As you go about your routine, have you built in time for ongoing personal development? For me, I take at least 20 minutes a day to get a feel for what other people are doing--- people I respect. I call this "continuing education" and the way it works for me is I check in from time to time on people who I know are more successful, more effective, and have a bigger following … [Read more...]
Live your Plan A
"Make it a lowercase 'A' if you have to, but live your Plan A. Anything else belittles the importance of life." - Vin Diesel, actor Lately I've been musing on my own quality of life and what it means to me to be alive. Every day when I wake up, I am so grateful and thankful for yet another opportunity to do what I love. As I understand it, if I'm still alive, then I still … [Read more...]
Creating and Maintaining your Website
Many of my friends who are getting laid off or struggling with the economy right now are wondering if there is a way to set up an easy website and get started with promoting a side business or a new business. From what I understand, it's tough going out there and to some extent I'm really grateful, fortunate, and thankful for all of you who support my web design business, … [Read more...]
Keeping yourself Healthy
I first started following Erica Ross-Krieger after I read her book, "Seven Sacred Attitudes® -- How to Live in the Richness of the Moment" She is a "wellness coach" http://www.wellnesscoach.com and she works with entrepreneurs who choose to keep their health a priority in the midst of their busy lives. Women in business often work so hard and we sometimes forget to take … [Read more...]
Top Ten Steps to Building your Business (or “Learn from My Mistakes”)
My partner and I started our web design company with two Mac laptops, a burning drive and passion for connecting people to the Web, and our personal address books. We were determined to focus on our core skills, which were converting ideas, needs, and processes into fully-functioning websites. We wanted to support minority-owned, woman-owned, green, progressive, … [Read more...]
How I Use Twitter
I think that Twitter, more than Google, is turning into the best search tool for people in real-time. I use it to find people who are talking about the same things I'm interested in. For example, in my account, I've saved these searches: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=minority+women+business http://search.twitter.com/search?q=green+women+business And I … [Read more...]
Packaging your Products into a Menu of Options
By now, you've probably perfected your 7-second version and 30-second version "elevator pitch" about what your company offers. You probably know what it is that you do best, and who your specific market of consumers is. But can you do more? Will you demonstrate for someone what you offer, instead of just telling them? Will you walk someone through a version of your … [Read more...]
Need a Business Website idea? Hint: Put “Secrets” somewhere in the Title
Post by Monica Flores, contributing Women on Business writer I started my first website in 1999, when I was a contributing member of The Odyssey World Trek for Service and Education http://www.worldtrek.org. This is a "blog"-type site, where my teammates and I travelled to 30+ countries and did "posts" with audio, video, and stories of people working on different social … [Read more...]
Networking to Land Contracts
Work is love made visible. - Kahlil Gibran As I get more experienced in my work, I'm seeing the value of dominating a "niche" service. What is niche? Niche is what you do absolutely the best. For example, there may be 100 restaurants in a 5-square block area in New York City, but there's only one, original and best falafel place. What are you the best at? What is … [Read more...]
Twenty Tips for using Twitter
You've either just started your Twitter account or you're thinking about taking the plunge for your business. You might have been reading about the incredible ability of the Search function on Twitter to find real-time, individual conversations about the keywords that you're passionate about: search.twitter.com. For this tool, along with all others, consider: what are you … [Read more...]