RyNMasteryJournal

Changing the world one page at a time. Working towards my dream of becoming a writer/producer of television and film. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/RyNGraham Twitter https://twitter.com/RyNtertainment Linked In https://www.linkedin.com/pub/ryan-graham/2a/15/42b

[rynmastery]

Final Project: Business Plan

I made it, this is the final course of my Masters program and I couldn’t be more proud and humbled. This was a long journey and the ending is bittersweet, but all the more welcomed. I have learned and re-learned so much in this program that I am so confident in my journey to pursing a career in entertainment. The friendships that I have formed with my online classmates are relationships I plan to nurture and grow as we all continue on our own paths in this industry. I have successfully submitted my business plan as well as a business plan presentation, in which I received excellent feedback from my instructor.

My main goal of this class was, just like most I’m sure, to make it to the end. I saw the finish line before I was finished and I persevered through it to the end and I’m still pressing forward. The finish line has changed and I am now running full speed ahead towards that finish with the tools and skills I have acquired throughout this program. In this course I was a business man, the entrepreneur, the head CEO of my own company, and that experience was, amazing! I look forward to continuing my journey and I can proudly say that in regard to this program mastery was achieved.

[rynmastery]

Business Plan Development

Creating a business plan can be very intimidating, luckily in this course we were able to break down the process in weekly increments, amounting to a total of four weeks. My initial goal for this course was to create a business plan based on the knowledge gained throughout this program. I can proudly state that I have officially completed a business plan for my business. Although this course was challenging, I was able to come up with a solid plan that will aid in the successful launch of my business.

This course met all expectations as we were able to take an in-depth look into every detail of making a business plan. I was able to create a financial budget/plan for my business, as well as create a tangible document that displays its potential. Each week we were given specific instructions that built on the knowledge we have acquired throughout this program. Like a puzzle, all previous courses played an intricate part in creating this masterpiece. Without the knowledge I have obtained prior to this course, I would have been overwhelmed with creating such a detailed business plan.

This month was all about putting what we have learned to work, in other words, we had to “put our money where our mouths are.” By creating this plan, I now feel competent enough to begin working on the next steps in creating my business. I now have the confidence to seek out investors and share my plan in hopes of sparking interests. This class has given me proof of what my business will become and for that I am grateful. I am looking forward into putting this plan into action and I am ecstatic that my business is growing in a positive direction. This is only the beginning and I am one step closer to mastering my role in the entertainment realm of business.

[rynmastery]

Digital Marketing

I am currently in week two of my Digital Marketing course, and I must say; I am extremely excited to learn how to further utilize the tools needed to become a successful digital marketing professional. Digital is where the world is right now, we are witnesses to this digital era. Jennifer Betka, CMO of StubHub states; “We probably all agree that marketing is a mix of art and science, and from a science perspective, with all this data, I think it’s definitely the golden age. “ It is exciting to be able to learn and contribute to this new era and this class provides the tools needed to govern a successful digital marketing plan. I have already begun to learn how to fully utilize marketing tools such as Google Analytics to track, measure, and report marketing trends in regard to my created blog. I have also had the opportunity to further research my digital marketing plan by beginning the creation of my digital canvas. My goal for this course was to learn how to build a successful digital marketing plan, and I believe that I am right on track to achieving this goal.

So far I have learned how to create a digital canvas that will display my one-year goal for my marketing plan. I am excited to be able to have this project complete so I will have a tangible document that will actually showcase my digital plan for my company.  This class will give me the exposure needed to become a successful blogger which will also help me when it comes to creating my very own brand and marketing that brand both physically and digitally. I am ready to embark on this new path of my life and finally, initiate working on something that I love and am passionate about.

[rynmastery]

Entertainment Media Publishing and Distribution

Self-publishing has always interested me as a writer and I could not wait to take this course and plan out a strategy to implement this idea. My goal for this course was to acquire the tools necessary to begin creating ideas for publishing/distributing my material. While in this class I have learned multiple ways of self-publishing my own material via multiple digital platforms such as Blurb.com or Lulu.com. Both sites offer the option of self publishing and provide you with the tools needed to publish successfully. In addition to obtaining knowledge of self-publishing I was able to learn what goes into a pitch letter and book proposal.

This experience is in my opinion the most crucial aspect of this class. As most creative projects start with a “pitch”. Creating a solid and impactful pitch letter to an agent is very important to any creative professional. It can make or break your project, as agents are the legs to your project. Learning all the moving pieces and how to organize them successfully is definitely a major benefit of taking this course and I am very grateful to have been privy to this information. I now have my very own book proposal and am able to further build upon it as I go along with writing my own projects.

