Official black wall street

Supporting Black businesses can be difficult if you don’t know where to look. Thankfully, several apps have set out to correct that, making it easier to find both common and unique items you need—all provided by Black business owners. Official Black Wall StreetThe Official Black Wall Street app pays tribute to the all-Black community in Tulsa, Oklahoma, which was burned down in the 1920s by white supremacists. The app carries on the legacy of Black commerce by compiling a directory of Black businesses from around the country, using location technology to locate businesses near you.We Buy BlackWe Buy Black calls itself “the Black Amazon,” providing the user with everyday products—from laundry detergent and toothpaste to books and footwear—made by Black companies. The site’s simple layout and clear categories make for such convenient shopping, you’ll wonder if you even need Amazon at all.Chez nousWhile the other apps feature businesses across the United States, Chez nous offers a global listing of BIPOC-, women-, LGBTQIA-owned businesses to choose from. The app updates with new listings every week crowdsourced by consumers and other business owners. The site is beautiful, featuring vibrant imagery and proudly displaying its vision of inclusivity in entrepreneurial success. You can search categories such as music and culture, “ally-approved,” health and wellness, and even job opportunities—and if you feel like browsing, their recommendations section is a useful tool. Originally posted in 2017, and updated on February 04, 2021 with new recommendations.

The modern #BuyBlack movement hit an inflection point during 2020, with conversations on the racial wealth gap becoming commonplace and countless lists of “Black-owned businesses to support'' populating our social media feeds. But what happens next? And how did we get here?Before hashtags—or the Internet—were even invented, buying Black existed. In fact, a focus on Black economic empowerment has been at the forefront of Black civil rights initiatives since Reconstruction. From the Black Wall Streets of Tulsa, Birmingham, and Richmond, to the rhetoric of Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., supporting Black-owned businesses has been seen as a means of self-reliance and protests. But in the late-20th century, supporting Black-owned businesses fell out of favor with the Black mainstream and became primarily associated with Afrocentric movements. What was once a rallying cry for civil rights moved to the margins.Fast-forward to the 2010s, and a change was in the air. With the murders of Trayvon Martin and Mike Brown, a renewed interest in supporting Black-owned businesses appeared, and with it, new leaders for the digital age. Mandy Bowman, is one of those leaders. As the founder and CEO of Official Black Wall Street (OBWS), the largest Black-owned business discovery app, Bowman started laying the groundwork for the #BuyBlack Movement as early as 2014. Through OBWS, Bowman and team help Black-owned businesses gain exposure to more than 1.1 million users across their app and website; and more than 900K followers on Instagram. Entrepreneurs can list their businesses and offer users exclusive promotions.We asked her to share her thoughts on the past, present and future state of the movement, as well as tactics that Black business owners can implement to sustain and grow their businesses year-round—not just when it’s trendy.TakeawaysConsistency is key People have very short attention spans, so if you're not top of mind, then you have a problem. It’s important to be consistent in your communication with your audience or customers, so that your content, products, and services remain top of mind. Email is kingPrioritize your newsletters. If you're not currently collecting emails, you absolutely should be;

It's a lot easier to keep in contact with potential and previous customers [who opt-in to receive marketing emails] when you have that information. Unfortunately, we don't own social media, and on those platforms, you face the risk of losing your account or the network going down. So having those email subscribers is definitely king.Use lead magnetsOne of our strategies is to utilize the link in our bio on social media to continuously build our audience. We include links that make it easy for people to opt in to our emails and sometimes offer perks like free products or services to entice them to sign up. There are many different ways to incentivize your followers. ResourcesHow I Built ThisI love the podcast “How I Built This.” It's definitely inspirational, especially on days when I just don't feel like entrepreneuring. I'm sure entrepreneurs know that feeling. The Lean Startup, by Eric Ries This was a book that I read at the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey that helped a lot. It introduced me to the lean product-development process that has been so helpful as I launched and iterated the OBWS app.Profit First, by Mike MichalowiczThis book is very useful in understanding accounting and helping with cash management—something every entrepreneur should be thinking about.UdemyThis is a platform that offers both free courses and sometimes just really inexpensive ones that you can take on different parts of running a business, whether it's marketing, ads... So I would suggest that as well.KickstarterI used Kickstarter to raise about $33,000 for the development of the first version of the OBWS app. It not only helped me raise capital, but it served as a strong proof of concept.Official Black Wall StreetThere's also this amazing app, the Official Black Wall Street app, a shameless plug. So we have a lot of Black business owners who have signed up and who have benefited from just having that visibility and the free legal services thanks to our partnership with global law firm Baker Botts.