Entertainment Industry Accounting Firm Archives | Page 2 of 11

Small Business and the Social Media Complaint Game

Last week, I joined a conference call with an individual that can help my client’s entertainment business. What we found out after the call was that this individual and his company had two scathing unanswered criticisms reported online. Immediately, red flags went up.

Then yesterday, a client set up a meeting with another individual in the entertainment industry. When I looked up his name, guess what? In bold print was a scathing feedback on Yelp, it too was unanswered.

Courtney Rubin’s article, Why Every Minute Counts When It Comes to Social Media Complaints reminded me of the social media dangers in any industry. She wrote, “A whopping 88 percent of customers said that if confronted with unanswered complaints on a company’s social media site, they’d be either somewhat less likely or far less likely to do business with the company in the future.”

Any a small business, especially in the entertainment industry, must be vigilant about what is posted on line. If you grow to a size where the Twitter and Face Book comments become too numerous, you may have to hire a company to do this for you.

So, let’s say you are a small company and don’t have the resources to hire a company to find these comments. What I suggest is you do it yourself. Type your name, or your company’s name with the term, “scam,” “Ripoff,” or “review” and see what comes up. Make sure you go through a few pages and not just page one.

If you find one, address it professionally. Take the high road, and reply to the concern. Use the platform to state your company’s values like how customer satisfaction comes first. Don’t beat up on the complainer no matter how abusive they are. Give examples on how you remedied issues.

Another thing you can do is have some of your good customers write a response to the posting, along with yours. The positive comments should outweigh the negative one.

Any small business, and especially one in the entertainment industry, should be aware of what is said about them in social media. Don’t be a ostrich and ignore it.

Artists’ Futures are Truly in Their Hands

I was twenty-one in 1978 when I got my first part-time CPA accounting job while studying at UCLA. The adding machine I used had a crank…really.

Over the last year or so, I have written about apps that help business people run their businesses better. Recently, I came across Artistgrowth that literally puts “organization” in the hands of the artist, manager, and others in the music world.

The app helps you manage your schedule, gigs, and tours. In addition, it helps you and your CPA manage your finances by allowing you to photograph your receipts and attach it to a report. The app also has a portal that connects you to many different informational sources, videos, etc. that discuss such things as promotion, songwriting, and instrument repair.

The Action Packs section helps you implement the knowledge you learned in the informational sources. I thought the business plan pack was very superficial, but at least it displays the basic concept. (These packs are limited depending on your subscription level.)

Before jumping on your phone and buying it, step back and think about what you and your music business lack. The problems with apps is that they offer a whole list of bells and whistles that you may not need.

I have written several times during the last year that now is the best time in the last 100 years to start a business because of all the resources available online. This app seems to be one of those gems that a music professional can leverage. The boundaries that separated CPAs, managers, and even artists are changing. The things that one person used to be responsible for, may no longer exist. If you have the ambition and maturity, you can evolve your role to further your career and maybe save you a lot of money and grief.

I am not saying that you should replace your CPA or manager with this app. However, by assuming some of the lower level responsibilities, you can empower your CPA to provide higher level services that could multiply the financial return of this app.

With FaceBook Music, You Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Payola

My father sang rockabilly in the 1950s under contract with Capitol Records. (Click here for a Bobby Norris sample.) When I was young, he told me stories of “payola.” Payola is the (illegal) practice of record companies (and I guess artists) paying discjockies to play their songs during the normal daily rotation.

Capitol Records, to his knowledge did not offer payola for him and his records didn’t sell much. However, with the rockabilly resurgence of today (nine years after his death), his music is making its way to loyal fans.

Carl Jacobson’s article Fans on Facebook: What to Do Next to Engage Your Fans, Increase Sales and Grow Relationships provided some ideas that my dad would have benefitted from if such an opportunity existed in the 1950s.

IDEA 1 – Be Ready to Sell Today! Carl’s idea, here, actually transends any art or commerce. Don’t launch your product of art until it is ready. This is one of the biggest errors authors make with their first book. They are so excited about getting their first book out that they fail to hire someone to read it and provide feedback. The result many times is the author blows his or her chance to sell a great story because it is poorly written. Carl suggests Mystore for Facebook to capture fan’s information. But, make sure your product is absolutely perfect. This concept transfers to any business, in that you should not reach out until you have perfected your strategy, product, and service.

