Super Bowl XLIX Lessons to Inspire Women Entrepreneurs
Business advice and inspiration for women entrepreneurs
Inspiration in business can always be found someplace. You don’t have to be at an educational institution, industry tradeshow or listening to a icon in your field to be inspired. Many times insight comes from everyday life.
Waking up this morning, after watching the greatest football match-up and spectacular half-time production, has me fired up for a successful business week. I hope some of the enthusiasm I gleaned from Superbowl XLIX motivates you in business too. Here are the lessons I gleaned from the annual event:
* New England Patriot’s Malcolm Butler’s unbelievable interception at the Seattle Seahawks goal line is proof that pure determination and focus can take you to great heights. When Butler wasn’t able to stop Seahawk’s Jermaine Kearse’s bobbling catch moments earlier, he got up re-set his mind and made the biggest play of his life. How many times does an entrepreneur face hardship? Isn’t it true that re-setting our mindsets, re-focusing and trying again brings us magnificent achievement? The quote “Keep on, keeping on” is something we must enforce in our minds.
* Seattle Seahawk Coach Pete Carroll’s decision to not run the football on the 1 yard line led to the Butler interception and failed Super Bowl attempt. How many times do poor decisions we make with the best of intentions in mind end up failing? If you are a small business owner, you know it happens often. What we must do is acknowledge and admit the error, not only to ourselves but others who deserve an explanation, and then move on. Sometimes we are our own biggest critics on small decisions we make; maybe we need to save the criticism for big errors instead.
* Katy Perry not only roared her way through the half time show, she absolutely rocked it with perfection, class and style. As a 30 year event manager, I can only imagine the vision, planning and implementation it takes to pull off such a “super” event. Women entrepreneurs should visualize Perry floating through the air at the end of the show high above her perfected dream and remember any of our own dreams are possible. We too can roar and soar higher than we imagine if we believe in ourselves and pursue it with diligence.
I wish all my readers have one amazing, super week full of determination, free of criticism and high on soaring dreams.
The Benefits of a Collaborative Spirit in Business and Sports
Business Inspiration and Advice for Women Entrepreneurs
As I sat in the stands of the Syracuse Dome last February watching the Syracuse Women’s Basketball team play in an exciting game in which they rallied back to win after being down in the first half, I felt really positive because a new collaborative media partnership and business decision had put me in the seats.
Besides sitting in the Dome with other women entrepreneurs who joined me, we were seated next to a junior varsity girl’s basketball team from Dolgeville, New York who traveled in snowy conditions to be inspired by the college team. One of the player’s mothers is a member of my company. After the game, two female coaches from the Syracuse Basketball team answered questions from the young team. It was one of those entrepreneurial moments that will stay in my mind for a long time.
The evening would not have happened if someone from Syracuse University sports did not reach out to seek my support in bringing more female spectators to the game. The event also would not have occurred if I was not willing to accept their offer to support them. A quote on my desk this morning says it well, “The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.” My question for you today is, “Are you open to new collaborative relationships and are you looking for them?”
Every organization has something they can give and something they can receive to propel themselves forward. Small businesses must tally up their strengths whether it’s their marketing outreach, position in the marketplace, or leverage to move customers. At the same time they must be honest about where they could use support such as advertising in a different market, bigger or different economic connections to launch a new program, or staffing support. Only by analyzing what we have and what we need as business owners are we prepared to seek out other partners.
Collaboration begins with realizing what we have and what we need and then accepting or placing invitations to other entities that can benefit both parties. No one in business can do it alone. Entrepreneurs underestimate the power of establishing positive, new business relationships. I hope you start making some new relationships so you arrive at the end of the year cheering on your new collaborative partners.
If you would like to join us for the 2015 Women TIES Professional Women’s Networking Night at the Carrier Dome & Syracuse University Women’s Basketball Game to meet us, network with other professional women and to cheer on the Syracuse University Women’s Basketball team vs. North Carolina, click our website link for details and reservations…http://womenties.com/events.cfm#Event263. Let’s give the SU women basketball players some support too! Go Orange women! Go women!!
Small Business Advice: The Importance of Having a Legal Advocate
Business advice for women entrepreneurs and small business owners
As the attorney finished her speech on legal pitfalls to avoid as women entrepreneurs, I was reminded how essential it is to retain a lawyer to act as your adviser and advocate. Gone are the days when a business owner hires an attorney only after a major problem occurs. Now smart entrepreneurs contract with lawyers to advise them before a situation arises. According to today’s speaker Lorraine Mertell of Mackenzie Hughes LLP, the legal industry has become more customer service focused and that’s great for people and especially entrepreneurs.
