Lip-Sticking

The Think Big Manifesto: A Podcast with Michael Port

This podcast is extremely important. It's a bit longer than some others - a full 15 minutes. But, you can have it playing while you blog or Twitter. You can listen to it a few minutes at a time. The important thing is for you to listen to it - all of it.

Michael Port isn't new - you probably all know who he is. From his Booked Solid and Beyond Booked Solid advice, to his latest, The Think Big Manifesto, Michael Port has been helping small business learn to focus on the details that count. In this podcast here's what counts:

Small thinking = small ideas. Give that up.
Thinking Big, winning, doesn't require a loser. We can all be winners. (yes, we can)
In the book and this podcast you'll learn about the One-Way Revolution that gives to everyone, and takes from no one.
And, among all the rest (yes,there is a lot of 'all the rest') Michael will urge you to Stand for Something...Listen up...

And, the girl friends have it!

Moms, gals, girl friends, women, divas, Aunties, pet Moms, it doesn't matter what you call us - we're the ones with the cash and the power.

According to this outstanding article in the WSJ, sent to me by local PR prfoessional, D-D Flannery, "Women control more than half of the nation's wealth, and they're increasingly channeling more of their money into philanthropy..."

It's often a surprise to people that there are affluent women in the U.S. and that they're selective in where they spend their money. We're not talking "spend" as in buying a Prada handbag, or designer shoes, or a new condo in Manhattan. We're talking "spend" are in - what areas are we designating as worthy of time and money? Our time and our money.

The answer is in that article's title, "Women are Storming Charities."

Steve Tylock: The LinkedIn Personal Trainer A Lip-sticking Podcast

LinkedIn isn't new. Yet, too many of us don't know how to use it as effectively as we should. Steve Tylock, a local friend, has a book all about using LinkedIn: The LinkedIn Personal Trainer - and I was lucky enough to talk to him recently, to get some inside advice on using LinkedIn.

The important thing to know, before you listen, is that LinkedIn isn't just for keeping track of addresses...and emails. It has so much more functionality - and - there are right ways to use it, and wrong ways. As with all online tools, it's always evolving and improving, also. Those of us who spend our lives online should know how to tap into LinkedIn's possibilities - without getting cross-eyed. Let's let Steve tell us more... [don't forget to visit his site - you can get the book as an e-book, too!]

Women of the Web, We Are

As the country moves forward with a new president and a new focus - are you wondering, as I am, where the women of the web fit in? Where do those of us who are devoted to the care and welfare of our families, and to our small online businesses, and our Twitter connections, and our blog conversations, fit in the overall scheme of things, in this great country we call the U.S. of A.?

To count us is to count us by the thousands. Nay, hundreds of thousands. We are Moms and Grandmoms. We are young and not so young. We are married and not married. We are Aunts or Retired business professionals. We are part of a tapestry of colors and textures.

We are designers and writers and speakers and bakers and knitters and quilters and make-up artists. We are marketers, authors, web artists, manufacturers, consultants, cooks, pet professionals, and so many other things.

We are the Women of the Web.

Telephone, Telegraph...Tell a Woman with a Blog

People routinely ask me why I promote marketing to women online, rather than just writing a marketing blog. There is a movement afoot to drop the "marketing to women" label in preference to marketing to ... your market. Which is, very likely, women and men.

I have no beef with that belief. In almost every market you will find an overlap of men and/or women. Women buy electronics, and houses, and lawn mowers, as well as shoes, and skincare, and new bedding. Men buy shoes, and skincare and even new bedding, as well as lawn mowers, etc.

But, in the end, if you're online, the dominant gender, the gender that is eagerly involved in community building, is women. Women who talk, and talk, and talk...to each other, every day.

Last spring Rapleaf did a study about the differences between men and women online and it bears noting that their results showed the relationship qualities of what women do online.

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.

Twittering Your Life Away: Not! Why I Twitter

Not very long ago, one of my BBBF, Susan Getgood, nudged me to start using Twitter. I admit openly that I a gentle nudge was not enough. "What," I asked Susan, "do I need with another social media tool? I have enough to do just keeping up with blogging and Facebook!" (no, I do not have a MySpace page!)

Well, after some more gentle nudging - I took the plunge. I set up a Twitter account and wrote a few little Twitter posts. It was harder than imagined, since you can only use 140 characters.

About a week later, I was still mystified. Susan shared some of her followers - that's what it's called when someone decides to watch what you write in your Twitter page; followers. I started following some of the same people Susan follows, and I found Toby Bloomberg, another BBBF, and I found a few other folks I knew...and in short order, I was hooked!

Girls Gaining: We Love Math!

