Moms In Business Magazine - May 2012

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The Growing Power of Women in Business

Vicki Gunvalson

The Real Mom In Business of Orange County Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 1

PAGE 2 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 3

NOTES

From The Founder

Gina Robison-Billups; NAFMIB Founder, CEO

Is There Really a War on Women?

If not, it sure feels like it.

T

his past month, Karin Kamp, the director of The Story Exchange (www.thestoryexchange.org) interviewed me for her column in the Huffington Post. Karin said to me, “Birth control, abortion rights, the Rush Limbaugh Sandra Fluke ‘slut’ comment controversy, Hilary Rosen’s comments on Ann Romney never working a day in her life have been all over the media lately. I overheard some young women talking about these issues on the train the other day and that got me thinking... Is there an upside to the so-called “war on women”? Could it be mobilizing a new generation of women leaders?”

I thought it was a wonderful question. She wanted to interview me about my thoughts on that. Have we really “come along way baby”?

I’m not one to be negative, but I told Karin that I don’t really think it has generated conversation that will mobilize women into action. In the 60’s and 70’s, the bias against women and moms in business was more straightforward. A man or woman, who felt the woman’s place is in the home, would have no problem telling you to your face that you need a husband and children and not a career.

Today, the bias is much more subtle. Yes, women are more “hirable” than men right now, but is that because we don’t demand as much pay? Bias doesn’t have to be in your face to be real. I read a few years ago that marketers loved mommy bloggers because they could get extensive reach for minimal cost because most mommy bloggers didn’t charge what they were worth.

We don’t feel the bias as much as we did in the past because the women in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s fought for our basic rights, and now we are comfortable and take those rights for granted. Because we are comfortable, we don’t see that we are losing nearly $300,000 in retirement pension because of the wage gap. Because we are comfortable, we don’t see that the companies we work for won’t invest as much in women employees as men. Because we are comfortable, we don’t see that we are undercharging for our business services because we are grateful for that contract that is keeping us in business.

With women being 2/3rds of the household breadwinners, we owe it to our children and our spouses to earn what we are worth and stop being comfortable with being taken advantage of and getting less.

For the month of May I urge all moms in business to go to www.TheStoryExchange.com and tell your story of being a mom in business and the lessons you learned from being a mom in business. Tell your story. It’s only through telling our stories that women can know they are not alone.

Best Wishes and Happy Mother’s Day,

Gina Robison-Billups PAGE 4 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

INSIDE

Happy Mother's Day!

MAY

2012

4 NOTES

from the Founder/CEO, Gina Robison-Billups

NOW 6

Moms Minutes

8

News

10 12

16

Important Tips and Briefs Updates

Moms Vote Matters

Instant Impact Legislative Update

Calendar of Events

Featured events, conferences and more

FEATURE 18

Vicki Gunvalson

The Real Mom In Business of Orange County

STANDOUT 14

10 Tips to Use Giveaways Effectively at Trade Shows

16

Collecting Information on Your Competitors

22

Can’t Find a Job You Want? Create a Career Map

23

Smart Women and Their Relationship With Money

24

24

How clearly do they get a message across?

Discover the Do’s and Dont’s of competitive intelligence.

You’ve put a lot of effort into a résumé, an elevator pitch

It was an energizing day focused on topics such as effective marketing; clear messaging...

10 Ways To Use ONE Article To Get Yourself Known As An Expert

22

How do you leverage your marketing efforts? Think about it... You’ve created a marketing piece...

26

The Growing Power of Women in Business

30

Bits ‘n Pieces ~ My Mother Taught Me...

18

It used to be that the business landscape was a man’s world. Times have certainly changed!

“Who in their infinite wisdom decreed that Little League uniforms be white? Certainly not a mother.”

Erma Bombeck

On The Cover

Vicki Gunvalson

Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 5

NOW

Moms Minutes

Don’t Miss Out on Several College Tax Benefits!

Parents and students are being reminded that while rushing to meet the April 17 IRS tax deadline to sure and check out several college-related tax benefits before filing their 2011 returns.

Two tax credits and a tax deduction are available to taxpayers who paid tuition and other expenses for an eligible student during 2011. Because an eligible student can be the taxpayer, spouse or dependent, these benefits can, for example, help workers taking continuing education courses and people returning to school, as well as parents paying for their children’s college education.

Given the number of different higher education credits and deductions, the IRS reminds taxpayers to carefully review eligibility requirements so they don’t overlook these important college benefits.

Tax benefits include the following:

97%

•

•

•

The American Opportunity Tax Credit helps pay for the first four years of post-secondary education…

The Lifetime Learning Credit, limited to $2,000 per taxpayer per year, can be claimed based on tuition and required enrollment fees paid for any level of postsecondary education…

The tuition and fees deduction is available for both full-time and part-time students at all levels of post-secondary education.

The deduction of up to $4,000 is claimed on Form 8917…

The general comparison table in Publication 970 can be a useful guide to taxpayers in determining eligibility for each of these benefits.

Often, tax credits are more valuable, because they reduce the amount of tax owed, whereas deductions reduce

the income on which tax is figured. Tax software can often help parents and students determine which benefit yields the greatest tax savings.

Besides these tax benefits, parents, students and former students who made student loan payments during 2011 can deduct up to $2,500 of student loan interest…

Details on these and other educationrelated deductions and credits can be found in the Tax Benefits for Education Information Center on IRS.gov.

Source: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/ article/0,,id=256521,00.html

of Data Breaches are Common IT Mistakes

Data breaches are becoming more

common and are extremely dangerous to businesses and their clients (even yourself). It has been found that businesses spend money on advanced security tools but don’t take care of the basic defenses against hackers’ attacks.

Most cyber-attacks use basic methods taking advantage of IT errors and human mistakes, especially in organizations. This report is the results of a recent study by Verison.

There were 855 data breaches examined in this study and they found that hackers used simple methods for

approximately 97% of their attacks, which included: • • •

Using passwords that were stolen, guessed or obtained through dictionary or brute force attacks Using malware to open network backdoors or transmit sensitive data, and Installing spyware or keyloggers on user machines to steal credentials.

80% of the attacks were “victims of opportunity”, which means – poorly defended websites that were easily detected.

Your never too small of a business – if it’s easy, they will get in.

What are most companies doing that leaves their data vulnerable to hackers?

PAGE 6 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

1. Protecting systems with default or easily guessable 2. Giving users access to data they don’t need 3. Failing to install and maintain firewalls 4. Using out-dated procedures and security software 5. Failing to monitor and detect suspicious network traffic If the breach is not notices, the attack continues. It is recommended that monitoring and use of egress filtering to block suspicious outgoing traffic be integrated into their systems.

Source: http://www.itmanagerdaily.com/ common-it-mistakes-behind-most-databreaches.

Moms Minutes

Save Time: Track Your Packages and Get Organized From Your Mobile Phone on all Android devices is now available from Slice, adding to their suite of mobile and desktop tools aimed at simplifying online shopping. Never waste another minute sorting through old receipts or entering tracking numbers. Obtain instant access to your entire online shopping history, making tracking shipments and staying organized on-the-go easier than ever before.

Help ship your inbox into shape and simplify your shopping with a free package-tracking app from your mobile phone. It’s a breeze.

A free online shopping organizational app

Visit: www slice.com for complete details.

Want to know where your stuff is? The push notifications let you know when a purchase has shipped and when…

What's Causing the Autism Epidemic?

