Getting My WGBiz Groove On

Hard drive or no hard drive, life must go on, right?

Which is why I’m really glad today’s finally here. I’ll be heading out to the first-ever Women Grow Business Boot Camp shortly (thank you, sponsors Network Solutions and Steptoe & Johnson LLP), which, if the “buzz” and enthusiasm for is anything to go by, will be quite remarkable.

Here’s the 4-1-1 on it, and if you’d like to join us virtually, we’ll be live-streaming it today (thank you, Stacy Yamaoka of Yayastream!). Ready? Just stay current with the schedule, and press “play” below at 9:30 am ET today. Else, you can follow/join the conversation on Twitter, by using the #wgbiz hashtag.

See you there!

Image: Melanie Holtsman, Creative Commons

Filed under Business, Events, Women Grow Business | Tags: #wgbiz, boot camp, Women Grow Business, yayastream | Comment (0)

Announcing The Women Grow Business Boot Camp

Of dogs, guacamole and groupies

Disclosure, though I hope you already know this: I’m editor of Women Grow Business, a Network Solutions-hosted blog community by, for and of women entrepreneurs. I’m paid to do this, though I was not paid (or asked) to cross-post this announcement. I chose to do so because I think it might be useful for some of my readers.

When I started editing Women Grow Business, I knew it would be a trip and a half, but I don’t think I realized what a wild ride it would be. Seriously, I think WGB has spam groupies who insist on trying to sell men’s shoes. Whaaa… ??

Couldn’t we get a flash mob instead? (Image: Richard Wood, Creative Commons)

But anyway, founding editor Jill Foster came over one afternoon in January to walk me through the ins and outs of it, and afternoon turned to evening, through which we fortified ourselves with wine, olives, chips and guacamole (my dogs were particularly interested in the latter).

As we worked, we chatted about our hopes and dreams for WGB. We already knew what a phenomenal community we had (I give you the terrific contributors as well as the many guest bloggers who bring so much value when they share their thoughts and experiences). Of course, we wanted to grow that (which we’ve been doing slowly, not just on the blog, but on Twitter, LinkedIn and Amplify as well, are you connected to us there?).

What we really wanted to do, though, was take this vibrant, thriving online community and move it offline.

Particularly in a world where so much of our work and interaction is virtual, we’ve all seen how important it is to actually do stuff “IRL.”

Drum roll, please!

So it truly gives me great pleasure to announce (drum roll, please) the first-ever Women Grow Business Boot Camp, which will be held from 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 19, in downtown DC.

If you’re a woman entrepreneur in the DC area (or want to be one), I hope you’ll attend this half-day, FREE workshop where you’ll hear from women business owners, many of whom contribute to and/or have supported Women Grow Business since its inception.

I mean, it’s not every day you get a chance to meet Kathy Korman Frey aka @ChiefHotMomma and our keynote speaker (W00T!), as well as powerhouses like Marissa Levin, Patricia Frame, Shana Glickfield and many, many more.

What you’ll learn

Speakers will share their experiences in growing their businesses, and after the keynote, you’ll split into four breakout groups to learn more about four key areas of growing your business:

Money, Honey: the financial and infrastructural side to your business
Legal Eagle: the legal, IP and related issues we need to be aware of
What’s the Buzz?: marketing your business, including using PR and social media
Are You Being Served?: defining, reaching and retaining your ideal customer

We’re going to repeat these tracks after a short break, so that you can move to another group and learn about another area (and the speakers will change as well).

So by the end of the workshop, you should come away feeling empowered, armed with practical tips, and have done a ton of networking… at least, that’s what we hope you’ll come away with.

It’s on a Saturday, so hopefully that will make it easy for you to carve the time out of your busy schedules. And did I mention it’s FREE? Thank you, sponsors Network Solutions and the Intellectual Property Group and Diversity Committee of Steptoe & Johnson LLP.

Sign up!

You can register here, and do share the word with those you think would be interested… and maybe we can even come up with a flash mob of our own. Whadja say?

Cross-posted from Women Grow Business.

