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Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
CANT WAIT FOR THIS!!!
No single? No leaks? No video? No problem! Here's Sigel's artwork and tracklist for his upcoming album, The Focus. I'm willing to forgive Beans for that debacle last go around. But then again, I have less compassion than your average blawga.
1. Broad Street Bully
2. All In
3. Shot Em Up
4. Death Follows Me
5. Phili (w/ Freeway & Young Chris)
6. Ready For War (w/ Freeway & Young Chris)
7. Point The Finger (w/ Young Chris)
8. Get Back To Rap (w/ Young Neef)
9. I’m Sicker (w/ Freeway)
10. What Are We Doing Here
11. Going Through The Emotions
12. You Over Did It
13. Why Shouldn't I
HHNM
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
SLAM Adventures: The WNBA In which we figure out what makes the WNBA tick.
by John Krolik / @johnkrolik
Pre-Game
So here’s why I ended up spending much of my Tuesday night watching the Chicago Sky play the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA. First of all, I miss basketball. I’m sick of trade rumors, signings, salary cap restrictions, Twitter controversies, all the things that we attempt to satisfy our desperate need for basketball with. Second of all, I’ve always been curious about the WNBA. Third of all, the tickets were free, and the stadium is a 15-minute, 25-cent bus ride from my house. And it was a Tuesday night. Really, why wouldn’t I have gone?
And this wasn’t just any WNBA team that was sitting 15 minutes away from me. This is the Sparks. They’ve got Lisa Leslie, the Olympic hero who also happens to probably be the best basketball player to ever attend my beloved school. They’re the two-time WNBA champions. (Although they only get one banner for their accomplishments, while the L.A. Kings get a separate banner for their division championship.)
And of course, there’s Candace Parker. Los Angeles basketball fans like to argue about who the best basketball player in the world is. Do you want the most beautifully refined skill-set in the league, or someone with the athletic gifts to change the game entirely? Do you want someone who has mastered the demands of their position better than any other player, or someone with the ability to make an impact at any position? Do you want someone who exists as a perfect basketball player, or a player who redefines what a basketball player is capable of being? Generally, this is what frames the argument over the best player in the NBA. But the argument could just as easily be translated into the best player who calls the Staples Center their home. Kobe’s dropped my jaw countless times in Staples — on a quiet Tuesday night in August, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see the flip side of that coin.
The Game Itself
The women come out for warmups, and I can say this much — when the women take elbow jumpers, they really do seem more fundamentally sound than the guys do. The elbows are in, they go straight up every time, and they drain the 15-footers with stunning regularity. The results aren’t nearly as good when they start taking deeper jumpers, but it’s clear that the WNBA really does feature more players who truly understand how the mid-range J is meant to be shot.
I’ll also say this for the women — it’s really, really, really hard not to love any women’s team sport when you see the genuine team spirit and affection the players have for one another just before they come out. The Sparks show the team’s in-tunnel warmup ritual just before they come out, and it’s impossible not to crack a smile when you see just how much these women love what they do for a living, and how much they love playing with each other.
On the Sparks’ first possession of the game, they find Candace Parker on a block-to-block move from the weak side for an easy layup. Absolutely beautiful basketball.
In the early going, the plan appears to be putting CP on the weak side and letting the game come to her — when the ball does go to her, she immediately gets doubled, and the Sparks can’t make the Sky pay when they rotate to the weak-side.
On the other side, Candace Dupree of the Sky gets the ball in the “Malone Post,” faces up, and puts an absolutely shocking one-dribble spin to the cup, only to be met by Lisa Leslie, who turns her away with a crushing weak-side rejection.
The Sky keep going back to Dupree, though, and the results are good. Dupree is extremely impressive to watch — she’s got power forward height, but she’s fast and strong like a wing player, and she’s taking the ball to the cup with purpose over and over again and finding success. Basically, imagine if Josh Smith had serious ball skills and and a high basketball IQ. And, you know, was a woman.
The Sparks are having some serious trouble getting their offense going — they got a basket on their first possession, but their second basket doesn’t come until Lisa Leslie scores on a post-up halfway through the quarter.
