Free Online Communication Seminar for Business Owners

I received this press release release from the SBA today. Sounds like a good deal.


" An hour-long Internet coaching session aimed at sharpening communications skills for business owners will be presented by Granville Toogood, a former network news producer for NBC and ABC on April 24, from 11 a.m. to noon. The free seminar is sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration, Financial Times newspaper and Liminal Group, a company co-founded by Toogood.

During the “Leadership Communications” coaching session, broadcast live from New York, Toogood will present tips on speaking effectively with employees, customers, bankers and colleagues at any venue, from a boardroom to a stage in front of a large audience. Demonstrations on steering a meeting and negotiating deals, inspiring employees, and speaking with confidence will be presented during the session.

“Developing the ability to stay on message and convince an audience – be it
one customer or a room full of potential investors – is a skill business owners
must cultivate in order to succeed,” said SBA Administrator Steve Preston. “This seminar will provide another useful tool for entrepreneurs interested in improving their skills.”

For more information about the event and registration, call 212-546-4625 or
visit http://www.liminalgroup.com/lim_webseminar/index.php?dc=sbapress.
Toogood has coached executives and managers from Deloitte & Touche, Morgan Stanley, Swiss Bank, Northrop Grumman, the New York Stock Exchange, and CitiGroup. A former reporter for Life magazine, Toogood has written several bestselling books on leadership and business communications.

The Financial Times is recognized as one of the world’s’ leading business publications, with a readership of 1.3 million people in over 110 countries.
Co-founded by Toogood in 2003, the Liminal group is a partnership of executive coaches and organizational consultants helping individuals and corporations position themselves as leaders in their industries. "

Bloggers Unite For Social Human Rights

If you blog you might be interested in participating in Bloggers Unite on May 15. On this day all bloggers are asked to blog about human rights. You can go here to find out more and to register. You can also find possible topics to blog about.

Projecting a Professional Image

Projecting a professional image in business is crucial. Yet, I'm amazed at the number of business owners who overlook this fact when deciding on which email account to use in their business transactions. I understand that spam makes all of us want to use junk accounts. Each day I receive hundreds of emails from spammers wanting to know if I want to enlarge my penis or buy Viagra online. It's sort of the cost of doing business. It's annoying but simply hitting the delete button without opening the email should suffice.

But how seriously do you think a prospect will take you if you send an email from chickenlittle1@hotmail.com? Or worse something like myra12345887979798989@mailrus.com? I say this because I received an email today from someone in business with an email account that had me asking, "What was this guy thinking?" Not only that, but I certainly don't want to do business with someone who does not take his business image seriously. You know the saying about first impressions. Well, my first impression of him as a business owner was very low.


I have two email accounts that I use to get newsletters and such. But both are variations of my name. Reason being I've had them for awhile, long before I had my domain name and email address myra@myrafayeturner.com. I knew I would look pretty darn foolish sending email to an editor or potential corporate business lead with some cutesy email address.

If you want to project a professional business image, don't overlook your email address. You may think it's cute but a potential business lead won't.

National Small Business Week

Just a reminder- National Small Business Week is April 21-25, with events in Washington, D.C., April 21-23 and in New York City April 24-25. If you can't attend any of the events, don't fret, events will be web-streamed live at www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com.

Creating PDF Documents

Creating PDF documents is easier than you may think and doing so does not require a fancy- smancy-overly-priced creator. You can create a PDF file as easy as 1-2-3. And you can do so with a Free tool called Cute PDF Writer 2.7. It's available at cnet.com. Easy to download, easy to install, easy to use. And did I mention it's free?

I have been creating PDF documents by printing documents and then scanning them on my Canon LiDE 70, using the "save as PDF" option. This is great for black and white documents but for those documents that have color images the cost of printing is not always worth the effort. This newly discovered utility lets me create the documents I want, including color graphics, images and photos and save them as a PDF file easily.

Once the document is created, simply click print. At this point you are prompted to select which printer you want to use. Click on Cute PDF Writer. Another dialogue box opens up asking where you want to save your file. Name your document and make sure the save as PDF file option is selected. Then click save and that's it. Your document won't print but will be saved as a PDF file in the location you specified. You can print it at will, or email it.

Most businesses have gravitated to PDF as the file-type of choice for most of their written material. Shouldn't you?

To get your very own copy click here.

Making Your Dreams Come True

I'm reading a book called, The Freelance Writer's Bible, and in it there's a chapter on making your dreams come true. A section called, "Your Power Cycle" caught my eye because although the book is geared toward writers, some of the information can be useful to anyone seeking to make their business a success.

