Tip of the Week – Jan 12, 2011

January 12, 2011 – 6:00 am

Simplifying the Pressures of Business

I could talk about using organizational tools, delegation or better time management — all of those would be good suggestions for reducing pressure.  But the most effective way to minimize the daily stress of running your business is to take time away from it.  I am guessing that your gut reaction is that you don’t have a second to lose and can’t afford to do anything other than pour every ounce of energy and every waking moment into your startup.  The truth is that the only way to manage it all is to make sure that you manage yourself well first.

Carve out time each day just for you.  Whether you go outside to eat your lunch under a tree in the park, walk your dog, go for a run or just take some time to enjoy the silence, when you regularly take time to invest in your business’s most priceless commodity, you will be more effective at handling the daily demands and challenges that come from running your own show.

To your business success!


By Dr. Shannon Reece | Posted in Tip of the Week | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (2)

Making Happiness a Habit

January 11, 2011 – 6:00 am

This post was originally published on 365 Days of Startups.

On the days when my business begins to feel a bit overwhelming, I carve out some quiet time to remember all the reasons I started this solo endeavor — the things that make the long days, sacrifice, and hard work all worthwhile.  I am re-energized by the realization that I am living my dream, by making a positive difference in the lives of those I serve, and that is my greatest happiness.

The movie, Pursuit of Happyness, resonates the importance taking personal responsibility for your happiness.  If you don’t like where your work is taking or not taking you, commit to changing your circumstances.  It’s not your friend’s job to make you smile; it’s not your spouse’s mission to bring you joy; it’s not your boss’s job to make you love your job.  You are in control of how much or how little happiness you experience in this lifetime through the decisions you make, and the way you react to the world around you when life happens. Continue reading →

By Dr. Shannon Reece | Posted in Aspiring Entrepreneurs | Tagged , , , , | Comments (6)

Question of the Week – Jan 10, 2011

January 10, 2011 – 10:00 am

This week’s question is –

Joint Venture Partners can really help you grow your business. What are the most important criteria when selecting JV’s?

Why should I join the discussion?

Because this online forum is a great place for us to exchange ideas, learn from each other and network. My goal is to unite successful women entrepreneurs to share our insights and solutions to the challenges we most commonly face in our businesses.

How do I get involved?

Every Monday I will post a new Question of the Week. This is a great opportunity for you to bring your expertise to the table. Using the NEW link below, please submit a one paragraph response by Saturday, and the following week I will share our community responses on my blog.
To submit your response CLICK HERE

I look forward to your response to this week’s question! If you have any questions you know where to find me. Have a great week!

By Dr. Shannon Reece | Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (1)

Becoming an Expert in Your Niche

January 10, 2011 – 6:00 am

Successful entrepreneurs don’t attempt to be “Janes of all Trades” — they strive to be experts within their particular niche.  Last week I asked the question –

What steps have you taken to become an expert in your niche?

Our panel of experts weighed in and I am pleased to share their answers with you today.  The most common theme is the need to keep on learning.  The moment you stop, is the moment you are no longer an expert.  Enjoy! Continue reading →

By Dr. Shannon Reece | Posted in Question of the Week | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

Top Biz Tips for 2011 – Weekly Wrap Up

January 7, 2011 – 8:30 am

Happy New Year! Are you still getting used to writing “11” instead of “10” on everything? Plus, I think I may have left my brain in December because I am having trouble writing “01” instead of “12.” Ready or not, the New Year has arrived! Are you prepared to take it by storm?

A lot of entrepreneurs spend the last few months of a year planning for the year to come. The greatest part of any plan is its flexibility. You can’t possibly envision everything in advance, but it’s certainly nice to have guidelines to go by. The posts that have recently caught my interests are the “must do’s” and “top tip’s” for 2011.

This weekly wrap up was designed to share the blogs, websites and/or businesswomen that I found particularly helpful this week.  My top blog picks this week center around the best advice for 2011. Enjoy!


Top Blog Picks

10 Steps to Small Business Success in 2011

In this great article from Entrepreneur Magazine (@EntMagazine), you will find 10 tips on how best to start or enhance your business in light of the current economy. The mix of common sense safe bets, and innovative strategies might just be the perfect combination for your business plan in 2011. Take a look and decide what might work for you.

How to Improve Your Social Media Results in 2011

From self-made millionaire, Ali Brown (@AliBrownLA), come her 4 top tips on improving your social media campaign in the New Year. From how to most effectively engage your followers, to incorporating videos, Ali offers some food for thought to get you moving in the right direction.

4 Things SMB Owners Must Do in 2011 Or Die

I really enjoyed this post from Lisa Barone (@LisaBarone) of Outspoken Media (@outspokenmedia). The title drew my attention, because honestly, I’m just not ready for my business to die, so I read further. Do take note of Lisa’s 4, very thorough tips on keeping up with the changes in the local search game. If this article applies to my business, then I am already behind, but I still don’t understand how “places,” whether through Facebook, Twitter, Google or FourSquare benefits a virtual business model. Perhaps someone can explain that one to me.


Featured Site
This week I’d like to feature another social media maven, Lauren MacEwen, Founder of SM Cubed Consulting — a great resource for social media strategy. What I enjoy so much about Lauren’s approach, is that she makes social media approachable. This is highly valuable, especially for the business owners who are still feeling nervous about adding social media to their plan. If you don’t want to handle the task alone, SM Cubed Consulting has plans to fit every budget. Rather than missing another year of benefits from social media exposure, get the help you need and get started. And don’t miss Lauren’s recent post on 5 Ways to Prepare for 2011. To find our more, follow Lauren on Twitter @SMCubed.


