Black Freebies

Black Freebies is a new yahoo group, created to keep African American Web viewers in the know about free stuff online. Free downloads, games, software, information, contests, give aways, etc. The best part about this site is that most of the content IS Black Stuff, made by Black Folks, made for Black Folks, or useful to Black Folks. Feel free to join and share.

Black Freebies: http://blackfreebies.msoyonline.com

Subscribe to Black Online Entrepreneurs

The best way find out about new posts on Black Online Entrepreneurs, is to subscribe to the RSS Feed. Click the image below for more details.

What should the next BOE post be?

Black Online Entrepreneurs is supposed to be a resource blog for members of the Black Business Community, so at the very least I should be posting topics of interest to you. What would you like to read here?

What do you think about the Black Q&A Questionnaire?

Is the Black Q&A Questionnaire helpful? Please feel free to let me know what you think about it.

Is there a question that you would like to see here?

If there is a question that you would like to see listed in the Black Q&A Questionnaire. Please let me know and I'll see what I can do.

What do you know about Search Engine Optimization?

This question is meant to help Black Websites improve their Search Engine Rank on websites like google.com and yahoo.com.

First answer from BOE Founder: LHenry
If your site does not come up in the first 5 pages of a google query then you need Search Engine Optimization. SEO tips and tools help you improve the html structure of your site, so that your site is more likely to be in the top listings for a particlular search. As I find out more about new SEO Tips, I post them on my other blog: Sista Web. Click here to read one of the posts.

How long did it take you to get listed on a Search Engine?

A useful question for those interested in submitting their websites to search engines and/or improving their listing on search engines.

First answer from BOE Founder: LHenry
It took a matter of days for me to get listed on Black Websites like Blackrefer.com and MyBlackInfo.com. As for google.com it took about 2-3 weeks. And when I finally got listed on google I noticed that google didn't index even half of the number of pages I had so I did some research and found out about google sitemaps, which Help Google crawl your website and help improve the chances of more of your webpages being listed on Google. I share tips and info about my google sitemaps research on my other blog: Sista Web.

What Search Engine do you use the most? Is this a Black Search Engine? If not, also include a Black Search Engine that you use frequently.

This question is meant to help you find out the best search engines, particularly the most popular black search engines, that people use.

First answer from BOE Founder: LHenry

1. Google.com is my main sqeeze
2. Search Urban my Black Search Engine because it has only the best black websites
3. BlackRefer.com because their listing is large and covers an extensive range of topics
4. Alexa.com has great web stats which I often use to find new related links

How do you spend your time online? Give a percentage breakdown.

A great question for finding out what African American online viewers do when their surfing the web.

First answer from BOE Founder: LHenry

1. 30% of my time - Designing/Updating my website (www.msoyonline.com)
2. 30% of my time - Browsing Google for new black sites or marketing tools
3. 30% of my time - Blogging or posting in forums
4. 10% of my time - leisurly shopping or enjoying some entertaining web content

What do you know about Black Business Franchises?

A question for those interest in starting a Black Business Franchise?

First answer from BOE Founder: LHenry
I personally don't know much about this topic beyond the fact that franchises require a lot of upfront capitol. But as according to Entrepreneur Magazine they are quite profitable. Anyone else out there have any hard facts on the topic of franchises?

Name 3 Black Stores off or online that you frequent.

Use this question to better understand what types of Black Businesses are popular and why.

First answer from BOE Founder: LHenry

1. Golden Krust: a Jamaican Bakery, which I love because the food is great, affordable, and good quality.
2. Curve Salon for Natural Haircare:their products are expensive but they do what they say. I'm willing to pay for results.
3. Essence Magazine: I subscribe to Essence because it talks about issues that relate to me as a Black Woman and the content is both entertaining and high quality.

Name one Black Entrepreneur that you admire.

This question is meant to help fellow Entrepreneurs find out what charateristics of Business Savy Black People most impress others. And also to learn about other Black Entrepreneurs.

Answer from BOE Founder: LHenry
After watching the Ultimate Hustler on BET, I gained respect for Damon Dash. I like his intense work ethic and how he uses himself as a customer to market his products. I talk about why I like him in detail in this post. Read it for more info.

What is your favorite African American website and why?

This question is intended to help Black Web Developers find out what types of sites are most important to Black Online viewers and why?

Answer from BOE Founder: LHenry
My favorite Black website is Blackrefer.com (http://www.blackrefer.com/) because as a black
website developer I am always interested in new African American websites, and
Blackrefer always has a new and interesting website for me to review.

