Former Blog of Eric S. Townsend

Really — Click Over to the New Website

etownsend — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 21:15:50 +0000

when i created this website, my goal was simple — to create a blog and write about various marketing topics from time to time. i did not envision growing the website to include elaborate credentials, a service brochure, ecommerce, and more. for the last several weeks in my spare time, i’ve been working on a new website that’s more suitable for showcasing my marketing portfolio and services. again, you’re at my blog. please visit www.ericstownsendmarketing.com to mature your business and generate revenue.

American Pickers Teaches Smart Branding/Sales

etownsend — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:17:51 +0000

have you gotten hooked on the history channel’s american pickers yet? mike wolfe and frank fritz (pickers extraordinaire) love to dig into the story behind a long lost article they uncover — everything from old photographs to bicycles. branding is enriched by storytelling. these guys have also read donald trump’s the art of the deal. watch as they open doors, warm up conversations, “break the seal” and close deals. the beauty of the show lies in watching how they earn the trust of strangers in just a few easy steps. this is a valuable skill for business owners everywhere!

Hard Sell Websites Turn Away Prospects

etownsend — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 05:04:04 +0000

when you place an animated assistant or other prompt at your website to push someone towards a sale, you risk turning away prospects. imagine you’re at a store. salesperson asks “can i help you?” — and you say “i’m just looking” and move on. pop-ups informing prospects that you know they’re “just browsing” but that you’re “also available to help” demean customers and sell too hard. trust your product. communicate confidence — not fear of inadequacy. customers won through hard sell are rarely as loyal and certain of their purchases as those allowed to buy on their own.

Website Conformity Recalls Auto Market

etownsend — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:01:39 +0000

over the last decade, the world has become “smaller” thanks to the internet. with this, it’s no surprise that its gateways (websites) have also narrowed in form and function. compare with automobiles. chassis’ vary slightly within families of vehicle, but each family is perfectly suited to its audience. same with websites — portfolio, magazine, shop, etc. as with cars, there’s room for innovation in the shared features (wheels, dashboard, seating, etc). same with websites — main banner, sidebar, footer, etc. per main features and share, subscribe, social media, and more.

Coca Cola — The Real Story

etownsend — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 04:58:15 +0000

watched a great documentary on the history of one of the great brands in the world — the coca cola company (show courtesy of hulu below). the piece covered the ups and downs of the company’s decisions with regards to its image and product. what an incredible and fascinating history it has! the brand is so prolific and nostalgic that it has spawned a subculture of shabby chic collectibles. coca cola branded items are in high demand by junk aficionados on the history channel’s television series pickers.

Bolster Expertise and Credibility with LinkedIn

etownsend — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:21:17 +0000

are you among the 27 million with a profile at linkedin.com? if you’re not, then you should be! forget over-investing in twitter and most other social media websites. time is limited. few websites help to reinforce your expertise and build credibility better than linkedin. here are 10 reasons why: 1. easy way to convey a one-page snapshot of your credentials; 2. recommendations area shows how others value your work — and are written/submitted by the referral (not created by the beneficiary and green-lighted by the referral); 3. your recommendations of others show what you value in others; 4. sync with your blog to broadcast latest posts; 5. higher value linkback(s) to three of your website(s), given linkedin’s solid page rank; 6. each link can include a descriptive tag that boosts seo value; 7. visitors stay an average of 7.3 minutes; 8. “visitors of this profile also visited…” functionality provides a glimpse into visitors’ intentions; 9. groups provide an insight into your interests — and feeds deliver poignant topics by email that keep you on your feet; 10. ability to embed animated presentations of your work.

New York Times Educates on Google Tools

etownsend — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 16:52:57 +0000

when you’re in the business of providing complex marketing like search engine optimization (seo), it’s easy to overlook the basics — like the fact that many people don’t know even the baseline tricks that google has to offer. thanks to lelei lelaulu for pointing me towards a new york times article that shows off google’s many bells and whistles. if you’re a google newbie or someone who hasn’t fully explored what it can do, then hit the above link!

New Logo Design, ID and Bio — Kontinental

etownsend — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:01:48 +0000

completed an identity refresh this morning for kontinental, an entertainment venture with ties in africa, europe and north america. i created the original logo in 2007, with three key changes enabled this past week. drop the word “entertainment” from the entity name. revise the color palette to a cool gray and two shades of gold. introduce new iconography — a winged hero and a cheetah.

click on to read the biography i crafted for kontinental’s founder, nana opoku.

MEET NANA OPOKU

Funny how a life and love of entertainment can spring from such unusual circumstances.

