#mywhitneyb

[madisonmommy-blog1]

Final Project: Business Plan

I am pleased to say that I have finally made it to the end of yet another master's program at Full Sail University. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, this program really challenged me but I can walk away honestly feeling like I learned a lot of key information and have gained resources to help me along the way with starting my new business. I thought that I knew what to expect coming into the program, but I had no idea. If I am being honest with myself, I took this program because I’ve always wanted to work in sports and I like entertainment news. The program was completely opposite from what I expected which tells me that I should have done the research and reading about each class before starting. I did not have to take the initial mastery class so I failed myself by not completing that reading.

This current course has taught me vital interview skills that I will take with me throughout my life. I have always thought I was prepared but this class has really prepared me with the extra videos and lectures. One of the main things that I would have loved to see different would be to see our classmate's plans as well. In previous classes we were able to view the digital leadership portfolio of our classmates and it would have been nice to see their hard work come to life. I feel that the teacher was amazing. He offered additional information each week that was not only helpful to the class but mostly for the work we will do when we are finished with school. I would definitely suggest this program to anyone who is interested in the entertainment field and is looking to start their own business. This is a very hands-on program that allows students to be creative in their own ways. I can honestly say that I will miss Full Sail but I am glad it is over and I am proud of myself for completing a master’s program for the second time.

[madisonmommy-blog1]

Business Plan and Development

    At the beginning of this program, I did not have to take the initial Mastery class. Since I did not take that class, I did not prepare an initial set of goals or come up with a description of how I thought the class would be. Before the class I thought that this class would teach us how to dissect business plans, I honestly did not think that I would be creating my own. Although I have been working on my plan throughout the program, this class put everything into perspective for me and made me think about what I wanted and how I wanted it to be structured. The reading assignments went along well with what was expected and that’s also a big part of what made me think of what was best for my company when creating the plan. I enjoyed the discussion questions each week. We were able to read about real people who have started great businesses or give feedback about advice that is essential to us.

    Another great take away from this class that was unexpected to me was the advice given from the videos done by Jason Whitmore that we were able to watch each week. He spoke about the importance of staying true to yourself but having a humble and positive attitude while doing so. The most challenging thing for me is my self-esteem. I do not show a lot of confidence if any when I present or when I work and this is something that needs to change, according to the advice from the videos. This program has structured my confidence in a way that has me ready to start this business and give back to the people in Detroit. Knowing that I was creating my actual business plan was kind of overwhelming to me in the beginning but what helped most was the reading and the previous work that I have done. I would suggest this program to anyone I know that’s trying to further their education in business.

[madisonmommy-blog1]

Sports Law

This has been a very trying four weeks for me taking this Sports Law class this month. When I saw that the class was on the list, I immediately got anxiety and was not looking forward to taking it. Not because I expected it to be hard, but because I have never done well in any law class that I have taken and didn’t have any expectations for this one. Because I am a recent masters level graduate at Full Sail University, I did not have to take the Mastery class where I would have had goals for this course. The only goals I has was to pass and learn more about the sports world. So far, I am passing and have learned much more. I really used to want to work in sports, but now I am not sure, it seems like a lot of work just doing the basics. The number one take away for me this month is the information I learned about intellectual properties. When working on the assignments, I leaned that it is important to trademark brand names, not copyright them. Well in learning, you don’t copyright brand names just the domains that is associated with them. Working on my website and my brand there are a few pieces of intellectual property that is important to me like my brand name, logo, and slogan. When I do get extra money, I will make sure to protect the few important pieces of intellectual property associated with it. Another thing that stood out to me was from the last week with sports agents. I already knew that agencies were bigger than individual agents and could maybe get more or better deals. I didn’t know that a lot of the industries does not require that much education, if any. This class taught me a new way of doing research. Of course finding the scholarly articles on databases is fine, but it is really hard to find court cases. Taking this class and having to research different cases and different topics was the most challenging to me and it is something that I will not forget.

