Today's Innovative Woman

TodaysEntrepreneurWoman.com

All About You Managing Time Effectively: Is Time on Your Side?

All About Success Spotlight on Cathy Alessandra

All About Business Smart Women Make a Great First Impression

Premiere Issue, Vol I, Issue 1

www.TodaysWomanpreneur.com

2 Today’s Entrepreneur Woman July/August 2011

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I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am to share

the first issue of Today’s Entrepreneur Woman with you! As

a Publisher and woman entrepreneur for over 15 years, it

was time to take my experience of nicne magazine

publishing and serve women entrepreneurs like YOU. I’ve

shared my journey in this issue in All About Success! Check

it out and let me hear from you!

The purpose of this magazine is to share tools and

resources you need to launch or grow your business. In All

About Business, online and in print, we will cover the

hottest topics you need to know about. We’ll also have articles covering a

wide variety of topics that interest you—from food and fitness to fashion and

beauty to home and family—we have it all! If you don’t see it in this issue,

check it out online! Our website will have new articles almost daily!

Please connect with us on Facebook and Twitter—join our community there!

If you are interested in becoming part of our team as a writer, or as an

Independent Area Director to reach entrepreneur women directly in your

city, all the details are on our website at TodaysEntrepreneurWoman.com

I look forward to connecting with you online and off! Thanks for reading! To your SUCCESS!

Founder/President/Publisher

Cathy Alessandra

P.O. Box 3893

Palos Verdes, CA 90274

(888) 544-1042

www.TodaysEntrepreneurWoman.com

From The Publisher

Disclaimer: Today’s Entrepreneur

Woman and What’s Up For Kids

LLC expressly disclaims all

warranties as to the contents of

this publication and assumes no

liability for the contents,

including but not limited to any

credentials stated or claims

ma d e b y p e r s o n s o r

establishments included in this

publication.

All About Business.

All About Success.

All About YOU!


Contents

All About Business 6 Smart Women Make a Great First Impression

13 The 5 Most Effective Ways to Get into

Facebook’s Top News Feed

16 Influence: How to Create It, How to Keep It

22 7 Symptoms that Your Small Business

Could Face Big Legal Trouble

24 Branding: Beyond the Logo

27 Managing Time Effectively:

I s Time on Your Side?

All About Fashion 10 How to Look Younger Instantly!

All About Food 8 The Cool Sweet Taste of Summer

All About Success 20 Success Spotlight: Cathy Alessandra

Cover photo courtesy of Natalie Young

www.NatalieYoungLA.com


Smart Women Make a Great First Impression

A few days ago, our family made a trip to the local bank here in our com-munity so that our children could open their first savings account. The piggy banks were overflowing with money due to various visits from the tooth fairy, as well as rewards for all of their good deeds around the house. What happened when we entered the bank made a big impression on me and got me thinking about how Smart Women entrepreneurs always make a good first impression. When we entered the front door, we were immediately greeted by an energetic young woman who wanted to know how she could help us. She escorted us to someone who could help our children open their accounts. We were invited to try a beverage from their vast menu (water, coffee, tea, soda, juice and hot chocolate) and of course the children were immediately given lollipops to wel-come them as new customers. (By the way, the complimentary drinks were not just for new customers. I could overhear the conversation at the teller window and they were offering this to everyone who entered the bank.)

The representative that helped our children open their accounts was knowledgeable. He answered our questions and he treated our children with respect. He spent a lot of time with us and we never felt rushed or con-fused about what was going to happen next. We walked away from the experience feel-ing like we made a great decision to open the accounts at this bank and it was a great “first” experience in banking for our children as well. No matter what type of business you’re in, first impressions count – a lot. People want and expect a very personal, high-touch ex-perience. If you are a woman entrepreneur and you want to create raving fans for your business, I invite you to take an inventory of the process you use to create an unforgetta-ble first impression. Here are a few tips on setting yourself up for success for a great first impression:

All About Business


1. You had me at Hello – What’s the point of first contact with you and your company? If it’s email, make sure you have a system in place for you or someone on your team to receive email inquiries quickly. If it’s by phone, does your message state clearly what you want the caller to do? Do you have a system set up so that you return calls within 24 hours? Here at Smart Women Smart Solutions® response time is a valuable part of laying a good foundation with our clients. Our goal is to provide “red carpet” treat-ment to everyone we come in contact with. Review your systems for how someone makes that initial contact with you. Make sure your system works fast and efficiently.

