By Michelle Girasole on 10/27/2008 6:16 PM

Stacey Shipman and Kathleen Burns Kingsbury have a great online radio program, called "Breaking the Glass Slipper".  One of their goals is to empower women around money.

The Sassy Ladies Business Coach, Wendy Hanson was asked to be a guest on their show and talk about THINKING BIG. Join Stacey and Wendy as they look at how to think big and explore some actions to take to get your brain working with you towards achieving your goals.

                                                         Listen to the radio show podcast now.

By Michelle Girasole on 10/27/2008 5:43 PM

Use every tool in your marketing arsenal…(especially the free ones)!



Last month, we invited all of the sassy ladies in our community to join our social networking groups in LinkedIn and/or Facebook. Many of you jumped on it, and hundreds more of you haven’t joined yet.



Well, we know through our survey and coaching groups that Marketing is a big goal for many of you, and Social Networking is another tool in your arsenal. And, it is free – the only cost is your time to set it up. In this economy, you want to take advantage of the free marketing opportunities!



If you are looking for an avenue to connect and share your business message with other women in business, then join one or both groups. How are women using it?

- To promote your events - it's another great avenue for getting the word out to people outside your own network.  For example, Jean DiGiovanna offers her "Introduction to Workshop Design" seminar, with a link to her site for more info.  Log in and check it out!

- To share your wisdom – as an example, Karen Wenborn from the United Kingdom posted a response to a question we had at a recent business expo on how to get a press release into a newspaper.  Thanks, Karen!



If online communities seem scary (it IS almost Halloween!) for you, as sometimes Internet technology can be, I created a You Tube video, to help introduce you to the pros and cons, and give you some examples of the social networking avenues.



So, check out the video:





So, if you’re already set up a Facebook and LinkedIn account, we hope you’ll join our group, and start connecting with others in our community. There may just be a good connection to be made to help you achieve your business goals.



Join the Sassy Ladies’ Group on Linked In.



Join the Sassy Ladies’ Group on Facebook....

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By Michelle Girasole on 10/25/2008 10:57 AM

We’re proud to sponsor new financial literacy courses for women business owners!



Over the summer, The Sassy Ladies were asked by the Women’s Business Center of Maine to participate in an online workshop program for women around the topic of financial literacy for women.



We have been working over the last few months to develop a series of workshops with some of our expert partners in this arena, and are proud to extend the opportunity to participate to our own community in the coming months.



You can participate in these workshops online in two formats - live in the virtual classroom, or by accessing a recorded, self-paced version of the workshop, or both!



Here are the first two:



Pricing For What You're WorthNovember 19, 2008 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Sponsored/Presented by: Women’s Business Center at CEI/Maine; Kathleen Burns Kingsbury of KBK Connections, Inc.; and The Sassy Ladies.

“Pricing For What You're Worth” is part of the Maine Women's Business Empowerment Program, for women who have been in business for at least six months and who want to boost their financial confidence and skills.

This workshop addresses pricing of products and services and is designed particularly for women who have found it difficult or uncomfortable to put a fair price on their products or services. After attending the workshop, participants should have: a better understanding of the emotional roadblocks they may encounter in pricing, strategies for pricing based on value-add and market dynamics, and more confidence in their ability to ask for and receive a fair price.

Learn More/Register (Maine Business Works Website)

Keeping Your Business RecordsDecember...

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By Michelle Girasole on 10/23/2008 9:03 AM

Make it a point to vote! (And, take your daughter with you!)



Today we’ll break from our usual business-related topics for an important public service announcement, for all our U.S. citizen sassy ladies:



Make an appointment with yourself on November 4th to vote. (Go ahead, get your calendar right now, and block off some time to head to the polls.) You can’t let your business duties-du-jour take priority over your civic duty to vote in a presidential election!



And, if you have daughters, you might want to take 5 minutes, and watch a fun video (below) from The White House Project with them. These enthusiastic young girls are inspired to soar to great heights, and no doubt they will become adult voters.



I have always taken my kids to the polls, even for primaries. (At this young age, they seem to remember only that there is a gumball machine at the fire station, but let's hope it inspires them to vote as adults!!)



I also found a website, www.takeyourkids2vote.org, which has some games and fun facts for kids.

Whether you are Democrat or Rebublican, show your support for the candidates and issues that you feel best represent you, your business and your community. Get out to vote!

...

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By Wendy Hanson on 10/21/2008 7:52 AM

We're in a time that is called, by many people, financial instability. If you picture it like a river, you can see it flowing very quickly. There are tree limbs that have fallen off, even logs in the river. It's moving like there are rapids. What are you going to do to slow down the river for yourself? 

There are opportunities to be the change you want to see and pull your canoe over to the side. Be patient and just wait as the river flows. Gain your own balance and your own equilibrium. In doing this, you will create support for the river to gain it's own balance. 

Imagine this river flowing and lots of women pulling their canoes over to the side, sitting quietly, imagining how to support each other, how to create opportunities in what some people call a time of crisis. Now, imagine all those people sitting along the river creating a peaceful boundary. The river is going to continue to flow, the rapids will not go away, but slowly there will be less debris in the river. When the storms have stopped the river won't flow as fast. It will recede a bit. Just wait. Know that this is a time that will pass.



Many financial experts have expressed the feeling that this is a natural phenomenon that needs to happen; it just doesn't look pretty right now. We need to get our equilibrium again. It's the way Mother Nature handles things too. Don't focus on the chaos around you.  If you focus on chaos, you will get more chaos.  If you focus on opportunity, you will find the opportunity that sits along this river and allows us to rest.   

As we watch the news and read the paper, it's hard not to get sucked up into the chaos.  But if we maintain our own vision of what we want stability to look like when Mother Nature is complete, we can build on opportunities.  

What are the opportunities available to you now?

How can you make this a time of possibilities?

What can you offer in your business that is recession-resistant?

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By Wendy Hanson on 10/16/2008 1:20 PM

                          So, what is this picture? It certainly isn't very clear, because I was shooting it from a moving vehicle in traffic.  Don't worry, I was only doing about 25mph.  I noticed a large van and on the back of the van were about 10 ads the size of 2 foot business cards for various companies. On the side was an ad for a Realty company. This particular ad showed a couple with a house, and on the side it read: If you buy a house from us, you can use this van to move.In times like these, we have to do things that are unique as entrepreneurs to advertise our business.  It certainly caught my attention.  Not only were they making money by selling advertising space on the back of their van (which were all things relating to home improvement that a new home buyer might want), they were advertising on the side of their van. And a unique selling proposition;  buy a house from us and you can use this van.  When I was young (YIKES!) they used to give away toasters.  It's the same thing. Sometimes people just need a nudge!What have you done unique in your business to get some attention in a different way?  Don't let everybody's cynical thoughts and negative spin about this economy rain on your parade.  Be innovative, be unique.This week, I was in Bank of America and I spoke with the manager, who was totally delightful.  He said that so many people are coming in and they're down in the dumps and other people are coming in and they are doing quite well in this economy.  We both agreed it sometimes comes down to the attitude that you're holding.  So, who do you want to do business with - the person that sounds like the sky is falling when you're about to buy their services or the person that says, "hey, you know, things aren't so bad?"  In fact, my business is pretty good right now, I'm looking forward to new opportunities."  So, just remember you have a choice about your attitude and communication.  Be unique and enjoy the...

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