[madisonmommy-blog1]

Fan Engagement and Loyalty in Sports

When starting in this program I did not know what to expect. I knew that it was a duel course where I would be learning about the entertainment business and working and also sports. I have been looking forward to taking the sports classes but didn’t know I would be learning as much as I have. The couple of sports classes that I have taken so far has taught me so much more about the industry that I expected. We have been taking a look into the operations and how teams work and continue their success. This month in class we are going over marketing and sponsorship. In marketing, it is very important to make sure that people know and understand the brand you are representing because no matter what you say or do to promote it, they will not know or care. Over the past two months, I have learned things that I never even imagined were important in sports. My love for sports has never gone beyond the players or the event, and to be honest I only really love the NFL. Learning now how much teams put into stadiums or marketing is amazing. I am from Detroit and the year the Super Bowl came to Detroit, the mayor did a lot to make the city look better before even promoting the teams. There are still bridges built to this day that were put in areas just for the big game. When thinking back to that, although the Detroit Lions were not playing in that game, the city and the surrounding area looked nice, there were a lot of signs out that had Lions logos as well as banners and things from other teams, especially the Pittsburg teams seeing as though one of the players were from Detroit. Jerome Bettis is a Detroit native that retired from the league the day he won the Super Bowl in his hometown. After playing in the NFL for 10 years, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015 not only for his work in the field but off the field as well (Writer, 2017).

One of the biggest takeaways that I have learned is that fan engagement and loyalty is important in all aspects of sports. My initial thought was that fans showing up to games and filling the seats was fan engagement but it is much more than that. It consists not only from ticket sales, but from fans buying merchandise, or concessions. Also from fans purchasing tickets to other things going on at the venue, traveling to see the team, and engaging on social media. As mentioned before, branding is important when it comes to fans. If they do not know what is going on around them, engaging with the fans will be difficult. It’s easier for organizations to reach people who are season ticket holders but reaching other people, or keeping people on that season ticket holder lists is important. In doing research, Paul Laevoy wrote about tips organizations could use to boost fan engagement. Some of those tips include giving fans a voice, giving fans skin in the game, turning big data into bigger fan engagement, provide fans access to players, and create lots of great content (Leavoy, 2018). Giving fans skin in the game was one thing that I questioned because I thought it was slapping five with someone or something like that. Leavoy explains it as sending emails to fans with an exciting call to action that will drive more traffic back to your website or fan microsite (Leavoy, 2018). I know that I struggle with the call to action. I will post on social media and share my articles, but there is never a call for action. So giving fans skin is something that should work in all industries. Another thing in the article that was important to me was keeping content up-to-date and creative. When I started posting on my website, I was delivering content a lot, and once I stopped I stopped. I have a lot of people that ask me to post and I see that at that time, I have lost a lot of people and subscriptions. To be successful, you have to deliver what the fans want, rather that’s content or entertainment, it has to be done.

Another way that teams have been boosting fan engagement and loyalty that I have learned is building the smart stadiums. One thing that a lot of people hate, including myself, is to not be connected when they are in public. According to an article on Guardian.com, as home entertainment systems become ever more elaborate, allowing fans to watch the action from every conceivable angle in ultra-high-definition, the conventional football stadium is having to up its game to lure people from the comfort of their homes (2017). With the new smart stadiums that teams have been building, people are able to enjoy the game and post live about it on social media. Another great tool that organizations have built into their new smart stadiums are Bluetooth beacons. When fans are connected with the team, and especially on the stadium’s WiFi, organizations can send texts and notifications to them about sales on concessions or even send notifications when the lines for the bathroom are short. A complete fan experience is more important than anything when it comes to engagement and loyalty. People are going to want to purchase tickets when they know that they are somewhere comfortable and will have a good time.

