CONSULTANTS CONNECT!

Last Wednesday, we had a our first Consultants Connection Affinity Group lunch meeting. This meeting was designed for IGC members who are consultants and coaches and who want the additional support of a peer group who can share, discuss, and brainstorm topics that are particularly relevent to consultancies and service businesses.

Such things as how to handle difficult clients, pricing, word-of-mouth and referral marketing, leveraging strategic partnerships, training, continuing education, resources, best practices, etc.

A really wonderful opportunity for members from a variety of industries to come together to share challenges, strategies amd network together.

The turn out was amazing, the discussion was lively, and the exchange was rich!

Here are a few take aways:

Q. How do I avoid giving away all of my ideas in my proposal but at the same time demonstrating my value which will help secure the client engagement?

A. Have the client pay for the proposal if they want one that is more in depth than an overview of the project. This will allow the client to get an idea of how you work and how you will work together! Their is work involved from your end, however, if they do not use you (but like your ideas), everyone has been compensated fairly. The client demonstrates respect for you from the beginning which will start the relationship off on the right foot! It is actually a wonderful way of working together in a limited capacity before signing any agreements or long term committments!

A few tips on how to grow your network to help secure your next client and improve your business development efforts overall!

1. Make a committment to meet a certain number of new people a month - this can be in a variety of capacities (social and business) but this will help you expand your network for future work.

2. Unless you want people to walk away thinking you are a generic "consultant" clearly articulate the types of projects you work on, the types of clients you seek to work with! This way, people can be better equipped to help you or hire you!

3. Keep in touch with new contacts - find create ways to make multiple impressions with new contacts - for example, send annual holiday cards, monthly newsletters, a follow up emails, interesting articles, research, findings, and trends, etc.

Join us for the next one. We are looking forward to it! Tuesday, September 23rd; 2-4pm

OVERLY SOCIAL? MAKING SENSE OF THE MADNESS

Social Networking has been and continues to be all the rage. But for someone who is coming late to the party, the whole web 2.0 landscape can be pretty confusing and intimidating. I imagine that it is a full time job just keeping up with everything new. Never mind about catching up on the already well-loved tools.

However, I do want to share two things with those fellow resisters out there.

First is the a Business Week article by Auren Hoffman, The Social Media Gender Gap, where Hoffman discusses how women are outpacing men in the use of social media tools. Although initially surprising, the rational seems to make sense.

Hoffman writes, "Women's behavior online, on the other hand, is less transactional and more relationship-driven. They spend more time on social networks building relationships, communicating with friends, and making new friends. Married women use social networks to share pictures and treat their network profiles as family home pages to share with friends and relatives. And because they use social networks to be social, a dollar spent marketing to acquire a female user goes a lot further than on a male user.".

This seems especially important given that many of us (women business owners, at In good Company in particular) have businesses whose target market is women.

Seems like it is time to get on the bandwagon! But, how?

Enter my second resource, a book called Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies, by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, and recommended to me by IGC Member Frances Spark of Spark Consulting.

Authors Li and Bernoff use Groundswell to decipher and describe various social media tools and link them to business goals and outcomes. Thank Goodness. Fears about stumbling around in cyber space are assuaged and time can be can be spent productively.

I imagine the key to success is to focus on a few tools that meet your business goals and to use them well rather then open an account on everything available. Hopefully Groundswell can help me pick the right ones....ah, more homework.

shared by Adelaide

GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

I am very excited to attend the next Entrepreneur Training Session facilitated by Golden Seeds on July 30th. It seems like an amazing opportunity to learn about pitching your company to angel investors, raising equity capital, and company valuation. I am including the event information below in case anyone wants to join me.

What a wonderful way to learn from these incredible women! I am interested to meet the other participants as well...

Entrepreneur Training
Half day educational training session to prepare you to successfully raise equity capital from angel investors

WHEN: July 30th, 9am-1pm
WHERE: 750 Lexington Ave. NY, NY
COST: $280
TO REGISTER


Shared by Adelaide

BOOK SUGGESTION

I came across another interesting bok on the power of female friendship to add to your summer reading list. Here is a quote from the author, "Being Assertive is always good for friendship because it shows you're willing to own your needs and that you can be trusted to pull your own weight." - Paul Dobransky, M.D., author of The Power of Female Friendship

HEART & SOLE

Donate your old sneakers to the NIKE Reuse-A-Shoe program and they'll be recycled to create tracks, fields and playgrounds. All brands are accepted.

For drop-off locations visit: www.letmeplay.com/reuseashoe

HELP WITH A SMILE - INDEED!

We are always asked for technology resources and referrals whether it is for help with software, hardware, troubleshooting, or consultative advice. I have always been very frustrated that I haven't had a great resource to recommend, especially when people feel that they need help with a minor issue. Until now.

I have finally found a GREAT tech resource for small business owners, or I guess I should say they have found us. Help With A Smile is designed specifically to service the technology needs of small business owners. Pledging that no problem or question is too small, Help With A Smile offers on-demand support either remotely or on site. Michael Spodaro, founder of Help With A Smile, and his team are not only skilled at fixing things that are broken, but also advising business owners on what software/hardware to use and how to use it most effectively. Above all they have reasonable rates and no monthly minimum.

