Discover how collaboration between STL Black Biz and Dynasty Media is helping to empower and grow local businesses in the community.
A series of thoughts, images, and even strong emotions about African American business enterprises stirred within Eleanie Campbell during the Ferguson Riots in 2014. It was because of those feelings that STLBlackBiz.com was birthed, and the St. Louis Black Businesses directory came into focus.
STL Black Biz was founded by Campbell as a resource for those seeking to patronize Black businesses. After realizing there were many local Black businesses, Campbell felt a great need to share their entrepreneurial stories with St. Louis and beyond.
“Content and stories, that’s my biggest thing. Sharing stories of the entrepreneur” says Campbell, who has a business background in human resources. “It’s about talking about those sleepless nights being up till 2 a.m. The sacrifice. It has to be part of you where you’re living and breathing it.”
Dynasty Media Agency is collaborating with the STL Black Biz to help stimulate broader exposure across multiple platforms, including DISC – Dynasty Interactive Screen Community. DISC is the indoor digital screen network reaching millions of consumers with advertising, information, and event promotion where they work, shop, and dine.
David Beckford, creative director and founder of Dynasty expressed exuberation about teaming up with STL Black Biz to bring more awareness of economic development in the Black community.
“We will invest our resources, relationships, and revenue to drive revenue growth to create programming to enhance organizations like STL Black Biz forward,” Beckford says. “We’ll have a combined 500,000+ audience based on our collective reach.
“In our partnership, we will take what Campell does and amplify it with Dynasty Media, The Argus, DISC, and our social media channels,” he says. “It’s a double whammy.”
STL Black Biz website offers promotional and advertising packages to business owners, most of which are start-ups and mostly online enterprises. Business profiles, a directory, a blog highlighting Black business news, and more are on the pages.
On the social media side, there’s the STL Black Biz Facebook page, the STL Black Biz Collector, which is a Facebook group, which allows business owners to talk about the day-to-day experiences of owning a business. The site features reels and weekly business shoutouts. There is also STL Event 314 that showcases happenings in the area. STL Black Biz’s social media also reach also includes Instagram, TicTok, and YouTube.
The growing list of categories on STL Black Biz are business services, legal services real estate, home furnishings, video/photography, and arts. Featured advertisers on the website include Ryze Manufacturing & Manufacturing, Scents for Less by Brande, DEMIBlue Natural Nails, Collier Brothers Auto Body, Curse Breaker Apparel, CO II, and DISC, on which STL Black Biz will be seen on.
This directory is a source of empowerment and inspiration for Black entrepreneurs. Campbell says STL Black Biz is an affordable option in addition to using social media outlets to reach customers.
“For platforms as low as $2.99 per month you can increase your customer reach and exposure when becoming a member,” she says.
Campbell adds the response to her new business venue has been encouraging.
“I get a lot of people in my inbox asking for help or who to turn to for assistance,” she says. “It’s all about telling their stories and connecting everyone.”
Beckford explains that business success depends on the acquisition of resources, revenue, capital, and relationships to foster growth. The goal is to bring all that to STL Black Biz.
“We’ll be able to do that off of those programs affordably, an opportunity, not only to drive advertising but also capacity building through sound marking strategies and business development consulting,” he continued. “I call this the spirit of collaboration to get across the finish line.”
Credit: STL Argus New
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