The last important tidbit to remember is branding and reputation is key when it comes to fan engagement and loyalty. Calvin Johnson will always be known as one of the best receivers in the NFL but he will also be known for playing on a losing team. Although people did not like the Lions and expected them to lose games, people still attended games and tuned in to watch one of the best players in the league at that time. Growing up Marion Jones was my idol, especially because I ran track. Her reputation was ruined after she was accused of taking steroids and cheating. According to an article on thesportster.com, Jones was one of the United States’ best female sprinters around the turn of the century. Because she lied about using performance-enhancing drugs, she was forced to turn in her medals, serve time in prison and resign from track and field (William, 2015). Since there have been other athletes that have had to turn in their Olympic medals for using drugs as well such as Michael Phelps. These were two very big athletes that no only lost deals in their professional career but fans too. Ultimately it was because they lost fans and respect that made them lose the deals. When being in the spotlight, a lot of times how people feel about you is what matters most. If people are always talking about you and love you, sponsors are going to want to work with you.

I am really enjoying learning more about sports.

Reference:

Writer (2019, February) Jerome Bettis openly discusses rejoining Steelers. Retrieved from: https://endzonehub.com/2019/02/11/jerome-bettis-openly-discusses-re-joining-steelers/

Leavoy, P. (2018, February) 6 Tips to Boost Fan Engagement with Content Marketing [Sports Edition]. Retrieved from: https://www.scribblelive.com/blog/2018/02/20/6-tips-boost-fan-engagement-content-marketing-sports-edition/

William, C. (2015, January) Top 25 Greatest Athletes with Tarnished Reputations. Retrieved from: https://www.thesportster.com/entertainment/top-25-greatest-athletes-with-tarnished-reputations/

No Author (2017, June) Stadiums of the future: a revolution for the fan experience in sport. Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jun/15/stadiums-future-holograms-drones-fan-experience

[madisonmommy-blog1]

Sports Management & Operations

I feel like I am finally where I have wanted to be with my education about five or six years ago. I always knew that I wanted to work in sports in some kind of way, and that I wanted to go to school for it, but the school I was attending at the time did not offer a program that was sports related. Now that I am on to this second masters and am finally in sports classes, I am extremely happy and very eager to learn. When I started this program, I did not have to take the initial mastery class so I never took the time to write out any specific expectations for this course. But I did expect to be excited when the class finally started. One thing that I can honestly say is that this class really taught me a lot more about sports that just being a general fan and wanted to be a sports reporter. I didn’t know how much went on in the backend of the business, technically how sports are a business in itself then you have the entertainment side. The most interesting thing I learned was about the NFL lockout. The extensive amount of research between weeks one and four really gave me a lot of insight about to topic. The recent lockout in 2011 has caused the NFL to start wanting to negotiate and listen to the players more in negotiations. During class we discussed media rights and how important packages were to teams and the NFL and those packages will be important when discussing the budget or funding for players because players are demanding more money from packages than what the NFL is giving them now. There wasn’t anything that I expected to learn, or that I feel I didn’t learn in this course this month. However, doing the industry interview and learning from Scot and his journey into sports reporting really inspired me to never give up. I started this new program a week after starting my job in news. A lot of times I feel overwhelmed, and I feel I did much better in my first program, even though I lost my mom towards the end. Sitting down and talking with Scot was very encouraging and it gave me hope, and I feel like I am right where I need to be in my career path. I feel really fortunate to have done that interview, and more grateful to have done it with him. I would tell everyone wanting to get into the sports industry to take this class, because not only will you learn, but you will also grow.

[madisonmommy-blog1]

Digital Marketing- Online

This class was more than a refresher than I thought that it would be from having to take previous courses in public relations and marketing. Due to me being an alum, I did not take the orientation course so I did not previously prepare goals. When starting the class this month, my goal was to start with an open mind, without the notion that I knew what I was doing. I wanted to make sure that I got everything possible out of the class. Doing the reading and taking notes was also a goal of mind. I can honestly say that I did not do all of the reading but I did do a lot of extra research in the class and have several notes and handouts that I have been sharing with some of my friends starting businesses as well.

