#swaincreative

[swaincreative]

“Let Go Of The Past” - Mastery

First of all, Internet Marketing Campaign Development class was one of the most important because it definitely helped you understand what you have to offer a client. Professor Murray was great! Every month of school went by fast, you had to make sure you dedicated time to each class or else you would definitely get behind. If you had a bad week you would probably need to talk to the Professor. I say this because I had a few tough weeks. A week ago, I actually got a little emotional while working on an assignment because I had to pull up an old video file from my usability class. My Mother’s voice was heard and I could not go on. Let me rewind a little bit before I proceed with the story….

This past year I decided to go back to school because of a new life strategy I began. Instead of focusing on my career in film producing/writing and editing, I decided to seek the knowledge that would teach me how to market and sell products on internet platforms. Robert Greene’s Mastery book is the best way to describe the reasons I made this decision. Greene mentioned that sometimes you have to “let go of the past” and use adaptation strategies to learn about another career in order to find your true mastery. The good part about learning a new business strategy is the fact that it can be applied to the knowledge I already have. 

Change, itself, has never been the worst thing that has happened to me. I say this because even through tragedy, you HAVE To find a way to adapt to life without the person you loved. This leads me to why I got emotional while listening to my Mother’s voice. I have had to adapt to change three times because my Brother and Father passed away when I was younger and more recently, (two months ago), my dear Mother passed away. It was a lot to deal with but what was even more challenging, was the fact that I was taking my last two grad school classes at Full Sail. If I didn’t use Greene’s advice, I would be stuck.   

In the past, I did not think the same way but I also did not have much of a past to “let go”. 

[swaincreative]

“...I want y’all to know who my Brother is...” “...we want everybody to remember..”. The only problem is the families are disappearing due to death, sadness and illness. We will Never forget the @citycollege9... New series...coming to #vimeoondemand, July 4th 2019. New interviews...new #content #9dead, 1 story. #swaincreative #mediagroup #citycollege #stampede #heavyd @diddy #celebritybasketballgame #hamptonuniversity #hu #storyteller #documentary #truestory #harlem #nystories #family #memorial #love https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv3J2_BlxIA/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=zk8114hj995x

[swaincreative]

For the past ten years... I have been running the #dirkswainfoundation’s makin’ room at the top program for youth. We’re coming back to #NYC to continue #reversingthenegative towards the end of the Summer.... Check us out on www.thedsf.org #youthprogram. #swaincreative #mediagroup #digitalmarketing #filmmaking #tvpilots #theater (at New York, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuoQWtMBtpm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=cc602lhsu50z

[swaincreative]

My First #swaincreative #film. Shot my first year at #clarkatlantauniversity. #independentfilm #writing #directing #producer #collegestudent #crime #reversethenegative #thedsf.org. #makinroomatthetop #mratt (at Clark Atlanta University) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuMHn3ph399/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1m7ylxgfs38ac

[swaincreative]

Back in the day...(definitely in this clip), when I first moved to #Cali, I had everyone reppin’ @citycollege9. I still do positive things to represent the 9. #reversethenegative #swaincreative #ccny #9dead1story #dirkswainfoundation #thedsf.org (at The City College of New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt6WCcBnbYl/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=12ynb3jy4bm8q

[swaincreative]

Mastery Reflection

The Web Design and Usability course started off great, I was engaged and intrigued in every way.  I have had a website for several years and after learning some of the tactics for usability and findability, I was instantly enlightened.  Findability, particularly, caught my attention the most because I genuinely want to know how easy or hard it is to find my website’s information.  After learning more strategies to use to pull more internet users to my site, I started making the changes needed.  One change I realized that made the most sense was how my pages are titled.  I changed a few of my pages because I wanted them to be based on real keywords that are related to the film industry.  I also added a business curriculum to our program so I needed to rename that page so that any searching for film or digital marketing, there is a possibility that my website will be apart of that list the user finds.  These additions to my website were things I did not consider before I took this class.  What I have learned this month made me automatically relate to the mastery technique “Allow for Serendipity”, in Robert Greene’s book.  My reasons for thinking this way was because I allowed myself to be open minded about changing my website which exposed other talents I did not know I had for web design and search engine optimization(Greene, 2012 pg. 184).  

