Shaquille O’Neal Enters the Coffee Space with FORTO
Shaquille O’Neal Enters the Coffee Space with FORTO
The Hall of Famer Gives Coffee A Shot, Becomes an Investor and Brand Ambassador
FORTO Coffee, maker of the World’s 1st Coffee Shot and America’s #1 Organic Ready-to-Drink Coffee, today announced that Hall of Famer and businessman Shaquille O’Neal will become a co-owner of the company and the new face of the FORTO brand.
The alignment with Shaq, coupled with a $20 million investment last year, including $15 million investement.
“I can enjoy a FORTO Coffee Shot anytime, anywhere,” said O’Neal. “Plus, it’s organic, tastes great, and best of all, it fits in my pocket. These coffee shots have given me the energy to stay active and I’m excited to be at the forefront of the future of coffee.”
As FORTO’s global ambassador, Shaq will headline the brand’s multi-channel marketing campaign, which launches across TV, out of home, in-store, digital and social media in the coming year. Shaq has had unprecedented success as an investor, business owner and black entrepreneur. FORTO Coffee Shots are the perfect fit for Shaq’s busy lifestyle, providing him with fast-acting and great-tasting energy that lasts all day long.
“Shaq embodies what FORTO is all about: fast-acting, positive energy,” says Neel Premkumar, Founder and CEO of FORTO Coffee. “He’s a living example of how FORTO can help people get the most out of their days from a coffee drink that they can feel good about.”
FORTO Coffee Shots are available in more than 50,000 retail locations nationwide, as well as online on Amazon and at www.FORTOcoffee.com. They come in a variety of delicious flavors, including Vanilla Latte, Chocolate Latte, and more.
About FORTO
FORTO is the #1 Coffee Shot, a ready-to-drink beverage providing the equivalent energy of two cups of coffee in a 2-ounce shot. Fast-acting and made with 100% organic coffee, FORTO is leading a new wave of ready-to-drink coffees that are changing the way people get their daily energy boost. FORTO is owned by Dyla Brands, one of the fastest-growing beverage manufacturers in America. FORTO is sold in over 50,000 retail locations nationally, on Amazon, and at FORTOCoffee.com. To learn more about FORTO, visit FORTOcoffee.com.
Byron Allen. Founder/Chairman/CEO, Entertainment Studios.
August 20th, 2019 is the 400th Anniversary of Slavery in America but Unfortunately, Today We are Still Economic Slaves
Byron Allen is the Founder/Chairman/CEO of Entertainment Studios, one of the largest privately-held media companies in the world, and happens to be African-American
Comcast/NBCUniversal and the Trump Department of Justice are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to roll back civil rights. It started with a racial discrimination case I brought against Comcast. After losing twice in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Comcast went to the U.S. Supreme Court. And now they’ve brought the Trump Administration along to take their side in the highest court, putting at risk all Americans’ civil rights for their own financial gain.
Byron Allen. Founder/Chairman/CEO, Entertainment Studios. (PRNewsfoto/Entertainment Studios)
Byron Allen. Founder/Chairman/CEO, Entertainment Studios. (PRNewsfoto/Entertainment Studios)
Comcast/NBCUniversal, the largest cable operator and residential broadband provider in the U.S., enjoys the image of a progressive, diverse media company, holding itself out as an organization that stands up to discrimination and gives voice to progressive viewpoints and people of color. It’s the same company that brings Rachel Maddow, Chris Hayes, Joy Reid and Lester Holt into your living room every day and unsparingly covers Donald Trump’s racist Twitter rants. If all you did was watch Comcast’s MSNBC and NBC programming, you would never know that the company is quietly attacking civil rights in the U.S. Supreme Court right now, in an effort to deny us a fair shot at doing business with the company and in the process, gutting the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and its prohibition against racial discrimination in contracting.
But that’s what they’re doing. Perverting a key provision of the law that protects minority businesses at a time when people of color are under heightened attack. All for what Comcast says is in its best financial interest. While it is not unusual for a big corporation to defend itself in court, what makes this case different is the stark contrast between how Comcast presents itself to its viewers and subscribers on the one hand, and how it presents itself to the U.S. Supreme Court on the other. The very same company whose anchors, commentators, and correspondents report on and excoriate Donald Trump for his racist statements, is arguing to the U.S. Supreme Court that African Americans, Latinos, and every other racial minority should have a harder time winning relief under the Civil Rights Act. And now Comcast has teamed up with Donald Trump to keep African-Americans and other minorities from achieving economic inclusion and equality.