IDEA 2 – Engage…Don’t Advertise This works with any business of relationship. People want to be involved; people want to contibute to a goal; people want to feel like they matter. Don’t lauch your music saying “Buy this!” Remember the advent of American Idol? FaceBook allows people to share their opinions, so ask them to.

IDEA 3 – The Virtual High-Five The FaceBook “like” gets a lot of traction these days. Thank and compliment others when the opportunity arises.

IDEA 4 – Reward Fans Then Ask Them to Reward Their Friends Freebees are nothing new in business. Just make sure you limit what you are providing to your fanbase.

IDEA 5 – Advertise Yourself to Fans of Similar Artists In business we call this strategic relationships. You can trade recommendations with other artists using MyStore. This can also work in other business contexts. Use complimentary companies to partner with in promotion. For example, let’s say you own a beauty salon. Women that go into beauty salons are concerned with their appearence. So, you may want to partner with a Yoga or Spinning instructor to advertise and offer combined deals. This way, your customer is enhancing her appearance in different ways.

With the proper use of social media(e.g., MyStore for FaceBook), you can reach your fans with investing just your time. Payola is Gonola.

Boss Trek:The Next Generation. How Running a Successful Business Has Already Changed

My late brother-in-law, Philip Epstein was the son and nephew of famous screenwriters called “the Epstein Brothers.” These brothers, Julius and Phillip, wrote Casablanca(garnering an Oscar) and many other great movies. Phillip told me sometime later, Jack Warner tried to harness the Epstein Brother’s creative ability by forcing them to work 9-6 every day. The brothers did. The next movie released turned out to be a theatrical bomb. Jack Warner asked them why did that happen? They replied, “We don’t know why? We were here from 9-6 every day!”

That was one extreme of a boss trying to manage employees. Another is a book I read, Copy This!: Lessons from a Hyperactive Dyslexic who Turned a Bright Idea Into One of America’s Best Companies by Kinkos founder, Paul Orfalea. The book discussed many aspects of the rise of Kinkos, but one was the fact that the partners referred to their employees as partners. They never said a person worked for them, but with them. As a CPA and strategist, this concept interested me because even though this culture seemed revolutionary in the 1970s and 1980s, it actually existed in a much bigger company, Nucor Steel in the 1960s. (See Judo 101: How to Defeat a 500 Pound Gorrila.)

This whole employer/employee relationship concept is discussed in What it will take to lead 20 years from now by John Baldoni. Mr Baldoni refers to the Hay Group’s Leadership 2030 report. The article and the report described the new leader as a mediator and coach, allowing more employee autonomy. The report stated that leaders have to work harder to generate employee loyalty.

But this article (and maybe the report) only looked at this from a leadership point of view. That point of view was fine, but incomplete.

As a CPA, I look for direction and people, just not people. If you are going to promote autonomous employees, you must first learn how to align individual roles to an organization’s strategy. You must know how an employee’s work fits into the organization’s strategy.

After you aligned the employee with a goal you must measure it. Do not make the mistake of giving an employee free reign without deliverables, metrics, and time frames.

So how does this tie into our famous Epstein Brothers? Was Jack Warner wrong to force the metrics of a common work day on them? The answer is probably yes. Mr. Warner had the right idea, but the wrong metrics. The metrics in that case may have been timeliness and theatrical results. Film, like every industry must find the right combination of expectations and metrics.

The next generation of small business owners and CPAs will be different than the prevailing culture. But that culture exists today, probably in some of the more successful businesses. So, instead of planning for the future company culture, embrace it now and be an industry leader.

Strategic Planning for the Artist: A Los Angeles CPA Business Manager’s Attempt to Integrate Business Concepts

Tomorrow, as a Los Angeles CPA business manager, I will be merging two of my skills with a client. My entertainment business management skills, and my strategic planning skills. This client is a singer/songwriter who produced a music demo and video. My question to her was, “So what?” If you pursue the path of other musicians to acquire a contract, a 360 deal, you are no better than them, and may be just one of many homogeneous artists trying to make it.

This actually happened to my dad, Bobby Norris, in the 1950s. He signed with Capitol Records as a rockabilly artist, only to receive very little promotion for his records. It wasn’t until after he died, 2003, that he receives the recognition that he longed for as one of the original rockabilly personalities.