I walked away from the program realizing I don’t know as much as I should about ways to protect my company, my brand and myself. If a twenty minute presentation can resonate so strongly with an audience of similar women, I hope today’s business advice reverberates with you.
Did you know it’s important every time you sign documents to sign them as the President of your corporation and never as an individual? Have you thought about adding a clause in your business contracts to cover attorney fees by customers if you are ever brought to court? Do you know you can save thousands of dollars on small claims court by having your attorney try to solve your problem out of court with an official letter?
Just like we know our own industry’s trade secrets and strategies, a personal attorney has valuable knowledge to counsel and protect us in a society that loves taking legal action. If you don’t have a corporate attorney or haven’t spoken with your lawyer yet this year, now is the time. Having a corporate attorney to guide and protect you and your business is not only wise, it’s a stress reliever.
Today’s post is to encourage you to take a look at areas in your business where you could use legal guidance. It could involve obtaining a trademark, reviewing your business contracts, providing the right legal terminology on your website, or incorporating your business. It’s important to protect yourself now before anything demands legal attention. If you don’t know where to find a trusted attorney, ask your friends or business associates who they trust and set up an appointment with a few lawyers before choosing one. We also have a list of legal counsel in our Women TIES directory.
I hope from now on when you think of the value of having an attorney you consider them to be both an advocate and adviser that you must have on your business team.
Strong Corporate Principles Lead to Entrepreneurial Success
Business advice for women entrepreneurs and small business owners
My husband has been fortunate to work for an exceptional private company for the past twenty five years in Syracuse, New York. I have always been impressed with their honest approach to business, their loyalty and promotion of dedicated staff, their excellent customer service policies, and their expert knowledge of their industry.
In the twenty years I have been promoting women entrepreneurship in New York State, there have only been two times I have promoted or discussed a male owned business. It’s not because men are any less ambitious or hardworking as women, it’s because I have always felt women deserved the extra promotion in order to increase their sales to even the financial playing field. But today, I would like to share with you some of this company’s core principles from the company my husband works for to inspire you to run your company more successfully in 2015:
* Make sure you have a diversified product offering.
* If you offer the same products as another business, but offer exceptional service, you’ll always stand above your competition.
* Invest in your employees; promote from within; don’t let well trained staff leave before you do all you can to retain them. Make sure you provide opportunities for those seeking advancement.
* Create great relationships with your key vendors. Meet with them annually to discuss your business relationship and then work out special product pricing. Sometimes special product pricing can make all the difference in a business’ profit margin.
* If you are a product business, look at inventory as an “investment” instead of an expense.
* Create an internal service department if your company is growing fast and you need to handle complaints and resolve problems quicker.
* Hire smart, honest, good personality staff who truly care about your customers.
* Arm your staff with all the tools they need to expedite sales and sell in a shorter period of time (for example: phones, vehicles, promotional materials).
* If you have good staff, make sure you use them or you’ll lose them.
* Donate back to the community; share the wealth
* Thank your customers and staff since they are the lifeblood of your company.
Today’s blog post is to remind you that you can always learn from the success of other entrepreneurs. I hope today’s post helps you focus or refocus on your own corporate principles to help you build a more monetary successful business this year.
Getting on “Track” for Business Success
Business Advice and Inspiration for Women Entrepreneurs
As I began an atypical morning journey, I glided on skies past a herd of deer who didn’t expect to see me in their forest, over a wooden bridge above frozen water and through pencil straight evergreen trees. The 3 degree temperature, gentle silence of the forest and rushing endorphins pulsing through me provided an equal sense of exhilaration and peace on my 5 mile ski trip. In today’s world of hyperactivity, especially in the life of a woman entrepreneur when we can work ourselves to death, it is a gift to abandon our daily routine once in awhile.
Women entrepreneurs often ask me how I create my popular expressive “Wednesday Wisdom” messages or how I generate these frequent blog posts. They wish they could find time and inspiration to write or discover a more expressive communication style to converse with their customers. Like anything else in life, it takes awareness, dedication and some training. What I’ve learned from writing expressively for ten years is that once you find inspirational sources, writing flows easily. It wants to pour out of you and you experience moments of encouragement in everyday life.
