All Articles Tagged "african-american bloggers"
Tech Talk: 9 Business Blogs By and For African Americans
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Everyone is looking for great advice when it comes to careers and personal finance. Always. In the African-American community, there are several super-smart bloggers who have figured some things out and are willing to share the wealth, figuratively.
Looking for a new job? Want to branch out and start your own? Having trouble saving money or getting into investing? Check out these nine blogs and hopefully you can learn about something new.
A Family Affair: Financial Blogging Twins Talk Business Success
http://thedish.restaurant.com
If you’re having a bit of difficulty with your savings plan, maybe you can benefit from a meeting with financial twin divas Tai and Tarin Perry. The two offer a powerful combination of tips and advice for saving that is bound to improve your bank account. Black Enterprise reports that the Chicago natives were born into a family of seven, and their mother’s thrifty spending early on to make a way for her large family helped them to realize the value and importance of saving. They have turned their financial savvy into the popular blog DoubleSavingDivas.com. The site receives over 44,000 unique viewers a month and has been featured on shows hosted by Rachel Ray and Nate Berkus, as well as “Extreme Couponing” on TLC.
The Perry twins first decided to run their blog after realizing that there were limited voices online to economically encourage and uplift African Americans.
“Before anyone else can help us we need to first learn how to help ourselves,” the twins said to Black Enterprise. “In helping ourselves the key is to have a new vision of what our money is and what it is to be used for. Once we realize this understanding we will no longer have to wait for someone to open up a door for us.”
They believe their site offers a unique take on financial knowledge. Not only is it from the point of view of two African American twins, it provides knowledge on coupons and store deals and explains how to use them in every day life.
“We tell about our successes as well as our failures in hopes that people would be benefited by both,” they disclose. “Our strategies have been tried and have been proven to be successful over time. Our techniques are very doable and we strive to take complex concepts and make sure that anybody can put them to use.”
In the future, the twins plan on producing an Internet based show entitled, “Let’s Save Money.” They also release that there may be a reality show and possibly a book later down the road. With all of their business success, their only regret is that they didn’t start sooner.
“Once you have a vision don’t hesitate to take the necessary steps in making your vision into reality sooner rather than later,” they advise. “While working a 9-to-5 career, we had to take the necessary steps to incorporate our blogging into our already busy schedules. We couldn’t allow being a wife, mother, and career woman stop us from pursuing our passion in building our brand.”
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- Entrepreneur Spotlight: A Sister-Run Business Brings High-End Tea Stateside
Black People You’re Free to Move About the Globe
(Black Enterprise) — Taking a vacation can be more stressful than restful. From the cost to the tedious details of planning to finding your way through foreign cities—traveling can be intimidating—especially for the novice adventurer. Despite the hassle, getting “out there” is an invaluable asset to both your personal and professional life, raising your awareness about cultures outside of your own and giving you the opportunity to become more worldly. That’s why a growing number of black travel bloggers are stressing the importance of travel, especially for African Americans.
Design Diva Jeanine Hays
(Philadelphia Inquirer) — Jeanine Hays and her husband, Bryan Mason, are plotting the transformation of the deck off their Old City apartment for a photo shoot for Matchbook magazine. Devotees of, say, the now defunct Metropolitan Home (may it rest in peace) may not have heard of the Web-only shelter magazine, but Hays, founder of blog and virtual shop AphroChic, makes it her business to be in the forefront of the online design world. Online is where she began her journey from attorney to designer. Hays was working full time as a policy associate for the San Francisco-based Family Violence Prevention Fund when she started AphroChic in 2007 to connect with like-minded design-magazine junkies. Her mission crystallized when she noticed the dearth of African American women blogging about modern design. “I wanted to provide that perspective,” she says.
Sneaker Aficionado Turns Entrepreneur
(TheLoop21) — From Run DMC rapping about “My Adidas” to Nelly waxing poetic about “Air Force Ones,” sneakers have been a fabric in pop culture for years. Now, thanks to e-commerce and rapid fans, sneaker culture is becoming its own beast. One of the leading voices of it is G-Roc of TheShoeGame.com. For the last four years G-Roc has kept the world abreast on the latest sneaker news ranging from release dates and store openings. He’s sat down with everyone from Fat Joe to DJ Khaled to talk about footwear the same way you probably do with your friends at home. His connections throughout the sneaker and entertainment industry also allow him to give you fresh content and perspectives on footwear, unlike other sneaker sites that simply post pictures.
Why Are Blacks Missing out on Hyperlocal Ad Dollars?
(Rolling Out) — Bloggers, by conventional wisdom, should be rolling in the dough by now. After all, all signs point to victory for them. We know that the print industry is losing advertising revenue to the digital space, that is, online and mobile technology ventures. We know that the current trend in advertising is hyperlocal marketing, where big name advertisers can make a direct impact on a very specific population, right down to the zip code. And we know that big brands want to reach the African American and multicultural markets, to better reflect a more diverse society. So, why aren’t the hyperlocal black bloggers seeing more of those advertising dollars? Even in the Promised Land of new media, there’s still an old-school disconnect between the mighty advertising dollar and the active black media outlet.
Atlanta’s Darian Aaron Goes from Blog to Book
(Project Q) — When Atlanta blogger Darian Aaron decided a year ago to take a respite from his popular blog,Living Out Loud, he wanted to focus his writing on a decidedly different format: a coffee table book. The book explores black LGBT issues by profiling 18 same-sex couples of color. With “When Love Takes Over: A Celebration of SGL Couples of Color” now out, Aaron is back to crafting new content for Living Out Loud. But he won’t promise his audience daily updates – there is a fulltime job and partner to attend to, after all. We recently caught up with Aaron, just a day after putting his hands on “When Love Takes Over” for the first time, and chatted about the blog, the book and what his day-to-day life is like now.
