Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Pathways To A New Black Economy: The New Way (2)

The Black Town Square

The proposed Black Town Square will stand out as the largest Town Square in the world, having pathways and roadways that lead to a variety of shops, buildings, institutions, and highways that extend out beyond the Square into the black community, and back again. It's not possible in this limited space to describe every shop, building, or institution that's likely to find a location within the Town Square, or to explore every destination that the roads in and out of the Square will take you.

For now, I will describe a few of the places that will make the Square their home, and leave it to your imagination to divine the scope and magnitude of what is possible, once the Square has been constructed, and visitors pour through its gates seeking out treasures, information, and kindred souls with which to bond and collaborate for the purpose of enhancing the lives of those blacks seemingly trapped within the various black populations centers throughout this nation.

Because the Town Square is virtual, rather constructed of actual bricks and mortar, its size and dimensions are practically limitless, and its uses constrained only by our imaginations.

I chose Disney's Town Square, U.S.A., and the above picture in particular, to represent the visual of my imaginary and virtual square, mostly for its warmth (albeit below a cheerless sky), its friendly and welcoming ambiance--and mainly because it has the Town Square feel that I wish to project, and it shrouds in ambiguity the ethnicity of those entering the Square.
Shops--the Retail Component
Near the entrance of the Square, you'll find shops and stores featuring ethnocentric, and Afro-centric clothing, many of which have been designed by blacks for blacks. Next door to these shops are toy stores with the black customer in mind--boasting a variety of black dolls, games with a black emphasis, and a variety of other toys with definite black themes--all designed by blacks, and manufactured in the black community by blacks, for blacks.

Across the square, several jewelry stores are opened, and through their windows may be seen jewelry of gold, silver, precious and non-precious stones of every conceivable price--designed by blacks for blacks, with an eye toward creating designs with a unique black appeal, and fashioned in the black community.

Farther down the square, and off the main street--because the aroma of freshly baked goods have an attraction all their own--are located bakeries with every conceivable variety of baked goods under the sun: pies, cakes, cookies, and every child's delight: cupcakes.

Competing with the bakeries for attention are several candy stores, a confectionary lovers dream--rich chocolates, caramels, nougats, and chocolate covered nuts.

An Art Gallery is set up in an open-air area near the bookstore. Sculpture, paintings, drawings, prints are everywhere. Some are framed, while others may be framed or used just as they are. Photographs featuring blacks in a variety of situations and poses may also be purchased and used to illustrate web pages, blogs, books, magazines, posters, etc--to be used online or off.

Next to the Art Gallery, a Gifts and Greeting Cards store draws in customers looking for that ideal gift or perfect card for the observance of, or celebration of, a variety of occasions, events, or situations--to say thank you, or to say I'm sorry, or just to congratulate.

The Town Square will be designed around the visuals of an actual town square (although an imaginary one), so that it will have the feel and atmosphere of one. The retail component of the Square will be the core of it, although the Square will be designed for a much larger purpose (A purpose I'll make clear in subsequent articles). Approved black businesses will sell their products on consignment. Although these products will be featured on the site for sale, and sold using the site's basket technology, the orders may be filled at any location within the United States.

For our service (advertising, using our point of sell capability--a basket feature), and the placing of the order, we will exact a fee. This activity will constitute our main source of income for the Square, although not the only source.

Here's my aim: to provide an outlet for black products and services. In order to do that, we need a serious web site with a huge database capacity, and filtering capability--where all the elements are working together to promote the site: it's products and other offerings.

We have many blacks who are making things. And many of them are located within black communities. With a Black Town Square, they now have a single place from which to offer their goods, thereby expanding their customer base, and building a demand for their products--the result of a broader market. As demand grows, it will lead to an expansion of business, and a hiring of new people to meet that demand, contributing to the community's economy, as people have more money to spend with those businesses residing within their local communities.

Because these products are now featured on the Internet, blacks around the world, those from countries with Internet access, will have access to these black products, creating possibly a foreign market for goods made principally in our black communities by black workers.

Because the Square will give businesses new customers--not just within their own sphere of influence, but over a vast area--they can now invest more in the black community, spurring job growth, and adding to the local black economy. These black businesses now have market penetration in areas that have been, up to now, closed to them because of distance.

