Swag's Business Spot

Full Sail Reflection

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 01:08:00 +0000

A year has come and gone and my time at Full Sail University has come to an end. What an incredible ride it has been. I have learned how to properly write out my business plan for Guerilla Gear. We already have some investors lined up; they just have been waiting for what I have come up with.

The thought that operating my own business is so close at hand is a feeling that just keeps boggling my mind. I always wanted to run my own company; I just felt that I didn’t have the right knowledge to make it a success. After going through the Entertainment Business Master’s program, I walked away with the confidence that my business plan can be successfully implemented.

What I really liked about this class is that it re-emphasized what I already believed took to make a successful entrepreneur mentally. But what it also taught me was that I could do everything right in presenting my idea but if there is no perceived market, finding investors would be next to impossible. Doing due diligence can mitigate a lot of the unknowns and having faith and determination in your business can make it a great success.

The time has come to make Guerilla Gear a reality. We have the personnel in place, the products lined up, the investors prepped and waiting and the determination and willingness to see this venture through to the end. I can’t wait to unveil my business to the world. I honestly believe that this is the beginning of a great chapter in my life and I look forward to sharing it with whoever listens. I plan on keeping this blog up to date and use it as a springboard for creating backlinks to Guerilla Gear. Keep coming back and one day you will see links to my company.

Guerilla Gear and Internet Video Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 05:11:00 +0000

As I was searching around for other potential streams of revenue for Guerilla Gear, I came across this article. I liked how the author related how videos can give you quicker information to help keeping your business’ costs down. This can also give Guerilla Gear an extra advantage in showing off what the company’s products can do.

Being a new business, keeping costs down while getting your brand out there is crucial to the viability the company. Having Guerilla Gear produce Internet marketing videos will accomplish both. By producing the videos, the company can keep its name in the minds of whoever sees that video. This is essentially free advertising for Guerilla Gear. The more videos the company does, the more the company stays in the spotlight. The more attention the company gets, the more of the market share they start to acquire.

Like the author of the article said, videos can play to the emotional side of the viewer, much more so than just a PowerPoint presentation. Emotions play a big role in the decision-making process and videos can help guide people in a certain direction. The better the video, the better the results of the marketing campaign. As Guerilla Gear’s success in this area grows, so will the company’s credibility. By consistently putting out successful marketing videos, Guerilla Gear can show to investors, customers and critics that the company’s products are completely reliable and can deliver as promised.

I feel that as years go on, video will play an even more pivotal part in Internet marketing. People want instant gratification anymore and that can only lead to them wanting a video that can paint them the most vivid picture possible as to what your product can do while showing you those possibilities in the shortest amount of time. It will be a challenge but that is where Guerilla Gear thrives.

Guerilla Gear's Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 03:46:00 +0000

As I looked more into Mr. John A. Troland, the more I feel that this person would be a great help to Guerilla Gear. Since Mr. Troland has been in the T.V. business for over 18 years and has helped write numerous successful business plans, he would be an ideal candidate when seeking information for Guerilla Gear’s business plan.

Looking at the questions that John has answered and it is clear that he wants to help. Every question that was posed to him was answered with as much information as he could give. Questions that were about business plans, he wanted those individuals to contact him directly at either his 800 number or his personal email. Even questions that didn’t pertain to business plans were answered with any help he could provide.

After looking at Mr. Troland’s answers, I feel that providing a T.V. treatment along with my business plan to potential investors could greatly help. By having a treatment already written, this would show investors that Guerilla Gear is serious about getting the business going.

When presenting Guerilla Gear’s business plan, I think the most important part of it is going to be the inclusion of new products. By showing that we will continuously offer new products, investors can feel safe that the company will do everything in its power to make sure that it keeps its doors open and can also bring in a profit on a consistent basis.

Help with Writing Your Business Plan

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 03:45:00 +0000

Writing a business plan can be a very tricky and delicate matter. To help me with this, I decided to look for some help. This is when I came across the website www.allexperts.com. At this site, I was able to find some help in writing business plans. What I really liked about this page was the quick and precise info they had on each expert provided. The various areas that they are rated on are also a very helpful feature of the site.

The first expert I was looking at was John A. Troland. He produces a live one-hour cable access show called “Business Beat Live” which is aired in Connecticut. What intrigues me about him is that he can help in answering questions about how to get a new television show off the ground. Guerilla Gear plans on getting involved in doing some sort of video production. This will not only show off what our products can do but can also provide another source of income. By having some help in knowing what to include in my business plan for a show can only help in my benefit.

The other expert I looked at was named Leo Lingham. With over 18 years in management of numerous areas of business planning and over 24 years in consulting in those numerous areas of business planning, Mr. Lingham has seen pretty much any situation when creating a business plan. He is a virtual fountain of knowledge and is will to help out and answer whatever question a person may have.

