We are well into the first few months of the year. How are you doing with your New Year’s Resolutions? Hopefully they are not fading away and your well-intentioned efforts have been successful. Experts say that the reason most resolutions fail is because they involve constant commitment and effort. They may also be unrealistic in nature, leading people to give up altogether. From a business standpoint, resolutions are equally as important as personal ones. The current economic situation calls for sustained programs and goals that yield positive results. Now is not the time to give up but to instead create long-term projects. A good plan will include tactics, goals and budgets that are easy to adhere to. People are jumping on the social media bandwagon by putting all kinds of information on Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo, and others. While this is important do not sit back and think that because your firm may be “out there” that the sales are going to roll in. I am a fan of the internet and all of the new technology for communicating. Just don’t rely on one information source…try all kinds, tried and untried. Ideas are a good thing but you have to make them happen. Stay focused and be aggressive in both your personal and professional pursuits. Good luck!

Perhaps you haven’t yet made the leap to start writing a blog to promote your business; blogs require maintenance and careful thought and focus in order to be effective.  But have you considered a microblog?  A microblog is a form of multimedia blogging that allows you to publish very brief (usually no more than 140 characters) text updates, photos and audio clips throughout the day (or week).  You can choose for your messages to be viewed by anyone, or you can have a restrictive list of “followers” who subscribe to your updates.  There are numerous sites you can use, like Twitter, Yammer, and Jaiku– although Twitter appears to be the most popular.  Continue Reading »

Social networks are the buzz these days.  Without question, Facebook, MySpace and Bebo in the United Kingdom (to name a few) have revolutionized communications and set new trends for networking, public relations and politics.  Social networks sites are used to communicate with current friends and make new ones.  In some cases, you can have a whole new life, such as one can do in the avatar online community known as “Second Life.”  Second Life allows you an opportunity to live in a new world, conduct business, have families and spend money.  Even news networks are using sites such as “Twitter” to send news “tweets” through Facebook and other social networks to their audience throughout the day.

There are two schools of thought on social networks.  Some people believe they are revolutionary, while others see them as a nuisance that just clogs up their email and invades their privacy.  Like it or not, social networks are here to stay and they provide benefits as well as temptations.  Continue Reading »

When in the start-up stages of developing a new woman-owned business, you often discover that the most important first decision is what type of business is best for you and your particular products or services. For, nearly all of your business ideas, planning, organizing and strategies are directly related to the overall organizational design you choose. Certain kinds of business ventures are better suited to a specific type of business structure, and one of the major deciding factors you’ll want to consider is the initial size of your enterprise.

  Continue Reading »

In an earlier post, I stated how important it is for individuals to be involved in charitable organizations and community projects. During the month of January 2009, the American Biographical Institute, including myself and my colleagues, decided to collect items to donate to the North Carolina Food Bank. For fun, we had several “theme” weeks including baby items, and a recipe week when we bought items for casseroles and shared the recipes among ourselves. The goal was to collect as many items as possible for the Food Bank, culminating on January 30th with a volunteer day at a local branch. Before we got there, we had no idea what we would be doing to help out. We were first instructed to sort medical contributions, watching the expiry dates and looking for broken seals. Next we were shown huge boxes of canned items on pallets. Again we checked seals and were told to be creative in packing boxes with a variety of items for making meals. It was a challenge among us to bend and pack, some of us not having exercised much recently! We finished our challenge with emptying the huge boxes, breaking them down, discarding the pallets, and even sweeping the debris away. The joy we felt as a group helping others was uplifting. To know that we had donated much-needed items and were giving our time to help the underprivileged and jobless was thrilling. I encourage all individuals and corporations to dedicate not only money to charity, but time as well. It will help those in need and will give back to the volunteer a sense of community involvement that is priceless. It also creates valuable team building for a better business organization. Here we are…