Since the release of The Ten Commandments starring Yul Brynner and Charlton Heston in 1956, the faith-based movie industry has had many ups and downs. At the time of its release, the movie, which cost $13.5 million, was the most costly ever made, according to Life Magazine. This year marks the sexagesimal anniversary of that Paramount Pictures blockbuster, as well as the release of a new film of the same name. Os Dez Mandamentos (The Ten Commandments) made its debut in Brazil in January 2016. Thus continued the legacy of Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 classic, which shows that the faith-based movie industry is alive and well with prospects that are looking increasingly brighter. Positioned at the cusp of this revival is Momentous Entertainment Group (OTC: MMEG) with its faith-based, family-oriented product lineup.

The Ten Commandments turned out to be the seventh most successful film of all time. In 2014 dollars, its worldwide gross would be $2.19 billion. It was the first of many successes for the faith-based movie industry. The biggest of them all since then has been Mel Gibson’s 2004 saga The Passion of the Christ, which has, according to Box Office Mojo, grossed over $370 million in the U.S. and Canada alone. Yet, in one way, the C.S. Lewis movies have been even bigger. The Chronicles of Narnia trilogy scored a stupendous $538 million at the box office. War Room, although released to generally negative reviews in 2015, also became a hit and has so far brought in close to $62 million. Hot on its heels are two 2014 releases, God’s Not Dead, which made $61 million and Son of God, which earned $60 million.

A Wikipedia piece claims that ‘all five of the major Hollywood studios have created marketing departments to target the growing demand for faith-based and family fare’, although there is no evidence that the largest, Disney Film Studios (NYSE: DIS), with its Buena Vista brand, actually does have a separate unit for faith-based enterprises. Some commentators have, nevertheless, discerned distinctly religious or Christian themes in many Disney films. Disney’s first animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, released in 1937, shows Snow White, with head bowed and hands clasped, beseeching God to bless the seven little men who have shown her so much kindness, a scene as profoundly moving and Christian as anything in an openly religious epic. And who has seen The Lion King without noting how its draws on the Christian ethos?

Momentous Entertainment Group has embarked on an aggressive marketing strategy in this faith-based, family-oriented market. Its first venture, The Greatest Story Every Sung, is a celebration of the life of Jesus Christ. It is a compilation, on compact disc (CD), of 34 songs, each introduced by Stephen Baldwin. A second faith-based product is a double CD album, titled Tim Storey presents Daily Reminders from Scripture, which consists of recitations of bible passages on the themes of hope, love, peace and joy. Tim Storey is a pastor and motivational life coach to many of the top names in the entertainment industry, including Oprah Winfrey. A third faith-based offering from Momentous is a music video with the title I Believe. I Believe is sung by Suzanne Olmon, who is music director at the Church of Faith United Methodist Church in Richmond, Texas. An audio track of I Believe originally appeared on the album The Greatest Story Ever Sung.

For more information, visit www.momentousent.com

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Last month, Content Checked Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: CNCK) secured coverage in another widely-read publication when its Director of Nutrition, Tory Tedrow, RD, CNSC, was interviewed for an article posted on Examiner.com. The piece, titled ‘Allergies and pregnancy’ detailed the importance of a healthy, balanced diet during pregnancy. In the article, Tedrow offers suggestions on foods that should be avoided during pregnancy and breastfeeding. She also uses the platform to dispel a common myth relating to food allergies.

“Current research shows that there is no reason to avoid highly allergenic foods during pregnancy or while breastfeeding,” Tedrow stated in the article. “Some research has shown that avoiding those foods can actually increase your baby’s risk of developing food allergies.”

To view the full article, visit http://dtg.fm/ZQL5p

In addition to offering a few healthy tips for expectant mothers, the Examiner.com article also provides valuable exposure to Content Checked and its family of health apps. SugarChecked is mentioned multiple times throughout the article, and a link to the Content Checked website is also included. Examiner.com serves as a daily news and entertainment hub for an estimated 4.8 million unique monthly visitors.