A critical and key component that any business plan needs is a well-written executive summary. The executive summary section is the first thing any investor sees. It needs to be designed and written to capture the reader’s attention and yet provide only enough information to make the reader to want to continue on. Also, getting to the point is a must. Don’t beat around the bush and hint at the amount of funding you are seeking. In the minds of investors, time is money. The less time of theirs you take up and yet get your business idea across clearly and prove that there is potential with the venture, the more likely you are to achieve your funding goal.

Guerilla Gear Thinking of Digital Video Expo

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Mon, 21 May 2012 03:38:00 +0000

I was looking for upcoming video industry conferences and came across the Digital Video Expo in Pasadena, CA from September 19 – 21 at the Pasadena Convention Center. This expo has been going on for over ten years and offers opportunities to network with over 6,000 video industry professionals. The expo also offers a wide variety of conference sessions that cover pretty much any angle of creating HD digital content.

Now when I stumbled upon this convention, it had me very interested and immediately wanted to try and get Guerilla Gear entered into but I wanted to find some feedback from attendees as to what the expo is like. I found a couple of interesting articles that didn’t really paint it the glamorous event that it was made out to be.

The first one I found came from an individual named Radraven and was written in 2009. When she first starts talking about going to the DV Expo, she sounds excited to finally be getting back to her roots of video conventions. She goes on to say how the convention as a whole has dwindled in scale from what she remembered. It had been three years since she had last been there but the difference was noticeable.

The second article I found came from Fred Ginsburg and was a review of the DV Expo from 2011. He even talks about how much smaller the convention has become but despite that, there is still quality information and products that are there.

Both of these articles talk about how the convention circuit has been getting smaller and smaller each year but yet there are still companies out there that are willing to show at them. Even so, will there come a time when these conventions are no longer put on? Radraven says, and I have to agree with her, that there is no comparison with physically holding a product in your hand and looking it over with your very own eyes versus looking at numerous photos of something. Even if every angle was pictured.

Personally, I’d like to think that these conventions are invaluable. Who’s to say that the person you strike a conversation with doesn’t become your next biggest client/buyer/business investor/accountant? To me, the chance to network with so many professionals carries more value then the $1000 it costs to attend and around $4100 it costs have a vendors tent. Either way…you can write it all off come tax time.

Good Video SEO Tips

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Sun, 06 May 2012 21:38:00 +0000

As my business, Guerilla Gear, starts to break into the industry, I figure that the videos we will use to demonstrate our equipment will need to be found easily when people search for them or videos like them. I wanted to get some information on how would be an ideal way to get my videos to the forefront of search engines and found a couple of really helpful articles.

The first article had some really good information but what I found the most helpful were the three tips on optimizing hosted video on SEO; Delivery, Content and Links. Not only do we plan on having videos on You Tube but we will have videos hosted on our own website as well. I want people to be drawn to our website as much as possible and these tips were very helpful but the one tip that stuck out to me the most of the three was Delivery.

By having our website be flexible and accessible to many different formats and readers, we will cast a bigger net and catch the eyes of more viewers. As of right now, our website is built to use Flash and I’ve found out that Flash based websites aren’t really search engine friendly and that they rarely work when trying to be viewed on a mobile device.

The second article talked about a number of different things as well and what I found most interesting was that with video SEO, a website’s age isn’t important. Google doesn’t take age into a video SEO so even small companies can compete at the same level as the big guys when it comes to using video to generate business.

The main theme I found between these two articles, as that content is paramount. The better you describe your site with Long Tail descriptions or submit more meta data, the better your business will fit search engines’ algorithms. When our website can start doing that, I’m sure we will notice a big difference in our orders.

Film Festival Help

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 04:02:00 +0000

Getting a movie submitted to the South-By-Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival is a goal a videographer friend of mine has. I have been working with him in getting a business formed for the camera mount we want to produce and sell. His business is called Guerilla Gear and can be found at http://guerillagear.net/. We have a good team of writers and are close to completion on a script, but we need to make sure we have everything we need before we submit to SXSW.

While looking around, I came across a really good site to help me with, not only SXSW, but any other film festival. Film Festival Secrets’ site is really helpful in that it’s pretty much a one-stop shop for getting any question you may have about film festivals answered. The website’s creator, Chris Holland, has written a book called “Film Festival Secrets: A Handbook for Independent Filmmakers” and he offers the first to chapters of it downloaded for free as long as you sign-up for his newsletter. Not a bad deal in my opinion. The first two chapters deal with what you need to do before you submit and then when you do submit, however, the book covers a number of different topics like selecting the right festival for your film, preparing the screener for the festival, saving money on festival fees, creating marketing collateral and more. At $24.95 for a print version and $9.99 for Kindle or from the iBookstore, it’s priced quite reasonably for the amount of information it gives you.

