Restaurants With Live Music Are Drawing Crowds in Our Bad Economy - 3 No-Cost Ways to Get Live Music

The sales of most weak-performing restaurants can be traced to the fact that there is nothing unique about the restaurant.

In this bad economy a restaurant has to be unique to successful. Live music can make almost any dining experience more enjoyable and it will bring in a crowd, but how can a small restaurant afford to have live music?

People are still eating out and many restaurants I visit have a waiting line -- even in the middle of the week. These restaurants have a waiting line because they are delivering an enjoyable dining experience and they are unique in some way.

If your restaurant is not unique, consider making it unique by adding live music

Many people are choosing to dine where they can enjoy live music. Of course, live music costs money, but musicians are hurting too and many very good musicians are now willing to play for a lot less they used to. Also, young musicians are a great source of good musical talent.

Be creative and find innovative ways to have live music in your restaurant. The conventional technique of paying good money for a three to five member band to play is probably not the way to go in this tight economy.

Here are three creative ways successful restaurants are getting great live music for little to no cost:

• One restaurant I visit a lot has a 13 year old girl playing the violin. She's good and she really draws in a crowd -- the cost is very low.
• Another restaurant lets a local music school have some of their best students play one or two nights a week. The music is good, the cost is zero and all of the relatives of the young musician come to eat and hear little Johnny or Sally play.
• Another restaurant has jam sessions most nights and they don't have to pay the musicians anything (except for furnishing them a pitcher or two of beer). They have a different type of music every night -- Sunday nights is jazz, Friday nights is country, etc. They have more musicians wanting to play (for free) than they have room for.

In other words, be creative and innovate, but do whatever it takes to give your restaurant an unique advantage and adding live music may be just what your restaurant needs.

Peter Drucker, who was the world's greatest expert on management, said that...

Innovation is the only real and lasting competitive advantage any business owner can ever have.

Right now, live music is one of the most innovative and under-used techniques for making a restaurant unique.

Bottom line: There's money to be made in the restaurant business in this bad economy and as an independent restaurant manager, you are in a better position than chain restaurant managers to take advantage of the situation because you can make decisions fast and change with the times.

One thing is for sure, you may not be able to make money in the restaurant business if you keep doing what you have always been doing -- but I think you already know that.

Now is the time to go make things happen and live music may be just what your restaurant needs.

About the Author Jerry Minchey is an engineer, author and researcher. He is the editor of http://www.MarketingYourRestaurant.com and author of the book, The Restaurant Marketing Bible. Jerry cuts through the hype and gets down to the bare facts to reveal how to market a restaurant on a shoestring budget. His low-cost restaurant marketing techniques have cut the marketing expenses for many restaurants by 80% or more while bringing in more customers than ever -- even in this bad economy. He consults with restaurant owners and managers all over the world showing them proven restaurant marketing techniques that work. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jerry_Minchey

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Creating Realistic Casualty Makeup Effects

What is the reason for creating great casualty makeup? You may wish to create makeup effects for fun at Halloween, to make a low-budget movie, enhance scenarios in first aid training or as a way of getting into a movie makeup career. It can be a lot of fun to do, and you can get great results with just a few materials. Most professional makeup courses will show you methods for creating the wounds themselves, but there is a lot more to creating realistic casualty simulation.

Regardless of your kit or expertise with makeup, there are some really simple steps you can take to create realism. Often people throw something together, smother it with stage blood and hope for the best. This method may work sometimes, but if you really want to create realistic effects then these five tips will make a big difference.

Use reference

Pictures of the real thing are essential to get the look right. Guessing may be fun, but it won't inform you. It's important to spend some time accumulating reference, as it is the number one tool in your kit for creating convincing makeup effects. Try to get different images of the same injury types to give you an idea of common denominators as well as the variation.

Read up

It really pays to understand the injuries by reading up on them as well as just looking at pictures. The appearances of injuries depend on many variables, so if you can understand the cause of the appearance then you'll do a better job.

