Cooperation is a SmartWoman Principle. I honestly believe that together, we are stronger. To highlight this point, I want to showcase two opportunities you have today to use the strength of cooperation to your advantage in your business.

Kiva and Microlending

There are many ways to show gratitude, foster solidarity, and raise awareness. These activities strengthen your ability to persevere in your business, reach out to others for help, and have your business noticed. They build your character as an entrepreneur and character is how you will ultimately succeed.

Every day on my Twitter background, I have been featuring a global female entrepreneur who is soliciting to receive a microloan through Kiva. Within hours, these entrepreneurs have become fully funded. Hours! Kiva provides the opportunity for farmers, retailers, manufacturers and more worldwide to feed their cattle, buy more inventory, and create new jobs. These women and their partners are pulling others out of poverty, creating self-sustaining economic systems and living “The Dream”.

Participating in microlending plugs you in to a global community of support and promise. It shows you what’s possible. It lights the fire of passion and purpose and spurs you on to do whatever you have to do to be successful in your meaningful work. An entrepreneur with vision, drive, and purpose is unstoppable. Sharing and cooperation through Kiva (or any other of the many microlending organizations) is a way to become that type of entrepreneur.

I’ve set up a SmartWoman Entrepreneurs lending group on Kiva.com if you’d like to participate. $25 is all it takes to get started and the loan repayment rates are typically in the high 90+%. None of the money goes to me and I don’t get any kind of referral fee for you to participate. I simply believe that reaching outside of yourself grows you. I believe you’ll love how it makes you feel and you will benefit from the character development that active philanthropy provides. I believe it is our responsibility to assist our global entrepreneurial sisters and I’d be honored to be shoulder to shoulder with you in these efforts.

Bloggers helping Bloggers

Chuck Westbrook has started a campaign to help quality blogs that are underappreciated get noticed. It’s a truly brilliant idea, using the power of the tribe and of self-interest in coordination. We all want to be successful and most of us are willing to help other people be successful also. By giving of our time and attention to others, we are going to gain attention for ourselves. This idea definitely gets the SmartWoman Seal of Approval.

Chuck is creating a team of top bloggers who will review everyone asking to be featured and select a blog. For the next two weeks, everyone participating has agreed to read the featured blog regularly. After the initial two weeks, another blog will be selected and the process will continue. I signed up to participate and you should too. It’s a tremendous opportunity to be center stage in front of a great group of individuals, both the selection committee and the audience following.

To participate in Chuck’s blogger campaign, go here: Chuck Westbrook Bloggers Helping Bloggers

By giving of a little attention and money, not only do we find out about new things, we also provide opportunities. In both the Kiva example and Chuck’s blogger help program, you have the opportunity to participate in the world at large, to reach beyond yourself, to break out of the day to day picture that sometimes traps us.

Whether you choose either of these two opportunities or find another way to grow, today is a good day to start. Perspective expands as your reach increases. As an entrepreneur, this will be your saving grace. Your business will expand as your viewpoint does. Isn’t that one of the reasons why you’re in business to begin with? Reach out today. Taking some action, even a small one, is all that you need to do.

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman

I collect news stories about our sisters abroad and their challenges as well as their successes. Here are some of the the highlights that I felt you would enjoy.

Barriers still exist in accessing credit – Research
Ghana News – Accra,Ghana
Dr Egyir said it was the core objective of the study to document the current situation of barriers to access of micro finance to rural women entrepreneurs …
See all stories on this topic

Locals in new book
Terrace Standard – BC, Canada
FOUR LOCAL women were recognized for their success in business as part of a book celebrating women entrepreneurs around the province. …
See all stories on this topic

IFC supports African women entrepreneurs
Afrique en ligne – Angers,France
This includes the creation of several debt and equity funds for women-owned businesses, evidence that investors are eager to tap into this emerging market. …
See all stories on this topic

Starting a Company: From Idea to Reality
PRLog.Org (press release) – Bucuresti,Romania
The National Association of Women Business Owners, Central Jersey Chapter (NAWBOCJ) is a network of women entrepreneurs who provide each other with …
See all stories on this topic

Nigeria: Oceanic MD, Others Bag Women Entrepreneur of the Year Award
AllAfrica.com – Washington,USA
… Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), Mrs. Mercy T. Iyortyer, were at the weekend presented with the award of the women entrepreneur of the year. …
See all stories on this topic

