More Than WE Know

As we move into 2008, I’m planning ahead for the topics to cover. I’d like to ensure that I include more of what you would like to see. I could review my stats, look at which articles got the most views and the most comments, and try to make some guesses based on that.

But, I thought it might be easier to ask you straight out. What topics would you like to see covered in more detail in 2008?

You can vote for as many answers as you want, but you can only vote once. So, pick all that apply.

And if there is something you would like to see covered that is not on the list - then please add it in a comment below.

Thanks for your time.

Liz

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I received a lot of good feedback on the recent series of profiles of Women Entrepreneurs. I also got a few questions, such as this one:

Liz,

Why are all of your interviews with retailers? I’m a Virtual Assistant so I really couldn’t relate to articles about selling merchandise. I would be interested in hearing about other women with service based businesses like mine.

D.B.

It’s a good question - and here is my response.

D.B.

Thanks for bringing up your concerns. I chose to focus on retailers during the holiday season because I thought it would be an interesting tie to the holidays. But I never intended to exclude service businesses.

I will be running interviews in the future that profile women entrepreneurs who run service-based businesses, such as coaches, marketing professionals, web designers, virtual assistants and others.

I also want to underscore the importance of learning from all types of businesses. WE shouldn’t limit ourselves to looking at businesses that are similar to our own.

WE can learn from all sorts of businesses. For example, there’s a lot to be learned about branding from Harley Davidson, about customer service from Nordstrom’s, and about viral marketing from “I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?”.

None of these may be the same businesses that you or I are in, but there are lessons to be taken from their successes and shortcomings.

So, when you read the interviews, look at the underlying themes of how these women were able to get their ideas, take the first steps, convince others of their dreams, raise funding, market their businesses and sell their products. There are lessons there for any entrepreneur, retailer or service professional, wanting to improve their own business.

And look for additional interviews of Women Entrepreneurs every Friday in More Than WE Know. I promise there will be Women Entrepreneurs who have both retail and service businesses.

Regards,

Liz

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If you have a business you would like to have profiled on More Than WE Know, please contact me at Liz(at)morethanweknow(dot)com.

I’m in Connecticut this week. It’s been snowing lately, so we are enjoying a picturesque white Christmas. One of my favorite songs is from the movie White Christmas starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye and Rosemary Clooney.

The song is “Count Your Blessings (instead of Sheep)” written by Irving Berlin. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1954.

I first saw this (otherwise forgettable) movie when I was a teenager. The practice of counting my blessings, especially when I was lying awake at night overcome with worries, struck me even then, as a good one. I’ve been doing it for 30 years.

In surveys, Women Entrepreneurs are more likely than men to say that their worries over business problems keep them from sleeping at night. Therefore I am offering up this simple practice to help put an end to worry-based insomnia.

When I’m worried and I can’t sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds

If you’re worried and you can’t sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings.

- Irving Berlin

Merry Christmas to All….. And to All, A Good Night.

Well, it’s here. The last day of the 2007 Holiday Shopping Season.

Estimates are that online holiday sales in the U.S. for the months of November and December will reach $29.5 billion - 20% higher than last year.

Whether you sell products or services, you had a holiday sales season this year. How did it go? Did your sales increase 20% over last year? Do you know why?

Very soon you will be caught up in the challenges of next year. All of the lessons you think you learned this year will become faded memories. All of the changes you vow to make will be forgotten. All of the things you did right will slip away.

Unless you take the time to write them down.

So now, before it’s too late, open a document on your word processor and label it 2008 holiday plan. Copy the following 5 questions and type in your answers. You may be surprised by what you come up with.

1) What went well this holiday season?

It’s too easy to focus on what went wrong and think of the lost sales and missed opportunities. Instead, take a moment to look at what went right - products that sold well, clients that were pleased, moments of which you were proud.

2) Why did those things go well?

Look at the systems you had in place, the products you had to sell, the marketing that you created, the upfront planning that you did. Which of these contributed to your success and why?

3) How could things have gone even better?

How could you have reached more clients? How could you have had more of the right products on hand? How could you have avoided stocking the wrong products? How could you have sold your goods and services to more people? How could you have leveraged other people, other outlets, other modes of delivery?

4) What could you do next year to increase your success?

Take a look at your answers to questions 1 through 3 and envision 2008 being even better than this year. Then consider - what would you need to do to make that happen? Start planning earlier? Develop more products? Do more marketing? Get closer to your customers?

5) Which of those steps will you implement?

Next year’s holiday season will be here before you know it. Which of the tactics you listed will have the greatest impact on your sales next year? Which of those things can you start now? Next week? Next month?

Now, Take action.

• Make a list right now of all the actions you are going to take to make 2008 a great success.
• Label them as high, medium or low priority based on the potential impact they might have on your success.
• Put a date by when each task should be completed.
• If you’re not the person that needs to do the task, identify who the proper owner is.
• If something else has to occur (i.e. take a class, hire an assistant, design a logo, etc.) add that task, priority, owner and date as well.

Before you know it, you will have an actual plan that you can put into action and measure your progress against.

Throughout the year, you will be able to work the plan, add ideas and remove things that no longer make sense.

And when next year comes, you’ll be ready to make the 2008 Holiday Season your best year ever!

Take a break from all the holiday hustle and bustle, pour yourself a cup of coffee (or cocoa!) and settle down to read some of the great articles on the web this week.

At the E-3 Carnival of Success Principles Women Entrepreneurs will find a valuable lesson in exceeding Customer Expectations in Richard Lee’s article Everything You Will Ever Need To Know About Business posted at Richard Lee. But it comes with a warning! If you’re a book lover, you might feel a pang of jealousy over Richard’s story!

As always, the Carnival of Small Business Issues has a good collection of business-related articles. I agree with the host that if you take away one thing from the Carnival it should be Carol Bentley’s Do people remember you? posted at Carol Bentley. This article is part 1 of a 2 part series - be sure to read Part 2 and get the free downloadable tool to help create effective elevator speeches.

Some interesting topics at the All Women Blogging Carnival hosted at Moggie Madness. Of particular note to any Woman Entrepreneur wondering whether it’s too late to live your dreams is How old is too old? posted at Barmus, by Barbara.

The Carnival of the Capitalists hosted this week at Samablog has a collection of high quality articles. Among them is an article by one of my favorites bloggers, Pamela Slim. She asks a question shared by many Women Entrepreneurs “How do you know when is the right time to quit your day job?” posted at her blog,Escape from Cubicle Nation.

And now, a few other points of interest:

For anyone (both inside and outside the U.S.!) interested in winning a Virtual Assistant for a year, visit Elance to enter the contest. (Where do I sign up????)

If the past few weeks of interviews have gotten you interested in the opportunities available to run a handmade craft business over the internet, you will want to read the article Handmade 2.0 from the New York Times magazine. It’s a full-length feature that’s chock full of information on all angles of the handcraft sales business.

And last, I want to thank Frank Carr of OpTempo for his review of MoreThanWEKnow. Frank provided some good feedback on the looks of my blog, which I have already acted upon. If you have a blog you’d like reviewed, stop over and request one. Also read the many reviews Frank’s already done to get some additional ideas of what works and what doesn’t.

That’s it for the Carnival this week - hope you enjoyed the ride!