The Soul Pitt is Nominated for a Black Web Award!

Over 500 Finalists, including Pittsburgh's own TheSoulPitt.com, begin the final journey towards Best in Category. Winners will be announced at an invitation only premier gala awards program on October 28, 2006. Voting lasts from August 28 - October 20, 2006. The Soul Pitt needs your help! Submit your ballot for free and vote for TheSoulPitt.com at: http://www.blackwebawards.com/top_categories Click on the drop down box near Best Local / Community Site - East USA and pick TheSoulPitt.com to win!

Satisfied Customers

I've found that being an entrepreneur means that you affect people in different ways. If you do a good job or provide a good service for your clients/customers, they are happy. They walk away feeling satisfied. They feel glad about the fact that they made a good decision in using your services or buying products from you. They tell everyone about how wonderful you are.

But treat a customer bad – and you can forget it most times. They leave feeling cheated, unsatisfied and as though they are not worthy to get your business. They bad mouth you to everyone. (Now I do feel that Blacks are harder on Black business owners than others, but that’s whole different blog!)

Now, it can be hard to please everyone and at times you may forget to call or follow-up with people, you may even sell them a defective product or take longer on a job than expected. You will have an unsatisfied client (or 2) during your time as an entrepreneur, but you have to know how to make it up to that client. Offer them a discount, an apology, a card – something. They may seem like they will just go away, but you never know how much business they are causing you to lose by sharing their experience they had dealing with you to another potential client. But don’t beat yourself up over it, because there are those people who just like to be difficult and so demanding that you can’t possibly please them – no matter what you do. That’s when it’s time to pass them on to someone else. Yes, even if it’s a competitor of yours!

Networking 101

I was very pleased to see many "soulful" faces at the NAWBO networking dinner on Wed March 15th. Networking is crucial to any business owner - Black or White. Joining a networking group that can offer training, mentorship, information and advice to help your business grow is well worth it. I have been a NAWBO member for about 1 year now. NAWBO stands for the National Association of Women Business Owners. I love being in a networking group of multi-racial individuals. It seems to be a more supportive envioronment.

Networking is an essential skill for most business people, but especially for entrepreneurs. The strong association between the entrepreneur as a person and his or her business demands that entrepreneurs get out into the world and create and maintain business relationships.

With all the demands on our time made by our business, professional and personal lives, it is tempting to assign a lower priority to networking as an activity designed to meet new people. After all, we have so many commitments at the office and at home -- to colleagues, family and friends – that it is difficult to set aside extra time to bring even more people into our lives.
This thinking would be wrong, however, on two levels. For one, we are constantly being introduced to new people anyway, every day, with no disruption to our schedules.
Secondly, by not consistently widening our circles of acquaintances and contacts, we may be severely curtailing our chances for advancement and success. It is estimated that the average person knows about 250 people. And each of those people knows, in turn, another 250 or so people.

This means that for each new person you meet, you gain access to a potential pool of 62,500 people separated from you by just two degrees!

If you would like to find out more about NAWBO Pittsburgh chapter, please email me at soulpitt@aol.com

Happy Networking!

My Hut is Burning

Reverend Dr. William H. Curtis is the Senior Pastor of Mt. Ararat Baptist Church. I went to the Saturday Night Live service at Mt. Ararat this past Saturday and I must say I really enjoyed it. He read from Romans 8:28. For those of you that attended and got the Word, we all now know why our Hut is burning. My hut has been burning for a while now and I was steadily trying to put it out! An entreprenuers' life can get crazy at times and connecting with the man above and staying in the Spirit surely helps you stay focused.

Saturday Night Live starts at 7pm on Saturdays of course at Mt. Ararat. You should check it out!

We've Lost Another Great African-American!

Coretta Scott King passed away last night. She was truly a regal soul and strong Black woman. When she joins her husband, the late Martin Luther King, Jr. in heaven I wonder what she will tell him about the state and mentality of Black America. I wonder if she will hide the fact that many of us are taking steps back. The fearless steps that our people in the past took for us. I wonder will she tell him that White on Black crime is nothing compared to the Black on Black crime. I wonder will she tell him that many of us, even though we all have rights to an education, would rather drop out of high school and not even think about college. I wonder will she let him know that we still need another King to come and show our people the way. Maybe they will send someone.