The cycle consists of three phases:


(1) Envision- setting goals and milestones that you will reach over the next 12 months.


(2) Plan- deciding on a path that will allow you to reach your goals. This consists of your plan of action or strategic marketing plan.

(3) Act- you have the plan, now get working on implementing it.

(4) Evaluate- you set goals, decided on a plan and implemented it. After a year you then evaluate the results of your plan and decide on new goals and milestones.


We are a few months into the year and I know many of you have set 2008 resolutions. Some of you are on track and others well...

It's not to late to sit down and create your power cycle. It's easy to create and it will give you not only a road map of where you are headed, but will ultimately show you how far you've gone.

How to Deal With Lonliness When Working From Home

When the chance to work from home became a reality you were probably too excited that you didn't stop to think about how lonely you might get. Don't get me wrong, I crave the quiet. In fact I need it most of the time in order for my creative juices to flow. But sometimes...

The Internet makes working from home somewhat better. We can connect with others by joining email lists and assorted forums but nothing beats face-to-face interactions. You can find ways to connect and still work at the same time. For instance, grab your laptop and head to your local coffeehouse. It's a chance to get a cup of strong overpriced coffee and a too-sweet dessert. Just don't overstay your welcome. As a writer a coffeehouse is an ideal spot for me but for some occupations this option my not work.

Which takes me to option number two. Drive on over to your local public library or university library. I especially like this idea. It gives me a chance to browse, usually pick up some free community papers and get work done. I like the library at the University of New Orleans. I can usually find a nice place to squat, plug in my laptop and click, clack away. As a writer this is an ideal option for me because I have access to tons of research material. Plus when I get hungry I can head to the snack bar or to the University Center's food court and get me some grub. I can also take a lunch with me- sandwich, chips, fruit, beverage- and find a place outside to eat.

Another option is to head to the park. There's a nice quiet park about two minutes from my house and some days I drive over there to work. It's especially quiet during the day but still enough warm bodies so you don't feel like you're the last person on earth. And if it's not too hot and he's in an agreeable mood we have a little (well BIG actually) alligator that lounges in the lake. Always a treat!

These are just three ways I deal with the isolation of working from home. Notice none of the options explicitly involve talking with others. It's the simple act of being in the presence of others that works for me. I try at least once a week to get out. If you work from home you should too.

Dealing with Slow/No Paying Customers or Clients

This morning I received a wake up call. No, I didn't have a spiritual awakening. The wake up call was an actual call around 8:30 this morning. A member of the accounts payable department of a publication that owes me money called to tell me that they were behind in making payments to writers. This is nothing new. Writers are often the last to get paid and many times we have to make daily calls to get the ball moving. This young lady went on to tell me that she was really sorry but money was simply "coming in slowly" and they were paying the older invoices later (my articles were published in January and February) but rest assured "you will get paid."

Although I am sympathetic to cash flow issues, I am also trying to run a business and as such I NEED TO GET PAID. Mind you this is not some fly- by- night publisher. We're talking a major publisher with over a dozen magazines. And although I want to continue my relationship with the company I have to wonder if it will be worth it to continue writing for them and have to wait months before I get paid. I already have several pieces being held by different editors for consideration but now I wonder if I get the go ahead will I actually go ahead.

At some point you will probably have a client or customer who simply won't or can't pay you, or those who take forever to pay. You will then have to decide if you want to continue working with them. What's hard is when you want to keep the relationship going. In my case, I do but again, I NEED TO GET PAID. So I have to a decision to make.

I wrote killer queries to land the assignments. I researched my little fingers off and produced two quality articles. They were accepted within any need to edit. Both are published and being enjoyed by millions (okay, thousands?) of readers. Now, I want to get paid. This is not a rant it's about decision making. When we are forced to make a decision like the one I have to make we can't be whishy washy. You have to ask yourself whether you're in business to make a profit. If you are then you have to cut lose those who don't pay you. No hard feelings. We're talking strictly business. So as much as I would love to continue my relationship with this publisher if I am not paid for the articles by the end of the month, I will not accept any additional contracts with them. Payment was supposed to be made at the time of publication. We were supposed to get our checks at the same time we received our copies. Our copies arrived fine sans payment.

Running a business requires that you sometimes have to make tough decisions. But in the end when it comes to slow payments you have to decide to cut those customers and clients loose who are dragging you down. After all, I can't call my electric company and tell them that I regret being able to pay my bills because my invoices are not being paid.