2. It’s contagious – Having a friendly, positive attitude from the initial point of contact is important. People want to associate or be with people who are friendly and helpful. It makes them feel supported and cared for. Several years ago, I walked into my office one day to find my assistant at the time talking rudely to someone on the phone. I was horrified! Needless to say, that particular person did not work out well, however it was a valuable les-son for me. I want to attract support team members who hold quality client interaction to the same standard as I do.

3. Plan Your Process – Create a process for your ideal client so that the first impression with you is seamless and successful. Decide now how you want the process to work and enlist your team to help you roll it out. If you are a

(Continued on page 26)


All About Food

The Cool Sweet Taste of SummerThe Cool Sweet Taste of Summer

S ummer is here and it’s time for some cool refreshing ice cream! Take some time to enjoy the summer breeze and this sweet yummy treat! Meyer Lemon Ice Cream

•Lemon zest

•1-1/8 cup strained lemon juice (usually takes 4-8 lemons, depending on size)

•2 cups sugar

•4 Cups half-and-half

•Pinch or two of Kosher salt Put 2 cups sugar in food processor with metal blade. Wash lemons well and pat dry. Using sharp vegetable peeler or zester, remove yellow zest in thin strips and allow to fall directly into food processor~ about 2-3 strips--about the size of 2 band aids for lack of better description! Juice and strain lemons to obtain 1-1/8 cups juice. Set aside. Run processor until peel is finely ground, 3-4 minutes. Add juice and process to blend. Scrape this mixture into large, non-aluminum bowl. Add half-and-half and salt, stir to combine. Set aside for 15-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover tightly and refrig-erate until very cold. Can hold at this point for a day or two. (NOTE**You may also use an ice cream maker, but NOT necessary--I have a Cuisinart ice cream maker and throw in the mixture for about 20 minutes then freeze.)

To freeze: stir to recombine. Taste, adjust if needed, with more juice, salt or sugar. It should taste very zippy with undertone of sweetness. Should taste slightly too sweet for it to taste balanced when frozen. Freeze ~ Store with plastic wrap pressed into the sur-face-I use a glass storage container. Best to freeze at least 6 hours for scooping consis-tency. Meyer Lemon Ice Cream


Longtime Santa Barbara radio personality, Nancy Newcomer is a food blogger and an accomplished cook & creator of simple, healthy meals made from fresh, organic ingredients. With an emphasis on gluten free fare and local farmer’s market bounty, her Facebook food blog, “Back to the Kitchen: Healthy Living with Real Food” is followed by people in over 22 countries. Nancy is currently establishing her new website, where she will expand on her blog, share recipes & shopping tips, dialogue with her fans, and continue to advocate cooking “real food “ recipes and having sit down family dinners. For more about Nancy, visit her page on Facebook - Back to the Kitchen: Healthy Living with Real Food. Visit www.TodaysEntrepreneurWoman.com for more recipes from Nancy including a yummy glueten & dairy free Quinoa Summer Salad !


How to Look Younger Instantly!

W ant to know the secret to instantly look younger, gain visibility in your business, have people listen to you, and look well rested? It’s ridiculously

easy. It’s super affordable. And it makes a HUGE impact on you and how

your customers respond to you. What is it?

Wear bright colors near your face.

If you are like most women, you

have a closet full of “safe” colors

like black, gray, navy or brown.

*yawn* Listen carefully, it’s time

for you to slowly step away from

your closet full of boring black,

and get oodles of positive atten-

tion. Here’s another bonus: wear-ing a bright color is a great way

to positively stand out at a party

or event. Do you really want that

red-blooded man of yours giving

his attention to the 2 women who

ARE wearing bright colors in a sea

of black dresses? Remember,

the human eye is naturally drawn

to color. Be that girl that gets the most amount of yummy attention by wear-

ing a bold color. Now YOU will be the one girl everyone can't keep their

eyes off of. It really is that simple. Shhhhh. It's our secret!

