Black Business Questionaire

More questions will be added weekly, so continue to come back for new results and comments.

Black Advertising and Marketing Online
Is your Black Business on Myspace.com?

Black Web Browsing Patterns and Frequently Visited Links
What is your favorite African American website and why? (Mention a site other than your own.)
Name one Black Entrepreneur that you admire.

Name 3 Black Stores off or online that you frequent.

What do you know about Black Business Franchises?

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

Search Engines and Search Engine Optimization
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.

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

What do you know about Search Engine Optimization?

Black Q&A Feedback
Is there a question that you would like to see here?

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

What should the next BOE post be?

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Youth Entrepreneurship Program to Address High Black Youth Unemployment

Agency Launches Nationwide Youth Entrepreneurship Program to Address High Black Youth Unemployment

Product vendors include Crochet Kufi Hats, Dolls, Braclets by AfriCreations.com, Ujamaa Discount Cards offered by IBSA, Afrocentric greeting/kwanzaa cards offered by Black-Gifts.com, Web packages offered by Kansas Small Business Promotions and a host of other products and services.


Topeka, KS (PRWEB) May 24, 2005 -- The IBSA, Inc. is going to show African American teens how to be entrepreneurs, and put legitimately earned cash in their pockets.

Learning Business Principles
IBSA’s entrepreneurial program teaches kids between 12 and 15 years old the principles of commissioned, residual and leveraged income. Throughout the years, as many as 20 kids have been in the program at a time. Paid staffers and volunteers instruct the teens by having them sell raffle tickets for things like televisions and grocery shopping sprees, at festivals and fireworks events. The kids also sell quality greeting cards and calendars during the holiday season.

“They earn a commission of fifty-cents on each dollar’s worth of raffle tickets sold,” said Grays. “The rest comes back into our general fund.”

Teens can buy the high-quality cards for six dollars and sell them for ten, or if they don’t have the capital investment, they can take orders. The program teaches the kids about money, such as calculating commissions and determining what the organization owes them. In addition, the kids learn communication techniques.

“These are mini sales presentations,” said Grays. “So we want them saying ‘Yes sir’ or ‘Excuse me ma’am’—words they don’t normally use each day.”

Another very important lesson the program teaches is follow up. The kids have to send a thank you letter to customers who have purchased products from them. “This teaches them basic courtesy as well as the concept of follow up,” Grays said.

Thinking Like an Entrepreneur
IBSA hosts group settings where they describe the opportunity, and make sure they educate the teens on sales and the business side. Grays tries to keep the kids thinking. When they set up a booth at a Juneteenth event, which drew 80,000 people to Soldier Park, Grays asked his teen entrepreneurs how they would turn that large group into an opportunity to make money.

“I don’t want them to see large-scale events as a place where they go and buy things,” Grays said. “I want them to see it as an opportunity. They should be able to see a lawn full of leaves and say, ‘Excuse me ma’am would you be interested in someone raking those leaves for you?,’ so they can see opportunity, rather than watch all their peers migrate to McDonald’s or Wendy’s for jobs.”

Some of the kids make $100 a week by selling $200 worth of greeting cards. “They come home with smiles on their faces and money in their hands,” said Grays. One teen made $213 in one weekend on the raffle. Others have made $400 to $500 selling greeting cards. Some teens even have said they made more money working one weekend than working all summer at a fast food restaurant.

“These kids take these skills into later life,” Grays said. “Our top seller in 1995 just graduated from Kansas State University.”

Grays said his program gets the kids to understand the value of money and that if you work you get paid.

In order to facilitate the financial needs of youth who don't receive allowances or are to young to get a regular job (even fast-food), IBSA has devised several entrepreneurial activities and opportunities to allow enterprising young people an opportunity to earn some legitimate money. The agency have not re-invented the wheel, but looked at what works across a variety of programs and have chosen those elements they feel are critical for Black youth to understand, plus they provide products and services by our agency and business affiliates for them to sell for-profit.

Article Originally posted on prweb.com

A Newsgroup for Black Self-publishers

A Club For Us Online African-American Book Club for self-published authors and aspiring authors to share their knowledge, Dreams, and Hopes!

