Website reviews

For this blog I chose to review some websites I found on our collaboration assignment posted by Mandy Chenoweth.  The reason I decided to review these websites is because on that particular posting Mandy mentioned that she is dyslexic.  This really hit home for me because I have a dear friend from college who was also dyslexic and I know how hard she had to work to overcome this disability, and get good grades on both individual, and team papers.

If memory serves me she always was concerned with the proofreading part of the assignments, and would always request a neighbor friend to proofread for her. I was very grateful to her because her disability made me work harder, and commit more to our work together right down to the day we graduated.

To begin with, I visited a website called www.Arborservices.co/editing.php. This website offers such services as editing, proofreading, line editing, and more.  The websites offers a detailed explanation of how each service works, and also a price rate attached to each product. For example, comprehensive editing cost 0.04 to 0.14 cents a word, line editing cost 0.04 to 0.08 cents a word, and book read cost $500 per 20,000 words.  While the services offered are excellent I find the prices a bit exorbitant.  For instance, if you go with the book read option you have to figure that 1,000 words will fit in 2 pages (depending on size of print) so 20,000 words will fit in 40 pages. This mean you will pay $500 for a 40-page book. Imagine if you have a 200-page book, this would not be an option for someone trying to self-publish.

Next I visited www.editing-writing.com/book-editing.shtml. This website was not as straightforward as the one above, and certainly did not have as much detail on the main page; the pricing was not there, and you need to navigate through different links to learn about services offered. One thing this website did have was some reviews from users, and their comments on the editor who helped them with their work. Reading the reviews shows you that the work is very personal, and the author has direct contact with the editor, which makes it more personal.

Overall I found both websites useful but different in many levels. I was pleasantly surprise to learn that many services exist out there to help authors make their material known to the public.  This was definitely a great learning experience. 

Is self-publishing right for me?

Throughout this class we have learned all about self-publishing. My personal focus lay on book self-publishing. Although all the information provided was most helpful the question still remains whether or not self-publishing is the right option for any given author. Something I found very interesting is the fact that authors face the same quandary but for different reasons based on genre, market, resources, and such.

The research I conducted on the Internet lead me to a website that provides a very generic checklist that anyone can use to determine if self-publishing is right for him or her. The fact that is generic in nature makes it easy for any author to make good use of it no matter the genre.

Of course one advantage of self-publishing is that you get to keep the rights to the book if you choose to do so and get 100% royalties. These facts alone make it very appealing to the average author who is trying to put his or her work out there.

The website’s checklist appears very simple but in my opinion the questions it poses really put things in perspective. It basically helps you analyze each factor independently. For instance, you have to consider the market and ask yourself, is the market narrow and easily targeted? If you have a marketing strategy ask yourself if you have the time and energy to set things in motion and keep them going? If you do self-publish are you setting realistic goals in terms of profit and time marketing will take? In addition, you have to ask yourself some hard questions and try to be as objective as possible. For instance, you need to do some soul-searching and look at your work as the average reader would and ask whether or not you would read this material? If a professional opinion regards your work as average and not excellent ask yourself if you are considering self-publishing for egotistic reasons (writeservices.com, n.d.)?

Previously I have mentioned how important is to have a strong foundation when developing a business plan. Self-publishing is no exception. I strongly believe you have to have a well-thought out plan before even searching for the means to self-publish

           

Writer Services. (2003). Writerservices.com. Retrieved April 14, 2011

               From http://www.writersservices.com/wps/s_for_you.htm

An Interview with Jason Miller

Jason Miller Esq. has been practicing law for years. Being a close friend of mine I thought he is the logical choice for this assignment. I approached Jason with my business idea and asked him a few questions about intellectual property (IP), company structure, and such. His professional point of view gave me some interesting pointers on intellectual property, and also about the business idea itself, and some areas of opportunity?

