#25d – Will Business Celebrate, or Tolerate, Our Daughters?

My intern, Amber, is at the World Business Forum with me today. I look at her, and wonder what type of workplace she’ll be stepping into after college. Of the 18 speakers, one is female. Women are not on the radar screen topically. Here are some repeated themes:

• Energy
• Values
• Trust
• Innovation

I am hoping we’re part of the “values” and “innovation” category, but can’t be sure. Women must be part of the conversation. Leading corporate strategy expert Gary Hamel is speaking RIGHT NOW at a conference. This guy gets it. He says, “No one is going to give you permission to be a revolutionary.”  Here are some facts to support your mission:

#25a – Leading in a Time of Crisis by Bill George, The Women’s View

Penny and Bill George - Leaders in Business and Life

I was running so hard to be CEO of Honeywell that I was losing it. I was trying to impress the board of directors.  I came home and told my wife this. She said, “I’ve been telling you this for a year, and you didn’t listen.” It’s always those closest to you who see it. When I walked in the doors of Medtronic, I knew it was where I fit. It was like coming home to a place where I’d never been before. We were making a difference in all kinds of tough diseases.

What are you going to do when you leave this world? What is your legacy? Be part of that small group of people that is changing the world.

The above is an excerpt from Bill George’s speech at the 2009 World Business Forum in New York that I’m attending with an eye toward women’s issues. Bill George is an HBS professor and former CEO of Medtronic. George gets a high rating from the ChiefHotMomma for addressing issues and trends important to women, their lives, and their businesses.

Here are his top seven leadership skills for leading in a crisis. Aside from the recession, I always feel there is some sort of crisis going on whether it’s life or business. I really liked these points.

#25 A Woman’s Business View – The World Business Forum #WBF09

Today, I head up to New York as one of  ”America’s Top Business Bloggers” featured at the World Business Forum.  I wonder if that designation and $5 bucks could get me into a movie.  Nevertheless, I am excited to hear the presenters with the following “womens fact sheet” in mind. Stay tuned, and follow me on Twitter, for more. My intern is also coming to provide a Gen Y perspective on business.  So follow her on Twittter and the Hot Mommas Project student run blog on role models.

Women’s Fact Sheet

Facts I’m keeping in mind while scanning the content and speakers at #WBF09 – The World Business Forum

#24b Techniques for Learning to Improve Your Business – Building a Million Dollar Business Part Time

This post continues the summary of key takeaways from Network Solution’s first annual GrowSmart Biz conference in Washington, DC. Here is the first post. Here is the livestream.  In this second post, I highlight the broader topics discussed by WIRED Editor in Chief Chris Anderson. Sometimes we wonder how larger economic and business trends impact us. Well, this is how.

Chris Anderson addressed the concept of the changing – and sometimes confusing – new models of business in this new economy. His new book Free discusses the finer points of a “Freemium” economy. It’s where things are heading, and we better get on board.

About Chris: One of the most knowledgeable, articulate voices at the center of the new economy. In addition to serving as the managing editor of WIRED, he is an entrepreneur and the author of two New York Times best sellers. Below are my primary takeaways from his talk.

Takeaway  #1. Doing something niche and focused in the global marketplace is a completely viable proposition. Anderson elaborated on some examples that allow businesses to find their customer, in a niche, wherever they are in the world. For example, Italian designers; The fashion industry is dominated by small designers with global impact. Anderson also spoke about the ability to go online, find a manufacturer to make your product in China, and order 100, or 10,000, or 1,000,000 of that product. Niche…the small guy…agility. The market is heading in a direction wherein the little guy will likely learn to scale up before the big guys learn to scale down.

Action Steps:

1. Define yourself and your customer.
2. Find your customer, and let them find you.

Takeaway # 2. The power of free. Lower the barriers and allow the customers to dip in, then charge them. In 20^th century terms it’s called “cross subsidy.” Jello was an unsuccessful company until undertaking a specific promotional campaign. Approximately five million free recipe books were printed and given out to households, door-to-door. Jello then, in turn, went to stores and said, ”You’re about to get a flood of people asking for this product.” Jello had created a situation in which the book was useless without the ingredient. They created an enticing, and free, promotion which compelled a purchase.

