2010
March 29
Women Entreprenuers Networking Tips that can help you create a Real Buzz — Professional Networking Tip 24
Filed under: Business for Women, HLN Spotlights, Marketing Tips, Networking
Women Entrepreneurs,
Professional Networking for Women – Tip 24:
NETWORK HANDS FREE
It is a good idea that you keep one hand free so that you can shake hands with people. Touch is a powerful connecting tool, even if it is a handshake. Make sure you look the person in the eyes when you shake their hand. Look long enough to notice the color of their eyes. If you will practice this technique, people will feel seen by you when they meet you. You can tell a great deal about a person by shaking their hand. Make sure that your handshake communicates your strength, but don’t hurt the other person’s hand. I have had people shake my hand so hard that they bruised my hand where my rings were.
Communicate your sincerity. People can feel when you are sincere so check your heart before you touch another person and make sure you are present and feeling sincere. Also, I would recommend that you not eat and drink at the same time you are planning on meeting a lot of people. If everyone is sitting and eating that is fine, but if you are standing most of the evening, or afternoon keep your hands free as much as possible. Remember why you are at a networking event. You didn’t attend to eat; you attended to meet. Well, if you are like me, you really want to do both : )
Dawn L Billings is an ardent advocate for women’s and children’s issues, the author of over 20 books and hundreds of articles on parenting, relationships, entitlement and networking. Dawn is the CEO and Founder of The Heart Link Womens Network, Trova Women Business Directory and Trova Small Business Directory and The Heart Alliance.com international women’s networking organizations and communities. In 2008 Dawn was selected by Oprah Magazine and The White House project as one of 80 emerging women leaders in the nation. Find out more and buy Dawn’s books
2010
March 27
Women Entreprenuers Networking Tips — Professional Networking Tip 23
Filed under: Business for Women, HLN Spotlights, Marketing Tips, Networking
Women Entrepreneurs,
Professional Networking for Women – Tip 23:
ASK FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS
If you really want networking to take you and your business to new heights, learn to ask a lot of follow up questions. When someone shares information with you, ask for more. Asking follow up questions proves your interest and shows that you are listening.
When you attend a professional networking event, don’t stay in the small pond swimming only with people who already know you and trust you. Take a leap into a bigger pond where you can expand your circle of influence and meet more fascinating people.
Remember, ask questions; be interested. The most interesting people are the most interested people. Being interested in another person proves that you are paying attention, and that you are interested in what they are doing. When people believe that you are interested, they become interested in you. Great relationships are built on two people being interested about one another. Professional networking is all about creating strong, lasting relationships with a large number of people. So, if you really want to take your business to new heights through the use of the powerful marketing tool of professional networking, remember to ask a lot of follow-up questions.
Dawn L Billings is an ardent advocate for women’s and children’s issues, the author of over 20 books and hundreds of articles on parenting, relationships, entitlement and networking. Dawn is the CEO and Founder of The Heart Link Womens Network, Trova Women Business Directory and Trova Small Business Directory and The Heart Alliance.com international women’s networking organizations and communities. In 2008 Dawn was selected by Oprah Magazine and The White House project as one of 80 emerging women leaders in the nation. Find out more and buy Dawn’s books
2010
March 25
Health, Women and a Heart for Caring
Filed under: HLN Spotlights, Health & Wellness, Inspiring Articles
Hey Women Entrepreneurs. Have you ever found it very difficult to focus or think clearly when you needed to? I have. Everyday there is a new study that shows that nutrition and exercise directly impact improvements in cognitive function and help your mind actually function better. This seems logical. If we break it down, what you eat is fuel. And everything runs better with the best fuel. This fuel is all our bodies and minds have to use to function. Bad fuel – not so good functioning.
When you exercise, you increase the oxygen flow to your body and energize stagnant, slow running, barely oxygenated blood so that your body can get what it needs to work.
We have all read the U.S. News & World Report health articles that report numerous studies about how eating right and mild consistent exercise make a difference in high blood pressure and improve cognitive function. The studies tell us that if we reduce our portion sizes and altering habits like snacking (for me that is more like “smacking” my lips around some crunchy food a majority of the tine), while we exercise, just a minimal program, 30-minute workouts 3-4 times each week for only a 4 month time period we could increase our mental function 30%. Goodness knows I could use that.
