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The Growth of Digital Assets in Black Business America During the Pandemic
by Shadeed Eleazer
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June 14, 2024
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young black man in button down sitting at computer and laughing at phone

Adversity reveals character and true intent. As Small Business America continues to pivot and redefine itself during the pandemic, Black business owners have shifted towards innovative ways to continue to keep the doors open. As the pandemic brought face-to-face interaction and foot traffic associated with large shopping centers, strip malls, and office space were brought to a screeching halt throughout the calendar year 2020 and the majority of 2021, many small businesses had to pivot. For service-based businesses, the need to establish an online presence and create a digital presence was painfully apparent

The pivot strategy that was notable within Black business America was leaping headfirst into the online business market by creating Digital Assets.

A Digital Asset is the packaging of knowledge or valuable content that solves a specific problem for a targeted audience hosted online that the content owner retains ownership of. Digital Assets include signature courses, ebooks, blogs, non-fungible tokens (NFT), blogs, and podcasts.

Digital Assets solve an important challenge for business owners. Exchanging nonrefundable time for money is a strategy that will leave a business owner with burnout and inconsistent cash flow. Digital Assets leverage Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to appear more favorably within search results. When consumers purchase these Digital Assets, it delivers stability to the business owner's revenue, which enables them to be more selective with the projects and clients that they work with since Digital Assets create additional income streams.

Digital Assets also solve a common challenge which is imposter syndrome. Packaging knowledge into signature programs, webinars, and courses enables business owners to quickly establish themselves as experts.

Black influencers and online personalities have long been influencing establishing trends on social media and popular culture. Leveraging Digital Assets as a chief monetization strategy has resulted in a new approach to social media where creators are increasing their investment in social platforms since there is a financial payoff. There have been thousands of stories where Black creators have inspired a new trend, dance, or strategy. A corporation may have claimed ownership without the original creator being compensated for their ingenuity or legally recognized as the owner of this form of Intellectual Property.

During the pandemic, Black creators have wizened up in several ways, and they are benefitting in growing numbers. I anticipate the maturity of Black business creators and influencers to gain confidence from the past year's progress to have a greater voice online now that Digital Assets have enabled the financial backing to allow for greater focus on content creation. Look for creators to invest time into developing their relationship with their audience, increasing collaborations with like-minded thought leaders, and raising the production value of their platforms online.

Questions for Growth:

Answer the following questions to begin creating your first Digital Asset.

1.) What problem can you solve?

2.) What targeted group of people would you like to solve this problem for?

3.) What form of content would you prefer to package your knowledge into?

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About the author
Shadeed Eleazer
Shadeed Eleazer serves as Chapter Chair of SCORE Greater Baltimore. He is a U.S. Navy Veteran with a Navy Achievement Medal for exemplary service in Operation Enduring Freedom.
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