Wow, am I ever jealous of Francoise Gri.

She was named by Fortune as one of the “International 50 Most Powerful Women in Business” and has made the list for the fifth consecutive year. This is quite an honor and exhibits an obviously stellar performance and track record by Francoise. To be named as one of the most powerful women in business is in honor all it’s own. I don’t know what tracking measures were used to gauge the honorees effectiveness or business sense, but for five consecutive years, she’s doing something right. (Press Release)
Why am jealous?

I used to work for a temporary staffing service as well (no, not Manpower though), and had high aspirations of moving up in the company. Remember when I mentioned them in my political ranting post sometime ago? Anyway, temporary staffing corporations are really ideal to work for, since they employ other individuals anyway, they offer great benefits and lots of perks. But an easy job it ain’t.

There are a lot of responsibilities to deal with, multiple clients to manage (along with their personalities as well), and all while having to make quotas each month. I don’t know if Ms. Gri had/has all of those particulars to deal with, but I’m certain she has had her fair share of challenges in that industry, to say the least. Working for large corporations has both its advantages…and disadvantages. That’s with any job. But the main focal point is to steadily work past those things that are perhaps frustrating or annoying and keep your sights on the bigger picture. Although I chose not to remain with my staffing firm, there are other women in business who are confronted often with challenges and work through them.

One of the biggest frustrations that I ever faced in corporate America was always trying to keep up with and run the “man’s game.” It seemed that the only ones in power were men and to get to the top, you had to play their game. You can believe too, that they very often didn’t play fair. Is that a requirement?

What are some of the biggest challenges that you have faced working corporations? Was it worth the headache? Are the perks generous? What do you find rewarding about working for corporations?

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Copyright – 2008 Bridget Wright

Post from: EveryJoe

A Powerful Woman in the Temporary Services Industry

What do you sell? A service? A product? An idea? Whatever your market is, you have a brand that accompanies it and that is what you sell to potential customers. Branding is akin to namedropping, or an idea that people get when they hear about your product or service. When you say soft drinks, what do you think of? What about ketchup, detergent, books, or restaurants? What comes to mind immediately when you think of those things? If you thought about Heinz, Tide, The Bible or Red Robin, you’ve bought into (one) of the ideas of branding. In branding, you want customers to think of you, your product or service, and give them reasons to prompt them to call you for it. Hence, Your Brand Specialized.

The brand that you establish for your business has to possess a spark and delivery when marketing to customers. In other words, your brand has to match your delivery. If you promise and deliver top-notch service, you strengthen your brand, your business name and your business reputation. What is your business brand and how do you effectively deliver?

Avoid catchy phrases and don’t confuse slogans with branding. The two are opposite and are only forms of marketing that lead into branding. To form a solid branding connection, look at other successful businesses and mimic the thing that they do well. If it works for them, they’re on to something.

Check out these blogs for more information on branding:

Brandcurve by Susan Gunelius

Branding Blog

Brand Identity Guru

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Copyright 2008 – Bridget Wright

Post from: EveryJoe

Business Marketing Monday: Your Brand Specialized

I said no again today.

• No, I will not help with the PTO fundraiser.
• No, I will not serve on the community board to raise funds for a new park.
• No, I will not bring 2 dozen brownies to my son’s first grade class party.
• No, I do not have a “second” to chat.
• And, finally, no I do not want that credit card offer/lotto winnings/a free ice-cream maker/fill-in-the-blank.

I said no and it felt good.

[Photo Source: Getty Images]

Being in business, whether you’re a freelancer, work-from-home woman, corporate exec or a telecommuter, I’m sure you’ve found maybe three reasons just today as to why you should say “no.” It’s so easy to overcommit when you have a flexible schedule and everyone around you “needs” you. Yeah, right. What were they doing before us?

A couple of months ago I had a “situation” that occured in my professional life that made me realize just how overcommited I was and how badly I needed to scale back. There are/were soooo many things that I want to do in both my professional life and in my personal life, but I was always struggling with time and finding time to make all of these things happen. With a business, children, spouse and a household, achieving my own goals was growing farther and farther away from me and began to seem like only a distant dream. Have you ever wanted something so badly that you could almost feel it, as if you already had it?

One day it hit me that I was never going to achieve any of my goals if I didn’t
1) prioritize,
2) set goals (with timelines),
3) work towards those goals on a daily basis and
4) just…say…no.