I don't know what's going on, but a lot of our great African-American heros, leaders and trailblazers are being called home lately. I wonder if that means something. I wonder if they are all gathering in heaven shaking their heads at us wondering.

A Note From Down Under

I know someone once said if I ever tried to stop doing The Soul Pitt they would chain me up in a room to a desk with a laptop and internet connection and force me to continue. Somewhat like the movie Misery. Needless to say, I was very flattered, but also VERY AFRAID of this individual (LOL).

I get a lot of SoulFan Mail from people from all over the USA who love The Soul Pitt. Here's one I got from down under that was really special:

Thank you so much for this website. It allows me to keep up with the happenings in the Burgh. Living in Australia can get very lonely at times. I’ve lived in this country since finishing college. Came here to play pro ball and forgot where I was from for a while there. But know I am trying to connect with the old hood. It’s great to see black people coming up. And it is a beautiful thing seeing a young Sister making thing happen. Keep up the good work and I hope to one day say thanks personally.

Much Love, Tony W

Wow that was really nice - and then I thought - we got Brothas from the Burgh living in Australia! Pittsburghers are all over this world doing BIG things. Thank you Tony.

KQV With Elaine Effort

The Soul Sis is proud to say that I will be on KQV - AM this Friday Jan 6th at 9:30am. I will be interviewed by KQV's Elaine Effort - another African-American woman doing things in the city of Pittsburgh and beyond. This will be taped and aired on the weekend. I will post the exact time on the site.

Interviews are sometimes frightening things, but necessary for the small entreprenuer. When the opportunity presents itself, definitely step up and do it! An interview can really boost business sales, make people more familiar about your product and also they get a sense of your personality (which could be a good or bad thing depending on the type you are).

Here are some tips from Cathy Stucker "The Idea Lady":

Practice some answers to the questions you expect. Make them short and punchy. If you're taking more than 30 seconds or so to answer, you may be talking too long (although that is largely determined by the type of show).

Once you're on the air, remember that you are there to give them a good show, not to sell. Most will be good about giving your contact info, but be ready to work it in if they don't. Whether your interview is 10 minutes or an hour, it will go quickly. At the end of your first interviews, you'll remember all the things you wanted to say, but didn't get to. You'll get better with practice.
Relax and have fun, and remember to give them a good show. When you do, you'll have lots of opportunities to tell your story on the air.

Soulful Resolutions

Worked all day today updating The Soul Pitt for my Soulfam - and answering The Soul Pitt hotline. I wanted you all to come back to work Tuesday with something new to check out. See how I love you all so?!?! But it's back to the 9-5 grind for me as well on Tuesday. (What, you thought The Soul Pitt was all I did?!?!) Not quite. Been told I have ADD (LOL). I'm a jack of all trades, but only a Master at few - trying to master a few more to add to my list.

Please don't forget to send in your New Years Resolutions to The Soul Pitt (TSP) at resolutions@thesoulpitt.com - I am curious to see what my people are trying to take care of this year. Does it deal with bad credit, weight loss, organizing, or leaving those weaves alone (could we ever do this really though?) Or at least open up our own beauty supply shops AND support them. (The "AND support them" part is key people).

I do have a few Soulful resolutions for the Black Community:

1. Support each others Black Owned Business
2. Practice Kwanzaa this year
3. Go natural just to see how it feels
4. Read an uplifting non-fiction book written by an African-American (not the urban fiction ones)
5. For the Sistahs: Love a Black man and help him with his faults.
6. For the Brothas: Respect the Black woman and treat her like a queen.
7. Be more forgiving
8. Join forces and become a more powerful people!
9. Tell everyone you know about The Soul Pitt!

My Cousin Juelle

This post goes out to my cousin Juelle Hall whom I had the pleasure of spending a fun New Years Eve with. We laughed and went down memory lane as we brought in 2006. I had many places to go and decided to stay home. We had a wonderful time.

I hope all of you enjoyed your family this holiday time and brought in the New Year safely!

Love, Peace & Soul Pitt!