The Women's Business Clubs

And testing again

2012-01-27T19:21:00.001Z

And testing again

This is a test post

2012-01-27T19:18:00.001Z

This is a test post

What does your photo say about you?

2010-01-28T16:39:00.004Z

A couple of months ago I had a new photo taken and stuck it up on our TWBC website and on our ebulletin newsletter and I was quite amazed by the number of people who noticed and commented on it.

The subject of photos came up again at the end of last week when we received an email in the office from someone who had visited our website and had gone onto the ‘Meet the Team’ page. She emailed us to say that our photos had cheered her up because we looked and sounded like normal people, as I think she had been expecting a bunch of very corporate styled and slick profiles, which she said she couldn’t have faced looking at on that particular day.

I spend a lot of time ambling around the internet looking at websites of companies of all sorts and sizes and I always have a look at any ‘About Us’, or ‘Meet the Team’ pages. I’ve found that I’m much more likely to contact a business where I have actually seen a real face belonging to one of the team and read a bit about them.

Many of us use stock photos on our websites (I’ve got a few knocking around on mine somewhere), but nothing winds me up more than seeing a stock photo on a ‘Meet the Team’ page, and I see that a lot! I also see some truly appalling photos of real individuals on websites.

What amazes me, is when I consider that many business owners who spend not just a little bit of time and money dealing with the presentation of their business with issues such as the design of brochures, logos, business cards, websites and so on, then use dreadful photos of themselves on promotional material. There is a massive awareness of personal branding and most of us know how quickly an impression is formed about us when we personally meet people - large industries have grown up around the subjects of personal image, body language, vocal abilities and presentation skills. So why would a business owner, who has spent a lot of money getting the company branding right, ruin the image by using a badly formatted, blurred photo of themselves?

Last week I came across two websites with squished and stretched photos of company directors. I also came across a photo of someone which had been taken outside in a field, who seemed to have a horse sticking out the side of their head. Not to mention an entire army of solicitors on one website where each and every one (over 30 of them) were obviously feeling so awkward about having their photos taken that they were all being ‘a bit too busy in the hand department’. They looked like troupe of jugglers who had lost their balls!

When I had my photo taken recently, the lovely photographer (Maria Scard) said that she didn’t think a formal photo would be right for me, and that she wanted to show me in a more casual light as it suited my personality. I’ll admit that if someone saw a very stiff and formalised photo of me and then actually met me, they probably would assume that they had met the wrong person.

Admittedly it did take me a long time to get around to having a professionally taken photo, and that was probably because it always seemed ‘OK’ to have something that was quite a nice picture that didn’t look too blurred; didn’t have too dodgy a background; didn’t make me look like I had four chins; and was quite flattering because it was getting on for 8 years old. But really when I think about the time and effort (not to mention money) that I have put into all of the other aspects of branding and presentation of any businesses I have been involved in, I don’t know why for one moment I ever thought it was ‘OK’ to use anything other than a properly composed and professionally taken photo.

So now I’ve had mine properly done I’m going to get the rest of the TWBC teams photo’s professionally taken as well.

No we won’t be getting dead serious and slick photos taken, and we probably will head off down the beach with the Land Rover again and clamber all over the top of it, although next time Hannah wont be 8 months pregnant. Do you know how difficult it is to get an 8 months pregnant woman on top of a Land Rover bonnet????.

We will be taking our photographer Maria with us, and I can assure you that it will be a great photo and not one where someone was pulling such a dodgy face that I had to cut and paste another photo of that persons head onto the photo to make it usable (can you see whose head is pasted on?).

So next time you are reviewing your branding, or submitting a photo onto a website, ask yourself….what does your photo say about you, and is it reflective of the quality of your business and service?

And in the meantime if you want to see some truly dreadful photos, then grab a coffee and 15 minutes off to take a look at this site:
http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/

PS - Yes I know.... I havent updated the photo on this blog yet.

Are Business Cards Dead?

2010-01-06T21:55:00.001Z

As a serial networker a couple of things that I have often been asked about what do I do with all of the business cards that I collect at business networking events, and do I put everyone’s details on a database and follow up religiously?

Well I’d love to be able to tell you that I had an incredible system where everyone was ‘databased’, cross referenced and recorded for posterity, but I’m afraid that’s just not the reality and I’m just not that organised. So it was with some interest that I recently read about a product called Poken.

Poken is a 'social business card’. It’s a small USB social networking gadget that you can store your own details on including your social networking profiles (Facebook, Twitter etc).

When you meet someone at an event with a Poken you simply touch the two Pokens together and your details are passed to their Poken, and theirs to yours. Then when you get back to the office you simply plug your Poken into your computer's USB port, and download all of the contact data you have collected.

You can even have several different profiles of your own on your Poken and just simply cycle through them by pressing the hand button before you ‘connect’ with someone else, so that you can select what information you want to pass on.

