SEO vs. PPC and Which is Better?

When business owners want to promote and market their business’s website or product that they are trying to distribute, they get can become a little confused when it comes to choosing to go the rout of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or PPC (Pay Per Click) and the most benefits they can acquire with the budget they have. First, lets explain and differentiate the two.

 Search Engine Optimization is the process of creating awareness or traffic to one’s website from free or organic search results on search engines such as Google or Bing. SEO is not about how big your pockets are, but rather how strategic you are in trying to get your website ranked high. Pay Per Click on the hand ultimately achieves the same goal; the difference is that it is neither organic nor free. You are paying for sustainability or how long an ad or link to your website will stay top ranked to be seen by more people. Every time someone clicks on your ad or link you are charge a small fee, this small fee can add up into a large sum of money depending on how much traffic is generated to that particular website.

This brings me to, which is better, SEO or PPC? This all depends on your budget and time. If you are not a tight budget, PPC is better since you will be generating traffic to your website from day one. The only downfall is that over time that traffic will slow down. For small business’s that are on a tight budget, SEO would be a better choice since it little to no cost to start this process. Although this process can be free you will not see traffic to your website on day one, it will take some time until you actually start seeing traffic and to be higher ranked on search engines, but once you are higher ranked, you will stay there which is beneficial in the long wrong. In the chart below you can see a visual of the difference with time and cost between SEO (Organic) and PPC (Paid).

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Interview Blog with Shy Boogs

Today February 14^th, 2015 I had the pleasure of “Face Time” interviewing Edward Timmons, a producer, audio engineer, song-writer, artist and founder of a recording studio and independent record label, So Amazin’ Ent. Edward Timmons, known better as Shy Boogs is from Clifton, NJ and just like most people in the entertainment industry; he started from the bottom and worked his way to where he is now. Shy has been working with music all his life but at the age of 19 doors started opening up for him once he did his first major recording session with Ol’ Dirty Bastard (ODB). This led him to later work with other artist such as Chris Brown, DMX, and even receive a gold plaque for his work on Bow Wow and Omarian’s album “Face Off”. Now Shy does much work for ESPN and is also signed as a songwriter to Sony/ATV publishing company.

Shy says in the music industry, you are always negotiating, whether you are selling your music to an artist, publishing company or an entertainment company such as ESPN. There will always be contracts put in place to make sure everyone receives what he or she agreed on. Now older, Shy understands the importance of negotiation and contracts. When shy was much younger in is early 20’s, he did some production work for a label he had good connections with at the time. At the time, Shy did not know much about the legal side of the music industry so he never had contracts put in to place for his work, the outcome of the negotiation was all verbal agreement. Years later in 2008 his production was in the movie called “Slum Dog Millionaire” which went on to win a Grammy and an Oscar for best sound track, which Shy never received credit for his stolen work since a contract was never put into place. This was an example of the opposing team using dirty tricks against someone with a disadvantage.

When Shy was looking for a publishing deal, Sony/ATV and Universal were both interested but Sony/ATV was more appealing to Shy so he went to them first. At first Sony/ATV did not want to give Shy the amount of money he requested so he gave them his BATNA which was signing a deal with Universal. At that point, Sony/ATV were more willing to negotiate a better rate for Shy’s services. In conclusion Sony/ATV and Shy both came to a mutual benefit, a better rate for Shy in return for any production Sony/ATV needed. 

Benefiting from the BP Oil Spill - Kevin Costner

Most people may know Kevin Costner mainly as an actor or even maybe for his singing, production, or directing, but he has accomplished much more than this. Kevin Costner is an entrepreneurial icon and a very successful business investor. Most know Kevin Costner from his leading roles in the films The Big Chill (1983), For Love of the game (1999) and many more. In 1978, Costner graduated from California State University with a degree in business.

In 1993, Costner obtained a licensed patent from the Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory for an oil- water separator, and since then he has invested about $20 million in an oil separator produced by Louisiana-based Ocean Therapy Solutions. Costner’s company which now offers these oil-water separators is now called Blue Water Planet Solutions. Costner’s company stated that the way this technology works is “By spinning two fluids of different densities within a rotating container designed and built using this patented technology, the lighter fluid is forced toward the center of the rotor." “This allows dense, viscous oil to be removed from much lighter water.”