Parker comes back into the game after an extremely early rest and starts to get her team going. She gets the ball in the Malone-post and drives for an unstoppable layup. She gets a rebound, dribbles the length of the court, crosses over at the three-point line, and explodes for another basket. Then she goes back to being a big and get a bucket on a weak-side show.
By the way, if you think women fans don’t get mad over a referee’s calls, all I can tell you is that you are extremely wrong.
Lisa Leslie is still a pleasure to watch work down low — she’s long and lanky down there, and has every move in the book, backing down with strength, getting in her comfort zone, and pulling out a beautiful fadeaway for the basket. Watching her and CP3 work the high-low post is absolutely wonderful to watch — if Gasol and Bynum can get this kind of mojo going on the same floor when they change the logos, the Lakers are going to be even better, frighteningly enough. And defensively, Leslie has quick feet and amazing shot-blocking ability once she gets to her spot-this is her last year, but if she wanted to she could play for as long as she wants. Fight On, Lisa.
The Sparks rebound from their dismal 11-point showing in the first quarter, and go into the locker room with only a 32-27 deficit.
In the first half, Candace Dupree’s lithe power moves from the high-post were threatening to steal the show, but in the second she gets bottled up by some swarming defense. Meanwhile, Candace Parker is showing why she’s one of the three best basketball players in the world, period.
The Sparks tie the game on Parker finishing a backdoor feed. Then she posts up in the low block and dumps in a lefty hook before the double can get there. Then, to cap it all off, CP3 takes a rebound all the way up the floor and finds Leslie on a no-look dime for some free throws.
Basically, if you love basketball, there’s no excuse for not closely watching Candace Parker do her thing over the course of a game. LeBron might even be a restrictive comparison — she’s got the same shocking athleticism and versatility on a relative scale, but because of the parameters of the women’s game she needs more fundamental skill to compliment that ability. Her midpost game is as advanced and dominant as anyone on the men’s scale, and she combines that with her ability to play like a wing despite her size — think Pau Gasol’s refined dominance with Lamar Odom’s versatility and explosiveness thrown in.
In the fourth, Parker puts the game away with a drive along the baseline from the three-point line to a lefty finish and a subsequent driving, floating bank shot. At this point, she had 21 and 7 on 10-12 shooting from the floor. Whoa. And by the way, in person she couldn’t be nicer or more composed. Some people are just unfair. (Even with fresh, gigantic scratches clearly visible on her arms. Don’t think there are easy baskets to be had in the WNBA.)
So, what did I learn from this foray into the highest levels of women’s basketball? First off, don’t let all the jazz about how the women’s game is a fundamental, almost Marxist affair on the court fool you — this is just as much of a league of stars as the NBA. The division between the money players and the role players might be even more pronounced than it is on the men’s side of things, and the stars are just as impressive to watch. Watching Dupree explode from the high-post and look at once forceful and serpentine as she got an and one, Leslie work like a professor in the paint at both ends of the floor, and Candace Parker do just about everything that can be done with a basketball is just as impressive as watching the LeBrons, Wades, and Kobes of this world, believe me.
The other lesson, and this is one that could inform how we watch the men’s game, is that the WNBA really is a bastion of all the skills that many have lamented no longer exist in the men’s game — post moves, floaters, bank shots, mid-range jumpers, weak-side feeds, ball rotation, flex sets that take three screens and five passes before a good shot. But it’s also apparent that women utilize all of these things because they’re forced to — as beautiful as a made basket ends up looking in the women’s pro game, it cannot be ignored that the baskets also come far less frequently. The women can’t explode to the rack or drain three-pointers as well as the guys can, so they’ve been forced to adapt with mid-range strategies. The mid-range game in the NBA is a casualty of logic — dunks and threes are the focus in the NBA because they work, to put it simply. The WNBA game is wonderful to watch because the women have to show the kind of ingenuity and perseverance to get buckets that was necessary in the NBA’s early days, but it should be realized that the nostalgia for these skills in the NBA game is what it is — a desire for strategy to take a step backwards on the macro level, even if the game appears dumbed-down on the micro level.
