When you interview a potential employee for a job opening, according to federal and state law you are forbidden to ask a candidate his or her age.Furthermore, it’s illegal to discriminate against job applicants based on their gender, race or religion.But today it’s easy to prescreen candidates and find out whatever you want to know if they participate in social networks and are careless about what information they share.
For example, some social communities ask for your birth date including the year.Oce you’ve input the information, your age appears prominently on your profile page.Because these sites won’t let you proceed with registration if you fail to include the year, I have started my own personal protest by using something totally outrageous.On a local television network’s site and on MySpace, I’m a 90 year old female.If you believe that then you’ll be getting in touch with me to find out what plastic surgeon I use.
It’s not that I mind people knowing how old I am, but I don’t think the whole world needs that information.What purpose does it really serve?Unfortunately, people make judgments about both young and older workers.I’ve heard many stories from young entrepreneurs who feel as though they aren’t taken seriously, regardless of their capabilities, because just aren’t old enough to be in business.
The other big age give-away on these community sites, is including the years you attended school or the dates of employment.People can quickly do the math and figure out approximately how old you are.On Facebook, I graduated from law school in 1910.Talk about being an unbelievably precocious child.
Some sites ask for your religious beliefs and political party affiliation.All information someone could use to make an unfair, biased judgment about you.Not fair – true!But this is the real world folks and it happens.
I love the world of social networking.It is an excellent way to build business contacts, keep up with colleagues and stay in touch with friends and family.But be careful of what information you can include if you are using these sites for business opportunities.Even with privacy settings, savvy techies can easily get in.
Because discrimination laws haven’t addressed this issue and I doubt they ever will, it because it is virtually impossible to prevent business discrimination when it’s easily accessed on the Internet.So because of that, be careful not to give someone an unlawful reason to discriminate against you.In an ideal world, we wouldn’t have to worry, but this is the real world and it happens.
Do you actually go on vacation when you go on vacation? Typically, I don't.
This Thanksgiving week my husband and I went to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We frequently choose that holiday week for our vacation because I'm only gone for three business days. (Yeah, I know – pretty pathetic.) Of course, that doesn't mean I don't work.
Much to my husband's chagrin, packed right along with the sunscreen and swimsuits, are piles of uncompleted work projects. In the past I've finished book manuscripts, written business plans, even reviewed financials as part of a due diligence process. But this trip was different.
First the resort didn't have an Internet connection in the room. Panic attack! Then, my phone signal was extremely weak. Another panic attack. I had to face the facts: My constant communication connection had been unceremoniously cut.
Okay, I can deal with that, I thought. So I accepted my plight and decided to focus on projects that didn't require communication with the outside world.
But guess what! I did nothing. Yep, absolutely nothing. Didn't accomplish one darn thing the entire week. There was something freeing about being cut-off from the world. I wasn't compelled to check emails all day long or return phone calls. Instead, I took leisurely walks on the beach, enjoyed lazy lunches at beachside cafes, read a couple of great books, watched a few movies and relaxed. And amazingly -- I enjoyed it.
So my best vacation tip to my fellow small business workaholics, go on vacation and do nothing. RELAX.
Oh by the way, here's a photo I snapped one morning on the beach. Enjoy.
I was speechless (and for me that hardly ever happens) when I met Valerie Plame Wilson last week at a VIP reception in New York hosted by the Women's Leadership Exchange (WLE) and Aetna. You may recall, Valerie is the former CIA undercover agent whose identity was revealed after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times criticizing the Bush Administration for the Iraq war and claims that Saddam Hussein was acquiring uranium ore from the African nation of Niger to build nuclear weapons.
Valerie's career with the CIA took her all over the world gathering information, recruiting spies and working deep undercover. In 1998, she started spying for a new CIA division, counter-proliferation, and became Director of Operations for the CIA's Iraq joint task force. She and her team met with Iraqi scientists trying to find evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. About a week after her husband's article was printed in the New York Times, Valerie's name and CIA affiliation were disclosed in a newspaper column written by Robert Novak. Her career was over and her security as well as that of her family was put in jeopardy.
Now for the reason I was speechless. I knew Valerie was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the WLE East Coast Summit, but I wasn't expecting to meet her at the VIP reception. Therefore, when I was introduced to her, I was taken aback. Heck she didn't look anything like a spy. She's blonde, very attractive, thin, fashionable, and the mother of girl-boy twins. She remembers her toddlers running around underneath her desk when she was Director of Operations at the CIA -- a scene to which many working moms can relate.
