Category — business women

Nicole, from Modern Goddess Online, is the Balance and Lifestyle Editor of the WE Magazine for Women.  She mentions in her current post that the magazine is putting together a Who’s Who Directory of women in business.

If you are a woman with an online business you should act now to get your details into the directory.  You have until tomorrow (28th March) to get your details across to her.  For more information visit WE blog here.

These days there are many of us working from home.  It suits our lifestyles, and allows us to balance the needs of the family with the need to earn an income. 

Business Mums is an online networking and support group for mums in business and they have recently begun releasing  Business Mums Guides.  The are books written to guide people in various aspects of their businesses.

Current titles include:

Quick Dirty Guide to Market Research

The Easy Peasy Straight-Forward Guide to Business Planning

Wedding Showers for Party Plan Consultants

If you are starting out in business then these guides will be invaluable.  Even if you are already operating a business I know that you will find some tips in here that will save you a lot of work or worry.  Even better, there are more guides coming soon.

The use of images in your own work is an area that many of us don’t really understand.  The internet is a very visual medium and so many of the photos and graphics are lovely.  They would be perfect for that article / blog post that I am writing……….

How do I know which ones I can use?  Flickr is a great source of images but the classifications can be really hard to follow.

At Working Solo, Leah has written a wonderful post which breaks it all down into an easy to understand process.  Before you choose another image for your blog, you need to read this post.

Ingrid at Small Business Ideas tells the story of what can happen when you handle a customer complaint badly.  After experiencing less than average service at a restaurant a customer wrote a very reasonable letter of what I would call ‘feedback’ rather than complaint.  The response from the restaurant? 

Dear Lorraine,  you are an idiot we dont need your feedback.

To find out which restaurant it was and to read the customers letter of feedback visit Ingrids blog. Oh, by the way, this response was spread around the entire area in which the restaurant works.  What effect do you think it will have on the business?

I was wondering what your worst experience has been with customer service.  There is a little poll here.  Why not fill it out and let me know?  If nothing fits the experience then leave me a comment with details of your experience.

I have been thinking lately about how quickly time passes.  The day is finished before I have done all that I set out to do.  Funnily enough I came across this quote at the Small Business Diva blog:

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” Michael Althsuler.

Well if I am piloting my day, why am I doing such a bad job of it?  I am organised.  I have lists.  I have tools.  I have targets.  What goes wrong?

After a little thought I may have identified the top time wasters of my day.  See how many you identify with.   Perhaps it might help you to change the way we work.

1.  Forums / instant messengers.  Why do I leave myself ‘available’ all the time when I know it will only encourage chat?

2.  Stray interruptions - visitors, telephone calls etc.   How rude is it to put up a sign with my ‘visiting hours between….’ information on it, seeing as I work from home?

3.  Daily life - supermarket shopping, school drop offs/pickups and so on.  I know it has to be done but why during the only 24 hours of the day that I have?

4.  Shared computer.  “No, I will not let you use it!  Oh, OK just for a minute. ”   Tap, tap, tap, sigh…..

5.  Paperwork.  I am so slow at accounting!  If I didn’t love the taxman so much (cough splutter) I wouldn’t do it.

6.  Messy desk.  Where is that note?  I know it was here yesterday.

7.  Too much time at the computer.  Doesn’t looking at the screen all day make you tired?  You are getting very sleeeeppppyyyy….

8.  Reading.  Well, there are a lot of interesting blogs out there.  They are educational.  (What a good excuse that is!)

9.  Online shopping.    I had a brilliant idea for a gadget that might solve all these problems.  Perhaps I should hunt one down?  While I am at it, why not just check out the online mags too…….

10.  Games.  There is a whole world out there on the internet that involves playing seriously addictive games.  For some unidentifiable reason they are usually listed as time wasters.  Go on.  Do a search for Time Wasters and see what you find!

Image: Readers Digest

The hard part now is making some changes to gradually eliminate all those distractions and regain some time in my day.  If you are making changes too then I wish us both luck.

Let me know how you get on.

One of the biggest problems facing micro businesses is the lack of spare cash to spend on promoting themselves.

If you are in that situation then perhaps one of these three options is for you, particularly if your business or service is available to Australia, where these programs are running.

They are summarised in this little download pdf. Just click here to start the download.

We had a lot of submissions again this month which is great.  I would appreciate a link back from authors whose submissions are listed here. 

I would also like to remind authors that the topic must be of specific relevance to women in business, not just business in general.  This carnival began because women find issues and challenges from business that men do not encounter.  The carnival is designed to collect useful information all together in one spot as a resource for women in business.

Without further ado………………

Liz Fuller presents Today’s Woman Entrepreneur - Alicia Rosam of Ali J posted at More Than WE Know, saying, “Many entrepreneurs tell me that marketing and sales is their least favorite aspect of running their business. Go behind the scenes with this remarkable young entrepreneur and discover her secrets for gaining visibility in dozens of online and offline mediums. Even though she has only been in business a few months, her artwork is now hanging in public and private collections in 22 countries. There are bound to be some suggestions that you can mirror and apply to your own business.”