But all in all, given the eye-popping ability of the stars, the beauty of watching chalkboard basketball work, and how much fun it is to watch these women play the game, I couldn’t recommend the WNBA more highly as something to tide over die-hards until the regular season begins.
John Krolik is a Junior at USC studying creative writing and the author of Cavs: The Blog.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
KICKS 12: On Sale Now! Russ gives the Rookie of the Year front-page shine.
by Russ Bengtson
A few weeks ago, I landed at LAX, picked out my Hyundai rental at Alamo (one with Cali plates—I ain’t stupid), and was in the In N Out Burger drive-through on Sepulveda within a half-hour of deplaning. My priorities might be crooked in other areas, but I know exactly what to do when I find myself in Los Angeles.
But if this is about double-doubles, it’s not about the one I ate (Animal style, with fries and a Coke) on the grass directly under the LAX landing pattern. Rather it’s—warning, awkward transition ahead!—the 10 double-doubles the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose stacked last year en route to winning the Rookie of the Year in a rout. Derrick was out in Cali for adidas’ annual Super Shoot, and we followed close behind to get our own shots for the cover you see here.
Why, you may ask, are we putting someone on the cover of KICKS who doesn’t even have a signature shoe? A fair question. Were this a different time—and were adidas a different company—D. Rose would undoubtedly have his own model. But somehow this seems more right. More fitting. Derrick readily admits to not even wanting to watch his own highlights dating back to his Memphis days, and apparently feels more comfortable discussing his failures than his successes.
For example, check out these two exchanges from our post-shoot Q&A:
KICKS: What was the switch like from the regular season to the Playoffs?
ROSE: A whole other level. Every possession counts. Turnovers, everything counts. In the Playoffs, you can’t mess up, really.
KICKS: And you were going against the defending champs.
ROSE: Yeah, it was fun. It was real fun.
Compare that with this:
KICKS: Who were the toughest guys you went against?
ROSE: Everybody. Oh, growing up? You’re talking like in high school? AAU? Something like that?
KICKS: Yeah, high school, AAU, even playground.
ROSE: Who was the toughest player? Man, the only person that really served me, like really really served me, I don’t even know this boy name. I just know he go to Montana. He probably a senior this year, he probably a senior, and I was young and playin’ up, that’s what you’re supposed to do. It was some boy, he was from Minnesota, he played for a Minnesota team, they came into Chicago, and I was playin’ up. And he served me, I can’t lie.
KICKS: He was another point guard?
ROSE: He had to be a two guard the way he was shootin’. I wanted to check the best player on the floor, so I was checkin’ him. It seemed he wasn’t missin’. He had to have 30-somethin’, 40 points or something like that. I don’t know his name, but I know he goes to Montana.
This was literally the most animated Rose got during our whole talk—speaking about some unnamed kid who busted him up a long time ago. Playing the defending champion Celtics in the playoffs? Meh. Getting lit up by some nameless kid from Minnesota? He’d talk about that all day if you let him.
Well, and if he didn’t have to go get ready for the ESPYs. (For the record, I looked up the current Montana AND Minnesota rosters when I got back to my hotel, and couldn’t find anyone who fit the description. So, if you’re a guy from Montana or Minnesota who lit up Derrick Rose a long time ago, let us know.)
The question of whether or not Rose would want a signature shoe went unasked, but still got answered. In every sense, Rose seems happier being part of a team. There’s probably a part of him that feels uncomfortable just being on this cover alone.
But we’re glad he’s there.
[For so much more from Derrick and Russ, not to mention great features on the likes of Brandon Jennings, Nate Robinson and the Jordan Brand's new retro plans, as well as hundreds of great shoes, pick up your copy as soon as you see it! Or, if you aren't already a SLAM subscriber, sign up now and we'll send you KICKS for free.—Ed.]
