Resource for Business Owners and Freelancers

Welcome back!

One of the objectives of new urbanism is to create sustainable communities. That happens when local businesses are supported and residents have the choice of securing work close to home – ideally in their community. Below is a news release about an excellent resource for business owners looking for online skilled help and contractors (freelancers) looking for a way to market their services.

Shelancers Meet the Needs of Small Business Owners

Online business management expert Nicole Dean and technology consultant Darina Loakman are making sure that business owners have a reliable resource for finding short and long-term help with the recent launch of a directory of professional female freelancers called Shelancers.

“There are a number of freelancer directories in the market place but none that have the unique focus of Shelancers. The name says it all. This is an online directory of female freelancers specializing in everything from graphic design to accounting,” explains Dean.

As business continues to heat up for online companies, managers are feeling the pressure to have quick access to reliable specialists who can

• Update the design of a website
• Write content for web pages, article marketing campaigns and brochures
• Proofread ebooks, manuscripts and promotional copy
• Provide customer service for web based or telephone help centers and
• Manage administrative and accounting tasks with ease and professionalism.

The Shelancers directory includes specialists who can address the needs of most businesses owners, especially those companies doing business online.

“The Internet has created a new and vibrant marketplace generating tremendous workloads for many small, mid-size and larger businesses. We’ve actively sought out and attracted the best people in marketing, graphic design, website management, virtual assistance (administration), public relations, business communications, accounting, business coaching and more. There is no need for business owners to panic about not having appropriate staff–not when there is a comprehensive resource available like Shelancers. Best of all there is no search fee or other cost associated with using this directory,” explains Dean.

Easy access is an attribute of this directory. Each listing provides freelancer contact information and available client feedback to help hiring managers/owners to readily secure references, quotes and samples of relevant work.

Florida resident, Nicole Dean has been helping women work from home since 2004 and is a recognized expert in Online Business and Affiliate Management. A resident of Ireland, Darina Loakman was included in a list of 50 of the most influential women in Ireland as compiled by the Examiner Newspaper (2006). Both entrepreneurial moms are available for media interviews to discuss their joint venture – Shelancers (http://www.shelancers.com). To schedule an interview please contact Sharon McMillan, Media Relations, (905)-472-5384.

Let’s Do Lunch

I love the Internet and the way it has helped us to quickly access information, manage and launch small businesses and meet friends and business colleagues from around the world.

The one minor draw back is that some of us miss that face-to-face connection – that “personal” element.

Really all it takes is one person to start the ball rolling. In this case Small Business Branding’s Vera Raposo (3rd from right in the picture above) told a few of us from the Mom Masterminds business network that she was traveling from her west coast location to Toronto – a location that was pretty accessible for some members like me.

We met in one of my favorite new urbanism towns (Unionville) and spent almost 4 hours catching up!

The best part is not only were we able to do some business (I may have found a new branding consultant!) but we were also able to get to know each other a bit better as colleagues and friends.

If you’ve got a small business you’ll want to ensure you visit Vera Raposo’s Small Business Branding website. If you need graphic design and branding work done by an expert that understands not only big business projects but the small business and online marketplace as well, you’ll want to visit Ed Roach’s The Branding Experts website – in case you have difficulty identifying “Ed” he’s the one at the far left in the picture above .

If you’re a busy mom looking for financial management, stress relief ideas and solid life and business coaching support you must visit Sarah Zeldman’s Solutions for Busy Mom’s website (Sarah’s the one on the far right in the picture above). If you are a home based business owner or anyone looking for quality products and services that you can locate from one convenient location, you should visit Imelda Belanger’s I Shop At Home site where her motto is: “Shop from your Seat not from Your Feet” (I love that tag line – no wonder she’s the one with the stylish bag in the picture above – she shops well!). Finally, every business owner or busy enterprise needs an efficient administrator to manage operations – if you need a seasoned virtual assistant who is also an expert internet marketing manager, you’ll want to contact Angela Wills of StarVa (in the picture above, Angela is 2nd from the right) .

