). If you are planning to invite industry executives, write a personal greeting on the card you send, and make sure they know you are looking forward to seeing them and are really expecting them to be there. Because they attend a lot of showcases, you want to make sure to give them plenty of advance notice about your showcase, and even send a reminder a week or two before the actual performance date (see Resources below).

8. Step 8

   Make sure you have enough easy-to-read copies of each piece of your sheet music or charts for everyone in the band, as well as yourself. Make sure any changes or musical notations are clearly marked, and discuss them before your musicians begin to play. This will save time and money in rehearsal.

9. Step 9

   If the club does not provide sound and light technicians, be sure to line those up well in advance of your performance, and make sure they are free to attend at least one of your rehearsals together.

10. Step 10

    Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse! If you can’t afford to pay your musicians for more than one or two rehearsals, tape the first one and use the playback while you rehearse.

11. Step 11

    Choose what you are going to wear and a couple of backup outfits, just in case your feelings change on the evening of your performance.

12. Step 12

    Be sure to have mailing lists or cards on each table in the room during the performance so that your audience can be notified about when you will be performing again. Ask for email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses in addition to names.

13. Step 13

    If you have a CD, T-shirts or any other items to promote during the act, have someone set up a table outside the door, and make sure the audience is aware that they are for sale. Include a mailing list request inside the CD case, as well, in case your audience member purchases a CD as a gift for a friend.

    Tips & Warnings

    • Be sure to follow up with any industry executives that attend your cabaret act. Thank them for being there, and let them know that you would like feedback, if possible, to help you improve your future performances.
    • If you have a CD, T-shirts or any other items to promote during the act, have someone set up a table outside the door, and make sure the audience is aware that they are for sale.
    • Include a mailing list request inside the CD case, as well, in case your audience member purchases a CD as a gift for a friend.

How to Put Together a Cabaret Act

One of the best showcases for new talent is the cabaret act. Whether you are planning to strut your stuff in front of industry executives and area audiences, or are just looking for a way to keep up your chops while earning a few bucks, you can plan the perfect cabaret act by following these tips.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Make a list of your musical likes and dislikes. Make another list of your vocal strengths and weaknesses. Write a list of your favorite songs or songs that communicate something that you feel strongly about. Using your lists, prioritize the elements that you most want to incorporate into your act.

2. Step 2

   Once you have an idea of what you wish to communicate and the type of music that suits your voice best, get specific. Plan a 1-hour show on paper. Your material should be fresh and unique, not songs that are over-performed or boring standbys. Instead, look for original or obsolete material that communicates what you are about or tells a story. Listen to old record albums, or visit the music section of your library to research songs from different eras which can be updated or interpreted in an original way by you and your band.

3. Step 3

   Start seeking venues so that you have an idea of the seating capacity of each one and what available dates they may have coming up in the future. Don’t book a venue yet, but make notes about the ones you visit. Decide if you will pay outright for the room or give a predetermined percentage of your cover charges to the room in lieu of rental.

4. Step 4

   Figure out a realistic budget for the venue, arrangements, musicians, lighting and sound person, mailings, performance clothing, sheet music and any other expenses you are likely to encounter. It could be helpful to speak to someone that has done a cabaret act recently to get a breakdown of her expenses.

5. Step 5

   Find your musicians. If you are on a strict budget, you may opt to keep it simple—a good pianist can accompany a cabaret act as effectively as a small band, if the arrangements are good. You may wish to hire an arranger to make sure that your musical selections are presented in a fresh way. Look in the classified sections of your local newspapers, or find online musician sites where available musicians post notices. Another way to find good musicians is to frequent clubs where they play. Speak to other singers for recommendations, or ask bar managers and studio engineers if they know of musicians looking for work. You may have to negotiate a payment schedule based on future earnings, but some musicians want to be paid up front for rehearsals. Have them sign a contract that states explicitly the dates they will be available for rehearsals and performance, as well as the terms of payment.