The one thing that I thought really stood out on this page was that Mr. Holland offers his professional consulting on the film your company is planning on submitting. Having a your film screened by a festival programmer is very appealing because it gives you a direct sense for what the judges will be looking for when viewing submissions.

This site is definitely going to be of great help when our production company gets going. We have a lot of plans in the works and we all realize that film festivals will be an intricate part of our operations. Not only will we be able to showcase our films but gives us a chance to perform one of the most important aspects of this business…networking.

Useful Tips for Getting Your Script Noticed

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 04:01:00 +0000

I was wondering what some good tips for getting a movie script noticed are and I came across this article by Billy Mulligan of Jane Startz Productions. He says that he has worked for a high profile feature film company in New York City for six years so, in my opinion, he has the credibility for speaking on such matters.

Tip #1 – PUT YOUR BEST SCRIPT FORWARD

Have your writing skills perfected and have more then one fully developed script. When these two objectives are met, you have a better shot at getting noticed. By having your writing skills perfected, you come across as professional which translates into someone a film company would more want to work with. When you have more then one script, it is also a demonstration of your professionalism. If the studio likes your first submission, they could very well ask for more material. On the other hand however, you may have to provide the studio with other work if they aren’t immediately sold one your initial proposal. After getting everything prepared, then it would be time to send your queries.

Tip #2 – ESTABISH YOUR TARGET

When the time comes to start submitting your script, be sure to target agencies that have handled the genre your film falls under. Also, have a name of someone who works at the agency who you can address it to. Mr. Mulligan had a great suggestion of targeting your work at the low men on the totem pole (i.e. development execs and assistants). These are the ones who are fighting to show how valuable they are to the agency and thus are the most eager and willing to read your script.

Tip #3 – THE QUERY

Mr. Mulligan suggests that when submitting your query, the best way to go is either email or a one-page fax. Producers can sense an unsolicited query letter and even having to just open the envelope makes some producers feel like its taking valuable time away from projects. An email can be easily deleted and can reach them anywhere and a one-page fax is just that and can be viewed quickly in a short amount of time.

Tip #4 – ONE PROJECT AT A TIME

Don’t start mentioning a list of work you have ready and are shopping around. It gives the notion that you have a lot of projects that no one is interested in thus seeming that what you are tying to sell is nothing you would be interested in. Keep queries short and with enough information to grab the reader’s attention but not so much information to answer all their questions.

Entertainment Law Lessons to Behold!

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 03:44:00 +0000

As I was looking for some podcasts on entertainment law, I came across a couple really good ones at www.entertainmentlawupdate.com. The first one I listened to was Episode 17 and it talked about an interesting case, UMG vs. Augusto. This dispute revolved around Mr. Augusto who was taking cut out CDs, which are used for promotional use, and was selling them to third parties. UMG insisted that they were strictly for promotional use only and that they were never truly “given out” which would make them fall under the For Sale Doctrine. This case went all the way to the 9^th Circuit where they ruled that not only did UMG transfer the license but the title as well when they sent these CDs out.

Another interesting aspect to this case was that when the judge ruled, they cited Postal Statute Title 39, US Code 3009; if you get something in the mail that you didn’t order, you get to keep it. I thought this was a great twist ending on UMG’s argument. Whether or not this was the ultimate reason, UMG decided that they will no longer send out promotional CDs anymore and instead direct potential investors and marketers to their website.

Next, I listened to Episode 26 where they were talking about SOPA, the new anti-piracy act that Congress is trying to pass. This bill sounds like it would be a good thing but the fact is, it would allow a lot of online businesses to be unfairly targeted for potential copyright infringement. This bill allows the Department of Justice (DOJ) to stop businesses from collecting revenue from oversea companies who they believe are infringing on copyrights. Whether or not they even are, it doesn’t matter.

A big problem with this is that it lacks due process. Someone can just claim that a site is embarking on copyright infringement and they can get that site shut down. This new bill even offers immunity to claimants from being sued by companies who are found of no fault. This is just ridiculous! A company that is only an online business that solely gets its revenue from Internet sales could be devastated from such a claim.

The last podcast I listened to was about IP law in Rio de Janeiro. They are so backed up with patent applications, a backlog of 8 – 10 years, that they are now doing preliminary examinations before the actual examinations. They are hoping that this will weed out anything that isn’t actually patentable.

The really interesting thing I got from this podcast is that since Rio is hosting the 2016 Olympics, they have enacted the Olympic Act. This law is to curb ambush marketing and they passed it the day that Rio was announced that they would be hosting. This law protects ANYTHING that is trademarked, patented and copyrighted while it is being involved with the Olympics. This includes but isn’t limited to; flags, mottos, logos, anthems, graphically distinctive signs, mascots and emblems. It also protects names; Olympic Games, Para-Olympic Games, Rio 2016 Olympic and Para-Olympic Games, 31^st Olympic Games 2016.

