May 2011
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It’s Ok To Criticize Bad Black TV
It happens at least once a day. Seemingly out of nowhere I’ll hear a frustrated former TV lover go on a tirade about the sad state of programming that features predominantly African American characters. These rants always contain references to the the moving affection of The Cosby Show, the social responsibility of A Different World, or the brash hilarity of Martin.
There’s really no rebuttal to...
March 2011
10 posts
The Trouble With BET: On Chris Brown and Media...
I don’t watch Good Morning America, so last week when my Twitter timeline exploded with mentions of Chris Brown, I was entirely confused. What had this man done now? Within minutes, someone directed me to video of the most uncomfortable interview I’ve seen in years and images of a smashed window on a skyscraper and the shirtless singer on the streets of New York. Chris Brown had once...
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An Open Internet: The Last, Best Hope for... →
Great talk by Al Franken at SXSW.
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Does Media Ownership Matter? Of Course It Does
I don’t observe Kwanzaa, but I respect and appreciate its seven principles. I concede that in an age of antipathy, it is nice to see blacks in this country come together for such a celebration. Ujamaa, cooperative economics, strikes me as particularly powerful. Unfortunately, the idea that African Americans should contribute to our own economic uplift by supporting Black-owned businesses...
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Glennisha Morgan Carves Out a New Space For Women...
I first encountered The Fembassy a little over a year ago when I was trying to get more information on a new release from one of my favorite artists. Since that time, the site has grown to be the premier hub for women in hip hop.
Glennisha Morgan created The Fembassy to remedy the lack of coverage and support of female emcees. The highlights of our discussion include:
How she built her...
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10 Things I Learned From The Billion Dollar BET
I just finished reading The Billion Dollar BET. I loved it. It’s part biography of Bob Johnson and part profile of the creation of BET. The book is incredibly well-researched, and I walked away from it feeling like I understood the dynamics of the company and of Johnson himself. I’m not entirely certain if I was riveted because I’m a huge nerd for these types of behind the...
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Liz Burr Discusses New Media and Community...
With degrees from MIT and USC, New Media consultant Liz Burr parlayed her education and talents into developing a thriving online community at VerySmartBrothas.com and snagging invites to exclusive events like the Grammys. The highlights of our discussion include:
The transformation of the blogosphere
Meeting close friends and business partners though blogging
How her secondary education has...
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The Independent Publisher’s Ethical Dilemma
As a independent digital publisher, I’ll admit I dream of one day achieving a modicum of the success Arianna Huffington has seen with her flagship venture The Huffington Post. But HuffPo’s success has come at a price. Debates on whether or not Huffington built an empire on the backs of underpaid writers cropped up everywhere after the world learned about the sale of The Huffington Post to AOL...
February 2011
12 posts
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Justice Fergie Talks Building A Digital Empire
Stacey aka Justice Fergie is a renaissance woman of the digital age. She’s an attorney, a mother, and an internet entrepreneur. She, along with two partners, run MamaLaw Media Group which puts on Blogalicious Weekend every year to connect women of color in social media. The highlights of our discussion include:
Why and how she created a successful community for women of color online
The...
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Lakesha Brown Shares The Keys To Building a...
I recently came across Lakesha Brown’s blog while doing some research on social media marketing. She offers straight forward guidance to blog building, and I was fortunate enough to get her to share her expertise with me. Highlights of our discussion include:
The biggest myths about building a blog
How to get a blog started
The best tools blogging tools
How personal should you get when...
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In The Incubator...
Although I’ve come to accept multitasking is impossible, I can’t stop myself from trying to do it all. Here are the titles of the 2 pieces I’m currently working on.
What Permission Marketing Means For Black Women - hint: It’s good
Why I Don’t Give A Damn About Michael Arrington or Jason Calcanis - hint: they’re both myopic blowhards
One of these is taking...
Klout for Chrome Adds Influence Scores to Twitter... →
While measuring influence has been a controversial topic in social media and the social web, it’s still something worth looking into when it comes to making online connections. It can also help you figure out who you might want to collab with in getting the word out about your cause or business.
What would be more useful is for some service to create Twitter lists based on Klout score. For now,...
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Success From Scratch: The Top 50 Blogs for Small... →
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Don't Try To Game The (SEO) System, You'll Always...
Today the NY Times exposed J.C. Penney’s attempts to improve their search engine rankings with nefarious backlinking tactics.
The department store placed thousands of direct links to their store with popular search terms on sites that have nothing to do with shopping or clothing.
Some of the 2,015 pages are on sites related, at least nominally, to clothing. But most are not. The phrase...
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LEAKED: AOL's Master Plan →
AOL’s content strategy seems completely unsustainable. In fact, I hesitate to call it a strategy because all Tim Armstrong, the new CEO, seems to be doing is flooding the market in a desperate hunt for clicks.
The “AOL Way” does, however, bring up interesting questions about the current business of blogging. Large and corporate run blogs currently rely exclusively on CPM and PPC...
