You have the right NOT to remain silent about how cool you are.

February 2nd, 2009

You have the right not to remain silent about how cool you are. (Just wanted to make sure you really heard that.)

I was inspired to write this post by Bonnie Marcus, a business success coach who specializes in women’s executive coaching. She published a phenomenal post where she writes:

I ran a workshop yesterday for a group of professional women. There was an exercise in the session where I asked them to write about all their accomplishments. The group struggled with the assignment. Even though the assignment was to write down any success no matter how small, it was a difficult task. Now, when I followed that exercise with one that required them to write down their shortcomings, it was not only easier for the group to think of things, but they also recognized that they were more likely to think about their weaknesses and disappointments than their successes. They also acknowledged that they almost never acknowledge their accomplishments.

She goes on to suggest that this is part of conditioning for women – and I agree. Her solution is fantastic – It’s a Bragging Journal where you document all of your awesomeness. You can then look through the journal whenever you need a boost of confidence – it serves as absolute proof that you can do it.

The Blue Bracelet

Then, I found out that another one of my faves, Jessica Smith, wrote a post called, A Call to Ambitious Women Entrepreneurs…Stop Apologizing. Jessica not only takes on the fact that we are apologizing for our success, she also takes major action. Check out her manifesto:

I, Jessica Smith, hereby pledge to:

Promote other women and celebrate their success with them.

Not feel threatened when other women in my niche are reaching their goals…a success for one is a success for all.

Collaborate with other ambitious women as much as I can, finding synergies and ways to work together.

Respond with a simple “Thank You” when someone publicly compliments me rather than offering an apology, a retort, or a rationalization.

Not consciously or subconsciously bring someone else down because they have something (success or otherwise) that they think I should have.

Continue to embrace each day as a new opportunity with enthusiasm and a positive attitude (no matter what obstacles may stand in my way.)

Surround myself with other like-minded entrepreneurs who wa nt to network with, support, and cross-promote one another.

To reiterate. I will not apologize for my success, my celebration of it, or my determination to become even more successful. And I will applaud those women who do the same.

I could not love this more. And, she takes it a step further. She tied a blue bracelet around her wrist to remind herself of her pledge, and she’s inviting others to do the same. She’s started a photo wall where you can submit the picture of yourself with your bracelet, making your pledge public on her site.

I put my blue bracelet (wool knitting yarn) on immediately and took the pledge. And then I took action.

I created a Google Group. Then, I invited some women to join me. Why? Because I want to practice living my successes OUT LOUD. We’re emailing/posting our awesomeness to each other, full throttle, when it happens. No apologies, no comparisons, no jealousy. It’s celebratastic.

This isn’t just for women, though let’s not kid ourselves that social conditioning and a double standard don’t exist.

So, people – I ask you: what do you do with that feeling of triumph? When it’s yours? When it’s someone elses?

I think we should all be singing it from the rooftops…

Filed under How To, Networking, Social Media, The Business | Tags: bonnie marcus, bragging, confidence, Jessica Knows, Jessica Smith, Julie Roads, Networking, women entrepreneur, women-owned business, womens success, Writing Roads | Comments (18)

the power of MOM

October 1st, 2008

I know that moms are powerful. I am one, I have one, I’m married to (the best) one, I’m surrounded by many in the real world and the web world. But, still I’m blown away by what moms are doing on the internet.

I will not attempt to cover all of the phenom moms that exist in the world within this post…I’m just going to highlight a few that are on my current radar screen:

Twitter Moms Moms who tweet: find, follow, lead, learn, love and share. Megan Calhoun started a social network, oh, a few weeks ago for moms on Twitter. Over 1,800 (and growing at a rapid pace) moms have joined in that time – forming groups, supporting each other’s lives and businesses, networking, laughing. Amazing. One of the most entertaining functions: #GNO, or Girls’ Night Out – an online tweet meet. If you’re a mom and you tweet, you must check it out. Follow Megan on Twitter @twittermoms.

Mom Bloggers Club Jennifer James supports the mom bloggers of the world with her social network. Over 1,800 moms meet up with the common connection of blogging. Conversations are alive and well via many groups and the site runs sweet giveaways. Jennifer also runs The Mom Salon which is a comprehensive catalog of mom bloggers…submit your blog today and get listed in the soon to be realeased, revamped directory. Follow Jennifer on Twitter @mombloggersclub.

