||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| AFRICAN AMERICAN BUSINESS 2 BUSINESS Number 48 June 6, 1999 The Consumers Guide To Products & Services Produced for you by AAB2B http://www.aabcps.com http://www.aabcps.com/cgi-bin/optin.cgi ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ---------------------------------------------------------- --Editorial: mailto:Editor@aabcps.com --To Subscribe: subscribe@aabcps.com --For Ad Sales: mailto:sales@aabcps.com --Fanmail: mailto:fanmail@aabcps.com ---------------------------------------------------------- *Note: For removal from future e-mailing, simply http://www.aabcps.com/remove.html Click Here To Be Removed from the newsletter Please forward this info to anyone who may be interested. IN THIS ISSUE: Section 1........... Love For A Black Woman Section 2........... June Events For Jazz Lovers Section 3........... Sing the Sun Up Section 4........... Urban City Life Section 5........... Conducting Effective Consumer Surveys: Criticism Section 6........... The "Take Away And Give To Another" Game Section 7........... Stopping Banner Advertising Fraud II Section 8........... Ariel/Schwab: African Americans Missing Out On Investing Section 9........... Promote Your Products And Services In Internetshows and Direct E-mail Marketing <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> FROM THE EDITOR AND READERS <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> Dear Readers: Here we are again back to the issues and business sense! I hope you enjoy this issue and the mind provoking articles. :) Thanks! <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 1. QUOTE OF THE WEEK <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> LOVE FOR A BLACK WOMAN I love you more than anything More than anything I've ever loved And you fill my life with so much happiness All the happiness that I've dreamed of Life would have no meaning without you to fill my heart And only you can captivate me -- you're my modern art It's true, you know it's true I'm glad there's you -- Lyrics, Copyright J.L. Allyn, from the ballad "I'm Glad There's You" -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 2. AFRICAN AMERICAN INTERESTS & CULTURE -- From AAB2B reader Terry Bello Burton (groovenation@prodigy.net) -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> ATLANTA SMOKIN' GROOVES TOUR '98 JUNE thru AUGUST (late) Third annual concert tour that features cutting edge hip-hop,and psychedelic funk. Last year's featured artists were Brand New Heavies,Erykah Badu, George Clinton & P-Funk All-Stars, and Foxxy Brown. For tour info call,(800) 847-4842 or (404) 656-3590. BALTIMORE/ANNAPOLIS JAZZFEST, JUNE 6 - JUNE 7 Jazz festival held on St. John's College campus in Annapolis, MD. Features local and regional bands and food booths. Tickets are$15 and permits you to see all shows. For more info call (800) 282- 6632. BALTIMORE CARIBBEAN WINE FESTIVAL, JUNE 26 - JUNE 28 This late June festival is held in Mt. Airy, MD at the Linganore Wine Cellars. Caribbean bands play reggae each day with lots of food and wine. Complimentary glasses of wine are included for the $6 admission. For more info, call (301) 663-8687. BOSTON GLOBE JAZZ & BLUES FESTIVAL, JUNE (mid) Week long series of free and ticketed concert events featuring past artists such as Al Jarreau, Ray Charles, Lou Rawls and Spyro Gyra. For more info call (800) 888-5515. CHARLOTTE SMOKIN' GROOVES TOUR '98, JUNE thru AUGUST (late) See Atlanta tour info above. For more info call (919) 834-5900. CHICAGO GOSPEL FESTIVAL, JUNE 12 - JUNE 14 Chicago is host to the world's largest free outdoor gospel festival with nearly 200,000 people converging at Grant Park on the lakefront. This festival has hosted such artists as Tremayne Hawkins, Stephanie Mills, and the Mississippi Mass Choir. For more info call (312)744-2400. CHICAGO BLUES FESTIVAL, JUNE 4 - JUNE 7 Celebrating its 15th year, this festival remains the biggest drawing over 500,000 blues fans each year. Chicago plays hosts to national and international artists for four days. CINCINNATI SMOKIN' GROOVES TOUR '98, JUNE thru AUGUST (late) See Atlanta tour info above. For more info, call (513)429-9100. COLUMBUS SMOKIN' GROOVES TOUR '98, JUNE thru AUGUST (late) See Atlanta tour info above. For more info, call (614) 431- 3600. DALLAS GOSPELFEST, JUNE 6 - JUNE 7 The best in contemporary African-American gospel is featured. For more info, call (214) 746-6677. DALLAS SOUTHWEST BLACK ARTS FESTIVAL, JUNE 6 - JUNE 7 Features the best in African-American cultural arts which includes dance, theater, and art. For more info call (214) 