Listen, and Listen Well

To play off of the last blog post, it's graduation time for us here at Full Sail University.  As much as I've learned throughout my time here on campus, there are some things that I wish I would have done differently based on the work I'm doing right now.  I feel like I would be doing a disservice to those that read my blog and are debating on going to college if I didn't try to impart some wisdom based on my experiences.  Let's discuss some focus points that are vital to remember while you move through your college degree.

Save Money

This can be the most difficult of things to do, as many people either are working when they can to pay for their expenses or they can't work at all and have to borrow money on a loan to keep a roof overhead and food in the belly.  With that in mind, save if you can.  Even if it's money that you earned before college, it's a good idea to try and put back whatever you can manage because you're bound to run into several expenses once you graduate.  Especially in the Entertainment Industry, even with a Masters degree it seems like some companies still want you to complete an unpaid internship.  If that's the case, you will be dedicating between 40 and 60 hours a week towards the internship and not getting paid a dime.  Considering you will need a place to live, transportation, food, and the other necessities, money is vital to survival when you first graduate.

Start Researching Jobs Soon

The sooner you start the job hunt, the better.  Like I mentioned earlier, many companies are looking to start potential employees out with an internship and they are mostly unpaid.  This is why it's a good idea to try and knock out that internship while you are still in school and able to borrow money.  Once you graduate, student loans are no longer an option for you.  The only option you will have is a standard loan from a bank, and you will have to start paying that back almost immediately.  Taking into consideration the fact that you probably already have student loan debt under your belt that you will have to start paying back upon graduation, this really isn't an option.  This makes it extremely important to start looking for jobs soon, so you at least have an idea of where you want to take your first step in your career.

Apply for Jobs Early

This somewhat goes along with researching jobs early, however you probably won't apply for actual jobs until being close to complete if you aren't going to do an internship.  A smart man once told me  that applying to jobs is like fishing with a net.  The smaller the net, the less fish you can catch.  The larger the net, the more fish you can catch.  Translating this into job hunting, the more applications you send out, the more likely you are to find a job or at least get an interview.  Even if it's a job you don't think you would take even if they offered, still apply.  You can always use those jobs as practice in the interview process.  That way, if you answer a question incorrectly or stumble your way through, it will be with a job you didn't really want in the first place.  Additionally, applying to jobs early allows you to keep plugging away and will cut down on the time between graduation and unemployment.

Learn the Value of Teamwork

This is one of the great lost causes for many students in college.  It's understandable that some people don't enjoy working with others because you have a melting pot of different personalities and are often dealing with at least one person that doesn't want to pull their own weight for the better of the group.  However, college is the perfect time to get used to managing these situations because almost every job imaginable requires teamwork in one way or another.  If communication is an issue, then put yourself in situations where you have to converse.  If you have issues with people that don't pull their weight, join the club and work through it.  Trust me, you aren't the only person who's frustrated with that individual.  However, the best team members just suck it up and pick up the slack.

Work Harder Than the Next Guy

Only one person in class can be at the top (well, unless there's a tie!).  That being said, it's important to put in every ounce of effort you have to be the best you can be.  Why?  Well, there a couple reasons.  The first is that you begin to build a reputation for yourself of being awesome at what you do.  When your peers notice your abilities, it will potentially open doors for you.  Secondly, a high GPA and scholastic awards on your resume can help you seal the deal on that job you're applying for.  Remember, every place you apply to has another X amount of people applying for the same job, and their resumes are mostly built just like yours.  Being able to add that additional flare could get you noticed.  Finally, one of my favorite sayings...you practice how you play.  School is practice for you to fine tune your skills so when it's time to get paid you know what you're doing.  If you put 100% into your work at school, it will be much easier to translate into a job.  If you put 50% effort in...well, you know where I'm going with that.  You can't expect anyone else to work harder than what you are.

Hopefully this helps some potential college students out as they decide on their next step.  Just as I was when I first enrolled in school, sometimes it's difficult to listen to advice from anyone but yourself.  However, speaking from experience, I truly feel that these "guidelines" will help make anyone a better college student and potential employee for any company.