Just like gliding through someone else’s cross country ski tracks in the middle of a forest, you need to get on track and stay on track to move forward. If you want to improve any part of your business repertoire whether it’s writing, using new technology, selling better or innovating, you need to either guide yourself or find someone to guide you. If you want to improve your business or perform at a higher level, you must also find extra time in your schedule to perform.
Today’s post is to remind you that sometimes we need to get on “track” by following someone else’s path by learning from them and then implementing their success strategies. Other times we simply need education to perform better. Is there something you have wanted to improve personally or corporately? Are you willing to learn and then dedicate time to implement something new? What do you need to do for yourself and your business to get on an easier, more successful business track in 2015?
Once you begin on a new journey to find ways to improve your outlook on life or better ways to make changes within your company, you will discover unexpected gifts along the way and an equal mix of elation and tranquility. Here’s to getting on track and staying on track this year.
Champagne Style Public Relations
Business and Marketing Advice for Women Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
As I type this blog post the brilliant Maroon5Vevo called “Sugar” is playing quite loudly on my computer making my fingers dance across the keyboard. As of this morning, the video has received 32,911,748 views. I might just be the 48 views in that number.
It could be my love for catchy music, my 30 year event planning experience or simply my love for flashy marketing ideas that make me want to go back time and again to sample, listen and experience the video. Don’t you agree that effective marketing creates that kind of powerful appeal? Every business in every industry strives to create marketing that tantalizes the consumer, It is not just the music industry or the Super bowl.
I am positive half of the appeal of the video is Adam Levine’s charming personality which has catapulted in popularity over the years in the music industry and on the popular show The Voice. The other half of the attraction of the video is successfully producing a marketing piece that makes everyone who watches it happy. After viewing it, you will dream, like so many people, that Maroon5 surprised you at the next wedding you attend.
As a small business owner or woman entrepreneur, you might wonder how you can use the positive vibes from this marketing experiment and turn it into ‘pop’ for your company. We listed a few creative ideas you could use:
* First of all, watch the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09R8_2nJtjg and feel the energy from it. As you listen to it a few times (or 62), use the feeling it gives you to create some fun marketing ideas related to your own business. Just dream them up for a few minutes.
* After you’ve dreamed up a few, go to Google and search for similar industry ideas for your company. The Internet is full of really cool examples of what others in your trade are doing through marketing, events, programs and parties.
* Pick a date at least 3 months from now to debut your idea. If it is a relatively small event, 3 months is enough time to plan and promote. If it’s a larger function, give yourself 6 to 9 months to coordinate. Today commit to wanting to do something fun for your customers, your company and yourself and pencil in a date.
* There are many event planners and marketing professionals who can help you create and implement a fun, unique visual corporate event, coordinate the details and even promote it for you.
I hope right now you listen to the Maroon5 video and envision your own champagne style public relations gig to get everyone talking, sharing the news and even dancing in their seats!
Business Inspiration: Releasing What’s Negative
Business Advice for Women Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
As I raced to my mailbox this morning in the ten below zero temperatures, I found every ounce of my being contracting to keep the freezing air from entering my body. When I got back inside I found myself still clinched up until I sat in front of my fireplace for a couple minutes. It’s astounding that a one minute outside experience was lasting way longer than it needed to last.
Holding on too tightly to anything “negative” is unnecessary – especially in business. Whether it’s the disappointment of a lost client, the end of a collaborative relationship or the dissatisfaction of not achieving a goal, we must not tighten up, cling too long or “freeze up” because we are only harming ourselves. The act of acknowledging, letting go, and setting a new course is much more productive and healthy.
It has been two weeks since the New Year began. Are you still feeling hopeful for a good business year? Are you still working the plan, taking action every day and making those sales call you promised yourself you’d make more this year? Are you feeling mentally strong and supported? If not, there is plenty of time to get right back on track. You actually have until January 23rd, according to experts, since it is the date most people feel the most dejected on because they haven’t stuck to their New Year’s resolutions.
Every day is a new day. Every dream has a beginning and an end. Somewhere between the dawn and dusk, the start and the finish, is hope that what we want to accomplish, what we dream, what we desire is possible. All things are achievable if we refocus.
