Seeing Your Name in Print
Business advice for women entrepreneurs and small businesses
I opened my Twitter account to find 15 retweets of my blog post called “The Pinnacle of Business Success” along with 4 people I didn’t know who included a link to the blog post in their national online newspapers. Immediately I was grateful for people who enjoy my business writing and the fact there are millions of people, not only national or local media, looking for articles for their print publications. The explosion of social media has made it easier than ever before to see your name in print.
20 years ago when I opened the doors to my first business, the newspaper was filled with stories written by paid columnists. If you hoped to see your name in print you needed a miracle to have a columnist write about you. I worked hard to develop warm relationships with journalists by becoming a resource to them in women entrepreneurship as it rose in popularity. In return, I would periodically see my company name in print after submitting press releases sent directly to my new media friends. Like anything in life, it took time to develop these special relationships.
The Yin and Yang of the dawn of social and online media has been the drastic declines in traditional print newspapers but the increase in online ones. Never before has it been easier to get company news in print….online print. If traditional local news was looking for content to fill blank pages all the time, envision the number of opportunities there are across the globe today with people looking to fill their blogs, online newspapers, websites, Twitter accounts and Facebook feeds with someone else’s copy.
In Oprah‘s words, “If there is one thing I know for sure…” it is women entrepreneurs have more print and publicity options today than they ever had before. Today you can self-publish your own book, create your own business blog, submit posts to other national blog sites, and tweet your posts and have them picked up globally. Every time your name is in print today whether online or in traditional publications, it can be shared with millions of people across the world through the Internet.
Today I encourage you to think larger when it comes to getting your name in print. Have you been using a combination of paid advertising, press releases, blog posts, online news sources and even traditional media to get information on your company in print? It needs to become a priority if it isn’t now. Like any business area, it takes focus, education and practice to become good at it. Maybe today is the day you set the goal to commit to intentionally garnering attention for your business in traditional and online print.
If you need the inspiration or knowledge to get you started, next week at a special Women TIES event we have 2 women joining me in sharing our “print expertise” to help other women entrepreneurs become more successful in their own efforts. It might be the perfect first step in your goal to see your name in print more often in 2016.
The Pinnacle of Business Success
Business inspiration and wisdom for entrepreneurs
Fifteen years ago sitting in the Adirondacks in a quaint house tucked in a mountain side, my best friend and I from Kindergarten started speaking about the vision I had for my new company that would help women entrepreneurs. It was the dawn of a new era for women becoming business owners.
As I explained the vision for my company, she said, “Tracy it sounds like you want to lift women up to a higher place than where they are so they can become successful.” I thought for a moment and said to her as I looked out the window at the rugged scenery, “I envision each women entrepreneur I know climbing their own “business” mountain at different heights and levels of the climb with some even standing on top of their mountains too. I want to be the one who helps women in all stages of their climb until I look out one day to see a vista of tall mountains with women entrepreneurs standing on top of each peak.” My artistic vision of my company’s mission has never been clearer to me than that moment.
Landmannalaugar, West-Island, Island * Landmannalaugar, West-Island, Island.
Digital Photo;
Copyright: Klaus Fengler.
My question for you today is what does your business vision look like? What images are part of the people you want to help? What visuals come to mind? Have you taken any time to be inspired by a vision that could set the tone for your entrepreneurial efforts?
If not, I hope today you are inspired to close your eyes or have a conversation with a great friend and envision what the success of your business efforts produces. I surely hope that you become one of the thousands of women entrepreneurs I have met the past twenty years who has climbed the rugged terrain and reached the pinnacle of her own mountain and takes the time to look around to see all the other women standing on top of theirs. Success must include a vision.
Century Old Wisdom For Women & Female Business Owners
Inspiration and wisdom for women, women entrepreneurs and female business owners
One more glorious late fall day inspired me to go outside during my lunch hour to sit underneath one of the seven 100 year old maple trees in my yard so I could experience the blissful warm day that would be ending soon. As I sat there, the last remnants of once green spring leaves dropped down around me. I felt like I was in a snow globe minus the white precipitation. Time stood still and I was mesmerized by the beauty of the moment.
I am someone who has always loved the color green – like the fresh buds of saplings in April, the color of my childhood house, the water color off Sanibel Island and the color of a fresh dollar bill. Green represents positive energy in my mind – the kind I want around me all the time. Sitting under the tree with once green leaves, now in brown hues, falling reminded me my favorite season had come to an end and a transition was once again underway.
Periodically I sit at the desk I’ve used for 20 years as an entrepreneur and experience the same feeling. New becomes old, then old becomes new again, and a hundred transitions occur in the seasons of entrepreneurial life. What is new fuels our energy and becomes our priority. What is old lingers on awaiting dismissal or reworking. One is future focused and one dwells in the past. But in business as in life, we realize something old has a much value as something new, it just allows us a different perspective.