Comcast is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by my company, Entertainment Studios, which produces TV shows and owns TV networks for distribution on cable and satellite platforms, including channels in the comedy, entertainment, and news genres. Like all such companies, Entertainment Studios must sell its channels to the big Pay-TV distributors, like Comcast, who decide which channels to carry and under what terms. We allege that after multiple meetings with Comcast programming executives, and after demonstrating our channels’ competitive ratings, critical acclaim, and distribution by many of Comcast’s competitors (Verizon Fios, DIRECTV, AT&T/U-Verse, and DISH Network), Comcast declined to carry any Entertainment Studios channels and instead carried similarly-themed, lower quality channels that were not owned by minorities. We also allege that a Comcast executive explained the decision by saying “we don’t need any more Bob Johnsons” — a reference to the African-American billionaire founder of the cable network BET, suggesting that Comcast did not want to do a deal with my company because of my race. Based on this and other evidence that race was a motivating factor in Comcast’s decision not to carry my TV channels, my company sued under The Civil Rights Act of 1866, 42 U.S.C. § 1981, a federal statute that prohibits racial discrimination in contracting. The law was enacted to give the newly-freed slaves a pathway to economic inclusion. On June 10, 2019, petitioned by Comcast after it lost twice in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case on the question of what evidence a plaintiff must show to establish a claim under the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
Comcast, which makes billions of dollars annually from African-American subscribers, has taken the position that a plaintiff must show that racial discrimination was the only, 100 percent “but for” reason not to do business with African Americans. In other words, Comcast argues that an African American-owned business must show not only that the defendant considered race (which the statute forbids), but that the professed, hypothetical race-neutral reasons that could have motivated the defendant are false. In this case, that means that Entertainment Studios would have to prove that race was the only reason Comcast refused to do business with it, not simply a major reason. The impact, of course, is to make it much, much harder for me and other Americans, today and in the future, to secure economic inclusion.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals completely rejected this argument. It ruled in my company’s favor, not once, but twice, stating that if a plaintiff shows that race was a “motivating factor” among many in a contracting decision, that is enough to state a claim under the Civil Rights Act of 1866. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled wisely. There are many possible explanations for any business decision. It is very difficult to prove that race was the only factor in deciding against doing a deal. In other areas of discrimination law, courts have ruled that a plaintiff need only prove that race was a motivating factor, shifting the burden to the defendant to show that the same decision would have been made without regard to race. That is our position and it is consistent with the language and history of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
Unfortunately, rather than accept the judgment of two rulings from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Comcast used its enormous wealth and power to challenge and put at risk a very important civil rights statute in the U.S. Supreme Court, endangering all Americans’ civil rights in the pursuit of Comcast’s own financial gain. We should not be surprised. Comcast knows how to control lawmakers, regulators, politicians, and advocacy groups. They consistently rank among the top spenders on lobbying, along with defense contractors and other large industries. One civil rights leader told us that while he opposes Comcast’s manipulative legal actions “Comcast has us by the b***s.” There it is. Civil rights organizations are afraid to speak out against Comcast, because Comcast gives them money, stopping them from doing what they were created to do – fight for and maintain our civil rights.
Now, Comcast even has persuaded Donald Trump to join them in taking a stand against civil rights in the U.S. Supreme Court. Comcast’s top executives supported Hillary Clinton for president. NBC and MSNBC criticize Donald Trump constantly. Trump delights in calling out Comcast and the rest of the “mainstream media.” But when it comes to rolling back civil rights, Comcast and Trump bury the hatchet and team up against us to make sure we are economically excluded forever.
Comcast’s current posture before the U.S. Supreme Court is consistent with its behavior over the last several years. Billionaire Michael Bloomberg had to sue Comcast for violating an FCC order requiring Comcast to compete lawfully and place the Bloomberg business news channel in the same lineup as Comcast’s own business channel, CNBC. As a broadband provider, Comcast has deployed technology to slow competitors’ video over the internet (just ask Netflix) and when caught by the FCC, rather than reform their behavior, Comcast sued the U.S. government.
Unfortunately, Comcast has chosen to use the U.S. Supreme Court to maximize its own profits, if Comcast thinks that we are wrong, it should go to trial and make its case. It should not challenge and put at risk all minorities’ ability to prove discrimination under the Civil Rights Act that has been in place for 153 years. Meanwhile, I hope that people of conscience will let the U.S. Supreme Court, Donald Trump’s DOJ, and Comcast know, enough is enough. Dr. Maya Angelou taught us if we give them one hair on our head, eventually we will wake up bald. Four hundred years after the start of slavery in America, every day, America kills African-Americans in the classroom by making sure we don’t get a proper education; in the boardroom by making sure we don’t have true economic inclusion; and in the courtroom with Jim Crow laws and massive incarceration, long before you watch us bleed to death in the streets. I hope that America takes this historic opportunity to make sure that we have equal rights for all and don’t allow Comcast — headed by CEO Brian Roberts — to manipulate civil rights laws in partnership with the Donald Trump Administration, which will hurt millions of Americans, for Comcast’s own financial gain.
