Lip-Sticking

The Small Business Bible

Back in August (seems like forever ago), I attended a small blogging roundtable in NYC with a "select" group of business bloggers, at the invitation of USA Today.

At that event, I was privileged to meet Steven D. Strauss, the USAToday small business columnist  who is also known as Mr. Allbiz. (the event was sponsored by Brother printers...and we really liked the one they displayed, but - to Brother's credit, the printer was secondary to the conversation).

This post is about Steve's book, The Small Business Bible. And what a bible it is! As his press notes, this book is a "gold-mine" of information, with content on (but not limited to):

• Writing a winning biz plan
• Buying a "great" franchise
• Hassle-free hiring
• Creating a memorable brand

I'm not even half-way through this book and it's been tremendously helpful to me, especially now...as we all struggle with this #@$%"#@$% upheaval in the economy.

Shadows that Linger in Special Places

The house feels empty - there is a whisper slinking about the corners...it follows me when I move from room to room. Behind me I imagine the click-click of a dog's nails on the hardwood floors. They start very loud and fade, to nothing.

I have been silent and away from this blog - on purpose. Life threw me a curve ball and I did not catch it well.

Tragedy sometimes erupts into our lives like a volcano gone wild. We stumble in disbelief and find ourselves trying to steady uncertain feet on slippery floors. We clutch at solid walls - but they feel like rubbery balloons, there is a frightening give to them...setting us off balance, as if walking a tightrope in a room full of mist.

I will not go on (and on) -- to what end? Some of you already know what has happened at the DiVita household. Some will learn today. For the details, for the so small and confusing details, you should visit the petblog on Sunday. Scratchings and Sniffings is the home of Carmie's story.

Short and to the point: on Wednesday night, after several hours of worry and calls back and forth to the vet (who could not see her), we took Carmel, the family dog of almost 15 years, to our animal emergency clinic. Did we know she would not return with us? Perhaps. Did we hope, beyond hope, that the vet at the emergency clinic could "fix her"? Indeed. 

Please bear with me as I move through this veil of grief and mourning, with its sharp accusations, and its hard questions (should we have rushed her immediately to the emergency clinic? should we have seen the signs and symptoms days ago? were they there, days ago? why didn't we insist last week at our vet visit that the vet TELL us why she was acting peculiarly? why did we accept it as a symptom of her aging? it clearly was not).

As I sit here hour after hour, I glance to my left and her bed sits there, fresh and clean, as it was the day I washed it for her - the day before she went to a better place. I hear her drinking water down the hall but she never returns to do her three turns in her bed, before lying down. I turn to share a piece of my sandwich with her...and her presence lingers, but it's ghostly.

What cruel fate dictates that our dear four-legged family members are less important than our two-legged ones? Fie, I say, fie on that!

Carmel's absence is deeply felt and the mourning is just as painful, with shadows that linger in special places.

I'm Crushin' On Rachel Maddow

By Guest Blogger, Mary Schmidt, Marketing Troubleshooter

...And not just because she's a liberal progressive (I'm actually conservative on some issues).  So, how do I love Rachel? Let me count the ways (with some marketing points along the way): 

1.  She doesn't bloviate.  She talks, she comments - but she doesn't bombast us like the male commentators do.   I can't speak for all women - but most of us have really grown tired of the Big Boys telling us what to think in their oh-so-sonorous God-like tones. 

We Know What We Want

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief Social Media Strategist at xynoMedia

Recently, when I was speaking at a conference, I watched two presenters get their butts handed to them by the women in the audience.

Both speakers suffered from two major speaking no-nos:

1. They didn't take the time to learn their audience, and;
2. They clearly didn't know what it meant to speak to women who were clear about what they wanted to know.

It's been my experience that in an audience full of men, if they don't think you're a great presenter, you really won't know it...they'll just never ask you to speak again. They might blog about your "worst in show" performance, but they'll rarely tell you to your face.

Women will.

Networking in the Social Media Age

Straight from the incomparable Debbie Weil of BlogWrite for CEOs, we have this video of the good Seth Godin (in new, exciting, green glasses...as if his bald head isn't enough to grab our attention), discussing "The Right Way to Use Social Networking for Your Business."

Deb was the the Inc. 5000 conference sponsored by AmEx OPEN (man, I wish I'd been there - Deb reports that a question about customer service Tom Peters "prompted a screaming match" between Seth and Tom. Would doesn't want a vidoe of that? Raise your hands...yep, I see'em. All of'em. You'll have to be happy with this video - does this describe you, online?