6. Step 6

   Choose your venue, and present a portion of your act to the cabaret’s booking agent, if required.

7. Step 7

   Create a mailing list with the names of everyone you know, everyone you know knows, anyone you have every worked with in any capacity, the names on other people’s mailing lists if you can access them and the mailing list names from any performance organizations that you belong to, such as MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabaret). If you are planning to invite industry executives, write a personal greeting on the card you send, and make sure they know you are looking forward to seeing them and are really expecting them to be there. Because they attend a lot of showcases, you want to make sure to give them plenty of advance notice about your showcase, and even send a reminder a week or two before the actual performance date (see Resources below).

8. Step 8

   Make sure you have enough easy-to-read copies of each piece of your sheet music or charts for everyone in the band, as well as yourself. Make sure any changes or musical notations are clearly marked, and discuss them before your musicians begin to play. This will save time and money in rehearsal.

9. Step 9

   If the club does not provide sound and light technicians, be sure to line those up well in advance of your performance, and make sure they are free to attend at least one of your rehearsals together.

10. Step 10

    Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse! If you can’t afford to pay your musicians for more than one or two rehearsals, tape the first one and use the playback while you rehearse.

11. Step 11

    Choose what you are going to wear and a couple of backup outfits, just in case your feelings change on the evening of your performance.

12. Step 12

    Be sure to have mailing lists or cards on each table in the room during the performance so that your audience can be notified about when you will be performing again. Ask for email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses in addition to names.

13. Step 13

    If you have a CD, T-shirts or any other items to promote during the act, have someone set up a table outside the door, and make sure the audience is aware that they are for sale. Include a mailing list request inside the CD case, as well, in case your audience member purchases a CD as a gift for a friend.

    Tips & Warnings

    • Be sure to follow up with any industry executives that attend your cabaret act. Thank them for being there, and let them know that you would like feedback, if possible, to help you improve your future performances.
    • If you have a CD, T-shirts or any other items to promote during the act, have someone set up a table outside the door, and make sure the audience is aware that they are for sale.
    • Include a mailing list request inside the CD case, as well, in case your audience member purchases a CD as a gift for a friend.

How to Refuse US Mail

Be your own junk mail blocker!

Are you tired of receiving junk mail? According to the US post office, you have the right to refuse US mail. You can be your own junk mail blocker, without even having to bring the mail into the house.

You may wonder how these companies keep getting your name and address. Interestingly enough,one of the top contributes to spreading your name and address around is the government itself. They can take your name and address, when you register your car, get married, buy property etc. and add your information to a mailing list and sell it.
The phone book is another big source for information, it's a free way to get mailing addresses and names.

If you would like to put an end to the junk mail annoyance, read on to find out how to refuse mail and stop junk mail from cluttering up your house.

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pen
• Mail
• Mail box

1. Step 1
   

   Arm yourself-
   Before heading out to the mailbox, grab your favorite writing utensil. Use something that writes well and bold, like an ink pen or a black marker.

2. Step 2
   
   Junk mail filtering

   Sort out the junk mail-
   When you head out to your mail box, sort through your mail quickly. Set aside all the mail you don't want to receive.

3. Step 3
   

   Ready to refuse-
   Now that you have sorted out the offending pieces of mail and junk mail, with your writing utensil in hand, boldly write "Refused" anywhere on the front side of the envelope. Leave it in the mail box with the flag up.

4. Step 4
   

   To further stop the flood of junk mail, get a little junk mail protection by writing to mail preference service. You can have your name removed from common mailing lists by writing to:
   
   
   
   
   MAIL PREFERENCE SERVICE
   DIRECT MARKETING ASSOCIATION
   POST OFFICE BOX 643
   CARMEL NY 10512-0282
   
   You need to include $1.00 in check or money order form, to remove your name and address from their list.

How Does an Email Spam Company Collect E-mail Addresses?