DRINK O THE WEEK: LAZY SUMMER DAY
Lazy Summer Day recipe
This drink was invented by me, because I love how the orange smells from and tastes from the Grey Goose. I was sick and tired of having just vodka on the rocks so I took equal measures of each and put them over ice.Something didn't fit though, the ice weakened the initial spark that the drink had over time. After shaking it and putting it in a highball glass with a thin slice of orange floating on top I knew I had it. The drink was diluted so it didn't burn but also not so weak that you couldn't respect it.
2 oz Grey Goose® L'Orange vodka
2 oz Barenjager® honey liqueur
thinly sliced oranges
Pour both ingredients into a shaker. Strain and pour into a highball glass and garnish with an orange slice.
Runner’s father, grandmother dismiss gender uproar By RYAN LUCAS, Associated Press Writer 50 minutes ago
BERLIN (AP)—A day after winning her first 800-meter world title amid a gender-test controversy, the father of South African teenager Caster Semenya dismissed speculation his daughter is not a woman.
The 18-year-old runner’s father, Jacob, told the Sowetan newspaper: “She is my little girl. … I raised her and I have never doubted her gender. She is a woman and I can repeat that a million times.”
Semenya dominated her rivals to win the 800 on Wednesday despite revelations that surfaced earlier in the day that she was undergoing a gender test. Her dramatic improvement in the 800 and 1,5000, muscular build and deep voice sparked speculation about her gender.
“She said to me she doesn’t see what the big deal is all about,” South Africa team manager Phiwe Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said Thursday. “She believes it is God given talent and she will exercise it.”
Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said Semenya was thrilled about winning the race and picking up her first world title.
“She was over the moon,” Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said.
Semenya wasn’t the only one wondering what all the fuss was about.
Semenya’s paternal grandmother, Maputhi Sekgala, said the controversy “doesn’t bother me that much because I know she’s a woman.”
“What can I do when they call her a man, when she’s really not a man? It is God who made her look that way,” Sekgala told the South African daily The Times.
About three weeks ago, the IAAF asked the South African athletics federation to conduct the gender test after Semenya burst onto the scene by posting a world leading time of 1 minute, 56.72 seconds at the African junior championships in Bambous, Mauritius.
The test, which takes weeks to complete, requires a physical medical evaluation, and includes reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, an internal medicine specialist and an expert on gender.
Gideon Sam, the president of South Africa’s Olympic governing body, congratulated Semenya on a “truly remarkable achievement.”
“We condemn the way she was linked with such media speculation and allegation, especially on a day she ran in the final of her first major world event,” Sam said. “It’s the biggest day of her life.”
The medal ceremony for the 800 is later Thursday.
Morris Gilbert, a media consultant for TuksSport, the University of Pretoria’s sports department, said the issue of Semenya’s gender has not been raised since the freshman began attending the school, where she studies sports science.
“We are all very proud of her and of what she’s achieved,” Gilbert said. “The university stands behind her all the way.”
He attributed her recent success to hard work and rigorous training.
“She trains a lot,” Gilbert said. “If you go to the athletics track, you’re sure to find her there. I don’t think she had really good training before she came to the university. She’s from a very poor area.”
While Semenya’s case has attracted a flurry of attention, it’s not the first gender controversy in track and field history.
In 2006, the Asian Games 800 champion, Santhi Soundarajan of India, was stripped of her medal after failing a gender test. Perhaps the most famous case is that of Stella Walsh, also known as Stanislawa Walasiewicz, a Polish athlete who won gold in the 100 at the 1932 Olympics, who had ambiguous genitalia.
The IOC conducted the gender tests at the Olympics, but the controversial screenings were dropped before the 2000 Sydney Games.
Among reasons for dropping the test, not all women have standard female chromosomes. In addition, there are cases of people who have ambiguous genitalia or other congenital conditions.
Associated Press Writer Anita Powell in Johannesburg contributed to this report.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Which Ad Strategy Is Right for You? Rev up your ROI by choosing the best medium for your message. By Rosalind Resnick | August 14, 2009
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted,” Philadelphia department store magnate John Wanamaker was famously quoted as saying. “The trouble is I don’t know which half.”