Interesting Intelectual Property Lawsuits

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:51:00 +0000

Searching around on the Internet about some recent legal activity that relates to intellectual property, I came across some interesting cases. The first case was an interesting article about a $21 million lawsuit that Nintendo lost. The case states that Nintendo’s designs for certain Wii, Wavebird and GameCube controllers were imposing on the copyrights that Anascape, Ltd. has on the controllers that they came up with. The argument from Anascape isn’t about the motion sensors in the Wii controllers but rather the design that the GameCube controllers have as well as the classic controller attachment for the Wii. What I like about this case is that it shows that the judicial system can work in favor of the little guy. There are plenty of examples of how the corporate giants get away with infringements like these but on this go around, they lost and had to give the small company their dues.

The second article was a case involving the artist Drake and his ex-girlfriend, Erika Lee. This case is still going on and presents an interesting topic. The case revolves around Drake’s hit song “Marvin’s Room”. Ms. Lee claims that she and Drake co-wrote the song and that she is entitled to part ownership in the copyright of the song, copyright in the sound recording and payment of songwriter royalties. She is basing her claim from the fact that the first 30 seconds of the song is a recording of a phone call between her and Drake and that the two had initially intended on writing the song together and that her contributions were supposed to be included into the final version. What I find interesting here is Ms. Lee’s assertion that she owns part of the copyright due to her claim that the two had INTENDED to write the song. Where is her proof that the two collaborated? To me this becomes a he said/she said argument. Her voice recording at the beginning is the only real proof she has ownership to anything. I believe she should be compensated in that regard but other then that, she doesn’t have a legitimate claim.

Lastly, the third article is about a class action lawsuit against Google, Inc. over copyright infringement. The claim is that Google illegally scanned millions of books and other publications that contained copyrighted images and allowed them to be viewed by the public without regard to the rights of the works’ creators. The main complaint is over Google’s Library Project. When you look up a book or other publication, the book cover as well as pictures, if there are any, is displayed and this is where the argument is stemming from. When I looked up what the Google Library Project is, they claim that they are “carefully respecting authors’ and publishers’ copyrights”(http://www.google.com/googlebooks/library.html ¶3). If they truly have this in mind, then why aren’t they taking care of these artists? I believe Google not only has a legal obligation but a moral one as well. If they are trying to create such a large project they should have known that they needed to compensate the people who created the work. The only thing I can think of why they didn’t was that they weighed the cost of the possible lawsuit versus how much revenue they would generate. Having to buy so many licenses might have been more monetarily costly then just putting them on the site. However, this cost them face value in the eyes of authors, photographers and other artists they failed to give credit to.

Online Piracy's Future

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 03:45:00 +0000

I came across this great article about online piracy and how it is shaping the future of online entertainment. The battle between the entertainment industry and consumers has been going on for years and yet, only has a slight end in sight. According to the article, 70% of 18 – 29 year olds still download unauthorized music, TV shows or movies, compared with 46% of all adults who’d done the same. With those wide of margins, what can be done to change peoples’ minds about doing the right thing?

Fingers are being pointed at both sides for not trying to nip this problem from the get go. Law enforcement has handed down penalties ranging from fines to jail time, yet the piracy has continued. However, Apple has proven that if you charge a minimal fee, the consumer can download as much as they want without fear of penalty and they are more then willing to do so.

I’ll admit, when Napster first came out, I was all over that site, getting all the music I could get my hands on. The one thing I loved about it was that the whole experience allowed me to try out music that I otherwise would have never given a chance at. Napster allowed me to broaden my musical palette while at the same time, finding older music from some of my favorite artists. I never gave a second thought that what I was doing was illegal. I just thought that it was a great way for unknown artists to finally get their chance to be in the spotlight.

I believe that if more of the entertainment industry were to follow Apple’s business model for online downloading, they would see a great decline in the amount of illegal activity. Sure there are going to be some people that will still try to get it all for free but the majority of the population, in my opinion, would much rather go the legitimate way. When you download illegally, you have to go to sketchy sites that more then likely will give your computer a virus. However, when you download from iTunes, you know that what you are getting will not come with an extra present. So the consumer gets peace of mind on two fronts; their downloading is completely legal and that it isn’t going to have any detrimental effects on their computer.

The Artist Manager's Most Important Role

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:24:00 +0000

As I was searching around on the web for some inspirational aspects on artist management, I came across a really good video from Berklee Music’s instructor George Howard. Here, he interviews the former manager of the multi-platinum band Boston, Jeff Dorenfeld.

Mr. Dorenfeld talks about how a manager and artist need to have complete trust in one another in order for their relationship to be fulfilling and prosperous. He also talks about how it’s important for the artist to have a vision of where they want to go, whether that be artistic or financial success or whatever, they need to have a goal so that the manager has an idea of what they need to be aimed at.

