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Here are two new award opportunities from Entrepreneur Magazine and UPS: Entrepreneur of the Year – to qualify the business must have been owned and operated by the entrepreneur through at least December 31, 2007, created as a startup and not the result of a “spin-off” from a pre-existing business and, during its existence, must not have been an affiliate of any other company or other business such as a parent or subsidiary corporation. During Calendar Year 2007 the company must not have employed more than 100 employees (full-time and part-time) and must have earned at least $3 million in gross sales revenue during Calendar Year 2007.  Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year – to qualify the business must have been owned and operated by the entrepreneur through at least December 31, 2007, created as a startup and not the result of a “spin-off” from a pre-existing business and, during its existence, must not have been an affiliate of any other company or other business such as a parent or subsidiary corporation. During Calendar Year 2007 the company must not have employed more than 5 employees (full-time and part-time), must not have been in existence prior to Calendar Year 2004, and must have earned at least $500,000 in gross sales revenue during Calendar Year 2007. Candidates will be judged on the positive impact they’ve had on their industry, customers, employees and community. The winners will win tickets to the awards ceremony in CA and will be profiled in the December, 2008 issue of Entrepreneur.  The deadline to enter is June 30, 2008. For more information and to enter, click here.

This is a great article by my friend and top business coach Suzy Girard-Ruttenberg.  She has worked with me and my money issues for a long time and I have to say that every woman business owner I’ve met has issues with money. 

Take this quiz and find out if you need to work on your money issues.

I work with many Inc. 500 and 5000 companies and this is one of my favorite awards to help companies gain credibility and publicity. 

To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by the first week of 2004, and therefore able to show four full calendar years of sales.

Additionally, they must be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2007. Revenue in 2004 must have been at least $200,000, and revenue in 2007 must be at least $2 million. 

To apply, click here: http://www.incbiznet.com/user/register

I saw a recent episode of Oprah, where she was talking about a book in her book club, The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett.  Well, it sounded dull originally, but Oprah extolled its virtues and I bought the book and loved it. Becoming an Oprah book club selection is still a public relations home run for authors.

I don’t cook, so we go out to restaurants a lot. We were thinking of going to a new casual pizza place on Saturday night, so I decided to order a salad for a takeout lunch one day to try it out. 

I ordered the salad and picked it up and noticed that they didn’t put bread in the bag with it (as every other takeout place that I’ve gone to does), so I asked the guy (who was dressed like a manager) if I could get some bread with it.  He said they don’t offer that.  I said that Cheesecake Factory offers it, but he said they weren’t going to. I said, “For $8.50, you should really give me a piece of bread,” but he said no. The place has only been open a week, but the place was crowded at lunch time, and the manager seemed pretty pleased with himself. 

So I got home and was very dissatisfied. I really wanted that bread.  Plus, I paid $8.50 for a salad that had lettuce, tomatoes, chick peas, calamata olives, and a few slices of hard-boiled eggs along with so-so house Italian dressing.  It costs $2 to add gorgonzola cheese, which would have made it $10.50. I really wanted a Cheesecake Factory Cobb salad but this new place was much closer.  But I decided to remind myself of what a lunch-sized Cobb salad would cost at Cheesecake (with the world’s greatest balsamic vinaigrette and tons of bread).  I was surprised that it would only cost $9.95.  And that includes, avocado, lettuce, chicken, blue cheese, bacon and tomatoes. 

So this pizza place not only overcharges, but they wouldn’t give me bread.  We won’t be going there on Saturday night.  And I’ll be telling this story to my friends. And I’m writing it in my blog.  And I’m going to e-mail this blog link to someone who writes restaurant reviews in the area.  I’m sure some of you will think I’m being a difficult customer, but when businesses do annoying things, it really gets my back up.  If they had just given me that one piece of bread, I would have been fine.  They saved money on that order by not giving me that one piece of bread, but they lost out on my being a customer and potentially many other customers. Dumb P.R. move.

As many of you know, I’m a big fan of businesses accepting credit cards.  And most of my clients pay me with an AMEX card. One of my pet peeves is when businesses don’t accept AMEX cards because they are too “expensive”.  They are a bit more expensive than accepting other cards, but most business people use them (including myself), and get very frustrated when they’re not accepted.  And often we refuse to patronize a business if they don’t take AMEX, so you end us losing business. 

The worst offenders are doctors.  Most doctors don’t take AMEX.  This drives me crazy.  I spoke to someone at AMEX at the Women in Charge Conference about this problem and she agreed that it’s something they are constantly trying to work on.    I can say that my dentist, Dr. Shmuel Kissin, takes AMEX, and I am so happy he does.  His office manager says that many people pay with their AMEX cards.   So doctors — what’s stopping you from taking AMEX?

