The journey is coming to an end and I can the see the light, though faint at the end. It wasn’t all peaches and cream, in fact it was what some would call a handful of lemons. With the start of any program a foundation has to be laid. In Media Literacy and Research Methodologies I was introduced to LinkedIn and numerous of RSS feeds pertinent to the entertainment business industry. In this class, we were required to complete a Business rationale paper and a joint venture proposal, and conduct online research for business and marketing purposes. I must say that Personal Learning Networks (PLN) became my best friends during this class. Propelling me into my course where I had to create a blog and assess my leadership skills, Executive Leadership provided me with the skills to play up my strengths and address my weaknesses. This course required that I become acquainted with Keynote and iMovie because we had to record and submit assignments using these mediums. Did I mention I hate being in front of the camera? Well I do. Reading Developing the Leader Within You by John C. Maxwell during the course helped me to successfully complete a leadership self-assessment and write a reflection paper maximizing leadership strengths and overcoming weaknesses. Strength is definitely what I needed in Project and Team Management. In this course I learned the principle of project management and the true meaning of teamwork and how valuable it is in accomplishing goals. We were required to create a team charter, a document completed by all members to manage the project and address team related issues. Being the only female in my group, I was somehow coerced into the role of project manager. It was my responsibility to create a detailed plan and schedule for the project, effectively communicate with my team, and monitor the success of the project. In addition to this we were asked to create a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis on a business idea pertaining to our focal industry area. By the end of this course, my blog writing skills were getting better because in the next course I have a story to tell. In Business Storytelling and Brand Development I was able to create a personal brand strategy a brand story using Keynote, a market research paper analyzing market trends within the competitive business environment. This course allowed me to bring my business plan to light. During this course I was able to build my brand portfolio and develop S.M.A.R.T. marketing goals to build my company’s brand. Now, building a brand and a presence, whether online or in your community takes money. How am I supposed know what type of funds I need and how to measure my company’s break-even analysis? That’s easy, by understanding how Entertainment Business Finance can make a positive impact on your company and keep it thriving. Reading Entrepreneurial Finance and Rich Dad, Poor Dad I was able to create, read, and analyzes financial statements. I wanted to know the behind the scenes calculations, the kind of information no one likes to talk about. It was getting real PERSONAL and I was ready for the challenge. OK! Let’s talk money because after all it does make the world go round right, especially since we’re in a crisis. YIKES! The break-even analysis, pro forma financial statements, and personal finance projects helped us to put finances into perspective, recognizing that they are indeed a vital part of building your company. Now when it comes to negotiating and making deals in the entertainment industry that can be risky, yet rewarding. Negotiation and Deal Making is a course where I created financials for a product line and conducted a case study on Alex Rodriguez contract negotiation. Each week we completed negotiation worksheets, in which we had to collaborate with a classmate on 5 core concerns that play a role in negotiations. I enjoyed this course because it gave me a small taste of what to expect when it comes to negotiations. I do feel comfortable enough to conduct negotiations focusing on mutual benefit as well as facilitating them. In order to facilitate anything, one needs to know how to effectively manage the situation. I proved this to be successful in Product and Artist Management where I produced a live event tour for Rihanna and a product development pitch for a natural hair care line. Each discussion was geared toward taking creative inventory on both a product and artist. Throughout the course, it allowed not only our creative side, but also our business side. Evaluating the four P’s of marketing, product, price, place, and promotion pushed me to develop a vision that was more advanced than where I was. Advanced Entertainment Law is what I thought wanted to explore as a career until I looked past all of the glamour and added zeros to one’s salary. I was not prepared for the “legal” issues that followed. From property risks to trademark concerns to contract issues, this course definitely was an eye opener. I learned how to assess and complete registration forms for a business that would like to copyright a work and trademark an item. I then wrote a paper on liability research in which I focused on Trade Secrets. Overall the course was very enlightening and informative because when it comes to entertainment law, some automatically think of a celebrity entertainment lawyer. But little do they know it’s much more background work involved. As some know I am in the process of finishing a long overdue book. With Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution I was able to sample a taste of what the process entails. Writing a query letter and a book proposal prepared me to know what publishers look for and how to effectively market your work using online and offline mediums. This course showed me how to develop a business strategy to self-publish and distribute my own merchandise if I choose to. The collaboration assignment allowed me and my classmates to share information on different sectors of the entertainment industry. Again, teamwork is an important part of any program. It is not good to keep all of the information to yourself. At least I don’t think so. Another intricate part of the program would have to Digital Marketing because there is so much you can to digitally market your business or company. During each week, we were asked to do a discussion on a certain aspect of digital marketing just as we were to do in the previous courses. Creating a marketing proposal and digital media plan were the most exiting part of this course because it brought all of the information we had reviewed together. In my marketing proposal/plan I used Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Digital Public Relations, Social Media and Viral Marketing, and Email Marketing. For the type of business I am undertaking these 4 channels would benefit the most and eventually expanding to other channels. The two blogs birthed from this course evaluate relationships between digital marketing strategies and the entertainment industry. Using sites such as Quantcast.com and Alexa.com we were able to measure the amount of traffic our site, in this case, our blog received.
Using information from the 10 previous courses, I was able to start the groundwork for my company/business. In Business Plan Development we were finally able to show the industry or in this case, our professor just how much knowledge we have gained and retained by putting the pieces of the business plan together. Each week there was a new section of the business plan to be constructed. I was kind of relieved because I was free from the discussion posts, or at least I thought I was. The company description, target market analysis, financials, operations and management were to be written each week. These projects were to be a reflection of the actual business plan used to present to potential investors. It gave us a virtual hands on approach to what to come in our last and final course, Final Project: Business Plan. So, it all came down to this huh? This is where I see all of my hard work and effort is put into full force. Oh, did I mention that the discussion posts are back? Yikes! Ok, I’m kidding because I actually enjoyed all of the discussion posts. It was a way of interacting with my classmates and professors. Sharing ideas and thoughts, of course in a professional manner will take me a long way. My professors were briefly introduced to what Hear Me Sing, Inc. is all about in my Elevator Pitch assignment. A one-minute presentation explaining what my company is all about, what are the opportunities are, how will I solve it? and why should an investor take the time to listen and eventually provide the funds to my company. Up next…the Written Business Plan, but not before I write an Executive Summary, included a Title Page, Table of Content, and completing my Financials. Now my Business Plan was complete. Professors Bill Thompson and Michael Taylor guided us through the entire process. Thanks Professors. But it was not complete until the fat lady; excuse me, until I presented it. That was a breeze. The presentation was to include all components completed in the written portion and briefly describe each section as if I were in front of investors. Each week began with an introduction of the course, and a Wimba session as in all the other courses. This one was different though, simply because there was a sense of accomplishment and I recognized that this was the end of the program and the beginning of a new chapter for me. So I am reflecting over the past year and I can do nothing but be thankful that I reached another milestone. Congratulations to the Class of 2011!
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