Moving On To Bigger and Better.....Or So We Hope!

It’s graduation time for many as we approach the holidays. Professors have passed down all of their knowledge, extensive studying has been done, lengthy papers and impossibly difficult exams have been completed, and hours upon hours of sleep have been lost.   All of the time and hard work that’s necessary to finish comes at a tremendous opportunity cost, and all you have to show for it is a pretty piece of paper with your name on it stating that you’re qualified in your chosen career field.  What’s next?  Do you follow the path you originally intended or have your passions shifted in the time you’ve been enrolled?  Do you take some time off to celebrate your accomplishments or immediately start to stress on how you are going to pay back the massive amount of debt that you had to accrue in order to obtain a college education?  Regardless of what the near future may hold, there is one action that everyone not starting his or her own business has to do in order to take the first step into true adulthood.  That step is a job interview.

This can be a complete breeze or the most stressful thing someone can do, and it’s usually at one extreme or the other.  You may thrive in situations where you are grilled face-to-face on how you work and strategize, what your past experiences are, and what you consider to be your individual strengths and weaknesses.  On the other hand, you may absolutely hate being put on the spot, visibly show how nervous you are by fidgeting and sweating, and make it clear that you don’t know how to handle what’s being asked of you.  Lets talk about some best practices that can help both sides of the fence…whether you are the confident one or a nervous wreck.

The first thing worth mentioning seems relatively obvious, but it’s worth mentioning because it’s unreal how many people do not follow this rule.  It is the way you dress.  Unless the person you’re interviewing with says otherwise, dress professionally.  I personally have experience in interviewing candidates for positions, and you can place strike one on yourself by showing up in blue jeans and a t-shirt.  Even if money is tight, most people can still afford to buy one pair of dress pants and a dress shirt.  Whether it’s Armani or it’s Wal-Mart brand, the effort of attempting to look your best shows that you are taking the opportunity seriously.

A second important piece of the puzzle to remember is to know your strengths and weaknesses.  Again, this is pretty simple to understand but some people just don’t get it.  If you’re applying for a job at a financial institution, it’s likely that they are going to want to talk a little about how you handle numbers.  If you’re applying at Best Buy, they most likely want to know what your interests in electronics are.  Be prepared for questions like this.  Nothing frustrates an interviewer more than someone who can’t describe what his or her own abilities are and how they can improve on weaknesses.  One can only assume that you don’t think you’re very good at anything, which can’t be true, right?  Right!

Next, try to prepare if you know you notoriously crash and burn during interviews.  The Internet is a tremendous resource to find typical questions that will be asked during an interview, and there are even websites out there that will give you information on questions that are asked by specific companies.  Glassdoor.com is a great resource to find questions like this.  Then, ask your friends and/or family to interview you with these questions.  Be careful to make sure you ask the right people though.  Grandma usually isn’t the best choice because she most likely will sugar coat your feedback and tell you how amazing you did instead of giving you a real, honest response.  Find a friend or family member that will shoot it to you straight.  It will be worth it in the end.

Ok, so you’re dressed sharp, you know your abilities and areas for improvement, and you’ve practiced like crazy to be pitch perfect.  It’s interview time. What’s the last piece of advice to keep reminding yourself of?  Relax!!!  We all know this part is difficult even if you are good at interviews because a lot can be on the line.  On top of that, the economy isn’t fantastic right now, so getting a job interview may be a victory in itself.  However, you’ve gotten to the interview point, which means you have the potential for employment.  You’ve already gotten past a step that many can’t get past in the first place.  Know that, remind yourself of it, and use it to boost your confidence as you go in to blow your interviewer away.  All of the above steps that we’ve discussed will also build upon your confidence because you’ve made yourself very well prepared.  Combine them all, and you’ll become an interview machine.  Good luck!

Looking in the Mirror

Use your own advice.  This idea is something that is often times missed out on by folks that enjoy helping people out.  People can get so focused on trying to excel others that they completely forget the help they are offering can be just as useful for their own business and/or daily life.  In the same token, one of the most important lessons in giving advice is to make sure you aren’t offering guidance to people that you wouldn’t use yourself.  This is a life lesson that I have always tried to follow.