I’m just so pumped from my meeting with these fantastic business owners. Thanks to the Internet for bringing us together virtually and for the spirit we’re all blessed with that never lets us forget the joy to be experienced from being in real community and close proximity to one another!

Work Local Option – Freelance

You’ve decided that new urbanism fits with your beliefs and focus on green living and vibrant, local communities. For many of you that means cutting the environmentally unfriendly commute to your daily job so that you can work in your community. The problem is no one is hiring where you live. What are some of your options?

Well the fact that no one is hiring can be a temporary thing. It takes a lot of smart searching and networking to find what you’re looking for and I’ve already posted about some of the strategies to finding a job. There is, however, another option for replacing your income and it depends on the skills you developed in the workforce or your overall training, experience and interests.

I’m talking about freelancing. Let’s say you were a marketing specialist for a firm during your 9-5 life. Perhaps you could promote your marketing strategy development skills as an outside contractor to local entrepreneurs and employers in your region. Replace “marketing specialist” with graphic designer, administrative assistant, customer service specialist, etc. and you’ll soon realize that what you do at your full time job represents a skill-set or specialty that many companies might appreciate on a project or outsource basis.

In many cases it makes better business sense for companies to hire outside contractors than to take on full-time employees – especially in tough economic times.

Many freelancers who market themselves well to business owners are able to replace and even surpass their previous full-time incomes. How much you earn really depends on how much your clients enjoy your work and how well you succeed at marketing yourself.

I’m going to share with you a great way to market yourself and to reach employers who may be local or even thousands of miles away and you won’t necessarily have to step outside your door to do work for them (depending on the type of work you do).

Shelancers is an online directory of professional female freelancers. That’s a unique angle for a freelancer directory and one that is sure to get the attention of your potential future clients. You want to featured in a directory with that kind of promotional appeal.

This directory is being promoted far and wide by the two innovative and leading women entrepreneurs who created Shelancers – Nicole Dean and Darina Loakman.

I’m a member of Shelancers and I can tell you that we have freelancers in various fields from graphic designers to accountants to virtual assistants. Best of all, we have monthly resources to enhance your business, and a great forum called “The Watercooler” where we share ideas, questions, look for partners on projects and generally support one another.

If you’ve made up your mind that now is the time for you to make your move back home to create a lifestyle where you can work where you live instead of 20,30, 40 miles away, then think about freelancing and visit Shelancers by clicking on the graphic above.

Life is Too Short for Toxic Work

In the last year I have had four good friends become disillusioned and fed up with their 9-5 jobs and have either quit or come to a mutual decision with their managers to “part ways.”

Four women in my small circle leaving high paid, professional career positions in one year. For me that is statistically pretty significant especially when HR managers around the country have spoken publicly about the difficulty they are having in keeping highly skilled women in the workplace.

While the reasons women leave good positions is varied what I’m hearing and reading about in terms of why they leave good jobs falls into the following categories:

• Frustration dealing with personalities and colleagues who aren’t professional or all that skilled
• Unable to justify the cost in time and dollars of commuting to work
• Strong, burning desire to have more control over earnings and work hours also called the “entrepreneurial bug”

We really have left the era of where work was just something you did until you built up enough pension to leave. I’ve always looked at work as something that MUST be about the things in my life that I consider important.

My husband and I have moved across state lines and even countries to accept job offers that reflect our personal interests and life priorities.

I think some friends thought we were a little nutty in deciding to move so often with our household belongings and babies in tow, but we have tremendous memories and experiences from our many moves. We feel blessed to have our health and to have the choices we have as residents of an affluent continent like North America.

Of course it also helps to have dual citizenship and grandparents who will travel to babysit in a pinch!

My friends’ recent experience with abrupt career changes highlights another fact we can’t ignore – there is no more job security. We hear plenty about companies closing in this struggling economy or going offshore for cheaper labor. The message is pretty clear: you are expendable.

You can’t look upon employment in any company or organization as a sure thing anymore. Each of us has to look upon our skills and abilities as our personal assets and then figure out how best to market and secure the best compensation for the abilities we have honed and developed.

