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6 Steps to Branding for EDM Artists

A giant mouse head fist pumped behind the biggest rubix cube ever and the crowd went wild.
When @Deadmau5 became the house DJ at the 2010 VMAs, electronic music gained mainstream recognition. Today, everyone has a pair of fluffies. And why not? EDM’s recognition in the music industry is long overdue.

So, what’s the difference between @Deadmau5 and every DJ that hasn’t had the opportunity to play the VMAs? Some produce using the same equipment and have loads of musical talent. Why is he successful when so many other talented DJs still go unrecognized? Well, for one, DM5 is a freaking musical genius and for two, he has those ears that light up.

But there’s more to it than a sweet pair of ears and a ginormous rubix cube. Deadmau5 has a distinguishable brand and continues to build support by marketing himself successfully. He’s everywhere and doing everything to connect with his followers and establishing his brand. From Facebook to Minecraft to Instagram and gaming – the Deadmau5 brand is in constant interaction with his audience. And, his brand is him. That simple.
From a marketers perspective, here are 6 things every aspiring DJ can do to keep the dream alive.
1. Be Professional.
In every interaction, be respectful, committed and reliable. It’s the foundation for every career. Music is no different. Bring your “A-Game” 110% of the time. If you have an audience of 2 or 2,000, play like you’re playing for your MOM, or someone else of equal awesomeness. You never know who is watching and what doors can open or close based on how you perform.

2. Build a following.
Anyway, if you’re professional, that’s half the battle. If your personable, that’s the other half. There’s something mysterious about musicians that makes people wonder about what makes […]

Sustainable Marketing in 3 Steps

I may have mentioned a time or two, I pretty much love Earth…leaves, butterflies, oxygen…love…all of it. So, yes, I’m pretty passionate when it comes to sustainable marketing practices.
Before I became the CEO for @redbridge, I was a marketer of energy-efficiency programs. I called what I did, saving the world one kwh at a time. Anyway, when you promote energy-efficient products and choices you need to lead by example or people get skeptical. Nobody wants that.
My 10+ years of sustainable marketing practices can be boiled down into 3 simple steps. Here they are:

1. Think “green” brainstormy thoughts!
2. Design to make green “the new black”.
3. Buy green. It’s just nice. :)

Have I wowed you with my brilliance yet? Well…I hope NOT because I can talk about this ALL DAY! So, here I go, the 3 secrets revealed in 5…4…3…2…1…:
1. Think “green” brainstormy thoughts!
In my perfect world, a marketing plan serves as a road map for upcoming marketing activities. You’ve planned out as far as a year in advance. Relaxed brainstorm sessions happen in the quarter prior to the deliverable’s deadline allowing you to glance out further in the timeline to see if there are other materials forecasted that can be combined. I also have a pet unicorn in that world.

In my real world experience, you plan out as far ahead as possible and stay flexible. So the more you can think green thoughts on the fly, the better Earth is going to get. Whether your next item is well-planned, or a marketing emergency, consider what you’re trying to accomplish and how the end result can be created, greenly. For instance:

Email vs. Direct Mail: Get email addresses for your target audiences and send email campaigns versus direct mail. […]

Product Review: The Starbys App Makes Me :)!

Sooo…it’s Peppermint Mocha time at Starbys and I love love looooove red cups. Imagine my sheer glee when I realized that I can not only pay for a venti with my phone, BUT that I can send one via the world wide web to a high school friend who lives 10 hours away…Neat-o!

Yup, Starbucks has an app. (Well, actually they have three, but I’ll go into that later.) Two of my favorite things combined — technology + coffee =  download ASAP.

It’s free and it’s in the App store. The interface is very user-friendly and does a little bit/LOT of everything. Here’s a list of features:

Drinks: Create and store your favorite drinks AND those of your friends
Favorites: Create and store locations, coffee types and foods
Coffees: Get full descriptions, photos and recommendations for the entire line of Starbucks Coffees
Food: Find nutritional, allergens and calorie info for foods available at Starbucks
Drinks: Create and store customized drink builder with nutritional information using a step by step process
Jobs: They have a pretty green brand…
Settings: Your profile
Help: Help
Scanner: Hellooooooo, QR Code scanner…LOVE
My Card: Store card and transaction history, PLUS allows easy balance reload by storing card info
Rewards: Birthday Coffee?! Yes… I’m so in!
Gifts: Brighten someone’s day – no matter how far away they live!
Stores: Location, location, location…
It’s sustainable – no cards, no paper, just environmental goodness

