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Event: Connect & Collaborate with The Enterprising Moms

October 4th, 2010

Join us for a networking event where you’ll also have the opportunity to engage in rich discussions on two hot topics in The Enterprising Moms community: work-life balance/integration and social media.

Come connect with fellow entrepreneurial moms and share you struggles and celebrate your triumphs with women who really get it. You’ll participate in creative and collaborative problem-solving with a group of highly talented and resourceful women with a broad range of experiences and who are eager to share. We’ll have two sets of ’round table’ discussions and you’ll have the opportunity to swap tables mid-way through so that you have an opportunity to connect with all attendees.

This event is once again hosted by Alexandria’s new co-work working space, ‘Connect113.’ Explore first-hand the fabulous facilities and learn about the services offered at Connect113, and why five Enterprising Moms have signed on since our last event!

What is a co-working space? Learn more about Connect113 and why TEM members Jennifer Folsom, of Momentum Resources and Stephanie Greenwald of Greenwald Design say co-working works for them (Jennifer | Stephanie).

Register today and save!
Bring a friend who’s a first time attendee at a TEM event, and each of you can take $5 off the registration fee. Just use enter your friend’s name in the comment field and have your friend do the same when they register. Then select the ‘bring-a-friend’ discount rate and complete the process. Each party must include the name of the other at the time of registration for discount to be honored.

Please register by Sunday, October 10th to be sure to be included on our Connect & Collaborate list, which will be distributed electronically to all registered event participants prior to the event.

Carolyn
Chief Enterprising Mom
@EnterprisingMom | @ApplyWithin

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Detours & OnRamps Forum: Flexible Work Solutions

September 30th, 2010

Are you …

  • Planning to go back to work?
  • Looking for flexibility, or to shift careers?
  • Got an idea to start your own company?

Join us for a one-day event on the issues facing working moms (and dads)…great sessions, networking, and companies who care: The OnRamps Forum, October 25, 2010 in Fairfax, VA.

This is a great event to attend if you are planning to go back to work in 6 days, 6 months, or even a year…if you’re looking for flexibility, for career options, for resources, or for help building your own business.

Detours&OnRamps is for anyone who wants to make work, work for them–not a job fair, but a day of hands-on sessions and practical advice that will get you ready to land that job.

Register and mention The Enterprising Moms and you can receive $30 off the day’s $125 price, which covers a goody bag, meals, and the full day of sessions. Bring a friend or two, and get up to an additional $20 off!

Get details and register at OnRamps Forum.

Carolyn
Chief Enterprising Mom
@EnterprisingMom | @ApplyWithin

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Donate Today: Support TEM Mom in Susan G Koman 3-Day Walk

September 21st, 2010

If you read The Enterprising Moms (TEM) recent newsletter or attended our networking event last week, you’ve heard about our Cause Spotlight. If you aren’t in the loop, here’s the scoop:

TEM is trying something new … We’re asking you to support a fellow Enterprising Mom in her quest to create a brighter future for women everywhere. As Enterprising Moms, we’re very busy people. And, as much as we might want to volunteer for a local charity or donate to a cause we believe in, sometimes we simply don’t have enough time, energy, or good old-fashioned cash. So, we’re highlighting a quick, easy and affordable way to contribute to the greater good, and support a fellow Enterprising Mom in the process.

Angela Meyers, of Meyers Marketing Strategies, is participating in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day 60-mile Breast Cancer Walk that starts October 7 and has just weeks to reach her target fundraising goal of $2,300 in order to participate.

In her own words … ‘I’m walking so all the women in my life AND YOURS – including YOU, my mom and my baby, Charlotte, who just turned 2 – can enjoy a full lifetime. My time with grandma was cut way too short and I know too many amazing women who deserve a full lifetime with friends and family and the opportunity to accomplishing great things, so I want to do what I can to make that happen.’

So, what can you do to help? Make a tax-deductible donation today of any size – $5, $20 or $100 … Any contribution would help, and would be greatly appreciated!

If you donate at the $100 or higher level, please send Angela your company logo (or a message) and she will add it to her Walk t-shirt to be displayed to thousands of women during the walk.

We appreciate your support. Please spread the word!

Carolyn
Chief Enterprising Mom
@EnterprisingMom | @ApplyWithin

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Marketing & Promotion: September Monthly Observances

September 2nd, 2010

Monthly observances provide a wonderful opportunity for you to share your expertise and insights, offer tips, tools and resources, and attract potential customers and referral partners. The following is a list observances for the month of September. Get creative and explore what you can create using special observances and holidays as a springboard.

