Category Archives: Marketing
Wait, You Party for a Living? Arizona Pro DJs
The Most Successful College DJ Business: Arizona Pro DJs from Matthew Racz on Vimeo.
Will Curran has one of the best jobs in the college startup world…he parties for a living. Okay – maybe it is not all fun and games, but Will has had a great experience running his entertainment company called Arizona Pro DJs since he was a junior in high school. Now a senior at Arizona State University, Will has built a pretty successful business where he prides bringing innovation to the entertainment industry. With a strong focus on quality (he has interns go through a 6 month training program and is very selective of his DJs), Arizona Pro DJs has experienced 3x growth from last year and expects the same for this year.
Take it from Will, being a student entrepreneur pays – he has a scholarship to ASU for his business and has won other awards providing him with the financial backing to help fund his business. Check out this interview with Will as he shares his story building a successful business around his passion for music. Enjoy the interview and absolutely follow up with Will for any advice or questions you have!
About Will Curran
The beginning of Arizona Pro DJs was completely accidental. As a high school freshman armed only with the technical knowledge of web design and a love of music, Will Curran 
launched a donation-based Internet radio station. As his fan base grew, Curran decided to take a leap of faith and invest his last $400 in turntables and a mixer. When a friend asked Curran to DJ her backyard party, what started out as a hobby quickly transformed. “I had no idea it could be a business,” Curran told us “I brought out my home speakers, amp, and my $400 ‘DJ-in-a-box’ kit. It worked out, and eventually my friends suggested I DJ the low-budget dances at school.”
Word spread about Curran’s talent as a disc jockey, and soon he was playing events in schools across the state. Sensing the financial potential, he asked his parents for a small loan (at the time he was just a sophomore in high school) and bought a professional-grade sound system. He put the money he made toward more DJ gear. Better gear meant charging more for his services and playing bigger shows. Thus, in 2005, Arizona Pro DJs was born.
Links to Connect with Will:
Feel free to connect with Will, ask him some questions, or simply let him know you loved the interview!
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Quick Note
Start It Up TV is still growing into what it needs to be. We are trying our best to make this site as awesome and legitimate for our viewers as possible. If you have any ideas on how to make this site better, want to do business with Start It Up TV, or would like to be interviewed for one of the episodes, please feel free to use our Contact Form or E-mail Matt@startitup.tv!
A big thank you to Alek Rost for the intro to Start It Up TV. Check him out at AlekRost.com
Selling a Lifestyle Brand One Hat at a Time: Hairline Hat Co.
How to Build a Unique Brand: Hairline Hat Co. Interview from Matthew Racz on Vimeo.
Creating a brand can be a very difficult task. To successfully establish a brand, the visionary must bring to life an intangible idea. Mark Bailey, junior at the University of Delaware and co-founder of Hairline Hat Co, has set out to do just that. Hairline Hat Co. is a street wear brand targeting style conscious individuals. The brand brings a unique style to the head wear industry.
Mark shares with us in this interview the challenges one must overcome when launching a new brand as well as the many things he had to consider when getting his hats manufactured.
In this episode of Start It Up TV, we discuss:
- How Mark found a manufacturing partner for his products
- Different marketing strategies for a newly established brand on a budget
- The importance of building a strong business partnership
- Mark’s plans for the next two years, including pushing 365 new hats during 2012
About the Founders
Hairline Hat Co. is run by two entrepreneurial students at the University of Delaware, Mark 
Bailey & Kai Hadaway. Mark Bailey is a junior sports management major who makes up the better half of the business side of a HHC. He enjoys sleepless nights in the university’s Venture Development Center and watching the brand grow. Kai Hadaway is currently taking the semester off to fund his education, but is currently a sophomore business administration major and provides completeness to the brand with his hustle and creativity. He enjoys selling products to random people and making sure everyone he comes in contact with knows about Hairline Hat Co.
Links to Connect with Mark and Hairline Hat Co:
Let Mark know you saw him on Start It Up TV and show some support for the Hairline Hat Co:
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Quick Note
Start It Up TV is still growing into what it needs to be. We are trying our best to make this site as awesome and legitimate for our viewers as possible. If you have any ideas on how to make this site better, want to do business with Start It Up TV, or would like to be interviewed for one of the episodes, please feel free to use our Contact Form or E-mail Matt@startitup.tv!
A big thank you to Alek Rost for the intro to Start It Up TV. Check him out at AlekRost.com
How to Optimize Your New Website For Google
How to Optimize Your New Website For Google2 from Matthew Racz on Vimeo.
Want Audio Only? You got it!
Disclaimer: Watch this video if you are interested in getting an SEO MBA in 45 minutes.