My grandmother’s words of wisdom reside in my heart alongside the laughter of my two young sons. Our worlds will always be a combination of what is old and what is new and so it is in business. We couldn’t possibly be where we are today if it wasn’t for our past. We would have had no future path if we didn’t start our business journey someplace. When the forks in the road appeared along the way, we paused to consider the options. Many of us took the road less traveled ready to experience high risk for high reward and the embraced the anticipation of uncertainty.
Today stop for a short period of time to recall your past, to reminisce over your journey, to recognize where you stand today and to envision where you still want to go. You can review your personal or business life. Ask yourself, what still matters the most? What am I willing to do to remain happy or become more satisfied? Do I believe the best is yet to come – and if so what is it that’s coming? I hope you’ll envision 3 goals that instantly pop up in your mind right now and investigate their current and future worth in pursuing.
Sometimes we need time to stand still long enough – perhaps under a beautiful old maple tree on a warm fall day – to catch a glimpse of time moving slowly so we can focus on what we have left to do that matters the most to us.
Expanding Your Business and Personal World
Business advice for women entrepreneurs and small businesses
One by one they entered the townhouse…a woman from Austria, Australia, Iceland, Malaysia, New Zealand, and then Colorado, Louisiana, Oregon, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Texas and Virginia…soon we were sitting around a long dining room table sharing stories about ourselves, our lives and running. Fate had summoned us to the table and we traveled far and wide to accept the invitation.
During four days and nights we spoke about our passion for our cultures, our love for running, our professions and the reason we accepted the invitation to be in New York. Each morning we arose before the light of day to run from the brownstone we were housed in five blocks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and around it to weave through Central Park as a pack of fearless female runners. Most of my new friends are marathoners but they never left me too far behind them. United we were. United we ran.
When we finally had to leave each other it was bittersweet because we had opened our hearts and spirits to a new world of national and global sisters we might not see again. Within 24 hours of being away from each other as a group, we were already trying to find ways to stay connected. My Louisiana roommate joined me in spirit on a run yesterday as we decided to run together at the same time pretending we were still running through Central Park.
What I love about females, whether they are new running friends, long time girlfriends or inspirational women entrepreneurs is that we bond quickly, we support each other and we continue to help each other even after our time together has passed. Without a doubt, I am grateful to be a woman because of this truth.
Today’s blog post is meant to have you realize you have the opportunity at any moment to be surrounded with girlfriends, sister entrepreneurs, and even new global or national females whose hearts and spirits are similar to your own. When is the last time you opened yourself up to a new experience that includes meeting national women or global sisters? Are you living too small? Do you want to expand your world and the women in it?
If your answer is yes, start attending more of our Women TIES programs or look for events and opportunities to meet more national or global women within your industry or personal interest areas to open up your world, heart and spirit.
Business advice for women entrepreneurs and small business owners
It was 6 a.m. on a beautiful dark fall morning with only the city lights to guide me and my new pack of female running friends from our townhouse on the Upper East side past Park Avenue shops to the bright lights of the Today Show patio. It was our last day together at a small, intimate conference for 261Fearless.org and we wanted to do something different to start our day.
I have been to New York City a few times in my life but never experienced it at the break of dawn running past bellmen washing down sidewalks, residents walking their dogs and other runners getting in a morning run. We arrived at the Today Show just in time to possibly be interviewed for their Halloween Show only to be told were too many other New York City Marathon runners in the group so they passed on interviewing us. We were disappointed but excited to have tried to get on the show.
On the return route home, we decided to run through Central Park instead of the sidewalks only to find groups of international runners in packs warming up for the marathon together. My enthusiastic house mates decided to high five as many of them as they could to welcome them to America. To our surprise, we ended up running for a tiny bit with the 2004 Olympic male marathon champion Stephano Baldini, a handsome and gracious guy who enjoyed our “paparazzi” approach to running in the park that morning.
As I begin another regular business day at my familiar desk with my long list of duties to promote women entrepreneurs, I realize looking back on that morning that more entrepreneurs need to shake up their typical work week by doing something unpredictable. The energy of doing something brand new, beyond our imagination and mindset once in a while can give us a new energy that lasts for months.
I challenge all my entrepreneurial friends to commit to doing something new once a month to jumpstart their business day. It could be a morning run, a new yoga class, a breakfast seminar with a special speaker or an unexpected client meeting over coffee. There are countless ways to pack new energy into your regular business day. Change your setting. Change the people you are with. Change your attitude and then be fueled by the long lasting positive emotions.
Evolution Essential in Life and Entrepreneurship
Business advice, wisdom and inspiration for women
As I sat with legs crossed with twenty other people listening to the vibrations of unique musical instruments and a special yoga instructor for the next two hours, I realized I was sitting in the midst of another woman entrepreneur’s dream. A dream she manifested into a larger business that would satisfy needs of health focused individuals in the Jamesville community.
