Facebook Plans To Grind In 09'

As surprise speaker at DLD09, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg was interviewed by Fortune's David Kirkpatrick who is currently writing a book about "The Facebook Effect". You know he's going to make bread off that. According to Zuckerberg, the number of German users is growing fast. Right now, Facebook has 2 million Users in Germany - last October, the social network had 1.2 million users (meaning a plus of 60% in 3 months). "It is crazy that it took us the first 10 months to have the first million of users but now we add that in one week", Zuckerberg said. Facebook Connect will be a big focus for FB in 2009. I remember when this Facebook craze first started my Freshman year at college. I though the whole idea was huff back then, my eyes weren't open to it's many marketing uses. Full story here

Nike Kobe Bryant Commercial

Well it appears Nike has recruited some new young talent to create marketing segments for new product. Here we see a new commercial for Kobe Bryant's new bball kicks. Disclaimer: these shoes are huff, I would never cop or rock them. The reason this video is even postable, is due to the clever concept and viral design of the video. You know? People will think its funny, it will prob get thousands of hits, and in return, sell thousands of huff shoes. It's all in the marketing...smart move Nike, well played. Can Kobe act though?

The History Of Marketing

Grabbed this from our homies over at Polkadot. Dope video, showing the fundamentals of marketing.


A short history of marketing from Michael Reissinger on Vimeo.

Dame Dash The Future

Kinda sounds like Dame Dash is talking that Expressive Frontier business! Here's an interview where he speaks on growth, and improving your business savvy. Dame is definitely a major source of entrepreneurial inspiration. Be authentic, maintain integrity.

Expressive Frontier Business Update

So, some of you may be wondering what's going on with the decrease in posts. So first let me personally apologize for all that. We've been kinda slacking on the post but it's for a good reason! As some people may or may not know Expressive Frontier also operates as a marketing/management business. To make a long story short we just got a big new client, that is consuming quite a bit of our time. That's not a bad thing either, you already know work that clock to make that guap, it's just science.

Our new client is the Hip Hop Caucus...a non-profit organization based in Washington DC. We did some work for them back in October on the Respect My Vote Tour...clearly they just loved our swagger and work ethic and wanted to sign us on to handle their marketing. We just began working with them Monday, but already have made some moves on their behalf. It's dope having this type of client, I'm always on my chill. One of the best parts thus far has been client meetings in fresh kicks! We are helping them wrap up plans for the Inaugural weekend and I must say it's gonna be a great look. If any of you EFrs out there want in...JUST HOLLA AT US. There will be concerts, balls, dinners, and just plain out get f*cked up parties. DC will def be the place to be inauguration week, and EF will have the exclusives as always...

I now return you to our regularly scheduled program

Big Business: Diddy Making Moves

As Entrepreneur's we cant let this current recession keep us from making moves. It only means we have to be smarter. Today the news broke out that Diddy just bought the ultra HUFF clothing company Enyce from Liz Claiborne. In 2003 Liz Claiborne bought Enyce for 114 million, but Diddy just bought it for 20. I know we don't post on HUFF brands like Enyce but that's because they are basic edition and supremely stadard. I know Diddy must have major plans for it in the future. Here is the actual announcement from Diddy about his acquisition of Enyce.

Dow Plunges 500 Points; Lehman Spontaneously Combust!

US shares went into a freefall Monday as part of a global rout after a bankruptcy at Lehman Brothers stoked fears about contagion affecting world markets and the economy.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled below 11,000 with a loss of 504.48 points (4.42 percent) to 10,917.51, its largest one-day point loss since the reopening after the September 2001 terrorist attacks.

The Nasdaq composite plummeted 81.36 points (3.60 percent) to 2,179.91 and the broad-market Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 59.00 points (4.71 percent) to 1,192.70.

Investors ran for cover after the bankruptcy filing by investment firm Lehman Brothers, which failed to find a buyer during a weekend of crisis talks, and the emergency sale of Wall Street rival Merrill Lynch.

Also causing fear was the worry that contagion may strike American International Group, one of the world's biggest insurers, whose shares plunged over 50 percent. I hope you traded your fiat notes for gold tender, oh yea and hope you didn't invest with Lehman Brothers!