I intend to use all knowledge obtained in this course as this is much of the foundation for becoming a successful writer. Being able to understand and critically analyze the industry provides a unique tool for success. I am now competent in my ability to efficiently self-publish and I am extremely excited to complete my projects so that I can share them with the world. I am definitely looking forward to creating my business strategy, which I am sure I will use throughout my professional career.

[rynmastery]

Advanced Entertaiment Law

       This month was a great month, not only is this the month that Spring makes it's returned but I was able to study one of my favorite subjects; Entertainment Law. My original goal for this class was to learn how to protect my work via copyright and/or intellectual property law and I can confidently say that I am now much better equipped to handle protecting my work. I must admit that I was a bit rusty when it came to deciphering between a trademark and a copyright and this class definitely refreshed my memory. Copyright protects your original created work while trademark protects the actual name, logo, etc., associated with the trade of a good. Knowing the difference will prove most useful when it comes to protecting my literary work and logo for my business.

       Going forward in my career I plan to utilize the knowledge I learned in this class to protect my company name, logo, and creative works. Performing research on cases have shown that sometimes it’s not as simple as just obtaining a copyright, sometimes the law requires additional steps and without this class I would have definitely been blindsided by the many elements that go into protecting a work. Being able to have this knowledge will critically contribute to the success of my company. In the entertainment industry, especially if you are a part of the creative side, you have to know the best strategy for creating your work. Without the protection, anyone can take what you’ve created and use it for themselves. I plan to continue to grow in my knowledge of intellectual property law as I definitely recognize the importance of having legal protection in terms of works created.

[rynmastery]

Product and Artist Management (PAM)

In the past month, I have learned a tremendous amount of knowledge when it comes to product and artist management. My goal for this class was to Enhance upon my knowledge of artist/product management and I have more than exceeded this goal. I feel very confident in moving forward with understanding how to manage a product. I think that this knowledge will be of benefit when building my brand. Utilizing strategies such as conducting a case study on other artist managers taught me the key fundamentals of what is needed to be a successful manager. In addition, being able to research two successful talent agencies provided me insight into which direction I would want to pursue in the event I decided to have talent representation. After researching I made the decision that if I decide to have representation I would first pursue the smaller firm and work my way up to a bigger firm to grow my brand globally. These assignments allowed me to not only grow as a product manager but also allowed me to become confident in saying so.

Various discussions allowed for myself and my peers, to grow in knowledge and expose ourselves to various topics regarding social media marketing, leadership styles, and the ability to determine marketing targets. I am now able to pinpoint demographics and psychographics to determine the best course of action when marketing my product. Being aware of your products niche target market is half the battle. Actually creating a marketing plan and strategy proved to be very effective and provided me with a tool in which I can further develop and solidify my goal of producing an extraordinary television show. I plan on applying this knowledge going forward in my own production company. Whether it’s creating marketing plans or managing talent for a television show, I now feel 100% confident that I can successfully manage my product.

[rynmastery]

Negotiation and Deal Making

My goal for this course was to become an efficient negotiator. I feel that I am 85% of the way there. I am sure there are tons to learn and I look forward to utilizing the new tools I learned in this course. Prior to this course, I always considered myself as an amateur when it comes to negotiating. I know in life negotiation takes place everywhere. Whether it’s buying a car, asking for a raise, determining your job duties, etc. The tools learned in this class has better equipped me with what I need to achieve positive results. Being able to separate the people from the problem I will be able to avoid negative emotions and acknowledge others emotions showing a true concern which will ultimately aid in coming to an agreement. I will also be able to be more prepared when going into a negotiation. By performing negotiation analysis and researching case studies of other negotiations. I now understand how to prepare myself when going into my own negotiations. I will definitely have a BATNA ready in all negotiations as this prepares you for when the opposing partner pulls something from left field.

 Not only have I been equipped to better prepare myself for my own deal makings but I feel confident enough to help others with their negotiations. By completing the endorsement paper assignment, I was able to actually take a look at deals while comparing and contrasting the pros versus the cons. This was a big help as this taught me how to break down each offer and pinpoint the exact deal that would most benefit my client. In addition, when working on the final project, I was able to learn that sometimes teamwork is the best alternative and that when you utilize a team of people you can achieve great success. I am a firm believer of working within a team of people who respect and have each others backs when it comes to negotiating. I very much feel more confident after taking this class and look forward to future deal makings.

