The Bailey Business Plan

There have been many interesting approaches to business planning.  On one side there is the approach to seek funding fast with a well-written business and marketing plan.  This is an approach that is supported by Andréa Cockerton an expert in the field of business plans.

There is also a thought by featured author Chuck Blakemon who believes it is important to just start working the business instead of doing too much planning ahead of time.  Blakemon believes that no one can accurately tell what will happen in the future daily life of the business. 

These are two different and highly debatable ways of thinking.  The big question is “how to incorporate the best of the two?”  I feel that both approaches have merit.  It is very difficult to predict what is going to happen once the doors of your business opens for the first time.  It is not possible to plan for the unknown as Blakemon suggests.  Therefore it is important to play devils advocate to your business plan. Try your hardest to shoot holes in it.  It may not be completely perfect, but it will make the plan stronger.  I plan to use both schools of thought in my business plan.  This will make the plan stand up.  Of course Andrea’s frame of thought is perfect for  seeking funding. Investors want to know that you have thought the business through.  It is understood that even with all of the proper planning, the business could fail, but without proper planning the odds of failing are more in favor. 

I have made changes to the financial and organization sections based on the thoughts made by these two.  This is the most important sections.  It is important to understand the business before you start the business.  Having a strong grasp on the monthly financials and how the company will make money is very essential.

Two Business plan professionals.

Andrea Cockerton

Andrea is a British advisor who has devoted her work in helping companies develops their pitch to future investors.   Her career has consisted of working with well over 350 entrepreneurs.  She has become an expert in developing ideas to help small companies get funding from venture investors.  She holds workshops and hosts networking events in the United Kingdom. 

Andrea has shared information showcasing her knowledge of creating a successful business plan with many companies. Andrea feels the importance of asking for money is very high before there is no cash left. “Going to investors at too late a stage is a risky strategy, Better is to look at the long-term objectives and aspirations of the business and plan the fundraising sensibly into this long-term strategy,” (http://www.thenextwomen.com/(2008)  The business plan should answer the question of why it is important and how will it make it amongst it’s competitors.

(bpexpertviews.blogspot.com(2013)

(www.thenextwomen.com(2008)

Chuck Blakeman

Chuck Blakeman has a special approach to business.  His approach has influenced thousands of small businesses in the way their owners carryout their planning. He is noted for starting five businesses that very in complexity, and a couple of non-profit organizations.  He has been the speaker at workshops and engagements numbering at over 100, and has been quoted by NY Times.com, CNN Money.com, and Entrepreneur Magazine.

Chuck Blakeman specializing in getting businesses started without a business plan.  This is a highly controversial argument.  Most investors want potential owners to predict how the company will do in the future.  Chuck believes that it is a waist of time trying to play fortuneteller, when you can actually be doing business.  Life always gets in the way of the best plans.  Everyone knows where they want to go in business, but no matter how well things are planed we often have to change those plans and adapt to life.

(chuckblakeman.com(2013)

Kidd Kraddick Livestreaming video media pioneer passes away.

The focuses of most of my blogs have been the innovative new opportunities that the Internet has created for broadcasters and video producers.  Live streaming video is a great way for anyone with a web cam or video camera that connects to a computer to instantly distribute the video all over the world via the Internet.   There have been many innovators but the most prevalent medium that has adopted this new technology has been radio.  It is now available to radio stations to share live video stream of their radio shows simultaneously while their show is being broadcast over the radio air waves.  The radio show has essentially become television as well.

One great pioneer of this practice has been Kidd Kraddick.  David “kidd” Kraddick has been a broadcaster for many years functioning as a morning radio show.  His show has been syndicated to over 40 markets covering a good majority of the country.  This show has embraced the ability of live  streaming video as well as audio over the Internet and becoming one of the first radio shows to do so.  Doing this has lead to greater opportunities for Kidd to showcase the program on actual television.  The live streamed program was picked up to be featured on a daily magazine program, called Dish Nation, focusing on the current gossip surrounding popular celebrities and other current affairs. Kidd has also used this broadcasting ability to raise money for a great charity he calls Kidds Kids.  This charity raises money to send terminally ill children to Disney world once a year.

