Idyllic spot to write a blog post

I had been writing this blog post in my head all afternoon as I wandered the streets and parks of Zagreb, Croatia. Travelling has allowed me this time to think, to be a creative, open-minded, reflective and curious.

It’s also showed me just how differently I can approach running my business out of necessity of having to do so and taking the opportunities to work where possible.

A few months back BC Business magazine decided to write about me in an article called `Unplan Your Business’. Tony Wanless, the author, gave me a label I’ve come to really like:

“Sisson is sort of a poster girl for entrepreneurs who follow their heart and find themselves in places they had never dreamed of.”

He went on to analyse my blog post back in April ‘Feel the fear. Follow Your Passion. Be a Linchpin’ where I talked about taking the leap to treat WomanzWorld as a full time pursuit using the lessons I learned previously when cofounding a technology company.

“Basically Sisson learned how to “unplan” a business. This doesn’t mean having no plan, but substituting a series of goals instead in the early stages.

The goal-oriented “unplan” also is increasingly being used in place of a formal marketing plan. By setting singular quarterly goals, new or young business, can develop their market, assess regularly, and make changes quickly in response.

I don’t know if Sisson has unplanned her new business, but I suspect she has. It seems like a natural thing to do.”

It struck me today, as I read a book in the peace of the local gardens, overlooking a pond with turtles and water lilies, that yes, I have unplanned my business and it seems to be working rather well.

In the last few weeks I’ve witnessed amazing results by putting my energy in to the areas that mattered most and were gaining momentum, changing it up on a daily basis.

It made me realize that in this results-driven culture we have a tendency to overplan, to set too many criteria and deliverables to achieve, which can actually have the opposite effect and make us feel like we’re constantly failing when we miss a deadline or don’t hit a target.

The indirect path -hiking in Slovakia

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not gallivanting off across Europe, sightseeing all day and leaving things to chance although I really have done the least amount of travel planning ever.

I do have systems in place, a clearly defined plan of attack and business tools that I use. It’s because of this that I can take a different path when needed.

In fact it was while hiking in Slovakia that I realized by having your baseline business development goals and strategy in place, you’ll be able to better cope with unexpected obstacles in your path.

The track we took to reach the waterfall was unbelievably indirect. We criss-crossed back and forth across this gushing creek no less than 20 times to reach our destination, hugging rock crevices, holding onto ropes and chains and jumping across stones in the process.

It wasn’t the most direct route at all but we got there. It’s the same in business, there will never be a linear line that you will take to reach your expected revenue goals, or your intended profit margins.

In fact 5 years I bet you will look back at the paths you’ve taken and realize how far you’ve diverted from your initial starting point in order to grow your business.

How do you unplan your business?

1. Choose to spend your time wisely.
   During my travels I’ve worked on buses, trains, airplanes, cars and even in a town square on a bench. I take what I can get and work extra hard when I get reliable internet, as my friends can attest to. In fact one had to drag me away from my laptop after working 12 hours straight because I was `in the zone’.
2. Put your effort where the momentum is.
   Each day I have focused on the following business and community development techniques I’ve honed: reading key blogs and articles, commenting, sharing, distributing, engaging, discussing, retweeting, liking and digging. I’ve seen immediate results so I rinse and repeat.
3. Give yourself creative space
   Ironically you should plan to have creative time in your day – it’s essential. Travelling has proven this to me. I have written far more articles than ever before as I’m inspired by my surroundings. I’ve taken pictures just because I had an article that I could write to go with it.
4. React and respond
   I made an extra effort to reach out to a variety of people when doing No 2. and replied to all new subscribers personally, made sure I answered emails, gave out information, answered questions and asked questions. The response back has been two fold.
5. Remove yourself
   By the end of my 12 hour day my eyes were so sore I could barely keep them open. But deep down, I knew all that work had been so worth it. I turned off my laptop, went away to an Ultimate Frisbee tournament for the weekend and completely unplugged.

The results speak for themselves

When I got back to being online I found my blog post on the Top 20 Women to follow on Twitter for business and entrepreneurship had gone viral, it had also gone viral on Forbes, where I am a contributor – even Forbes thanked me. All the ladies I featured thanked me in one way or another which was truly lovely.

I had hundreds of new followers, I hope they did too, I had more people join my community, join my newsletter and subscribe to my blog – a big hello to you!

I had people commenting, sending emails, tweeting and engaging. I made more connections in the next few days than I have in a month. Wonderful things happened – I got invited to speak on two upcoming radio shows – that’s never happened before.

I got given two free tickets to the Shine Event for women entrepreneurs in Las Vegas in November with the incredible Ali Brown valued at just under $1,000 each. I decided straight away to offer one to my readers (more on that below).

And I do believe I struck up about 5 collaborations for future initiatives to bring more resources, advice and expertise to WomanzWorld.

Nurture your business like you would a garden

It was only today, that I looked at what I do like the analogy of growing a beautiful garden.

You select seeds of flowers and plants you’d like to see blossom. You plant them in the earth, you tend to them each day, nurturing them with water and fertilizer and love and tender care.

Then you leave them for a little for nature to take its course, and come back to check on them a few days later. Bit by bit these seedlings start to grow, then blossom and before you know it your garden is in full bloom.

Don’t waste all that effort and leave your garden to become overgrown with undesirable weeds. Maintain it and it will continue to delight you season after season.

Remember anything worth building in this world takes time, energy, hard work and desire – to make an impact, to be part of something bigger that touches people and makes their life better.

To do this you require the right tools for your business and a support network that holds you accountable – more on that in my next post.