As a Los Angeles CPA business manager, I really don’t see artists driven in their profession from a real strategic planning position. I did stumble onto a book that seemed to address strategic issues. But I will have to buy the book to see if they do more than just scratch the surface.

So how would I, as a Los Angeles CPA business manager recommend how an artist should strategically work their career? Here is a short answer to a long question:

Identify an issue. What are you really trying to accomplish? It has to be more than “be a star.” You have to really focus on something and list your assumptions on why you are equipped or not equipped.
What is your vision? Quantify what you want. For example, to have 1 top ten single on the charts every year, or play to an average of 200,000 per event. See Jim Collin’s Good to Great and Build to Last for big, hairy audacious goals.
Why would the fans want you? You must focus on your fans. Many books like Blue Ocean Strategy help you think on a level of satisfying your fans and creating an uncontested marketplace. Don’t give the fan more of what they heard. Find out their needs and satisfy them.
SWOT analysis and quantifying: Now you can look at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. You must also put some real numbers to your goals.
Lay out your strategy
Reduce the strategy to tactics

I’ve produced this approach, in part, from Johnson and Smith’s 60 Minute Strategic Plan.

In my opinion, as a Los Angeles CPA entertainment business manager, you must think strategically about your career and stop focusing on yourself. Focus on your fan base and serve them the art they deserve and are entitled to. As Los Angeles CPA business managers, we try to work with clients on the front end, not just record the results on the back end. That is where we strategically differ in our profession.

Jeff Bridges: Be an Actor or a Singer, His Skills Are Transferable. And In Business, So are Yours

Many articles surfaced earlier this year about Jeff Bridge’s crossing over to country music. Some were not flattering. For example, theweek.com quoted comments that branded Jeff as “country-lite,” and “a troubadour tourist.”

But the critics missed the biggest point about Jeff Bridges. Back in the late 1980s I work on the Bridges family(Lloyd, Jeff, and Beau) in a business management firm. I remember my boss commenting about Jeff being the consummate artist. He said Jeff knew what he loved to do (act) and did it intensely. He also mentioned that Jeff’s wife, Susan, took care of the typical things in life and family allowing him to pursue his career unheeded. It is no surprise that Susan was the first person Jeff acknowledged after receiving his Oscar.

But the critics missed the point. What Jeff demonstrated, was that he could transfer his artistic skills from one medium to another. The movie Crazy Heart was just his first vehicle, and it won’t be his last.

The same can be said for anyone today, whether an artist or small business person. This is echoed in 8 Tips: How to Make Your Company And Career More Dynamic by Shira Levine. In the article, Shira quotes James Marshall Reilly who says:

“We’re lucky, because these days, our skills are more transferable. ‘Advances in technology have facilitated easy access to self-education and idea exploration,’ he says. That makes it easier to take information we’ve previously learned and apply it to other ideas, concepts, industries and businesses. ‘These iterations allow the individual to grow intellectually rather than stagnate in one position,’ says Reilly. ‘They also allow for the influx of new ideas to established fields as people move around and infuse new lines of thinking into conventional and often rigid spaces.'”

The Reilly article equates our current society status to the Renaissance period, when there was an explosion of ideas in society leading to leaps in the area of art, science, literature, etc. If he is right, then everyone reading this article, no matter what you profession, has the opportunity to be a part of it.

For example, if you are a singer/songwriter, are you just trying to match the path of those before you, like acquire a recording contract? Or how about a small/medium sized business? Are you evaluating every new technology in light of how you can change your company?

Looking at our CPA practice, we have done just that. Many companies cannot afford comptrollers and an accounting staff due to the economy. What we have devised systems that provide accounting, tax, bookkeeping, and access to any of our financial affiliates. We have leveraged the current paperless and remote access technology, among other things, to provide this service.

The skill transfer also surfaces from our entertainment industry experience. As business managers, we sometimes deal with all financial aspect of entertainer’s lives. We have transferred that skill to our small business clients if needed.

You don’t have to be an actor to transfer skills. The pallet of gifts are there for you to use. You just have to grab the brush and execute a strategy.

What is the Difference Between a Business Plan and a Strategic Plan?

