Black Entrepreneur Blueprint 557 - Jay Jones - The Secret To Selling The Negro Decoded

[00:00:12] Welcome to Black Entrepreneur Blueprint, the number one podcast and resource for Black entrepreneurs. I'm your host Jay Jones and Black Entrepreneur Blueprint was created specifically to educate and inspire Black entrepreneurs to launch, build and grow successful, sustainable businesses. Join us as we help build an economic power base in the worldwide Black community by building and supporting Black owned businesses.

[00:00:41] If you're currently an entrepreneur or want to be an entrepreneur, you're invited to join us each and every week here at Black Entrepreneur Blueprint. Welcome to the BEB family and get ready to elevate your entrepreneur IQ. Welcome to the Black Entrepreneur Blueprint, episode number 557.

[00:01:07] I'm your host Jay Jones and today we have another outstanding and informative show in store for you. Today in honor of Black History Month, I want to rebroadcast one of our most downloaded and impactful episodes from early 2024, titled The Secret of Selling The Negro Decoded. Today we're going to listen to several short excerpts from the 1954 video produced by John Johnson,

[00:01:37] who's the founder of Ebony and Jet Magazine, trying to get white advertisers to market to Blacks and ideally spend money with Black owned media. And that video that he created is The Secret of Selling The Negro. What I'm going to do today is I'm going to compare and contrast what was happening in 1954 versus now, and you will probably be surprised by some of the outcomes.

[00:02:04] Now this episode is perfect timing guys, as Trump and his cronies are trying to dismantle DEI as we speak. Diversity, equity and inclusion as we know it will not exist within the next several months. Trust me on that. Also, ask yourself why do big brands love Black consumers, but not Black businesses? Why do big brands love Black consumers, but not Black businesses?

[00:02:32] And we're going to touch on all of that today. So stay tuned and let's get ready for today's show content. Today's show topic is The Secret to Selling the Negro Decoded. The Secret to Selling the Negro Decoded. In 1954, Johnson Publishing, who's the publisher of Ebony and Jet Magazine, they produced a short film to encourage advertisers to sell their products and services to the growing Black market at the time.

[00:03:02] Obviously, this is before civil rights and we were trying to be inclusive or be included in the economy. At that time, the Black annual buying power was $15 billion. Remember, this is 1954. Today or 2024, it's estimated to be at $1.8 trillion. So what I'm going to do today is I'm going to take some excerpts from that original video, The Secret to Selling the Negro.

[00:03:30] And I'm going to actually do a contrast and comparison about the past economic climate for us and also the current economic climate as it pertains to consumerism. So before we get to the content, though, let me just share a few things with the Black Entrepreneur Blueprint family. First and foremost, I want to welcome all first time listeners to Black Entrepreneur Blueprint. Welcome to the BEB family.

[00:03:55] Please stick around until the end of today's broadcast where I'm going to share all my social media contact information and my resource links, such as the link to my latest book, Unlocking the Power of Chat GPT, The Ultimate Prompting Guide for Beginners. You can go to unlockingchatgpt.com for more information on that. Also, don't forget to take advantage of our three days free access to the BEB Academy, which is our online learning portal.

[00:04:24] We have all types of masterclasses, workshops, webinars, and resources to help you elevate your entrepreneur IQ. Just go to the website blackentrepreneurblueprint.com and you'll see BEB Academy right on the front of that. Now, let's get ready for today's content. Today's show topic is titled The Secret to Selling the Negro Decoded. And as I mentioned earlier, I'm going to play some excerpts from the original video

[00:04:52] and then I'm going to compare and contrast as we talk about 1954 versus where we are today as it pertains to black consumerism. Now, this first clip is the intro to the video. So let's listen to that. Hello, I'm Bob Trout. I've got a story here that I think is big, really big, because it's bound to have a terrific impact on business.

[00:05:17] I'm talking about a new market, a big new market, millions upon millions of new prospects with $15 billion to spend. That's right. I said $15 billion. That's a lot of money, isn't it? The surprising thing is that it's a fresh market, still full of opportunities. It grew up so fast, got so big in a hurry, that few of us realize its scope. Now, these days, nobody's likely to pass up chances to sell.

[00:05:45] And yet right here in our own front yard, there's a neglected market. There's money waiting to be spent. To get the story of this market, to be able to tell you the secret of selling the Negro, we did a lot of digging. We talked to leading businessmen, the customers and the salesmen. We went to Washington, D.C. We set up cameras and other key points around the nation. And out of this all, there emerged a story, the story of a new market.

[00:06:11] So that was the intro to the video that John Johnson created. Now, I want to give you guys a framework of actually what's going on here. So a lot of times when people listen to this or they watch The Secret to Selling the Negro, they think that somebody white created it. But what you have to understand is that John Johnson is the founder of Johnson Publications, which owns Ebony and Jet Magazine.

[00:06:36] And at that time in the early 50s, that was the publication for black folk in the United States. And so what John Johnson wanted to do is he wanted to make more money by getting more advertisers into the magazines, as opposed to just black advertisers. He was trying to get more white advertisers in. So what did he do? He created a video telling the white advertisers how to sell to the Negroes.