So my beautiful blossoming entrepreneurs, let’s grow some more together.  Here’s how:

1. Leave a comment on what one thing you do to make your business blossom
2. Grab your chance to win a ticket and join me at Shine in Las Vegas in November. Simply subscribe to my blog and then tweet this out with your own personal reason or comment below:

I would love to attend SHINE in Vegas because ______________________ #womanzworld #shine

1. Please support me by tuning into my session on Radio Marketing Antics http://Radio.MarketingAntics.com on Monday August 16th (7PM PDT)
2. Come catch me on Your15MinutesRadio – An Unconventional Way to Get Your MBA on Monday 24^th August (6pm EST) http://blogtalkradio.com/your15minutes

Loretta Cella is a woman on a mission. She knows that when you ignite the spirit in a girl, in her whole being there is no stopping her.

I know this too. When I first wrote my vision for WomanzWorld it was driven by a higher purpose than ensuring more women started their own businesses. I have read several studies that proved that girls with an education and basic business skills were in fact the pillar of communities that saw economic success.

I want to start a grassroots movement to educate girls in developing countries using profits from my business and community and will be supporting 60 Million Girls, an organization that does just this, through contributing profits from any WomanzWorld products and programs

I will also be supporting Loretta who is making a difference in the lives of young women in Vancouver. I think she is doing an amazing job especially considering she is running her foundation while holding a full time job.

This is her story.

Loretta Cella: I started the Passion Foundation after a number of years of working for several agencies and organizations serving youth, families, and communities. No matter where I was, what ages I was working with, I always felt there was more that girls needed.

They always seemed more caught up with their friends, family, boys, etc and whenever things went wrong they always looked for outside sources to make it better such as food, violence, self harm, running away, clothes, gossiping, sex, and the list goes on.

They endured a lot of stress, anxiety and depression which many people said was “normal” for an adolescent, but I felt it was unnecessary given their circumstances. I knew that by providing girls and young women with the space to explore, discover, and embrace their potential, it would not only enrich their lives but also their community.

When a girl connects to her real sense of self she starts to identify areas in her life that are important for her to work on. She can stand up to challenges in an empowered way and make healthier choices that create great success in her life.

When a young woman makes a decision to embrace personal success she not only does it for herself but has the want and need to share it with others. She will share it with her friends, family, and anyone who will give her an ear.

How it all began

During my time with the YWCA in Scarborough, Canada in 2005, I worked with a group of girls ranging from 10-20 years of age and I had more freedom to develop my own programs for them.

Using more coaching and life development skills along with training programs like babysitters training, cooking, and peer to peer mentorship, I saw the change that was lacking before.

By providing a space for girls to explore who they were, listening to their own interests and dreams and providing them with an opportunity to learn and develop skills, I watched the girls go from surviving in an urban ghetto to functioning in a community that was developing.

There was less drama, they got better grades, made healthy choices, were more caring and fought less. They had more drive to get part-time jobs and helped out around the building. They learnt to share their real feelings and became empowered to make choices from the inside out.

When I moved back to Vancouver I realized that I needed to do more of this, and the only way was to use what I had learnt from my own life experiences, education, and from the young women I worked with.

The Decision to Act

In 2008 the Passion foundation was born. I created a coaching series called the Elements of SUCCESS. It’s a 7 step process that girls make a fresh start with. It’s an acronym that stands for:

Self exploration

Understanding limitation

Courage to move through

Cooperation

Evaluation

Skill development, and

Service

The girls take everything they learn from this coaching series and create a project in the community that is important and valuable to them.

The first group of girls I ran through this program in 2008 put on a performance called Real Girls Real Stories. It was powerful. Everyone who attended that day left with an imprint of each of those girls’ stories.

It was inspiring, moving, and enriching. We had a group of local actresses including the likes of Patti Allan and Grace Park come in and do some training with them. The girls got to meet women who were living their passion and it was such a beautiful part of this process.
Another example is a Passion Leader who has been with the Passion Foundation for two years and is living this reality. She has gone from teenager struggling in direction and motivation to discovering her passion for music and musicians.

At 17 years old Alex has started a blog and with support has landed herself three media passes to national concert series and interviews with her favourite musicians. See it for yourself here www.ar-thelistening.tumblr.com

In 2008 I also went on vacation in Kenya and while there I was able to create a leadership program for young women through Africa Youth Trust. As a result of this Brenda Isabel, a phenomenal Kenyan sista, was able to empower over 500 young women in two years time as a Passion Youth Coach.

Brenda is now working hard to make a difference; empowering young women to stay in school by providing them with a safe space to be themselves and learn new skills.

Where to Next?

I’ve been through a lot in my life; all those challenges I’ve faced and moved through have given me the direct knowledge, empowerment, and learning I needed to do this work and do it well.

To date I’ve worked with over 200 young women through the Passion Foundation in one capacity or another and my goal is to continue this movement. Unlike most start up NPOs there is only one thing that is holding me back from making this go from a grassroots organization to a national NPO that provides programs across the country -  finances.

I’ve written the book, I have women interested in volunteering, I have an amazing board that we are looking at expanding soon and we have the results.

My goal is to train 400 girls to start living large from September 2010 to 2011. We can do this, I’m confident of it, but we need women out there who understand the importance of this to help financially. We need them to help mentor once the girls connect with their goals and start to move passionately toward their dreams.

If you’re interested in helping Loretta achieve her mission then please visit Passion Foundation or email her on info@passionfoundation.org

Well before I embarked on my trip to Europe to further my goal to visit half the world, as well as attempt to run my business in the process, I had discovered Lea Woodward.

