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Creatives Meet Business

Listen in on what industry experts had to say at the latest Creatives Meet Business event. Host Ashland Viscosi curates and shares the best content and tips from the live events to help creatives and artists transition into creative entrepreneurs.
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Now displaying: January, 2018
Jan 26, 2018

Hi there folks!

Creatives Meet Business is an event and podcast series based out of Austin, Texas for artists and creatives to learn the ropes of entrepreneurship.

This episode features James Lanyon, Vice President of Strategy and Innovation at T3, who joined us in June during our roundtable event on Branding. As you'll soon find out, he is a fount of knowledge on all things sales AND designing products for your audience. Because there's so much magic in this episode - let's hop in and hear what James has to say!

  • 0:00 to 3:46 - Ashland Opening Remarks and Intro of James Lanyon
  • 3:51 to 6:53 - Introduction of Self and Topic (Designing for Sales)
    • Despite all the case studies and business books you read, the truth in product and service creation that generates more demand is really more fundamental and gets down to two key realities.
    • Personal story about graduate program
    • Background in sales over 18 years
      • Opportunity to control your own destiny from sales
  • 6:54 to 7:48 - Where You Need to Focus
    1. Pitch
    2. Product - does the product speak for itself and have value
      • Tendency is to err more toward one than the other
      • Spend too much time noodling what you'll put out there
  • 7:49 to 8:53 - CustomerCentric Selling
    • CustomerCentric Selling 
      • Sales isn't a sin
      • Most really great salespeople are more like therapists and consultants
        • Innate ability to get people to lower their guard and talk about real issues
  • 8:54 to 9:32 - Three (3) Need States Someone Will Transact With You For
    • Ultimately a person or company is going to give you money for one of three reasons:
      1. I need to achieve a goal, get from Point A to Point B
      2. Solve a problem, got stuck somewhere along the way
      3. Satisfy a need, I have a feeling Point B is out there, but I don't know how to get there
  • 9:33 to 12:37 - Don't Stop at the Sale, Create the Product
    • Sales and product creation are co-conspirators
    • Create a feedback loop with the honest conversations you have with clients and customers to create opportunities for business
    • You wear all of the hats as a business owner, but the two that should be worn at the same time are sales person and product creator
    • Don't just use it to hone your pitch, use it to hone and create your product
  • 12:38 to 14:07 - Pain Scale
    • Pain scale like you'd see at the doctor's office with a series of faces from 1 to 10 to showcase pain
    • Solution in search of a problem - when something is created that isn't a pain point for people
    • Most issues on the far right side of the scale (where they're hurting) aren't being addressed and that's what people need and will pay for
  • 14:08 to 15:00 - Test and Learn Processes
    • Instead of responding immediately to a good idea and shifting your business model and overhauling your website, send a test email to say 25 of the 500 people in your database with the new idea you have.
      • Keep repeating until you get 25 "no, I have no interest in this" and then check it off and move on.
  • 15:01 to 17:16 - Lean Business Model Canvas
    • Most start-ups are forced to do the exercise (if they get any funding)
    • Several options for the Lean Business Model Canvas: Link to Lean Business Model Canvas on Canvanizer , Link to LEANSTACK site, or do a google image search
    • Important for any business owner or entrepreneur to complete, not just start-ups seeking funding
    • The problem doesn't have to be profound, but it has to be problematic in some sense for it to be a solution 
    • You can write it over and over again, that's how businesses change over time
    • One of the greatest assets you can have is to create a metaphor: I'm the this of that
  • 17:20 to 19:07 - Ashland Closing Remarks

If you like what you hear, share the podcast with your friends, and rate and review. To stay in the loop - follow us on InstagramTwitterFacebook or subscribe to the newsletter.

Get ready for one more on Branding then we move to Fundraising, stay tuned!

Thanks!

Ashland, Creatives Meet Business

Jan 8, 2018

Hi there folks!

Creatives Meet Business is an event and podcast series based out of Austin, Texas for creatives of ALL disciplines to get from zero to one in thinking of themselves as business owners (in the creative sector).

This episode features Kaitlin Maud, Director of Strategy at T3 and independent consultant, who joined us in June during our roundtable event on Branding. As you'll soon find out, she has so much to share about branding overall, but more specifically about leveraging your personal brand for your business strategy. And, she does it in right at 15 minutes! Because there's so much magic in this episode - let's hop in and hear what Kaitlin has to say!

  • 0:00 to 2:13 - Ashland Opening Remarks and Intro of Kaitlin Maud
  • 2:19 to 3:30 - Introduction of Self
  • 3:31 to 8:27 - Introduction of Branding (relaying for purposes of sharing the same definition)
    • Brands exist in the eyes and mind of the consumer
      • Consumers perception of your brand, is your brand
    • You can create a visual representation of a brand (i.e. Nike ads)
    • Tone of voice, product and service offering all play into the brand (i.e. Tom's, 1 to 1 giving)
    • Intangibles -brand promise and who your company associates with
    • Brands are important in the world for two reasons
      1. They help you make decisions (need to make assumptions to be able to make quick decisions)
      2. It's important for us as humans to understand our place in the world and have a sense of self in relation to other people. Brands help us accomplish this by association. 
        1. Dunkin Donuts, Boston example
        2. SNL Sketch with Casey Affleck
  • 8:28 to 11:28 - Personal Branding 
    • Is your personal brand who you are (your authentic self) or is it a persona or an avatar of who you are that you control and put out into the world?
    • The answer is...it varies from person to person, it's a spectrum. It depends on your consumers (i.e. customers, prospective clients, hiring managers, recruiters)
      • Example with a spiritual advisor and an attorney
  • 11:29 to 15:51 - Three (3) ways to take the concept of personal branding and apply it to your business strategy
    1. Use your professional experience as a story
      1. Storytelling builds trust, helps you be more memorable
      2. Find ways to take bullets off the page and into a coherent story
    2. Use your personal interests and hobbies as an approach to target customers
      1. Example with social media marketing and applying that to your interests
      2. Assess your individual interests as a way to determine who your end customer can be
    3. Use your values as a decision making process
      1. Example with she / her pronouns Kaitlin uses in user journeys
  • 15:58 to 17:09 - Ashland Closing Remarks

If you like what you hear, share the podcast with your friends, and rate and review. To stay in the loop - follow us on InstagramTwitterFacebook or subscribe to the newsletter.

Get ready for more on Branding, stay tuned!

Thanks!

Ashland, Creatives Meet Business

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