[00:07:05] So that was the whole purpose of the video saying, hey, you have a marketplace out here that's untapped, that has $15 billion, which was a lot of money back then in 1954. And we're consumers just like you. So here's some information about who we are, what we like and how we like to be sold to. And if you follow this, I have the perfect vehicle for you to sell to black folks.

[00:07:33] And that vehicle or those vehicles are Jet and Ebony. So I want you to understand the framework of the videos. Now, I want you entrepreneurs to really take note. I want the light bulb to go off in your heads here. So what John Johnson actually did was he created a lead magnet. And I talk about this all the time. So he produced this video saying, hey guys, if you sell consumer goods or products or services,

[00:08:01] we have a great untapped market here. I'm going to show you how to sell to this marketplace. And oh, by the way, you know what? I have two vehicles that can help you do it. Jet Magazine and Ebony Magazine with circulations in the millions. So I want the light bulb to go off guys. So it's not just something he's doing just to heighten the awareness of this marketplace.

[00:08:26] John Johnson is trying to be profitable and use what we would consider a lead magnet to generate traffic, generate leads, and then convert those leads into sales. Now, the next excerpt of the video, what they're going to be talking about is the misunderstood consumer, meaning that there's dollars all in front of your face, guys, but you're misunderstanding who the black community is.

[00:08:53] And I want you to listen very closely as to how they describe the black community. All over the country, families such as this are enjoying new prosperity. They have new interests, new standards of living, a buying power they've never enjoyed before. They're good prospects for practically all types of goods and services. All too often though, they're overlooked prospects. Why? Because of some good, valid reason? No.

[00:09:23] They're overlooked because of mistaken ideas. Because of out-of-date ideas about how the Negro lives and how he buys. The truth of the matter is that the Negro lives pretty much the same as other folks. He buys pretty much the same way too. But just the same, a lot of old doubts and opinions keep cropping up over and over again. Ah, I don't like to do business with Negroes. They're drifters. You can't keep track of them.

[00:09:52] Well, maybe so, but Negroes are poor credit risks. Well, maybe, but I've always heard that Negroes buy shoddy, poor quality merchandise. No, it's just the other way around. According to leading researchers in proportion to population and income, Negroes buy more quality products than any other comparable United States group. So let's break this clip down real quick.

[00:10:20] Now, once again, the black consumer was misunderstood. Remember, this is pre-civil rights era. So it was a lot of separation in the races. And even though we were consumers, a lot of white companies or businesses didn't want to sell to us. You saw how we had to try to integrate the lunch counters in different cities. We wouldn't be able to be served. And so now this new concept of, hey, these black folk have money

[00:10:48] was something new to, to the lot of the producers and manufacturers. And John Johnson is trying to get them to come over and do business with us. And what statistics showed was we like to buy quality products more than any other ethnicity. That was in 1954. Fast forward to 2023. Guess what's going on. We're the same customer base with the same consumers.

[00:11:15] I always talk about being a producer versus a consumer. All we continue to do guys is consume these same products from the same manufacturers. People are skipping paying their light bill or their car note so they can buy some dumb ass designer products, some red bottom shoes, some Balenciaga, some Gucci sunglasses or whatever. We are still the super consumers that everybody makes money off of.

[00:11:43] It was the truth back in 1954 because we were coming out of a time where we were so segregated that, oh, we were so happy now that white folks are going to sell us all their goods. And it's almost like we lost our minds even to today where we can't wait to gobble up the newest thing that they come out with.

[00:12:04] I was watching something on, I think it was on Instagram or YouTube and I see where Pharrell just bought a million dollar Louis Vuitton bag. And this was a little, a little like duffel bag. It was small and it had diamonds all encrusted on the lock that was there. And he was explaining to the guy who was like, yeah, even the zipper is gold. All of this is gold inlaid. It was a million dollar bag.

[00:12:31] And I guarantee you people with real money, billionaires, they're not buying that dumb stuff. But once again, we're super consumers. So when people talk about the American dream, the American dream was built on our back physically during slavery. And it's being built on our backs economically because we're buying everybody else's stuff and we're making everybody else rich but ourselves.

[00:12:57] So when we start looking at name brand products and things of that nature, never in our mind do we think about, hey, this black owned brand could be a preeminent premier brand. We always have to go to the old tried and true, you know, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, all of these other designer bags and designer clothing companies. And we never put our own products and services up there with them because we're more enamored with somebody else's stuff than with our own.

[00:13:27] And we're going to get into this a little bit later in this next clip. They're going to discuss what black people want in terms of consumerism. So let's listen to this real quick. A product must have the backing of this big you buying power to be a leader in the field. What do you have to sell? Chewing gum or cars? Toothpaste or transportation? Whatever it is, here are millions of prospects.

[00:13:56] And these prospects are everywhere. Negro customers can no longer be pigeonholed. They cannot be classified as prospects who trade only in certain stores, certain neighborhoods. Today, Negroes shop downtown. They shop in supermarts. They shop in small neighborhood stores. They'll buy from anyone who wants to sell to them. But we all know that before you can sell to customers, you've got to get to know them.