But not many working moms I know carried an 80 pound backpack and 5.56 mm ammunition for an M-16 through thick woods and swamps as part her job training. This gruesome exercise was part of Valerie's paramilitary training at the CIA "farm." Casually and with a little reserve, she also mentions she was the best shot with an AK-47 in her mostly-male CIA training class. Unbelievable. I don't even like camping -- roughing it to me is staying at a hotel without 24-hour room service.
However, the thing that impressed me most about Valerie (other than the fact we were both wearing great looking red shoes -- it's a girl thing) is how she's dealing with this life-altering experience that destroyed her career, her husband's consulting business, harmed both their reputations, nearly ended her marriage and put her children in danger. To survive, Valerie explained she went back to the basics and defined what she wanted the outcome of her ordeal to be. She made a list of the most important things she wanted to salvage: her marriage; the well-being of her children; and her dignity.
So what did I learn about small business from a spy?. At the conclusion of her keynote remarks the next day, Valerie said, "All of us face crisis that throws us off track. As long as you remain true to your personal convictions, you'll get through."
She's right. Fortunately, most of us will never experience anything comparable to Valerie's ordeal, but there are always going to be tough times. Right now, as the economy continues to spiral out of control many of us are bracing ourselves for financial struggles, personally and professionally. Often times, strength of character is the key differentiator among those who succeed and those who don't.
Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager says there is only one boss and that's company values. But it's not just company values that are important, it's our personal values too. Entrepreneurs are resilient, innovative, persistent and determined. Hold onto your beliefs and don't compromise and as Valerie says, you'll get through.
More years ago than I’d like to admit, I owned a small advertising and public relations business.When I say small, it was just a few freelancers and me, but that didn’t deter me from going after the big fish.Nope.And I finally caught one.My big fish was a rapidly expanding deli chain, and I won all its business.Wow!There was so much work involved that it consumed me so I didn’t have time to reel in more clients.Then one day, the owners of the deli chain just disappeared.Poof! The headquarters building was locked tight and the owners were nowhere to be found.The company filed bankruptcy.Well, there I was left with thousands and thousands of dollars in unpaid bills to vendors, media outlets and for other expenses -- not to mention the money they owed to me for my work.Not a good situation. Fortunately, I worked out deals with my creditors and gradually paid them off, but it forced me to close up shop.I went back to a job earning a regular paycheck. So what would you do if this happened to you?A customer’s bankruptcy can easily bankrupt your business too.When a customer files bankruptcy, you may be surprised to learn that you have little or no protection under the bankruptcy laws.Bankruptcy courts are for debtors, not creditors.And business bankruptcies are on the rise.According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, business bankruptcies in the first half of 2008 were 42.1 percent higher than the same period last year.Now, is the time to take steps to protect your business before it’s too late. Don’t push product out the door on easy credit terms.And if you are dealing with a first-time customer, make sure you check credit references even if you’re sureit’s okay.Watch for changes in payment habits, too.If a client that normally pays on time, starts lagging behind, you need to consider that a huge red flag.Don’t let them get in too deep.Another thing to watch out for is a break-down in communications.People who owe you lots of money and can’t afford to pay you tend to not return phone calls.And of course, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.Diversify your client base so you won’t end up closing the doors as I had to do.
I never thought I'd be there, but sure enough – there I was on the stage at the NASDAQ -- part of a group invited to ring the closing bell. What a thrill! We were there because we'd been selected to participate in a venture capital forum for women-led media companies called ALL THINGS MEDIA. The program sponsors were Springboard Enterprises and The Paley Center for Media.
Although it was an incredible experience for me, the real stars of the show were Gail Goodman, Chairman, CEO and President, Constant Contact(CTCT), the most recent women-owned business listed on the NASDAQ, and Kay Koplovitz, the founder of USA Networks and Chair of Springboard Enterprises.
Gail hadn't expected to be so moved by the experience. "It was an exciting moment. It truly gave me goose bumps. The entire time I was up there, I thought about our team and how proud I am of them," Gail shared.
And proud she should be. Talk about a small business success story. Constant Contact is one of seven Springboard companies now listed on the NASDAQ. Springboard is dedicated to accelerating women's access to equity capital.