The Internet's Spam Problem

1. Spam is seemingly everywhere. No matter how good the email filters may be, unwanted marketing email will somehow leak through. From advertisements for male enhancement to the notorious 419 "large amount of money needs a bank account" scams, spam is a growing problem for Internet providers and users alike.
   
   According to Spamlaws.com, junkemail account for 14.5 billion messages a day, with advertising representing 36 percent of the content. Scam emails make up about 4 percent of the total amount, but that's enough to cost millions of dollars in losses per year. Some spam includes attachments that have viruses and malware, wreaking havoc on commercial and domestic computer users alike.

Where Does Spam Come From?

2. Spam comes from sources all over the world. Sophisticated software and programmers have made it easy to distribute thousands of messages by pressing one button. Spam emails are big business; spammers get paid by the amount of messages sent.
   
   The first method is through actual corporate spam services. Many businesses pay for mass direct mailing, not knowing that their product is being marketed to unwitting consumers who don't wish to know about their product. These spammers may attach links to opt in or out of the mailing lists for people who wish to stop the letters. What many users don't know is that these links often mask signups for more lists down the line.
   
   Businesses may send their own spam by utilizing purchased contact lists and employee manpower. Of course, the unpopular nature of spam keeps many businesses from doing this, but it happens nonetheless. In the United States, spamming is a federal offense and can bring jail sentences.
   
   A more sophisticated method is to hijack a third-party server and send mail from that address. This way, the spammer is practically untraceable. This robs legitimate server operators of their valuable bandwidth, as well as their reputations once the crime happens.
   
   Still other spammers steal onto personal computers through stolen passwords and usernames. This is done by using sophisticated keylogging malware that records and transmits private data to the spammer. This stealth software is often introduced onto the system by an unwitting user. The only way that the user may find out that there's been a breach is by being locked out of their email, or from their internet option provider. Often, this knowledge comes too late to avoid problems.

Protect Your Computer First and Foremost

3. There are a few simple steps that users can take to protect their accounts from spammers. The best step is to protect your property by using a good firewall along with trustworthy anti-virus software. If this sounds expensive and difficult, it's not; there are several companies that supply free, credible software that is easy to set up.
   
   If the computer is used by childer and teens, make certain to filter out adult content. Spam is notoriously targeted towards the adult audience, and children may enter email addresses and private information without having the skills to discern safe sites. By keeping tabs on computer usage, parents can avoid potentially dangerous downloads and information leaks.

Use the Internet Wisely

4. Most people fall into the spam trap by not surfing smartly. For instance, an ad may feature a free popular product. Clicking on this ad may install a "cookie." or temporary tracker, onto the system. This cookie may record email addresses on the sly. The advertiser may, at some point, request the email address so that it can email a voucher for the product. For the most part, this is an operation that exists to mill addresses. If someone wants information for something that's free, it's probably too good to be true. Be safe, and don't give out the info.
   
   Be wary of giving email addresses on opt-out lists. Most valid opt-out services carry the email address onto the form so that the user doesn't have to enter anything. If there's a command to enter an address, the service may be fake.
   
   Also, never open an email attachment from an unfamiliar sender. These are almost always malware that will log passwords and user information. If an email message with an attachment appears that looks fishy, throw it out unopened. Being vigilant can help users avoid annoying, invasive spam and damage down the road.

How to Get South by Southwest Ticket Sales Alerts

If you plan to attend South by Southwest, you'll want to stay up to date on information concerning ticket sales, including relevant dates, prices and available methods to purchase tickets.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Add your email address to mailing lists that are organized and run by South by Southwest participants. Check the websites of your favorite bands, movie directors and artists to see if they offer mailing lists that include information about South by Southwest. Most likely, these participants will be very helpful in providing information about buying tickets, as it is their goal to invite as many people as possible to attend and view their work.

2. Step 2

   Ask to be included on the official South by Southwest mailing list. You can sign up for this mailing list in the "Information" section of the South by Southwest website by entering your email address and other contact information (see Resources below). There are individual lists for the music festival, film conference and interactive events, so feel free to sign up for any and all of these lists depending on your level of interest.

