An integral part of any successful business is marketing and promotion. Look at the crazy amounts of money spent for a few seconds of commercial time during the Superbowl. From creating a recognizable brand to finding creative ways to get the word out to the masses, companies that have the budget to spare hire professionals to spread the gospel of consumerism. That’s where companies like Commonground come into play. Started six years ago by Sherman Wright and Ahmad Islam, Commonground is a full-service marketing agency that deals with the new marketplace.

So what exactly is the new marketplace? According to Wright, the new marketplace was a term that was coined to describe “the space of the world today…in the new marketplace we see a convergence of culture and technology in regards to how people interact…It’s more psychographic than demographic. You have to understand mindsets and how consumers are engaging technology.”

If their client list is any indication, Commonground’s understanding of this new marketing frontier is paying off. Big name clients include Coca-Cola, MillerCoors, and Nike. The co-founders also have an impressive list of accolades including being named in Crain’s Chicago Business Magazine’s annual Top 40 under 40 list for 2009. And while the agency covers all facets of marketing, including the traditional means of advertising — print and television they also recognize the importance of a strong digital campaign and the powers consumers wield through social networking.

“We believe in integrated marketing so it’s not either or” says Wright, “you see a lot of positive results when the two work together. But I think that digital and the internet has proven itself to be sustainable as a standalone in regards to reaching consumers. You can reach millions of viewers with a 30-second spot on the Superbowl. Obviously digital isn’t that broad, but you have more of an engaged audience so you can gather more intelligence about that product. It’s very macro versus micro.”

Speaking of macro, when discussing Commonground’s success and methodology its best to look at the bigger picture rather than get caught up in semantics. While the company is minority-owned, it doesn’t want to be pigeon-holed into being a minority company. You know, the companies mainstream companies use when they’re trying to reach a specific minority demographic. Starting with their name down to their staffing Commonground is a marketing agency that deals in diversity. Utilizing a multicultural staff with differing backgrounds and perspective keeps the company on the cutting edge of the industry. At the end of the day, Commonground’s number one job is to provide creative solutions that will draw consumer attention.

“Clients really want an agency that listens and understands their brand, an agency that has a level of accountability.”

I recently had the chance to have a talk with Brandon Sheats, consultant and new media strategist for the National Black Arts Festival. Sheats has established himself as a social media and web development professional through his work with the Henry W. Grady Debate Foundation, Appfrica Labs, the Ujima Project, and other non-profits and educational institutes. Sheats is also a WordPress supporter and developer, and co-organized the inaugural WordCamp Atlanta.

Brandon Sheats: I’m a web strategist and I consult clients on content and usability. I’ve been working on the web since 2005 in various areas, including front-end design and some PHP coding. My background is actually in print media and design, theater, music, literature, and gender studies. After being frustrated with how hard a friend of mine made it seem to code, I took those design and UX skills and started building websites.

Right now, I’m consulting the National Black Arts Festival on their overall technology strategy. They completely understand that the web and the mobile web are essential to the future of arts festivals because it exposes more Black art to the world in new in interesting ways. While I can’t say too much about the work I’m doing, I can say that the Festival itself will be more interactive and accessible from wherever you are in the world. It’s a large undertaking, but it’s an exciting one.

MC: You’ve also done non-profit work with agencies in Africa. How do you see Africa developing on the web in the next few years?

BS: Africa has a lot of potential to be a very substantial force in mobile development, especially with making mobile access cheaper and faster to develop. One thing I saw while working on the Question Box site was the way that wireless was used to do a lot of good. The idea that someone can stand in a town and ask a question to someone miles away at a computer and get an answer that may change how they eat, how they purify their water, or anything that we in the US can easily look up on a search engine, was nothing short of amazing.

From what I see, the mantra there is simple – you might not have a computer, but you’ll probably have a mobile device. Let’s meet you where you’re at technology-wise. Mobile access in Africa has a much more significant impact than in the United States with regards to simple access to information and what it means for African businesses. Since it’s much easier to put up a wireless tower than it is to lay cable in some regions, infrastructure is easier. Just watch over the next five years at how things grow. I see Africa as the future.

MC: This year was the first WordCamp Atlanta. What did you learn from that event with respect to the WordPress community?