Takeaway #3 – If you have a digital arm to your business, Freemium is the way to go. Giveaway one thing, and create a lifetime demand for something else. Anderson says the Freemium model is about giving away 90% of your product, and charging for 10%. Customers are able to experience the product, and then have the choice to upgrade (note: you need to develop a second product for which you charge). Customers who continue with the free product continue on in their role as a pooled audience which has value (e.g., advertising value). The customers who convert to paid, Anderson notes, are the “best customers.” They are familiar with the product, they upgrade based on knowledge, and there is very low churn. The old model is to seduce the consumer into buying the product, and then hope that they like it. We’re forced to distort and over-sell the product to entice them to buy it. Their only chance to experience the product is to buy it. They feel like a sucker afterwards if they don’t like it.

Action steps:

1. Create a free, enticing offering allowing consumers to experience the product.

2. Create a paid, second product (this is the challenge – What is the second product you’re offering?)

For more on Chris Anderson, please see this blog post from Steven Fisher.

#24a Techniques for Learning to Improve Your Business – Building a Million Dollar Business Part Time

Today I am attending Network Solution’s first annual GrowSmart Biz conference in Washington, DC with the goal of:

• Learning stuff.
• Meeting people.
• Not being a troll, which, as a mom of two young kids is a reality I face.

This was a summer of learning, of which this conference is a continuation. Learning is important. Our Hot Mommas Project survey (largest database of teachable role models) indicates that one of the KEY traits of successful women is the interest in life-long learning. So here I am, learning and sharing top takeaways (in a series) from the following incredible folks:

#23 How to Build a Killer Network Without Going to Harvard Business School

Meeting with powerhouses today

I’m sitting in my room at the Westin getting ready to meet with two POWERHOUSES on the topics of women and money. (See more below). Interestingly, NEITHER of these connections are because I went to Harvard Business School. Here are my two cents on what it REALLY takes to make the connections that will change your life and business:

#21 Get Happy, or Get Out – AKA “Making a Deal With Your Entrepreneurial Spouse”

Two busy entrepreneurs, one happy, one sad

My husband and I are both entrepreneurs.  Everyone we know has had to lay people off, us included. It’s a  tough time. The other night we were on the porch talking for the umteenth time about how he is worried about cash flow in his business.  My old boss and mentor Zane used to pace the halls when cash flow was at a worrisome level. However, THEN I did not take that problem home. NOW, I do. We do. It’s hard. It’s money, it’s home, it’s family, it’s “Am I successful?”, it’s all of that. Everything is tied together when you’re an entrepreneur.* 

#20 – Nine important questions for entrepreneurs trying to balance

Do you suffer from AOOPS (Appearance of Organized Person Syndrome).  Here is a test:

#19 How We Hired an Intern on Twitter (yes..Found, Interviewed, Hired)

 Here is Brandy. She is our new intern. Isn’t she adorable?

Twitter-size pic of Brandy

She is smart as a whip and responsive beyond belief too. She is actually totally overqualified to be an intern. She is a virtual assistant – and a fabulous one who gets paid. But she wants to help US – The Hot Mommas Project – because she is inspired and wants to give back. Here is how we found her, and hired her, 0n Twitter.

#18 Top 5 Tips for Getting Media Coverage. Media Training Part 2 – Building a Million Dollar Business Part Time.

 

Here is a pair of underwear I came across in the Gold's Gym parking lot. This will make sense later.

Media. Coverage. How do you do it? How do you get there? The Hot Mommas® Project has experienced a baptism by fire with regard to media training this past year.  We talked with some experts to make it more familiar, and less “TAKE.ME.TO. YOUR.LEADER.” Here are the big things we learned.