66 RAW

The Broadway production of FELA! is a Must-See

"Everybody say YEAH YEAH"!! FELA!, the electrifying Broadway musical masterfully directed and choreographed by Tony-Award winner Bill T. Jones, and presented by Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Will & Jada Pinkett Smith¹, tells the true story of Fela Kuti²,

Dee Dee Cocheta, an entertainment industry veteran especially in the Hip Hop culture owns her own marketing and PR company, ABC PR & Marketing. She worked with a variety of artists and brands for over a decade. In this inteview we are picking her brain in regards of the current state of the industry from a marketing/pr point of view

We all get these annoying posts, emails, and message on our Facebook, Twitter, and whatever other outlet these individuals can find. The problem is that majority of people tend to always manage and misunderstand or not get what is meant in certain sayings or practices.

For example "All promotions is good promotions" wasn't meant for people to go out and annoy people with their so-called promotional campaigns. If you are a professional marketer, you understand one major thing and that is the power of "Word of Mouth". Just because you decdide to bombard people Facebook, Myspace, etc. pages with your "Please check out my song, profile, or party" do you really think that these individual will take a liking to you? You are totally disrespecting their private space and in the real world it is called "soliciting".

You will find that many businesses and areas will have a sign that states "No Soliticing" and that is exactly why! Nobody wants to be harrassed by something they do not want or asked for. Here are some of the main huge mistakes amateurs make and this is how you can tell they are amateurs because real professionals wouldn't go that route.

Here are some of the biggest mistakes amateurs make:

1. The unwanted posts
   People want to be your "Friends" only so they can blast your profile with their "promotions" and just because they start their post of with "I don't mean to be intrusive, disrespectful or something that sort" and then post flyers, music, or whatever. What they fail to understand is instead of creating a "demand" they are actually turning people against them. They will be so annoyed with you that they won't even give you a chance
2. Spam
   If you send someone emails that they didn't subscribed to is also considered spam. There are best practices on how to obtain and email people. Majority of people are totally violating CAN-SPAM. In case you wonder what happens when you violate it is pretty easy. The emails that you send may never make it to your subscribers because your IP has been blacklisted, so you can send as many email as you won't but ISP's like Gmail, Yahoo, etc will not allow emails sent from you to get into the network and you probably never know it or most likely you will be in the Spam folder. There are lot of things that these sites do and violate not just how they acquire emails but simple things as building a reputation.
3. Constant Messaging
   If you send one message over and over again won't get you better results, most likley you will get yourself on someone's bad side. If you send a message and a follow up a day or two before the event that's fine but over and over with the same message is a No No. They most likley got your message but just weren't interested.
4. Faking
   If you change your email address name to a celebrity name is totally the wrong thing to do even though you may think that you are genius you are actually playing yourself because it will get you spam listed quick. Gmail and other ISP's check your IP address and match it with domain and if you keep changing your name you are red flagged.
   
   Also your party and the other 1000 are claiming to be hottest party in town the same night. So just be to the point with what they really expect. Overselling and under performing is always a negative.

The true magic about marketing is to create a demand by subliminally sparking interest of your consumer base and not by offending them or pissing them off!

Budgeting lies at the foundation of every financial plan. It doesn’t matter if you’re living paycheck to paycheck or earning six-figures a year, you need to know where your money is going if you want to have a handle on your finances. Unlike what you might believe, budgeting isn’t all about restricting what you spend money on and cutting out all the fun in your life. It’s really all about understanding how much money you have, where it goes, and then planning how to best allocate those funds. Here’s everything you need to help you create and maintain a budget.

Mixtape Monday Street Rehab Report!

Written by DNA

Alley Boy

"Nigganati"

The Crusade of the Real Nigga starts with the Nigganati! Duct Tape Ent's front man rips through 15 tracks of pure crack speaking that real street shit and serving as the voice of the streets of Atlanta.

So here we are fam...the end of another one. Seems like 2011 flew by in the blink of an eye! For some of us it was a good year, others ok & the rest...fuckin HORRIBLE and can't wait to see that bitch leave!!

I love teaching. It’s something about connecting writing and literary concepts to everyday life that makes me ecstatic. When I was still in the classroom, one of my favorite concepts to teach was that of a tragic hero. (Prepare for a quick lesson.)

A tragic hero is a larger than life figure who displays four specific characteristics. He or she:

As I watched the movie Courageous this weekend, it truly reminded of how tired I am.  Tired of parents not stepping up and being the parent they have been called to be.  I personally experienced this going through a very painful divorce recently.  It puzzles me how a parent can live with their children and then because things don't work out with the other parent, the kids are left out.  

Born and raised in the Bronx, New York, Roe Merolla is a blend of fiery Italian and soft spoken sweetness.  As a promotional model and go-go dancer, she is most known for her talents across a range of media, including