It was announced on Saturday July 27, 2013 that Kidd passed away while at a fundraiser for his Kidds Kids charity. Kidd Kraddicks show has brought smiles to many people around the country.  He will be missed.

SEO for websites.

In todays highly demanding world it is hard for companies to promote their businesses online.  It is very important that they achieve a good web presence. Video Production companies have had to adapt to the twitters, and Facebooks of the web while keeping their websites visible amongst the segmented Internet landscape. 

There are steps that video producers can use to draw traffic to their video posts and websites.  They can utilize some of the free tools offered by companies that help generate the analytical data that will track the number of organic visitors to their websites.  It is task that only requires a little effort and research.   Registering the websites with Google, yahoo, and Bing is an essential part to this process.   Once registered these search engines will begin crawling the website in search for keywords.  These key words will help people find your website.

Google has several great resources that help webmasters to generate traffic.  The use of Google AdSense helps generates a revenue stream for the websites.  It is a simple registration process.  Simply sing up on the website www.ggogle.com/adsense and create a username and password.  Then you can create banner ads via the Google interface.  It generates the html code that can be cut and pasted onto your websites.

Many producers utilize YouTube as a way to distribute their videos.  SEO optimization can help get thousand of viewers for these videos.  The videos can be embedded to a companies website as well.  Using Google AdSense (for video) is a great way to generate revenue from YouTube posts. There are many examples and tutorials available for webmasters to use.  These tutorials provide plenty of information that will give examples.   Simply log on to YouTube and perform a search for video tutorials. 

Here is an example of a tutorial.

The New trends in social Media and video in 2013.

Streaming media is quickly becoming the choice means for entertainment.   It is now possible to enjoy it on every device that you own capable of playing video.  With social media providing another streaming audience several companies have begun creating what will enable every person the means of communicating with video.

Everyone, by now, is aware of the impact twitter has had on social media.  There is now a company named Vine who has created a cell phone application that has made communicating via twitter using short 7-second video loops.  This enables both creative expressions for those aspiring filmmakers and also a way for sharing life’s great moments without having to spend hours creating a professional video.  It is amazing to say the least.  It also makes it possible to create short animated clips.   Vine also enables its users to post these clips on Facebook as well.  Their popularity has quickly grown due to its use by major celebrities such as Maria Carey and Taylor swift.  It is a valuable resource for these celebrities to show their fans their true daily lives minus the sometimes vindictive presentations when the tabloids exploit them with unflattering paparazzi photos.

The company Instagram, an app that was launched prior to Vine has recently announced that it will be adding video, via software update, to its arsenal in June 2013.  This demonstrates the demand for these features.  Many people have begun utilizing social media to get information, not only on current events in the world but in their own families.  Instagram has combined their already popular photo-enhancing feature with the ability to record 15-second video loops.  They are competing by allowing their users the ability to retake shots before posting them. This is a great addition of features.  There have be some concerns voiced about the time extension to 15-seconds as apposed to 7-second clips, but this will give them a filtered market segment.

Making money publishing your own DVD.

In the past it was a difficult process for small video production companies to create a product, duplicate it and then distribute it to the various niche marketplaces. Those days are over. It has recently become far easier to produce and distribute your product to the public.

The first step is to produce a compelling video that everyone will love.  This, in most cases, is the most difficult part of the process.  Coming up with a great idea is sometimes very easy, however developing it further has proven to be easier said than done.  That’s why it is important to develop a treatment. The treatment can help the author hammer out a few details that will make communicating the idea to potential investors and also help with developing the script and storyboard.

OK, now you have a wonderful treatment and script completed.  Now it’s time to seek out ways of creating the production.  If you are a videographer / producer it would be a good idea to shoot a rough video treatment that will accompany your shorter written treatment to pitch to developers.  If you already have the funding for your project, then your treatment would be very helpful in communicating the project to your cast and crew members.

The final piece of the pie is very important.  This is assuming you have researched the market segment that your project will be sold to.  It is time to figure out how the product will be priced and distributed to the public. This is where technology and the Internet will play a big part for the independent producer.  There are many print-on-demand companies available to help manufacture and distribute DVD video content. Seeking these companies out is as simple as performing a Google search for the topic.  One great choice would be createspace, which is an amazon.com company.