Classroom Lessons on Technology
When I entered college in 1982, I was a computer science major. It was a brand new field of study. Being a logical minded person, this new technology appealed to me and so did the brilliance of a career in an innovative field. After two semesters of typing code into a computer and having it spit out punch cards for analysis, watching my teachers write logical sequences on the chalkboard that simply stunned me, and studying to all hours of the night preparing for tests and barely passing them, I realized I needed to find a new major.
In today’s business world most of us probably feel like we were computer science majors at one point in time. We had to educate ourselves in technological advances to run our enterprises. We had to embrace our “electronic partners” to stay relevant. Technology not only aids us in operating our companies, but it brings new opportunities to generate income. If I only knew this in my Cobol 101 Class in 1982, I might have stuck with my computer science education a little longer.
Five years ago when I met Karen McMahon of ShopForMuseums.com (http://www.shopformuseums.com) , she was in the early stages of building an amazing national online shopping site where businesses and individuals could do their everyday shopping with hundreds of national retailers. After visiting her extensive website filled with hundreds of different online offerings and ads, I knew she had mastered the modern day computer science lesson. I have always been impressed with businesses like Karen’s which earn revenue from pay per click campaigns, affiliate marketing, and other online offerings.
Today’s message is to remind you that even if you aren’t the most computer literate entrepreneur there’s always a classroom waiting for you whether it’s on a college campus or over lunch with other entrepreneurial minded women to teach you all you need to know to succeed.
Congratulations to Syracuse’s First Female Mayor
Congratulations to Stephanie Miner (http://www.minerformayor.com) to be the first woman to be elected mayor in Syracuse’s 162 year history and the first in any major city in New York! Although she avoided talking about her gender during the campaign, she did thank all the adult women last night who serve as role models for young girls and convince them they can do anything.
With Joanie Mahoney as Onondaga County Executive (http://www.ongov.net/executive/index.html), Stephanie Miner as Syracuse Mayor, Deborah Stanley as President of SUNY Oswego (http://oswego.edu/about/leadership/presidents_bio/index.html), Nancy Cantor as President of Syracuse University (http://www.syr.edu/chancellor/) and Debbie Sydow as President of Onondaga Community College (http://sunyocc.edu/president.aspx), Central New York’s future is bright with these remarkable women at the helm. Today I hope you consider the important role you play by being a woman entrepreneur. Young eyes are watching you. Don’t forget about your young nieces, cousins and neighbors seeing what you are accomplishing. I also hope you consider running for a major leadership role in your community someday because women can positively change the world.
Be the Buzz
Some moments in life you remember very distinctly – your high school graduation, your wedding date, the day your children were born, and the date you started your business. Sometimes unexpected moments get ingrained in our mind too. A date that comes to my mind is October 19, 1998. It was around 4:35 p.m. when I looked at the television to see myself on the Oprah Show (http://www.oprah.com). Although the exposure lasted only 60 seconds, it was one of those distinctive moments in my life.
As a home based woman entrepreneur raising two young children, I relied on the Oprah Show to inspire me daily. After hearing a request to have viewers submit personal testimonials on how the show helped them, I responded. A past Oprah Show discussing the benefits of using daily meditation had worked for me. After seeing this particular program, I began morning meditations which helped me start my day calmly, allowed me to set daily personal and business goals and created a confident and productive mood. When one of Oprah’s assistants called and asked me to submit a personal video to appear on the show, I was stunned, excited and eager to produce it! There’s a funny story on how I actually taped myself “meditating” but that’s for another time!
Knowing I was going to appear on the show, I quickly sent a press release to local media promoting the appearance. I seized the opportunity to get my company name recognized and to create a “buzz” about me and my business. I knew as a young entrepreneur I couldn’t let the promotional opportunities associated with Oprah pass! The story garnered some local and regional attention which I believe helped my business in those early days. Star occurrences can happen to you. Creating a media buzz about your business is possible. But it takes going out on the edge and seizing unique opportunities. Hearing inspirational stories of other women who have accomplished creative media feats can motivate us to dream larger. It’s one of the reasons we are focusing next week’s Ithaca luncheon on creating a buzz about your business.