[00:14:25] You must understand something about them. What do the Negro customers buy? Why do they buy? How do you sell to them? Let's find out. Let's hear the opinion of men who have spent a lifetime studying the buying habits of customers the world over. Here is what sales psychologists have to say about selling to the Negro. The secret of selling to the Negro is expressed in one word. That word is recognition.

[00:14:54] Now, there's nothing unusual about that. People want to be recognized. They need recognition. That's basic in all of us. But perhaps because he's had so little of it, the Negro needs even more. He needs to feel important and appreciated. This need is a very real and important one. It shows up even in many of the Negro's shopping habits. Anyone who sells or wants to sell to the Negro customer should know about some of these habits.

[00:15:24] Three habits in particular play a big part in every sales transaction. I was shaking my head listening to this excerpt. They talking about, yeah, they'll buy from anybody that wants to sell to them. Taking us for granted. Once again, remember John Johnson actually did this video. Produced it for advertisers so they could sell to black folks. Particularly into Jet and Ebony magazines, which he owns.

[00:15:50] But the key thing there, he said, we want and need recognition. And many times because we haven't gotten that recognition or respect as consumers or as human beings, then a lot of times we tend to go overboard with it. You guys remember the movie American Gangster with Denzel Washington. And there's a scene where he's in his penthouse and he has a party. Everybody is dressed respectfully.

[00:16:18] But one of his cousin comes in and he's looking like a pimp. And he said the loudest one in the room is the weakest one in the room. And what he means by that is you don't need to stand out because that's going to bring eyes on you. But I think a lot of times because we want that recognition, we're going to wear things. We're going to do things. We're going to buy things. That's super consumerism that's going to cause us to stand out.

[00:16:44] And once again, it's not necessarily fiscally responsible for us to buy things that we really can't afford. If you can afford it, God bless you. But if you're buying something and you're not putting food on the table or your light bill is behind or your car note is 60 days behind and you're going out there buying some new designer shoes, then you're a damn fool. All right. And that comes from the lack of recognition or respect that we've gotten over the years.

[00:17:14] So don't fall prey to that for somebody that doesn't even care about you. You trying to prove something to them. And here's a real life example of living within your means. Right. So I remember years ago, my oldest daughter was in college and my youngest daughter was getting ready to go to college. So I was going to have two in college at the same time at very expensive colleges. And so my oldest daughter was moving to New York for the summer in Bed-Stuy.

[00:17:41] And it's funny, ironically, she lives back in Bed-Stuy now as an adult. And I drove up. One of my boys connected me with a realtor to help her. She and her roommate find a spot for the summer. And when I drove up, I had a night 2012 Nissan Altima. Now I have other cars, but I drove that car up and he was like, man, I thought you was, you was balling.

[00:18:08] I was like, yeah, I'm doing well, but I got two kids in college. And I said, so I'm not trying to prove anything to anybody. Now, yeah, I could have gone out and bought an S600 or something, whatever, whatever luxury car you like. But that didn't make sense. And I'm not trying to prove anything to anybody. I don't need the recognition or respect because I got it.

[00:18:30] And I got it by doing what's smart, what's doing something that's fiscally responsible, not something to show off to somebody. I'm not trying to show off to anybody. So these are the things that we have to look or think about when we start to purchase things. And once again, stop being a super consumer. Stop trying to prove something to somebody else. If you're not paying my bills, I ain't got the answer to you for nothing. All right.

[00:18:59] If you lending me money or paying my bills, that's something different. But if somebody is not paying your bills, if they're not lending you money or whatever, do what you need to do and be fiscally responsible. And once again, don't be a super consumer. Start thinking about being a producer and getting on the other side of the equation. And I can go and do a whole show just on that because that just gets on my nerves. But what this excerpt was pointing out is that we're super consumers.

[00:19:28] So they said, whatever you're selling, they're buying. And once again, because of the lack of respect and recognition, they're going to buy even more high price things than other ethnicities. And we're still caught in that trap today. Now let's get ready to listen to the next clip. And this clip is talking about the number one buying habit for black folks as it pertains in 1954.

[00:19:56] To begin with, most Negroes buy by brand. They ask for products by name. They're quick to turn down off brands. Do you wonder why? Well, listen to what this customer is thinking. Hmm. That last hat I bought just didn't hold up at all. You see, for a long time the Negro has been sold a lot of shoddy, second-class merchandise.

[00:20:23] So now he asks for name brands in order to make sure he gets his money's worth. Buying by brand. That's the first important Negro buying habit. So you understand where we are today guys? Buying by brand is the first important Negro buying habit. As it was in 1954. As it is today. Buying by brand. The problem is we buy everybody else's brands, but ours. Okay.

[00:20:53] And that's the problem. So we're overcompensating because we were never able to have anything before. And it's so unfortunate. We're talking from 1954 to 2023. And we're still doing the same old thing. Right? Almost what? 70 years. And we're still doing the same old thing. Buying brands. And the reason that you're buying brands is because that's all the media is showing you.