Who hasn’t read these studies? It would seem that a 30% improvement in our cognitive functioning, having more energy, feeling happier and better about ourselves should be enough to inspire each and every one of us to change our bad habits, right? Wrong. Most of us KNOW these facts but aren’t doing anything about it and I had to sit down and ask myself why. The answer that came to me was brutal.
I heard my old friend Larry Winget’s voice in my ear. He says if you are not doing what you know you need to do to succeed in any endeavor, you are either lazy, completely stupid or simply don’t give a damn. Really girls, could that be it? Is the truth that brutal? That thought was much more difficult for me to swallow than that delicious French vanilla cappuccino I had this morning with a bazillion calories.
I don’t think of myself as lazy, most people say I work 24/7 and can get more done in a day than most and most of the women I know work as hard, if not harder than I do. I don’t think of myself as stupid. I graduated Magna Cum Laude and was chosen as outstanding Psychology Senior in college, and again I have to tell you, most of the women I am blessed to work with are smarter than me. So does that leave the only other option – we don’t give a damn? I don’t think so. Maybe there is a fourth option.
We, as women entrepreneurs and small business owners have so much on our plates, not only with our businesses but with our families. If we aren’t making lunches and running to soccer practices, piano and violin lessons, cleaning house, making dinner, car pooling, or bathing the dogs and by the way, our volunteer work to make the world a better place then we are doing our taxes, holding a business meeting or helping a friend in need. I don’t’ think that women don’t take as good a care of themselves as we need to because we don’t give a damn, I think it might be that we care too much, so much in fact, that we do not give our health it’s rightful place on our list of have-to’s.
I know it’s difficult girls, but we must make the time and give to effort to taking care of ourselves because if we don’t, we won’t be around to do that thing we love most – taking care of others.
So let’s make a pack this early spring that we will spring into health. Let’s hold one another accountable and make the little changes that can mean so much. Let’s eat smaller portions and go for our walk with your dog.
Last night around 10 pm my son Tony came in from work. He saw me on the couch depressed because I had fallen victim to Brownie chocolate mint cookies and I was really giving myself what for! He said “Put on your tennis shoes.”
I said “Are you crazy? It is 10pm at night.”
He said, “The path around the golf course is lit. It is only 2 ½ miles. The dogs will think it is Christmas if we take them for a walk at night. C’mon. You look so sad and mad at yourself. Let’s change that. Do what you tell me to do – Get up, Get out and Take a step that leads you closer to realizing your dream.”
We went for a walk at 10pm at night and I have to admit, I felt so much better about myself. We are important girls. Without us, the world is basically confused and lost. Let’s help each other. I can’t tell you how loved I felt when my son made me do what I knew I should do.
We are not lazy, stupid and we certainly give more than a damn – we give everything we’ve got. Now let’s give a little of that to our health. Here’s to your 10pm walk. Just don’t go alone! Blessings, Dawn
Dawn L Billings is an ardent advocate for women’s and children’s issues, the author of over 20 books and hundreds of articles on parenting, relationships, entitlement and networking. Dawn is the CEO and Founder of The Heart Link Womens Network, Trova Women Business Directory and Trova Small Business Directory and The Heart Alliance.com international women’s networking organizations and communities. In 2008 Dawn was selected by Oprah Magazine and The White House project as one of 80 emerging women leaders in the nation. Find out more and buy Dawn’s books
2010
March 24
Women Entreprenuers Networking Tips — Professional Networking Tip 22
Women En
trepreneurs,
Professional Networking for Women – Tip 21:
Okay, I have to laugh when I think that I add this as one of my professional networking tips for women. As I have mentioned before, one of the very worst times and places to approach someone to talk to them about your products or services is when they are walking towards the restroom. (Well that is unless you want them to try a new super soft toilet tissue, or an amazing and wonderfully scented hand soap.) If your product has nothing to do with going potty, don’t stop someone near a bathroom.
Have you ever had that happen to you? Your squeezing yourself so tight, you only have moments before the BIG accident, and someone wants to stop you on your way to saving yourself from undying embarrassment? If you have, remember how you felt, and don’t do it. It is not the best time to begin a conversation. Even if you succeeded at stoping someone, they are not going to be listening carefully to you. You cannot listen carefully when your eye balls are swimming.
Now if you want to buy a booth near a bathroom and talk to people on their way out of the bathroom, that’s different. Now they are happy, relieved and hopefully have just washed their hands before you shake them.
