There are enough of us who self-identify as "green" businesswomen that I feel confident this is not a false start, a trendy topic, or just an internet meme. Green is here to stay, and if you want your business to succeed in the 21st century, I believe that you must take steps to encourage your company to become more socially responsible, more ethical, more … [Read more...]
Providing Value through your Technical Solutions
Web-based companies, or those providing digital opportunities, are the ones that can most easily "scale" and provide value to a wider community of clients and customers. If you are a service provider, what ways can you offer a technical component to your work. For example, if you only do written reports, is there a way to offer a digital option, a web-based form, or a "lite" … [Read more...]
7 Tips for your E-commerce Store
When we're going into e-commerce, we often forget the basics for what makes a good e-tailing experience work for our customers. Here are seven tips to remember when building and designing your online store: 1) Tell the customer about you. If you have a history, a mission/vision/values statement, or more about the proprietor, make sure to highlight this information. People … [Read more...]
Meeting Up
With so much electronic communication, I know that many of you are as hungry as I am for more in-person connections. Twitter, texting, e-mail, and Skype are fine for business or for personal outreach and updates, but nothing takes the place of a good old fashioned sit-down talk, or a person-to-person meeting with your friend, business client, or potential vendor. With so … [Read more...]
Move your Idea into Reality
The editor's message in a recent Dwell issue has an insightful comment about ideas that makes me think -- hard. He suggests that a good place to store your ideas is in the real world. Meaning you create and envision and idealize and thoroughly understand something in your mind, and then you physically bring that into reality. As a web developer, I feel a lot of kinship with … [Read more...]
Value for your Community
If you sell something to your community of clients, and they receive some measure of enjoyment, appreciation, usage, or some other measure of value out of your product or service, then you're fulfilling the role your company exists to play. Entrepreneurs exist to create value for the economy: this is the primary benefit they offer. Without a special group of someones … [Read more...]
Get your Idea off the Ground – Green Business Startup Capital through GreenFunder.com
The new crowdfunding website GreenFunder.com offers a unique tool for innovators, entrepreneurs, and creators who have a burning desire to raise money and awareness for their socially responsible, sustainable, or green project. Socially responsible projects = benefit a person, community or the environment Crowdfunding = accomplishing a goal by pooling money from a large … [Read more...]
Belief in your Own Abilities
I've realized that a belief in your own abilities will carry you much longer and farther than if you put your trust, faith, and hope in other people's opinions. I do recommend you build a team of people with strengths different from yours, so you can get overlap and a diversity of perspectives. However, if you're in leadership at your organization or business and you believe … [Read more...]
Leaving your Job to Follow your Passion
I am a big fan of people following their passion, as I believe it energizes the individual and helps our overall world when people are engaged and enthusiastic with what they do. If you are realizing that your current job is not a good fit and you'd like to try something new, I recommend you pursue some self-inventorying resources such as "What Color is My Parachute?" if you … [Read more...]
Prove Yourself
What are you afraid of? What turns your legs to jelly? What gives you heart palpitations? Perhaps your fear is the pathway to your greatest triumph. Believe that your current, most pressing, most disturbing issue is here to give you insight, awareness, strength, and renewed vigor in your purpose here on Earth. Perhaps you're dealing with personnel or relationship issues. … [Read more...]