Poken's (Poken's? Poken? What’s the plural of this?) come in a range of designs, ‘personalities’ and colours, and you can get them personalised with your business logo as well, so it could be a useful corporate gift, especially if you are arranging a conference.

So what do you think? Is this the early sign of the death of the business card?

Business lessons from 2009, and how to have an incredible 2010

2010-01-03T15:25:00.010Z

Borrowing an old Chinese saying, I think that 2009 was an 'interesting' year for many small businesses as we saw the longest recession in 50 years.

At The Women's Business Clubs we have seen a few business friends disappear as the struggle to get through the recession became too much. But for the vast majority, developing and building their businesses through these times has given them insights and skills that will serve them well and make them stronger in years to come.

A year ago many of us were watching the demise of Woolworth's with amazement and horror, and seeing a massive high street name that many of us grew up with certainly helped to destabilise confidence amongst individuals and businesses all over the UK at that time.

As we go into 2010, predictions for the economy are mixed but certainly not as bleak as they were a year ago. Many economists project some growth in the first quarter, followed by a slump, but with a climb in the latter half of the year. If you want to see an interesting government report with a comparison of 21 major economic forecasters for 2010 then take a look here.

For many small businesses, the lessons learned in 2009 have been simple but have given them massive strength for 2010 and onwards. Here are a few lessons that every business can learn from:

Customer Retention
We all know that it's a lot more expensive for a business to find a new customer, and so retaining existing ones makes massive economic sense.

In some industries this retention might come down to a price war with competitors, but many customers buy on other considerations other than just price.

Customer service is paramount in today's service driven economy, and a business that gives outstanding customer service and goes that extra mile, has a clear advantage.

'Engagement' is a single word mantra that is never far from our lips at TWBC. Strengthen bonds and engage with your customers to ensure that not only are you the obvious choice for them when they need your service, but also to make sure that you are in touch with their needs and providing the right service for them.

Listening closely to your customers can show you opportunities for new directions, services and products. Innovation and adaptability is a skill and strength that can help many businesses through tougher times, and having open channels with existing clients can give you quick access to trends and ideas that you might not otherwise be aware of.

Check and review, check and review, check and review
Businesses need to make sure that they are heading in the right direction with the right strategy much more regularly when times are tough.

Of course it's always smart to check that your plans are on target and moving in the right direction anyway, but when the economy is less stable businesses need to review with a view to adapting when necessary on a much more regular basis. Take time out to do a mini review of all of your strategies regularly through 2010. It's much easier to correct misdirection when you are just a month or two off course, than if you are 12 months down the road.

Think Positive
I mentioned the collapse of Woolworths earlier in this article as it was a subject on everyone's lips a year ago, and for many it showed that the recession was very real and really had arrived. That an institution of that size could disappear so suddenly scared many, and there was a lot of negativity in the air at that time.

Negativity doesn't do anyone any good (especially businesses) and whilst it's important to be aware of market difficulties and to be on top of the situation, it's also vital to think and act positively. Client's, prospects and staff can easily detect negativity when you speak with them, and no one wants to be around a negative person or business!

Also, when you are thinking positively you are wide open to new, fresh ideas and innovation and may see opportunities where, if you were thinking negatively, you might previously only have seen challenges.

Business survival and growth through 2009 has given many businesses a lot to be positive about especially in the more optimistic climate of 2010. So make sure that you go into this year with an attitude of positivity and check yourself to retain it throughout the year.

Chunk it Down!
When money is tight people prefer to buy in smaller amounts to take less financial risks. Smart businesses review their services and packages with a view to selling 'smaller', and so reducing packages and the associated costs. Like them or not... think Ryanair.

If you sell packages or programmes, can you reduce the size of the packages and the associated costs (whilst retaining a profit) so that they appeal more to cautious customers?

Get Marketing
Most businesses know that reducing marketing is difficult times in illogical, however many still do it because of necessity or in some instances caution.

Taking the tortoises attitude (baton down the hatches and pull your head in under your armour to protect yourself) might ensure survival but it discourages growth, and now is certainly the time to look towards growth.

Review your marketing for 2010 and write your Marketing Plan. If cost is still an issue for you then why not look at the social media avenues that are available and which cost nothing but time?

Do you have any simple but effective business lessons from 2009? Leave a comment and let us know. In the meantime here's to a great 2010!!!

Three Quick Customer Service Tips

2009-11-30T17:36:00.004Z

Customer Service has been a big subject over the last year as businesses all over the world have felt the pinch (and sometimes the punch) of the recession, and for many businesses the key to their survival has been to raise the bar considerably on the services that they deliver.

But I had a funny incident recently that made me realise that some companies that totally ‘get’ customer service in lots of ways, can totally drop the ball in what seems a tiny way but which stands out like a sore thumb to the client.