Tamkeen empowerment strategy opens doors for US and Arab women …
Zawya (press release) – United Arab Emirates
For women entrepreneurs too, Tamkeen has opened new doors by making instruments of finance available through its loans initiatives with Shamil Bank …
See all stories on this topic

Latina entrepreneur raises the roof of success
Fort Worth Business Press – Fort Worth,TX,USA
“There are not a lot of Latina entrepreneurs out there. That’s one of the reasons I have to step out and show women in general that you can do it,” she said …
See all stories on this topic

More women needed for capital market- DG/SEC
Ceylon Daily News – Ceylon,Sri Lanka
“We will be targeting women entrepreneurs and expect to attract women in the grass root level for the capital market,” he said. “SEC is planning to attract …
See all stories on this topic

Female-Powered Green Revolution
By Karla Maquiling
EchoStore, the first sustainable lifestyle store in the Philippines, is the brainchild of marketing expert Chit Juan, writer-artist and wellness advocate Jeannie Javelosa, and coffee entrepreneur Reena Francisco. …
PinoyCentric.com – http://pinoycentric.com/

Chilean Entrepreneur is the European Winner of the 2nd Annual …
By sashok(sashok)
Start-up specializing in the commercialization of eco-friendly salmon skin leather is awarded one of the most prestigious awards for women entrepreneurs by Cartier and the Women’s Forum. London, UK (PRWEB) October 26, 2008 — Laura …
Internet Business – http://internetbusinesshub.blogspot.com/

Canadian Women in Business Shattering Glass Ceiling
By Audie
CIBC World Markets’ five-year projection of the creation of 260000 new businesses across Canada is breathing new life in the hearts of our nation’s entrepreneurs. And Canadian women are poised to be major players in this trend with the …
The Marrek Group – http://blog.marrek.com/

Explore the world and reach out to the other female entrepreneurs worldwide – it’s a glorious thing!

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman

Tonight, I am kicking off the next teleseminar series called Passionate Marketing Makeover.

Session #1 is about reviewing what you currently have set up for your business as well as reviewing what systems you need.

Here are a list of the systems we’ll be covering:

• Sales systems

New leads

Sales scripting

Activating old leads

Upsell/downsell

Customer service

• Adminstration systems

Accounting

Business model

Web maintenance

Personnel

Investments

• Communication systems

Email

Snail mail

Follow up

Managing CEO access

• Referral systems

Referrals as part of your sales

Referrals as part of your marketing

Developing a referral culture within your business

• Marketing systems

Online

Offline

Networking

Affiliate program

• Growth systems

Joint ventures

New products

New markets

Leveraging your expertise

Personal development and the value of mentors

This should give you a little taste of what we’ll be discussing…

If you’d like to sign up for the weekly sessions, it’s very affordable and fun. Click here: Passionate Marketing Makeover Series

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman

by Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

In this historical time, with the first African-American man running for US president, a women running for US vice-president, and the world shifting toward globalization, discrimination has been a hot topic. I felt it important to discuss how discrimination and privilege affect your business.

I have been affected by discrimination. As a young woman, I was told straight to my face that I would never be a manager at the retail store I worked at because I was a female (I’m happy to report those folks went out of business). I have also benefited from privilege, being treated with preference, for the same reason, being female. Neither situation was particularly positive for me. On one hand, you are not cut slack because of who you are and on the other hand, you are cut slack because you are deemed incapable. Not much self-esteem building in either of those positions.

I am guessing, at some point in all our lives, that we have been subject to both discrimination and privilege. But few of us know how to deal with it constructively. Few of us are very good at unraveling the complex nature of these beasts and harder still is the challenge of these topics in your business.

We’ve also all likely been in the situation that we engaged in these activities. Things that seem positive, like helping your bum brother get a good job, are based on privilege. Where you go and who you talk to are affected by how safe you feel in a neighborhood or how comfortable you feel mingling with others not exactly like you. Even when we logically know our deeper feelings need to be overcome or overlooked, it’s hard to deny, and sometimes even harder to admit, the truth of how we react and interact with each other.

I read a great article recently, considered controversial by many, that I feel really addresses the issue of privilege and the interplay of traditionally privileged and non-privileged groups.

