davidweeks

[davidweeks]

Business Plan Final Project

Month 12 of my Entertainment Business Master’s degree program at Full Sail University, the Business Plan Final Project course, provided me the opportunity to tie together all the knowledge I have gathered throughout the course and apply it formally. This was also my chance to show off my personal skillsets and qualifications through my personal company and branding. In order to graduate the program it is required of Entertainment Masters students to successfully complete the capstone project, which is where they showcase their newly possessed knowledge and outlook of the entertainment business and creative abilities in a formal presentation of their complete business plan. The creation of this plan officially began in the month 11 course, Business Plan Development, but started as far back as month 5 in Entertainment Business Finance where I began working with Pro Forma statement financials for my company. The business plan contents consist of brand message, mission statement, company description and solution, market analysis and trends in the music industry, target audience and competition research, marketing strategy, management and operations outline, goals timeline, a financials summary including three years of sales and profit projections, start-up costs, and major revenue sources and expenses, as well as investment opportunities and financing needs for required funding. At this point I am not only proud of what I have learned over the year and accomplished by setting out for my master’s degree and completing it but I am also proud of my new business plan for Weeks Work/ DMW Management and excited to execute it, moving forward with a career in Entertainment.

[davidweeks]

Business Plan Development

When looking back on my initial goals for Business Plan Development and comparing them to my experience in the course as I finish out my final week, I must say that unlike many of the others, I was pretty spot on. I knew that I would be learning what a successful business plan would require, that I would be applying the knowledge that I have accumulated throughout the program into creating a formal plan related to my field, and that I would be receiving beneficial feedback from my peers and instructor concerning my business plan and how it could be improved. With this being said, coming into the course I had no idea what a business plan actually is, what it entails, and the purpose it serves.

The first week of the course, where I was able to begin developing my business plan for a publishing and distribution record company that I seek to establish called A Week’s Work Music, provided a great opportunity for me to establish myself as a business entity. I had the chance to hone in on my proposed idea, a creative name for myself that I would title the company, compose a creative one-minute pitch to grab the audience’s attention, which will more than likely be a potential investor. I was able to devise a solid mission statement to brand the company and apply what I learned in my Advanced Entertainment Law course while I solidified the type of business that my company would operate as, which is a limited liability corporation (LLC). Analyzing the market that my business will exist in was a big part of week one as well as I outlined the void that we would fill in the industry with our proposed solution and learn more about our immediate and long-term opportunities.

In week two I was able to get more in-depth on the target market and trends for my industry, as well as examine the competitive landscape of which my company sits in. I conducted research on the leading competitors in my industry, including their strengths and weaknesses, and determined what sets my company A Week’s Work, apart from the rest in my differentiation exercise. Another addition in the second week to my business plan was my marketing plan and sales strategy, where I was able to outline the message my company would like to display in the market, determine how we fit our customers’ needs, and establish our business and revenue models. The additions to my company’s business plan in week three of the course were a bit more descriptive on how the organization is ran and who it consists of. Here I was able to outline the company operations, the efficiencies that we exhibit through the conducting of our business, and our standout advantages competitive-wise. Another important factor in week three’s development of my business plan was establishing the technologies and equipment that will be utilized, including hardware and software as well as the creation and hosting of the company website. Lastly, I decided on the members of my organization including all of the Week’s Work key players and management structure and began my projected financial data information of which I finished in the final week.

During the final week of the course, I was able to finalize my financial data including determining my monthly sales and marketing budgets, my staffing budget and the start-up costs necessary for my business. This was a great opportunity for me to get a sense of the expectations I need to meet for myself and my business and formulate a realistic plan for getting things done and making the necessary investments to excel the growth of my business. Another note I’d like to mention is that in my initial timeline created in the Mastery course, the strategy I considered using for making it a successful month was to listen to interviews from members of successful companies about the process of carrying out its business plan. I was fortunate enough to carry this strategy out over the course of the month as I was given access to listen interviews from a professional with an entertainment background, Jayson Whitmore. My 11th month here at Full Sail University in the Entertainment Business Master’s program far exceeded my expectations, thanks to a great instructor, helpful readings and assignments that I was able to learn a lot from completing.