746-6677. DALLAS SMOKIN' GROOVES TOUR '98, JUNE thru AUGUST (late) See Atlanta tour info above. For more info, call (800) 888- 8839. DETROIT GOSPELFEST, JUNE (mid) Annual gospel music celebration that attracts national performers such as the Winans Family, Vanessa Bell-Armstrong, and Bobby Jones. For more info, call (810) 851-3993. HAMPTON VA. JAZZ FESTIVAL, JUNE 18 - JUNE 21 Big three day festival that last year featured Kenny G, Pieces of Dream, Patti LaBelle, Frankie Beverly & Maze, and B.B. King. Tickets are $35. For more info call (804) 722-1222. HAMPTON VA. AFRICAN AMERICAN FESTIVAL, JUNE 19 - JUNE 21 This diverse festival features live reggae, gospel, jazz, arts &crafts and ethnic foods. This event is held at beautiful Mill Point Park on the waterfront. For more info, call (804) 722-1222. PITTSBURGH MELLON JAZZ FESTIVAL, JUNE (mid) Past lineups have included Wynton Marsalis, and other stars. Ten days and more than 25 acts light up this event. Most concerts arefree, but some shows can cost up to $35. For more info, call (412) 281- 7711. PHILADELPHIA MELLON JAZZ FESTIVAL, JUNE (late) This 10 day festival honors local and national acts each year. Both contemporary and traditional jazz artists perform. For more info, call (215) 636-1666. WASHINGTON D.C. CAPITAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, JUNE 5 - JUNE The 6th annual festival will be held at Merriweather Post Pavilion Columbia, MD. The largest jazz festival on the east coast features the following artists: Michael Franks, Nancy Wilson, Will Downing, Maysa, Boney James, Al Jarreau, Pieces of a Dream, and Gerald Albright. Ticket prices range $23.50 - $100.00. For more info call (301) 218-0404 or visit the website http://www.capitaljazz.com WASHINGTON D.C. WOLF TRAP JAZZ & BLUES FESTIVAL, JUNE 19 -JUNE 21 This three day festival held in Vienna,VA stages top notch artists in jazz, blues, and R&B. Ticket prices range from $16.00 - $27.00 per day. For more info, call (703) 790-3329. WASHINGTON D.C. CARIBBEAN CARNIVAL, JUNE 27 - JUNE 28 Large free outdoor event in Banneker Park that features reggae, soca, steeldrum, and calypso music. Popular and colorful parade also adds to this event. For more info, call (202) 789-7000. ********************************************************************** INTERNATIONAL FESTIVALS (including Hawaii): ********************************************************************** ACAPULCO 3RD ANNUAL BLACK FILM FESTIVAL, JUNE 8 - JUNE 13 A celebration of Black Cinema. Independent films, panel discussions, Actors boot camp, Entertainment Nightly, Parties with the stars, Beach parties For info call 1-888-383-2669. Ebony Fun Seekers BAHAMAS-PARADISE ISLAND CARIBBEAN MUZIK FEST, JUNE 5 - JUNE 7 Various music including calypso, soca, jazz, reggae. For more info call (800) 823-3136. ST.KITTS MUSIC FESTIVAL, JUNE 26 - JUNE 29 Last year's featured artists were Freddie Jackson, and Cece Winans. For more info call (800) 582-6208. TORONTO DuMAURIER JAZZ FESTIVAL, JUNE 20 - JUNE 29 Features some of the best contemporary jazz artists around. For more info call (800) 668-2746. <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 3. BOOK OF THE WEEK -- From AAB2B reader Bruce Morrow (bmorrow@panix.com) -- <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> SING THE SUN UP Creative Writing Ideas from African American Literature Edited by Lorenzo Thomas Sing the Sun Up's 20 teaching writers present practical ideas and methods for motivating students to write imaginatively, inspired by African American poetry, fiction, essays, and drama. Teachers of English, creative writing, and black studies-from elementary through college level-will find this book to be a valuable source of writing ideas and lessons, and anyone interested in exploring the richness of African American literature will discover fresh and energetic approaches The essays discuss exciting model pieces by a wide range of authors: poetry and prose by James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, Aimé Césaire, Lucille Clifton, Jayne Cortez, Countee Cullen, Frank Marshall Davis, Rita Dove, Nikki Giovanni, Langston Hughes, Zora Neal Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, Bob Kaufman, Etheridge Knight, Luis Pales Matos, Jean Toomer, and Margaret Walker, among others. Also featured is a wealth of student examples written in response to these works. The book is framed by a preface and an annotated bibliography/discography by the book´s editor, Lorenzo Thomas. "Lorenzo Thomas is Associate Professor of English at the University of Houston-Downtown, where he teaches American Literature