Since the band is focusing on the artistic side, the manager is focused on the business side. They guide the band in a way that will make both successful but both opinions need to be accepted. If the band says they don’t want to work with this producer or agent, the manager should respect that choice and vice versa. I liked Mr. Dorenfeld’s analogy of the artist and manager’s relationship being like a marriage. Both parties’ values have to align and it doesn’t take much for either party to lose faith in the other if there isn’t constant communication and trust.

What I liked about this video is that it resonates a lot with my beliefs of how a manager should interact with his clients. A manager needs to handle the business aspects so the artist can concentrate on their work. When the artist starts trying to do both, they loose sight of what got them where they are and it begins to reflect in their work. They begin to see things that aren’t really there or they completely loose sight of what they want because they are too focused on trying to balance everything. I believe that the artist needs to be free of all stress that relates to anything business. Granted, they need to be informed of what is going on and without that trust between them and the manager, they won’t have that freedom. They need to see, believe and understand that the manager is completely on their side, otherwise, neither will get anywhere and something that could have been very beneficial is now ruined.

Negotiating Interview With Rich Denhardt

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 04:22:00 +0000

Recently, I had the pleasure of talking to Mr. Rich Denhardt about negotiations and how he has dealt with them over his extensive career. Mr. Denhardt has been in the music business since moving to Nashville in 1970. He worked for EMI from 1995 to 2006 where he honed his negotiation skills to their fullest. He has negotiated hundreds of deals from new signing new bands to extensions for artists already under the EMI label. Currently, he is one of the lead instructors for the Entertainment and Media Business bachelor program at Madison Media Institute as well as running his own consulting firm. I talked with him the other day and received some very insightful knowledge.

Ryan Howard (RH): How did you deal with artists who believed they were owed the world when they came to you to sign a deal?

Rich Denhardt (RD): When a band came in thinking that they were above others and thought they were owed some great deal, I just informed them that even though they were well liked by their audience, they were still new to the industry. They had no past performance with working with a label or in any sort of professional capacity so there was still risk in signing them. I informed them that we have no problem with getting them what they deserved when they proved themselves to us. They needed to understand that because they were getting a record deal that they needed to work even harder to prove themselves. I had to get through to them that they were now professionals and getting to work with a company that wants to see them succeed but that this is also a business and that they need to make sure that the company doesn’t get in too over their heads. They needed to know that they had to earn the respect they believed they were due. If they failed to realize that, then I would have no recourse but to walk away from the table, even if I really wanted to sign their band.

RH: How did you see bands and artists using their BATNA if they had one?

RD: Artists and bands were all over the place with their BATNAs. Some would bring it up right at the beginning without any provocation. Others would plug it somewhere in the middle and then there were the ones that would hold on to it until the end, after we had already given them our offer. There were even times when we would find out on our own before the negotiations even began. This wasn’t intentional but the music business really is a small, tightknit group so it wasn’t uncommon to know what others were up to.

RH: Did you aim for mutual benefit?

RD: Yes, always. It wasn’t in the best interest of the company to try and undercut a band or artist. Reputation is everything in this business and if word starts getting around that you are offering lopsided deals, you won’t be signing many bands. Plus, we always had attorneys present for all involved to make sure that all parties were being fair. By having lawyers present, the autonomy for everyone was kept intact and made for a smooth deal. Our goal was to work as partners because it makes it much easier to work with partners rather than adversaries.

RH: How did you handle in dealing with dirty tricks or tricky tactics?

RD: I was always willing to walk away from a deal. Even if I wanted an artist or band badly, I had to have the strength of mind to just walk away from it if it required me to. If they insisted on trying to play hardball, I would do my best to defuse the situation but if it persisted, I would just tell them, “This doesn’t look like it will work,” and would get up and leave the room. I guess that was my version of hardball but that was the extent.

RH: Lastly, what advice would you give to an individual who is new to negotiating?

RD: I would advise that you should never negotiate with yourself. When you make an offer and the other party just answers that it isn’t enough, don’t make a higher offer. Ask them what it will take to be a fair offer and go from there. The moment you start negotiating with yourself, you give the other party all the power and control. Also, always have a lawyer present at the negotiation table or at least kept up to date with how the deal is going. Lawyers are a great way to make sure all parties are getting a fair deal and that there are no lopsided offers. They will also make sure that everything is legal and on the up and up.

Talking with Mr. Denhardt gave me a great opportunity to understand how professionals go about negotiating. He had great advice for me and the one that stuck out the most was to be humble. As long as you stay humble, it will have an effect on the other party if they come in with a big ego. By holding your ground that way, people have a tendency to be disarmed and want to actually work with getting a deal done with you.

Business' Social Post Pattern

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 04:40:00 +0000

Recently, I was browsing the news feed on my Facebook account and I couldn’t help but wonder why some of my friends’ businesses were posting the things they were. To me, posting personal opinions on your company’s social websites is good way to loose business. I believe that a business should be as unbiased as it possibly can because as soon as you start siding with one thing, you begin a slippery slope that might end up costing you more then you imagined.