Printable Flexible Electronics Just Became Easier With Stable Electrodes

Although this emerging technology is expected to grow by tens of billions of dollars over the next 10 years, one challenge is in manufacturing at low cost in ambient conditions. In order to create light or energy by injecting or collecting electrons, printed electronics require conductors, usually calcium, magnesium or lithium, with a low-work function. These metals are chemically very reactive.

They oxidize and stop working if exposed to oxygen and moisture. This is why

Purchase info hard to find in your cluttered inbox? This app consolidates your shopping history in one place so you don’t have to log into multiple websites, dig through receipts or…

Need to remember what you ordered? We automatically track all your in-progress shipments on a single map…

TV as Thin as a Sheet of Paper?

Imagine owning a television with the thickness and weight of a sheet of paper.

It will be possible, someday, thanks to the growing industry of printed electronics.

The process, which allows manufacturers to literally print or roll materials onto surfaces to produce an electronically functional device, is already used in organic solar cells and organic lightemitting diodes (OLEDs) that form the displays of cellphones.

Want to return something? Slice keeps a copy of all your electronic receipts for easy access in case you need them.

Slice also provides you with…

electronics in solar cells and TVs, for example, must be covered with a rigid, thick barrier such as glass or expensive encapsulation layers.

However, in new findings published in the journal Science, Georgia Tech researchers have introduced what appears to be a universal technique to reduce the work function of a conductor.

They spread a very thin layer of a polymer, approximately one to 10 nanometers thick, on the conductor’s surface to create a strong surface dipole. The interaction turns air-stable conductors into efficient, low-work function electrodes.

For more details: www.ScienceDaily.com

An explosion of new studies released during Autism Awareness Month offer tantalizing insights into potential causes of a disorder that’s been blamed on everything from bad parenting to vaccines and TV viewing.

Adding urgency to the quest, last month the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) now affects an estimated one in 88 children, a sharp rise from 2002, when ASD was thought to strike one in 110 kids. That means ASD is more common in children than diabetes, AIDS, cancer, cerebral palsy and Down syndrome combined.

Visit the Autism Learning Center While some reports say autism diagnoses are rising at a rate of 10 to 17 percent a year, there’s hot medical debate as to whether the condition is actually striking more kids. Some experts contend that children who might have been labeled with other developmental disorders in the past—or not diagnosed at all—are now being classified as on the autistic spectrum, due to a broader definition of ASD… Read the entire article by Lisa Collier Cool at: http://health.yahoo.net/experts/ dayinhealth/whats-causing-autismepidemic

Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 7

NOW

News

BREAKING NEWS!

The 2012 Moms In Business Grant Is Under Way! Read About the National Semi-Finalists and Give Them Your Support. Page 15 MARK THESE DATES ON YOUR CALENDAR:

May 13, 2012­— Mother’s Day - National Announcement of Moms In Business Grant GRAND PRIZE recipient June 2, 2012 — Nevada Women’s Money Conference, Las Vegas NV June 9, 2012 — Nevada Women’s Money Conference, Reno, NV

And Now the NEWS! The Story Exchange is Casting

They're looking for successful women entrepreneurs for their high quality video profiles. Interested candidates can submit their stories to: bit.ly/IwEaZv. The Story Exchange is a network of role models and resources that encourages women to start their own business through inspirational video profiles, news, blogs and expert advice. It's women inspiring women to live their dreams and uncover their full potential.

Visit their website here: thestoryexchange.org.

NAFMIB Founder, Gina Robison-Billups, was recently inducted into the Nevada Women’s Hall of Fame by the Nevada Women’s Chamber of Commerce.

The Women’s Hall of Fame® publicly honors all the nominees and recipients from the ATHENA Awards and the Women in Performing Arts, Entertainment and Media for their achievements, community support, and education to insure the continued achievements of women and young professionals in Nevada.

PAGE 8 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

Gina Robison-Billups, was also honored by NAWBO of Southern Nevada (National Association of Women Business Owners) at the Women of Distinction Awards.

Gina was awarded the WODA for Community Service for her work as CEO of the International Association of Working Mothers and founder of its two programs: National Association For Moms In Business and the Women’s Money Council.

NAFMIB is featured in the Huffington Post! Interviewed for the article on “The War on Women” The entire article is on http://www.huffingtonpost.com/karin-kamp/war-on-women_b_1446322.html. The story was picked up by TheStoryExchange.org, MeeMira.com, and TheLiberalRoundUp.com.

Mpho Otukile, a Moms In Business Grant National Semi-Finalist was Featured in “Consumer 101: Crowdsourcing Start Up Funds” on CMN.com (Consumer Media Network). http://www.cmn.com/2012/04/consumer-101-crowdsourcing-start-up-funds.

Children’s book author Mpho Otukile, who was born and raised in Botswana and South Africa, is using Peerbackers as one of four semi-finalists for a grant from the National Association for Moms in Business (NAFMIB). Otukile’s campaign is to raise funds for the publication of two books she’s authored, which tell the adventures of Lesedi, a ten-year-old girl living in a rural Botswana. Mpho is receiving significant promotional support from Moms in Business through their social media network, the April 2012 issue of Moms in Business magazine, and at conferences across the U.S. The campaign, which concludes April 24, is nurturing a network of business contacts and fans. “The challenge I had not anticipated,” says Otukile. “is getting people who are interested in my project to actually contribute to my campaign.”

Moms In Business Grant National Semi-Finalist, Tara Coles, was featured in “The Art of Doing for Yourself” in CurrentMom.com

http://www.currentmom.com/currentmom/2012/04/the-art-of-doing-for-yourself. html

Tara has also been requested several times during the grant competition to be on speaking panels at women’s events in her area. Recently she was also picked to be a presenter at “The Dolphin Tank” - like the TV Show “Shark Tank” except nicer and offers support (not financial backing).

Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 9

NOW

Moms Vote Matters MomsVoteMatters.com

Moms Vote Matters is a program for moms in business to learn, influence, communicate, and engage in community and national policies that effect their families and their businesses

www.WIPP.org

This Month’s Mom’s Vote Matters is Powered

by Women Impacting Public Policy

The Devil Is In The Details A Simple Step Government Could Take To Help Entrepreneurs

The addition of a few simple lines of text could make all the difference for entrepreneurs across the country. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998, more commonly known as “WIA,” created today’s national network of One Stop jobs training centers. Unfortunately, there is a flaw in the original law that does not consider starting a business as becoming employed.

Entrepreneurial training is an allowable training activity that One Stop job centers may provide under the law. However, the way One Stops measure success is by counting the number of unemployed people who receive training and go on to become employed after the training. The fix is simple; all it would require is including additional measures/metrics (what the Department of Labor calls “Core Indicators”) that would allow One Stops to count starting a business as employment, and therefore, as a success. It would be relatively easy for One Stops to track new business ventures by requiring proof of a business Tax ID number or copies business incorporation documents.

Buffet Rule Fails, but More Tax Talk and Incentives Could Be Coming Soon

Since Americans were focused on getting taxes filed by April 17, the Congress focused on tax issues, particularly those relating to small businesses. The House passed Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) tax proposal, (H.R. 9). The bill allows a one-time deduction of 20% on a business’ profit for businesses under 500 employees. The tax deduction applies to all forms of business entities.

The Senate took a different approach by voting on the “Buffett Rule”, which would require anyone earning more than $1 million a year to be taxed at the rate of at least 30%. The bill failed on a 51-yeas to a 45-nays vote, falling short of the 60 needed votes.

On the heels of the defeat, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), introduced a bill (S. 2237), which would provide employers a 10% income tax credit on increased payroll, whether through new hiring or increased wages. In addition, the bill would extend the 100% depreciation on new business purchases which expired in 2011.

