VH1's Hip-Hop Honors

One option that caught my attention in regards to writing this professional blog post assignment was the live events/ award shows that recently occurred within the last three months and they were the Queens of hip Hop tribute which was featured on the VH1 network. I know that there was just Hip Hop honors awards as well within the last two weeks which was previewed on the BET network, which I enjoyed as well.

Both awards show to demonstrate a great respect for both male and female artists, business owners, moguls, etc. that are active or that have been active within the entertainment industry. I noticed that there was a host of issues that took place at the six-year hiatus, VH1's Hip-Hop Honors as I mentioned before was a production that was solely dedicated entirely to female rappers. The show debuted back in early 2004 were the male artist usually are the dominate force, but in this rare case it was about time that the female pioneers in the game made a difference and they did step out, show out, and had a good time with all the collective energy that was present that night. I’m an inspiring Stage/Road/Tour manage road one thing about it that made me want to really write this post was when one of the Queen since the Hip Hop/ Rap artist didn’t know her cue, when to start, or did she know her lyrics to her own hit single which caused me to have an issue with her overall team as a whole. I understand and respect that artist sometimes have a blockage in their creative little brains, but as a Stage manager, I expect you to know your marks and give the target audience and viewers back home something to look forward to. I have been blessed with a host of opportunities within the greater Orlando, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale to display my unique sense of humor, professionalism, and personality within the work environment without offending anyone on set. I think there should be a rule put into place that all performers in al arenas nationwide should know how to perform and deliver, especially when it’s going to be recorded because it could make the broadcast come off as if they don’t know what they are doing or have even taking the production serious enough. I would love to continue to work within the capacities of entertainment that I have thus far because it could be a trend that shifts the industry for the better and eliminate the worst. I overall enjoyed the production because all of my favorite female Mc’s got up there and did what they worked all of their professional/personal careers doing.   The award show did pay tribute to hip-hop innovators. I love the statement that "Women been hip-hop, women are hip-hop, and women will always be hip-hop," Eve declared.

I like to say you know its real within your industry of entertainment when the first Lady of the United Stated of America adds her voice to a mix that was played that night: According to, (2016, Vh1) "I'm so proud of the two of you," she said in a taped speech. Revisit the best and worst moments from the night below.”

“Experts Views on the Value of Business Plans”

This post that I’m writing from my company, The Exceptional Recipient Award, Inc.  is going to examine and summarize the views of two (2) well respected “experts” in the field of writing and/or reviewing business plans.

The experts are going to stem from the world of business plan development, angel investing, venture capital investing, or academia. These were the resources that my cohorts were presented with this month in our entertainment business plan development course to better serve our viewers on our blogs.

Brief biographical information / background on the “experts” you have chosen.

I selected Steve Blank as one of the experts to write about who is from New York, a founder of E.phipany, and a prominent professor at Berkley University. He has published an article titled “No one wins in Business Plan Competitions” which sheds light on the essentials of moving from business plans to business models.

The second expert that I wanted to write about was Kevin Geiger who is respected for his works as an Artist and producer.  I know he has credits for working on the Reign of Fire, Species, and Chicken Little projects, which viewed his collaborations as an instructor on the methodology on the business end of feature film.

The critical & key components that investors are looking for in a plan now days are just simple organizational structure, Don’t be a big fish, have Clear objectives for the business plan, and always incorporate creativity and fresh content.  Both experts strongly agree that organization is extremely important in the development of your company, especially Geiger.

These are considered key because each component plays a pivotal role to any investors overall business plan, marketing tactics, and vision for business to be success because any of those components  could make or break the company.

There are a few suggestions that I’m considering for my plan such as staying true and relatable to the customer/consumer instead of just paying close attention to the market. According to, (Steve Blank, 2012) This an on-going and ever-changing process of any company’s performance rather than an original plan that may or may not works.  I would always remain firm and patient because I know and understand very clearly that optimism will always result in rewards in an array of capacities. I know that Geiger had shared his feelings on production company’s can serve as the primary production company whole entity that is producing the film itself under.  This can be a problem for your business especially if you’re a start up because you would be putting your own company at risk. Typically most of the time usually a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) will do this.

Johnson, Sa’ Quan A.

Digital Marketing

Dated: August 13th, 2016

Mastery Journal

The Entertainment Digital Marketing course thus far has met my some of my original objective/goals since I have been enrolled in the course this month. I the title of the course, Digital Marketing was easily recognizable but I didn’t know what was actually going to be covered in the course, how the content was going to be delivered, and what search engines are going to be most useful.  In the past, I have taken a virtual or physical course that relates to digital marketing to learned and discuss concepts and ideas in regards to the current course. This course has provided me with a variety of valuable materials, techniques, and options when thinking about digital marketing, either in my personal or professional careers.

What I have learned from the first half of the course thus far is the importance of blogging for one's brand to remain relevant and visible.  I also learned about the SEO, which is the process of making your site more visible on a search engine in a more specific and direct inquiry. I learned after watching the tutorials that any inserted user searching for certain keywords/phrases the content typically show ups in the results section.  This is usually due to the content drawing a high frequency of the words and searchers that are inputting into the search engine every time.   I learned about the paid search or pay-per-click, organic searches, and keyword density while being enrolled in this course.

Some of my goals for improving my digital marketing skills would be more aware of the target audience that I’m trying to promote, advertise, and market to. I will practice on my long- tail phase and broad keyword search options to easily locate the desired search engine optimization. 