You may be familiar with A&C Media Consulting – we did an interview with Steven Aquino a few weeks ago called “How to Market a Marketing Company.” In this interview, Steven’s business partner and man behind the scenes, Matt Carnali, was kind enough to offer some free Web Development and SEO advice for Start It Up TV. We decided to turn it into an episode so all of you can learn from Matt some really great tips regarding getting your site optimized for Google. Matt also shared some needed pointers on how I could better-improve the overall design of my website.
If you’re looking for some free tips and advice on SEO for your blog or website and some great insights into web design, definitely watch this interview.
About Matt Carnali
Matt Carnali is a founding partner and the lead web designer for AandCmediaConsulting.com. Over the past several years, Matt has developed multiple websites. One of the first websites he designed was for a local soccer club for a community service project. After designing the site, he fell in love with web design and server hosting. This led him to build a server at his house from an older computer. Eventually he brought the server online and hosted a web redirect to provide more open access to various websites. He then continued to develop his skills by building additional and more complex websites that include: CollegeOutlet, HitTheRack and one for his fraternity, Kappa Alpha Order. He also designed several sites for smaller companies. His passion is to take a person’s vision and develop it into a complete website. Matt is currently pursuing computer related courses at JMU to help him further enhance his career in web design. He later partnered with Steven Aquino to form A&C Media Consulting.
Links to Connect with Matt and A&C Media Consulting:
Let Matt know you saw him on Start It Up TV and show some support for A&C Media Consulting:
Show Some Love for Start It Up TV
Quick Note
Start It Up TV is still growing into what it needs to be. We are trying our best to make this site as awesome and legitimate for our viewers as possible. If you have any ideas on how to make this site better, want to do business with Start It Up TV, or would like to be interviewed for one of the episodes, please feel free to use our Contact Form or E-mail Matt@startitup.tv!
A big thank you to Alek Rost for the intro to Start It Up TV. Check him out at AlekRost.com
How to be Awesome at College: College Info Geek
How to be Awesome at College: College Info Geek from Matthew Racz on Vimeo.
Want Audio Only? You got it!
Thomas Frank is the founder and head geek at College Info Geek, a college blog that publishes tips on studying, technology, money, music, and other student-related topics. The site is visited by thousands of students every month, and ranks in the top 1% of the highest-trafficked websites on the Internet. College Info Geek has partnered with companies like Adobe, Sony, and Vonage to assist with student promotion, has been featured on LifeHacker, HackCollege, CollegeBlender, Student Advisor, and PracticalPremed, and publishes the work of nine contributing writers from around the U.S.
This interview with Thomas Frank is AWESOME! If you are looking to get into the blogging world but haven’t the slightest clue where to start…you should begin your journey with this video.
Preview of what is covered in this interview:
- Advice on how to be AWESOME at college
- His thoughts and strategies on growing a blog’s presence
- How he was able to get 9 people on board to write as guest posts
- His biggest challenges starting a blog and how he overcame them
About Thomas Frank
College Student, Entrepreneur, Writer, Web Developer, Early Adopter, Wannabe Designer, Extra-Picky Editor.
Thomas is currently a junior at Iowa State University studying Management Information Systems and Speech Communication. In addition to studying and blogging, he is a Resident Advisor for an honors dorm at Iowa State, helps students with career questions at ISU Business Career Services, and is a contributing writer to the popular blog Stepcase Lifehack. He is also the web developer and head of social media for famous entrepreneur and pitchman Cactus Jack, who was featured multiple times on the ABC show “Shark Tank”.
In high school, Thomas made several thousand dollars developing web sites. Now running his second entrepreneurial endeavour and working multiple jobs, he knows first-hand that the path to success for both students and businesses is built brick-by-brick. Thomas is passionate about helping students succeed, and is particularly interested in educating them about personal branding and networking. He regularly interviews successful entrepreneurs, and has connected with people like Noah Kagan of AppSumo, Leo Widrich of Buffer, Dallas Moore of Social Republick, and more. In doing this, he hopes to provide invaluable insight and inspiration to students everywhere.
Links to Connect with Thomas and College Info Geek:
Let Thomas know you saw him on Start It Up TV and show some support for College Info Geek:
Show Some Love for Start It Up TV
Quick Note
Start It Up TV is still growing into what it needs to be. We are trying our best to make this site as awesome and legitimate for our viewers as possible. If you have any ideas on how to make this site better, want to do business with Start It Up TV, or would like to be interviewed for one of the episodes, please feel free to use our Contact Form or E-mail Matt@startitup.tv!
A big thank you to Alek Rost for the intro to Start It Up TV. Check him out at AlekRost.com
Providing What Every New Business Startup Needs: A&C Media Consulting
Starting a Media Consulting Agency: A&C Media Consulting from Matthew Racz on Vimeo.
Where do you turn to for Web Design, SEO, Advertising, and Web Hosting services for your small business or business startup? It can be difficult finding the right business for one of these startup needs – let alone all of them. That is why college entrepreneurs Steven Aquino and his business partner, Matthew Carnali, created A&C Media Consulting.