Not to be outdone, the House Small Business Committee held a hearing titled “The Tax Outlook for Small Businesses: What’s on the Horizon.” In his opening remarks, Chair Sam Graves (R-MO) noted that according to the SBA, small and medium sized businesses pay 36% more per employee in tax and regulatory compliance costs as compared to larger businesses.

If you thought you were finished hearing about taxes after April 17 this year, think again. In an election year, the prospects of coming to a timely agreement on comprehensive reform or extension of the Bush tax cuts are dim. The lame duck Congress and the outcome of the Presidential election in November will likely set the stage for action at the end of the year.

PAGE 10 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

A Proud Sp onsor of t 2012 MOM S IN BUSIN he ESS GRANT

Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 11

NOW

Events

EVENTS

May, 2012 Sun

Mon

Tue

1 -NEVADA -15 wk Microenterprise CourseHenderson, NV -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan -MY Business Action Plan

Wed 2 -My Business Action Plan

Thu 3 -My Business Action Plan

Fri 4 -LAS VEGAS, NV- Business Plan Assesment (Evening Session)

5

6

7 -Marketing Your Business Without Money

8 -NEVADA -15 wk Microenterprise CourseHenderson, NV -My Business Action Plan

9

10 -LAS VEGAS, NV- Business Plan Assesment (Evening Session) -My Business Action Plan

11

12

13

14 -Marketing Your Business Without Money

15 -NEVADA -15 wk Microenterprise CourseHenderson, NV

16 -LAS VEGAS, NV- Business Plan Assesment (Evening Session)

17

18

19

20

21 -Marketing Your Business Without Money

22 -LAS VEGAS, NVBusiness Plan Assesment (Evening Session) -NEVADA -15 wk Microenterprise CourseHenderson, NV -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan

23

24

25

26

27

28 -Marketing Your Business Without Money -LAS VEGAS, NVBusiness Plan Assesment (Evening Session)

29 -NEVADA -15 wk Microenterprise CourseHenderson, NV -My Business Action Plan

30

31 My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan -My Business Action Plan

Sat

PAGE 12 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

For more information go to EVENTS at www.MIBN.org

Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 13

STANDOUT

Giveaway Connection Powered By: Giveaway Connection The Leading Giveaway Resource Site

10 Tips to Use Giveaways Effectively at Trade Shows

By Susan Friedmann

that you would want to keep and use it? All these questions, and more, need to be considered before jumping into the giveaway game.

W

alk around any trade or consumer show and you will be able to collect a bag full of advertising specialties, or giveaway items all designed to promote. But look a little more closely. How many really do an effective job? How clearly do they get a message across? Is the message sufficiently visible? Is the giveaway useful or unique enough

PAGE 14 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

Everyone enjoys receiving a gift, even if it is “just a little something.” Gift giving creates a favorable impression. It can build goodwill, be an incentive, communicate a message and create awareness.

When thinking about advertising specialties for your next show, consider the following ten questions: 1. What do you want to achieve by giving away a premium item?

Your giveaway items should be designed to increase your memorability, communicate, motivate, promote or increase recognition. It is important not only that the message have an impact, but also the premium itself.

2. How will you select your premium item?

There is a multitude of different items you could consider as a premium. However, which one will best suit your purpose? To select the right item, you need to decide your objective. Do you want it to enhance a theme; convey a specific message or educate your target audience? A clear purpose should help make your selection process easier. A promotional specialist can also help you make an effective selection. Remember that your company image is reflected in whatever you choose to give away.

3. Whom do you want to receive your premium?

Having a clear objective for your premium item will also help you decide who should receive it. You may consider having different gifts for different types of visitors. You might have different quality gifts for your key customers, prospects and general passers by.

4. How does your giveaway tie into your marketing theme?

Is there an item that naturally complements your marketing message? Have the message imprinted on the item and make sure that your company name, logo and phone number appear clearly. An important aspect of any gift is to remember who it was from long after the fact.

5. What is your budget?

The price range for premium items is enormous. Quality, quantity and special orders, all impact the price. Establish a budget as part of your exhibit marketing plan. Consider ordering the same item for several different shows. The greater the quantity of your order, the lower the individual unit price.

6. What must visitors do to qualify for a gift item?

There are several ways to use your premium effectively.

For example, as a reward for visitors participating in a demonstration, presentation or contest; as a token of your appreciation when visitors have given you qualifying information about their specific needs; as a thank you for stopping at the booth. Avoid leaving items out for anyone to take. This diminishes value and has little or no memorability factor.

7. Will your giveaway directly help your future sales?

Consider handing out a discount coupon or a gift certificate that requires future contact with your company for redemption. Consider premiums that will help generate frequent visits to customers and prospects, such as calling you for free refills.

8. How does your premium item complement your exhibiting goals?

Premiums can be used to prequalify your prospects.

One company uses playing cards. Prior to the show, they send “kings” to their key customers, “queens” to suppliers, “jacks” to new or hot prospects. They request that the cards are brought to the booth in exchange for a special gift. When the cards are presented, the booth staff already know certain information about the visitor.

They can then act on their previous knowledge and use time with the visitor more productively.

9. How will you inform your target audience about you giveaway item?

A sufficiently novel or useful giveaway can actively help to draw prospects to your booth. So make sure your prospects know about it. Send a “tickler” invitation with details of the giveaway, or create a two-piece premium, sending one part out to key prospects prior to the show and telling them to collect the other half at your booth.

10. How will you measure the effectiveness of your premium?

Establish a tracking mechanism to measure the success of your giveaway. If it is a redemption item, code it so that you know it resulted from the show. Post-show follow-up could include a question about the premium - did visitors remember receiving it and how useful was the item.

After the show, critique your giveaway with your exhibit team: Did it draw specific prospects to the booth? Was it eye-catching enough to persuade passers by to stop?

Did your customers find it useful? Did it project the right corporate image?

There are plenty of exciting premiums for you to choose from so that you can avoid the usual pens, pencils and keychains.

Make your premium work for you and it will be money well invested.

Article by Susan A. Friedmann,CSP, The Tradeshow Coach, Lake Placid, NY. Author of “Meeting & Event Planning for Dummies,” working with companies to improve their meeting and event success through coaching, consulting and training. Visit: http:// www.thetradeshowcoach.com and sign up for a free copy of ExhibitSmart Tips of the Week.

The Leading Giveaway Resouce site: www.GiveawayConnection.com.

Tons of Tools and Benefits Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 15

STANDOUT

B2B Moms

Powered By: Business 2 Business Moms

Bringing Business Buyers 2gether with Business Moms: Building Relationships 2 Build Your Business

Collecting Information on Your Competitors Discover the Do’s and Dont’s of competitive intelligence.

Collecting information about your competitors makes good business sense. However, you must do so in an ethical and reasonable way.

Competitive intelligence from public sources, customers, and third parties can help businesses anticipate market opportunities, trends and competitive strengths and weaknesses.

T

hese guidelines provide a step-by-step guide for acquiring the information you need without crossing the line.

1. Ask questions - If you come across or are offered competitive information and believe that it may be confidential or proprietary ask questions to find out how the information was obtained, or why it was made available.

PAGE 16 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

2. Be ethical - How would you or your business react if you found out that your competitors were receiving the kind of information that you acquired? If you think that a particular way of gathering competitive intelligence may be unethical, you should assume that your competitors would view it the same way.

3. If it doesn’t seem right, don’t do it - If you’re ever in doubt as to whether a source of information or contemplated technique of gathering information is proper or legal, you should contact your manager or attorney.