About the Black Business Q&A

Black Business Q&A

As an African American Entrepreneur hoping to successfully make it online, I often feel like generating Black Business on the web is like jumping into a bottomless pit. It’s dark and massive with no helpful signs or light bulbs along the way. I keep pushing through with a mountain of questions on my mind. Where does my target audience like to shop? Where are the best places to market black content? Who wants black content? Who are the most successful Black Business owners online? Where are my fellow Black Entrepreneurs? The list of questions is often times bigger than my pool of answers. Short of grinding the digital pavement with countless google.com searches, I’ve found limited web resources for Blacks like myself. Until now…

Creating Black Online Entrepreneurs was the first step to finding answers. The next step is looking at these questions from both the perspective of a business owner and customer. I’ve created the Questionnaire: ‘The Black Business Q&A’, which I encourage you to read and share with others within the Black Business Community. The goal of this survey is to collectively answer some of the most common and pressing questions for Blacks interested in making money online. Some questions require you to put on your ‘Customer Thinking Cap’ and others require you to be a ‘Black Professor of Entrepreneurship’. I intend on answering each question myself to start things off and hope that others will follow in my lead. Feel free to only answer the questions that most interest you. But keep in mind that I will be pooling the results and showcasing the best posts. Creating thoughtful comments could lead to some extra free publicity for you.

Please note: Anyone is free to add a comment, but if you are not Black, please state so because these questions are specifically meant to gather feedback from within the Black Community for Black Business Owners.

Black Business Posts Today

Any good Entrepreneur knows that you have to stay in the loop! It's important to find out what your peers are talking about. You might find out something new or share something you know. Either way an exchange of ideas is a great way to keep any business growing. If you know of a great Black Business Forum, please let me know. I am quite fond of izania (www.izania.com) and the quality posts of its members. Today I found a few great posts that I would like to share with you.

1. Mobile Entertainment Predicted To Reach $42.8 Billion
2. Something interesting.. Black Business Bulletin Board..
3. Black Professional Organizations -- Are you connected?

Did you read a great Black Business post today? Let me know about it.

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Black Business Resources on BOE
-African American Business Directory
-Urban Web Tools for African American Websites

Resources for Black Business Women

Calling all Sistapreneurs! Calling all African American Business Women! Call all my Black sistas making Money for themselves! Here are a few links that support black women in business. Take advantage of these resources and add a link to this page on your site! Share the sisterly wealth.

Organizations
-Black Career Women
-Get Ready for Give 'N Take… a barter-exchange network for women entrepreneurs and executives. This unique organization brings women together to create opportunities, by providing a support system for start-up companies and entrepreneurs. Its goal is to educate, collaborate and stimulate advancement in business.
-Digital Sistas is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization created to promote and provide technology education and enrichment for young girls and women of color.

Resource Hightlights
-Multiple Shades of You Online: Listing of Resources for Black Career Women
-Black Business Books
-Izania.com
-African American Women In Technology

Online Advice
-Nia Online Career Columns
-Bahiyah Woman Magazine Entrepreneurs Guide for Women
-Women in Business Today Online Resource
-Sistah Connect: sistapreneurs
-Sista-Web: one African American sistah’s web development / html blog

Web Directories
-Black Career Women Links
-Multiple Shades of You Online: Listing of Resources for Black Career Women

Forums
-Black Living.com Business and Finance Forum for Women

Sistas to Know and Respect
-Jamila White, the E-Commerce Diva
-Niambi Jarvis, CEO of Hiyaah Power
-Simone Kelly, President and CEO of Gots to Have It, Marketing
-LaShanda Henry, found of Multiple Shades of You Online

-Find these and other great African American Websites on Multiple Shades of You Online.

African Americans in Science and Technology

Looking for information about Blacks in the Technology Field? Here is a great place to start:

• Black Tech Magazine is the comprehensive Information Technology [IT] advisory resource for African American business owners and entrepreneurs.
• Black Family Network provides online technology information for black families.
• Multiple Shades of You Online: Black Technology Listing
• Digital Sistas is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization created to promote and provide technology education and enrichment for young girls and women of color.
• Our PC Magazine is the computer and internet magazine for African Americans.
• The National Society of Black Engineers
• La Familia Network, the Hispanic Family embracing Technology
• Black Conscious News Science and Technology Headlines
• D-Mars Black Business & Technology News
• African American Web Developers
• Destee.com Computer Internet and Technology Forum
• Multiple Shades of You: Black 'Web' related Links
• Cocoa Lounge Computers and Science Forum
• African American Gamer
• The Digital Divide Network is the Internet's largest community for educators, activists, policy makers and concerned citizens working to bridge the digital divide.
• African-American Women in Technology
•Proud Black User of Macintosh: an African American Technology Blog
•Black Hacker.net: Blog

Black Internet Stats
• More than 10 million Blacks are online, about 45% of the Black population
• 74% of online Blacks say the Internet has had a positive effect on their children
• Blacks account for roughly 8 percent of the online population, and the group will exceed U.S. Hispanics' Internet penetration by 2007
• Top three online activities Blacks are #1: check/send email, #2: access news/headlines and #3: play online games
• Blacks are active online consumers, purchasing more clothing/apparel online (48% vs. 41%) and more music/videos (44% vs. 39%) than the general online market
• Blacks listen to music online and watch videos more than the general online market
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, January 2003


What is Compelling Reason to Invest IT Dollars in Black Community?
John Templeton (www.blackmoney.com) has conducted extensive research in this area. He reports the following statistics:
1. 11% of the employees in the Information Technology industry are African American
2. 500,000 African Americans in the IT industry
3. 2400 African American owned IT companies in the country. These 2400 companies employ over 20,000 people.