Their media consulting company focuses on providing high quality and affordable Web Design, SEO, Web Hosting and Advertising in the greater New Jersey are. Check out this interview with Steven where he shares with us:
- How to Market a Marketing Company – very interesting concept and challenge
- How to Find the Right Business Partner and Work With Him/Her Virtually
- Strategies to Boost Your Customer Service Capabilities and Ratings
- How to Network Your Way to Profits and Share Your Story with Others
About Steven Aquino
Steve is a founding partner and a Director of Marketing for A&C Media Consulting. Steven began working for local car dealerships helping them improve their public exposure using advertising and social media tactics. After bringing his first car dealership into the new media age, he left and took an internship at Giovatto Advertising. Later he decided to join Matt Carnali and form A&C Media Consulting. Specializing in business and image revitalization with selective advertising exposure, Steven builds a new image for new and upcoming businesses. Steven will continue his work in the business world by also attending WVU majoring in business administration.
Links to Connect with Steve and A&C Media Consulting:
Let Steven know you saw him on Start It Up TV and show some support for A&C Media Consulting:
Show Some Love for Start It Up TV
Quick Note
Start It Up TV is still growing into what it needs to be. We are trying our best to make this site as awesome and legitimate for our viewers as possible. If you have any ideas on how to make this site better, want to do business with Start It Up TV, or would like to be interviewed for one of the episodes, please feel free to use our Contact Form or E-mail Matt@startitup.tv!
A big thank you to Alek Rost for the intro to Start It Up TV. Check him out at AlekRost.com
What Really Matters in Todays SEO Landscape
For a lot of us, understanding SEO can be similar to understanding quantum physics. While things like social media, SEO and the Internet in general are fairly new concepts (within the past 30 years), SEO has traveled a long and winding road to being well-understood.
Companies have spent years trying to outrank competitors and experts have spent years trying to predict the future of SEO. Google is always evolving their algorithm, so SEO best practices have adapted throughout the years.
Search Engine Journal published an awesome infographic, titled “The Evolution of Making Page 1.”
The infographic shows us how far SEO has come. We see practices that were important years ago, that no longer even apply to ranking today. We see where we started with SEO and where we are now.
So where are we now?
What do we need to consider when investing in SEO? If Google’s algorithm is so sophisticated, what custom web solutions do we need to apply today that will help us get ranked? Most of us have limited marketing budgets, so what should be top priority?
Content
If there’s one thing you’ll notice when you look at this infographic, the one thing that stays constant and is never over-valued is quality content.
After all the tricks and shortcuts companies have tried over the years, the one thing we always come back to is: there is no substitute for good content.
Content should be relevant, sharable and interesting to your audience. There used to be a time where we could publish garbage blog posts stuffed full of keywords and that’d be enough to boost our rankings. No more. Google is smart enough to know if you’re writing content about great-tasting hamburgers and shoving keywords about washing machine maintenance into your posts.
You shouldn’t want to trick people into clicking through to your website. The best way to do this is to create content that’s valuable to your audience.
Valuable content isn’t content that doubles as a sales pitch. People are online searching for solutions to their problems, answers to their questions. They want to be informed or inspired – not always blatantly sold to.
Offsite SEO
There are two types of SEO – onsite and offsite. Onsite SEO refers to the stuff you’re saying on your domain or subdomain: website, blog, etc. Offsite refers to the stuff you’re saying, or others are saying (and linking) everywhere else. If there are websites linking to you, people sharing your content, etc., that is offsite SEO.
Offsite SEO accounts for nearly 40% of all search-ranking factors. So if you’re ignoring it, you’re not doing SEO correctly.
How do you do offsite correctly?
Guest-blog on someone else’s blog. Create content on high page or domain authority sites that are relevant to your audience. Content that links back to you is valuable. If you’re creating inspiring or informative content, your audience will want to share it. If your content is being passed around the Internet, that will affect how Google perceives you.
No Shortcuts
Google now has the ability to determine the user experience you’re offering. This means that if the people coming to your site are quickly bouncing off, it implies they’re not finding what they want from you. The user-experience is poor.
Conversely, if people come to your site, click through clear calls to action, it implies their user-experience was valuable and helpful.
Testing your calls to action on your website and blog couldn’t be more important. See what works and what doesn’t. If your CTA isn’t getting clicked, it’s worth the time and money to change it.
Additionally, optimize your site for mobile users. Smart phones have taken over in the past few years. Mobile traffic has seen a giant spike. If you’re not giving people a mobile experience, you’re probably missing out on substantial traffic.
No matter how far SEO has come, or where it’s about to go, there are a few things that we can invest in that will remain the same with regard to how we’re perceived in search. Content, context and user-experience will always matter.