Business plans are very familiar to me. I receive calls from time to time to design one for individuals who have potential investors. In doing so, I try to incorporate some form of a strategic plan in the product because new entrepreneurs rarely think on that level.

Business plans and strategic plans are different though. Take Johnson and Smith’s book 60 Minute Strategic Plan for instance. They state that, “a business plan is [used] to evaluate teh viability of a business…Business plans keep the company on its rails as it relates to key tactical financial and operational ratios…In a word, a business plan explains the ‘what.’

Johnson and Smith contrast strategic plans as “requiring leadership and inventive thinking and assume higher risks, leading to higher rewards. The strategic plan is an internal leadership tool used to plan a course of action to address unanticipated problems or opportunities…” In other words, it explains the “why and how.”

Bill Birnbaum, author of Strategic Thinking distinguishes the two types as strategic thinking and tactical thinking. I would have to side with his distinction between a strategic plan and business plan. The strategic plan is used to help you decide what to do, and the business plan (or company budget forecast) is used to decide how to do it.

If you are a small business owner, or an entertainer, the concept is the same. Strategic thinking will make you focus on the needs of your customer, how your product benefits your customer, and the reason why a customer would want to buy your service. Or as Birnbaum states it, “In thinking strategically, you’ll be concerned with doing the right things, rather than doing things right.”

Let’s take an entertainer for instance. I am meeting next week with a recording artist who wants to stand out. What we will not look at in the recording industry is what is being done now. The reason why is that why duplicate things that are working in an industry that is moving a break-neck speed, or duplicate business models that are not working? No, instead, we will be exploring her talents not only in the recording industry, but other industies with the vision of producing a specific message about who she is.

The same goes for small business. If you want to be an industry leader, you must distinguish your strategic plan from your business plan. Using Jim Collin’s phrase, you will never achieve your “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” (BHAG) if you are 1) duplicating what others have done in your industry, or 2) just doing an annual budget. The annual budget is contained in the Annual Operating Plan (OAP) which must move an organization towards teh BHAG.

If you want to move your career and/or business beyond your competitors, you must start thinking strategically by implementing and executing a strategic plan. If you are one who only focuses on the future business plan or budget by looking in the past, you will be on operating on a financial treadmill. You may seem like you are moving forward, but all you will be doing is spinning your wheels.

Strategy: The Placement of Music in Film/TV(or the New is the Old)

Back in the day…music from TV crossed onto the charts. Remember Hawaii 5-0, Mannix, Peter Gunn, Mission Impossible, and Magnum PI? I don’t know if there was a strategy to cross over, but you don’t see this type of proliferation of TV music today. Instead, some of the highest rated programs are using music from the 1960s and 1970s. For example, The Who’s music on CSI: Miami.

So what kind of strategy is a musician suppose to undertake?

Cliff Goldmacher’s article, Four Things You Can Do To Improve Your Odds in Film/TV Song Placements seemed to advocate a person to be more of a business person, than musician. Cliff offers the following suggestions:

1. Make sure your song is professionally recorded and performed–Well this is hardly advice. Anytime you set out to launch a strategy, you always do your best. It may be the last chance you get. Don’t be afraid to hire outside people and take your time. To rush the implementation could blow your only chance.

2. Do your homework–This reminds me of the businesses who still send out mass mailings. Focus your strategy using all available information about the industry you are approaching. You may be able to find a new tactic on pitching someone. My favorite was when Kris Kristofferson landed a chopper on Johnny Cash’s property in order to give him tapes of his music. (Kristofferson previously flew a chopper in the army.)

4. Get Known for a Style–Now this is where the 60’s differ from today. The styles born out of the counter-culture varied from folk, to British, to rock, not to mention the jazz horizons that were crossed. If you have a unique style, use it. If not, at least be known for a certain style, so that music supervisors will know who to call for it.

In any event, strategizing a music career to TV or film is like any other business strategy. It all comes down to what makes your product different, and how does it meet the needs of the end user. This theme is repeatedly discussed in such strategy books as The Blue Ocean Strategy and Good to Great.

