Women Entrepreneurs the Secrets of Success for Thursday, August 19th

Bridget Bardge

Ms. Bardge is a successful entrepreneur with nearly 10 years experience in the insurance industry. In 2006 her uncle lost his battle to Cancer and he didn't have life insurance!

While coping with the grief of losing a beloved uncle; family members had to divide the costs of the funeral and provide for the children left behind. This event propelled Bridget to pursue a career as an Insurance Broker to offer other families protection and wealth growth opportunities. She hopes to save other families from financial ruin while trying to cope with the loss of a loved one.Bridget shares her insights on how people can manage their money and take charge of their financial future. Learn more about her services at: http://www.njfamilyinsuranceagency.info/


8:00 pm EDT
Listen to the live or archived show at:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/CoachDeb

Women Entrepreneurs the Secrets of Success for Wednesday, August 18th

Carolyne McIntyre Jackson and Jodi Willoughby

“Growing up on our family farm just outside of High River, Alberta, our mother taught us the best baking always starts from scratch. It was a good lesson to learn early on. And for years we shared handcrafted baked goods with our friends and family - it was their encouragement that helped us start Crave.

We still love to bake and get an even greater satisfaction from sharing our indulgences with the people of Calgary. Our baking is still crafted the way we did on the farm. We only use real butter, still crack every egg that goes into our recipes and we think you will be able to taste the difference.”
~Carolyne McIntyre Jackson and Jodi Willoughby

Crave Cupcakes is owned and operated by sisters Carolyne McIntyre Jackson and Jodi Willoughby. In the Fall of 2004 Crave opened their doors to Calgary baking cupcakes, cookies and cakes from scratch. Calgary is now home to four Crave locations with a fifth in the works.

Carolyne McIntyre Jackson has a degree in Food Business Management and with the opening of Crave she has realized her dream of bringing something special to the people of Calgary. Still striving for the dream, Carolyne is balancing her career with raising a family and training for a half Ironman this summer.

Jodi Willoughby has a degree in Community Rehabilitation and has worked hard to build a brand that is truly a part of the community. Jodi has infused the business with a small town philosophy of creative simplicity, providing an honest product and remembering to give back to the community that supports Crave. Jodi and her husband, Chris, put their hearts into building Crave and raising their two boys.

12:00 pm EDT
Listen to the live or archived show at:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/CoachDeb

8 Ways Your Mentors/Advisors Can Help You Grow Your Business

by Maria Simone

There are several distinctions that can be made when describing someone who is thriving, or has the potential to thrive, in business. One of the things I look at is how well they’ve surrounded themselves with movers and shakers in their industry, influencers, investors, business experts, and so forth. Having such a diversity of talent close by can help accelerate your success in ways beyond your wildest imagination. Here are 8 mutually-agreeable ways you can work with Mentors and Advisors to help achieve your goals. Access www.the15minutementor.com to quickly find the Mentor resources you need next.

1.  Let them share their experience of having made the journey.
Have someone on hand who has traveled a similar path in business and ask them to help you with future pacing. They can easily stay a few steps ahead of you because they’ve been there and know the trail. Knowing your options means fewer obstacles, less risk and acceleration to your goals.

2.  Allow them to offer Moral Support.
It’s imperative to have someone around you who can be your moral compass and/or provide emotional support. That will help you stay grounded and reduce the number of “what was I thinking” crazy kind of days that occasionally do pop up.

3.  Position them as a funding magnet.
Someone who has raised capital and turned it into profit or has achieved success in your industry can probably duplicate their efforts. This is a huge risk reducer and investors like that.

4.  Receive CEO/Leadership Development Support.
You’ll want support as you evolve your inner-self so that as your business grows, you’re able to effectively lead your team.

5.  Help understanding financial forecasting.
You may have “people” that manage your books or run your numbers but it’s also helpful to get perspective from someone who has managed millions or even billions in revenue if this person isn’t already on your payroll.

6.  Let the connectors open doors for you.
Why stand in line when you don’t have to. Let someone else make the necessary introductions to new business and other opportunities. Move past the gatekeepers.

7.  Ask the creatives to help you innovate.
Brainstorm with your creative and visionary advisors to come up with amazing new product or marketing ideas or ways to package it all.

8.  Allow the influencers to help celebritize you.
If you are associated with people who are highly regarded in the public’s eye, chances are your status will also be elevated as they make your connection public. Similar to what a book endorsement does for an author.

About Maria Simone

Maria Simone is a dynamic speaker, author, and transformational business strategist. As the “Passion To Prosperity Diva”, http://passion2prosperity.com she helps entrepreneurs package their talents to create 6 or 7 figure businesses. Maria has started 4 businesses, has had online and offline success, and raised over $1.5 million in funding for various projects. She’s appeared on ABC News, Fox TV, and in Business Week, Success Magazine, and many other publications.

