Waylon Ford
Native American Indian, 32, Luthier, Marketing Guru, and Founder of Ford Guitar Company.
| Headline: | Entrepreneur |
| Work status: | Employed Full-Time |
| Website: | http://www.fordguitarcompany.com |
| Industries: | Education, Entertainment, Gaming, Internet, Lifestyle, Media, Retail |
| Skills: | Business, Copy Writing, Design, Entrepreneurship, Event planning, Graphic design, Guerrilla marketing, Leadership, Management, Marketing, Negotiation, Product design, Public Relations, Public speaking, Recruitment, Retail, Sales, Viral marketing, Web design, Writing |
| Next step: | Is to take Ford Guitar Company to the next level needed to impact the MI industry, by building the guitar for the modern musician. |
| Location: | Houston, Texas |
| Groups: | E-Challenge Competition 2008, E-Challenge Competition 2009, [INACTIVE] BASES E-Challenge 2010 |
| Visas: | USA |
| Interested in: | Advising startups, Brainstorming, Consulting opportunities, Finding business partners, Finding cofounders, Finding team mates, Getting press, Growing my group, Internships, Meeting new people, Mentoring, Offering Expertise, Participating in a competition, Partnering with other groups, Patenting my idea, Professional opportunities, Promoting my startups, Raising money, Receiving feedback, Recruiting, Recruiting for my startup |
FEATURED STARTUP
Ford Guitar Company
Ford Guitar Company
FORD GUITAR COMPANY - GUITARS BUILT FOR THE MODERN MUSICIAN®.
- Startup type: Company
- Status: Active
- Stage: Growth
FULL BIO
A Marketing and Product Development Professional with over 13 years of experience in the Music, High Tech Audio, and Electric Musical Instrument Industry, Ford is always looking for new business opportunities and strategic alliances to bring new ideas and concepts to life. Ford also consults on brand identity, brand re-birthing, and offers a new realm of marketing to everyone else. Recognized for his unique approach, Waylon Ford is the out of the box guy everyone is looking for. Learn more about Waylon Ford at www.fordguitarcompany.com
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Recommendations for Waylon -
“Waylon Ford goes out of his way to make sure the job is done right and with complete focus. He is a one of kind individual who puts others ahead of himself. When something is asked of Waylon he does the job no questions ask. I highly recommend Waylon Ford. He is 100%”
- Jenna Sawcher
hired Waylon as a Business Consultant in 2007
“Waylon is a visionary beyond his years. His insight is a guiding force that takes the ordinary and makes it extraordinary!”
- Dan Alvidrez, Web Developer, Halo Guitars
worked indirectly for Waylon at Halo Custom Guitars, Inc.
“Waylon is one of most solid guys in industry. Makes great guitars, treats artists well, and is a cool and intelligent fella to boot!”
- Marcus Henderson, RedOctane, Activision, and Wavegroup sound
worked with Waylon at Halo Custom Guitars, Inc.
“Waylon is truly an out-of-the-box innovator and thinker, which is why he has been so successful at such an early age. His guerilla marketing plan for HALO Guitars is one that marketing schools should use as a case study.”
- Denise (McDonald) Dorman, Owner, WriteBrain Media
“Waylon is as good as it gets, a real GEM. His ability to understand projects,hit the floor running and get the job done makes my job very easy. I look forward to working on many more projects with Waylon in the future”
- Michael Connolly, Director of Artist Relations, Dean Markley Strings, Inc.
“Enjoyed every minute working with Waylon. We share a very common vision on many subject and have always been able to come up with creative solutions to our endeavors.”
- Eric Morris (Cloer), Video Editor, NBC/ Universal
“Waylon has a creative energy that's infectious. Every conversation with him nets more ideas”
- Mick Donner, Musical Instrument Designer, Dean Guitars/Luna Guitars
“I have known Waylon for a number of years. He is creative and always has a pathway to success. Waylon is great business associate and extremely talented musician.”
