Tatjana Luethi
Zeitgeist USA

I recently returned from the Women's Small Business Expo. Linda Hollander, the Wealthy Bag Lady, created this innovative and successful event.

The purpose was to bring together entrepreneurial women to share experiences, expertise and insights. I gained so much from this weekend (aside from the usual five pounds) that I wanted to share my top 7 takeaways:

It was my first business seminar ever. So far, I've mainly seen and heard from my husband how he thinks business should be done, but I have a complete different view. Consequently, you really can't discuss your visions with someone who doesn't share your approach on how to do business. As a result you start doubting yourself after a while, right? You start doubting yourself because you don't know any more than what lies within the barriers of your daily environment. You can't really know anything different unless you get to taste a glimpse what lies beyond those barriers. No one is going to break those barriers for you. You have to do it yourself. So I did.

2. Develop Your Own Board of Advisors
Let's be honest. We all have strengths and areas for improvement. Think about what you bring to the table and what skills/support you may need.  Do you excel at consulting but could use help in marketing your services?   Can you barter with others for your products or services? We learned to develop a strategy for creating Success Teams to ensure we reach our business goals. As women entrepreneurs it is very natural to think we can do it all alone.   But we can't. And even if we could, would we really want to? There's a saying that we are the average of the 5 people we spend the most time with.  Developing effective support teams can propel all of us along our professional roadmaps.

 

3. Use Technology to Your Advantage
One of the weekend's highlights was the presentation on how to leverage the Internet by Stephanie Frank, the Accidental Millionaire.   Stephanie's presentation was chock full of helpful information. Not being a technology guru myself, I was like a sponge, capturing the data about helpful websites and advice. Her presentation contained a number of shortcuts and strategies on creating more income using fewer resources. Stephanie's down to earth presence and straightforward tactics provided a great role model for reaching financial freedom.

 

4. Focus on What You Want to Achieve
Lisa Cherney's presentation on using intuition to create our marketing strategies was extremely impressive. I am totally convinced that we attract what we ask for (so be careful what you ask for). A few months ago I attended a professional event where I met a consultant whose website I was perusing the night before. I remember thinking I'd love to meet this successful woman. I had no idea she would be at this event, or even that she lived in the same vicinity as I. But as fate would have it, we would up spending a delightful evening working together and have remained in touch since.  

5. Take Initiative to Make Things Happen Taking action is what separates out those who are successful versus those that just dream.   It requires a level of risk-taking to own your own business. Passion, commitment, hard work and attention to details are just a few of the qualities that define success and inspire achievement. We often need to let go of the tendency to take action only when the timing seems perfect. To quote a cliché, there is no time like the present, so get moving!   

 

6. Find the Spirit to Overcome Tremendous Odds
Another highlight for me was to see how many of the successful presenters and attendees overcame significant obstacles to reach their full potential. These inspiring women found the inner strength to overcome abusive relationships, financial hardships and losses, such as the death of a child to serve as role models for many others.

 

7. Include a Little Singing and Dancing in Your Day
As the mother of three boys under eight, you would think I would be in touch with how important play is in our lives. Although so much has been written about this lately, it's so much more impactful to experience the fun and see how much more creativity and productivity can be added in our lives. Wendy Robbins, Creator of the Tingler, promoted the importance of adding a little levity to each day.  

 

I am thrilled to say this Expo exceeded my expectations. The connections I made and the business knowledge gleaned will be sure to propel me toward reaching my goals.

Linda is planning a follow up Expo on April 30, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. Save me a seat up front. Hope to see you all there!

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Barbara Heyn is the owner of Atticus Consulting, LLC. Her specialty is in providing team and leadership development to corporate and non-profit organizations.  
She can be reached at 513-519-9209 or via
e-mail at Btheyn@aol.com.
Her website is www.atticusconsultingllc.com 

I didn't really know what to expect other than what I had read on the Women's Small Business Expo web site and what Linda Hollander, the founder, had conveyed to me during my first women networking event in Beverly Hills about two months ago. In short, it was phenomenal! I'm glad I attended the 3-day seminar. First, I really didn't think I was going to go given the fact that most of my time and money were dedicated to my company, which I officially registered about 4 months ago. In fact, because my business was just born, it actually made more sense for me to attend.

1. Learn How to Network Effectively 
Be yourself.  Before handing over a business card, ask the other person how you can help them. And mean it. Promote others. It all comes back to help you. Develop an abundance mentality. There's more than enough work out there for everyone. Think of the synergy to be gained by helping to empower other women. On my return flight, I was scheduled to fly back via Delta. I discovered that they are now partnering with American Airlines and that the first leg of my trip would be on American Eagle. If the airlines can collaborate, so can we!  Linda Clemons from Sisterpreneur shared a number of humorous and effective additional tips on how to make sure your net is working. Thanks Linda.   And don't forget the importance of following up.

There were approximately 10 speakers present, talking about strategies in marketing, power networking, risk taking, financing, success, internet, media approaches, and getting your product on the market. The overall feel of this 3-day seminar surprised me. I expected some boring lectures on business, but instead the speakers had filled the room with an unspeakable energy and vibe. 200 women were captured by the words of extremely motivated and inspirational speakers. It was unbelievable!

I profited the most from the Women's Small Business Expo to see how other women think, feel, talk and go about business. I was so happy to see that in fact my attitude and approach to business wasn't that far off from other successful women. In truth, I'm rather proud of myself considering how quickly I had built my own firm and product while others were still talking about what they were going to do. My doubts had all of a sudden disappeared, and were replaced with confidence and heightened self-esteem, motivation and the urge to move on. I met a group of people who shared my vision, a group of women who thought like I did.

 

In summary, I would definitely recommend Linda Hollander's Women's Small Business Expo if you need a touch of confidence, motivation and inspiration on a level that encompasses the mind, body and spirit. You are not only setting up amazing business relationships, but you will also find friendship. Part of the seminar was to create a success team with people who you connected with over these three days. You will talk to your success team on a weekly bases to support each other in reaching everyone's business goal and get to the next level. As we all know so well, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

 

It was a fantastic experience and it took me a whole day to settle back into reality after the Women's Small Business Expo amongst all these amazing women I had met during that venture. Thank you, Linda, for having arranged this fabulous event and gathered such a great group of people. You allowed me to go beyond my daily environment and get a glimpse into a whole other world...the world of women in business.

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Tatjana Luethi is the owner of Zeitgeist USA and the designer of unique, high-quality and local manufactured leather handbags and accessories. With a background in Commercial Swiss Banking, and a BFA in Graphic Design she jumped from being a student directly into the world of entrepreneurship designing her own products. An unusual sense of design, drive, ambition, energy to succeed, optimism, foresight and persistence are the key elements to her success.