Long story short, if you love coffee or know someone who might enjoy getting a coffee, you might want this app. You can gift, buy and discover all things Starbucks Coffee. I am a Starbucks maniac and had heard about the app from a friend a few months ago. Since I first downloaded, I’ve tracked over $100 in purchases, reloaded and surprised a friend […]

People Who Inspire Me: Sarah Hulbert Creates Holidays

Personal narrative written by Sarah, the fun-loving, caring best little woman you’ve ever heard write about the red bridge. I’m pretty sure you’ll agree, she’s pretty inspiring. From now on, September 3 will be called San Francisco Day. I love this!

San Francisco Day
By: Sarah Hulbert

It was a sunny summer morning in San Francisco California; it was a hot 90 degree day in the big city of San Francisco. As I got up out of the hotel room bed, changed from my blue pajamas to my blue t-shirt, and my short shorts with the rhinestones. It was our third and last day in San Francisco. We had gone to the bike rental shop to get bikes, it was a clean shop. The shop was teal blue and had white tiles for the floor. There were light green walls with all different types of bikes, all different shapes, colors, and sizes. There was an old fashion bike with purple and pink accents on the wheels. It was a very special day for my dad.

My dad was wearing his blue jeans, black t-shirt, and his funny looking sunglasses. My dad’s girlfriend, Shannon, was wearing her black wolf hat, the short black dress, and her fuzzy black boots. Tyrah and Alex, my little siblings were riding on bikes attached to the adult’s bikes. Tyrah was wearing her pink striped t-shirt with her brown skirt and her rainbow belt. She had her small bike attached to her mom’s, pedaling away on the little orange pedals. Nick, my little bro, was wearing his cool black Tap Out shirt, skinny jeans, and his Nike shoes. He had a little black and gray bike. Antone my big brother was on his own […]

People Who Inspire Me: Gabe Berman, Lives Like A Fruit Fly

Sorry, yes, those are my feet. And yes, I did just post them on my blog for the world to see…but, I did blur them a ton.

Anyway, I blame Gabe Berman (@GabeBerman). Because of him, and his book Live Like A Fruit Fly, you have to see my feet gliding through the air because I spent Sunday afternoon in a swing at the beach.

Here’s my Sunday:

Sleep in.
Indulge in Starbys.
Frequent an AT&T store…looking for the phone…no luck.
Take a random spontaneous road trip to the beach.
Buy/Wear a cowboy hat. I’m pretty sure it’s a prerequisite for #6.
Swing…ON the beach. (Smiling!)
Capture a ginormous pikachu on film while he’s giving the peace sign. (Rare.)
Research which mustache should be worn on a Sundays. ANSWER: The Bollywood
Dominate at air hockey. (hmm…lost all three games, despite the fact that I was wearing my lucky engagement ring and a cowboy hat)
Pose for a random picture with the happiest tin man EVER! (We’re waving. I have a cowboy hat on. He’s wearing an oil can thing-y.)
Go for a long walk.
Hold hands. (That’s my favorite part.)
Buy a book. (I’m a reader).
Eat cheesecake.
Spend the day without television.
Laugh often.
Wear sunglasses. (The future’s so bright…I gotta wear shades.)
Do something to encourage someone else’s dream.
Do something about your dream. (i.e., www.redbridgeonline…yay!)

The photo journal was religiously captured on film via instagram…redbridgeonline. It makes me smile just thinking about it!

Oh, back to why…I was living like a fruit fly! Gabe’s book is about the meaning of life, as seen through the eyes of a fruit fly. I won’t spoil the ending for you. You should read the book it’s on Amazon. But, I will tell you this. A fruit fly’s life is short, so they make the most of each […]

4 Seriously Inspiring Tweeters From Today

4 Seriously Inspiring Tweeters From Today
I wake up at 5am, just so I can do absolutely nothing but be inspired by Twitter for a minimum of 2 hours every morning. And, so far so good. There are some seriously inspiring things being said between the hours of 5 to 7am. Here are my favs from this morning’s lounge-about-and-stretch-like-a-cat session.