[rynmastery]

Entertainment Business Finance

Being an amateur when it comes to finance, one can see why I was nervous to take this course. Although I felt uneasy, I was also very eager with learning all that I could in order to become more financially aware. Finance is a very important topic when thinking of starting a business. This term I feel that I have accomplished my goal of learning how to manage finance in terms of film and production. I feel confident in the tools and knowledge obtained throughout this course. Being able to fully understand a fully year income statement and conduct a financial analysis of that information is a very helpful skill set when it comes to projecting future financial success. Another aspect of finance learned was conducting a break-even analysis.

Being able to efficiently calculate a break-even point in terms of finance will aid in preparing for what to expect when determining the overall success for my company. Also on top of learning how to analyze wealth, I learned how to utilize it appropriately. Investing is one area that I plan on mastering at some part in my life and I definitely appreciate the introduction to that aspect in this course. I learned the differences between multiple types of investments such as bonds, mutual funds, and stocks. I feel that this knowledge will grant me the opportunity to begin investing intelligently.  In addition, I was able to learn how to begin acquiring the funding for my production company I will one day start. Thanks to this course I am now aware of fundraisings such as crowd source funding, angel investors, and financial loans.

In conclusion, this course has given me not only the tools needed to succeed but also a team of intelligent peers that I can depend on if I ever encounter issues or challenging financial situations where I need a second or third opinion. I feel that I have surpassed my initial goal of learning how to manage finances. I am more than satisfied with this experience and look forward to the next stop on the path to mastery.

[onlinecounsellingcollege]

You have the strength you need to get through this.

Michael Josephson (via onlinecounsellingcollege)

[rynmastery]

Ready for Success

Not to long ago I prayed to God and informed him that I was ready for my success. Since then I have had this amazing feeling that something great is in store for me. I am currently sitting in a production studio about to meet with the team. This situation in itself shows me that my prayers have been answered. I am so happy and ready for what lies ahead. I will put all my energy into creating a successful career in television. Just wanted to share that with you all. Hope everyone is having a great day. 

[rynmastery]

Business Storytelling and Brand Development

My goal for this course was to acquire all skills necessary to create a successful brand that will be respected by my target audience. I feel that I am 95% there to accomplishing this goal. I learned so much about branding during the duration of this course and I feel completely confident in my ability to create a respectable brand for my company. The knowledge gained will be utilized throughout my career.

Brand development is an extremely important aspect of creating a business. This class gave me all the tools needed to achieve positive results when creating my brand. Being able to create a business canvas and actually visualize my business model was a key element that helped me develop my brand strategy. In addition, learning aspects such as market research, protecting a trademark, and creating a brand identity have provided me with a better understanding of what it takes to create a respectable brand name.

The time spent in this class was both enjoyable and full of hard critical work. Although there was a tremendous amount of information that was covered over a months period. I do feel that I leave this class knowledgeable and capable of creating a successful brand. I fully believe that my goal has been completed and am ready to continue to embark on my path of mastering my life’s task.

[rynmastery]

Goal for Project/Team Mgmt

My goal: Acquire knowledge of how to efficiently manage a team and/or project.

 In my Project and Team Management course, I learned how to effectively manage a team. I was able to perform industry research and discovered what is necessary when performing this task. In addition, I was able to create a timeline for my future project. This provides a visual aid in which I can utilize to stay on task and effectively produce my project. Also, I created a weekly budget that I can refer to as a guide for finances when supporting my project. Being able to create these things taught me self-discipline and how to be prepared in the initial process of managing a project. Performing character studies has provided me the tools needed to manage a team.

 Being able to conduct character analysis and perform personality assessments provided insight on how to deal with multiple character types. Understanding personalities is key when managing a team. In this course, I learned the strengths and weaknesses for all personality types. This will help when putting together a team to successfully produce my pilot episode. By personally conducting the personality assessment I discovered that I have more of a dominant personality and take charge. Being able to realize that one of the weaknesses of my character is that others may find me intimidating allows me to be cognizant of my actions so that I am not intimidating.  

 We all should take the time to truly understand what it means to lead and how that may impact others. Being in this class has given me valuable tools needed to obtain and create successful projects and/or teams. I feel confident in knowing that I am now one step closer to making my dream a reality. I advise anyone who is interested in being a leader to fully develop your soft skills and seek out creative ways to connect with members on your team.