Today’s message is meant to encourage you this morning, to not allow the frigid temperatures or maybe your own attitude, to tighten you up so much that you can’t work optimistically on the work in front of you. There will be a day very soon when the warmth of the summer air will envelop you making you feel like anything is possible. It is days like today when we must hold onto that feeling, our hope, and our plan and move forward.
There is still time – plenty of time – to achieve what you want to achieve. Today is a new day – a beautiful cold, new day. Nothing is impossible if you believe and live today with only positive thoughts for a bright future.
Preparing to Successfully Pitch Your Business in 2015
Business advice for women entrepreneurs and small businesses
There is something powerful about pitching yourself, your business or a new development to others. Whether you are trying to sell your business plan to a financial institution for funding, a major client to choose your business as a major vendor or selling yourself at a networking event, it takes confidence, preparation and style to pitch well.
Every time I watch the popular show Shark Tank, I empathize with the entrepreneurs entering the “tank” full of tough business gurus hoping one of them will “bite” on their business so they can gain financial backing to take their company to the next level. What I’ve learned is every entrepreneur must know their numbers, talk about its track record, know their market, and have nerves of steel to pitch in front of the sharks.
Most women entrepreneurs will never appear in the real Shark Tank asking for millions but every day we are in some type of “shark tank” pitching what we offer to others. We would be wise to remember what the TV sharks demand and make sure we know our own answers.
Can you answer these questions:
* Your company’s sales figures for the last 1-5 years
* Your target market
* The cost to produce your product or service and its profit per unit
* Why your product is unique to the market
* How you distribute what you sell
If you are preparing to pitch anything you are selling in 2015, make sure you know the answers to these questions. If you don’t, take time now before the year begins to find out the answers.
I challenge you today to prepare your “Shark Tank” pitch and uncover the answers to these questions so you can market your business anytime you need to in 2015.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Powers Mom – An Inspirational Story for Women Entrepreneurs
Business inspiration for women entrepreneurs
Today I’m posting my short story which was published in the 2008 “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Power Moms” book. The story is called “The Golden Glow.” I hope it inspires any stay at home mother who is also a woman entrepreneur today.
It’s 5 a.m. on a typical school day. I rise from bed to do my daily yoga regimen. The house is enveloped in darkness until I turn on my television to hear my instructor tell me in her calming voice to open up my heart to the energy of the morning. I feel my soul breathe in the peacefulness of a new day. As I finish the invigorating workout the room begins to brighten with a glow of early light. A new day has started and I feel blessed.
As I walk up the stairs to my sons’ room, I feel the same rush of emotion I did when I checked on them as babies sleeping in their cribs. Except now my oldest son’s six foot three inch body dangles off this bed and my youngest son’s mop of long brown hair hides his face. As I gently kiss them good morning, they roll over and sigh contently knowing they have a few more minutes of peace before their school day begins. As I open up their window blinds, their room becomes illuminated with a golden glow that warms and energizes my soul.
The morning soon becomes chaotic as these big lumbering bodies rush around the house trying to make the school bus stop on time. As they run out the door, the soft colors of early morning are gone and replaced by the clear light of day. They are off to school and I settle down at my home office to run my business.
Gracing my desk are three sentimental objects – an American eagle award given to me as a United States Small Business Administration Women in Business Champion, a photograph of me holding a lacrosse stick with my oldest son and his teenage lacrosse friends, and a photograph of me with my two sons. All three items remind me every day how powerful my choice was to become a woman entrepreneur.
They say women are more likely to become entrepreneurs if they had female role models. I fit that statistic perfectly. My mother owned a clothing boutique as well as a ski shop with my father. My aunt owned restaurants and a real estate company. I remember how happy they were running their businesses while finding time to spend with their families. For the late 1960’s, they were pioneering women balancing work and family for the first time in generations. Their independence and zest for a more modern life then women before them must have sparked an entrepreneurial spirit in my soul that lay dormant until I became a mother.
One early morning I started to awaken my sons with my morning kiss, when something deep inside of me awakened too. I realized I didn’t want to rush my sons out of bed anymore to bring them to a day care center just to rush to my events management job, and wish my day away because I wanted to be with them. I also knew I loved my profession. In that moment, I flashed back to my mother and aunt working in their businesses. In that golden glow of morning, the dormant entrepreneurial spirit awoke in me. I looked at the rising sun and knew I was going to start my own event management company. It was a dawning of a new day in my career and in my life.