Wanamaker’s dilemma remains the bane of advertisers today--especially small-business owners on shoestring budgets. Unlike big-name advertisers like Pepsi, Nike, Apple and Ford, small-businesses can’t afford to throw millions of dollars at Super Bowl commercials or glossy magazine ads. Whether your ad budget is $5,000 or $50,000, you’ve got to make every dollar count.
And that means doing the math to calculate the return on investment on every advertising campaign you run.
What’s ROI? Think of it this way: Let’s say you rent a targeted list of 100 dentists in your local zip code and send them each a package containing free samples of your revolutionary new dental floss. After adding up the cost of printing, postage, list rental and samples, you may end spending $3 for every package you mail. This means that your campaign will have bring in at least $300 in profit in order to break even and $600 to double your money.
Here’s the good news: With the double whammy of the recession and the Internet hurting traditional media channels like newspapers, magazines, TV and radio, there’s never been a better time to buy premium advertising at bargain-basement prices--even for a small-business buyer.
The key is finding the advertising channel that best fits your company and your industry and use it to get the biggest bang for your buck. At the end of the day, it’s not about how much you spend or how many eyeballs you reach. It’s about how many customers you can bring in the door while still making enough money to float your boat. And, while no advertising strategy is foolproof (there’s always going to be some initial trial and error before you figure out what works), you’ll get better results and waste less money if you do your homework ahead of time.
“E-mail marketing, television, search marketing and yellow pages typically yield a better ROI for unknown or unbranded direct response offers,” says Michael Weinstein, CEO of Primary Systems, a South Salem, N.Y., Internet marketing firm.“Banner advertising, print and social media are better for companies with existing visibility. For example, Toyota will do better with a banner ad while a one-time ‘act now’ offer would excel in print or television.”
Here’s a quick guide to help you decide which advertising strategy is right for you:
Despite the gloomy predictions of the death of the newspaper and magazine industries, print can still be a great way to target a niche market. For example, if you’re looking to sell pre-paid phone cards to Indian immigrants in Queens or Mexican-Americans in L.A., local ethnic newspapers can be a low-cost way to reach the entire community in one shot and to deliver discount coupons that let you track response to your offer. Likewise, a targeted local or national magazine can offer an inexpensive way to reach quilters or new parents. Depending on the size of the market and the size of your ad (quarter page, half page or full page), newspapers will typically charge $5 CPM to $25 CPM (cost per thousand impressions). National magazine rates average $6 CPM.
Broadcast
No media outlet reaches more people than television, which is why it’s still so popular among advertisers but also why it’s so difficult to measure ROI. While TV may be a great way to market a new car to the roughly 100 million people who watch the Super Bowl, it’s not a cost-effective way to reach your target market--even if you could afford $2.6 million for a 30-second spot. TV advertising ranges from $10 CPM for a local broadcast to $35 CPM for a commercial on a popular network sitcom. That doesn’t include the cost of producing the spot.
“If a general demographic description is all you need, then TV can be great,” says Jerry Shereshewsky, a New York City ad agency veteran and CEO of Grandparents.com. “But as soon as you need to get narrower, you’re out of luck.”
Direct TV is a better bet for small-business owners, especially inventors who have a blockbuster new kitchen appliance or fitness machine that must be seen to be believed. Both broadcast and cable television networks offer 30-, 60- and 120-second direct response commercials at a fraction of the cost of traditional spots. Because DRTV spots usually contain a “call to action,” you can flash a toll-free number or Web address that will let you measure your ROI to the penny. If your product is hot, you may even land a deal with a DRTV production company to foot the bill for your infomercial in return for a share of the revenue.
If you’re looking to reach a targeted demographic while they’re commuting to work in the morning or driving home at night, there’s nothing like radio. With an average CPM of just over $4, radio is a low-cost way to reach loyal listeners of popular DJs and talk show hosts. Radio advertising packages offer more than just a pre-recorded spot. They often include on-air introductions to your ad plus interactive contests and giveaways that can help you track and monitor the effectiveness of your campaign.
