Friday, July 17, 2009
Can There Ever Be Too Much Of A Good Thing?
In recent months friends and family have told me I seem too busy but I thought I was coping...until last week. Not one, but two clients, kindly and gently, told me I had dropped the ball for them. Nothing catastrophic, the IRS won't come knocking, checks didn't bounce, but certainly out of character for a hyper-organized Virgo like myself. When I shared my conversations with my friend/mentor and my family later in the week, they were rallying to my defense - as all loved ones would do, of course. But I didn't meet the words of my clients with defensive posturing. Instead, I took out last year's daily calendar and compared it to this year's. Wow, what a difference a year can make. I am over booked and double booked and there is no way that one woman can fulfill the needs of this new calendar. I got busy calling and emailing clients to re-schedule this week and next. This week has gone well and next week I will even be able to meet a friend for lunch.
The point I am trying to share is that for a "pleaser" like myself and especially in this economy, saying no to people and the work they offer, is very difficult. But in order to be successful - truly successful - we must create good, healthy boundaries in order to preserve the quality of what we wish to offer the world.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Emailing Marketing Refreshers
- Stay consistent with your from label
- Keep it focused: who, what, why
- You should have a "sign up for our newsletter" on every page of your site
- 39% of email users have their images turned off so using alt text tags is a good practice
- Emails should be 80% content and only 20% images
- Include a "forward this to a friend" button
- Put the opt out at the bottom of the email - many people put it on top
- Including an address is required by law (that was new information for this non-retailer)
Like I said, basics but it never hurts to be reminded!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
For Seattle Area Readers: A Dialogue With Gloria Steinem

(Photo by Tom Marks, 2008)
Sunday, June 14, 2009
It's Hard To Keep Good Women Down

"Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."
~Thomas Alva Edison
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Sightings: What Some of Our Members Are Up To

Our own Tabetha Sullens was recently voted "Best of the Best" costume jewelry in McMinnville in the Southern Standard! Tabetha’s unique and very personal jewelry designs are wonderful. The award is well deserved.

Saratoga Community Housing, currently our only non-profit member of Women Take Wing!, is launching a membership and volunteer drive. SCH and other land trust organizations around the country work to create affordable housing for the communities they serve. If you live on Whidbey Island, learn more about SCH or click here to learn more about land trusts around the country.

For those readers located in or around Spokane, WA this weekend, don’t miss one of our favorite events The Farm Chicks. Debi Ward Kennedy is there and we just know her booth will be over the top fabulous. We’ve heard rumors Sara Duckett of Sadie Olive will be there too. It should be a fun party…err, I mean sale.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Pay attention to the details!
Yesterday, when I opened what I thought was my credit card statement from Advanta Bank Corp. I found instead a letter informing me that my account would be closed effective May 30. Here is an excerpt from the letter:
"Your Advanta Business Card account is funded by an independent trust which owns the balances you owe on your account and provides funding for new transactions. We expect the trust to stop funding activity on our accounts. The trust also restricts our flexibility to fund activity on your account. Unfortunately, as a result, effective May 30th all Advanta Business Credit Card accounts, including your account, will be closed.
This means that you will not be able to use your card or account for new transactions, including purchases, checks and balance transfers beginning on May 30th. We understand that you may have written checks on your account before May 30th and we will make every effort to honor those checks that are presented to us for payment by June 3rd. If you use your Advanta card to make automatic recurring bill payments, you will need to make alternative arrangements for those payments promptly."
Advanta is the 11th largest credit card issuer in the United States. Nearly one million small businesses will be affected by this action. If you are an Advanta customer, please do not delay opening and reading recent mail! If you have automatic recurring bill payments, you have less than one week to make alternative arrangements.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Our third winner is.....
Nancy, when you have a moment please email your mailing address to: membership@womentakewing.com.
Congratulations! It really is a lovely journal! I have one on my desk now, too!
Thank you all for playing!