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How to Help Small Businesses Navigate Copyright Law

Posted: 30 Apr 2020 03:10 AM PDT

Music is so important to us that it can be found everywhere. Watching a movie? There's a soundtrack. Playing a game? Here's a sweeping orchestral score. Shopping? Take in some smooth jazz as you browse the aisles. Music is big business.

Studies have shown that a good shopping soundtrack can get a person in the mood to buy, so it only makes sense that so many businesses play music at their locations. While Spotify, Pandora and Apple all have their own business-facing music streaming services, many small businesses unknowingly break the law by playing unlicensed music, sometimes leading to expensive court battles and steep penalties. It's a situation that has played out a lot in recent years – one that Feed.fm's plucky company of 12 employees is offering to help small businesses avoid.

Image of Jeff Yasuda courtesy of Feed.fm

"It should come as no surprise that using music is an important part of any consumer engagement strategy," said Feed.fm CEO and co-founder Jeff Yasuda. "However, licensing, curating and integrating music in a digital format is highly complex from a legal standpoint – and expensive. We created Feed.fm to make it easy for businesses to use music legally and remove the difficulty around licensing."

For Yasuda, his company's mission of making sure both sides of the music industry fairly get theirs is a personal calling. Though his early career saw him working a relatively stable job on Wall Street and in a venture capital firm, the love of writing and playing music that he developed in his early teens has stayed with him.

Having experience both as an artist and as the owner of a record label and management company, Yasuda understood the needs of businesses and artists as they pertained to music licensing. When he got a chance to dive into the "wild and crazy world of digital music" following a musically tinged sabbatical that took him around the world, he eagerly took that opportunity.

"During my travels, particularly in South America, I took a music lesson in every city that I visited," he said. "Music became the mode of communication. I grew a deep appreciation for these musicians and how hard it is to make a living creating what I believe to be the most powerful art form."

After learning that "life is too short not to pursue what you love to do," Yasuda returned to the U.S. and, along with the company's other founders, created Feed.fm.

Finding their own tempo in an established industry

The world of music licensing is a tricky one, with legal agreements that often have specific conditions for when you can and cannot play an artist's music. Without the right agreement in place, lawsuits can emerge, or entire products can come off the shelves. In the early years of digital music and the accompanying world of digital music licensing, Yasuda said, things were more like the Wild West.

"There was an old saying with the early music entrepreneurs about music licensing: 'Infringe, get big, and then ask for forgiveness.' This generally has resulted in shambles," he said. "The graveyard is long, deep and wide with the corpses of music startups that ran into problems around licensing."

When Feed.fm was first created, Yasuda said the San Francisco-based software-as-a-service company focused more on aspiring music companies that needed help navigating the licensing process. Over time, that thought process changed.

"We later realized that there was a much broader opportunity with brands that believe in the power of music to build consumer engagement, but these brands are already in the process of running their own businesses and did not have the time or resources to spend time on understanding licensing. Whether it's selling clothing like American Eagle Outfitters or coming up with innovative fitness routines like Tonal or Mirror, these brands need to focus on what they are best at doing. Licensing music is not one of their core competencies."

With the small company's team of "legal eagles and DJ musicology fanatics," Feed.fm has found itself in the middle of a digital music industry that continues to grow each year, with Americans expected to spend upward of $42 billion in streaming music services this year alone.

While any talented group of lawyers and music industry insiders with the right knowledge and connections could probably offer similar services, Yasuda said Feed.fm sets itself apart by "providing a top-tier experience" in three specific ways. First, the company handles all the "brain damage around music licensing and creation," letting businesses focus on their strengths. Secondly, it strives to "make it easy for our partners to integrate music into their products" through software development tools. Finally, Feed.fm draws from its clientele's demand that the company proves the licensing it provides boosts key performance indicators.

"We need to provide the relevant data and actionable ways to use our service to boost customer retention," Yasuda said.

Since the industry is dominated by the Spotifys, Pandoras and Tidals of the world, Feed.fm serves as a sort of middleman between those services and businesses. Yasuda said the company not only works with rights holders who work on behalf of the artists, but also those big companies to ensure licensing efforts run smoothly for everyone involved. Though Feed.fm is a small team, he believes the bigger players in the digital music industry see the company as partners, since "we both try to innovate."

"Keep in mind, while [Spotify and Pandora] are huge companies, their area focus is on providing an awesome consumer experience for music listeners. They currently do not have the necessary infrastructure, tools and support to help businesses that are trying to use music in the digital realm. We are always looking for ways to partner with companies that believe in the power of music to build engagement."

In recent months, most retail locations have had to close their doors to help fight the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. While many of its clients are based in physical spaces, a major part of Feed.fm's business is for things like fitness and workout apps. Since most people are stuck indoors, many have turned to such apps to get their workouts in, leading to a surge in new customers for many of Feed.fm's clients.

"Given that Feed.fm is the leader in providing music solutions to fitness apps, we are seeing a dramatic increase in music streaming and activity," Yasuda said. "Thus, our business has actually improved during this challenging time. We are working diligently with the fitness community to help provide music solutions at a low cost in their time of need."

Learning the score as a small business

Having created small businesses before, Yasuda has applied that knowledge to help Feed.fm better serve the business community as well as artists. One of the main practices that drives the company forward, he said, is something that every small business could benefit from – introspectively looking at what keeps the business running.

"Like any startup, every day we think about what drives our business and how we can continue to succeed. The lifeblood of our business is our customers, and we are constantly talking to them to learn about where they are going and how we can continue to support them."

Understanding the needs of its clients and the rights holders helps Feed.fm focus on its mission and discuss "how to innovate in the music industry." That kind of clear vision on a mission statement can serve any small business or entrepreneur.

Having gone through the first internet boom and bust of the late '90s and early 2000s, Yasuda said Feed.fm remains a small company because it doesn't want to fall into the trap of "growth at all costs" like so many tech startups do.