For those of you aspire to be proactive with your technology needs, please note that Help With A Smile offers a Complimentary Consultation/ IT Evaluation.

And for those of us who are more content being reactive, be sure to bookmark Help With A Smile, so you have them when you need them!

EVERYTHING WE HOPED IT COULD BE AND MORE
Thank you Malia and Carol!

Last night we held the first of event in our new series In Good Company Conversations, and we were honored to have Malia and Carol Mills of Malia Mills join us for a completely inspiring, motivating, and meaningful conversation.

The goal of this series is to increase our exposure and access to real, local female entrepreneurs who are building compelling, innovative and successful businesses; to witness the complexity involved in building a business with integrity and vision; to hear these home-grown success stories first hand and find out how they arrived at their current success; and to learn from their experiences, decisions, and defining moments.

It might seem like quite a lot to expect from a single event. But not surprisingly, Malia and Carol, completely over-delivered and exceed our expectations.

Really, they were so incredibly generous and genuine.

Aside from being utterly impressive and cool in their own right, they openly shared their entrepreneurial war stories and their sage words of business wisdom.

Among other things, they discussed mission and importance of staying true to your business purpose; individual strengths and recognizing what you do best (a favorite topic of Amy and mine!); integrity and the value of ownership; compromise, learning when you can’t and when you can; vitality and staying challenged as your business grows; reward and focusing on what really matters; innovation and learning how to keep your business fresh; determination and the importance of staying focused; resolve and the value of patience with the process…I could just go on and on and on!

Malia issued a particularly savvy reminder to us all, by highlighting that the crux of each of our businesses is really problem-solving and story telling. How so very true!

We are so grateful for all they had to share. Thank you, Malia and Carol.

And, 2 more special thanks to:

Galia Gichon, owner of Down to Earth Finance and amazingly thoughtful IGC member, who initiated the introduction to the Malia Mills. Thank you for thinking of us!

Kelly and Jeanette from

Fancy Girl Catering for the unbelievably good food. It was elegant, delicious, expertly prepared and presented, organic, and local…what else could you want? We were so wowed by them!

SUMMER READING FROM THE MILLS SISTERS
Additions from Malia and Carol Mills to the Summer Reading Book List!


Malia and Carol Mills referenced two books that they have found very valuable in thinking about their business practices.

Naturally, they are being added to my summer reading list! I can't wait for days on the dock at the lake with my books! Yay, June vacation.


Hug Your Customer, by Jack Mitchell








** And they really practice what they preach! We all got to benefit from the Hug Your Customer principle with the lovely coupons that Malia and Carol so generously provided to all those who attended.

E-Myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber

STARTING MY SUMMER READING BOOK LIST

I love to read. Well, I love to read non-fiction. Fiction for me is harder – harder to get into, harder to relate to, and harder to finish. But I just can’t seem to have too many non-fiction books. Especially if those books relate to psychology, organizational development, business, entrepreneurship, women’s professional development, etc. I know, it sounds riveting, but it is what I like.

Anyhow, last Thursday, when I was given three book recommendations (completely unprompted) by interesting smart women, I paid attention! These suggestions prompted me to start my summer reading book list.

So, the first three on my list are:

Bitch in the House:26 Women Tell the Truth About Sex, Solitude, Work, Motherhood, and Marriage, by Cathi Hanauer.

Recommended by Jessica Shambora

**Supposedly very funny and entertaining, and I just love compilations - 26 professional writers collaborated on this one! This book also has a dedicated website with lots of good info on it.


Basic Black:The Essential Guide for Getting Ahead at Work (and in Life), by Cathie Black. Recommended by Meredith Barnett, of Store Adore.

**Considering that Cathie Black is the president of Hearst Magazines & one of the first women to take a major role in American newspaper and magazine publishing, she probably knows what it takes!

You’re Wearing That?:Understanding Mothers and Daughter in Conversation, by Deborah Tannen. Also recommended by Jessica Shambora

**This book doesn't need its subtitle. Any woman who hears the title knows what it is about. Tannen is a best-selling author & renowned Georgetown professor who studies human interaction through conversation.

Happy Reading to me! Ill let you know my thoughts and add other books as they get added to the list!

STORE ADORE, WE ADORE YOU!

Store Adore is the answer to all shoppers' prayers. In the past, finding a new favorite boutique only came about from luck or lots of sleuthing. No longer! Part directory, part zagats, part daily candy, part facebook,...and exactly what you need!

Whether you're in boutique-overwhelmed New York, or an unfamiliar city altogether you can use Store Adore to find exactly the types of independent stores you need and want without a lot of hustle. Store Adore offers ways to find stores similar to those you love and it also shares exclusive deals, discounts, and sales. it is a one-stop shop for shopping information.

This is all on top of the fact that Store Adore is run, of course, by two fantastic women entrepreneurs: Meredith Barnett and Cristina Miller.

Building a profile on the site was fun and easy. It allowed me to mark LillaP and Tulle as favorites among others. And to scope out new stores in my neighborhood to visit, such as Pippen Home and Housing Works.

Check it out!