Coretta Scott King, the widow of the great Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a friend of mine and I’ll never forget what she told me. She said, “Byron, as African Americans in this country, we had four major challenges. Number one, end slavery. Number two, end Jim Crow. Number three, achieve civil rights. And number four, the real reason they killed my Martin, achieve economic inclusion.” I told Mrs. King, “you and Dr. King have done more than enough, and we will pursue the fourth and final chapter, and achieve economic inclusion.” She told me, “they will come after you, and there’s nothing they won’t do to stop you.” So, on November 13th, 2019, when I am standing in the U.S. Supreme Court defending our civil rights laws and protecting our pathway to economic inclusion, I will have in my heart Coretta Scott King, who told me that this moment would come. Although the U.S. government has told the U.S. Supreme Court to rule against us, we all know that it’s not fair. It’s not fair because we will be standing there with the truth — along with the wisdom, the guidance, and resilience of our spiritual ancestors. And fortunately for us, Comcast will only be standing there with just Donald Trump.
Fearless Fund – Arian Simone and Keshia Knight Pulliam
This VC Fund caters to pre-seed, seed and Series A startups while servicing an underrepresented segment of women vying for more representation and funding opportunities
The Fearless Fund invests in women of color-led businesses seeking pre-seed, seed level, or series A funding. With a mission of bridging the gap in venture capital funding for women of color founders building scalable, growth aggressive companies, Fearless Fund is built by women of color for women of color. Since its recent initiation, the Fearless Fund has hosted pitch competitions at Facebook Headquarters & Spanx Headquarters with brand partners such as Coca-Cola, UrbanSkinRX, Bumble and more.
Through Fearless Fund, Founding Partners Arian Simone and Keshia Knight Pulliam are highlighting how diversity significantly impacts a company’s performance and potential to provide investor returns. In fact, a 2018 report released by Boston Consulting Group found that for every dollar of funding a startup in their study received, female-run startups generated an average of 78 cents in revenue while male-run startups generated 31 cents. Despite a greater potential to produce higher returns, women are historically underfunded–particularly women of color. “The Fearless fund is designed to change the narrative as it relates to funding allocated to women of color,” states Arian Simone.
In 2018, U.S. companies raised a total of $130B in VC funding. A mere 2.2% of that total went toward female-founded companies and less than 1% of total funding was allocated toward businesses founded by women of color (Fortune, 2018 & GirlBoss, 2019). This is not a “pipeline issue” or a result of a lack of VC-eligible, women of color-led companies. In fact, Fearless Fund already has five companies in its portfolio including Ellis Island Tea founded by Forbes 30 Under 30 black entrepreneur Nailah Ellis-Brown, the first African-American female to ever own a beverage production facility.
Serial black entrepreneur, philanthropist, angel investor, best-selling author, and marketing expert, Arian Simone, spearheads this initiative alongside actress and black entrepreneur, Keshia Knight Pulliam. Arian is the Founder and CEO of Arian Simone Enterprises and Keshia is the Founder of spice line Keshia’s Kitchen, podcast Kandidly Keshia and non-profit The Kamp Kizzy Foundation. Additionally, the fund has seen abundant support from its advisors: Opportunity Hub CEO, Rodney Sampson, and The 22 Fund Managing Partner, Tracy Gray. Early investors in the fund include actress and producer, Marsai Martin (Black-ish), Atlanta OBGYN, Dr. Jacqueline Waters (Married to Medicine), Chattanooga VC fund, The JumpFund, and other notable individual and institutional investors.
With a proven track record of molding successful startups and building an expansive network of top entertainers and business leaders, the Fearless Fund team is more than a source of capital infusion for the companies they invest in. In addition to a robust mentor program, the team is leveraging their network to build out an optional Celebrity Equity-Based Endorsement program for their portfolio companies. This program aims to quickly scale companies by connecting them with celebrities for influencer marketing campaigns.
Fearless Fund is proof that women of color are founding and growing businesses that drive strong returns for their investors while multiplying the number of women of color who are investors. 2017 and 2018 reports showed little-to-no growth in the amount of funding allocated toward WOC-led businesses. It’s time that we have positive numbers to report in terms of VC funding for WOC-led businesses. Fearless Fund is the key—the game-changer.
ABOUT THE FEARLESS FUND:
Fearless Fund invests in women of color-led businesses seeking pre-seed, seed level, or series A financing. Its mission is to bridge the gap in venture capital funding for women of color founders building scalable, growth aggressive companies. Fearless Fund is built by women of color for women of color.