(do scroll down the page and see Tom Peters admit that blogging has changed his life; "If you're not blogging, you're an idiot," he said. Allan Weiss, are you listening? To those who don't know, Allan says consultants shouldn't blog. Hmmm...Allan or Tom...who to believe?)

Everything Old is New Again

At the core of everything I do, from brushing my teeth (while I gaze at my early morning face and wonder when THAT age spot appeared?) to driving a car (no, I do not care to inch my way into the far left lane just to turn left, and yes, that makes me a scaredy-cat, I guess), to watching television (I LIKE the commercials - many of them are better than the shows!), I am a woman. I am female. Hear me roar.

Hear me roar should remind some readers of that old Helen Reddy song, "I am woman, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore..." from the 1970s. Yes, dear friends, the 70s did exist and they are responsible for a lot of what's going on today. But, let's not discuss my college days...

Let's understand something - something very powerful - when it comes to marketing to women, online or offline - most retail establishments and merchants don't get it. Most marketing managers don't get it. Even other women, don't get it.

Suggestion: Limit Comments From The Audience

By Guest Blogger, Mary Schmidt, Marketing Troubleshooter

Yesterday I gave a seminar on Social Media.  The fundamental advantage of social media is the "social" element.  It's all about people speaking up and sharing ideas.  The downside is people speaking up and sharing ideas - and sometimes you don't want to listen to them.  (That's also the pesky part of the whole "free speech" thing in a democracy.)   

I always encourage people to speak up at my seminars - because we can all learn from each other. However, it's a delicate dance to prevent someone dominating the conversation.  Yesterday, one of the attendees kept popping up with good comments...but...

Sharing the Link Love in September

This is one of those days where you start to pull your hair out by the roots, around 9:30!!!

On the one hand, it's a beautiful day outside - so sunny and bright and not too hot, that it helps me remember why I like Fall better than any other season. On the other hand, I'm chained to my computer, trying to get stuff done but constantly interrupted by phone calls or business issues, or Twitter notes I can't ignore! Oy vey! (and I'm not even Jewish!) AND... the computer is misbehaving! I've rebooted 5 times, already!

Since I cannot write a great post today, though I have a whole lot of content to share, let me do this... let me create a great Link Love Post for you to click away at.

Politics, Sexism, and Marketing to Millennial Women

There was a great article that Advertising Age ran Monday in their online edition by guest columnist Bonnie Fuller that I'd like to comment on. It's titled "Election Shows This Generation of Women that Sexism is Still Alive...Tough Lessons for Millennials: Your Qualifications May be Beside the Point".

It grabbed my attention for a numbers of reasons.

1. I have two teenage daughters who are considered "Millennials"
2. I just got done writing a post on my blog about a recent McDonald's promotion that was targeted to Millennials
3. The big buzz over the weekend was SNL's instant classic sketch staring Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton.
4. And of course it's the presidential political season and this year couldn't be more interesting.

I'm going to repeat what Bonnie said in her article that is while I don't want this to be a political blog post I just can't help but comment on how I feel this political season is affecting women. I was and still am a supporter of Hillary Clinton and I couldn't believe how sexist the media treated her. Even some comments made by men that I personally know and wouldn't normally consider sexist surprised me. They seemed to love to make fun of Hillary's pantsuits. Also one of the first comments about Michelle Obama was the fact that a dress she wore on "The View" was a fashion hit. Now we haven't been hearing about what John McCain is wearing on the campaign trail or how good-looking Sarah Palin's husband is, have we?

My IZEAFest "Hangover"

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief Social Media Strategist at xynoMedia

No rants this week...nothing but blue skies, smiles and rainbows (literally!)...

I spent this past weekend speaking at IZEAFest in sunny, beautiful Orlando. The weather was fabulous and although I was mall-hopping with my friend (Sorry SLACKERS [my team's name]) when IZEAHunt (IZEAFest's version of a scavenger hunt) and the IZEA cake plow was going on, I had an absolute BLAST.

First, it was good to see Ted, Ashley, Peter, Dan and Veronique again. I also got to meet David Brim along with a bunch of new IZEAites.

And, as usual, I learned a few things about people - especially other "business" women (when it becomes available, watch the video footage of the panel I was on at the conference - Social Networking - and you'll see what I mean!)...