[00:21:22] It's what social media is showing you. You got people on here pretending to be somebody they're not in front of Lamborghinis, mansions that they're renting out talking about they own them. And now everybody's got to have this. You know, I told the story. My oldest daughter bought a pair of Balenciaga sneakers. Right? This was probably about a year ago. She never wore them. And she was like, Dad, don't, don't tell mom how much they cost.

[00:21:50] And I was like, yeah, cause I'm sick to my stomach. You spent $900 for a pair of sneakers that looked like Bobo's. Right? If, if they didn't have that Balenciaga name on them, I'd be like, first of all, to me, they're ugly as hell anyway with the name on them. But I'm like, these sneakers are horrible. They're hideous. But because it has the name and the status, then you're going to spend money on the brand. Once again, a brand that doesn't give a damn about you.

[00:22:19] Now, it's so funny. I asked her when she was home for father's day, what did you ever do with the Balenciagas? She was like, dad, I never wore them and I'm going to resell them. I'm like, yeah, that's good. At least get some of your money back for buying that garbage in the first place. But the number one buying habit for black folks in 1954 and today is brand. And I'm going to ask you to make conscious decisions guys, and start looking at and elevating our black owned brands. Okay.

[00:22:48] Why is a French fashion house or an Italian fashion house design better than a black owned brand? It's all mental. It's because it's perceived. It's because what people are going to think. Once again, that comes to recognition. What do people think if I have on this Gucci belt? I saw this little dude on Instagram and it's a damn shame. He probably was no more than three years old.

[00:23:18] He had a Gucci shirt, a Gucci belt, Gucci pants, and Gucci sneakers. And anybody that has kids knows that they're going to outgrow that in about 60 days. But just the temerity to buy that nonsense for a two year old, three year old kid. You just bringing them up in that brand thing. Now, what happens if you can't afford those brands? And that's the problem with us.

[00:23:45] When we can't afford these brands, then we start being fiscally irresponsible. You know, I just did a Juneteenth presentation. Actually, it's two weeks ago on June 19th episode. I did a version of that. And it said that at there over 40% of black households have a negative net wealth. 40% have a negative net wealth.

[00:24:11] But I guarantee you, you go on to some of those households with negative net wealth. They're going to have an 85 inch television. They're going to have sneakers out the yin yang. They're going to have designer stuff. Because once again, you're focusing on name brands. There's nothing wrong with having that when you have the money. If you're making a million dollars a year and you decide to spend $10,000 on a pair of sneakers, that's something different.

[00:24:39] If you're making $50,000 a year and you're spending $2,000 on a pair of sneakers, that's ridiculous. So start giving proper respect to our black owned companies, our black owned manufacturers and our black owned service businesses. Stop elevating everybody else above us. All right. So buying habit number one was brand. Okay. Let's listen to buying habit number two. Now for the second.

[00:25:08] The Negro buys good quality merchandise. Symbols of quality and prestige are very important to the Negro customer. This woman, for example, is buying fine crystal wear. But she is also buying the admiration and approval of her friends and relatives. Listen to her thoughts. My, isn't it beautiful? I can hardly wait to show it to Sally and Joan.

[00:25:35] It's a well known fact that many Negro customers are influenced by the opinions of others. What their friends may think of a certain item often decides whether or not the sale is made. So remember, the Negro buys quality merchandise. That's the second important point. All right. So you just heard it. The Negro buys quality merchandise. Right. Now, let's look at the underlying reason that we buy quality merchandise, quote unquote.

[00:26:05] And he just said, it's a symbol of prestige and admiration for friends and relatives because we're concerned about the opinions of others. Right. So we're stunting. Right. Oh, yeah. Like I've seen, um, I forgot what rapper was. I'll just use Floyd Mayweather for an example. Now he's, he's got billions. So that, that might not be a good example. I've seen rappers out there talking about, they got $500,000 watches on right now.

[00:26:35] They might not even have $2 million of net worth, but they got a $500,000 watch on. Once again, is that for you? You can tell time with any watch and trust me, I like quality stuff too. But if you're buying things just for prestige or admiration from other people, then you got a problem. Once again, you got to be fiscally responsible and live within your means. Once you get to a certain point, you can have all of that.

[00:27:04] I remember another story. We were in college and, uh, me and my, my two roommates, we had just graduated. When I graduated, I had a, a little, little, uh, Dodge, right? I bought a small little Dodge. I started my first job making a little bit of money. My other roommate who was always in the flash and all of this nonsense, even in college, he bought a 325 BMW. This fool's brakes went out.

[00:27:32] He couldn't even, he didn't even have the money to get the brakes repaired. Once again, you trying to look apart when you're not there yet. Take your time and get there. Everybody wants stuff instantaneously. It's nothing wrong with buying stuff like that when you can't afford it. But if you put in a cart before the horse, then, then you hustling backwards. And he ended up losing the car because he couldn't make the auto insurance payments because you're in the city of Philadelphia.

