Marketing strategist Mahdi Woodard is helping Black entrepreneurs harness their marketing power. His mission follows nearly 10 years of experience in corporate marketing. Ultimately, it was a nudge from a mentor that opened up his mind to the possibility of venturing further into the marketing sector on his own terms. “He said, ‘If you got the financial chops to do corporate finance, investment banking, you’ll thrive in marketing. Because it’s not just the creative things, you are the person that’s running the business. You need to have that analytical rigor and that creative muscle,'” Woodard recalled the advice on the “Black Money Green Tech” podcast hosted by Will Lucas. The branding specialist also recognized he had become a trusted resource for many who were looking for advice, which he later recognized as consulting. By placing a calculated bet on his skills, he forged his path as a brand strategist under his own company, Mahdi Woodard, Inc. In that same breath, he is...

Entrepreneur Jayda Cheaves is more than your average social media influencer or the woman who is famous for dating and having a baby with rapper Lil Baby. From launching her own hair business to being an ambassador for brands like Savage x Fenty and Fashion Nova, the mother of one is just one of a few influencers that flipped her social capital into a lucrative cash flow that made her a successful entrepreneur. Who Is Jayda Cheaves? According to an interview with ESSENCE, Jayda Cheaves — better known as “Jayda Wayda” online — detailed all the ways content creation and building her name as a brand has helped her in her upwards journey of entrepreneurship. “Everything you post is marketable,” she says revealing the key to growing a large following online. “You have have to watch what you post and certain things you have to post because it helps your engagement.” This formula for her social media etiquette is what helped garner over 288,000 followers on an Instagram page for her...

The most prominent video-sharing application on the Web, YouTube , is the first platform you should consider if you’re looking to create and monetize video content. Collectively, viewers watch over a billion hours of content each day on YouTube. And because of that, advertisers pay competitive rates to air ads on the platform. Content creators like yourself can share a piece of that action and make money. But while it may seem as simple as grabbing a smartphone and selfie stick and shooting a quality video about an interest of yours, making money on YouTube is a bit more involved than that. And generating consistent income from YouTube is a lot more complicated. First, you’ll need to join the YouTube Partner Program. To be eligible for the program, you’ll need to live in specific geographic regions, have a Google AdSense account, and agree to the terms of service. You’ll also have to have at least 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours worth of views within the past calendar year. These...

Are you an entrepreneur or business owner looking to get better engagement on social media? Perhaps you want to drive more attention to your posts and/or increase traffic to your website for sales. We know that social media can play a critical role in bringing more awareness and customers to our business. Yet, the key to creating engaging content on social may surprise you. Images and visuals play an important role and have their place in stopping the scroll. However, the caption or the message is what drives conversations. So, how do you foster these conversations and, thus, create engaging social media content? Here are three proven steps how! #1 Know Your Audience The first step to creating a quality-rich content strategy is to understand the audience you serve. Oftentimes, many entrepreneurs come into business wanting to target everyone . Yet, this approach will leave you frustrated, burnt out, and broke. However, when you’re focused on a specific audience you can better tailor...

The thought of getting your brand elevated shouldn’t overwhelm you any longer. You already handled the hard part of starting your business, so let these easy-to-use, free social media marketing tools help you take that business to the next level. Even if you’re not trained in marketing or consider yourself on a strict budget, there are tools that can streamline your process so you’re working smarter, not harder. Check out some of the best below: 1. Buffer Buffer will help you manage your social media accounts — across platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google Plus and Pinterest. You can also analyze the performance of each post and manage multiple accounts (they have paid plans if you want to upgrade the number of accounts you’re managing within the platform). 2. TweetDeck TweetDeck is a classic in the social media marketing world, allowing users to create a custom Twitter experience, manage multiple accounts, create custom searches, track different hashtags...