I think every entrepreneur should read this article from inc.com. Entitled “What Not to Share on Twitter or LinkedIn”, it is written by Hollis Thomases and she goes over some of the pitfalls of social media. She gives some good advice on how a business should enter the social media network without coming off as unprofessional. Granted, most of what she says is common sense but then again, time in and time out we are proven that common sense isn’t all that common.

According to Ms. Thomases, the first thing that a business needs to have when entering the social network is a purpose. By entering the social-sphere with a plan of how it will benefit the company, businesses can easily avoid falling into the rut of randomness. When a clear goal is set out and followed, companies can take advantage of the power of social networking and really get themselves a credible following.

Secondly, Ms. Thomases warns of the black hole. By this, she is referring to the amount of time someone spends on keeping up with his or her social updates. With the abundance of social media sites, it is easy to get caught in the net of trying to get caught up with your social network. I myself have been easily distracted by roaming my Twitter feeds and checking Facebook updates. It’s intriguing to see what your friends are up to or how many times something you Tweeted gets re-Tweeted. The key is to not let it interfere with productivity. Make sure you stay on top of the social-sphere but know that it doesn’t need to be constantly monitored. Set aside so much time a day to update your status and whatnot and if you need to, set an alarm so when it goes off, you are back to work.

The third one is an excellent tip for a business: it isn’t all about you. Ms. Thomases analogy of walking into a room full of strangers and talking about yourself is spot on. Sure, as a business, you do want to keep people informed on what you are doing but also informing them of what the industry you are in is up to, is also a positive. When people see that your business isn’t just boasting about themselves all the time, they can start to see the people side of your company. It gives them insight into what your company’s values are. Maybe you post a link to help a cause or charity, or talk about something happening in your city. Whatever you post, try to spark conversation or action. Make your social network postings more responsive as to draw more attention to your company.

Lastly, should go without saying but for some, it needs to be: don’t post anything you wouldn’t want your grandmother to see. If you think a person, who you respect a great deal, would be offended by what you are about to say, then maybe you should just hold off. It may seem funny or insightful to you, but there are people out there who could easily take it the wrong way.

The bottom line is: just think before you post. It’s easy to get caught up in thinking that what you have to say is grandioso but as a business, you need to adopt a new line of thinking. Besides, if you really have something that you want to post on the social network, well that’s what creating aliases are all about.

Reference

Thomases, H., Dec. 9, 2011, What Not to Share on Twitter or LinkedIn, found at http://www.inc.com/hollis-thomases/what-not-to-share-on-twitter-or-linkedin.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+inc%2Fheadlines+%28Inc.com+Headlines%29 on December 10, 2011

Graffiti Is Art

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 04:01:00 +0000

Looking through my RSS feeder, I came across an interesting article from Rolling Stones website. This article talks about how a graffiti crew from South Bronx is suing Jennifer Lopez and Fiat because of copyright infringement. If you haven’t seen the commercial, check it out here. The dispute is over the graffiti murals that are shown throughout the commercial. It appears that graffiti artwork is trying to take an important step in becoming a more legitimate form.

The plaintiffs, the TATS Cru, claim that Fiat’s commercial blatantly uses their artwork throughout the video. If the paintings were sanctioned work by the building’s owner, then I would have to agree with their argument. Typically, graffiti work is done underground and behind the scenes. Only until recently has it started to get a bit more glorified. Ever since Banksy blew up, graffiti work has gotten bolder. I have been to hip-hop shows where they have blank walls for people to tag. What was once viewed as a brazen form of rebellion is gaining ground as true art form and is even encouraged.

I hope that this suit is handled properly and that these murals are viewed as a legitimate form of artwork and self-expression. Even if they were not sanctioned pieces, they still add to the culture of the Bronx and how that area expresses itself. It could be viewed as a branding dispute as well. TATS Cru has helped develop an atmosphere in that area and to not show these artists the proper respect, well, that’s just wrong. There are some very talented artists out there and many of them are from low-income households. If more attention can be shown on graffiti work, only positives can come out of it. This could pave the way for troubled teens and others to find a creative avenue for venting. Many kids who would have otherwise been performing illegal acts are now benefitting the neighborhood by spreading their work across a city that needs a little brightening up. Who knows, maybe this could spread to more cities and show that graffiti murals have a place in city landscape and truly add to its spirit.

Game-ification of LIfe

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 02:26:00 +0000

I have seen a few TED videos and all of them have been pretty interesting but one that I want to discuss is the video by Gabe Zichermann where he talks about how video games make kids smarter and how game-ification is becoming implemented into some everyday activities. He defines game-ification as using game thinking and function as a way to come up with solutions to problems. Video games have become an intricate part of our society no matter how some people may feel about them. Rather then pushing against this fact, some businesses have accepted this and are developing ways to get people more involved with their products or services by attaching some sort of game element to it.