Directory
Advertising in the Yellow Pages may be old school, but, if you’re a plumber, electrician, locksmith or other emergency repair technician, you can’t afford not to be there. According to the Yellow Page Publishing Association, 96 percent of U.S. households have at least one copy. When a pipe bursts, a toilet overflows or someone locks himself out of his house at 2 a.m., you want to be the first to get the call--even if nobody remembers that the name of your company is AAA Aardvark Plumbing.
But there’s more to advertising in the Yellow Pages these days than listing your phone number in big bold numbers. With consumers and businesses increasingly turning to the Internet to find the service providers they need, it may also pay to list your business in online directories. AT&T’s YellowPages.com claims it generates over 140 million monthly searches and that 55 percent of their users have purchased a product or service from a merchant they found there. Merchants can enhance their listings with interactive features like video profiles, premium inventory listings, websites and search engine optimization.
Outdoor
Outdoor advertising – the signs you see on billboards, bus benches, subways, trains, airports, even elevators – is almost impossible to quantify in terms of ROI, but it can work wonders for dentists, lawyers, podiatrists and trade schools looking to reach busy commuters. And, at an average CPM of $2.26, there’s no cheaper way to reach a captive audience. So, while a small resort hotel may not have the ad budget of a Marriott or a Hilton, there’s no better way to tell weary commuters about your hotel than with a sign that says “Pat’s Bed and Breakfast, Exit 16.”
Internet
No longer an experimental ad vehicle, Internet advertising will total $24.5 billion this year, up 4.5 percent from 2008, according to research firm eMarketer. Unlike print and broadcast, Internet advertising is easy to measure thanks to tools that track site traffic and click-through. And it’s often cheaper than traditional media because many online publishers charge on performance, not traditional CPM-based metrics.
Internet advertising falls into three basic categories:
Banner Advertising
The online sister of print and broadcast, banners can give your ad constant exposure on a popular website or advertising network, letting you associate your brand with a publication that your prospective customers already trust. Banner ads generally work best for e-commerce companies that sell directly from their web pages and boast well-established brands. These are the types of companies that can take advantage of the fact that their next customer may be just one click away. Susan Wilson Solovic, CEO of Small Business Television, says “banner ads work well for branding campaigns and established brands with a simple call to action.”
To get the most out of banner advertising, it’s best to run your banners on the kind of sites that target your desired demographic--working moms, sports car enthusiasts, business travelers or senior citizens. If you’re selling luxury trips or expensive watches, for example, it may be worth paying $7.50 to $15 CPM to advertise on The Huffington Post. If you’re looking to tap the affluent baby boomer market, you may not mind spending $25 CPM to $45 CPM to run your ad on AARP’s site. But beware: Click-throughs on banner ads are notoriously low, so make sure you’re not spending more on banners that you can realistically recoup in sales.
E-mail Marketing
Unlike traditional direct mail with its hefty postage, printing and handling costs, you can blast out an e-mail marketing campaign for little more than the list rental cost alone--and start ringing up sales within minutes. Depending on how narrow the market you’re trying to reach (for example, divorced female fly fishers, ages 35 to 45, in Jackson Hole, WY), you can spend a tenth of a penny to more than $1 per e-mail address for a targeted list of permission-based e-mail addresses.
Once you’ve picked your list, the rest is easy. Just whip up some copy, remember to pop in a link to your website and hit send. Whether you send out your e-mail campaign to loyal customers or hot prospects, you can easily track ROI by inserting a URL in your message that contains a special tracking code or which sends recipients of your mailing to a specific page on your website. A word of caution: “Spam lists” containing e-mail addresses compiled from websites, directories and other sources without their recipients’ permission continue to circulate on the Internet. Beware of bargain-basement lists that promise millions of e-mail addresses--or else you may find your mailings blocked and your company booted off your ISP.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
On the Internet, every store is only one click away. That’s why one of the most cost-effective ways to drive customers to your site is sponsoring search terms on Google, Microsoft, AOL and other popular search engines. Unlike banner advertising and e-mail marketing, which are typically sold on a CPM basis, pay-per-click marketing requires you to pay only when a prospective buyer types in the relevant keywords and clicks on the link to your website.