December is around the corner, and so at The Womens Business Clubs we have been speaking with a number of the Hotels that we have our 35 odd Premier Club meetings in each month, about doing something for Christmas at the meetings. We asked one particular Hotel if they could supply crackers. The reply came back “Yes sure. But they won’t be great”.

Now what is the point in supplying a service to your customer if :
A) you tell your customer in advance that it wont be great, or
B) you, the supplier, think that its crap?

This little incident left us very perplexed in the office!

Throughout November customer service has been a themed discussion that our TWBC Premier Clubs have held in the Open Forum section of their monthly meetings, and our Guildford Premier Club supplied us with a nice little report of ‘Three Quick Customer Service Tips’ which we published on our website.

Take it away Guildford.....

1 KNOW YOUR CLIENT

Many members of The TWBC Guildford Premier Club felt that developing strong client relationships was vital for customer care; by knowing your client inside out you could offer those little extras they perhaps were not expecting. Keeping records of spouses or children’s names, what leisure activities they enjoy doing, where they went on holiday – mentioning some of these things in conversation always make the client feel special.

2 GO THE EXTRA MILE

Under promising and over delivering was the mantra we all seem to operate by! Thinking of your clients outside of the role you provide for them. One member recently offered to adjust her client’s watch strap for her to avoid her having to send her watch off to the menders.

3 GIVING FEEDBACK

Whether you have received excellent or bad service, making a point of letting people know so they can make changes, or simply to let them know that they have done a good job. All of the members felt that actively requesting testimonials from clients is a good idea, as often they mean to do it and simply forget. And then finally making sure you use them for future marketing initiatives.

Mentoring: A fast track forward for women in business?

2009-11-29T19:29:00.001Z

Most business people have heard of mentoring and the benefits associated with it. The Women’s Enterprise Task Force a national body championing women's enterprise set up by Gordon Brown, has identified that that women value and benefit from business mentoring and coaching with an impressive 92.3% of women surveyed finding this type of support valuable, and have stated that mentoring should be encouraged for women in business in the future.

In the US where women’s enterprise has been high on the political agenda for some time, Michelle Obama the first lady of the US, is also advocating mentoring and has launched a project for young women where a number of teenage schoolgirls were invited to the White House this month and have been teamed up with female staff. She also recently gathered astronaut Ellen Ochoa, actress Susan Sarandon and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in Denver to give advice to 80 high school students.

But just this week a new kind of mentoring hit town, or rather hit an US town, when former press secretary to President George W Bush, Dana Perino introduced ‘Minute Mentoring’.

For the launch event 15 women mentors involved in business, media, politics, and public relations met with 45 young women aged from their early twenties to mid thirties in a speed-dating-style forum in Washington DC. Amoungst the mentors were Dee Dee Myers, former press secretary to President Bill Clinton; Candy Crowley, CNN’s senior political correspondent and Anita McBride, chief of staff to Laura Bush, and NBC's Kelly O'Donnell. An impressive line up indeed!

The young women were put into groups of three and each group assigned a room, where they had access to one of the mentors for a period of ten minutes. After this time a bell was rung and they moved onto the next room and the next mentor.

Dana Perino says “I thought: wouldn’t it be good if we could get these girls together with women to act as mentors — then, like speed dating, run through very fast, as the mentors don’t have much time, and ‘mentees’ pick things up very quickly,”She has acknowledged that ten minutes is not a lot of time but went on to tell the mentees “Some of your most effective meetings will be under ten minutes and in hallways. I remember standing between the Oval Office and the Roosevelt Room because that’s where I could catch Condi Rice.”

It won’t come as news to many that women in business are hungry for advice on how to succeed, and gaining access to business leaders even for just a short amount of time can prove to be really inspirational. I’m not at all surprised to hear that the feedback from this first ‘Minute Mentoring’ has been incredible, and that Perino has since received thousands of emails asking her to bring similar to events to towns all over the US, and also to London.

Well done to her!

A note to Twitter ‘virgins’

2009-11-24T00:37:00.002Z

I’ll be the first to admit that I was a reluctant joiner when it came to the world of Twitter. Despite being told on more occasions that I could count that I should be tweeting away, I just simply didn’t get it. But now I’ve dipped my toes in the water I’m converted and absolutely love it!

When people used to say to me “You should be Tweeting”, “You’ve got to get into Twitter”, my usual response was something along the lines of “What have I got to say that anyone would be interested in?” or “I don’t have time to do that as well as everything else”. I couldn’t understand the point of Tweeting whatever it was I was doing at any one time, and wondered why people would be interested to hear that I had put the kettle on, or was answering emails, or doing something else quite banal. Then I finally relented and signed up.

I can’t for the life of me remember my first few Tweets and I’m sure they were either totally dull or overly hypey. Luckily no one was following me so I really was talking to myself. Or so I thought.

