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The Most Trusted Name In Urban Content

On 07.12.10, In Entrepreneur, by admin

I thank all of you as we are now over 150,000 readers strong this year….

We truly value our readers and henceforth, we take serious pride in delivering content to you. We want to inform, entertain, educate, and provide a real value add to your Internet experience. I came up with this tag line to service my readers because I look at this blog as my business not just a way to get quick hits.

I sincerely value your time, your energy, your comments, and even if you’re just passive reading and browsing, I’m okay with that. It’s kind of like a newsstand at the UndagroundMilli. Pick up an article and read and keep moving. I thank all of you as we are now over 150,000 readers strong this year and headed for 1,000,000. I appreciate every single one of you.

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Six Months In A Leaking Boat?

On 07.08.10, In Employment, Entrepreneur, by admin

To blame your family and friends for their misfortune means you’re a pure idiot.

Money, Power, Good Health by Gerard Spinks

Money, Power, Good Health by Gerard Spinks


I see people talking real GIGANTIC on Twitter about how they are mad because they had to help someone with cash, or help a friend in need, or how they went and spent a ton of money on some Patron at a club in Atlanta or LA. The funny thing is that most people talk from a position of strength until their own boat starts leaking and has a small hole in it that turns into a big hole.

Most of us feel coochy crunch with our jobs and income and don’t sweat it until we are confronted with a sudden layoff, downsizing, jobs moved to India, or just plain out of work and realize that you can’t get on unemployment for whatever reason. It’s so easy to roll tough when you have a job or income and start bashing everyone who doesn’t because they asked you for $20. Rule 1: Shut the hell up! Rule 2: can you survive in the middle of the ocean for six months with a leaking boat? In other words, if you got laid off right now, today, and due to some glitch in the matrix you cannot get unemployment, can you survive and pay all of your overhead for six straight months until hopefully you get a job?

Come on big talker! I’m talking to you now. You have now become the person that you were just complaining about. But, there’s a real NOT perceived solution to this. It used to be prudent to save 3 months worth of your overhead in a Fidelity Investments Money Market Account. Not anymore. I have personal friends who have been laid off from American super corporations and haven’t had a job in 16 months. They tried everything and went through 3 cycles of unemployment. So, when you have the job, keep expenses low and stack chips like the end of the world is near.

If you’re total monthly expenses are $2,000, you need to do whatever it takes to save at least $12,000 to survive for 6 months during the time the boat is leaking. If you can’t save money, you need to do whatever it takes to reduce your expenses to save. America is NOT out in the clear yet. To blame your family and friends for their misfortune means you’re a pure idiot. It just might happen to you. Save your money and idiot proof your own self.

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How To Be Rich, Nicca – The Come Up – Part Deuce

On 07.08.10, In Entrepreneur, black business, by admin

I would meet Master P, JT the Bigga Figga, E-40, Rappin 4-Tay, Coco Quick, and a lot of cats who would go down to Phunky Phat to get their CD cover art work

I would hire Underwood Works to do all of my graphics and go there almost 2-3 times per week to proof the work that they would do. I would pay for my designs out of my paycheck from my job that I had working in downtown Oakland, CAon 22nd and Webster at Shared Medical Systems. When I would show up at Underwood Works, which would eventually become known as Phunky Phat Graph-X, I would meet niggas that would be trying to do the same thing as me and be independent and push their music out to the world.

I would meet Master P, JT the Bigga Figga, E-40, Rappin 4-Tay, Coco Quick, and a lot of cats who would go down to Phunky Phat to get their CD cover art work, posters, and other graphics work done by Phunky Phat Graph-X. I would go on to see first hand the work that was taken to build and grow No Limit Records that the world now knows today as earning and grossing over $250 Million dollars.