[00:28:01] Auto insurance was high. His, his car note was high and he couldn't handle the repair bills. Think he had the car maybe 18 months before he turned it back in. And you, you not doing it the right way. It will come if you work hard. So buying quality and luxury things will come. But a lot of times it comes after a period of time once you build up to that.

[00:28:24] So once again, it's the super consumer model that we're, we're designed to, to fall into that trap. Everything that you see and you remember this, there's media for a reason. And media is putting things in your mind. We're constantly bombarded with all types of stuff. And I think one of the worst media out there is social media. Because we don't have the definition. There's almost not a line between what's real and what's fake.

[00:28:54] You know, I was talking to a friend of mine who, uh, her nephew got married. And because he wanted to stunt for the gram, he and his wife had like a hundred thousand dollar wedding. They only making $40,000 a piece. They had smoke coming all out of the wedding. They had, I think he, she said that, uh, the, the girl changed the bride changed three or four times. And, you know, they had it in this lavish place.

[00:29:23] And it was what I think 300 guests. And they said the wedding cost probably not probably cost over a hundred thousand dollars. You making 40,000, your wife making 40,000 and your wedding costs a hundred thousand. So they went into debt, just put a lot on credit cards. And after they got back from their honeymoon, the wife ended up getting fired from her job or laid off.

[00:29:48] So you doing all of this so you can put this on Instagram so you can pretend that you're something that you're not. And in real life, you're hurting yourself. You're putting yourself behind the eight ball. What could you have done with that a hundred thousand dollars? Maybe instead of living in that high ass apartment you paying for, you could buy a house. Maybe you can invest in some property. Maybe you could buy some stocks and bonds. Okay.

[00:30:15] But no, because social media is so prevalent to you that you want to make a, I guess a splash because you got smoke. You got all, you had like three different bands in three different rooms or excuse me, three different DJs in three different rooms for the different type music, 300 people. And your wedding costs more than you and your husband and you and your spouse make combined in a year. Okay. Okay.

[00:30:43] Because once again, you want, you want your friends and relatives and everybody to think that, you know, you doing great. You want that prestige and admiration. And then after that day is over, now you get back to the real life. Damn, we screwed up. We shouldn't have done that. Okay. I always talk about, uh, wrestling in the dark, right? Wrestling in the dark is when you're sitting by yourself.

[00:31:10] Usually it's in bed either late at night or early in the morning and your thoughts are going through your head and you're like, damn, I probably shouldn't have done that. Maybe I made a mistake here or there. It's wrestling in the dark.

[00:31:23] And that's something when you do some dumb stuff, like I just explained that you really going to be wrestling with yourself because it doesn't make sense to be controlled by media and by controlled by admiration to make you do things that in the long run are going to hurt you. And the crazy thing about it, I asked my home girl, well, how was the wedding? She was like, yo, I didn't even go because I knew how stupid it was.

[00:31:51] She said, I couldn't even, I couldn't even stand up for that. She said her sister was like, Oh, such and such wants you to come. She's like, no, if mom was alive, mom wouldn't have gone to that nonsense. So she said, I'm not going. These are some of the silly things people do because they're more concerned of what people think than what they actually need to do. And so when that happens, you're going to make bad decisions. Now let's look at the number three buying habit of black folks.

[00:32:21] And here's the third thing to remember when selling to a Negro customer. When he specifically asks for one thing, don't try to sell him something else. Don't try to switch him at the point of sale. If you do, he'll probably react something like this. Doesn't he think I've got the money to pay for it? There's a reason for this reaction. Again, because he's had experience with cheap merchandise, the Negro resents being offered a substitute.

[00:32:51] He wants to be sold on quality, not price. Now I get this buying habit. If you know what you want, then that's what you need to get. And I also understand when you feel that people may not give you your due respect. So perfect example, when Jim Jones was in the Gucci store in New York and he's walking around and he's complaining that they haven't served him his champagne. Uh, I'm about to spend 20 racks.

[00:33:21] You know, they're not paying attention to me, but bop, bop, bop, bop, bop. So he wanted to buy a specific item or items in Gucci. And they didn't think that he could afford it, I guess, based on the way that he looked down. The first thing I would have done was number one, I wouldn't have been in the store. But number two is if you don't want my money, I'm not going to beg you to take it. That's the silliest thing I ever heard.

[00:33:46] But I do understand that when you have your mind made up and once again, it all comes down to brands. It all comes down to what you think or perception. So if I'm going into a, uh, car dealership and I say, you know what? I want to buy the, uh, the Audi Q7 and they got to use the Nissan, uh, whatever pathfinder. I'm gonna be like, nah, I came in for the Q7. I didn't come in for the pathfinder.

[00:34:16] And I get it because that perception, people may think you don't have the resources to purchase whatever item that you want. So I get that. Now in the last clip, we're going to play. We're going to talk about a summary of the buying habits of black folks as it was in 1954. And I'm going to compare and contrast that to today. The Negro buys by brand.

[00:34:42] He buys quality and he doesn't like to be switched at point of sale. These are the keys to selling the Negro customer. So according to this documentary in 1954, we want brand identification quality, and we don't want to be switched out at the point of sale, which is pretty much the same from 1954 to 2023.

