Here are a few ways to do it:

• Take time off from running your business to do something special for yourself, get a massage, go to the hair/nail salon, read a book, meditate, practice yoga, go to the movies.
• Write an appreciation letter addressed to you, and list all the things you are proud of about yourself, and thank yourself for being who you are.
• Pick up a book that you love, and write a message to yourself in the first page, as if the author had autographed it, or a friend wrote a note to you. While I was on the journey to write my first book: “Ask Others, Trust Yourself”, I read many books on writing and on being an author. I wrote to myself in the first page of the book “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life”, by Anne Lamott: Dear Elisa, You are an amazing and successful writer. All the best, Elisa
• Buy yourself some flowers. Stop by a flower shop and choose a beautiful bouquet for yourself.
• Type phrases of appreciation, and post them where you can see them often.
• Cook and eat your favorite meal.
• Spend quality time with family and friends.
• Add something special to YOU to this list!

I’d love to learn about how you show appreciation, feel free to post comments below.

I appreciate you as a reader of WomenandBiz.com and thank you for reading this article.

Elisa Balabram, Founder and Editor

WomenandBiz.com

At some point I thought it was best to move on to the next project, but through the support group I’ve developed over the years, I realized that I needed to put more effort into promoting Ask Others, Trust Yourself: The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Key to Success.

The articles posted by our guest writers have actually given me more ideas into how I could do it. One of them is becoming more active with my social media efforts.

Here is my own new recipe for “When all else fails”:

• Brainstorm with your support group what can be done;
• Try a new strategy;
• Re-examine your goals;
• Create a new/revised plan of action;
• Stay focused;
• Take daily action towards reaching your goals;
• Revise your strategies and,
• Keep going!

If you have anything else to add to this list, feel free to post a comment below.

To your continued success,

Elisa Balabram

Editor, WomenandBiz.com

Author, Ask Others, Trust Yourself: The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Key to Success.

Welcome to WomenandBiz.com, your source of inspirational and resourceful business articles.

Happy Holidays and a Wonderful New Year, to you, your family and your business.

During this month, we recommend that you take some time to celebrate all barriers you overcame, all successes your business achieved and all that you have been able to accomplish in 2009.

Then, start planning for 2010. What is your vision for your business? What are your sales goals? Where would you like your business to be by the end of the year? I recommend that you write down your vision and goals for the year, and review it throughout the year.

Once you know your goals for 2010, make sure to breakdown each goal into smaller and achievable steps, and create a timeline to achieve them.

Here are a few opportunities that can help you grow your business in the new year:

Join PR Newswire 1-year free subscription, and find out how you can take  advantage of this online resource.

Stay up-to-date with your industry, by subscribing to free trade magazines. Visit http://womenandbiz.tradepub.com today to browse TradePub.com’s selection of complimentary Industry magazines, white papers, webinars, podcasts, and more across 34 industry sectors. No credit cards, coupons, or promo codes required.

Feel free to post your comments and share with us how you are celebrating the end of the year, and planning for 2010. You can also reach us by filling out the Contact us form on the About us page.

Success,

Elisa Balabram

Founder and Editor, WomenandBiz.com

Author of “Ask Others, Trust Yourself: The Entrepreneurial Woman Key’s to Success”.

Welcome to WomenandBiz.com, your source of inspirational and resourceful business articles.

In this month’s issue of WomenandBiz.com, our guest writers discuss the importance of investing in yourself and in your team by going “back to school”.

In the last few weeks I listened to an interview with Les Brown, hosted by Lance Hood, and to an interview with Tony Robbins hosted by Eben Pagan. Both of them talked about the importance of investing in yourself, learning from people you admire and consider successful and following through by taking action.

You can go back to school by purchasing online courses in the field you are interested in, by signing up to free or paid online podcasts, or by actually attending seminars and conferences. Take an inventory today of the skills that you are missing, and check out the opportunities available for you. It could be that you want to improve your public speaking skills, bookkeeping knowledge, strategies on running a business, or something more specific to your own industry. The time and money you invest in yourself and in your staff will pay off many times when you take action and execute the skills you will gain from studying.

