So many small businesses & white solopreneurs still refusing to take a single public #BLM stance. I’ve spoken to a few about it privately who’ve said they support BLM but don’t think their business is the place to talk about it, and here’s the thing:

Talking about racism through your solo or small business is not only the right thing to do, it's also a free way to 1. not have to work with racists (at least not the gung-ho overt ones) AND 2. work with more people who are also against racism.

Why would you not want to do this?

Mini marketing lesson: rule 1 is don’t try to appeal to everyone. The 1st thing you do when you start a marketing plan is define an “ideal client” and then tailor your branding & content to appeal to them.

At best here, you’re leaving space for your ideal client to be a racist.

Obviously supporting BLM should go way deeper than a marketing stance. But if you do support BLM & you’re reticent to talk about it through your business, know that this is the message you’re sending:

By keeping talk about racism out of your biz, you’re demonstrating that you’d rather keep racist clients comfortable than support your Black clients & clients of color. Intentionally or not, you’re catering to an ideal client that may very well be racist.

Especially for businesses like mine that are (in non-Covid times) in person & service based, you’re also signing yourself up to spend time with & work for people who are not put off by your lack of an anti-racist stance. Or maybe who are glad about it. Which is to say: racists.

I know in this economy, cutting yourself off from any potential work is scary. But the silence that keeps racists comfortable working w/you also makes other people uncomfortable working w/you. You’re never going to serve everyone, so you might as well make it an active choice.