The Woodward Family

I believe it was a tweet I sent saying `Who is a great example of someone running a business while travelling the world?’ and Lea’s name came up several times.

I looked her up and realized she had built an entire business around living a Location Independent lifestyle with a blog, a huge community and some fantastic go-to resources to allow others to do the same.

I thought it was a longshot to reach out and ask if she’d be open for an interview but I’ve generally found if you approach people with a genuine reason they’re often more than open to it. Within less than a day Lea had responded back saying she’d be delighted to.

She even went so far as to shoot a short video for me (given both our internet connections were unreliable and our respective travel itineraries were making it difficult to arrange a Skype interview).

So without further ado, let me introduce to you the very down to earth nomad, business woman, mother and living proof of how to live the lifestyle that so many people can only dream of. She tells us what it’s really like, how you can achieve it too and what opportunities have come her way as a result.

What was the biggest transition you had to make to be location independent?

Becoming an entrepreneur after being a corporate rat racer for most of my life. Running your own business & working for yourself requires a totally different mindset from that of being an employee and that’s the one area I’ve always worked hard on and still work hard on!

What key piece of advice would you give someone wanting a location independent lifestyle?

If you want to be location independent, you need to do two key things to give yourself everything you need to be able to live & work from anywhere you choose:

1) Continuously work on your own skillset (tech, entrepreneurial & marketing)
2) Create a sustainable, profitable business which you can run & manage online from anywhere

Once you’ve done that, the world is your oyster and you can add travel and a nomadic lifestyle to the mix!

What have been the main challenges to building your business while on the road?

Time & a decent internet connection. One of the biggest misconceptions about this lifestyle is that you’ll have more time as soon as you quit your job and start working for yourself while travelling.

In the past 3-4 years of doing this, we’ve found it’s been the exact opposite (even more so now we have a 1 year old) – we’ve had less time to focus on our business. A lifestyle of permanent travel means you will have to spend extra time researching destinations, organising travel plans, booking flights/accommodation, insurance and other travel administration tasks.

Plus there’s the time it takes to settle in and pack up each time you move somewhere new. Not to mention the psychological/emotional effort it takes to deal with the stress of travel & entrepreneurship. It’s an exciting, rollercoaster adventure of a lifestyle but it’s not always easy!

What have you enjoyed most about running your company?

The people we’ve been able to meet both online & offline. One of the benefits we’ve recently enjoyed of being location independent, is that we can spend time with friends we’ve made online – which is currently what we’re doing, based in Edinburgh for the summer. We’ve been fortunate to meet some really cool people globally – both in real life and online and it’s making these connections which has opened up all sorts of opportunities.  

You’ve clearly achieved what many dream of, what’s your recipe for success?

I think the most important thing that’s helped us get where we are (although we’re not “there” yet in our own terms!) is that we just keep moving forward – both physically and in our businesses/personal projects.

One of the things that stops most people from making progress is paralysis – they either don’t know what to do next or they’re afraid of what to do next, so they don’t do anything.

I’ve always said that the most important thing to keep progressing is to make a move…any move, and only then will you know if it’s the “right” one or not. And if it’s not, then you at least have a new perspective on which to make new decisions for your next moves!

How long did it take you to become profitable enough to support your lifestyle?

Once we decided that we wanted to leave the UK and move overseas (that was our first goal – we didn’t actually set out to become nomadic, we just realised we enjoyed it once we’d started), it took 6 months to get our business to the stage where it could support us with a guaranteed income for at least the first 6-9 months.

That was the criteria we set to leave and we gave ourselves 9 months to get there – it actually took 4 months from a business perspective, the rest of the time was spent selling our apartment, getting rid of our possessions and other personal admin tasks.

Where did the inspiration come to grow the blogs and the resources?

The initial blog (at www.locationindependent.com) started off as more of a journal to record our experiences, our travels and what we were learning about our lifestyle. It was never really meant to be anything more than a place to share our personal story – but then it started to gain some traction and I kept getting messages saying how cool a concept it was.

Finally in 2009 (2 years after I first started the blog), I decided to make a business out of it and started to expand and add sites and resources to create the network as it now is.

My mission for the project has also evolved and it’s now all about creating the “go to” resource for anybody wanting to create a location independent lifestyle for themselves, and spreading the word about the concept to as wide an audience as possible (thanks to Womanzworld for helping us do that with this interview!).

If you were to suggest the three main tools you need to be able to work and travel what would they be?

1. An entrepreneurial skillset – which includes marketing, tech and strategy skills
2. An open mind
3. A laptop

Which inspires you more – your travels or the communities you’ve built?

Both inspire me in different ways. In fact our travels & lifestyle fuel the resources we create for the communities we run, but running and growing the online communities we currently have is a daily inspiration to keep going, even when it gets tough.

All three communities we currently run are tied together because they are all about helping people create lives enabled by their passions – that makes it fun, worthwhile and challenging to us all at the same time.

What are some of the top books you’ve read that have made a personal difference to you and influenced you and why?

I love You Squared by Price Pritchett – it’s more of a pamphlet and isn’t that well known but it’s been one of my favourite motivational reads since I discovered it a few years ago.

Despite my professional background as a management consultant, I loved The E-myth Revisited which is essential reading for anybody wanting to build a business and not just a job for themselves.

What’s the most exciting thing that’s happening right now?

So much! Our daughter is about to turn 1, I’m also about to celebrate my 33rd birthday and we’ve got some really exciting plans to grow all of our communities for the rest of this year. Oh and we’re also about to release our next major resource for our communities – The DIY Design & Branding Toolkit which is being created for bootstrapping entrepreneurs who can’t afford to hire a professional designer but still want their stuff to look good. 