4. Breaking the law has consequences - If you improperly gather or use competitive information, you can be disciplined or terminated, and you could face criminal and civil penalties.

Breaking the law can also result in adverse publicity to your company. Think about how you’d feel if your actions were publicly disclosed on the front page of a newspaper.

5. Legitimate sources of competitive information include: uu Public sources. You may gather information about your competitors from public sources such as: Newspapers, magazines, other published articles and television programs uu Advertisements and brochures intended for public distribution uu Information freely available on the Internet and online research services uu Public filings made with governmental or regulatory authorities, such as SEC reports, patent filings and litigation records uu Analyst reports uu Industry surveys or reports uu Public presentations given by competitors at trade shows and conferences uu Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and similar requests from governmental or regulatory agencies uu Conversations with customers. Talking with customers is essential. The more you know about your customers and their businesses, the better you can meet their needs. However, you shouldn’t contact customers for the purpose of obtaining confidential information about a competitor. Customers may disclose information about a competitor’s products or pricing, so long as the information is not confidential. uu Hiring third parties to obtain information. Sometimes company’s hire third parties to help us gather competitive intelligence and information about the market for products and services. Third parties are subject to the same standards of behavior that you abide by, so you should assume that if we can’t do it directly, you can’t hire someone else to do it. uu Third parties conducting focus groups or interviews with a competitor’s suppliers or customers generally don’t have to identify you as their client, so long as they identify themselves and their company. While a third party doesn’t have to disclose the purpose of the focus group or interview, the third party shouldn’t intentionally misrepresent the purpose.

A few of your competitors may have informed you that you cannot subscribe for their products and services. In these cases, you should not hire third parties to access the competitor’s products or services. However, absent knowledge that a competitor would have barred or prohibited your access, you may engage a third party to subscribe to the product or service.

Keep in mind that your company can sometimes be legally responsible for damages or losses caused by a third party if you authorized or appear to have authorized any illegal actions.

This can be the case even if you don’t issue direct instructions to the third party, but know of the third party’s likely conduct and “turn a blind eye”.

If you engage a third party to gather competitive information, you should have the third party confirm that it is aware of, and agrees to abide by, applicable laws related to competitive intelligence.

Some types of information gathering, however, can violate the law or may be considered unethical.

Some examples include…

Some types of information gathering, however, can violate the law or may be considered unethical. Some examples include: New Hires. What you can and can’t ask former employees of competitors.

You shouldn’t ask or encourage employees who previously worked for a competitor to divulge confidential or proprietary information about the competitor, such as specific details about a competitor’s operations and intentions, including pricing, future plans and forecasts which may have been considered confidential or proprietary by a competitor.

If you previously worked for a competitor, you shouldn’t disclose information about your former employer that you believe is confidential or proprietary, or bring any of this information into your office.

However, you may discuss items of a general nature with an employee who previously worked for a competitor including anything that’s a matter of public record or that wasn’t treated by the employer as confidential.

Misrepresenting your identity. You shouldn’t misrepresent your identity in order to obtain competitive information, if the person you’re seeking information from would not ordinarily give you the information if they knew your true identity. This can be considered fraud. For example: You shouldn’t contact a competitor, posing as a customer, student, private research firm or potential vendor/supplier, to find out information.

When providing information in order to gain access to a competitor’s website, you should answer all required blanks accurately, but you don’t have to fill in blanks that are not required.

Stealing information.

You shouldn’t attempt to acquire a competitor’s confidential or proprietary information through illegal means, such as theft, spying or hacking.

You shouldn’t perform any surveillance or monitoring of competitors outside of public places or engage in any form of electronic eavesdropping. However, if you’re sitting on an airplane or are at an industry conference and happen to overhear a competitor discussing a confidential matter in the row ahead of you, the competitor likely has no reasonable expectation of privacy.

Continued on page 28 Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 17

Feature

Vicki Gunvalson

By Gina Robison-Billups

Star of "The Real Housewives of Orange County”

The Real Mom In Business of Orange County

2.5 million people know Vicki Gunvalson as the star of The Real Housewives of Orange County and author of "More Than a Housewife". As a single mother at the age of 29, with no college degree, and through sheer determination, drive, and passion for business, Vicki was able to build Coto Insurance & Financial Services, Inc., one of the most successful Insurance Agencies and Financial Services Companies in the United States. Vicki is also the co-author of “Internet Life Insurance Made Easy,” and the Founder of Coto University, where she teaches and mentors over 600 agents across the country on how to sell Life Insurance via the internet.

PAGE 18 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

agent.” He put all these different things in there about me, and somehow it got up to NBC’s hands, and they contacted Michael. He was back at college and the producer said, “We’d like to come meet your mom.” They thought there might be an interesting story here, because I’m from Chicago and I wasn’t the typical California privileged woman who let their men support them.

They came over one day, and I knew nothing about Michael’s letter. They said, “You know, we really want to talk to you. Your son wrote a magnificent letter, and we’d like to speak to you about it.” And, I said, “What letter?”

Michael mentioned it, but I didn’t really know what it all entailed. When they showed me his letter, all I could think was how nice it was that an 18 year old would acknowledge his mother on that level. Sometimes you don’t hear it as much as you want to about the things we do as a mother/ wife/business person. They wanted to film right then and there. They brought some cameras to show the producers what my life is like. I said it’s very, very busy, and I don’t have time for it right now. I run an insurance company out of my house (Laurie worked for me at the time). I was cooking dinner in the crock-pot, heading off to cheerleading for Briana, and I was just really, really busy. At that moment my phone was ringing, I had my headset on and they’re like, “Okay, we just have to capture this”, and I said, “Whatever you want to do, I’m not speaking or talking, I’m just going to run my life.”

GRB: You’re the first ‘Mom in Business’ in BRAVO Network’s “Real Housewives” brand, and you’re the only ‘Mom in Business’ of the Real Housewives of Orange County. How did all of that start?

VG: Being a mom in business is the original reason why the producers chose me. So, it’s really quite interesting how it’s been shifted a little bit into a different place because balancing motherhood and business is actually why they wanted me on board. They didn’t have any other professional women in the area and community.

Eight years ago this was going to be about just us and the community, and it’s all obviously changed from that. There was a little ad in our local community newspaper that my son had seen. I was out of town and it said, “casting for a potential reality show”. It was just an idea for a pilot on the privileged lifestyle people are leading in California, and what allows them to be in that environment. I don’t think they had even sold the show to a network yet. They really wanted to sensationalize California and specifically our gated community. In fact, the name of it back then was “Behind the Gates”. My son, Michael, who was 18 years old at the time, wrote in and talked about himself going off to Colorado for college and he said, “my mom owns an insurance company, she works out of her home, she’s the top

About six months later they called me and said a production company had picked it up, and the pilot had been picked up

by Bravo. I said, “Listen, count me out. How much do I get paid?” They said “Nothing”. “You’re going to air your life on TV, maybe it’ll get to be a hit show, maybe not, there’s only going to be four to six episodes so just count it as a little bit of a fun time.” I really thought there was no point in that. So they came over and met Donn to discuss it. We were still wondering what’s the benefit to our life? They said, “Think of it as just as an experience. We don’t know what will come from it, but we think reality TV is going to be popular in the future. We kind of see it going that way.”

When it aired, I was like “Oh my gosh I wore that, I did that, I said that?” But, we were a hit show 7.5 years ago and now we’re franchised all over the world, it’s just gone into a phenomenon.