Fashion Blog Prepares for Global Glam
(Mableton.11alive.com) – Tell me about your organization. (where, when, what, why, how): POSHGLAM started out as a side project and has since evolved into a global online fashion outlet. Its way more than a blog, it’s an enterprise that continues to expand daily. I have a couple of columns that we promote outside of the international column. We haven’t fully launched them globally yet, but we are gaining some tremendous traction. POSHGLAM.co.uk filters to the London Column, POSHGLAM.fr filters to Paris and surrounding cities, POSHGLAM.it is our Milan column. I recently purchased POSHGLAM.co.za after been inspired by Nelson Mandela’s initiative to help South Africa’s troubled textile clothing industry.
11 Sharp Black Commentators You Should Be Following
Traditionally, when the media wanted African-American commentary on the news topic of the day, there were the predictable go-to-guys: Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson or Reverend [insert name here], to name a few. However, in the midst of a digital revolution and in the age of Obama, a new generation of African-American scholars has emerged. While they are all educated, opinionated and engaged, interchangeable they are not.
It is their experiences combined with their individuality that shape their resounding and distinctive voices. Nowadays, in order to have a fresh and modern analysis of political and cultural affairs, the media and the public welcomes these faces. Beyond the national press, these individuals have adopted the social web [Twitter, Facebook] and personal websites as vehicles to communicate their insights and advocate on behalf of the issues dearest to them. Through writings, activism, interviews and commentary, they have proved to be some of the most interesting African-American voices heard above the crowd. And, obviously, there are many riveting pundits out there but we had to narrow down our list to a mere 11. Feel free to cast your votes for other commentators we didn’t mention in our comments section or on Twitter with the hashtag #blackpundits.
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Twitter Handle: @Tanehisi
Web: TheAtlantic.com
Excerpt: On black support of Proposition 8 (gay marriage)…. “There is a deeper dislogic haunting this country on race. It can’t be beaten with facts, stats and arguments. The notion that black people are a problem is superreligious. It is bone-deep.”
About: Ta-Nehisi Coates’ is the senior editor of TheAtlantic.com, where he blogs about culture, politics and society. The Baltimore native is at his best when he ties events of the past to a “contemporary” analyses i.e his reflections on the Civil War illuminate an interesting connection to modern day trials.
Book: “The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood”.
Blogging Into a Career
by Demetria Irwin
The dream is to do what you love and figure out how to make money doing it. For bloggers, that idea seems more distant than most. Making millions from a blog is something only Perez Hilton and a handful of others have figured out. Most bloggers earn nothing beyond the occasional smartly worded comment or a spot on a coveted blog roll. In between those two realities, there exists a space for bloggers to build their brand and create careers.
The Atlanta Post caught up with four New York-based bloggers who are doing just that. Their specialty is technological alchemy—turning online clicks and comments into real life opportunities. These bloggers are not uninterested in making blog money via the usual channels of banners and pay-per-click ads, but they are more interested in using their blogs as dynamic, evolving, shape-shifting resumes.
Name: Jamilah Lemieux aka Sister Toldja
Blog: A Beautiful Struggler
Plans for the Future: “Full time freelancer would be good. I want to be a media personality. I want to be the person people turn to for comments when something is going on in black relationships. I have a few book ideas for non-fiction and fiction too.”
In a way, Jamilah Lemieux has a typical blogger story. She started blogging in 2005 (The Beautiful Struggler was born in 2006) as a way to release her uncensored thoughts on everything from relationships to pop culture. She has kept a regular 9 to 5 job the whole time. “Boughetto” is a word she uses to describe herself in the About Me section of her blog, which gives you a hint of the sarcasm and wit that pervades her writing style.
At least two of her blog posts have appeared in popular national media. An essay of hers about Reggie Bush and interracial dating graced the pages of Essence magazine and her open letter to Tyler Perry was featured on NPR’s All Things Considered.
She has been a panelist for discussions on race, culture and relationships at various universities and is a contributor to an upcoming anthology about African-American women and fatherhood. Lemieux recently joined the Fresh Xpress, which she describes as a young, black Huffington Post. “I joined Twitter to promote my blog and it helped me further brand myself as a social media personality,” she said “I’ve started making some connections. I’ve been very grateful for social media. I’m really humbled that some people want to read my opinions.”
She admits that she would rather concentrate on the quality of her work than delve into the ins and outs of ad revenue and other business related details. “The same person who redesigned my site set up my ad space,” she said. “I don’t make a whole lot of money off of that yet, but I’m looking to grow. I have done a couple giveaways, but I’m picky about that. I have a lot of black women in my readership, so the giveaways have to be things we can actually use.”
The number of unique views is one thing advertisers look at to determine whether or not to do business with a blogger. Lemieux was not willing to part with her exact viewership statistics, but her Twitter following is almost 4,500 strong and her blog posts typically garner dozens of comments each, not including those made on the various social networking sites.
Beyond trying to entice outside advertisers, Lemieux also uses her blog to advertise her own business. A long-time baking enthusiast, Lemieux turned her passion into dollars by starting the home-based Sweethoney Desserts. She offers a wide range of treats, some with fun names like Winter Boo Bread Pudding. Orders are taken via the blog and Lemieux has been pleasantly surprised at the response she has received. Orders have been placed from as far away as Texas. “It’s amazing to me that people who don’t know me personally are willing to pay me to do something I love.” That goes for baking and writing.
NEXT: Jozen Cummings