Content Checked has found great success in securing coverage in a number of high-profile media outlets in recent months, including Forbes, USA Today, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Los Angeles Business Journal and Yahoo, among others. In May, CEO Kris Finstad noted this progress in an interview on the UPTICK Network Stock Day Podcast. Finstad also used this platform to give prospective investors some insight into Content Checked’s headway toward building a sizable presence in the roughly $13 billion U.S. food allergy and intolerance market. Currently, the Company’s apps boast a combined userbase of approximately two million people in the U.S. and Norway, largely due to its growing database that includes information on approximately 70 percent of conventional U.S. grocery products and is updated regularly.

Building on its current momentum, Content Checked is moving toward the impending release of revamped versions of its apps complete with a library of new features and improved usability. Alongside this release, the company plans to launch an extensive marketing campaign while eyeing international expansion in Canada, the U.K. and Australia in the coming months.

To view the company’s full financials, visit the following link: http://dtn.fm/sIJ7M

For more information, visit www.contentchecked.com

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Earlier today, eXp World Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: EXPI) announced that its full-service real estate brokerage, eXp Realty, has commenced operations in the State of Utah. The company’s operations in Utah will be overseen by managing broker Rick Southwick, a recognized leader in the local real estate community with more than 30 years of experience. Among his achievements, Southwick was named 2015 Utah Realtor of the Year and served as the 2014 president of the Utah Association of Realtors. Prior to joining eXp Realty, he worked as an owner and team leader with Keller Williams for 15 years and as associate vice president for Coldwell Banker for approximately 16 years.

“The industry has been hungry for a business model that is wholly different from anything that its members have been presented with before,” Southwick stated in this morning’s news release. “eXp is that business model and agent ownership provides the greatest opportunity for agents that I’ve seen during my years in the business.”

To date, eXp Realty has commenced operations in nearly 40 U.S. states, as well as Alberta, Canada, attracting more than 1,240 real estate professionals with its innovative Agent-Owned Cloud Brokerage™ business model. The company has found similar success in recruiting industry leaders in its operating markets. Late last month, EXPI announced that Sally and Stephen Koss of the venerable Landmark brand in Greater Boston had joined the eXp Realty team after more than three decades within the RE/MAX (NYSE: RMAX) system.

“The Company continues to attract highly-respected, strong, and established leaders who share our passion for and commitment to agent-ownership and utilization of technologies that will position agents well as the industry continues to evolve,” Jason Gesing, chief executive officer of eXp Realty, stated in this morning’s news release.

EXPI’s recent progress toward expanding its presence in the real estate sector has also translated into considerable financial growth. In the first quarter of 2016, the company recorded revenues in excess of $7.1 million, an increase of 107 percent from the previous year. This performance was attributed to EXPI’s success in increasing its sales agent base and, as a result, realizing a greater sales volume through its brokerage division. The company’s agent count at the conclusion of Q1 2016 was up 106 percent from the comparable period of 2015.

With recent news in mind, this rapid growth seems set to continue. Last month, eXp Realty was named among the best places to work by both The Washington Post and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, based on the feedback of workplace members. This marked the second consecutive year in which the Agent-Owned Cloud Brokerage was recognized as one of the best places to work in Atlanta.

For more information, visit the company’s website at http://investors.exprealty.com

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Before the opening bell, Laguna Blends, Inc. (OTC: LAGBF) announced some of the highlights of a recent clinical trial completed by Cannaceuticals (“Canna”). The study, which was conducted by BioScreen Testing Services, Inc., highlighted the efficacy of Canna’s cannabidiol (CBD) face serum, with test subjects noticing a 100 percent overall improvement to the appearance of skin within two weeks. These results follow last week’s announcement of Laguna’s entry into a non-binding letter of intent with Cannaceuticals of California, USA whereby the two companies will look to enter into a definitive manufacturing and exclusive license agreement for the purpose of pursuing mutually beneficial business opportunities in the rapidly expanding CBD skin care industry.

“Obviously when you receive a 100% improvement with a product you have a home run type of product with proven science and clinical data,” Ray Grimm Jr., president of Laguna Blends, stated in this morning’s news release. “Laguna is ecstatic to be in negotiations to acquire the Cannaceuticals brand name and product line. Management believes that this proposed acquisition will immediately establish Laguna as a player in the skin care category.”

