Mashable Marketing

Of course with any new company, even production companies, you are going to have to start thinking about marketing.  I know we have talked about this a little bit, but I ran across a website that I really wanted to share with you.

There are many new reasons to obsess over marketing in social media sites.  Mashable.com listed 5 Huge Trends In Social Media Right Now, back in 2010 from Jennifer Van Grove.  Going through the list has proven to me that they have only grown since then.  She writes,

“What’s the first thing young women do when they wake up? Check Facebook. How do enterprise employees pass the time at work? With social media. With so many studies highlighting ever-accelerating social media usage rates, the conclusion is obvious — social media is everywhere.”

The one that I really loved was Social Scanning.  While they list this as a reason to gather socially, it can be used to help market your new film trailer.  Have a barcode that people can scan take them to your website on their phone that automatically starts playing your latest film’s trailer.  Brilliant new marketing!

Another way to help spread the word of your film is by word of mouth.  What better online platform for spreading via word of mouth than Facebook?  Still logged into Mashable.com, Samantha Murphy tackled the article, Film Startup Prescreen Adds Facebook Integration.  She writes,

“Streaming movie-on-demand platform Prescreen announced on Thursday that it has integrated with Facebook’s Open Graph Platform to make it easy for people to discover and share movies with friends.  Prescreen — which offers a selection of long-form movies largely from independent filmmakers and packages it in a Gilt Group-style daily-deal format — allows users to sign up via Facebook Connect to watch trailers, rent movies and bookmark titles.”

Check the rest of the website out.  Do your homework.  Look into what the trends are for the industry.  Use that knowledge to help boost your company.  Social Media has been integrating itself in the industry for a long time.  Use that to your advantage.  Find these companies that you can put your independent films on and have them help spread your like wildfire through Facebook.  Good luck!

Alternative Funding

So you want to make your own business happen?  None of us can do that without funding.  I am sure you’re flittering around with fantastic ideas and concepts for film production, but we all need help financially to make that happen.

Take a minute to look at a few websites I came across that help you with alternative funding.  Financing, the dreaded word for the artistic few.

Does your new production company create jobs?  Because a lot of the funding out there right now is directly toward the growth of this economy.

One fantastic company that I came across was Association for Enterprise Opportunity, or AEO. 

This company helps with funding for the microenterprise, or easier put – companies with 0-4 employees.  One of the best things I saw when sifting through their information for finding help for health insurance for your company.  There are a lot of resources out there that we just need to take the time and find.  This company is willing to help.  They want to help.  Give them five minutes of your time and decide if they can help you succeed!

Community Development Venture Capital Alliance, CDVCA, is another company I thought you would be interested in taking a look at.  If you are looking to create your company in an area that needs to grow, promote jobs and increase the overall economy, such as Detroit, this is your chance to find funding.  CDVCA reads, “Like all serious investors, CDVC funds are looking to invest in companies with strong management, good ideas, impressive growth potential, and the promise of high financial returns. They also focus on the number and quality of jobs that will be created and the impact their investments will have on low-income communities.” 

Don’t be afraid to reach outside the box when looking for funding.  Recognize what good you are doing for the community and then let these companies help you fund that goodness.  Good luck!

Incorporating Trump and Oprah into Your Business Plans

With all the research into Oprah and Trump floating around my head, I decided to do something about it.  I am going to put some of their philosophies to work for my business plan.

Oprah has put out several articles over the past few years in O, The Oprah Magazine, which talk specifically about business plans.  In 2007 an article was posted by Polly Brewster: Your Great Idea, Whose Time Has Come.  In there she speaks about a one-page business plan.

Quoted from the sample business plan from 2008,

“The One Page Business Plan methodology is the fastest, easiest way to write a plan. Using key words and short phrases plans can be created for a company, business unit, department, project or program... on a single page. This methodology focuses everyone in your company on what is important and critical for success!”

KLEJ Productions is using this idea to help keep the entire staff focused on what we need and where we are going.  The company will update this yearly to enable the company to see our new goals and what we have accomplished.  Oprah wants us to monitor our plans and update often.  This will certainly be a key factor in the success of KLEJ Productions.

Oprah’s magazine is not only full of her own particular wisdom from her personal career, but it chuck full of ideas and tidbits that she has noticed are working for others.  This is what our company aims to do; see what works for others and find a way to incorporate that into our business plan.

