African American Link Exchange Partners Wanted

Multiple Shades of You Online is looking for a few good Black Sites. MSOY is an eCommunity that aims to produce and promote positive online content for People of Color. If you would like to partake is some reciprocal free promotion check out msoy's Black Link Exchange, Black Banner Exchange, and Black Business Web Tools.

Urban Dynamics, the Black Web Tools Component of msoy recently released its Premium Web Tools Package which contains easy to use Amazon Store Builder Applications, for Business Owners interested in integrating the Amazon Associates Revenue content into their site. It's a great way to simultaneously earn money and add dynamic content to your web page. UD also contains other unique tools and sticky content tailored to African American audiences. Learn more about Urban Dynamic's Black Business Web Tools today. It's one of the cheapest quality web resources around!

Black Business Contests and Giveaways

Everybody wants to get something free off the internet right! But what about alittle give? Do you host Black Contests or Black Give Aways on your site? Do you sell a Black product with a few extra / samples that you are willing to share freely with the masses, or even sell at a disount?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, post your Giveways and Discount Specials on Black Freebies. If you don't offer any specials, get with the program! Giving away free stuff to fellow African Americans is a great way to support our Community and simoultaneously promote your Product or Service.

Give away a free copy of your book, a coupon, an amazon gift certificate, a music cd, magazine subscription, t-shirt, e-book, website, whatever you want. Be creative about this folks. Find something that you can share freely with others then see how much support, publicity, and thanks you will get back in return.

To Join the Black Freebies Newsgroup visit:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blackfreebies/

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

-lhenry
- www.msoyonline.com

A Great Time to be a Black Entrepreneur

Yes, this is a great time to be a Black Entreprenur. There is a market and with it comes a new line of marketing gurus waiting to help you tap into that market. More and more flourishing Black Business Owners are sharing their stories, along with new Black Business Organizations and Books tailored to meet the needs of Black Entrepreneurs.

I'm a collector of all things related to Black Culture, so I'm always coming across some new resource or website worth sharing. With respect to Black Business, here is a list of my most recent finds:

1. Completely Black: an impressive new online network for Black Business Professionals. This site offers a space to find local Black Business Owners, expand your network, and share your products or services with others. It's new but it already has a growing list of members. Did I mention that membership is free! Nowadays everything comes with a price tag, so it's nice to find resources that don't. Feel free to check out my profile and drop me a line when you join!
2. If you are interested in more sites like CompletelyBlack.com check out my previous post on Black Business Networks for Black Professionals.
3. Must Have Book: Farrah Gray, the self made Black Teenprenuer / Millionaire shares the secrets of his success in "Reallionaire : Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the Inside Out
4. For more must have Black Business books read my previous posts: Black Millionaires, Billionaires, and their success stories part 1 and part 2.
5. The Izania Market: Goodbye Ebay, hello Izania; the latest online shopping site for African American Merchants and Shoppers.

How I Retired at 26!

Asha Tyson's own rise from homelessness at 17 to prominence deems her an expert on personal achievement. Now she reveals the secrets of her success by offering you an easy-to-understand blueprint that can afford you the lifestyle you always wanted.

Here Tyson examines and shatters the mold of traditional retirement ideas that reek of defeat; she demonstrates a winning and fresh philosophy that is effective for anyone at any age.

How I Retired at 26! provides an eye-opening practical process for obtaining personal, professional and financial freedom all in this one astonishing book!

With her coaching, you will learn new techniques that rid you of worry--for good! You can apply these proven principles and begin living a life that most people only talk about and dream of!

Black Millionaires, Billionaires, and their Success Stories P2.

What better way to learn about becoming a Black Millionaire than to read the sucess stories of Black Millionaires and Billionairs. Part 2 of this post features the one and only Madam CJ Walker, Robert Johnson the man behind the Billion Dollar BET Dream, and other Black Entreprenurs worth knowing.

-Check out my first post on Books for Newbie Black Entreprenurs.

-Click Here to find more Black Business Entrepreneurs and Start-ups Books

Black Millionaires, Billionaires, and their Success Stories P1.

What better way to learn about becoming a Black Millionaire than to read the sucess stories of Black Millionaires and in the case of Oprah, Black Billionaires today. Learn the keys to sucess from Black Teenpreneur Farrah Gray (makin' 1.5 million ain't so bad before your 21st birthday, O-so Fabulous Oprah Winfrey (the first Black Woman Billionaire, and the one, the only the first Black Millionaire Arthur G. Gatson.