What is your key piece of advice to anyone considering a location independent business?

Start building it NOW…whether you’re in a job still or not, there’s never a better time to start adding income streams to your portfolio than now.

If you want to live this location independent lifestyle then check out Lea’s fantastic ‘Location Independent Business Guide’

The Location Independent Business Guide is a online programme which gives you everything you need to create, build and grow your own profitable location independent business.

What you get in the guide:

• A PDF tutorial with key takeaways & easy-to-implement knowledge (all options)
• Sample templates and example documents (all options)
• A 30-60m audio tutorial with additional examples and tips (Premium & Premium Plus only)
• A summary slideshow of the key points in each module (Premium & Premium Plus only)
• Additional “recommended resource” lists (Premium & Premium Plus only)
• A 60m Skype/IM Text consult (Premium Plus only)

Click here to view more details for the guide or if you want the premium guide Click here to view more details

I totally recommend it!

Back in March I wrote a post that was pretty popular called `How to Catch a Time Thief and Get More Done’. The essence of this post, as you can imagine was how to reclaim your time, and more importantly put it to better use.

As we know everyone has the same amount of time in a day, a week, a month and a year, yet some people are much more adept and effective at using it wisely. I’m talking about the amount they achieve both work wise and personally.

Clock Tower in Graz, Austria

I really like this recent post from Tamsen at Brass Tack Thinking, a popular blog I’ve only recently discovered and am so glad to have. The posts are insightful, pertinent and relevant and they give great cause for discussion, debate or introspective thinking.

What really resonated with me was this statement:

TIME doesn’t make you do something. YOU do.

The question isn’t, “Do I really want (or need) to get this done by a certain date?”

It’s “Do I really want to get this thing done, or not?” And really, “Am I willing to do what it takes to do it?” Your progress, your success is a product of your actions.

I think I’ve always realized I feel on the top of the world when I’m taking positive action. These last few days in Graz where I’ve been based in one place I’ve really made a ton of progress. Granted I worked 11 hours straight yesterday (which I don’t advise as my eyes have been sore all day today and bloodshot!).

Point is though I cleared my entire inbox, set up new systems, got important client work done, wrote a blog post that went viral and made some `fantabulous’ connections with women as a result.

Did I make progress on my eBook? No. Why not? I know it’s going to be a big piece of work that requires a lot of effort, time, creativity and dedication.

I will however MAKE time as of tomorrow. There’s nothing that annoys me more than people who say `I don’t have time to [insert excuse here].

I also have learned to not underestimate how much time it takes to little things. I watched with disbelief as the clock kept on ticking ferociously yesterday and that even after 7 hours my focused to do list was only 60% complete.

That said I did beat the clock in the end and felt pretty damn proud. How?

1. Firstly by focusing on deliverables, not `nice to do’ activities like being everyone’s best friend on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. I had my to do list right by me so I’d come back to what I intended to be doing and make it happen.
2. Secondly by having this great tip at my side
   ‘Tell yourself you only have 30 mins to get your task done. Once you do, your brain takes over & finds a way to get the job done!’
   
3. Thirdly by giving myself a pat on the back at regular intervals when I did great stuff, and yes reading blogs and commenting is actually a vital part of a bloggers strategy and anyone wanting to build a community. So acknowledge what’s useful and what’s not and you’ll know where you want to spend your time and how.

So if you’ve found yourself doing that lately, please stop before you say `I don’t have enough time…’ and admit to yourself why you are the chief time thief right now, and what you’re going to do to stop stealing from yourself!

How do you catch your time thief?

Do you ever stretch yourself beyond your close knit group of friends, local business contacts and those you follow on Twitter? I’m talking about beyond your city, beyond your country to the rest of the world.

Depending on your business you may not think you have to, but you should embrace your xenophilia and reach out to a wider world. Not just you but our media, our educational systems, the internet and more.

Luckily the world of Social Media has allowed us to do this instantly and like never before, are you taking advantage of your global reach?

There’s a whole world out there to discover but we’re often so trapped in our immediate surroundings that we don’t know for example that Japan has the highest number of users of Twitter followed by Brazil (11%) and then the USA.

Could they potentially be your customers, or at least some great connections to build a relationship with?

In this recent TED talk, blogger and technologist Ethan Zuckerman spoke about his desire to help share the stories of the whole wide world. He talks about clever strategies to open up your Twitter world and read the news in languages you don’t even know. I recommend you take time to watch it.

Taking A Global Perspective

For me this is especially important and probably one of the reasons I embrace travelling because it opens me up to a world of culture, tolerance, customs and differences that make me keep an open mind and a curious outlook.

WomanzWorld for me, has always been about engaging with women around the globe and hearing their stories, learning what business challenges are unique to their countries, city, village or community and to be able to better understand their unique circumstances.

Sadly North America and to some extent Europe dominates much of what we see, read, experience and consider on a daily basis and this shapes our perception of the world at large (unless you happen to devour the Economist, BBC World or sites like Global Voices).

I’ve recently been trying to engage with more women in Asia, Scandinavia and Australasia to feature them here on my blog. Don’t get me wrong I love all my Canadian, US and UK friends and connections and with regards to entrepreneurship some of the biggest trends and activities are happening in these countries.

But is that just because my sphere of influence and sources of news and information is largely based on the North American continent?

How to become a global player

If we’re just sticking to extending your global presence on Twitter as a start then  can I suggest using:

Twellow – the Yellow Pages of Twitter. Sign up, add your Twitter account and then search for the categories for your interest areas OR just use the search bar and type in`Business & Brazil’ for example for some fascinating results.