At the age of 10, I dressed in my mother’s clothes, shoes, dress, and earrings. I know what you’re thinking — but hang with me for a bit longer here. My mother was admitted to the hospital and was not responding to the care being administered by its staff. Doctors were worried that she might never recover. My grandfather encouraged me to try and lift my mother’s spirits. That’s when the cross-dressing idea came to me. When my mother saw me in costume, tears rolled down her cheeks. She could see herself clearly in her son. Tears turned to smiles, and smiles turned to laughter. Filling her heart with joy began to cure where medical attention could not.

From this day onward, I set out to entertain the world. I had found my calling and nothing was going to stand in my way.

Throughout my childhood and teen years in Ghana (Africa), entertainment played an essential role in my life. I wanted to learn all about the craft in its many forms — and I wanted to study, live and learn through the lens of its gifts. Artform became lifeline. There were parties, concerts and more. I began to taste make and DJ along the way. I was always looking to entertain my friends and family. Traveling to England on holidays exposed me to the music scene in particular. Days spent at The Garage, the farms in North London and nightclubs in Brixton all made me appreciate entertainment still further.

As a high school freshman, I signed my first music deal with Magic and King T, a local rap group. I recorded a few tracks songs with them and even got some airplay on the radio. I completed a few other records with local groups, and I even got the chance to be featured on some tracks. Throughout high school, I was prominent in the entertainment scene. I was DJ, MC, artist, videographer, manager — whatever would make time in a boarding school less horrible than it was. One of my most proud accomplishments was getting the school to update their entertainment system with new speakers, CD players and a mixer. It was not easy to get the principal to invest in these things. I took persistence. NOTT was a group that I founded on campus that earned me the nickname Phubu da Dinosaur. These formative years were a great experience that laid an even stronger foundation for things to come.

After high school, I moved to the United States. I wasted no time in advancing my studies. I read business journals. I followed the U.S. entertainment industry closely, observing its mechanics and trend setting. On February 22, 2006, I founded Kontinental Entertainment and signed my first act to a one album deal. “Primary Hearing” by Jamal Langley (a.k.a. Mally Mall) was an immediate success and is regarded as one of the strongest hip hop albums to come out on the Northern Virginia area in recent years. We sold over 5,000 copies independently in the first three months.

Through the process of the mastering the record, I met Eric “9Davine” Townsend of SplashKit at one of his collaborator’s establishments, Cue Recording. An excellent musician and astute businessman, Townsend was formulating an independent music festival and looking for a partner in the venture. We quickly hit it off. Together, we created H3Festival in ear;y 2007 and staged it successfully at the top music venue under 250 seats in the United States (as rated by Paste Magazine) — Jammin’ Java (Vienna VA-USA). The festival was a unique blend of live entertainment that introduced the region’s top songwriting, poetry and comedy talent. Through this experience, we helped audiences to discover Dustin Conley (Buster Brown Band) and Edith Sodolo (a.k.a. Deja Belle). I co-produced Conley’s debut, 1.21 Jiggywatts Live! We introduced Sodolo to local guitar virtuoso Vinnie Parrish and helped the duet claim the grand prize in 2008’s Capital Star talent competition.

Kontinental is committed to growth into a top-notch entertainment company, bringing joy to hearts all over the world. Our broad view and embrace of diversely different styles of entertainment are what make us special. The coming years will be eventful for the company, as we expand our influence to new marketplaces.

Kontinental —OUR WORLD!

“An Educated Consumer is Our Best Customer”

etownsend — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 22:57:18 +0000

i’m not saying you should teach consumers every last detail of your expertise. i’m asking that you be more generous with your knowledge. take the time to show what you know, how you can help, how to avoid a more serious problem than he/she already has, etc. sometimes, this will take the form of free tips for how to resolve problems without your intervention. i know, it may sound counter-intuitive, even a little crazy — but it’s all in how you view your time and expertise! you want consumers who know they have a problem, who have exhausted patchwork solutions or procrastination and who now know that it takes a real expert to save the day. you want consumers who place a high value on your time, talent and offering. a department store chain named syms once sloganed that “an educated consumer is our best customer” — and they are right. a good example of this is a recent “free pre-inspection kit” i provided for a home improvement contractor. featured are topic after helpful topic and many free tips. i even invite the consumer to inspect the problem for his/herself and provide a checklist to aid in the process. those who schedule an appointment behind this kit are educated and ready to fix their problem.

New Logo — Jonathan G. Willen & Associates

etownsend — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:58:11 +0000

sketched out a new logo for jonathan g. willen & associates yesterday. they advise, plan and manage events like concerts, weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, upscale parties, and theatrical performances. the artwork was a quick hit. color palette and refinements to the form will come over the next two weeks, as i fit the graphic to the banner area of the website i’m also developing for the group.