The walls were a smoothing hue of sea foam green, bamboo floors and a colorful thin mat supported my feet and dim lights created the calming atmosphere. I turned to the woman beside me and said, “I’ve been practicing yoga for years by myself in front of my television but never in public. I hope I don’t fall over and create chaos.” She smiled kindly with a glint of understanding in her eye.
As the peacefulness of the exquisite session grew in me as the movement, music and words flowed through me, I thought of the my member Mary Riposo of Infinite Light Yoga Center at her front desk with her beautiful blue eyes and warm smile greeting her clients. Mary told me a few years ago she was creating this “dream” and expanding from renting space to perform massage in other people’s businesses to owning her own large studio. I wanted to “walk” into her dream and support her. I am so glad I did.
The hardest part in business is making the decision to re-create your company in the midst of its existence to a larger more meaningful existence or to change it because it isn’t working the way it should anymore. Growing or altering one’s business starts with the fruits of desire, the energy of risk and the willingness to fail. It’s about knowing you must move forward or you risk becoming irrelevant. As someone stated recently, “If you aren’t always evolving as an entrepreneur, you simply aren’t giving yourself enough credit and you’re missing out on a greater potential for success.”
Today’s post is to remind you that you must always – in small ways or big bold ways – be evolving your business. It starts with you. Take an inventory of how you feel about your current business status, income, client numbers and workload now. What ranking would you give it from 1-10 with 10 being “perfect.” Write down a list of 3 ideas you have had stirring in your mind for the past year that you haven’t acted on and then list why. Do you have a dream you are trying to step inside of but are too afraid to do it? Find help to move forward.
By stepping into the business of another women’s successful enterprise, we can truly see, feel and witness what another woman’s hard work and dream looks like. By doing so, we leave inspired to the core to do the same for ourselves. “Namaste.”
Entrepreneurs: What is Beyond Your Comfort Zone?
Business advice for women entrepreneurs and small businesses
If you had to answer this question what would you say, “When is the last time I pushed myself past my comfort zone personally or professionally to accomplish a new feat?” Isn’t it true in life and business we feel much better living in status quo? Sometimes we don’t realize we have become complacent until one day we sense an urge to step outside of our comfort level into something new.
As a woman entrepreneur I have felt that way when I opened my first and second company doors, applied for big monetary sponsorship support, hired my first part time employee and opened up my business horizons to a state wide network of new business women. Comfort zones only become comfortable after we sit in the luxury of familiarity long enough. It appears what is new becomes old and what is old pushes us to want new again.
We might feel this way personally when we approach a major birthday milestone or see friends around us settling into new opportunities. The only way to scratch the itch of an interest brewing inside is to jump in feet first and see what happens. Many times the “jump” opens us up to a whole world of new experiences, people and lessons we couldn’t have predicted if we didn’t move out of our comfort zone.
The hardest thing to do when embarking on a new initiative, is to trust it will deliver you to a new and better place that will advance your life. It is the same thing in business. We know when activity is slowing down, customers aren’t coming back, and once popular efforts aren’t producing the same results, it is an indication we have gotten too comfortable.
Today’s post should inspire you to ask yourself this question, “What is beyond this current level of comfort in my personal or business life; and how can taking a new risk, making a positive change or stepping forward into the unknown dramatically change me for the better?” Just like when Monte Hall of Let’s Make a Deal asked a contestant, “What door do you want to claim your prize,” we need to ask ourselves what door should we open to receive our own new prize.
I guarantee behind any new door is a burst of new energy, golden opportunities and amazing new people to meet. I hope you blast right through the door of your choice and join me on the other side ready to get out of the comfortable and into a new unknown….which will eventually become our favorite new normal.
Monday Business Motivation: One Foot In Front of the Other
Business inspiration and advice for women entrepreneurs and small businesses
“One foot in front of the other” is a saying with two popular meanings. The first stresses the fundamentality of completing a task and the other is about progressing steadily forward. Many entrepreneurs know the meaning of the first description when they open their office doors each Monday with a mega list of duties, phone calls and appointments. They understand the only way to accomplish the list is taking each task one at a time until they are all finished.
The other meaning might have more significance to athletes or runners who understand the only way to move forward or progress in a race or activity is to “put one foot in front of the other,” until they accomplish their goal, cross the finish line and succeed.
Today both meanings of that phrase have significance to me as I prepare to leave my office next week to take a personal and professional trip. I have been an entrepreneur for almost 20 years and haven’t found the time for a weeklong professional trip because all those thousands of entrepreneurial tasks that require my attention.
