iZania Blogs

Recently I joined the National Black Public Relations Society (NBPRS) as a presenter for their Web Cafe series of FREE webinars.

It was an enjoyable session which I titled:
PR RENAISSANCE: The Power of PR to Impact Diversity, Marketing & the Bottom Line

The one hour session was described as follows:

Census 2010 promises to reveal that America is now more diverse than ever. As a communicator in the “Age of Obama” how do the changing demographics impact the touchpoints of your company, organization, or personal brand? How can this new reality be leveraged strategically and effectively? And

Can you imagine the reaction in this country if the white unemployment rate were to hit 17 percent? You probably cannot. Because although it's currently at only 9.8 percent there are consistent efforts, programs, and policies implemented to keep it below the dreaded 10 percent or double digit mark. In fact the goal is to reach "full employment" levels with a unemployment rate of about 5 percent  for mainstream America.

Interestingly, the unemployment rate for the African-American segment of America is at 16.8 percent according to recent reports. It's the highest of any ethnic group in

Many African American consumers would be surprised and disappointed to learn that the overwhelming majority of Fortune 500 companies they support are too embarrassed to reveal the percentage of their bottom line revenue that comes from Black consumers. Some have even instituted a "we don't answer surveys" policy at the corporate level. This is one of their tricks to block entities that are concerned with reciprocity and involvement. Start to notice the long number of companies not included in surveys provided by the NAACP, Black Enterprise, National Urban League or other organizations.

The top line in your income statement is "sales" - but what drives sales? Marketing. Point blank period, if you're not marketing, then your sales will suffer.

Any marketing tool you utilize should be designed to increase sales. If you use traditional media like print newspapers, magazines, direct mail, television,radio, and word-of-mouth you want to increase sales. Perhaps you prefer palm cards, party cards, flyers, posters, coupons, or even refrigerator magnets. They're designed to increase sales. Some of you use social media with twitter, facebook, youtube, foursquare, podcasts,

To braiders, like Oumou Wague of Chicago , her talent for weaving women's hair into elaborate styles isn't just a livelihood, it's an art form. But in a growing trend across America, this "art form" which dates back thousands of years in the African culture is illegal to practice without a state license.

Now in a clash between rules and tradition, hundreds of African American braiders in Illinois have chosen to ignore the law — including Wague, who said threats by state regulators to shut down her shop forced her to go underground, working only with established clients.

In the Institute

Harvard sociologist William Julius Wilson states, "One problem that has plagued the Black community over the years is resignation." This he defines as a self defeating set of beliefs about what to expect from life and how to respond - passed from parent to child. "And I think there was sort of a feeling that norms of resignation would weaken somewhat with the Obama election. But these hard economic times could reinforce some of these norms." The point I went to emphasize "is that we should brace ourselves."

As we come to the conclusion of Black History Month 2010, Black