If you already have a staff, you may also make sure that they are as invested in your business as you are, by offering them trainings and that will help them better utilize their strengths. It is important to always train them on customer service and on new products and services.

Feel free to post your comments and share with us how going back to school is helping you build your business. You can also reach us by filling out the Contact us form on the About us page.

Success,

Elisa Balabram

Founder and Editor, WomenandBiz.com

Author of “Ask Others, Trust Yourself – The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Key to Success”

Welcome to WomenandBiz.com, your source of inspirational and resourceful business articles.

In this 27th issue of WomenandBiz.com, we are discussing sales strategies. Our guest writers are sharing their tips on how to prepare for a sale, negotiate a sale, close the sale, and how to use social media to sell. You can click on the “27- Sales Strategies” link to read this issue’s articles.

These strategies will help you take the steps you need to keep growing your business, creating a loyal clientele and establishing yourself as an expert in your field.

Feel free to post your comments and share with us your creative and unique sales strategies. You can reach us by filling out the Contact us form on the About us page, or you can leave your comments on the articles you find helpful to you.

Success,

Elisa Balabram
Founder and Editor, WomenandBiz.com
Author of the forthcoming book “Ask Others, Trust Yourself: The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Key to Success.”

During our last WomenandBiz.com writers’ networking meeting, one of our contributors, Laura Allen, suggested the theme Back to Basics. Regardless of your business situation, it is important not to overlook the basics of running a successful business.

Here are a few basic and essential suggestions to keep in mind:

• Treat clients well – return phone calls and emails in a timely manner, send thank you notes, listen to their needs and make sure you can deliver results that will exceed your clients’ expectations, and follow up.
• Use free or low cost tools to promote your business – have a well-designed website with relevant content, start and maintain a blog, research social networking sites to see which ones make sense for you to join.
• Attend networking events – make sure you are meeting people who can become a client, be a source of wisdom, or provide you with a referral, and remember to follow up with them.
• Promote word of mouth – consider offering a gift, a report/white paper, or discounts to those who refer clients to you.
• Build your email list - offer the option on your website for your visitors to subscribe to your e-newsletters.
• Control Inventory - have systems in place to keep control of inventory, to avoid or minimize shrinkage and losses. The inventory information is also useful when planning your production.
• Keep track of your books – understand your cash flow, keep track of money coming in and out, review your expenses, cut costs when possible without sacrificing quality.

Feel free to post your comments and share with us how you are going back to basics to build your business. You can reach us by filling out the Contact us form on the About us page.

Success,

Elisa Balabram

Founder and Editor, WomenandBiz.com

In any economy and especially today, it is important to consider everyone involved in your business, and to take steps towards satisfying their needs. Here are a few tips we suggest you consider:

• Shareholders/Partners: Invite your partners to understand how the business is doing and work together to create strategies to move forward.

• Vendors/Suppliers: Your vendors need your business as much as you need their products and services. Make sure you pay your invoices on time, and if for any reason you will not be able to do so, negotiate with your vendors a payment plan that you can afford. Be honest and upfront of your situation, and most likely than not you will get a better deal.

• Employees: As much as you can, continue investing in your employees’ development – offering internal training and registering them to attend courses relevant to their position and interests. Understand your employees’ career goals and how your business can help them achieve those goals. Empower them to serve your clients the best possible way.

• Customers: Now is the time to offer stellar customer service. Train your staff to take the extra step in helping your clients, to find out your clients’ real needs in order to satisfy them, to serve everyone promptly and with respect and a positive attitude. If you interact directly with your customers, make sure to make yourself available to listen and be there for them.

• You: Take the time to take care of yourself. When you are working 24×7, you might not have the energy to look at the big picture. Make sure you are on your schedule and do something you enjoy doing outside the business, every day of the week to keep you focused and energized.