I think it was about 8 hours later that I received an excited email from a TWBC member telling me that I had been ‘Re-Tweeted’ and my Tweets were potentially in front of 5000 people. I’ve no idea how she had found me, especially as the Twitter user name I had chosen was WomensBusClubs, which makes me sound like a coach hire company. She told me that I had to Tweet more Tweets immediately to maximise the effect.

That sounded like a pretty terrifying statement, as if loads of people were waiting for a nugget of wisdom or important proclamation. No pressure then! I slunk away in the corner and announced my retirement from Tweeting to the guys in the office. What a wimp!

A week or so later I decided to give it another go, and spent a couple of hours loafing around, looking at peoples Twitter profiles, and finding a few people to follow. And then I Tweeted a few things. Not a lot and it wasn’t very exciting stuff, but I made a bit of an effort and surprisingly it didn’t take long before I had picked up a handful of followers.

So I did that for a couple of days and then I stopped again. Clearly whereas I’m very consistent at most things, Twitter was not pressing my urge-to-be-consistent button. So cue another telling off (from one of our Premier Club Hosts this time) about my total lack of commitment and understanding of the power of Twitter for business.

A few weeks later and I decided to give it another go, but this time I decided to find people to follow rather than worry about what I was going to say. It was just a few days later I started to get it.

I was following about 50 or 60 business women and a couple of business organisations, and I was spending a short time every day reading their tweets, and following the links that they were giving me to some brilliant business articles.

I’m a great believer in sharing ideas (obvious statement for someone who founded The Womens Business Clubs eh??? Doh!) and now through Twitter I had found loads more bright people pointing the way to more yet information, news and ideas.

All businesses can benefit from exposure to new ideas and creative thinkers, and this is a simple and effective way of getting a good daily quota, so it’s well worth taking ten minutes each day to see what’s been Tweeted your way.

So if you haven’t started Tweeting I can only encourage you to do so. Ask a few friends in business that you know who are Tweeting what their account names are and you can start by following them. Of course you can follow me at http://twitter.com/WomensBusClubs and I will send you lots of Re-Tweets with fascinating news and articles from inspirational women in business, and you can find some great people to follow from there.

If you are nervous about what to Tweet yourself, well don’t worry about that for a while. If you watch what other people are Tweeting and talking about you will get the hang of it pretty soon. And of course if you see things that you feel other people will benefit from knowing about then you can just Re-Tweet those Tweets.

Pretty soon you will find that you will start to build your own list of followers with whom you can build relationships with and increase your reputation amongst, as well as get a daily stream of inspirational ideas and news.

It’s an exhibition stand Jim, but not as we know it!

2009-11-17T00:46:00.002Z

Maybe I’m a bit behind the times, but I was at a business exhibition last week and experienced ‘banner stand’s en masse for the first time.

A Banner Stand is a 1sq meter area of floor space that an exhibitor buys at a much cheaper price than a regular exhibition stand. The idea of course is that the exhibition space is just enough for the exhibitor to erect a single standing banner.

At this particular exhibition these Banner Stands were sold for around £70 and judging by the number sold they were obviously very popular. In fact there were hardly any of what I would call a regular sized pitches, and I would estimate that there were well over 70 banner stands.

When I first read about Banner Stands I thought that they sounded like a great idea as they are obviously a very cheap way for smaller businesses to have a presence at a business exhibition. But I have to say that after attending an exhibition dominated by them I’m now not so sure.

Each of the exhibitors had their banners at the rear of their marked off square meter, and since the spaces were sold right next to each other, it meant that as a visitor you were presented with row upon row of banners, all about 4 or 5 inches from each other.

Standing in front of the banners were the exhibitors themselves clutching brochures and business cards, with about a third of the stands having two or more people. This presented the first practical problem, as there were so many bodies in front of the banners that I couldn’t easily see who was actually exhibiting.

There was no opportunity to casually survey any materials, and in fact as soon as you glanced towards one of the exhibition stands to see what the business was, the stand holder was right there… quite literally right in your face. In an exhibition like this, looking towards someone seems to be the equivalent of walking up to a regular exhibition stand and leafing through the materials, so the sales pitches were coming thick and fast.

I ended up sticking dead centre of the aisle and trying not to catch anyone’s eye; I had been sold to quite enough already and as a visitor, as you walked in front of the rows of stands it felt strangely as if all eyes were on you.

I don’t blame the exhibitors for this, as I think that this intensity is probably an inevitable result of having these types of stands. The exhibiting business people are literally lined up ‘a la cattle market’ and there is no natural demarcation line, as there would be with normal sized exhibition booths.

Liker I said, I could understand the appeal for the exhibitors; these banner stands offer a cheap way of having a presence at an exhibition. I also understand that appeal for the exhibition organiser; it’s an easy and popular sale, and needs no more organisation other than marking out meter seized squares on the floor with masking tape. There was no furniture to worry about, no equipment, no electricity.