Why a Black Town Square?

On the Internet, as well as off the Internet, location is everything. No matter how wonderful a site may be, if you can't direct Internet traffic to your location, then all is lost. That would be equally true if you had a store in your neighborhood but it was off the beaten path--that is, the main thoroughfare. This is why shopping centers, malls, and what have you, put so much energy into attracting anchor stores, stores already with an identity, and plenty of money to advertise their sales, their product lines, and their location. As a result, anchor stores can risk being a little out of the way, because people will go out of their way to find them.

For example: Applebees generally locate it restaurants near a Wal-mart. Not only does Applebees pretty much serve the same targeted customer as Wal-mart, it allows Wal-mart to do most of its marketing research for it. Therefore, when you find a Wal-mart in your neighborhood you can almost always find Applebees.

Clever, don't you think?

Further, having an anchor store in an area also mean that those smaller, less recognizable stores that surround it will stand a greater chance of being noticed. And it's also the reason why to lease space in those areas will cost more than a side street that gets very little traffic.

Our virtual Town Square will serve the same purpose as these anchor stores, but on the Web. We will advertise. We will use every device at our disposal to bring attention to our Black Town Square--and, whenever possible, to capture such attention without having to pay for it. Because of the novelty of the Square, that in itself will make it newsworthy, attracting to the site those we have targeted--blacks from various locations around the nation, regardless of state, or city within which they dwell.

We will, however, advertise where blacks are likely to encounter an advertisement for our Town Square. That will be one way to attract new visitors, but another will be word-of-mouth, if we can make the Square The Place to visit, for old and young alike.

Any black person with a computer and access to the Internet will be able to find his or her way to the Square and partake of the various things within the Square, some of which will be free--while some will bear a price tag.

Once there, it's only natural for browsers and window shoppers to investigate other areas of the Town Square. Curiosity is a powerful motivator. Ads strategically placed throughout the site will direct attention, and fuel our visitor's curiosity to know more about other Town Square features, and offerings.

What we'll create, then, is a multipurpose site (a Mega-Site), one that offers as many things as is possible--even things for amusement--that, once there, visitors will be tempted to stroll through the various areas of the Town Square in search of value, information, and ways to stay informed about matters that impact blacks generally and specifically.

The Town Square, then, becomes a Hub, an Economic Center, a Clearinghouse, a Central Source, a One-Stop Shopping Experience, and a Black Meeting Place, to name a few. The concept of a Hub is not unique: My research turned up several such ideas. What's unique to the proposed Town Square is its size, and its ability to provide a point of sell for many products, without having to redirect potential customers to another site. Some of the sites featured here--as examples of the concept--also have point of sell capabilities, or a basket approach to making purchases. Yet, they have no mechanism for customer feedback--a way of assessing the level of service from a business, or the satisfaction with a product purchased--an important feature of The Black Town Square. Later, I will provide links to a few of these sites so that you can make your own independent assessments.

A positive trend: Online sells are up 7.2% over last year. Not all blacks will be able to take advantage of this trend, but enough will, which will be the difference maker for those blacks eager to expand their market, and grow their business.

"Over the last year, the broadband-adoption gap between blacks and whites has been cut nearly in half," according to a new survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Broadband is generally defined as high-speed Internet access.

"'Broadband adoption by African Americans now stands at 56%, up from 46% at a similar point in 2009," the study said. "That works out to a 22% year-over-year growth rate, well above the national average and by far the highest growth rate of any major demographic group.'

"The increase has implications for media targeting African Americans, black-owned and otherwise." [1]

It also has "implications" for businesses targeting blacks.

Here's my vision: And I will continue to bring this vision to life in subsequent articles. It is my hope that the Town Square concept will spur new entrepreneurial activity within the black community, leading to more employment of blacks, and a revolution in the economic revitalization of the inner cities, and black communities generally, as it provides broader markets for those who choose to participate in this endeavor--markets that were unavailable to them because of the impediment of distance.

We will sell ad space. We will redirect traffic to other sites. And we will charge for this service. We can take every successful idea on the Internet and repurpose it with a black slant.