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How To Develop a Social Media Strategy: A Roadmap... →
Great starting point for social media for business.
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Stop Crunching The Numbers
Once you get serious about your blog, you’re going to get hit with a ton of numbers: RSS subscribers, Twitter followers, Facebook likes, and blog visitors to name a few. It will be easy to get lost in keeping track of all your stats. Don’t do it.
Chase Fans Not Numbers
The web is a world of measurable results but that can be a drawback to productivity and growth. I was a certified...
January 2011
3 posts
$1.68 Billion...
That’s the amount of ad money spent in the United States on social networking sites in 2010 (eMarketer, July 2010). Are you effectively reaching potential customers and readers?
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Which Blogging Platform is Right For You?
So you’ve decided to start a blog. Great! But as I’m sure you’ve probably discovered getting your blog off the ground is no easy task. One of the first and most important decisions you’ll make about your blog is picking a blogging platform. Here I’ll review the pros and cons of each of the major blog platforms to help you make a more informed decision.
Blogger
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7 Key Findings On The Use of Social Media And... →
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Do You Have A Positioning Statement?
I’m not really into interior design, but Design Sponge has an incredible business section called Biz Ladies that I’m currently obsessed with. They’ve got dozens of articles on virtually every facet of business ownership.
One of these posts inspired me to write out a “positioning statement” for my consulting company. I’ll undoubtedly do it for For Harriet too....
December 2010
3 posts
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3 Simple Ways To Know If You're Creating...
If you’re serious about blogging, you’re going to have to put in work. A blog is a commitment.
Consistently creating and promoting content takes time, and I know how frustrating it is to spend hours drafting and editing blog copy only to receive absolutely no feedback. It feels like a waste of time.
So here are few simple ways to tell if your content is gaining traction.
Comments -...
Review, Revamp, Rejoice! →
On a whim, I decided to do this exercise as a way to provide some focus and clarity on my professional goals for the coming year. I highly recommend it!
November 2010
6 posts
It’s More Than Just A Blog, It's Your Brand
I’ve seen it time and time again. Bloggers spending so much time focusing on creating compelling conent that they neglect to think through how to get people to read it. Aggressive branding is essential to creating a popular blog.
It is possible to build a killer brand by accident, but it probably won’t happen for you. Building a reputation requires at least a little work and effort...
Who Are You Talking To? Picking Your Perfect Fan
I’ve started a number of blogs over the years, and most of them have failed. Sure, they might make me a few coins every month, but they’re nowhere near as successful as I dreamed they’d be.
No emo. Each failure taught me something new about the world of blogging, online marketing, and branding. The most important lesson so far: create your brand for one person.
Sounds crazy,...
Who Are Your Blogger Buddies?
You cannot expect to get much online traction with your product or service without any help. On the web, just like in real life, relationships matter. So one of the first things you should do as you look to spread the world about what your blog or brand is befriend 4 or 5 bloggers who cater to your target audience. Once they get to know you and your brand, they’ll be more tempted to pass it along...
Blogger survey shows Facebook and Twitter are key... →
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The 4 “Bes” To Building A Massively Popular Blog
These are just a few things I’ve learned during the 3 or 4 years I’ve spent building blogs. My site is nowhere near “massively popular,” but it’s much more successful than I thought it would be at less than 6 months in. Be Consistent - As the internet becomes increasingly crowded, people are just looking for reasons to x you off the list of blogs they visit regularly. Posting content on a...
October 2010
5 posts
An Inspiring Email
Title: Mel Gibson
Who are any of you phony asses kidding to whine about male patriarchy when the ONLY people you ever pick on are black men?!! You happened to mention Chris and Rhianna not what he did wasn’t right or acceptable but there are white male celebrities equally guilty of being wife-beaters and you all NEVER vilify them! That goes for rapist pedophiles crackheads and deabeat dads...
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How To Create Headlines That Will Get Retweeted
One of the best compliments I’ve received about For Harriet came in the form of a tweet from a reader: “Sounds interesting…I’m going to check it out! You make the best headlines….they always seem so interesting….”
Developing blog post titles for social media sites like Twitter has been paramount to the site’s rapid growth. Creating can’t miss...
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Don’t Be The Desperate Girl At Your Social Media...
As you’re developing your social media strategy, remember one thing: Begging doesn’t work.
I’ve experimented with tons of ways to get people to do what I want on the web: whether it’s visiting a blog post, joining a Facebook page, or following on Twitter. There are many ways to get your desired result, but begging is NOT one of them.
Begging makes you look like the girl at the party who came...
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How I Used Twitter to Double My Facebook Fans
I’m a huge believer in the power of social media. When it comes to promoting new blogs and websites, active and engaging Twitter and Facebook accounts are paramount. People who work 9 to 5s are generally bored, and they’re looking for ways to pass the time. That’s gold for any website.
The past few weeks, I’ve focused on building up ForHarriet.com’s social media presence starting with Twitter....