AnearaMarquel @anearamarquel-blog - Tumblr Blog

Patiently waiting!!!!

This is finally my last week at Full Sail University! I am so happy to have been able to have the privilege of blogging about my time enrolled in this institution and my work.

I hope that these posts will help someone else out one day and encourage them to continue their higher education. This month, I was required to make sure that I have a blog post from all of my previous courses. I have that and so much more. LOL

I plan to continue to post on my blog about my progress after graduation. I think that this blogging is a calming experience and it will help me keep track of all of my experiences.

Thank you for reading and I hope you stay tuned.

Business Plan

This month I had the privilege of taking a Business plan class with Full Sail University and I would have to say, this class was everything I thought it would be and more. My original goal for this class was to understand the concept of a business plan and begin to build one. This class has not only opened my eyes to what was needed for a productive business plan, but it also helped me understand some of the aspects of my business that need more attention. After this course, I have made realistic goals that I can actually live up to and make sure that my company and business partners can actually complete. In the beginning of this course, one of the biggest goals for my company was to buy a building that could hold not only offices that my business partners and I could work in, but also house a recording studio and photography studio. Although this goal is not lost, I have made this goal more of a 10-year plan rather than forcing myself and the company to take on such financial change so fast. The class allowed me to work on budgeting and understanding all of the factors that go into a fictional and productive company. I am truly grateful to have taken this class and only wish that I could have learned this information sooner.

With all of the great information that I have received from this class, I plan to revamp my goals and prioritize them accordingly. Although I would like to have my company up and running successfully in the next five years, I do think that it is okay for me to prolong the time frame of some of my goals and make sure that I can financially afford necessities such as buildings and additional staff.

Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution

This month, I have had the privilege of taking Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution at Full Sail University. From the very start, I knew I was going to enjoy this class and all that it has to offer. I was actually surprised to see that I was able to start this class as strong as I did. What I enjoy most is that this class allows me to explore my creative outlets. While creating Press Releases and learning the ins and outs of the “distributing game”, I was able to realize how creative I really can be when making my own graphics and slides. This class also opened up my eyes to the depth of independently distributing my artist’s music. Most of all, I really enjoy the class discussions! All of my classmates have very good opinions and comments. For a group of people to be able to engage with each other and relate on so many levels, is inspiring and great for educational development.

Being in an industry that is now very heavily based on marketing and sales, it is very pertinent to be able to know where to start when distributing music and making the most of the experience. This class allows its students to grasp the idea of capturing others attention and how to keep it. The best project that I was able to learn how to do and execute was the Query Letter and the Press Kit. Although the press kit was more about me exploring my creativity, the Query Letter was something that I actually learned how to do. With the help of this class, I am now able to package an exciting and effective press kit.

I really do appreciate this class for all the experience and lessons that it has offered. I have really learned some of the most valuable lessons that will take my business to the next level!

Advanced Entertainment Law

This month I have had the pleasure of taking the an Advance Entertainment Law class. In the beginning, I really did not have any expectations. From the many classes that I have completed in my matriculation at Full Sail University, I already knew that this class was going to be challenging but rewarding, however, I did not know what to expect. As time flew by this class became one of the most useful and knowledgable classes that I have ever taken (I actually wish I could take it longer). The videos, the readings, and class discussions taught me so much about entertainment law and what to look out for. This class also helped me reveal what I already knew about entertainment law. Surprisingly, I knew way more than I thought I did and I was able to add substance to my knowledge. My favorite activity to complete in this class was the contract examination. We received a basic entertainment manager contract and had to examine the contract to see what was good and bad in the contract. This activity helped me understand the normalities of an entertainment manager contract and what to expect when it comes to artists reviewing it. Knowing that the entertainment industry is very forceful industry to be in, and managing an artist can be so much more than what people think, I was so happy to take this class and learn so much from the work that was presented. I was able to take a lot of the lessons and worksheets and use them in my own company to better and further my business. Learning how to successfully fill out paper work for trademarking names, logos and knowing how to look up cases that explain the importance of trademarking is probably one of the best tools a teacher could give her students. For that, I thank this course and my teacher for equipping me with the tools to pursue my dreams.

