MAKING IT! AMERICA’S MOST LAUDED SMALL BUSINESS TV SHOW

TM Newsletter Volume 17, No. 4 MINORITY SUCCESS STORIES www.makingittv.com Fall 2006

mon in many households. Family Planning by Nelson Davis [email protected] “What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?” ---George Eliot No, not that type of family planning! As of the book were working to save fail- the New Year approaches what I have ing but I think that develop- Those of us who have gently wafted be- in mind is a planning notion that may ing a real structure will yield fabulous yond the age of fifty are getting into the change your life. It is learning to apply individual and collective dividends for life zone where our hindsight is close to business strategies and disciplines to the entire family. Like most planning, crystal clear and that includes whatever lift and improve your family life during the most intimidating part is thinking regrets we may have gazing back at the year ahead and perhaps for the through the details and writing it out. what we could have done. rest of your life. If you have achieved a was quoted as saying “If I’d known I’d level of success in business, it wasn’t Just like any corporation’s five year live this long, I would have taken better accidental and establishing a nourish- plan, the family goals should be sub- care of myself.” Successful business ing, flourishing home life won’t happen ject to yearly review and revision, but people are usually demonstrating their by accident either. wouldn’t it be marvelous for any fam- best selves in their enterprise. That ily member to know at any time what same best-self has perhaps an even Over lunch recently a couple of my they are striving for. Even a ten year more important role in creating a nurtur- friends talked with some discomfort old will probably respond positively to ing and harmonious family life. The solu- about having teenage children who participating in a six year plan to ac- tion could just be in the planning. expect Ma and Pa to shoulder most of cumulate the funds necessary to buy the expense of their college educa- their first car…used of course. When tions. Strange looks came back when I the task of building a “tuition-chest” suggested they manage it like a busi- for their chosen level of advanced ness project with full participation from education is in writing with monthly their kids. The thought of injecting and annual numbers attached, the some of the entrepreneurial spirit into task seems a lot less intimidating. It INSIDE THIS ISSUE: family life has been with me in principle may be a little “Leave It to Beaver” of for some time, but it took two women me but I like the idea of a family gath- Bits N’ Bites Page 2 who work for United Airlines in Chicago ering where everybody gets to cele- Communication in your Page 2 to convince me that not only was it pos- brate being on target with something Office Space sible, it actually helped keep their fami- and making progress toward impor- lies together. Julie Bell and Donna tant goals. Making the Connection: Page 2 Brown were contemplating dumping Multicultural Marketing their husbands and going it alone when These days many families have an in- Nelson Davis Honored As Page 3 they decided that smart, accomplished house wireless computer network Outstanding Entrepreneur business people should be able to turn rivaling those found at the office. The what they’d learned at the office into family goals and schedules can be Secrets of Success Page 3 successful home lives as well. In fact seen by anyone at any time as a word Upcoming Shows Page 3 they wrote a book titled “The Score- document or spread sheet. Both fam- card” based on their experiences. ily counselors and business consult- Where Can You See MI? Page 4 ants often have the same message MAKING IT! Digest Insert Have you and your spouse ever for their clients, and that is; confused thought of sitting down with your family priorities and poor communication are The ‘MAKING IT!’ Newsletter can now and doing the following: Stating your the enemies of a healthy business or be seen online & downloaded at expectations clearly and in writing, set- a highly functional family life. Julie ting precise goals and establishing Bell said that managing her home life ways to measure the results. Be sure with a plan that her husband helped to set a timetable because without that create “did away with the drama and 17 Years of a goal is just a wish. Now the authors emotional blackmail” that are com- MAKING IT! Bits ’N’ Bites Communication In Your Office Space By: Jaclyn Jimenez Jaclyn Jimenez “We need to talk about your TPS reports… whether you are the CEO or an intern, that this Yeah. Uh, did you get that memo?” How many process of assimilation occurs. It will make your Marketing As- times was Peter Gibbons asked about his TPS time with the company that much easier. sistant Jaclyn reports, in