The Sassy Ladies Blog

Tech Tips for Sending Your Holiday Cards

michelle@thesassyladies.com — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 15:37:50 GMT

Tech Tips for Sending Your Holiday Cards

It's that wonderful time of year again, when we layer all of the stress of the holiday activities to our already busy lives. I love the holidays, and all the merriment and joy that comes with the season. I just wish it wasn't so hectic.

One of the things that just makes me crazy each year is sending holiday cards. Each year, every night between Thanksgiving and a few days before Christmas, I would sit with a stack of cards, envelopes and stamps, and send a few out at a time, grumbling all the way. By the time I mailed the last one, I would rather have poked myself in the eye with an ornament hook than send another card.

Never again, I swore.

This year, I am going to enjoy sending out my holiday greetings, because I am using Send Out Cards! Santa created a way to write cards on your computer- and use it all year long! I will pour a glass of wine, turn on my favorite Charlie Brown Christmas jazz, and sit down at my computer for less than an hour, and my job will be done. Sweet!

Using Send Out Cards, not only can you upload a photo and/or create a custom card, but you can also type a unique message to each person on the list, if you so choose. And, you can upload a handwriting sample, so it looks like you wrote it yourself. They print the card and take care of the rest - the envelope addressing, stuffing, licking, stamping and mailing!

So, not only will it save you a ton of time, but for as little as a dollar a card, it will save you lots of money, too. Win. Win. Now, if only Send Out Cards could do the shopping, decorating, cooking, and gift wrapping…

If you're thinking along the same lines, we'll let you send one to yourself, using our free gift account. (Just click here to give it a try.)

Wouldn't it be nice to be done with your cards before Thanksgiving? If you want to get started sending cards to your list, we can even help you set up your own account. Just email Erin@thesassyladies.com, and she'll send you the information you need.

(There's even a longer story for why we use them in business--but I'll save that for when you set up your account!)

And, if you decide not to use Send Out Cards for your holiday greetings, we hope you think of us this season, every time you lick an envelope, and say "Well, maybe I'll make this easier next year." ;0)

Breaking the Glass Slipper Radio Show - Wendy's Guest Appearance

michelle@thesassyladies.com — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 23:16:34 GMT

Stacey Shipman and Kathleen Burns Kingsbury have a great online radio program, called "Breaking the Glass Slipper". One of their goals is to empower women around money.

The Sassy Ladies Business Coach, Wendy Hanson was asked to be a guest on their show and talk about THINKING BIG. Join Stacey and Wendy as they look at how to think big and explore some actions to take to get your brain working with you towards achieving your goals.

Listen to the radio show podcast now.

Use every tool in your marketing arsenal…(especially the free ones)!

michelle@thesassyladies.com — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:43:12 GMT

Use every tool in your marketing arsenal…(especially the free ones)!

Last month, we invited all of the sassy ladies in our community to join our social networking groups in LinkedIn and/or Facebook. Many of you jumped on it, and hundreds more of you haven’t joined yet.

Well, we know through our survey and coaching groups that Marketing is a big goal for many of you, and Social Networking is another tool in your arsenal. And, it is free – the only cost is your time to set it up. In this economy, you want to take advantage of the free marketing opportunities!

If you are looking for an avenue to connect and share your business message with other women in business, then join one or both groups. How are women using it?

- To promote your events - it's another great avenue for getting the word out to people outside your own network. For example, Jean DiGiovanna offers her "Introduction to Workshop Design" seminar, with a link to her site for more info. Log in and check it out!

- To share your wisdom – as an example, Karen Wenborn from the United Kingdom posted a response to a question we had at a recent business expo on how to get a press release into a newspaper. Thanks, Karen!

If online communities seem scary (it IS almost Halloween!) for you, as sometimes Internet technology can be, I created a You Tube video, to help introduce you to the pros and cons, and give you some examples of the social networking avenues.

So, check out the video:

So, if you’re already set up a Facebook and LinkedIn account, we hope you’ll join our group, and start connecting with others in our community. There may just be a good connection to be made to help you achieve your business goals.

Join the Sassy Ladies’ Group on Linked In.

Join the Sassy Ladies’ Group on Facebook.

And, if you don’t have an online profile, post a comment, and let us know why! We’re always eager to hear your questions and comments…

Sassy Ladies to sponsor new financial literacy courses for women business owners

michelle@thesassyladies.com — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:57:34 GMT

We’re proud to sponsor new financial literacy courses for women business owners!

Over the summer, The Sassy Ladies were asked by the Women’s Business Center of Maine to participate in an online workshop program for women around the topic of financial literacy for women.

We have been working over the last few months to develop a series of workshops with some of our expert partners in this arena, and are proud to extend the opportunity to participate to our own community in the coming months.

You can participate in these workshops online in two formats - live in the virtual classroom, or by accessing a recorded, self-paced version of the workshop, or both!

Here are the first two:

Pricing For What You're Worth
November 19, 2008
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Sponsoredhttp:http://thesassyladies.com/http://thesassyladies.com/thesassyladies.comhttp://thesassyladies.com/Presented by: Women’s Business Center at CEIhttp:http://thesassyladies.com/http://thesassyladies.com/thesassyladies.comhttp://thesassyladies.com/Maine; Kathleen Burns Kingsbury of KBK Connections, Inc.; and The Sassy Ladies.
“Pricing For What You're Worth” is part of the Maine Women's Business Empowerment Program, for women who have been in business for at least six months and who want to boost their financial confidence and skills.
This workshop addresses pricing of products and services and is designed particularly for women who have found it difficult or uncomfortable to put a fair price on their products or services. After attending the workshop, participants should have: a better understanding of the emotional roadblocks they may encounter in pricing, strategies for pricing based on value-add and market dynamics, and more confidence in their ability to ask for and receive a fair price.

Learn Morehttp:http://thesassyladies.com/http://thesassyladies.com/thesassyladies.comhttp://thesassyladies.com/Register (Maine Business Works Website)
Keeping Your Business Records
December 3, 2008
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Sponsoredhttp:http://thesassyladies.com/http://thesassyladies.com/thesassyladies.comhttp://thesassyladies.com/Presented by: Women’s Business Center at CEIhttp:http://thesassyladies.com/http://thesassyladies.com/thesassyladies.comhttp://thesassyladies.com/Maine; Debbie Bettencourt of Lighthouse Financial Services; and The Sassy Ladies.
“Keeping Your Business Records” is also part of the Maine Women's Business Empowerment Program, for women who have been in business for at least six months and who want to boost their financial confidence and skills.
At the end of the workshop, participants should be able to:

- Identify what types of records are required for the IRS and what for their own financial management, if different.
- Understand how long they need to maintain records and in what format.
- Know their responsibility for providing supporting documentation and have started thinking about Backup and Disaster Recovery.
- Know basic bookkeeping terms and information and where to get help
- Understand why it’s important to reconcile checking and credit card accounts and how to do it.

(Online Registration link to come soon)

Make it a point to vote! (And, take your daughter with you!)

michelle@thesassyladies.com — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:03:51 GMT

Make it a point to vote! (And, take your daughter with you!)

Today we’ll break from our usual business-related topics for an important public service announcement, for all our U.S. citizen sassy ladies:

Make an appointment with yourself on November 4^th to vote. (Go ahead, get your calendar right now, and block off some time to head to the polls.) You can’t let your business duties-du-jour take priority over your civic duty to vote in a presidential election!

And, if you have daughters, you might want to take 5 minutes, and watch a fun video (below) from The White House Project with them. These enthusiastic young girls are inspired to soar to great heights, and no doubt they will become adult voters.

I have always taken my kids to the polls, even for primaries. (At this young age, they seem to remember only that there is a gumball machine at the fire station, but let's hope it inspires them to vote as adults!!)

I also found a website, www.takeyourkids2vote.org, which has some games and fun facts for kids.

Whether you are Democrat or Rebublican, show your support for the candidates and issues that you feel best represent you, your business and your community. Get out to vote!

How to Give Feedback

michelle@thesassyladies.com — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:56:59 GMT

Giving Feedback

A big challenge in business and sometimes in our personal life is being able to give people feedback and make our needs known. As an entrepreneur, it may be feedback to a client, vendor or partner. The end result in either case is to produce an improved result or performance.

According to wikipedia.org, feedback is “a process of sharing observations, concerns and suggestions between persons…with an intention of improving both personal and organizational performance. Negative and positive feedback…imply criticism and praise, respectively.”

While no one likes to be criticized, here are some guidelines to giving feedback which is effective and can be heard and “digested” by the other person.

1. Before you give feedback, ask the person to give feedback on their own performance, their own skills etc. ie “How do you think you did?” or “How do you think that went?”

2. Ask permission to give feedback. If you want to tell someone feedback about their performance or about something they did, say, “May I have your permission to give you some feedback on …” or “Do you mind if I give you some feedback on that?”. This gives them the opportunity to be more open and receptive to what you have to say.

3. Personal and specific feedback is much more effective than general feedback. When you are giving someone constructive feedback, try very hard to make it specific. A good way to frame that is to say:

a. “This is what I liked about what you did.” and,

b. “This is what I wanted more of.”

4. During any conversation, making eye contact makes a person feels like they are being heard. Look them directly in the eye as you are speaking to them and as you hear their response.

5. Feedback is most effective when given frequently.

6. Make sure your feedback is non-judgmental. This will make it “easier to swallow”. Here are some “edible” feedback questions to use in an assessment:

Edible Feedback Questions:

· Ask what worked?

· Ask what didn’t work?

· Ask what they might do differently?

· Offer to give your observations.

· Check for agreement.

If you are managing a project team, you could modify these questions and use them for yourself and team members to evaluate the project. For instance, you plan a marketing event to attract new clients. As a post mortem—you could ask the team:

· What worked?

· What didn’t work?

· What would we do differently?

· How will we measure our success?

As an entrepreneur, giving feedback and creating an environment where feedback is valued and part of your company culture will be an important part of your success.

Meet the Sassy Ladies at the 2nd Annual We Mean Business Expo

michelle@thesassyladies.com — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:39:53 GMT

The Sassy Ladies are happy to return for a second year of exhibiting and podcasting at the We Mean Business Expo, on September 22, 2008 at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick RI.

For information on this event or to pre-register, visit: http://www.wemeanbusinessri.com/

Last year, we were among the first business experts to exhibit at this successful event, co-hosted by the State of Rhode Island Secretary of State’s Office and the RI Economic Development Corporation. Many new business owners and dreamers came by our booth to ask great questions about what they needed to do to be successful. We also recorded a bunch of podcasts with other exhibitors at the event. Listen to these interviews.

If you live nearby, and are thinking of starting a business, it is a great place to come to get answers to a lot of your startup questions! We hope to see you there!

Join our Sassy Ladies’ Groups on Linked In and Facebook!

michelle@thesassyladies.com — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:18:51 GMT

Join our Sassy Ladies’ Groups on Linked In and Facebook!

The social networking scene is taking the marketing world by storm, and we want to make sure you are not left behind. If you already have profiles set up in either of these sites, it is as easy as searching for the following group pages, and join. If not, you will be asked to create a profile first, then you can link your profile to our group.

Join the Sassy Ladies’ Group on Linked In

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=58361

Join the Sassy Ladies’ Group on Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14579614287

Join one, or join both!

But, why?

It’s a great way to network online, and connect with other women entrepreneurs. For many months, we’ve been asked to post information on our website about upcoming workshops, events, book launches, etc. We couldn’t keep up, so we’ve decided to use the powerful tools that these sites offer to enable YOU to reach out to our community of women entrepreneurs.

We look forward to discussions, collaborations, and, well, NETWORKING to begin happening in the coming months, through these two groups. We hope you will join us.

Sassy Chic: Fundraiser T-Shirts, now available online!

michelle@thesassyladies.com — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:41:30 GMT
Sassy Chic: Fundraiser T-Shirts, now available online!

While we won't reveal "the story behind the saying" until next week's fundraiser party, you can now support the cause with these inspirational, quality t-shirts.

Available in men's and women's sizes, the shirts read,
"Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Live it!"

If love the t-shirts, or can't get to the party, but would like to support the cause, you can buy one today, and we'll ship them right out. Enjoy!

Purchase T-Shirt(s)

Save The Date: July 16th for a Fundraiser Party at Hi Hat, Providence

michelle@thesassyladies.com — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 21:11:49 GMT

Do a Good Deed, Have a Good Time
Join us at the Hi-Hat

3 Davol Square

Providence, RI 02903

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

5:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Admission: $15 donation

(Cash menu & cash bar)

Impact: Priceless

DONATE/PRE-REGISTER NOW

Sometimes in life, things happen beyond our control. It seems everyday in the news we hear about another crisis that's unfolded onto our world, and most situations seem too big and terrible for us to make an impact on. But sometimes, in the midst of all the natural disasters and worldwide health epidemics, a major life-changing obstacle comes our way, and the news isn't delivered via network satellites from thousands of miles away.

Recently, our dear friend and colleague, Miriam Perry, suffered her own personal tragedy. Miriam's parents, Bice and Joe Rivera, lost everything they owned to a horrific and devastating fire. The fire burned down their apartment complex in Norwalk, Connecticut and displaced 150 people from their homes. Miraculously, each and every resident survived and none of the responding firemen or police officers were hurt. While nothing is more valuable than all the lives saved, survivors were left with little more than the clothes on their backs when they escaped before the complex burned to the ground in the middle of that night.

Can you imagine yourself standing amidst the blaze as all your belongings, personal treasures and memories disappeared forever? We can't. And if you feel like we do, you'll join us for our special fundraiser to help the Riveras get back what they've lost.

The Hi-Hat in Davol Square in Providence, Rhode Island has generously offered their beautiful (and very sassy) space for the event. Entertainment will be provided by the swinging (and also, very sassy), nine-piece jazz/pop fusion band, The Blackstone Project. It's the perfect excuse for that after-work summer cocktail. Bring your friends, family and coworkers, have a drink, order some baked brie (a favorite Sassy Lady appetizer) for your inclusive booth (think 1940's Brown Derby), and listen to some hot music in a cool setting.

It's not your ordinary charity fundraiser... It's a party, with a cause!

DONATE/PRE-REGISTER NOW

We hope to see you there,

Michelle and Wendy