BS: WordPress users have a lot of passion. The WordPress community is more open about it’s problems and what it takes to solve them than many other open source communities I know. Jane Wells, our keynote speaker and user experience developer at Automattic, acknowledged the gap that not only exists between men and women developers, but also in terms of race in the community. The newly formed WordPress Foundation and the increasing number of WordCamps make for a more open and inclusive environment. I also think that the hard push to make theme and plugin developers make their code open via the GPL allows for more innovation and easier points of entry to the community. Automattic is making smart, future-oriented moves to keep WordPress as open and available as possible.

MC: I should note that you are a young Black male (21 years old) who is very active in this tech sphere. Give us your perspective of where and how you see African-Americans in the future in this space.

BS: It’s all about pushing awareness into the public now. It has to be. One thing I’ve observed is that now that we have a mixed president, we’re supposedly “post-racial”, and we’re moving on from prejudice. That’s the problem; instead of embracing differences in perspective or lifestyle and how that connects to our common experiences, we’re erasing it for the sake of creating a common human experience. That’s flawed. No one should feel like they can’t be open about perceptions or lessons learned due to race. We seem to accept the gender argument concerning the lack of women in X or Y, but not race, when I think it’s now more important than ever.

That said, the conversation among Black people in tech now needs to shift from “why aren’t we being featured more in X publication” to “we’re going to make it more than apparent that Black talent, startups, deals, etc. exist and people are missing out on a largely untapped market with more buying power than imagined.” We need to fill in those blind spots for people that don’t know. The only way to push against real and perceived bias is by pushing awareness of the tools that Black people have developed that power your experience on the web. That push starts on sites like Black Web 2.0, but must continue now in person, on mainstream sites like TechCrunch, and among local communities. People need to know the stories of people like Paul Judge, or the Dime Wars creators, and realize the power we have in the larger tech community.

The future also has to think about how gender relates to race. One of feelings I had last year was somewhat reminiscent of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man. Where were the visible black men? What are we doing? Why aren’t we more aggressive about visibility? This is not to say that it’s better for black women in this space by a long shot. We can’t make that comparison. One thing I do notice a lot though, is the language and blind spots shown by people that think we’re solving the problem by finding and focusing on only gender (in this case, black women). But we should take a closer look at how race connects to gender when it comes to awareness, talent, and growth of Black people on the web. I don’t think the answers are out there (I certainly don’t have definite ones), but let’s intensify that part of the gender and race conversation. The future lies in being more engaging with conversations, and engaging in the larger world more. 2010 is the year to do it.

MC: Do you have any projects you’re working on now to share with Black Web 2.0?

BS: This is going to be a busy year. In March, I’m on Kaliya Hamlin’s SXSW panel, “What Guys are Doing to Get More Girls in Tech!”. Right now, I’m starting a interactive firm called tenpeach with a web designer. Planning for WordCamp Atlanta 2011 has already started; we listened and caught every tweet about the event, and are already planning some additions that stretch past the traditional perceptions of WordCamps. In addition to the Festival, I’m working on and talking to people about starting something similar to Blacks in Tech NYC, to raise awareness and simply connect with others. The most important thing to me this year is the fact I’ll be writing more.

This year is a very important year for Atlanta as a tech scene; the community has way too many meetups/drinks/roundtables, but I haven’t seen much success come from that. We’ve become communities of one – one person stakes a claim and says “this is what the community will be” and people flock to it. It’s a maddening recursive loop. We talk too much and don’t act. That’s going to take some honesty on all parts and there are growing pains. So I’ll be a more active participant in the community, as well as asking questions about what it all means.

You can follow Brandon Sheats online on Twitter or visit him at his website to find out about his latest work.

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Andre Barnes, technology director at !mpact Church in Atlanta, GA. Barnes is responsible for helping establish the church’s technology infrastructure, as well as overseeing the church’s website and technology outreach efforts. Here’s a brief intro about Andre:

Maurice Cherry: Tell us how you got involved with working with Impact Church in your current role.

Andre Barnes: I was introduced to !mpact through the former Marketing Lead, Alicia Ingram. I got interviewed several times before I was selected because !mpact was looking for someone that was forward thinking and that would always keep them on the edge of new technology. Furthermore, I did attend !mpact’s Worship Experience before I got the job because I wanted to see if this organization was for me.

MC: A lot of churches, particularly Black churches, are starting to catch on to using the web to get information to their congregation and to reach out to prospective members. What are your thoughts on this, and how has having an active web presence helped !mpact Church?