Other highlights stemming from Canna’s clinical study included:

• 85.71 percent of test subjects noticed an improvement to their skin appearance within the first seven days
• 80.95 percent of subjects noticed an improvement to their skin texture within two weeks
• 80.95 percent of subjects noticed an improvement in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles of the mouth area
• 80.95 percent of test subjects said they would purchase the Canna serum product if it was made available for sale

These results are particularly promising for Laguna, as the company continues to make strides toward entry into the $121 billion global skin care industry. According to last week’s news release, Laguna and Canna have agreed to an exclusivity period relating to Canna’s CBD skin care products that will extend through July 29, during which time the two companies plan to finalize a definitive agreement. The initial terms of this agreement state that Laguna will purchase the entirety of Canna’s existing inventory and receive an exclusive license to sell the products in the United States and Canada.

Pending due diligence and any required approvals, Laguna will look to offer Canna products through its affiliate marketing network as early as August of this year in the U.S., with sales in Canada expected to follow by the end of 2016. Laguna will also receive license and marketing rights to sell Canna products in Asia, Europe and Mexico, subject to Canna receiving regulatory approval in those markets, setting the stage for potential international growth in the months to come.

For more information, visit www.lagunablends.com

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In the past, companies worldwide focused on traditional functional benefits, price competition, and features. Businesses sometimes lost their focus, aiming to be the best for themselves instead of their clients. Of course, these two go hand-in-hand in the sense that companies cannot succeed without the support and loyalty of their customers. However, in the past 20 years, technology has changed the relationship between companies and their customers, a change clearly seen in the nation’s real estate industry.

The real estate brokerage world has taken a shift toward the client. This shift has been branded “client centric”. An article entitled ‘The Evolving Brokerage Model’ on REALTORMag sums up this new model perfectly. It states, “These days, the most successful brands center on experiential benefits, relationships, and relevance to consumers.” Since the housing boom, a younger generation of homeowners have come to the surface, a generation not interested in whether or not a real estate broker is number one in the state or country. They want to know they are being treated with respect and getting the most honest, trustworthy services.

Sherry Chris, president and CEO of Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate LLC, described this new type of homeowner as “searching for someone who will look out for their best interests, not efficiently move them through the sales funnel.” eXp World Holdings (OTCQB: EXPI) has evolved alongside its clientele by doing just this. EXPI understands that buying a home can be an emotional time for a person. The company knows that its clients depend on it to navigate the process, give insight into properties, offer a comparative perspective, negotiate, and advocate on their behalf.

EXPI has also evolved its relationship with its agents and brokers to offer the best and most revolutionary working environment it can. The Long-Term View section of the EXPI site reads: “The greatest asset of any real estate brokerage is the group of agents and brokers who are a part of it. In our view, those agents and brokers should be owners and at eXp Realty, they are”.

Aside from paying special attention to it consumers, agents and brokers, EXPI has taken a step toward the future with a cloud-based environment where, according to the company, “agents and brokers build their own businesses. They work, attend classes, strategize, collaborate, innovate, enjoy water-cooler chats, build teams, build unity and share experiences across geographic borders inside of our Cloud Office Environment.”

For more information, visit the company’s website at http://investors.exprealty.com

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Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a tool companies use to manage their relationships and interactions with their customers. Using a CRM system enables businesses to collate information from their various customer service streams. These systems allow merchants to see everything about their customers in one place. This includes their history with the company in question, the status of any orders, and even information drawn from their social media accounts. It takes CRM to the next level: Social CRM (SCRM).

Traditional CRM is designed to manage the customer relationship through conventional channels. On the other hand, SCRM gives the consumer more control. In an IBM Institute for Business Value study by Carolyn Heller Baird and Gautam Parasnis, titled From Social Media to Social CRM, the authors found that: “Traditional CRM strategy focuses on management solutions for channels such as corporate Web sites, call centers, and brick and mortar locations. With Social CRM, these strategies now take into account the dynamics of the community-based environment that defines social media – an environment in which control of the relationship has shifted to the customer, who has the power to influence others in his or her social network.”