#entertainmentlaw law

Marketing for Small Business

Today, I had the liberty of taking "Marketing for small Business" course on Lynda.com. The course started off with some very helpful information on what a small business was and how the marketing is different from a larger company. Although marketing is explained as a way to bring customers in, help them stay engaged and continue to draw in new customers or simply as the speaker described it "a non-stop cycle", the differences are very clear. Budgeting and staffing are two of the main points that the speaker talked about that stood out . The reason why both of these are very informational for someone running their own business is because money/ budgets are one of the biggest aspects of a small business that can make it break it. Many companies go into business and fail to budget correctly and end up owing more money than they can imagine. The crazy thing is, marketing is a very vital part of a growing business and very expensive service to have. So when the speaker moved on to talk about staffing, he was able to capture an important and direct need for people who will dedicate to the marketing of the company. The more people that you have with fresh and innovative ideas, the better the marketing will be and longer the campaigns can last. The next part of the course that helped me understand marketing better is "identifying and segmenting your target market".This course really focuses in on how important it is to know your companies audience and how to reach them. The speaker states "Truthfully, the most powerful marketing strategy has little to do with your website, email blasts, mailers, ad buys and so on. It all starts by having a powerful claim that clearly defines how you're different." This statement lets me know that no matter how much information you have, the company that you choose to run and market has to have a wow factor and be different. An audience wants to see something new and innovative. Although much more informative topics were discussed, the last and final thing that was discussed that anyone with a small and growing company should take away is "Measuring your results". When measuring your results the best thing that anyone can do is directly use surveys that help you get customer feedback that will help you know who your customers are and how you are doing. I personally believe that Customer feedback allows the company to connect with their audience without having to talk to them directly. It also allows the company to get honest feedback because surveys can be anonymous and discrete. Over all, this was a very good course. Im actually disappointed that I haven’t watched before now. Most of the information was captivating and really helps me think about new and innovative ways for me to control my marketing for my company

Product and Artist Management

This month I had the privilege of taking a Product and Artist Management class. For me, this class was a personal eye opener and really helped me get clarity on all of the things that I work with my clients to do everyday. Ever since I have started my own business and picked up clients I have been doing my best to manage their careers in a way that I would want my music career to be taken care of. This class really helped me have clarity on what I am doing. Of course, any one like a mom, cousin and family friend can be a manager, but it takes someone special to really understand and learn the ins and outs of the entertainment business and how to really manage an artist and their potential products. After the four weeks in this class, I can honestly say that I am not only happy that I chose this career, but I am also 100% confident in picking up more “seasoned” artists/actors/actresses. From the very beginning of the class when we started to talk about how we would manage curtain people and explaining the “business of the show”, I automatically realized that is was the class that I had been waiting to take through my matriculation at Full Sail University. Even when I did not do so well on my product project, the feedback that I was given helped me understand that I was not wrong, but just needed to pay more attention to details. This class helped me understand my weaknesses and strengths in management. I am now clear on what a manager does for their clients, and all of the work that goes into not only managing them but providing them with a successful and long lasting career. Taking the information from this class and working hard to better myself, I will also be able to have a long and lasting career with my clients.

Facebook Advertising Fundamentals

Coming into this class, I thought I knew all that I could know about the internet and how digital marketing worked. The first time that I took this class, I was able to research digital marketing with Instagram. That lesson, on lynda.com gave me some much information and insight on so much that I had no idea about. So, this time, I decided to find out about what I didn't know about Facebook and how digital marketing can play a big part in a company’s success. On lynda.com, Facebook is not described in a social networking way for people to sign up for and meet people. Facebook is finally being examine as a business tool that promotes small businesses and sponsorships. One of my favorite things that I learned about on this lesson was how ads are targeted. Learning that my ad can be published to my local community is so informative because, personally, I have always wanted to publish an ad with Facebook for my small business, but did not just want the ad to be published foolishly. Knowing that the people who are “related” to the page and people who “like” the page are the ones who see the promotion, is helpful and comforting. The next great thing that this lesson went over was how to get more likes on your business page by running the promotion ads. Just being on the personal end of Facebook, I have seen these promotional ads come across my Facebook page and I have liked the pages because I like the product or the company that the ad shows. Therefore, I know that this works with right marketing and design to catch the publics eye. Facebook is one the most powerful tools on the internet. Many people and companies have been discovered within it. Facebook also gives the company a chance to be very interactive with the “likers”and/or “commenters” I love the way that companies can receive immediate feedback and share with all of their friends. lynda.com helps you prepare an ad and maximize its potential on the web.

Negotiation and Deal-Making

The month I had the pleasure of taking Negotiation and Deal-Making. This course has been tremendously helpful and inspiring for my new business, BAD Publicity Management LLC. In the beginning, my first impression of this class was that I was going to learn how to debate and argue my way in and out of every deal…LOL. Little did I know, I was going to gain so much more. Negation and Deal -Making helped me understand the importance of speaking with others, compromising and being persistent. The most helpful part of this class when we conducted mock negotiations. I was able to test out how I would handle a situation/negotiation between me and an art buyer and get the best results possible for myself and him. In the end, I had to learn that negotiating is not all about focusing on whats right in front of you, sometimes, it is best to as questions and engage in the other persona life little to better suit the both of us. I was also able to examine other types of negotiations and the outcomes. During my third week in the class, I was able to research and write a paper on a negotiation between Friendship Baptist church (in Atlanta) and the city of Atlanta. This paper helped me realize that although the start of a negotiation can feel terrible and last for many months (almost a year), in the end, everything will eventually work out if everyone learns to compromise and work with each other. The biggest thing that I have learn from this class is that I have to not only think for myself, but also think about others and their needs. I need to stay two steps ahead and always have a back up plan. This has been one of the most helpful and enlightening class I have taken at Full Sail University. Because of the information I have received in the class, I feel more confident negotiating contracts and deals for my clients.