How do you do it?

• Neckline - When you wear a vibrantly colored shirt or dress, you draw

attention to your face, your smile, your eyes. If it makes you feel more

comfortable, think of it this way; a bright color near your face draws at-

tention to your upper part of your body....and attention away from

where we women naturally gain weight; hips, thighs, tush, and tummy.

• Accessories - You can also wear a bright and colorful necklace, ear-

rings, or scarf. *Note: scarves with color are especially great if they are

flowy and have movement to them. Stiff scarves are fine, but sheer


All About Fashion


The 5 Most The 5 Most

Effective Ways to Effective Ways to

Get Into Get Into

Facebook’s Top Facebook’s Top

News FeedNews Feed


F acebook has changed things and now even your friends may not be seeing your posts. No more will writing a simple status update get you seen by your poten-tial clients. You want your posts to get into the Top News feed as often as possible, especially if you want to make sales there! There is an updated algorithm that is partially kept secret, but new research lets us know 5 great ways to get placement there. Using these points you can get your posts in front of people the minute they log into Facebook. 1. Video and photos (for photos, use them as illustrations for your posts) in your status update carry a large weight when Facebook weighs what to put in the Top News feed. 2. Links will also rank you highly. So, don’t simply write a status update. Attach a link that’s relevant to your posts and you will outrank those who don’t. 3. Write questions and invite interaction. Getting a lot of comments – not likes – but comments will pull your ranking high. 4. Be connected and topical. Facebook weights how connected the people are who are commenting when ranking how high your post shows up in the Top News feed. So, keep adding friends. It’s amazing that some people will never show up as “Top News” simply because they are not well connected and/or interacting. 5. Post only once a day in the morning. This will give you more ability to get com-ments that will crawl you up the algorithm (it is also based on time, so if you only have comments in the morning you will not be in the Top News feed by the end of the day). A lot of ineffective time can be spent as a business on Facebook, and with the Top News feed’s change in the algorithm that’s even more true. Following the steps above is a game changer. Let me know how this worked for you on my page at www.facebook.com/LindsaytheCoach. The benefit, too, is that me and my 5000 friends will then com-ment on your post ~ pulling you up the algorithm! Lindsay Wilson is a business strategist that generates income. She spent 20 years in sales development and management in places as diverse as Madison Avenue, NY’s design centers and real estate. Her common denominator was results – overseeing $40 million worth of sales. She founded Social Media Heaven, which has connected over 250,000 people using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Vokle, Ustream, YouTube, etc., to increase businesses sales – and she specializes in people who don’t like social media! Lindsay now mentors many multi-million dollar entrepreneurs, and also a strong group of start ups. http://www.SocialMediaHeaven.com

All About Social Media


Spotlighting Cathy Alessandra

Typically this column would be written in third person.

However, since I am writing about myself, it just

seemed more natural this way!

I am Cathy Alessandra - a wife, a mother to 3 teen-

agers and the President and Publisher of two niche

magazines—Whats Up For Kids and this new maga-

zine, Today’s Entrepreneur Woman. And I thought

with the launch of this new magazine, I should share

my story with you, and why I am passionate about

serving you!

Back in 1995, with a 3 year old and a 8 month old, I

stumbled across a need in my community that wasn’t being met. As a

mother of young children, I was always looking for fun things to do around


All About SUCCESS


From Our

READERS!

We asked….YOU answered!

We asked you on our

Facebook page… What is your favorite app or

business tool?

“I love remote access. I can

work as if I'm sitting in front of

my computer even if I'm at

home (or visiting family which

I'll be doing soon.) No more

having to run to the office to

access a file stored on that

computer. It is a great fea-

ture. It also allows me to work

on clients' files without having

to travel to them which

saved them money as well. I

have clients who use the free

version of Logmein for me to

access their files!” Candy Messer, Affordable Book-

keeping and Payroll

www.Affordablebookkeepingandpayroll.com

Thanks Candy!