With this in mind, companies have taken a big leap towards tapping social media for marketing. Many of these believe social media will transform the way their business works. Unfortunately, many companies that have embraced the use of social media in their business are not using the platforms to their full potential. This is partly because many businesses confuse social media strategy with social CRM strategy. In actual fact, these two are very different. The key difference is the integration and approach for engaging customers.

Moxian, Inc. (OTCQB: MOXC) integrates social media, entertainment and business intelligence. The social marketing and promotion platform helps merchants accelerate business growth through social media. Leveraging over 100 years of combined experience, the company has developed a Multi-Channel Social Commerce Platform that uses a variety of its own tools to generate data for businesses. Moxian’s proprietary Social Customer Relationship Management platform works in a way that helps merchants and consumers interact. The Moxian+ Business App has built-in SCRM, allowing merchants to push a variety of promotions and marketing campaigns that, in turn, generate personalized reports.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Moxian.com

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OurPet’s Company (OTCQX: OPCO) is known for its high quality, innovative products that improve the health, safety, comfort and well-being of pets. It’s a company driven to differentiate itself by employing the latest technology. Now, OurPet’s Company is demonstrating its marketing savvy with its recent launch of a Direct Response Television (DRTV) campaign in conjunction with AsSeenOnTV.pro (http://dtn.fm/fP4ep).

Most of us are familiar with DRTV, which offers viewers the opportunity to purchase from a commercial, through the late-night, early-morning programming known as the infomercial, the long-form versions of which seem to go on and on about the latest widget you must have. It could be a Pet Rock or perhaps a Pocket Hose. Such products have given DRTV unsavory associations. However, the genre has since reinvented itself. Its main objective is no longer harvesting direct sales. DRTV campaigns are now mostly employed to test products and messaging against targeted consumer segments. More importantly, DRTV aims to provide fodder to get nationwide retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), Target (NYSE: TGT), Home Depot (NYSE: HD) and others to take a bite. As Priceonomics (http://dtn.fm/vK2fv) puts it, ‘DRTV viewers today are the beta audience for Wal-Mart shoppers tomorrow’. ‘Most of today’s infomercials… aren’t necessarily designed to sell products at all; they’re designed to test the salability of those products in a mass-market environment like Wal-Mart’.

DRTV campaigns that get mass retailers to sign distribution contracts have proved to be formidable marketing strategies resulting in astoundingly successful products and product lines. ProActiv, a skin care line, brings in over a billion dollars in revenue a year, according to Mental Floss (http://dtn.fm/2aKUy). PedEgg, which scrapes your heel to remove calluses, has sold $450 million since launch, and the George Foreman Grill brings in $202 million in annual revenues. Many DRTV promotions are branded with the AsSeenOnTV logo, which ‘is a sort of informal trade affiliation and open-source brand mark representing major DRTV brands in the retail business’.

Wider distribution may be the catalyst that takes OurPet’s Company’s business to the next level. The company has been growing at a rate 50 percent higher than the industry. Data provided by the American Pet Products Association (APPA) (http://dtn.fm/1yZH3) indicates that total U.S. pet industry expenditures rose, at a CAGR of 4.44 percent, from $48.35 billion in 2010 to $60.25 billion in 2015. During the same period, OurPet’s Company’s net revenues went from $17.1 million (2010) to $23.9 million (2015), increasing at a CAGR of 6.86 percent.