That being said, I have been working hard on a business plan for almost a year.  The topics that I have covered throughout my journey within this blog will reflect on my interests and goals.  However, it’s coming time to wrap up my degree and the end result is to have a completed executive summary to pitch to an investor.  Specifically, the previous post has been great help as I have worked through the kinks of my ideas this month.  There are pieces that I have taken from both Mark Cuban and Ron Conway that I have since implemented into my own strategies.

One of the primary lessons that I took from doing research on Mark Cuban was his particular interest in content driven businesses.  He made it very clear that he knows consumers will pay for high-end content as long as they are passionate about the product or service that’s being offered.  In my circumstance, my business plan focuses directly on Cuban’s interests in many, many ways.  My plan’s primary focus is content and my consumer base is extremely passionate about the product that I’m offering.  It’s also sports related, which is just another bonus for Cuban.  Another piece to the puzzle that Cuban looks for is volatility within a company.  This is another major function that I have implemented within my own business.  The content my company offers isn’t at all seasonal, and the way that content drives multiple different types of niche consumers throughout the year to my business allows us to maintain a steady revenue stream.  Finally, Cuban looks for potential opportunities with entrepreneurs that have focused just as much on execution as they have the product or service that they want to use to make money.  I have spent a tremendous amount of time on developing my product idea, but I have spent more time creating various strategies that will expose my product to the consumer and keep them engaged in several different ways.  I feel that learning more about Cuban definitely helped my narrow that focus a little more.

The primary emphasis for Ron Conway in forms of a potential business investment is an Internet presence.  My business plan is entirely dependent on the abilities of the Internet, and because of Conway’s outlook I have continued to develop more ways to gain a further market share online.  The second piece of the puzzle that Conway looks for is referrals.  The more people brag about the potential and the entrepreneur from a personality and abilities standpoint, the more likely Conway seems to be to invest.  Throughout the time I have been developing and fine-tuning my plan, I have made sure to connect and network with individuals that would both use my product and serve me well as a referral and/or connection.  I feel confident that everyone I have come in contact with throughout my journey at Full Sail and life in general would have nothing but good things to say about my personality, demeanor, work ethic, and ability to succeed.  The component of networking is something that I have put additional effort into since I initially researched and learned more about what Ron Conway looks for.  However, this is a focus that I have had for some time.  The business side of my networking has, however, been a little more hardcore since I came across Conway’s ideas.

Of all of the pieces and parts of the executive summary, there are a couple that I feel are the most important for investors to look at.  The first section would most definitely be the product description.  The reason I say this is that I have gained a tremendous amount of positive reactions when describing exactly what my business does, and it’s something that isn’t currently offered anywhere.  Because of this, I know that an understanding of what my business offers is the most important piece for me.  The second section I feel is very important is the opportunity for revenue and growth within the financials.  Because of the lack of current competition and the passion of the consumers I will be working with, the plan is low risk and high reward.  Finally, I feel as if it’s important for potential investors to at least take a peek at some marketing strategies that I have developed for the company.  They are highly interactive with the consumer and cost effective, both of which are important for startups working on a budget.

All and all, I have taken away a lot from Cuban and Conway (that sounds like a law firm).  Both gentlemen offer a tremendous amount of experience and opportunity, and give advice that is unparalleled in terms of what I am looking to do as a business owner.  I can only hope that I could somehow get the opportunity to pitch to either one of these individuals.  Particularly Cuban because of his background and what he does currently, but both individuals and investors in general offer budding entrepreneurs something that many people fight for and never get; opportunity.