Twitter Search – take a look at #hastags for areas you’re interested in, countries you want to learn more about or expand your business into, just like this

TweetStats - a great way to look at what you actually do on Twitter both personally and professionaly, Tweet Stats allows you to look at the times of the day when you tweet most, the percentage of conversation vs RT and information sharing, your followers and also a Tweet Cloud of what you talk about most.

You can also view other peoples’ which is handy if you want to check in on your competitors and see how you compare. Get a broader perspective on the Twitter universe.

Here’s mine for @womanzworld

Kind of lovely I think.

I appreciate that there’s a world beyond Twitter too but it’s definitely one of the best sources of real time news and information plus trending topics with a truly global audience so why not start there.

Where do you go for your global fix?

This is a Guest Post I asked Tereza Nemessanyi, CEO of Honestly Now, if I could steal and republish from her blog Mashups. Markets and Motherhood. Enjoy.

I’ve been doing a teeny amount of investor pitching on the business I’m building. It’s my first time. When people realize this, they offer advice. More often than not, it’s using a dating metaphor.

Married for almost ten years, I am woefully out of practice kissing frogs. So I wanted to study up.

Then I remembered that in the dark ages, circa 1997, my Wharton girlfriends and I had fun keeping each other honest as we collectively followed the popular “The Rules For Girls”.

Do “The Rules” apply to angel funding? Let’s see.

1. Be a creature unlike any other.

It’s an attitude, a sense of confidence and radiance that permeates your being from head to toe. It’s the way you smile (you light up the room), pause in between sentences (you don’t babble on out of nervousness), listen (attentively), look (demurely, never stare), breathe (slowly), stand (straight) and walk (briskly, with your shoulders back). When a relationship doesn’t work out, you brush away a tear so that it doesn’t smudge your makeup and you move on!
Hmmm…interesting. That might help. Maybe a differentiated product and business does, too.

2. Show up to parties, dances & social events even if you do not feel like it.

Realize that you may not meet Mr. Right naturally and that you therefore must take social action immediately even if you don’t want to. Get a manicure and go out on another date or to that singles dance — do something to increase your chances of meeting men.
Can you spell “n-e-t-w-o-r-k-i-n-g”?

3. It is a fantasy relationship unless a man asks you out.

Don’t waste time on a fantasy relationship. You may have a good rapport with your doctor, lawyer or accountant, and you may find yourself wondering if he is interested in you romantically. How can you know for sure? If he’s never asked you out, then He’s Just Not That Into You!
And it’s a fantasy pitch, unless it’s in person….as I learned last week, and even triggered some AVC.com dialog about it. And if he hasn’t sent you a term sheet, he’s just not that into you!

4. In an office relationship, do not email him back every time he emails you unless it is business-related.

On all non-business e-mails, responding once for every four of his e-mails is a good rule of thumb. Remember, you never know who has access to your e-mail, so keep all romance off the screen and save it for Saturday nights.
Desperation = bad.

5. If you are in a long-distance relationship, he must visit you at least three times before you visit him.

Remember, the first three visits are really nothing more than three dates… and on the first three dates we don’t have sex with a man or have him stay at our place overnight.
They never sign NDAs. If you’re not launched yet, don’t show your privates until or unless you trust them or you feel secure that sufficient pressure exists not to divulge your secrets to others.

6. When considering whether to use personal ads or other online services, you should place the ad and let men respond to you.

It goes back to the basic premise of The Rules: Man pursues woman. When writing your ad, remember that every man has a type, a voice or a look he likes. There has to be a spark for him that attracts him to you, something that makes him find you unexplainably special.
OK, I’m not sure about this one. Does anyone know anyone who’s actually gotten funded over AngelSoft? If so, please share!

7. If he does not call, he is not that interested. Period.

We know this is hard to accept, but it’s not that he hasn’t called because he’s busy, or because you didn’t smile or talk enough (or did too much). It’s not that he lost your phone number. The bottom line is, if he hasn’t called, he’s not that interested.
Yeppers this sounds about right. I’d add, why not just ask at the close of a meeting: Are you interested?

8. Close the deal. Rules women do not date men for more than two years.

If you’ve followed The Rules, your man probably loves you and wants to marry you. Your problem is not if he marries you, but when! If it’s been more than a year, see less of him and think about dating others. You’ve already spent more than a year waiting for him to propose; do you have another year to wait?
They should make a decision to continue, discontinue or defer very quickly. If you don’t hear, it’s a no. If it is, go off and be successful without them. If you are, they may be back later….and then you can decide who you want.

9. Buyer beware. Observe his behavior so you do not wind up with Mr. Wrong.

Love may be blind, but Rules girls are not stupid! How does he act in the relationship? Is he cheap on dates? Is he critical of you? Remember, The Rules are not about marrying the first man you are attracted to who calls you by Wednesday for Saturday night and buys you flowers. It’s about marrying your own personal Mr. Right — a man whom you love and whose character you admire and can live with.
Be really careful that this investor can bring something important to your business, besides cash. And if s/he’s a jerk, get out early. The signs are there.

10. Keep doing the RULES even when things are slow.

Take care of yourself, take a bubble bath and build up your soul with positive slogans like “I am a beautiful woman. I am enough.” You must learn to accept that, as an adult, you can’t always rely on a friend to do things with you. Even if you don’t meet Mr. Right, going out — whether it’s a restaurant, lecture or party — is a chance to meet new people and practice The Rules.
Build a successful business, no matter what. That’s the most important thing, in the end.

Wow, lots to remember here. I guess my final question is…..who’s the guy, and who’s the girl?

