What happens when 3 innovative and passionate black women leverage the power of social media?
#BLACKBIZSCOPE
It's a movement that I am proud to be a part of, and this fun interview with Christine St Vil, was exciting for me. As a woman, and black business owner, it is thrilling to see our community join together to allow black businesses to shine.
Black Biz Scope is an initiative created by Pamela Booker (Koils By Nature), Adeea Rogers (Trendy Socialite) and Christine St.Vil (Moms N Charge™) to support and build a community for black owned businesses. They give black businesses the opportunity to share their business via live broadcasts on Periscope, with a combination of everyone's followers and communities.
The goal is to get more dollars to stay within the black community.
Are You Scoping Yet? If Not, Why Not?
Periscope is the new video streaming platform that is taking the social media world by storm.
Marie Claire
Periscope allows you to transmit a live recording of yourself to your Periscope and Twitter followers. Your viewers can not only watch, but can comment, and ask questions, and of course shower you with an abundance of hearts!
Booker, Rogers, and St. Vil saw the potential of this great platform, and what it could do for black businesses, if they were able to come together and to support one another.
Every Friday, from 10-11 AM EST and 6-8 PM EST black businesses are featured on Periscope. During that time, everyone in the community is invited to log into that one business's periscope, share it with their followers and give them a ton of hearts!
The Ladies BehindBlack Biz Scope
Pamela J. Booker is a native of Beaufort, South Carolina and is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Koils by Nature. Pamela served in the US Army, is a wife and mother of two.
Adeea Rogers is a speaker, consultant and Founder of the International Natural Hair Meetup Day.
Christine K. St.Vil is a native of the Washington, DC area and is the Founder, CEO of Moms 'N Charge™ (a division of Purpose Driven Media, LLC). She is a wife and homeschooling mother of three.
Thank you Christine, for making the time to chat with me about Black Biz Scope!
Q- How did you ladies come up with the idea for Black Biz Scope?
A: It started with Pamela (@KoilsByNature) doing a Periscope preparing for an upcoming event. She was sharing where her purchases came from with the items she was wearing that day, and how they were all from black owned businesses. Pamela has always been a huge supporter of black owned businesses, and commented on the need to show more support for our community. Tracey (@ShampooMate) suggested that we share black owned businesses with each other through Periscope (#PassTheScope). Christine then chimed in and said we should have Black Biz Fridays, and it resulted in Pamela asking business owners to email her with their contact info, and then we would come up with a schedule for everyone to come on and support each other.
Q-What are the benefits for black business owners?
A: The primary benefit is free (as of right now) advertising for their business. Black Biz Scope is a community that provides services that facilitate Black-Owned businesses (service and/or product driven) by providing a hub to market, target, identify, and expand their brand.
Q-The community is so engaged, and so willing and ready to be help one another, is this something that you were prepared for? What are some of the things that you do to encourage an engaged community?
A: We were prepared for the engagement because they were already engaged on our individual platforms prior to launching Black Biz Scope. But we are definitely excited about the level of enthusiasm we witness every Friday on Periscope. We encourage engagement by showcasing the analytics from each broadcast (an average of 203 live viewers and 8800 hearts received on each broadcast, although last Friday 2-3 businesses received well over 400 live viewers and over 20K hearts in 15 minutes). People are engaged because they see the value and support first-hand.
Q-The conversation about black business within our community has been so tremendous, social media has really helped to make a difference, and it is exciting to see Black Biz Scope propel this movement by utilizing a newer platform like Periscope in the early stages. How are you using other social media platforms to grow and to connect with other black businesses
A. Individually, we each use our platforms to promote and connect with black owned businesses, primarily through Instagram. We also share black owned businesses using our blogging platforms (Christine has shared 23 African American businesses you should know on her blog), and encourage black businesses to join us as well. In addition, we also are a part of different Facebook groups, and use those groups to share and support other black owned businesses.
Q- Black Biz Scope was founded by 3 fantabulous women, yes, I just created my own word, but each and every one of you ladies are inspirations for me, Pamela J Booker of Koils by Nature, Adeea Rogers Social Media rockstar and blogger at Trendy Socialite, and of course Christine St. Vil, founder of Moms N Charge and co-author of Whose Shoes Are You Wearing? 12 Steps to Uncovering The Woman You Really Want to Be, how did this partnership come about?
A: It actually was very organic. It happened right away within the live broadcast. We are ones that when something resonates with us, we immediately step up to the plate and take action. So we got on the phone right after the broadcast and started planning, with the first #BlackBizScope happening the very next day. Within 24 hours we had secured social media handles, an e-mail address, started a schedule and started on the logo. We just had to add on an additional hour on Fridays and are now schedule into September. We dedicate three hours every Friday to #BlackBizScope at 10am EST, 6pm EST & 7pm EST.
Q- What advice can you give women who are interested in partnering with like minded women, in order to create a larger splash, in their communities, businesses, or industries?
A: Show up, engage, ask, give (and give some more), support. Be willing to go the extra mile. Leave the egos out of it. It's about taking action and tweak it as you go, let go of perfection. We are focused on one common goal. We're not worried about titles or who's in charge, and we play into our own strengths.
Q- What do you hope to accomplish with Black Biz Scope?
A: To get more Black Owned businesses using this platform, and to drive more awareness of these great businesses. We would like to become the go-to hub of support for black owned businesses. We want to equip black owned businesses with the ability to leverage the power of platforms like Periscope in order to attract their ideal client. We will be going beyond scheduling Black Biz Scope Fridays, but also begin offering services, training and community support for members. Our overall goal is to equip and empower all black owned businesses, and prove that we are thriving community ready and willing to actively support.
Q- How can other business owners join?
A: It's super simple to join our community! All you have to do is send an email to us at join@blackbizscope.com with your Name, Business Name, Product or Service, Time Zone, Periscope handle and Phone number. Once we have received your e-mail, we will then invite you to join our private Facebook community. We schedule the broadcasts on a first come, first served basis.
Q- What about those who may be interested in supporting Black Biz Scope, is there a way for them to get in touch?
A: Absolutely! They can shoot us an e-mail to info@blackbizscope.com and let us know what they have in mind.
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