Visit this group today.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AClubForUs/

Black Business and Myspace Marketing

As Myspace.com increases in popularity, I thought this would be a good time to talk about how entrepreneurs are marketing themselves on myspace, and how you can do the same thing. I've put together a collection of posts specifically on myspace marketing, hopefully you will find something that can help you become a Myspace Mogul.

- Myspace surpasses Yahoo Mail, Google in Popularity
- Myspace Layout Help
- Nigerian Twins Launch 'African' Myspace
- Is your Black Business on Myspace?
- Learn how one Black Site - hiyaahpower.com got a myspace makeover
- Myspace Marketing - Free, Fun, and Highly Targeted
- Marketing on Myspace - The New Buzz

If you know of other Myspace Marketing Articles or Strategies, please feel free to share.

- Visit: Black Online Entrepreneurs - Join the BOE Newsgroup

Is your Black Business on Myspace?

Are you taking advantage of today's most popular marketing movement online - myspace.com. It seems like everyone is promoting something on myspace, are you?

First Answer from BOE Founder: LHenry

Yes, I am on myspace promoting Multiple Shades of You Online, view my myspace page. A friend told me it was a great place to promote my site, so I figured a few extra clicks was a good thing. Not to mention all the old friends and friendly faces that I've unexpectedly found through the site.

If you have a myspace page, feel free to click the comment button and share it with others on this blog.

MySpace Surpasses Yahoo Mail, Google in Popularity

Social-networking site MySpace.com has surpassed internet powerhouses Yahoo Mail and Google as the most popular U.S. website, according to research from Hitwise, writes the Globe and Mail (Reg. required). In the week ended July 8, 4.5 percent of all U.S. visits to the web were to MySpace.com, and traffic to the social-networking site has soared 132 percent in the last year alone, Hitwise said.

...[read entire article]

MyMarketing: A MySpace Marketing Consultation

If you are interested in turning your myspace page into a promotional tool then you should definitley read this article 'MyMarketing: A MySpace Marketing Consultation' on searchenginelowdow.com.

The author, Adam Shultz, details his one on one consultation with Niambi the founder of www.HiyaahPower.com and www.PowerPacks.com. Niambi wanted to use myspace to market her sites which serve to inspire and empower African American women, so Adam helped her deconstruct her business objective and design a myspace page that helped to promote her business while still maintain the social / friendly environment that myspace is meant to create.

His recommendations for her site could be easily transferred onto your own. Read the article, you might learn a thing or two about myspace marketing.

MySpace Marketing: Free, Fun, and Highly-Targeted

Here is another great myspace marketing post from 'The Web Mark’s Internet Marketing Blog' entitled 'MySpace Marketing: Free, Fun, and Highly-Targeted'

An article exerpt:

Benefits of marketing on MySpace include the following:

Free web presence – your company’s space can be “The Official MySpace Page” for your company. There’s no need to build or manage another generic affiliate site

Highly targeted, highly specific traffic – joining with groups and posting on forums within your targeted demographic appeals directly to the audience most likely to buy your product or service

Brand building and lead generation – 60 million people who otherwise might not be looking in search engines or other areas for your website are now just one click away from hearing of your brand or service

No limits or restrictions on marketing content – videos, pictures, newsletters, and banners are all fair game; endlessly customize your profile

Lively interaction with potential customers – subtlety plug your product in a forum and instantly see what your potential customers have to say

... [read entire article]

Marketing on "Myspace" - The New Buzz

I found this great myspace marketing article by Mike Bohatch for anyone interested in utilizing myspace.com for self promotion: Marketing on "Myspace" - The New Buzz

Here are some intersting parts of the article:

Marketing! ... your marketing yourself, your product, your profile, your popularity ...almost like being in high school again. (or on a different arena)
Yes, congrats - you now have a new web presence!
Your web profile.
You have an address, a photo gallery, and a source for information. (yep, it's all still free.)

Better yet, you can't be spammed the traditional way, because you have no real email address (your email is a function of your profile). No pop-ups, no AOL bills, just a small ad banner that floats across the top, sweet huh!

OK, so moving along .... back to the "look cool" problem.
It's a pretty good guess that a majority of the users AREN'T html CSS hacks and never thought they would ever need to be.
Well, there is a solution! I won't bother adding all the links to various help sites, but what I recommend is typing in "Myspace codes" into Google to find various sites that offer free advice, free software and help to help you format your profile with all the bells and whistles.

