Strengthening The Global Economy: The Female Factor

Women owned small businesses have a higher percentage of long term success.

Contrary to what many think,women entrepreneurs are highly motivated philanthropists . Studies show that they are more likely than men entrepreneurs to participate in leadership roles when they volunteer for charitable organizations.



In the report, "Leaders in Business and Community," is based on a national survey among 226 women and 235 men business owners."Nine out of ten business owners (92% of women and 88% of men) contribute money to charities, compared to 70% of all U.S. households surveyed by the independent Sector1 in 1999," noted NFWBO Chair Nina McLemore.



"Nearly one-third of the business owners surveyed by NFWBO (31% of women, 30% of men) make significant personal charitable contributions of $5,000 or more per year, including 15% and 13%, respectively, who contribute $10,000 or more." McLemore is President of Regent Capital, a private investment firm, and a member of C200.



Women build business and give back to their community in a more substantial way than their male counterparts.



Entrepreneurs are also active volunteers with charitable organizations. Seven out of ten of the business owners surveyed (68% of women, 72% of men) by NFWBO volunteer at least once in a typical month, compared to 62% of all women and 50% of all men in the U.S.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Enterprising Women: Are You Asking For Help Around The House

The dynamic of shifting gender roles is something I am seeing a great deal in my practice. Many of my clients are high powered women executives who frequently out earn their husbands. Some complain that they are married to a husband that is doing more slaking than baking. When I dive deeper, I find that shared responsibilities are a two way street. Often women pretend guys are psychic.

For women that want more help around the house here are some tips:

Are you speaking up? (Most women could use some help here.)
Are you asking for exactly what you need?
Are you being specific?
Did you spell it out your request clearly?
(Translation: how, what, when, where, why)
Is it written down?
(If it isn't written down there is no way to track it's completion.)
It takes a great deal of superb communication to make reversed gender roles work. My standing ovation if it is working seamlessly for you.

PERCEPTION: What Are You Missing? Part 2

The point of the story is that thousands of people walked by
something of tremendous value.

What value are you missing?
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell,
one of the greatest musicians in the world. He
played one of the most intricate pieces ever written,
with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.. Two days
before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where
the seats averaged $100.


This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito
in the metro station was organized by the Washington
Post as part of a social experiment about perception,
taste and people's priorities.
The questions raised:
*In a common place environment at an
inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
*Do we stop to appreciate it?
*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected
context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment
could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one
of the best musicians in the world, playing some of
the finest music ever written, with one of the most
beautiful instruments ever made.
How many other things are we missing?

PERCEPTION: What Are You Missing? Part 1

Look at the picture. What do you see?
What is the value the musician is delivering to the passengers?
Would you stop and listen? The following is a wonderful study
conducted by the Washington Post.

Washington , DC Metro Station on a cold January
morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six
Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time
approx. 2 thousand people went through the station,
most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a
middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing.
He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and
then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman
threw the money in the hat and, without stopping,
continued to walk.

6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him,
then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him
along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the
violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the
child continued to walk, turning his head all the
time. This action was repeated by several other
children. Every parent, without exception, forced
their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people
stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave
money but continued to walk at their normal pace.
The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one
noticed.. No one applauded, nor was there any
recognition.

Why Don't Women Create More Wealth?

Like many, I am an accidental entrepreneur. As a coach to men and women small business owners, I notice a trend. This doesn't happen with ever client, but it happens frequently.

Women carry a burden that men don't. It isn't children or the life balance mix.



It is self doubt.

Women far more frequently than men judge that they have done a poor job. They are far more critical of job performance. Studies that I reference in my book, Funky to Fabulous, show studies of women's negative focus. A study tracked women's and men's eye movements when they looked at themselves in a mirror.



Men (even those that had little hair and lots of belly) looked at their best features. "Man, I look good!" was the underlying thought. Women (even those with little fat and lots of hair) zeroed in on their flaws. "Boy, does my butt look big." was the subtext.



In order to make more money, women need to tackle the enemy of their negative self worth.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Is Control the Answer?

A single YouTube video launched the Debtors Revolt. Then Move Your Money.org harnessed the fury against the banks in a video and call to action. Now, New Mexico is looking a legislation to move $1.5 billion pf state funds to small community banks chartered in New Mexico.



I see this shift as part of the paradigm shift. Do the right thing. Engage your customers. Be a linchpin and you will succeed. Those that are following the old model are bound to go the way of the 8 Track player.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Dreaming of Starting Your Own Business? Would Coaching Help You?