Author Carol Hoenig at Borders on August 21st

Join Women Entrepreneurs Radio show guest, author and publishing consultant Carol Hoenig at Borders in Saratoga Springs, NY. She'll be discussing her journey as a writer and answering questions about publishing.

Date: Saturday, August 21, 2010

Time: 2:00 PM

Location: Borders
395 Broadway
Saratoga Springs, NY 12866

Telephone: 518-583-1200 (Borders)

Email: carolhoenig@carolhoenig.com

Feng Shui For Vision Boards -- Fire Up Your Goals

by Kathryn Weber

A vision board is a powerful way to visually represent the aspirations and goals you have for your life with images.

The images can either be pictures of what you would like, a house where you'd like to live, a car you'd like to drive, or can be a title you aspire to, such as writer, actor, president.

People respond well to images. They inspire us in ways that words don't. Combining a goals list with a vision board is especially powerful.

In feng shui, when compass feng shui, flying star or another type of feng shui merge together, this is called "compounding" feng shui. The feng shui, because it's multiplied, becomes more powerful. The simple act of writing out your goals is powerful and then to compound it with a vision board makes it more powerful still.

Add feng shui to the equation and you have a vision board that can propel you to a whole new place. Are you ready for that? I mean, really, ready? Many people say they want something new, but new can be scary. Just be ready to move forward if you do this!

A vision board is a natural fit with feng shui.

Feng shui focuses on what is seen and unseen -- energy that is both intangible and tangible. We understand that at any given moment whatever we are surrounded by influences us. If we are surrounded by mess, we may feel frustrated, annoyed, and not know why. If sad pictures or painful reminders are in our presence, we may feel depressed and unable to move ahead in our lives.

Select symbols that are meaningful to you

Feng shui understands that symbols are influencers and important ones at that. When you are selecting symbols for your vision board, select symbols meaningful to you. That might include the number "13." Many people think it's a negative number, but if it's meaningful in a positive way to you, then include it.

Select symbols from the 8 Aspirations

These are the principles that feng shui is founded on. Each aspiration is tied to a particular direction. Career is the aspiration of the north, health is the east, travel the northwest. Next, using the directions from the bagua, place the corresponding aspiration is the appropriate corner.

Start with the north or career in the bottom middle of your vision board (or top middle like the board above). Then moving in a clockwise direction, add the aspiration symbol for northeast in the lower left corner. This could be a book if you're a student, a deity for spirituality if that's your interest or any symbol of general wisdom.

The next corner is the left, or east corner. Place an image of health, a lush plant, a picture of a woman jogging or any symbol that is meaningful for health for you personally. Continue going around your board in this manner. This clockwise movement adds stimulation to your vision board, going from yin (north/water) to yang (south/fame/reputation) and back to yin again.

Don't forget to add a spark of life

It's important that you have an energizing spark on your vision board. It should appear vibrant, active, interesting. Place your most important image in the center of your vision board. This can be the central theme of your board if you like. You can then use symbols that support that central theme and still follow the directions of the bagua.

Lastly, every item must be "energized" in order for it to imbue precious yang energy. To create this, simply add something red on your vision board. You could also loop a piece of red ribbon through your board or glue red paper to the back.

Place your vision board prominently

You won't get very far if you can't see where you're going.

That's why it's vital that you make sure you place your board where you see it prominently and often. This will help to encourage you and keep you focused on what you want in life and where you want your goals to take you.

© K Weber Communications LLC 2002-2010
Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in classical Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE Ebook "Easy Money - 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui" visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

Blow Your Marketing Budget on Advertising - Part II

Why doesn’t advertising work for professional services businesses? For that answer, we have to examine when advertising can actually work. Advertising is really about buying eyeballs. The objective of advertising is buying the right eyeballs at the right time. Another way of putting this is that successful advertising has two components. First, you have to reach your target market. Second, you have to reach customers in your target market who are ready to buy.

Why doesn’t that work for the average professional services business? Let’s do a little analysis. Assume that you own a high end hair salon catering to professional women with six figure incomes in Montgomery County, Maryland. According to the U.S. Census Guide, Montgomery County had approximately 972 thousand people in 2009. In addition, according to the guide, the median household income in 2008 was approximately $94K. Clearly Montgomery County is a good market for your high end hair salon. If we dig a little further in the guide, we find out that in 2008 approximately 51% of the County’s population was female. If that percentage holds for 2009, that means there were about 496 thousand females in Montgomery. Of course not all of them are the appropriate age for your services. The guide tells us that the total percentage of the County population under eighteen years of age or above sixty-five years old was 37% in 2009. So now we are down to about 312 thousand females who are reasonably in your desired demographic age range.