But if the effect on the visitor is to make the whole experience of visiting the event rather intense, and little more than a continuous fending off of sales pitches, is it worth it at any price?

I wandered around this exhibition for about twenty minutes before deciding that I had had enough and would sit and wait for my appointment elsewhere. I’m not sure that I would attend again.

Have you ever had a Banner Stand? Let me know your opinions.

Its that time again!!!

2009-11-10T11:15:00.000Z

I absolutely adore Christmas and every year I promise myself that I will do my Christmas shopping earlier than the year before. Yet inevitably I find myself sharing the shops with crowds of desperate looking men on Christmas Eve, as we scamper in terror around the half empty shelves looked on by irritated shop staff in felt reindeer antlers who just want us to leave so that they can get home early.

Part of this is fueled by my apparently one-woman campaign to keep Christmas in December, and not let it spill into September, October and November, but judging by the Christmas tunes that have accompanied me in certain shops since last month I am clearly failing. I also don't usually get our Christmas tree until Christmas Eve which means that we get to choose from a very limited stock, and so our tree usually looks like something that the dogs have dragged in... through the cat flap!

This year however I am determined to mend my ways, and plan to shop the first week of December. And so with the conviction of a reformed character I thought I would also remind you about ordering your business Christmas cards.

Electronic Christmas cards can be fun, but they can also get lost in the deluge of emails that we all get every day. Whereas sending a physical Christmas card is a great way of not only catching up with existing clients, but also a really good way to keep in contact with (and in the minds of) potential clients, as well as thanking and reminding past clients about you.

They really are a great marketing tool, and should be included in your Marketing Plan, and of course it's important to make sure that you get good quality cards that reflect your own business standards.

If you haven't already arranged your corporate cards for this year, then now is definitely the time to do it. And if you are worried about the ecological impact of buying real cards, then get recycled ones. There are some excellent recycled cards available. And of course make sure that you recycle the ones that you receive.

Where’s your phone number?

2009-11-03T21:49:00.000Z

This question was recently thrown at me by one of our Premier Club members when she popped into our offices. What she meant was where on our website was our phone number?

“It’s on our ‘Contact Us’ page” I replied.

“Two clicks from any other page”, she pointed out. “That’s no good, it’s got to be on every page of your website and really easy to find. Top right hand corner!”

I filed the thought away in the back of my head, and decided that on our next website rebuild we would make sure that it was where she suggested.

A week later I was reading an article about how two much smaller US companies are leaving two much larger competitor businesses behind when it comes to online orders. Experts are putting a large part of this success down to them having their phone number very prominently on every page.

US online analyst company Nielson’s studies have shown that with just a tiny number of exceptions, the websites with the top conversion rates have the phone number listed on every page of their website. Obviously it makes life much simpler if your customer wants to call you, but also it gives them more assurance when they are buying online. If they need you, they know that they can easily contact you.

Needless to say, the TWBC office number appeared on our home page about 15 minutes later.

So where’s your phone number

Juggling v outsourcing - a woman’s dilemma?

2009-10-25T22:49:00.003Z

A couple of weeks ago I blogged about how recent research seems to show that women’s overall happiness has declined when compared to happiness levels in 1972, and since then I have kept an eye on the development of this very hotly debated subject in the US.

Author Marcus Buckingham and his new book, "Find Your Strongest Life: What the Happiest and Most Successful Women Do Differently," has been the main reason behind this subject causing so many headlines in recent months. But in actual fact much of his theory is based on a study that was leaked out two years ago, so the figures relating to women’s happiness which is causing so much fuss in the US is hardly new news.

An LA Times columnist has developed a new theory on this subject and says that that since the happiness study in question has been around for such a long time, its recent popular debate probably has more to do with marketing than with truth and that it may be just a ploy to sell us self-help. Since Mr Buckingham has a book to promote right now, this seems a rather obvious truth in itself.

However I was watching a video of Mr Buckingham just a few days ago in which he talks about the women who are bucking this ‘declining happiness’ trend, and he states that one of the common practises of these women is that they are not multitasking or juggling, rather they are intelligently outsourcing.

Outsourcing is a subject that comes up at our TWBC Premier Club meetings time and time again, and in fact we featured an article from member Lynn Tulip on the specifics of outsourcing your recruitment just a couple of weeks ago. At The Women’s Business Clubs we have also seen a massive growth in the number of Virtual Assistants that have subscribed to our mailing list in the last year, which again seems to indicate that outsourcing various aspects of our business services is a growing trend.

The image of a successful woman in business very literally juggling her roles of businesswoman, mother, wife, carer, and more, has been very popular over the last few years and I must admit that its a phrase that I have heard so often recently that it has started to make me cringe as it seems so clichéd. But on the other hand for many women it is a reality.

However Mr Buckingham suggests that in order to be happier we need to “stop doing so many things at once”, and he has quoted various apparently happy and successful women who have found greater satisfaction by outsourcing various aspects of their home and business life.

