SoleSearch is a new iPhone and iPod touch app geared towards helping travel-prone sneaker aficionados hone in on hundreds of independent sneaker boutiques in U.S. cities and locations across the globe.  Pangaea Subsidiaries—a multi-faceted company with several endeavors in fashion, music, art, and philanthropy—released the application recently.

Black Digerati discussed SoleSearch with Pangaea CEO and Black Digerati Brandon Williamson, who also owns All City Kicks, a sneaker boutique in his hometown Grand Rapids, Michigan.

“SoleSearch is really for the individual who travels and sees parts of the world.” he said. “It’s been received pretty well. Anyone who’s purchased it, they love it.”

Williamson explained the new app via YouTube:

SoleSearch’s most useful feature is a directory with listings on local shoe shops as well as boutiques in Canada, Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. Chicago State University student and iPhone user Jonathan James is a fan of the app:

“There’s nothing like it,” said James.” Sneaker heads like myself, they have to feel the same—excited.”

One of the app’s impressive features is an interactive “Add a Store” option meant to continually expand the store database.  “Any store we missed, we give the user the ability to let us know,” Williamson explained.  Pangaea has plans to make SoleSearch more “user-active” in the future with updates allowing users to view and post reviews on boutiques.  “We want to make it more of a forum within an app,” Williamson said. “This allows the app to continue to grow.”  Williamson ended the interview with words of encouragement for young tech-minded African Americans.  “If you’re an individual who has an idea, you have to at least see it through to see what you can make of it,” he said. “Today’s idea can be tomorrow’s million-dollar check.”

You can view a video demo of the app over on Black Digerati or you can purchase the SoleSearch app for $0.99 at the appstore, keyword “solesearch.”

Follow SoleSearch on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sole_search.

Ever since it’s launch a year ago, Microsoft BizSpark has been doing very well at helping startups become successful. They have been focused on helping startups accelerate their software development process and provided access to business resources and mentorship. They have accomplished this by not only providing the technical resources necessary for success, but by also facilitating access to the right partnerships, marketing channels, coaching, and leadership.

Up until now, BizSpark has taken a broad approach, creating a network of more than 25,000 startups in over 100 countries.

This spectrum of partners includes entrepreneur support organizations such as the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), European Business Angel Network (EBAN) and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE). It also includes financial institutions such as HSBC, law firms, consultants, outsourcing organizations, and hosting companies such as Rackspace, GoGrid, GoDaddy and PEER 1.

Taking things a step further, Microsoft has launched BizSpark One.

“The idea behind BizSpark One is to cast a finer net using Silicon Valley best practices, and then lift the net up to find the startups that are most likely to succeed in the market and shape the industry’s future,” says Lewin. “Following the filtering process, our local subsidiaries in 10 countries will partner with the corporate team to help these startups to become the ‘ones to watch’ within the BizSpark program.”

Most interesting about BizSpark’s recent changes is the software that makes it all possible, Azure. Azure is a complete and scalable Microsoft cloud computing platform. It allows startups to develop their applications with minimal up front investment, taking care of their hosting, equipment, labor, and expansion costs to name a few. It features automatic on-demand resource allocation. BizSpark partners will receive 750 free compute hours per month for eight months.

This is a very exciting announcement, lowering the bar for developers to create innovative projects on a stable and scalable platform. Microsoft is definitely thinking outside the box this time, cutting out most of the busy work and uncertainty involved in a startup. If you’re already a BizSpark partner, feel free to tell us about your experience. If not and you’re startup needs a boost, it might be just what you need. Not sure what Azure can really do? Check out Seesmic.

The Resumator helps you save time and money on hiring by instantly replacing the inefficiency of your HR inbox with an online recruiting platform for promoting jobs and reviewing resumes. It returns the time you waste managing a cluttered inbox full of resumes by providing Web-based tools that make hiring paper-free and collaborative. And by driving free traffic to your jobs, The Resumator virtually eliminates the need to purchase expensive listings on job sites. Don Charlton, CEO of The Resumator, founded the Pittsburgh based site just this year (2009).  He took some time out of his schedule to tell us more about his background, how he started The Resumator, and how he attracted an impressive client list of some of the hottest startups out.