"It's important for companies to focus on building a viable business that can exist in the long term regardless of capital. It's interesting to note that many CEOs of companies that were able to raise large rounds often discuss success in terms of the number of employees they recently hired as opposed to business-based metrics such as revenues or profitability. This has been an unfortunate consequence of a friendly capital-raising environment."

While Yasuda anticipates that fundraising for small businesses will be difficult in the coming quarters, he thinks that may be a good thing, since it will give startups a chance to "focus on long-term business fundamentals and non-dilutive financing."

Still, as the CEO of a small business, Yasuda said he still "loses sleep" over two metrics: revenues and cash flow. As they are for many small business owners and entrepreneurs, those two figures are always at the top of his mind.  

"The absence of revenues is often an indication of a lack of product-market fit. The lack of cash flow and a dwindling runway is a sign that your business is about to shut down. Funding can help extend that runway, but it's certainly not a sign that your business is viable."

Considering how often startups fail, Yasuda said it's important for entrepreneurs to "enjoy the process and learnings that come with starting your own business. It takes tremendous skill to take an idea and execute and build it into a viable product or service that a customer will actually buy. It's even harder to take that initial product and scale it into a long-term and healthy business.

"I've learned a lot about myself, my challenges and my own abilities, and [I] do my best to make decisions based on partial information. While creating a startup has been the hardest thing I've ever done personally and professionally, it has also been the most rewarding, and I wouldn't trade it for anything."

How to Launch a Home Delivery Business During COVID-19

Posted: 30 Apr 2020 03:00 AM PDT

  • The COVID-19 pandemic has forced many retail stores to close, but there is an exciting opportunity for small businesses to pivot to a profitable home delivery model.
  • The Ideal Delivery Model framework introduces three core elements necessary to launch a successful delivery business.
  • The three elements include setting up your online store via an e-commerce platform, making sure you have a smart way to plan and optimize your delivery routes efficiently, and ensuring a smooth delivery experience for both the customer and your business. 

There's no better time to launch a delivery business. Around the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced retail businesses to close while consumers are stuck at home under quarantine. The demand for home delivery has never been greater, and small businesses can utilize this new opportunity.

Launching a home delivery business from scratch may seem daunting at first (don't get me wrong, it is a lot of hard work), but small business entrepreneurs are the toughest breed we know. You're driven, resilient and resourceful. If anyone can do it, you can.

And it shows: In recent weeks, hundreds of businesses have pivoted out of necessity and launched a delivery service in just a matter of days. The good news is that we live in an age of technology where this is possible. The other good news is that demand for home delivery is growing like never before. 

This article will teach you the basics on how to launch a successful delivery business from scratch. We will cover the most important elements of a delivery business –  what I call the Ideal Delivery Model – and we'll go over some important considerations that will impact your bottom line. It's important to pay attention to this even if you're just starting up because it will make the difference between a profitable business and one that bleeds cash.

By the end of this article, I hope that you will feel confident and inspired to launch your home delivery business. 

The Ideal Delivery Model

The Ideal Delivery Model framework highlights the three core elements of a delivery business: 

  1. Sell: Take orders
  2. Plan: Route planning
  3. Deliver: Drivers and vehicles 

Let's dive a little deeper into each element. 

Sell: Take orders 

If you haven't already, the first step is to launch an e-commerce store so you can start selling your product. Because e-commerce has been growing for many years, there is a large ecosystem around it. This means there are many software packages to choose from and lots of literature online to help guide you through it. 

With so many choices out there, you might encounter decision paralysis. So here are some thoughts to help you narrow down your choices. 

The look and feel of your online store is just as important as the aesthetics of a retail store. 

First impressions are important, so ask yourself: What do you stand for? Does your new online shop reflect that? How do you differentiate yourself from all the hundreds of online stores popping up?  

Take a look at your direct competitors' websites for inspiration. If you already do a lot of online shopping, you should be familiar with some of the leading online stores. Some of them offer great experiences while others do not. Take inspiration from them; take notes on what things you want to replicate and what things you'd rather not repeat. 

Your website is an important part of your product and brand, so make sure you spend time thinking about design, and go with an e-commerce platform that prioritizes aesthetics. Look for beautiful, modern-looking templates so you can get your shop up and running quickly. 

Pretty much all e-commerce platforms have free trials, so sign up for at least two and then start browsing through the various templates any of these platforms have available. Pick one you like and that reflects your branding well. Then choose a name for your store and start uploading your products to sell. You can do all of this in just a few days, even if you're an e-commerce first-timer.

Plan: Route planning

Once you have your e-commerce store set up and you-re collecting orders, the second step of your Ideal Delivery Model is to come up with an efficient plan for your delivery routes. The goal is to deliver your product to your customers in an organized and efficient way. 

I realize "organized" and "efficient" are subjective, so here's something indisputable: You want to make sure your routes are the most cost-effective for your business. How do you go about doing that? 

Many people think Google Maps can help you do this, but that's not quite right. Google Maps is amazing at helping people find the shortest distance or fastest time from one point to another. 

But when it comes to planning delivery routes for a business, the key to efficient route planning is to sequence orders so you deliver as many goods as possible in little time. If you have multiple drivers, you'll need to decide how to split the load in the most efficient way. 

Poorly planned routes – or worse, not planned at all – can lead to a lot of wasted drive time and fuel, resulting in extremely thin margins and potentially even a money-losing business. It's really important to keep this in mind. 

Scaling Up: Route optimization

If your delivery business is just starting out, and you have just a handful of orders, you can resort to manual route planning. Google Maps is the most commonly used free tool, and it can help you in a pinch. You'll need to plot the addresses into the software, and then eyeball the map so you can manually move the stops around until it looks like you have the most efficient route. 

