I was invited by one of the SmartWoman readers to join a great website for female entrepreneurs and wanted to be sure you all knew about it. The website is Divapreneur.org

You need to be referred by a member, so when you sign up, you should tell them that Vicki Flaugher sent you. You can email me for a private invite  if you’d prefer a direct link. I’ll be happy to get it to you.

Divapreneur is free to sign up and it’s specifically designed to let you promo your business, network with other great women and, in general, find encouraging solidarity as we all ban together toward business success. I signed up tonight and I have already received several warm welcomes. How fun!

Divapreneur is not a stuffy, cubicle dweller’s heaven. Far from it! The website is pink and feminine with multiple organized community groups and lots of female entrepreneur focused marketing. The graphics are fun and sassy. And, it’s easy to connect with other women who can help you.

You can create and customize your own webpage that links to other social networking media and you can start a blog there too. Cool, right? It’s very well done and a seamless presentation.

Divapreneur is the lovechild of Elaine Biss and her journey is an interesting and inspiring one. I can’t wait to get to know her better. Her specific mission is to help women become a success doing what they are passionate about. Elaine, you are officially an honorary SmartWoman. Bravo!

So, go check out Divapreneur.org and take advantage of this amazing network of women. Tell them Vicki Flaugher sent you. Maybe I can talk Elaine into an interview so you can hear how she developed her brilliant idea…Elaine?

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

Yep, that’s right. I am seeking a fiery woman to speak her mind on my blog. A woman other less enlightened people would call uppity, or strong minded, or maybe even downright stubborn. If this is YOU, dear sister, then know that you are invited and truly welcome here.

You see,  I tend to be a modulator, a moderator, a peacemaker/keeper. Been one all my life, actually. I have sometimes behaved in slightly anti-social ways–being a self-employed entrepreneur is slightly anti-societal–but I can also be observed following rules, mediating…some would say leading a bit of a boring life. I like who I am, but it doesn’t always start a good discussion.

So,  I decided to embrace my true self, admit my “can’t we all just get along?” attitude and find someone else besides me that could do a better job at stirring things up. I know you are out there.

I’m not looking for vulgarity but rather passion of thought. You can write about just about anything women care about. Some suggestions might be sexism, discrimination, ageism, marriage, divorce, society’s beauty standard, the battle of the sexes….it’s wide open.  I need it to be radical and thought provoking so others will flock  to our great community here and engage. I’d even consider using a male author with the right approach. Controversy is encouraged.

So, is that fiery woman you? If it is, contact me.  I will set you up as a guest author on my site and you can have your way with the topic of your choice.

And, thanks, in advance. I am grateful for those who speak out and stand up. I admire you.

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

I sometimes get teased for my moniker, but I like it, so I use it. I wrote a manifesto some years ago to sum up my view. I felt I should republish it here to renew the message.

(The picture to the side is by Joyce Roe Flaugher, the original Mom of the original SmartWoman. Isn’t that cool?)

SmartWoman Manifesto

“A Smart Woman uses her entire toolbox of experiences, talents, feelings, logic, intuition, education, and yes, even her mistakes, to live her life authentically engaged. She takes the time to care for herself, evaluate what she really thinks and feels, and acts and reacts from a place of patient love, energized compassion, and balanced accountability. Choices are opportunities and she welcomes them. Opportunity leads to her future and she faces that future with a ready and willing heart and a nimble and open mind.

A Smart Woman respects others’ points of view while still making her own choices. She gives generously to others while nurturing herself. She knows the value of boundaries and is skillful in using them to build stronger relationships. She speaks up when she needs to and she knows how and when to supportively listen as she keeps her vision of peace and tolerance in sight. She knows when to walk away, wishing luck and best wishes to those who are on another path. She knows and values her true worth.

Adaptable, caring, capable, and clever, a Smart Woman embraces life and triumphantly whoops and hollers her way to joy. She claims her power and her divine birthright, as each of us do, in a myriad of infinitely beautiful and unique ways, creating a fulfilling life as a Smart Woman. She’s not out to prove anything to anybody. She is here to learn, live, love, laugh, and contribute.

