The S.E. Michigan economy is a shaky place. A lot of the population has hauled out looking for greener pastures elsewhere in the country. A lot of people have stayed. The ones who have consciously decided to stay have had to work around the clock to remain relevant and to earn a living. Enter web entrepreneur Ted Cantu and the crew at Hot Metro Finds.
In the last 18 months, Hot Metro Finds has dedicated itself to present the best music, retail environments and art happenings in Metro Detroit. The site has become somewhat of a living magazine and has broken conventional format on what a web site is supposed to be. Also the site has featured videos that have also broken format in the traditional sense. The creator of Hot Metro Finds, Ted Cantu, is an ex Art Director from the world of advertising in Chicago and New York City. He explains, “The idea of Hot Metro Finds came from watching a very lackluster morning of MTV. I turned to my girlfriend and partner, Tracey Vitkay and said… where is the music? We decided that we need to bring something relevant to the Metro Detroit music and art scene.”
The site features videos that range from 5 to 10 minutes of pure musical content. The video material is not scripted and also features no professional production values. Much of the content exists virally on the web. Cantu and Co. tested their results and have figured out that visitors will stay 8 minutes on the average and watch the entire length of the videos on the site. The work that is featured on Cantu's sites are pumped up with search engine optimization and has gained a lot of attention.
“Our bounce rate is 8 minutes. I attribute that to the content that’s on the web. People will watch something that is realistic and unscripted. We leave the mistakes in. People believe the authenticity of our content more than something that has a Hollywood look and feel. Since people are watching us we want to deliver something with muscle and context! That’s why I took the leap of adding quality Metro Detroit rock bands. Again, these clips are unscripted and we never know what is going to happen when we roll our cameras. We just completed a set with two of Metro Detroit’s hottest acts – Lawn Care and The Ruiners.” Says Ted Cantu.
Crossing the line is something Ted Cantu is used to. Using hard edged Detroit rock bands, dancer girls, and dwarfs is something that comes up in Cantu’s daily vocabulary. He will do anything to sell his products and services for his clients and also create compelling web content. “I have a lot of eyes on me at the moment” he explains “ A lot of web companies claim to do what I do. But I keep on delivering high concepts in addition to the latest trends in Twitter of Facebook. We are more than that. We create media on the web that people will actually watch and participate with. And that’s rather exciting.” Adds Cantu.