-Check out my first post on Books for Newbie Black Entreprenurs.
-Click Here to find more Black Business Entrepreneurs and Start-ups Books

Top Five Online Publications for Black Entrepreneurs

The following online business publications are in my opinion some of the best web resources for Black Entpreneurs. (in no specific order)

1. The Black Business Spot
2. Izania
3. Black Enterprise
4. Entrepreneur Magazine
5. Target Market News

National Buy Black Day

'National Buy Black Day' Promotes Self Reliance

By Renee D. Turner, BET.com Staff Writer

Posted Feb. 14, 2006 – While access to the board rooms of America was the challenge of the Civil Rights Movement, creating our own board rooms is "the new revolution."

So says Wayne Winston, who wants everyone to give back by buying Black on Saturday, Feb. 18.

"It's time that our community realized that every dollar we spend with ourselves helps to empower ourselves," says Winston, 42, a Bridgeport, Conn., computer business owner who created National Buy Black Day as his contribution to Black History Month.

"We have a lot of apathy," he says. "That doesn't bode well for us as a community. If we don't go out and support those businesses how will they survive? Hopefully, with this day, people will find Black businesses and do business with them. This is a first step. I think this is something we're hungry for."

Shop In The Neighborhood

Winston hopes that for one day out of the year, African Americans will do all of their shopping with Black-owned businesses. He says this single act will not only help keep dollars circulating in Black communities, but will go a long way toward creating jobs that will solve our employment troubles and help rebuild some of our most impoverished communities.

Perhaps that single day could spark an economic movement within the Black community, Winston says.

Apathy wasn't a problem a half-century ago when, because of Jim Crow, Black businesses serving Black communities had a captive audience, says Fred McKinney, Ph.D., an economist and executive with the Connecticut Minority Supplier Development Council, which pairs minority businesses with corporations willing to buy their goods and services.

After the Civil Rights Movement, anyone could buy nearly anywhere, and entrepreneurship was no longer fostered among young Blacks, he says. Instead we were pushed to get an education and become a part of the larger society.

But with companies like GM shifting their business models to a leaner executive workforce, there will be fewer good-paying jobs in the future. That's why McKinney is convinced that Black businesses hold the key to Black economic and social survival, and that efforts such as National Buy Black Day are important.

"What GM is saying is that they're not going out of business; they're just not going to be making cars here," he says. Blacks who are being laid off in the auto industry, which traditionally provided African Americans a portal to the middle class, must now find other jobs, he says, noting that few other opportunities will afford Black autoworkers the lifestyles to which they've become accustomed.

Shine Spotlight On Black Businesses

"We were socialized to believe a job was a goal. The heck with a job; start a business," he says. "By empowering people and building wealth through efforts like Buy Black Day, we can make our communities better places to be."

That may be why the National Buy Black Day concept hatched from a chat room conversation between a few people into a national movement, with organizers in at least six states, Winston says.

Gloria Massey, 53, sees National Buy Black day as a means to unite people in Los Angles toward a common goal. The longtime accountant, who runs an L.A.-based collections company, says she was inspired during a recent trip to Kenya to promote the effort in her city.

"I saw how they made things and bought things from each other," Massy says. "A lot of young people don't see Black people as a force, as a unit. We're so spread out here physically, but we're one people. This is a way to unify."

Is Concept Racist?

But buying Black is not a new concept, notes conservative economist Walter Williams. It might even be considered racist, he says.

"I don't think it will do anything for good will," he says. "If someone said 'Buy White Day' or only go to basketball games where Whites are playing, wouldn't that be racist? It [Buy Black Day] doesn't get us anywhere. If you want to do something that would help get us get somewhere, say, 'Read a book today.'"

While encouraging people to read is a positive move, encouraging people to spend money within their communities promotes job creation and wealth, Winston says. Spending even a 10th of the estimated $679 billions African-American buying power with Black businesses would make a difference, he says.

But Winston is under no delusion that one day will dissolve years of apathy born out of the notion that the apples are cheaper – and sweeter – at White-owned businesses.

Sweeter On The Other Side

"We automatically assume we're going to get poor service, or that the service won't be the same as other establishments," he says. "This whole day is about trying to relieve the apathy."

One of the actions National Buy Black day planners hope happens is that Black consumers and businesses enter into a "promise" of mutual respect. The promise includes a commitment by Black business participants to treat customers with respect, provide a positive shopping experience, charge fair prices and make customer service a priority.