Now number four was and has always been my challenge, but this summer all of that changed. No more nice girl here. Bridget stopped long enough to realize that the ONLY way that I was going to see any of my dreams come true was to perhaps fizzle everybody else’s dreams. Not being mean or anything, but I had to realize that the world will not come to an end if I am not the one serving as president of the PTO committee or if I am the soccer team mom. It just won’t.

In my realizations, I had to adjust a few things and let a few other things go. I was serving on too many non-revenue producing boards. I eliminated three of them in one fail swoop. I was writing and maintaining other blogs that weren’t lining up with my core business interests. I eliminated 4 of those and started focusing on my blog here at Biz Chicks Rule and at Corporate-Eye. I’m streamlining my Professional Speaking Blog and Church Marketing Blog. The last two you don’t see yet because I’m, well, streamlining them. (btw, anybody know of a good WordPress designer?)

That was the point of downsizing my life. I took on higher paying clients and eliminated the ones that paid below my target hourly rate. I figure I would fare better to place all of my energy into a client that paid $1000 month than I would 5 clients that paid $100 month. Simple math for me.

I also streamlined my personal life by not allowing my kids to participate in so many extra-curricular activities. That just creates more work for us moms. Since all three of them are in sports, I made a deal with them to take their activities seasonally. In other words, my cheerleader is currently cheering for football season and when that’s over, then my soccer player will pick up and play soccer in the spring. In the middle of that, my basketball player will dunk baskets at the top of the season in January. I will not find myself running all over town, carting children to various sporting events and activities. And besides folks, they’re only 11, 7 and 4. OK, now you see what I’m saying.

Overcommiting is quite harmful to you as a business woman because it can keep you from being focused on the things that really matter to you. Aside from the obviously important things like family and job, everything else should be secondary. Watch out for the “little” things that seem like harmless activities but can turn out to be time-eaters. I’m sure you can identify at least two things in your life right now that waste your time.

1.

2.

See? You can and should eliminate those immediately if you want to see productivity in your business. Chatty friends? Turn on the answering machine. Spouse wants you to run errands? Set certain days that you will do just that and help him understand that. Slow or non-productive days? Set daily goals and reward yourself when you accomplish them.

Take each thing that you have to do step by step, carefully planning where you want to be and what you want to do and it can happen for you. I am beginning to have more productive, fulfilling work days and I even feel quite accomplished at the end of the day when I am able to check things off of my list.

What are some areas that you struggle with “no” in? How can you change this to start seeing some of your goals come to life?
_________________________________________
Copyright 2008 – Bridget Wright

Post from: EveryJoe

Avoiding Overcommitment: Knowing When To Say No

I, for one, do not, did not and have not ever had a mentor. And believe me, there were times when I did want one, or at least thought I did. Those were the tims when I wanted someone to tell me what to do! Mentors are generally supposed to help you along, offering advice and gentle nudging where necessary and sometimes even being a sounding board for inexperienced souls. But what I have found remarkable is something that I’m sure will be controversial. Although there are numerous women in business who have or need business mentors, but in my humble opinion:
Mentors are useless.

Before you come-apart, let me tell you why I say this. Unless your mentor has experienced the same or similar business challenges that you have, how much sage, applicable advice can they offer to you as a business woman? I mean, really, can they truly feel your pain or know which direction you should take your business if it’s failing? Now so as not to confuse mentors with consultants, let me explain the difference in the two:

Mentors act as models, advisors if you will, to give the apprentice an idea of how they can and should conduct themselves and their business. They’re supposed to help YOU develop your skills, face your challenges and work through situations by offering you real-life, applicable solutions that they have used for themselves. They’re attuned to you and (should) know exactly what you need. No, they don’t do the work for you, but they should feel about 60-80% passionate about your business and have an interest in seeing you accomplish your goals.

Consultants offer their expert opinion and advice for a fee. Period. Consultants can and possibly are concerned about the outcome of a situation, but generally are focused on the bottom line and a clear-cut business arrangement. They offer a professional, expert service. They get paid. End of story.

What I am afraid of, as it pertains to business women and mentors, is the idea that mentors will offer you as a business woman a “one-up” with your competitors or even a significant boost in your business. Just not so. Mentors are just unpaid consultants. They listen to you and offer advice, but are not compensated. They just get the chance to feel good. And to further complicate it, if you don’t follow the mentor’s advice, you may have possibly wasted your time and hers. Why bother?

If it seems that I have a “thing” against mentoring, I may possibly. But first, I want to hear what you all have to say as it pertains to this business of mentoring and mentorship. Have you ever been mentored? Have you ever had a business mentor? Do you want one? Do you think it would make a significant difference in the way you do business?

Post from: EveryJoe

Business Mentors Are Useless