It was first called, “Behind the Gates”, and it was changed to “Real Housewives of Orange County” because “Desperate Housewives” was in a very popular mode.

GRB: Your business is COTO Insurance. What does your company do?

VG: My primary focus is retirement planning, and I work typically with age 50 to retirement. Getting people ready for retirement and turning an income stream on. At the beginning, I was primarily focused on life insurance and health insurance, medical supplements and long term care in the past. About six years ago, I shifted to more retirement planning and I really like this part of my career. For example, let’s say you invested in a 401(k) or an IRA, or a retirement plan; your choices are going to a brokerage company and investing it with stock bonds, mutual funds. I work with insurance companies, and we turn on income Continued on page 20 Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 19

Continued from page 19

streams that are guaranteed for life that also keep up with inflation. There are lots of great new contracts that are available now that weren’t available 10 or 20 years ago. So that’s one big part of my practice. Another part is we do homeowner’s, auto and life insurance. I have a team of 12 agents that work in the office and about 600 agents out in the field that are contracted and licensed underneath our company, Coto Insurance. We train and mentor them about how to be better in their business.

So, life is busy - then I’m running a TV show and my daughter is getting married in three weeks, so I’ve got a lot going on right now.

GRB: One of your messages on the show has been about taking care of yourself. In addition to business and family, you also have a TV show. Most people don’t have that much on their plate. So how do you do it all, and how do you take care of yourself?

VG: One of my faults is I put way too much on my plate. My marriage failed because I couldn’t stop working. When I got home to Donn, it was negative, all I would hear was “You work too much, you’re gone too much, where’s my dinner, why aren’t you home, why aren’t we having sex?” I mean it was constant negativity, and I found myself gravitating to work more and away from home. I’d spend more time at work because that was my joy; that was my peace; that was my safety net. So, I lost my marriage and I blame myself. I also blame him that he didn’t reel me back in as a husband needed to when I was getting more and more distant. I wasn’t enjoying being with him, and so I enjoyed being at my work, and my friends, and my children much more than my husband. So when you ask, “how do you do it all”, I sacrificed my marriage for it. I’m trying to learn to balance everything a little better; having that piece of the pie for me. I’ll spend time with my children, I’ll spend time with my employees, I’ll spend time with my staff, my show, my publicity that I have to do, and then I won’t take time for me. I’ve been known cancel doctor’s appointments or going to the gym.

Instead, I really try to remember that I deserve to have a loving relationship and I deserve to be healthy. I really struggle with it because I am so driven, and I really like having a lot of things on my plate. I know I’ve got to make some changes in order to have a fulfilled life on all levels though.

I think that’s a lot of true for most moms in businesswomen.

GRB: You started your business in your home, many famous moms in business started at the kitchen table. How and why did you go into business for yourself?

VG: When I was 18 years old graduating high school, I remember a week before I graduated high school I sat with my dad. At the time my older sister Kim, was in her second year of college. She jumped out of a dormitory window and tried to commit suicide and she lived. It took a lot of focus off the family to get Kim healed. She was in intensive care for eight months and it was just a really, really bad time for all of us. Our family wasn’t focused on my college or my career; we were all focused on getting Kim walking again and doing everything she had to do. When I was getting ready to graduate high school, I asked my mom and dad, “What am I going to do? I was a week away from graduating with no plans.

PAGE 20 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

Feature My dad asked me, “What do you want to be?” I didn’t know.

All my friends were registered for college but because of the accident, we never applied. There was a Community College around the corner and my dad just assumed I wanted to work for him in his construction company, and be a mom and a wife.

I was dating a gentleman at the time, and I said, okay, well I’ll do that. I went to college for three months and hated it. All the girls were getting married, and getting engaged, and so Mike and I decided to get married. I was 21 years old and clueless on marriage. I was in a lost place. All my friends were off at college; I was really just thinking that I’ve got to a mom and a wife because that will give me a purpose. My husband worked for my father’s construction company. I brought the baby into work, and I did the payroll and bookkeeping. My first baby came along and four months later I was pregnant with my daughter.

I was married to an alcoholic and verbal abuser. He would hit things instead of me. I remember going through counseling divorce was never talked about in my family. My mom and dad have been married for 40 years and every relative has never been divorced. I was miserable being married to Mike. He was never home. I had two little babies; I worked at my dad’s construction company, and I just felt lost. At 29 years old I finally had the courage to tell my mom and dad what was going on in the home, and my dad said, “If you don’t remove Michael and Brianna from this environment they will grow up in the same environment that Mike did.” That’s all I needed to hear that my daddy said it was okay. I filed for divorced and six weeks later we were divorced.

At that time my girlfriend came over. We were having a glass wine on my deck in Palatine, Illinois and the kids were outside playing and she said, “I think you really need to get life insurance on yourself because if you die who is going to take care of Michael and Brianna?” I said, “I’m not going to die.

I’m their mother. There’s no way I could die.” “Vicki,” she said, “I just really think you need to get life insurance on you and on Mike, because God forbid he dies you won’t get his child support.” I didn’t get child support anyway, but it made sense.

I got $500,000 of life insurance on each of us. I asked Laurie what she made in commissions. She told me $600. She made $600 for having a glass of wine and having me sign a couple contracts while I’m working at my desk in the construction office for three weeks to make $600. I just couldn’t even believe it. I asked her if she thought I could do this. I thought you had to be a financial planner or a CPA to do insurance. It’s a great profession for women when you’re raising children because you can work your schedule around your client’s and your kids. I went and got licensed. I contacted her employer, and I told them that I worked for my dad’s construction and I’d love to be one of their top agents. They told me that insurance is typically a man’s world, and that I probably would not make what the men make.

That’s all I needed to hear. I couldn’t believe they told me that I’m not going to make what the men make. I immediately went to get some great clothes together, got my kids organized at daycare, and I went to work. Every month I was consistently the top agent because I knew those words were going to make me be the person who I wanted to be, and I wanted never to be a failure to my children. I never went to my mom and dad for a dollar, never a dollar.

Within the first year, I received the top agent of the year award. I also hit the million dollar round table the first year, and I really had no idea what I was doing. I would go through phone books, (we had no internet at the time) and literally dialed for dollars. I’d call and say, “Hi can I talk to you about life insurance? Do you have life insurance? Do you have mortgage insurance?” Click. I’d keep going down the phone book. I would send reply cards in the mail, and I would knock on doors. I would do whatever I could to get the sales. What it showed me was I was going to be okay and it gave me the strength to not have to get remarried, not have to date somebody for money, and it gave me the strength to be the breadwinner.

GRB: What compelled you to create your own business with Coto Insurance?

VG: When I married Donn in Illinois, he took a job out in California, and I was going to be a stay at home mom again, everything that I had hoped and wanted for. I just figured I was going to have more children, and put the insurance hat away for a while.

A few weeks into the marriage, the kids and I went to Costco. We had never been to Costco and spent a lot of money – corn dogs, beach towels, and popsicles – all the California stuff. When I got home, my new husband went ballistic on me. He screamed, went upstairs yelling at me. “You don’t spend my money like this, we don’t need this stuff, you think you’re going to take my money and use it for what you wish you’ve got another thought coming”. It was just a really, really bad fight. He told me I could never go back to Costco again. I called my mom and dad and said, “I made another mistake; I’m devastated, I don’t know what to do.” My dad told me NOT to take the stuff back and to get my insurance license in California, get back to work. And that’s what I did, so I go to Costco now whenever I want.

It taught me a big life lesson again.