  • National Preparedness Month
  • National Cholesterol Education Month
  • Baby Safety Month
  • Be Kind To Editors and Writers Month
  • National Skin Care Awareness Month
  • National Campus Safety Month
  • Healthy Aging Month
  • National Food Safety Education Month
  • Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month
  • College Savings Month
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Month
  • Vegan Month
  • 5-A-Day Month
  • National Infant Mortality Awareness Month
  • Sports and Home Eye Safety Month
  • Craniofacial Acceptance Month
  • National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month
  • National Sickle Cell Month
  • Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month
  • Leukemia, Lymphoma, Myeloma Awareness Month

A quick Google search on any of these will get you started!

Carolyn

Chief Enterprising Mom
@EnterprisingMom | @ApplyWithin

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EVENT: Making Profitable Connections – 9/14/10

August 30th, 2010

Summer is winding down. School is back in session for some and soon will be for others. For many moms, the start of the school year also presents an opportunity to start fresh! New routines and schedules, new ways of working, and new opportunities. So, let’s seize this opportunity as a time to engage with The Enterprising Moms and grow connections that will help your business flourish!

  • Who do you need to meet?
  • What do you need to help your business grow?
  • How can The Enterprising Moms help your business reach it’s goals?

Join us for a networking event with a focus on forming meaningful connections and lasting relationships that will have a positive impact on your business life, your personal life, and your bottom line!

The Enterprising Moms is teaming up with the new co-work working space, ‘Connect113‘ in Alexandria, VA to bring you an event you won’t want to miss. In addition to exploring first-hand the fabulous facilities and learning about the services offered at Connect113, you’ll have the opportunity to connect with Connect113 members, along with members of the TEM community (including a couple of members who are already working out of Connect113).

Leading up to this event, we’ll share tips, tools and resources for managing the shift from networking to relationship building on the discussion list and blog.  And, as a registered attendee, you’ll have the opportunity to let us know who it is you want or need to connect with, and we’ll do our best to help facilitate those connections.

Register today and take advantage of two opportunities to save (including a bring-a-friend discount)!

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Parenting Solutions for Working Moms: Answers & Insights with Expert Dr. Rene Hackney

June 23rd, 2010

Date: Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Time: 9:30 AM –  11:30 AM
Where: Busboys and Poets – Arlington, VA

If you’re in northern Virginia and beyond, you’ve likely heard of parenting expert, Dr. Rene Hackney, and may have even seen her speak and/or you or your children may have participated in one of her play groups, workshops or classes. This event is specifically designed for working moms to address challenges that come with working in or outside the home while raising a family.

 Parenting Solutions for Working Moms: Answers & Insights with Expert Dr. Rene Hackney A leading parenting and child development specialist and the founder and creator of Parenting Playgroups – Where Parents Learn and Children Play and AskDr.Rene, Dr. Rene will present strategies for effective and empowered parenting and she’ll address your challenges during a question and answer session.

Learn how using positive discipline strategies can empower you as a parent and build a stronger family, ultimately having a positive impact on your work life as well!

Learn more about Dr. Rene, get details about the event and register today at http://events.theenterprisingmoms.com

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Congratulations to J.A. Creative on Hermes Award

June 7th, 2010

JACLogo Color Congratulations to J.A. Creative on Hermes AwardThe Enterprising Moms is thrilled to help spread the word about TEM member business J.A Creative who are recipients of a 2010 Hermes Creative Award at the Gold level for their work on the 2009 Leadership Fairfax Gala and Auction event marketing materials.  Hermes Creative Awards is an international competition that recognizes the outstanding work of creative professionals involved in the concept, writing and design of traditional and emerging media.

Administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals (AMCP), Hermes Creative Awards received over 3,600 entries this year.  Gold level awards are given for work that exceeds a high standard of excellence and serves as a benchmark for the industry.hermes sm Congratulations to J.A. Creative on Hermes Award

The Leadership Fairfax Gala and Auction event marketing materials include a save the date postcard, website graphics, sponsorship package, invitation, program, and event signage.  Leadership Fairfax is a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding, training and growing leaders in Northern Virginia.  The Gala and Auction is not only their biggest event of the year, but also their largest fundraiser.