As coach for entrepreneurs it is a delight to be part of clients turning dreams into reality. Carrie is one of the top designers in her field. If you watch either movies of TV you have seen her incredible designs.


"I found Eli at the perfect time for me. After being laid off from my job as an Art Director she has helped to transform the way
I work with myself and others. She helped me to shift a potential tragic situation into an amazing opportunity to reinvent and re establish myself and my career.

I have accomplished everything I had wanted to for the last 3 years with her in just 2 months.

We are still working together as I step into starting my own business, writing a book, and coaching creatives. We have unblocked
issues that have help me back my entire life along with embracing and expressing all of my skills and talents. She has truly been a blessing for me in manifesting my dreams.

Her positive energy is infectious and she makes the process fun and manageable.
I would love to see her energy and gifts shared with as many people as possible."

Carrie Henkle
CEO, The Creative Company
Los Angeles, Ca

Small Businenss Owner: How Are Layoffs Affecting Your Teams

As a women small business owner, the current environment is a perfect storm of stress. It is just as tough on your employees. 40% of employees in a recent Harris Interactive poll said their productivity was negatively impacted by layoffs. Sixty-six percent said that morale has suffered and people are less motivated, and 64% report that there’s too much work and not enough people to do it.

Watson Wyatt/World at Work’s 2009/2010 U.S. Strategic Rewards Survey found:

* 41% of employees think changes the business made has had an adverse impact on quality/customer service.
* 44% of employees said there’s been a negative impact on productivity.
* 79% of employers said there’s been a negative impact on employee workloads.
* 64% of employers felt employee work-life balance has been adversely impacted.
* 69% of employers said cost-cutting made managing work-related stress worse.

As tough as it is, aren't you glad that you are the boss?

Small Businenss Owner: Where Should You Invest Your Hard Earned Money ?

Here I am with Nicole Dunn. We are at a jet launch. This is going to be a heck of a year.

As a coach, I see the power of coaching in my own life. One assignments I got from my coach was to "make numbers your friend."
Here are some tips from fellow Huffington Post columnist Loral Langermeir

"It's still a little scary out there, I know. Where should I look for those good rates of return? How can I turn my mattressed money into a cash machine?

1. Real Estate: this is news to most people, but the real estate market cycles. It goes up, then down, then up again: it always has, and it always will. As the population is growing, people will need land. Right now the price of land is at garage sale prices that will not be seen again for years. By now, sell high.

2. Bankrupt Businesses: the credit crunch and depression have driven many businesses into bankruptcy. Not because they were necessarily bad businesses, but because the owners didn't really understand the business conversation. Buy a business, and build yourself a cash machine better than any bank can offer.

3. Invest in Ideas: if you or someone in your family has a great idea for a new service or product, don't shove that under the mattress with the rest of your money. Get out there and make something of it. Find a coach who can help you turn that concept into cash.

4. Spot your Skills: what can you do that someone else would pay you to do? You have a skill, either a talent that you have developed or something that's been trained, that can become your new cash machine. "

As you know I am a huge believer in investing in your skills! You deserve to invest in you!

Small Businenss Owner: The Perfect Storm. Has It Washed Away Your Life?

As an entrepreneur you need to understand that the trends transforming work and life go way beyond you.

You may own your business,but you can't change the economy. Working with a national association today I was reminded how much every industry has changed in the last 18 months.

Work and life have fundamentally changed. Why has managing your work and life become so tough?If you study the data you will see that broad economic, demographic and sociological trends have shifted dramatically over the past ten years. Dramatic change doesn’t mean you don’t have the power to take action. It means that the action may be very different.

Why? Because you realize that the issue is not that there’s something is wrong with you, or that you can’t “hack” it. Understanding the macro context doesn’t mean you don’t have the power to take action and make your fit better, but it does makes it easier to understand why you need to exercise that power.

Tomorrow I will share some recent research that reinforces, it’s not just you!

Entrepreneurs are the losers with a debt settlement industry in crisis

As a coach for many entrepreneurs I see it is key to have access to credit to start new businesses. Like many small business owners I started my design business with credit cards. Using those credit cards, I built a company from $17 and a glue gun to $1.5 million of retail sales over four years. Having health, marriage and business problems meant that I faced a perfect storm. Like many others today, I couldn't pay off my debt.



