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I have had the distinct pleasure of seeing this grow by over a thousand members in the space of only a few months. In looking throughmy blog posts I noticed that I posted an article about ‘creating relationshipsonline’ and how important it is do so, especially if yours is a strictly onlinebusiness.

Because the group has grown so much in such a short time, I wanted to reiterate some of the points that I wrote about in the blog post.Perhaps this is the first online group that you have joined or you’re an oldonline veteran (like me, lol). Either way, we can all still gain something fromeach other, but only if you’re willing to get in and participate.

Many people join online groups, create a page in this group and expect the dollars to roll in, because of course, your product or service isso irresistible that all you have to do is “be” and folks will come to you. I’mreally sorry to burst your bubble, but, sor-ry – it just ain’t so. You have towork much harder at creating relationships online because you do not have theforce of your physical presence (in person/on phone) to back up your salespitch.

I would like to provide you with a few pointers to find and foster relationships (read network) online.

• Form a relationship based on what you can give, rather than what you can get.
  A lot of people have the attitude "I'm not going to do anything for anyone ifthere's nothing in it for me." We all remember our high schoolliterature, right? "No man is an island". Although you may not beworking side by side with other entrepreneurs/business women, we are allconnected in one way or another. Now I'm not saying talk up someoneelse's product over your own, but there's no harm in giving out the name of asistapreneur who you know can help someone. For example, someone postedon this board about needing a lawyer. I replied that one of the sisterson the board was a representative for Pre-Paid Legal Services - hopefullythese two sisters were able to connect and both benefit from my"introduction".

• Don't wait for people to come to you
  Cruise around BBWO and get the lay of the land. Run a search for yourkeywords or check out a few profiles at random. Leave a comment (yourcalling card) on profiles that interest you. For example, as a naturalbath and body maker, I looked for other bath and body makers. Then Ilooked for holistic/natural practitioners, then I looked for natural haircare. As I ran this search, I found a few sisters who shared my samevision or with whom I could connect with on another level. Reach out,leave a comment!

• Personalize your approach
  Please, please, do not leave a generic comment on 20 profiles. "I've gota great automated business that will generate multiple streams of incomethrough affiliate marketing." You've heard it, I've heard it, we've allheard it. Take the time to come up with something original, likeactually reading the person's profile and asking a question about what theydo.

• Read the boards.
  LaShanda has said this all ready but I'll say it again. Read! Iwas fortunate enough to be interviewed by a lovely lady from Canada AND Ilearned about a trend called New Urbanism. How? If I can't doanything else, I read the front page of BBWO from top to bottom at least threetimes a week. Even if I don't post, I check the newsfeed. Sistersare asking for advice, for information, for guest bloggers, samples for goodybags, article content - there's plenty going on.

• Be professional
  Maybe I'm a prude, but nothing turns me off more than foul language on abusiness board. If I'm on a personal board, hey, I know that anythingpretty much goes. But when I'm reading your blog post request for guestbloggers which used profanity, I'm not sure I want to be associated with yoursite. Save the profanity for your friends, please! You never knowhow people will react to your choice of language.

For more pointers on finding your way around BBWO, see LaShanda's post andmy original post on this topic.

CeeCee Woolard
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Finding a Franchise to Buy - Where Should You Begin to Look?
Have you finally made the decision to expand your current business and purchase a franchise ? If so, congratulations are in order for taking the first important step. Now, you are faced with another challenge - finding a suitable franchise to buy. There are many great franchise opportunities currently available if you know where to look. I'm going to give you some suggestions on where you can begin your search to find the franchise best for you!

4 Ways to Find Sources of Extra Income
When we find that our salary no longer covers all we need and want, we have no choice except to look for additional income. As much as that may be a strain on our current lifestyle, it may be the only way to go. At this stage people will put their hopes into a higher paying job, but that never seems to go as planned. Once the extra income starts coming in somehow we always find ways to spend it.

More and more people are searching for Black businesses online everyday. If they can’t find your Black business that means you are missing out on all of your potential clients. To help people find your business and learn more your services or products you should have a professionally designed web site with several incoming links from reputable sites that relate to yours.

Your Black business site should reflect a professional business image and contain persuasive sales copy that leads your visitors through a path of action. Do not settle for amateurish designed site with second rate graphics, even if you have an extremely small budget.

Several designers are more than happy to provide you with a high quality designed site with informative and persuasive content with out breaking your budget. If you are unable to get a custom designed site then it is ok to start your Black business site with a template. Just make sure that it is not of those plain jane templates that are common on the internet.

After you have your professionally designed site that gives vital information about your business and convinces visitors to use your services it is time to exchange links. Exchanging links with reputable sites that relate to yours is a great way to increase your exposure online. Link exchanging is also a great way to increase your search engine rankings. Finding sites that you would like to exchange links with can be time consuming and sometimes frustrating. But it is definitely worth it.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/online-business-articles/get-more-exposure-for-your-black-business-434825.html

Start your search for a web site template or ready made web site start with the Black Business Community Network.

Visit the Black Business Community Network and join their free Black Business Link Exchange.

If you would like more information about marketing your Black business online feel free to visit the Black Business Community Network.

Black business owners often have two very limited resources – time and money.

Because of this they often neglect putting their time and money towards business education. Without proper business education many Black businesses become stagnant and eventually cease to exist.

Thanks to the Black Business Community Network, which is dedicated to bringing Black business owners quality business resources to help them grow their business, Black business owners no longer have to neglect their education.

The Black Business Community Network now provides extremely affordable and educational eGuides. An eGuide, or electronic guide, is digital content that can be viewed on your computer using Adobe Reader. eGuides are often shorter and more concise than eBooks, making for a faster and easier read.