In return, consumers agree to be fair-minded. Understand that occasionally you'll find that they charge higher prices because they can't buy in the same volumes as a Wal-Mart and provide owners with constructive criticism when appropriate.

Organizers hope that the Buy Black Day movement will have a lasting economic impact.

"Our biggest problem is we need to level the economic playing field," says Sam Golden, a retired Toledo, Ohio, city engineer and wholesale business owner. "There are things we can do to help one another and turn this thing around economically. We didn't create the system, but we can use it to do what needs to be done."

McKinney says that the government response to Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that Black communities need to look within for solutions.

"We have plenty of problems to solve. We have to come up with some solutions," he says. "They will not come out of some mastermind but out of entrepreneurial brilliance. The entrepreneurs that solve problems are the ones that will be successful. I have confidence they will come up with solutions."

Do you think that buying Black will make a difference in the Black community? Talk about it."

Call into NBBTA Radio and post your feedback:

214-231-2911 ext. 6541

http://www.nbbta.org/radio'National Buy Black Day' Promotes Self Reliance

By Renee D. Turner, BET.com Staff Writer

Posted Feb. 14, 2006 – While access to the board rooms of America was the challenge of the Civil Rights Movement, creating our own board rooms is "the new revolution."

So says Wayne Winston, who wants everyone to give back by buying Black on Saturday, Feb. 18.

"It's time that our community realized that every dollar we spend with ourselves helps to empower ourselves," says Winston, 42, a Bridgeport, Conn., computer business owner who created National Buy Black Day as his contribution to Black History Month.

"We have a lot of apathy," he says. "That doesn't bode well for us as a community. If we don't go out and support those businesses how will they survive? Hopefully, with this day, people will find Black businesses and do business with them. This is a first step. I think this is something we're hungry for."

Shop In The Neighborhood

Winston hopes that for one day out of the year, African Americans will do all of their shopping with Black-owned businesses. He says this single act will not only help keep dollars circulating in Black communities, but will go a long way toward creating jobs that will solve our employment troubles and help rebuild some of our most impoverished communities.

Perhaps that single day could spark an economic movement within the Black community, Winston says.

Apathy wasn't a problem a half-century ago when, because of Jim Crow, Black businesses serving Black communities had a captive audience, says Fred McKinney, Ph.D., an economist and executive with the Connecticut Minority Supplier Development Council, which pairs minority businesses with corporations willing to buy their goods and services.

After the Civil Rights Movement, anyone could buy nearly anywhere, and entrepreneurship was no longer fostered among young Blacks, he says. Instead we were pushed to get an education and become a part of the larger society.

But with companies like GM shifting their business models to a leaner executive workforce, there will be fewer good-paying jobs in the future. That's why McKinney is convinced that Black businesses hold the key to Black economic and social survival, and that efforts such as National Buy Black Day are important.

"What GM is saying is that they're not going out of business; they're just not going to be making cars here," he says. Blacks who are being laid off in the auto industry, which traditionally provided African Americans a portal to the middle class, must now find other jobs, he says, noting that few other opportunities will afford Black autoworkers the lifestyles to which they've become accustomed.

Shine Spotlight On Black Businesses

"We were socialized to believe a job was a goal. The heck with a job; start a business," he says. "By empowering people and building wealth through efforts like Buy Black Day, we can make our communities better places to be."

That may be why the National Buy Black Day concept hatched from a chat room conversation between a few people into a national movement, with organizers in at least six states, Winston says.

Gloria Massey, 53, sees National Buy Black day as a means to unite people in Los Angles toward a common goal. The longtime accountant, who runs an L.A.-based collections company, says she was inspired during a recent trip to Kenya to promote the effort in her city.

"I saw how they made things and bought things from each other," Massy says. "A lot of young people don't see Black people as a force, as a unit. We're so spread out here physically, but we're one people. This is a way to unify."

Is Concept Racist?

But buying Black is not a new concept, notes conservative economist Walter Williams. It might even be considered racist, he says.

"I don't think it will do anything for good will," he says. "If someone said 'Buy White Day' or only go to basketball games where Whites are playing, wouldn't that be racist? It [Buy Black Day] doesn't get us anywhere. If you want to do something that would help get us get somewhere, say, 'Read a book today.'"