When Mr. Zichermann started to talk about how a teacher by the name of Ananth Pai implemented a video game based curriculum of his own design into his class of 3^rd graders, it caught my attention. Mr. Pai used video game consoles you can purchase right off the shelf so that nothing had to be custom made and used these games to teach his math and language classes. In the span of eighteen weeks, his class went from a below 3^rd grade level in reading and math to a mid-4^th grade level in those two areas.

What made this curriculum a success was what the kids thought of it. When asked about Mr. Pai’s class, the kids responded with two recurring themes; the learning was fun and that it was multiplayer, meaning they were able to interact with other kids in completely different locations in the country or world. If there are more classes that can be taught in this fashion, why not utilize it? I’m sure that there are plenty of kids out there who would greatly benefit from this style of education that are not succeeding in traditional teaching methods.

Game-ification has crossed over into the automobile industry as well. There is a hybrid vehicle out there that has a plant that grows when you are being more environmentally conscious with your driving and withers when you are being less. They have also incorporated game-ification into speed cameras. These are the devices that cops set up in certain hot spots and take pictures of speeders and send them a ticket. Ken Richardson came up with Speed Camera Lottery, a game that uses those cameras a type of lottery system. He took his idea to Sweden where those cameras are used and also where they send you a ticket not based on how fast you were going but how much money you make. Well if you are driving under the speed limit, you are entered into a lottery for some of the money from the fines of the less fortunate drivers.

I can imagine that this line of thinking will begin to filter into many areas of life as time progresses. If a person can harness a way to make mundane tasks fun and interesting, they would have a very valuable service or product on their hands. The less people think they are working, the more likely they will be to donate their time and engage in what you are trying to accomplish.

SXSW: Guerilla Gear's Target Market

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 22:55:00 +0000

Since its inception in 1987, South By Southwest (SXSW) has increasingly become one of the premier entertainment conventions in the world. In the span of nine days, it covers the three main entertainment mediums; film, music and interactive. Beginning around the second week of March, the city of Austin, TX becomes one of the most popular and busiest cities in the country with the amount of visitors, exhibitors and artists that converge there. Not only can you show your video or have your band perform there, you can network with some of the biggest names in the industry as well as promote your product at the trade show they have.

What really caught my eye about this convention is that it is geared toward every level of entertainment. Whether you are a new up-start or a savvy veteran, everyone is accepted and can participate in anything they feel would benefit their company, band or themselves individually.

What I’m focused on is the Film Conference & Festival, which has been described as “a five-day crash course on guerilla filmmaking and marketing” (sxsw.com/film/about/history ¶5). During this period, Guerilla Gear would be able to display and demonstrate its product. With as many indie and up-and-coming videographers that attend, the likelihood of our products striking a cord with them is quite good. Our product is aimed at the striving videographer. It lets them shoot with their DSLR camera like a traditional video camera but at a fraction of the cost of other similar products. The market for DSLRs has continued to rise so this gives us the confidence that the market for our product will continue to rise as well.

Since SXSW is looked at as more of a collaborative festival then a festival where many of the films that are there are there to find a buyer, you are more likely to find people who are interested in what you have to offer. We have a product that is attractive to individuals who are just starting out to ones who are in the transition of using DSLR cameras to shoot video. Our product and business model fit in well in this environment and I believe that we could only benefit from going.

SXSW is also a great opportunity to network because of it being a collaborative festival. It is more inclusive so it attracts talent that is still being developed and because so, it is getting more renowned and garnishing more attention from distributors and agents. This can only mean a constant and steady supply of potential customers. As more and more videographers begin using DSLR cameras for their projects, the more opportunity Guerilla Gear will have of establishing a solid foothold in the independent filmmaker market.

New Trend...Network Department Outsourcing

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 20:21:00 +0000

So I was looking through my RSS feeder and came across an interesting article from Deadline.com. According to the article, which was written on October 14, 2011, HBO is shutting down its casting department. HBO’s decision to do this is just another example of TV and Cable cutting costs by downsizing many in-house departments to outright liquidating them. HBO uses outside casting directors in all of its projects and its in-house casting executives only playing a supplemental role so their top brass decided to close it down. The fact that their movie and miniseries output is decreasing is also a major cause.

The article also talks about how senior casting executives are losing their jobs as well as a part of this cost-cutting trend. Rick Jacobs left Lifetime 2 years ago as party of the company-wide layoffs. Marc Hirschfeld from NBC was let go in their 2008 shakeup of executives. Walt Disney released Marcia Ross back in February and Beth Klein was shown the doors at Showtime after having working there for over 23 years. This is not the complete list of executives but it goes to show you that anybody is expendable in today’s economy.