Thank You.

Instagram For Business

This week I have had the pleasure of taking an Instagram for Business course on Lynda.com. Although I new quite a bit about Instagram, I chose that course because I use it more than any other social media application and I thought it was would beneficial to learn all that I can about it. The video taught me the ins and outs of how Instagram is used and how I could better my business by using it strategically. One thing that I learned was the value of hash tagging. I always knew hash tagging was a good took to use. But I really realized that hashtags connect your picture, and therefore your profile, to thousands of users all over the country. This way, if you click on a hashtag and search through is, you are ultimately seeing pictures and connecting with people all over the world for your own business progression. I also was able to learn about how to maximize your experience with Instagram with the search engine and communicating with my followers. This video ultimately showed me that If I would like to grow my following on Instagram, or on any social media application, I have to be willing to post, tag, search and interact. I should be posting things on the company page that my followers can relate to and comment on. We should bring music intelligence and knowledge to or crowd and keep them updated on the hottest indie artists that we represent. We should also inform them of the services we have by doing photos and videos of our everyday live working in the industry. The video overall was very helpful and informative. I leaned to broadcast my page, develop a posting schedule and research my competition all on social media. I will definitely be looking into more video classes on other social media applications like this.

#instagram lynda.com

Business Finance

I have just finished my Business Finance class at Full Sale University. I will have to say, this was the first class that I struggled with. Math has never been my strongest class but I have always tried hard to strive for success. Although I struggled, I did learn a lot in my class. Business Finance, although a basic math, I learned that this is one of the most important classes that I will ever take. To know how to manage your money and keep track of your finances is very beneficial. In the class, I learned how to think about the things that I need and the money that I need to fulfill any project. Moving forward in my business, I will need to learn how to keep track of my finances and the money I will need to keep my head above water. Even if I were to hire someone to be my financial advisor and keep track of my money, I will need to keep my mind open and understand the business. One of the most memorable things that I learned was leaning that I can count some of my apartment (home office) has a business expense. I will always be able to appreciate the knowledge that I have obtained from this class. In the future, I will be looking forward to learning more about Finance and how to manage my funds. I can take away from this class the importance of planning and keep a budget. Without these tools, any business can be turned bankrupt. Business Finance is one of the most important things that I believe everyone should take. It not only helps you with your business but it can also help you with your personal life. I will forever be grateful for this class and will even consider retaking it to better understand the concepts.

Business Storytelling & Brand Development

This month, I have had the privilege of focusing on a branding and business story telling class. Throughout this course I have learned the importance of branding and the type of stories that come with it. As I entered the class, I thought that the class would be about just building your own companies brand, but I was totally wrong. Even though the professor helps with this process, the main part that I received from his course was how to research brands and to use other major brands to strengthen my own. The key thing that I got from this is “You can't make a strong brand if you are unclear of what a strong brand looks like”. Over the course of this class, I research the brand of Disney. The biggest thing that I had to come to terms with is that I can't have a strong branded company and not have a strong personal brand on my own. Everyone knows who Walt Disney is and about his struggle to make magic come to life in motion pictures and cartoons, just as much as they know Disney World and the magic that it brings to everyday lives. I too must construct a brand for myself that has as much detail as my company’s brand. This class was nothing of how I expected it to be. In some classes, you are required to complete assignments, but learn very little. In this class, I completed very few assignment (very few were expected for grading purposes) but I learned more in the videos and reading assignments then I expected to. Over all, my class experience was very beneficial and will forever be the first guide and/or rubric that I used to build a strong, working, and memorable brand. Considering that a brand is what can make or break many companies, and I am forever thankful for this class and what it taught me.

