Jeff's Mastery Journal

The Business Plan Development class allowed me to incorporate my knowledge of business and use the tools taught to me throughout the program. This class was challenging but fun because it tested my whereabouts. I like how the course guided me through the proper steps in a business plan. Through doing research, I discovered a vast amount of knowledge that was helpful with my plan. When I learned more about my competition, that gave me ideas to differ myself from them. Not only did the teacher do a great job teaching, the books were essential to furthering that knowledge. The classes prepared before this class were what set up success for this program. I learned a lot about industry trends and identifying new markets that I never thought to look into before. Business models really did not make sense until I started doing the research. There are plenty of models out there but if you are an entrepreneur then you just have to create your own that fits with how you do things. The work was very time consuming so I suggest that you make time for doing work on this. Marketing is a huge thing for every business. We were able to create our own marketing plan and sales strategy. This is what gave the idea of how much finance was needed to run just that. I found all this information to be of a big help to my future successes. The tools provided by the school curriculum are more then enough to get some one pointed in the right direction. This class answered many questions I had hope to be answered and I am glad to finally reach this point in the program. One month left at the school and then I walk across the stage for my Master Degree.

 Researching legal issues gave me tools that I could apply to future cases. I thought that this class served a high purpose in helping us advance our business in the entertainment industry. These legal liabilities are very harmful to the business and it would be best to take care of most of these to save problems down the line. I like that not only I learned entertainment law, but I also got a better understanding of legal terminology, clearance and permissions, contracts and more. Intellectual property and copyright infringement caught my attention because these were topics brought up in the music industry often. What I take away with me from this class is that it gave me the proper tools to apply to my business. I knew of most the material but also learned a good amount of new information to help my business. For anyone taking this class, I highly recommend it and think that this is one of the most important classes in the program.

·      Godin, S. (2016, June 8). Try Better. Website. Retrieved from: http://sethgodin.typepad.com

In this class we learned how to execute business strategies involving self publishing and distribution in a chosen industry. I chose to work with the music industry and apply the knowledge I know to the given assignments. On the first project I learned how to pitch my artist to an agent with a pitch letter and this was something I never learned before. I was basically selling my artist in hopes that the agency would take on us as a client. I found this to be great because not only I can use that for pitching ideas but I can use this to help me with getting future investors to even sit down and talk with me. Project 2 allowed us to continue on as if the agent agreed to take on on as a client. I created a press kit that showed my artist off. I made sure it was colorful and also looked very professional. I wanted to treat this project as if I was to actually have the opportunity to present my artist to someone. Project 3 was taking the whole business model and creating a strategy to execute your companies goals. What I enjoyed most about this whole experience was that I was able to these projects on my own. I read the material and made sure that I could apply my knowledge to these hands on projects. I would highly recommend this class as being a Key class in gaining knowledge about the music industry. The worst thing you could do is take the information learned in this class and let it sit on a shelf and collect dust. The best experience is actually doing it and not talking about it. I find that the biggest success is the people who actually make things happen versus the ones who just dream and do nothing about it.

   I feel like I can take what I learned in this class and apply it to real world applications. The class was very comforting and welcoming because the Professor and students made the atmosphere worth coming to. I personally wish there was more material we could learn from the professor.  I feel the amount of information I was taught to me is great knowledge to pass of to people who have no idea about this part of the music industry. Product Management was a completely new topic for me and opened my eyes up for a potential career in the future. I want to thank the professor for a great month and I look forward to talking with you in the future.

Our final project was a presentation to the class about what you learned about a certain negotiation that took place. This was a great opportunity to show off all the tools I learned from the class and apply it to this project. I was told that I gave a great presentation and my communications skills are excellent. I enjoyed taking this class and can apply this information to how I do business.

 The main thing the teacher stressed was when starting any business, “Hire an Accountant”.  He taught us how to look a financial statement and make decisions based on numbers.  The lectures showed us tools and formulas that we could use to calculate data into making financial decisions. Learning how to make money in business by identifying revenue streams and studying how to control expenses gave a better insight on looking at finances.  The teacher showed us common mistakes made by business executives that caused them to fail. Getting out of debt was one of the best lectures because it showed us how to take our own financial situation and turn it into a positive outcome.  Investing in the right places is not what a whole lot of people learn.  Mostly all we know is how to spend and get what we want now.  Through doing research and staying on top of the material, we learned a lot from this class.

In this class, I got to learn about what branding is. The teacher taught us how to professionally present our business brand to the world. Branding is one of the major components that is key to business success. The best thing I learned is how to make a business model canvas. This allowed me to display all my ideas on paper and be able to get things going in the right direction with my business. We had this one assignment where we audited another business that was in our industry.  I chose “Universal Music Group” and found out so many new things that I did not know. The project required tons of research and I found this to be able to help my business grow with more knowledge. I knew about Target Market but never found out who my market was. We were able to do research into actually building a person that would appear in our target market.  This is called “Buyer Persona” and it helped me build a detailed description of my key market. This class has taught me to do many things that I can apply to my knowledge of business. I understand that great business is about offering something unique and learn how to implement brand development strategies that help companies become icons within their industry. I also learn how to use storytelling principles to strengthen my business and deliver a great customer experience. This helped me to be able to differentiate the brand and get the message across to the masses. In this class we got to develop our own personal brand identity and create tools for real-world business use. I believe this class was a stepping-stone into helping prepare me for my business plan. The school resources have helped me find what I was looking for.

Godin, S. (2009, February 9). The Tribes We Lead. Retrieved July 12, 2015, from http://www.ted.com/surpriseme?minutes=20&talks=538&token=mUr1Ioe23lgfT9U/rKKINw==&rating_word_id=10

I have learned a ton of new material this course. Team building is something that I feel I could improve on and this class helped me do just that. We learned how to break the ice with a team by doing team-building activities to help bring people together. We also learned how to study different personality types.  This helped me learn about my personality a little bit more as well as learn about others. I want to take the information obtained in this class and apply it to what I am doing. Project management turned out to be a great class because I learned how to better work with people based on knowledge of their personality. It opened up a door to helping others weaknesses come out.  It helps to analyze it from an outside perspective and them help to turn it into a positive. What I enjoyed most about the course was the focus of material on making a positive environment. I want to thank my teacher for giving me new knowledge and sight on my career.

What you doing for the fight this weekend?! Come watch the fight and chill with me while I DJ and Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta artist "Benzino" comes turn up with the Ciroc Boyz!!! FREE CIROC DRINKS ALL NIGHT! #maypac #fight #goodtimes #goodvibes

MOTIVATION

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Walt Disney (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_motivational.html)

Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

Will Smith said it right!

Jeff’s Mastery Journal Timeline