Like I said, outsourcing is a popular subject at our Premier Club meetings, and it’s obvious that many of our members understand that outsourcing some aspects of their business can leave them more time free for other pursuits, whether they be personal or business orientated. In many cases outsourcing a part of the business that a member either doesn’t like or doesn’t particularly excel at, has freed them up to concentrate on another aspect of the business which ultimately has helped them grow their business, sometimes substantially.

But I find myself really surprised that Mr Buckingham feels that we need to be told this as if it’s a revelation and a new concept to women in business. As someone who has worked as a sole trader as well as an employer, it seems very obvious to me that a natural part of growing any role or business is outsourcing; whether that be to an outside contractor or by employing someone, either way you are delegating tasks and effectively outsourcing part of your role to someone else. For the majority of us outsourcing is a natural part of the growth process and not something that we can actually grow a business or role without. So this isn’t a particularly exciting and radical revelation.

Admittedly many of the women that feature in Mr Buckingham’s articles are also outsourcing large parts of their personal lives, such as shopping, cleaning, and other domestic duties. I used to work in an industry where we were encouraged to employ cleaners because what we could earn per hour doing our business was a lot more than we would pay someone to clean our house during that time, and so it seemed to make economic sense to do that.

But nowadays faced with the prospect of running round the house with a vacuum cleaner and duster a few hours week, or getting some more hours of work in, I’ll take the vacuum cleaner! Obviously that’s just my personal choice, and maybe I’m missing the point here and should be arranging some personal time rather than making a decision between work and housework.

Outsourcing does of course make perfect business sense, and many self employed people have made the decision to plough money back into the business in order to outsource, rather than take more money out for themselves in the short term. Many of us also understand the value of having an expert take over a role rather than try to do it ourselves, sometimes very haphazardly.

Some years ago I spent about £800 training myself to deliver a particular aspect of my business. I later told my trainer that it was the best £800 I ever spent on that particular aspect of the business, as I learned that, a) I didn’t actually want to do it myself, and that, b) I wasn’t very good at it, and that I would be better off spending money getting someone to do it properly.

But after saying all of this I feel that the role of the juggling woman in business is here to stay. Firstly for many women who are just starting their careers or businesses, financial constraints mean that we can’t outsource in all of the directions that we would like to, as fast as we might like to.

But also I know that for many of us, we simply don’t want to outsource everything that we could actually outsource. Many women enjoy having diversity in our lives, and also enjoy the challenge of managing them all. Many women are also concerned that outsourcing introduces a new level of management that in itself has to be fitted into the ‘juggling’.

Visiting a business exhibition? How to get the most from it

2009-10-13T11:03:00.008+01:00

It’s that time of year again, when business to business exhibitions seem to be happening virtually every day.

The Womens Business Clubs took a stand at an exhibition just last week and I have to say that considering that it was a relatively small localised event, I was very impressed to see over 100 local businesses taking stands there. With so many exhibitors in a relatively small room and at least two people manning each stand, it was a packed event and there were plenty of opportunities to meet and network with local businesses, just amongst the other exhibitors alone.

There is however one down side to exhibiting at some business shows, and that is that some visitors seem to think that it’s OK for them to treat all of the exhibitors like a captive audience for their sales pitches, and they don’t seem to appreciate that maybe that is not why the exhibitors have paid a large amount of money to exhibit.

At this particular exhibition I didn’t get too much of that, but the girls manning the stand next to me were being continuously delivered heavy handed pitches from visitors keen to sell their services. Some of them didn’t even ask the exhibitors what their businesses were about. They simply walked up to the stand, introduced themselves, and proceeded to try to sell their services.

Some visitors were attempting a strange ‘spamming’ technique that involved doing no more than walking past each stand and flinging out their business cards. In most instances they would have been torn up, but the damage to their reputation is not always as easily discarded.

Business exhibitions are like any other networking event and the smartest way to approach them as a visitor is with this in mind.

If you are attending a business exhibition as a visitor then they are brilliant for catching up with old contacts, finding out about new services and businesses, and for making new contacts. But like any other networking event if a visitor attends and carries out a heavy handed sales campaign, then it’s the visitor’s reputation that will suffer. More damage can be done by attending business exhibitions with this attitude, as of course the exhibitors may have paid a great deal of money to be there, so they get annoyed a lot quicker.

So please do get out there and visit your local B2B exhibitions where possible. They are brilliant at keeping businesses up to date with local business issues and news and they are also great networking opportunities, and as a visitor they are usually free. But remember that like any other networking opportunity the best advantage can be gained from building relationships with the stall holders that is based on mutual interest, respect and courtesy.

What training do women in business REALLY want?

2009-10-05T13:21:00.000+01:00

There are many many training opportunities out there for businesses all over the UK, and at The Women’s Business Clubs we regularly get asked for training and workshops for women in business.