This course has taught me how to successfully use different marketing channels to reach the audience that I would like. Before starting this course I had social media and would reach out to people, but I was not doing it correctly. This course has taught me that I have to have a strategy for posting on social media to effectively reach my market. I also learned why incorporating integrated marketing is great and works well with successful businesses. Using both print and digital marketing will help reach more people, and it puts my brand in more places for people to see what I am doing in the community. For the future I will work more on my traditional marketing strategy, my plan is to print more flyers and pass them out at community events to start. I will also engage better on social media with my followers and post more about stuff in the community. I stopped for a while, but I am going to start back because I want to have a great audience when the podcast actually start.

[madisonmommy-blog1]

Entertainment Business Finance

To be honest, I am so happy that I made it to the end of this class and I survived. I was so afraid to take this class because I knew that it involved a lot of math, and that is a subject that I am not good in. Although it seems that this is the only math class, I almost did not take the course because I was that afraid. With that being said, I am really glad that I did, and that I entered it with an idea that I have a lot to learn. Learning about business financial reports was the biggest take away for me in this course. It’s like everyone want to start a business but no one wants to have to run the books, or at least know all it takes to run the books. I did my project on Viacom and looking at their financial reports, the company does better each year, but not so much.

What I’ve learned from looking at the reports is that it takes money to do everything. I want to start a non-profit to help the community. My business will not charge the community anything, so to make money we will sell branded merchandise. Since selling merchandise is no guarantee, hopefully I can get investors and grants from the city of Detroit and the State of Michigan. The Pro Forma project in this class really helped put my business plans into financial order. The project allowed me to balance my budget for the year and see how much I would really need after purchasing everything for the business and paying the bills. Having to put myself in the mindset that I am already running this business and having to pay bills, helps me to know how much I will need to at least start and have saved.

Since this is my second masters at Full Sail, I didn’t have to take the orientation class again, so I do not have goals or expectations that I wrote down prior to taking the classes. As I mentioned I didn’t expect to do so well, and I thought that I would be a lot more stressed but the teacher was great. The teacher explained everything well and he broke things down easily enough for me to get it right away. I liked that he had resources available which made it easier for me because I needed them. I also liked that I was able to go back and look at archives as a step by step to help me with the work. In the beginning I would have to say that I would have thought that I could do without this class, but now I need it.

[madisonmommy-blog1]

Business Storytelling and Brand Development

Taking this Business Storytelling and Brand Development class was very refreshing and taught me a lot of new things. I have my undergrad in Public Relations and some of the information that I was taught in this class definitely tied in a lot more with that, but there was a lot of new information on top of the information that I already knew. I like that this class made me dig into my brand a lot deeper and really what it stood for. When I first created MyWhitneyB I knew that I wanted to create stories about people in the city of Detroit and their community outreach, or stories on different community outreach programs. Now my brand is a lot bigger than that, I would like to create a site that connects people together, especially connecting them to community leaders and activist that are creating change.

In the last week of class, we worked on archtypes which is a symbol, theme, setting, or character type that recurs in different times and places in myth, literature, and rituals so frequently as to suggest that it embodies essential elements of universal human experience. When taking the quiz, I learned that my archtype is magician. Before taking the test I would have thought that my type would have been caregiver or creator, but instead it was magician and I couldn’t see how. Magician’s dream bigger, change their perspective, and transform the world. It wasn’t until I read that was when I said that I am a magician and that my brand does align with that meaning. Disney, MAC, and Apple are other brands that have been considered magicians and these brands are nothing like MyWhitneyB, but I feel that because of the brands passion for people, we are connected.

Learning that I am a magician, or at least my brand is, was the best take away from this class. I feel that rebooting my brand this time around, I have a better understanding of my market, I have a plan for my content, and I know how I want to deliver to the community. I feel that this class have given me a perspective of how the community will react because if the response from my discussions but I do want to make sure I market a lot better than I have in the past. I have a much better understanding of myself in my brand and my brand in general and how I want to be represented or talked about in the community. I hope that the remaining months in this program continue to assist with my growth and understanding MyWhitneyB and how I can be that community voice that I would like to be.