AB: Here at !mpact we converse a lot about “convenience”. Technology has be to as convenient for people as possible and this is true for churches too. Getting the message of God to as many people as possible in an effective manner is the key and utilizing web technologies such as social networks, blogs and email is the way to go right now.

By having an active web presence, it has helped !mpact with getting more people to hear the word of God and see the word of God work through people. In the technology department we go by the three “Cs”:

• Connecting: We believe that the web gives us the ability to engage with people that would probably never step foot in our Worship Experience. However, we know that we can offer them the same level of engagement if they were with us physically.
• Continuing the Conversation: Church does not end on Sunday nor does God’s word. It is important for us to make sure that people are receiving God’s message 7 days a week 24 hours a day.
• Convenience: As simple as making things convenient is, churches do not do this enough; especially, on the web. For example, a church should not just email out their newsletter, they should post it on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks so their community does not have to go to their inbox all the time. The web is a big circle, what goes around comes around. It you post your newsletter on Facebook have links that will take your community back to your website.

MC: There are some who say that churches have no place online and should be be used as a substitute for in-person fellowship. What are your thoughts on that?

AB: Here at !mpact, we just do not say that were “Doing Church Differently”, we do it!
We understand that what we do is not the best way for all churches; however, for us having a strong online presence works great. Similar to lifechurch.tv, we would be totally satisfied if we have the majority of our community online watching our Worship Experience and giving than having them physically present.

MC: You’re also very active in the Atlanta chapter of the Black Data Processing Associates. Tell us about the work you do there.

AB: Currently, I am the Lead instructor for their High School Program that teaches students web technologies. Effectively teaching others what I know is a passion of mine and I have been blessed with this opportunity.

MC: Do you have any projects you’re working on now you’d like to share with Black Web 2.0?

AB: I am working on a few projects that will be coming out this year. However, one that has recently launched is called bvers.es. It is a short url service which currently gives people the ability not only to share a link but a bible verse too. My personal website is www.drebarnes.com.

You can find out more about !mpact Church and Andre’s work, check him out on Twitter. Also, check out their website, and follow them on both Twitter and Facebook.

Tristan Walker is the Vice President of Product Development at Foursquare, the location based social network that incorporates gaming elements while helping the user discover new venues throughout the city the are currently located.  On January 7, 2009 Blackweb 2.0 talked with Tristan about all things Foursquare.

CEO & co-Founder of Rrripple, Heather Hiles

Heather Hiles is the CEO and Co-Founder of Silicon valley based media sharing site called Rrripple.  Before you think of it as another social network don’t.  In our interview with Heather she explains how her platform is used to share digital media to groups privately.  The service also boasts touch screen capability and already has an iPhone App.  You get about 3GB of space with a free account.

What is Rrripple and how did you start it?
rrripple is a lifeflow™ (digtial media) sharing platform that provides people full control over curating and sharing. I started it with my co-Founder, Andres when he asked me what site I use to share all of my photos, files, videos with groups privately and selectively. I told him I was using Sharepoint to manage a group called Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund (SV2) and it did not serve my personal needs well at all. I had been an advisor to Andres’ first tech company and have known him for 10 years. Andres was at Palm at the time and he said “let’s build the perfect private group sharing web app together,” and I agreed.

What did you do before launching Rrripple?
I ran my own consultancy managing the philanthropy of many technologists, and improving the philanthropic performance of other large foundations. I have organized groups throughout my life. I served as the Communications Director for Gavin Newsom when he first ran for Mayor. I served as a School Board Commissioner in San Fransisco. As an example, I now serve on the boards of Leadership Public Schools, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and Social Venture Network and I need to communicate and share all types of media privately within these groups.

How did you all come up with the name?
rrripple is a symbol of sharing and spreading, like the multiplier effect. The 3 rrr’s is a way of expressing that notion in a word.

How is Rrripple different from what is out there now?
Currently, there is no place to go and create various groups/networks that you proactively create and share with privately in a user-friendly, group-oriented way. For example, on Facebook (which we love) people are constantly asking us to be be friends with people we do not know, and this is dangerous. On LinkedIn (which we also adore) algorithms recommend people to me to the point of distraction.

At rrripple you only invite friends you know to join groups that you create and this preserves the safety, security, and privacy of each group you create. It also means you are only sharing relevant media to each group/person. So, what I send to my mom is very different than what I share with my girlfriends, and now it is easy to share with both groups. This provides 100% signal, 0% noise.