You design, develop, and run the business side; give us an overview of your background?  How did you develop your skill set?

Well, I was a fine artist as a kid/teenager, but I also like to write software (in BASIC). I was the jock in high school who secretly sneaked down to the library in the morning to make games on the Apple IIc computers there. In 1995, I went off to Rochester Institute of Technology to do “commercial art”, which I was told meant, “graphic design”. While studying how to be a traditional print graphic designer, I was learning how to build Web sites for this new thing called “The World Wide Web”.

After graduation in 1999, I landed a job at a local design (Thoughtform Design) firm back home in Pittsburgh, and because I was the young techie, I was molded to learn about this new thing now just called “The Web”. I could design nice-looking websites, and write
HTML, but I had not yet learned server-side development, and that bugged me. I had ideas but could not execute.

At my next job I was responsible for managing and designing interfaces for large scale web projects at Wall-to-Wall Studios, interfacing with clients constantly about their “online strategy”. I learned a lot about business, and I read a lot about marketing, branding, positioning—all the things you need to understand in order to create engaging solutions for clients. I was winning regional, national and international acclaim for my design work, and it was also during this time I started learning PHP and how to develop database-driven Web applications on my own and through a few small projects for W|W.

In 2008, I realized after 10 years I had developed the ability to design great websites, build dynamic web applications, had management experience, and understood business. This was a great skill mix for an internet entrepreneur because I knew I could get a prototype out for anything I wanted without relying on anyone else. So I started looking at different business problems to solve through Web applications, and thus The Resumator was my first brainchild.
When did you 1st get the bug to strike out on your own?

Definitely in 2008. Like many entrepreneurs, I don’t find stability in working for someone else. I wanted to go for it one time and see if I could make something that mattered. I also wanted to show that you don’t need to be white, geeky and a Stanford or Babson graduate in order to make great online products. I’m a kid from the housing projects who used to eat crackers and butter for dinner, and we didn’t have a home phone until I was 17. Surviving that life makes you kind of fearless.

I had a friend—Jim Jen—at Innovation Works (our regional economic development organization) who encouraged me to apply to the AlphaLab program, which IW’s program for accelerating Web-based startups. When I was accepted, I gained great advisors, capital, and a good peer group. I was a lone wolf, so in order to convince them I could do The Resumator on my own, I announced I was launching the product the first day of AlphaLab (usually you launch at the end).

So I launched. One month later I had paying customers. That was a motivator for me right there.
No you are running The Resumator, tell more about the application and how it is best used?

For small businesses and startups, hiring is extra work, and no one’s expertise. Someone is usually “deputized” to manage the hiring
process, and this person (the CEO, office manager, or “unlucky stiff”) usually has no formal experience in recruiting. As a result, the
hiring practices used by these “deputized HR managers” are usually ad-hoc and inefficient.  The vast majority of these “deputized” HR managers are simply using a job description and an HR email address to attempt to recruit top talent. Between hiring costly  recruiters, paying for job postings, and printing, sorting, and distributing resumes, recruitment in small organizations is not as efficient, nor as effective as it could be.

The Resumator helps these deputized HR managers save time and money on hiring by instantly replacing the inefficiency of their HR inbox with an entire online recruiting platform for promoting jobs and reviewing resumes. It returns the time they waste managing a cluttered inbox full of resumes by providing Web-based tools that make hiring paper-free and collaborative. And by driving free traffic to job listings, The Resumator virtually eliminates the need to purchase expensive listings on job sites.

The Resumator automatically posts jobs to a business’ website and free job boards, as well as helps HR managers find inexpensive boards that source great applicants. Once submitted, The Resumator converts all incoming resumes into a searchable database and makes each one viewable right in the browser. The deputy HR manager and her team can then simply sign in to collaborate and discuss, rank and track pre-sorted applicants.

