Time to Start Thinking about Holiday Entertaining, Gifts

Welcome back!

I love this time of year.  I’m already thinking about decorating the house and getting all kinds of delicious goodies prepared for family and friends that I look forward to welcoming in the weeks ahead.

For those of you who still consider this a bit early for holiday planning, then you must be really well organized because for me it’s almost never too early to start planning for this busy season.

That’s why when I got notice this week that there was a new Entertaining Guide out designed to specifically address all the issues that can make holiday planning stressful (from finding great tasty recipes to entertaining with some originality) I was instantly pumped for the season!

Here are some of the topics included in this newest 50-page guide from one of our popular women owned ebook publishers:

• How to maneuver easily through the holiday season
• Delicious and easy make ahead recipes.
• How you can maintain personal balance in the chaos of events.
• Preparations for entertaining overnight guests that have traveled for the holidays.
• How to ship items to family & friends far away
• Ideas for making gifts for people from teachers to relatives
• Encouragement to simplify things for you and your family
• Importance of doing what you can ahead of time for your Holiday celebrations to save you time and sanity

If you’re ready now to start planning recipes, gifts, parties, open houses and other fun Holiday activities I know you’ll enjoy this seasonal goody. I can tell you that every Mom Talk Ebook that I’ve purchased over the years has been excellent. At only $5.97 this is a holiday resource you really ought to add to your library.

You can order this treat for yourself today by clicking here.

Now if you need some assistance thinking up gift ideas for long-distance family and friends why don’t you register for a free Webinar (web-based seminar) with Kelly McCausey, Stress Free Holiday Entertaining author, Sandra Jensen and others taking place on October 28 at 10:30 a.m. EST. This will be a great discussion session and opportunity to get all kinds of questions answered, plus it will be fun too!

Through this Door a Community of Opportunity

You know that saying when the going gets tough the tough get going? Well that’s an appropriate term for the small business sector during these tough economic times.  A recent “60-minutes” television show reported that people are continuing to search out and secure loans and support for their entrepreneurial dreams even as the nation watches Wall St.’s biggest businesses and banks implode.

Why aren’t more of these new small business owners intimidated by the doom and gloom reported on the daily news?  I think it’s because the desire to have control over what they do, what they earn and how they live are strong motivational factors that serve to suppress certain kinds of fear and intimidation.

I also think it’s because many small business visionaries surround themselves with people who inspire and motivate them to follow their dreams.  Sometimes that empty bank account is all you need for motivation.  Other times it’s that late night conversation with a peer that understands your business or that timely bit advice from another friend that helps you to avoid an unnecessary business pitfall.

The challenge for some women seeking an entrepreneurial path is that they have children and other responsibilities that make conventional business mentorship groups a poor fit for them.  That’s why I am such a supporter and promoter for one of the most unique and effective womens mentorship groups on the web specifically for “moms in business.”

This online group is called Mom Masterminds and I’ve referred to this powerhouse source for mentorship and networking before in this blog.  In fact I even participated in a recent “impromptu” regional lunch we had last spring (you can see pictures here).

If you’ve been impacted by this current recession and are looking for some options to become self-employed you really should visit Mom Masterminds.  Perhaps you’ve been laid off or your husband/partner has lost a job or maybe you just need to find a way to improve your family budget–whatever the situation many of the women at Mom Masterminds have been there.

That’s the great thing about this particular mentorship group.  It’s a place to share experiences in building an online business from the ground up for the benefit of newbies and to get constructive feedback from peers who are at the same stage as you are in your business and experts who have been there.

In addition to the peer-to-peer sharing, there is an amazingly rich assortment of reference materials in the online multi-media library. This information is available to all members, 24-hours a day, 7 days a week.  From mp3 audios that you can listen to in your ipod to monthly webinars where we talk to one another and with experts about various business topics from marketing your online business to affiliate sales to starting a blog for profit.

Mom Masterminds offers a comprehensive array of information of interest to women like many of you reading this blog–women who have children and various other responsibilities and who share the common desire to work in their communities and to start a business of their own.

To help give you a better idea of exactly how practical and relevant these resources are,  Mom Masterminds offers a 7-day free preview so that you can browse through the membership center to see if the networking, consultative services and resources offered are what you need to get your business into gear…now.

Tough Economy Threatens Growth of New Urban Shopping Centers

After decades of dealing with the blandness of indoor mall shopping, new urban developers found a way to bring the joy of city sidewalk shopping and strolling to the suburbs with the creation of “new urban shopping centers.”

Now further development of these shopping oases is being threatened because of the crumbling status of our economy and the impact this has had on developers needing bank financing for these expensive developments.

The new urban approach to development is in fact more expensive than typical developments and is more time consuming because of the legal issues and zoning details involved in building/redeveloping communities that have mixed uses (residential and commercial).

I hope we won’t see any regression in the progress we’ve made in building shopping destinations and neighborhoods for people vs. cars because of the state of the economy.

Here’s what one industry insider is saying (courtesy of cbc.ca):

North American developers will have to negotiate financial uncertainties if they want the mixed-use models to succeed, said Stephen Messinger, a senior partner with the commercial leasing group Minden Gross.

“It’s not the end,” he said, acknowledging nervous investors will likely be cautious given the tightening economy.

But he noted many municipalities continue to actively seek out these developments because of their functionality and design.

“In the end, if it gives consumers what they want, it could work out,” he said.

That last sentence caught my attention.

New urbanism is the new standard for community development. That is what consumers want.

As consumers we ought to be consistent and vocal in ensuring our cities, suburbs and towns know our preferences for healthy, green and sustainable communities – no matter the financial challenges before us. Considering what the alternative would cost to our lives and the environment this should be a non-negotiable stance.

This financial mess we’re in may end up being one test for determining just how rooted the new urban-green-living movement is in our society.