So what are we really talking about?
Marketing - a new form of advertising yourself and your offerings to millions of users and consumers who otherwise might have never been aware.
If its socializing your only interested in then there is plenty of that as well .

Potential advantages?
The essence of Myspace has been its all-encompassing architecture. In other words, once your in its environment you can travel to and fro to other users without leaving. This has presented a unique spin on the internet experience. For one, now there are faces to emails and information about the sender. It's a step in the direction of a virtual experience. I'm sure at some point, it will go even beyond that to offer small videos of the users.... The reality of the "Jetsons" future has begun!

.... [read entire article]

Nigerian Twins Launch ‘African’ MySpace

By Bruno Gaston
Redding News Review Exclusives - International Editor

ATLANTA, July 25, 2006, 10:00 a.m. - The giant of the internet chatting, blogging, networking and file sharing phenomenon, MySpace.com holds an astounding 90 million plus members in its social playground. This huge market prompted media giant Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. to spend $580 million to buy out its parent company Intermix Media Inc. for its recently created, Fox Interactive Media in 2005.

Nielsen/NetRatings AdRelevance tracked about 197.7 billion display ad impressions in May. MySpace claimed 14.6 percent of all online ads in May and advertisers continue to aggressively fuel a marketing block which so far shows little signs of decline. Even Wal-Mart is entertaining the idea of its own version of the growing web craze.

Twenty-seven-year-old Nigerian twins, Uchechi, also called "Mr. Jeno," and Kelechi Anusiem of the Atlanta-based multimedia company, Jenofenology, decided to take the initiative and create the same kind of success for Africans with its newly created Afriqueka.com Web community forum.

“Our marketing research says that online community sites are the reality TV of the web and MySpace is the Wal-Mart of online communities, but there are always other places for people to shop." Kelechi said. "Afriqueka.com will be the first African community website of its kind online.”

... [read the entire article]

Black Online Entrepreneurs New Newsgroup

If you enjoy the BOE Blog, hopefully you will equally enjoy chatting it up with other Black Entrepreneurs in my new newsgroup: Black Online Entrepreneurs Connect. I cordially invite you to check it out.

Click to join boeconnect

Networking with other Black Entreprenurs

If you would like to network with more Black Entrepreneurs review this post on Black Netowrking. You will find information on the following topics:

-Black Entreprenur Listings
-Forums
-Blogs
-Online Resources and Guides
-Organizations
-Black Networking Events

Link: BOE Black Networking Article

Women Entrepreneurs Of America

Women Entrepreneurs Of America, Inc. ~ WEA, Inc. is a 501 © (3) nonprofit, prestigious, diversified membership-based organization whose mission is “empowering and supporting” women in business and women who want to start their own businesses.

The Founder and National President, Yolanda Lamar-Wilder, Entrepreneur Extraordinaire states, “truly this new women’s organization is much needed for the Greater Cleveland area. I am truly honored and blessed to have implemented an organization of this magnitude to assist women in the business arena. I wanted to establish a presence in the Cleveland area of a resource women’s center, to offer women of each business entity a place to bring their ideas, learn the nature of doing business and help our community by creating more opportunities for women.”

Official Website: http://www.weainc.org/

Sisters, do you have a side hustle?

If you are a sista who knows how to make some extra cash on the side, you should submit the details of your business to Essence Magazine's: Side Hustle column. You could get a free plug in one of the best Magazine publications for African American Women. And for those of you looking for a Side Hustle, pick up a copy of Essence today. You might find a way to cash in on your skills.

Submit your info today!
Review More Black Magazines

The Black Web Awards

The BlackWebAwards are the first and only organized effort to recognize African, African American and Caribbean excellence online. The BWA's celebrate Black creativity and entrepreneurialism by highlighting Internet content from the Black perspective.

Official Site: www.blackwebawards.com

*Remember to vote for Multiple Shades of You Online: six years of positive content for People of Color Online (www.msoyonline.com)

Target Market News

Target Market News provides corporate marketing news that targets minorities, including African Americans. Its a great resource for those who want to stay in the know about 'Black Consumers.'

Visit Target Market News Today:
www.targetmarketnews.com