Last Tuesday I attended the Women in Charge conference in

Miami Beach, FL.  I was also a speaker on a panel.

 I’ve attended many conferences over the years, and I really enjoyed this one.  Here’s why: 

• It was free – and included lunch and goodie bag!
• I got to meet some awesome folks from Entrepreneur – not only lots of editors and reporters from Entrepreneur Magazine and entrepreneur.com (most of whom I’ve spoken with over the years but never met), but we got to pitch story ideas to them!  I also got to meet the booker from MSN’s your business, who was covering the event
• I made some great contacts – for potential clients and strategic alliances
• The Woman of the Year and speaker, Katrina Markoff from Vosges Haut-Chocolat, was incredibly inspiring
• A quick speech by the new (and first female) mayor of Miami Beach, Matti Herrera-Bower, was also really inspiring

Here are a few things I would have liked to have seen: 

• Some of those Vosges Haut-Chocolat chocolates in the goodie bags – not just because I like chocolate, but because it would have been a terrific Public Relations opportunity for Vosges Haut-Chocolat
• Information on the Plum Card by AMEX – at this conference I hardly saw any selling from AMEX, which was nice, but I actually think it would have been appropriate
• Shorter sessions, so I could have attended more

All in all, though, this was a great conference, and I’m looking forward to next year’s conference.

I get about 500 e-mails each day, many times from people I don’t know, or from people whose contact information I don’t have memorized. Often these e-mails don’t include telephone numbers or other contact information.  This makes it very hard for me to get back to them if I am out and about. And I know I’m not the only person with this issue. Please include your full contact information in your e-mail signature lines, including your name, your business name, telephone numbers, e-mail address and Web site.  In addition to the basics, there are also other items you should include in your signature line as well, to maximize the Public Relations value of every e-mail contact you make: 

1. Include your USP so new and existing contacts are reminded of the uniqueness of your business
2. Give a link to sign up for your newsletter list to increase subscribers
3. Promote a new book, award or prestigious publicity placement, with a link to view more information

We all spend a lot of time on e-mail each day.  We should make the most of every e-mail contact.

JoAnn Hines, the Packaging Diva, wrote a great article on packaging.

Here is an excerpt: Well, we are into the New Year and everyone is making resolutions on how to improve in 08. It’s time to seriously think about your product and it’s packaging, too. Just like we do with our mental, emotional and physical aspects of our lives at this time of year, think about improving, updating or changing your product packaging. You want it to mesh with your consumer wants and needs.  Consumers are a moving target and what worked last year may not work in the years to come or something may have changed externally that might influence the consumer such as the move to green and environmentally friendly product packaging.Here are 10 simple things you can do to ensure your product packaging is on target and delivers the right message to the right audience.

1)    Take an honest look at your product packaging. Is it working to your product’s best advantage? Are there changes that you have put off making due to lack of time or money? Implement a plan to review one product at a time or a family of products if they are interrelated. An important factor to consider when making any changes is the continuity of the brand. Don’t change for change’s sake. That only serves to alienate the customer. Keep in mind that old established brands need refreshing too.
2)    Give your product packaging to an outsider to review. Ask someone who knows nothing about your product and your packaging to evaluate it. Ask for an honest opinion of what they like or don’t like and ask what they think might be missing. Ask them to be objective and honest. Many times product developers get caught up in their own opinions and it’s good to get grounded with an outside consumer perspective. NOTE: Be objective about negative opinions. Delve in to the actual reason someone may not like your packaging. Best case scenario hire an expert one who understands packaging and branding intimately.  To see the rest of the article, go here: 

In the February, 2008 edition of Entrepreneur Magazine there’s a great article from Jay Conrad Levinson and Jeannie Levinson, excerpted from his new book titled “Startup Guide to Guerrila Marketing:  A Simple Battle Plan for First-Time Marketers,” available at Amazon. In the article the authors detail the 7-Sentence Marketing Plan: 

1. The first sentence tells the purpose of your marketing.
2. The second sentence tells your competitive advantage.
3. The third sentence describes your target audience(s).
4. The fourth sentence tells what marketing weapons you’ll use.
5. The fifth sentence explains your niche in the marketplace.
6. The sixth sentence tells your identity.
7. The seventh sentence sets your marketing budget as a percentage of your projected gross sales.

The authors says that in 2007 the average U.S. business invested 4 percent of gross revenue in marketing, but they suggest spending more.  All in all this is a great way to take a stab at a quick marketing plan. 

Read the full article here.