the 1999 movie Office Space, before Jimenez is a he lost it? If you are not familiar with this “cult Tapping of a pen on a desk, copy machine bro- student from classic,” Office Space is a satire on the working ken again or even personal problems can all be Loyola Mary- world. As a businessperson you will be able to stressors that people experience in the business mount Univer- relate to the concepts portrayed in this movie. world. Over an extended period of time this sity. She is stress can lead to burnout. It is important to be majoring in communication studies Communication is a key element to success, sure that you try to avoid these indicators of which she is applying to her position at especially in the work place. Office Space cov- resistance or proactively do something to allevi- Nelson Davis TV Productions. ers many communication areas; such as, as- ate this stress. similation, indicators of resistance, indicators of cooperation, as well as many others. Here are a Indicators of cooperation are easy to point out few things that you can do to have effective and make the working environment one that is Making It! & Amazon communication at work and not end up going inviting and productive. Job satisfaction is some- We are delighted that a over the deep end! thing that affects everyone, if the employee mo- select group of Making rale is high then it reflects positively on em- It! episodes is now avail- Assimilation is an intrinsic facet of becoming ployee productivity. You want to be sure that able for purchase successful at your job. It is the process of learn- when you go to work, you have the “live to work” through Amazon, one of ing rules, norms and expectations of an organi- vs. “work to live” type of work ethic. Cooperation the internet’s largest zation. There are three steps in the process of is fundamental in keeping employees happy retailers. Special pro- achieving assimilation. The first is anticipatory and your business thriving. gram packages were socialization or expectations of what a situation assembled for this offering which is be- is going to be like. Next is organizational assimi- Peter Gibbons did not assimilate to his job or ing handled by CustomFlix, a subsidiary lation or how the situation is in reality. Lastly are cooperate. However, there was a lot of evi- the organizational turning points, these can be of Amazon. dence of resistance and if anyone would have anything from earning a promotion to finding a noticed it could have saved his office space sense of identification in the company. Be sure from literally being burned to the ground. Brenda Victoria Castillo Marketing Making The Connection: Multicultural Marketing Manager California Is Top-Ranked State in Minority Buying Power By: Brenda Victoria Castillo Brenda Casti- As the U.S. population continues to grow three ethnic groups with one agency. llo comes to and become more diverse, buying power Nelson Davis of U.S. minorities also is increasing. Their “The issue that most marketers are miss- Television shared buying power equals clout and ing is the multicultural component. Some marketers are finding it lucrative to strate- marketers take for granted that they are Productions from the American Red gically market to African Americans, going to market to a particular culture by Cross. She has more than 15 years of Asians and Latino cultures. just changing the language. It’s not just experience in a combination of diver- about the language, it is about the culture sity, community relations, marketing, “By 2015, the American population 25 and connecting with that culture,” said and production. years old and under, will be primarily of Wade. “If marketers don’t market their ethnic decent,” says Barry Wade, COO, client’s product to the culture they will not NMSDC Conference ZMagic. have a footing inside the community. And eventually they will lose customers to The Mother Ship of all minority ven- Wade is spearheading ZMagic, a full- those companies who do market to the dor conferences, NMSDC wrapped service multicultural marketing firm cultures.” up recently at the San Diego Con- formed by Earvin “Magic” Johnson, a vention Center and Making It! was successful businessman who has always A company that has been successful in there. wanted to start his own advertising this endeavor is Wal-Mart, whose stores agency, and Jordan Zimmerman. Zim- account for 65% of Latino music sold in merman is the founder and chairman of the U.S. They attribute their success to In addition to shooting footage for an th upcoming show, our Corporate Video Zimmerman Advertising, the 17 largest fine tuning their store-of-the-community unit was hard at work on a special ranked advertising agency in the country, concept. In reaching out to the Hispanic video for Cisco Systems. with billings in excess of 1.5 billion. consumer they had to connect with the cultures within the Hispanic culture –