If you haven’t heard of Gary Vaynerchuk by now then where have you been?

The master of video blogging, Gary has single handedly built a $60 million dollar business by reinventing the rules on his own terms and working his ass off.

It’s clear that Gary is no ordinary guy, I’m not sure that he sleeps much and has more energy than an entire factory of Red Bull. So clearly much of his success can be attributed to his amazing work ethic and desire to live and breathe his passion for wines, marketing and business development 24/7.

His book `Crush It. Why now is the time to cash in on your passion’ is one of those super enjoyable books you can devour in less than two hours.

If you’re looking for an intellectual book on how to make money online through use of Social Media tools then don’t read this. If you’re looking to get jazzed up on his pure enthusiasm and ability to make something out of nothing then it’s a must.

What comes through most in this book is that you have to be prepared to hustle every single day, to engage, to respond and to treat your audience/ community/ customers like gold by ensuring they get your personal touch.

You have to believe and be constantly building your business. You can do so much of this using Social Media and I’ve summarized Gary’s key 12 steps to do this below.

I’ve also reviewed the book in this short and entertaining video which I decided to do unscripted and with just one take (taking a leaf out of Gary’s book – literally). Don’t judge! I did say I’d start doing more videos….

Gary Vaynerchuk’s 13 Steps to Crushing It!

1. Buy a domain name – nuff said (try GoDaddy.com)
2. Start a blog – use WordPress, Blogger or Tumblr
3. Hire a web designer – I have to agree with Gary on this, it’s worth it if you’re serious, you can do this further down the track though
4. Buy the tool for your business (Flipcam for Video Bloggers for example)
5. Create a Facebook Page
6. Create a Twitter account
7. Sign up for Ping.fm – distributes your content to as many social networks as you have in one hit
8. Start pumping out content – written, videos – whatever your poison is and make it personal. Be yourself.
9. Get your content out there (Ping.fm or Twitter or TubeMogul). Just do it Here’s where I think Gary’s business development skills started coming through if you already have those basics down pat (bar content, creating it is not basic!)
10. Use search.twitter.com to seek out people that may be interested in what you do, follow them and better yet @reply them to start a conversation. i.e if you’re a jeweller search terms to find someone like you! (I also highly recommend Twellow – the Yellow Pages of Twitter).
11. Go to Blogsearch.Google.com and type in keywords for your business, then go and leave a comment on each of those sites plus your name. (Note this may sound time consuming but it’s super valuable to do)
12. Do a Facebook search on say `Jeweller’ under all search results, then search pages and groups. Join several and start engaging.
13. Rinse and Repeat. In my mind this is one of the hardest things to do consistently but so crucial.

Also check out my free eBook `The Social Media Workout for Entrepreneurs’ for even more tips. Just sign up for my newsletter top right. Here’s a lovely review from Julia:

The Entrepreneur’s Social Media Workout is amazing. It helps a busy working woman learn what to spend more energy on AND what every network is and the best way to use it!

Julia Porter, Glamour Gals

Have you read Crush It!: Why Now Is The Time To Cash In On Your Passion? If so what were your key takeaways or what have you learned from it that you implemented for your business?

This is a guest post from Chia-Li Chien, who helps women entrepreneurs convert their business into meaningful personal wealth.

When I recently received a phone call from a client asking, “what’s going on in the stock market?” I had to wonder if they ever actually listened to what I said in the past.

In the fall of 2009, I told every one of my clients to keep their investments in CASH, because by summer of 2010, the commercial real estate bubble would burst and the stock market would not do well.

Unfortunately, no one took me seriously, because the stock market has been on the increase and a subject of hype during the first six months of 2010.

However, the European financial crisis, coupled with a slowing down of consumer and business spending, has created a very tight and expensive credit condition. Many small businesses (less than 500 employees) were cautioned about their spending and had to do more with less without the access to capital available in previous times.

In June, I served as moderator for “2010 Charlotte Chamber Summits: Access to Capital for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs.” (You can listen to the audio recording here.) From the audience’s questions, it became clear that there are many businesses looking for financing.

However, it also soon became evident that the 340 entrepreneurs in attendance have little or no information about the tools available and where to get them.

In 2009, I published an article “Need Money? Think Private Capital Markets” about the six types of private capital for small businesses. It’s a complex process, and was not fully addressed at the recent workshop at the Charlotte Chamber Summits.

One thing I kept repeating at the workshops I moderated was “Revisit your business model, and, if need be, innovate your business model and products or services.” Why is that? Not only do we now have to do more with less, but we also have to grow using newer technologies, better customer relationship building, etc.

Let’s take a look at what a business model is and what it can do to help you grow. You can see the complete article about “Create a Company Wealth Map” for more details. But for the purpose of this article, we’ll only focus on the business model.

First, let’s understand the terminology:

• A business model is the vehicle that gets you there. The “there” is your company wealth map.
• A company wealth map describes the current state or position of a business, its current market value, the owner’s value goal, and the strategies, tactics and business model required to meet the goal.
• The goal is your desire to become financially independent.
• Being financially independent means different things to different people. It is a stage in which you no longer need to be engaged in gainful activities such as business, a job, etc. You can generate income without actually working.

Many business owners have plenty of passion when they start their business. However, passion alone can’t generate dollars.

