I was lucky enough to get a copy of The Chic Entrepreneur from author Elizabeth Gordon, which I’m very happy to review here on Women On Business.  First, this book is written just the way I like books and how I like to write my own.  It’s very straightforward and easy to read.  Let’s face it.  Businesspeople are very busy.  Longwinded business books that are overflowing with jargon and buzz words are useless to me.  I don’t have time to sort through the BS to get to the meat of the book.  I find myself saying, “Just get to the point.”  The Chic Entrepreneur gets right to the point and delivers numerous specific and useful tips, suggestions and theories that readers can implement immediately - again, just the way I like it. Continue reading »

With Earth Day quickly approaching, I thought it would be appropriate to write about making business more eco-friendly.  I checked the RiverWired blog to get some ideas and found a post called the Top 10 Tips to Green Your Small Business by Susan Seliger.

In her article, Susan discusses the importance not just of making environmentally friendly products but actually walking the green walk and talking the green talk in every aspect of your business.

One of the best tips Susan gives is to ask your employees for green ideas first.  I think this is probably the most important piece of the puzzle in terms of making your company greener.  Getting employee buy-in for your green initiatives and living by example are the building blocks of creating an eco-friendly business.  If your employees support your green efforts and see you setting the tone, they’ll be more motivated to join in.

You can follow the link to read all 10 tips to make your business greener.  There are some great ideas in the post, many of which are very easy to implement immediately.

What green initiatives have you seen work successfully in your company?

A survey of 1,200 women business owners conducted by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) discovered three interesting trends about female business owners.  According to a post on WomenEntrepreneur.com by Eva Gumpel, women business owners are going green, going global and giving back to their communities (dubbed the 3 ‘G’s by Eva).

The survey found that:

• 25% of women business owners are taking their businesses to international markets.
• 71% of women business owners are actively making their companies greener (by changing their products or their company policies).
• 53% of women business owners are giving 1%-5% of their profits to philanthropic causes.

Way to go ladies!

Bridget Wright from BizChicksRule was kind enough to ask me to write a guest post that she published today. 

The post is called 5 Steps to Branding Your Business, and it’s meant to help business owners and marketers understand the steps to take to begin developing a brand strategy, including a brand position and image, for their companies.

If you have a few minutes, please stop by BizChicksRule to read 5 Steps to Branding Your Business as well as some of the other great content Bridget and her fellow blogger, Kristen King, publish for b5media.

Yahoo! Small Business is teaming up with Carolyn Kepcher (the ex-judge from “The Apprentice”) to help businesswomen, “who have the next breakthrough idea or a new small business.” If you think you have the next breakthrough idea or business, then you can apply for a chance to win one of three finalist grant prizes through the Empowering Women Entrepreneurs contest.

The Empowering Women Entrepreneurs finalist prize incluces:

• $20,000 cash grant to jumpstart your business
• Mentoring from Carolyn Kepcher and other business leaders and women entrepreneurs
• Up to $5,000 in free technical services to help the winner develop a website
• Free Yahoo! web hosting services for two years
• Promotional support from Yahoo! and Carolyn Kepcher’s fwm (Finding What Matters)

The three winners will then have a chance to use their new financial, technical and mentoring support. Yahoo! Small Business, fwm and the public will evaluate what each business does and the finalist whose business grows the most after six months will win the grand prize.

The Empowering Women Entrepreneurs grand prize includes:

• $10,000 more in cash
• More mentoring services from Carolyn Kepcher
• A trip to New York City to meet Carolyn Kepcher and Yahoo! executives
• Media support to give the winning business more press

Sounds like a great opportunity. Think you’ve got what it takes? Why not give it a shot? You can apply and get more details on the Empowering Women Entrepreneurs web page. You can also read the official rules here.

Good luck!

Tags: Carolyn Kepcher, fwm, Yahoo, Yahoo small business, empowering women entrepreneurs, small business grant, women business owners, women in business, women on business, women small business, female entrepreneurs

Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2008 Entrepreneur of the Year contest is open for entries. You can enter to be Entrepreneur of the Year if your company has fewer than 100 employees, had at least $500,000 in annual sales in 2007 and you own at least 51% of your business. Follow the links for:

• Entrepreneur of the Year entry form
• Entrepreneur of the Year contest rules (information about eligibility, prizes and restrictions)

Good luck!

Tags: Entrepreneur of the Year, Entrepreneur magazine, women business owners, female entrepreneurs, women on business, women in business, businesswomen

Paralelles Media Group is a multi-media network dedicated to women in business. The group launched in June 2007 and provides a website, radio show, magazine, blog and more to its 300 plus members.

Today, Paralelles Media Group sent out a press release announcing the results of a survey the company recently conducted that showed 84% of women business owner respondents expect their companies to grow in 2008, and 57% expect they’ll need to hire additional staff in 2008 to support their growing businesses.

These are significant findings for women owned businesses, particularly based on the current state of the U.S. economy. Let’s hope this is a trend that carries through 84% of women owned businesses across the country and across the globe!

Tags: women in business, women business owners, female entrepreneurs, women on business, Paralelles, Paralelles Media Group, business women

Amy Abrams and Adelaide Fives opened In Good Company Workplaces in September 2007. The company provides workspaces to women in business in Manhattan using a unique business model.

Rather than simply renting a space of their own, women business owners can sign up for an annual membership with In Good Company Workplaces then pick and choose the types of services they need through a variety of membership plans. Continue reading »

Donna Maria Coles Johnson of Indie Business Media LLC wrote a great post on her blog, Indie Business Blog, today called Top 10 Small Business Administration Website Links.

If you’ve ever tried to navigate the internet to find resources and information to start a business, then you know it can be overwhelming and like finding a needle in a haystack. Donna mapped out links to learn a lot of the basics in her post today from how to start a business in your state to financing and more. It’s worth reading and bookmarking for future use.

You can follow this link to read Donna’s full post: Top 10 Small Business Administration Website Links.

Tags: women business owners, female business owners, starting a business, Small Business Administration, business financing, women in business, businesswomen, women on business, female entrepreneurs

As I first wrote about back in January, the Principal Financial Group is hosting a series called the Five Secrets of Millionaire Business Owners.

Tomorrow, Mary Cantando, business growth advisor and author of The Woman’s Advantage: 20 Women Entrepreneurs Show You What it Takes to Grow Your Business, will lead a class in which she’ll share best practices you can implement into your business learned from multi-million dollar business owners.

You can register for the telecast (it’s free and conducted via telephone) and learn more about Mary Cantando on the Principal Women in Business Teleclass Series web page.

Tags: Mary Cantando, Principal Financial Group, women in business, businesswomen, women on business, female entrepreneurs, Principal Women in Business Teleclass