- Michael Logue, Business Development Software Products, Presonus
WORK EXPERIENCE
| Employer: | Ford Guitar Company |
| Position: | CEO / President |
| Time period: | January 2009 - Present |
| Description: | >Brand development
>New product development >Master Luthier & Head Guitar Designer >Marketing & Strategic Creative Marketing >Media Clinics, Tradeshows, Special Events >Artist Relations >Web site traffic growth >Creating web site. >Developed brand strategy and statistics systems. >Strategic Consulting, including sales strategy development. |
| Employer: | Karma Audio |
| Position: | Business Development Pro Audio Products |
| Time period: | October 2005 - January 2009 |
| Description: | >Brand development
>New product development >Marketing & Strategic Creative Marketing >Media Clinics, Tradeshows, Special Events >Artist Relations >Web site traffic growth >Creating web site. >Developed brand strategy and statistics systems. >Strategic Consulting, including sales strategy development. |
| Employer: | sE Electronics, USA |
| Position: | Director of Marketing |
| Time period: | September 2000 - October 2004 |
| Description: | >Brand development
>New product development >Marketing & Strategic Creative Marketing >Media Clinics, Tradeshows, Special Events >Artist Relations >Web site traffic growth >Creating web site. >Developed brand strategy and statistics systems. >Strategic Consulting, including sales strategy development. |
| Employer: | Halo Custom guitars, Inc. |
| Position: | Exectutive VP / Luthier / Designer |
| Time period: | May 1999 - April 2009 |
| Description: | >Brand development
>New product development >Master Luthier & Head Guitar Designer >Marketing & Strategic Creative Marketing >Media Clinics, Tradeshows, Special Events >Artist Relations >Web site traffic growth >Creating web site. >Developed brand strategy and statistics systems. >Strategic Consulting, including sales strategy development. |
| Employer: | Union Grove Music |
| Position: | High Tech Manager |
| Time period: | January 1999 - November 2000 |
| Description: | Managed day to day operations of the Pro Audio section of the store.
Set up clinics for recording demos. Increased sales by 15-20% in my department. |
| Employer: | Upstage |
| Position: | Production Technition |
| Time period: | April 1994 - December 1997 |
| Description: | I was incharge of setting up the light, sound, and stage productions for national/international touring musical acts. Such as Chubby Checker, Three Dog Night, Metallica, Prince, Mary J Blige, Motley |
PUBLICATIONS
INFORMATION
| Sports: | NHRA, IHRA, NASCAR |
| Hobbies: | Digital Photography, Web-Design, Playing Bass Guitar, Song Writing, Music Engineering, and travel |
| Memberships: | > NAMM - National Association of Music Merchants
> GAMA - Guitar and Accessories Marketing Association > http://www.linkedin.com/in/wford |
| Awards: | * Two Awards from Future Music Magazine for two of my microphone designs with Karma Audio Productions - K58 Multi-Pattern Tube Microphone & K6 Phantom Powered Ribbon Microphone (2007)
* Number One Band in Los Angels, California - Rock City News (2005) * Readers Choice Award - My creation of the BH-VII seven string guitar (2004) * Two MIX Pick Awards from "MIX Magazine" for my work on two sE products - ICIS Tube Microphone, GEMINI Dual Tube Microphone (2003) * Sales person of the year - sE Electronics, USA (2000, 2002, & 2003) * Number Two Bass Player in Houston, Texas - Rivethead Magazine (1994) |
Waylon's Startups (2)
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Waylon is Following (10)
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Anywhere.FM
Anwhere.FM is a powerful web music player that allows you to upload your music, play it anywhere, and discover new music through friends.
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Skimlinks
Skimbit helps websites to monetise their content in a user-friendly way. Their main product is Skimlinks, which converts existing retailer links on a publisher's site into their affiliate link equivalents. We monetise blogs, forums and content sites.
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GravityPeople
GravityPeople is a technology and services company that develops and delivers reliable, convenient, and cost-effective hiring solutions for companies seeking professional level hires. We are modernizing recruiting.
Waylon's Contacts (12)
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Christy C
I am fun, therefore, I work..No fancy background, just my passion in entrepreneurship.
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Larry Wettlaufer
Canadian, Self-employed (partner in an insurance brokerage), Canadian Risk Manager designation, Professional Manager designation
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Steve Teffenhardt
American, 43. CMO (Chief Motivational Officer and CEO) Pure Moxie, LLC, Business Incubator. Goals #1 Create the best possible team, #2 Motivate, #3 Delegate. Leader and Motivator, and jet pilot in a previous lifestyle..
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Drew Knapp
Founder & CEO of goodideazs, LLC, dreamer of A Greater Town .