Question of the Week – Jan 3, 2011

January 3, 2011 – 10:00 am

This week’s question is –

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

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 (0)

11 Ways Obstacles Are No Match for Entrepreneurs

January 3, 2011 – 6:00 am

Obstacles are a part of life and business. Rather than allowing them to hold you back, it’s important to look for the lesson or opportunity that will lead the way around, over, or through it. Entrepreneurs do not lack determination when it comes to overcoming obstacles, so this week I posed the question –

What was your biggest business obstacle in 2010, and how did you successfully overcome it?

Our experts weighed in, sharing their biggest challenges and solutions from 2010. If you are facing what feels like an insurmountable challenge or uphill climb in your business, I hope the transparency of our panel will inspire you to find your way to success.

With revenue down 12% we chose to focus on improving our guest experiences by giving $8.88 guest rooms during the holidays to a local hospital. Resulted in staff showing a real pride of ownership which led to lower costs, happier guests staying more and finishing 2010 with our lights still on. Giving always pays off in long run.
Tony Patel (@super8villarica), President of Newport Ventures / Super 8



My biggest obstacle in 2010 was being able to market on a very small budget. We were able to overcome this by building working relationships with “like kind” businesses who helped talk about our company and product line. We also were able to build up our Facebook page to over 14,000 members for very little and that helped sell product as well.
Michael C. Podlesny (@mikethegardener), Owner of Mike the Gardener Enterprises, LLC

When the release date for my published book was scheduled for November 1, 2010 and I asked my publishers were we ready to release my book and they told me yes. I changed my 8 websites to reflect that the book was available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com and it was not. I left this misleading information up for a week. People lost interest in my book because they could not buy the book and my social media credibility was infringed upon. I over came this obstacle when I requested that my interview on the TRINITY BROADCASTING NETWORK be aired. The station aired it worldwide on November 12, 2010. This provided the social proof that the book was definitely coming.
Kevin Benton (@fieldtriptohell), Founder of Kevin Benton Ministries



My greatest obstacle for 2011 was being in business with two partners who did not give at least 50%. We were in business for nearly two years and they did not bring in one client. So the partnership was dissolve a few days ago.  The end of the partnership was the best thing that could have happened to the business.  It now can flourish into what it was designed to be, a great event planning company.  The most important thing that I’ve done to move forward successfully was to regain my friendship with my former partners.  We were friends first and then decided to become business partners (bad mistake).  There’s a reason why it’s been said not to go into business with family or friends.  Another successful thing I began to do was restructure my business plan, marketing plan, and media plan.
Mattie Stevenson (@ABEventPlanners), Owner of Above & Beyond Event Planners, LLC

My company’s biggest obstacle in 2010 is being discovered.  I learned there is a large market for my green products – people really like them and find them very unique.  Getting it out there is a huge obstacle! Here are some of the things we have done to try to increase our visibility:
1.  We have attended numerous trade shows.
2.  We have handed out thousands of business cards.
3.  We use Facebook.
4.  We use Twitter (I personally struggle with Twitter).
5.  Every product that we sell comes in packaging with our logo, web address and phone number clearly displayed.
6.  We are planning to present our Marketing Plan to Winchester.  We would like to enter into a licensing agreement to exclusively use Winchester bullets in our products.  (We currently have a licensing agreement with Reagent Chemical to use White Flyer® Clay Targets in our clay target clocks.)  I believe that having the Winchester name attached to our products would greatly increase our visibility in search engines – not to mention that the quality of their bullets is exceptional.I can’t believe I forgot a couple of key points – other things we have done to try to get our business noticed.
7.  Television Commercial – We had a television commercial produced and run on our local channels in November & December.
8.  Newspaper Listing in the Dallas area.
9.  Craigslist
10.Google Ads
11.Facebook Ads
Karen Kirkham (@BulletDesigns), Co-Owner of Bullet Designs, LLC



As a small agency in a highly saturated market, competing with larger agencies was our biggest obstacle in 2010. We had to re-brand who we are and what we are about in order to stop fighting for the pennies in our backyard and go after the larger national clients. Changing our mentality took bringing on a highly skilled and motivated staff with a firm grasp on growth, quality, and retention.
Steven Picanza (@Picanza), Founder of Constant Motion Media

