Awesomely Luvvie stand out because…
It’s chock full of foolery and ratchetness in the voice of a superb side-eye artist! But really… I think what makes my blog stand out is that I write like I speak. My take on a lot of what’s going on in the world is really authentic to how I feel and my sharp tongue and love of side-eyes seems to appeal to folks. People tell me that I say what they want to but are afraid they can’t get away with. Plus, I still value the craft of writing well. I use spell-check, when I’m not making up my own terms and words, that is.
I realized blogging was a business when…
Companies and brands started reaching out to me on some, “We love your site and we’d like to partner with you” steeze. I was like, “Me? Really?” GAP reached out to me to become a brand ambassador and I love that store. And then I started monetizing by putting ads on my sidebar and a few coins dropped in my bank account every month. I was like, “Oh, snap!” [Laughs].
The biggest mistake I ever made in business was…
Probably me not monetizing [the site] sooner; I don’t think I had ads until 2009. I had a fulltime job then and wasn’t in a hurry to get more money. How foolish of me?
What I learned from that was…
One can never have too many streams of income.
The biggest lesson I learned about branding in the digital space is…
It’s important to know that your brand is really how you make people feel and in this digital space most of that comes from your words. How folks perceive you are based on your blogs and your tweets can make a huge difference in how far you go as a blogger. Laughter is part of my brand and it makes me happy to know folks see my eCrib as a space that can make them smile. In this world–and especially online–there’s a lot of hate that makes us all frown. The fact that folks know they can come to Awesomely Luvvie and get a cackle is my prize.
The Black blogosphere’s impact on social issues is powerful because…
The Black blogosphere often turns important issues from whispers to yells. We kick off conversation that grow until they are heard by the people who need to. In the Trayvon Martin case, a lot of us took to our blogs and Twitter accounts to talk about it. We RT’d the petition and used our platforms to make sure people know about it. And this is why I love us. We’re not just fluff. We can make an impact and we do.
In business you should you never be afraid to…
Pay it forward to someone else. The knowledge and lessons you’ve learned in business can make someone’s path a bit easier than yours is. Share your lessons… especially women. For girls to really run the world, we’ve got to start supporting each other more. Trailblazers leave a trail. They don’t erase it as they go along.
The advice I have for anyone who wants to follow in my footsteps is…
Do work you’re passionate about and have a blog that you’d like to read, even if you weren’t the person behind it. Be authentic and stay true to your voice.
The most awesome thing about me is…
I look like a cartoon for real [Laughs]! Folks meet me and go, “OMG! That avatar is you!” But besides that, I’m just a smiley writer who folks find hilarious. And my locs are luxurious. My blog is awesome because it’s entertaining, funny, snarky, and a well-written version of the person I am. It’s me in print.
Be sure to check out the rest of the digital thought leaders as they’re revealed each day by logging on to BlackEnterprise.com/BlackBloggerMonth.