Alfred Haber, Inc. Celebrates Recent Acquisition Of the “20th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards®”. Milestone platinum anniversary to highlight skyrocketing international popularity of Latin music. Image of Bad Bunny, Marc Anthony and Will Smith from the “19th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards®”.
Alfred Haber, Inc. Celebrates Recent Acquisition Of The “20th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards®”
Milestone platinum anniversary to highlight skyrocketing international popularity of Latin music
In anticipation of the upcoming platinum celebration, Alfred Haber, President of Alfred Haber, Inc., announced today the company has secured the exclusive international distribution rights from The Latin Recording Academy for the 20th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards® (1 x 240′), the world’s most remarkable salute to Latin music. The milestone event will air live on Univision in the U.S. on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019, and will include both the three-hour music extravaganza as well as the star-studded, one-hour Latin GRAMMY Red Carpet pre-show. Also available will be a specially edited, 2-hour English language international version of the event. This new deal marks the 18th consecutive year that Alfred Haber, Inc. will have distributed the Latin GRAMMY Awards®internationally
“At a time when half of the past year’s top 100 YouTube videos viewed came from Latin artists and 19 Latin music videos reached over a billion views, all eyes and ears are on the incredible world of Latin music,” commented Haber. “The Biggest Night in Latin Music® was one of the very first awards show to serve as an international musical showcase for Latin music and now, two decades later, we are excited and honored to be sharing this milestone 20th anniversary platinum celebration with audiences around the world.”
Due in large part to incredible, star-studded collaborations that have recently dominated music charts and dance floors worldwide – Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” with Daddy Yankee and Justin Bieber, J Balvin’s “Mi Gente” with Beyoncé and Willy William, Cardi B’s “I Like It” with Bad Bunny and J Balvin, to name a few – Latin music has never been more popular internationally. Last November’s 19th Annual Latin GRAMMY Awards® was a dazzling showcase of the year in Latin music which emphasized the incredible quality and diversity of both traditional and contemporary Latin music, including rock, hip hop, reggaeton, folk, norteño, salsa, pop and much more. Licensees of the show included Turner (Latin America), Telefonica (Spain), Telelatino (Canada), Televisa (Mexico), Venevision (Venezuela), Telemicro (Dominican Republic), Canal Uno (Colombia), La Red/Canal 4 (Chile), El Nueve/Canal 9 (Argentina), and ATV/Canal 9 (Peru).
ABOUT THE LATIN RECORDING ACADEMY For more information about The Latin Recording Academy, please visit LatinGRAMMY.com.
ABOUT THE ALFRED HABER COMPANIES For more information about the Alfred Haber companies, please visit www.alfredhaber.com.
USC Thornton School of Music’s Redesigned Curriculum Trains Undergraduate Students for the Music Gig Economy
The USC Thornton School of Music is preparing students by training them to succeed in the gig economy. Musicians have long earned a living off short-term and freelance contracts. However, musicians typically learn how to navigate the gig economy after graduation. USC Thornton is changing that.
In a continued commitment to rethinking music education, USC Thornton redesigned its undergraduate curriculum for classical music. The redesign focuses on developing virtuosic musicians with artistic vision and black entrepreneurial skills to lead a vibrant career in the 21st Century.
“Often, musicians earn a living through multiple income streams. Unfortunately, traditional undergraduate classical music programs do little to prepare students for success in the current musical landscape,” said Robert Cutietta, Dean of USC Thornton. “Our goal is to equip students with professional skills before they graduate so they can lead a fulfilling career in music.”
USC Thornton’s curriculum change reflects a fundamental shift in classical music. Classical musicians are performing and monetizing music in exciting new ways, and traditional conservatories, clinging onto century-old curriculums, are failing to prepare students for the realities of life in classical music after school. Many conservatories are hesitant to change, which has led to many schools adopting almost identical curricula for classical music students.
“As one of the world’s premier music schools, we didn’t have to change,” said Cutietta. “Our students are highly successful in all the traditional ways. They are winning auditions, competitions, and finding fulfilling careers. It’s exactly because we are successful that we feel an obligation to lead a change to ensure a vibrant future for our profession.”
The heart of the degree still emphasizes musical excellence—students maintain a robust core of performance, history, and theory classes, including a senior recital and individualized project. What separates USC Thornton’s new model for classical music education from its predecessors is that it gives every student the flexibility to shape their artistic path, discover their unique voice, and graduate as a well-rounded artist.
“We’ve designed our curriculum to develop multi-dimensional musicians,” said Cutietta. “There are a million paths to success in the world of music. We’re showing students how to thrive in today’s diverse music profession and find their unique place in it.”
This is a basic introduction to making money blogging and create a passive income investment by doing so. There are many other ways to generate income but these are the most popular. Please like and share.
