Benjamin Mcfarlane Email & Phone Number

503 Queen St. Fredericton, Nb, E3B 1B8

Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

I handle everything relating to comms and marketing.

Lessons learned:- You can be a jack of all trades and still be a master of some.- If possible, don't mix work and hobbies; i.e., if your hobby doesn't make you money, do not attempt to squeeze money from it.- Marketing strategy and decision-making should ALWAYS be based on KPIs, audience research, customer interviews, and systematic observation of the customer journey.Description:Before becoming a marketer, for the past two decades (nearly), I've been a freelance writer both in print and online, starting in the industry of music production. I published my first article in Remix Magazine, an urban and hip-hop music production magazine. I worked day jobs in camera sales, and musical instrument sales while publishing occasionally with Remix and Electronic Musician as my ex-wife pursued a pre-med degree. Later, I would produce extensive instructional content, instructional design, graphics, web design, and audio production for ModernBeats.com.I write fiction, including a novella-length sci-fi that earned me first runner up in the 2012 David Adams Richards prize. I've been paid for my fiction, although I consider it a hobby. I've published a short biography on Sarah Grace Young, perhaps the most eminent Fredericton businesswoman of the early 1900s. Most recently, I wrote "Two Tales of New Brunswick Bootlegging" for Moonshine Creek, detailing some of the bootlegging history of the upper Wolastoq.Writing content and fiction lead me to copywriting, which in turn lead me to marketing. The transition was difficult because I didn't understand what marketing was. It took unlearning what everyone assumes marketing is – flashy graphics and catchy slogans (which I do well) – and learning a whole new skill set emphasizing KPIs, audience research, generating valuable content, and making genuine difference in the community served by the business or organization.

Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Lessons Learned:- A successful marketing strategy is valuable on its own; it should be one that the audience would miss it if it were gone.- There is no substitute for a positive, collaborative, visionary business leader who respects your input and who values your accomplishments on behalf of the organization.- Playing a central role in creating a thriving, positive work culture is maybe the best reason to get out of bed and go to work.Description:Ceasing most activity with Three Two One Learning Inc., I started work for Victory Meat and Produce Market. Collaborating with the GM, the purchasing staff and the management team, I produced the weekly flyer. I brought the weekly flyer in-house, creating an easy-to-use photoshop template, and documenting every weekly action step for the job of marketing and communications coordinator.Based on an analysis of Victory's best-performing socials, I built a new content strategy in 2021. Engagement and distribution increased 5x in the first month, and this increase was reflected in foot traffic and sales. I created a "Victory Staff Quarterly" newsletter, highlighting staff news, and staff members who contributed ideas and talent to the marketing effort. It was a way of saying thank you to the people who helped me complete projects or whose ideas created something special that I could not have thought of independently.

Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Three Two One Learning Inc. (threetwoone.fun)Lessons learned:- Do not incorporate prior to establishing a respectable volume of recurring revenue.- If you can have an intern for free, do not opt to pay the intern. It's good for kids to work hard for the sole reason that they care about working hard. If you don't believe me, read "Rich Dad, Poor Dad".- Prototype your product in such a way as to spend close to zero dollars, and distribute it to as many people as possible. Get as much feedback as you can before spending any money on refining your prototype, or spending money on physical inventory.- Listen very carefully to each and every thing your mentors tell you. The greater the change their advice requires, the greater the need to follow their advice.- Don't pay for any services which you can competently provide for yourself.- Vagrant in button-up is not a good look.Description:I thought I might be better suited to an inventory-based business rather than marketing and communicating for various clients. Three Two One Learning Inc. (threetwoone.fun) was to be built around a physical product called the Multiplication Story Deck. It was designed to help ADHD children recall multiplication facts. In this, it was nominally successful. I'm very satisfied with how I managed the design and production of the deck. I'm satisfied with the research and our design choices, and the product is beautiful and useful.So where is threetwoone.fun now? Well, all of the above lessons were learned the hard way. That's the part I'm not satisfied with, and the reason the startup ran out of runway. It's also a reason the founder ran out of motivation. I'm still convinced there is a narrow market fit. One day I hope to be able to connect the product to that narrow market. For now, I regard the project as an albatross. I've grounded it, at least for now, while I soar to other places.

Fredericton, New Brunswick

Lessons Learned:- Network in the direction of your authentic interest.- For a freelancer, a network is better than a sales pipeline. - Optimizing content for an algorithm will fail as an SEO strategy if you're not also optimizing the content for your audience. Description: After the closure of Real Food Connections/Locavore Foods, I followed some friendly advice and started doing business as a copywriter. This inevitably lead me into marketing, which then lead to me trying my own inventory-based business, which lead back into marketing. It's been a great journey, but I'm ready for something new.Clients of Platinum Prose include:Master Indian SpiceThe Fredericton Chamber of CommerceThe Hive Incubator ProgramSquare Thunder GraphicsEducated BeardsMC GrowthspaceMoonshine CreekPluggedIN CPANew Brunswick Business Immigrants AssociationSaffron Indian FoodsNew Brunswick Environmental Network: Environmental Rights Caucus

Fredericton, Nb

Lessons/skills Learned: - Economy of scale works even on a small scale - Project managing- Team management- So many culinary skillsDescription: This, more than any other culinary job I've had, placed enormous demands on my creativity, and on the creativity of the whole team. During the summer especially, our produce supply was diverse and plentiful, resulting in frequent surpluses of things like cantaloupe, fennel bulbs, kohlrabi, kale, and all manner of produce. I managed a team to produce a weekly frozen meal box program. I also handled soup-making and was primarily responsible for a huge amount of preserving. I was Real Food Connections first kitchen hire, and I was there until the closure of Locavore in 2017.

Greater Los Angeles Area

This is where I first started copywriting. ModernBeats is based now in Portland Oregon, and sells pre-recorded samples to urban and hip hop producers all over the world, particularly in the U.S. For this company, I produced seriously in-depth ebooks called "Hit Reports" illustrated with a series of "maps" I designed in photoshop that explained mix, arrangement, song format, and other detailed elements of the most popular music of that time using visual and audio examples created by me and by an international team assembled by ModernBeats. I also interviewed many producers, A&R execs, and artists in the music industry at that time, including Eminem producer Jim Jonsin; Beyonce producer, Wayne Wilkins; Sean Paul producer, Jeremy Harding; Death Row Records A&R exec, Dave Wilkes; the chart-topping band, Far East Movement; and the eccentric rappers, Cali Swag District, of "Teach me how to Dougie" fame.Modernbeats was a fantastic, fast-paced chapter in my work as a content writer and copywriter, and I am forever grateful to the owner, Kyle Kee, for taking a chance on an eccentric, young Canadian music production writer.

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba), Philosophy

Diploma, 11-12

Education record