We love

being able to

work remotely

too!



All About Business

INFLUENCE: How to Create It, How to Keep It Who you know and who knows you is only the tip of the iceberg for having your net-work work for you. Networking—creating a pool of contacts from which you draw clients, resources, referrals and opportunities—is only the first step in having who you know work for you.

Who you have met does not matter. What mat-ters is who trusts you, respects you, remem-bers you, has a deep understanding of what you do, and wants to help you. When you have been able to create all this with one of your contacts, you now have influence. Influence equals ease in creating what you want in busi-ness and in life. Follow these steps to create more influence with everyone you already know and everyone you will meet in the future.

Connecting This is the networking part. In addition to meeting people in professional situations, you will also meet people socially at parties, at family gatherings and at church. Make sure you are doing something every week that helps you to meet more peo-ple. Creating Rapport Once you have met someone, you then have to begin to get to know them and build trust. Some easy ways to do this are to remember people’s names, follow up on any action you agreed to take, and invite people to go where you are going to increase your exposure to them. Communicate It is naive to expect people to use your services or refer others to you until you have created influence. Once you have a strong rapport with people, this is the time to make requests of them for business or contacts.


Take a look now at the people in your network. Do you have a strong rapport with them? Do you stay in regular contact so they remember you? If you have, then it is time to make a request that people work with you or refer oth-ers to work with you. If not, go back to step one. Remember, the more influ-ence you have, the more what you want will come to you with ease. Caterina Rando’s life work is showing women entre-preneurs how to be loud and proud about who they are and the value they bring. Visit her website at http://www.attractclientswithease.com to listen to business building podcasts and to download your free ebook, 20 Ways to Grow Your Business with Ease. She can be reached at 415 668-4535 or via email at [email protected]


• scarves will move with you and make you look fresh and feminine.

• Tie a Long Sleeved Shirt Around Your Shoulders - I call this the "preppy"

look! You will not only brighten your face with something you most likely

already own, but you will also extend the life of your wardrobe because

you are creatively wearing that long-sleeved shirt year-round.

• Solid Color - Generally speaking, patterns detract from YOUR beautiful

face. Do you really want everyone's attention on the body parts you

don't like? Then stay away from patterns, and keep the attention on

YOU.

Wearing a vibrant color is a great tip you can use when you are presenting

on-stage, on camera, and in a conference room. (It doesn’t hurt your

chances in the bedroom either....just saying).

Yes, you are an entrepreneur, but it’s time for a dou-

ble take. From the grocer. From your clients. From

that man that lives in your house. You are ready to

shine. You glow girl. Wear a bright color today!

Red Haute Mama, Kirin Christianson, lifts women

from the doldrums of everyday and back into the

‘va va va voom.’ She helps them uncover their dis-

cover their inner bombshell. From toes to tresses, no

nook goes uncovered without examina-

tion. Providing expertise in all things glam, she steers

women toward the holy grail of glamor. Advice,

workshops, tutorials and haute deals, taking them

straight to the best glam tips. FEEL amorous, glam-

orous, and flat out fabulous -

www.RedHauteMama.com

(Continued from page 10 - How to Look Younger Instantly)

What is your favorite app or business tool?

I've just recently added the iPad 2 into the

mix. LOVE the Simple Minds mapping App--

great for project planning and it's Free! Joy Chudacoff, Smart Women Smart Solutions

Www.SmartWomenSolutions.com

Thanks Joy! It’s SimpleMind and we found it!