Of Mice and Men Who Want to Become Entrepreneurs

For many entrepreneurs, locking down an angel investor or two for their startup business is a necessity.  Considering the current state of the economy and the lack of jobs growth over the past 8 years, plenty of aspiring business owners do not have the option to obtain funding from a bank or family and friends.  Because of this, it is important to have a fluid and flexible business plan.  The overall structure and primary focus of what an angel investor is looking for may vary from person to person, and an entrepreneur does not want to pitch a movie idea to an investor with a business plan heavily focused on the film’s financials when the investor they are selling to is more interested in the content and the target market.  This is why research is vitally important.  We aren’t talking about research for your business plan.  Of course, that is imperative to not look like the idea was drawn up with crayon the night before the investor pitch.  The research we are looking at here is the research of the investor.  Preparing thoroughly prior to the pitch with background information, previous investments, and more general details about investment habits could help lock down the money needed to fund the startup he or she dreams of.  Let’s take a look at a couple of more popular investors.

Mark Cuban is a tech entrepreneur most famously known for being the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks and repeated investor on ABC’s Shark Tank.  Additionally, he is the founder of Broadcast.com, HDNet, Landmark Theatres, and Magnolia Pictures, among others.  Born in Pittsburgh, Cuban caught the entrepreneurial bug while attending Indiana University-Bloomington’s Kelley School of Business.  In the past 2 years, Cuban has invested in over 10 businesses, including Upstart, Flingo, Kisstixx, and more.  Of these startups, he has invested anywhere between $250k to over $10 million.

Cuban is a huge fan of investing in tech companies, particularly ones that are content driven.  He has a keen focus on the fact that consumers will always be willing to pay for high-end content as long as they appreciate the product.  When focusing on investment opportunities, Cuban looks at a couple of different things.  In his words, Cuban invests in “volatility”.  He understands and appreciates the fact that the markets fluctuate regularly, and because of that he looks for businesses that are structured to be adaptable to the market and what consumers are looking for.  Because of this, he considers it a non-negotiable piece of a business plan.  A second thing that Cuban looks for in terms of investing is the person he’s investing in.  He tends to look for intelligent people with distinguished concepts and a drive for execution, with the execution piece being the most important part of the plan.  The reason being is that many startup business owners don’t focus enough on the implementation of their concept and instead simply attempt to sell the concept itself and how amazing they believe it could be.  The smart investors that Cuban is attracted to put just as much, if not more time into the overall strategy than they do of the product or service they are providing consumers.

Another amazing angel investor is Ron Conway, considered by many to be the “dean of angel investing in Silicon Valley”.  A former salesman, Conway owns the venture capital firm SV Angel based out of, you guessed it, Silicon Valley in San Francisco.  Conway started investing independently in 2005, and by 2006 he had already appeared on Forbes Magazine’s Midas list of top dealmakers.  Conway is known throughout the investment world for his crowdfunding strategies, in which he would hold cocktail parties and invite large amounts of celebrities with whom he obtains funding to invest in various startups.  One thing is for certain…the man knows how to network.  Conway has invested in over 500 startups, including Google, Facebook, Foursquare, PayPal, Napster (whoops!), Twitter, and more.  Additionally, Conway is known for truly being the backbone for the entrepreneurs he invests with.  It often times upsets other investors, as some believe his comments are unprofessional and unnecessary.  Either way, as an entrepreneur, Conway is the man you want to have on your side.

The primary thing that Conway and his group at SV Angel look for in a business plan is Internet presence.  Without it, Conway is not likely to invest.  The reason being, outside of the fact that the company is based in Silicon Valley, is that they are low cost alternatives to physical businesses and can reach a much, much larger market with much, much smaller legwork.  Think about it.  The availability of the web has made it tremendously easier to reach a much broader audience.  Why not use it to its fullest advantages?  Secondly is an important piece to the business plan that may not even hold a single page in the actual plan itself.  That important piece is referrals.  Many entrepreneurs don’t think about it, but networking can play such a huge role in the opportunity to find an investor.  Networking is such a key piece to the puzzle because it shows that the opportunity is there.  Many investors will only invest based on referrals, and Conway seems to be one of those angels.  Even if those networked connections don’t have the funding or simply don’t invest at all, you never know who that connection’s own connections may be.  That is why it’s vital to include networking as an invisible component in the overall business plan strategy.  Without it, investors may never even take the time to look at a proposal or idea for an amazing company.