“Check My what?” On Privilege and What We Can Do About It: Some Tips on Going From Pro-Equality in Spirit to Pro-Equality in Deed

I ask that you read it with an open mind with an eye toward your business. Discrimination issues can destroy your business. Being sued for discrimination can shut you down. Beyond the legal implications of discrimination, you are also closing yourself off from segments of the population who could do a great job for you. People unlike yourself who could bring fresh ideas and a new perspective to your work. Individuals who bring with them the promise of a new approach.

Let me know what you think. Keep it civil and keep it real. No one will be judged here, but rather encouraged to engage in an honest discussion about how discrimination and privilege help and hurt. Words are powerful and thought is life changing and how we treat each other determines our success.

Have you ever engaged in or been affected by discrimination and/or privilege? Tell your story below.

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman

By Vicki Flaugher, CEO of SmartWoman Guides

Many modern entrepreneurs brag about their ability to “multi-task”. They see themselves as expert jugglers, constantly on the go, with their attention here, there, and everywhere. Somehow they think that speed applied to as many different channels as they can muster will skyrocket their success forward.

For awhile, it seems to work, this hyperactive and quite delicate balance of spinning so many plates at a time. Like a circus act doing magic tricks, it seems entertaining and perhaps even the right thing to do. But eventually, something happens to nudge the balancing act – sometimes even just one small thing -  and it all comes crashing down. The havoc wreaked by an even larger nudge, such as a major illness or loss of a family member, not only stops the spinning, but breaks the china plates to the point of no return.

I want to be perfectly clear – mult-tasking is a myth, a fabricated concept that isn’t even true in reality, and, more importantly, is probably hurting your business. It might even be threatening your health and safety.

From an article entitled The Myth of Multitasking by Christine Rosen, in the New Atlantis, here’s some information for you to ponder:

“In 2005, the BBC reported on a research study, funded by Hewlett-Packard and conducted by the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London, that found, ‘Workers distracted by e-mail and phone calls suffer a fall in IQ more than twice that found in marijuana smokers.’ “

“One study by researchers at the University of California at Irvine monitored interruptions among office workers; they found that workers took an average of twenty-five minutes to recover from interruptions such as phone calls or answering e-mail and return to their original task.”

“Discussing multitasking with the New York Times in 2007, Jonathan B. Spira, an analyst at the business research firm Basex, estimated that extreme multitasking—information overload—costs the U.S. economy $650 billion a year in lost productivity.”

What we perceive as multitasking is actually a very, very fast switching between singular events, not doing multiple events at one time. If you change back and forth quickly enough, you may interpret those events to be simultaneous, but your brain does not. It’s having to move it’s attention and its firing neurons in a rapid fire, shallow manner to keep up. Like a form of chosen ADD,  we order our brain to keep up with so many points of information that we get fatigued, drained, and we greatly hamper our memory capacity.

And if we multi-task while we are trying to learn? Ms. Rosen cites another source here:

“In one recent study, Russell Poldrack, a psychology professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, found that ‘multitasking adversely affects how you learn. Even if you learn while multitasking, that learning is less flexible and more specialized, so you cannot retrieve the information as easily.’ “

So , what are you doing right now? Is the bell of a new incoming email sounding, is your phone vibrating, is the TV on, or maybe you’re also listening to a training audio? Do you become panic stricken as you contemplate a life doing one thing at a time, with deep attention and focus? Do you have a million and one reasons why multitasking is good for you? Research isn’t on your side promoting that view, so perhaps an adult  “time out” is in order? It’s something to think about,  one thought at a time…

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman

Part of what keeps any entrepreneur going is their vision. Too often, though, it’s easy to get distracted by the day to day concerns of building and running a business. So, how do you really create a solid vision for your business? Below are a few ideas you can embrace to get you moving in the right direction.

1.  Get help

The value of coaches and mentors and heroes cannot be underestimated. Prideful stubborness, where you confuse doing it “your way” with a closed minded unwillingness to entertain a variety of opinions, is a mistake. Yes, you are the decider. That is your job and your responsibility. But, every great leader surrounds themselves with high level advisors, specialists in each field that is needed to succeed. The idea is not to do it alone but rather to be the singular visionary who coordinates the expert activities of amazingly talented people toward completion of the mission.

