Ask a Ninja and a $ 6.50 mask

Ask a Ninja stumbled into the cliposhere on you tube as Kent Nichols & Douglas Sarine set up a sheet and "the Ninja" wrapped himself in black and a $6.50 ski mask; shot with an old video camera as a cheap alternative to making an expensive and complex planned urban Ninja animated film clip #1 was born.

The 1st episode was released late 2005 and the near 4 million "what is podcasting" launched on you tube on February 24, 2006, the iconic clip bringing education, entertainment and edge ... all in one full on dose:



Ask a Ninja exploded into the cliposphere with full, fast paced, hard hitting content. Thumping clips into the you tube at a frequency essential to get traction plus the development of a tagline, a question and answer based show format (with tons of email feedback)... the self depracating approach to life (and death!) didn't do any harm either; infantile (almost) arrogant (certainly) intense (you bet).

... The itunes podcast directory saw 5 subscribers swell to 12,000 in a week and over 100 questions for "the Ninja" off the blocks. They have seen up to 600 emails a day pour in so the team can select what they want to answer (or just talk on!)... with hilarious results ... like the "question" ... "do Ninjas need love" on wives with drinking problems, crushes on Ninjas, stealing hearts, monkeys and lady lumps ... !



Slow with www.askaninja.com their early chances to make a dollar were probably missed; so the harsh reality that fame in the cliposphere was not the same as fortue in the bank is clear for this team (we believe every word spoken by them on that .. well most)... now there are DVDs and merchandise; and Kent Nichols advises :

"...put together a micro budget that allows you to put out content on a consistent basis - ten episodes - twenty episodes"...

and on making money he says ....

"... Go for a video view site where you can advertise or get revenue .... have a strong domain .... build as strong a website as possible ... make money on your website ..."

We agree totally ... get your website strategy sorted out first ... then post !

After some celebrity mix and matching as well which never harms anyone for Blades of Glory (Will Ferrell is a great clip exponent and a major force for anyone to get on their show) ... Ask a Ninja is a fixture on www.veoh.com www.revver.com and all over the cliposhere:



We enjoy the way the cliposhere creates its own heroes and close out by saying ... we look forward to killing the Ninja .... soon ....

2007 music star Esmee Denters

Esmee Denters is a star and it took only 9 months to get there ... though her story proves more than most that if you want to make it big in the cliposhpere a bit of professional help really can't do you too much harm on the way up.

On August 25, 2006 a gum chewing teen with her knee tucked up records "waterfalls" and by the first week of September she has already tackled a range of singers from Natalie Imbruglia to Gnarls Barclay; blasting along at breakneck speed.




From September 10 to October 17 Esmee rains 20 songs in into the cliposhpere and on December 2nd 2006 does what anyone who wants to make it in the cliposphere does ... she lets us into her world to hear a bit of her "own song". Requests come in and they are sung resulting in more requests and more support; traction grows and grows by the day for the simple girl whose father bought her a new webcam and we even get to hear about that. That's what makes the story so strong the parts that made Esmee easy to relate to.

20 nearly more songs later there are already a few albums worth of covers out there now with the Esmee Denters name on them and we get to learn via you tube whats going on in her life .... Esmee will be off to the USA.

After getting back "home" on February 25th her Beyonce clip gives away a slight shift in style and on March 18th we get to see a different Esmee at a keyboard, with a proper mike and decent sound recording and that's it for whats now the 3 million view clip "dance with my father".



More travel clips follow on March 30th and not only is Esmee in the news but also there with the big name stars ... by April 12 we know shes a star in Holland and on May 8th we are totally drawn into the Esmee story and along for the ride with her back to New York next. By May 16th 2007 the domain name www.esmeeworld.com is locked down and the backend of her world is getting to be under control.

Then it happens - great hair, a more polished look and clearly not the pre-NY Esmee posts on May 18 the now 3 million view clip "let me love you" it hits the cliposphere and its clear change is in the air ...



....and then swiftly the big bang follows for anyone who was watching and the most memorable part of the Esmee story comes to us all on May 28 2007, managed, timed and built up to almost perfectly.

Who could want a better backing singer and keyboard man than Justin Timberlake and the 13+ million view "what goes around" sees a new star of the cliposhere bringing home millions of views..




.... the rest is history as they say the record deal (in the bag), more TV appearances and all that goes with it .... the website www.esmeeworld.com spikes with traffic in the 1st week of July 2007 : yet again showing that the right Internet platform is essential before you hit the bigtime and her team had that base well covered.



August 25, 2006 to May 28, 2007 ....

...... 9 months in the cliposphere and what goes around came around for Esmee Denters in 2007.