We will actively seek out those blacks with a business or a service, and offer them the Town Square advantage--to either have a redirect from the Square, to sell products from within the Square, or to use the Square to promote their business or service.

Therefore, those who wish to Buy Black (also known as the Ebony Experiment) [2] will be able to locate black businesses, black professionals, and others with whom they may do business. If this database is available online, it can be manipulated to generate a variety of information--information that can be used to direct customers to physical or Internet sites. The Ebony Experiment, which may have started this whole Buy Black phenomenon, seems to have morphed into the Empowerment Experiment (EE). The site features some excellent black directories for locating black businesses and professionals--a source that may be useful in our endeavor. Unfortunately, many of the links that I tried are inactive. Hat tip to Ernesto for reminding me of the Buy Black movement.

On this site, I found iZania Market. It has a concept similar to the one I'm proposing, but not many businesses participating.

The Black Business Network, also on this site, comes closest to the concept I have in mind, although participants are few. Where possible, I will reach out and support those businesses featured on the Network. I tried to join the Network, but to join required that I give out information that I preferred to keep secret. The sign-up form assumes that I'm a company with a mailing address. Because sign-up is at least a two-stage process (I couldn't get passed the second stage.), it was hard to tell exactly how to become a member of the "online community" without being a business or, at the very least, fudging.

For our part: We will actively search out black businesses and services that may benefit from having a central location for what they offer--a location that actively promotes itself, and its content.

Further, we will provide for customer review of products and services (a feature that seems missing on many of the sites). This will reduce and discourage fraud, and will be one of the conditions for selling, advertising, or being redirected from within the Square. For example, if there's a black home improvement contractor operating unsatisfactorily, that contractor's shoddy practices will become a part of his or her record. Rating information will be available readily to those who seek it--partly to determine with whom to do business (those with a better rating or review), and partly to expose those who have questionable business practices.

I fully expect the Square to have customers beyond its targeted group, but only those who can be said to have a black business, or is a black professional, or a service provider, will be allowed to have an address or a location within the Square, or be allowed to promote their business, or service.

Ads and other information will be interspersed throughout the Square, regardless of the area in which visitors may find themselves.

[2] The Ebony Experiment domain name expired on 8/15/2010 pending renewal or deletion.

21 comments:

Greg L said...

BD,

I think this is an excellent, well thought out idea that has a lot of potential! I think black folks have a great interest in patronizing black businesses, but don't know where to find them. I particularly like the feature where feedback is given. This is sort of like Angie's List for contractors and can be used to create some accountability along with giving feedback to the business owner at the same time.

Once this marketplace is created and gets going, I don't think there'd be any shortage of people signing up. There are many permutations and variations that could be added to this as well.

Black Diaspora said...

@Greg

Thanks. The whole project is loaded with assumptions that need to be examined and challenged.

Greg L said...

BD

Circling back here with more comments. Again, I really think this is a great idea, well researched and easily implemented. But here’s what I find intriguing:

“Further, having an anchor store in an area also mean that those smaller, less recognizable stores that surround it will stand a greater chance of being noticed. And it's also the reason why to lease space in those areas will cost more than a side street that gets very little traffic.”

What if the anchor wasn’t a store, but a blog or topic that drove traffic such that the eyeballs would hit the ads for the businesses?


Let me share and get your feedback on something I’ve been thinking doing on my own blog for the past few months. It was one the reasons I changed platforms.

When I started my blog, it was out of frustration at some things that had occurred in my local area and the idea that black folks had few voices that spoke to issues. A second thing related to business. What I really wanted to do was talk about business, politics and economics as I do now, but put an emphasis on black business. What I've been thinking about is adding a verbal sort of presentation via blog-talk radio and I was thinking of having some business people I know come on and talk. For example, I've done a number of things involving seminars where a panel of experts are assembled to talk about an issue like "how to start a business" or "how to manage employees." This could easily go into “home decorating tips” or “basic car maintenance.” These latter topics would probably not lend themselves to a panel so much as the business owner just coming on to talk about the particulars and plug their business at the same time. The idea is that the experts get a chance to show their expertise and market themselves while giving out useful information. This allows people to "touch and feel" the person who they might hire to do something for them. Another variation of this is putting together a youtube video doing the same thing except you get a visual. Also, the videos and blog talk radio sessions have a shelf life, so folks can view/listen at their convenience.