Most businesses start to feel overwhelmed and bottlenecked with manual route planning when they start dealing with more than 25 orders in a day. This is when route optimization software is recommended. Routing software can help you sequence the stops in the optimal order, and account for a range of complexities like delivery time windows, vehicle capacities and driver schedules. 

Again, do your research, try out at least two route optimization software packages and see which one suits your tastes and business needs best. My only strong recommendation is that you adopt routing technology sooner rather than later.  

Manual route planning is an epic waste of time and resources, and you don't want to be left scrambling when your delivery business gains some traction. 

If you feel reluctant about having to adopt yet another piece of software, I can assure you that you'll have a big return on your time investment right away. Good route optimization software should only take roughly 30 minutes to set up (depending on your familiarity with software in general) and will result in immediate ROI.

Deliver: Drivers and vehicles

The last piece to the puzzle is to do the deliveries. Now that you've created the perfect route plan, it needs to be executed. If you're starting off with your first delivery runs, I would recommend that you do the deliveries yourself. This way you get to experience what it's like, and when you hire and train drivers, you'll know what to teach them. 

After a few rounds of deliveries, and the order volumes are growing beyond your ability to handle by yourself, it would make sense to hire delivery drivers or get external contractors to help you out. 

There are many places you can look for delivery drivers, such as your local classifieds or Craigslist, or job sites like Indeed – which also published a helpful article on "How to Hire a Delivery Driver." 

Double-check with your insurance provider if you're using your personal vehicle, as it typically requires you to be on a commercial-use insurance plan in case something happens on the job. 

Scaling Up: The delivery experience

From the customers' perspective, the delivery experience is very important. Your delivery fleet and drivers are an extension of your brand. In fact, the delivery experience is the only touch point your customer has with your company – aside from your e-commerce website. This is your chance to leave a good impression! 

In the age of social distancing, contactless delivery has become the new norm. You simply leave the package in front of the door, knock and you walk away. If you are delivering perishables, make sure you wait from a distance to ensure that they've received your package. You can also send an SMS to notify the customer that you've left the package. This additional touch adds to a nice customer experience. 

I recently had a conversation with an entrepreneur who pivoted his business to launch a meat delivery service. He told me a sad story of a delivery he had made to a customer by leaving it in front of their door. But the customer didn't know it was delivered and only discovered it a few hours later, at which point, the meat had gone bad. Needless to say, it was a horrible customer experience. 

Such incidents reflect poorly on your brand and are a very simple thing to avoid. To go above and beyond, you can even send them a heads up that the delivery is on the way and expect to be there in 15 minutes. This way, the recipient can be ready to receive the package. If the package hasn't been delivered yet, the customer can at least inquire about it. Half of good customer support is simply transparent over-communication. 

The final piece of advice for making contactless deliveries is to quickly snap a photo as you leave it at the door. You will inevitably experience disputes where the customer tells you that they never received the package, while your driver swears that they delivered it and left it at the door. A photo as proof of delivery will simplify these disputes greatly.

Aside from using it in case of disputes, taking a photo is another opportunity to delight your customer; you can send the photo to them right after you made the delivery. You'll notify them of the delivery and show them where the package while avoiding room for disputes in the future. Also, having them receive the package quickly reduces the risk of it being stolen. 

As a bonus, the delivery experience is also an opportunity to add a personal touch to really go the extra mile. Some delivery companies include a handwritten note and a piece of chocolate to sweeten the package. 

I ordered lunch delivery from a restaurant a few weeks ago. As I was unpacking the food, I noticed an envelope in the bag that had a note written on it: "Hope you stay safe and healthy." Inside the envelope was a mask. I got some warm and fuzzy feelings and immediately told my wife about it. A little human touch goes a long way, especially in the age of isolation. It will reflect well on your brand, and can also lead to positive word-of-mouth. 

In conclusion

The Ideal Delivery Model framework gives you an overview of the important elements operationally – but also economically – to help you launch a successful and profitable delivery business from scratch. 

With everyone stuck at home, now is the time to launch a home delivery business. I've seen newly pivoted home delivery businesses reaching more than 200 orders a day within just a week of operations. That's how much appetite the market has for home delivery services, especially when it comes to essentials like hot food, meal kits and groceries. 

I hope by now you're feeling more confident that home delivery is something you can do. Being a small business owner, you're already used to dealing with curveballs and thinking on your toes. Approach this challenge with the same open-mindedness as you did when you first started your own business. The key is starting simple, launching quickly, testing the market for your product and scaling up from there. 

You'll gain confidence as you hit your milestones, from setting up your first e-commerce website to making that first successful home delivery to your customer's doorstep. 

By giving your customers a delightful, holistic, end-to-end delivery experience, you'll be sure to gain happy and repeat evangelists who will spread the word for you and help your delivery business grow.

 

5 Ways to Stop Business Stress From Damaging Your Health

Posted: 29 Apr 2020 02:09 PM PDT

Left unchecked, stress can wreak havoc on your health and damage your health including obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, breast cancer and other types of cancers, and more. When it comes to breast cancer, research has shown that women who were stressed were at least twice as likely to develop breast cancer than those who weren't — a frightening statistic. 

The physical impact of stress doesn't have to be major for you to experience the effects. It can also cause minor health concerns that you might not associate with stress like muscle pain, headache, fatigue, stomach upset, or problems sleeping. The cost of work-related stress in the U.S. and pan-European areas for 2014 reached between $221.13 million and $187 billion. Those numbers are staggering and include lost productivity as well as healthcare and medical-related costs, according to 2018 research by the Birkbeck University of London.

A better solution is to address business stress and make your company creative and productive before it takes hold of you or your employees, but doing so requires understanding why work stress happens. 