Simply put, if you manage resumes through email, and pay Monster or Career Builder a lot of money to source candidates, you should switch to The Resumator.
What triggered the idea to start The Resumator?

At my last job I was a “deputized” HR manager. I had no idea how to source candidates, and I was getting zipped up files full or resumes in my inbox. I had no process, and often I would lose track of applicants (or even their resume). When I went out on my own, I asked a simple question: “Why is email the most ubiquitous way businesses collect resumes?” The answer should have been, “Because it’s the best way.” But that’s not true. There were no solutions out there that did an effective job of targeting the “deputized” HR manager in business with less than 100 people.
You have some great customers!  What is the best marketing decision you made?  The biggest marketing mistake?

The best marketing decision I made was to offer our service to startups for free or at a reduced cost. Startups are full of deputized
HR managers, and by partnering with startup programs like TechStars, Founders Institute and AlphaLab, I was able to get some well-known startups to use the service and give it credibility. We’re just riding that wave now, with a customer-base including Inc 500 companies and some of the hottest Silicon Valley startups.

The worst mistake I made was paying for display advertising at premium prices. Some ad networks just charge way too much for ad placement, and I wish I could get back those few thousand dollars.

Rapper 50 Cent is suing the popular website WorldStarHipHop.com for using his image/likeness without his permission.  Basically, the website used the rapper’s photo on its home page…like a banner.  50 cent claims the site’s use of his image resulted in increased traffic for the site and the public perception that 50 cent was affiliated with site due to his image prominently placed on WorldStarHipHop.com’s home page.

Do blogs, websites, or online magazines have to get permission to use every celebrity’s image or likeness before posting images of that celebrity?  Well it depends on for what purpose the site uses the celebrity’s image.

The use of one’s image or likeness is covered under the Right to Publicity law.  This law drives from the Right to Privacy.  There are four basic Rights to Privacy:

1. Protection from unreasonable intrusion upon the seclusion of another. For example a home or a car,

2. Protection from appropriation of a person’s name or likeness (Right to Publicity). For example using a person’s name or image on a product or service without their permission,

3. Protection from publication of private facts. For example, income tax data, family quarrels, medical treatment, school records, etc.,

4. Protection from publication of information that places a person in a false light.
Prosser, Restatement 2nd of Torts.

The Right to Publicity is triggered where commercial speech is involved, i.e, when a company has used a celebrity’s “name, likeness, or voice” in connection with a product, thereby creating a false and misleading impression that the celebrity is endorsing the product. See, e.g., Eastwood v. Super. Ct., 149 Cal. App. 3d 409, 417 (1983).

In 50 cent case, he claims WorldStarHipHop.com used his image like a banner ad, therefore created the false impression that he was affiliated with the site.  The use of his image resulted in increased traffic to the site and therefore increased ad dollars. If 50 cents claims are proven to be true, WorldStarHipHop.com will have to compensate 50 cents for using his image to endorse their product, i.e., their website.

But there are instances when a website can use a celebrity’s image without their permission.  Under the First Amendment exception to the Right of Publicity rule, if the image is used in connection with reporting a newsworthy article that is a matter of public interest, then the site does not have to get the celebrity’s permission to use their image or likeness.  Gionfriddo v. Major League Baseball, 94 Cal. App. 4th 400, 409 (2001); see also Perfect 10, Inc. v. Cybernet Ventures, Inc., 213 F.Supp.2d 1146, 1182-83 (C.D. Cal. 2002).

For example, when a gossip blog reports breaking news that X celebrity was in an altercation or was caught drinking and driving, use of the celebrity’s image without their permission is permissible.  However, if a gossip blog simply has images of celebrities on its site as a banner or as part of the site’s graphics, use of the celebrity’s image is not permissible without first obtaining the permission of the celebrity.  In this instance, the site is using the celebrity’s image to promote their blog or site.

Bloggers and websites that report on celebrity news should take note and be very careful when using celebrity images.  If the use of the celebrity’s image is not associated with breaking news or “newsworthy”, ALWAYS get permission.