In 2001 there was an article, Investing in Me, Inc., that shows you how to create a business plan for your career.  In that article I picked up on a very key element that has been implemented into KLEJ Productions.  Under the section Who Are You? the author, Ronna Lichtenberg, tells the reader to write down 10-15 lines about yourself,

 “not a résumé, but a description you might give to someone introducing you as a speaker.” 

Then repeat this with what you’d like the speaker to say in 15 years.  KLEJ Productions has implemented this idea to help strengthen the core of the business plan.  Investors need to know where your company is headed.   While this is very important for the investor to know, their main concern is going to lie in your marketing strategy and how you plan to profit.  Do your homework.  Make this plan bullet proof.  

Donald Trump was a big promoter of there being no success without a business plan.  Have an exact plan for your company and then alter it as you grow.  Make sure when you meet with your investors that they have the most up-to-date plan for your company complete with direction and focus.

Donald Trump writes blog postings.  These are great if you want to add them to your RSS feed.  In one entitled, The Trump Entrepreneur Initiative Blog, he relays some advice that his father gave him. 

“He always told me to "know everything you can about what you're doing." In other words, be thorough.” 

KLEJ Productions has really taken advantage of this sage wisdom.  Being able to incorporate this into all aspects of not only our business plan but also the company itself has been empowering.

Take some time out to really hear what successful business people are telling you.  Implement it.  Your business will thank you.

Business Plan Experts: Trump and Oprah

  The importance of having a business plan cannot be underestimated.  Experts in any business will express why they find it necessary.  While there will be differences in opinions about why they are needed for success, they can all agree that they are ultimately essential in your companies future successes.

  Steven Burnhoe writes a blog called Expert Views on Business Plans.  This past March he wrote about some experts that pertain to our field.  Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey.  Mr. Burnhoe goes into depth on why they are both experts on the subject of business plans, and sums it up with these words,

“The advice from these two people is definitely worth taking to heart.  While Donald basically says you have to have a plan or else you will fail, Oprah says that you need to monitor it and adjust it so that you will succeed.  These are two different views on business plans but both are saying the same basic information:  make sure you have a good, solid business plan so that you do not lose focus on your ultimate goals.  This is the ultimate goal of any new entrepreneur.”  (Burnhoe, 2011)

   According to Donald Trump’s biography posted on www.Trump.com, there is no other more recognized businessman in the world.  He started in Brooklyn working for his father and moved quickly from Brooklyn to Manhattan’s real estate.  He is known for his luxury hotels, but he is much more than that.  Trump has written books, there are golf courses, residential buildings as well as his television show The Apprentice that is in its tenth season.  His successes in his business life make him the ideal man to watch when creating your own Business Plan.  (Trump, 2012)

No amount of room on this blog is enough for Oprah Winfrey’s impressive biography.  According to her official, eleven page, biography, on her website, www.Oprah.com, she has had to overcome a lot to have the amount of accomplishments she has achieved.  Oprah started out doing radio in high school, and worked on local talk shows after college before getting her own hour-long show The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1984.  She used the money she had earned from ABC to start her own company Harpo, Inc. to be able to control her show.  Her show and her company have grown to now owning her own network, poetically entitled OWN.  In between all that she found time to star in life changing movies and change peoples lives with more philanthropies than your average do-gooder.  She even has her own magazine, O.  In 2001 she posted an article there about how to create a business plan.  It is available on her website now.Her overwhelming success and brilliant business mindset make her the ideal woman to watch when creating your own Business Plan.  (Oprah, 2012)

Both Oprah and Donald have a lifetime of lessons for all of us to take on.  What is key is learning from what they have accomplished and how they used their business plans to do so.  Donald does nothing without a plan and Oprah insists that you have to constantly update and change your plan to fit your needs and your company’s needs.  I left a video from Trump’s YouTube account just showing you the future of his company.  Also on that site there are several videos from Trump himself that I encourage you to peruse through.  Best wishes.

Utilizing Film Industry Blogs

It cannot be heard enough...there is so much to learn from those that came before you!

There are a few industry blogs that I follow, and I wanted to give you a little taste about what there is out there that might fit your needs.  Take advantage of this Internet-crazed world.  Soak up the information flowing from those before us!