The American Stress Institute reports that the number one reason for work-related stress is workload — a whopping 46 percent, followed by people issues at 28 percent and work-life balance following close behind at 20 percent. Job insecurity contributed to the remaining 6 percent. To combat these statistics and improve your health and the health of your employees requires employing stress management solutions. Here are five ways to stop business stress in its tracks to get you started.

1. Evaluate and respond to work-related stressors

Whether you're feeling stressed at work or your employees are, early intervention makes a difference. So, evaluate the situation. What are the stressors? Who is involved? How long has the stress occurred and how severe is it? Aim to catch the problem early on. 

When we talk about health and stress, in general, we usually refer to health-related diseases and general ailments. But a lot of people focus on general disease and ailments and forget that stress leads to major problems like teeth grinding and other gum and mouth disorders. No doubt these problems provide revenue for small to big healthcare experts like plastic surgeons, dentists, and surgery specialists, etc. This does not mean you should not care about the everyday stress and anxieties,  because these not only have a severe impact on your general wellness but on your social/public image, which in turn leads to further stress and social anxiety.

It's easier to address and eliminate a problem at the start than it is to correct a situation once it grows and spreads. Sometimes, a simple solution goes far to eliminate stressors. Is the workload overwhelming? Consider delegating some of the load. Personal conflicts invading your business? Have one-on-one discussions or team-building exercises. 

2. Take advantage of stress toys

Aside from taking a direct stance, stress toys offer an effective solution to manage mild levels of work stress and cost is minimal. Consider things like stress balls, puzzles, magnetic toys, doodle boards, putties, Chinese meditation balls, scalp massagers and more. Stress toys are designed to take your mind off of those things that are bothering you. Sometimes, that includes keeping your fingers busy. If you're working in a call center, for example, and the call queue is lagging, this might be a great time to encourage stress toy use.

There is a variety of inexpensive stress toys available at the click of a button to suit everyone's needs and every business' budget. So, shop around and mix it up to add variety, interest, and, most importantly, lowering stress. The benefits of lowering stress translate to a boost in productivity, lower healthcare and conflict management costs, improve employee morale and reduces overall sick time and employee turnover to name a few. Although stress toys are a great way to improve the workplace environment, don't stop there. Encouraging healthy self-care activities offer longevity to your business' stress management plan.

3. Encourage self-care activities

Self-care need not be a complicated solution. It can include simple activities like taking a lunchtime stroll or hosting a walking meeting. Hosting a walking meeting boosts creativity and productivity. It also counts toward your business' wellness goals, improves employee engagement, and helps reduce stress. So, there are many reasons to consider walking and talking your way through your next meeting or simply taking a lunchtime or breaktime stroll around the building — inside or out, or around the block. However, walking isn't the only self-care solution available.

Encouraging self-care also includes encouraging your employees to engage in healthy activities that they enjoy during non-working hours. Many people find reading, writing, drawing, crafts, painting, watching sunsets, meditation exercises, yoga, listening to music and more to improve mental health, boost relaxation, and reduce stress.

Healthy eating and increasing fitness also contribute to stress reduction as well. After all, a healthy body and mind begin from the inside. Some businesses even offer wellness perks (both physical and mental) like gym partnership discounts on membership or classes, lunch, and learning discussions that focus on like fitness, health, stress, mindfulness, nutrition, weight management, and even hearing aids for deaf employees among other topics.

4. Consider voluntary onsite or off stress management classes

Lunch and learn discussions for fitness and nutrition aren't the only classes that you can use to lower business stress and improve your health and that of your employees. Stress management discussions also offer value, particularly if your business activities involve a high degree of work-related stress. Professional occupational counselors can guide you on the topic, handouts, resources, the discussion or all of the above.

If you have the budget for it, you can also solicit the help of a motivational speaker who focuses on stress, stress management, employee morale, finances, lifestyle choices, marriage, family and more. Although some of these topics may not directly relate to workplace stress, they can certainly contribute to it. There are many great speakers out there — some well-known, some lesser-known, and some may even be just starting in your community. 

Even the best motivational speaker falls short if an individual's level of stress requires more intensive intervention. For cases like these, it's best to support and understand your employee's needs and recommend the impacted employee contact their provider for a mental health professional referral.

5. See a professional

When all else fails or if the situation requires more intensive measures, always seek out a professional. Mental health counselors, therapists, and doctors can help you or your employees. The CDC reports that roughly 71% of U.S. adults report experiencing at least one of the common symptoms of stress. Also, many people with mental health conditions, including those affected by stress, have other medical conditions as well as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes or something else.

The cost of healthcare for individuals who need both mental and physical healthcare can jump two to three times that of those who don't require more in-depth, dual care plans. Early treatment, in many cases, can improve the lives, health, and wellbeing of individuals and reduce overall costs later including lost time, healthcare, productivity and more. So, seeking out the help of a professional when stress is overwhelming is more important than ever for the individual impacted as well as for your business.

Conclusion

Not all stress is negative. Some stress is beneficial and serves to motivate you. According to the online publication, Healthline, there's a difference between 'good' stress and 'bad' stress. 

Good stress offers several benefits including improved cognitive function, focus, motivation, improved immunity and resilience to name a few. The key, though, is to recognize the difference. Good stress is low-level stress. It's mild and short-lived. 

Bad stress, on the other hand, can overwhelm those impacted by it. If left unchecked, it can grow into a more chronic condition that has the potential to impact your overall mental health as well as your physical health. 

Although you can't eliminate all stress, you can reduce the negative impact with careful planning. A healthier employee is generally a happier and more productive employee. So, to stop business stress from damaging your health and the health of your employees, opt for prevention and early intervention. Investing in your and your employees' health and wellness carries its weight in value for your business.

How Long Does It Take to Make a TV Commercial?

Posted: 29 Apr 2020 02:04 PM PDT

Do you have a product or service that would benefit from the exposure of a TV commercial? Online video delivery outlets like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram are gaining in popularity and accessibility, making it easier than ever before to harness the power of television, connected television (CTV), and streaming services to advertise your business or company.

