« Earlier Posts | Main | Later Posts » What Google has found to be trueOne of the Ten Things Google Has Found To Be True is: "It's best to do one thing really, really well." I agree. It's all about strategic focus. --- See also: Chase One Rabbit --- What do you think? --- New Business ModelsCustomers are more powerful than ever. Because of changes in technology, particularly the interactive internet (Web 2.0), there has been a fundamental and irreversible shift of power in favour of consumers. Creative business that embrace this change will thrive, by using new business models such as crowd-sourcing, viral marketing, crowd-financing, buzz marketing and plogging. The bad news is that businesses that deny or ignore these changes by continuing to regard customers as passive targets will fail. 'New Business Models in the Creative Industries' was the subject of my keynote speech to the Media and Message conference of indepedent TV producers and media professionals in Finland. We need to be innovative about how we do business and devise new business models centred on demanding, talkative and creative customers.
Presentation by David Parrish at Media & Message, Finland. --- Share your own experiences, ideas and opinions about this on the Creative Enterprise Network. --- Iron Sky: a crowd-sourced movieIron Sky is a sci-fi movie that will be produced collaboratively on the internet using the Wreck a Movie site and partly funded by selling 'war bonds'. Iron Sky is the next movie from the creators of Star Wreck. It's a creative collaboration using crowd-sourcing and crowd-financing - two of the important new business developments in the creative industries which I spoke about in my keynote speech at the 'Media & Message' Conference in Finland for independent TV producers and media professionals, organised by satu. At the conference, Timo Vuorensola from Energia Productions Oy explained how they are using the internet to help creative people work together to make a film - and the business model behind it. The project has 1,207 members and uses the collective creativity of the people involved by breaking down a huge project into small tasks - a classic crowdsourcing technique. Some of the capital required is raised through crowd-financing. For 50 Euros you can buy 'War Bonds' in the movie. They explain that these are not really bonds or shares, so in fact this is a donation to support the project, for which you receive a limited edition 'supporter's pack' of goodies. For more information about the project - and how to get involved - see the Iron Sky website. --- Learn more about Crowdsourcing and Crowd-Financing in film and other creative businesses - and share your own ideas and experiences - on the T-Shirts and Suits Creative Enterprise Network. Several more examples are in the replies on this discussion forum on the Creative Enterprise Network. --- Do you give discounts?Thanks to Natalie Bolton from Lion Eyes Television for telling me about this amusing video. It's fun to watch - and it raises some important issues about pricing and customers for creative businesses and cultural enterprises.
If customers believe they can get a discount from you, it's because they think they can go elsewhere and get the same thing cheaper. If they can in fact get the same thing cheaper elsewhere, then you are in a marketplace with lots of competitors offering similar products or services, all competing on price. So you are in a poor negotiating position. It's a losing battle. Instead, build your business around those goods and services at which you excel in relation to the competition. Better still, focus on your uniqueness, providing goods and services that nobody else can. Customers will then have nowhere else to go and your negotiating strength increases dramatically. To do this requires an understanding of your competitors and your market positioning. It means that you need to choose your customers carefully, selecting those people who want what you can uniquely offer. So be prepared to say No when people ask for a discount. Only the wrong kind of customers will walk away, which is good because you can never build a thriving business around them. The right kind of customers - the ones who recognise the how special you are - will pay the price. These are the kind of customers to build your creative enterprise around. - What's your business policy when it comes to giving discounts? It's only when you have devised your own unique business formula, based on your speciality and your special customers, that you can say No to customers asking for discounts. --- Discuss this with other creative entrepreneurs on the Creative Enterprise Network. --- |
