Popular Internet online marketing gurus, Ted Cantu, has been known for many things. In previous lives he has coordinated a powerful Art movement with the Ann Arbor Artist Co-op, been a successful author, served in Chicago and New York City as an Art Director and most recently has been recognized for an influential search engine optimization expert. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to capture all of Cantu’s interests, hobbies and business explorations.
Since the turbulent days of 911 Cantu has settled down back into familiar streets of S.E. Michigan. He has been busy putting together a powerful new innovative video project that includes some of Metro Detroit’s greatest talents. “Hot Metro Finds began as an online video directory that would serve as a who’s who of Metro Detroit. We rely heavily on web video to get our ideas across and everything we shoot is unscripted or done on the spot. The end result is what you see on our site. We leave all the mistakes in, and let the cameras roll. You get to see the artists and musicians we profile as real people. Its not Hollywood and yet it is believable. We never intended this to sell products and services but it has happened and now the project is taking a life of its own.” Adds Cantu.
The addition of artists to the growing Hot Metro Finds business portfolio is a huge move for Cantu. “This project is great because now I am coming full circle. For a while after 911 I was stripped of my individuality. Every business I talked to wanted the cheapest web sites possible and there was no room for creative growth. The web has allowed us to take our artistic vision back and bring our business partnerships with us and take it to a level where everyone profits. This hasn’t happened before in the business world. Even the dot com era was very limiting because search engines did not perform as well as they can today. We can put any business live on the web in about 17 minutes – page 1”. Says Cantu and that has business owners talking.
Cantu sited his artistic influences to be the most valuable of all of his talents. He mentioned that he wanted to take his viewers, and business partners to landscapes that have never been offered or explored much before. “Everyone gets on Facebook and Twitter and talks about the same strategies and get rich quick schemes – I don’t find that valuable or very interesting. But when you get someone online who is talking about creating an entire artistic artistic landslide, or reaching a new aesthetic then I become very interested.”
Creating environments that appeal to a wide range of interests is what Cantu is all about. These worlds include green companies, television talk shows, art parties, rock bands, Michigan based businesses, food, fashion and beauty companies all under one creative umbrella. “Now we are putting together smarter campaigns that showcase the inner depth and beauty of our business associates. We are doing this without the aid of traditional advertising media. It is our creation.”
