SELL BLACK: Grow Your Online Presence
Program Overview
SELL BLACK: Grow Your Online Presence is a 14-week digital marketing training program to support Black-owned businesses in operating competitively online. The program provides an opportunity for Black-owned businesses adversely affected by the global pandemic to revitalize, rebrand, and redeliver their companies to the public through e-commerce and digital marketing. Business cohorts are supported directly by En2action staff in cooperation with a myriad of Black and Brown creative service providers.
To help participants share best practices along their entrepreneurial journeys, the SELL BLACK program has now grouped businesses according to 3 for-profit industries: Services, Products/Retail, and Food.
The Services & Products/Retail cohorts will run July 2024 through October 2024.
The Food Business cohort will run November 2024 through February 2025.
ALL APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.
Why It Matters
For centuries, Black entrepreneurs have faced racist institutional and structural barriers to accessing capital and building wealth, including limited access to loans and investment The resulting racial wealth gap persists today, and many Black entrepreneurs start businesses with less capital and business expertise than their white counterparts. One way this manifests is small businesses “boot strapping” their business, with insufficient capital to invest in competitive marketing strategies or website development.
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the critical need for small businesses to operate competitively in a digital marketing environment, as consumer buying habits and patterns have shifted to an almost-exclusively online economy. The financial impact of the “digital divide” already experienced by Black-owned business owners has been exacerbated by COVID-19, with a high percentage of Black-owned businesses having shut down in the past year.
Sell Black Eligibility Requirements
Applicants must reside in San Francisco.
Applicants must have their business registered in San Francisco OR applicant must register their business in San Francisco during the duration of the program.
Applicant must have a valid photo ID (California ID, Drivers License or Passport are all acceptable forms of ID)
Applicant must have a Social Security Number (SSN)
Applicant must be a for-profit business
Applicant must be available for 60-70 hours of participation over the 14-week program, including workshop attendance, assignments, and meetings with technical assistance providers.
Applicants must be a low-income individual/reside in a low-income household to be eligible for Direct Payments.
Previously admitted Sell Black clients will be barred from readmission for two (2) years after their first year of admission.
are you a web designer or photographer? Want to support our Sell Black businesses?
We’re looking for Creative Service Providers to work one-on-one with participating businesses to build e-commerce websites or improve upon existing websites, and provide photography and web design services.
Interested? View an anticipated scope of work and apply to join our Directory of Creative Service Providers below!
Helpful links
Questions?
For more information on how to apply or for questions about the program, please contact us at sellblack@en2action.org
Thank You To Our City Partners
Sell Black is a community partnership program made possible through the fiscal support of the Dream Keeper Initiative, the Human Rights Commission, and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development.