The Niche Beat
Elouise Cobell
Accounting Activist Elouise Cobell grew up hearing stories about how the Interior Department’s Bureau of Indian affairs shortchanged property owners. Native Americans were not being paid for the use of their land as had been agreed upon under a trust agreement with the federal government. Meanwhile, non-Indians were leasing the land and profiting from oil, […]
Music Publishing
Sweet & Sour Notes The debut in 1999 of Napster, the file sharing website, proved disastrous for many in the music publishing business, says Peer Music executive, Kathy Spanberger, “I call it the crash.” Widespread use of file sharing websites caused record sales to drop and companies began firing workers and instituting hiring freezes. Ten […]
Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr
This memorable post content inspires and has countless underlying themes for class discussions. Updated content 7/16/2024 appears below in italics. Originally published May 3, 2012. I am still posting archival material from the old blog to WordPress one at a time, (so much for technology). However, I still can’t find Murphy’s post or the attached visitor […]
Delightful Four-Legged Niche
Sampson & The Human Whisperer Training and exhibiting a mini equine visitor with sloppy kisses in nursing homes, instead of using a dog, was an idea that developed after watching a segment on the Discovery Networks Animal Planet. Lesson: Using media tools, such as television, can often provide inspiration for a successful service or product, as it did in […]
Unique Gel Candles
Missed Opportunity Lynn Thomas was awestruck by the unusual artistic candles that she discovered at an outdoor market. She was curious about the production method, but the vendor refused to answer questions about how the product was made, explaining that her brother created the products. Thomas bought a candle, and through lengthy trial and error […]
Making Money in Hollywood
Spotting a Unique Niche In the 1970s, Rick Washburn wanted to be an actor and landed minor roles as a hitman and an FBI agent in several movies, according to business editor Paul Barrett. But Wasburn discovered that he could make a lot more money in Hollywood by using specialized knowledge from his childhood. While […]
Campbell Soup
Soup’s Not On In the early 1900’s, the Campbell’s soup product line was first marketed to wealthy people, but they weren’t interested in the convenience of the product. They had servants who prepared their meals. Later, the working-class population was targeted as the consumers who would value the benefits of a quick-cooking meal. Today, some […]
Turkey Soda & Spanx
Strange New Product Ideas When Peter van Stolk decided that he wanted to develop a line of sodas that tasted like holiday meals, the idea didn’t meet with a lot of enthusiasm from friends who thought the idea was nuts. Stolk proved skeptics wrong as he has expanded his specialty soda company into other amusing […]
Music Production & Recording Arts
More Women Needed The music production industry has only a tiny percentage of women and many people know little about the field. These issues inspired the creation of a nonprofit organization that seeks to train more women to enter the specialized industry involved in media and pop culture. A reference book highly recommended by industry […]