Looks like a great app though we did find it had a small fee. Get the

details at www.simpleapps.eu

(Continued from page 15 - From Our Readers)


town with my daughters. We were living in Chicago at the time and there

was a large parent publication – but that served ALL of Chicago, not the

northern suburbs where we were living. So, I began What’s Up For Kids with

the idea of connecting parents with resources and things to do –in their own

smaller community and immediately surrounding communities. My first issue

was 4 pages, copied on colored paper – and I printed 1000. Now keep in

mind, I had NEVER done anything like this. The most important thing to me

was the calendar of events and activities – which is actually the biggest

thing that still sets up apart. Anyway, those first two issues had a few local

mom advertisers and a business or two. Then a couple months into it, my

husband and I decided to make the move back to California – where all our

family was and where we had grown up. But the minute the moving van

unloaded, I began researching the same idea here in my Los Angeles area

suburb – an area I was born and raised and very familiar with. At that time,

there was nothing like what I was doing. There was another large parent

publication, but nothing local. So, I went to work creating What’s Up For Kids

again. My first advertisers were my real estate agent (who ended up adver-

tising with me for years) a local gymnastics place (who still advertises with

me) and a few others. I spent many years learning the best way to do things,

what worked and what didn’t – I made my share of mistakes….costly ones

too. And I did all of it while having a third child and doing the mom thing.

Fast forward 15 years later – What’s Up For Kids is a thriving full color glossy

magazine. The 15 years was an extraordinary journey – over the years our

circulation increased from the original 1000 to now 20,000. We went from 4

pages to 32 pages. We went from a newsletter copied on color paper to a

full color glossy magazine. We published monthly for many years and then

tried quarterly when my kids were in their busiest years of needing me to car-

pool and volunteer, to our current bi-monthly format – which allows our read-

ers the content they need and the life balance I desire. Plus – we began

offering live events. Our advertisers truly wanted to connect with the parents

we were serving – and our parents wanted a fun educational day with their

kids. So we currently produce 4 family expos in Southern CA – we’ve pro-

duced up to 7 in any one year. We typically have 60 or more exhibitors or

advertisers – and over 2000 people attend our biggest event.

In 2009, after a journey of self-discovery, I launched the National Association

of Entrepreneur Moms. I wanted to connect with and support other mom-

preneurs. I had searched for that same type of support myself when my kids

were younger. So I set out to create the community I had desired. Long

story short, after 2 years of meeting and networking and learning from so

many amazing women, I realized what would really serve women entrepre-

neurs (who happen to have kids or not), is this magazine! And I knew how to

do it!

(Continued from page 14 All About Success)



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7 Symptoms that Your Small Business Could Face

Big Legal Trouble and Quick and Easy Cures You

Can Apply Immediately.

Okay, okay…. I know that talking about legal issues can be just about as ex-citing as watching paint dry. I know this topic isn’t as sexy as social media

marketing or branding. It certainly isn’t as fun to contemplate or spend time

on. I get it!

But this is one of the most important articles you will read for your business.

Really.

First, it is critical because if you have even one

of these 7 symptoms that I am going to cover,

you are at risk for a major legal headache that

could suck up all of your time, money and en-

ergy and leave you with an anemic business or

one that has even flat-lined. I don’t mean to

sound dramatic, but I was a business litigator

for many (many…) years and I have seen it

happen too many times. Not tending to your

legal foundation early in your business leaves

you open to the risk of a lawsuit, which will be

expensive, painful and will take from 1-2 years

of your life to get it resolved. You want to

avoid that if you can, right?

The second reason it is important is much more fun and…yes…exciting! In

fact, it is downright awesome. Getting your legal house in order does two

things: (1) It makes a powerful statement to the world, yourself and the uni-

verse that you are to be taken seriously as a business owner – pretty empow-

ering, huh? (2) It also frees you up to get on with the fun part of running a

business. You will have the peace of mind that you have done all you can

to protect your hard work. Peace of mind is the best food for creativity, and

it gives you mental and emotional freedom to take your business to the next

level and to do it without fear or undue risk.

And because that is what I want for all of you, I am going to get down

and dirty in this seven-part series. If you want to have a serious business, you

owe it to yourself to tune in. With that, let’s dive into the first symptom.


All About The Law


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All About Branding

BRANDING: Beyond the Logo

W hat is a brand? A Name? A logo? A color palette? A tagline? A Strat-

egy?

Your overall brand is all of the above broken into two different parts, the

brand and the branding.

Your brand is the visual design. It includes your logo, color palette, typefaces,

images, and designs you use to represent your business and communicate

your message.