[00:35:09] The difference is now back then we have $15 billion of disposable income or what we call black dollars. 2024 is estimated at $1.8 trillion that we need to mobilize and weaponize to help build black owned businesses and help support the black owned businesses. So everything that we want, we can get from black owned businesses.

[00:35:34] The problem is you've been brainwashed to think that other people's or other ethnicities products are better than ours. And it's a total fallacy. It's a farce. So there's tons of black owned designer products, different types of products that are just as good, if not better than other people. The question is, are you going to take the time and concerted effort to find these products and to support these products and these businesses?

[00:36:03] So while we're on Instagram looking at nonsense half of the time, why don't we start identifying black owned businesses and black owned products or services that we can utilize? And here's something else, guys, that it dumb founds me. How hard is it to like somebody's post? If there's a black owned business, if there's a black owned product, like their post. Okay. It takes you less than a second.

[00:36:29] And one of the things I tell a lot of my coaching students is, especially if you're in a group, if you see somebody that was in the group and they post, just go ahead and tap the like button. What does it hurt you? So the more likes, the more visibility. And that's what we need. We need the visibility. The problem is everything that we're showing is somebody else's stuff. Some other ethnicity stuff. You know, Dame Dash always said hustle for your last name, not your first.

[00:36:59] You making all these other last names gazillionaires. So why not take the dollars that we earn each and every year, 1.8 trillion in 2024, and start focusing on putting or purchasing black owned products and services. So you guys have to understand that less than 2 cents of every dollar that comes into a black household is spent on a black owned product or service.

[00:37:28] What happens if we took that 2 cents up to 25 cents, up to 30 cents? What kind of difference do you think that would make? It would make a tremendous difference. But we're too busy being brainwashed by everybody else. And I get it. It's hard. You grew up having to have this type of sneaker or this type of clothes, this type of bag, whatever, this type of watch. But is it detrimental to what you're trying to accomplish?

[00:37:57] So if you got a hole in your roof, and this is a real story, and you got a 65, 70 inch TV over there, and you spend money buying a TV and not fixing the hole in your roof, what kind of sense does that make? You know, human nature is a mother. I'm telling you. A lot of times people will buy what they want and not what they need. People will do what they want and not what they need. In order, family. Do things in order.

[00:38:25] There's nothing wrong with having the finer things in life when you can afford them. And how do you afford them? You put yourself in play. You put in motion. How do I get from point A to point B? And then to point C, then to point D, and so on and so forth. But we're ready to jump from A to Z without putting the steps in place. Just like my buddy. You go out right out of college. You ain't making no real money. You buy a BMW 18 months later.

[00:38:55] Guess what? It gets repoed. Right? So if you did the steps or built the foundation, then your car wouldn't have got repoed. Get in the workforce for a little bit. Start building assets. Start doing things that are going to make you money. One of the cardinal sins right now that a lot of people have, black people too, but a lot of people, when they get a little bit of money, they go and buy something. They buy something that's going to lose value.

[00:39:25] Something that's going to depreciate. So a lot of times you see it with tax returns. Oh, I got a $5,000 tax return. I'm going to go buy a $4,999 pocketbook. That's some dumb stuff. Right? Take the money you get and put it into something that's going to make you money. Right? I always tell my wife this when we first got married. It's good to pay off bills. I get it. Knock down your debt. There's nothing wrong with that.

[00:39:54] But how about if we took this $10,000 and we did something with it that's going to make us money. Building assets. And when you're a super consumer, you ain't building assets. You spending your money on dumb stuff that other people are getting rich off of. Not us. But other ethnicities are getting rich off of your hard work and your back. Aren't you tired of that?

[00:40:20] If you're going to spend money and you can find a quality black product or service that you can support. Why wouldn't you do that? Because you need to have the latest Balenciagas. Ugly ass shoes for $900,000, $1,500. So for what? So you can say I got them. And then what? Once again, it's all about recognition. You got to let people know that you got it even when you don't got it. What?

[00:40:48] The loudest person in the room is the weakest person in the room. You know, real bosses don't like to be seen. Real bosses are behind the scenes pulling strings. You know, but they always got somebody that's the front man. And when something happens, that front man takes the fall, right? You a crash dummy. You can move behind the scenes and be powerful. I don't know if you've ever seen the Netflix documentary. I think it came out in 2019 called The Black Godfather.

[00:41:17] And it was talking about a brother named Clarence Avent. A-V-E-N-T. And he's a power broker in Hollywood. I think he's in his 80s now. But you never heard of him in the general public. But when you watch the documentary, everybody knows him. All the stars, all the studio heads, all the record producers. He's making moves. He doesn't have to be out there in front. But he's powerful.

[00:41:45] Now, unfortunately, I believe a couple years ago, he had a home invasion and somebody murdered his wife of over 50 plus years. But this is somebody that has power without having being, you don't know him. The general public doesn't know him. But anytime we get a little bit of something, we want to show everybody. We want to show the money that we get on our back, on our feet, what we're driving, where we're living or whatever.

