Strawberry Communications: Writing & PR
Every business has a great story – let us tell yours!
Falling in the Chinese Year of the Dragon, 2012 is supposed to be lucky. So what does the year ahead look like to you?
Before looking forward I like to revisit the personal and professional goals I set at the end of 2010 and see how I went. If you look at my post When the Head and Heart Collide I wrote at the same time last year, you can see I set the following goals:
You may have heard me mention my book, Business & Baby on Board, before now, but it’s time to be more specific.
Until recently Wiley was considering publishing the book, but decided the fit wasn’t right so I am now self publishing it. I plan to launch the book around Easter next year.
I have interviewed some amazingly inspiring women about how they make businesses work around their family. These interviews are now finished and I’m about to get stuck into the writing phase with a vengeance.
While that is happening I wanted to share the list of women who have been generous enough to share their stories with me:
“The Master Mind is the coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people for the attainment of a definite purpose.” ~ Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich
I first heard the term “mastermind group” in the very early stages of running a business, before I’d actually registered the name Strawberry Communications. Then I assumed it was beyond my capacities as a business owner (I hadn’t even realised I was running a business at that point), but I’ve since discovered the incredible value of having one – or more – mastermind groups to help drive my business.
Business leaders from around the world use mastermind groups to help them focus their efforts, plus draw on others’ knowledge, resources, energy and networks. The groups are made up of 5-8 like-minded people who are at a similar level in business.
The Strawberry Communications blog is in the Best Australian Blogs Competition People’s Choice award. If you love the blog please vote for me before 5pm on May 5.
Click here to vote for me:
Thanks in advance, Johanna
Essential tool for business mums
Almost one million Australians operate a business from home. Many of these businesses are run by mothers who are trying to create the lifestyle they want with their family while contributing to the family income at the same time.
While there are many books and guides to help people wanting to start a business from home, there’s not much available specifically to help entrepreneurial mothers. Mothers in business face all the usual start-ups issues such as market research, business registration, taxation and marketing, but they also have to make all this work around their family, so have limited time, suffer from mother guilt and may even need to factor in the housework as well!
So why do it? The answer is simple – many women don’t want to be “just a mum” or finish their career as an employee. They want to experience success they have created themselves. These women are mistresses of their own destinies and they have an armoury of skills which can be utilised while they are bringing up the baby.
This year has been one of great change for me personally and professionally – and I am a better person and business owner as a result.
I suffered a head injury in April which left me struggling to work for three months, but after some enforced recuperation time I was able to look back at those events and reflect on what – and who – were really important to me.
Micro and small business owners face the Catch-22 of promotion every day – they need publicity to build their businesses, but they need customers to pay for their promotional efforts.
So which comes first – the promotion or the customers? It doesn’t have to be a choice, because now business owners have a guide outlining low-cost, and sometimes no-cost, strategies for business promotion.
For you my Queen is excited to announce the exclusive online launch of New York lingerie label The Lake and Stars.
The Lake and Stars recently created a stir in New York fashion circles after Sarah Jessica Parker wore the ‘We’re on a break romper’ in the Sex and the City movie. The label owners said Sarah Jessica Parker specifically requested the silk piece be included in the scene where she cleans out the closet with her friends. For you my Queen is the first boutique in Australia to supply this lingerie line with a difference. [Read more...]
After speaking with a business coach briefly this morning and telling him time management was probably my biggest issue when it came to my business, I realised procrastination was the real issue.
I’ve never thought of myself as a problem procrastinator, however this morning’s conversation, a recent flurry of time-management related reading and the fact I had put off my accounts for six months made me realise I do procrastinate. I don’t think I do it to the point where my business will suffer, but I do put off tasks I am not interested in until I absolutely have to do them. [Read more...]
My mother hung a copy of this inspirational poem in our home as I was growing up. I heard it again yesterday and was reminded how much these words resonated with me then – and still do now. I feel this poem, written by Max Ehrmann in 1927, is a good guide for life.
“Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. [Read more...]