I believe we all have a lot to share, to communicate, to witness, and to celebrate. I would feel honored and thrilled to know you are by my side. So, what do you think? Are you ready to explore? I hope so, because today, I am making firm plans and those plans include you. I am a Smart Woman with firm plans. Are you?”

Side note: If you google “smart woman” you see there are lots of others who are in solidarity. I have tried logging on to enough websites where the username “smartwoman” is already taken, so I must be on to something…

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

p.s. I promised in my weekend post to solidify “what I call what I do”. Here’s my first draft: “I empower female entrepreneurs by providing services and products that help facilitate their success.”

Not sure it’s a keeper, but what about you? What do you call what you do?  Do share!

Do you like to watch? I do!

If you want to watch over the shoulder of two great marketers who make money online from blogging, here’s your chance.

Monday May 19th launches a cool blog contest between John Cow and Garry Conn and you can take part in it for free.

It’s a great promotional stunt and the proceeds for the winner (at least on John Cow’s side–not sure about Garry Conn) have been pledged to charity. These two guys probably drink beer together as friends, so I can’t tell you they are mortal enemies competing. Truth is, they might be, but I can’t say. Does it really matter? Personally I signed up for both of their information so I could learn from both teams.

It costs you nothing to watch over their shoulders as they launch new blogs and build them into revenue streams. You can emulate what they do for your blog and enjoy the fruits for yourself. They are also offering free prizes (lots of cool software, promo sponsor spots, etc.) for you helping them promote it.

If you have an interest in doing this, go for it.  I am! I think it will be fun. We can discuss the things we learn here as they go along.

Just in case you are not ready to pick sides yet, here are both of their websites. Both are offering phenomenal classroom training for free showing you what they are doing. Enjoy!

John Cow’s website: http://www.johncow.com/competition

Garry Conn’s website: http://www.garryconn.com/cowpetition

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

p.s. YES, I am trying to get SmartWoman more exposure by posting this contest info. I firmly believe more women need to learn about our community here, so I am not ashamed. It seems a harmless thing to promote a contest that I am participating in if it means more women come visit here. Are you ok with that? I hope so. If not, let me know and I will delete this post. This is your community and your opinion and vote counts.

Are you curious about what the Internet thinks of you? If so, Google yourself!

We are all focused on satisfying our clients, developing products and services, and all the other administrative, sales, and marketing activities that go with running a business. It’s not always so easy to take a step out of our bubbles and see how others see us. But, it’s crucial.

As women, some of us are a bit shy about our image. We don’t necessarily want to be in the spotlight. And,  we tend to shy away from our missteps. We’d rather hide under a rock than objectively examine our mistakes. But, I would ask you to consider this:

If you get a glimpse of you and your business from the outside, you will learn things about how and why you get new sales (or not) and also how you can contribute even more. And, it’s kinda fun!

So, this weekend, as a professional curiousity, go Google yourself–your personal name, your business name, your website name, maybe your executives’ names. If you have extra time, type in the words that describe the service you provide and see what comes up. It can be a real eye opener.

All I am asking you to do is to see what you see. It’s about awareness, not shame or judgement. See it all. Be ok with it. You can and will change what you don’t like but you have to see it first

Notice what blurps come up with your web page descriptions–would YOU click on it to buy what you’re selling? How many pages are you on? Who is there along with you? What are your competitors doing that you could learn from?

Notice who mentions you. If you don’t know them, you should.  Business is all about relationships and you could build some new ones with people who are already mentioning you.

Don’t neglect to notice where you are doing a great job also. This is an exercise in finding the good too, not just the not-so-good. You are bound to be doing things right and it can be very satisfying to become aware of that. It’s important to celebrate when you find gold. (Victory dances are encouraged.)

So, until next time, have fun and report back what you discover!

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

p.s. I  discovered that a link to SmartWoman is now available in Russian–how cool is that?