When we were all coming up though, nobody even dreamed of being able to make it up as high as No Limit has. Master P was struggling to get things together just as we all were. He was living up in Richmond, CA which is a crazy environment and even the record store that he had up there was in the cut. He and I also sold music to Ts Waiuzi Record Store in East Oakland near Eastmont Mall. Again, no one knew that people would blow up the way some folks did. The point is that everyone was striving and driving to move ahead regardless of their situation. We didn’t care if we didn’t have the
money or the banks wouldn’t loan us any cash to move our company’s ahead. We didn’t care if we didn’t have enough money to get the thing looking excellent from day one.

P rounded up his brothers and launched The Real Untouchables after a bullshit deal with Jason Blaine over at InaMinute Records up in Emeryville, CA. I knew Jason Blaine from a
function that Lachlan McIntyre, owner of 4080 Magazine threw in Berkeley. Lachlan was also trying to come up and created a hip-hop magazine that focused on hard core West Coast Hip Hop.

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How I Survived The Great Recession

On 07.08.10, In Entrepreneur, by admin

The other and last thing is diversification. I do not have only one source of income.

Many people ask me how did I personally survive this great recession or great depression and how I kept my company afloat during this crazy time. Well, first of all, it wasn’t and isn’t easy. There has been some crazy low times in business over the last 6 years to keep it completely 1 Hunid with you. Secondly, my firm, Spinks Technologies, serves a niche technological market called middleware application development. Some people refer to it as EDI, others as EAI, and still others as Service Oriented Architecture.

But, forget all those big technological words for a minute. I survived by faith, first and foremost in God. No joking. No kidding. No hype. No bullshit. Faith is what pulled me through in some difficult times. Then, I learn constantly and learn new technologies, new software, and new methods. I am a classically trained software engineer but most importantly, I’m a business man. So, to that end, I always look for opportunities and not just to work at a job.

What has saved me is that constant looking for opportunities and the creation of opportunities myself. So, the niche market that I serve helped since not many people know how to do what we do from a technological standpoint. Faith is what kept my mind and spirit right in difficult times. Constant praying, affirming, and reading the Book of Job helped immensely. Having good friends and family around me and not isolating myself also aided in helping me through the recession. No amount of money beats family and friends that surround you in tough times.

The other and last thing is diversification. I do not have only one source of income. I have 4 ways to get paid and four different companies to aid in doing this. I’m not saying that all of them have me wearing the greatest diamond studded chain but they make money so that if one goes away, the other is there to replace it. This is the key to sustainability tomorrow. Even if you’re not in a position to do this today, plan for other sources of income tomorrow when you get on your feet.

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Minority Business Success Starts with a plan

On 07.05.10, In Entrepreneur, by admin

How does the small nimble minority business succeed in such a large space? Well, the first thing to know is that the Federal and State government has set aside programs for minority business.

Creating true wealth in the United States for minorities and specifically for black owned businesses start with creating a sick tight plan of attack and a strategy on how to make money. Obviously, in these harsh economic times this is a seemingly tall order but it can be done. Business is tough to come by for everybody but one place that people sometimes overlook is the government market.

There are many tall tales about the government spending billions of dollars on contracts but what people do not tell you is that most of these contracts are with large prime goverment contractors such as Lockheed Martin and others.

Gerard Spinks' business guide

Gerard Spinks' business guide

This doesn’t mean that you will easily sign your business up with the small business association and start making tons of money. Been there done that.

I set up my minority business as a government contractor in 1998 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Went to all the meetings with the SBA in downtown San Francisco. Got registered as a MBE Minority Business Enterprise, a small disadvantaged business, and a 8A contractor. I thought the money would start pouring in to my account as I would easily win government contracts. Not so and far from the truth of even what the SBA tells you.

My company, Spinks Industries, took years of hustlin’ to come up on the government market and learned one major thing after working with a partner firm to grow their business to $35 million in contracts; you must create a business plan and provide it to the SBA to become an 8A contractor and you must learn to write business proposals and respond to requests for proposals from agencies. No easy task because the proposal writing process itself is tedious and requires expertise across a number of disciplines.