Another way to get help, if you’re not interested in including a group of real life individuals in your business, is to do your research. Sites like EvanCarmichael.com offer you profiles and interviews of some of the most successful entrepreneurs of all time. Entrepreneur focused magazines share the views of experts on how they run their businesses in this modern time, if you want a contemporary rather than historical view. Scientific business journals that study the science of networking, sales technique research studies, and more give you a greater view than you could possibly have on your own.

What it gets down to is, whether you choose physical helpers or virtual ones, you need helpers. Do not reinvent the wheel and don’t be afraid to share information with others. It will magnify your efforts tremendously if you simply widen your peripheral vision and deepen your knowledge base.

2.  Brainstorming is an art that leads to brilliant ideas

The hardest part of brainstorming is keeping the phases of idea creation and idea editing apart from each other. It’s too easy, as you are creatively throwing out wild ideas, to stop the creative flow and pick apart how it will or won’t work. Don’t do this. It kills the creative process. How to make your ideas happen is for after the creative process is done.

Once you start the brainstorming process, put your critic on hold and let the ideas flow. Crazy ideas on top of crazy ideas lead to new, brilliant ideas that are outside the box. Especially if you are brainstorming with other people (highly recommended), you will find that power plays interrupt you, critical analysis interrupts you, and “logical realism” will intrude. Have a white board ready to park those ideas so they don’t get forgotten to discuss another time, but actively insist that the practical does not intrude on the whimsical.

3.  Pen and paper are your friends

Some of your best thinking will solidify when you write your ideas down. There’s something inexplicable that happens when you put your ideas down in black and white. They become real. If you are a fan of the Law of Attraction, you already know this. If you are a list maker with a practical streak, you know this too. It’s a simple concept, and many very successful entrepreneurs do it, so I would suggest that you try it. Something magical happens when your logical brain is focused on the mechanics of writing that allows your imaginative spirit to run free. I do it and it works.

When you write down your goals or your ideas, write them down from a present tense, positive point of view. For example, instead of saying “Someday I will not be fat” (using a personal example) but rather “I am slim and healthy”. It feels a little weird at first, but it will help. Shifting your focus from being against something (I am not poor, I do not have debt, my business does not fail), move instead toward concentrating on the positive result (I am wealthy, I have a positive net cash flow, my business continues profitably and successfully).

4.  Last but not least, time is golden

Hard working entrepreneurs sometimes mistakenly interpret spending time thinking and imagining as wasting time. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. The time you spend thinking about your business, envisioning your future, and solidifying your dream is time that will magnify your success.You must schedule time to reflect and keep that appointment as religiously as you would any client appointment.

It’s very challenging to manage the detailed day to day issues and also use what I call your “big thinking”. I recommend that you spend at least one day each week- that’s right, one full day – working on your business instead of it in. Examine how you can improve your processes, examine where you are doing repetitive tasks that you could outsource, spend time thinking about the next big idea you are going to implement. Get outside your grind and think bigger, think more, and imagine sensational success.

Would your current sales process even work if you were to be wildly successful? What would happen if a million visitors came to your website today? Would it net you any profits or would it just crash your server? Spending time thinking of the mechanics of success not just hedging against disaster is a profitable endeavor. You are the visionary of your business and anything less than that is not stepping up. Every week you need to commit to and act upon that job of being the leader.

This is a subject that I feel sometimes gets overlooked and ignored. I am a strong supporter of clarity, so grab yourself a cup of coffee, find a quiet place without distractions and think bigger. Know that you are worth this time and that it is bringing you success. Be sure to have a notepad and pen with you and get it out and get it down on paper. Then, go do it.

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

This week I was lucky enough to speak with Jim Canterucci, a Personal Brilliance coach, about my desire to become a paid public speaker. He gave me some very interesting and helpful tips on how to do it, but his opening advice struck me as most poignant. He said the secret to becoming a well-paid professional speaker is to be great at it.

At first glance, that seems obvious, right?  But, how often do we work toward something without this basic tenet at the forefront of our minds? We look at facts, we practice processes, we collect data, we research the how-to, but how much energy is actually exerted toward true greatness?

His advice really struck me as important, so greatness is my goal as I go about becoming a paid speaker. I will keep it in mind as I do all the other things, the nitty gritty, to market myself, get myself speaking gigs, etc. I will use the idea of greatness as my litmus test for whatever I choose to do next. And, I believe it will benefit me in ways that nothing else can. I am committed to devoting the time to develop greatness.