[davidweeks]

Publishing & Distribution

Back in month one of the Entertainment Business program at Full Sail University, in the Mastery course, I devised initial goals for the Publishing & Distribution course in my PDL Timeline. These goals were as followed: learning how to develop an effective publishing and distribution plan for my business, gaining an understanding of the roles of Media Publishing and Distribution in the Entertainment industry, and learning about the current issues affecting these two roles. When revisiting these goals and thinking back to what my understanding was of publishing and distribution, I must say that although I was aware that distributing involved selling products in stores and online, in my case music (physical albums, single downloads, merchandise, etc.), I was unaware that it goes hand-in-hand with publishing. I did not know what publishing truly was for that matter, as I thought it dealt with strictly literary works. I had to start the course to realize that all musical works have publishers as well, which are the companies that own and release the song/album. Anything that is distributed has a publisher, as I learned that if you do not publish something there is no way you can officially distribute it. I was able to analyze the different aggregator sites available for self-publishing during my Week 3 Discussion post assignment, which gave me insight on which would suite myself and/or the artist I manage the best. I established that at the early stage of the artist’s career, which in this case would be for publishing his/her first release, CDBaby would be the best platform to go with.

Another important part of publishing and distribution that I had the opportunity to learn this month is that in order to receive the highest potential for success on your creative works, it is extremely beneficial to have an established publisher release and distribute them for you. This way they will reach the largest possible audience, since scoring a publishing deal isn’t something any artist or their manager can simply do on their own unless they have some special connections with a label. A scenario such as that is highly unlikely, and therefore the need for an agent is prevalent, someone who can mediate between an independent artist and a huge company. A record company such as Sony or Universal isn’t going to take submissions from someone who isn’t already a big moneymaker in the industry, and therefore an agent can mediate for the artist to get their music in front of the big publishing entities. I learned how to draft a query letter to an agent the proper way, which can come in handy big time as I will now know how to go about finding a publisher. In order to secure that publishing deal, the artist or manager will then need some supporting materials to provide to him/her so that he/she can shop the work around in the best possible fashion. A press kit is exactly what will fulfill this, which is something we learned how to create. I was able to produce my very own electronic press kit, and it turned out very nice and to be something I am proud of. I look forward to learning more throughout the rest of the course and will definitely be using the concepts i’ve learned so far, as well as my query letter and EPK.

[davidweeks]

Advanced Entertainment Law

Prior to the Advanced Entertainment Law course, my eighth month here at Full Sail University, I was expecting to gain some knowledge on contracts and learn some of the terminology used to understand them more easily. I quickly realized that understanding contracts isn’t going to serve me as beneficially as would looking for things that aren’t in negotiation, as learned in our contract review discussion board activity. Once a contract appears to state in detail the obligations of the other party involved, then would be the time to have an entertainment attorney step in and make sure everything looks appropriate. Nevertheless, understanding contracts was only a fraction of what I learned this month and the course has blown my expectations away by far. Some of the areas that were covered this month were addressing the intellectual property forms that I will be dealing with in my industry, learning what category they fall under and they can be protected, as well as how to protect them. I also learned about the forms that will be required of me in order to do so, along with business registration forms as well, and understanding their nature, specific terms used and how to complete them for submission.

In week one of the course, I was given the opportunity to examine some of the legal liabilities for my field that are related to the forms of intellectual property that I will be creating and utilizing as well as ways to combat and prevent those liabilities. I was able to study some of the court cases that occurred within the realm of work for my business, being the music industry, and analyze the courts’ decisions. The rulings made by the judge provided me an insight on how these lawsuits usually play out, which I would say gave me understanding on the differentiation between certain extents of being inspired by another individual or brand and stealing their work or ideas. Sometimes two works are relatively similar, but the inspiration doesn’t simply mean infringement is occurring, as their is a difference. In week two, I was able to go more in-depth with these liabilities and analyze several more lawsuits that occurred that have a nature pertaining to the business I will be running. I was also able to study a contract and seek out bad clauses within it. Week three gave me a chance to deal with registrations such as that for my business, copyright registration, and trademark registration. I feel that this will help me big time when going to file for my own business assets, including the name of the brand and the content produced. Finally, in week four I was able to dig even deeper with on of the original liabilities I studied in week one by analyzing a court case involving that liability, and what caused the judge to rule in favor of one side over the other.