As I wake up next week with one of the most popular female icons in the running world inspiring me and 13 other women to run in Central Park in New York City every morning before day long conversations and activities to bring global running clubs to women and girls, I will need to remember the second meaning of the phrase “one foot in front of the other” as I try to keep up with some of these marathoners. I realize the only way I’ll accomplish this task is by living the phrase.
As I trained for my new experience, I have pushed myself past my typical 2 mile runs every day for 12 years to 5 mile runs within the past two weeks simply by putting one foot in front of the other and using fortitude to get me through. A 5 mile run is quite a distance from a 26 mile run but I can see why and how eventually that goal can be accomplished. It has given me new insight into my business life as well. I understand now that any new risk, big contract, higher income level or impossible client to secure, can be realized by taking it one step at a time.
I hope today’s Monday Motivation inspires you to take that next step in your life and to realize the journey is possible if we have that right perspective. Wish me well next week. I will be thinking of you every step in my new journey.
Entrepreneurship: Creating a New Craze
Business advice for women entrepreneurs and small businesses
You see the word everywhere as soon as the calendar flips to October…pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin flavored beer, pumpkin donuts and even pumpkin yogurt. Having never been a pumpkin pie lover, I am not the first one in line at Dunkin Donuts to purchase a pumpkin spiced anything but the autumn craze goes on without me. In fact, I just learned Starbuck’s pumpkin spice latte has its own Twitter account including 19,000 followers. Really…..its own Twitter account?
So what generates new crazes anyways? I believe it takes an original idea, innovation, a ton of marketing, and passionate fans. The more fans a new product or service develops upon its launch the more grass roots excitement follows with word of mouth advertising to compliment the millions of dollars a company pays for new product marketing. I experienced it this summer when my family discovered Chicago’s new craft beer called “It’s Not Your Father’s Root Beer,” a really great tasting beer that tastes like the best root beer you’ve ever had with a kick. By the end of summer we had shared our new favorite thing with everyone we knew and they became fans too.
So how does the average woman entrepreneur witnessing a new trend glean wisdom to do the same for her company or industry? I believe it starts with a creative insight and deep seeded interest to develop a new way of thinking, doing or living that benefits your customers. It also takes time to launch the next big thing along with extensive marketing. When you realize Starbucks cooked up their idea of pumpkin spice latte in their “liquid lab” twelve years ago, you realize great new ideas, just like starting a new business, take time to develop and ingrain itself in the market.
Today’s blog post is meant to spark some innovative thinking. Whether you love the flavor of pumpkin or not, let its revolution in the marketplace inspire you to think beyond what you typically offer or see in your industry to something more. You have an innovative spirit within you because you became an entrepreneur in the first place. Perhaps long days in your office have taken away your creativity and innovative spirit. Maybe now is the time to reignite it.
If you feel moved, why not buy something “pumpkin flavored” today – a coffee, a candle, a beer, a donut and imagine what you could create for your business that could turn into the next craze. You don’t need a liquid lab to cook up your own new concoction; you only need an innovative spirit.
Business Networking and Sales Tips for Success
Business Advice for Women Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
If you have been invited to the fifth networking business event this month and you are contemplating whether you should attend and how to make it the most productive for yourself and your business, today’s blog post will help you make up your mind. We hope our networking and sales tips which Women TIES President Tracy Chamberlain Higginbotham shared yesterday at the Tioga County Chamber Business Show will help you too.
Networking and Sales Tips:
1. Before you go to any networking event you must know your target market and whether a majority of your target market will be at the event. Sort out business invitations by asking the company producing the event for the demographics of the audience. They should be able to tell you. If it appears your first or secondary target market will be there, go and network well. If they aren’t, pass on the opportunity and make sales calls to your current prospect list instead.
2. When you attend a networking event, don’t approach someone and give a “used car dealership speech” shaking their hands and sliding your slick business card into their palms. Those days are gone – that is the kind of networking that comes from “your need” not your contact’s need. My best tool to get someone to warm up to me is not talking about my business but to ask them about theirs. Only through asking can you glean insight into what you can offer personally or professionally to help someone.
3. The 5 Call Rule – Once you meet people networking you must conduct follow-up phone calls to try to secure their business or schedule another time to meet with them to learn more about them and their company. Like most people, you might try reaching them once or twice before giving up on them, but statistics say you need to try 5 times before you give up. Don’t stop until all 5 fingers on your hand count for each sales call attempt to one person and then give yourself a “high five” for your effort. I bet you have an appointment set up or a sales by the fifth time.
4. While you are waiting for new people you met to call you back, take the time to connect with them on social media specifically Facebook or LinkedIn and start developing a warmer relationship before you connect in person. This may give you insight to their likes, dislikes, and personality.
Bottom line, you need to attend networking events if you are an entrepreneur but be smart about which ones you attend, be strategic about the information you share with them, follow-up with phone calls and online marketing connections. This formula will make your next networking experience much more valuable.
Women TIES 