“Search is now the tool of choice for shoppers, replacing both local newspaper advertising and yellow pages,” Shereshewsky says.
Even so, it’s important to choose your keywords carefully and closely monitor your budget. Because popular keywords like “toys,” “shoes” and “travel” can be expensive, it’s often more cost-effective to sponsor more targeted terms like “extra wide women’s shoes” or “luxury hiking trips Nepal.” Make sure to test the ROI of the keywords you sponsor (along with your ad copy and landing page) before you roll out your campaign in a big way.
In addition to paid advertising opportunities, the Internet also offers the chance to conduct no-cost grassroots marketing campaigns through blogs, social networks and bookmarking sites. But don’t expect the kind of ROI from Facebook or Twitter that you get from banners, e-mail or search engine marketing. According to Weinstein, social media marketing “is a great forum to communicate with your customers, but it takes constant care and feeding and isn’t suitable for marketers looking for an immediate return.”
Whether you choose an online, print, broadcast or directory advertising channel for your next campaign, it pays to do the math before investing your company’s hard-earned dollars. A little planning now will ensure that you’ll know which half of your advertising budget is working--and which half you’d be better off employing elsewhere.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
HOW COULD YOU NOT LOVE THIS GUY? FOR MY FUTURE MOVIE MAKERS.
Spike Lee founded 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks based in his childhood neighborhood, the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn in 1986, after gaining box office success and critical acclaim from producing, writing, acting, and directing his first feature film She’s Gotta Have It. Since the inception of 40 Acres, it has developed and produced outstanding feature films such as the box office hit Inside Man, 25th Hour, Academy Award nominated 4 Little Girls, Malcolm X and Do the Right Thing. The company gave a whole generation of young people at the time access to the film industry that they did not have before. 40 Acres helped launch the careers of numerous young African American actors and production staff over the course of its history.
Not only did 40 Acres help people break into the film industry, but it has given back to the community in numerous ways. Basketball courts were re-done for the community to play on. 40 Acres has sponsored local sports teams and leagues during summer tournaments. Food and toy donations were given out to shelters during the holidays and other times of the year. Through its non-profit organization, Project 40, it set up programs that gave African American and underprivileged children opportunities to get professional instruction. Summer basketball camps were held at the high school level, which also offered SAT preparatory classes for the students. Project 40 sent out academic athletic newsletters throughout the year to inform and encourage students about preparation for college and news relating to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
40 Acres expanded its brand into other subdivisions. They first started a T-shirt business, where they sold merchandise from their offices in Fort Greene. The demand became so high that it began to interfere in everyday 40 Acres business. Then Spike’s Joint was opened in July 1990 to meet that demand. A second store in Los Angeles, Spike’s Joint West, was opened in October 1992 after the success of the first store and the rising popularity of the 40 Acres Malcolm X baseball caps. The stores reached out to the community by holding readings given by celebrities for children and sponsoring high school students for preparatory educational exams.
The 40 Acres Institute was a film program that demystified filmmaking. It was offered to those interested in film and wanted to learn more about the business. The seminars were held on Saturday mornings at the Long Island University campus in Fort Greene. Numerous guests came to speak about the film industry, including Martin Scorsese, John Singleton, Robert De Niro, and the Hughes Brothers.
40 Acres has had an intern boot camp dating back to Do the Right Thing. The 40 Acres Internship Program boot camp offered interns knowledge of the ins and outs of film production. Before entering the boot camp one had to take an exam that tested you on your knowledge of film and filmmaking. After, you went through a week orientation that gave you a background on film production with the help of guest speakers and staff that you would hear or meet. The boot camp served as another way to demystify filmmaking. Once you were an intern you got placed in the department of your preference and received hands on experience in film production that you could apply to future work.