I must say that after this month, my level of confidence in establishing my career and putting out content that I am certain will not be stolen from me or profited from in any unauthorized usage has increased tenfold. I am very pleased with the new knowledge I have attained and will be directly applying it to my business plan. Of course I am aware that I will still need to select a solid entertainment lawyer for the purposes of dealing with some of my contracts and representing me while taking any infringers of my work to court, but I am far more knowledgeable on the legalities of my industry. I was able to select the business structure that I will be operating under once I was aware of the different types and how they serve a company, which was a big factor for registering it. I chose a limited liability company instead of a closely-held corporation, as I will not be franchising and opening multiple locations, I will not be taking many loans from others and therefore my debt will hopefully be at a minimal, and also for the reason that I will not be partaking in business agreements internationally. Everything that I control for myself and my personal brand will be domestic, but this doesn’t mean that my artists won’t be touring worldwide and participating in deals oversees. My eighth month here was an extremely beneficial learing experience for me, and that is to say the least.

[davidweeks]

Product & Artist Management

Coming into the month, my expectations for the Product and Artist Management course here at Full Sail University were gain some knowledge about what the two types of management were and what is needed in order to be successful in both fields. Little did I know, the two of them go hand-in-hand with one another and as I’ve learned, an artist manager needs a plan that incorporates product management in order for their talent to become a success. Touring is the main source of income for an artist, as we are in the age of streaming opposed to downloads and record sales, and for that reason merchandise is crucial to income streams making product management key in the world of music. One of the few things I’ve learned this month. There were many eye-openers for me along with this one including the fact that artists only receive .001 cents for every song stream on platforms such as pandora and Spotify, making an equivalent of a million streams equal only about $1,800. Therefore, its’ extremely important to monetize all other sources of revenue for the talent you manage, including products! Having the chance to brainstorm ideas and strategize them into creating a unique set of products for a music festival was very beneficial as I learned what is really necessary in product management, such as assessing the audience you are targeting, assessing how the product brings value to your brand, establishing timing for the products release, and analyzing competition and trends for consumer behavior.

Becoming an artist manager is something I would really enjoy as a career, so I was excited at the idea of taking a class about it. Everything was covered, I had the opportunity to learn exactly what makes a manager successful in the entertainment business. Starting in week one, I was already becoming knowledgeable on aspects of successful artist management, including the ideal career life span goal which is a solid 5 years. When the artist is on the radios and is considered “hot”, that is the time to milk the market as much as possible, and before signing an artist you need to know the criteria of one that is worth your time to begin with. I learned that artists’ who write their own music are paid publishing royalties including those from radio play, while artists who aren’t the songwriter will not be making as much revenue from publishing income sources, and therefore you are better off managing one that does. I learned what types of talent that are managed by artist managers, and the differences between them from a management perspective, as well as the role that is played in doing so. There isn’t as many liabilities concerning managing a self-traveling, responsible motivational speaker or a comedian opposed to a young rock band destroying hotel rooms. Sometimes it’s worth the extra work, in other times not so much. learned that in this business, sometimes you need to say no, when certain situations or opportunities do not necessarily fit your agenda at the time presented, but in a professional, respectful manner that will not cause bridges to burn. Studying some of the most-successful management firms in the music industry, which is my preferred field, was a great opportunity for me as well as I was able to study how they achieved what they did, which put them in the position they are at now compared to their entry point into the business.

[davidweeks]

Negotiation & Deal-Making

My expectations have been exceeded by far in my eighth month here at Full Sail University in the Negotiation & Deal-Making course. Coming into the month, I thought of myself as a very skilled negotiator, but in reality, I did not even understand the process of negotiation and what its components are. All I pretty much thought of a negotiation as was a conversation involving two people, that are bargaining one another to do something or give something to the other. Now I understand the ground that is covered in a negotiation, including the underlying interests of each side, the mutual benefit for both parties involved, each party’s bargaining position, the neutral criteria used by each side to determine which is more valid, as well as each party’s backup plan. I also learned about several different types of contract provisions and researched the kinds of contracts involved in my specific industry. This is only week three of the course as of now, but I have learned a lot about deal-making. Now that I know so much more about the negotiation process, I am setting a goal for myself to work on finding more ways to give autonomy during a negotiation, and spend more time getting to know my negotiator and address their needs before jumping to seal the deal.

