I saw this picture yesterday, I got me thinking. The person who made this joke, needs to read my blogs. I've made money from playing guitar for some 30 years now, for 15 years, it has been my main income. The problem for most people that can't make money at it, is not lack of musical skills, but lack of management skills. Look around you at other musicians in your area, which musicians make money, which ones don't? It may sound obvious, but I looked at this, worked out what the money making musicians did that the others didn't do and copied the good habits.
Here are a couple of things not to do.
1. Play for free.
Anyone can play for free. You can fill your diary with endless open mics, charity events and such like. I limit my charity events to just one or two a year.
http://paulclews888.weebly.com/1/post/2013/03/open-mic-nights-why-you-should-not-play-them.html
Make sure you are playing for the minimum Musicians Union rates for the job. This minimum rate, is the minimum for a reason, it's the minimum you are worth.
2 Not treat yourself as a business.
Have a business plan. Know what you want and how you are going to achieve it. Also, be flexible. This is just so important. it could be a whole book in itself, not just a little part of a blog post.
http://paulclews888.weebly.com/1/post/2013/12/managing-band-finances.html