The diversifying landscape of viewer habits and accessibility is changing the relationship between content creators and users, providing a wide range of benefits for video advertisements and commercials in today's digital age.

  • The average American adult consumes up to five hours of live and pre-recorded video content a day.

  • By 2022, more than 60 percent of television viewers will be watching CTV.

  • Most connected TV ads that run on CTV platforms do not allow fast-forward or skipping, leading to consistently higher completion rate than desktop and mobile.

  • Television ad spending continues to rise with addressable TV ad spending expected to grow to over $3 billion in the next year.

How Long Does It Take?

When people ask "how long does it take to make a TV commercial?" there are too many variables and unknowns to give a precise universal answer. Depending on your product, budget, and expertise, timelines for creating an effective, dynamic television ad for your company vary widely. Furthermore, timelines and budgets can heavily dictate how video production costs get distributed throughout the project. Professional-looking television ads can be created in an afternoon or can take months of pre-production planning, filming, and editing.

To best understand how long a commercial takes to produce is to understand the different steps of making a commercial. 

Process of making a commercial

While each tv commercial is different and catered to the needs, limitations, and preferences of each business, there is a standard process of logical steps designed to ensure all of your video marketing goals are met and that the ad properly represents your business and product.

Creative brief

A creative brief will cover the basic outline of the project, including the overall objectives of the ad, background information, determining the target audience parameters, anticipated struggles and hurdles, and a breakdown of the channels and outlets where the ads will be distributed. The creative brief is the document all team members will work off to make sure all goals and elements are being completed.

Concept development

The best way to develop and flush out the conceptual elements of the project is by throwing mud up against the wall and seeing what sticks. No idea is a bad one. Take the information from the creative brief and hash out different ways of carrying that out until a consensus is reached for the specific direction is created.

Moodboard

A moodboard is used to plot out the conceptual elements that take shape. It is a more detailed look at the project that the creative team will use as a guide going forward. A moodboard includes the following aspects of the production:

  • Video Concept

  • Graphic Style Boards

  • Music Preferences

  • Graphic Styles

  • Cast Needs, Descriptions

  • Voiceover Description

  • Wardrobe/Costume Plan

  • Cinematic Style

  • Location, Site Needs

Script

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is thinking you or your actors can wing it and improvise without a script.  What often happens during a "winging" moment is that scenes and shots deviate from the original shot list, causing much more headaches and editing later. Changes and adjustments can be made later, but a script acts as the foundation to work from.

AV script

The AV script serves as the blueprint for the project shoot. A professional AV script format is broken down into two columns, one for audio and one for video instructions and content.

Casting of actors and VO talent

Unless there are actors and voiceover talent that the project and script are catering to, talent should be hired once the script is completed and approved. A combination of existing talent base and casting sessions will give you the best chance of getting the perfect people to fill the needed roles. To ensure that the commercial comes out exactly as intended, finding the right on screen or voiceover talent can ultimately make or break the video, so its important to take your time finding the right actors. 

Renting locations

Scouting for the ideal locations to maximize the elements of the story you are telling should be carefully researched and prepared. Whether you are using a production studio or remote site, the location and background of the video is a crucial element in delivering your message. Coordination of operations of that day, for example, how early you can be there and when you have to be out can cause a much more methodical need for planning that most teams don't consider. 

Sourcing props and wardrobe

There are properties and wardrobe rental options, but a little time and effort can usually supply the props and clothing needed to supply the location and talent with the items needed and called for in the script.

Storyboard

In a visual medium it is important for the entire creative team to get a visual outline of the story they are about to tell. The details of a storyboard will vary depending on the project scope and details. It typically consists of sketches, illustrations, or other forms of media that lay out the technical details of the production.

Production

A production schedule detailing timeframes and needs will help keep the project in check as you start the actual shooting of the commercial.

Post - production

The editing and other post-production elements will bring all of the project elements together for the final product. Video and sound editors work to form a cohesive, dynamic presentation of the business' products or services.

Factors that can change our timeline

Building in time to make adjustments and changes after each step of the process is important to be able keep on schedule. Factors that may cause changes in the timeline include:

Concept

Creating and refining the conceptual elements of the tv commercial is the driving force behind the project. When formulating the project's concept there are few things to look out for that can cause changes in the timeline, including:

  • Number of shooting days

  • Number, type of locations needed

  • Specialty set builds

  • Hard-to-acquire props or wardrobe

  • Advanced editing or other post-production elements

Reviews and approvals

The review and approval process can bog down the progress of a project without clear guidelines and schedules. If there are a lot of back-and-forth and creative differences, pre-production planning will be delayed and the entire project will be put back. Organizing and optimizing the chain of command when it comes to review and approval will allow for better scheduling and a more accurate timeline for completion.

TV commercials take time and effort

As you can see, the time it takes to complete a television commercial varies widely and depends on a large number of factors and variables. The only way to truly know how long it will take is to do extensive pre-production planning following these basic steps, stay organized, and keep the lines of communication open throughout the team. And the best way to ensure that you stay in the timeline is to plan well and execute according to plan, don't let you or your team fall into rabbit holes or relax, or else you'll find your projects, all of a sudden, weeks behind.

How SEO and Google Ads Work Together

Posted: 29 Apr 2020 01:45 PM PDT

Businesses often have the misconception that Google Ads and SEO are automatically connected and work in concert with one another. This assumption just simply isn't true. Though both platforms are Google focused, they require completely different set of skills and strategies in order to win. 

In this piece, we'll walk through the difference between Google Ads and SEO and most importantly how they do and don't work together. 

What is Google Ads?