When I got my license in California I was just working out of my home. I got licensed in all areas. I went back to doing what I do best, which was life and health insurance and Medicare supplements, and I could just do that from home. I didn’t need a big office and a bunch of staff. I just did everything myself and I was making $100,000 to $150,000 a year in 1995 and 1996, working part-time. I was really happy with that. But when I got on the TV show, I was just a sole proprietor. I was not incorporated.

I didn’t even have a logo. I was just running all my insurance through a personal 1099. I wanted to disconnect Gunvalson from my practice. I really wanted to be more professional, and branded it to where my clients and I live in Coto de Caza. I had no idea it was going to become a national name that’s recognized.

GRB: What advice do you have for other moms in business?

VG: Well first of all, I believe it has to work around your schedules. If you have children, you absolutely have to have your partner involved in this commitment. It is a commitment, and you have to have a good support team behind you, whether it’s your parents, it’s your siblings, a spouse or a significant other, you’ve to have a good support team around you because there are going to be days when you feel like a failure.

There are times when I don’t sell anything for a couple weeks and I’m like — I’m a failure, I’ve totally lost my groove, I’m never going to sell insurance another day of my life. I panic.

There’s going to be three seasons, three months that are really great, three months that are really bad, but it’s the six months in between that counts. I now go into that year knowing I’m going to have three really bad months. I’m either going to have personal issues or economy issues - something is going to hit me where I’m not going to be really on for three months. Then Continued on page 28 Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 21

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Can’t Find a Job You Want?

By Ginny Clarke

Create a Career Map

You’ve put a lot of effort into a résumé, an elevator pitch, company research and traditional networking, but you’re still coming up short in your job search or career progression.

You’re understandably disappointed, but here’s the good news: it probably isn’t the tools you’ve created, but the lack of a detailed job search plan or map that is inhibiting your success.

You wouldn’t dream of starting a motor trip without a roadmap.

The same holds true for a job search or managing your career.

A career map will help you no matter what level or stage you’re at in your work life. Corporate professionals, recent college grads, entrepreneurs, the unemployed, military veterans, and those who have taken time off to raise children all benefit from creating their own career maps.

Career mapping not only draws on your strengths but also provides key insights to help you crack the code on how to be successful – on your own terms. Here’s how: Career mapping draws on your strengths and provides key insights. By plotting elements of your historical and aspirational work, whether in jobs or in school, you find more clues to what your true competencies, attributes and passions are – now.

Career mapping addresses all levels of jobseekers from entry level and mid-level to executive and encore levels, and what I call the detour route. No matter what your level, moving ahead involves asking the right questions. You will have the context for inquiry that examines both the right and wrong questions.

PAGE 22 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

When career mapping, know there are no shortcuts. Before you can write a good résumé or give a good elevator pitch, you need to have identified your core characteristics. Only you can design a guide that will point you to a life filled with meaning and purpose.

Michelangelo wrote: “The greatest danger for most of us is not that we aim too high and we miss it, but we aim too low and reach it.” A career map will help you aim high. My career map template is available as a free download. Give it a try.

Ginny Clarke is a career management expert. Her unique career mapping process is a result of years of experience as a partner at the global executive search firm Spencer Stuart, where she co-founded and led the diversity practice. As an expert in talent and career management, executive coaching, and diversity in the workplace, Ginny integrated her executive recruiter experience with her own unique approach to managing her career to write a book called Career Mapping: Charting Your Course in the New World of Work. Visit: http://www.mycareermapping.com.

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Smart Women and Their Relationship With Money

By Joy Chudacoff

R

ecently, I had the opportunity to spend the day strategizing with a group of smart women (many were moms) entrepreneurs from different parts of the world. It was an energizing day focused on topics such as effective marketing; clear messaging to attract your ideal client, time management and money.

At one point, women were expressing the challenges they face in getting everything accomplished each day including running a business, managing a family, and hopefully time to squeeze in a little self-care.

I shared with the group that when I’m in the office, I ask myself three questions to help me stay focused and directed on making money in my business: 1. Where is the potential for new business?

2. Are my private clients and groups experiencing award winning results?

3. Have I reached out to my referral sources this week?

Discovering new business opportunities, creating award winning client results and focusing on my relationships with referral sources are the very best ways to build a successful company for the long term.

I noticed one woman in the group had a rather strange look on her face and at the break I went up to her and asked if everything was ok. Her response? “I’ve never heard a woman speak so freely about making money. It’s liberating for me. I love this idea!”

As I travel around the country and meet women from different parts of the globe, this idea that money should not be discussed is universal. I had one woman tell me that she was raised with a belief that “Money is evil.” Money is not evil. What you do with the money is what matters.

This opened the door to a freeing, thought-provoking, conversation about why women need to overcome their fear of making money or having money. If your business is not making the money you desire, could it be possible it’s due to the relationship you have with money? If your business is barely “surviving” instead of “thriving” I invite you to think about creative ways you can embrace what a positive cash flow could do not only for you but the world.

To ensure that your Big Idea comes to fruition and achieves growth year after year, it’s essential that you make money in your business. I’d like to share some ideas about why women and money go together and energize your thinking about why it’s key to stay focused on making money: 1. Contributing to the well-being of yourself and your family – It’s an empowering feeling to know that your business contributes to taking care of those you love and care about. It builds confidence, self-esteem and instills the idea in your family that you are an equal partner in every area.

Continued on page 29 Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 23

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Market Without Money Powered By: Market Your Business Without Money How do you grow your business without breaking the bank?

Creativity, Ingenuity, and Resources are the answer.

Ways To Use ONE Article To Get Yourself Known As An Expert

By Maria Marsala

If you don’t enjoy writing, this article may help you see “writing” in new and simpler light. And if you enjoy writing, this article could help you leverage what you’ve already created.

How do you leverage your marketing efforts? Think about it... You’ve created a marketing piece or paid someone a good deal of your hard earned money to do it for you. And it looks great. Usually you think that’s it. However before you even create the piece, I’d challenge you to create a list of 10 other ways you’ll be able to use that item - in whole or in part - at least 10 ways. I call it “The Power of 10” and you can use it every time you (or your marketing assistant) create new marketing collateral, letters, articles, class, etc.

1.

Write

What’s an article? It could be two short paragraphs, two sentences followed by five bullets followed by a conclusion, or it can be more than that. It does not have to be a novel. Hey, this top ten list is an article. Get it?

PAGE 24 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

2.

Ezine, Blog, Ecourses

If you have a web site and no way to capture the email addresses of those to visit, you have really created a very expensive brochure. And you can place your articles in your ezine (online newsletter), blog or use a few based on similar topics to create an ecourse. And each could be as simple as a tip and call to action (an ad).

The main thing is that you send it out at least once a month.

3.

Article Banks

You deposit your article-to-article banks. Then others withdraw your article to use in their Ezine or web site along with your authors box and link back to your web site. If you use articles as a way to market your business, first place the article on your web site and then submit then to the article banks.

If your business is writing, you can also use article banks, but be careful. Many magazines won’t accept previously

published articles -- they want first rights to the article. If your business is writing, you can also use article banks, but be careful. Many magazines won’t accept previously published articles -- they want first rights to the article.

4.

Printed Media

5.

Newspapers

Once or twice a year (or more often of course) put your best articles and information about your business in a newsletter. Distribute this newsletter by postal mail or by hand, in person. Consider using your newsletters as your brochure.

Research local newspapers to see which ones your ideal client would read. Get a feel for the type and format of the articles in that publication. Next, send your article directly to the editor of the section in which you’d like your article to appear, with a handwritten note. Call the newspaper to find the name of the editor if you’re not sure.