Had to write about an article I read in my local paper, on Friday. The article was from the Associated Press but there is a whole lot of buzz online about the study it refers to - that being girls and math. And for good reason. Until this study, it has been reported over and over that girls excel in math (not saying they are better, just that they are good at it) up to about ages 12-14. That's when their hormones kick in and to date, girls have pulled back in order not to seem "too smart" to the boys they want to attract.

The "hormones make girls less smart" argument has always annoyed me. It didn't make ME less smart (ok...open honesty here - I hate math, I can add two and two, but I don't reconcile my checkbook, or whatever it is you do with your checkbook, and I refer all financial issues at work to my partner; but I do review them)...and being a teenaged girl did not put a dent in the IQs of my daughters. Both excel in everything, but especially math.

"I always liked math," says Maggie, my middle child. "Math is black and white. There's a right answer or a wrong answer, no gray areas." Today she's working on her PhD in Epidemiology and Community Health, in Buffalo. Math is a necessity for her.

But, I can see how girls who are eager to be pretty and popular and who want a great guy to take them to the prom might supress their IQ. If their football playing target is worried about his date upstaging him.

BRATZ Dolls Offering Scholarships

Ok, it isn't the dolls offering the scholarships, it's Lionsgate Home Entertainment.

According to the press release I received, "The Bratz Are Helping To Send Four Girls To College With A $60,000 Scholarship Contest! On behalf of Lionsgate Home Entertainment, we are pleased to announce they will be awarding $60,000 in college scholarships in promotion of the Bratz: The Movie DVD release on November 27th!" (that was a couple of days ago but, hey, I bet you can still get it...read on to learn more about the $$$)

A total of four scholarships will be awarded, each worth $15,000, though an essay contest asking girls, “What are you most passionate about in life and how would you use this scholarship to help you grow?”

According to the "news", "The Bratz are best friends, but also have individual passions such as singing, chemistry, soccer, and dance. The scholarships, named for each of the Bratz -- Yasmin, Cloe, Sasha, and Jade – will be awarded to children that embody a passionate spirit for life. The Bratz Scholarship Contest is closely aligned with the positive values represented in the film, including a storyline where these “BFF’s” compete in a talent show for their very-own chance to win a college scholarship! Details on prizing and how to enter will be included inside the DVD."

Now, I have never been fond of the Bratz dolls but these are real girls...and I have to applaud the concept of encouraging positive values, and presenting positive role models. If I think back...to my days as a pre-teen, I was a BIG...really BIG...fan of Barbie. So, this is today's girlie-girl thing and...it's worth some time in front of the tube. Together, Mom and Dad. With your daughters. Talk about the movie, talk about the scholarship, talk about life. I bet you learn some things about your girls that you didn't know before.

Good luck!

The News No One Wants To Hear

Got an old CIO Insight report recently that say, "the number of women working in information technology has declined, both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of IT professionals."

Their article "Women in I.T. : Where the Girls Aren't" hits home at this house because we gals are all pretty technical. I often error on the side of believing the women I know are more technical than they give themselves credit for - even as I admit that I'm not as technical as I'd like to be. And I used to stop over at Misbehaving a lot - until they stopped posting.

I did find this link to a great tech program for girls, on Misbehaving, and I clicked over to the Women's Computer Learning Center to see what was up there. Apparently, everything is up there... especially learning how to use email effectively...which I wish more people would do.

"In 2 hours and for $49.95 you can learn everything you need to know about
email and the internet. Don’t feel out classed by your kids, your friends, neighbors or co-workers. Come Join the fun."

Back to the women in IT article... no one wants to hear that a particular skill is gender based, and yet some are. IT is not one of them, however. (I do think the guys have it over us in football, gals... and we have it way over them in rocking the baby to sleep)...but why are the numbers for women in technology going DOWN??? In this, the age of technology?

Here are the stats, from the article: (and yes, this is marketing to women online - this is content you should be aware of and be sharing):

Data from the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that 984,000 women worked in eight IT categories in 2000, accounting for 28.9 percent of all employed IT workers. The corresponding numbers for 2006, when overall IT employment hit an all-time high of nearly 3.47 million, show a 7.7 percent drop from 2000, with 908,000 women working in IT, or just 26.2 percent of the total.

The reasons cited are "abrasive experiences"... "social stigma"... and "diminishing opportunities." I just don't buy it. The experiences, maybe...but young women I know can handle it. Better than we did when we were their age. Social stigma is a joke. Girls everywhere create their own Facebook and Myspace pages because they want to be "sociable"... they aren't feeling stigmatized. And, diminishing opps? Well, I can't speak for that...but I see a whole LOT of opps in technology, that come with some nice $$$.

So, gals, what is it, really? Tell us. We're counting on you to run the world in the coming decades. You can't do that if you're too busy parading around in tu-tus, sucking on lollipops... Come on, throw Britney out with the Barbie dolls and ... take your rightful place beside all the men who already know technology is the foundation of all life on earth.