The blog talk or video stuff doesn’t have to be just on business either. It could cover any topic of interest that might draw traffic.

The reason I mention this is that it might work well with this town hall concept. Not only does the person get advertising, but an entire community is created like we do here with the blogs. That community is coming to the site not just locate businesses, but for information, education and etc. just as they would come to any blog. Almost like a radio or TV show, except it’s on the web.

Black Diaspora said...

@Greg L: "That community is coming to the site not just locate businesses, but for information, education and etc. just as they would come to any blog. Almost like a radio or TV show, except it’s on the web."

Great idea. I especially like the tutorial, TV show approach that offers knowledge and information.

Anything that gets people through the door and is legal is my motto. Having a variety of attractions will assure that: What attracts one may not attract another.

Black Diaspora said...

@Greg L: "The reason I mention this is that it might work well with this town hall concept. Not only does the person get advertising, but an entire community is created like we do here with the blogs."

I like.

And, too, I'd like to engage black bloggers, and solicit their support.

I believe in reciprocity: We support the black blogosphere, and the black blogosphere supports us. How?

We create a symbol and motto for them, and we give them one of ours: A couple of examples.

For them: Talk Black: Support Black Bloggers.

For us: Black On Track: Support Black Businesses and Professionals.

In both cases, black support is only a click away.

Blinders Off said...

BD,

I post a comment here and now I do not see it. The cyberspace grimlin must have taken it. lol

I will be back to repost it. It was kind of long and I did not save it to Word. I will be back to repost it.

Black Diaspora said...

Blinders Off said...
"BD,

I post a comment here and now I do not see it. The cyberspace grimlin must have taken it. lol"

Sorry about the "grimlin." He strikes when you least expect it.

I'm wise to him now and copy everything before I hit the "Publish Your Comment" button.

I hope you will repost: Your comments are valued.

Blinders Off said...

BD,

I am feeling better now and as I said to you in a brief email, "I think your idea is great and it could work".

Your concept is like a business concept this man in my town is doing. In June, he renovated an old Walmart store and offered small business owners a place to sell their goods.

When I first heard of this store opening and what it was offering, I thought it was going to be just a big inside flea market type of place. I was very wrong, small business owners have the opportunity to rent various square feet of space and decorated it. Because there is only one area to check out, the small business owners do not have to be there. The store mails them a check after keeping 6% from the inventory the owners sold.

I suggested to my daughters and their friend to rent a space there to sell their hair accessories. It started as a hobby for them. The girls realized they should start a business once people were buying them right off their heads. I actually saw a woman do that when we were at a play one day. Because of their careers, they do not have the time right now; however, they are working on a business plan because they are serious about starting a business.

The reason I mention this is that it might work well with this town hall concept. Not only does the person get advertising, but an entire community is created like we do here with the blogs. That community is coming to the site not just locate businesses, but for information, education and etc. just as they would come to any blog. Almost like a radio or TV show, except it’s on the web.

Greg, I was thinking on the same line and I am glad you mentioned it. When I first start blogging, I did not just begin blogging about living with MS, I also had a blog called "Did-U-Know". The concept of that blog was my way in passing on educational, political, and consumer information. I am a firm believer that knowledge is power and that is what hold many blacks back, the do not have the knowledge on how to handle certain situations.

One of my favorite blog pieces at Did-U-Know was about "Slum Lords". It bothered me how apartment complexes and property owners take advantage of people. No one should have to pay to live in an apartment or house that needs major repairs. Ghettos are created by slumlords because they know the people they rent to cannot afford to live anywhere else and they know that they do not have the wherewithal to file complaints against them with the Code Enforcement Division in their city. I have some situations I can tell you about where I have helped some people get out of their lease without retribution and some who became empowered taking their major repair situation to Code forcing the owners hand.

The internet and pod cast has opened the door for us to work on the Black Town Square. It does not take an army to achieve it. It can be achieved with serious like-minded people working towards that goal.

Black Diaspora said...