The four types communication of styles used in negotiation, none other than the Inspirer, Thinker, Quiet Supporter and Commander were also covered so far this month. I have been come familiar with the characteristics and traits of these different types of communicators and now have a sense for each of them. This will allow me to identity them in a negotiation and know how to appeal to them more and work more proficiently with each of them uniquely. Before anything else I was able to become acquainted to my own communication style, the Quiet Supporter, and explore some of my strong points as well as weaknesses in communication. This month I have also had the opportunity to learn about preventing negative emotions during negotiation and the ways this can be carried out, which are by creating connections, showing appreciation, respecting the other party’s status, and giving autonomy. Most recently, I learned what a mediator is in a negotiation as well the role they serve, and about the process of mediation in itself including the order of which it carried out. I am looking forward to the rest of the course and to utilize what I have learned throughout the rest of my degree program and following my graduation during any business endeavors I partake in.

[davidweeks]

Digital Marketing

After revisiting my initial goals established in month one of my journey at Full Sail University for the Digital Marketing course, I can say without a doubt that they have been met. In the Mastery course after reading a brief description of the Digital Marketing curriculum, I devised the goals for myself of understanding the concept of Digital Marketing and the role it plays in my field, learning what is required in order to develop a successful and effective marketing plan, and improving my online professional presence. Throughout the month, I have learned almost everything there is to know about developing a digital marketing strategy, and what integrated marketing is. I’ve been able to learn about the different channels of digital and traditional marketing and what purposes they serve. I’ve learned what SEO (Search-Engine-Optimization) is as well and why/how it is used properly, as well as the different types of KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators). I’ve had the opportunity to examine the marketing efforts of the leaders in my industry, and the effective techniques used throughout their websites and social media. I was able to see what works for them and what is unique about their strategies that allows them to distinguish themselves individually.

This month in the Digital Marketing course has also given me the opportunity to further develop my own personal brand and begin a marketing campaign of my own. I was able to devise an objective for brand’s marketing strategy, choose the channels that will be utilized by my brand for the campaign’s purpose, plan out a content strategy for the campaign, and design mock-ups for the campaign advertising. Furthering my strategy, I was able to compose a budget for a year-long marketing campaign, breaking down the costs to be spent for each effort within the campaign as well as the total cost. I also selected a key performance indicator for each individual channel within my strategy, set a target audience, and set a goal for that given platform. Not only did I decide on the social media accounts that will be utilized by my company, but I was also able to expand on my brand development and make adjustments to my personal website as well. I also came up with the method(s) that will be used to measure the performances of the channels used in my campaign strategy. Bringing everything together, I created a final presentation for my digital marketing strategy and was able to present it in a very professional manner.

[davidweeks]

Entertainment Business Finance

Coming into month five of my degree program and beginning the Entertainment Business Finance course, my initial expectations were to get a sense of what the costs and expenses were for starting up and maintaining a business in my field, being talent management. I expected to research the aspects involved in this process, and to come up with a plan to finance my company. This was of course fulfilled, but what I have taken in coming out of the month exceeded my initial expectations by far.

I learned what annual reports are, something I did not even know existed, and had the chance to analyze those of which belong to some of the biggest companies in entertainment. I learned what it takes to develop a financial statement and created my own for my business, outlining every aspect of the ingoing and outgoing flow of funds and pay roles for my company. I learned what opportunity cost is and how this would affect my career, life overall, and professional decision-making. Before the month, I wasn’t even able to calculate interest rates on my own. Now I can do it by hand. Along with calculating how long it would take to break even on an investment. I also learned about the financial ratio formulas of Liquidity, Efficiency, Leverage, and Profitability and how they are used to calculate aspects such as asset turnover, the value of liquidated assets, investment obligations, gross and net profits, and more.

Whether or not I am taking the route of starting my own business after graduation, the concepts I have learned will definitely be put to use throughout my career and for the rest of my life. I have always had business ideas in mind that do not necessarily correlate to my degree program, endeavors that I would like to see come to fruition later down the road, and the financing concepts that I have learned will for sure be applied.