One great website to start with is Film Industry Bloggers.

This website has a list of blogs for every day of the week.  One of my favorites is a Friday blogger.  The writer is an anonymous reality TV producer.  While that particular one has not been updated in a few years, it has great things to thumb back through!  To the left is their logo.

Another fascinating finds are blogs related to your Industry, straight from production companies and networks!  One of my favorite shows is Law and Order: SVU, via NBC.  Their production has its own blog that shows how things are done through the production aspect of the show.  Being able to tap yourself into that will not only help inspire you to create new and exciting things, it will enable you to see how those who are successful are doing it!  To the right is a picture from the SVU production.

Even lesser known productions are blogging about it.  Get yourself out there, online, and see what there is to learn!  Try a quick Google search of your favorite show or movie and see if there is a blog available.  You might not be able to visit the production site, but it would be nice to see some of their secrets!

One last option that you don’t want to forget about is vloggers.  Video blogging has become this amazing phenomenon.  YouTube has become a haven for a lot of these vloggers.  One of the better production vlogs is LanteanStreet.  There are a series of vlogs from the Peter Jackson’s new film The Hobbit.  This is a must see.  Below is his latest video.

Get into the game.  Find inspiration.  Enjoy!

Search Engine Optimization

More often than not, all companies have websites. And you probably already have one created, or at least one in mind for your new production company. One of the biggest problems with new companies is their inability to get traffic to their website. Have you ever wondered how to do so effectively?

You need SEO, or Search Engine Optimization tools to help you. Some of the best ways are to figure out what keywords people, who might need your business, would type into their search engine. Now, you need to get your website to provide those keywords so that you can get your website to pop up in their search.

James Dunaway of bloggingpro.com explains SEO,
“One of the most popular areas for trying to get more traffic to a website is by using search engine optimization (SEO) techniques so that the site receives a much higher ranking from the major search engines such as Google. There are a number of techniques that will contribute to successful SEO marketing, and for most sites looking to do this successfully securing some help from an experienced consultant in this field can help to boost the ranking given to a website.” (2011).

Moon Hussain, a guest blogger on problogger.com made some great suggestions to those needing help in this area.
“To reach your audience, a big part of what we, SEO practitioners, do is called keyword research. You can use a free tool like the Google Keyword Tool to decide what keywords are worth your time.” (2011).
He goes on to explain the benefits of using keywords to help gain a bigger audience for your website. “Advertising takes money. Search engine rankings can take time. However, I’m a fan of SEO and ranking your website because it’s a low cost solution as long as you don’t mind putting in consistent effort and have time.”

If you don’t have the money to advertise, take the time to create keywords that will help gain a bigger audience for your company. Take a minute to go through those two articles I shared. This is one step you do not want to skip when starting a new business.

Allowing Print-On-Demand to Work For You

It’s not that new, but it is that exciting! Take anything you want to publish, or print or sell in books, film or audio, and you can do it without a publisher! Print-on-demand websites cater to those working independently. You pay a small fee to sign up, and the website will keep a percentage of your earnings. The fees and percentages vary between companies.

Recently, New York Times published an article, High School, that Hilarious Minefield, raving about MTV’s hit show Awkward. Instead of linking you to MTVs website to purchase the first season on DVD, it did something else. There is a new trend rising in media. Mike Hale writes, “This month a Season 1 DVD will be available (for $17.99) from Amazon.com through the company’s CreateSpace on-demand service.” (2011).

Networks like MTV are using print-on-demand websites that are just as accessible to the independent filmmakers! The websites are easy to navigate through and there are plenty to choose from.

A few suggestions:
www.lulu.com
www.createspace.com
www.infinitypublishing.com
www.blurb.com

Sometimes it helps to get advice from those that have gone before you. Through YouTube, I found a video that would help you. Ramit Sethi and Tim Ferriss are two best-selling authors from traditional publishing companies. Here is their video on their opinion on self publishing.



Find what works for you. Research the best site, or whether or not it is even for you. For another video; ABC News did a great job talking about this platform in 2010. They go through how important it is to be able to get your books online just to have people read it. It may not be the best sellers, but it would be a great place to get started. Check out the video on their website, ABCNews.
Print-on-demand, or self publishing, are great tools to help establish yourself. There are definitely advantages and disadvantages of both. Good luck!