Business Plan Experts

A business plan should tell a compelling story about your business, explaining who, what, when, where, how and why. The plan should define specific business objectives and goals to guide the organization. These two successful entrepreneurs understood the importance of a business plan and what key components of a business plan made their business successful.

While working full-time at Red Lobster, Daymond John launched FUBU (For Us, By Us), a clothing line marketed to the African-American community, in 1994 with $100,000 in startup capital. At the height of the company in 1998, the business grossed $350 million in revenues.

 John now a cast member of the ABC show, Shark Tank, he listens to entrepreneurial hopefuls are looking for an investor to invest their personal money into their business ideas.  In exchange, the Sharks are not only looking for a return on their investment, but also own a piece of the next big business idea.

In an interview with blogger Tim Ferriss, John says that he makes the deciding factor in investing in an particular product by asking himself a few questions. He focuses on:

            -What void in the marketplace does this product fill?

            -Who are the core consumers? Has the company correctly marketed to them?

            -What are the sales?

            -What are the distribution channels?

            -How much does this entrepreneur know about his own industry?

            -Is the business on an upswing? Or has it peaked?

            -Is their room for profit and growth?

            -What is the plan for growth? Is it laid out or simply another idea in the entrepreneur’s head?

            -Is the evaluation of the company fair?

            -How can I best help this company?

He continues with that the entrepreneur should always be ready for these questions and he/she doesn’t have a quick response to these questions, there is a problem. 

“With a business plan, there is direction and focus. If there is no business plan, then there is no focus for your business and you are bound to fail. With a plan, you know where you are going, what you are doing, and how you will get where you want to be,” says real-estate tycoon Donald Trump.

Chairman and President of the Trump Organization and the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts, Trump has succeeded in marketing and branding the Trump name on a number of products ranging from a mortgage firm, business education company, restaurants, online travel, menswear and more.

In 2004, The Donald became Executive Producer and host of the NBC reality show, The Apprentice, where competitors duke it out for high level management position within The Trump Organization.

Effectively Using SEO

As an A&R Consultant with Lisa Davis Music Management, I encounter a lot of independent artists who know that the Internet, especially social media is a great resource to promote their music and build their brand, but do not understand the importance of SEO. Search Engine Optimization is the process of improving the visibility of a web page in search engine’s search results.

So many artists are eager to set up multiple social media accounts and a website, but there is no kind of connection. In my experience, the focus should be tying all of these outlets to one main source. Meaning all of your social media profiles should drive your audience back to one central location, for example your website. An artist that has done a great job of linking all her social profiles together is Gaby Borromeo.

Gaby took to her social media profiles to promote her song and video “New Day”. I think Gaby did a great job of using backlinks. Exchanging link with other related websites is very important because it help increase backlinks to your site. In the case, Gaby back linked her main, lyric and behind the scenes videos. By linking all the videos together, that increases the chances of fans watching all the videos.

I believe that artists underutilize the description portion of their YouTube videos. This a great opportunity to take fans directly to your website and social media links. Gaby did a great job of linking viewers to her website, the download link for the song and her social media profiles. For instance, when I Google, “Gaby Borromeo New Day”, my Google results include the website posting, the official video, lyric video, PSA video, press and even a link to her SoundCloud page. This is a great example of optimizing SEO. 

Mobile Music Marketing

Digital Music Marketing provides Internet Promotion, Digital Distribution, and Mobile Marketing Solutions for independent records labels and recording artists. 90% of Americans now own a cell phone, computer, MP3 player, game console, e-book reader or tablet yet many artists have yet to adopt a mobile marketing strategy.  

The most important element of any marketing decision is creating a plan of action. 

1. What are Your Objectives?
2. Who is Your Target Audience and How Do They Interact With Music?
3. Do You Have Fan Data & Exclusive Content?
4. What is Your Current Marketing Strategy?
5. What Is Your Timeline?
6. How Can You Measure Your Return On Investment

Mobile Marketing application should:

Provide a Basic Function: 

Gives fans access to blog posts, offer ticket purchase option, regular updates via third party applications (Facebook, Twitter, etc).

Reverb Nation has always focused on creating free/inexpensive solutions for independent artists. True to form Reverb Nation allows you to create your own official app giving fan access to music, show schedule, photos and news feed. 

Provide Mobile Environment: Engage fan beyond basic functions and add the artist's music in the mobile environment.

Provide Experience: Engage, disrupt and create an experience.

Mobile Roadie allows anyone to create and manage their own iPhone, iPad, Android or mobile website at a reasonable price.

Industry Liabilities

American Rock band The Eagles and label Warner Music Group is threatening singer/songwriter Frank Ocean because of his use of their song “Hotel California” on his 2011 mixtape Nostalgia Ultra. Ocean’s “American Wedding” uses both the master track and original melody of The Eagles hit song. Ocean is facing legal issues with the group because he closes out his performances and is now being threatened with legal action if he performed the song again.

With declining record sales, hip-hop artists are using mixtapes as free promotional material for fans. Lead singer of The Eagles, Don Henley, isn’t flattered by Ocean’s use of “Hotel California” because he did not merely sample the song; he took both the original melody and master track and is using it as his own.

I will keep a close eye on this situation because there are many major and independent artists who are taking master songs and melodies and adding their own lyrics and releasing the songs for promotional purposes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/04/frank-ocean-eagles-don-henley-hotel-california_n_1319167.html

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/eagles-consider-legal-action-against-frank-ocean-20120301

The music industry has dramatically changed thanks to the development of the Internet and the advancement of technology. With the creation of Apple’s iPod and iTunes, the issue is now if digital music should be treated as either a sale or license. 

There is currently a class action lawsuit between Aftermath Records, a division of  Universal Music Group and musicians, alleging that UMG has underpaid royalties on digital downloads and ringtones. Apple has been dragged into the lawsuit because Universal Music Group is asking the courts to see a deposition of Steve Jobs.

Apple is against this testimony becoming public because it would reveal trade secrets that can cause damage to the company.

Apple has become the most successful business model when it comes to a computer company becoming involved in music and music players, so I understand why Apple is reluctant to have this deposition public. I think the judge in this case should only make portions relevant to this case available to Universal Music Group.