This week, I read “Made To Engage” and the first 50 pages of
“Business Model Generation”. I found all
of the material very interesting because it is relevant to what I am experiencing
now. I work full-time, but I have also
started my own entertainment company and currently manage a recording artist. I launched my website, www.JukeRelated.com, a few weeks ago and
some of the things in the “Made To Engage” article were elements that I had
already incorporated into my website. We
ran an online dance competition where we awarded cash prizes to the top 3 dance
groups with the most votes. I tried to
make my website as interactive as possible to encourage visitors to stay longer. I also spent time giving
each dance group had their own page on my website so they could manage it
themselves and feel a sense of ownership;
I also put comment boxes on each of their pages as well.
Although these were things that I had done prior to reading “Made
To Engage”, the article made me start thinking of other ways to engage people
who visit my site. It was easier when I
was running the contest and the groups were driving traffic to my site, but now
that that’s over, how do I engage with visitors? I plan on spending more time rereading the
article and thinking about how to become more innovative and engaging.
I became familiar with the Business Model Canvas while in an undergrad Strategic Management
course. I had never read “Business Model
Generation” so it was good for me to learn more information and get a better
understanding of the nine Building Blocks.
While this was enlightening for me in terms of thinking about my
entertainment company, it was even more enlightening for me because I am in the
process of assisting my mother with developing her business model. She has been an educator for the past 25+
years, has no formal business training, and is in the process of developing a not-for-profit organization and
for-profit business. The two are
interrelated and we have been having a hard time trying to differentiate the two,
their offerings and their structure.
While reading “Business Model Generation”, I was able to think through a
lot of what we have been brainstorming about and even suggested to her that she
go through the Business Model Canvas
exercise.
One of the most interesting things that I want to share with
her is in terms of how she defines who her customer is. She wants to offer after school programming
and curricula based on instilling self-esteem into children and I have
been asking her to explain to me how she will get paid from this. I suggested to her that she become a vendor
for various schools, social service agencies, etc. who can pay for her service
to be provided for others. In reading “Business
Model Generation”, it confirmed for me that she indeed needs to think of things
in terms of who her “paying” customers are, rather than just her end user (the students).
Although I was familiar with the Business Model Canvas, this week’s reading reminded me that this
would be a good exercise to go through with my mother. I look forward to seeing what type of clarity
that she gains from organizing her thoughts and how she uses this to develop
her business model moving forward. I will also use this to revisit my own business model structure and clarify mine as well.
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