Also, don’t attempt to begin a conversation if someone has their phone in their hand. They minds will be distracted and basically it will be a waste of time for both of you. This is really difficult to know these days with ear buds. I am always thinking that when a person is standing next to me at the bathroom sink washing their hands and say “hello”, they must be talking to me, but so many times, they look at me as though I was beyond stupid as they continue their conversation with their ear bud hidden behind their hair.
Dawn L Billings is an ardent advocate for women’s and children’s issues, the author of over 20 books and hundreds of articles on parenting, relationships, entitlement and networking. Dawn is the CEO and Founder of The Heart Link Womens Network, Trova Women Business Directory and Trova Small Business Directory and The Heart Alliance.com international women’s networking organizations and communities. In 2008 Dawn was selected by Oprah Magazine and The White House project as one of 80 emerging women leaders in the nation. Find out more and buy Dawn’s books
2010
March 23
5 Things You Can’t Copyright
Hey Women Entrepreneurs, in this article by Heleigh Bostwick – Mar 2010, you will discover the 5 things that you can’t copyright. Enjoy, Dawn Billings, CEO and Founder of The Heart Link Womens Network and creator of the NEW Toddler Toys that turn kids into GREAT kids, as they take the work out of parenting and turn it into play. They are called CAPABLES.
What Is Protected by Copyright?
So you’ve written the next hit song, crafted a slogan to sell millions, and even come up with a recipe that puts Iron Chef to shame—the question is, can you Copyright them? Learn the five surprising things that you can’t copyright (and what you can.)
According to the US Copyright Office in order for something to qualify for copyright protection, that something must exist in a tangible form. Specifically:
Protection under the copyright law (title 17 of the U.S. Code, section 102) extends only to original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible form (a copy). “Original” means merely that the author produced the work by his own intellectual effort, as distinguished from copying an existing work. Copyright protection may extend to a description, explanation, or illustration, assuming that the requirements of the copyright law are met.
In other words, that great idea you told your friend about the other day cannot be protected by copyright in and of itself, but if you write that great idea down, the words can be protected.
Still, there’s always room for interpretation, confusion, and ongoing debates over what is and isn’t protected by Copyright law. So below we’ve outlined five things the US Copyright Office clearly states are not protected by Copyright—even if they are a tangible expression of an idea or thought.
What is Not Protected by Copyright?
1. Ideas, Methods, or Systems
Ideas, methods, and systems are not covered by Copyright protection. According to the US Copyright Office, Circular 2, this covers quite a few things including making, or building things; scientific or technical methods or discoveries; business operations or procedures; mathematical principles; formulas, algorithms; or any other concept, process, or method of operation.
2. Commonly Known Information
This category includes items that are considered common property and with no known authorship. Examples include standard calendars, height and weight charts, telephone directories, tape measures and rulers, and lists or tables taken from public documents. A phrase such as “The sky is blue” also falls under this category since there is no known authorship associated with it.
3. Choreographic Works
A choreographic work, whether original or not, is not subject to Copyright protection unless it has been videotaped or notated. The same applies to speeches that have not been transcribed before or after they are given, as well as any other types of performances.
4. Names, Titles, Short Phrases, or Expressions
Also exempt: names, titles, short phrases, or expressions—such as that catchy slogan you came up with for your business—product descriptions, pseudonyms, titles of works, and business names. The good news is that while they are not protected by copyright, if they pertain to your business (for example, goods and services) they can be protected with a Trademark.
Recipes also fall under this category. Specifically the listing of ingredients (even if it’s your own recipe ingredients) is not protected by Copyright. This applies to formulas, compounds, and prescriptions as well. There are exceptions however, such as when recipes are compiled in a cookbook for instance or if the recipe is accompanied by “substantial literary expression”, a term that refers to text such as directions, or when there is a combination of recipes, there may be a basis for Copyright protection.
5. Fashion
Contrary to what you might think, fashion (that is, a shirt, dress, or other article of clothing) is not protected by Copyright law. Despite the fact that Copyright law protects such things as architectural design works (Circular 41) or works of the visual arts (Circular 40), fashion is all about clothing and accessories, which under Copyright law are considered “useful articles”. It is possible however, to Copyright a specific fabric pattern (Burberry plaids for example), but not the actual dress. And, it should be noted that while designs can’t be Copyrighted, they can be Patented.
