Looking to launch a business or take yours to the next level?

Join a four-week incubator intensive workshop as featured on Donny Deutsch’s Big Idea, Business Week, WSJ, CBS, ABC, NBS, Reuters and good Morning America.

• Take a dream, business or project and move it forward
• Get PR and marketing opportunities both locally and nationally
• Find connections, resources and answers in one place
• Get valuable referrals for your products and services
• Connect with a like-minded community of women just like you!

The Incubator 4-week intensive consists of 6 to 8 women, a trained facilitator and a series of patented exercises designed to get you moving in the right direction. The process includes homework, exercises and the community needed to make focused progress toward your goals. The June workshop is being held on Tuesday evenings, 7pm to 9pm in Encinitas.

Who is it for?

The Incubator is for women who:

• Have an exciting idea they want to launch
• Have an existing business who want to grow
• Are pursuing a book or creative project
• Are freelancers looking to monetize their services, refine offerings and making valuable connections

Why Ladies Who Launch?

Ideas need support and encouragement in order to take root and grow. The beauty of the LWL community is the intimate environment that is incredibly supportive and rich in resources.

Our events are designed to get your focus and your energy pointed in a clear direction, and makes the process of launching a business, project or new life direction as easy, productive and enjoyable as possible.

Our community is not about the hard sale and this is not a place for business card pushers. Our events are educational, purposeful and focused on fostering genuine connections. The atmosphere is always inclusive and inviting.

Sign up today and create the life you’ve been dreaming of!

Recently Barbara Eldridge, my Co-Director at MindMasters Entreprener Association, and I interviewed Vicki Garcia, Marketing Impressions.

Vicki shares tips on selling and marketing your small business. Let me know what you think by commenting. Visit MindMasters Entrepreneur Association if you are a small business owner who wants to be part of a vibrant online business community.

How often have you walked out of a seminar thinking you wasted your time and maybe even your money because the presenter seemed more interested in promoting his/her next workshop then delivering the topic you signed on for?

I have often heard business owners complain that they hate being sold. The market place has changed, customers do have access to more information and have become more educated about what they want. But what is “wrong” with self promotion?

Sometimes it has to do with that bad experience we had with that salesperson who talked us into buying something we really didn’t want. Or perhaps we heard our parents make disparaging remarks about that car sales person who seemed just a little too slick. It is important to recognize how we respond to people who are promoting their business or product and why we react the way we do.

It is important because we may be holding back on broadcasting the benefits of our product or service. Success oriented people promote their product, service or even their ideas enthusiastically and passionately. C.J. Hayden in her book Get Clients Now says “Reluctance to promote yourself holds you back from achieving personal fulfillment and financial success.”

Do you believe you deliver value? How strongly do you believe in your product or service? In speaking to a client this morning, she mentioned that a marketing person told her she needed to change how she presented her products when in front of a group. We both know she loves what she does, but her personality is more reserved making it difficult to sound enthusiastic. Self promoting is not about being boastful or pushy, but being genuine. Letting the passion and belief for what you do ring out, because you know that what you offer can truly assist people and you need to let people know how it can.

Take time to check on your 30 second promotional, are you talking benefits? Re-evaluate your product or service – are you highlighting the real value you offer? Check your belief system, are you carrying old worn out ideas about selling? If you really believe in what you do, then share it with everyone who comes your way. Be a “fearless self promoter”, you will grow and your business will grow.

The Challenge: Ask a client/customer for a testimonial and get re-enthused about what you do.

Barbara founded Mind Masters, an organization for entrepreneurs to master the challenges they face in an ever-changing market place and is the Co-Director of Mind Masters Entrepreneur Association a vibrant online business community helping small business owners achieve success.

On Friday, May 5th’s episode of North San Diego Business @Large, Michelle Bergquist will share tips on how you can build a million dollar database for your business. The how begins at 3pm PT.

Michelle recently published How To Build A Million Dollar Database after being know for years as the “walking rolodex.”  She knows that business and success is all about relationships.

While she speaks on a variety of business topics in relation to networking, relationship building, customer loyalty, entrepreneurship, communication skills, sales and maketing, she’s most known for engaging audiences on the power of relationshps and how well you connect and relate to people determines your success in business and life.

This is your chance to discover how you can build a million dollar database for your business.  In the chat room, during the show, you can ask Michelle your questions about building and marketing to your contact database.

If you have any burning questions, feel free to contact me using the North San Diego Business Contact Us page.

The Women In Business Symposium is tomorrow, May 14th at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. In preparation for the event, I saw this link come across my Twitter stream and wanted to share it with you.

Chris Brogan has written a blog post about 27 Things To Do Before A Conference. This post contains some really great tips on how to prepare for conferences. Let me know what you think about these tips and what tips you might add to the list!Technorati Tags: marketing, business, conferences

I had the opportunity to interview Andrew Donnelly, Mikogo, about the Skype extra, Mikogo.  Mikogo allows you to share your desktop with up to 10 other participants. There are many great features and, for those of you concerned with security, Andrew provided Mikogo’s security details in a pdf form.

Here’s the audio.

This is a tool I consider, along with Skype, essential to a service business. It makes meeting with clients, training and coaching very easy. Give it a try and let me know what you think by posting a comment.

On May 14th at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, the 10th Annual Women In Business Symposium will take place. There will be a couple hundred women business owners and managers.

I had the opportunity to speak with Bobbi Lee, a Sprint Area Director, about their involvement as a sponsor and their participation with women in business. This is that interview.

Mindy Selinger, Networking Event Finders, is holding a global Elevator Speech Challenge. I helped her out by creating a video on how to upload your elevator speech challenge video to YouTube. This is that video, however, I would suggest you visit her site and be part of the contest. I’ll get my own video up there by the end of the week. I hope to see yours there too!

I stopped in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Tuesday, January 13th to spend the night. Amy and I stopped in at the Tecolote Cafe for breakfast Wednesday morning before leaving for Memphis.

We had a chance to interview the Tecolote Cafe owner, Bill Jennisin, about business and politics. This is that interview. Let me know what you think by commenting on the post.

We are in New Mexico, of course. After finding ourselves with car problems just this side of Flagstaff, we were saved by Bob and Byron at Hurst Firestone on the infamous Route 66. Two hours and two hundred clams (here shouldn’t it be beads?) later we cruised towards the east and whatever adventures await. The Mother Road was quick to present her next gift. This gem was in the form of the Winslow Meteor Crater. What a sight to behold! There we were looking for the worlds biggest ball of twine when out of the iron flat earth before us arose the pursed lips of the giant pock mark. I felt out of place without flowered petal pushers and a flippy 60s hairdo. Ahhh to drive The Mother Road with family; roadside dinausaur races with my kid brother; playing hide-and-go-seek among the teepees while Mom shopped for turquoise jewelry and resin entombed scorpions. Looking for a quiet dinner in Sante Fe and a good night’s sleep. 33 and 1/2 hours of driving to go and counting. -submitted by Amy (hanging happily as shotgun for the afternoon.