Indie Business Blog

New Indie Beauty Website Launch!!

A New Indie Beauty Is Born!

I launched the Indie Beauty Network in January 2000. Since then, it has grown to well over 700 members. As the organization has expanded, it has been given life through the most creative, fun-loving, tenacious and hard working entrepreneurs in the world, the members of the Indie Beauty Network. Several months ago, I initiated discussions with one of my advisors about how to better share the energy and vitality of IBn members with the world. Today's website launch is our answer to that question. Please click the picture to watch the video and enjoy some of my Indie Beauties in action.

The new website is designed to showcase Indie Beauty Network members in a fun, informative, engaging and entertaining way. Anyone can join the site as a Visitor. The only requirements are that a first and last name be used and that a photograph be included. Visitors can display photos and interact with other visitors and IBN members. But only members of the Indie Beauty Network can join an exclusive Private Discussion Area, and only IBN members can launch their own Indie Branded Community Areas (like this one set up by Valana Minerals), where they can house their media kits, initiate discussions and connect with friends, customers, clients, the media and other stakeholders. Within 24 hours of our soft launch Friday evening, over 100 people had joined as Visitors and as I prepare this post, there are 25 Indie Brands featured at the site.

Please note that all of the content at the flagship IBN site is still alive and well and full of activity as members enjoy exclusive online training and also enjoy nearly 9 years of our Indie Experience Newsletter!

We are in the process of updating the links at our flagship site with the new address of Indie Beauty Network.com, so please be patient if some links don't work properly as we finalize the transition. For those wondering, here are the most popular links at the flagship site:

• Indie Beauty Network member home page
• Join the Indie Beauty Network
• Visit our Members Only Business Resource Center
• Renew your products liability insurance and membership
• Listen to the Group Coaching and Expert Audio Recordings
• Change your directory listings
• Enjoy the Indie Experience Newsletter

What do you think?

Well, this has been a very long weekend. Thanks to all of the Indie Beauty Network members who are making suggestions for how to improve the site and make it more useful for you. Keep your suggestions coming!! Please take a moment to tell me what you think of the new site!

Prayer of the Week: Simple Gratitude

Maintaining an Attitude of Gratitude

When my family and I moved from our hometown of Washington, DC to Charlotte, NC, in 2006, we were all a little terrified. We left everything we knew and at the time, my father was quite ill. He passed away a year after we arrived here. We left my husband's father, six brothers and sisters and enough nieces and nephews to fill a small city. We arrived in Charlotte excited and exhausted, just a few weeks before our kids started pre-school. My husband became extremely ill just days after we arrived. We didn't know a single physician here.

Thankfully, we had a few friends who came here before us, most notably my pastor and friend of over 20 years, Dwayne Bond of Wellspring Church. Had it not been for him and his wife, and the extended family we have as a result of knowing them, I shudder to think where we'd be now. When I look back over the past two years, I see lots of trauma and uncertainty. I guess that's no different than what life is always like. But now that the economy has taken a nose dive, I wonder how many people out there are feeling the same kind of trauma and uncertainty I was feeling two years ago. If so, I want to encourage you today.

The Media Is You!

You Are The Best Spokesperson For Your Brand

You may be on Oprah one day, or on the cover of The Wall Street Journal or Entrepreneur Magazine. Heck, I may be there with you! But in the meantime, let's not sit around waiting for them to call us. After all, we have access to many of the same technological tools they do. Did you know you could use those tools to garner favorable attention on your own? Did you know you can create your own press and make your own noise? I've done it, and I've launched a one-day training seminar to show you how to do it too! Click the arrow on the picture below to watch the video to find out more.

                  

You can get all the details at The Media Is You. Come for the introductory session or stay for the whole day of hands on training. Either way, don't come to sit back, take notes and read Power Point presentations. Come ready to roll up your sleeves with me, boot up your laptop and deliver your message to the world on your own terms! If that's not your style, this is not the training day for you!. Hope to see you there!

What do you think?

As we prepare for this exciting day of training, I'd love to know what you think. Do you have questions about social media that no one has been able to answer for you? What are your concerns? Fears? Are you a social media pro? Then I'd love for you to join in the discussion too. Share your questions, knowledge and experiences.

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Poverty, My Brother

I Saw Poverty, and it Looked Like Me
In Honor of Blog Action Day 2008

I was raised in a middle class neighborhood by parents who did everything they could to shield me from Poverty. They did a good job, even when my older brother left home and started living on the streets. Sometimes, the phone rang late at night. My father answered it. I'd hear him talking. Then, I'd hear him put clothes on and leave the house. On the other end of the line had been a priest or some other good Samaritan in a city far away. He had picked my brother up on the street and found some identification with our home telephone number. My father had left the comfort of his bed in the middle of the night to wire my brother some money from the closest Western Union outlet.

Now and then, my brother found his way home. As much as my parents loved him, my younger brother and I were told never to let him in the house. He would come to the door disheveled, dirty, unkempt. And he smelled really really bad. His teeth were black and some of them were missing. His fingernails were dirty and broken off, like he'd been fighting. He carried a weird looking shoulder bag that reminded me of something Jimi Hendrix might have used. My parents let him shower, gave him some food and sent him on his way. I was told not to talk to him. I supposed he must have been dangerous.

