Bootstrapping

When it comes to being your own boss, it's important to use every resource you have to its full potential. Take this blog for example. To this day, what you see has only cost me a total of about $12.

I registered the domain address on GoDaddy.com: $12.
I registered the Blogspot address thesongbirdproject.blogspot.com: Free.
I registered the Gmail address thesongbirdproject@gmail.com: Free.
I designed the header myself on pixlr.com: Free.
I painted the bird logo myself: Free.
I take pictures using iPhone's Instagram app: Free.
I record videos and post them to YouTube: Free.
I post links to photos from Picassa (Google's Flickr-like service): Free.
With permission, I use photos from Flickr's Creative Commons: Free.
To post songs, I've used a service called OpenDrive: Free.
To back up Word documents of lyrics, I use Dropbox: Free.
The blog is supported by Google and Amazon adds that can earn me money: Free Money.

Really, the main cost is the time and effort it takes to post. 

When it comes to songwriting, this means there are ways to find inspiration without letting it hurt your wallet. I was flipping through Wired Magazine a few months ago and came across an interesting photo by Caleb Charland. The first thing I did was Google his name, click "images" and all of the sudden I had hundreds of his photos there in front of me. And what did it cost me? Nothing. Also, the public library is an incredible resource for free books and movies (as long as you remember to return them on time). It's also common to work out trades with other creative friends for recording time, press photos, design work, etc.

Recently, Dr. Jeff Cornwall (head of Belmont University's Entrepreneurship major) featured The Songbird Project on his blog. Read it here.

Keep writing (and bootstrapping),

Ben

P.S. - I literally bought these $200 boots from Goodwill for $3.99. How's that for literal bootstrapping?

Walt Disney - The Early Years

We all know about Mickey Mouse and the incredible library of Disney films and characters. It's easy to sometimes assume Donald and Daffy Duck just hatched one day and that Disney World just grew out of the ground. However, in the recent documentary (available on Netflix), "Walt - The Man Behind the Myth," we are given a look into the life of the visionary behind it all, Walt Disney.

As a 22 year old, Disney shot "Alice's Wonderland" with less than $100. How's that for bootstrapping? People had previously merged real people with animation, usually overlaying animation over real scenes. This, however, was one of the first films where the real life actor entered the animated world.

Though it's harder to see almost 90 years later, Disney thought so far out of the box that he created a new one. "Steamboat Willie" was the first cartoon to incorporate overlaying sound with effect (previously there would just be background music). With "Snow White," he created the first feature-length cartoon. After "Snow White" came "Pinocchio," "Fantasia" and "Bambi"--all of which pushed boundaries and created new technologies.

Though I don't claim to be a big cartoon watcher, I can appreciate a man with enough vision to change the world of animation.