and Creative Writing. Thomas´s poems and essays have appeared in many journals and reference books. He is also the author of three volumes of poetry." |||||||||||||||| 3-a ||||||||||||||||| WIN A VACATION FOR TWO One weekly winner will be selected and announced here in AAB2B. Simply Visit our website below for details. http://www.aabcps.com/cgi-bin/optin.cgi <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 4. AFRICAN AMERICAN WEB SIGHTS <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> "URBAN CITY LIFE" http://www.internetshows.com/urbancitylife John White, a famous African American photojournalist, takes you to the 1973's Southside of Chicago in pictures. You'll be fascinated with the photographs from this award-winning photographer. It's available on the i*Culture Channel Network, channel 440 show "c." Click the "ACCESS" button at anytime to see complete show listings. |||||||||||||||| 4-a ||||||||||||||||| UNIQUE GALLERY BRINGS AFRICAN FURNITURE & ART TOGETHER WITH CUSTOM MODERN HOME FURNISHINGS Los Angeles, CA -- Tribal Living Furnishings & Gallery, the first of many planned outlets in the U.S., is creating a lot of excitement with collectors, home decorators, and home owners in Southern California. Tribal Living's owners, the Sylla Corporation and the Sylla family, have traded in the U.S. for over 30 years now. Their gallery carries rare and authentic African art, masks, head dresses, and carvings, as well as African thrones, chairs, stools, and beds, that will make any collection or home interior come alive. These treasures compliment the richly upholstered modern furniture they also carry, covered in a wide variety of African prints and patterns. Address: 842 S. La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90036 Phone: (323)939-9901 Fax: (323)939-9469 <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 5. UNLEASH THE SALES POWER WITHIN <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> CONDUCTING EFFECTIVE CONSUMER SURVEYS: CRITICISM One of the best ways to conduct consumer surveys is to ask your respondents, "What's wong with this?" If you can't get at least one criticism from each person you survey, you may not be getting honest feedback. Criticism is one factor which drives the development of your ideas. After all, if your idea were perfect you wouldn't need to get feedback in the first place. The reason criticism is so important is that you are trying to get as much information as possible to work out as many problems as possible Next time: "Conducting Effective Consumer Surveys: Do They Understand?" <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 6. SELF MOTIVATION & HOW-TO <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< THE "TAKE AWAY AND GIVE TO ANOTHER" GAME This motivator is a way to show how important it is to complete a job properly. There is an auto detail shop with 12 employees who were each responsible for individual tasks that they could chose for themselves: Wash a car -- $5 Wax a car -- $10 Remove wax -- $7 Steam clean an engine -- $12 ArmourAll a car's tires -- $4 Vacuum an interior -- $3 Shampoo an interior -- $15 Sounds simple? Nope. Let's say Jim waxes the car but misses a spot and Tom comes along and catches the mistake. Who gets paid the $10 wax money? Jim loses it to Tom, even though Tom only waxed a small spot. But let's say that Tom, after the wax dries, also removes the wax. Jim comes along and sees that Tom missed a spot on the car, where wax remains, and removes the missed wax. Who gets the $7 wax removal money? Jim does. Because the detail shop specialized in detailing cars from dealerships, they utilized the "take away and give to another" game to ensure each car went back flawless. Each employee had fun seeing if they could catch unfinished work of their co-workers. Next Time: "The 'I'm Not Sure You're Qualified To Buy' Game" <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 7. AD CLINIC <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> STOPPING BANNER ADVERTISING FRAUD II It is very hard to catch banner fraud. But when you do, stop it immediately. Many banner agencies allow you to go to their web page to see your traffic, listing each of the web sites displaying your banner and the "hits" generated for each day. Look to see if there are "mirrored" hits -- two or more web sites, owned by the same person, which have the same exact amount of hits on the exact same days. This is an indication that someone is trying to cheat you out of your advertising dollars. When you find this type of activity, contact the banner ad agency and ask that those hits, along with