The busiest shopping season of the year is upon us, and I plan to focus on patronizing black-owned businesses. Why? Economic empowerment is an issue that sorely needs to be addressed and acted upon in the Black community. The buying power of African-Americans is massive. A report by the global information company, Nielsen, measured the current buying power of African-American consumers at $1 trillion. This figure is expected to increase to $1.3 trillion by the year 2017. Sadly, these dollars do not stay in the black community. Imagine the impact on our communities if more effort was placed on buying black. It could mean great things for our schools, employment prospects, and the overall vitality of our community. Why are we so hesitant to buy black? This question was recently posed in one of the Facebook networking groups that I have joined. In this group, comprised of black business women, the responses were surprising. Many of the ladies claimed that they’ve had too many instances of black business owners being unprofessional. Others complained that black businesses are not reliable. I believe that undesirable business practices are few and far in between. We can’t allow bad experiences with a few business owners to serve as a roadblock to economic revitalization within the Black community. Let’s support black businesses. Buy Black. It’s not a, so called, militant stance. It’s not a slight to any other community. It’s a necessary move to improve the financial well-being of Black Americans. Why not start with the busiest shopping day of the year, Black Friday? In preparation for holiday shopping, I have compiled a few sources that can link us directly to thousands of black-owned businesses. Here are four black business directories that you should know about: www.blackpagessouth.com Black Pages USA is a printed directory established in 1991. The company’s website indicates that directories are published for the entire state of South Carolina and the Jacksonville, Fl. metropolitan area. Refer to the website for information on how to access the current directory of black-owned businesses, and for advertising rates if you are interested in purchasing advertisement for your business. www.Officialblackwallstreet.com From the website: “Official Black Wall Street is a digital platform and database created to give black-owned businesses, black entrepreneurs, and aspiring entrepreneurs a place to shine.” The site’s database includes a directory of 1,000 black-owned businesses. www.blackwomensbusinessdirectory.com This directory was created by black business women for black business women. Though Black Women’s Business Directory is based in Harrington, DE, the site houses listings of black woman-owned businesses nationwide. Here’s the purpose of the site: “we are a marketplace filled with reputable, woman owned businesses striving to meet the needs of the consumer by making this your one-stop-shopping experience". www.culsire.com Culsire.com, the self-proclaimed voice of the black community, is a blog site that publishes an annual catalog of black-owned businesses. This year’s catalog is scheduled to be published on November 13th. Visit the site to find out how to get the catalog and for advertising rates. My fellow blogger, Cicely Carr, creator of Bougie Black Blogger is making an effort to promote black-owned businesses by giving readers the opportunity to nominate their favorite black-owned businesses to be recognized as the top black owned businesses in the United States.
Nominations will be taken November 2-18, and voting will take place November 19-24 2015. Visit bougieblackblogger.com to nominate a black-owned business. Once you’ve voted, tell a friend about this campaign. Antoinette What are your thoughts on buying black? Do you believe that buying black would make a difference in the economic well-being of Black America?
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Last night, matchmaker and entrepreneur, Paul Carrick Brunson, featured Natasha Eubanks, creator of the celebrity gossip blog theYBF, on his Mentor Monday Spreecast. Natasha shared lots of valuable information about building a blogging empire and excelling in entrepreneurship in general. It was her story about how she became a blogger that resonated with me. Her story about the ‘birth’ of theYBF caused me to sit back and think about my motivation for blogging. It was interesting to find that I blog for several of the same reasons that Natasha created theYBF. Natasha Eubanks created her blog, theYBF, during a break from law school. She found that there were no gossip sites and very few media outlets overall that talked about black celebrities. To fill that void, she decided to launch a site dedicated to the lives of black celebrities. TheYBF was created at a time when blogging was more of a hobby than a business endeavor. As the popularity of TheYBF increased, businesses began to approach Natasha with offers for advertising. She sought the counsel of her law professors in negotiating contracts with these companies. Over the past ten years, theYBF has grown into a million dollar business. All of this is the result of Natasha Eubanks deciding to create what she felt was missing in media. The main reason for starting Truly Charmed is that it has given me the opportunity to focus on my greatest passions: writing and encouraging women to live their dreams. I have always wanted to use my gift to help others. I know for certain that writing is my gift. It’s what I do as easily as breathing. Here are a few other reasons why I blog:
Truly Charmed will be a year old on November 22nd and I am so proud of all of the support and encouragement that I have received over this past year. It’s heartwarming to hear how my posts have inspired others. I look forward to many more years of encouraging women to claim their Charmed Lives. I pay homage to successful bloggers, such as Natasha Eubanks, who have helped the blogging industry to grow in the manner that it has over the past decade. Here’s to our Charmed Lives! Antoinette Are you pursuing your passion? Comment and tell us about it.
Follow Truly Charmed across social media. Join me on Instagram! Instagram.com/trulycharmed1 Check out the costume ideas below! Did you see any of these during your Halloween festivities? Kids aren’t the only ones who enjoy the treats of Halloween and the opportunity to play dress-up. Adult costumes range from the classic (e.g. action heroes, cartoon characters, etc.) to costumes inspired by Hollywood celebrities. Enjoy this list of costume ideas for Halloween 2015. Who will you be? I hope that each of you had a great weekend. Don't forget to share your Halloween pictures at www.facebook.com/trulycharmedlife!
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AuthorThe creator of Truly Charmed, Antoinette Cain, delights in all things fashion, all things fostering empowerment, and all things that inspire ambition. Antoinette started this fashion and lifestyle blog to celebrate those who are living their Charmed Lives and to empower those who haven't yet realized that life may be imperfect, but in every day there is a Charmed moment. Archives
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