Lauren Franklin presents Once upon a time… posted at Finding my mommy voice.

Kenton Newby presents Can You Really Make Money Showing People “How To”? posted at KentonNewby.com, saying, “I had a talk with a family member the other day. He commented that he just didn’t understand how you can make money showing someone “how to”. Do you have that same blind spot? Let’s consider an example and I’ll let you do the math and be the judge.”

Michelle Cramer presents Overview - How to Write a Business Plan – Part 1 of 8 posted at GreatFX Business Cards, saying, “Part 1 in an 8 post series. If you’ve started a business or are thinking about doing so, then you’ve probably heard that you need a business plan. If you in any way hope to have investors support your company growth or to obtain a business loan, you have to have a business plan. You won’t even be considered without one. It is more or less the sales pitch for your business.”

Jenny presents November Earnings Report posted at the so called me.

sglover presents Sales & Marketing Women’s Biggest Business Challenges posted at Business & A Cup of Tea.

Hill Robertson presents Turn Your Passion into Your Profit posted at Hill Robertson.

Jay M presents Business Plan Basics II posted at 4 entrepreneur, saying, “How to write a winning business plan!”

Michelle Cramer presents How to Improve Your Credit Score posted at GreatFX Business Cards, saying, “What you need to know and do to improve your credit score.”

GWN Lifestyle presents Souper Easy Dinner posted at GWN Lifestyle, saying, “Soup and salad for dinner. Easy to accommodate to anyone’s busy lifestyle.”

Christine presents Finding Your Special Talent posted at Me, My Kid and Life: An American Single Mom Living in France.

Holly Ord presents Calling All Women Entrepreneurs posted at Menstrual Poetry.

GWN Lifestyle presents Girls Who Network Grow Rich Teleseminar posted at GWN Lifestyle.

iamawahm presents Be A Balanced Mom posted at Mom Works at Home.

Hill Robertson presents It’s a New Year - Get Your Butt in Gear posted at Hill Robertson.

Tiffany Washko presents Can You Make Money With a Blog? posted at Tiffany Washko - Mother, Writer, Environmentalist.

Liz Fuller presents Blogging and PR: Six Principles to Live By posted at Business and Blogging, saying, “Many small business owners want to market their business with a blog but don’t know where to begin. This post gives you six principles that you must implement to develop a successful business blog”

Liz Fuller presents 5 Questions You Need to Ask Yourself Before It’s Too Late - More Than WE Know - Information, Inspiration and Support for Women Entrepreneurs posted at More Than WE Know, saying, “We all think we are going to remember all the challenges, successes and mistakes we make, but in reality we forget much more than we remember. We need to take action if we are really going to reap the benefit of our experiences”

Michelle Cramer presents Business Instincts vs Data posted at GreatFX Business Cards, saying, “As business owners, we face a constant battle when it comes to the decisions we make - should we go with our gut instinct or chose based on the facts? It’s an everyday part of keeping things running, and can sometimes cause a bit of stress if our instincts and the data don’t match up.”

Christine presents Monetizing Your Website Through Inspiration and Desire posted at Me, My Kid and Life: An American Single Mom Living in France.

Jay M presents 10 Critical Steps to Writing a Business Plan posted at 4 entrepreneur, saying, “10 Critical Steps to Writing a Business Plan”

Matt OConnor presents How To Cash In With A Single Web Page posted at Adventures In Internet Marketing.

Sagar presents Balancing Work and Family: 100 Resources for Pregnant Career Women posted at Bootstrapper.

Balancing work and family; a woman’s point of view

Hueina Su presents Take Action Monday Challenge posted at Intensive Care for the Nurturer’s Soul.

Vahid Chaychi presents Can Your Life Partner Be as Your Business Partners Too? posted at Weboma.com.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of mothers in business carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: mothers in business carnival, blog carnival.

I was over at the Small Business Diva blog yesterday and came across this video.  There were definite elements in it that reminded me of my life.   You can feel the stress and pressure oozing out of the clip, although it is very funny to watch.

This is called “An Overwhelmed Life” .  

Welcome to the October 31, 2007 edition of mothers in business carnival.

We had a stack of submissions to this edition so I was not able to include them all.   Please note that we accept only articles written by women. This carnival includes a couple of extra articles that were written by men because they are relevant to the lives of women in business, particularly WAHMS.

Amanda Cox presents Put it on the To-do List posted at Real Mums in a Real World.

Tash presents Writing From Home posted at Word Constructions.

Melissa Khalinsky presents Lessons from Thomas presented at Melissa Khalinsky

Doris Chua presents Diary of a Home Office Woman posted at A Meeting Place for All Home Office Women.