the related web sites, to be removed form your account. You shouldn't have to pay for theose hits. In many cases the agency has dealt with this fraud before, but since they make money from it, they are not too anxious to get rid of it on their own -- you have to catch it and bring it to their attention. Next time: "Stopping Banner Advertising Fraud III " <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 8. AFRICAN AMERICAN BUSINESS <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> ARIEL/SCHWAB: AFRICAN AMERICANS MISSING OUT ON INVESTING In a recent Associated Press news item entitled, "Survey: Black Women Invest Less," Peter Alan Harper talks about a recent survey where it was shown that African American women are the least likely group to invest in stocks. This, Harper says, "is because of the greater societal demands placed upon them" -- but that they are the most eager to catch up, too. In an earlier article, here in AAB2B, it was pointed out that buying into Fortune 500 corporations was a safe way for African Americans to enter business ownership. But, it is our culture (i.e. "Buy Black" and "Recycling Black Dollars") that keeps us from buying into and buying significant portions of these companies. The Associated Press article went on to point out that, dispite "the bull market still roaring on Wall Street, Blacks overall still remain underinvested due to formidable cultural and demographic factors.'' And, Harper quotes John Rogers, president of Ariel Mutual Funds, a black-owned investment firm, as saying, ''After working so hard to join the middle class, many blacks are still missing out on the greatest wealth-building opportunity in American history." The second annual survey sponsored by Ariel Mutual Funds and Charles Schwab & Company surveyed 813 African American households with annual incomes exceeding $50,000 as part of the survey. "The survey comes as many groups expound on the wealth creation theme," says Harper, "whether it's Jesse Jackson's Wall Street Project that's enlisted President Clinton, or two wealth creation conferences slated for New York this month or the Coalition of Black Investors claiming May as an investment month for blacks. While last year, the Ariel/Schwab survey also found that blacks were underinvested, this year, the survey sought to determine why. |||||||||||||||| 8-a ||||||||||||||||| Give Away FREE advertising to merchants Give Away FREE money to consumers Stand in the middle and collect a fortune! Internet Automation makes it Real!! Get your piece of the action at: http://www.realcoupon.com mailto:info@realcoupon.com <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> 9. GREAT WAYS TO PROMOTE YOUR BIZ <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> |||||||||||||||| 9-a ||||||||||||||||| PROMOTE YOUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES IN INTERNETSHOWS Is $250,000 per episode TV promotion out of reach for you? Internetshows can be produced for less than 1% of that. The i*Internet Entertainment Network http://www.internetshows.com provides the widest spectrum of consumer products and services with a sophisticated and growing audience of all age groups who seek information on a broad range of topics and entertainment. Using still-image photography, Internetshows employs a more traditional cable/broadcast TV-like medium to nurture expand you products and services into new markets. And your products benefit from Fortune 500 companies associated with the sponsorship of your Internetshows. Cooking shows, hairstyling shows, auto repair, fashion, beauty shows, travel shows, business how-to, and a wide range of other show types can appear on over 600 channels. Address: 4636 College Avenue, San Diego, CA 92115 URL: http://www.internetshows.com (click the "ACCESS" button for show listings) Toll-Free: (888)42-SHOWS (888-427-4697) FAX: (619)286-5651 E-mail: mailto:shows@internetshows.com |||||||||||||||| 9-b ||||||||||||||||| SUPERIOR WEB HOSTING AND WEB DESIGN Give your small Businesses an international presence with a Fortune 500 look without the Fortune 500 cost. http://www.webpo.com <><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><> If you have any questions or want to advertise in AAB2B don't hesitate to call (Mon - Fri 10AM-6PM EST) our number is (520)579-5393 or fax (520)579-3489 or email mailto:sales@aabcps.com Thank you for making US your Business 2 Business connection. B2B is published every Friday, to over 75,000 African American businesses, professionals and consumers. (c) 1999 AAB2B All Rights Reserved. AA Business 2 Business is edited by UAI Marketing, Los Angeles