Technology and its Effects

Technology and its Effects

I remember when I was younger and I wanted to see a movie that was in theaters, if my parents decided not to take me it would take almost a year before the movie was available in stores so that it could be purchased and viewed at home. With all of the recent changes that have been occurring with technology in the entertainment industry a movie is available to be viewed outside of the movie theater the day that it drops in theaters. This is not only allowing people to get movies on demand, but it is also hurting the entertainment industry profits.

Today I will be discussing the impacts and changes that technology has made on the entertainment community. Recently there was an article written about how technology is destroying the entertainment industry. The changes that are occurring are not just effecting the visual media portion of entertainment, but the music industry also. The visual media side of entertainment has went through many changes, from VHS to DVD’s to streaming/on-demand viewing. Every time one of these technological changes occur it creates a change in the way the funds come in and go out of the industry.

Netflix was the first to recognize how these changes would effect business and found ways to capitalize on the changes before their company took any drastic hits. Netflix’s started off as a DVD mail order company and in the mid 2000’s went to online streaming, right at a time when online streaming was becoming the next big boom. Netflix is now one of the many companies starting to take part in the trends of online/web-series.

The music industry is also seeing the same changes and effects being caused by technology. It used to be that the artist would go into the studios and record albums or singles that they would then go to the record companies to have produced and distributed through retail outlets. Now with the changes that are occurring artist first turned to digital downloads as a way to keep up with sells and now sites such as Youtube.com, Spotify, and many others are allowing consumers to download whole albums at little to no cost and before it actually hits the store.

So the question is, with the constant changes that are occurring in technology what will be the next big change to affect the entertainment industry, and how much of an impact will it have on profits?

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/09/19/adam-leipzig/#!pgPR8

Digital Marketing Defined

Digital Marketing Defined

With the constant changes that are occurring in the marketing industry, it is very important to understand marketing and the digital age or World Wide Web. Traditional marketing is no longer the best way of reaching out to current and potential clients. Today with so many consumers online surfing the Internet for business and personal uses, it's easier to reach them by directing marketing attempts to the digital era. This week we look into how to make marketing in the digital age as beneficial as possible.

One of the sources that we used to create this post speaks of how in traditional marketing, companies simply needed to create buzz about their product or services. Whereas with today’s marketing, companies need to create experiences that keep the consumers engaged. Though it is important to transition to the digital age of marketing, it is important to continue to use traditional methods to enhance all marketing attempts.

“In the digital age, marketers must change their focus from grabbing attention to holding attention by focusing on three core business objectives:” (Satell, 2013). These three objectives are sales, awareness and advocacy. Many companies believe that they can keep their current consumer base by loyalty along, but the source speaks about the fact that loyalty can be misleading. Fully understanding the objectives allows one to understand where their money for marketing should be spent to best improve the business.

On top of learning how to market in the digital age, it is just as important, if not more important, to learn how to effectively use mobile marketing. The rise of the mobile use for online shopping is demanding that marketers learn how to use cross channel marketing. This allows them to use traditional marketing attempts, while still grasping the consumer’s attention through mobile marketing.

Consumers are no longer spending their time in stores walking up and down the aisles, or looking at sales ads to find out who has the best deals. Consumers are now turning to their mobile devices to find out if they can make the purchase online for an equal or lesser price than if they were to go into the stores and stand in lines. The mobile/digital era has not only changed marketing, but has changed the way that consumers relate to their favorite brands.

Davidi, A. (2013, September 11). Effective mobile marketing in the digital age – live discussion.

Retrieved from

http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/sep/11/effective-mobile-marketing-digital-discussion

Satell, G. (2013, March 19). How to market in a digital age. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2013/03/19/how-to-market-in-a-digital-age/

Creating A Plan That Works For You

Creating A Plan Works For You

This week we would like to discuss how we plan to incorporate the information from the “Importance of Business Planning” blog into our own company business plan, and how the information learned has already changed pieces of our plan. First we would like to start off by mentioning pieces of the information obtained that we will be the most important in our business planning.

Two of the benefits that Tim Berry mentioned in his posting really stuck out to us, and that is the fact that building a business plan will allow you to keep your business objectives clear, while at the same time creating milestones/goals that will keep you on track. We have found these two to be amongst the important benefits that we would need to incorporate immediately. Making sure that ones business objectives are clear guarantees that those reading over the plan have a clear understand on where the business is trying to go. This is not only important when trying to request money for the business, but also important for evaluating the business in the future to tell if it is growing or not. It allows you to see if the business is on the right track or if the plan needs to be updated and revised.

One thing that is important to remember is that business objectives are constantly changing. When you first write your business plan the objective will be one thing. Look two years into the future and you have reached that objective. That does not mean that you are done. No, you just go back and find a new objective that you would like to see your business accomplish and that becomes your new objective.

We have decided that we will revisit our business plan once a year to determine if we have reached the current objective. Once we have determined that the objective has been reached we will then decide on the new objective and restructure our business plan accordingly. 

Christie Karis speaks about the importance of the marketing portion of the business plan. A lot of people tend to overlook this portion of the plan or try to piece it together quickly because it requires research. This is one of the most important portions of the business plan because it will help you to determine rather your business has a chance in the current industry. The marketing research will let you know rather you will need to change your concept or simply make small adjustments. When entering into business you do not want to waste money on things that are simply overlooked.

What we have decided to do is dedicate a team of our associates to work only on the marketing research. This will allow us to focus on other aspects of the plan while having a group that is constantly studying the changes and trends in the industry. By making these small adjustments we are preparing ourselves to enter into the ever changing world of business.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228220

www.Paloalto.com

www.christiekaris.com

Importance of Business Planning

This week we would like to take the time to look at the importance of business planning and discuss some of the key players. 

Tim Berry has written many books on business plan development and tactics for start-up companies. Berry has been a professional business planner since 1974, he is the president of Palo Alto Software Inc. located in Eugene Oregon, and has presented business planning seminars in 13 countries. Recently he created a post “10 Business Plan Benefits You Might Be Forgetting”, in this post he speaks about the fact that many people don’t feel the need to write a business plan unless they are looking for funding. This is a huge mistake because what people don’t understand is that a business plan is like a road map to the business. It lets one know where they would like the business to go and the necessary steps to take to get the goals accomplished. Of the things discussed Berry mentioned 10 benefits of business planning that should not be overlooked, the list below shows these benefits.

1.       .   Stay on strategy
2.           Keep business objectives clear
3.           Educated guesses will be better
4.           Priorities will make more sense
5.           Understand Interdependencies
6.           Milestones will keep you on track
7.           Makes you a better delegator
8.           Managing team members and tracking results will be easy
9.           Helps you to manage cash flow
10. .     Course corrections will keep your business from flopping

Christie Karis works with clients who are looking to create sound business plans. She helps her clients to conduct market research and come up with marketing strategies that are designed to give them a competitive edge. The best part of Christie’s professional services is that she works one on one with the client to make sure that they fully understand their niche market and gain a personal perspective that allows them to lead those around them with sound decision making skills.

Christie helps businesses create plans that lead to them getting the funding that they are looking for. After researching Christie and the services she provides I cam across a page that speaks about the importance of creating a fundable small business plan. Some of the things that need to be understood to make a business seem fundable is the understanding of what the lender needs. Lenders have reservations about putting money into small businesses so one must convince them that there is ample market need and the solutions that the business is presenting are valid. The most important aspect of the business plan when looking for funding is that the financials must make sense. 

*Sources:

Berry, T. (2013, September 06). 10 business plan benefits you might be forgetting. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228220

www.Paloalto.com

www.christiekaris.com