Month: April 2022

Business Plans – an investigation (1)

chelswood1 Comment

Before building my business plan it is paramount that I conduct research into what makes a good business plan and what to include in the final plan to best project my goals and trajectory for the business’ future. As stated in my pitch blog post and video, this is part of the Future Cultures challenge of addressing the future in some way through a Digital Artefact, mine being a business plan for my social media management business.

LinkedIn update

In the pitch I stated I wanted to use LinkedIn to develop my professional portfolio. The research I have found on the importance of LinkedIn has found that you should use your LinkedIn profile to position yourself as an expert in your field. “LinkedIn is a great opportunity to build a business reputation, broaden your professional network and help businesses and connections know exactly who you are and what you do”. I used these steps outlined by Kangan.edu and developed my profile accordingly.

In terms of why a business professional should be using LinkedIn, “promoting and branding the self has also become a normalized, accepted phenomenon in ordinary people’s lives… professional adults of all ages manifest themselves online to emphasize their skills and proficiency, hence attracting contacts, contracts, customers, or employers” (van Dijck, 2013).

“An updated profile is a great way to ensure that you can be found by right people at the right time. It’s also an excellent way to find job opportunities and connect with recruiters”

LinkedIn

My LinkedIn Profile Update

Research: weeks 1 – 4

Initial Business Plan research

I used podcasts for most of my research into effective business plans as it was an efficient use of my limited schedule.

This podcast highlighted 7 key areas to focus on when completing a business plan that is easy to understand and follow.

  1. Research the industry
  2. Define purpose of the business plan
  3. Build a company profile
  4. Explain the financials
  5. Marketing Plan
  6. Make the plan adaptable – set a recurring task to revisit
  7. Highlight the uniqueness of the business
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7EZr5Z6iYDGiczaYZqVtLo?si=06dc6468c8c5405a

The Business Bible highlighted some social media concerns from an influencer point of view which is more relevant to my interest in social media rather than a business plan however, gave me some good insight into how different people manage their profiles and multiple businesses at once under the one brand or persona.

The How of Business highlighted that a business plan creates an order to the chaos of business, while communicating an idea and validate the business model behind the idea, “the business plan is a dress rehearsal for your success in business”. It states that the Business Plan should answer these 4 questions:
  1. Who is the customer?
  2. How will you reach that customer?
  3. How will the business operate and be structured?
  4. What are the financial projections?

Also highlights the concept of the ‘Lean Business Model Canvas’ which is a one-page business plan that answers these questions which can be launched and iterated quickly.

Initial Research from Pitch

  • “The purpose of a Business Plan is to define the business and explain in as much detail as possible how the venture will operate in the current market” – Hormozi, et al. (2002).
  • “A good business plan not only helps entrepreneurs focus on the specific steps necessary for them to make business ideas succeed, but it also helps to achieve short-term and long-term objectives” (Longo, 2019).

Industry Research

  • Audiences on social media are spending exuberant amounts of time online – businesses need to move towards expanding their potential on social media in order to reach their target audience

Pro’s of social media management industry as a career:

Hard vs Soft skills

The Balance Careers

How to build a clientele

  • tune into key words
  • tailor content for specific buying / searching stage
  • interact without being pushy
  • be patient

Client Venue

Initial Business Plan building

  • Industry research to begin the plan
  • Hard vs soft skills needed in social media management
  • Trends, tools and people to follow in the industry
  • Plan to re-evaluate quaterly

Live-tweeting

chelswood1 Comment

The practice of live tweeting was fairly new to me so I was excited to get started and try it out! Live tweeting is sending a series of tweets during any particular event where you are a host or participant. For BCM325, each week we are live tweeting a particular sci-fi movie as participants and get to engage with others in the subject whilst doing background research and relating the movie to the subjects themes and materials – it is fairly full on!

My approach is to watch the movie for the first time during the screening in order to exercise the skill of analysing a text live, without any context. Whilst the opening scenes are happening, I undertake some background research of the text and find myself immersed in people’s opinions which makes me think about the text from different viewpoints.

Week 1

Screening – 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kurbrick, 1968)

Topic – Imagination & Science Fiction

Tweets & Interactions –

My first week live tweeting, I was very vague with my engagement with my peers, often just agreeing with their points as I wasn’t sure how to contribute further.

Week 2

Screening – West World (1978)

Topic – Future Studies: Trajectories & Planning

During the screening of West World, I was a little bit more engaged with the subject materials but was still hesitant on how to give valuable insight to my peers’ commentary.

Week 3

Screening – Blade Runner

Topic – Multiple Futures

Tweets & Interactions –

During the screening of The Blade Runner, I saw how a simple question gained traction with my peers and it was interesting insight that they all believed that the machine is a hazard and not a benefit. Why, in this technological age, would a bunch of digital media students live tweeting an event for a subject that is run completely online with an element of a digital artefact, believe that ‘machines’ are not a benefit to humans? The way the movie projects machines in a dystopian future distorts our views, even today, of how beneficial technology is. The fear of machines ‘taking over’ is still present today.

Week 4

Screening – Ghost in the Shell

Topic – Operations Research

Tweets & Interactions –

During the Ghost in a Shell screening, I had an interesting discussion with Pia and Hannah about how politicians, terrorists and criminals use technology for ‘dark’ purposes. We discussed ‘big data‘ and how it is hypocritical for the ‘good side’ to say others use technology for ‘evil’, as they too are using technology for personal gain – which is portrayed through the movie in a similar way – where it is difficult to decipher good from evil as technology is at the forefront for personal gain on both sides.

Week 5

Screening – The Matrix 1999

Topic – Cyberculture: Cybernetics & Cyberpunk

Tweets & Interactions –

The screening of The Matrix was one of my favourite screenings, I thoroughly enjoyed the interactions I had with my peers where we discussed the inevitable and how this contradicts the notion of possible futures. I believed that The Matrix presented a number of different futures where the main character, Neo, was presented with options and it was up to them to choose the outcome and based on this choice, the inevitable was always challenged and changing. However upon reflection, it is difficult to ignore the stance that Chris put forward – there is only one inevitable future if you think the movie only has one ending and not multiple – which made me think even deeper about futures studies and I’m still thinking about that point days later. Cyberculture explores the systems that rule our everyday lives in society, The Matrix challenges these systems and enables you to think deeper into how these systems operate and rule us as a society.