When it comes to the Entertainment
industry in Cincinnati there's one thing I know for sure, and that is with
success comes setbacks and even in some cases failure. Four years ago a partner
and I had a vision, we already owned our own promotions company and at the
time, we were running the hottest bars and nightclubs in the city. However, it
came to us why are we all working our ass off for someone else when we could
start our own concept. And that's when everything began to change. We decided
instead to start throwing our own concerts and live events featuring
celebrities from all sorts of genres.
Here I'm going to
give you a brief summary of how we came to become the biggest entertainment
company in Cincinnati and how to take the proper steps and some key factors you
should keep in mind when starting your own business.
Our Brand:
SelfDiploma.com
You may have
heard of us before - Since we've launched our company in 2009 we have thrown
over 200+ concerts in the Tri-state featuring some of the biggest artist in the
Entertainment industry today. A-list stars such as Avicii (ranked top 25 DJ's
in the world), J Cole (signed to Roc Nation - Jay-Z Record Label) and even
giving young hip hop icon Mac Miller his first break before he became the
number one recording artist last year at the age of 20.
Some may call it
serendipity, or being at the right place at the right time, but truth be told
in order to make any significant change and make a strong impact in any
industry it all comes down to hard work. Success doesn't happen over-night. And
any true Entrepreneurs knows this. Proper planning, brainstorming, brand
protection, your dream team - all goes into creating a concept that works
to develop a brand that lasts.
Key factors:
Focus: When it comes to the Entertainment industry you must have a specific focus in mind. The field is just so broad and there are so many different avenues you can chase down. My whole life I've always wanted to work in the movie industry. If I was to go that route I would have moved to a bigger city like New York or LA and tried to schmooze with the best of them at a local Synagogue (since we all know the Jews run the movie industry) Instead, growing up, I found myself falling in love with live music more and more. So once I knew what I was passionate about I ran with it!
Process (brainstorming): Coming up
with a concept in my opinion was the fun part. This goes hand in hand with
branding but I will go more into detail shortly about brand recognition -
Finding something that hasn't been done before isn't easy. It takes much
research and energy consulting with your dream team to find your niche. In,
time this brings all of you closer together. You will fight back and forth and
have disagreements why this particular idea would work or be a better fit than
this one. Sometimes this is what can make or break a business before it is even
started. Still, once that light bulb goes off and everyone finally comes
together and starts to believe that's where things start to get very exciting!
Branding: After coming up with a concept, one of the
most important key factors is to keep building your brand. I could talk about
branding for hours but instead I’m going to highlight a few key terms. Brand
Protection – one of my mentors stressed this idea more than anything else. The
people you’re associated with and those who are around you supporting your
brand, are also representing your brand. Wrap your head around this idea for a
second, if you were to throw a concert next week and you put on 30 guys who you
think could potentially help you sell out a show, that core group now has a
tremendous impact on your brand. If one kid accidently makes a mistake, or
talks badly about another company, or he words things a certain way on social
media that offends someone – that directly impacts your company and everything
you worked for. Social Media is now making and breaking companies so when it
comes to building, make sure you’re building your business around the right
people. Social Proof – this is everything you see on the surface. Your website,
photo’s you’ve shared, twitter timeline, etc. Everything that is posted on
behalf on your company becomes the so called “personality” of your brand. If
people want to get an idea of your company they’ll check your Facebook
timeline, your yelp account, past events you have thrown, etc. Be sure to
always protect your brand, because an in instant one person on your team could
possibly ruin everything you’ve worked so hard for.
Difficulties/Reality: Those who work in the
entertainment industry know that it’s not just all fun and games. Yes, the
payoff is sometimes great but to work in an environment that is always moving
and constantly changing, you and your brand must do the same most always do the
same as well. The cool thing last month may not be the cool thing this month. In
Live entertainment if you have an event outside and two days before the event
you find out the biggest storm in 10 years is headed your way you have to be
quick on your feet and make a decision. Overall, when it comes to the pros and cons
of the entertainment industry it’s a very slippery sloop.
I could go on for days on this topic, but I just
wanted to share, in my opinion, the three most important things to keep in mind
when jumping into the entertainment business because sometimes it’s all glitz
and glamour but in reality it’s a doggy dog world.