Constant Contact® began operations in 1998 with the goal of designing an affordable, easy-to-use email marketing tool—to help small businesses build successful, lasting customer relationships. Fast forward to October 2008 and Constant Contact has grown from a small start-up to a leading provider of email marketing and online survey tools for small businesses, associations, and nonprofits by focusing on our customer's satisfaction and needs with helpful, personal coaching.
It's great to see women business owners succeeding to this level of success. Thanks to Gail and Kay for leading the way and giving us the inspiration and support to shoot for the top. Who knows, wait a few years and it could be SBTV.com. Or you and your company!
Wouldn’t it be great to have an advisory board for your business consisting of successful entrepreneurs who were willing to share their insight, expertise and secrets for success!Well, let me tell you about my day.I hosted an hour-long live satellite broadcast program for the Women’s Economic Development Outreach Tour or WEDO.Joining me as guest panelists were three of the most incredible business women you’d ever want to meet.It struck me during the program just how much brain power was sitting on the stage with me.These women know their stuff.They started with nothing, faced obstacles and challenges, yet emerged with successful, multi-million dollar organizations.For everyone watching, I think it was almost as informative as having that “dream” advisory board.In fact one woman business owner said to me afterwards, “I really needed this today.”I’ll introduce you to my guests, and in future blogs I plan to share some specifics we discussed on the program.Brenda Newberry is Chairman and CEO of The Newberry Group, a global IT consultancy she founded in 1996.Today, the company employs 140, is 100 percent employee owned and does commercial as well as government contract work.Brenda started her career in the Air Force and then joined the corporate role reaching executive-level positions before deciding to strike out on her own.Leaving the glitter and glamour of Hollywood behind, Sally Hughes returned to her Cleveland, Ohio home and identified a market niche no one had thought of even though it was right at their feet.Sally launched Caster Connection in 1987 – a supplier of high-quality casters and wheel solutions.Today, Sally is known as the “caster queen” and her firm does business with companies all across the country.After losing her job at 40, Mary Bahr decided she’d had enough.So she started MAB Advertising, a full-service advertising agency whose mission is to improve customer relationships and organizational profitability through strategic direct marketing.Although Mary is in a competitive industry, her innovative business savvy and focus on customer relations has resulted in an impressive client list.With decades of experience and success, the wisdom and advice these women shared was so valuable. They were candid and straightforward.As I mentioned, in future posts, I’ll provide specifics about our discussion, but for now I’ll close with one of my favorite tips from the show.This came from Mary Bahr:“Do the hardest thing first.”In other words, get those projects or tasks you dread done first thing when you go to work.When you put them off until later it’s easy to postpone them until the next day.So get it done.I want to thank National City Bank and the other WEDO alliance partners.In addition to our live audience, women from 11 cities in five states joined us and participated by submitting email questions.You can learn more from the WeDo web site.As Linda Stevenson, National City senior vice president women’s business development and executive director for WEDO says, “It’s we do, not me do.”She’s right.It’s about all of us working together to help women in business succeed.
Tonight is the vice-presidential debate between Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Joe Biden at Washington University in St. Louis, MO.Entrepreneurial students are using the event to “cash-in” on the debate and promote their school.To accomplish that, they are selling pink elephant and blue donkey cookies to measure the support for each candidate.Not only are they making money, but they are generating national press coverage.Baskin-Robins ice cream is also churning a political promotion.It’s asking consumers to vote for their favorite Presidential candidates by selecting between two flavors dedicated to Republican Senator John McCain and his Democratic rival, Senator Barack Obama.The ice cream representing McCain is called “Straight Talk Crunch” which is a white chocolate ice cream, caramel ribbon with chocolate pieces, crunchy mixed nuts and candy red states mixed in!The ice-cream chosen to represent Obama is “Whirl of Change” a flavor of peanut-nougat ice cream swirled with hunks of chocolate-covered peanut brittle and complimented by a caramel ribbon. Is there a way your business can build a promotion about the upcoming November elections?Perhaps, you could run a special promotion on your web site with two options relating to each candidate.Don’t forget your home-town candidates too.If there is a hot race is your community, you might generate interest by focusing on it. Be creative.It’s a great way to build buzz.This election has everyone talking.Why not make sure they’re talking about your business too.
