Ten New Year's Resolutions for Women Entrepreneurs

Do you set New Year’s resolutions?  When I was younger, I used to, faithfully.  Like so many other people, I’d set a lofty goal and have enormous passion for achieving something big in the coming year.  Then inevitably, around March, I’d realize that I’d not made any appreciable progress and I’d feel either discouraged or guilty.  Somewhere along the line, I kind of gave resolutions up.

Until a few years ago, that is, when I truly understood that what you focus on is what gets done.  Your mind is a powerful tool and when you focus it, it can help you create amazing results.  But if you’re not focused?  Watch out ­ because then everyone else who IS focused will start setting your priorities for you! 

The key to success with resolutions, therefore, is to set meaningful goals for yourself and keep them in front of you every single day ­ so they stay in focus.  Create a page in your day planner that you look at each morning.  Write them on the white board in your office.  However you do it, reminding yourself every morning of your big dream goals is a powerful way to ensure you keep moving toward them.

What are some powerful resolutions you might consider this year?  After interviewing thousands of women and entrepreneurs in my career, here are some of the common themes I’ve heard that might be great resolutions this year. 

 
Greetings from Jane

It's a shiny new year and we look forward to experiencing the challenges and victories ahead with all of you! At Jane Out of the Box, our mission is to help women entrepreneurs create the businesses and the lifestyles of their dreams, so we're here to support you.

At Jane, we know that in order to help your customers, you need to understand them. Therefore, research is a critical part of what we do and we'll be sharing results of our studies with you from time to time. We've recently conducted in-depth interviews with over 400 women entrepreneurs all about why and how they started their businesses, the challenges they face, and how they feel about their businesses. In this week's feature article (see sidebar), we're exploring the special needs of women entrepreneurs who are moms as well. And, if you know a "mom-preneur" who would be interested in participating in a

research interview with us, or if you have some great tips/advice for how to balance "mom" with "entrepreneur", email us your thoughts. [hyper to mds@} Members can share their tips and pointers directly on the Mompreneurs Discussion Board. [hyper to discussion board page]

Whether you need expert advice, someone to share ideas with, a helping hand or a big "congrats!", this community is your place. So forward this email newsletter to all of your women friends who own businesses so they too can benefit!

Michele DeKinder-Smith
Founder

P.S. Congratulations to members Kyley B and Kathryn B for winning great prizes in our Discussion Board weekly challenges!
Bright Shiny Object Syndrome
 New For Members This Week!
One sure way to fail to achieve your goals is to pursue every bright shiny object that crosses your path. Take just five minutes today to listen to this issue's featured audio clip -- an "Ask the Expert" interview with Melanie Benson Strick of Success Connections.

Melanie discusses Bright Shiny Object Syndrome and gives advice for how not to get distracted by every opportunity that comes along. Go here and click on this week's Listen & Learn to hear Melanie's interview.

(Not a member yet? Click here to try Jane for FREE for 7 days.)

New items are being added all the time. This week’s newest items in the Jane Out of the Box community:

Listen & Learn

  • How to Manage Your Email Without it Consuming You
  • How to Generate Traffic to your Website
  • What is Web 2.0 and Why Should You Care?
  • When Should I Use Pay-per-click?
Tools & Templates
  • 7 Questions to Ask Before you Advertise
  • Are You Working Yourself Out of Your Business?
  • Use Community Relations to Grow Your Business
  • 3 Keys to Crafting Successful Print Ads
  • 7 Things to Do Before You Hire a Copywriter
Meet a Jane Member ...
Lisa Smith owns The Laniwai Group, which sells gorgeous floral arrangements from Hawaii. View Lisa's creations at her website www.tropicalflowersfromhawaii.com Before starting Tropical Flowers from Hawaii, Lisa had a long and varied career. She was a director/partner with an ownership position in a Hawaiian commercial insurance brokerage firm and President of that company's Risk Management division. She and her husband later owned a wine shop and a florist business before relocating to Florida.

Lisa began her business when a serious car accident left her with a disability which makes it difficult to sit or stand for long periods of time. Having significant wisdom and experience from her previous ventures, she realized that having an Internet-based
business would give her the flexibility to work at her own pace from home and schedule her work around how she's feeling each day.

What's different about her new business is that this time, Lisa is responsible for all aspects of the company, including the accounting, advertising, updating the website, and all the other incidental things that come up. This is a time of great learning for her as she becomes versed in each of these areas. Lisa told me, "It's quite different and I'm excited about having other women to talk to about how they're handling various situations and problems ... The greatest reward - and heaviest burden - is being entirely on my own. Learning how to do everything is especially challenging. That's why Jane Out of the Box is my lifeline! Thank you for being there."