Let’s now consider advertising in the flagship newspaper in the District of Columbia metropolitan area. Montgomery County is clearly in this metropolitan area. You can trust me on this, since I live in Northern Virginia not very far away from Montgomery County. The Washington Post advertising media guide (http://www.washingtonpostads.com/adsite/why/media/reach/page1450.html) tells us that the newspaper reaches 119 thousand households on a normal weekday in Montgomery County. Also according to the media guide, the total weekday circulation of the Washington Post is about 624 thousand.

Let’s see if advertising in the Washington Post is likely to work for your salon. To place an ad in the Post for one week, weekdays only, you are purchasing 3.125 million eyeballs, which is five days time 624 thousand. You are buying 3.125 million eyeballs to try and reach your 312 thousand females in your target market. Does that seem a little wasteful to you? Remember the part about reaching your eyeballs when they are ready to buy? How many of the 312 thousand females will be ready for you services during that week? How long is an ad in a daily newspaper effective? It will be effective for only about a day. Then only canaries will read it while pooping on it. How many canaries are in your target market? Hopefully zero if you hope to stay in business.

Granted the example above is an oversimplification. The Washington Post ad salespeople will tell you that they can help you target your ad more narrowly in regional editions. But my basic point stands. For professional service businesses, advertising doesn’t work very well, because you buy a lot of disinterested eyeballs. Obviously based on my story about our twentieth anniversary, I have had to learn this principle multiple times.

When does advertising work? It works well for mass market product businesses. If you own a grocery store chain, advertising in newspapers is a big part of your marketing budget. Food shoppers, like my mother-in-law, scour daily newspapers for sales every day. Your ads are reaching interested eyeballs.

If you own a small retail store in a strip shopping center, I ask God to have mercy on your soul. However, I think advertising can work for you, but you have to find publications that reach your target market cost effectively. I suggest doing the demographic analysis I performed above. Then go one step further. For each potential advertising opportunity, determine your cost per eyeball in your target market. Let’s assume in our salon example, that a daily ad would cost five thousand dollars. Your cost per Montgomery County eyeball is five thousand dollars divided by 119 thousand, which is the circulation of the Washington Post in Montgomery County. Your cost per eyeball is $0.04. In reality your cost per female in your target market is considerably higher since we calculated the cost based on total county circulation. But, I think you get the idea. You have to do some real analysis on a per eyeball basis to determine what publications deliver relevant eyeballs at the lowest cost.

Women Entrepreneurs the Secrets of Success for Wednesday, August 11th

Carol Hoenig

Carol Hoenig is a fulltime freelance writer and publishing consultant. Her novel, WITHOUT GRACE, has been awarded the Silver Medal for Book of the Year 2005 by ForeWord Magazine and given First Place for Fiction by the DIY Book Festival. Jada Press and the New York Book Festival also gave her novel honorable mention.


Her book THE AUTHOR’S GUIDE TO PLANNING BOOK EVENTS was named finalist by USA Book and Reader Views and given the Gold medal by ForeWord Magazine for Book of the Year in the category of writing. Carol’s essays, articles, book reviews and short stories appear in a wide number of publications.

Carol blogs for The Huffington Post at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-hoenig/ covering politics, culture, the publishing industry and the writing life.

Carol also contributed to PUTTING YOUR PASSION INTO PRINT, written by Arielle Eckstudt and David Henry Sterry. (Workman, July 2005)

Arianna Huffington invited Carol to contribute to ON BECOMING FEARLESS, (Little, Brown) released in the fall of 2006. Tory Johnson, ABC’s Good Morning America’s workplace contributor, also invited Carol to submit an essay for her New York Times Bestseller, WILL WORK FROM HOME (Penguin). Stephanie Gunning invited Carol to submit an essay on creativity for her anthology AUDACIOUS CREATIVITY.

Carol’s short story, Snow Angels and Somersaults, was a finalist for the 2007 Spring/Summer Glass Woman Prize, a bi-annual prize for women prose writers. http://moondance.org/2007/winter/fiction/snow.html.

Carol is on the advisory council for Author Solutions and was on The New York Center for Independent Publishing advisory council and writer’s conference committee for five years before it disbanded. She was the Director and Writer-in-Residence for Old Forge Library Adirondack Summer Writing Workshop for 2008. She is Editorial Director for Worthy Shorts and is a member of the Women’s Media Group. Most recently she was tapped to write a monthly column for Digital Americana, the first literary magazine for the Apple iPad. She also covers stories for Patch.com. For more information, visit www.carolhoenig.com.

12:00 pm EDT
Listen to the live or archived show at:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/CoachDeb