Lip-Sticking

Blogher - Here I Come!

It's that time of the year. Blogher time of the year. On July 23-26th Blogher bloggers and sponsors and people interesting in marketing to women will all convene in Chicago and talk...women and ads. Among other things.

I am one of the speakers on a panel of great gals who will discuss publishing - in a world where writing a book may seem too far-fetched. I join self-publishing marketing expert, Penny Sansiervi (whom I have been dying to meet for ... at least 3 years) and author, blogger Stefanie Wilder Taylor, who promises to have a lot of great information to share about blogging and publishing. Together, we will discuss that ever mysterious topic: writing, publishing, writing, blogging, writing, writing, writing - with intent to publish.

Stiletto Woman: Embracing New Ideas

Today I have the pleasure of sharing a stimulating interview with a new site that aims to do a lot of what we do, right here, at Lip-sticking. I share this because I believe in working with my sisters, not against them. These gals are on the right track and I applaud the work they're doing. They are Stiletto Woman - and our little blog is one stop on their blog tour. Here is their story:

Yvonne: Love your title, Stiletto Woman - but the thought makes my feet hurt! Should women wear their stilettos to work, or just save them for special occasions? Seriously, why did you choose that image, that concept, as your brand?

It's powerful but...will it resonate with women who don't wear stilettos anymore?

Stiletto Woman: Such a great question! Stiletto Woman is more than the shoes you wear. It’s really about a mindset—a way of thinking, a way of living. Our manifesto is Be Fulfilled! Be Empowered! Be You! Stilettos represent the courage, and willingness to create your own path—to be pioneering in all you do at every level.

You don’t have to wear a Prada bag on your shoulder to be fabulous. You don’t have to run a multi-million dollar business to be recognized. You don’t have to shower your children with gifts and live in a big house to be a great mommy. If you have those things, we celebrate you too, because you are an inspiration to those who desire to achieve what you have, nevertheless it’s not a defining factor to the happiness one can achieve.

Stilettos also represent our sense of style. To us being a mother, a wife, a student . . . or whatever your life causes you to be, doesn’t mean you forget about yourself. Organizationally, we have a hip and original approach to all we do. Having a full life doesn’t keep you from pampering yourself, enjoying life, or being fabulous—not in material things necessarily, but in self-worth and self-love.

At times, you may hear us mention “Stiletto-Fab”. To us, that simply signifies a women doing what she does, well. She’s happy. She’s true to herself. She’s a bit of an inspiration to us all. Now, if you happen to wear stilettos, then you’re in good company, because you can usually find us in a nice pair!

Moms: A force to be reckoned with! No, duh!

Once again we have major media announcing the obvious: according to this article, "Moms Wield Powerful Influence Online" over at eMarketing & Commerce, "Moms have become a force to be reckoned with online."

No offense to the author, Joe Keenan, but... really, now, what planet have you been living on? MOMS have always been a force to be reckoned with and they've been a growing force online for over five years (I mean, really now - isn't that what I wrote in my book, Dickless Marketing? Yes, it is!)

 It isn't merely "Moms" that are powerful online. It's women, in general. I like to say we're all Moms of a sort - some of us are Moms of a Golden Retriever, or a beautiful mixed breed dog, or a purriful cat, or an alligator, I don't know. Some of us are Moms by default - sisters that take care of our nieces and nephews - when our siblings need a weekend off. Some of us are Moms who ache for children of our own but, in that absence, mother everyone around us - at work, at the gym, at the grocery store.

Join...join...join...I'm done, already! Go join yourself!

I'm in sunny (well, mostly sunny, they are experiencing a lot of storms this year) Colorado with beautiful mountain views - at least Tom tells them there are beautiful mountain views, I, myself do not care to look at the mountains. They look mighty foreboding to me!

We have a houseful. There's my daughter and her husband and my so delightful granddaughter, who is much more beautiful than the mountain views, and two dogs. Two noisy, rambunctious, out of control, dogs. Am I complaining - no way! I'm having the time of my life!

While I'm here, I'm also working. When your work is Internet based, you never leave it behind. Even when you'd like to. As I work, checking and answering client emails, or invitations from PR firms to promote their clients...regardless of whether or not their clients are people I'd like to promote (hint: you can refer to me by name all you want, but if you ask me to promote a conference that has no clear female keynote, it's clear you don't know me and I'm not mentioning your conference on my blog), I do stop now and then and check out the twitter pages or websites/blogs of my bestest blog buddies.

I'm happy to say that blogs are still going strong. Blogs by the famous, and blogs by the not so famous. Blogs create conversations and even scoop reporters, sometimes. Blogs are the tools of engagement that bring client and consultant closer together. Unless...