Remember to take that extra step to remain competitive, retain customers, negotiate terms with vendors, and create opportunities for growth.

How is your business doing? It is time to do a business check up and find out. This way, you can knowingly choose to improve the areas that are not working so well, and to maintain the ones that are helping your business thrive.

Some of the areas you might consider reviewing are: Operations – are you maximizing all your resources?; Marketing strategy – how effective is it?; Advertising materials – do they need a makeover?; Personnel – if you have employees, how satisfied are day?, how equipped are they to answer client’s questions?; Customer service – are you able to go above and beyond your client’s needs?; Financials – how well are you managing the business money?; Website: Is your website up to date and user friendly?; YOU – how are you doing balancing your business and life?

Once you are aware of your business current situation, there is always an action you can take to move forward. WomenandBiz.com’s guest writers discuss how a Business Check Up can assist you in identifying gaps and then taking action to fix them.

We are also featuring two successful entrepreneurs:

-          Maureen Borzacchiello, founder of Creative Display Solutions Inc.

-          Deborah Wielder of Contractor Compliance and Monitoring, Inc.

Please feel free to post comments, and share the actions our guest writers inspire you to take in order to grow your business.

Success,

Elisa Balabram

Founder and Editor, WomenandBiz.com

U.S. SBA NY District Women in Business Champion of the Year 2008

How is your business doing? It is time to do a business check up and find out. This way, you can knowingly choose to improve the areas that are not working so well, and to maintain the ones that are helping your business thrive.

Some of the areas you might consider reviewing are: Operations – are you maximizing all your resources?; Marketing strategy – how effective is it?; Advertising materials – do they need a makeover?; Personnel – if you have employees, how satisfied are day?, how equipped are they to answer client’s questions?; Customer service – are you able to go above and beyond your client’s needs?; Money – how well are you managing the business finances?; Website: Is your website up to date and user friendly?; YOU – how are you doing balancing your business and life?

Once you are aware of your business current situation, there is always an action you can take to move forward. WomenandBiz.com’s guest writers discuss how a Business Check Up can assist you in identifying gaps and then taking action to fix them.

Coming up soon, our interview with  WomenandBiz.com’s guest writer Jennifer Shaheen, The Technology Therapist®, and an update from Monique Haywar of Dessert Noir Café & Bar.Please feel free to post comments, and share the actions our guest writers inspire you to take in order to grow your business.

Success,

Elisa Balabram

Founder and Editor, WomenandBiz.com

U.S. SBA NY District Women in Business Champion of the Year 2008

Dear Entrepreneur,

What can you as a woman business owner do? How can you keep growing your business in today’s economy?

To help you answer these questions, WomenandBiz.com’s guest writers discuss how Being Proactive is key in business success. Furthermore, the columnist and management consultant Jill Kanter, brings up the fact that meditating, finding balance and staying centered is equally important while building one’s venture.

I recently attended the Women’s Leadership Exchange East Coast Summit in New York, and one of the speakers – Mimi Donaldson, empowerment expert, author, speaker and leader, mentioned the importance of being proactive and one way to do it, she says, it is by giving your full attention to your best clients.

In addition to being proactive, finding time to continue learning business and personal skills is as essential, and we are featuring two entrepreneurs whose businesses educate people in becoming the best they can be:

-         Wendy Kaufman, founder of Balancing Life’s Issues Inc., tells her experience in starting and growing her business.

-         Elizabeth Lesser, co-founder of the Omega Institute, and author of “The Seeker’s Guide – Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure” and “Broken Open – How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow”, shares her journey in starting and building her business, and in balancing life and business. She also talks about her inspiration to write her books. [This article will be posted in December]

Please feel free to post comments on the articles you like the most, and share the actions they inspire you to take in order to grow your business.

Happy Holidays and Cheers to your continued success!

All the best being proactive,

Elisa