Google Ads is a pay to play platform where businesses and websites bid on keywords for higher visibility on Google search results to display ads. These ads help businesses receive higher visibility as they get to have their site listed on specially designated areas where these ads show. You can think of Google Ads similar to a FastPass at Disneyland. Pay for the service and you get to jump to the front of the line, or in this case allow your website to jump on Google's sponsored search results if your budget allows. Google AdWords is a pay to play platform so, if you stop paying you will no longer appear and exist through any of their ad results.  

What is SEO?

SEO, on the other hand, allows you the opportunity to optimize your site and continue to rank highly on organic search results regardless of any exchange of money between google. Once your business is ranking highly through organic search results it cannot simply be outbid by another business to rank higher. An effective and well-planned SEO optimization strategy following best practices will ensure that your website ranks highly in organic search results; in order for competitors to achieve similar results, they must also invest the same time and use similar strategies to achieve your website's same level of success.

How SEO and AdWords do not work together

Unlike Google Ads, SEO requires zero money being given to Google. There is no way to pay Google for improved rankings through organic searches. Therefore, you can't pay for Google Ads and have it help your organic search rankings; and strong organic rankings do not help you buy Google Ads either.  

I always find it easier to understand a new concept by first explaining what it is not. Having a successful SEO strategy resulting in your site ranking highly on organic search results has no influence on how much you will be paying Google Ads. Having an SEO optimized website does not influence the pricing for your bids just like paying for ads will not improve your website's organic search results.

Many business owners have this sneaking suspicion that since Google owns both platforms, they must influence each other. However, this is simply not the case. 

How SEO and AdWords work together

Despite these two marketing mediums not having a causal relationship, they can still be used effectively together. SEO and AdWords can work together through the implementation of a well planned and successfully executed strategy. 

Using Google Ads as a Research Tool for Successful SEO Optimization

Oftentimes, AdWords is actually a great tactic used by businesses to find what potential users may be searching for. This technique can save businesses time by allowing them to scout and figure out what relevant keywords are most likely to garner their success through SEO. Google Ads does not require you to wait for 6 to 8 months to rank for a keyword, rather you can buy ads to test it out. It allows businesses to hone in on their most successfully clicked search keywords and phrases as well as the ability to track conversion rates through your website and business phone number.  

On average an SEO campaign targeting the first page in rankings can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years depending on various factors. It can be quite disappointing and a waste of time and resources to optimize for specific keywords in SEO, waiting months to see results, only to find out the keywords are not bringing your business the relevant traffic and conversions your business needs.

Using Google Ads to Improve Click Through Rates and Conversions

Google Ads provides a medium that provides granular data that SEO just cannot recipricoate. Through Google Ads you can see how many people clicked your ad, how many visited the landing page and if they ended up acting. This provides you a closed experiment where you can track the ultimate effectiveness of the landing page.

These insights can also be used for your SEO when you have pages that are ranking extremely well, but can have their conversion rates improved. By running Google Ads, you can test multiple different landing pages and designs to see which resonates the best. From what you learn in these tests, you can apply it to the doorway pages that are ranking well in your SEO, to maximize their conversion potential. 

In addition, you can use what you learn with the Google Ads headlines and descriptions and use them on SEO title tags and meta descriptions to improve click through rates there as well. 

Using SEO to identify potential new opportunities for Google Ads

Search engines are too vast and large to truly be in complete 100% control of everything going on. What this means is that as your site continues to grow, optimize and rank, there will be new keywords that your site will begin to rank for. Most of the time the keywords will be irrelevant to your bottom line and can be ignored, however sometimes there are gems that you can find. Sometimes this happens because there are keywords that you are unaware that people are using to locate a service or business like yours. On other occasions, there are keywords that you have begun to rank for that you aren't actively tracking, but you had at one point considered. 

As the site grows with content and gains more visibility, SEO will organically open a window into new areas that you can expand into. Many tools exist like SEMRush, Ahrefs, Moz and Google Search Console which can give you a glimpse into what keywords you are ranking for. Once your site initially begins to rank in new keyword groups, you can use this to expand your Google Ads campaigns. 

Oftentimes this can be one of the most rewarding parts of keyword discovery, where organically your search engine marketing begins to uncover new opportunities that you didn't know existed. The advantage of having SEO power this organic discovery, is that it will help facilitate research without wasting spend with Google Ads when you are unsure about certain keyword groups.

A successful strategy using Google AdWords an SEO

AdWords and SEO do not have a causal relationship where investing in one automatically means you get a leg up in the other. They can, however, work together strategically. By investing in Google AdWords initially for your site you will be able to gather valuable information and statistics that will allow you and your team to build and initiate a relevant and effective SEO approach for your website ensuring that the keywords you are trying to rank for, provide relevant traffic and conversions. 

By understanding the benefits and limitations of both Google Ads and SEO you can use this information to create a holistic search engine marketing strategy.

 

How to Build a Resilient Business: Lessons From the Last Pandemic

Posted: 29 Apr 2020 03:00 AM PDT

The difference between businesses that are able to weather the challenges of COVID-19 and those that will be caught permanently in its economical undertow may lie in business continuity planning, which is a fancy term for resilience. While some aspects of the novel coronavirus pandemic's impact on economics are unique, business owners in other eras of unrest have also faced extreme situations, and then, much like today, the survivors were those that adapted.

Business observations from the 1918 influenza pandemic

Historical events are at the forefront of many people's minds recently, as is often the case in periods of notable difficulty. But some economists have been concerned about a pandemic-related depression for years prior to the emergence of COVID-19.

In 2007, Thomas A. Garrett, assistant vice president and economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, wrote a report titled "Economic Effects of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic: Implications for a Modern-day Pandemic." In it he seeks to outline the physical outcomes of the 1918 pandemic, in terms of spread of the disease and casualty numbers across different segments of society, as well as to "formulate a list of the likely economic effects of a modern-day influenza pandemic."

