Tag: speaker on creative entrepreneurship

Business Models for Creative Enterprises – a Starting Point

A Facebook friend called Phil sent me a message asking for advice about creating an effective business model for his creative enterprise. I didn’t have much time – but I didn’t want to ignore it either – so I sent a quick answer. This is what I wrote: Here’s the starting point of a business …

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Raise your Prices!

Thanks to Leslie Burns for highlighting an article in the MIT Sloan Management Review about pricing. All of the issues it raises about pricing strategies and pricing mistakes are relevant to the creative industries, whether you are selling products or services, even though the examples are from big manufacturing firms. I think some of the …

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How to make business enemies

Here’s a great way to make business enemies, ie how to multiply the number of commercial competitors you’re up against – if you really want to! (OK, maybe the word ‘enemies’ is a bit strong.) Many early stage businesses that haven’t yet found their specialist niche sometimes offer a very wide range of creative services …

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Design, Pricing and Profitability

Here’s a fascinating article in Wired magazine about the graphic design of restaurant menus. And here’s another menu analysed in terms of design and pricing. These are essential reading not only for graphic designers but for anyone in the creative industries interested in marketing and pricing. So that’s everyone then. Amongst other things it includes …

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Don’t hide from customers!

Why are you hiding from potential customers?! That’s what I think when a website invites me to contact “[email protected]” instead of a named person. Are there real people in there? If so, why are they hiding? Customers want to do business with people, not with a website. As a potential client, I want to know …

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Alienate and Embrace Customers

The most successful creative entrepreneurs deliberately alienate those customers who don’t matter in order to more strongly embrace those who really do matter. Not all customers are good customers and marketing is about choosing the right customers; it’s not about trying to please everyone. Of course this means you have to choose which customers not …

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Powerful Customers

My aunty is 85 years old and recently she got a new digital TV with a Sky Box. I was showing her how to use the remote control and I said, “Look at this. Imagine you’re watching a TV programme and you want to take a break or make a cup of coffee. All you …

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Profitable Collaborations

What are the essential elements of profitable collaborations when creative businesses work together? Some ideas about effective business collaborations in the creative industries are in these articles I’ve written: Creative Collaborations and other essential C-words published by Creative Choices (2009) Creating ‘Interprises’ published on the T-Shirts and Suits blog (2007) I’m interested in your experience …

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New Business Models

Customers are more powerful than ever. Because of changes in technology, particularly the interactive internet (Web 2.0), there has been a fundamental and irreversible shift of power in favour of consumers. Creative business that embrace this change will thrive, by using new business models such as crowd-sourcing, viral marketing, crowd-financing, buzz marketing and plogging. The …

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Don’t discount prices!

Thanks to Natalie Bolton from Lion Eyes Television for telling me about this amusing video. It’s fun to watch – and it raises some important issues about pricing and customers for creative businesses and cultural enterprises. If customers believe you will discount prices, it’s because they think they can go elsewhere and get the same …

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