Woman of Excellence
This week I am proud to present our Woman of Excellence award to Ann Evanston, Founder of Warrior-Preneur. Nicknamed Zena with a “Z,” because she is “all Warrior and very little princess,” Ann teaches women how to harness their inner warrior and leverage that power in business. In her latest post, Anne shares three smart tips on how business bloggers can find inspiration and keep the ideas flowing.

I have thoroughly enjoyed following Ann over the past couple of months and find her approach with women inspiring and right up my alley. Ann is a powerful role model for women in business, and takes her leadership position of warrior seriously, right down to her sword. Are you ready to discover your inner warrior? To find out more about Ann, you can find her on Twitter @AnnEvanston.


That wraps up this post. I hope you enjoyed my picks for the week.

In case you were wondering, I have no affiliate relationship with anyone I call to your attention on this blog. This is simply my way of spreading the news about information and individuals I have found particularly helpful.

Until next week, keep reading, keep learning, keep growing!

By Dr. Shannon Reece | Posted in Weekly Wrap Up | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (3)

How to Make Your Customers WANT to Give You Money

January 6, 2011 – 6:00 am

Originally posted on Flying Pig Communications’ blog.  Thank you to author, Laura Petrolino, for graciously allowing me to repost her great article here.

In these tough economic times, it may seem like a false hope to create an environment where your customers not only freely pay you for your product or service, but do so eagerly and gratefully. Ah Contre’ dear business owning friends….it perhaps is easiest in a tough economy to produce this type of sentiment in a customer. Since money and resources are scarce, a customer wants to feel confident and justified in what they spend their hard-earned dollars on, all you have to do is give them a convincing reason why spending their money with you is worthwhile (and then, of course, follow through).

I had a great experience last night that served as a perfect example of this. While I was in the shower, my wonderful (yet mischievous dog) decided it would be a good idea to devour an entire bottle of a new glucosamine supplement I had bought earlier in the day. I discovered his ‘joint relief’ feast too late to simply provoke him to throw up, so I was faced with the need to call up animal poison control (run by the ASPCA) to see what I should do and if he was in major danger. As I was researching where to call, I found myself becoming very angry at the fact that I would be forced to pay $65 for a call. “What a rip-off!”, I thought to myself, “$65 for them to tell me that he would probably be fine but just have a bunch of diarrhea”.

Since my dog is my child, although the $65 angered me, I didn’t see any choice in the matter, so I begrudgingly called up. I was greeted with a HUMAN voice…not an automated machine, who was extremely friendly and carefully went through the situation with me, did a google search to find the exact supplement he ate, gave me a case number and then passed me on to a Vet.

The Vet was also extremely pleasant, took quality time to double and triple check things, told me what a normal reaction would be, and what an abnormal reaction would be. She then set up a follow-up call and told me to call back (for free) at any time if things didn’t seem right or I had any questions. Before she took my money, she took the time to see if I was registered with a specific microchipping organization, which if I had been, would have made the consultation free.

I hung up the phone in a completely different state of mind than I called with. I felt like I truly received a quality service and would both call again for any reason and recommend them to others. I was actually happy to give them my money! What created this change of opinion? I can narrow it down to a few things, that can be actively applied to any business or service:

  • They were nice: seems simple huh? Guess what…it is! Too often though, businesses act like the customer should be serving them vs. the other way around. Being nice goes along way!
  • They provided a complete service: Consultation, follow-up and emergency call back (if needed) ALL INCLUDED. They didn’t try to nickel and dime me, but instead provided more than I expected. Nothing bad ever comes from OVER DELIVERY
  • They trusted me as a customer: Although they mentioned at the beginning the fee to make sure I was aware of it, they didn’t charge me until the end. They trusted that if they followed through on their service, I would follow through as a customer. I could have easily just hung up, but they provided such a good service it was well worth paying for. Communicating trust to your customers is an attribute of good businesses that is often overlooked and undervalued. Trust is important to a customer and it is a two-way street. How can you expect your customer to trust you, if you don’t trust them in return?
  • They established credibility: This goes along with feeling like I’m receiving value for my money.

What do you do to make your customers feel good about paying for your product or service?

Laura Petrolino is Managing Director of Flying Pig Communications, a communications and business consulting firm which focuses on the needs of startups, small business and non-profits. She also serves as Chief Communications Officer at Ignite Venture Partners, which brings together consulting, capital, and concept incubation to build value in businesses of all sizes and stages, and across industries.. Find her on twitter @lkpetrolino and @365startups

By Dr. Shannon Reece | Posted in Guest Posts | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)

Tip of the Week – Jan 5, 2011

January 5, 2011 – 6:00 am

The importance of delegation –

When it comes to your “baby,” a.k.a. your business, it’s a challenge to hand the reins to anyone else when you have learned to be completely self-reliant.  Trying to control everything, all the time, leaves you no room to grow.  The truth for most small business owners, even though they don’t like to admit it, is that by wearing all the hats, they are not being efficient with their time.   It’s easy to fall into the mindset that if you want things done right you have to do them yourself.  There are tasks over which you have mastery.   But there are plenty of things which fall outside your area of expertise, and can really drain your ability to be productive.

By delegating your weakness to others, who excel in those areas, you not only free up time to focus on the things you do best, but you can ultimately save money.  Sure, you are hiring someone to do work for you, but because they are far more skilled to do the work, they can get it done much more quickly.  The bottom line is deciding what your time is worth, and where you are inhibiting your productivity by being a control freak or perfectionist.

By Dr. Shannon Reece | Posted in Tip of the Week | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (0)