Filed under Business, Speaking, Women Grow Business | Tags: Events, jill foster, network solutions, steptoe & johnson, women entrepreneurs, Women Grow Business | Comment (1)

Announcing #wgbiz Chats: Conversations By, For and Of Women in Business

Apparently some of our menfolk still don’t get this, but if there’s one thing we know -and love – about ourselves, it’s that we women like to talk.

(Image: Frits Ahlefeldt-Laurvig, Creative Commons)

We do a lot of that over at Women Grow Business, of which I’m editor, which is what makes it fun, don’t you think? Apart from useful, of course (and I hope you think it’s useful!).

Well, now we’re taking that to another level.

On April 12, we’re kicking off our very first Twitterchat for the #wgbiz community, which will take place on a monthly basis (the second Monday of every month).

Just as we do at WGB, we’ll chat about issues women entrepreneurs face, take questions on particular topics, and talk about anything and everything we need to grow as women entrepreneurs… and women.

I’m tickled, thrilled and triumphant that Tinu Abayomi-Paul (how’s that for alliteration?) will join us as our featured guest on April 12.

To put it mildly, Tinu’s a social media powerhouse.

Who better to talk about the benefits of inbound marketing someone who has the bona fides to show us how to generate leads and traffic from the WWW? The founder of Free Traffic Tips? I mean, why wouldn’t you ask Tinu?

As she’s been known to say, you “can’t knock her hustle.”

So please do join us on Monday, April 12, from 12-1 pm ET, to talk about all things related to inbound marketing. I’ll be moderating as @shonali, Tinu will be fielding questions as @tinu.

All you have to do to follow along or participate is jump on Twitter and watch (and/or use) the #wgbiz hashtag (that hashtag’s important, since it will allow us to capture all chat-related tweets in a post-chat transcript).

After all, there’s nothing we women like better than a good chat, is there?

Do spread the word among your cohorts, and I look forward to chatting in a week!

Cross-posted with minor edits from Women Grow Business.

Filed under Women Grow Business | Tags: inbound marketing, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Twitter, twitterchat, Women Grow Business, Women In Business | Comments (2)

This Is What 40 Looks Like

There’s a terrific post over at Women Grow Business today on “the incredible disappearing woman” by Liz Scherer, one of WGB’s regular contributors. As editor of WGB, you could accuse me of being biased, and I suppose that would be understandable… though not, IMHO, accurate, but that’s neither here nor there.

When I read through Liz’ post, these words of Gloria Steinem when told she didn’t look 40, as relayed by Mollie Katzen, struck a particular chord with me:

“This is what 40 looks like.”

What an incredibly empowering phrase.

I celebrated my 40th birthday this year with as much pandemonium as I could muster. My community was incredibly generous, helping me raise money for a cause particularly dear to my heart. And then I had an absolutely amazing time in London, UK, as part of my belated “birthday blowout.”

Complete strangers have been exceedingly kind to me, such as the British Airways employee who, as part of the rigorous screening on our way back to the US after my delayed b’day celebration in London, cocked her head at me and said, “… are you trying to make ME feel old?” (when I told her the reason for our trip).

Still, as a woman who’s no longer on the “right side” of 30, I can’t help but wonder sometimes…

… am I over the oft-referenced hill?

Was my grand proclamation of my age this year a set up for encountering ageism in the workplace when I don’t hold all the cards I think I do now?

Truth be told, I don’t know. Perhaps these words will come back to bite me some day. But this I do know, 99% of the women I encounter really do grow better as they age.

Perhaps it’s a question of “growing into my skin,” as I told a former boss of mine 10 years ago, when she asked how I was adjusting to life in the US after moving from India.

But if I could turn back the clock, I would, right?

No. I wouldn’t. Whatever I’ve been through, whatever I’ve done, have made me who I am today, and have put me in exactly the right place at the exactly the right time.

You can call that new-agey, if you like, but that is really how I feel.

I’ll say it loud and I’ll say it proud. This is what 40 looks like.

Filed under Communication, Personal, Women Grow Business | Tags: 40th birthday, ageism, empowering women, gloria steinem, liz scherer, london, mollie katzen, Women Grow Business | Comments (11)

Moving from “Buzz” to “Business”: Social Commerce Camp DC Is Coming Up

Why bother with PR?