Another subdivision of the company was 40 Acres and a Mule Musicworks. The record label, a division of Columbia Records, was formed in 1991 after the success of the singles “Da Butt” from the School Daze Soundtrack and “Fight the Power” from the Do the Right Thing Soundtrack. Musicworks aimed to “enlarge the legacy of African-American music.”
Story development has played a key role at 40 Acres. Since 1992, story development in the New York office has reviewed numerous projects to pursue. Between 1998 and 2004, story development had a presence on the west coast in Los Angeles. A handful of those projects had received a green light for production, including Tales From the Hood, The Best Man, Love N’ Basketball, and Good Fences. The company is constantly in development and looking at a number of projects at the same time. 40 Acres is promoting the release of Spike Lee’s twenty-first feature film out on DVD and Blu-Ray, adapted from James McBride's novel Miracle at St. Anna starring Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller and John Turturro. Currently 40 Acres is also promoting Spike's Kobe Doin' Work, a documentary on Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant and his film on the Broadway rock musical Passing Strange.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
ENTREPRENEUR MAGAZINE: "Creating Your Own Job"
Need a job? Even though many people lose their jobs during a recession, a recession can be a good time to create your own job. Small businesses and franchises pop up during recessions because people who have been laid off in the corporate world are sick of big-company bureaucracy and are ready to be their own boss. After years of hard work, overtime and dedication, out-of-work executives realize that big corporations do not provide security.
There are many benefits to opening a business during a recession. Entrepreneurs can take advantage of prime real estate opportunities, there is a larger pool of potential employees to choose from, and many suppliers are willing to negotiate prices to win your business.
But most of out-of-work executives have little to no experience opening their own business. Franchises can be very attractive because they offer the chance for people to own their own business but with the support and knowledge of a dedicated team working behind you. Franchises allow you to work for yourself with a guideline on how to be successful.
So why is the franchise industry experiencing an overall decline this year? As you may have guessed, it is the lack of financing available. The No. 1 source of funds to open small business has been home equity. The mortgage industry has tightened qualifications, and property values have dropped. It is difficult to refinance your home in this market and even more difficult to pull out a significant amount of cash.
Another source for financing a business is from savings and 401(k)s. After the drop in the market during the last year, many people have lost assets in the stock market that may have been used to open a business.
And of course, there are always small-business loans, right? You can get a small-business loan and help jumpstart this economy. Wrong! Guidelines for small-business loans are so strict that they eliminate access to cash for the people who really need them. Traditional bank loans from historic restaurant lenders such as GE Capital remain difficult to secure, and government-backed SBA loans are harder to obtain. (Unfortunately, instead of supplementing loans for creating small businesses and new jobs, your tax dollars have been spent helping big corporations whose top executives enjoy enormous bonuses and spa treatments.)
Last, but not least, there are private investors. Unfortunately, raising funds to open a business from private investors can be very difficult.
Some franchisers are helping to fight the credit crunch by offering discounts and some are even providing financing. Franchisers such as tumble & tea cafe and Red Mango are reducing their upfront franchise fee, reducing royalties or even offering buy-back opportunities to help people open their own businesses. Other franchisers, such as Marco's Pizza, a Toledo, Ohio-based chain, have raised a fund from private investors to lend to qualified franchisees.
I hope the government stimulus package will start helping small businesses get off the ground. Small business can stimulate this economy. Data and research funded by the Office of Advocacy shows that small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all firms, create more than half of the private non-farm gross domestic product, and create 60 percent to 80 percent of the net new jobs.
If you are thinking about opening your own business, don't give up because finding the financing is difficult. Do you want to stay in this recession or be part of the solution? It's the entrepreneurs of today who will get us out of this recession and create the jobs for tomorrow.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
STREETZTALK.NET: NEW JORDANS
Michael, I hated you for ending the Knicks dreams countless times, but your sneaker game was beyond official! These are one of my favorite sneakers all-time, yet I never owned them. This transgression will not be repeated. These kix will be re-released soon, and I can’t wait! Nov 27th FTW!
Check our more pics at Kicks On Fire
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