Garrett, and other economists like him, have extensively studied financial reporting from the era of the 1918 pandemic (as there was not reliable data at the time on income, employment, etc.), and much of what they found is reminiscent of what's happening today.

Firstly, Garrett points out that different regions responded very differently to the 1918 pandemic, and that the impacts were felt to widely varying degrees depending on location. The reason for greatly different mortality and infection rates was a matter of hot debate even at the time, with some positing that locations that were hit with the spread later (there were three waves of the pandemic, the second being the most deadly) were able to shut down schools and churches before outbreak spread extensively, thus mitigating damage.

Another notable fact is that groups of people who typically had stronger immune systems were actually likelier to die from influenza. The group with the highest mortality rate was men aged 18 to 40, which had major economic implications in the world of 1918, where men in that age bracket comprised a large percentage of the workforce and were already under higher threat of death from World War I.

Financial reporting of the 1918 pandemic

Garrett made an interesting observation before delving into the economic reports of the time: "Articles listing the number of sick or dead from the influenza appeared almost daily in these newspapers and other papers as well (St. Louis and Louisville, for example). Also appearing frequently were articles on church, school and theater closings, as well as dubious remedies and cures for the influenza. However, articles that described the influenza's effects on the local economy were far less numerous."

With that caveat, here's what a modern business owner can glean from the economic reports of the last pandemic:

  • Merchants in Little Rock, Arkansas, reported a 40% to 70% decrease in business, and the retail grocery business specifically was said to be down by 33%.

  • There was a reported increase in demand of beds, mattresses, and bedsprings, which journalists and business experts of the time attributed to influenza's "cure" being bed rest.

  • Industrial plants suffered poor production numbers due to lack of workers. The workforce had already been depleted by World War I, and then further whittled down by influenza.

  • Rail service suffered in some areas from the lack of healthy men available to keep trains running on schedule.

  • Phone companies asked people to limit their calls to essential ones only, as many of their workers were ill and unable to perform their regular duties.

  • Mining camps were hit especially hard (due to poor living and working conditions), and many mines went out of business.

Modern economists' take on the financial impact of the 1918 pandemic

It is vital to note that the world was a different place in 1918, that the response to the influenza outbreak was far less extreme, and that a world war was happening simultaneously. Despite these differences, some of the observable trends may be of interest to business owners today.

  • States that were hit hardest by influenza also saw the most significant growth (in terms of income per capita) when the pandemic passed. Increases in worker wages were the most common in hard-hit areas, due to the small supply of healthy workers following the pandemic.

  • People born during the pandemic experienced higher rates of health problems throughout their lives, as well as lower levels of academic and financial achievement, than cohorts.

  • Businesses that specialized in healthcare or health-related products saw significant increases in revenue.

  • Service-oriented and entertainment businesses, like theaters and restaurants, suffered the biggest losses during and directly following the pandemic.

  • Densely populated urban areas were hit the hardest by influenza, in terms of mortality rates and widespread business shutdowns in attempts to stave off the disease. However, these areas also received the best healthcare services and far more support than underserved rural communities, and they rebounded faster economically.

Strange though it is to read, economists have thought through what would happen should a pandemic like influenza wreak havoc on the modern world. Reading these thoughts, especially those written before fear (and COVID-19 itself) was blasting through cities across the globe, may provide insight into how the next few months and years might unfold for business owners across the country.

For additional insights into business resilience throughout different eras of natural disasters, wars and other disruptive events, you may want to read Jack Hirshleifer's 1987 book, Economic Behaviour in Adversity, and the essay The Economic Effects of the 1918 Influenza Epidemic by Elizabeth Brainerd and Mark Siegler.

Building a business resilience strategy in 2020

Operational resilience is top of mind for business owners right now, and while obvious swaps like video conferencing in lieu of in-person meetings took place almost immediately, a comprehensive business resilience strategy requires a bit more planning and consideration. Let's start with the basics and resolve with some insightful resources for measured business continuity planning.

What does business resilience mean?

Business resilience is the level of volatility a business can weather while remaining operational and profitable. The type of volatility accounted for in business resilience extends beyond standard business challenges, like cash flow and competition, into the rarer disruptive events that can touch businesses, like natural disasters, wars and, yes, widespread disease.

What is business continuity planning?

If business resilience is your desired destination, then business continuity planning is your road map. A disaster recovery plan, or crisis management plan, is the most common type of business continuity plan. Businesses in exceptionally volatile regions – with extreme weather, for example – often have business continuity plans that outline how the business will adapt during natural disasters like hurricanes. Such plans might include the temporary or permanent layoff of staff, alternate plans for operating under extreme circumstances, and potential compensation from insurance policies.

Contingency planning, another type of continuity planning, is also common for businesses to utilize in managing potential security threats and cyberattacks, as well as supply chain issues due to any number of disruptive events worldwide. Because contingency planning has broader uses than for worldwide phenomena like COVID-19, it's feasible to create a crisis management plan within many project management systems. While the scope and specific circumstances of COVID-19 may be novel (like the disease itself), the basic philosophies for the mitigation of risk and adaptation to uncertain circumstances still stand.

What is a business impact analysis?

One way to improve business resilience is by conducting a business impact analysis, which is exactly what it sounds like: an analysis that seeks to define and enumerate on the ways (and the extent to which) an external disruptive event, like a pandemic or natural disaster, may negatively impact standard business operations. When taken together with a risk assessment, a business impact analysis goes a long way in business continuity planning. The end goal of a business impact analysis is to have a step-by-step (or at least stage-by-stage) outline of action items to help your business survive whatever disruptive events it encounters.

While some companies bring in outside consultants to conduct their continuity and disaster recovery studies, it is entirely possible to do it in-house with a little planning and knowledge of best practices. Continuity Central has an excellent guide for carrying out a business impact analysis, as does the University of Pennsylvania and Ready.gov.