The other day I was quite surprised to see a “financial advisor” give some of the worse advice ON TV that I have ever seen. She was telling people to get extra jobs to create a “Passive income investment” to generate wealth. I could not believe she was serious and people were actually following her advice and getting extra jobs to pay off bills and to earn extra money to make ends meet. I am not in any way a financial advisor but I DO understand how to make your money work for you.
First and foremost we have all heard “It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep” but there needs to be an addition to that statement. “It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep AND WHAT YOU INVEST.”
The first thing I can tell you is that “passive income” is NOT going out and working yourself to death to make extra money. That’s simply EXTRA income and I can guarantee you that if you think that’s the way to gain wealth you absolutely can, but it will take a lifetime and you better be willing to surrender all of your relationships, your health, and your most valuable assets: your time and your energy.
I believe one of our responsibilities when we have been blessed, is to share our knowledge with others. I strongly believe in paying it forward. Allow me to share a bit of information with you to gain wealth that is ACTUALLY “passive income.” For this case, I’ll use the benefits of a blog or website.
I know several people who have excellent content and they use Facebook to garner audience and response and while they do a GREAT job of doing that, they are leaving a LOT of money on the table. First and foremost because they are giving it away to Facebook and they are not getting an ROI (Return on their investment) of TIME and ENERGY. Here is a better way to do it if you have a large following on Facebook. Click NEXT below to see the next segment
Create a Blog or Vlog Instead …
Giving your best compelling long-form posts away on social media certainly has a return on the investment. Your fans may like it, share it or comment on it. But you are missing two amazing assets. You don’t have their email address and you are not gaining any income from it. Posting on Facebook actually has a limited return. Your posts are NOT getting to your entire friend’s list because Facebook wants you to pay to reach your entire list with Facebook ads.
Even when people share your posts, all of THEIR friends are not seeing your posts either but what’s worse is Facebook has no way for you to monetize your content because they want YOU to pay THEM. By having your own site or blog, you can earn a great deal of money from Google Adsense which is known as “affiliate income.”
Let me be honest, it’s going to take about a year of posting to see good returns on a blog. It’s not a get-rich-quick venture but if done right it can last many years and give you residual earnings. You may make $100 after about a year of posting, maybe more. I have a good average for Radio Facts but the more visitors you get the more you make. Blogging is all about PPC (Pay Per Click) when it comes to Google Adsense but you also make money per 1000 visitors even if they don’t click. When I started off, I was making about $30 a month with Radio Facts. Since that time, my earnings have escalated tremendously.
My most earnings came when I earned $1200 IN ONE DAY when I had a really hot post on the site about racism. There are journalists, bloggers and sites out there earning as much as $8000 and MORE A DAY with AdSense and other affiliate marketing programs but AdSense is by far the most popular and the most used. Know that if you are posting compelling content on Facebook that’s getting a lot of responses you are leaving money on the table.
BTW, a “Vlog” is the same as a blog but a video version. Vlogs are actually more profitable. I will go into detail about Vlogging in the follow-up article. Click NEXT below to see the next segment
Write eBooks as a Passive Income Investment
I’ve written several eBooks over the years and it’s really not that hard. You can literally take some of your content from your blog that has consistency (related to one subject) and create an ebook with plugins like Anthologize. You can formulate the eBook, get a proofreader/editor off of FIVERR and have them formulate the ebook. Hire a graphic designer off of FIVERR for a reasonable price and create an eBook from compelling content you have already written over a one or two year period. It would be very difficult to do that with Facebook. Click NEXT below to see the next segment
Radio Facts is considered a “Micro-Influencer” site because we are niche and very engaging for readers. Micro-influencers are HUGE right now because major influencer site audiences are not as engaged and advertisers have realized they have wasted a lot of money on those sites. If you are posting reviews for restaurants on social media, for example, that same content can go on a website or blog and advertisers will approach YOU about running banners or posts, depending on the quality of your site. Sure advertisers approach people about mentioning a product on social media if they have a great following, but you still don’t have the ability to earn extra income with banners.