[00:42:14] And trust me, nothing wrong with living well in due time when it makes sense. You're going to go out and buy a Q7 when you're having trouble paying a light bill. Your car note is $1,500 a month and your rent is $1,200 a month. I've seen that. Been in the mortgage business. I've seen people's car notes cost more than where they live. What kind of sense is that? It doesn't make sense.

[00:42:43] Stop being a super consumer. Now, I'm going to finish up this show and do the last quarter. But real quick, let me give my contact information and my resource links. I'm going to keep this super short. Everything I'm going to tell you, you can find on my website, blackentrepreneurblueprint.com. Blackentrepreneurblueprint.com. If you're lazy, take the shortcut and type in bebconnect.com. It's going to take you to the website.

[00:43:11] So I mentioned at the top of the show, my latest book is out, Unlocking the Power of Chat GPT, the ultimate prompting handbook for beginners. If you don't get on this AI wave, you're going to get swallowed by it. Go to unlockingchatgpt.com. I also mentioned BEB Academy. Go to the website, Black Entrepreneur Blueprint. It's on the front of the website. One of my other programs, Brand Builder Academy Elite.

[00:43:37] If you're trying to build a physical products brand or digital products brand, this is the flagship program for you. Also on the front page of the website. And last but not least, Pinpoint and Monetize Your Genius, pound for pound, my best program. Your genius is your intersection between your passion and your talent. Problem is most people don't know how to monetize it. If you want to learn how to monetize your God-given gifts and talents, make sure you click that link to learn more.

[00:44:06] Now, if you want to connect with me, anything long, family, hit me on my email, jjones at blackentrepreneurblueprint.com. J-A-Y-J-O-N-E-S at blackentrepreneurblueprint.com. Facebook, Black Entrepreneur Blueprint. Twitter, jjones001. J-A-Y-J-O-N-E-S-0-0-1. Instagram, I got two IG accounts. The first one is jjones4real.

[00:44:33] J-A-Y-J-O-N-E-S, the number four, R-E-A-L. Second one is Black Entrepreneur Blueprint. Connect with me on LinkedIn too, guys. You can find me by typing in jjonesblackentrepreneurblueprint. And also, don't forget to connect and subscribe to my YouTube channel. I have additional content on YouTube that is not on the show. Yes, the show does come out on YouTube. And it also comes out on all your major podcast platforms.

[00:45:02] But go to YouTube, type in Black Entrepreneur Blueprint and hit that subscribe button. Now, if you are a first-time listener, we drop every Monday morning, 5 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on all your major podcast platforms and YouTube. We have never missed a week in over 473 weeks. That's almost 10 years. So make sure you guys subscribe. So wherever you heard this or listening to this, make sure you subscribe.

[00:45:32] Now, let's get back to the last quarter of the show. In closing, guys, this is one of these episodes that I talk about being impactful. And what I wanted to do is kind of compare and contrast what was going on in 1954 versus what's going on in 2023. And pretty much everything is the same. Everything is the same.

[00:45:56] Dr. Claude Anderson said that back after slavery, we owned half of 1% of all the wealth in the United States. And even today, it's the same. The difference is now that we have more access to be able to use our dollars and weaponize our dollars to help build and support our own economy. Because that's what it's all about.

[00:46:22] So if we can circulate dollars in our own community, then we're going to be better off. I told you I just did the episode on Juneteenth about beyond the date. Juneteenth's impact on our economic freedom, physical freedom, and mental freedom. And I talked about how economic freedom that we're on the bottom of the totem pole. I said 40% of black households have a negative net worth. 40%. Almost half.

[00:46:52] And the reason is not because we don't necessarily have the money coming in. We're not allocating those resources to assets. We're allocating the resources to garbage. Right? So if you got $20,000 worth of shoes and clothes in your closet, designer shoes and clothes, not your regular stuff, that could have been used on a down payment for a home. Right? Something or some type of asset. That could be used to start a business.

[00:47:21] But it's about the allocation or reallocation of assets. So when we talk about circulation of the dollar, dollar stays in the black community, six hours. Stays in, I believe, the Jewish community. Matter of fact, let me pull this up real quick and I'm going to give you the real numbers. Okay. In the black community, the dollar circulates six hours. Latino community, 48 hours. White community, 17 days.

[00:47:51] Jewish community, 19 days. Asian community, 28 days. We're six hours. Six hours. Which is totally ridiculous. Latinos are 48 hours. So they got two days. We got a quarter of a day. Because as soon as it comes in our pocket as a consumer or being consumer minded, we're trying to get it out. Not all the time. Sometimes I know when we get paid, we got to pay bills.

[00:48:21] So the money is already spent before you get there. But there's only a couple ways to get ahead. You got to cut down your expenses and increase your income. If you can do them both, that's great. That's why I say when you get a chunk of money, use that money to make money, not just spend it. Because once you spend it, it's gone. Put it in a vehicle or a project or whatever to help you make money. You know, and I understand sometimes you got to treat yourself. Life is hard. You're going through hard times.