Blinders Off, I found your post, and reposted it for you.

I'll be back with comments of my own in a little bit.

Greg L said...

BD,

What browser are you using when you access my blog?

Black Diaspora said...

@Greg L.

I use several: Mozilla Firefox, Aol 9.5, Safari, Internet Explorer.

The last one, I.E., usually gives miserable results.

Right now, I'm using Safari. It's the most stable of the four.

Black Diaspora said...

@Blinders Off: "Because there is only one area to check out, the small business owners do not have to be there. The store mails them a check after keeping 6% from the inventory the owners sold."

What a novel way to give a defunct business new life.

There're several such buildings in my area (well located) that could be put to a similar use.

"Not only does the person get advertising, but an entire community is created like we do here with the blogs."

Great analogy. And it fits the Town Square feel I wish to project.

"The internet and pod cast has opened the door for us to work on the Black Town Square. It does not take an army to achieve it. It can be achieved with serious like-minded people working towards that goal."

The "army" will only be required if it takes off. You're right: The idea is achievable.

Greg L said...

"The "army" will only be required if it takes off. You're right: The idea is achievable"

More like a platoon BD. Technology definitely reduces labor and puts within our orbit things that could not previously be done! We can all be talk show hosts, newspaper editors and etc. It's one of the reasons that they're now talking about charging for the internet. It's lowered the barriers to entry considerably.

Greg L said...

"Greg, I was thinking on the same line and I am glad you mentioned it. When I first start blogging, I did not just begin blogging about living with MS, I also had a blog called "Did-U-Know". The concept of that blog was my way in passing on educational, political, and consumer information. I am a firm believer that knowledge is power and that is what hold many blacks back, the do not have the knowledge on how to handle certain situations.

One of my favorite blog pieces at Did-U-Know was about "Slum Lords". It bothered me how apartment complexes and property owners take advantage of people. No one should have to pay to live in an apartment or house that needs major repairs. Ghettos are created by slumlords because they know the people they rent to cannot afford to live anywhere else and they know that they do not have the wherewithal to file complaints against them with the Code Enforcement Division in their city. I have some situations I can tell you about where I have helped some people get out of their lease without retribution and some who became empowered taking their major repair situation to Code forcing the owners hand. "

Blinders,

I think that's great. Information is always empowering and information with a perspective is even more so. One of the big problems I have with the media right now is perspective and how that perspective shapes the direction or lack thereof as far as how and where everyone moves, but black folks in particular. It's used to shape behaviors that are inimical to our own well being and to the extent those of us with knowledge can shape the behaviors differently, it's incumbent on us to do so.

That's the main reason I began blogging and why I'm definitely thinking about getting into the blog talk deal as well. What we need are voices out there that can provide solid actionable information as well as networking so we can find each other.

The challenge we face with any of this however is whether our folks are ready. It's been my experience that when you talk about seriously implementing or doing things, you're frequently one of a very few. That's not a problem now, as I know what to expect, but for the uninitiated, that can be rather disappointing.

I found the key is just to do whatever you're going to do and at some point, you'll draw the people who are truly committed to work with you to you. But being a pioneer and attempting to do something that's not been done before can be a lonely road at first.

Greg L said...

"I use several: Mozilla Firefox, Aol 9.5, Safari, Internet Explorer.

The last one, I.E., usually gives miserable results.

Right now, I'm using Safari. It's the most stable of the four."

I'm using Safari now. Very nice. Much better than IE or Firefox. IE is the absolute worst and I think my problems with the commenting over at my blog are related to it. The intense debate comment stream is pulled from another server while the blog is pulled from a different one. They have to be merged with the page loads and if there's a delay from the intense debate server, I'm thinking either people aren't able to comment or you get the what appears to be a non-intense debate comment field which result that the comments are being sent into moderation. It seems that the browser that's used changes what happens. Safari seems to load both the intense debate comment stream and the blog much faster.

Blinders Off said...

I went to an engagement this past weekend and the conversation opened the door for me to ask, If there was a web site that offered products by black entrepreneurs and is an information portal for blacks will you purchase from that site. The response was an overwhelming yes with one person saying, If something like that became successful THEY (and we know who they are) will try to regulate it or destroy it like they did Black Wall Street.