What’s unique about ZMagic is that it’s a specific to the geographical location of If you’d like to discuss award winning one stop shop – a single source with Afri- the Hispanics that they were trying to production values for your next video, can American, Hispanic American and reach. In the past, in marketing their Latin e-mail [email protected] Asian American specialists under one roof. They provide the service of reaching (Continued on page 4) Volume 17, Issue 4 2 Fall 2006 Nelson Davis Honored As Outstanding Entrepreneur By The Black Business Association

Nelson Davis, president of Nelson Davis Television Productions, was honored yesterday by the Black Business Association (BBA) as “Outstanding Entrepreneur.”

More than 500 entrepreneurs, executives, community leaders and elected officials attended the BBA luncheon at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott Hotel that recognized Davis for his exemplary business achieve- ment and leadership. Davis joins the ranks of BBA honorees that include Berry Gordy, Motown; Earl Graves, Black Enterprise; Debbie Allen, Pro- ducer & Entrepreneur.

“I am wonderfully grateful to KTLA, Channel 5 for their long term support of the Making It! mission,” said Davis. “Some business owners measure their success by the number of employees. I take measure of the number Holding the citations from various government offi- of business stories told on television,” cials recognizing Nelson Davis’ achievements are: (From left to right) Ted Davis (no relation) Chairman of Davis began Nelson Davis Television Productions with the idea of bringing the BBA, MaryAnn Mitchell-BBA board member, together special television programming with sponsors who wish to reach a Nelson Davis, and Zeke Patten-board member. niche audience. Making It! Minority Success Stories focus is on Small Busi- nesses. The show has been on the air since March 1989 and has received more than thirty awards and commendations from all levels of government To find out more about the Black Busi- and business organizations, including four Emmys as Best Public Affairs ness Association log onto series. Making It! is sponsored by American Honda, Bank of America, Boe- www.bbala.org ing, Comerica Bank, Hilton Hotels, McDonald’s, Sempra Energy, and South- ern California Edison. See video segments of the show on the web at www.MakingItTV.com

CUT OUT FOR YOUR FRIDGE! A LOOK AT UPCOMING SHOWS Secrets of Success Ella Avery-Smothers is one of eleven siblings in a poverty- stricken family from Virginia. Her dream as a child was to be able to afford all the groceries she “We cannot direct the wind but wanted. Years later, she would we can adjust the sails.” find herself reaching her goal after ~Bertha Calloway becoming the owner of eight Bur- ger King franchises in Los Ange- les. Ella Avery-Smothers

Burger King Franchise Owner “A friendship founded on busi- Nicole Sainz wanted to purchase ness is a good deal better than a a pair of pants from a department business founded on friendship.” store. When she found out it was --John D. Rockefeller too expensive, she decide to make them instead. Nicole cre- ated NICOLITA, a high-end swim- “Innovation distinguishes be- suit business. Four years after its tween a leader and a follower.” -- inception, Nicole’s company Steve Jobs reached $150,000 in sales. Nicole Sainz See “Secrets of Success” Nicolita Streaming Video at:

Volume 17, Issue 4 3 Fall 2006 MAKING IT! is California’s #1 Small Business TV Show LOS ANGELES SAN DIEGO SACRAMENTO SAN FRANCISCO KTLA - Ch. 5 KSWB - Ch. 5 KSPX - Ch. 29 KKPX - Ch. 16 Sundays 6:30 am Sundays 5:30 am Saturdays 6:30 am Saturdays 6:30 am

(Continued from page 2) developed the Making It! program. Making It! airs in four major music they flew Los Tigres del Norte, a Mexican musical California markets – Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, group, to Florida, which has a large Cuban population. Of San Francisco. Ninety-four percent of its viewers are African course, this strategy has since changed and connecting with Americans, Hispanics and Asians; nearly 50% are women. the specific community they are marketing to is what has made Wal-Mart a success in reaching the Hispanic consumer. Making It! Minority Success Stories highlights minority busi- ness owners inspiring success stories. Sponsors like American It is increasingly important to really know the culture because Honda, Comerica Bank, Sempra Energy, Hilton Hotels, Boe- the culture continues to change. For example, some market- ing, Southern California Edison, Bank of America, and ers are finding that some minorities who assimilated in the McDonalds found that by advertising on Making It! they are U.S., at age 35 plus, are reconnecting with their culture. The reaching their target audience. trend is that they are finding their way back to their culture. “We believe that our suppliers should reflect the market and According to the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the Uni- communities in which we do business,” said Frank Urtasun, versity of Georgia, California is the top-ranked state in terms director, Diverse Business Enterprises for Sempra Energy. of total buying power for every minority group except African “For us, it makes good business sense to sponsor programs Americans. (California is second in that category; New York is such as Making It! This program not only reaches minorities first.) California’s Hispanic buying power exceeds the total but also minority business owners.” buying power (all groups) of 36 of the 50 states. Developing an insight to the culture that you want to market is As the population of minorities in California grows, so does the key to making that connection. Progress is being made but the opportunity for corporations to reach minorities with spe- there is more work to be done by America's great companies. cialized programs like Making It! Minority Success Stories. Seventeen years ago Nelson Davis foresaw the future and

MAKING IT! NEWSLETTER VOLUME 17, NO. 4 FALL 2006

‘MAKING IT!’ MINORITY SUCCESS STORIES NELSON DAVIS TELEVISION PRODUCTIONS 5800 Sunset Boulevard • Los Angeles, CA 90028 Ph. (323) 460-5253 • Fax (323) 460-3907 Email: [email protected] Website: www.MakingItTV.com

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

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Nelson Davis Executive Producer Brenda Victoria Castillo 17 YEARS OF Marketing Manager Marcia Campbell Senior Producer Joetta DiBella Senior Producer Jaclyn Jimenez

Volume 17, Issue 4 4 Fall 2006