Reaction to Business Plan...

So we all wrote our business plans this week.  Personally, I had a blast writing mine!  Even though I may not ever follow through with this idea, it was really fun to write in a way that would make people believe I will.  I was having so much fun I hope I didn't go overboard but I loved writing confident (borderline outlandish bragging) statements regarding my idea.  I did have one question: would a business plan be something to complement a powerpoint presentation, something I would present on or something that the investors get separately, to read at their leisure?  Just trying to further wrap my brain around this new world of business!

Globe Opinion Piece...

It's coincidental that I read this article because we were actually just talking about this case in my other journalism class last week.  Someone in my class is doing his final project on coverage on the Tsnarnaev case- I might suggest he look at this for some opinion.  I thought the article took an interesting look at the case because I know I've pretty much only heard about the successful capture, but this article rose some questions as to how the police department is growing in case something unexpectedly awful were to happen again.  One of the things I love about online news is the comments section.  Although I enjoyed reading this article, I really loved looking at the comments below- I thought some were really good, some were trying to pick a fight.  I think it kind of embodies the world in which we live.  Not everyone may be a journalist but everyone can have a say on what's written with comments and twitter.  Some people get very invested (to the point of being downright mean) in some stories, and the new age of journalism is enabling them to do so.

Real Life Example...

I'm an avid skier so I naturally get ski magazine sent to me which I rapidly devour- taking in all the gear, technique and reviews.  This month, there was an article about a Littleton NH man.  I was automatically drawn to this article because Ski Magazine is primarily for Western skiers (it's based in Colorado) but in this issue I saw "New Hampshire" and immediately needed to read it.  "What could one of my fellow New Hampshireites be doing to warrant an article in this magazine?" I wondered.  As it turns out, this guy, is an entrepreneur- he's trying to re-open a small ski hill in Littleton NH.  Although it's not journalism based, he's still finding a need and filling it the way he thinks will work.  The hill will be to-pull only, a real "locals" hill.  I just though it was cool to read about what we've been practicing and see how it's being done in the area.

John Christie Follow Up...

I loved John's visit! I thought he had a really good model for his journalism and actually had some goals on where he wants to go in the future.  I also liked his "how we got started" story because it was basically John saw a need and he thought of a way to fix it- very entrepreneurial of him!  I twas also interesting for me to hear about how his organization functions as a non-profit.  Throughout the semester we've talked a lot about different way to make money on our journalism, whether it's through advertisements, investors or events.  However, we haven't really talked in depth about running a non-profit so it was really interesting and helpful for me to hear John's story so I could understand what that whole area is like.  As it turns out, it can actually be profitable!  Overall, I though John's visit was great.  he was engaging and informative and just seemed like a nice guy.

Thoughts on Business Plans...

So, I've just completed the "competition" and "market research" aspects of my business plan and, as it turns out, it's a hell or a lot more complex than I originally thought it would be.  I really shouldn't be surprised, I feel like all semester we've been learning about how starting a business is never as straight forward or simple as we think.  I was especially confused about the market research, even after reading the Forbes article (which was really helpful by the way).  After doing some of my own research, I called my Dad because he has to do this stuff all the time for his job.  Now, I'm not sure he gave me the right information but he told me to look at the problem I want to fix, show how it's a problem and then explain how I can solve that problem using statistics and such.  I did A LOT of research today on internet use in the past twenty years, especially looking at where people get their news from.  Not surprisingly, people are increasingly getting their news from online sources and they are increasingly using their cell phones to access the news.  I thought it was hard to get information on the market because the internet is so broad and expansive it's kind of hard for me to quantify who uses it and for what in my brain.  I fell like it would be easier for me to think "oh, how many people use..." or "how many people have..." than "how many people go online for news".  I don't know, for me, I'm a "seeing" person, I like to see examples because it helps me picture what I'm dealing with.  However, I can't picture the massive amounts of people using the internet.  Maybe it's just me but it's harder for me to visualize millions of users logging on to google than it is to imagine the hundreds of people with boats, for example.  As my idea is primarily internet based... I should probably figure this out!

Market Research

Market Research

Problem: People don’t think critically about the news which is a consequence of getting news from, primarily, one source.  In 2010, only 3% percent of American said they enjoyed following the news “a lot”, let’s get this number up! (poytner.org)

Fix: Choice News! This site is an interactive way for users to critically analyze the news themselves without having a newscaster or broadcaster tell them what is happening.  Users experience events vicariously through the adventure stories.

Media and Public Opinion Post:

• ·         10.8% Americans get news from newspapers
• ·         Approx. 30% each for network and cable television
• ·         15% don’t use the internet (approx. 85% use internet)
• ·         Majority of network television users like NBC (22.7%)
• ·         Majority of cable users like Fox (66.1%)
• ·         Majority internet users get their news from different sources than from The Washington Post, NYT, MSNBC, Fox, CNN, CBS, NBC or ABC (29%)

Pew Research Center:

• ·         USA 2012- 244MMs
• ·         63% of adults use cell phones to go online.  Compare this to 2010, when only 38% of adults used their cell phones to access the internet
• ·         34% of these users say they mostly go online using their cell phone
• ·         This means 21% of cell owners do most of their online browsing using mobile phone
• ·         98% of population between ages of 18-29
• ·         92% between the ages of 30-49
• ·         96% of population use internet with college+ education

Fox News Channel:

• ·         In 1995, 14% of Americans said they went online, by 2000 half were online and by 2007 75% were online.

In conclusion, Americans have been increasing their internet use for the past twenty years or so.  Many Americans are now accessing news online or online via cell phones.  As Choice News will be an online site we have a huge advantage here to use these rising numbers to our advantage and get internet users more invested in their news.  There is a market for Choice News because the majority of Americans no longer find joy in reading or experiencing the news anymore.  With our interactive, analytical and enjoyable format, our goal is to get Americans invested in the news once more!  

Choice News: competition

I didn't find that much competition in this area of media.  A lot of what news organizations seem t be doing with this format is making it a one time, special or turning it into a game.  I did not find any news organizations which operate on a "choose your own adventure" format all the time.  However, because I am a new, up and coming organization, I may have to compete with the readership of other, historic, news groups.  For example, the Boston Globe had a choose your own mayor a while back.  The player chose where to go and what to do in Boston then "met" a candidate wherever they ended up. Even though this was a one time deal for the Globe, if I were to run a story like this at the same time they did, I would definitely have to compete for similar audiences.  However, as this seems to be a "One and done" idea for the Globe, I am not too worried about the competition.
Here's what they did:     http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2013_boston_mayoral_race/choose_your_adventure/

Most of what I found seemed to be games or videos or even just bulleted lists of ideas or things to do, like this one from the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/veer-gidwaney/affordable-care-act_b_4220906.html

British Airways recently launched a choose your own adventure video series, which I explored, loved and may want to experiment with.  In this interactive advertisement, the “player” goes through the experience of choosing a city to go to then exploring the city through a series of decisions.  I had a blast vicariously exploring Paris, Rome, Barcelona and Berlin.  Because this is not a news site with the purpose of informing the public, I would not be competing with them.  However, like I said, it is a really cool idea and I think it would be fun to experiment with their concept.
Here's what they did:  http://skift.com/2013/11/13/british-airways-launches-choose-your-own-adventure-youtube-series/