1. @ruhanirabin

Today’s tweet: “Because your heart is so beautiful, everything looks beautiful to you.” ~ Japanese proverb

You can’t read this and NOT just look around and love life! So many people spend so much time focusing on the negative, when, for every negative there is a positive. You really can choose what you focus on. Choose the beautiful stuff. It makes your heart smile and you can truly look around and say, What a Wonderful World. Thanks @ruhanirabin – for the reminder to focus on important things.

2. @MichaelReagan. His Twitter bio says he gets stuff done before 8am.

Today’s tweet: “Finished Boot Camp. Worked out on the TRX system again today. Amazing way to exercise!”

So, this morning, while lounging and reading this, I sent him a quick, “Good job!” It’s pretty unlikely that I’ll be doing any TRX (what is that anyway?), but tomorrow morning…I’ll be take a quick jog around the neighborhood. So thank you @MichaelReagan, for the inspiration. Cheers to good health – and leading by example. :)

3. @celestialbeard

Today’s tweet: “when I approach the 140 character limit I start typing more quietly (but not slower) in the hopes that twitter won’t notice”

Inspiring for two reasons…1.) Hello! Celestial Beard? You KNOW you can’t have a name like that without having something along the lines of Led Zepplin. I hope hope hope he posts a pic of that…soon. Oh, […]

Using the 5th “P” to Put a Ding in the Universe.

Put a Ding in the Universe. Use the 5th P’s.
On Wednesday I received a random text from a 17 year old that inspired this post.

17 year old text – “What are the 4 P’s?”
My text reply – “Easy…Price. Product. Placement. People.”

Yup, got it wrong. The 4th P is actually promotion. And I DO marketing for a living!! So, crash course in the 4 P’s it is. Here we go. There are four critical elements needed to market products and services. They’re called the 4 P’s.

1. Product – Do you have a product that is wanted or needed by an audience?

2. Price – Is your product priced at an amount that your audience will consider affordable and worth their money?

3. Place – Is your product available at a place where it can be purchased by your audience?

4. Promotion – What are you doing to let your audience know that your product is available for them?

I’m keeping the 5th P. It’s pretty genius. I mean, without people, the other 4 p’s can’t exist.

5. People – Sellers of the product. Buyers of the product. Marketers of the message. Audience of the message.

No matter which of the 4 P’s are being focused on, it’s people who make products successful. Know your audience. Who buys your product and why do they buy it? Is it something they need or does it satisfy a want? How badly do they need or want it? What is it about using your product or service that satisfies that need? Interacting with your audience provides valuable insights. Form a relationship with them so they’re comfortable giving you feedback. Listen to their suggestions. Thank them. Act on their requests. They’ll love you and your product a […]

Product Review: Postcard on the Run App (genius!)

The absolute greatest thing EVER happened! My, now fiance, Eric asked me to marry him…on the red bridge*…and I was wearing a SpiritHood…and there were sea lions down below the bridge…swimming. And we have pictures of THAT moment!

Attention Selena Gomez, you just invested in the best company EVER!

So…after the magic moment, naturally I posted and shared with all of my social media accounts. Hmmm, I’ll be honest, in my excitement I didn’t immediately call my family and they were less than pleased. But…crisis averted, calls made, people forgiven. Except, my grandma. She’s 86 and hasn’t realized the magic of #Apple and the world wide web just yet. She prefers mail to calling.

So when I heard about the FREE Postcard on the Run app on Twitter I downloaded right after I sent a “woohoo” text to @POSTCARDing expressing my gratitude (to which they promptly responded with a thank you). It might’ve taken two minutes before I was opening the app and gearing up to send my grandma the best postcard of my LIFE. Oh…for $0.99. Postcard on the Run is the perfect solution to the busy techy with moments to share and not enough time in the day.
(Download now at http://postcardonthego.com/)

Unfortunately, I wish that I could have a LOT of moments for life (shout out to @NICKIMINAJ1Luv). My phone was packed with 10,000 pictures. Everything from Norbert, the Gnome on his epic vacations to the view from the 86th floor on the Empire State Building gets shared with random @Foursquare, @Instagram and tweeting people. When I touched the “Use Existing Photo” button the app froze. I sent a reply back to @POSTCARDing about what had appened and they responded right away reassuring me that they […]