Starting a business can be exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. I knew I could count on my eight years of event planning experience, education, female role models and passion for my profession to provide a solid foundation to launch my company. My first clients were individuals who worked with me before and trusted my abilities. Their confidence combined with a strong purpose and determination gave me all I needed to begin. I knew I couldn’t let this golden opportunity pass me by. I knew I could create the life I desired.
Shortly after becoming a woman entrepreneur, I realized I needed to surround myself with women who were taking the same risks. I discovered an organization of women, who met monthly to discuss the pros and cons of being business owners. Open communication, exchange of ideas, and unshakable support from these women ignited my early business success. One year later I had developed a deep passion for aiding and inspiring other women entrepreneurs and became the organization’s leader.
One of my favorite members in the group was a boisterous, older female who once said, “To be a smart woman entrepreneur, you must set a course for your business, but if the road starts to naturally bend in another direction, you must follow the curve and see where it leads you.” After ten years of running my company and nine years as the leader of this growing organization for women business owners, I remembered her words and created my second company dedicated to promoting women entrepreneurship all over New York State. I launched the news at a gathering of 500 women at an event which celebrates and applauds women for taking chances. This was my chance, my chance to help even more women make the same choice I made looking out my sons’ window one golden morning.
The eagle statue on my desk reminds me every day that I work on behalf of women entrepreneurs everywhere helping them to move towards their own bright entrepreneurial future. It also represents a strong belief by the business community that I have, and will continue to make, a positive impact on women entrepreneurship in the future.
The photograph of me holding the lacrosse stick with my sixteen year old son and his West Genesee lacrosse friends was taken after they challenged me to a lacrosse contest with their junior varsity goalie. I was wearing my favorite pink shirt that stated, “Well behaved women rarely make history.” The photo is a token of the challenge I took on with these young men, hoping they would see that girls and women can do anything boys and men can do. I wore it proudly even though I lost the contest but won their respect.
The photograph of my two sons reminds me that I will never regret the personal and professional decisions I have made to be the best mother I can be while being the best woman I can be. When my life is over, I hope a sun is rising on the eastern horizon, more women are achieving business success because of my dedication to them and their companies, and my two wonderful sons appreciate the power of women to make the right choices for their lives. Important choices that create a ripple effect that change the world.
As another day ends and the glow of the setting sun now shines on my desk, I look out the window and feel peaceful knowing tomorrow brings another golden opportunity for me to awaken my sons to a glorious new day and to shine more rays of inspiration and hope to women entrepreneurs everywhere. Life is golden.
Another day has ended and I feel blessed.
Focusing on Your Entrepreneurial Flipagram Images
Business advice for women entrepreneurs and small business owners
With the 10th Anniversary of my company Women TIES approaching on March 3rd, I have envisioned the women who have had my back for ten years; those in the very beginning, those next to me during the entire 10 year journey, and the ones still by my side today. I see their faces vibrantly, remember their advice ringing in my ears and feel their presence in my heart. Loyalty in my mind is one of the biggest gifts anyone can give to another, especially in business, when there are enough troubles to face.
Sure we can’t live without our family or close personal friends as support, but for businesswomen we can’t live without our strongest female business companions, especially those dedicated 100% to our success. Just like Instagram’s new Flipagram can quickly display best photographic moments of the past year, our own brain and heart can easily do the same when times call for a re-evaluation of where we are and who our loyal customers and trusted sister entrepreneurs are. We only need to pause for a moment to see their faces, hear their words and see their touch indelibly imprinted on our soul.
In a world of ever changing priorities, revenue goals, and an extra listing on one’s resume, it is essential to witness the crowd still standing with you when everything else changes. Just like we have loyal comrades, we must remain devoted to those who have helped us significantly during our entrepreneurial travels. There is no other way to conduct good business.
Today’s blog post is meant for you to close your eyes for 5 minutes and envision your own Flipagram of customers, vendors, and other women entrepreneurs who have given you what you’ve needed the most – whether it was advice, education, leads or inspiration the past 5 years. Who deserves your gratitude and loyalty? Who do you equally need to provide loyalty to? I suggest you don’t start this new business year without knowing that answer and living in the truth of the answer.
I know on March 3rd in I will extend the most heartfelt gratitude to the female leaders, long lasting members, advisers, sponsors and sister entrepreneurs who have impacted my 10 year business journey. Nothing big is worth celebrating unless you have those you respect next to you to recognize and thank.
Women TIES 