Just about all the leading websites for African-American women have redesigned lately.  Surely you remember the hoopla that surrounded Essence magazine’s redesign and the layoff of a large portion of their digital staff nearly a week later.  Clutch Magazine also redesigned about a week after Essence improving several content items and adding a new twist to it’s signature clean design direction.  Not to be out done Honey launched this morning with a new look and a much better understanding of not only their audience (sweet spot of multi-cultural 22 year old’s) but also a better understanding of what it takes to be a contender online.

This latest redesign is a MUCH needed improvement from past incarnations.  Though I’m not their target audience visually it is a much better design.  Functionally it is a much better design.  And my briefing of the product disclosed there is a much better strategy as well.  Of all the features launched; HoneyTV, Swarm Blog Network, Live Social Feeds, and the Career Section; the most compelling are HoneyTV and the Live Social Feeds.  The revived magazine’s goal seems not to shun it’s print roots but focuses on moving forward by integrating technology based features into the site and not just focusing on content alone.  Chuck Baker the site’s CTO and GM disclosed they spent months looking at how users interacted with some of the most popular site’s today, one being World Star HipHop.  While at first glance it might seem like a stretch for Honey to look at such a site but the execution of HoneyTV will tell a different story.  HoneyTV is the site’s branded video portal.  While competitors in the space have launched video features on their sites to-date they have all focused on delivering content.  Honey will not only delivers their own exclusive content on HoneyTV they will take a much more legalized cue than WSHH and syndicates content that already exists on the web from 3rd party’s in the portal also allowing for their audience to embed and share from their site.  Impressive considering the functionality is being done with Wordpress…a tricked out version of course.

Honey’s Live Social Feeds are interesting.  The pull from all activity related to Honey and has prominent placement on they site’s homepage.  While you can view Honey activity from Twitter and Facebook you can also view HoneyNews and updates from the Swarm Blog Network.  There is also the option to view all.  HoneyNews will essentially take some of the most popular stories on the web form the day written in the Honey voice and offering their take on the topic.  Though the feed is not real-time just yet Baker says they will be including that functionality in another release and may even entertain (depending on the popularity of course) allowing this feature to grow into its own application.

Other interesting things of note include the Swarm Blog Network where the company plans to recruit bloggers not to have their own blogs on HoneyMag but to have their own columns.  It will be interesting to see if this positioning will have an effect on the quality of Bloggers the Network will attract.  Honey has a goal of attracting 1500 writers and blogger for columns on the site.

With so many magazines as of late trying to find the right balance of transition of their brand online; many going out of business completely; Honey not long ago introduced Digital-only covers.  Digital covers in the past design were just nice.  In the new design they sing.  If you are like me and love the experience of magazines, flipping through the pages and such, but also consume most of your content online you’ll be able to respect how features are treated in Honey’s new design.  No I’m not talking about those Flash renditions of magazines where you can page through, I sorely dislike those.  Honey was able to find a good balance between how features are treated in print publications and how articles are consumed online.  Each “cover feature” has the cover included at the article’s onset and then with cleaver layout design strategically places accompanying images and pull quotes while the article flows through out.  The best thing about it is there is no paging, you scroll up and down like you would any other article online yet the feeling (at least for me) is similar to my experience when reading a feature in a print pub.  This works well for Honey given the brands past history as a print pub.

Though traffic growth has been somewhat slow Philmore Anderson, Sahara Media’s (Honey’s parent company) CEO, says their corporate strategy includes acquisitions as well as building other brands in-house.  “We want to touch multi-cultural women at every stage in their life not just the 22-ish year old’s Honey’s demo is.”  He went on to say this strategy will expand into other verticals as well not just multi-cultural women, it will include men as well as many other verticals.  It appears HoneyMag is on the right track after a rocky start.  Their new formula of improved design and user experience, leveraging existing technology creatively for their vertical, and clear corporate strategy is sure to pay off in user acquisition.

While we’ve been wringing our hands excitedly in anticipation for the next big smartphone, hot new game, or fly behind computer, the world of auto technology has been bubbling with its own attention-grabbing tech. Here’s a list of the year’s most innovative automotive technology. More than sitting on 26’s or being chromed out, this tech is set to change our relationship with cars forever.