In 2010, the BP Oil Spill occurred and for a total of 87 days, over 200 million gallons of oil was driven into the Gulf of Mexico, making it the largest oil spill in the history of the United States. The primary explosion at BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 people and injured 17 others. Many people’s livelihoods suffered because of the BP oil spill, but Costner actually benefited from this disaster because his company played an important role in cleaning up the major oil spill. Because Costner’s company had the proper centrifuge technology to help clean up the Gulf of Mexico, BP signed a $16 million contract with Ocean Therapy Solutions (Blue Water Planet Solutions) for their Equipment and technology.

Business Storyteller - Richard Branson

Growing up I always heard about the services and products that “Virgin” had to offer such as Virgin Atlantic Airways and Virgin records, but never knew much about the company or the mastermind behind this multi billion-dollar Empire, Richard Branson. Before watching Branson’s interview on TED, I did not know much about Branson’s story nor did I look at him as an inspirational role model. Branson’s empire consists of over 400 companies and 55 thousand employees, which he started from the bottom.  In many ways Branson and I are alike, growing up Branson was dyslexic and had trouble grasping subjects that he was not interested in and was more of a visual learner. Branson is a maverick, he is not a follower, and he is very independent and knows what he wants to do unlike many people who just go along with the rest of the group. As a child, I also had a learning disability and I still do but I have learned to over come it. Most believe that when entering college it is supposed to be harder then high school but it was actually the opposite for me. When I went to college, I had the option to learn what I wanted to learn and things that interested me, which made the learning experience exciting for me. Branson believes that if you can run one company you can run any company. it is this way of thinking that has earned Virgin a total revenue of $25 billion.

Richard Branson is an inspirational figure to me because he is a Greene type leader, someone with morals and willing to help others. Branson believes that growing as a company is about finding the right people and inspiring them to strive for more. One story Branson told during his interview on TED was when Virgin Records and Virgin Atlantic Airways was having large financial problems and instead of laying of his employees he sold his family’s jewelry just so that he could keep everyone employed and also keep the companies running. Branson is also trying to make the world a better place by cleaning our atmosphere of hazardous elements. Additionally, Branson is helping people with diseases by giving free medication a treatment in Africa. These are just a few examples that show how much he actually cares for others and his willingness to go out of his way to help.

http://www.ted.com/talks/richard_branson_s_life_at_30_000_feet?language=en#t-1776130

Has any Hip-Hop Artist become a billionaire?

Lately many people have been saying that Dr. Dre has recently become a billionaire and I have been second-guessing this since there has not been much news on this topic on TV or the Internet. For those of you who do not know, back in 2008 Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, The chairman at Interscope Records founded Beats Electronics and in August of 2011, Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine sold 50 percent share of their company to HTC for $309 million. Later Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine bought back 25 percent of HTC’s stake for $150 million, making Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine 75 percent owners of beats. Carlyle group later bought HTC’s 25 percent stake and also bought 25 percent from Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine giving Carlyle group 50 percent owner ship and Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine both ending up with 25% each.

As many of you have heard, Apple recently bought Beats for $3 billion. Because of this deal, people are assuming that that Dr. Dre has become not only Hip-Hops first billionaire but a multi billionaire. Lets not forget That Dr. Dre only owns 25 percent of the company so his cut of the deal was only $750 million before taxes, which is still a lot but not a billion. Out of this $750 million roughly 33 percent will go to taxes, that about $250 million, actually leaving him with a little over $500 million out of the $3 billion. If Dr. Dre were never part owner of Beats by Dre, his net worth would only be $200 million due to 3 decades of selling music, producing music, selling merchandise and touring.

Therefore, no Hip-Hop artist has actually become Hip-Hops first billionaire, but Dr. Dre comes closest to it with a net worth of just over $700 million. Maybe in the next few years we will see if any Hip-hop Artist will become Hip-Hops first billionaire.