There are many free online articles that examine what happens with any given injury. If type 'pathology ofà.' in a search engine and enter 'gunshot wound', 'knife injury' burns', you'll find articles that discuss the nuts and bolts of what happens to the body in these circumstances. Medical and pathology books will also carry good information.

Give context

Okay, now you know what can happen and what it should look like. You decide you want to create a makeup effect. How else can you make it look realistic? Give the injury a context and imagine a specific cause.

Your reference can tell you a lot more than just how the injury itself appears. Other effects resulting from the injury such as how fabric rips, where blood flows and collects, as well as environmental factors like correct placement of dirt, dust or soot all help to make the illusion complete. Burns, for example, can affect the clothing as well as the skin. In this case, scorch up some old clothing (not when it's being worn, obviously) and use this with your finished makeup.

Avoid excess

Resist the temptation to cram every conceivable wound you can think of onto you casualty. It won't show off your ability, as much as distract the viewer. When people start to do makeup effects, it's easy to get carried away to try and show everyone what you are capable of. The appearance of real injuries however don't occur to impress anyone-they are just the result of damage to the body. Very often they look understated and less theatrical than their made-up equivalents.

Act the part

It is pointless to go to great lengths to make someone up to look like they have been in a serious accident, and have them smiling and sat in pristine clothes. If you hurt yourself badly (and you're still conscious), chances are you would act like you were hurt badly. Have your casualty understand the injury they are wearing, and then make sure they know how to act appropriately. After all, your intention is make somebody look like they are a casualty- not like they are wearing casualty makeup.

So, remember to reference, read up, give context, avoid excess and act the part. Following these simple steps will add authenticity and realism to your casualty makeup and scenario. Whatever your reason for creating casualty simulation, make realism your priority.

Learn how to create your own movie-quality makeup effects from someone who does it for a living. Stuart Bray has fifteen years experience creating makeup effects for film and television, and now he's teaching others how to do it too. Visit http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com/index.htm to sign up for free articles and information, and to check out the workshops and information available.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stuart_Bray

Find More : makeup courses , casualty makeup , makeup effect , Make Up Academy , Make Up Course , Professional Make Up

Makeup Artist Schools - What You Learn at Make Up School

For anyone interested in art, there are lots of different career options that you can look at. One of the main things you can look at, is looking at becoming a make up artist as a career. If you enjoy colors, blending shades, and experimenting with artistic moves, then becoming a make up artist may be a good plan for you. You can have you pick of the litter when it comes to makeup artist schools.

Make up artists are always in demand, whether it is for TV and Entertainment companies, celebrities, personal use, salons, spas, and other resources. It is a growing field that a lot of people haven't tapped into as a good source of income to do something fun and exciting with your life and your career. Working as a makeup artist can take you amazing places that you haven't gone yet.

When you apply to a make up artist school, you have lots of different options and other things to decide. There are lots of make up schools around the country and around the world, so you can decide what you want to do and where you want to do.

Choose a good school like you would any other, finding one with good credibility and other resources for your own. In these kinds of schools, you learn different tricks and tips of the trade, so you can be prepared to do other people's make up on your own. Learning the different kinds of brushes and tools you can use is taught to you, as well as how to blend shadows, applying foundations and concealers, and learning to blend it all together professionally.

Learning to become a make up artist at makeup artist schools is a great way to take something in your life that you love and make it a career. You will be equipped in many ways to ensure you that you have the confidence to do other make up professionally. Common jobs for artists include working in the entertainment business, as well as at theatres and other kinds of jobs. You have lots of skills to learn, and a career set ahead of you! Louis Zhang, Accrbeautyschools.com.

To learn more about makeup artist schools and find a make up artist school in your area go to Accrbeautyschools.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Louis_Zhang

Find More : makeup artist , make up schools , make up professionally , Make Up Academy , Make Up Course , Professional Make Up