Some of the products likely to charm those late night somnambulists include the OurPets® Catty Whack®, an unpredictable game of hide and seek designed for cats of all ages, which was first introduced in 2015. The introduction of the OurPets® Catty Whack® actually resulted in the genesis of the Intelligent Pet Care® line of products, which offers ‘the application of Blue Tooth and Wi-Fi to improve the connectivity between humans and pets’. The line includes the Intelligent Pet Care® Feeder, Waterer and Intelligent Litter Box, all of which allow pet owners to monitor their pet’s behavior through the IntelligentPetLink® smartphone app, downloadable from the Apple app store and Google Play.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ourpets.com

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In a recent news release, WRIT Media Group, Inc. (OTCQB: WRIT) outlined intentions to integrate its Pelecoin blockchain technology, which was picked up as part of last month’s Pandora Venture Capital Corp. acquisition, into a variety of products and applications that can be used to make spending cryptocurrencies simpler. When complete, the company aims to combine the benefits of digital currencies with the ease-of-use of fiat currencies, effectively introducing Pelecoin and other digital currencies into the physical world through the use of debit cards and mobile phone payment applications.

“Our goal is to create the industry standard for Blockchain-based, secured payments solutions,” Eric Mitchell, president of WRIT, stated in the news release. “The Company has been in discussions with several market-leading, best-in-class industry players to engage an initial and formative partner that will invest in, and help develop, our Pelecoin technology into a proprietary, transparent, digital payment system that become the market standard.”

Differentiating itself from the current digital currency landscape, Pelecoin strays away from the widely-used ‘rules of emission’, which generate new coins on a set schedule that effectively undermines the currency’s market value, in favor of a simple, proprietary algorithm designed to promote increased distribution and use. While Bitcoin generates five coins per minute to hardcore ‘miners’ with a deep knowledge of software programming and costly computer equipment, Pelecoin generates new units based upon a unique set of rules and events that increase the currency’s worth, such as new user registration, acceptance of Pelecoin for goods and services, and trades between Pelecoin and fiat currencies. When users participate in these simple ‘value’ events, their accounts are automatically credited with the newly-generated funds.

“There are several advantageous ways Pelecoin differs from other digital currencies on the market, and we’re excited to be part of the many advances taking place in cryptocurrency,” added Mitchell.

To better understand the growing demand for digital currency options, it’s best to study Bitcoin, which is often referred to as the first cryptocurrency. In a January report (http://dtn.fm/MJl58), a contributor for Wired suggested that 2016 could be the year that the digital currency moves into the mainstream. In September 2015, daily Bitcoin transactions hit a record high, and usage remained up more than 100 percent year-over-year into early 2016. Of this usage, roughly 20 percent was attributed to payments or usage as a currency, as major retailers such as Dell and Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) continue to test the waters with Bitcoin payments.

With consumer usage of cryptocurrencies hovering at near-record levels, WRIT’s entry into the digital currency space comes at an intriguing time. Look for the company to benefit from a newly-assumed, skilled management team with backgrounds in payments, telecom and digital currency acquisition as it seeks to establish a sustainable foothold in this burgeoning market.

For more information about the company, visit www.writmediagroup.com

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There are many reasons companies today are opting for a more technological approach to their operations. Many are operating on fully cloud-based platforms. Cloud-based environments offer businesses the chance to explore new business models, experience less operational issues and costs, gain access to more regular system upgrades, have more flexibility, cut out a number of capital expenditures, increase security, and create less of an impact on the environment, among other benefits.

Cloud computing is helping all forms of businesses to collaborate more widely. This means that retail stores, services pages, and technological businesses can work with anyone, no matter where they are in the world. Of course, the key difference between cloud-based and on-premise offerings is the fact that on-premise operates primarily within four walls (or more). Though offering certain advantages, on-premise can also limit offerings or make processes slower and more expensive. It also equates to higher staffing costs, as a physical office or warehouse takes people to run it.

Monaker Group, Inc. (OTCQB: MKGI) is a travel company that runs through its flagship: NextTrip.com. The company has multiple divisions and offers an array of travel services to its customers. Monaker Group, Inc. aims to become a ‘one stop’ shop for vacation bookings. MKGI does not stop at offering holiday bookings. The company offers a search engine for alternative lodging, as well as a variety of airlines, car rental services, hotels, resorts, cruises, concierge services, and tours.