Your branding is the strategy that supports the visual brand design. It includes

your values, personality, promise, differentiation, reputation, message, focus,

offerings, target market, goals, and more. Branding is the behind-the-scenes

action that creates a unique position for your brand in the marketplace so it

stands out from the crowd and communicates your value.

A strong brand builds credibility and influence in your market, and motivates

people to buy. A well-defined brand creates memorable experiences, rav-

ing fans, and abundance of referrals because:

• You continuously show your audience why they should buy from you

• clients know exactly what results you deliver

• the sales conversation flows easily because new prospects already know

what you stand for

• Your prospects’ experiences support everything you say in your market-

ing

• Ideal clients clearly understand

how you’re different and value you

deliver

With that said, your overall brand also

includes every single interaction and

experience a person has with your

business, product, program, or ser-

vice.



From a person’s experience with your email, voice mail, newsletter, website,

and blog, to their experience you’re your business card, marketing materials,

team members, and social media posts, every interaction they have makes

an impression.

Building a powerful, personal, and profitable brand is just as much about tak-

ing the time to define your audience’s experiences, as it is about planning

your position in the market, mapping out your messaging, and designing

your visual look.

Remember, when you don’t take the time to create your brand strategy and

position yourself in the market for what you want to

be known for, you allow the market to define your

brand for you – and you might not like what they

have to say!

Jennifer Bourn is the brand strategist, WordPress web-

site designer, and graphic designer behind the

award-winning branding and web design firm Bourn

Creative, LLC near Sacramento, California. Bourn

Creative helps successful entrepreneurs who are frus-

trated with their brand and website transform their marketing materials and their business into an ex-

traordinary and lucrative brand through a combina-

tion of speaking, consulting, and done-for-you ser-

vices. Learn more at www.bourncreative.com


solo entrepreneur and don’t have any team members working with you yet, I invite you to sit down and think about what you want your first impression to look like with your ideal client. This is time well spent and can mean the difference between incredible business growth or ho-hum results. (It was when I took this part of my business seriously that I began to see huge jumps not only in my income but in the quality of the clients I serve.)

Spend some time reflecting on your first impression process. I invite you to set the intention to create “royal red carpet” treatment from that first point of contact so that you too can enjoy big leaps in your income along with quality clients who rave about you everywhere they go.

Anything is possible. Everything is waiting for you. Joy Chudacoff is Heralded as “The Coach for Women” in the millennium, Joy Chudacoff has x-ray vision when it comes to helping women discover their Big Ideas, Dreams and Goals! Joy draws on both her personal life and entrepreneurial experiences to sup-port women in achieving better ways of living. It’s her passion, her purpose and her business. She is a Pro-fessional Certified Coach, highly skilled group leader, motivational speaker and a gifted communicator. Visit Joy’s website, SmartWomenSolutions.com, where you’ll find more articles plus information about her Women’s Success Circles, Smart Women Smart Solutions Coach Certi-fication Programs, Speaking engagements, tele-classes and upcoming events for women. Joy can

be reached at 310-454-2005 or by email, [email protected].

(Continued from page 7 - Smart Women Make A Great First Impression)

Join Our Team Today’s Entrepreneur Woman is coming to a city near you –

and we are looking for dedicated entrepreneurs to become

the Independent Area Director in YOUR community!

As an Independent Area Director for Today’s Entrepreneur

Woman, you earn commission by selling advertising space

within our bi-monthly national magazine and booth space at

our live events in cities across the country. Plus, you will have

the opportunity to publish your own online Today’s Entrepre-

neur Woman magazine in your community!

Get all the details at www.TodaysEntrepreneurWoman.com


All About Time

Managing Time Effectively:

Is Time on Your Side?

The constant feeling of racing against the clock to get everything done at

home, at work or wherever we have commitments is overwhelming just to

think about. Ever have those days where

you’re really on? I mean you can do eve-

rything that you needed to get done and

then some. Then there are those days

where nothing seems to get done, you feel

defeated by the clock early and every-

thing that can go wrong, does.