What’s Great about eGuides?

· eGuides are packed full of information – by the time you have finished reading you have vital information you can apply directly to your business.

· Each eGuide covers specific topics so you will not be overwhelmed with unnecessary information.

· You will learn the best practice techniques that have been tested and proven to work – thus saving you time and money.

· You are shown step by step how to apply proven techniques using illustrative pictures and detailed action steps.

· eGuides are short reads – they get straight to the point so you can quickly learn information you need.

· Easy reads - They use everyday language and provide you with definitions for technical terms and concepts to make sure you have a complete understanding of the topic being covered.

· They are provided in digital content so you can conveniently download them using your computer – you don’t have to wait for them to ship.

If you are a busy Black business owner, who understands the importance of business education, then visit www.thebbcnetwork.com/eguides.html to learn more about Black Business eGuides.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/online-business-articles/great-learning-resources-for-busy-black-business-owners-453589.html

The Black Business Community Network is a network of Black business owners, entrepreneurs, artists, comedians and the list goes on and on. We offer a variety of learning resources and networking opportunities for busy Black Business owners.

Cathy Hughes' Advice to Black Women in Business
By Bedford E.

Meet one of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time!

Cathy Hughes is the founder and chairperson of Radio One, Inc., the largest African American owned and operated broadcast-company in the nation. Radio One is the first African American company in radio history to dominate several major markets simultaneously and possesses the first woman-owned radio station to rank #1 in any major market.

Cathy Hughes knows what it takes to overcome major hurdles in the male dominated arena of business and entrepreneurship.

I recently interviewed Ms. Hughes for her perspective on black entrepreneurship and specifically asked her to give her advice to black women considering business.

Bro. Bedford: What advice would you give Black Women about going into business?

Cathy Hughes: The most important aspect of a woman going into business I think is really identifying and forming a support group. So often people who love us feel a need to protect us and they sometimes over protect us and make us squeamish and afraid to be adventurous.

You have to be BOLD and ADVENTUROUS if you are a woman going into business. Even though more and more women are going into business, it is still a male dominated game.

In my case it was my mother, I can’t tell you…my mother would cry, she would beg me, “Please get a government job, you’re in Washington D.C. You’re smart and people like you, Give Up! You’re sleeping on a floor in a sleeping bag. Cathy, people think you’ve lost your mind; they think you’ve had a nervous breakdown, what’s wrong with you. Go get a good Government job and stop trying…”

My mother was not trying to stop me from being a successful Entrepreneur, she was worried about me, and she was scared for me. I had lost everything to try to hold on to this business and she was ready for me to throw in the towel out of love and protection. But guess what? It was also so discouraging.

So I started lying to my mother. When she would call and ask have you turned it around? I would say, “Oh yeah momma things are just great!”

Guess what? In lying to my mother about my business turning around and doing great, I started to believe it myself. And once I started to believe it myself, guess what? It started to happen! (Laugh)

I tell women so often, your husbands, your brothers, your sisters, your mothers, your fathers, your neighbors, sometimes even your financial advisors and your lawyers are the first to want to protect you.

There is still this thing…its so interesting because Black Women don’t get a lot of help, but we get a lot of protection “allegedly”. A lot of advice on what we should be doing, which discourages us, because Black women are full of PASSION and EMOTION. So if someone tells us we’re making a mistake most of us, unless we’re just knuckleheads, we stop and analyze it.

Am I really acting crazy…I am sleeping in a sleeping bag and cooking on a hot plate like my momma said. Maybe I am not really realizing…

So you have to put on blinders you have to be myopic, you have to keep your eye on the prize you cannot sometimes share with people; you’ve got to lie.

When people say how’s it going? They may be getting ready to foreclose on your underwear, but you’ve got to say, “I can’t tell you, today was just Fabulous!” (Laugh)

Bro. Bedford: Best day I’ve had

Cathy Hughes: Best day I’ve had since I’ve been in business (Both Laugh)

You say it enough the first person that you’re going to convince is yourself, because who is hearing it more than anybody else, YOU!

Your attitude really does determine your altitude.

With women we normally can’t get a lot of financial or other help. Sometimes you don’t need the finance you just need someone to give you a helping hand. But Lord have mercy do people give us advise under the guise of I’m just trying to protect you; I’m just trying to look out for you.

Well if you’re trying to look out for me loan me that $10,000 I need to make payroll. (Laugh) I don’t need you discouraging me.

It’s funny because people want to be politically correct, they don’t say to you point blank you shouldn’t be doing this. They’ll say, “Do you think it’s really worth it? Do you think that maybe you’re sacrificing too much? What about you? What about your personal life?” I’m trying to build a business right now. My business is my personal life.

So I tell women don’t get discouraged and try to find somebody in a comparable situation if not maybe the same situation, but a comparable situation.

People are amazed, Entrepreneurs call me frequently and they’re like, “you took my call”. Yeah, because I can’t tell you how lonely it was for me when no one would take my call. It may have taken me a few weeks and sometimes if I get backlogged maybe a couple of months.

I’ve called people back and they’re like, “I forgot I called you Ms. Hughes”, I will return your call you’ve just got to be patient because sometimes its just a word of encouragement that we need to get over the hump.

For the full interview with Cathy Hughes and other Black Millionaire Entrepreneurs Log onto http://www.conversationswithblackmillionaires.com

Bro. Bedford is founder of http://www.howtobeablackentrepreneur.com a FREE e-zine dedicated to Black Entrepreneurship. He is also the author of My Conversations with Black Millionaire Entrepreneurs http://www.conversationswithblackmillionaires.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bedford_E.
http://EzineArticles.com/?Cathy-Hughes-Advice-to-Black-Women-in-Business&id=629961