Inflatable Seatbelts – Sure, it may look a little corny, but you won’t be saying that if you’re unlucky enough to get in an accident. A Ford Motors creation, the seat belt has its own version of the airbag packed inside. In a crash, the belts deploy and inflate in an incredible 40 milliseconds – just enough time to see your life flash before your eyes. The increased belt diameter is supposed to spread the force of the impact over a wider space, decreasing the chance of chest, neck, and head injury. Expect to see these extra safe saftey belts in the rear passenger seats of the  next generation of Ford Explorers.

Mobile Hotspots – You get the internet everywhere else, why not in your ride? GM’s recent partnership with Autonet to furnish Buicks, Caddys, and Chevys with the mobile WiFi router enabling your car to connect via the 3G network is only the beginning of the story. According to Wired.com, a group of tech companies are working feverishly to have your car rolling through the cloud server. Using the Long Term Evolution (LTE) 4G network, soon your car might beat your computer in a digital drag race.

Self-healing paint – Nothing can mar a car’s beauty like a scratch or a dent. You still have to hit the body shop for the dent but the paint job is another story. If your car receives an unsightly scratch now, you don’t have to do anything except stop and smell the roses. Nissan’s Scratch Guard technology is made of a very elastic resin that can fix small scratches or more severe damage overnight or over a week’s time depending on the damage. It’s been out since 2005, but it’s getting some shine now because Nissan’s licensing the tech to cell phone companies (stay tuned for that post).

Self-Parking cars – Automakers have been trying to perfect the self-parking car for years, but its only now that it’s more than a concept. Another Ford breakthrough, Ford Park Assist takes all the hassle out of parallel parking. All you have to do is slow the car down to about 20 mph and press the button. Making use of sonar sensors, the car scan for a free space. Once found it instructs you to pull up. When it tells you to stop, put the car into reverse, take your hands off the wheel and let the car complete your parallel transaction.

Electric cars- Sure they’ve been around for awhile now, but the 2010 model is so much better than the debut version. The third generation of the Toyota Prius actually has some get up and go instead of the plod along silent and apologetic thing it had going on for the first two iterations. Taking cues from the electric C.I.L.D. (Car I’d Love to Drive) the Tesla Roadster which has a top speed of 125 mph and looks plain exciting to drive, the 2010 Prius  has a bigger engine and more horses to play with. Who says electric cars have to be boring?

So there you have it, my picks for some of the coolest car tech f 2009. Have some other candidates that didn’t make the list? Make your voice heard in the comments section and we can discuss.

Some of the most liveliest discussions here in the past have occurred around topics related to advertising networks.  Most of us have been an associated with an ad network at some point in time, some of us still are, while others have moved on to an ad rep or direct sales.  When joining an ad network or engaging an ad rep firm some sort of contract must be signed, however these contracts are far from boilerplate and most of us simply aren’t lawyers or don’t have the resources to retain one.  Here are 10+ things to consider when joining an ad rep firm:

1. Post-Term
If a rep firm or ad network has a post-term in the contract, where they still get paid on advertising (if they introduce your site to the advertiser)  you broker yourself or via another firm after the contract has ended , you should kill it if you can. Once the contract is up, the publisher needs to be totally free to do what he/she wants to do, without any claim to future revenues.  Gorilla Nation includes a post-term in their contracts.

2. Performance Clause
I would recommend some type of ratio of performance, where the ad rep firm is responsible to perform at a particular level. Especially, if a publisher has an exclusive deal, you need to make sure you are getting sufficient consideration every month if you are giving up exclusivity. You can put a performance clause in the contract such as for every 1M pageviews, the publisher needs to get 2K net revenue from the exclusive rep firm. If the site does 10M pageviews, the rep firm must perform and sell at least 20K per month on premium direct sales and if they don’t for 2-3 consecutive months, you should be able to get out of the contract. If a rep firm has a “star property” or anchor property, they will most likely focus on that property when pitching to advertisers, leaving the smaller publishers behind.