During the second week, we ran usability tests with 3 people.  The usability tests were great ways to find more about your website’s strengths and weaknesses.  Once I did my usability tests, I hurried to work on all the recommendations I was given so I could start seeing how the new update affected my audience.  One thing I did learn after getting test results, was how hard it was to navigate to some of the pages on my website.  The usability tests are essential tools to use when a company owner wants to analyze sales or service engagement.  

This course has already helped me understand what is needed to successfully utilize my website for the youth program I run.  There are still things I need to improve but until I get the right amount of resources for the update, it is just fine.  It is important to reexamine the website on a regular basis so that it stays fresh and new.  This way my users will continue to visit and see the video platform I am building.  Check out my website www.thedsf.org , watch our films, music videos, stageplays(@48HourStage) and psa’s.  The Makin’ Room At The top(MRATT) program is coming to NYC in 2019.  

-@SwainCreative

[swaincreative]

Internet Consumer Behavior and Analysis

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                                                    Mastery Reflection Assignment

                                                                  Swain Creative

Online Consumer Survey Creation - IMK592-0 01

Dr. Butler

Sunday, October 21, 2018

This month’s Internet Consumer Behavior and Analysis discussed many ways to monitor website visitor’s intent.  This course helped me reach some of my original goals for pursuing my Master’s degree because it has offered more tools to help teach my students sell the media products they produce with Swain Creative media Group and the Dirk Swain foundation.  

During this class, I particularly enjoyed our third week because we learned more about consumer generated marketing(CGM).  CGM is an effective tactic I have used in the past so it was easy to relate this to Robert Greene’s chapter on Return to Origins.  Although relating Return to Origins(Greene, 2012) is not directly coming from my childhood like Greene stated Coltrane and Einstein was, I consider this finding to be a significant way to describe parts of my mastery journey.  My reasons for feeling this way is because it is an original tactic I have felt comfortable producing.  Even though this tactic is something I have already used, it has been an enlightening experience to have a chance to learn more about it.  

CGM is directly linked to my company’s mission because it allows our participants to utilize their innate powers and express themselves creatively.  When allowing any consumer or program participant the opportunity to give a testimony about their experience, it helps describe the company from a genuine place.  This also helps prospective members of the service make decisions to join without feeling our tactics are based on gimmicks.

Consumer segmentation and consumer decision making was very informative and worth studying.  Segmentation(Eustace, 2012) proves to be important because it helps the marketer understand consumer needs by analyzing their age, social status, gender and other significant things about a person who makes purchases online.   Consumer decision making is determined by understanding who they are, what they like and what they need.  Learning more tools and tactics to help my company sell products and gain additional participants was a great lesson to obtain.

References

Swain, 2018 retrieved from 

https://www.thedsf.org/mratt 

Eustuce, J., 2012. 3 Segmentation Strategies: Intent, GEO & Conversions Retrieved from

https://online-behavior.com/targeting/segmentation-strategies

Greene, (2012). Pg 30.  Mastery.

[swaincreative]

Digital Storytelling and Branding

Mastery Reflection

This month’s Digital Storytelling and Branding class has been very informative.  My journey towards my Masters degree as an Internet Marketing professional has become even more realistic.  Since our second week, I have not stopped thinking about my Brand Voice and how much more I can do to engage more traffic to my website.  When you see my brand logo it clearly establishes our brand as a place for young filmmakers who want to learn about the entertainment industry—without having to say a word.  The name of my brand logo and name align perfectly with the brand voice.  

In week four, we discovered we would need a tagline.  At first I really believed my brand name “Makin’ Room At The Top” was enough but once I thought of it more, I came up with “we get it done”.  After almost 10 years, we have produced more projects in Hollywood than the average independent filmmaker.  Our participants and all that want to join us can see that we do “get it done!”  

When it comes to reasons why I chose the name for my program and who I need to market it to, week 3’s assignments that focused on brand story helped me the most.  While working on my story, I was able to determine the needs of the company even deeper than I did when I first created the brand.  When I produced the video that displayed our brand story, I talked about what inspired me to start a non-profit organization teaching teens about filmmaking.  What I do for the youth is not hard because I am very passionate about providing my community with this awesome opportunity.  It is very important to me because I too, wanted to learn about the film industry when I was a youth growing up in the Bronx.  I really wish I could have found a program like mine in the 1980s.