Also, we are built on a timeline that allows for each user and each group to chronicle all of their media and sharing automatically. Moreover, the interface is built for touch screens so that you have the entire cloud of activities at your fingertips.

Finally, with the iPhone and other mobile device apps, you can take a photo or a video from anywhere and send it safely to your groups.

Are you all Bootstrapping or have you raised venture investment?
We have been bootstrapping and raised a small amount via angels (under $200k) to get to the point of releasing our beta (www.rrripple.com, please check it out). And we are now in the process of raising a seed round of funding so that we can implement all of the engineering we have planned to make the site awesome!

What growth strategies are you all using?
We are seeding ourselves in various networks–including high schools, non-profits, governmental agencies– as well as the early adopter community. We are also relying on press to get the word out about us and we are optimizing our site for searches by people who need our solution.

What does the future look like for Rrripple?
Looking to 2010, we will be releasing many new features that will make importing contacts (from your address books, Plaxo, gmail, etc) and importing content (e.g. photos, videos) from sites like Picasa, Flickr, etc, easy and fun. We will also offer new functions like filter and search that will make it extremely fun to view all videos from your family group, for example, on the timeline.

We look forward to having many partnerships with companies that print photos, produce albums and more and we also think we will make the ideal interface for a large media management company and will explore such opportunities. Don’t be surprised to see celebrities using rrripple to share their media privately with the people and groups in their lives.

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.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Windows 7 Program Manager Cordell Jones. Cordell has worked with Microsoft for the past 14 years, with the past 2 years focused on Windows 7. Some of Cordell’s past project include Microsoft Publisher and Microsoft Exchange. Cordell now works on the networking side of Windows 7.

Cordell is a graduate of Tuskegee University. Enjoy!

The 2009 MUES (MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneur Series) offers its final ePowerlunch Webinar of the summer on Tuesday, September 15  at 11:30 a.m. CST (12:30 p.m. EST) and will be focused on Tech Your Biz  – The new face of marketing using Web 2.0 tools. Here is a brief description:

Blogging, viral videos and campaigns, search engine optimization and social networks, what does it all mean and how to use it to market your business.  Join the discussion as new media specialists share the tricks of this new trade that help maximize the bottom line.

Panelists include Juan Solana, Kevin McFall, Fred Sotelo and BlackWeb20.com’s Angela Benton.

The Webinar is free. And you can visit MUES online to listen to other podcasts of the series.  Register Here

When I first heard about Social Cord (via @waynesutton) the service which had been explained as being similar to “Cable for Social Networks” was immediately intriguing.  I visited the site and even read up on some articles via Venture Beat and Mashable, both of which didn’t do the service any justice (not so much Venture Beat, more so Mashable).  It wasn’t until I spoke with Founder David Dundas that I fully understood the company’s concept and opportunity it offers some publishers.  It just so happens the week we spoke was at the heat of an interweb debate on the most “elegant way to monetize content” on the web.

David Dundas, Founder of Social Cord

Simply put Social Cord is a self serve montetization platform for premium content for Twitter, Facebook, and websites in general.  The service bills directly to a mobile phone so no credit card is needed.  Unlike it’s closest competitors tipjoy, twitpub, and superchirp Social Cord works with or without Twitter.  Dundas explains Social Cord as being “ideal for media companies, music artists, social network app developers, and content creators who have an audience that they are interested in providing premium content to.”  Social Cord launched in Beta at the end of July and is currently looking for testers who are interested in monetizing their apps or Twitter streams.

Listen in on my quick but very detailed interview about Social Cord’s offerings (Social Cord Fan Clubs, TipCup, and Social Cord Alerts), their business model, and how content creatures can monetize outside of ad based models by offering premium content to niche audiences.  Enjoy!

In this part of our interview with Brett Wright he talks about being a print purest.  He makes a point on not trying to make Vibe an affluent publication in its’ rebirth while also stating:

“We would not have done Vibe.com if we couldn’t have figured out how to do a print version.  We believe it is critical to the Vibe brand.”

He also spoke about how Uptown and its’ partners are cutting down the cost structure of distributing the printed publication.  When asked “What will happen to old subscribers, will they grandfather into the new issues?” He told us they didn’t take on liability of subscribers but are working on ways to make sure paid subscribers of the magazine before it closed are happy.  Another company purchased the liability of the subscriptions, no word on who the buyer was.  Lastly, he also gives his personal take on the Freemium/Premium paid content model.

This is Part 3 in a series of 3.