Author Archive
CSN Giveaway to WomenonBusiness.com Readers
Posted by: | CommentsTHANKS for participating in our giveaway!
CSN, the fastest-growing online shopping center in the world, offers millions of items from furniture, to dining sets, to home and office supplies, to fitness equipment, to luggage and shoes.
Want to make your bedroom more cosy? Use the gift certificate towards a bookcase headboard.
Want to get some office furniture? Use the $55 towards something at allmodernfurniture.com
Or, just browse through the 200 stores at http://www.csnstores.com/ourstores.asp
WomenonBusiness is giving away a $55 gift certificate to one commenter on this post – use this gift certificate at *any* of the CSN stores.
Winner will be picked using random.org
Must be 18 or older to participate.
Must be based in the United States or Canada.
Want more chances to win?
A Successful Woman:
$75 gift certificate http://bit.ly/9KPmLS
The Green Girls:
$45 gift certificate http://bit.ly/aRvJEn
Green Business Women:
$45 gift certificate http://bit.ly/cyVmT9
Does Discounting Ever Work for your Business?
Posted by: | CommentsIn some businesses, like tech startups selling a digital product, or companies with a low Cost of Goods Sold, it may make sense to offer a periodic discount like a “Buy One, Get One Free” or a “25% off on Saturday” type coupon.
Discounting allows people who are current customers to get a little something extra, and potential new customers to visit, sign up, or participate.
However, if your industry has thinner margins and inflexible costs of doing business (labor, rent, inventory or raw materials, insurance, carrying costs, etc.), your ability to offer a discount may hinder or actively hurt your business model.
Consider the latest brouhahas from Groupon, the group coupon service. Ellen from Restaurant Intelligence Agency breaks down a groupon for the restaurant industry:
http://unplugged.restaurantintelligenceagency.com/2010/03/5772-new-customers-how-can-i-not-love-groupon.php and TechCrunch archives the Groupon fallout from a fradulent photography deal: http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/16/groupon-photography/
For some businesses (do the math), a groupon or periodic discounting service may work. In some cases, it will not work for your company. In some cases, it will.
Consider, too, the impact to your business of having a “discounted” rate and what that does to your existing product and service list.
Summer Giveaway from Women on Business
Posted by: | CommentsThanks to CSN for offering another giveaway to WomenonBusiness.com readers.
CSN offers business and office needs such as office furniture, as well as office supplies and office accessories and decor.
They also offer various sections like Baby and Kids, Outdoor Living, Home Improvement, and Cookware and Bakeware.
With our warmest summer greetings, from Women on Business!
Bookmark our site and return often for more news, tips, business insights, and connections.
TO ENTER: leave a comment below with one of the things you are most grateful for. Feel free to talk about your health, relationships, work, personal development, or anything for which you have deep gratitude.
A random answer at WomenonBusiness.com chosen on July 27 wins a $35 gift certificate for any product from CSN Stores: with specials from everything including the bathroom sink, you may choose from all of CSN store offerings: http://www.csnstores.com/ourstores.asp
Comments are closed at noon Pacific Standard Time.
Already left a comment? Three more chances to win:
The Green Girls Summer Giveaway
The Spiritual Dimension of your Work
Posted by: | CommentsIf you think about it, all of us are here, during the time we have on the planet, to be who we were meant to be.
We may be good at performing music.
We may be good with numbers.
You might have an ear for learning languages.
Your skill might be in woodworking.
Some of you prefer to think, whereas some of you prefer to act.
All of us have a unique skillset and particular sphere of expertise that we’re good at and that we enjoy.
Our main task while we’re here on the planet is to use our skills to match with our big vision of what we are here to accomplish.
Your soul, when you decided to come to Earth, had a list of items that you wanted to check off: perhaps your task you gave yourself was to learn how to be more compassionate. Or perhaps you had a checklist item to make the world a better place for children or sick people. Perhaps your initial task list included being a good husband, father, son, brother, or wife, mother, daughter, or sister.
Increasing Your Millionaire Mindset
Posted by: | CommentsIf you give a million-dollar idea to a person with a $500 mentality, they’ll turn that million-dollar idea into $500. Alternatively, if you give a $500 idea to a person with a million dollar mentality, they’ll turn that little idea into a huge, multi-million-dollar business.
We all like to stay in our “safety zone.” If your constrain your safety zone to a certain amount per year (level of job responsibility, salary, net worth, etc.), then you never willingly or consciously go beyond that safety zone. In fact, you’ll sabotage any efforts to expand beyond your safety zone.
To increase your external world by having more (more time, more money, more ability to engage with the people you care about, more time to do the things you love), the first thing to do is work on increasing your internal perceptions.
You are who you believe you are.
Increase your external world by increasing your internal world.
You adopt a more prosperous mindset by considering what kind of value you bring to others. How do you help other people in your community, or your state, or country, or our world?
That Last 20%
Posted by: | CommentsThat last 20% of any project, endeavor, or campaign is the most difficult part. Most people can get through the first 80% of a project. But what about those finishing touches that add the final “polish” to the product?
- What about spellcheck and correct grammar?
- How about making sure things are numbered and bulleted correctly?
- Is it fact-checked?
- Is the address right?
- Is the person’s name spelled correctly?
- Did you polish it?
- Is the packaging clean? No stains?
- Are things lined up in rows?
If you deliver the highest quality for project, especially that last 20%, you’re hired.
If you create a checklist that makes sure to cover that last 20% of a process, you’ll have a competitive edge.
If your proposal provides the extra attention to detail that’s needed to make the project a success, you’re the best candidate for the job.
It’s that last 20%. How do you deal with it? More importantly, how do you communicate your qualifications to your decisionmaker (the client, customer, boss, or employer?)
Most people do the 80% necessary.
What do you do?
Social media: pick three avenues, and move forward
Posted by: | CommentsI found this through my Twitter stream and thought it was apropos for women in business. If you or your boss does not yet have a social media plan in place, now is a good time to get one started.
Too overwhelming? Start simple.
Too confusing? Ask a trusted advisor.
Too hard? Hire out.
Click to view the moving counter: 
The Importance of Telling your Story
Posted by: | CommentsWe are far, far more interested in stories then we are interested in your sales talk.
We’re excited to hear the story of how you got into business.
We’re inspiried by the obstacles you face and how you overcome them.
What is your story? Share your story and personalize your company’s mission, vision, and values. Why do your customers support you? What does it mean to join your company’s list of clients?
Tell us an engaging story and give us a reason to care.
My story:
I’ve always had an interest in using my skills to fulfill the world’s needs, and I’ve always been good at the intersection between technical understanding and communication. I compiled my first computer program when I was 9 years old (in BASIC), and I started coding my own websites in 1999. I was volunteering for an educational nonprofit at the time, and we built a series of lesson plans around grassroots initiatives in 35+ countries around the world, including Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East, China and India.
My Advice, in Twenty Instructions
Posted by: | Comments1) Educate yourself.
Learning is a pleasure. Learning something new every day is a true pleasure and a gift. Free your mind from “little thinking” and give yourself an opportunity to contemplate the magnificence of being alive.
2) Follow your passions.
You are the only one of you in the world. Your unique spirit is special. Use your life to fulfill your stated purpose. Follow where your heart leads you, and trust you will find a way to turn your innermost dreams into a reality.
3) Raise your consciousness.
Much of the pain and suffering in our world relies on us believing that other people are “separate” or “wrong” or “bad” or “less than.” We are all connected, we are each human beings and we are each sparks of divine Creation. You are what you are, and others are who they are. We all are able to co-exist. When we believe that and act that way, we make a better world.
