Hi Poze family it is shaping up to be one busy summer for Miss Entycee with my birthday coming up on the 23rd of this month, a birthday ball to attend the day before, studio time to book ASAP, a photoshoot to do, album covers to select and Two singles to release and performances to prepare for all before the end of he summer, Its hard to handle all of these tasks myself a continue to perfect my craft singing and songwriting. So how does one seek out REAL and HONEST individuals to make up Team Entycee? I would love to have serious minded and dedicated professionals who can get the job done thus allowing me to be what I am a dedicated performing artist. I'm searching for everyone from management, to production engineers, from stylist to promoters. This is truly a daunting task! I spend so much time submitting emails to professional talent and management agencies, and individuals alike hoping to come across that right person or group of people, but the process doesn't stop there. I mean I know I have to weed out both the good and bad, but how will I know who that right one may be? This is where that question most of us ask (How hard can it be?) comes in. Upon peering through countless numbers of emails I read daily, I have to start what I call my steps for process of elimination. 1st Do follow ups on each piece of information I receive. I start by looking for any information that gives me a glimpse into the character of who could be that manager, lawyer, makeup artist, stylist and so on that I need to form Team Entycee. Based on the questions I have to ask them, I look forward to how they in turn respond? Does their response have anything to do with my reason for reaching out to them in the first place? Example; "Hi my name is entycee I am a R&B / Neo soul singer seeking the services of a manager", their response; Hey don't your nephew play for the NFL? (SMH HUH?) Believe it or not you can tell alot about a person or business by how well they communicate from the start especially if they think you have what it takes to make money not just for you the artist but for them as well. Let's face it while no one will work for free, everyone  has something unique to offer in terms of good and services to help pull your team together. 2nd read the email in it's entirety if the words are spelled the way the person speaks in everyday jargin  for example; Hi Entycee thank you for showing interest in our agency, they say hey, Yo, Sup thanx for hittin us up, then you may want to keep searching. Don't get me wrong times are indeed changing and eventhough some professionals may not be so suit and tie these days, there still exists a huge amount of professionalism they will carry.  I would stress this next point to my fellow artist but I find that my fellow producers go through this as well.  3rd Pay close attention to how they speak to you over the phone especially if they live in another state and are willing to provide a service for you on a continual basis physical site unseen or if they have your website and info in front of them and have a visual of  you the artist, if they are concerned more about you personaly for example; if they constantly go on about how attractive you are and say nothing about what you have to offer talent wise, then you might want to keep looking.  4th Check credentials ask for references with real contact information (phone numbers, professional websites, existing email address) I say this because there are so many of us trying to break into to the same business and often times we run into to "professionals" who love to name drop and leave you with to much "I strain" meaning I did this and that, I worked for this and that person, I know this and that artist you say ok sounds good without following up and they walk away with your money. (www.ripoffreport.com) is a awesome site to find out if your potential team member is really who they say they are. True story! I met a lady through a gentleman who lives in NYC, she claimed to be a manager of a stellar award winning singer she also claimed to have had contacts with various major record labels, could get my material to the top A&R execs in this business, and have been to the white house, she claimed that my NYC producer and I had a unique story to tell since we worked together for quite sometime prior to meeting face to face. (My NYC producer and I met on facebook in late september 2011, he sent me material I wrote to, recorded and sent it back, we skyped for months, and did radio interviews all from our computers until we met for the first time in march of 2012. We sent her some of our music, bios, pictures and money for press kits (my husband had a yard sale to help come up with the money for my press kit) in late 2011 and here we are close to mid 2013 and I still haven't heard from her nor have we seen press kits or money. She shut down her facebook page, she is never on skype and she took money from the wife of the gentleman who introduced her to me in the first place. Con's and con-artist are on the rise in this business poze family so check them out and if your not sure double check and if your still not sure and have to triple check then you might just want to cut your losses, take them as lessons learned and keep it moving, but never ask those five words How Hard Can It Be? because I am a dedicated music professional and I am still looking to put together a dedicated entourage who will be happy to call themselves a member of T.E. (Team Entycee) Be on the look out for my next blog  Stop Talking! (Work in silence to make a loud noise)