Ask Others, Trust Yourself by Elisa Balabram

I’ve been hearing about the importance of building one’s email list for at least fifteen years. I did build a list while running WomenandBiz.com, but I didn’t put much effort into it. I didn’t offer anything for free, except for great content and a subscription to an email that had a summary of articles and links, when a new issue of the site was posted. On occasion I sent an email about an event I was hosting, that I thought was relevant to my subscribers, and when I launched my book, I sent an email to let them know about it, it was a big accomplishment after all.

Here are the annoying things I’ve experienced throughout all these years, which makes me resist building a list again, or sending emails all together. And PLEASE, if you have the habit of doing any of these things, stop, and see if they are truly helping your business:

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I wanted to share here, the links to two articles I wrote for SavvyLadies.org:

•  Six Myths that May Stop You From Valuing Your Work Well
• What to Consider When Setting Your Prices

If you have any questions about them, you can post them here.

From the Savvy Ladies website: "Savvy Ladies teaches women about personal finances in an authentic way that encourages them to take control of their financial future. With Savvy Ladies’ education, women learn how to make proactive choices about their finances, identify their life goals, and move toward a more rich and rewarding life. Savvy Ladies provides seminars, webinars, workshops, and hotlines that encourage networking amongst women, and create a secure forum for women to ask financially-related questions. Savvy Ladies is not associated with another organization and provides unbiased education about personal finances." To learn more, visit SavvyLadies.org

In just the last few weeks, several women asked me how I managed guest bloggers on my other website WomenandBiz.com, and I’ve been recommending them to write guidelines. In case you are thinking of attracting volunteer guest bloggers to increase traffic and enhance your site’s content, here are a few items to think about and include in your guideline:

1-      About the blog and the categories that are available to guest bloggers

2-      Your blog’s target audience

3-      Typical guest bloggers and areas of expertise needed

4-      Topics/subjects that are most relevant to the readers

5-      How to submit articles (contact information, file format accepted, email subject line)

6-      The format to submit article, photo, bio or byline, contact information and site link(s) to be included with the article

7-      Minimum and maximum number of words allowed per blog

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I had the opportunity to interview Catherine Storing via Skype. In this interview she shares how her journey as a Chief Style Coach found her, how passionate she is about helping women find their image style, and she also shared her personal journey to embrace her own unique and authentic style. Catherine shares my view about the importance of self-love for women, and she inspires women to dress their best and show their truth inside and outside. She also shared women's biggest challenge when shopping for clothes.

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“I believe every woman is beautiful, and deserves to look her best.” Catherine Storing, Chief Style Coach, Styling Women to the Top. To learn more about Catherine Storing, and her services, please visit www.catherinestoring.com.  

Since last year, more than ever before, you probably have heard about the importance of collaboration, and how we can co-create and create win-win opportunities. I wanted to share with you more of how my collaboration with Jennifer Alhasa came about, so that you can start reflecting on the collaborations you can also create in your life and business.

Jennifer and I met early last year. We were both participating on the Tweet chat #spiritchat, hosted by Kumud Ajmani.^*  We started following each other on Twitter and Jennifer suggested we meet for coffee. I loved the idea, and pretty soon we had breakfast in my neighborhood as she had a meeting close by and I had to go to Brooklyn where I was working at the time. It’s wonderful how we met by chance online on a Sunday morning, and it turned out that we had so much in common that the relationship grew into a wonderful friendship.

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In the beginning of every year we feel excited about new possibilities. We let go of all that we consider negative experiences from the previous year, and we set intentions for the New Year.

I’ve grown a lot last year; there was no other option. Through all the challenges I had to face and learn from, (sites being hacked, leaving an 8-year successful non-profit career, and going through a heart break, to name a few), my coaching practice has also improved and grown with it. Next week, I’m providing two days (Monday and Wednesday) of complementary 45-minute Skype calls, to help you get clearer on what you want to create for 2013. If after the call, you feel like having a coach to guide you through achieving your goals, I will send you information about my self-love and business coaching services. 

To sign up, fill out the contact us page with the best times for you, and I will contact you to schedule our Skype call.

All the best in 2013,

Elisa Balabram

New York City and New York State have many resources to assist small business owners, and here you will find links to government initiatives to assist small businesses heavily impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

To learn about the Federal Government and the SBA's efforts to assist entrepreneurs in every state impacted by the Hurricane, please visit: http://www.sba.gov/content/2012-hurricane-and-tropical-storm-recovery-assistance-information
To learn about New York State efforts, please visit http://esd.ny.gov/StormRecovery.asp
To learn about New york City efforts, including loans, tax breaks and disaster unemployment assistance for the self-employed, please visit http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/nycbiz/html/home/home.shtml

I recommend those of you outside New York State, to check out the SBA website as well as your State's website for information on disaster relief.