Project and Team Management

Through the month of September, I took my Master’s degree to the next level as I took a project and team management class. Like my other classes, I had no expectations. I like to be surprised by the teaching styles and the type of work I get. And surprised I was! From the very beginning of the class, we were put in a position where we had to pick groups and do some team interaction. Usually this is an easy task for me, however, in this class it became very difficult due to the class being online and having an outside schedule (i.e Work). Ultimately in the end, I was able to learn how to work with others virtually and in person. Learning to take other people’s lives and schedules into consideration was a big lesson that I learned. In the future, I will be able to take the lessons that I have learned and apply them to not only the artists that I work with but also my business partners. Knowing that we will one day have to be apart from one another for long periods of time, It is very important to learn how to communicate with everyone in the group without being face to face. I have also learned how to fully think and plan out activities and events. During the class, I was able to build a budget and work through how to use my mind and think about an event before actually planning it. This is important because a lot of people jump head first into planning activates and forget how much thought goes into it. Anyone can actually use the lessons I have learned to better their own career if they take their time and fully think everything through. With patience and hard work, anything is possible! Patience is actually one of the most important thing. In planning events and working in a group, patience is truly a virtue.

Industry Research

Lately, I have been doing research in my Industry and I have been exploring the many things that make being a Entertainment Manager fun for me. The one thing that I genuinely enjoy event planning! So, I will be exploring 4 topics and articles that specifically help me plan an artist showcase, which will ultimately be my big project.

Topic One: Event Publicity Article 1: Whatever It Takes to Get the Job Done. (2005). njbiz,9. This article follows a public relations company that provides television, newspaper, social media etc. advertisement to help their clients pursue their dreams. Article 2: http://www.prnewsonline.com/water-cooler/2013/04/01/tis- the-season-6-tips-for-event-pr-success/ This article is simply some steps that will help me properly plan PR for an event. This article shows how Public Relations can make or break an event how it can be successfully done. This article also lets me know that everything deserves a plan and happens for a reason. Nothing happens just on a whim.

Topic two: The Budget

Article 1: Allen, S. A., Lynch, C., & Miniri, A. (2009). Caviar Tastes on a Pizza Budget: Event Planning with Limited Funds. Campus Activities Programming, 41(8), 23-26. This article explores how to plan an event on a limited budget! The article focuses on campus groups that are planning events with a limited budge and how they succeed or fail in the process. This article is very helpful in my line of work because as an entertainment manager, I plan events for artists and have to do this within an affordable budget. Reading this article helps me understand that money is not what makes an event great but its the community and people that are helping work to make things happen. Article 2: Migliore, L. (2009). Getting More Bang for Your Buck: Increase Student Organization Funding through the Right Budgeting Structure. Campus Activities Programming, 41(8), 20-22. This article shows me how to get more bang for my buck”! Although both of the articles that I picked are speaking about school organizations, they are speaking about how budgeting is important in every event planning situation and how money can be stretch in a good way for everything to be taken care of appropriately. The one thing to think about in budgeting is also labeling each thing that requires money to be listed by importance.

Topic Three: Choosing the location

Article 1: http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/event-planners- choose-venues/ This blog talks about how event planners choose a venue for their events. This blog has taught me that a location is one of the most delicate things that need to chosen wisely. If a location is not equipped for a certain amount of people, then it can turn people away. The location can also attract the wrong type of people. Everything matters! Article 2: Hafley, M. L. (2013). Event planning: Location, Location, Location. Fort Worth Business Press, 14. The article discusses the event planning to find the perfect location for any event and offers various methods for event planning which includes number of attendees in event, size of event location and requirements of props and equipment. Topic Four: Branding the Event Article 1: https://www.eventbrite.com/blog/ds00-build-it-and- they-will-come-five-characteristics-for-branding-your-event/ This article talks about the importance of branding and branding your event. This article speaks about the name of the event and how it is important and needs to catchy and it should appeal to the publics eyes and ears. Article 2: Mind the 'little things' when planning big events. (2015). Nonprofit Business Advisor, 2015(307), 5-8. doi: 10.1002/nba This events taught me that every little thing that happens, everything that the others can see or hear matters! Everything should be planned strategically. Branding is important because after the event, you want to be remembered and talked about. This is important because when you do another event, it should speak for itself.

This is my checklist and time line for the next 11 months. Lets get to work!

#MasteryTimeline

This Quote by @Myphysiqque.blo... inspired me this week because I have been on a new path to make my new company #BADpublicity Management come to life. This quote lets me know that it is okay to go for my dreams and that there are ways of doing it Be Smart, Be direct, ad get to work!

#inspiration #instagram

I recently realized that I am most inspired by my peers. Everyday, I log on to my social media pages and I find a quote or a meaningful saying that I can relate to. So I have decided to post my inspirations throughout my Mastery Journey!

This quote, posted by @lori_dior (instagram), inspired me this week because of the transparency. I can relate to this quote because everyday I used to wake up and attend my day job for 8-9 hours and come home and go straight to sleep. This quote reminds me that even though I have responsibilities, I also have goals and dreams and I shouldn't let anyone or anything derail me from that!

#inspiration #instagram

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