Monaker’s ability to pull together an all-inclusive booking platform for its customers has enabled it to decrease its expenses and overall costs by 43 percent in just one year, according to the company’s Form 10K. Most importantly, this large decrease in expenses was due to a decrease in all expense categories. Thanks to Monaker Group’s ability to function through its flagship and other online companies, personnel requirements were reduced, cutting associated costs by over $600,000. In addition to this, the company has deferred some selling and promotional costs, and it has reduced general administrative costs until the platform is fully complete, saving the company even more money since early last year.

For more information, visit www.monakergroup.com

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Brits who wanted the U.K. to remain in the E.U. are scratching their heads now. How could so many of their compatriots be persuaded to vote leave? Naturally, those in the leave camp are equally perplexed at the actions of the ‘remainers’. Well, psychology offers one answer: social influence. Social influence, according to the Oxford Dictionary of Psychology, is ‘any process whereby a person’s attitudes, opinions, beliefs, or behavior are altered or controlled by others’. Now, to harness and focus this powerful force, Agora Holdings (OTC: AGHI) offers FRAME. FRAME is the lens through which small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can see and be seen by their customers and target markets, and, like any lens, FRAME has the power to magnify.

There is no doubt that our purchasing decisions are shaped by traditional media, by social media and by our peers. Equally influential on our purchasing decisions are the opinions of our heroes. That’s the reason that brand spoke-persons and celebrity endorsements are so widely employed in advertising campaigns. Social influence occurs at different levels. At the most personal level, there is the influence of our peers, which was limited to just a small circle of friends and family with whom we interacted physically. Now, because of the internet, ‘peer pressure’ is greatly more extensive. At the most public level is the influence exerted by the traditional media channels of print, radio and television. This is all changing with the advent of social media, which combines elements of the personal and the public.

Through social media platforms, which offer a confluence of the traditional channels of mass media and personal interaction, a rich menu of possibilities arise. Customers can all be brand spoke persons. Working in conjunction with celebrity endorsements, customers’ tweets and posts can make or break a brand. Now, customers can respond and talk directly to a movie star, politician or other public figure through a post or tweet, find out what their opinion on a subject is, and see if their likes and dislikes gel with their own. And our peers no longer have to be those we have met physically. They could be living thousands of miles away from us. We meet them in chat rooms, in forums and on social media platforms. As a result, marketing messages are easier and less costly. A tweet doesn’t require the formal and technical apparatus of a traditional promotional event.

The power of social influence is not to be underestimated. The website internships.com saw their public profile boosted immeasurably in 2011 after Charlie Sheen tweeted he was looking for an intern. The tweet received 95,333 clicks in the first hour. The reach of the tweet was astoundingly extensive with applications, which eventually totaled 82,148, coming in from 181 countries.

In addition, clever marketers like Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) have been exploiting social influence even before social media platforms became quite so ubiquitous. Over the close to 200 years P&G has given us Gillette, Tide, Vicks and a hundred other products, the company has learned a thing or two about how consumers behave. In 2001, it launched a marketing division to explore the potential of ‘word of mouth’ marketing, which was the turn of the century moniker for social influence marketing. Tremor, as it was called, targeted teens with the objective of determining to what extent gossip influenced purchasing decisions.

Tremor discovered how trends developed and categorized the hundreds of thousands of teens who joined their network into Trend Setters and Trend Spreaders. Trend Setters are those who like to differentiate themselves from others. Typically, when too many others copy their style, they will abandon it and seek further means of differentiation. Trend Spreaders, on the other hand, adopt a style to signal their inclusion. All too often, it signals quite the opposite. Nevertheless, for marketers, these are the most valuable.

FRAME from Agora Holdings offers a platform to take the marketing efforts of SMEs to a much higher level. The platform was enhanced earlier this year and is particularly optimized for public relations (PR) and investor relations (IR) agencies. FRAME’s unique technology allows companies to use a single dashboard to publish brand-relevant messages to all of an organization’s corporate social media accounts. This enables the company to build campaigns in a faster, more efficient, and easier way. FRAME also features several advanced functions such as engagement and customer care tools, measurement of campaign success via social media performance and comprehensive reporting, which provides insight into how many times content is reposted by monitoring social media mentions and brand-related conversations.

For more information, visit www.agoraholdingsinc.com

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