Tools For Smart Business Women by Rachel Flower

As a smart business woman, consider these tools you won’t want to leave home without:

1. A clear vision and passion to succeed:  If you don’t know where you’re going any road will take you there. Your vision needs to be compelling so that it draws you (and others) in.  Stuff’s going to happen; there will be set backs, glitches, let-downs, and without a clear vision and the passion to keep going, you’ll join the scary statistics of those that don’t make it.
2. Be in the conversation:  You need a prominent web presence and a great strategy. The web is where it’s happening so it’s crazy not to take advantage of that. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn; start a blog, get involved in other people’s blogs. People need to see you out there being the fabulous expert that you are. A professional fan page is a good idea since photos of you dressed as a sea monster at the Halloween bash may not impress your next corporate client.
3. Smart friends and allies:  One of the most successful business folks I know said this when I asked what the secret was to business success: ‘Surround yourself with people smarter than you, listen to them, and then thank them.”  It’s great to have someone’s shoulder to cry on, too, when things go “pear shaped” (awry).
4. A trusted and loved wrinkle-proof, smart comfortable outfit that looks great even after 10 hours of flying.  Lipstick, smudge-proof mascara, and breath freshener are a plus.
5. A note pad in your bag or voice memo capacity so you can capture your insights and ideas as they come to you. Some of my best campaign ideas came while I was out walking with my faithful smart phone and I could capture all my ramblings. One hopes that your smart phone also has a GPS application, because if you’re anything like me, you’re good at getting lost in strange cities.
6. A dream team. You need people who complement the skills that you are less strong in (e.g., for me web folks, designers, system creators, financial experts) – if you don’t have money to pay them, trade, barter, create an affiliate program, get creative.
7. Membership in at least 3 network organizations:  You need to be seen. It also helps you stay in the conversation with your peers, colleagues, and your potential clients. And make sure you are handshake savvy. If you’re not sure what that means, visit this fun site: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/handshakes
8. A library of books about your industry (and the things you’re passionate about). If you want to be on the leading edge, you need to know who else is there and what they’re saying. Or not saying, because what they’re not saying could just be your niche!
9. Curiosity:  Be curious about your customers, your competitors, your collaborators. Listen to the conversation that’s happening in your industry. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but cats have nine lives and they don’t have to run businesses. Without it as an entrepreneur, your business will die.
10. A great sense of humor: Laughter is serious business. This is what Francis Bacon had to say about that. I’ve just taken some gender license here “Imagination was given to [wo]man to compensate [her] for what [s]he is not; a sense of humor to console [her] for what [s]he is.”

© Rachel Flower is an author, speaker and the co-founder of The Senssoma Institute, www.senssoma.com, providing transformation programs for individuals and organizations. Drawing on decades of training, practice, and research into the nature of consciousness, meditation, and brain fitness she delivers her uniquely experiential workshops, retreats and training programs to people from all walks of life – from CEOs and global companies, to grass roots organizations and refugees. Rachel is also the lead facilitator for The Peaceful Woman Corp. and is a founding certified trainer for the Nine Point Brain Tune Up™ system.

And to help you get clear about communicating who you are, what you do, and why it matters, access the well-received teleseminar So, What Do You Do? Available for immediate download!