People today are facing more immediate financial pressure than ever before. Jobs are vanishing, foreclosures are trending at record numbers and more people are turning to bankruptcy-- needlessly.

What consumers lack today are real concrete solutions to help them deal with problem debt. The only legal solution that is approved in all states is bankruptcy. But what about consumers that don't want to go bankrupt? What options do they have?

I turned to a debt settlement company. It was the only way that I could have paid back creditors and not filed bankruptcy.

Debt settlement allows the consumer to eliminate their financial liability in a mutually agreeable way for less than the full amount owed based on what they can afford. They can actually achieve results in a difficult situation, resolving their money troubles without bankruptcy. Debt settlement helps consumers avoid bankruptcy while returning a fair and negotiated amount to the creditor in a legally binding way. It helps the consumer to be represented by a true third party-the debt settlement company.

"I am extremely concerned for consumers," said Alex Viecco, VP and co-founder of New Era Debt Solutions. "There's been an influx of sub-prime mortgage lenders rushing on to the settlement bandwagon trying to make a quick buck."

Today, many new debt settlement companies are appearing. These companies, many of dubious character and expertise, are creating problems that are leading to a patchwork of state legislation that will close or highly regulate debt settlement companies to protect consumers.

New Era Debt Solutions, a debt settlement company, wants federal regulators to proactively come out with legislation to regulate the debt settlement industry, protecting the consumer and forcing opportunist debt settlement companies off the map.

The debt settlement industry desperately needs one set of federal legislation that provides a clear framework of protective rules allowing consumers access to the valuable tool of debt settlement.

"We don't want to stand by and watch consumers be robbed of access to debt settlement, leaving them with only bankruptcy as a real and final option to their debt problems," said Dan Smith, President and CEO of New Era Debt Solutions. "People want to pay what they are able to afford and avoid bankruptcy. Debt settlement allows them to do that.

Small Business Owners Diet Tips

For many entrepreneurs, taking care of their health is the very last thing on their 'to do' list. Time and time again I see coaching clients sacrifice their well being to meet the demands of their business.

Since women business owners juggle both work and home , it is even harder. Watching Oprah's battle with weight shows how tough it is for women leaders to put their health first.For many women entrepreneurs, losing weight will be one of life's most difficult challenges.

Ladies! Don't be discouraged if you've tried losing weight in the past and you weren't able to -- or you lost weight but gained it all back. Studies at the Mayo clinic show that any people experiment with several different weight-loss plans before they find an approach that works.

Here Are Some Success Strategies To Help

• Focus your thoughts on the positive outcome for losing weight. Think of your new lifestyle as positive experience, not a negative one.
• Recent studies show that approaching weight loss with a positive attitude will help you succeed.
• Cut your goal in half. Most small business owners are used to setting very difficult goals, and then driving themselves to achieve them.
•
• In order to set realistic expectations for yourself, take your weight loss in 5 pound increments.
•
• Focus on behavioral changes and don't focus too much on weight changes.
• Use turnaround techniques. What have been the challenges in the past? Write down the obstacles, and come up with strategies for dealing with those obstacles.
• Make small, not drastic, changes to your lifestyle. Adjustments that are too intense or vigorous can make you uncomfortable and cause you to give up.

Accept the fact that you'll have setbacks. Believe in yourself. Instead of giving up entirely, simply start fresh the next day.

Small Business Tips From Paula Deen

Like many women, Paula Deen started a business to keep her family fed. Food Network superstar and best-selling author Paula Deen cooked up a multimillion-dollar empire from her own kitchen. Get her top tips for starting and expanding a small business.

As a coach for entrepreneurs I was blown away by the story of how Aaron got over his grief by starting a business. Who was his hero? Paula Deen. Even though she was busy as a blender, she made the trip to be on the Oprah Show and encourage her fan.

Here are some of Paula Deen's Small Business Tips


1. Be passionate.

2 Make the best product you can at a reasonable price. "I had $200 when I started my little business," she says.

3. Experiment. "Use your friends and family as guinea pigs," she says. "Explore your talents."

4. Know the business. "I turned to the state and I took advantage of the people they had in the Small Business Administration to help just feed me information and take me on to my next spot."

5. Take small steps. "If you make small steps and you fail at some point, the fall's not nearly as long," she says. "Mine has been in the process now of over 20 years."

How Starting A Small Business Saved A Small Boy's Life

Starting a small company saved a grieving boys life, and landed him on Oprah.