What about you? How much time this day, week, or month are you going to devote to being great at what you do? How much time did you devote to it last month? If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you probably got caught up in the business of running your business instead of taking the time to focus on being great at what you do. Don’t be hard on yourself – just resolve to shift that a bit.

How can you develop greatness? I’d recommend that you go visit Jim’s Personal Brilliance website for starters. He provides tips on how to use your personal brilliance to conquer any challenge. After my experience visiting with Jim, I have signed up for his updates. I find them valuable and I look forward to their positive impact on my progress.

Also, study your craft. For me, I will be studying the greatest speakers of all time to see what they do. I will practice, emulating the best of the best while developing my own strong message and style. Studying people who are great at what you want to be great at does not mean becoming a parrot or robot. Instead it’s about observing what works and using that as your launching pad. You are unique and that’s the greatest gift you have to offer the world, as no one else can give that. 

Lastly, and maybe most importantly, allow yourself the mental and emotional permission to admit your greatness. We are often taught that knowing our value is arrogance, that claiming our greatness is a mistake. False humility does no one any good. Thinking you’re great when you’re not, that’s arrogance. Actually being great (and knowing it) is your responsibility to yourself, your family, and the world. You weren’t put on this earth to be mediocre. No one was. Don’t feign commonness to fit it. Great leaders don’t fit in – they stick out and rise above to inspire and motivate others. Each of us are leaders in our craft, in our own way, so it’s time we acted so. Today is as good a day as any to start.

Go out and be great today. Focus your attention on the idea of greatness in your work, in the value you give your client, the contribution you make to your society. Become really good at it. Practice, learn, and then be it. I look forward to standing next to you and your greatness.

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman
follow Jim Canterucci on Twitter: Canterucci

by Vicki Flaugher, CEO of SmartWoman Guides in celebration of Blog Action Day to discuss poverty and it’s solutions.

Microfinancing, according to Wikipedia, refers to the provision of financial services to poor or low-income clients, including consumers and the self-employed. The term also refers to the practice of sustainably delivering those services.

More broadly, it refers to a movement that envisions “a world in which as many poor and near-poor households as possible have permanent access to an appropriate range of high quality financial services, including not just credit but also savings, insurance, and fund transfers.”

Many female entrepreneurs worldwide have taken loans, which are relatively small amounts in US dollars, and turned them into businesses that feed dozens of people, sometimes their whole village. I love this idea because it creates a cultural, psychological, and financial infrastructure that encourages the democratization of social power. Anyone who applies, provided they meet the often relaxed criteria, can get money to help them build a business.

How can microfinancing bring world peace? Some would argue that full-fledged wars, or even just one well-placed bullet, is the answer to eliminating dictators and oppressive governments, but I don’t. For one, I am a pacifist, and two, assassination of a leader does not create the infrastructure for democratized power that needs to be in place for a general population to rise up.

Much like the elephants in a circus who are trained from birth that they can’t escape because they are held by a heavy chain and then eventually not needing the chain at all to stay put, all of us learn to adapt. It’s called “learned helplessness”. It’s negative effects, in terms of poverty and oppression, where a people stay suppressed because it’s how to survive, can be reversed. We can learn that there are alternative solutions and act upon them, given sufficient hope and support and belief in the possibility of success.

Microfinancing allows the environment to support social change. This change leads to economic freedom and independence of both spirit and financial sustenance. When a people decide for themselves they’ve had enough and they deserve better, oppressive governments don’t stand a chance. They crumble. And what’s left once they crumble are citizens who are able to stand up on their own, who choose their own destiny, who face the future making their own choices.

When people are not hungry, war is less common.When citizens have the means to create businesses and provide for their family the food they need to prevent hunger, the urge for war diminishes. Using the premise that it’s better to teach someone to fish rather than give them a fish, microfinancing allows individuals to be empowered and capable to achieve their dreams. It grows the required personal and cultural infrastructure that needs to be in place for the democratization of social power to occur.

As entrepreneurs ourselves, I believe it is our priviledge and duty to reach out to our fellow entrepreneurs worldwide. Let’s build a peaceful, loving world together. Today, you could give $25 and enable a woman in Africa to start a business. I encourage you all to visit some of the links below and do what you can. It all matters and it all helps.