So we have decided to put together a programme of workshops in 2010 specifically for women in business, but before we start we thought it would be a really good idea to find out exactly what business subjects women in business actually want training on.

So we have put together a really short survey and would love to hear your opinions.

Just let us know what training workshops would interest you and also what county you are based in the UK.

It should take you less than a minute to complete.

Find our quickie survey here, and if you know of any other women in business who wouldn’t mind giving us their opinions, please do pass this on.

Thanks!

Angela Rippon; the new host of Top gear?

2009-10-02T10:19:00.005+01:00

I'm beginning to think that Top Gear is broadcast 24 hours a day in the UK as every time I walk out of my living room, when I come back in the room the TV has been turned over to Dave TV, and there once again Jeremy and chums are gloating over the latest supercar.

Actually I really like Top Gear, but just not five portions of it a day please!

But did you know that the original presenter of Top Gear back in 1970 something was Angela Rippon?

Yes, Angela Rippon…. one of the first TV newsreaders in the UK ; She of the famed ‘Yes I’ve got legs’ Morecambe and Wise sketch; Angela, the part time face of Cash In The Attic. Can you imagine?

And here’s something even more surprising. Back in June of this year Angela announced that she should be brought back as the host of Top Gear!

We all know that Top Gear is a ‘boys show’ but one glance at the studio audience tells you that it has a wide appeal to women as well. That’s probably because the show has a good portion of humour that appeals to all sexes, plus the fact that Richard Hammond does have a large female following (Jeremy Clarkson also recently came very high in a poll amoungst women of ‘Men-I-don’t-like-to-admit-that-I-find-sexy-but-actually-secretly-do’).

Top Gear has been accused of being "drenched in testosterone" and there have been views expressed that under new reforms of equality laws, it could be forced to use more female presenters.

I don’t think anyone would find it particularly clever, if to conform to these laws, the BBC appointed some dolly bird who clearly knew nothing about cars but was there just for eye candy for the men and to meet the equality quota, but on the other hand do we want Angela Rippon?

I decided to test this out, and so the other day very casually remarked to my other half that Ms Rippon was after the job of presenter on the hallowed grounds of Top Gear on the basis of the fact that she was actually the original presenter.

The arched eyebrow said it all, and I think he would have been more likely to believe me had I told him that Sooty & Sweep had taken over as Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer that morning. In fact he only believed that she had been the original presenter after ‘Wiki-based’ presentation of evidence.

Carol Vorderman has proven to be an unlikely ally in the fight to keep the programme as it is and has said "The three presenters have got perfect chemistry. Why meddle with it for the sake of sexual equality?

"Anyone criticising the show for being too male, too drenched in testosterone, is missing the point. The maleness of the show is one of its great attractions. Bringing in a female presenter would only dilute the appeal."

I thought the show where the three presenters had their Mums test drive the newest hatchbacks was really amusing, but I don't want that every week.

So guys what do you think? Do we want Ms Rippon as the new face of Top Gear, or am I the only woman that cares?

Gimme a break... an ad break!

2009-10-01T15:25:00.003+01:00

I love TV adverts! Always have and probably always will.

But in a strange, twisted, and contradictory kind of way, what I really like is finding an advert that makes me just scream with frustration because I actually hate it so much. Go figure!

The most recent ads that make me scramble for the remote control all seem to involve small children having a poo:

Last year there was a small boy whose life was made complete when he was able to press the button on the new wall mounted air freshener in the smallest room.

At the moment we have another small boy who seems to think that the home of his friend Paul is the best place to have a poo. I have a delightful image in my head of Paul’s mum twitching the net curtains aside to see a long queue of small children snaking around the block, waiting to use her downstairs loo.

But some of my favourite adverts are those that are targeting women and just manage to patronise us to death, and obviously I am not alone as I recently came across Sarah Haskins who has a slot in a US TV programme called ‘Target Women’.

Sarah takes a very tongue in cheek look at some of the techniques used in advertising in the US when the advertisers are specifically targeting women, and her videos are available online here. I particularly recommend the ‘Ladyfriends’ one, although now thanks to the Brook Shields video I understand that I suffer from ‘inadequate eyelashes’.

Suddenly our adverts here in the UK don’t seem so bad.

I’m H-A-P-P-Y!

2009-09-30T22:56:00.004+01:00

Don’t call me grumpy OK? Just don’t!

I’m generally a very happy person and very optimistic about my future, but according to US author Marcus Buckingham these halcyon days might well be limited and I could be heading for a slippery slope full of misery and discontent. According to research ongoing since the early seventies, whilst men have become generally more satisfied with their lot, women are apparently becoming more unhappy… and it gets worse the older we get!