J.A. Creative provides marketing and creative services to businesses and non profits.  Last year they were selected to receive a Platinum Award and two Honorable Mentions.  J.A. Creative is a woman owned small business, whose services include marketing strategy development and implementation, a full range of creative services, and website design.

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30 Hours of Weekly Leisure Time? Washington Post’s Brigid Schulte’s Controversial Time Study

June 1st, 2010

Where: Busboys and Poets – Arlington, VA
Date: Tue Jun 8 – Tue Jun 8
Time:
09:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Event description:

For many Enterprising Moms, and moms in general, it’s a constant struggle … finding enough time to meet the numerous demands of daily life, never mind the quest for a little professional fulfillment and personal joy along the way. Is there time for it all?

According to one study, there’s plenty! John Robinson, a time researcher who’s often referred to as the father of time, says that working moms have 30 hours of leisure time per week. So, where’s the disconnect?

Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and mother of two, Brigid Schulte, like many of us didn’t believe it. So, she did a study of her own time and shared her findings in the February 17th Sunday Washington Post Magazine article, “The Test of Time: A busy working mother tries to figure out where all her time is going.” The controversial article kicked up storm of discussion on the subject of moms and leisure time, how we define it, and how we spend it.

At this June 8th event, Brigid will share her experience in researching and reporting the piece and the conversations that ensued as the topic exploded in print, on the web and even lead to an appearance by Brigid on the Dr. Phil Show!

Opening with a talk by Brigid about her experience, the event will feature an interactive discussion and exploration of time, work, leisure and how we define and experience them all.

Do you have 30 hours of leisure time per week? Tell us about it below and join us on Tuesday, June 8th

About Brigid

b schulte sm 30 Hours of Weekly Leisure Time? Washington Post’s Brigid Schultes Controversial Time StudyBrigid Schulte is a reporter on the Washington Post’s Local Enterprise Team, a group of narrative writers that look for compelling and insightful stories that help explain how we live now. She came to the Post in 1999 to cover education, winning a top National Education Writers’ Association award for a series exploring the achievement gap. She has since written human interest, narrative and feature stories on everything from dying bats and the way the healthcare debate feels on the street to a lost jar of marbles and the plight of struggling Iraqi refugees in America for virtually all sections of the newspaper and Washington Post magazine.

She has won a number of journalism and writing awards, including the National Association of Black Journalist’s award for sports writing for a four-part series on a high school basketball team comprised almost entirely of immigrants or the sons of immigrants. She was also part of the team that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for covering the Virginia Tech massacre.

Schulte wrote about national politics and national affairs for Knight-Ridder Newspapers’ Washington Bureau before joining the Post. She also wrote about southern politics as the Washington correspondent for the State Newspaper in South Carolina and covered the environment and the Pacific Northwest for the Seattle Times and other western papers in the Washington Bureau of States News Service. She has worked at newspapers in South Carolina and Wyoming, written for national magazines like The Washington Monthly and trade publications like The Harvard Education Review and taught English in Japan for two   years. An Oregon native, she graduated with a degree in English from the University of Portland and later obtained a master’s degree from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in New York.

Door Prize

Special thanks to Jenna Caudillo of JA Creative, provider award winning marketing and creative services to businesses and nonprofit organizations, for the following door prize:

We Grew It–Let’s Eat It! 30 Hours of Weekly Leisure Time? Washington Post’s Brigid Schultes Controversial Time Study
DC twins Annie and Veda learn about the White House veggie garden and want to grow fruits and vegetables, too. But how, if you live in an apartment? Watch the twins and senior gardener Ida work and play their way through planting, tending, and harvesting in a neighborhood Community Garden. Then comes the fun of preparing and eating simple, tasty, homegrown food!

A picture book for young readers (ages 3-8 — Pre-K- Grade 4)
By Annie and Veda as told to Justine Kenin
Full-color photos by Becky Lettenberger
Designed by J.A. Creative
56 pages, soft cover 8.5” x 11”, with recipes and books for further reading

This is the third book they have collaborated on with Tenley Circle Press.

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Corporate Social Responsibility: 4 Myths Debunked!

May 7th, 2010

The following is the second guest blog post in a two-part series on corporate social responsibility (CSR) by Jane Meier of Full Circle Partnerships. Jane will be presenting at our upcoming workshop, Doing Well While Doing Good: Demystifying CSR on Tuesday, May 11th.  Get details and register at The Enterprising Moms.


Who has time or money for CSR? And what is it anyways? The following are four common myths about CSR – debunked!

