Sunday, July 22, 2012

Christian Fashion Week


Here’s an incredible opportunity for high-end couture fashion designers to create collections for the Christian community.  A group of industry experts have teamed up in Tampa, FL this February to produce an event tailored to the Christian community.  It’s called Christian Fashion Week. 

National designers that exude their energy appealing to the established, mainstream fashion corners of the industry have been given the ultimate challenge to create clothing for the Christian community.  For Believers, this fashion-packed experience will define what beauty and fashion looks like—I mean really, really looks like, to those sophisticated saints.  (smile)   What does the two-day event entail?  Swimwear (for women, only), a VIP soiree, and lots-o-fashion rockin’ the runway.

The Christian Fashion Week dream team has teamed up with Model4Jesus for a VIP reception where every-day Believers can rub elbows (and a little bit of anointing) with industry big wigs from around the world.  Silent auctions, models, photographers—the perfect recipe for a little fashion runway masterpiece.

Doors open on Saturday, February 9, 2013 at 5PM.  Christian Fashion Week is the first of this annual caliber.  Members of the press (to include writers and bloggers) are welcome to cover the event.  Christian Fashion Week tickets are available online with early bird specials, (that guests should certainly take advantage of). 

So far, an event sponsor has not been named for the event.  (Here’s another fantastic opportunity for Christian-owned businesses and entrepreneurs to sow into the Kingdom.)  The fashion-istas (and fashionistos) have chosen Created as the official event beneficiary of which will receive a portion of the event’s proceeds.  Created disciples and advocates for vulnerable women involved in the sex industry.  This organization re-teaches women their value, beauty and destiny in Jesus Christ.

Christian Fashion Week is the perfect platform for ministry.  It’s like the national Christian fashion convention for the WIP the Runway Christian fashion tour.  The two mastermind-teams behind these two fashion ideas (Christian Fashion Week and WIP the Runway) are examples of what it looks like to intentionally let faith and belief in Jesus Christ shine through career and industry interests.  The pair are unashamed.  

Sunday, July 1, 2012

BIG Money


Numbers, numbers, numbers—they’re as annoying as flies slamming into a glass window.  Even in the world of Christian entertainment, numbers still have relevancy.  Faith without works in dead (James 2:14-17).  In other words, mastering the art of Christian entertainment management does not mean loads of dinero falling from the skies to take care of all the money troubles.  Yes, yes, yesbelieving and speaking plays an enormous roll in our faith as Believers and entrepreneurs, but there’s still some practical effort we have to employ.  Proactive faith versus passive faith.  (We’ll save that for another blog entry)

Analyzing and forecasting gross sales, costs of goods sold, and net profit is a balancing act.  In fact—this is an area that requires an abundance of proactive faith.  Even with a strong business model to prevent failure, there are still some things that need to be done to multiply the opportunity for enormous success.

Take a fashion show, for example.  It’s not uncommon for organizations and charities to use fashion shows as fundraising means.  Lots of companies like to attach their names to charitable efforts.  After all—it’s cool, right?  Wellmaybe.

But what about when you need to turn a huge profit for non-charitable event?  What do you do?  You can solicit donors, but chances are they’re much more interested in the charitable recognition.  Here’s where the number-noggins have to start moving.

A fashion show can be 100% profitable if there are investors (not to be confused with charitable donors).  A wise man once told me that in order to produce revenue-generating opportunities, you have to make your business commercially attractive.  Here are three ways to turn an event that needs to be 100% profitable into an opportunity for investors:

1.    Research investors that share the same target audience as your event. 
2.    Mildly assume that a potential investor is looking for a way to get face-to-face with its target audience in a concentrated area within a small block of time.  This is way more important to you as the solicitor because it takes most of the pressure off of pitching an opportunity that (you think) only has a 50/50 chance of being accepted.
3.    Explain the opportunity and illustrate how the opportunity can be a marketing advantage to the investor.

Easy-peasy, right.  Not so much. This approach does; however, alleviate some of the stress and worry involved in finding a company or organization to fund your event.  Go aheadtry it.