Full Story

Whisky, Tonic Elixir

Can't stress it enough, the marketing and presentation of your product is key in generating interest and demand. Peep these 20cL mini bottles of whiskey from Glasgow-based Douglas Laing & Co. Ltd. The design resembles those injectable medicines (like gamma-serum) usually come in. Also, the labels are rather prescription-like, and it catches the eye. Chances are you don't see many liquor bottles like this in the shop. Not so far-fetched really, since whiskey does, after all, have a history of being used for “medicinal purposes.” Their web site explains that the labels are actually based on hand-marked, distillery sample bottles:

“Replicating the sample bottles sent to us from stock held at the Distilleries—these wee 20cl bottles appear to have been hand written by one of the team pulling the sample (full marks for legibility!)”

Point being, make your product stand out.

Lil Wayne: The Definition of Grinding

This joint is for all my people out in the world who are on their grind! Some of you may have an existing business, or some of you may just be getting on your feet. Either way, to be successful you need to have a killer work ethic. You gotta respect Wayne's hustle, always in the studio, always doing shows, always making that paper. We present his third vlog, it's 4:00 am, still grinding. Some people just don't understand, and they may say "why do you work so hard, why are you always working" and you already know...because money never sleeps! get inspired after the teleport:

Google Extends Venture Capital Arm

A number of technology giants like Intel and Motorola have set up their own venture capital arms to invest in new technologies and fund promising startups. Now Mountain View-based Google, which has already invested considerable sums in fields as diverse as solar energy to space exploration, may soon join this list, latest reports indicate. David Drummond, the internet search leader's senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer, would lead the investment business, the Wall Street Journal said yesterday. It also reported the hiring of former Web hosting entrepreneur William Maris to help set up the venture. Teleport for full story

A Google spokesman confirmed that Maris has been hired but declined to comment further.

According to a 2005 posting on Global Envision, a humanitarian aid site, Maris worked as a partner with Anne Wojcicki in a health investment fund called Catalytic Health. Last year Wojcicki married Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

Maris created his own Web hosting company called Burlee.com, which is now part of Atlanta-based Web.com. He also made investments in technology companies for Sweden's wealthy Wallenberg family, according to the Global Envision site. A separate investment arm is not a new idea for Google, but earlier plans fell through before anything concrete materialised. The venture is still in its formative stages and can still fall through, especially considering the recent tough times for overall venture capital investing.

A report from Dow Jones VentureSource earlier this month stated that VC investments dropped 12 per cent in the second quarter compared with the same period a year ago, with $6.64 billion put into 602 deals - the lowest quarterly deal count in three years.

More venture firms found themselves funneling money to support later-stage companies at the expense of companies seeking first-time funding. The amount of money sunk into start-ups seeking first-round funds dropped by 12 per cent to $1.6 billion in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, later-stage deals grew by 14 per cent to $3.1 billion because those companies in particular had fewer opportunities to go public. No venture-backed company went public in the second quarter.

Entrepreneur Camp, Learn To Make Your Own Trail In Life

"If Josh Holmes has his way, shoppers will eventually find his “Got Books?” line of T-shirts and apparel at bookstores and libraries across the U.S., or even the world. Not a bad goal for a 16-year-old. Holmes is one of several young adults who spent the past week at a business boot camp for young entrepreneurs. The Napa Valley College Small Business Development Center ran the five-day course, held at Napa Valley College." These people are making their own trail in life, in our present economy you have to know how to make your OWN money...more after the teleport:


Developed for the 14- to 27-year-old crowd, organizers targeted the week-long Napa Youth Enterprise Academy seminar towards young adults who want hands-on training of how to start, organize and run a small business.

Provided through a grant from the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office and sponsored by Napa Community Bank and NVC, the course featured instruction on how to write a business plan, mission/vision statements, start-up strategies, understanding budgets and finances, using the Internet, analyzing competition, marketing a business and more.

Josh Holmes came to camp from Apple Valley, Ca., near Los Angeles. The 11th grader heard of the seminar from his father, who works in the junior college system. Holmes said he would like to develop a clothing line that promotes literacy.

“This is a great program,” said Holmes. “I thought it’d be like going back to high school but it’s actually fun.”

Instructors helped him refine his first attempts at writing business goals and objectives, said Holmes. “I was too vague at first,” he said.

“Mr. Monahan showed me that I had to be more specific,” as well as the importance of a business plan to sell his line of T-shirts and hopefully other clothing items such as hats, backpacks or shoes.

“Without a business plan, I’d most likely fail,” he said.

