Did you watch the video above? Click here if you can’t see it. It is of a mini-interview I was able to do with Nyasha Smith and Stacey Ferguson, two of the amazing women who created Blogalicious! These sistas were VERY busy at the event, so it was really cool to get a few minutes to chat with them. When I think about who they are and what they have been able to accomplish with Blogalicious in just two years, I am SO impressed! Think about it, they saw a need for a conference that focused on the Women Bloggers of Color and they filled it. They are educating us, giving a us a space to connect, and also creating a conversation with brands to show that both brands and marketers can AND should work with us. We are here, we are powerful and we deserve to be heard.
As a Woman Entrepreneur of Color I don’t need to be sold on the value of Blogalicious because I just get why we need this. Did you read my last lesson learned about the buying power of women of color? Even with all this power we still don’t get the recognition and focus that we deserve. Case in point, I’ve got thousands of women in my social networks, thousands of twitter friends, facebook fans, and youtube video views but I am practically invisible to alot of brands trying to reach the very niche I love. I’ve had countless conversations with other black bloggers and business women of color about how our traffic, content, and influence are all their but we get no love (lol) – not enough sponsors, advertisers, event requests, speaking engagements, business partnerships, radio and television interviews, (the list goes one). I can’t tell you how many other bloggers I’ve seen with social circles WAY smaller than mine but they get all the review requests, PR plugs, magazine interviews, and let’s be real here the marketing MONEY our digital spaces also need to thrive and grow.
Lord knows when I get one good plug I work it for all its worth, because those opportunities are honestly few and far between. Not trying to go on a rant here, but one lesson I relearned at Blogalicious is that black women, women of color, we still got ALOT of work to do. The Blogalicious creators saw and filled this very BIG NEED for us, what need can you or are you filling? I for one am pushing forward, working hard to maintain my brand/business so that when mainstream looks my way I’m ready. But if they never do, I CAN STILL say I’m making a dent, a difference and a means for me to continue to be a successful work at home mom by my own right.
To me this is the best time to be a Woman Entrepreneur of Color because with so many things to be done, we have the power to be pioneers. We can say we were at the beginning of this, when blogging, being black, building a black owned business, being a women entrepreneur transformed with the evolution of social media. I for one feel blessed to have been apart of the black blogging / online business circle thus far and for SO LONG. I can’t wait to see what is to come in the future.
… Sigh… Who would have thought I would be a pioneer as far as African American Online websites are concerned? Clearly not something I thought about a decade ago, but definitely a growing reality for me today.
For all 30 Blogalicious lessons learned, read my series of Blogalicious 2010 Adventures.
You already know how I feel about this. All we can do is keep going and doing for our selves and communities. If the brands come great but if they don’t like you said we still have reasons to be proud. But I think going forward you’ll be hearing from lots of people. Yah!