Jason what can you tell me about the company structure?
Each business entity has different tax implications. The best example I can give you would be an S-Corporation. This type of structure falls under different tax brackets. For instance, any income between $75,000 and $100,000 will have a tax rate structure of about 34% plus 13.750.
On a different note, for a small business owner a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) is the best option for a many reasons; the main reason, and also the simplest if that you can't get sued if you have limited liability.

What's your take on the business name?
Ideally you will have dba (doing business as) on the name. For instance, you can be "Friendly Corp. dba Home Novelties and Decor. Depending on the structure the name will have variations and you have to make sure not to use the wrong words when spelling out the acronym. For example if you say Limited Liability Company instead of Limited Liability Corporation it could change the whole meaning on a contract. This is a common mistake.

What is the best way to protect copyrighted material? And how can you make sure is not being used by someone else?
It is extremely difficult to monitor such action. For an online business the best thing to do is to come up with a unique logo that is so unusual no one will be able to impugn on it. For example, no one could trademark a domain name such as EBay1 or AmazonX.

What is your professional opinion about the business idea?
When you seek legal advise from a professional they will want to know what you want to do? Why do you think your business idea is unique and innovative? Thousands of online businesses fail and only the strongest survive by virtue of incorporating a catchy name (i.e. Amazon).  Your business name is too long and wordy. Think about another business with a long name such as Bed Bath & Beyond and you will see your business name does not have the same tone. Ask yourself why. If you do not have a catchy name you will spend thousands of dollars on marketing just to have a degree of brand awareness.

I would like to thank Jason for this opportunity. He was kind enough to provide me with a link to his Linked In profile, as he is not allowed to use his law office on any pro bono work.

Jason Miller | LinkedIn

Industry Liabilities

Hello Teammates. Below are the articles and cases I chose to discuss today:
The first one is entitled "The Sophia Stewart wins the Matrix copyright infringement case"
I know the title is pretty self explanatory but I chose to comment on this one is because it is amazing to me that a multi-million dollar production such as the Matrix Saga would have copyright issues. The Plaintiff claims that the movie was based on her a manuscript called "The third Eye" which she copyrighted back in the early 80's (Bhatt, 2009). What I find so amazing about this case is that one would think studios such as Warner Bros would have a set of amazing entertainment law attorneys looking after important details like this. The court obviously concurred with the woman claim since there was a judgment in her favor but this comes to show you this type of litigation can last for years. Our reading show that the court decision will boil down (in many cases) to whether or not there are enough similarities between the original and alleged infringed material.

Bhatt, A. (2009). Sophia Stuart wins the matrix copyright infringement case. Retrieved March 01,2011 from http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/sophia-stewart-wins-the-copyright-infringement-case_100273392.html

This video clip is called "Chris Knight's Copyright Infringement Case Resolved". According to this video clip a man by the name Chris Knight received a copyright infringement for posting a You Tube videoThe man produced a video for a school campaign and posted it on You Tube. He received a copyright infringement take down notice for posting a clip of his commercial from the VH1 show. This was after seeing his commercial on the VH1 web job 2.0. According to the video he responded to these claims with a counter notice and did some research as to what he needed to do on a situation like this. His video was restored and no further charges where filed by either party. The action by You Tube turned out to be a mistake since they thought that this man took a video a company produced and uploaded it to You Tube when it was the other way around (Anonymous, 2007). Now litigation for infringement can lead to all kinds of penalties and restitution and Chris Knight chose not to pursue and added he did not mind them using his material. I think in this case the fact the he did not press any charges was very lucky because if he can prove this is his own material he could be in for a hefty settlement.

Anonymous. (2007). Chris Knight’s copyright infringement case. Retrieved March 1, 2011 from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5R9ZFDielc

The last article is a trademark infringement Red Bull sued a company that produced an energy drink call bull fighter. Red bull claimed that the similar packaging and similar logo was misleading customers into believing the product was manufactured by Red Bull and therefore it offers same benefits as a Red Bull product. The court ruled in favor of Red Bull concluding the other competitor intentionally took advantage of Red Bull image for profit (Ameinfo, 2010). In my opinion, this is a perfect example of how trademarks can protect your business from infringement. The company was able to win this case because it took the time protect its intellectual property and now it may be entitle to a huge amount of royalties depending on the court’s ruling.