A business model should align well with:

• Passion/purpose. This is your business purpose and personal passion. Ideally you want to match this with a something you can sell or do for a customer. For example, when Ann-Marie Fleming faced a challenge with her dog, she was unable to find the products or tools to help her aged pet.She felt so passionate about the animal that she created dogquality.com. Not only did it address her problem, but also helped many other people gain more quality time with their much-loved canine companions.
• Talents or core competency. These are your business’s key resources or key processes. Review your business core competency to stay focused and make better business decisions about what and where to expand.
• Economic drivers. You can’t have a business without making a profit. The economic drivers are your profit formula. Surprisingly, many businesses do not realize any profits from what they do.Just talk to any CPA firm and they’ll agree. Why? Because they’ve failed to start the business with a profit in mind and without the economic drivers needed to diversify the overall revenue stream.

Use the above terms and write down how they apply and what they mean to your business. Work on your answers for a couple of days to clarify your business model. Remember, maintain your flexibility and be sure everything makes sense, remaining totally aligned.

The three things I list above take time to formulate. You may not get all the answers the first day, but continue to work until you see a clear picture. Ideally, work with an advisor, mentor or coach to guide you.

Without a clear business model, you may not know where you’re taking your business, and end up wasting unnecessary energy, resources and time.

To receive a complimentary copy of a sample business model worksheet, just tweet this message to me

@ChiaLiChien: “I want to have my sample copy of your Business Model Worksheet.” #womanzworld

Chia-Li Chien is the author of Show Me The Money and columnist for WomenEntrepreneur.com & Fox Business online. She is available for consulting, speaking engagements and workshops. She can be reached at www.chialichien.com or jolly@chialichien.com.

As you may have noticed I’m a big believer in using Social Media as an integrated part of your business marketing approach. I also love coaching people where I can in how to use it effectively for their unique business situation.

Twitter has blown my mind with the ability it has given me to connect with a diverse range of terrific people from all around the world.

I’ve been able to reach people I may never have even discovered or had the chance to contact. In return people have found me completely by random and become fans of my blog thanks to links I’ve shared or retweets I’ve received from others in my community.

For all those people who don’t understand Twitter or bad mouth it – you’re missing out! If you want to know my key tips for using it for business and beyond then get your free copy of my eBook `The Entrepreneur’s Social Media Workout’.

Today I want to focus on profiling a few of the awesome women I’ve had the pleasure to connect with on Twitter. I recommend you follow them and here’s why: I appreciate their advice, their sharing of great information, their support, their style and the unique energy they give to women the world over.

If you enjoy this let me know and I can feature it regularly. There are so many more to mention!

Top 20 Women to Follow on Twitter for Business, Marketing, Technology advice and more

1. Ali Brown @AliBrownLA
   A self-made millionaire entrepreneur and a mentor to women around the world, helping them start and grow businesses and live extraordinary lives.
2. Aliza Sherman @alizasherman
   Strategist, Futurist, Speaker. Co-founder Conversify (social media marketing agency). Founded Cybergrrl/Webgrrls. Alaska-based World Traveler.
3. Kathy Meyer @2cre8
   eMarketing trends and technology enthusiast. She believes in balance and simplicity of design + form + function. She’s a Mompreneur, Foodie, Art, Music and iPhone lover.
4. Maren Kate @MarenKate
   Entrepreneur, start up starter, blogger and all around quirky chick.
5. Carrie Wilkerson @barefoot_exec
   Consultant/Strategist for work at home professionals. She aims to educate, empower, encourage & entertain men & women pursuing biz goals with integrity & passion!
6. Francine Allaire @thedaringwoman
   Founder of The Daring Woman™, Founding Partner of Supreme Social Media, Business Matchmaker, Social Media, Alliance and JV Strategist, Daring Lifestyle Designer
7. Linda Hughes @iempoweru
   Loves entrepreneurs – their inquisitive minds, fighting spirit & that persistence that moves mountains! Totally supportive of them in every way.
8. Anita Campbell @smallbiztrends
   CEO, Small Business Trends, an online small biz community reaching over 250,000 each month. Delivers small business success daily.
9. Simone Brummelhuis @thenextwoman
   Founder of The Next Women Business Magazine which features Female Heroes and News Interviews. Funding Community Founder Entrepreneur CEO TV Pitching Events Speaker – phew!
10. Karmen Reed @kickofftopic
    Provies marketing solutions through social media, online visibility and positive attitude. Loves to travel, cook and read.
11. Melissa Galt @prosperbydesign
    Dream Maker, Profit Architect, Social Media Muse, Life Designer, Tastemaker, Style Visionary, Foodie, Bungee Jumper, Adventurer, Optimist, Speaker, Author (clearly a keyword specialist
12. Anastasia Ashman @Thandelike
    Expat+HAREM neo-culture entertainment writer & producer. A Berkeley native who resides in Istanbul. TEDGlobalist. Hybrid identity adventuress. Seeker of the global niche.
13. Natalia @nakisnakis
    Founder & CEO of Pipeline (@PipelineWomen). Tweets about: #womeninnovators, #socent, @NYWSE, Gen Y, LGBTQ issues, OrgPsych, Healthcare, PopCulture & Gadgets
14. Kristi Colvin @kriscolvin
    Founder & Chief Creative Officer, Fresh ID. Creator of Twitterface. Opinionated user, brand experience designer & customer advocate.
15. Anita Borg @AnitaBorg_org
    Helping technical women connect with each other, resources and opportunities through her work at the nonprofit Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology
16. Coles Johnson @IndieBusiness
    Mom. Indie Beauty Network, Indie Business Podcast. One-time practicing attorney. Award-winning smallbiz advocate.
17. Manishka Thakor @ManishaThakor
    Personal Finance Expert for Women.
18. Tina Cook @TinaCook
    Social Media Marketing Mentor and Strategist and Guerrilla Marketing Coach, loves life by the Indian Ocean, photographing and creating inspiring visuals.
19. Elena Verlee @ElenaVerlee
    Loves to Talk About PR, Building a Biz and Living Life Fully. Has built 6 and 7-fig businesses, has 2 kids and lives in 2 countries. Has a great blog called PR in your Pajamas
20. Melinda Emmerson @SmallBizTalk
    Melinda Emerson is Host of #SmallBizChat, author, speaker, and smallbiz coach. Expertise in smallbiz start-up, social media marketing & developing content.