Headhunters, job boards and good networking can help to get you into the career you want. But it will be up to you to market yourself so that you can get that job that truly fits your idea of quality, satisfying work.

The same applies to your business. If you have a skill, profession or interest that is steering you towards entrepreneurship, what’s holding you back? Research, talk to others and don’t lose site of that goal. The Internet has opened up a WORLD of opportunity allowing more people with modest resources to start businesses of their own.

I realize that sometimes we have to do what is necessary to care for our families and address urgent needs like health care and housing. But I have never understood how healthy, able people torture themselves in jobs that are life draining and toxic. Life is too short for that.

I have a career that is ideal for me and I’m thrilled that I’m also able to pursue my entrepreneurial goals as a business writer. My life is very purposeful. My thought process has always worked something like this (for better or worse!):

• This is what I love and what gets me up in the morning, so…
• How can I find a job that allows me to do this work for competitive compensation AND/OR
• Start a business around my passion to give me the independence I’ve always cherished

For more than 15 years these questions have guided our family and I doubt that will ever change. Both my husband and I have learned tremendously from the different and amazing people we have worked with through the years, in different countries and states as our clients, colleagues and business partners.

Work need not be a four letter word. We need it to survive so why not ensure that what you do fits in with your life priorities?

Are you running a business or in a career that reflects some goal or passion in your life? If so, please share your comments here!

Finding Business Success Close to Home

Whether you have a successful online business or are just exploring the potential, you’ll want to listen to this week’s program. We’ll be interviewing a mom who has worked online for a few years as a marketer but is only now expanding her business locally and is having great success.

Her success has been so positive for her bank account that she was able to make the decision to leave her full time job. Patrysha Korchinski of PK Marketing Solutions will share her tips and insight on what it takes to expand an online business to serve the needs of your local community.

Also in today’s program…the secret phrase that you’ll need to win the 8 gig iPod as part of the Mom’s Talk Radio May contest. Click here for more details.

Other mom owned businesses that I think will inspire you:

Internet Based Moms

Multi Media VA

Chele’s Treasures

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Higher Gas Prices May Mean More Local Business For You!

With gas prices on the rise more people will be making the decision to take vacations close to home this year.  If you’re a business owner, and depending on the business you have, this may be good news for you.

When your neighbors vacation close to home that may mean they’ll be supporting local businesses more – from restaurants to museums to golf courses – anything recreational in your community will benefit from a rise in local vacationers.

Those firms will in turn be inclined to spend more with the suppliers they depend on for business – from the local designer who updates their website to the virtual assistant or marketing consultant who helps the business to operate.

So if you’re looking to expand your client base think about how your business serves the recreational/hobby/tourism market in your community.  This could be a good season for you!

Podcast Show #4 – Hot Tips for Green Living & Business Growth

Not quite sure how to adopt green living behaviors into your life? You’ll want to listen to today’s show for the introductory green living primer – a short and easy overview of some practices you can start making a part of your regular routine.

And for business owners: Growing your business 10 helpful tips.

Share your feedback on today’s show here in the comment section. Remember to let me know about any eco-friendly lawn and garden products you use or can recommend!

The weekly link love list:

SnugglesPodcast.com

The Cravings Coach

Internet Marketing Sweetie

The Leap from Employee to Entrepreneur

A colleague of mine has just given notice to her employer in order to devote herself more fully to her growing business.

From what I can tell she feels relieved, happy and “unleashed.” No I don’t think she’s got a secret pot of cash at home to make the transition cushy. But I do think she is feeling that sense of potential and control that is so appealing to the thousands of people who decide to make it on their own everyday.

According to a 2004 Vanderbilt University study the number of entrepreneurs aged 45-64 was projected to grow by 15 million in 2006.

The 2006 U.S. Census Bureau reports that 1 out of 2 of the nation’s businesses are operated from home.

A 2006 Wells Fargo/Gallup Poll survey shows that on average small business owners work 52 hours per week.