Ameinfo. (2010). Ameinfo.com. Retrieved March 1, 2011, from http://www.livenation.com/h/about_us.html

Best Practices

Best Practices

This class provided a great deal of information on artist, and product management, and how the two come together as one in the road of building an artist image.  I learned that as an artist manager you are a full-time multi tasker the artist is virtually depending on to succeed in the entertainment industry.  The link that I detected between the artist and product management, and the one that made the most sense to me was the product endorsement.  “ Product endorsement involves the artist name, and likeness being directly connected with a specially manufactured product line” (Frascogna, Hetherington, 2004, page 174).

So although there are many best practices to choose from, I decided to address the ones that I feel I will be able to use in the future. There is no particular order of importance as they are all useful tools for anyone in the business:

·      When taking up the task of managing an artist you should always have a clear understanding of the responsibilities you have as detailed in the contract.  This is something I can use in the future if I do get the chance to manage a versatile artist such as Prince Cat-Eyez.

·      Along the same lines of the above paragraph I believe that as an artist manager you must always go over all the details in the contract, and have a professional draw up the contract to ensure that all the legal language is clear to all parties to avoid conflict in the future. This is something that I can definitely use in the future to protect myself against liability, and in the event of a lawsuit I will have the tools to have a favorable judgment in court. The varied nature of relationships makes it difficult to draw general provisions but every contract will have certain key terms in common (Frascogna, Hetherington, 2004).

·      In terms of product management I believe that is always a best practice to have a specific goal you are trying to accomplish with the launching of a new product. Will the goal be a short-term goal or a long-term goal?  This is something I can definitely use now and in the future since I am working on a home based business that involves a website I am promoting that has all kinds of home products.  Research should always be present to determine the market conditions including, buying trends, demographics, location, and such.

·      The best practice when it comes to marketing I product is diversification. The purpose I see behind it relates to new channels that come up everyday to reach the consumer; this will affect not only how he or she views a product but also even how he or she will purchase it.  In the home business I am trying to launch this is a very important tool I will be using to reach new consumers.

These best practices are just a sample of the huge amount out there that can vary based on need, channel of distribution, market, and much more. As a artist/product manager this is an ongoing process that should only improve over time.

Frascogna, X., & Hetherington, H. (2004) The business of artist management. New York: Billboard Books, an imprint of Watson-Guptill Publications Group, a division of Random House Inc. New York.

Project Management Interview

For this particular assignment I chose to interview a friend, and role model of mine. His name is Tomas John Sullivan who has a strong background as a project manager. Tomas, hereafter refer to as Tom, has worked for companies such as Springer Miller Systems, which is a computer software company.  His track record shows skill diversity that includes project management, front office manager, customer service, and employee development.

1.     What is the first thing you do when you prepare to start a project? The first thing I do is to take a look at the agenda. Verify if I have the strongest experience and knowledge to handle every aspect of the operation. In the event that I do not, I would immediately reach out to my network channels.

2.     Along those lines, how do you start accessing that network? I would outline what I needed to have done in advance.  The very next step is to contact the department I knew I was going to get feedback from because I find that if I talk to this party in advance I would get all the information, and assistance needed for the project.

3.     Do you delegate responsibility? Absolutely, one of the things that I dealt with in the past was peer training as part of the project. Delegating responsibility would provide trainees with on-the-job experience but you have to give very detailed instructions. This just one example though.

4.     Did you manage your own deadlines or did you have set deadlines most of the time? If you did how did you meet them? We had customer deadlines, which is what I always shoot for. However, I had my own deadlines to ensure I exceeded expectations which, I accomplished 98% of the time.

5.      Do you always have a back up plan and how does it work? You always have to have a back up plan. Every project is different but the one thing they all have in common is that instructions, specifications, and in the case of software configurations, can change at anytime. You just have to be prepared for anything.