Jessica Smith hails from Wishpot, Jessica Knows (her blog) and Chief Mom Officer.org. Honestly, she does so many things, it’s hard to keep track. But, after being hired as the Chief Mom Officer (CMO) for Wishpot (a very mom-style shopping/search/cart), she created Chief Mom Officer.org to help companies attain and leverage the untapped professional experience of mothers to build their businesses – how smart is that. Follow Jessica on Twitter @JessicaKnows.

The MOMocrats blog was started by Stefania Pomponi Butler, Beth Blecherman, and Glennia Campbell because, as mothers, they wanted to participate in and influence the 2008 presidential campaign. Their tagline: Rage against the McCain. MOMocrats is a serious political force doing incredible grassroots work online and in the world – it’s where moms get political (and don’t you all know that this mom is all over that!). Yesterday, Michelle Obama guest blogged, how’s that for going to the top political mom? Follow MOMocrats on Twitter @momocrats.

I could go on and on and on…but I’ll save some other cool moms for another post. If you take the time to peruse these women’s sites and accomplishments, you’ll be busy for days and thank me for not adding more.

Bottomline: these women are powerhouses, they have grabbed the internet by the horns and demonstrated gumption, creativity and kindness. That’s right, kindness – these are good people, righteous moms.

Filed under Networking, News, Politics | Tags: Jennifer James, Jessica Knows, Jessica Smith, Megan Calhoun, Michelle Obama, Mom Bloggers Club, mommy bloggers, MOMocrats, online communities, Politics, The Mom Salon, Twitter, twittermoms, Wishpot, women bloggers | Comments (15)

advertising that sticks it to the man

September 22nd, 2008

Yes, sports fans. That is an advertisement you see over there on the left. But it’s not what you think.

I’ve thought about putting ads on my site for a long time but have resisted because, well, I don’t like ads. They don’t ask my permission and they have nothing to do with me – but there they are, in my face. And I didn’t want to do that to you every time you came to see me.

But I recently discovered an interesting twist to the ad tale from Jessica Smith of Wishpot (and of many other cool places.) It’s a new revolutionary ad application called the MeFile from YouData.

You can go to their site and check it out for yourself (and try not to get distracted by the fact that the voice in the live demos sounds a little bit like George W. Bush – it isn’t him) – please do, though they don’t have all of the video demos up. But, I’ll also try to explain it in my own words here because it took a few explanations for me to really get it myself.

At its most basic – you are presented with targeted ads, if you choose to be, and you get paid by the advertisers to view the ad. In that sense it isn’t so far away from pay per click…ish. If you come to my blog, and you’ve created your own MeFile by giving your male or female status and your birthdate at least, and answered about 12 other totally benign questions at best, then you can view text ads or watch video ads from the adget (think widget) on my blog (again see top left sidebar) and get paid to do so…via paypal. The more questions you answer in the MeFile, the more relevant the ads will be.

If you would be so kind – you can split those proceeds anyway you’d like – with me (the owner of the blog) and/or you can set up an instant donation to the charity of your choice. They liken the ‘giving some to the blog writer’ to a tip jar. As an artist, I like to imagine that you’d all be throwing coins and bills into the open cavity of my typewriter.

So, what about privacy? The MeFile is totally private – not bought or sold, your personal info (social security number, address, phone #, etc.) is in total lockdown…the advertisers just get your demographic so they can match the ads to your dubious place in life, that’s it.

Only thing is that MeFile only works with visitors who also have a MeFile…We can only hope that they fill up, that soon everyone has a MeFile. But right now? It’s just taking off. Though they were at BlogHer ‘08 and got a number of high-powered (is there another kind?) female bloggers pretty stoked (and I’m sure they’re at all the other conferences as well). It may just be a matter of time.

Check it out. I’m really interested to hear what you think. Sign up and let’s get paid for our time by advertisers, not just bombarded intrusively.

Talk about Permission Marketing, eh?

Also, Trae, from the YouData Team, is about the nicest guy around – he actually responds to emails and talks to you on the phone! Amazing. So don’t feel shy about contacting him and asking him questions and receiving high quality support.