Charlie Monahan of the Small Business Development Center is one of the seminar coordinators. By the end of the week each student should have a rough draft of a business plan, said Monahan. Even if their concept changes in the future, “If you can learn to write a business plan about one thing, you can write a business plan about anything,” he said.

Near Holmes, Kelsey Monahan, 18, and Theo Shaheen-McConnell, 19, worked on an idea to open a café, restaurant or grill.

“I’m trying to decide on my major and I think I want to be a small business owner,” possibly in the restaurant industry, said Kelsey, who is Charlie Monahan’s daughter and attends San Francisco State University.

“I want to have a better idea of what it takes to be a small business owner,” said Shaheen-McConnell.

“To know what it really takes,” added Monahan.

They’ve already learned a thing or two.

“It’s a lot more expensive than I thought it’d be,” said Shaheen-McConnell, mentioning leases, finances and insurance.

Compared to her fellow students, Doris Garcia, 53, might not be considered young but she certainly is an entrepreneur. Because the boot camp was not filled to capacity, Garcia was able to sign up. It’s been worth it, even as she had to get time off from work to attend, she said.

“I’ve been interested in opening my own business but I didn’t have any idea how,” Garcia said. “I had to start from the beginning.”

Garcia, a licensed vocational nurse who lives in Vallejo, said she wants to open her own nursing home for disabled children.

“I want to learn everything I need to know,” she said. “It’s a beginning for me, and I know I’m on the right track with these classes.”

Joel Mosebach, 19, is a student at Santa Rosa Junior College. Mosebach said he was interested in starting a residential cleaning service.

“I’ve always had the idea to start my own business but had no idea where to start,” he said. “This class is helpful. It helps focus ideas.”

The hardest part?

“Being concise with writing a mission statement,” he said. “You don’t want it to be too wordy or vague.”

Monahan said working with this age group has its own rewards and challenges. At first, “you’re not sure if you are reaching them.”

At the start of the week, students didn’t understand concepts such as cost of goods, expenses, taxes, depreciation and projections, he said.

“Today, they can talk about why those are important,” he said.

“They’re getting exactly what I had hoped out of it.”

For more information about Business Boot Camp for Young Entrepreneurs and the Napa Youth Enterprise Academy, contact the Napa Valley College SBDC at 253-3210.

Dubai Living, You'll Need Cold hard Cash

All the cats who have serious bread are moving to Dubai. I can't blame them, that's exactly where I'd be, sitting on millions chilling. These ultimate bachelor pads don't come cheap, so to give you an idea of how much you’d have to drop to cop one of these joints refer to the chart. I mean after all you'd be living in a 6-start luxury desert oasis. This is Better Homes’ sales index report for some of the priciest villas and flats, and they’ve converted the prices from UAE dirhams to U.S. dollars. Teleport to see what you should start saving up for:

Living on your own personal island, what could be greater?

As you’ll see in the index above, the priciest pads recently purchased in Dubai are located in The Palm Jumeirah (pictured above the chart), where an apartment went for just over $13 million and a villa sold for close to $9.7 mil. On average, a high-end luxury villa in Dubai will run you more than $2.5 million, and a nice apartment will set you back a more reasonable $1+ million, just more reasonable.

Sales prices have continued to rise across the board throughout the Emirate, but demand for waterfront properties has been exceptionally strong. Definitely wouldn't mind this view though. Never before seen, the Infinity pool system in a penthouse apartment...I need to get my bread up! Imagine waking up Sunday morning to walk a mere few feet to your Infinity pool where you can float around all day, hit j's and enjoy the view.

Some place deserve the stamp of "IPD" this stands for instant panty dropper, I'm sorry it's just science.
via Ballerhouse

McDonalds New Clever Marketing Scheme

In business I can't stress enough that it's all in the presentation of the product. You can sell a mud-pie to someone as long as it looks good, or you use a clever marketing strategy to get people interested. Late nights after partying when you're smacked an wasted DC never really has OD late night spots. Most joints close early during the week. As much as I hate the food, I'll admit McDonalds hit the spot a few times...but how do you know whether or not McDonalds is still serving breakfast? Well, usually you just check your watch. If it's earlier than 11:00 am, they are. If it's later, they aren't. Some people can't tell time? So one Chicago McDonalds has you covered.Every morning at the McDonalds across from Wrigley Field, a gigantic, Dr. Robotnik's egg cracks open to reveal a yolk that says "Fresh Eggs Daily." When breakfast time is over, it closes back up until the next morning. This way people can see whats good from their cars or even homes...a great marketing ploy by McDonalds.

via Dvice

Dame Dash & Jim Jones Business As Usual

You can really learn something from Dame's type of business swagger. Be authentic, maintain integrity. Just listen and observe:

Diddy & Weezy Words Of Wisdom

Diddy and Wayne share their secrets to success. Work Work Work...sleep is for amateurs! Wayne does look type f*cked up in this joint, and Diddy is really loving this blog thing, although most of his are video blogs. I wonder when he'll try his hand at writing.