6.     Are budgets something you deal with? Most of the projects I handled had a set budget so I did not have to negotiate. However, sometimes budgets can be tight and this is when you go back to the client to reevaluate.

7.     How do you accomplish goals through people? You provide feedback; give positive criticism by using positive words.  You also make sure they know they will get credit for their contribution to the project.

8.     What do you think makes a good project manager? To me it’s very simple; a good project manager is someone who does not make assumptions. A good manager researches, evaluates, and communicates.

This was a very interesting journey for me. I have always enjoyed learning from people’s experiences. This is where the must current information is. I would like to thank Tomas John Sullivan for his valuable contribution to my project. 

Deal Making Oprah Style

For this particular assignment I decided to reach out to an Icon a pillar to her community. I thought this time I would think outside the box. I became a member to Oprah.com. I posted a question on the main board and requested tips on deal making focused on the topics pertaining to this assignment. On a quick note, I was very impress on how easy was to join this online community and the comfortable environment in which members navigate through the different features.     No I did not get to talk to Oprah herself (I should be so lucky).

Anyway, while awaiting a response I did some research on the website and learned that Oprah has some favorite authors and some happen to be big on deal making. For instance, I found her review on a book by Daniel Shapiro and Roger Fisher, which is a practical guide to deal making no less.

The book by these outstanding authors present a very basic view of the 5 basic humans desires that include appreciation (feeling valued and appreciated), affiliation (feeling a connection as a result of the negotiation), autonomy (freedom to make decisions), status (having a sense of respect), and finally a fulfilling role (simply feeling fulfilled).

Oprah’s position in deal making in relation to this needs is that these factors have to have a place on both sides of the negotiation, the more each of these needs is satisfied the more successful the negotiation will be (Oprah, 2010).

Oprah  (2010) gives a brilliant example on deal making which she describe quite succinctly.

Yes, sure, we make deals all day long: I hold the door for you; you let me step onto the escalator first. A colleague asks you to proof read her report; she says something nice about you to the teacher. Think about it: When was the last time you looked at the price of a carton of milk in the grocery store and decided to try getting it for less? If you are like me, never. Haggle over the cost of a cab ride, or a dental visit? I’d rather have a root canal. (Para. 5)

So this point of view was very interesting and useful to me. I found that the context of the article was in alignment with our book for the class. This to me is very reassuring since Oprah is one of the most successful businesswomen in the country; actually her and Dolly Parton.

Regarding the best alternative to negotiate an agreement (BATNA) it's believe that BATNA has a great chance to increase negotiation power. The reasoning behind this concept is very basic and it boils down to whether or not you know all the possible alternatives to close a deal and their potential outcomes. It is a safe way to accept or decline alternatives that will directly affect your business (Spangler, 2003).

 Now BATNA is not always as easy as you would want it. I experience many situations in the workplace where I needed to negotiate with management but while I was looking for the ethical thing to do for an associate they would throw politics into the mix and a lot of times I relinquish the responsibility to make the decision to my immediate supervisor because I did not agree with the outcome and felt it was not fair across the board. For example, if an associate would dispute a call I graded.

Management on site would dispute with me because they worried about their goals and escalate to my manager to get call changed to a passing grade. I felt it was unfair that other associates who would not dispute the same call would keep their fail status. This brings me to the issue of dealing with tricks and unethical practices. I do feel this was a situation on which I had to deal with a lot of negative emotions because I felt that the management team was creating procedures and policies for us to follow but then they would negate their own policies and procedures making us look like the bad guys. 

The management team was using their leverage with our manager who was very worried about maintaining a good relationship with them. This taught me an important lesson in managing. You cannot always do the ethical thing unless you have the support from your immediate management team and you can only make the best of the situation

Oprah. (2010). Mastering the art of deal making. Retrieved January 7, 2011 from http://www.oprah.com/spirit/Deal-Making-Strategies-Bargains-Women-and-Negotiation/1

Spangler, B. (2003). Best alternative to negotiate agreement. Retrieved January 11, 2011 from http://www.beyondintractability.org/essay/batna/