[davidweeks]

Business Storytelling & Brand Development

While summing up my fourth month here at Full Sail University in the Entertainment Business Master’s program, I cannot help but express my appreciation for the course Business Storytelling & Brand Development. This course has done a lot for me and my vision, giving me an opportunity to learn about how I am going to present myself professionally, as well as an opportunity to develop my brand. It has also served as a major motivation to keep pushing for what I want to achieve with my career, and has inspired me even more to continue following my dreams.

Before the start of this course I didn’t even have a name or idea for what my personal brand, and I didn’t have the slightest idea that I would be finishing the month out with a complete brand proposition and ideology, mantra, and logo design. I am very excited about my logo especially as I can see it being placed on shirts, hats, and of course on digital platforms such as my website and social media accounts. I know that even if I do not end up pushing my brand as an actual business upon graduation, I will at least be able to market myself to companies in the right way which is something I am excited about. I do believe I could end up pushing my own business as well, I could see it happening that way too.

Aside from establishing what a good brand identity is and developing my own content, I was able to take a lot from the course. I had the chance to examine the leading companies in my industry, and study what it is about them that makes them stand out amongst the others. I learned that while building your brand you need to narrow in on what makes you the best, giving reason to why your target audience should choose you over competition. I learned the importance of having a strong brand story, appealing to all senses of the consumer. I studied the different brand archetypes and learned the category of which my brand would fall under. I was able to learn the brand identity prism and what it encompasses, which I had no idea about before this month. All things that I will be applying throughout my journey. 

[davidweeks]

Leadership

After getting a sense of the leadership qualities portrayed in both readings this month, The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Developing the Leader Within You by John Maxwell, I can definitely say that Maxwell’s style speaks for me more than Greene’s. Although there are laws from Greene that I definitely would like to exhibit in my leadership ability, such as “Never Outshining the Master” , “Always say less than is necessary”, “Winning through your actions” and “Guarding your reputation”, I do not like the throwing your mom under the bus for a dollar mentality as it was referred to by my instructor. I cannot see myself using other people in my professional career for my own benefit and taking advantage of them, it is just something that doesn’t sit well with me. I believe in karma, treating others as you would like to be treated but also my aim would be to be a influential in a positive way not a leader that is all about themselves. My morals definitely play a part in this but other than that I just fit this leadership style better. Maxwell uses biblical references to describe leadership qualities as well which I can appreciate because of my faith. Unlike the Greene style of leadership, Maxwell’s thoughts and perspective really gave me a lot to take away from and apply to my own journey. Things such as bettering yourself as a colleague, boss, and even a person.

Maxwell’s traits are all thing that are significant in meaning to me. Some of the traits he describes represent the leadership ability I already possess, that I may need some touching up on but is still there currently, and others I needed to seriously apply to my behavior and to my work. For example, Influence is something I don’t really have on a large some of people so in that sense, I’m not a leader with lots of followers but I do have influence on the people that I encounter on a regular basis and the people that I consider friends and family. I know for sure that I’ve influenced many of these people in positive ways. I can definitely build up my character as well, it needs to be strengthened and developed into the leader I want to become. One of the things I really appreciate from Maxwell’s perspective on character was how he talked about the result of developing a strong character on the inside being self-respect. He says this comes “not from accomplishments or achievements, but from making the right choices” (Maxwell 67). When you respect yourself enough, a flow of confidence will run through you and you will be able to make decisions in that way, which will produce better results. This way you will learn to trust yourself and the decisions you make and not even think twice because you know you are doing what is right. Another trait I really connected with and would like to apply to my own leadership style was the “Creating Positive Change” trait. Sometimes evoking positive change can be difficult if you are strong in character and are not afraid to step out of your comfort zone enough to make this happen, the change will occur. I really appreciated how Maxwell talked about how many people are “holding on so tightly to what they have that they are willing to forgo gaining anything – even progress” and how this will growth. I cannot let this mentality reside in me and I cannot be afraid to lose in order to gain in the long run.

[davidweeks]

Inspiration

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” - Albert Einstein

This quote from Albert Einstein resonated with me because I have often struggled with letting my mistakes bring me down instead of seeing them in a positive light. As long as i’m able to use them as a lesson then I won’t ever have to make the same mistake twice, and in turn I feel that these mistakes were necessary in making me the person I am today. Sometimes your best teacher is yourself and the experiences you have. You cannot let your mistakes define you but instead use them to better yourself and as an opportunity for growth. 

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