I understood where the person was coming from I believe we all do. I said to him, That is very well possible, however we can enjoy what the Black Town Square offer and deal with resistance when and if that happens. We are on her discussing the creation of the Black Town Square and I am sure there are people reading what we are discussing. I was going to suggest we actively start the creation of the Black Town Square web site by purchasing the domain name. However, I did a Google search the name is already purchase, but the vision is different from what we are discussing here.

Welcome to Black Town Square! Back when African Americans lived in communities, the town square was a favored meeting place. At the town square, you could; shop, meet old friends, discuss the latest topics. We realize that we as black people don´t spend enough time talking to each other anymore. We walk around listening to our MP3s, playing video games on the pc or Xbox. We take very little time discussing the issues and topics that impact our lives. It´s time we started to: Think, Ask, Learn, Improve

This site focuses on facts to frame the conversations. We realize that emotions are important, however, facts help you focus on the real issues that are driving results in a particular area. Understanding that facts will help you build actions and strategies that target and focus on resolutions that truly fix the issues. We are committed to and focused on creating and implementing solutions to the issues prevalent in the black community.


This site provides African Americans with an opportunity to relive those days that big mama and gramps talk about so lovingly.

We are dedicated to those bygone days. Come spend an afternoon with us in the Black Town Square.


I did not know the above site existed, should we continue publicly discussing BD's vision.

Blinders Off said...

I found the key is just to do whatever you're going to do and at some point, you'll draw the people who are truly committed to work with you to you. But being a pioneer and attempting to do something that's not been done before can be a lonely road at first.

Greg, speaking about my community trust me I know how lonely and dangerous that road can be. What I do not like about us as a people, we do not know how to work together, we become envious of another success, too many of us want to be chief, and we do not support each other.

There have been many days I questioned myself why I do what I do, but after witnessing the end result I forgot about how lonely and dangerous that road has been. The best reward is when others commit. I was called a troublemaker, but it was well worth being a troublemaker to unite the black residents in my community when it comes to politics, our businesses, and our organizations. There will always be work to do in our communities, however I do believe the concept we are discussing here will be a valuable tool for interested parties to promote in their communities. That is what I meant by it does not take an army to get something started. However, you all are correct it takes an army to keep it going. The core is having someone willing to get it started to build an Army of One

Black Diaspora said...

@Blinders Off: "Black Town Square web site by purchasing the domain name. However, I did a Google search the name is already purchase, but the vision is different from what we are discussing here."

Yes, the name, "Black Town Square," exists. My research, too, turned it up.

And as you pointed out, the concept and purpose of the site is different from my proposal.

The "Black Business Network," which I linked, is the only concept I've found that is similar to the one I'm proposing.

It's hard to be original: Ideas are in the ether, just waiting for someone to grab and run with them.

Look for an e-mail as a followup to this comment.

Greg L said...

"I did not know the above site existed, should we continue publicly discussing BD's vision."

Hey Blinders. I checked out this site and you're right, it really doesn't line up with BD's concept, but it definitely lines up with what I wanted to do. I watched a few of the videos and these guys have done a professional job with setting up their talk show format. I liked the interplay between the "conservative" and "liberal" viewpoints.

Greg L said...

"It's hard to be original: Ideas are in the ether, just waiting for someone to grab and run with them."

Very true BD

Greg L said...

"Greg, speaking about my community trust me I know how lonely and dangerous that road can be. What I do not like about us as a people, we do not know how to work together, we become envious of another success, too many of us want to be chief, and we do not support each other."

This is a huge problem and this is why I carefully filter who I'm going to work with and why I spend a lot of time sorting out up front the specifics of who's going to do what and when. Frequently, folks will talk the talk, but aren't prepared to walk it. That's cool if that's what they want to do, but I don't work well with that nor is that supportive of accomplishing anything, so I just try to identify that up front so as to avoid the situation and bruised feelings. In a way, determining who you're going to work with, even if it's a voluntary thing, is almost like hiring a employee, contractor and etc. Everyone ain't ready.

One of the things our folks can use is a full indoctrination in organizational structures and principles. That alone is the failure of many black organizations.