Myth #1:
CSR stands for Customer Service Representative

It may, but it also stands for Corporate Social Responsibility — which was defined in the part one of this series. Simply put, it’s integrating your values into business practices.

Myth #2:
CSR takes too much time; I can’t squeeze in one more thing!

We’re all time-starved, but we’re Enterprising Moms and I KNOW if there’s one thing we universally love, it’s EFFICIENCY.  Crafting a common-sense approach to sustainability and strategic community partnerships can accomplish many things at once:

  • conservation
  • marketing
  • business development
  • brand building & retention
  • competitive advantage over other businesses.

Myth #3:
We’re in a recession; people don’t really care if I’m integrating CSR into my business practices.

Oh, really?  According to a Working Mother article, “2010 Best Green Companies for America’s Children,” Clorox scarfed up Burt’s Bees & created a new Greenworks green cleaning products line — the result: a 23% increase in sales, in a recession.

A recent Forbes article, “Mandatory Social Responsibility” discusses how social responsibility has become almost mandatory for companies, and that some companies such as Patagonia and The Body Shop actually have an appeal based on their “ethical” appeal to consumers.

Think it’s only for the big guys?

What about some local entrepreneurs: Seth Goldman & Honest Tea, and a couple of folks new on the scene with sustainable products: Lunch Skins, and Cattiwampus (proof that you can make money while investing in sustainability).

Myth #4:
I have to make money, right, before I can give it away?

True, part of businesses contribution to society is to make money, which gives them the resources to then give it away.

This myth perpetuates the belief that the only component of CSR is writing a check.  Utilizing CSR can actually make or save you money by:

  • forming connections through reduced fee or pro-bono work
  • reducing shipping costs by reusing materials
  • decreasing business development expenses by marketing through the organizations with whom you partner.

You don’t have to expend financial resources to have some component of CSR, and by integrating it wisely into your business; you can actually help to make or save money!

So, now that you know why CSR is good for business, what should you do about it?

Register today for “Doing Well While Doing Good: Demystifying Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)” on Tuesday, May 11, where you’ll leave with concrete guidance on how to do well in your business while doing good in our community.


meier headshot Corporate Social Responsibility: 4 Myths Debunked!Jane Meier is marketing consultant who loves helping businesses integrate marketing with Corporate Social Responsibility.  Whether seeking to build partnerships with non-profits, developing marketing strategy, or planning or implementing special events, clients hire Jane for her skills in partnership building, her attention to detail and passionate commitment to corporate social responsibility.

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Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): What Does It Mean for Your Biz?

May 3rd, 2010

The following is a guest blog post by Jane Meier of Full Circle Partnerships on corporate social responsibility (CSR). Jane will be presenting at our upcoming workshop, Doing Well While Doing Good: Demystifying CSR on Tuesday, May 11th.  Get details and register at The Enterprising Moms.


To a small business person, CSR can feel nebulous and intimidating, and therefore end up way down on the long list of to do’s!

While there is no one definition for CSR, here’s a good working definition:

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is operating a business in a manner that balances the social and environmental impact created by the business with the expectations of its “stakeholders.”

CSR is a big “umbrella” definition for many business practices.  It covers the gamut — from fair treatment of employees, to monitoring and maintaining safety standards of products, to minimizing natural resource consumption to volunteering and community partnerships.

At The Enterprising Moms’ upcoming event, “Doing Well While Doing Good: Demystifying CSR,” we’ll narrow the focus on two areas of CSR vitally important to a small business owner: Community Partnerships and Sustainability.

Community partnerships are an effective way to engage with non-profits and governments to accentuate and strengthen shared values.  A non-profit gets the benefit of donated time, services, and/or financial resources; and as growing business you form relationships and business contacts to build, strenghten and maintain your brand.

Sustainability should be a priority to all businesses, small and large, for many reasons, including that having a vibrant economy with enough natural resources is important to staying in business.  As business owners, it’s important to look at the resources we are using critically and make choices to minimize our impacts. 

We’ll discuss these topics and more at next week’s event.

In the meantime to jump-start your process, you could …


meier headshot Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): What Does It Mean for Your Biz?Jane Meier is marketing consultant who loves helping businesses integrate marketing with Corporate Social Responsibility.  Whether seeking to build partnerships with non-profits, developing marketing strategy, or planning or implementing special events, clients hire Jane for her skills in partnership building, her attention to detail and passionate commitment to corporate social responsibility.

share save 171 16 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): What Does It Mean for Your Biz?

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