I was having a conversation with a girl at a bar the other day who knows all the hot spots in the San Fernando Valley, from restaurants to bars to music spots. I told her she should think about doing a blog because advertisers would be thrilled to get her to review their products and she could easily relegate herself as an expert. In addition, because she has a niche “Hot spots in the San Fernando Valley” instead of something much more competitive and WAY too broad like “Hot Spots in LA” she could grow her site quickly and be a “Micro influencer” Click NEXT below to see the next segment
Use Adsense as a Passive Income Investment
“Passive income” is not about working yourself to death, it’s about waking up in the morning and seeing a text on your phone that says “A direct deposit has been made to your account” and you didn’t expect it. Not only is that the BEST feeling in the world and a GREAT way to start your day, but it’s also making money while you sleep. Having a website or a blog for your compelling content will open the door for you to run AdSense ads. As stated at the start of this article, it will take a minute to get your money rolling in but it will happen sooner if you are running a lot of great content that is garnering a lot of visits or goes viral. Blogging is not a game, it’s a job. So make sure you chose to have a blog about something that you are REALLY interested in. If you are interested in it, there’s a good chance others are too. Click NEXT below to see the next segment
Get Email Addresses
Social media nets have shut down your ability to get email addresses from your friends. This is intentional. This is so that the ONLY way that you can reach them is to use the middleman (social media) but when you also think about the fact that your posts are only reaching a small segment of the people on your friends list AND you can only reach more people by spending a LOT of time AND money on social media, you have to ask yourself if it’s worth it ESPECIALLY when you could develop a mailing list with those email addresses and have that same compelling content you are posting on a social media platform go to your ENTIRE list for a small monthly fee. In addition, you have the added benefit of your site being indexed by Google. Click NEXT below to see the next segment
I’ve been asked to speak at major events, to make TV appearances and to give my opinion on major sites. This is a great passive income investment because it elevates your brand. Who would go on TV and promote their Facebook page? A LOT of people do and that’s a not giving them the true benefit of brand building because they don’t have their email addresses. It’s better to promote your site and to make sure you have a popup to gather email addresses. In the process of making appearances, your earnings will start to go up because once people see you as an expert and they will request you. Keep in mind, Email addresses are MORE valuable than social media friends. If you have to, find a way to promote both. Click NEXT below to see the next segment
When you are invited to cover events or make appearances GO FOR IT but posting the reviews on social media is OK but again, you are leaving money on the table. If you ever read sites or blogs and you see references to articles, it is RARE that the link is to a FaceBook page or article. It’s usually to a site. Your site is your brand NOT your social media page. Those links back to your site help to build your audience and can create links to your AdSense ads and gather more email addresses. Click NEXT below to see the next segment
A lot of major blogs like Huffington Post and others LOVE guests posts. This can work wonders for your brand to link BACK to your site. I know people who guest post on these sites and they don’t have their own sites to link back to. I look at this as a TOTAL waste of time, energy and money. The purpose of guest posting is for brand building. Have you ever noticed celebrities do the rounds in media when they are promoting a book, album or a new movie? You are always selling your brand and product and if you are just GIVING your skills away then you are merely building someone ELSE’s brand. Click NEXT below to see the next segment
YouTube Channel as a Passive Income Investment
If you like doing vides post on YouTube and monetize again with AdSense. I’ve seen people go viral on Facebook with videos that get MILLIONS of views that are simply shared over and over. There is a benefit to that but it’s rare that it’s monetized like when posting the video on YouTube FIRST, which means every time someone clicks on that video you get a credit on Youtube and you can earn money.
Also once you post it on YouTube you can make the video exclusive to you. People can share it all day but they can’t monetize it because they don’t own it. The more they share your video the more clicks YOU get. If they steal your video and monetize it as their own, they will get a penalty from YouTube but if you post it on FaceBook you can’t monetize it. Click NEXT below to see the next segment
Podcasting as a Passive Income Investment
Podcasting is HUGE. I saw this trend coming several years ago and didn’t stick with it. At the time, there was no way to monetize it because it was too new but I had 1.3 million downloads. You have to be dedicated to consistency with Podcasts otherwise, you will not be successful.
They do take time but they can be profitable because advertisers are everywhere now and they see the value. If you have something compelling to say, podcasting can be profitable for you. Click NEXT below to see the next segment
Review Product
If you are currently reviewing music or movies on Facebook the most that you will get is an invite to review more things. There are MANY people who have a LOT more friends on their list than you do who the advertisers will approach about saying something about their products on their socials. But if you have a site or a blog you can sell banner ads or the advertisers will come to you to run banners.
Depending on the size of your site you can charge anywhere from $500 to $10,000 or MORE an ad. Steer clear of middlemen like agencies who come at you to offering pennies on the dollar to run banners on ads. I get bombarded with them. They are making a bulk of the money and that does you no good. Ask them who the ad is for when they approach you if they tell you, and they usually won’t, you can multiply what they are willing to pay you by multiples. They are hired to get as many sites as possible to run the ad. I don’t work with any agencies. Click NEXT below to see the next segment
Barter
Barters can come in very handy when it comes to saving money. For example, if you are doing a niche blog about restaurants in your area and one of them is your favorite you can offer to run an ad for free or discounted food for your meetings etc. The bigger your site is the greater your opportunity. Click NEXT below to see the next segment
USE IMAGE SERVICE
You can earn affiliate income from promoting image sites but the more IMPORTANT point here is that Attorneys and agencies are currently TROLLING all the blogs and sites and suing if you are using images that you don’t have permission to use.