In addition to a performance clause, you need a clause that says the rep firm is responsible to provide with a quality service level. You want to think of as many “outs” as possible, with “outs” being options to get out of your contract.

3.  Leave Some Room to Sell Some of Your Inventory on Your Own
Leave some room for you to handle some of your direct sales. It’s important for publishers to build traffic and scale first but if you grow very fast, you need the flexibility to start selling a portion of your own ads, with your own direct sales team. You could select a category such as music to focus on and give the rest to the rep firm. As you get bigger and stronger, you can then negotiate more away from the rep firm.

4. Play Rep Firms Against Each Other
Negotiate from a position of power, once you find more than one rep firm that is interested, you should use this interest as leverage. “X is offering me a better deal, can you beat these terms”

5. Set Your Own Rate Card, Don’t rely on the rep firm
This needs to be in the contract. The rep firm may be trying to sell you too low or too high. You need full flexibility to determine the pricing of your brand/site. You can work with the rep firm but you should have complete control over your rate card.

6. Ask How Many Account Reps do they have per site within your vertical
If the reps are overly stretched and your site doesn’t have a large following 500 UV’s+, don’t expect a lot of attention and support.

7. Net Payment Terms
Anything beyond net 60 is suspect.  However, if the CPM’s are high and the partner has a good reputation, I think you can go with 90 but nothing beyond net 90.

8. Misc Fees Deducted from Your Revenue, on top of the revenue split
Beware of shady terms such as the ad network or rep firm having the ability to deduct fees from your revenue, in addition to the revenue share. Some firms will try to be slick and say they can deduct fees related to trafficking, ad serving, and sales, in addition to their revenue share. This is unacceptable and an obvious red flag.

9. How many employees does the rep firm have?
Beware of big promises. If a firm has 1-3 employees or the key executive you’re working with is working from home, these are obvious red flags. What this could mean is that this firm doesn’t have the bandwidth to effectively sell your brand to Fortune 500 companies.

10. Beware of firms that sell Black only, not Quality
If a rep firm is “selling” their business on the fact that is Black owned and not on the quality of their partners, sales, growth, financials, etc., this is a red flag.  You shouldn’t care who owns the rep firm and you should weigh firms on their merits and what they can do for your business.  Young “pro Black” publishers/bloggers often “buy into the kool aid” and get exploited by these type of ad shops. I personally had to threaten AdGroups after I smelled some “shady” dealings/practices. “I don’t care if you’re Black owned, where is my money?”

Bonus

11. Provision for M&A
If your website is acquired on a M&A deal, you need to be able to get out of the contract as an acquirer would most likely want to go in a different direction on ad sales. If you are “locked tight” into a contract, this may influence your deal price or prevent a deal from even going down. You need a “M&A out”.

12.  Beware of the Auto-renew
Some firms require a 30-45 days notice or they will auto rnew your contract and you could be stuck with them for another year.  Obviously this is not ideal especially if you are unhappy with the ad rep or they haven’t preformed to your expectations and you’d like to try alternatives.  If you are already in an auto-renew situation mark your calendar to send your contact termination notice.  Don’t get caught slippin’.  Gorilla Nation includes auto-renew in their standard contracts.

13. Consult an Online Advertising/New Media Lawyer No Matter What
Or someone who specializes in online advertising/new media. Even if you don’t have any money, you can find a lawyer who will work with you where you can pay them later or break up the balance into payments.  I don’t care how smart you think you are, if your site blows up, a bad deal or some “uneven” clause only a slick lawyer would understand who wrote the contract in the interest of the rep firm could end up costing you millions!

I spend easily 50% of my time reading about technology startups. Watching them get funded, seeing what business models take off and reading the stories of how they went from idea to executed company.  There are so many new technology companies being created everyday. Some fail, some succeed but the great part is that people are taking the chance to create something. One of the things that frustrates me is the lack of African Americans creating technology-based start-ups. Before people start jumping at me saying, “What are your talking about I’m a Black tech entrepreneur?!”