There are proven techniques to manage

your time, but if you aren’t working on the

psychological aspects of this you won’t be

able to sustain a long term effect. Every

day is a struggle for many people to priori-

tize their schedules and commitments with-

out adding their thoughts and emotions

into the process. Understanding how you

feel about what you’re spending your time

on is just as important to effectively man-

aging your time as being organized and delegating are.

We all have time suckers in our day,

whether it’s the internet or your mother

who wants to talk when you need to focus

on that project you committed to. I enjoy

the internet and talking to my mother, but

know I shouldn’t do either just because I

don’t want to work on the project I committed to. If the project requires you

to be on the computer and specifically the internet, close all other windows

or applications (Facebook, Twitter, ESPN, Outlook etc.) then turn off your

phone even if it’s only for 15 minutes at a time.

The important question is why you didn’t want to work on the project to be-

gin with? Ask this every time you find yourself procrastinating or downright



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TodaysEntrepreneurWoman

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This is our first issue and I have big plans. I am now using a business model

that I know and has served me, my readers and my advertisers well for over

15 years. We will publish every other month, we will hold the Success Summit

and Expos all over the country, and I will continue to reach out and connect

with all of you.

I have experienced the ups and downs of business. I under-

stand life is a juggling act whether we have kids or not. I

know that taking risk and moving forward past the fear is the

only way my business is going to grow. And with all the fea-

tured writers we have in this magazine and on our website,

there is no reason you too can’t thrive in your business!

Two things to share with you that were the most important in

growing my business—#1 is scheduling your time. Time for the

kids, time for your business, time for your significant other, and

time for YOU! That helps me in so many ways. (yes, that is my

calendar, both weekly and a year at a glance in the pic-

ture—and it hangs on my office wall!) #2 would be learn your

commitments vs obligations. Commitments are things you

WANT to do—obligations are those things you do because someone else asks and the guilt gets the better of you! I used to be a self-

professed “no-challenged” woman—but now I think long and hard about

what I agree to do!

And that is my story! I’m thrilled to share it here with you, and even more

excited about all the spotlights to come! If you have a success story to share

on our website, please submit it! We want to hear all about your success!

(Continued from page 20 - All About Success)


dreading doing something, then figure out how to handle these for the

future. Can the project be delegated to someone else? Could you sched-

ule working on the project in small increments of time over the course of

days? Could you say no to projects like this?

Spend the next two weeks notating what you look forward to doing and

what you don’t, re-evaluate your commitments from what you learn. It

doesn’t take a genius to figure out that most people procrastinate doing

those things they don’t like and although you won’t be able to eliminate

all those you certainly can reduce them.

Managing your time effectively requires organization of your schedule,

whether that comes in the form of a handwritten calendar you keep with

you or hand held device (Blackberry, iPhone etc.) find one that works for

you and commit to it. Whatever it is use it for scheduling EVERYTHING!

Whether it’s a business meeting or going to the gym, schedule EVERY-

THING! Need to go to the grocery store or the mall for a gift tonight? Put it

in your schedule. Anything that happens in 30 minute increments should go

in your schedule.

Planning how you spend your time becomes much easier as you schedule everything you do. Delegating those tasks you don’t like doing is so crucial

to the overall management of your time, not to mention your sanity. Re-

mind yourself everyday that you can’t do it all and that even if you think

you can, you can’t!

Remember to always schedule time for you, without that time you cannot

focus on the rest of your to do list and without focus your to do list will just

take longer.

Bibi started Buying Time with a friend to give everyone the opportunity to

have access to support and assistance with any

task. With over 22 years in the transportation/

logistics industry Bibi has specific experience in

space and time efficiencies through Six Sigma

training for warehouses from 1,000 to 30,000+

square feet. This provided her the ability to visu-

alize the final outcome even when the client

cannot. Bibi recently co-authored “Get Organ-

ized Today” with other organizing experts hop-

ing to reach out and help more people. Bibi

can be reached at www.buyingtimellc.com.