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A Black Kids’ Guide to Business Success

On 07.04.10, In 1, by admin

I would succeed if it killed me. I would make a million dollars. I would claim it and I would actualize it at all costs in the San Francisco Bay Area. I would be successful with out you, my pops.

Gerard Spinks’ Open Letter to a black father who I’ve seen once in my life:

A Black Kids Guide to business success

A Black Kids Guide to business success

Dear Dad Pops,

I’m sure you are a good dude. If you’ve ever seen a black man become successful in life and the Internet, you’re looking at him right here. I was surprised when my moms showed me pictures of me that I had signed when I was my daughters age around 7 or 8. Yes, I was the one looking real geeky studly and interesting at St. Philomena’s elementary school in Peoria, Illinois. I don’t know how my moms got me to sign those pictures because I never saw you.

I vaguely remember seeing you once when I was getting ready to go off to college to St. Ambrose College University in Davenport, Iowa. Moms never had any money so she sent me off to St. Ambrose with $20, a skillet, and a bag of clothes. Yes, she expected me to do well but she had nothing else to offer. Wish you were there. Actually, at St. Phil’s, being around all these white kids, everyone had a dad. It used to make me feel real crazy that you weren’t there but their dads were at the basketball games and taking them to play JFL (Junior Football League) that some call Pop Warner Football.

I always longed for a dad especially as I started playing sports and doing well average in high school. Some of the white kids really hated on me and even the coaches didn’t want to see me succeed because I was black. If I could only tell them that my dad was there and supported me, it probably wouldn’t have been so tough and hard on your son. At any rate, I had to fight through this nonsense, the hatred, the dissing, and somehow make a success of myself. Moms told me to just keep playing and stop listening to everyone.

How to do this I have no idea. Really could have used your help and guidance. Moms didn’t did know exactly how but she did. She already had two boys, I was her youngest so she did have some experience. Anyway, I learned how to be successful without you. It was hard. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears. While at Texas, I really needed help and called mom for some money. She couldn’t help. She had none. She never had money She had God and that was all we needed. Even though some of the kids in high school thought we were doing well because I had success in football, we were broke we had cash flow issues, always. Forever on food stamps Forever relying on God’s grace and power. It was our secret though.

When I called out for help to moms and wishing you could help, I realized in that moment that no one could help me God was guiding me and taking over. I realized that I was raised in a situation where I could count on no one other than myself for success God. I realized as a very young kid that it was up to me and only me God to succeed. Yes, pops, this kind of sucked because other people around me had help. They could go home and get help. I couldn’t. I vowed at this moment to turn my life around and be the success that I envisioned and that I saw all these white kids have. Their parents literally sent them to the University of Notre Dame. They made sure they went to great colleges and universities in the midwest. My moms made sure I knew how to apply for food stamps be successful by listening and relying on God. I would do it. I would succeed if it killed me. I would make a million dollars. I would claim it and I would actualize it at all costs in the San Francisco Bay Area. I would be successful with out you, my pops by putting God first and having faith and belief in what God had created, ME.

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What To Do With $5 Million Now

On 07.01.10, In Entrepreneur, by Gerard Spinks

“hmm….how do I make this money last if I stopped working by age 25 and lived until I was 95.”

Spinks Better Stronger Faster

Believe in Yourself

It’s funny because in my book, “How To Be Rich, Nigga” I talk about what NOT to do with money but I decided I also need to talk about what to do with the money. The one thing I realize about money and athletics is that most people will outlive their money or any type of bonus money that you get.

That could be $5,000,000 or that could be $50,000. The key is to realize that in almost all cases, despite what the news says, you WILL live and outlive any type of big money bonuses you get. So, when you do get the opportunity for big money, you need a mentality shift. Most black athletes have the mentality to spend it all now because you may not see this ever again or that you’ll keep getting money.

Shift the mentality and say to yourself “hmm….how do I make this money last if I stopped working by age 25 and lived until I was 95.” Look at your money from that angle and let that guide your decision making process.