You have to admit that even if you are one or know one, there are not enough of them.   And I don’t buy the argument that we can’t because we have shown creativity and innovation in almost everything we do. When I was running GlobalGrind I was fortunate enough to go to places like Facebook and meet employees from well-known startups like Ning and Digg. What I was always impressed with was the environment of creativity that existed among these people and how everyone there was keenly focused on solving problems. Yes, they were all making money but you could quickly tell that was only part of the value proposition for them. I would always say to myself that if more minority teens knew that there are places to work like Facebook and other startups, and more importantly they can create companies just like this, they would line up around the block to learn how to do it. So what is it? Why in this age of opportunity does Black Web 2.0  have maybe 2 startups to cover a week while sites like Techcrunch cover about 10 a day?

I believe we have to change the value proposition of urban youth. We need to help them understand how great the opportunities are and how much easier it is to start your own company than they think. When I speak to teens at events I usually ask them if they knew that there was a guy who, using free software, in his dorm room created something and he is now worth more than P-Diddy, Jay-Z, and Russell Simmons combined. People rarely guess that I’m talking about Mark Zuckerberg and that he did that in about 5 years.  But after that remark I usually have their attention.

Being a pro athlete or an entertainer is great but the odds are extremely high for people to have careers in those fields. But that is who they see and the problem is that our youth don’t see people they can identify with in technology entrepreneurial roles so they don’t believe it is in the realm of possibility for them. Yes, they love to use Facebook but they never think that they can create the next Facebook. So I ask the question what can we do to change their value proposition. Let’s talk about any ideas people have and start working to making this become reality for our youth.  I would love to hear your thoughts.

Here are some good articles to read:
Youth Use Entrepreneurship as a Pathway to Success

Teen Tips for Entrepreneurship

Lesson Plans for Young Entrepreneurs

As of late we’ve seen so many traditional Black/Urban Media companies either redesign as blogs, create blog properties as part of their holdings, or transform their content channels into blogs.  In nearly every case that I’ve seen this happen not one company has been able to knock it out of the park.  In many cases they merely bunt it. Cases in point…

Vibe relaunching as a blog

Essence.com’s latest redesign

BlackVoices building up their stable of blogs that mirror content channels (BVonStyle,BVonSports, BVonMoney, etc.)

Interactive One adding blogs to their holdings and then tacking those properties on the BlackPlanet.com domain

You get the picture.

Surely blogs have some kind of undeniable allure.  In some cases they are guilty pleasures.  In Media they are the new kids on the block that some love to hate while others embrace.  In mainstream media there is M&A activity in the blogosphere.  Media companies don’t necessarily feel the need to recreate the wheel, challenge what already exists, or create their own.  Long term that would take too much time and resources.  They simply either take a strategic investment or acquire.

My biggest question and concern is why doesn’t this same activity happen in Black Media.  Instead of resulting to the typical “crabs in a barrel” answer I’m genuinely curious to find out what is missing in our economy that we have yet to see this type of activity in recent times.  Especially when Essence is feeling the backlash of their community on their new redesign, Black Voices’ traffic despite trying to incorporate blogs is in a huge slump, and of all Interactive One’s properties Black Planet still out shines many of their properties by light years.  If these companies wanted to diversify their portfolio by adding blogs or appeal to a young audience by “acting” like a blog wouldn’t it make more sense just to acquire a blog that is aligned with your brand and what you are trying to build?  You wouldn’t have to start from scratch, the traffic would already be there, and 9 times out of 10 the overhead would be ridiculously low….lower than the staff that is needed to “act” like a blog.  I know it is a recession but M&A activity isn’t necessarily down.  Sure it is no free for all but it is alive in a smarter and more strategic way.

What kind of economy are we creating if independent media doesn’t happen on some sort of liquidity event?  This needs to at least be an option and at most serve as an example of possibilities.  Not to mention strategically it makes more sense to acquire rather than wait for independent media to seek investment from an IAC, MSNBC, and the like or bootstrap their way to the top.  Then they really become your competitors…head on.