One of the things that yours truly focuses on in her, er my, “day job” is the business use of public relations – or, in other words, why bother with “PR” if it’s not going to impact business indicators? Far too often, I see and hear people assuming the raison d’être of “PR” is to “create buzz.”

I won’t belabor the point here but in a nutshell, it’s not. Effective PR is designed – and implemented – with a view to helping an organization achieve its business objectives. In other words, it really is about managing the relationships between an organization and its “publics,” and thus impacting the bottom line.

Which is why I’m excited to be a part of Social Commerce Camp DC this weekend (Saturday, Feb. 20); a free educational event that is geared towards small businesses and entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses and are looking for the tools to get them started.

Now, it’s a half-day event so no, you won’t be writing an encyclopedia on small business after attending, but what you should definitely walk away with is an understanding of how to use “social” to jumpstart your business (or kick it into high gear). And yes, PR is a part of that, and that’s what I’ll be focusing on.

Here’s the agenda

• 8 – 9 am:  Continental breakfast , registration and networking
• 9 – 9:45 am: Social Media 101 for Small Business, with Shashi Bellamkonda , Social Media Swami, Network Solutions
• 10 – 10:45 am: Creating a Killer Social User Experience with your e-Commerce Site, with Steve Fisher, browncoatsmovie.com
• 10.45 – 11.15 am:  Check your Twitter account/ blogging time
• 11:15 am to 12 noon: PR Tips and Best Practices for Small Business – Shonali Burke (me!)

Major props to the sponsors: Mayer Brown, Network Solutions, Kikscore and  MyBusinessAssistant.com.

Will I see you there? Remember, it’s free, so come on out. You can register here.

Image: Daniel Broche, Creative Commons

Cross-posted from Women Grow Business, of which I am editor.

Filed under Public Relations, Speaking, Women Grow Business | Tags: ecommerce, effective pr, pr, Public Relations, social commerce, social commerce camp DC, Speaking, Women Grow Business | Comment (1)

Getting on Board with Women Grow Business

Thanks to my (wonderful) friends, this particular cat got out of the bag before I could untie the strings, so I’m going to make this short and sweet (though I’ve been dying to tell you for a while): I’m really excited to be taking over the reins at Women Grow Business, an amazing community hosted by Network Solutions to help women do exactly that: grow their business.

With content from leading women entrepreneurs on a variety of subjects, Women Grow Business has really made a name for itself in an extremely short span of time, thanks to a great many people, but particularly, I think, because of Shashi Bellamkonda and Jill Foster; it’s the latter whose able hands I’ll be taking over WGB from.

Because of their efforts in building a vibrant, thriving community, WGB has received so many accolades, it’s a little mind-boggling: one of Forbes’ 20 best marketing and social media blogs by women, to name just one, not to mention Jill herself being listed by Forbes as one of 30 women entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter (and whatever your opinion about Twitter lists, you have to admit that’s a pretty cool one to be on).

Fyi, Shonali Burke Consulting still lives

Quick aside: in case you were wondering whether I’m giving up my consulting business – no, I’m not. Shonali Burke Consulting is alive and kicking and open for business. Hey, that’s what Women Grow Business is all about, right?

Back to WGB

So, anyway. I’m pinching myself because I can’t quite believe I get to do this – but I need your help.

Women Grow Business will not remain, or grow from, the amazing community/community blog it already is if women entrepreneurs and business owners don’t join in.

So please, visit me over at WGB, send me ideas for guest posts, let me know how you’d like to be involved. Follow us on Twitter and stay tuned for more developments online as well as offline, that we’d love you to be a part of.

Thank you for the incredible warmth and happiness you’ve shown to me today, and I’m looking forward to growing this wonderful community with you!

Filed under Business, Personal, Social Media, Women Grow Business | Tags: #wgbiz, blogging, community, forbes, jill foster, leadership, shashi bellamkonda, women entrepreneurs, Women Grow Business | Comments (4)