ESPN's Trendsetting Digital Strategies

ESPN

The continued development of social media will further its involvement in branding, marketing, and customer interaction and retention strategies.  The uses of different social media aspects have multiple advantages.  Strategic branding campaigns can be implemented quickly and painlessly.  Marketing becomes much more cost effective than that of more traditional means.  Additionally, the use of social networking websites to connect with consumers creates a new, innovative avenue that makes it easier than ever for a customer to communicate with a company.  Looking at various companies involved in the Entertainment Industry that utilize social media as a vital business tool, the company that seems to stand out most is ESPN.

Branding

ESPN Brand Identity Guide

ESPN has long been a company that thrives on the utilization of new tech, so it comes as no surprise that the biggest sports network in the world is also a leader in social media strategies and the use of those strategies for branding.  Everything ESPN focuses on seems to be fueled by the use of new tech and innovative ideas that break the mold of the traditional business outlook.  Taking a look at ESPN’s various strategies, it’s easy to tell that they are the leader in growing with technology and social media development.  In this day in age, tech growth and social media tools come hand in hand with branding strategies.

New Technology

ESPN New Technology

The application of new technology has kept ESPN at the topof the sports world in multiple ways.  Their continuous development and ease of use in regards to their website continues to bring the customer back for all things sports.  Additionally, high quality graphics, images, and video content add a whole new level of depth for the consumer.

Mobile Technology

ESPN ScoreCenter

ESPN’s dedication to the growth of their mobile platform is also something to be modeled after.  They make sure everything displayed on their mobile app is focused and formatted for mobile purposes, and allow the user the option to travel to the full web page for additional content based on what the customer is looking at.  As well, push notifications have gained tremendous popularity for the company.  Now, instead of having to travel to the mobile app in order to check a team’s score or find out breaking news, the ESPN ScoreCenter app will automatically alert the user of various news based on the individual’s desires.

Customer Interaction Outlets

ESPN Customers

The way ESPN has taken advantage of social media websites is second to none in virtually any business industry.  For a company that relies on being the leader in news and information in the sports world, it is truly unbelievable how well this company has done at connecting their employees with their consumers.  Virtually every TV personality on ESPN that has a fan base, whether it is a SportsCenter anchor or a retired player now working for the company or a radio anchor, has some way to communicate through social media.  The primary tool for ESPN in regards to customer interaction is Twitter, and boy does it works well.  By ESPN allowing their fans to interact with the people they see and hear every day, it creates a feeling of family to the consumer as if they are part of what is going on each day.  And, in fact, they are.  More and more ESPN programming is taking advantage of social media by using the tool to break news and add more depth to their news stories.  Additionally, simple things like photo sharing and retweeting gives the consumer more power to impact what’s being covered on ESPN’s programming.

Campaigns

ESPN Campaigns

ESPN has developed some great campaigns focused entirely on social media as well.  Last year they started a campaign called “Your Highlight”, where amateur athletes and fans could post videos on YouTube of amateur sports highlights for the opportunity for them to be spotlighted on SportsCenter.  This campaign has actually turned into a weekly occurrence, as it quickly gained popularity and now it’s become the norm for ESPN fans.  Project GameFace is another awesome campaign that ESPN created using social media platforms in order to get fans involved.  Launched during last year’s NBA Finals, GameFace allowed fans to tweet photos of their best game face.  At the end of each Finals game, the analysts would choose their favorite face and share it on the show.  It was a great way for ESPN to get additional users involved in a fun, innovative, low cost manner.

Bringing It All Together

ESPN Wide World of Sports

Watch ESPN.  Visit ESPN.com.  Listen to ESPN Radio.  Check the multitude of social media websites.  Go to a sporting event where ESPN is involved.  Check out the ESPN WideWorld of Sports while you’re visiting Disney World.  No matter where you go, what you see or hear, or how you absorb the content, ESPN maintains consistency and innovation with the products they develop and sell.  As a growing company within the Entertainment Industry, whether involved in sports or not, ESPN is a tremendous company to watch and shadow in order to learn how to do things right.