Notes on Being Black In Business: How To Show Up and Be Seen

Online business requires you to be seen in ways that are unlike the demands of any other industry. To effectively market your products or services online, you must post videos and pictures of yourself on websites and social media; do interviews on podcasts and the radio; and recount your ideas, expertise, and thoughts in blog posts and news articles.

Basically, you have to put yourself out there all the time, and unless you secretly desire to be an actor or performer, the idea that you have to show so much of yourself for business is scary and strange to a lot of entrepreneurs.

Being Seen As Women of Color In Business

When it comes to being a woman of color and an entrepreneur, the fear of being seen compounds many times over.  In addition to the mindset issues all entrepreneurs face when we are called to show up and be seen, black women are left to wonder whether they should reveal their identities at all for fear of losing patronage.

According to a 2014 Nielsen report on African-America…