If you review movies, for example, the studios don’t usually have a problem with you reviewing their product and using THEIR images from the movie for free and whatever is emailed to you in the form of a promotion from a major company gives you wiggle room to use the images but if you are posting random pictures of celebrities from Google images, you will most likely get sued or at least a nasty and looming threat where they STILL want thousands as they threaten to take you to court.
I have had it happen to me and know a lot of other sites who have had to pay penalties as much as $10,000 for using a crappy image for a story. It’s better to just pay for images to avoid this. I may cost you 3k a year but that’s a LOT better than paying $10k 20 times for using someone else’s images. I recommend sites like Shutterstock
How I will make passive income with this post:
Create an ebook with an extended version
Adsense ads
Affiliate links
Shares and Likes (generate more traffic)
Viewers who look at the links to other posts (increasing chance to earn income) and visits to the site.
. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Spotify)
The Philly native spearheaded Prince’s posthumous album, “Originals”
Troy Carter can’t leave the game alone. After taking a hiatus from music, he spearheaded Prince’s posthumous album, Originals. Outside of music, Carter’s expanding his portfolio in the venture capital world. Carter joins TIDAL’s Rap Radar podcast for a sit-down interview with Elliott Wilson and Brian “B.Dot” Miller to discuss his work on the project, the music industry, finances and more including:
The difficulty of leaving Spotify to rep the Prince estate & partner with TIDAL
How the estate sifted through archives of Prince’s handwritten notes & daily agendas to puzzle the pieces of his vault
The possibility of forthcoming Prince albums
Intern experience at Bad Boy; learning professionalism & black entrepreneurship from Diddy
How working as an assistant manager to Fresh Prince and Jazzy Jeff taught Troy the art of relationship building
Friendship with Scooter Braun & how they squashed their legal dispute
The “Rap Radar” podcast adds to TIDAL’s growing podcast network, which includes a variety of series hosted by some of the most trusted and influential names in music. From Fat Joe’s “Coca Vision” and Joey Bada$$’s “47 Minutes” – TIDAL is on the pulse of music culture.
Series: T-Pain’s School of Business
Premiere Date: Tuesday, August 6 at 11 p.m. ET/PT on Fuse
TUNE-IN: Fuse and T-Pain are bringing viewers back to school this summer with a brand-new class of innovators, disruptors and startup heroes. T-Pain’s School of Business features beloved artist, comedic personality and business mogul T-Pain as he explores innovative, unique and off-the-wall startups created by millennial black entrepreneurs. As he gets a feel for each quirky and groundbreaking company the black entrepreneurs reveal how they got started and what it took to turn their ideas into reality.
In the season premiere of the Critics’ Choice Real TV Award-nominated series, T-Pain will eat the world’s first robot-made hamburger at Alex Vardakostas’ Creator Burger; meet up with Xos Trucks co-founder Giordano Sordoni – a twenty-something who beat Elon Musk to market with a zero carbon emissions semi-truck; and get a high-tech tattoo with wearable UV sensors from Carlos Olguin’s LogicInk. Other start-up businesses and black entrepreneurs being showcased throughout the season include “Slime Queen” Karina Garcia’s Craft City, Kickstradomis’ custom sneakers and cleats for pro-athletes, and Black Santa, created by two-time NBA All-Star Baron Davis.
In addition to the new season, two digital series will also be premiering beginning August 6. In T-Pain’s School of Business: Where Are They Now? T-Pain revisits eight businesses from Season 1, and Pitch To T-Pain has T-Pain reacting to product pitches submitted via his social channels with feedback that is uniquely T-Pain.
T-Pain’s School of Business premieres on Tuesday, August 6 starting at 11 p.m. ET/PT on Fuse.
Many businesses have used the “Black-owned” label to solicit additional business in the past or as a way to add credibility to their brands. Unfortunately, this has often backfired. In large part, because we (black people) don’t really care. As a matter of fact, it may actually HURT your business.
Perhaps the only time a business should use “Black-owned” is when they are in the press for their success (Slutty Vegan) or there is a program that can help fund or supplement the business’ mission. In other words, when the opportunity presents itself to benefit us all instead of the other way around. Otherwise, work to be the BEST business FIRST.
Building the Best Business
Hire the BEST team (in and OUT of the black community) and eliminate the bacteria before it spreads. Have a team that can go above and BEYOND what you need and be open to acquiesce to potential ideas for growth from your team instead of thinking you know everything … because you don’t.
“Black-owned can come off as entitlement, especially when it’s a so-so business.
Nobody cares UNLESS you break the mold (Tyler Perry Studios). In ANY business that is struggling when you have to use tactics and excuses to get people to buy, it hurts everybody under that category. The main thing is having a brand that people love and come in droves for.