Guest Post By: Justin Shimp
Bio: Justin Shimp is a digital handyman and content author at Smallbox, an Indianapolis custom web solutions consulting firm. You can follow Smallbox on Twitter, @Smallbox
Show Some Love for Start It Up TV
Quick Note
Start It Up TV is still growing into what it needs to be. We are trying our best to make this site as awesome and legitimate for our viewers as possible. If you have any ideas on how to make this site better, want to do business with Start It Up TV, or would like to be interviewed for one of the episodes, please feel free to use our Contact Form or E-mail Matt@startitup.tv!
The Rope It: Invent Your Way to Profits (Episode 1)
How Louis Girifalco Took his Father’s Invention and Turned it into a Business from Matthew Racz on Vimeo.
A big thank you to Alek Rost for the intro to Start It Up TV. Check him out at www.AlekRost.com
Louis Girifalco, owner of The Rope It, has had some awesome experiences when it comes to college entrepreneurship. This interview provides a strong argument for starting a business – anything – while in college. Louis graduated from the University of Delaware in May of 2009 with a degree in Marketing and is now working on the Rope It full time. He has a strong background in Social Media Marketing and applies these skills to his business. Louis currently lives in Center City, Philadelphia.
The Rope It
The Rope It is much more than a golf ball on an elastic cord. It is convenience – this product allows you to practice golf in the comfort of your own yard. It is also saved time and money – No longer do you have to travel all the way to the driving range and pay $10 for a bucket of balls. The Rope It is a classic example of identifying an
opportunity and capitalizing on it. Louis recounts his experiences as a college entrepreneur (and even tells a story about how he created his own “bank” in first grade) and explains in detail how The Rope It came to be. While at the University of Delaware, Louis ran a part-time music recording studio called BlackBox, operated a T-Shirt business, and booked music concerts. He also entered the Business Plan Competition three times and made to the finalist panel twice.
Want to know some awesome benefits related to starting a business while in college? Louis shares how his experiences at UD set him up for success post graduation with his business.
Want to know how to use Social Media for your own business? The Rope It is pretty much on all of the big time social media platforms. Watch this interview for some tips and tricks on how you can apply some of the cool techniques Louis uses for his products.
Links to Connect with Louis & The Rope It
If you would like to see how Louis uses social media marketing for The Rope It, check out these links below!
- The Rope It Website
- The Rope It Facebook Page
- The Rope It Twitter
- The Rope It Youtube Account – Check out his videos!
- The Rope It Blog
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Quick Note
Start It Up TV is still growing into what it needs to be. We are trying our best to make this site as awesome and legitimate for our viewers as possible. If you have any ideas on how to make this site better, want to do business with Start It Up TV, or would like to be interviewed for one of the episodes, please feel free to use our Contact Form or E-mail Matt@startitup.tv!
Affiliate Marketing Programs: A Business You Can Run Without Creating Your Own Products
In a basic sense, affiliate marketing is simply using a website (or affiliate ad placements in a website) to drive traffic and sales to another website. For each sale conversion you generate for the merchant, you get a percentage of the revenues. Although affiliate marketing can be complex, as many campaigns require some serious management and marketing tactics, the potential for high level and passive income can happen.
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money promoting products that you love and enjoy sharing with others. It is great for those of you who are still trying to think of a business idea and still want to go through the process of creating a sales page, make some extra cash (passive to an extent), learn about SEO, PPC, and blogging. Going through with an affiliate marketing campaign can set you up with a lot of knowledge on how to start your own business – and even your own affiliate marketing program.
However, it is important to note that should you decide to go the affiliate marketing route, make sure you focus on products YOU are interested in and are knowledgeable about. Do not simply go for products who are rated the highest or have the highest commissions. Finding products that are similar to your niche and industry are key.
If you want to get into affiliate marketing, check out Click Bank. Click Bank “is a secure online retail outlet for more than 50,000 digital products and 100,000 active affiliate marketers.” You can sign up now and get started with your affiliate marketing campaign today. You can browse different products by category that suits your interest.
Click Bank Affiliate Marketing
If you are an expert in a field, are passionate about a specific topic, or know enough about a subject that can help people that know nothing about the subject, creating your own information based products such as ebooks, membership sites, and audio books can be a great way to generate passive income. What is great about information products is you put in the time and work to create the product once, and you can sit back and collect sales revenues even in your sleep. Granted, it is never as easy as it sounds and information products do in fact take a lot of time and energy to create. But once you do the work, you can focus on optimizing your site, generating leads, and collecting contact information for newsletters and email marketing.
It’s a pretty fascinating subject that I am trying to learn more about myself. Check back on this page within the next coming months. We want to do a couple of videos explaining Affiliate Marketing in more detail.
What do you guys want to know about affiliate marketing? Have any of you had great success stories with it? Share and comment!
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