What’s a job-by? It’s what I call a hobby business or a lifestyle business. A job-by is a business that let’s you do something you love and make a little (emphasis on little) money doing it. I was recently involved in a discussion with a group of women and I asked, are you running a serious business or do you have a job-by? And, boy-oh-boy did I get an earful! “It can be both!” they … Read more
If you know me, odds are you’ve heard me say “every minute we take away from our business is an investment, so spend it wisely.” As I’ve been speaking with groups about my book, “Lunching with Lions: Strategies for the Networking-Averse” there’s one part of my presentation that creates an interesting deer-in-the-headlights look from audience members. It’s the part of my talk where I ask them how much their time is worth. See, when we … Read more
Take a deep breath. I’m going to say something now that might freak you out a bit. You need a marketing plan. If you know me, you know I preach the holy trifecta of AWARENESS, PURPOSE, and INTENT in running your business. You must be AWARE of what you are doing in order to align your activities and actions with PURPOSE and INTENT to achieve that end goal. Like this: When you’re aware of your … Read more
If you’re like many of my clients who hate planning and just want to go, go, GO in their business, this message is for you! While a recent CoSchedule study showed that marketers who document strategy are an astounding 538% more likely to report success than those who don’t; and that marketers who set goals are 429% more likely to report success than those who don’t (and, 81% of those successful, goal-setting marketers achieve them), I get why you wouldn’t want … Read more
I started my business kinda sorta by accident (read the story here), meaning I didn’t plan to start a business when I did. And, because I didn’t PLAN to become a woman business owner, it took me a very long time to treat it seriously. How do you know you’re not taking your business seriously? Do you find yourself continually giving away your products or services because you “just love what you do”? Do you … Read more
I was reminiscing today about that time that I started my own business. You know, that day way back in 1999 (the LAST MILLENNIUM, as my daughter would say) when I quite my corporate job and became an entrepreneur. Huge decision, right? Big day. Momentous, even. Except, it didn’t feel momentous. It didn’t really feel like anything. Because at the moment I submitted my resignation and became a small business owner, I DIDN’T EVEN REALIZE … Read more
When I start working with a new client, I ask them three things: Do you have written vision and mission statements? What about a written brand statement? Why these three things? Because my client and I are about to embark on a journey together and, these three things are going to save us a lot of gas. Yes, I said “gas.” Because the analogy I like to use to define vision, mission, and brand is a … Read more
First, I want to go on record saying I love men. Truly, I do. Some of the best people I know are of the male persuasion. And, people ask me all the time if I coach men. Well, yes, I do. And I have. But as someone who started her career in the male-dominated industries of engineering and construction management, and who has been in the trenches of business ownership as a woman for 18 … Read more