According to, (Brogan, 2016) the well recognized best-selling author of eight publications stated, “Own your words. Your words are the maps to your intentions.”  I felt that this direct quote motivates me to think about my future endeavors for the longevity of business.  I will apply the content, either personally or professionally, to my future endeavors by applying all the concepts/idea’s that I have been presented with will assist me with getting a job in the social media, public relations, or marketing sectors of the show business.  I know one would have upheld to the responsibilities of doing all the marketing, advertising, and campaigning for the self-published book that my company LaquellJEntertainement is currently producing.  Those are a few ways that I will apply the content to my future endeavors.

Creatively Utilizing Social Media

Greetings to all,

One example of a company in my industry that is creatively utilizing social media is the Convince & Convert. This company is recognized as a social media strategy firm that caters to clients across North America. The founder of the firm is Jay Baer who is the co-author of the new book titled The Now Revolution and a social media expert.

The evidence to support why this use of social media is unique or innovative within the business would be due to their company’s game plan to attract a reasonable following of supporters on the internet. The efforts that were implemented for success and consistency lead Convince & Convertbecoming more visible and prominent in social media marketing. Another piece of evidence that supports why this use of social media was unique or innovative is due to the marketing tactics that the company decided to go with in regards to the smart social proof mechanism.

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/9-companies-doing-social-media-right-and-why/

The role that social media is playing in their overall marketing efforts would diffidently be the advertisement, marketing, and promotions liaisons for the company. Another role that Social media is playing in their marketing efforts would be the ability to channel the efforts of Convince & Convert to be strategic advisors. This means that the company upholds the responsibility of establishing business with world-class organizations, implement memorable customer experiences while using the digital marketing method/approach.

I think social media is helping the company meet their marketing objectives because the organization has managed to attract buyers and sellers of digital marketing to deliver and produce impeccable customer experiences. Social media helped the company meet their marketing objectives because the business was able to increase their sales performed, supporters of their brand and inventory of the products created. Social media helped the company meet their marketing objectives because the entity was able to produce and provide a variety of services and products through their online networks/platforms. The services/products produced by the company was the high-quality intellectual properties such as the following ebooks, webinars, live training, blogs, podcasts, and via emails.

Yes, the company incorporates social media into their main website while maintaining other digital properties, because they strive for excellent and growth towards the purpose of the business. The company is affiliated with the following social media platforms that are incorporated on their main website such as, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and Linkedin to name a few. According to, (Baer, 2016) The website had a tip for all of the viewers that said, “Give your readers every opportunity to share your content with their networks.” There is an expert marketer named Brain Solis who feels that this is labeled as “an audience with an audience of audiences.” He goes on to say that, “ If you want to expand your message, make it as simple as possible for your readers to share with their audiences.”

At the moment, I wouldn’t do anything differently than what the company has already put into motion. The company’s current strategic social media marketing campaigns and content are both in good standing after reviewing the Convince & Convert website. I would like to see a video tutorial on the website if that’s something to mention, but everything else like I mentioned before is in good shape.

Coming to an end the biggest lesson that can be learned here would have to be that teamwork, creativity, and a vision is essential to any brand or company overall success. The crew and staff that works effortlessly behind the scenes on the company’s products is the maker or breaker to lure your supporters to consistently back up the brand. I personally concur with the founder's approach in utilizing advertising and social media tactics spread awareness for the company. However, I must state that the links, pictures, and websites provided pivotal information for one that has an interest in any company which utilizes social media in a unique way.

References:

Porterfield, A. (2011, April 11). Retrieved August 9, 2016, fromhttp://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/9-companies-doing-social-media-right-and-why/

(2016). Retrieved August 8, 2016, from http://www.convinceandconvert.com

(2016). Retrieved August 8, 2016, from http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-consulting

Baer, J. (2016, April 20). Retrieved August 10, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGm0OFVaZ5Q

Baer, J. (2013, August 19). Retrieved August 10, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGm0OFVaZ5Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwj_AjufNMs

The Eighth Harry Potter Book

                                            The Eighth Harry Potter Book
                                                   "The Cursed Child"

   It has been some time since the prominent author in the literary business J.K. Rowling’s to deliver another epic tale from the magical and majestic wizardry world of spells, corruption, love, and one's fate to be great. The new release would be considered the eighth book of the trailblazing franchise which was scheduled for release on July 31st, 2016.
The script for J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is not at all a novel, which confused a lot of the fans and readers that was expecting something totally different. One special surprise for all of the loyal fans would be the twist that the main characters are all grown up now.  According to, (Liptak,2016 ) it’s the rehearsal script for the play that just opened at the Palace Theatre in London’s West End.  The original piece would be planned for released sometime this year since the play has officially been opened.
One spoiler fro the article that was notice pertained to the overview of the film which sets the tone that, The Cursed Child seems to take place 20 years after the tragic and horrific events that Voldemort stirred up during his return to the Deathly Hallows.  The article mentioned that the magical world had no choice but to move on with their lives moved.  According to, (Pottermore, 2016), A host of new print and digital publishing has been announced from J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, including a Special Rehearsal Edition of the script book of new stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts I & II. J.K. Rowling’s literary agency is The Blair Partnership.  Rowling's track record signifies that she has written seven books, has been actively publishing since 1997 and 2007, and have sold over 450 million copies worldwide.  Rowling works have been distributed in more than 200 territories and translated into 79 languages, which lead to eight blockbuster films.

J.K Rowling has encouraged me to go down the self-publishing route to promote, market, advertise, and make media appearances for the 2018 release of LaQuellJ Entertainment, first publication that will debut in late December.


I found one site that assists with self-publishing a book at an affordable approach for an up and coming author.  The lulu.com website provides pivotal information for any that is interested in creating their own works such as books in my case. This site also offers a service to where you would be able to publish your content when ready and completed. The site is extremely useful for any inquiry that has an interest in getting started into the literacy business because you have the option to sell all of your works for free when using the lulu.com site.  This site was able to guide me in the right state of mind to get started to implement my works to the next level.