You’ll be amazed to see your article in print!

6.

Print them #1

Put an article you’ve written on your business stationary, along with a summary and your picture. Mail the article to your clients, prospective clients, networking buddies, or your friends. Again, include a short handwritten note with the article. “Thought you’d be interested” is a simple and terrific note to include.

7.

Get known...

Peruse your local bookstore’s magazine section for ideas of where to submit your articles after carefully reading the guidelines. Consider purchasing a Writers Market Book or the online version of their writer’s directory.

10. Tweet it...

Tweet it, Facebook it, Linkedin it... Every social networking site has some sort of way you can promote your article and get folk to your website to learn more about you and your company.

Print them #2

Always carry your articles with you. If you have a car, purchase a plastic container that holds folders to keep them neat and crisp. I also keep business cards and other promotional materials in the container. When I attend networking meetings, I hand out an article or assessment with my business card. It gives people something timely to read.

8.

9.

Turn it around

Consider this: some printed media or Internet marketers who use articles from others don’t like “Top Ten,” or even “Top Five” lists. However, if you remove the numbers, they’ll print your article. So use “top” sparingly - such as at www.topten.org or when you’re asked specifically for “top” lists. Otherwise, turn your “top” list into a bulleted list that doesn’t contain numbers.

©2009 Maria Marsala, Profitability Specialist at Elevating Your Business. We provide insightful input to high-achieving women business owners looking for powerful results.

Specializing in boosting the productivity, profitability and performance of their company simpler, easier, and faster!

Will you be next? Visit www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com today and take our free Business Checkup.

Visit www.MarketWithoutMoney.com, providing marketing resources, tools and training that keeps more money in your wallet while still getting great results.

Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 25

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The Growing Power of Women in Business

By Daniel Burrus

It used to be that the business landscape was a man’s

has an effect on culture.

Today, women are wielding more and more power on both sides of the business transaction.

This brings us to the other side of the equation. Who is running and leading the companies that make the products women are buying for themselves and their families?

Increasingly, it’s women.

world. Times have certainly changed!

First, let’s look at some facts from the consumer side. In family purchases that involve two adults (a woman and a man) women make: • 94% of the purchase decision on home furnishings • 92% of the purchase decision on family vacations • 91% of the purchase decision on home purchases • 80% of the purchase decision on healthcare • 60% of the purchase decision on family cars • 51% of the purchase decision on consumer electronics It’s clear that in many cases, women are not just influencing the market; they are the market. And perhaps even more surprising is that these statistics have changed very little over the past ten years. In other words, women have been the market for some time now yet many executives have not taken action on this huge opportunity. And while these figures represent US households, the percentages are being exported due to technology driven globalization.

Even in countries where you’d expect women to have no voice at all, thanks to computers and smart phones becoming more prevalent worldwide, people everywhere are getting informed and empowered, which ultimately PAGE 26 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

In 2012, 18 of the Fortune 500 companies will have women CEOs at the helm. While at first glance 18 may not seem like a lot, it’s an all-time high and shows the steady pace of women leading the largest companies in the world.

Even more interesting is that we’re now seeing women lead companies in industries that have been historically male dominated. For example, for the first time ever, IBM chose a woman CEO, Virginia “Ginni” Rometty. Hewlett-Packard, another technology company, named Meg Whitman as their CEO in September 2011. These are just two examples of global, male-dominated companies now run by women.

And this trend isn’t just in the US. India, for example, has more women CEOs than the US. And over the past 30 years we’ve seen the number of women leaders in the Middle East, Africa, China, and Europe increase as well.

Now it’s important to note that so far we’ve just been talking about CEO spots at major corporations. Add in the number of female CEOs at small and mid-sized companies, female upper

level managers, and female entrepreneurs, and you can see that we’re actually talking about a large number.

And these are numbers you wouldn’t have seen twenty years ago. So women are definitely making their mark and exerting their business power.

The New Hard Trends Some people may say the rise of female leaders is surprising. I say it’s 100% predictable. In my book, Flash Foresight, I make the point that in an uncertain world, you have to ask yourself, “What am I certain about?” Strategy based on uncertainty has high risk; strategy based on certainty has low risk.

There are a number of certainties in today’s world that make the rise of women obvious.

Relationships Are Number One. The number one certainty is that the future is all about relationships. Even though we live in a technology-driven world, it’s still a human world and relationships still matter. This is where women shine.

Most people and even scientists and researchers agree that women and men think differently in terms of relationships.

Women are more adept at relationship building. If we have too many leaders in an organization who are men, we don’t have a balance and we don’t have the ability to grow relationships with a holistic approach. That’s because men tend to be informers while women tend to be real communicators.

This is important and timely, because we’re shifting from the information age to the communication age. Social media is all about communicating and engaging, and women have the upper hand here. So the shift in business from informing to communicating provides great opportunity for women leadership.

The Big Picture Matters.

Women are intuitively great “system-thinkers.” In other words, rather than just look at the piece of the puzzle you’re responsible for and executing on that, which men tend to be very good at, women are adept at looking more holistically at the entire puzzle or system and seeing how the various pieces go together.

Obviously, it’s not that men can’t be system-thinkers. But over the years as men were in leadership positions—not just the CEO level, but all lead managers—they focused

on “give me the job to do and I’ll focus and get it done.” That’s certainly important, but sometimes that mindset works against you as things become more interconnected.

Collaboration is Key. Women tend to seek agreement and work at being more collaborative.

In fact, women seem to be far better at collaboration than men are. In the past, business was about cooperation, and we cooperated because we had to. Men are great at cooperating. But in this new totally networked and connected world, we need to find and develop new levels of collaboration.

Everyone has heard of “silos” in companies.

We have massive silos in all sorts of industries.

The key is to break those silos down and get people communicating, collaborating, and working together. No job is just a technical job; every job is also a human job.

Passion Counts.

When women are excited and passionate about a product, a service, a company, or whatever they are doing, they become extremely driven from that emotion. Men, on the other hand, strive to hide their emotions. Having an emotional drive can be very powerful in leading a business, product launches, and any initiative. This is not saying that men can’t be passionate. It’s just that male-dominated groups are onesided and tend to downplay the positive benefits of emotion and passion as a force to drive innovation and growth.

Taking Risks (carefully) is Essential.

Women are now starting to do something that’s been a male trait for a long time: They’re becoming risk takers. Men are hard-wired to be risk takers, and they make decisions fast. Sometimes it’s not always the right decision, but it is a decision. Unfortunately, this often becomes a ready-fireaim approach. Women, on the other hand, tend to analyze, think things through, weigh all the elements, and then make a decision. Today we’re seeing more women taking bigger risks in shorter amounts of time. Part of this is due to the increased speed that information is available. This combination of thinking first and acting fast is certainly good news, because the old rule of business was the big eat the small; now the fast eat the slow.

Continued on page 29 Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 27

Continued from page 17

Collecting Information on Your Competitors Giving gifts for confidential or proprietary information. In gathering competitive intelligence, you should not give entertainment, gifts, favors or gratuities to induce someone to provide you with information that’s confidential or proprietary.

You may, however, pay third parties for competitive intelligence that’s derived from legitimate sources.

Anonymous packages containing confidential information. If you receive anonymous submissions of competitive information you shouldn’t distribute or use the information.

Information marked “Confidential.” etc. You shouldn’t use or purchase information belonging to a competitor that is marked “confidential” or “proprietary.”

Offers to access competitors’ products and services. If you’re offered access to a competitor’s product or service by a customer, friend or other person, and you ordinarily would not be able to access the product or service on your own, you should decline the offer.