Making More Money with your Business Means Building More Value
Kevin Ross CEO/Radio Facts
Making more money with your business by making the best long-term small efforts
Making more money with your business is crucial to your growth. By now you should know that all the rage is on being an black entrepreneur but if you are one you know it’s not something that most people can do. I’ve been an black entrepreneur for 24 years and I can honestly tell you it’s not what you think it is and it’s a lot more at the same time. It’s a LOT of hard work, LONG days, limited fun and can be frustrating because you are consistently putting out fires and misunderstood by others but the REWARD is doing what you love and getting paid 100% for your efforts. (Avoiding traffic in LA each day is a reward in itself).
In this Seven-part series “24/7 Lessons in Business. I’m going to share some of the best lessons I’ve learned that can save you your two most valuable assets when it comes to running your business. Time and Energy. Today I want to talk about making more money with your business. The second most important thing about your business. What’s first? Passion, which is another story. Just note that no matter how much “passion” you have, if you don’t have sales, you’ll be out of business.
Your Business is your spouse, child, and your dog. You should have a reciprocal enormous interest in it.
Some of the most simple things in business mean the most when it comes to your bottom line and making more money with your business. I’ve known many people in the industry who come to the table selling themselves short but they want to be taken seriously. For example, if you have a business and you are using a Gmail account extension clients notice things like that. If you don’t have the wherewithal to create a website and have an email extension attached to your brand name … that will be a problem.
The only time this works is when you want to have a private email for certain people. I have several musicians and industry people who prefer to use their personal addresses to get our email updates and avoid their corporations’ blocking of mass emails and that makes sense. But when you are selling something to potential clients you have to have a tighter presentation.
Make sure you spend money and have a decent looking logo. You can find a TON of people on Fiverr.com to do it for you for a relatively low price. Everything is about ratings these days and Fiverr is no exception. Don’t use anyone with less than three stars unless they are new and have great samples of their work.
Your logo says EVERYTHING about your brand and if it’s jagged around the edges or it looks cheaply done that will reflect you and your price points for sales
Making more money with your business means making more bold moves: Ask for what you want BEFORE you think about Asking …
In the process of making more money with your business, you have a better chance of getting what you want by grabbing the opportunity BEFORE you think about it. But have your sh in order. I have gotten SO many great things over the years by diving in and asking for it BEFORE I had a chance to talk myself out of it, which we all will if we think about it long enough.
Black business owners have so many trepidations before asking for what we want like, “Is this company racist, they don’t have any black people or minorities in their management (Tip: you can see most company management teams on their website) or “Is this black person against helping other black people who own businesses etc.
You come up against the super fans of your brand and the opposites at times but if you dive in and ask for what you want, you lose absolutely nothing from what you came to the table with AND you have a 50 percent chance of a gain. Which STILL puts yo ahead of the curve for a 100% NO … if you don’t ask.
When making more money with your business, keep in mind, you ARE what your TOP customer is willing to pay
No matter what business you are in, the best way to set your standard is by your best paying client when making more money with your business. You will come across great clients, provided you have QUALITY AND VALUE who will pay you top dollar for your services. If you have been in business for more than 2 or 3 years and you are still having to ask people to support you, just to survive, you should seriously consider a new business venture.
At the two to three year mark, clients should be coming to you more and more. If not, they don’t see the value. I’ve had people come at me with triple what I asked for and some who have come at me wanting to ‘test RF out” before spending.
I don’t have to tell you who came at me wanting to spend nothing for everything (lol). You are not Costco, giving out nut nuggets for people to try before they buy. You want to have something that people WANT and they are willing to come and get it … on their own.
Discounts are Worthless on both ends
Offering discounts for your services is asking for help at some point, it’s begging for help. Right now Macy’s is offering so many discounts you can damn near get their merchandise for free. They are in dire need to stay open and stay relevant. Same thing with Apple. For the first time that I can remember, they are selling computers at Costco now WITH discounts. They lost their “cool” factor when Steve Jobs died, now it’s just a bunch of confused old white men who don’t quite know how to reach the younger generations.
If you are not making a substantial amount of money doing your business after the two to three years mark (again) and you are still offering discounts, clients will most likely never see the value of what you offer in addition, they tell other people. It’s better to have a client tell someone “He’s not cheap” than to have them say “Oh I can get you that for almost nothing.” VALUE is not just something, it’s EVERYTHING.
If you want to read more of my insight on running a black business, check out more stories on biztipper.com. Feel free to comment below.
Series: T-Pain’s School of Business
Many businesses have used the “Black-owned” label to solicit additional business in the past or as a way to add credibility to their brands. Unfortunately, this has often backfired. In large part, because we (black people) don’t really care. As a matter of fact, it may actually HURT your business.