[rynmastery]

Maxwell vs Greene

I definitely incorporate more of a Maxwell leadership style. I have always been a team player and thrive mostly off of others ambition. It motivates me to be better, work harder, be more determined to complete a desired goal. I think this leadership style will help me achieve the success I desire in terms of becoming an executive producer. No one wants to work with someone that is difficult. Also with that being said it would be very difficult to start out in the entertainment realm with a Greene Law focused perspective. I believe some of the key qualities I possess which align with Maxwell’s leadership strategies are: Integrity, People, and Vision.

 I work with integrity in whatever I am doing. I believe honesty, loyalty and integrity are the top benefiting characteristics in regard to becoming a successful leader. Maxwell states integrity has high influence value. People will respect you based on your actions and your strong will to stick to your principles. Integrity not often builds influence but also allows you to obtain the respect of others thus aiding you in people development.

 People looking up to you and believing in your vision allows you to focus on the value of the person and help that person reach their full potential, which will further your success as a leader. The five principles according to Maxwell are; value of people, commitment to people, integrity with people, standard for people, and influence over people. These principles are all that I one day hope to possess and utilize effectively as this is further help aid in my vision.

 There is a quote by P.K. Bernard that says “A man without a vision for his future, always returns to his past.” Not focusing on what’s ahead will force a leader to become stagnant and able to properly lead. My vision is to help others accept others regardless of their differences. I will encompass this vision in my writing by providing a glimpse of lifestyles outside of the ones we believe to be socially normal.

[wnq-anonymous]

Stay strong. You never know who you are inspiring.

Unknown   (via wordsnquotes)

[culturenlifestyle]

7 Books That Will Change Your Perception of the World

You want weapons? Go to a library. Books are the best weapons in the world.” –Doctor Who

Books have a unique way of capturing us, which surpass the expectations of film and documentaries. The worst thing you can do is to limit yourself to reading only a few books or genres. The best thing you can do is to find out your interests and inform yourself on different subjects. You’ll find that your newly found passions will grow along with your knowledge. You will make the delicious discovery of the heavy weight of knowing that you know nothing. If you’re looking for books that will challenge your mind body and soul and cause you to see the world in new ways, look no further than the following seven books (just kidding, look further).

Keep reading

[rynmastery]

One must continue to learn all that you can, knowledge is power!

[onlinecounsellingcollege]

Tips for Making Small Talk

Being good at making small talk is a crucial life skill, and is key for making a positive impression. Some tips to help you with this include:

1. Go prepared when you’re meeting new people, or when you have to attend a social event. Think about some topics you can talk about with others (and that will depend on the people you are meeting). Prepare some general questions to get others talking (For example, what are they doing for the holidays; or what good movies have they seen recently?) Also, if you’ve met some of the people at a previous event, try to remember a few things about them (such as what are their main interests, or where do they work?) 2. Most people feel uncomfortable when meeting someone new so be the first person to say “hello.” If you’re not sure if the person will remember you, help put them at their ease by saying who you are. 3. Don’t rush introductions. Focus hard on remembering the names of those you meet, and use them often to fix them in your mind. 4. Help the other person talk by opening up the conversation with open-ended questions that asks for more details. For example, “Isn’t this a great party! How do you know (the host)?” 5. Pay careful attention to what the person’s saying; don’t allow your mind to drift or to start to wander off. Eye contact should be steady – so don’t glance to the side. 6. Make sure you listen more than you talk to someone new. 7. Work on having something relevant and interesting to say. Know what’s going on and making headlines in the news. These can help to open up a conversation. (For example, you can lead with a comment like “What do you think about…?” Have you heard…?” What is your take on…?” 8. Avoid controversial and negative topics; also, refrain from boring stories that have too many details. It’s meant to be a casual, light and easy conversation. 9. Pay attention to your body language. If you act as if you’re comfortable and confident, that will put the people around you at ease, too. However, if you look shy, awkward and uncomfortable, that will rub off on the people you are socialising with. 10. Before you join a conversation that’s already in progress, first stand on the sidelines and listen carefully. Don’t squeeze your way in with a badly-timed remark.

[rynmastery]

The older I get I find it hard sometimes to spark up conversation this should help! Anyone else out there have this issue?

[rynmastery]

Need help building your personal brand? No worries, this list should give you some guidance! Also check out this article where this image can be found:

http://www.agencybloc.com/blog/bloctalk/how-to-personal-branding.aspx