GP presents Getting Grounded and Green posted at Innside Innkeeping - Montana Country Style, saying, “All kinds of uses .. for coffee grounds… from an innkeeper”

Aruni Gunasegaram presents entrepreMusings » Are We There Yet? When Will We Get there?! posted at Entrepremusings, saying, “Being both a mom and a business woman is a uniquely difficult situation.”

Tiffany Washko presents PLR Content for the Natural/Green Niche! posted at Tiffany Washko - Mother, Writer, Environmentalist.

Louise Manning presents Keeping busy posted at The Human Imprint.

Doris Chua presents Office Supplies posted at Welcome to DorisGoShopping.com.

Wanda Grindstaff presents Wealth and Freedom - Get Clear on What they Really Mean! posted at Creating Abundant Lifestyles.

Sue Massey presents How to Write a Business Proposal posted at Business Management Life, saying, “Writing a business proposal can seem like a daunting task. Where do I start? What do I need to say? How do I know if I’ve written a proposal that my customer will understand?”

The Career Counselor presents Ideas to Help Make Your Home Office Functional and Fun posted at ask the CareerCounselor.

Terry Dean presents Secret Ingredient in Your Business posted at Integrity Business Blog by Terry Dean.

Liz Fuller presents How does your Networking Garden Grow? - More Than WE Know - Information, Inspiration and Support for Women Entrepreneurs posted at More Than WE Know, saying, “Patience is the key to successful networking. While we may sometimes be able to make some quick connections that pay off in immediate customers, most of the time we are working toward long term results. By continuing to make new contacts, cultivate existing ones and have faith in the process, our networking efforts will come to bloom.”

Michelle Sweeney presents Living The Dream Tshirts Fly In The Face of Super Mum posted at Tonic Gifts.

GP presents Being a Kept Woman posted at Innside Montana-Your Home at the Range, saying, “A WAHM take on being a “kept woman”"

Randy Nichols presents The Job Burnout Cure posted at Career Advice by Randy, saying, “The daily grind of working for someone else and being on a limited income takes it’s toll, What in the world is the cure?”

Chris Russell presents The Power of Personal Space posted at Productivity Planner, saying, “Have you ever thought about how powerful personal space is as a determinant of productivity? Everybody works differently, and where possible good managers should take into account individual preferences and needs when allocating workspace.”

Stacey Derbinshire presents What Will A Business Plan Do For You? posted at Starting a Small Home Business, saying, “If you’re just starting out in business, a written business plan can help you organize all the pieces that will have to come together to make your business a success. A business hoping to expand its operations in some way can achieve the same benefits. A well-established business trying to grow out of a business-as-usual rut can use a plan as a modeling tool to examine various options before committing to one.”

Hueina Su presents The Gift of Receiving posted at Intensive Care for the Nurturer’s Soul, saying, “A bewildering encounter outside of Home Depot made me pause and ponder the importance of this gift.”

Holly Ord presents Utilizing Sk*rt posted at Woman Tribune.

edithyeung presents The 5 Rules of Writing Effective Email posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act..

Alanna presents Investing in (and for) Your Children posted at BBB Consumer Education.

Kathleen Gage presents Are You Losing Money by Doing Your Own Work? posted at Street Smarts Marketing, saying, “According to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), the average small business owner spends up to 40% of his or her time on routine administrative tasks. Constantly working on non revenue-producing tasks that could be more productively and cost-effectively performed by a highly skilled, knowledgeable assistant is losing your business significant income.”

Terry Dean presents 3 Characteristics of Winners posted at Integrity Business Blog by Terry Dean.

Carole Fogarty presents Eat, pray, love a journey of spiritual excitement posted at THE HEALTHY LIVING LOUNGE, saying, “What do you really, really, really want?”

Other interesting submissions included:

Matt Hanson presents Matt’s Creative Advertising Blog » Blog Archive » 3 Free Advertising Options For Your Business posted at Matt’s Creative Advertising Blog, saying, “Whether you have a website for a small business, or a large corporation, you probably already know the benefits of advertising your business. However, have you looked into different ways to get free advertising?”

Jason Whitmen presents Best Press Release Writing - 3 Beginner Tips to Press Release Writing posted at Public Relations Insider, saying, “Press releases are news announcements, whether through online publications or through traditional media. You can use it as a promotions and advertising tool. To be effective however, you should write it in news format…”

Peter Quinn presents 10 Tips For Effective Negotiations in Life and Business posted at Easy Negotiation Techniques, saying, “These 10 points are things you need to have in mind to have a win-win.”

Robert Michel presents Business Networking is Like an Orange Tree posted at Social Networking Skills, saying, “Print advertising, phone solicitation, and direct mail if done correctly lead to immediate results. Personal networking takes longer, and therefore requires a greater level of patience and maturity. However, the quality of business received from networking is by far superior because nothing beats a personal referral.”

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of mothers in business carnival using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: mothers in business carnival, blog carnival.