About the author

Gerard Spinks

Gerard Spinks is the CEO of Spinks Industries; an online marketing and web content producer based in Atlanta, GA United States of America. The company develops comprehensive online marketing programs for businesses who wish to reach customers and build their brand on the Internet. We build SEO enabled blog thematic websites designed to increase traffic which then increases potential sales through of your product/service brand.

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What To Write In A Message In A Bottle

On 06.30.10, In Entrepreneur, by admin

If you’re standing on a beach looking out over the ocean or a body of water, ask yourself…

Gerard Spinks; digging deeper

Gerard Spinks encourages you to dig deeper


I know you’ve all heard this Police record “Message In A Bottle” on an album called “Regatta de Blanc”. If you haven’t, go take a listen. If you’re standing on a beach looking out over the ocean or a body of water, ask yourself, “What would I write and what would I say in a message to put in a bottle?”

I would start by thinking of the person who will intercept your bottle, find it and read it. Think about what shore they may be on and think about your message going to a complete stranger. What do you want to tell them about you. What should they know that is pertinent about you today? What if the message reaches them and you’re 25 years old today and they get it when you’re 32?

This is how you should look at launching your business. The message will get to the recipient but tell them what you want them to know about you not only now but in 7 years. Tell them who you are, what your dreams are, why you wrote the letter to them, and what you hope to accomplish by writing the letter to them.

If you seek money, fame, and fortune, tell them that in the letter. If you seek a great job doing what you love, tell them what you love. If you seek stronger family ties and connections with your mother, sisters, and brother, tell them that in the message in a bottle. Tell the world what it is you seek and put it in the bottle and let hope float!

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The Floyd Mayweather Jr. you thought you knew

On 04.09.10, In Entrepreneur, black business, black famous people, small business enterprise, by admin

Floyd Mayweather Foundation’s mission statement is: To empower and encourage community alliances, impact youth leadership, and strengthen family foundations through construction, entrepreneurialism and education resulting in a healthier community. The foundation’s focus is on health and wellness, economic growth and development, and youth education.

Many people think they know the public persona of Money Mayweather. People think because they see him on tv rollerskating through his mansion on HBO that he’s a prude and only cares about money and himself. This is far from the truth as Floyd Mayweather Jr. is, like most successful multi-milionaires, a master at personal branding and public relations. He knows that people will flock to him if he talks crazy and flaunts around like he doesn’t care about anything except money. This is so far from the real Floyd Mayweather Jr. it’s not even funny.

Floyd Mayweather Foundation gives back to the community

Floyd Mayweather Foundation gives back to the community

The real Pretty Boy Floyd is a saint and has the heart of a true champion and giving person. The Floyd Mayweather Foundation’s mission statement is: To empower and encourage community alliances, impact youth leadership, and strengthen family foundations through construction, entrepreneurialism and education resulting in a healthier community. The foundation’s focus is on health and wellness, economic growth and development, and youth education. The Mayweather Foundation will create conditions where residents of all economic levels are able to achieve their maximum health and wellness potential and reduce threats to quality of life related to greater urbanization among other social responsibilities.

The bottom line is that before anyone judge’s Money Mayweather, I encourage all to take a deeper look Beyond the Bling to see what’s really going on and how he really impacts the community at large. Yes, Floyd Money Mayweather is young, black, and famous and YES he cares about the well being of the community at large.

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Rainforest Films New Film Takers Starring Paul Walker, T.I., and Paul Walker

On 04.02.10, In Entrepreneur, by admin

Gerard Spinks is the CEO of Spinks Industries; a web content producer and online marketing firm based in Atlanta, GA USA. See our interview with Producer Will Packer of Rainforest on our corporate blog.

Gerard Spinks is the CEO of Spinks Industries; a web content producer and online marketing firm based in Atlanta, GA USA. See our interview with Producer Will Packer of Rainforest on our corporate blog.

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All posts are original content by Gerard Spinks Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, GA USA