Today remind yourself to create and send an electric feeling about your business into the community. Being in the limelight, appearing on national shows, having local stars support your business and allowing creative experiences to propel you towards stardom is achievable. It begins with you believing that someday you’ll see yourself on the front page of the local paper, in front of a large crowd, and even appearing on a national television show. You have to be willing to create the buzz and be the buzz!
Envisioning Success
In 1979 when I was on my high school swim team, I remember our coach talking to us about “envisioning” our success in a race before we even got on the blocks and hit the water. He instructed us that envisioning ourselves swimming faster than we ever had before, making efficient turns, taking limited breaths and finishing the race in first place, was essential to our accomplishments in the pool.
Many athletes have used envisioning techniques. Recently I read an online article by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association about this topic. They said, “Visualization is a mental preparation technique in which you create positive images in your mind before practice and competition. The idea is to simulate the event as clearly and vividly as possible to create a déjà vu experience when you are performing in real time. The result is an increased sport-reaction time because you have programmed the mind and body to perform automatically and without hesitation.” I believe being successful as a woman entrepreneur requires the same technique. We must envision precisely what we want and exactly how we’ll accomplish it. Every day we are presented with unique challenges, from the outside world and from our own internal perspectives, that limit our thinking. But just like my coach said, what is essential from the beginning whether it’s the start of every project, every new client appointment or every bold move forward is the visualization of doing it successfully.
Tomorrow Women TIES travels down the New York State Thruway to Saratoga to open up the economic corridor for women entrepreneurs here and there and to take a bold step in introducing this organization to women in this area. Our presenter will discuss “Envisioning Prosperity in 2010,” with the goal of inspiring the attendees to a more financially successful future. Obtaining more financial success for ourselves and our businesses means taking the risk, opening ourselves to new opportunities and “seeing with our mind” that our efforts will be fruitful.
Today remind yourself that in order to get from point A to point B, no matter if you are in a swimming pool, on the Thruway or in your office, you must visualize the path and the goal. What matters most is the end result that you see. Don’t back down when you get nervous. Envision business success. It will be yours if you believe it and see it.
Credibility Essential To Success
As women entrepreneurs, our credibility is important for business development, client retention and public opinion. We simply can’t sustain, grow or develop our companies without creating a credible reputation. When you stop to think about it, credibility is at the core of every business relationship. The ability to arouse belief in oneself and one’s company separates really successful entrepreneurs from those who don’t reach their potential. All of us want to work with individuals or corporations whom we feel will not disappoint us; so credibility is crucial for doing business today.
Every time Women TIES ventures into a new region to develop new relationships with women entrepreneurs, we know our credibility will be based on inference, reference and evidence that we are a reputable company who delivers on its word. Today learn alittle bit more about credibility to help your business reputation.
Credibility Through Inference:
If we don’t know someone personally, we can infer credibility be being aware of major accomplishments in the person’s past. A good resume is a great place to start. An entrepreneur can build credibility by pointing to experiences, examples, facts and credentials that allow customers to judge them. Such elements include:
* Academice degrees or credentials.
* Past experience as a leader, entrepreneur, business person.
* A trackrecord of successful projects, works, and writings.
Credibility Through Reference:
A higher degree of credibility comes from references. What is said about you and your company by others speaks better than inference. References can be personal testimonials, articles in newspapers, customer references, awards and special recognition. Remember, the more objective the reference, the more convincing the impact. Endorsements from impartial parties speak volumnes about you.
Credibility Through Evidence
The highest level of credibilty comes from evidence. Quantifiable facts of accomplishments like – expanded market growth, increased revenue, higher earnings, more clients or members, and staff growth – all demonstrate a thriving company. This takes time to create but it is proof about the viability of an organization.
Ultimately when you gain credibility, you gain confidence from consumers that leads to more market share – a company’s ultimate goal. Review your credibility rating and make any improvements or make sure your clients know you are reputable through your examples.
A Bucketful of Hope
As I stood in the front of the conference room facing over one hundred women entrepreneurs of diverse race and age, from different regions around the state, running diverse companies, I witnessed a vision come to fruition. I had clearly stepped into a dream I had discussed with my board six months earlier. Now facing a packed room of women I had either known for awhile, just met that morning, or met at one of our regional events, I was exhilarated to be with them and present in such a proud moment.