Misplaced or unattended confidential information. You shouldn’t use confidential information belonging to a competitor that is accidentally misplaced or left unattended.

Dumpster diving. This is inappropriate and it may also be illegal.

Competitive bid information. You shouldn’t seek or use information that you may receive about a competitor’s bid if you’re involved in bidding, especially on government contracts.

However, you are free to use information that is disclosed by the government, publicly available or retrievable pursuant to a FOIA or other similar request.

Information offered in business pitches. If a customer offers competitive information to us during a business pitch, we should understand that the customer may owe a confidentiality obligation to our competitors who are also pitching for the business. As such, we should generally decline to receive information under these circumstances. However, if we are being told something very general or high-level, it may be appropriate for us to use this information in our bid and in our larger business strategy.

Regardless of what method you use to collect competitive intelligence, if you have any question as to the legality of your activity, err on the side of caution and chose another method!

BY MARKETING SCOOP, LLC

This article and more resources and events can be found at www.B2BMoms.com.

PAGE 28 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine

Continued from page 21

The Real Mom In Business of Orange County it makes me feel a little bit better when I’m having those bad times. If you’re in sales you can’t have 12 consistently great months.

I don’t know anybody that has. I get really hard on myself and start worrying that I’m not working enough or I’m not focused enough, or I’m not consistent enough with my planning.

I think for women in business you really need several things: a support staff to keep you up when you are down, and money on hand, whether it’s a line of credit or something to get you started, a business plan and resources. You can’t go into it blindly. You’ve got to have a business plan. You’ve got to have a good accountant, a good CPA that helps you with this process so you’re not out here trying to do it yourself. I think if you lay the foundation, just as if you build a home, solid first, then you build from that, you’ll never have a house that crumbles. But if you go into it fast and make mistakes on your foundation, you’re going to have a house that crumbles.

GRB: Is this a little bit of “Don’t do as I do, do as I wish I had done” kind of advice?

VG: I’ve been doing it right for the last eight years. It took me trial and error to get to this place. I wish I had had a mentor, a woman mentor that said, “You are going to make it, I believe in you”. Many people wanted to believe I was, my husband included, I was living a dream. I was living in the “hopefully I’ll be successful mode”. I wanted somebody to tell me, “No matter what Vicki, you are going to make this because you have what it takes”. I didn’t need to be defeated; I needed to be uplifted, so we all need to be encouraged. We all need that. You’ve got to find somebody in your life that encourages you.

Most of the women on the show do not encourage me. They discourage me. They knock me down. They don’t want to believe that I’m getting awards across the country for being a top agent. They don’t even ask me how my insurance conferences are because they think it’s just hogwash. They don’t respect me. It’s very hard to work with people that you don’t respect and that don’t respect you. So through this life I learned to gravitate towards people that have common interests and who are uplifting.

Continued from page 23

Smart Women and Their Relationship With Money

Continued from page 27

The Growing Power of Women in Business

A Brighter Future.

Granted, some people may say all these elements are generalizations, but there is truth in generalization. So while all these traits may not apply to every woman, if you look at the group as a whole, these things tend to be true.

2. Contributing to the economy – I’m thrilled to be able to have a small team of women support me in my business and I can help them achieve their goal of working from home. I’m adding value to the flexibility and freedom in their lives.

3. Giving back - I hear from so many women the reason they started their business is because they want to give back to the charities and organizations they feel so strongly about. This has been an emotional driver for me. My desire to give back has continued to grow over the last 3 years and my dream has finally come true. This year, Smart Women Smart Solutions® is now able to make a donation to several non-profits that support women and girls worldwide from coaching programs purchased by women entrepreneurs.

I’m going to invite you to start the process of creating a consistent, positive cash flow so you can use the money to take care of what’s important to you. Stop saying, “When I have the money, I will…” and start saying, “Now that my business is experiencing a positive cash flow, I will…”

Anything is possible. Everything is waiting for you.

So the bottom line is that diversity has always been an unbelievably powerful force in any company—not just racial diversity, but male-female diversity too. All diversity gives you better solutions to challenges, allows you to solve problems faster, and enables you to see opportunities better. This is crucial, because over the next five years we’re going to be transforming how we sell, market, educate, train, communicate, collaborate, innovate, and much more. Thanks to today’s rapidly evolving technology, we’re witnessing the biggest game-changing transformation that any of us have ever lived through. And we’re going to need a variety of thinking, diversity, and people working together in a collaborative, communicative way to make a positive and productive transformation possible.

As we look to the future, we’re going to see the number of female business leaders growing even higher because we need the balance. We need the creativity. We need men and women working and leading together in business and in government. So if you’re a man reading this, support the women in your organization to reach new heights. And if you’re a woman reading this, think about your career. Plot it out.

Make it happen.

We need you!

© 2012 Joy Chudacoff — Joy Chudacoff, ICF, PCC, is the founder of Smart Women Smart Solutions®, a Professional Certified Coach to 1000’s of women, Motivational Speaker, and Entrepreneur. She publishes a weekly buzz generating ezine, Reflections On Life and Business for Women Entrepreneurs. If you’re ready take your life and your business to the next level, get your FREE Tips, FREE Report and FREE MP3 now at Profits With Passion.

Daniel Burrus is considered one of the world’s leading technology forecasters and business strategists, and is the founder and CEO of Burrus Research, a research and consulting firm that monitors global advancements in technology driven trends to help clients better understand how technological, social and business forces are converging to create enormous, untapped opportunities. He is the author of six books, including the NY Times bestseller Flash Foresight: How To See the Invisible and Do the Impossible as well as the highly acclaimed Technotrends. Be sure to check out Volume 2 of Daniel’s Know What’s Next Magazine; an annual publication on strategies for transforming your business and future.

Go to www.MomsMakingaMillion.com for financial information and tools to grow your business. Moms Making a Million is a program of the National Association For Moms In Business

www.Marketing2Moms.com, a program of the National Association for Moms In Business, is leading the charge to affordably and effectively help members more effectively market to the #1 consumer in America.

Moms In Business Magazine • May, 2012 • PAGE 29

Bits ‘n Pieces

My Mother Taught Me… My mother taught me RELIGION. “You’d better pray that will come out of the carpet.”

My mother taught me TIME TRAVEL. “If you don’t straighten up, I’m going to knock you into the middle of next week!”

My mother taught me FORESIGHT. “Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you’re in an accident.”

My mother taught me IRONY. “Keep crying, and I’ll give you something to cry about.”

My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM. “Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!”

My mother taught me about WEATHER. “This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it.”

My mother taught me about ENVY. “There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don’t have wonderful parents like you do.”

My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION. “Just wait until we get home.”

My mother taught me about RECEIVING. “You are going to get it when you get home!”

My mother taught me HUMOR. “When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don’t come running to me.”

My mother taught me WISDOM. “When you get to be my age, you’ll understand.”

My mother taught me about JUSTICE. “One day you’ll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you”.

~ Author Unknown

Founder Gina Robison-Billups Editor Design/Layout Eugenia Martini-Jarrett Eugenia@MIBN.org Advertising: Debbie Donaldson Debbie@sunspark.com Published by NAFMIB, the National Association for Moms In Business.

The Leading National Association Representing Executive, Entrepreneur and CEO Moms MIBN.org, NAFMIB.org Copyright 2012, © International Association of Working Mothers See www.MIBN.org for full copyright page All Rights Reserved

PAGE 30 • May, 2012 • Moms In Business Magazine