Building Wealth Through Brand Loyalty
@ 2:28 pm
What’s your brand? Mine is L of GLBT reknown.
Throughout history, minorities have struggled as long and as hard as they had to for one simple reason. They didn’t have as much power. They didn’t have as much power because they didn’t have as much money compared to the majority. Wow…
Which comes first? The chicken or the egg? The money or the power.
The money comes first. Then the power. Just in case anyone was wondering.
So how is it that some minorities in the history of the U.S. have done such a good job of building their money and power while others have not?
I’m sure there are going to be lots of ideas. This may even lead to an argument. Someone may even want to take me to task personally over my own biases.
Except that I rarely ever take anything personally. You have to insult my mother to get me to take something personal.
One thought has been that some minorities are less capable for one reason or another. I really don’t buy that. I think that assumption is simply born out of buying into a stereotype in the first place. Plus, I don’t like to make assumptions. You have to insult my mother and then I’ll assume you’re an idiot.
Another idea rests in the idea that minorities just don’t have equal access.
No, I think it is much simpler and a lot more human than any of the thought bounced around.
We have to be loyal…to one another…just because we are GLBT. We have to take our business from one GLBT owned business or sales person to another GLBT owned business or sales person.
And I didn’t say GLBT friendly owned business or GLBT friendly sales person.
I challenge you to discover the economic plan used by the Irish immigrant when they came to America. My conclusions are my own. I don’t want to cast any statements to the public that might otherwise be construed as, again, my own bias.
As much as we love our friends and family who love us, their business landscape is much larger and lucrative than ours.
I challenge each and every one to seek out and discover a GLBT business or sales person and put them on your speed dial. Car, bank, restaurant, book store, grocery store. Seek out your brand. Make it a choice to help us to gain economic power through the accumulation of wealth. The other kinds of power just naturally follow suit.
Showing our loyalty to our GLBT brand helps our GLBT community.
February 19th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
Absolutely the way to go!!!
Most larger cities have “Gayellow Pages” phonebooks out and the internet is one of the best sources.
Also call your local (if your city has one) GLBT Community Center and ask for Referals.
~ Roland
February 20th, 2008 at 6:48 am
Janice: I’m not sure I feel the same as you do on this topic.
Here’s another way to look at it… Should we be brand loyal to companies just because they support our community? I don’t fly American Airlines because they have a gay specific travel site and sponsor Gay Pride events. I fly AA because I like their mileage program and need to stick to one airline to make the rewards worthwhile.
I feel the same way about sending my business to an individual just because they’re gay. I see your point, but we risk the opposite happening - which is discrimination (e.g. someone refusing to do business with us because we’re gay) and then we’re quick (as a community) to call foul play.
February 20th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Bring this topic up at social gatherings with GLBT friends and watch the sparks fly!
I understand what you mean, Nina. In a perfect world there would be justice and equality for all. Justice can’t be delivered in my opinion since true Justice is that unjust things never happen in the first place.
We (humans)are uncomfortable with our innate trait to discriminate.
For me, approaching my 50th year, I’ve come to believe that the human condition is hard wired with discrimination. Why we choose one thing or another, why we spend our time with certain people and not others, why we wear a blue shirt rather than a red shirt, why we listen to one kind of music or another all falls under preference and discrimination.
We just can’t help it.
I don’t keep my beliefs in a vaccuum, folks. They live, breathe, grow, and modify over time. Often it boils down to the circumstances. When I’m in need of a product or service, I check to see if there is an option in my GLBT community. Sometimes, there isn’t. And frankly, I’ve engaged GLBT businesses in the past where there was abject incompetence and I don’t continue to use their services.
My proposal is that we tune in with a more focused frequency. Our frequency can be very wide or it can be narrowed at any level down to a pin point. I’ve fine tuned my frequency to be on the look out for those opportunities to use GLBT business. If it is a new business, I’ll give them a try. If they’ve been referred to me, I’ll give them a try. I also can speak with the owners or sales people more frankly about why I’m selecting them…out of loyalty to a mission of keeping our own dollars in our own GLBT community.
The same with my vote at election time. I make a discriminating choice based upon which candidate I believe will do the most for me and the people I love. I don’t chop my vote up and share it among those candidates for fear of being thought self serving or discriminatory toward those candidates with whom I’ve nothing in common.
My dollars, every day, cast my vote in the economic landscape. While I can spread them around, I want to focus them where they will do me and the people I love the most good.
Perfect? No. But nothing in life has ever been perfect. History shows that if we tune into a frequency that endeavors to keep minority dollars within the respective minority community, that same community builds wealth and power more quickly.
There are minority communities that have done a haphazard job of engaging this minority economic policy. I observe in some certain cases where there is a great division between those with and those without wealth.
“If we treat everyone the same…then there can be no one special…” I’m not sure if this quote comes from someone very important at all…but it resonanted with me.
To your point, Nina, as to why you use American Airlines. There are other airlines that offer rewards programs. What if one of them hit the mark and offered the same rewards to you? The newcomer was even making tempting offers to woo you away from American Airlines? All things being equal, which company would get your business? American Airlines with their GLBT presence or the newcomer who hasn’t one?
Perhaps because you have an existing “relationship” with American Airlines, you would just stay put.
I am proposing that we all recognize an existing “relationship” with GLBT businesses.
Now…if you are a GLBT business person, you have to deliver the goods…no question. When I’m disappointed with service from a GLBT business, off I go in search of a GLBT competitor.
I discriminate. Yes. I said it. I’ve come out of the closet. I discriminate. Every choice I make is the result of my discriminating taste.
I would love to see a directory on Queercents.com where I can search and find services I need from the GLBT community. Because “we” don’t work together, there are hundreds, maybe even thousands, of GLBT web sites with a promise of GLBT business listings…with near-empty queues. I’ve yet to find a GLBT website that keeps the promise. If there is one…I’d love to see it. More likely, however, it doesn’t exist and is in need of being built.
It takes relationships to build a business. How many people are regulars with this web site and how many people do they know who own GLBT business? What a grand experiment to conduct…
I have a headache now. Gonna go take a pill. When I get going like this I know it leaves out my favorite thing in the whole world…the fun and thrill of intelligent discourse with harmonious intelligence.
Thanks for your comment, Nina…
February 21st, 2008 at 7:28 am
Janice: I like the LGBT directory idea and believe me, it’s on the list of things that we want Queercents to become…
Thanks for the lengthy and thoughtful response!
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
By all means any LGBT (and even the friendly folks) who would like to support their health/wellness and also me in my endeavor to better the health of those around me please do. You can get to know me and my qualifications a little better at my http://selfgrowth.com/experts/pam_murphy.html page and my store is at http://pamsnutritionstore.com
And if YOU have a business perhaps we can help each other in some way.
Wishing you all wellness, joy and prosperity!
Pam
March 11th, 2008 at 11:46 am
[…] own my own washer and dryer, but that’s a post for another time.) But as much as I believe in supporting queer-owned businesses, I also firmly believe in integrating myself into my community. And this laundromat is just down […]