This research has covered more than 1.3 million men and women in developed countries around the world and has been going on for over forty years, and it would seem that there is no denying the fact that on a scale of 1 to 3 (where 3 is very content and happy) us women have slid from an average ranking of 2.24 in 1972 to 2.17 by 2006, whilst men have become more content and get happier the older they get.

And it seems that it doesn’t matter whether we are married, single, divorced, childless or surrounded by an enourmous brood of children; no matter what our situation, we are more unhappy than our mothers and generally discontent with our lot. And this creeping unhappiness seeps into all aspects of a woman's life

So what’s this all about then?

One suggestion that has been put forward is that women just can’t deal with the choices that are available to them now and find choice "inherently stressful".

According to Betsey Stevenson co author of a study called “The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness” having children isn’t going to make things any better either. Says Stevenson, “Across the happiness data, the one thing in life that will make you less happy is having children.”

And then to add to our misery is the fact that our culture has become more youth and looks obsessed than ever, and whilst men are allowed to age in an attractive way, women are expected to keep looking youthful right into their 60’s and beyond.

Also, men feel less pressured about shouldering the sole responsibility for their family finances now, and no longer have the pressure of having women who are totally financially dependent on them. Women also tend to get the short straw as we get older when it comes to romantic issues. There are more widows than widowers, and men have an easier time getting younger mates.

So is this it now for me? Have I reached my happiness ‘apex’ at the ripe old age of 42? You know… I just can’t see it!

Buckingham goes on to say that if I cant relate to these findings, if I always feel “focused and successful, with plenty of energy and time” and if I have just a few doubts but they are “quickly drowned out by the many moments of real fulfillment”, then “well done” to me. But that “just know that, in aggregate, the next generation of women” doesn't feel like I do.

In 1972 I was 5, so I don’t have any basis for comparison, but I do have an older sister who was 19 in 1972 so that seemed like a good place to do a bit of research.

In 1972 my sister was working for BT as an Operator (remember when you dialled 100 and got a real person straight away?). She was married and already pregnant with her first child. If you had asked her then if she was happy with her lot she would have answered that she was deliriously happy.

But if you asked her now that she is 57 if she was happy when she was 19, her answer would be that no she wasn’t, but that she didn’t know at that time that there were other options and that she could take another path, and so things seemed to be about as good as they were ever going to get for her, so she had better be happy with them. She had ‘toed the expected line’; got married early, got a nice sensible job, aspired to shop at Habitat, and collected the ‘Golden Hands’ craft magazines into a 8 volume bound set.

It was only as she got older and we climbed out of the sexist environment of the early 1970’s, that other opportunities and options opened to her and she was able to strike out and launch into a more fulfilling life. In 1972 she was more ‘compliant’ and more likely to just accept her lot and say that she was happy, because if she wasn’t… there was nowhere else to go. Was this the case for lot of the women surveyed in 1972? Was it a case of ignorance is bliss?

So before we all launch into a resounding chorus of "I’m H-A-P-P-Y, I’m H-A-P-P-Y, I know I am, I’m sure I am, I’m H-A-P-P-Y", I’d love to hear some more opinions.

What else is your email saying about you?

2009-09-29T22:50:00.001+01:00

Have you heard of email psychology? I came across this term recently after reading about studies done in the US and UK. Studies showed that 57% of surveyed adults admitted feeling some concerns about how their own level of intelligence would be perceived when writing emails, and a large number of people admit to adapting the language and style of their emails to create their own 'email image'. This doesn't come as a surprise when you consider that over 58% of those surveyed also admitted to making judgments about an email senders personality, intelligence, and social status.

What I did find surprising though was some of the other assumptions and judgments that email respondents admitted to:

33% of respondents try to guess someone's age based only on the language, tone, and style that the person uses in their emails.
28% try to infer the sender's status as authority figure among his or her peers.
23% judge how successful the sender might be in their lifetime.
20% interpret the sender's social status.
11% of respondents will make a judgment about the sender's sexual attractiveness.
8% gauge the sender's fashion sense

So next time you are sending an email, ask yourself what else is your email saying about you?

Dragging myself into the 21st Century!

2009-09-23T23:27:00.002+01:00

Am I the last business person in the world to create a blog? I certainly feel like it!!

After some intense nagging from many TWBC members (especially the social media experts), I have spent the whole of today looking into social media; what I don't do, what I should do, and working out how to do it. Well.... sort of, with the working out bit.

By strange coincidence one of my members, who happens to be a bit of a website and SEO specialist popped by to see us late this afternoon. It was about two minutes after I had decided to give up on it all, and so within five more minutes I was back, logged onto the stuff I had previously been trying to digest and starting all over again.

So finally I have created a blog, and now all I have to do now is fill it with entertaining, informative content that makes it worth reading.

This is my first post, and I'm afraid that its probably not entertaining or informative, but it is a start, and after 14 hours staring at my laptop trying to make my first tentative steps into the world of social media and blogging I couldn't go to bed without posting something could I?