Examples of business resilience during COVID-19

There are small and midsize businesses today, just like during the 1918 pandemic, that are thriving by either leaning into their essential statuses or pivoting what they do and how they do it. Telemedicine is one of the standout fields showcasing unprecedented adaptation and flexibility. Some telemedicine companies, like PlushCare, are experiencing such outstanding growth that they're actually hiring more employees right now to cope with client demand, and partnering with other telemedicine companies like Zocdoc.

Other businesses are jumping on the healthcare train by pivoting what they do from nonessential to essential. There are several examples in manufacturing of businesses transitioning to making personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer for hospitals and other frontline workers, like Adafruit, iPromo, Christian Siriano and the alcohol industry. Smaller companies, especially those with access to manufacturing tools like 3D printers, may be uniquely adept at pivoting; it's easier to pivot the operations of a 90-person company than it is to alter the production and operations of a 10,000-person company.

Organizational resilience isn't limited to healthcare services and manufacturing. A surprising number of restaurants, including chains, have jumped from entertainment to essential by providing basic goods to their customers. In addition to regular menu items, many restaurants are selling rice, eggs and even toilet paper, with some also delivering it.

On the other side of the hospitality supply chain equation, some food and beverage purveyors that used to sell to restaurants and hotels are offering direct-to-consumer options, so individual customers can get the same fresh ingredients (meat, dairy and produce) that previously went to restaurants and event venues.

Other industries are experiencing an outright boom, like many SaaS providers, especially those that focus on communication (Zoom, for example), productivity or education (some parents are using tools like Trello for educational purposes), as well as food distributors and grocers. Sites like eCondolence and Shiva.com are experiencing unprecedented traffic, and this is surely only the beginning of both the disruption COVID-19 has created and the innovation it will birth – perhaps even entirely new industries. Old industries may see a resurgence too, as is happening right now with pop-up drive-in movie theaters and grocery delivery.

Only time will tell how lasting COVID-19's impact on the American small business will be, but if the past is any indicator of the present, we should all expect more disruptions for a good long while. Now is the time to create or dig into your disaster recovery plan, reach out to other business owners, and pivot toward antifragility.

How Small Businesses Can Market Themselves During A Crisis

Posted: 29 Apr 2020 02:00 AM PDT

The world is currently going through very unprecedented times with the coronavirus. Businesses of all sizes are hurting across the country, and there is a lot of confusion about what a small business should do during this time of unknown. I hope to provide some guidance on how small businesses, like the one I manage, can continue to survive through marketing.

Is now an appropriate time to market your business? 

This current circumstance of mandatory in-home orders can be devastating for small businesses as consumers are unable to venture outside of their homes and generate spending income; however, this doesn't mean businesses should stop marketing.

A recent study revealed the negative future effects of cutting advertising during the 2008 Great Recession. The study demonstrated that strong brands that continued to advertise to keep their brand alive during the recession recovered nine times faster once the economy rebounded. Maintaining current relationships and beginning new relationships is important to generate revenue for your company now and beyond the crisis. In fact, according to a Harvard Business Review study, acquiring a new customer can be five to 25 times more expensive than retaining a current customer. Failure to maintain relationships may end up threatening the long term future of your business or organization.

Which businesses and organizations should be marketing at the moment?

Additional questions to ask yourself are do your customers need you at this time? Will people still request your business in this crisis? If the answers to the questions above are a definitive yes, your business should make an effort to inform your customers about your business and organization; don't expect them to do the research themselves. For instance, educate your prospects and customers that your brick-and-mortar stores have closed, but your business has moved online to an e-commerce store. Let consumers know of new solutions, discounts or offerings that you have developed to help them out in this crisis.  

Review your pre-coronavirus marketing plans and rearrange the strategies and budget

Prioritize how you can best maintain customer relationships and support your customers with a limited budget. It is important to remember to not be insensitive and have your marketing be appropriate with the current context. Most importantly, don't overdo it. Customer behaviors are changing more than ever. Everyone is home and everything has switched online. Small businesses must adjust their strategies to adapt to this change in customer behavior. 

How to market your business in this crisis

This step involves asking yourself how your business can provide value in these difficult times. It is not the time for big-budget advertising but cost-efficient and proven marketing strategies. 

Cost-effective marketing strategies begin with developing content online. If you don't have an online website, I recommend focusing on creating an online presence. This includes self-produced content by writing consistent blogs, video tutorials and hosting Q&A sessions to keep your consumers engaged, and to seize the interest of prospects. A developed online presence will organically boost your search engine optimization status with Google. As a small business owner, I use Squarespace.  

Another marketing strategy that adjusts to consumers staying home is direct mail. Direct mail continues to be one of the most consistent and cost-efficient marketing strategies that seizes the opportunity of everyone being home. It is an easy, time-saving strategy that doesn't require the development of a website nor online presence. Direct mail drives leads by being personal, targeting the right audience with targeted mailing lists, and it has the ability to stand out amongst competitors. Direct mail marketing is a fantastic way to communicate with consumers directly and to maintain that pre-coronavirus relationship. 

The last strategy to utilize in this time of crisis is email marketing. Email marketing is simple and easy! You first need an email mailing list that can either be cheaply purchased by data providers or you can utilize your own organic email customer list. Email mailing lists are customizable, and you can segment them by income, demographic, age and more to develop a list of consumers that best works for your small business. Email marketing service providers that I have utilized in the past are Constant Contact and Mailchimp.

As an expert in the direct mail industry and an active user in online marketing, I believe these strategies can help market small businesses in this time of crisis. Remember, you are not alone! Whether it's direct mail, website design and SEO, and online email marketing, there are companies out there that can provide marketing services to help you out.

On a final note, stay positive, as this crisis with COVID-19 will pass! Stay in contact with your clients and keep your business afloat by adapting and continuing to market your business.

Best of luck!
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