For more information please visit:
Should Fashion Design Be Copyrightable?
Dawn Billings, CEO and Founder of The Heart Link Women’s Networking with over 130 locations in three countries, and the creator of the NEW Toddler Toys and Parenting tool called CAPABLES. Capables take the work out of parenting and turn it into play. Want to eliminate whining and tantrums for good? Get Capables.
[Offtopic: by the way, have you had the opportunity to attend a local Heart Link Women's Network networking event? If not, check out our locations and find a gathering near you! You will be so glad you did. Also coming soon - TROVA NOW Women Entrepreneurs Directory, and TROVA NOW Premium Business Directory.
TROVA in Italian means "Find". Would you like for your business to be found easily both locally and nationally? That is what our new business directories PremiumBusinessDirecory.com and WomenEntreprenuersDirectory.com (coming in April) are all about. For more information about how to get your women owned business listed for free email support@theheartlinknetwork.com We will put you on a list to be the first women small businesses listed in these amazing directories.]
2010
March 21
How to Grind Coffee Beans Perfectly
Good Morning amazing Women Entrepreneurs. Did you know there was a perfect way to grind your coffee beans for your morning cup of coffee? Well there is. Most women small business owners begin their very busy days with a wonderfully delicious cup of coffee, but now that cup can taste even better.
I thought you would enjoy this article by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed)
Blessings, Dawn Billings, CEO and Founder of The Heart Link Womens Network
If you brew your own coffee every morning then you know how important the details can be when taking steps to create the perfect cup, but one step that many people don’t give enough attention to is how they grind their coffee beans. Of course many people do their own grinding, but how many pay attention to exactly how? It can be an art in and of itself.
Timing
Coffee beans should be freshly ground immediately before brewing, so you should grind just one pot at a time. Oxidation begins immediately and flavors will degrade noticeably in just a few hours — if you’re looking for perfect coffee, no grinding should be done the night before.
Method
There are two main types of coffee grinders: blade grinders and burr grinders. Blade grinders are the most common and the least expensive, and although they can grind coarse and medium sizes nicely, they can also have inconsistent results and are noisy (especially first thing in the morning). Also, when using a blade grinder it’s important to grind in small bursts of a few seconds at a time to prevent heat from building up and burning the grounds. Burr grinders, on the other hand, are more expensive and have more settings to learn, but always yield precision results and can be adjusted to fit any brewing method (especially those requiring fine and super fine grounds).
Size
The size of grind you use when brewing coffee is based on two things: the brewing method and personal taste. Coffee grounds can be broken into these sizes:
Coarse Chunky, distinct particles, like potting soil.
Medium Less chunky, like rough sand.
Fine Like fine sand, sugar, or salt.
Super Fine Like gritty flour or powdered sugar.
Turkish Grind Very powdery and smooth, like flour or powdered sugar.
Fitting the grind size to the brewing method is all about how much of the coffee’s surface area is exposed to the water and for how long: desirable flavors come out first in brewing, while bitterness and other undesirables come out later (if the coffee is brewed too long). Coarse grinds are best suited to French press style coffee makers because they let the water and coffee steep together for several minutes. Medium or fine sizes work best for drip coffee machines, and fine or super fine are best for making espresso because the water is pushed through the grinds fairly quickly.
What advice do you have for someone looking to make a better pot of coffee?
Dawn Billings, CEO and Founder of The Heart Link Women’s Networking with over 130 locations in three countries, and the creator of the NEW Toddler Toys and Parenting tool called CAPABLES. Capables take the work out of parenting and turn it into play. Want to eliminate whining and tantrums for good? Get Capables.
[Offtopic: by the way, have you had the opportunity to attend a local Heart Link Women's Network networking event? If not, check out our locations and find a gathering near you! You will be so glad you did. Also coming soon - TROVA NOW Women Entrepreneurs Directory, and TROVA NOW Premium Business Directory.
TROVA in Italian means "Find". Would you like for your business to be found easily both locally and nationally? That is what our new business directories PremiumBusinessDirecory.com and WomenEntreprenuersDirectory.com (coming in April) are all about. For more information about how to get your women owned business listed for free email support@theheartlinknetwork.com We will put you on a list to be the first women small businesses listed in these amazing directories.]