While encouraging people to read is a positive move, encouraging people to spend money within their communities promotes job creation and wealth, Winston says. Spending even a 10th of the estimated $679 billions African-American buying power with Black businesses would make a difference, he says.

But Winston is under no delusion that one day will dissolve years of apathy born out of the notion that the apples are cheaper – and sweeter – at White-owned businesses.

Sweeter On The Other Side

"We automatically assume we're going to get poor service, or that the service won't be the same as other establishments," he says. "This whole day is about trying to relieve the apathy."

One of the actions National Buy Black day planners hope happens is that Black consumers and businesses enter into a "promise" of mutual respect. The promise includes a commitment by Black business participants to treat customers with respect, provide a positive shopping experience, charge fair prices and make customer service a priority.

In return, consumers agree to be fair-minded. Understand that occasionally you'll find that they charge higher prices because they can't buy in the same volumes as a Wal-Mart and provide owners with constructive criticism when appropriate.

Organizers hope that the Buy Black Day movement will have a lasting economic impact.

"Our biggest problem is we need to level the economic playing field," says Sam Golden, a retired Toledo, Ohio, city engineer and wholesale business owner. "There are things we can do to help one another and turn this thing around economically. We didn't create the system, but we can use it to do what needs to be done."

McKinney says that the government response to Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that Black communities need to look within for solutions.

"We have plenty of problems to solve. We have to come up with some solutions," he says. "They will not come out of some mastermind but out of entrepreneurial brilliance. The entrepreneurs that solve problems are the ones that will be successful. I have confidence they will come up with solutions."

Do you think that buying Black will make a difference in the Black community? Talk about it."

Call into NBBTA Radio and post your feedback:

214-231-2911 ext. 6541

http://www.nbbta.org/radio

Black Business Talk Today

1. New Diversity-Data Guidelines Bring Federal Contractors Into Internet Age
2. Where is our African American Economic plan!?
3. The Black Business Q&A
4. BLACK ENTERPRISE Publisher & Founder Rings Closing Bell
5. Oprah Winfrey signs 3-year, $55 million deal with XM Satellite Radio
6. Africast TV Network partners with On Command with movies for U.S. hotels
7. Calling All Black Website Owners! It's Black Freebies Time.
8. Ways & Means: Where to Invest in 2006: How to Get the Most Bang for Your Buck
9. Ways and Means: Seven Tips for Freeing Yourself From Debt
10. Top Five SistWeb Tips for Black Website Owners

-Black Content for Black People

What software tools do you use to build your website?

This question is intended to help Black Website owners find web resources.

The first answer is from BOE Founder LHenry: "Dreamweaver MX is an excellent web editor, definitely worth the money. You can go to downloads.com or zdnet and find other freeware html editors, but I don't think any of them come close to Dreamweaver. It's a great tool because it offers you have the flexibility of having writing your html code if your an experienced programmer or pluggin in Dreamweaver html code and scripts. The interface is also very easy for new web developers. I also find Adobe Photoshop helpful. It's the best software in my opinion for editing images. Last, but now least Flash. At one point I was a flash-a-holic, but like everything on a website, too much Flash is not a good thing. If you work on your site by yourself, it's a good idea to get Flash and learn how to you it. If used correctly, you can produce some very proffesional/ high quality web content for your site."

Who is your web designer?

This question is intented to help Black Website Owners discover and exchange Web Design Resources.

First answer from BOE Founder LHenry: "I am currently, and have always been the web designer for all my sites, the primary one being Multiple Shades of You
Online: http://www.msoyonline.com/. When I started working on the net, almost 6 years ago I had no web experience. I self taught to the point that I am now, which was fine when I was working on my site casually. However, from the business perspective my website could have been and still could be better structured for search engines and promotion had I gotten a professional web developer or web design company. Working on your own site is a great low budgeting concept, but it requires you to put on multiple hats. You have to familiarize yourself with every aspect of site development from design, to marketing, to search engine optimization. I'm not currently in the web design business, but I am putting together a list of African American [ Web Designers ] and [Graphics Designers ]. If anyone is interested or has something to include feel free to submit a site."

Top Five SistaWeb Tips for Black Websites

1. Sizing Up Your Web Competition
2. Web Things I learned Today
3. Black Stock Photography and Black Clipart
4. One Search Engine Savvy Sista
5. Ten Rules for Web Startups

If you have read any good Black Web or Black Business Articles today, I would love to hear about them.

-lhenry