As “Inspiring Success: The Women TIES Retreat” (http://www.womenties.com/retreat) keynote speaker Wendy Walker (http://www.wendywalkerbooks.com) exclaimed in her presentation, “When women gather together to network, we are creating a bucketful of hope that our connections will lead us to that next big break, to new clients, to new marketing opportunities, to something exciting waiting for us.” After hearing Wendy’s words, I knew I had created this event to be a ‘bucketful of hope’ for myself and the women who joined me there. I was hopeful women being together with over one hundred women entrepreneurs would open up new opportunities for our entire business network; hopeful that learning something from our presenters would propel us all towards more success; hopeful that today was the day when we would actualize our deepest desires and be inspired to our highest entrepreneurial dreams.
As Wendy said, “Women need to bring their bucket of hope with them to events. Pour it out on the floor and watch it stream forward towards a multitude of destinations to see where they lead and what they produce. Then we pick up what we just learned and who we just met and put it right back inside the bucket and pour it out again witnessing even more outreach than before.” This continuing process can lead to fateful opportunities, larger connections and unbelievable links to take us to the next step in our entrepreneurial journey.
Entrepreneurship requires dreaming, visioning and planning; but most importantly it takes action. Big bold action some days, medium size leaps once in a while and small tiny steps on other days. But just like Wendy’s bucket wouldn’t have led her to major writing success and national attention if she didn’t take the actions necessary to land the big deals, we can’t experience major success without doing the same.
Today remind yourself that you have a bucketful of hope in front of you. You need to attend events and spill it out. See where the connections lead. Then take the action you must to make the connections worthwhile. My wish is this positive picture of networking fills you and with inspiration, hope and action today and in the future.
Financial Perspectives
At the recent Women TIES Retreat, three successful women entrepreneurs shared how they had to recognize financial limiting thoughts and then break through those thoughts to become million dollar in sales women entrepreneurs. After the event was over, someone asked me about my own internal perspectives on financial success and if I had any limiting thoughts. I shared the following thoughts with this woman:
“I’ve spoken with many women entrepreneurs who admit they haven’t reached higher business and personal revenue goals because they simply can’t delegate work to others. They rely solely on their own abilities to run the company. This works for a limited time but eventually an entrepreneur must hire staff and delegate responsibilities to grow a company. Personally this was my “financial glass ceiling” issue. But over time, I have learned to delegate non-revenue producing responsibilities to part time staff or sub-contractors so I can concentrate my efforts on sales, marketing and customer service. I had to let go of my desire to be involved in every aspect of my business in order to grow it. I also had to give up perfectionist tendencies and allow others to help me. It’s not easy to do. It comes with time and maturity in a leadership role. In the end, entrepreneurs must trust they’ll find the right people to help them so they can create a financially successful company.”
If you are struggling with growing your business, seek assistance by talking to other women entrepreneurs who have been able to break through limits to achieve bigger results. Sometimes the realization that we are similar to others plus concrete advice on how to implement change, can get us to where we really want to go that leads us to the real revenue we want and deserve to make.
Working in the Right Space
I seized the opportunity to sit outside on their wooden deck overlooking the pond when their exceptional event manager, Linda Kehoe, asked me if I would like to finalize details for the “Inspiring Success” Retreat there. After our wonderful meeting, I walked away knowing, without a doubt, that this is the perfect place to bring women together – to relax them, to inspire them, to introduce them to each other.
As women entrepreneurs we must realize the environment we work in should give us as much joy as it does our clients. We deserve to be enveloped in a calming and productive environment that allows us to generate work at our highest levels. When our customers come in the door, they should be greeted with surroundings that welcome them too. Sometimes our senses can alter what we think and feel making a business transaction peaceful or unpleasant. We must set the right environment for ourselves, staff and customers.
When my advisory board and I decided to name this new annual event a “retreat” instead of a conference, symposium or convention, it was because we were sitting in the Lodge’s Great Fireplace Room discussing our passion for bringing as many regional women as we could together to inspire them towards their highest goals. Although education is a large part of this event, we knew once women walked through the front doors and enveloped themselves in this atmosphere, and surrounded themselves with other inspirational women, they would be treating themselves to a well deserved day away from the typical daily grind. Sometimes only through relaxation can we open our ourselves and our businesses to new possibilities.