After Eric's death, his twin brother Aaron said something that terrified his grieving parents. "He said that he didn't want to be here anymore."

They sent him to the family doctor. Dr. Corder. No one would have expected the family doctor to make an unusual perscription- become a entrepreneur. 'What do you like to do?' And he said, 'I like to cook.' I said to him, 'We're gonna cook for your brother.'"

Dr. Corder gave Aaron $20. "I'm gonna be your first investor," she says. "And I want a business plan."

On the ride home, the new entrepreneur Aaron made a shopping list and named his company DoughJangles. A week later, Aaron returned to Dr. Corder's office with a tray of cookies and a list of how he spent her $20.

Since that appointment been baking cookies, selling them to friends and Jeff's co-workers. Aaron even pays his big brother, Bryce, $2 a day for helping. Starting his own business helped Aaron to get over the loss of losing his brother.

A portion of every cookie's sale went to the charities that helped his brother when he was ill. Finding his hidden talent helped him to reclaim his life, and give back.

Today Eric met his small business hero, Paula Dean, on the Oprah Show today.

Wedding Gown Therapy

It had been a bad hair month, “said Beth Grading. “I had been passed over for a promotion, my best friend got a great job in San Francisco and I had a string of ‘no where dates’. “I felt so goofy that my bad mood lifted. I loved pacing up and down the stairs. “Studies show that visual cues can affect your emotions. If you add laughter to the mix you have a powerful combination..” Says Eli Davidson, M.A. author of Funky to Fabulous: Creating the Life You Want, Not the One You Are Stuck With (Oak Grove Press).Trot to your local thrift store or consignment store and buy wedding gown (or if that gives you the heebie geebies buy a second hand ball gown). If you have a task you dread (like cleaning your oven or preparing your taxes) put on your handy wedding gown. Your mood can’t help but lift.

It’s hard to take yourself as seriously when you are walking around with a six foot train of silk trailing behind you. Changing your clothes into celebration wear automaticly boosts your mood.

It is a Pattern Interrupt Technique founded in the principles of Neuro Linguistic Programming. You can disrupt a bad mood by giving yourself a cheerful cue by putting on some celebration wear.

Change Your Outfit-Change Your Outlook

A wedding gown may not be the perfect thing to slip into at the office. By slipping into a different pair of shoes, or changing into a vibrant sweater, you are short circuiting a negative pattern. “By taking dominion over your behavior even in a simple act like putting on some lipstick, you are giving yourself a new cue.” suggests Eli Davidson. “If I am having a dizzing day , I will go home at lunch and change my clothes. I come back to the office refreshed and redirected. .” Says Barbara Holden of Austin, Texas.

That new signal overrides the existing one and reminds you that you are the one that determines your mood. You can then more easily direct yourself in a more positive direction.

Color Me Happy

Keep an item close that is the color of happiness? Color is a powerful unconscious motivator. It is one of our fastest signaling systems. Green on the grass is great. Green growing on your hamburger is gross. Think of your favorite color and your mood will improve. “I love having tea in my orange and tourquoise mug that my niece Elena made.” said consultant Since there is a powerful link between color behavior and mood keeping a “happy color” close you can help short circuit your stressors.

Get Goofy

100 laughs are equal to 10 minutes of aerobics. Have some silly wear handy for when you are taking yourself too seriously. “I put a ping pong table in my design studio. Ping pong makes me giggle. Laughing makes me more creative.” Olia Toporovsky of New York City. Consider keeping a goofy pair of glasses (my current favorite) for the drive to and from work.


Eli Davidson built a design company from $17 and a glue gun to 1.5 million in sales in four years. In an 18 month period she lost her business, marriage and health leaving her $88,000 in debt. That was in 1999. Using the system she teaches, she turned her life around. Four years later she had paid off her debt, was living in a million dollar home, and coaching some of the most successful people in America including Emmy, Grammy and Golden Globe winners.

Today, she is a nationally recognized woman's business expert who shares her Turnaround Techniques in her new book, Funky to Fabulous. Eli has been featured on The Today Show, USA Network, NBC and Fox Television. Now, you have access to her power tools to change your life. Come to http://www.funkytofabulous.com/
and download your free video and sneak peak chapter of Funky to Fabulous. Collect your Power Tools for Success when sign up for Eli's newsletter through her website . Contact Eli at @elidavidson.com or at (310) 842.8076.