Lip-Sticking Podcast - Sassy Ladies - Yvonne and Michelle Talk Name Amnesia and How to Solve It

For those who are regular readers, this podcast is the final part of my interview with Michelle Girasole of the Sassy Ladies, talking about their wonderful book. One part of this little over 4 min. interview talks about "name amnesia"...something we all have from time to time. I like the way Michelle and her co-authors solve that dilemma. Tune in and find out how you can use their tricks and solve it, too:

Over 50 Doesn't Mean Over It All

The phrase is, if I remember correctly, "over the hill," which is what young'uns think we are as soon as we hit 40 or 50...but I beg to differ. Being over 50 doesn't mean being over...the hill or anything else. It means being vibrant, energetic, thoughtful, smart, talented, secure, confident...and many, many more things.

I'm brought to this post by some articles I've been reading about the over 50 woman, and about Moms online, in general. How do the two relate, you're wondering? Well, many women over 50 are Moms...and Grandmoms. Somehow, Grandmoms get the really short end of the stick, and we can talk about that some other time.

Today, I'm interested in noting - to those of you who would market to women online, or offline, or in Second Life (which I am learning more about) - that the over 50 woman is a group you should be looking seriously at - for almost anything but especially for her connections. Because, she is connected... across platforms and across worlds.

The Social Ability of the Net

Social this, social that - social commerce, social media, social capital; social everything. That's what life is all about.

I'm not the only one talking social for the sake of social - in other words, putting people first. I've been saying it's about the people, not the technology, for over four years. In essence, every business action you take is about the people. Hence, my passion for marketing to women. As people, we're a powerful bunch of...human beings. And, we're smart. And we're social. Really social.

Sassy Lady Michelle Girasole Shares More Toolkit Advice

Welcome to Part II of my discussion with Michelle Girasole, one of the authors of The Sassy Ladies' Toolkit for Start-up Businesses. Michelle, along with Wendy Hanson and Miriam Perry, wrote this 'beginners' advice book with you in mind, dear readers. They didn't know they also had ME in mind. I'm not a start-up anymore, having been doing this for close on 7 years, but I am moving forward and changing my approach to what I do, and you will see the changes here on Lip-sticking soon!

In this section of my conversation with Michelle, we talked about pricing your products and services. I know this was a sticky widget back when I started Windsor Media Enterprises. The Sassy Ladies make it easy - they have a chart to fill out and it covers everything you need to consider when pricing your products and/or services.

You'll also learn the biggest Aha! moment for Michelle, and she shares an action plan idea that will save you time and energy. (Thanks to Miriam for the action plan, Michelle says). Enjoy...and let us know if this conversation is helpful. I have more to come down the line.

Sassy Ladies Dish Up Good Business Advice

Welcome to another Lip-sticking podcast. I was so delighted to scoop this interview with Michelle Girasole from the awarding winning book, The Sassy Ladies' Toolkit for Start-up Businesses. Michelle is one of the three Sassy Ladies who worked together to make this business advice come to life. If you haven't purchased your copy yet, I urge you to get to Amazon or the Sassy Ladies' site, and get one! In fact, I recommend buying several - and sharing with your girl friends.

There's no sense in my trying to write about the good works in this book - when you can listen to Michelle tell you all about how it came to be and listen as I share the best parts - well, the parts of the book that really touched me and taught me something. If I were listed on the back of the book I'd have to write, "Sassy advice from smart entrepreneurs. These gals have the best, practical advice served up with style. Read and learn, and then, read and learn again."

Enjoy! OH- and be prepared - this is only Part I!!!

Digital Moms Survey Part 2 - Connecting through Social Networks

By Guest Blogger, Donna DeClemente, Donna's Promo Talk

A couple of weeks ago I wrote this post on Part 1 of the "Digital Mom" study conducted by Razorfish and CafeMom. They surveyed 1,500 online moms who are reported users of at least two Web 2.0 technologies and have actively researched or purchased online within the last three months. Part 1 told us about the ways moms are consuming media and the range of emerging technologies they have embraced. Most of the findings fortify what we already know, so it's great to have some third-party findings to back them up.

Now Part 2 deals mostly with Connecting with Moms through social networks and an overview of the five core segments of socially connected moms that they have profiled that represent a diverse mix of varied life experiences, values and motivations. For this part of the survey a random sample of CafeMom active users were asked to complete an in-depth survey in which these key findings are based on 1,740 members who completed it.

Moms today are spending more time on the Internet and dedicating an increasing share of that online time to social networks than ever before. The majority of moms indicated that their use of the Internet has increased over the last 24 months, and that this increase in web usage has come at the expense of traditional media. Moms reported spending 18.5 hours per week online, including an average of 8.1 hours on the social networking site CafeMom.