The big obstacle I started to overcome in 2010 (I’m still working on it!) was doing everything myself.  I hired several assistants and started outsourcing to free up my time for focusing on high leverage activities.  How did I do it?  I realized that I simply cannot reach my goals all by myself. If I want to get there, I’m going to need help!
Stephanie Padovani (@bookmorebrides), Co-founder of Book More Brides



I began 2010 a few months into widowhood with a business focused on marriage, and the husband who co-founded it with me gone. I decided to focus on creating new materials for singles and unmarried couples, creating one new book and four new eBooks about character and relationships.
Susanne M. Alexander (@Marriage4Ever), President of Marriage Transformation LLC

My biggest obstacle is fear of not getting enough things done. The way I overcome this fear is by writing out a to do list and making sure I do the things that are important first.
Derrick Hayes (@encouragement4u), Founder of WOE Enterprises

Starting over.  Starting over was definitely my biggest challenge. In 2009 I got my MBA, my career changed twice, and I moved across country. 2010 was all about redefining my life in terms that I decided.  Everything was new. New career path, new business, new house, new marriage.  I was the ultimate start-up. I embraced the opportunity to create my life the way I wanted it.  I embraced the fear, the stress, the excitement, the disappointments. Change is not easy. So I embraced the challenge.
Lauren MacEwen (@laurencubed), Primary Strategist and Creator of SM Cubed Consulting

In overcoming a huge writer’s block to complete 90 percent of a book in my three-week schedule, I used a fictional story about my most detested twentieth-century person, Mao Zedong, to drive inspiration. I finished the book on time and showed the S.O.B.up.
Vaughn Stelzenmuller, Owner of G.V. Stelzenmuller of Omega Man Press



My sincere thanks to all our respondents this week! Openly sharing your expertise and experiences is a huge asset to this blog and the readership. I wish you all a wonderful week and hope to see you here again.

This week’s question is –

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

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 (4)

Happy New Year!

December 31, 2010 – 6:00 am

As we are all about to embark on a brand New Year, I would like to take this moment and share some of my favorite New Year’s reminders.  Enjoy!

When Harry Met Sally

Seriously! What does that song mean?

Diana Krall sings, “What are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”


Love that smooth jazz to get you in the spirit!

And what would New Year’s Eve be without a little fun from Charlie Brown


Here’s hoping your evening turns out a bit brighter. 🙂


Wishing you all a prosperous and exciting New Year!

Until next year…

By Dr. Shannon Reece | Posted in Just for Fun | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

LAST CALL – The 30 Day Refresh-Her Challenge

December 30, 2010 – 1:30 pm



All good things must come to an end, and at midnight tonight, enrollment for The 30 Day Refresh-Her Challenge will close. So I simply wanted to give you a head’s up.


Today is your last day to:

  1. Grab your spot in The 30 Day Refresh-Her Challenge. Your window of opportunity closes at midnight EST tonight.
  2. Become a Founding Member of this program. This means that you will not only get my one-time-only, special introductory pricing, but all the added bonuses that come with it.
  3. Do what it takes to start 2011 without any of the obvious, but often overlooked, obstacles that could hold you back from maximizing your efforts.
  4. Reap the rewards of a small investment with a potentially huge payoff – but that is all up to you. When you join The 30 Day Refresh-Her Challenge, you will learn how to…
  • Multiply your investment in YOU, which will multiply the effectiveness of your business plan, positively impacting your bottom line.
  • Multiply your resilience to the 5 biggest obstacles that women face in their business, freeing you up to keep moving full speed ahead with confidence.
  • Multiply the size of your business vision, in a structured an actionable format that you can begin to implement right away.
  • Multiply your business opportunities, with some out of the box thinking, opening doors to partnership opportunities that you wouldn’t have otherwise seen.
  • Multiply your readiness to implement your plan of attack for 2011, by putting together a specific personal development plan designed to support your business growth goals.

This is it! We are down to the wire, so don’t let this valuable opportunity pass you by. Join The 30 Day Refresh-Her Challenge, where you can learn how to go from ordinary to extraordinary, and take your business along for the ride!

To your business success!








P.S. – Remember, at 12:01am EST, this offer is off the table. Don’t procrastinate. Join The Challenge.

“To be nobody but myself — in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else — means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight,and never stop fighting.”