I share all these statistics in support of an instinct shared by many and that is that we are a nation of “wanna be” and successful entrepreneurs. Why? There are probably many reasons, some dealing with the lack of long term employment security in the workplace. But more interestingly a recent Yahoo Small Business survey reports that 3/4 of U.S. adults who go online say the Internet has made it easier to start a business.

That’s no surprise with the growing amount of business writers (ahem), internet marketers, virtual assistants, life coaches, consultants, editors and a host of other professionals who are making a good living running their businesses and securing clients via the Internet.

At the very least this gives current employees or the unemployed some hope, ideas and encouragement regarding the choices that are out there. We live on the leading edge of the developing world. If you desire to gain some control in how and where you work what are doing to carve out your place or niche in the marketplace?

Tax Season Bright Spot: Home-office Deductions

I’m a happy camper. According to my accountant I’ll be getting some decent money back for a change this tax season. Part of the reason for that is I’ve finally decided to itemize deductions for my home office.

If you manage a business at home either full time or after your full time job as an employee, and you use dedicated space in your home to manage your business, you might be able to deduct some of your home operating costs as a business expense.

This is a good issue to discuss with your accountant to verify your allowable deductions.

Kevin McGormally of Kiplinger.com reports in his tax tips column that in recent years taxpayers deducted more than $7-billion in home-office expenses.

In the 25% tax bracket those deductions would have saved $1.75-billion!

Who ever thought this liberal arts major would like tracking numbers so much!

Mortgages, Community and the Justin Timberlake of New Urbanism

A few days ago a discussion on this blog got quite passionate as commentators put forth opinions as to the cause of the current Mortgage Crisis.  Among the list of possible contributors to the current problem mentioned were the group of home buyers with a lust for larger homes on larger lots with larger mortgages.  It was felt that their quest and subsequent inability to meet these new mortgage obligations helped to create the current mess.

That may be a bit of a simplification, but it is a concern of not only those hurting during this mortgage crunch, but by new urbanists who have been crying for years about the need to stop the suburban sprawl created by builders churning up rural land to feed their mcmansion fanbase.

For those of you who are diehard new urbanist, you’ll be pleased at the heightened awareness of new urbanism today.  Between the environmental cost of sprawl (commuter traffic, elimination of pristine lands, etc.) and the financial meltdown of the middleclass that fueled sprawl, everyone is looking to the common sense that has been sprouted by new urbanist for years. 

In basic terms, where we live is important to our environment, our family life and our business and economic propserity.  The closer we live together, the better.  When towns, villages and cities are planned well to accommodate the needs of families, students, business owners and the envrionment–we all benefit.

I can’t say it any better than the guru himself, world renowned American new urbanist and professor, Richard Florida.  The author of the wildy popular Rise of the Creative Class and new book Who’s Your City, Florida has been dubbed “the Justin Timberlake of new urbanist theory.”  Hehe. Florida says:

“New ideas are generated and our productivity increases when we locate close to one another in cities and regions.”

Based on his data and research, Florida asserts that many of our urban centers (cities, towns, villages) are a hotbed for creativity and productivity.  It’s not forced or manufactured it is just what happens when talented and productive people locate themselves close to one another.

I see that where I live in my own community which was re-shaped based on the new urbanist philosophy, but what I find really interesting is that I see this “hotbed of creativity and productivity” happening in my online communities as well. 

The Moms Radio Network, for example is a concept led by entrepreneur Kelly McCausey to help encourage and promote mom podcasters.  This isn’t a multi-national corporate outfit.  It’s WAHM effort driven by the creativity of the women involved.  Not only does it generate one of the widest rangest of topics for a target niche market (women entrepreneurs and stay at home moms), but it helps to generate revenue for the podcast entrepreneurs involved. 

Once again this one example highlights how the power of community (the human, creative element) can be amplified and enabled through good infrastructure (natural and manmade) and technolgy.  It makes me wonder why new urbanism has taken 20 years to become “popular.”  It just makes such good sense.

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