Further along the article, the author, Nellie Andreeva, interviews an industry insider who tells her that often these now vacant positions are filled by junior execs at a fraction of the cost or they eliminate the position all together. The insider goes on to say that hiring a casting consultant as a freelance has been catching on within the industry. Starz has never had a casting department and instead has a non-exclusive deal with Hirschfeld who serves as their casting consultant.

Using freelance consultants sounds like a more optimal way in going about keeping your overhead down. From reading the article, it would only make sense for HBO to use a consultant for future casting needs. If they aren’t producing as many miniseries or movies, then the need for a whole department seems ridiculous. If HBO’s plan were just to continue and improve upon their current line-up of shows, then they would just need someone to help them when a new character is introduced into the series.

To me, it seems like a logical step for HBO to take. Why spend the money and resources on a department that you can easily have filled by an outside source? However, keeping with this mindset could be detrimental to the company. Who’s to say that they won’t just start looking for freelancers to fill the majority of the other departments? Sound, lighting, special effects, writing, marketing and others could be cast (no pun intended) aside to save money. By doing this, yes the network would save some money, but then you run into communication problems and then the quality of the product begins to suffer. It’s a perilous approach to saving money but if balanced properly, could really help the company stay afloat and possibly, in the future, bring back those lost departments.

Women Should Talk More...Really!

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:56:00 +0000

I read a really good article written in the Harvard Business Review by Whitney Johnson. It was about how women need to speak up more in business and if they were to do so, the business world would get new perspectives and ideas. Men do tend to dominate the business world, and the world in general, and yet, they only represent 50% of the population. Granted there are women CEOs, Senators and other positions of power but how serious can they be taken if these women don’t speak up.

Ms. Johnson quotes Tom Peters, a management thinker, when he says that, “There is little disagreement about what businesses must become: less hierarchical, more flexible and team-oriented, faster and more fluid. One group of people has an enormous advantage in realizing this necessary new vision: women”. He is noted for going on saying that having a women on a team can raise their collective intelligence which allows them to solve more complex problems.

This got me thinking about my current group project for my Project and Team Management class. We are fortunate to have a woman in the group and so far she has brought a different outlook on the project. She was the one that came up with idea for us to work with schools and outline a program to keep music in academia. She brought a humane idea to the project rather then just something that would make money or bring notoriety to us. It was an idea to better a situation and that struck me as very noble. However, had she of been more timid and shy, that idea could easily have never even materialized.

Ms. Johnson brings up an interesting point about initiating conversation out of women: let everyone at the meeting give a short introduction of themselves. This gives women the opportunity to show what they bring to the project to the other members. If you give somebody the chance to introduce themselves to the entire group in their own way, you immediately allow the group to get a more accurate picture of that individual.

In management, I believe that is an essential tool because if you can have a more clear picture of the people you’re managing, you can group people together better to make a more effective team. When you have people in the proper area they excel at, you will get outstanding results. This makes the group flow much more smoothly and you lessen the chance of conflict as the project develops.

A smooth, effective and creative team will be awarded with future projects. As a manager, it should be your goal in assembling such a team. By having everyone involved, it will only increase your success rate.

Innovation: America's Economic Savior

noreply@blogger.com (Howie Swag) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 20:46:00 +0000

I was looking at my RSS feed from Fast Company and they had a really good article by Gregory Ferenstein. In it, he talks to Thomas Friedman, who is a New York Times columnist and author of the book, That Used To Be Us, about how we, as a country, need to empower every worker with innovation. We need to make more of a priority of it, from employers to policy makers and I couldn’t agree more.

America used to pride itself on being the leader in the world when it came to innovation. Having that “Made in America” stamp on a product used to mean something. Now, businesses are using that stamp as a way of saying, “Hey, we haven’t completely outsourced our company”. Instead of staying stateside and keeping the local economy going, top US corporations are more then happy to have a foreign agency handle certain aspects.

If we keep sending our jobs overseas, how can we expect to be a competitor in the world? This country is taking the easy way instead of putting our nose to the grindstone. We are more concerned about profits instead of staying true to what made us a global powerhouse: innovation.

Sure the world has changed and that there is software and machines that can take the place of people but a savvy CEO or manager can turn that around and use that to their advantage. Friedman talks about Jeff Lesk, a partner at the law firm Nixon Peabody, and how an automated legal software program had replaced scores of lawyers because it could do what they were doing at a fraction of the cost. To combat this, Lesk turned to innovation with one way by "finding legal-friendly ways of combining renewable energy and low-income housing tax credits to finance community real estate projects" (Ferenstein 2011).

Sure, this example sounds complicated and requiring thinking outside the box but that is what made this country stand out among the others. We used our creative thinking to come up with ways to generate revenue. Being the GM for Higher Education Records, I have to find ways to get our name out there other then just doing shows. At the moment, we are working with Asset Builders of America on putting on a hip-hop showcase that is also about helping low income families with financial literacy. For this global economy to recover, innovation will be key and America needs to be on point for this endeavor.