–E.E. Cummings, poet (1894-1962)

By Dr. Shannon Reece | Posted in The 30 Day Refresh-Her Challenge | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

The Best Entrepreneurs Are Transient Underdogs

December 30, 2010 – 8:20 am

In our society, we have become accustomed to cheering for the underdog.  And yet, in the business world, where women entrepreneurs are often labeled as underdogs, we don’t seem to be as supportive.  In my opinion, women, in any arena, are not the epitome of underdogs in any way, shape or form.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an underdog is “a loser or predicted loser in a struggle or contest.”  That does not define any women entrepreneurs that I know!  They are fighters, go-getters, trail blazers and winners.  There is no room for any part of that definition in their world.

Survival of the Fittest

Do women struggle to start businesses?  Sure they do, but so do men.  It’s the way of the competitive business environment.  Some will make it, others will throw in the towel.  But anyone who personifies the term “underdog,” has no business playing in the entrepreneurial arena, unless they are cruising for a bruising.  Competing in business can be a dog fight, after all.

No one wants to be seen as the underdog, a.k.a. potential loser, anymore than we want to think of ourselves in such a defeating way.  But there is a time and place in business when we all “wear” that term, without becoming it — when we start, when we create, when we grow.  Those are the vulnerable times, when we put ourselves, our ideas, our dreams on the line, and fight to succeed.  It is a rite of passage for the entrepreneur.

You must walk before you can run…

No matter how successful you become, you can always fail.  But there’s a difference between being in an underdog scenario, and believing or allowing others to perceive you as an underdog.  We can be temporary underdogs, not by opening ourselves up to lose, but by simply taking the risk to win.

I became a “transient underdog” the day I decided to put everything on the line to make my business dreams a reality.  I was a little fish in a pond full of bigger fish, but never allowed myself to believe I couldn’t be a big fish too.  Though I started as a smart-working newbie in my niche, time, experience and perseverance led me to a position of expert, mentor and leader.

Wearing the badge of the underdog

But with the launch of a brand new program, I am testing new waters, and feel like I have donned the badge of the underdog once again.  This is not for lack of confidence in what I have created, but because it is simply untested.  It’s during this time that an entrepreneur must reach out to her trusted network of peers, fans, and clients for support of a new venture.  Charlie Gilkey explains it so beautifully from his personal quest –

“…there is a manifest need to start revealing some of the things I’ve been sitting on for years. I’ve got some medicine to get out there and doing so will require some help – I can’t do it alone, but to enlist people’s help, they have to understand what it is and that it works. In the realm of entrepreneurship, we call this marketing and social proof.”

So the underdog in any new scenario bears the burden of marketing and garnering social proof for the “medicine” she wishes to share with the world.  And that is right where I reside for the moment.  But my status will change through the women, who not only have the courage to reach within themselves for something bigger, but who trust me enough to allow me to lead them on this journey.

I can proudly and confidently walk the path of the underdog in this adventure, but will shortly move beyond this stage until the next time I reach beyond my present circumstances for something bigger and brighter.  This transition will come through the support of my growing network, and the deeper bonds we create each time we help each other grow.  Whether for the first time or the fiftieth, the truth is that everyone has to start somewhere, and my somewhere is now.  When it’s your turn to start somewhere, I hope you will invite me to walk beside you too.

© 2010 Reece International LLC/Dr. Shannon Reece. All rights reserved.

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If you wish to use this article on your website or online newsletter, no problem, BUT here is what you MUST include:

Dr. Shannon Reece – The One Trusted Woman in a Man’s Business World

Starting your own business can be tough, but having the right tools makes all the difference.  Dr. Reece provides the strategies and tactics women need to get their businesses from zero to launch and achieve real results.  For more information visit www.DrShannonReece.com.

By Dr. Shannon Reece | Posted in Alphabet of Entrepreneurs | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (3)

IMPORTANT UPDATE!

December 29, 2010 – 12:15 pm

Have you been…


A) buried under a blizzard

B) stranded at an airport

C) fighting your way through the “After Christmas sales” at the mall?

D) all of the above

Then you may have missed an important update I sent out on Monday…

The news? I flipped the switch.

And not just any switch, but the one that opened The 30 Day Refresh-Her Challenge to new members. Why the urgent message? Because the sale ends tomorrow!

Are you truly prepared for 2011?