Today remind yourself that you deserve to work in a space that inspires, calms and enlightens your mind. Make sure you create the right environment to be the most productive and happy entrepreneur possible. Don’t forget the next time a customer walks through your front door, they sense what you sense.
I look forward to personally greeting you as you walk through the front doors of the beautiful Welch Allyn Lodge in Skaneateles at next week’s Retreat (http://www.womenties.com/retreat). We are taking reservations the rest of this week and into Monday. I promise you the view, the wisdom and the women you meet will be worth it. You might just not want to leave.
Working On, Not In Your Business
Recently I was asked the following question, “I’ve heard a lot about working ‘in’ your business as opposed to working ‘on’ your business. What’s the difference and where do I find that balance?”
Since I work extensively with women entrepreneurs I know when women start their own businesses, we are so passionate about what we create that sometimes we see our businesses as an extension of ourselves so we manage every detail to make sure it succeeds. Only over time do we gain the perspective that our companies can survive without every ounce of our personal attention.
Typically around a company’s third anniversary is when entrepreneurs start “turning away” business. At this point they know they can’t sustain or grow their business without delegating internal responsibilities so they can focus on larger goals to keep the business thriving. This is when finding the right employees, associates, partners or vendors can help a business owner move from working in their business to working on their business. Recognizing when you are at that point is essential; and then acting on it is imperative.
Planning can also be crucial in creating the right balance and so is courageous leadership. We have to believe deeply and strong enough in our personal leadership traits to walk away from the time consuming detail work to lift our vision to higher grounds so we can expand our companies. If you feel you can’t do that on your own, then hiring a personal coach, business advisor or leadership consultant might be what you need to move beyond your comfort zone to a larger role within your company.
Major Retreat Sponsors Announced
A full day conference of the size Women TIES is hosting to bring regional women entrepreneurs together for an empowering and educational entrepreneurial experience couldn’t be possible without the support of five major sponsors: The State University of New York at Oswego (http://www.oswego.edu), Brophy Services (http://www.brophyservices.com), Becky’s Graphic Design (http://www.beckysgraphicdesign.com), Mirbeau Inn & Spa (http://www.mirbeau.com), and Finger Lakes Lodging (http://www.fingerlakeslodging.com).
“Inspiring Sucess: TIES Retreat” scheduled for October 15, 2009 at The Lodge at Welch Allyn, Skaneateles, New York. The event is designed to gather regional women entrepreneurs together in one central venue so they can create stronger ties with each other and expand their business marketplace, to educate them on nine vital business topics by ten highly respected businesswomen, and to inspire powerful financial connections to grow their companies.
Deborah Stanley, President of SUNY Oswego, explains why helping to inspire and educate women entrepreneurs is important today, “Although there has been an upturn in women running businesses in the past decade, we need to do much more to maximize women’s intellectual potential and their contributions to New York’s competitiveness. Women who develop entrepreneurial thinking take risks, learn how to solve problems in compelling ways, lead others to success, achieve greatness in their organizations, and most importantly, have impact on our communities.” Another major sponsor Eileen Brophy, President of Brophy Services, who unexpectedly became owner of her husband’s business two years ago had a different reason forbecoming a major sponsor, “I never planned on owning a business until my husband passed away and I took over his company. Since then I have been inspired by Women TIES’ mission and connecting with other women on a professional basis which has truly empowered and inspired me to grow this company.”
The day long program will speak to both sponsors’ reasons for supporting the conference when female attendees will be educated on the most relevant topics of the day including, “Propelling Yourself to the National Stage,” “The Risks and Rewards of Courageous Leadership,” “The Finesse of Feminine Selling,” “Breaking Through Internal Financial Glass Ceilings,” and “Building the Right Social Media Marketing Mix;” and when an extensive speed networking event and signature sales tool given to each attendee will connect these women during and after the event to open up their regional marketplace in New York State. “
The admission cost is $75 for the full day event and includes a chance for one attendee to win an exclusive two day spa and lodging special valued at $1,100 from Mirbeau Inn & Spa, another major sponsor. Becky’s Graphic Design, the last major sponsor, has provided extensive graphic and marketing support for the event. For more general information about the retreat, the Women TIES organization or to register, visit the Women TIES website at www.womenties.com or call 315-471-1987. Reservations will be taken until October 13, 2009.
Women TIES 