(Continued from page 27 - Managing Time Effectively)


Symptom One: You Don’t Have a Separate Legal Entity Set Up for Your Busi-

ness

The bedrock of a proper legal foundation is the entity choice for your busi-

ness. I'm going to define some terms here. An entity is just a separate and

independent thing. That isall it is. But it is the separateness and independ-

ence that is critical.

You want your business to be separate and independent because if it truly is,

then your personal assets such as your house, your car, whatever your cher-

ish, are safe from business liabilities.

There are several forms of business entities to choose from, but for our pur-

poses today, I suggest that the only ones you should be considering are Lim-

ited Liability Companies (also called LLCs), S-Corporations or C-Corporations. I suspect that a number of you are operating as sole proprietorships. If you

have never set up any kind of entity with your state, federal government or

province (in Canada), by default, you are a sole proprietorship. The problem

with sole proprietorships is that you have absolutely no protection from liabili-

ties that arise from your business activities.

That means that if someone sues you to collect on a bill incurred by your

business, they can potentially get access to your personal property to satisfy

that debt. If you are in a community property state, they will also have ac-

cess to your community/marital property if you are married.

The same is true if you have a business partner. If you have one, and you

haven’t set up a legal entity with your state, then you are by default a part-

nership. Just like with a sole-proprietorship, if you are a partnership, you have

total exposure to business liabilities. And this is totally unnecessary for most of

you and thankfully it is very easy to fix.

Okay, so let’s agree you need a separate entity. If you have one, that is fan-

tastic and you can pat yourself on the back! Just don’t forget to maintain it

from year to year! If you don’t have an entity yet, don’t feel embarrassed or

ashamed about that. Instead, congratulate yourself for addressing the issue

now and commit to taking the steps necessary in the next week to get an entity set up.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that I think for most of you read-

ing this, an LLC is a fine choice for your entity, at least to begin with. It gives

you liability protection, and the added benefit of pass-through taxation.

What that means is that your profits are taxed only one time on your individ-

ual income tax return, and not on the corporate level. With a Corporation,

your profits would be taxed twice (known as Double Taxation), once on the

corporate level, and then again on your personal income tax return for any

(Continued from page 22 - 7 Symptoms That Your Small Business Could Face Legal Trouble)


amounts that pass through to you as salary or distributions. Yikes! An LLC

avoids that and is fairly simple, easy and inexpensive to set up and maintain.

(NOTE: If you are making 6-figures, I encourage you to look into an S-Corp,

which can save you thousands on self-employment taxes, but check first with

your CPA to make sure it is the right choice for you.)

If you need help setting up your entity, we an help you with that at Business

Brilliance University. And if you want or need more details about the entity

options and how to set them up, I have a free teleseminar about this and

you can access the mp3 of that call so you can learn all you need to know

about choosing the right entity for your business by going to http://

www.businessbrillianceuniversity.com. If you are unclear about how to pro-

ceed, promise me you will go listen to that call because this is a huge area of

risk that you can greatly minimize very easily by setting up your entity imme-

diately. Next time, we will jump into Symptom Two, which is one of the big-

gest single mistakes entrepreneurs make and which can put you out of busi-

ness fast. You can’t afford to miss it, so tune in next time!

Jessica Eaves Mathews is America's Advo-

cate for Women in Business™, business law-

yer and leading authority on helping women

entrepreneurs step into their power and cre-

ate brilliant business without fear and without

undue risk to their assets or hard work. She is

also a multi-passionate entrepreneur herself,

having launched a number of successful

ventures of her own throughout the past 16

years. Jessica has now taken her legal exper-tise and has created the ultimate legal ser-

vices solution for entrepreneurs. Through Lev-

erage-A-Lawyer™, women entrepreneurs

can get their legal foundation in place in 90

days, so that they can get on with the work

they love without facing unnecessary risks or

exposure as they operate their businesses. http://www.leveragealawyer.com

A Final Thought….. Thank you for reading the first issue of Today’s

Entrepreneur Woman! We look forward to bring-

ing you many more! We’d love to hear your

thoughts or suggestions! The true purpose of this

magazine is to serve you! Email …..

[email protected]!

Today's Innovative Woman

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