Oh yea, here is an exclusive peek at the upcoming Lil Wayne documentary: The Carter

Dame Dash...To Beat Hov To A Billie!

"Didn't I tell You dudes I'm a Cake-a-holic"

Dame Dash has always been a thorough businessman in my eyes. From the days when we recited the Ultimate Huslter credo to present day, he's been grinding. Now it's looking like things may pay off big time...big time as in Dame Dash could make it to a Billie before Old Hov!

"Damon Dash, the man who helped Jay-Z take Roc-A-Fella Records from the streets to the corporate level, and his wife Rachel Roy announced Monday (June 16) that they've has formed a $4 billion dollar joint venture Jones Apparel Group to develop, market and license the New York-based fashion brand named after his wife.

"Both Rachel and her clothing appeal to many audiences around the world, making her a widely renowned design talent," said Dash in a statement. "Through this partnership, we will be able to explore new opportunities for Rachel Roy, the brand."

Founded in 2004, by Roy and Dash, the Rachel Roy collection embodies everything for women who embrace fashion and dress, says the company, and also adds that effortless glamour, sophistication with a modern edge."

full story

Turn Vision Into Value

New Brand: Say Word, ClayValet?

This is the ultimate site for that lazy shopper who doesn't have time to hit all the shops or spend hours cruising online for that particular "get fresh" item. Our girl Darcy put us on to this joint, good looking out! ClayValet is free online personal shopping. They even got fashion guru's to help you find or hook up an outfit. This service minimizes getting annoyed by search engine shopping. Here's how it works: tell ClayValet what you want, and a network of shoppers will get to work for you. Within 24 hours, you'll get a free report with detailed findings, including recommendations, customer review summaries, price comparisons and buying info. So basically when you're looking for some rare kicks, or anything fresh...these people will find it for you, and present their findings in a well organized email! This is a crack service, I'm bout to see if they can find those Obamamania t's!

Check them here:

http://clayvalet.com

http://blog.clayvalet.com/myshopper

U.S. Economy: Payrolls Fall, Unemployment Rate Climbs

The U.S. lost jobs for a fifth month and the unemployment rate rose by the most in more than two decades, as an influx of students into the workforce drove the biggest jump in teenage joblessness since at least 1948.

Payrolls fell by 49,000 in May, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The jobless rate increased by half a point to 5.5 percent, higher than every forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. The surge in youth unemployment exacerbated losses in every category except Hispanics.

full story here

Pretty much if you don't have a job right now...it's not looking so good for ya...eh well, these are the ins and outs of being a suit!

Tips In Business: Make It Look Good

We always like to feature innovative marketing and unique designs to be life to a product. It's important in business to differentiate your product, and often the easiest way to do so is by specializing the presentation. The people over at The Die Line have a dope article on a prime example: Take a look below, even though its just a normal candle, the glass design makes this piece a work of art. You'll never want to light it...

"From the press release: "Baxter of California, the premium men’s grooming line since 1965, expands into the home fragrance category with the introduction of “Flammable,” a series of three soy wax-based candles. Produced in partnership with Joya, a trailblazer in the home fragrance design industry, with packaging design by international art director Marc Atlan, the candles will be available at lifestyle stores, apothecaries, grooming lounges, spas and online at baxterofcalifornia.com in June. "

"Marc, who has designed iconic packaging for Comme des Garçons, Helmut Lang and Yves Saint-Laurent, describes his design for “Flammable” as a “conceptual and chic understatement.” The glass is slightly old-fashioned and reminiscent of an expensive single malt lowball tumbler, which is extremely masculine. Graphic dots, echoing the glass dimples on the bottom of the vessel are silk-screened all over the glass that are revealed as the black wax burns. With close attention to detail, Atlan added a grid pattern of dots that are embossed around the box. The under-designed running block of black foiled text becomes the cement thatholds his blatantly irreverent text together."