I sent an email blast about some slots we had left in our upcoming issue and got a reply from an artist that had been receiving our emails for years and was a frequent visitor to the site. In short, the message stated that she loved the magazine and really wanted to be in our next issue but her budget was extremely tight at the moment. She knew our cheapest ad was $75 but wanted to know if there were any promotional opportunity she could take advantage of in the $25 range.  She didn’t ask for anything free. She didn’t even ask for a discount. She was just straight up about her situation and asked what opportunities there were within her budget. Reading her email I began to think of how I could help not just her but other artists in a similar situation. I went for a jog and while checking a DM on my blackberry inspiration struck me. With so many people on Twitter and Myspace randomly sending messages in hopes of just being heard. I figured there had to be a way we could do something similar and more effective in the magazine. Over the next 24 hours this idea grew into The Makin’ It Magazine Talent Directory. In this new section, we give Artists, Producers, DJs and Songwriters the opportunity to put there information in front of over 127,000 readers that are looking to network for just $25.  We’ll giving this new section a test run in our BET Hip Hop Awards Issue and if it does well we’ll keep it in the line up. Listing will include Name, What you do, Website, Phone Number and Market. Leave us your comments and let us know what you think.

Click HERE to reserve your spot.

Limited slots available!

Example Listing:

August 2nd Club Libra was on swole as KBD, Grand Hustle and Rubicon rolled through for their monthly Hustle & Flow Open Mic and Networking Event. Atlanta’s top talent was in the building for a night full of performances and networking. The big homie Bigga Rankin was on hand to celebrate his Birthday. If you wasn’t in the building you missed out big time but you can check out the live taping on Here on Ustream.

Wednesday July 28, 2010 producers from all over Atlanta and the Southeast converged on Django’s in downtown Atlanta for the monthly ATL Beat Battle. Judged by a panel of top managers this was a great event to be at. Make sure you make it out next month and check out http://atlbeatbattle.ning.com for more information.

Ever since we started the On The Grind Mixtape Program, there have always been artists who were skeptical about getting so much promotion for just $10 or $20. I can’t count how many times I’ve been asked, “How do I know this isn’t a scam”, “Is this CD really going to come out?” or “Are you really pressing up 5,000 CDs?”

Unfortunately this industry is so full of liars, scam artists, and people who are just faking it until they make it that its hard for some people to tell the real from the fake. I’ve seen so many artists pass up good opportunities because they were scared of getting burned and in the end wind up getting fleeced by someone that sold them a beautiful dream.

So I decided to shoot this little video to address this issue. Enjoy!

July 8th Andre Harrell (@IAmAndreHarrell) hosted a Tweet & Greet at the offices of Atlantic Records in Downtown Atlanta.  An excellent networking event that brought out some of the city’s top movers and shakers. Big shout-out to Yancey (@Mryancey) and Moses (@MosesDavis) !