• Kiva.org
• Opportunity.org
• ACCION.org
• PlanetFinanceGroup.org
• ARCRelief.org
• VillageBanking.org
• CalvertFoundation.org
• OptInNow.org
• GlobalPartnerships.org
• MicroPlace.com

Thank you for all you do and have a great day!

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman

by Vicki Flaugher, CEO of SmartWoman Guides

The last several weeks there have been some very interesting items coming out that I wanted to share with you. It’s fun to stay connected with a community, so check out these links and see if any of it appeals. Have fun!

Power People You Should Meet

 Ron Hudson’s 50 Most Influential and Powerful Women in Social Media

Check out the amazing group of women who are using their voices to live their passionate life!

200+ Internet Marketin Gurus on Twitter

Last I counted, there are actually over 500 people here. If you want to  learn about marketing on the internet, this is a treasure trove of talented people!

Contests

DotComSecrets Zero to $100 Million Contest

Free training and a charity drive, with the opportunity to win a Corvette and help kids in third world countries. Will take you step by step getting an internet business up and running. Yes, I said free to participate. Isn’t that neat?

Free Resources (Learning, Publicity, and more)

HelpAReporterOut.com

Free publicity service where you can respond to media inquiries for expert quotes and interviews to promote your business. Also, if you own a blog you are considered media, so you can solicit interviews to create original and interesting content for your site. I tried the service for one of my niche market sites, got dozens of very high quality responses, and they all sent me free promo copies of their books, DVDs, etc to review. Highly recommended.

UltimateBusinessCamp

Free teleseminars on Tuesday and Thursday for the month of October. Hosted by Tami Szabo and Ingrid Olson, designed to help women get educated and inspired. All you have to do is show up and listen in to the call. All the speakers provide discounted offers, but each session is substantial, not just a pitchfest.

 I’ll keep collecting more and add it to the list.

Together,  we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original  SmartWoman

follow me on Twitter: SmartWoman

by Vicki Flaugher, CEO of SmartWoman Guides

Today I had an interesting and educational experience. One of the great bloggers I follow on Twitter introduced a friend of his to the community. This friend is apparently well-known by many but, unfortunately, not me. But, since I trust the blogger who recommended him, I went to go check out the newbie’s profile. But I was foiled – the newbie didn’t have a profile! Gasp!

In an effort at brevity, I joked that the newbie’s Twitter profile was a little slim – no website link, no bio, nada. Just his name and a picture (which was a nice picture, admittedly). Frankly, I didn’t want to have to google the newbie to find out about him. Maybe I’m too focused on instant gratification, but well, fair enough, maybe I am. The web is all about instant info and ease and convenience and I’ve bought in.

One of my other Twitter buds messaged that this newbie was already so well known that he didn’t need to create a profile to get followers and he was busy. Wow. Not only did I still not know about this newbie (who now I wanted to know about even more, since he’s so busy and great) but now I felt like an outside, the only one left in the world to not know who he was just on his name and picture. The big capital “L” for loser felt squarely tattooed to my forehead.

After a moment of being stunned, the conversation got me thinking - are you ever so big that you don’t have to introduce yourself? You can guess my answer – a resounding NO.

Being focused on beginners, I try to be aware of the idea that there are people who aren’t living in my personal world, who don’t live in my bubble of experience. Like meeting people who’ve never heard of Twitter, or who have never purchased anything online, or don’t know what RSS is, it’s easy to think that maybe they’ve just been living under a rock. That’s not very kind or compassionate and it’s a bit foolish from a marketing point of view. It gives the impression that you don’t care.

I know that the Twitter newbie does care and I do imagine that he’s quite busy. I also do not hold him responsible for the response others give me about him. I’m guessing the lack of profile is either an oversight or perhaps an indication that it’s time to outsource some admin tasks. We’ve all been there. We’re all human. No one, even the highest of high, always gets it right 100% of the time. No biggie. The issue comes when you don’t fix it when you find it.

What I’m hoping you pick up is this: You grow your business by getting new clients and getting the established clients to buy again. Don’t forget your new clients. They don’t know you and they want to. Make it easy for them to do that without embarrassment or extra hassle.

Must go now – time to go double check all of my profiles!

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman