Recently, the Small Business Administration announced its 2009 recipients for Small Business Week.  Among those, Connie Sparks, president of Wade Institute, located in Santa Clarita, California. This award recognizes business leaders, individuals, and organizations for thier immediate contributions to support Home-Based businesses.  Ms. Sparks was nominated for this award in November 2008 and named 2009 Home-Based Business Champion for the Los Angeles District in early February.  Ms. Sparks will be formally awarded at the Small Business Administration’s Award Luncheon this coming summer.

“I am dedicated to supporting and providing services to home-based businesses, no matter the size, type, or industry.  My goal is to help grass-root business owners transition to the next level in business, expand, and become more competititve in the market place.”

Connie Sparks, 2009 Home Based Business Champion

Her level of commitment to help women is impeccable.  Ms. Sparks formed services and programs, which offered women faced with financial challenges an opportunity to start their own business and earn residual income.  She uses her experiences to empower women dependent on social services, living in rural communities, and victims of domestic violence.  She helped more than a dozen women start their own traveling retail service. The programs provided training, networking and traveling opportunities, which had a great impact on their self-esteem and leadership.

2007 Ms. Sparks instituted a new program CTB. She took on the challenge of introducing a new career opportunity to women. A career which allowed women to venture into the banking industry becoming independent consultants for other small businesses.  As a result, she hired three women as freelance intermediaries, assisted six in starting their own consulting service and one employed with a local bank.  Ms. Sparks has infused more than 2 million dollars into women owned businesses.

Additionally, Ms. Sparks partnered with other community businesses to host a Women’s Independence Fair annually, where established women business owners come together and extend opportunities to women on welfare, unemployed, retired, and are students.

Due to the current state of our economy, she felt a sense of responsibility to create a system, which would promote business-to-business support small businesses could use to meet their business needs and save money. So, Ms. Sparks launched a social website My Exchange Network.com. ME Network allows small business owners to barter for services and products internationally.

The level of commitment she has for educating women is by far a commending attribute any person can have. Ms. Sparks without hesitation picks up the pieces and address the needs of communities.

An author, trainer, and coach, Ms. Sparks has helped more than 200 grass-root businesses throughout California, stemming from start-up to accessing capital and trained more than 3,000 business owenrs, executives, and mangers collectively.

For more info, visit:   www.wadeinstitute.org or call 661.208.8229

I’d like to introduce you to an empowered woman who took control of her financial independence to become a textile designer!!

Award-winning textile designer Alison Yule will be starting the New Year in style when she exhibits at a prestigious event in Paris.

She will be showcasing some of her key work, which brings fabric to life, to a truly international audience at the Maison & Objet Show in January.

It is a huge accolade to be selected to exhibit at the trade show, which targets professionals from the field of home fashion and design and attracts top buyers and suppliers worldwide.

Derbyshire-based Alison is delighted to have the opportunity to show some of the most influential people in the business her unique hand woven products that fuse contemporary design with traditional fibres.

She has been selected to attend the show along with 5 members of Design Factory, the premier organisation supporting Designer Makers in the East Midlands. They have been selected to exhibit by Alelier d’Art de France, their equivalent of the Crafts Council.

Alison, whose business is Alison Yule Textiles and who has been weaving, spinning and dyeing for over 30 years, creates richly textured fabrics with simple, effective designs.

Hallmarks of her work, which include wall panels, rugs, cushions and window hangings, are unusual colour combinations and original textiles that are inspired by her surroundings.

Alison is hoping her work will catch the eye of key international buyers and influencers at the Maison & Objet Show in January. She will be exhibiting in L’Espace, Hall 4, Stand E56

She said: “Exhibiting at such a high-profile event and to leaders of the international home fashion and design world is a great achievement.

“I’m very much looking forward to going to Paris and it is a great honour to have been selected to exhibit at such a prestigious event.”  Visit  http://www.alisonyuletextiles.co.uk/ to see what else this empowered woman has accomplished.

We are raising money for our Grant Program. Donate $30 and you can have a 250 x 250 pixel banner ad on the grant page for 30 days.

*That’s $1 a day of advertising to thousands of women entrepreneurs! http://iiwomen.com/New/index.htm

Gazelle Simmons is our current grant finalist. She is the owner od Admin Services, a Virtual Assistant(VA) in Atlanta, GA. Her grant wil be used to buy a new computer so she can continue to grow her business. Gazelle is also an author, mother of 2 girls and a community volunteer.

Help us award this grant so we can award another grant!

I’d like to introduce you to Kris Cavanaugh, a Speaker and Coach who specializes in helping decision-makers enhance their personal skills through cultivating a C.E.O. mindset in every area of their life so their personal and professional lives thrive.

If you have a desire to live your life “on purpose” so you wake up every day excited about the possibilities and maintain an unwavering belief that you will overcome any obstacles to achieve your personal and professional goals more easily and consistently, then click on the following link to receive her complimentary Mini-Course: 5 Steps to Building Confidence in Uncertain Times.

If you have a need for a speaker Kris has a list of her presentations at this link: Kris Cavanaugh’s Keynotes & Workshops. You are also welcome to call her at 404-551-3601 for more information.

When Marte Cliff puts fingers to keyboard to create marketing copy for a client she has has but one goal. That goal is to show consumers how doing business with her client will benefit them, so that they will pick up the phone, send an email, fill out an order form, or walk into a storefront.

Every purchase or decision to use a particular service provider is driven by emotion. Thus the goal can only be accomplished by showcasing the personal benefits a consumer will receive from a product or service, along with the features. It’s done by providing the “reasons why.”

That alone used to produce results. But today’s economic climate demands something additional.

Successfully marketing your products and services today means creating trust. Today’s potential customers and clients want to know who you are and why they can depend upon you. If they can’t see that, then you become just another in a long list of people trying to separate them from their money.

Whether the project is web copy, a postcard, a newsletter, or a series of letters, Marte takes the time to weave in these vital marketing elements.

While Marte enjoys creating all kinds of copy, one of her favorite tasks is writing personal bios. Taking a person’s education and past experiences and showing how they benefit his or her clients today is “her kind of fun.”

Visit Marte at www.marte-cliff.com, or check out her real-estate related site: www.copybymarte.com

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Business Grants are elusive to most entrepreneurs and especially hard to find in a recession.  Investing In Women (www.iiwomen.com) wants to change that and is asking for everyone to get involved in awarding grants.  After awarding their first grant a few weeks ago, the company is ready to award another one.

The current grant applicant is Gazelle Simmons, a virtual assistant and author.  She started her business Admin Services in 1998 and is currently in need of a new computer. “The desktop computer I’m currently using was purchased in February 2005…It is an essential part of my business and I couldn’t work without it.”  Gazelle wrote in her grant application.  As a virtual assistant she works with business owners who need administrative support but not a full time employee. Her services include, but are not limited to presentations, data entry, mass-mailings and editing/proofreading.

Gazelle lives in Atlanta, GA with her two teenage daughters.  She is active in her community and spends her free time volunteering. After 10 years as an executive administrator she became her own boss so she would have the time to care for her aging parents.  “I could be available for my parents, children even friends and family while still doing work I loved.  For the first time in years, I looked forward to working.” says Gazelle

With the new grant program, everyone gets a chance to be involved. Investing In Women will begin the grant with $25 and the remainder will be donated through the site by visitors and from paid advertisements. All grant donors will receive recognition on the site with their name or website link.

“This gives us more transparency in our grant process and allows others to do something positive for a small business owner.” says Leah Oviedo, founder of Investing In Women. “Our goal is to offer 100 micro-grants in the next 2 years. After this grant is awarded we will be awarding another and so on.”

Investing In Women was founded in February of 2009 with the goal of encouraging women to be financially independent. They offer free business resources and tools that can be used by all entrepreneurs, not just women.  Set up like a co-op, members of the site contribute their knowledge and resources on different business subjects.  In exchange they receive free advertising.

If you would like to learn more about the Grant, Gazelle Simmons or Investing In Women visit http://iiwomen.com/New/index.htm.

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As sustainability gains global momentum, more small and medium-size businesses are beginning to understand that it is in their best interest to implement programs that benefit the environment as well as their bottom line. Many of these businesses are jumping aboard the “green” bandwagon with energy and enthusiasm. However, being passionate about the environment is not enough, according to Jennifer Woofter, founder and president of Strategic Sustainability Consulting. As with any other successful business initiative, you must have a strategy for success.

Woofter uses a modular approach with businesses that want to become more sustainable. “Most clients don’t have a budget. They aren’t ready to sign up for a year to 10 years. They need to take bite-size pieces. What are your employees’ top three needs? What is your carbon footprint? Before we tell you how to develop your strategy, let’s figure out where it’s worth your time and attention.”

Founded in 2005 and based near Washington, DC, SSC has a worldwide network of approximately 450 consultants and also offers webinars, with topics ranging from “How to Conduct a Waste Audit” to “How to Green your IT.” Open to consultants, business owners and anyone else who is interested (I attended “Sustainability Consulting 101″ and SSC’s monthly network meeting for sustainability consultants), these webinars educate and inform as well as lay the general groundwork for the next step in strategic sustainability development.

What that next step may be depends on where the individual or business perceives the most value. “Sustainability is so many things: community involvement, waste management, governance, etc.,” Woofter says. “What are the reasons your business would benefit? Reduced energy costs, brand recognition, less turnover? Each client has key drivers. What would benefit you? Think through that before you spend a lot of money that may not give you the most bang for your buck.”

According to Woofter, there are two ways a company can implement sustainable measures: 1. Put policies in place at a company-wide level–for example, implement LEED standards in new buildings or adopt a formal telecommuting program. 2. Allow employees to make individual decisions that promote sustainability. Make it easy to recycle, to print on two sides of the paper, to telecommute, etc. In other words, look at infrastructure but also consider behavior.

Says Woofter, “More than 80 percent of employees think they are eco-conscious. But that percentage goes down when they are asked, ‘Can I make environmentally conscious decisions at work?’ And it goes down even more when asked, ‘Is my company environmentally conscious?’” One of the goals at SSC is to help businesses reduce or eliminate the dissonance between how employees see themselves and how they see the companies they work for.

SSC also aims to establish a benchmark for clients to develop measurable goals and objectives. The Green Audit is one of SSC’s most popular programs. The process works well for companies with fewer than 1,000 employees (typically, SSC clients vary in size from 15 to 10,000 employees, though a few have 50,000 employees or more). The Green Audit is designed for companies “ready to start but not ready to totally dive in,” according to Woofter.

During this process, an SSC-certified green auditor carries out an employee survey, gathers facility data and calculates the company’s carbon footprint. The auditor also conducts an on-site “understanding sustainability” workshop and a “results and recommendations” presentation. The auditor will also provide a written plan of action with strategic steps for companies to take either in-house or by working with a consultant. The core of this plan is to establish a relevant benchmark.

“Part of the challenge,” says Woofter, “is that there are so many standards out there. There is no issue that doesn’t have three or four ways to measure success. One of the core competencies is knowing what is out there and what is best for our clients. For some clients, it’s ISO standards, for others it’s the Natural Step, for some it’s labor issues.” SSC green auditors have access to a database of more than 75 past clients, divided into peer groups, against which they can measure a company’s performance. The groups include financial companies, nonprofits and office-based small businesses. That gives each green auditor a rigorous and consistent basis for comparison. Companies are measured against their peers to give them a reference point so the numbers make sense. “This puts best business practices into perspective,” Woofter says.

To those who claim that going green is a passing fad, Woofter responds: “Too many people are thinking about this as a feel-good issue. They say, ‘Isn’t this a bit of a green bubble?’ Maybe, but just because there’s a bubble doesn’t mean it won’t have lasting impact. The internet bubble has passed, but it still has lasting impact. Everyone has e-mail now.” In order to stay competitive both today and in the future, Woofter says, companies must position themselves within natural constraints. “This is just about good business strategy. You don’t have to love polar bears to believe sustainability is important and to manage your business so that it will be here long-term.”

How can you go green?

1. Pick the issue that has the most value for you and your company. Companies run the risk of getting bogged down if they try to do too much at once.
2. Build a valid benchmark assessment for your business. In addition to sustainability consultants, numerous federal, state and local programs offer information and assistance. For example, EnergyStar for Buildings & Plants offers strategies and tools, including a portfolio manager and a benchmarking starter kit, for businesses that want to become more energy- and water-efficient. And EPA Climate Leaders offers information on goal setting and reporting to help businesses build wide-ranging climate-change strategies.
3. Take things in bite-size pieces. Develop a step-by-step approach with a set of measurable objectives as well as a timeline for achieving those objectives.
4. Make sure you are on the same page with your employees. One of the keys to success with any program is developing a plan of action that includes employee input. This is especially true when evaluating a “triple bottom line” strategy (profits, planet, people).
5. Market your successes. Be honest, but be sure to let your clients, customers, suppliers and everyone else know that you are going green.  www.sustainabilityconsulting.com

Hello everyone, thank you for visiting us. We are about to embark on an end of year empowerment journey.

We want to help you reach your goals! Alba’s Exclusive Events is bringing you great networking event every month, business tour opportunities, meet and greet sessions, hear exciting expert speakers, and much more.

Come and join us at Alba’s Exclusive Events, very exciting. All entrepreneurs will have the luxury of a great online business community membership with weekly and monthly amenities such as:

* FREE Networking events and Cafe’s

* FREE and discounted admissions to workshops

* FREE resources, tips and articles

* FREE media outlets

* FREE featured opportunities and newsletter subscription

* FREE expert advice via videos on topics of business, finance, lifestyle, media and public relations, health and wealth, and much more.

Stop by and enjoy great networking at Alba’s Exclusive Events, see you there!

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Investing In Women has awarded a $500 “stimulus package” to a woman owned business in New Jersey. This grant is to encourage women to start or grow businesses that will help the economy or improve lives.

Montclair NJ,  November 9, 2009- Investing In Women has awarded their first grant to a woman owned business in the USA.  The recipient of the award is Tanisha Cunningham, founder of The Underground Railroad to Success (www.railroad2success.com). The URS is a non-profit that provides a service to foster children aging out of the system to live independently as adults while becoming an integral part of society. This is great for foster children and also has a positive affect on our society as a whole.

“Aging out” is the term used for children who go into foster care, but are never returned to their families of origin or adopted by others. They stay in the system until they turn 18, or graduate from high school, and for the most part, are left to fend for themselves as best they can.

Tanisha Cunningham started URS in January of 2009. A child of foster care herself, she saw the need for foster kids to have additional support when they were no longer eligible for state run services.  Soon after her foster care ended, she began a career in child welfare “I wanted to stay there because my passion had always been to give back, because I knew the struggles of living in foster care, and the fear of leaving unprepared, not having a place to go or having the skills to obtain a job.”

Investing In Women (www.iiWomen.com) is a free business resource site, grant program and marketing venue for entrepreneurs. The organization plans to offer several micro grants in 2010, including grants that are not awarded based on gender.

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Lynny Brown, owner of SEObyCanz (http://www.seobycanz.com) and co-owner of CANZ Design is a self professed computer nerd and extremely knowledgeable SEO specialist. Lynn has refined her skills as the industry has developed, always researching, constantly growing and adapting as the internet becomes more and more sophisticated. There are many definitions of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), but the easiest way to describe the process in non-tech speak is to say she ‘makes websites findable in search engines’.

**She is offering a special deal for members of ‘Investing In Women’ (http://iiwomen.com) that have built own websites; women who have control and want to keep control of their websites. Lynny is now offering women like this a SEO consultation service that includes a full website analysis and detailed instructions on what that owner can do to make their website rank better in search engines for less than half the price she normally charges for this service. This offer is only for women that are members of Investing in Women.

Instead of the usual $3500, she charges for consulting, women who own and run their own websites get this service for $500 deposit, and then 4 monthly payments of $250; a total of $1500, the balance which can be paid over 5 months.

Of course if someone wants a crash course they are welcome to pay the full amount. The skills you learn will be specific to your own website and should not be transferred to other sites, as often these techniques could be detrimental to another website it was not specifically designed for. Good SEO is developed for one website as each site must be analyzed with appropriate methods applied to it.

There are three rules for this offer.
1. You must be a member of Investing in Women. Sign up at: http://iiwomen.com/FAQ/index.htm.
2. You need to have owned your website for at least 2 years (show commitment)
3. You need to sign a contract stating you won’t try to become an SEO yourself with the skills you have learned. (non-compete agreement)

Since Lynny has a personal limit of only 10 clients at a time, there are only 3 openings at present. Write to Lynny at
Lynny@canzdesign.com or give her a call at 619 269 5372 between lunchtime and midnight.

Lynny Brown’s Bio

Lynny’s internet career has been a long progression of self taught skills based upon her fascination with the way websites and search engines work; beginning, as many of us do, with a homemade website that no one could find. That was the beginning of her always evolving solution to solve the puzzle; how to make a site visible, have people find and use what was online and available.
History

A computer changed Lynny’s life. She was confined to a wheelchair and bedridden (a result of a broken back injury), when she got her first computer. Her first project was a locally marketed cook book made up of recipes from her own kitchen and contributions from a few friends. Next: a personal web site which was the start of a lifetime passion.
2001 was a focal point for Lynny Brown; 3 things happened that would change her life.

She bought a digital camera, her life partner Kym, traveled from California to New Zealand (CA-NZ) and together they begin their first online business, which appropriately was called CANZ.

The first Canz (http://canz.biz) was a stock image bank they developed to market the thousands of photographs she and Kym took while traveling throughout New Zealand. Within a couple of years this small shoestring enterprise grew to become the second largest image bank in New Zealand offering upwards of 50,000 photographs and graphics from artist all over the world. Lynn’s fascination with search engines grew as she began optimizing and marketing the website that now contained upwards of 50,000 pages.

During this period of time they begin building professional websites for other small businesses and the second Canz (http://CanzDesign.com) was off and running. Quickly the newly developed skills of web design and SEO techniques was divided between the two business women; the design handled by her partner while Lynny utilized all the knowledge skills she acquired in her specialty: Search Engine Optimization, marketing and strategy.

Soon there was a third Canz: SEObyCanz (http://SEObyCanz.com) a site developed to focus on the growing clientele that had use of Lynn’s specialty Search Engine Optimization for web sites.

In 2008 Lynny and her partner moved to the United States where she soon met a chiropractor who fixed her chronic back pain, enabling her to do many of the things she could do before her accident 17 years ago. She built that chiropractor a website that is search engine friendly and optimized for the services her chiropractor offers.

While researching chiropractic websites and internet marketing for that specialty she became aware that many chiropractors where in need of SEO and internet marketing advice. Because of her interest in the field and the way chiropractic treatment has helped her personally she began focusing on SEO for chiropractic web sites.

Lynn Brown, herself a gay woman that operates a full time online business, has a keen interest in woman owned and operated businesses. She has helped several women to get their websites ranking well in search engines and producing results that make money.

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