So many entrepreneurs make the mistake of believing that they have it all together by putting tremendous time and effort into their business plan. That’s good and necessary to direct growth, BUT if you haven’t created a personal development plan to support it, then you really aren’t adequately prepared for all you hope to accomplish.

Common Entrepreneurial Mistakes

The 30 Day Refresh-Her Challenge was created to provide solutions to the five biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when attempting to grow their businesses to the next level –

Mistake #1 – If your Business Plan did not begin and end with YOU in mind, then you’ve really missed the boat!
Entrepreneurs completely forget that they are not an endless source of inspiration, motivation, energy, brilliance, words, plans, or smiles.  When their business plan is completely focused on the business, and does not include the necessary personal development of the business owner, the potential impact of any plan is dramatically reduced.  The Challenge: To double the amount of time and effort you spend investing in “you.”

Mistake #2 – If all your preparation did not include steps to tackle your greatest and most illusive obstacles, then you will be in for a bumpy ride.
Every entrepreneur struggles with the internal and external “noise” that can distract, deter, and derail even the most seasoned business owners from their intended path.  Obstacles are par for the course in business, and therefore you must have solid strategies to prepare for and overcome them if you want your business plan to succeed.  The Challenge: To double your resilience to handling the top five obstacles.

Mistake #3 – If you spent time enlarging your vision, but did not get really uncomfortable in the process, then you are thinking way too small.
Entrepreneurs are dreamers at heart, but dreams without structure will not get you anywhere.  When faced with the task of giving structure to their visions, business owners can fall into the trap of trying to fit them in neat little boxes.  The truth is that small thinking will only lead to small results.  The Challenge – To double the size of your business vision.

Mistake #4 – If your proposed outreach looks a lot like last year, then you are not casting your net wide enough.
Most entrepreneurs make plans each year to expand their reach in order to attract new prospects.  But in tough economic times, the tendency is to play it safe, avoiding risky ventures, and try to do more of what worked in the past.  Doing more of the same will not necessarily translate to earning more.  The Challenge – To double the number of business opportunities you seek.

Mistake #5 – If you haven’t considered where and how you need to prepare the inner YOU to accommodate your plan, then you are not ready to face the challenge.
Too often entrepreneurs believe that preparedness is about what you see on the outside — flashy emails, great product packaging, a rockin’ website, etc.  Those things are important, but true success comes from within.  The difficulty lies in understanding the steps to accomplishing such a feat.  The Challenge – To double your readiness to grow.

What is The 30 Day Challenge?

If you want to experience business growth in 2011, then you MUST invest in, nurture and develop your company’s greatest asset — YOU! By taking The 30 Day Refresh-Her Challenge, you will learn how to go from ordinary to extraordinary, and take your business along for the ride.

  • 30 Lessons and Action Worksheets
  • 30 Minutes a Day
  • 30 Days
  • For less than $30.00 (seriously!)

    •  


Fast Action Bonuses

(but only for the women who are bold enough to act fast!)

Bonuses for THE FIRST 25 Women Who Enroll

  • Access to 5 Group Mentorship Calls. (Added Value – $750)

THE FIRST 15 members get everything the first 25 members receive, plus…

  • 30 Days of Private Email Access to me (Added Value – $3000)

The FIRST 5 members get everything the first 25 members receive, plus…

  • Lifetime access to all future upgrades to The 30 Day Refresh-Her Challenge. (Added Value – Invaluable, but easily worth $5000)

The FIRST member gets everything the first 15 receive, plus…

  • A One Hour Phone Session with me. (Added Value – $300)

And yes, still for less than $30.00


Do you want to be celebrating your success this time next year?

If you are serious about getting the most out of your efforts in 2011, invest in yourself, invest in your business, invest in your future NOW! Space is limited and enrollment ends tomorrow. No exceptions!
With my Personal Guarantee, you have nothing to lose and so much to gain. I can also guarantee that I won’t be making this offer again, so don’t miss your chance to start 2011 the right way.

For more information and to sign up, visit
The 30 Day Refresh-Her Challenge


By Dr. Shannon Reece | Posted in The 30 Day Refresh-Her Challenge | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

Tip of the Week – Dec 29, 2010

December 29, 2010 – 6:00 am

As the year winds down and you prepare to start anew, focus only on the take-aways from the past year that will support you as you boldly enter a new season of your business and leave everything else behind.

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