I would LOVE for you to add your own top women to follow in the comments section so we can all benefit and connect.

Shannon Ward & Diana Stirling are a unique duo that are striving to use their business On Track Media, to build “Pretirement Wealth”, which includes both capital AND the time and freedom to enjoy it.

Shannon and Diana living the dream

They also are determined to ensure that they and other women entrepreneurs are building businesses that support their ideal lifestyle.

They have worked hard, fallen hard, and risen from the ashes to tell the story of how they went from their “dream” business with $1m in revenue to fulfilling lifelong personal dreams while succeeding with a new business model based on a very different definition of success.

Diana recently returned from 4 months in Australia with her family and Shannon from a 2 month “learn to surf” trip in Costa Rica with her family.

It was around this time that I had the pleasure of meeting them and engaging in an energetic and lively conversation about how they’d totally changed their lives to achieve the lifestyle they wanted. I drilled them with several questions as I knew this was precisely what I was about to embark on and that they’d have some fantastic advice for me.

And they did. Here it is in both in video and below in writing. Enjoy

When you initially went into business what did you want to achieve?

Shannon: I wanted to build a large business.  Big equaled success at the time.  $1M revenue, 15 employees and a large downtown office.  It was the only barometer of success we had ever really been exposed to at the time.

If you could pass on one key lesson learned when setting up your business what would it be?

Diana: Make sure you take the time to build your foundation: Legal, Insurance, Taxes, and Finances. At all times know your cashflow – cash is KING. You don’t have a business without cash.

What was the turning point that made you decide to downsize and live life to the full?

Shannon: I walked into the downtown office when we were at the height of our revenue and number of employees. Diana looked at me and asked what was wrong and I just started to cry. I was desperately afraid to admit to her that this definition of ‘success’ was not working for me.

We were working 80+ hours per week, we were exhausted and never saw our families, and we were no longer engaged with our clients – we were spending our time with HR issues, legal consulting and accounting meetings.

In one frank conversation, we knew were on the same page – Diana was losing precious moments with her newborn son – and also dreading the business that we had poured our passion into.

We knew we needed to start valuing our TIME more than any other success factor. It was at that point that we restructured everything to become PRETIRED – to have the capital and the time and freedom to enjoy it with our families.

Your both living what many would consider the ideal lifestyle, what could we all do tomorrow to be one step closer to it?

Shannon: The step before that even is to figure out what really matters to you.  This was harder for us than we expected.  We were so caught up in roles and expectations of who others thought we should be that was difficult to identify what really mattered to us and what we really wanted out of our lives.

Diana jumps into her great lifestyle

Add business and family commitments, a mortgage and a dog and it becomes challenging to see beyond what everyone else needs from you and focus on what you want and need. Once you know what you want start building your life (not just your business) to accommodate that.  It’s taken us over 2 years of conscious work to get to this point.

Tell us your key advice about how to build and maintain a healthy working partnership

Diana: Your business partner is like your spouse without the makeup sex. Like any marriage, it takes work, communication and a solid knowledge of your financial situation at all times.
Shannon: Especially when you are working on the other side of the world from someone – you must communicate well so you can be sure you’re both working toward the same goals. At the same time you have to trust that they are doing their thing and working hard even though you can’t actually see them everyday.

How long did it take you to become profitable enough to support your lifestyle?

Diana: As long as it took us to realize that it wasn’t all about money…
Shannon: The two key factors are money and time together.  We could be making a lot more money but not have the time or flexibility to live out our dreams.   We’ve learned in the past couple of years that we need a lot less money than we used to think to be happy.

How did having children change your perspective on your business and priorities?

Shannon: Having my son changed everything.  It changed where I wanted to work (mostly at home), how I wanted to work (with enough flexibility to spend lots of time with my son and husband during the week) and what I wanted to work on (any time spent working was now going to take away from time with my family and so it had better be rewarding work that fulfills me or it’s just not worth it so much anymore).
Diana: Having children immediately shows you how fast time goes – your child is an infant for less than 6 months… that’s less time than it takes to launch a product. Don’t put off living and experiencing any longer.

If you were to suggest the three main tools you need to be able to work and travel what would they be?

1 – Salesforce.com
2 – Google docs
3 – Skype (Shannon managed a team of 5 people when she was living on the beach in Costa Rica – all through Skype)

What are some of the top books you’ve read that have made a personal difference to you and influenced you and why?

The Four Hour Workweek (4HWW) by Tim Ferriss, after reading this we defined Pretirement. We could write forever on just the principles we learned in 4HWW but these were our “ah-ha” moments.

• Introduced to “Deferrers” those that save it all for the end, only to realize life has passed them by.
• Everything popular is wrong! And retirement is WORST case scenario insurance!
• Sell or donate all the clutter in our lives – FREE ourselves!
• Process and outsource!

What is your key piece of advice to anyone considering a location independent business

Shannon: Get out of your own way.  The first time especially, it can be downright terrifying to cut the ties and attempt location independent work. However, there are numerous books and blogs for advice on how to do it, and most importantly the technology now exists to support it.  So, get out there – there is no excuse not to in this day in age.

Catch the ladies new blog here www.pretirementliving.com