Last night was the last of the 8-week program I took with Lena West founder of xynoMedia Technology and guest writer of WomenandBiz.com, called Real Women Do Social Media. She taught us the importance of choosing the right social media tools for our businesses, of knowing our customers, of finding our voice, of having a schedule to blog and be present on social media, and of calculating the return on investment in each strategy we take. Many of them are strategies we are constantly hearing about and doing around the traditional marketing tools, but Lena points out how crucial it is to take similar steps within the social media world. She also shows women how to find their own voices. Lena has her own unique voice – in her articles and blog posts, she tells it like it is, and it is refreshing. You can read her WomenandBiz.com’s articles at http://www.womenandbiz.com/author/lenawest/.

I’m looking forward to implementing all that I learned from Lena West. To learn more about the program and register for the next class, please visit www.realwomendosocialmedia.com.

My first step after taking the class was creating a schedule to blog, and I’ll be posting my thoughts, experiences, challenges and advice more often from now on. If you read anything that you like, feel free to post comments and join the conversation.

Thank you, Wendy!

Recently, I encountered two experiences with people who weren’t sure they should show up for events, but when they did, they were happily surprised.

The first one sent me an email a couple of days prior to a woman’s business conference, saying that she wasn’t sure she was going to make it, since she didn’t see the value of going. I explained to her that it was a great opportunity to learn and I recommended that she showed up. She did and stayed through the end. When one of the organizers did a cash prize drawing, she won it!

The second one is a friend of mine, who wasn’t sure he was going to my birthday celebration a few weeks ago. He went and met a friend of mine who knows someone who needs his services.

I ask again, are you showing up? I can’t guarantee that if you do show up, something amazing will happen, but nothing will if you don’t. Take a look at our book tour page to find out where I’m showing up next. Hope to see you soon.

Hosted by the City Tech Small Business Development Center

Wednesday, March 31st at 6pm.

The panelists included Vera Moore, President, Vera Moore Cosmetics,
Veronica Rose, President, Aurora Electric and Elisa Balabram, author of Ask Others, Trust Yourself: The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Key to Success.

For more information, visit Successful Women Entrepreneurs

Why did I want to discuss setting boundaries in the first place?

Because depending on how long you’ve been in business, or how many businesses you’ve had so far, you are sure to have encountered people who knew (or assumed they knew), more than you do about your own business. You will encounter many “know it all” throughout your business career with the perfect solution to your business. You will also have clients who think they know the best products you should sell.

Before taking action on the not-asked-for suggestions received, make sure they make sense to you and your business. If the person making the suggestion, insists that you take action, just let her know that you will take her ideas into consideration, and that if you don’t act on it at this time, you will at least write it down for future reference.

The same rule would apply if a client is asking to launch a certain product or service. Your client might know what he or she needs, but even if you hear from one client, it does not mean that you need to make the changes right away. The best thing would be to survey a number of clients and make sure they really want it.

Feel free to share your strategies on setting business boundaries, by posting a comment.

I decided to make a fun New Year’s resolution, and that was to laugh more! And I did it. I committed to watching good/smart comedy shows on TV, I laughed at myself (when, for example, I put my favorite sweater in the washing machine and dryer, and when it came out, not even a kid could wear it! I could have cried but I laughed out loud, and I still do, it was really funny.), I made sure I spent time with friends and laughed with them, and I visited my family a few times and laughed a lot with my parents and little sister.

You may be thinking that this isn’t a hard New Year’s resolution to keep, and it’s not. Nevertheless, if you don’t plant a seed of doing what you really would love to do, it would be harder for you to commit to it and make it happen. Although I haven’t made the same resolution again, I kept going with the laughter. And the other day I went to a comedy club to see a friend perform, and another comedian reminded us: “Laughter is the best medicine”.

What’s going to be your fun New Year’s resolution?

We discussed how to set achievable business goals for 2010, where to go for business advice, how to transform criticism and negativity into positive action, and how to make decisions and trust yourself at all times.

To download the PowerPoint Presentation, click here: Trust Yourself

Have you started working on your 2010 business goals? If you would like, feel free to post some of your goals by leaving a comment below.

Elisa Balabram and her parents Moyses and Fany Balabram

Nina Kaufman, Esq., Elisa Balabram, Allison Lehr Samuels

Elisa Balabram and Dolly Peress

Chi-Ya Huang, Elisa Balabram, Maria Li

Click to View Flyer: Trust Yourself

Brooklyn Business Library – 280 Cadman Plaza West, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Author and Business coach Elisa Balabram shares tips from her book and helps you to get going with your ideas. Please register online at www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/business, or call 718-623-7000 and select option 4.

Secret #2 Make a list of your contacts and their areas of expertise.

Secret #3 If you don’t know anyone with the expertise you are looking for, ask for referrals.

Secret #4 Before hiring a coach, consultant or other business professional, ask for references and contact them.

Secret #5 Articulate your problem or issues you are having, and stay open to the feedback you receive.

Secret #6 Listen to the suggestions, and then filter the information received, by checking in with yourself.

Secret #7 Make a list of all the possible actions you could take, and number them according to your priorities.

Secret #8 For each action, before pursuing it, see how it resonates with you. If you are not sure, consider asking another person.

Secret #9 Take some time to meditate, journal, draw, create a vision board, and check in with yourself. Trust your intuition!

Secret #10 Learn more by reading: Ask Others, Trust Yourself: The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Key to Success.  http://bit.ly/13H1tM