Even Entertainment CPAs in Los Angeles Make Odd Business Decisions

In the last few weeks I have received not one, not two, but three phone calls from actors who are looking for a Los Angeles Entertainment CPA. Two of the calls actually were the parents of child actors. The services they requested varied a little, but the one thing that they did not like was the fact that they could not find a Los Angeles Entertainment CPA who prepared tax returns. What they usually found were Entertainment Business Managers who wanted to charge 5% of their income to handle their financial affairs(including tax returns). As one mother told the business manager, “What could you possibly do to justify taking 5% of my daughter’s income? She doesn’t own a house, or require any more than a few bills to be paid a month.”

I told each of the prospects, as entertainment CPA business managers, that we have never gauged services by billing a percentage of a client’s income. Over twenty years ago, I had worked for firms that billed that way. But, I believed it to be an inaccurate way of gauging a business manager’s value of service. Sure agents, personal managers, and some attorneys who help “create” the wealth. They have a legitimate reason to charge in such a way, but not entertainment CPA business managers and accountants. It’s true at times, that I am involved with contract negotiations, but my function is not to promote the client and create the opportunities.

A year ago I heard that entertainment CPA business managers and accountants are shying away from this practice, possibly because of the economy. But these last phone calls seemed to say otherwise.

So, what’s the point? If you are reading this, you are probably not an entertainment CPA business management firm like us. The point is whatever business you are in, you must always, always , always focus on the value you are providing the client and customer. Just because you think you are worth your fees or price doesn’t mean you have convinced the client that you are.

Whenever you are fortunate to get a phone call from a prospect who tells you that your billing structure is obsolete, you should re-evaluate your business strategy and billing practices.

Now some entertainment CPA business managers and accountants may say, ” Fine, you take the little guys and we’ll concentrate on the A+ level actors and musicians.” This attitude is what drove US Steel and Bethlehem Steel out of business. Micro mills slowly chipped away from the bottom up with a better strategy starting with the lowest grade of steel. Eventually, the smaller mills moved up to take the high grade steel, too, driving the big companies out of business.

As entertainment CPA business managers, our company promotes good business strategies, not just for our CPA firm, but for our clients. The small flame client you have today could be the big shining star tomorrow. And the shining star of today may be just a little brighter than what you think.

Business Opportunities: Gas Stations Making Their Own Music

Back in the 1960s, it wasn’t unusual to find four gas stations at an intersection in Los Angeles. These were full service stations who would fill your tank, wash your windshield, and check your oil. You would also just hand them your money (not credit card) from your open window to pay. These stations would try so many ways to attract customers and build a niche market in their neighborhoods.

Union 76 (currently Unocal) distinguished itself by creating a relationship with the former Brooklyn Dodgers. Union 76 would give away many different types of Los Angeles Dodger’s baseball memorabilia when you purchased a certain amount of gas. One such item was a flexible 45 rpm record of a Dodger player interview. Vin Skully would interview a Dodger player like Sandy Kofax. Union 76 had found a niche market with Dodger fans–forget about the gasoline.

Jon Ostrow’s article, How To Conquer Your Musical Niche reminded me of Union 76’s niche serving with automobile/Dodger fans. He laid out a number of items that a band should consider:

Demographic (age, gender location)
Similar / influential artists (remember to start locally, then branch out to the regional, national and global scale)
What are the influential promotional outlets?
Where do the fans exist online?
What blogs do they read?
How do they find out about new music?
Are they into fashion? If so, what brands?
What are their favorite hobbies?

At first glance, you may think this pertains to only musicians. But, look again. Here is the list converted to a 1965 Union 76 strategy:

Demographic (age, gender location)–Are they near a freeway that can lead to Dodger Stadium? Are they male?

Similar / influential artists (remember to start locally, then branch out to the regional, national and global scale)–Unocal may have start in certain neighborhoods and branch out.
What are the influential promotional outlets? Use Dodger radio to advertise Union 76 items.
Where do the fans exist online? What radio stations do Dodger fans listen to?
What blogs do they read? Advertise in the Sports Page of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner.
How do they find out about new music? Who do auto owners learn to about gas? Mechanics? Make sure each station has one.
Are they into fashion? If so, what brands? Sell Dodger hats at the stations.
What are their favorite hobbies? Unocal hit the head of the nail with Dodger fans.

Each business or band can use similar questions in nailing their niche market. The Blue Ocean Strategy is a strategy concept that can help you in searching for it.