He was, in a word, Poverty.

3 Hot Tips To Kick Start Your Business

Spice Up Your Business In 3 Easy Steps

I have been quite exhausted over the past few months. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. However, my fast-paced and ever growing business and family require every ounce of my strength and sometimes, I have to take special steps to fill up my cup in order to continue to make progress on my journey. About this time last month, I began to feel really wiped out. For a few days, my husband sort of took over everything. I lounged around all day one Saturday while he cooked, cleaned, managed the kids and got some business done. I also stopped working early during a few weekdays to ponder why I was feeling so glum.

                  

It helped of course that I have a supportive business partner and husband, but three other things I did also quickly spiced up my Indie Business engine so I could continue creating my own version of success. The things I did made such a huge difference and were so easy to do, that I want to share them with you.

Perfect Partnering Pitches

Perfect Your Pitch For Maximum Impact

I love interacting with people. Sometimes, I have the opportunity to be of service, either through one-on-one coaching, this blog, or as a result of connections at social sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Savor The Success. It warms my heart to receive notes from people who say they enjoy my work and have exciting ideas about how we can collaborate. In addition to those email messages, I also receive cookie-cutter messages saying how "wonderful" I am, and then asking me to do something like exchange links, feature their product or service on my radio show, etc.

            

Cookie-cutter pitches are incredibly annoying. I can tell when an email that purports to address me individually is actually part of a bowl of pasta that someone thew at the wall in the hopes that something would stick. Don't pitch people like that. Be genuine and sincere and you'll make perfect partnering pitches and have more fun in the process. A true story illustrates my point.

Survival of the Fittest

Darwin Was Right, In Nature and in Business

In his book, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, Charles Darwin penned these words.

[A]s more individuals are produced than can possibly survive, there must in every case be a struggle for existence, either one individual with another of the same species, or with the individuals of distinct species, or with the physical conditions of life. ... Although some species may be now increasing, more or less rapidly, in numbers, all cannot do so, for the world would not hold them.

These words sum up brilliantly the constant interaction between and among businesses in a rapidly evolving global economy. And Indie Business owner Christopher Hazlett's current situation perfectly illustrates the importance of being adaptable in a changing market environment.

How To Get Listed in Alltop

Why Alltop Rocks, and How to Get Listed There

You know I'm always on the troll to discover new ways to help you maximize your presence on the Internet. Here's one of my latest discoveries and how you can take advantage of it. Alltop is a "content aggregator" that collects "all the top" Web-based blog posts and news articles in different categories and makes them easily accessible at one website. Alltop devotes each page at its website to a different category. Fashion, beauty, autism, Christianity, photography, wine, yoga, zoology, nursing, HIV, gardening, sports, social media ... You name it, and it's either at Alltop or it will be soon. Guess what my favorite Alltop category is?

                           

You guessed it: small business. And its a good thing too because yesterday, I was informed that Indie Business Blog's application to be included in Alltop's small business category was accepted. (UPDATE: On November 4, I was informed by Alltop that my blog feed was also added to their "women" category.)This is a very good thing for my blog, and I think it might be a good one for yours too. So this post details the steps I took to get listed in Alltop. There's no right or wrong way to do this. This is just what worked for me. At the end of the post, find out how to get a copy of my Alltop pitch, which you can use as a template for your own pitch.

How To Lead

9 Amazingly Simple Things Every Effective Business Leader Does

Whether your business is big, small or Indie, leading it is no small feat. Effective leadership is not about theory and rhetoric. It's about action, about taking the bull by the horns. It's not about making noise and kicking up a bunch of dust. It's about touching home plate. Thank goodness we don't have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to being effective Chief Executive Officers. There are thousands of business leaders who set good examples for us to follow, and we can learn from them daily by reading about them in magazines, enjoying their blog posts and joining their Twitter circle.

      

This article shares some of the most valuable things I have learned about effective leadership by watching and listening to others. One by one, I have put all of these things to work in my own business, including hosting the Indie Business Radio Show which this week celebrates the start of its fourth season! This is not an exhaustive list of leadership action tips, but these 9 things work for me and I do them over and over and over again. I hope you enjoy them, and can put some of them to work in your business. At the end, please weigh in with your own best leadership action tips in the comments.

I'm in miSPA's Blog!!

Such an Honor to Be in Mimie's Blog

A few weeks ago, I spent several glorious days with Indie Beauty Network member Lori Nova of The Nova Studio teaching a series of classes at her Business Boot Camp and hosting Indies in the City. While there, I met IBN member Mimie Wong of miSPA in Alameda, California. Mimie has been a member of IBN since October 2006, and so while I knew what a fun, smart and creative Indie she is, it was very exciting to meet her in person and add an embrace to an already sweet business friendship.

            

Earlier today, while tooling around IBN member sites, which is one of my favorite things to do, I went to Mimie's site to see what she's been up to since we met last month. When I clicked on her blog, I was pleasantly surprised to see a photo of me and Mimie at the Boot Camp!