3. Step 3

   Check the official South by Southwest website for announcements about tickets. These types of announcements are usually included on the homepage. New information may be posted throughout the year prior to the South by Southwest conference, so be sure to check back often.

4. Step 4

   Sign up for a South by Southwest news RSS feed to your homepage. RSS stands for "really simple syndication," and it is an easy way to get regular alerts about a certain subject through a feed that appears on your personal homepage or blog. A wide variety of RSS reader software options are available, and they are sometimes offered through major website hosts (like Google and Blogger) for free.

5. Step 5

   Choose an RSS reader, then download and install it to your website. Copy the link that appears on the homepage under the "Get More Information" header and add it to your reader's list of feeds. You will now receive alerts as soon as they are posted to the South by Southwest website.

   Tips & Warnings

   • Tickets can be purchased for full access to all South by Southwest events or by genre, such as music, film or interactive media. Decide in advance which type of ticket you'd like to get, as you may receive a better price if you buy one pass that provides access to several events rather than individual tickets.

How to Load a List in OpenOffice Impress

OpenOffice Impress is a presentation program similar to PowerPoint and is part of the OpenOffice application suite. It is frequently desirable to populate a list box from an external data source like a spreadsheet. Fortunately, Impress has a macro writing capability like other components of OpenOffice. The following steps will show how to load a list in OpenOffice Impress with a macro.

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Use Universal Network Objects (UNO) methods for short lists. UNO is the component model used by OpenOffice and is an easy way to create dialog boxes because it is interface-based. By the same token, however, each call to a UNO method requires a considerable amount of time, which can become prohibitive with long lists.

2. Step 2

   Create variables for intermediate objects as shown in the following code snippet:
   
   …
   oListBox = oDlg.getControl("ListBox1");
   For i = 0 to 1000;
   oListBox.addItem(…);
   Next;
   …
   
   This allows us to avoid 1,000 calls to getControl() when performing a name lookup.

3. Step 3

   Make additional code optimizations to the snippet in Step 2. In this example, we would then keep a separate counter and pass it to addItem() instead of calling getItemCount() 1,000 times.

4. Step 4

   Fill an array A with string values from a spreadsheet (column A in this example). The following snippet would be placed in a loop:
   
   yMax = 1000;
   Redim A(yMax) As String;
   For y = 0 to yMax;
   A(y) = mySheet.getCellByPosition(0,y).String;
   Next.

5. Step 5

   Load the array that was filled in Step 4 to the list box with a single instruction: oDlg.getControl("ListBox1").Model.StringItemList() = A(). Note how this method fills the array internally without making an external library call for each item in the list box. The list box can therefore be populated much more quickly.

How to Include Promotional Products in Direct Mail

Use direct mail marketing to your advantage. When targeting customers you expect are a great match for your business, include a highly used item in your direct mail piece. Direct mail marketing is a great idea, particularly for small bussiness

Instructions

1. Step 1

   Look over promotional products offered through companies such as Epromos and 4imprint on the Internet (see Resources below).

2. Step 2

   Choose from various pricing structures from one promotional distributor. There are products for every budget. If you are just starting out with direct marketing, you may want to get one of the cheaper products.

3. Step 3

   Make sure that the product you send is helpful to almost everyone and inexpensive to include. A good choice is the plastic letter opener with a blade or a small calendar imprinted with your company name and logo. These items are extremely useful to people.

4. Step 4

   Consider that prospective customers will look at your company's name many times during one day. When they have a need for the services that you offer, your name will be at the top of their list.

5. Step 5

   Locate a large decorative container for your promotional items at key areas during trade shows or other gatherings pertaining to your type of business.

   Tips & Warnings
   You need a promotional distributor that stands behind their product in case anything goes wrong with your order. See what feedback you can get from other customers