[00:48:51] I get it. Treat yourself. But you got to be fiscally responsible. The only way we're going to get out of this hole being on the bottom of the economic totem pole, guys, is to be conscious. How do we use our money? How do we spend it? Where do we spend it? Do we spend it with communities that don't give a damn about us? Or do we help try to build black owned businesses, help start black owned businesses, help put money back in our community to circulate?

[00:49:20] That's why we have to be conscious when we use our money. And I always talk about weaponizing the black dollar. And weapons can be used for offense and defense, right? So weaponizing meaning don't support businesses that don't support you. That's defense. Offense is spending money with people that look just like you. Every other ethnicity does it. I just want you guys to know every other ethnicity does it. Okay.

[00:49:49] They don't just do it, guys. They teach it. It's ingrained. The Asian community. I just gave you the numbers, right? Dollar circulates in their community longer than any other community because it's something that's ingrained. It's expected. It's understood. So when you go to an Asian restaurant, the food that they get comes from an Asian wholesaler. The chopsticks that they use come from an Asian manufacturer.

[00:50:18] The soy sauce, the duck sauce, everything is coming through that same community. They're going to import it from the manufacturers and they're going to continue to recycle it. So now when we go into Chinatown and we get Chinese food, they're taking money out of our pockets as opposed to us going into black owned establishments. And so that's the whole thing. It's vertical integration.

[00:50:42] If you can manufacture all the way up to retail, manufacture, distribute, and then go to retail, you got it made. It's called vertical integration. And the more you can handle and control it at the wealthier you're going to be. Other ethnicities understand it. I did a show a couple months ago about what black people can learn from the Jewish community or Jewish business people.

[00:51:09] And one of the tenants that they have tenants, meaning something that they live by 10% of whatever they make is going back to the community in the form of it could be supporting churches, building schools or whatever, but it's circulated back into the community. We don't have a tenant that says that we're not taught that growing up that, hey, you know, you go to church and they're saying you should tithe.

[00:51:35] We don't necessarily know if that church is doing anything for that community specifically. You got to have discernment. But if you invest directly with things in our community that we own, then you can see the results and the difference. And that's the difference between us and many other ethnicities. We don't work as a unit. We're so busy trying to be quote unquote recognized, trying to be out there, be seen.

[00:52:05] Sometimes you don't want to be seen or you don't need to be seen. Right. Not until you're ready to be seen. But we're putting the cart before the horse. And I'm telling you right now, I don't mean to come off harsh or rude, but this is how committed I am. And this is how serious I am about this. This nonsense that's going on where you're spending your hard earned money for people that don't even care about you. Jim Jones, they're laughing at you.

[00:52:33] You're begging somebody to take your money that doesn't even want your ass in the store. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. I use this analogy before, and I'm going to use it again. It's like you shopping in a store. You go up to the register with all your stuff. You hand them the money. They spit in your face and you say, thank you very much. I'll be back next week. And you leave out the store.

[00:53:02] They're telling you they don't respect you. They don't want your money. And one of the things or the keys to selling the blacks is supposedly recognition. Right? So you want recognition from who? You want recognition from your peers. Oh yeah, Jay over there. He driving this. He lives here. He's on a private jet. Oh, he going on 25 vacations a year. Who cares? Who cares? How are you really living?

[00:53:31] Is what it looks like what it really is? Were you out here bullshitting around? BSing around? Now, start understanding how powerful you are and we are as a unit by being conscious about where you put your money. Super consumers. They're counting on you to be a nut. They're counting on you to continue doing what you're doing because they can slap you in the face. They cannot give you service.

[00:54:00] They can do anything you want and your nut ass is coming right back to them. You ever hear the old folks talk about you so dumb you don't even know you were insulted? That's how some of us are walking around right now. We're so ignorant to this because we're so hyper focused on trying to look good when in real life you ain't good. Yo, it steps to this thing. It steps to this thing.

[00:54:28] You may not be there yet. That's fine. As long as you got a plan to get there, don't put the cart before the horse. And once again, I'm asking y'all be conscious in terms of where you spend your money, how you spend it. Reallocate your assets for a specific amount of money to go to black owned business. I was at one of my buddy's functions over the weekend and one of my friends was saying,

[00:54:54] yeah, man, you know, I make a point to buy black every week. I'll go online. I'll buy some, you know, black owned spirits. I'll buy cigars from black owned companies and all types of stuff. But he makes a concerted effort to shop black. And that's something that we need to do. We have a supercomputer in our hands that we're playing with all the time, looking at all kinds of nonsense. Let's start using that, using that technology to help build our own businesses and our economy.

[00:55:24] Now I say this each and every week guys, because it is true. We get more and more downloads because of you, the BEB family. I appreciate you guys so much. Please continue to spread the word about the podcast, the blog, the BEB ecosystem with all the online courses, books, and resources to help you elevate your entrepreneur IQ. Please spread the word about it. Remember, it's not about me. It's not about you. It's about us.

[00:55:52] It's about building an economic power base in the worldwide black community by building and supporting black owned businesses. Love you guys. See you same time next week. Peace.