I’m so excited to share this with you! The International
Association of Women in Business Online (IAWBO) is celebrating its
2nd birthday, and you’ve got to see the Virtual Birthday Gift Bag
that they’ve put together.

IAWBO is celebrating its birthday by giving YOU a gift!

More than 30 successful women (including me) have contributed
their wisdom to this complimentary gift bag devoted to
supporting – and accelerating – the success of women in business
online like you.

And it’s SO much more than your average “give-away”…

Each item in the gift bag is an EXCLUSIVE resource not available
for-free anywhere else and also includes access to a special
interview series that will unfold on IAWBO’s blog:  the “How Does
She Do It? 2.0″ series. You’ve watched and you’ve wondered. Now
you can KNOW what these women do to achieve MEGA success.

And, I know you’ll really appreciate this too…

You’ll get immediate access to all 30 gifts with just ONE opt-in!
(You do not have to subscribe to any other list – unless you want
to).

Hurry — the virtual gift bag is valued at over $1,000 and is only
available for a short time. Click here to see ALL the fantastic gifts
included inside.

Wishing you MEGA success!

P.S. Once you register for your gift bag PAY VERY CLOSE ATTENTION
to the thank you page where you’ll discover the MEGA secret we’ve
been keeping. You’ve really got to see it to believe it!  Click
here to find out.

I’m looking for a retreat agenda. I had a milestone birthday last January, and I promised myself I’d take myself on a retreat for a weekend. Well, that was almost 8 months ago, and I have not gotten my act together. Yeah, yeah, my self care remains at the bottom of my list.

But kudos to me for finally making steps in the retreat direction. I’m looking at places, and will probably head out one weekend in September. However, I’m a bit worried about heading out with absolutely nothing on my list of things to do. So I turn to you, my great and powerful friends…

This is how I'd like to feel at the end of my weekend retreat!

Any fantastic retreat ideas, activities, suggestions? For those of you who gave gone on retreat by yourselves…what’s your best advice? Please help create a kick-ass retreat for me, and I’ll make sure I pass along what worked so you can have your own kick-ass retreat someday. I can create a pretty good agenda for any other kind of meeting, but I’d love some help creating a good agenda for my own retreat.

With gratitude,

Can’t decide whether it makes more sense to build new or change existing…your thoughts? http://ow.ly/2cuMH

Apologies for not posting in a while. I’ve been trying to pull my head out of the morass of “gurus” Facebooking, blogging and tweeting about their latest free call or telesummit or live event or ebook or whatever, and really, seriously think about what would make my clients (and potential clients) excited enough to invest in themselves.

Research shows that Apple devotees are no different from those committed to a formal religion.

Then, my Mastermind pal Linda Miller-Zellner posted a link to an article in Fast Company:  “Invincible Apple:  10 Lessons from the Coolest Company Anywhere”. Check out Lesson #8:  Turn Feedback into Inspiration. Inspiration is the key word. Gather feedback, of course, but do not simply deliver what clients say they want. Use that feedback to inspire you to deliver something they didn’t know they needed.

What do I take away from that advice? Do not limit yourself to providing only what your clients say they want, or what “gurus” say you should provide. Pay very special attention to what your clients tell you they want. Then, spend a little extra effort to deliver something inspirational. And when was the last time you were truly inspired by an ebook, telesummit, program, blueprint or system?

I don’t claim to have this nailed myself. I have made available my share of ebooks and programs. I remain frustrated with the lack of inspiration I’m creating for my clients, and the lack of inspiration I’m getting from my work. Is it a risk to put all of this in writing? I think so. But no risk, no reward, right?

Here’s a great post from my friend and Goddess Coach, Melissa Zwanger.

Financial Abundance – Decide that Money is Important

You can’t convincingly ask for it if you don’t think it’s important. Check it out!

Screen shots from iProsper by Fl!p Your Thinking

I am so in love with two of my newest iPhone apps that I just have to share them with you.

iProsper and LiMITLESS, both from the cool kids at Fl!p Your Thinking. They are based on their beautiful flip/flash card decks. One side of each card contains a negative thought that is replaced by a positive thought when you flip it over. The simple act of flipping the card reinforces your decision to focus on the positive.

I check out a new card often throughout my day:  on the train, before I go to sleep, when I’m waiting in line. These have really made me feel like I can make some progress changing my thinking without carving out a huge chunk of time and space.

Check them out!

Thank someone who made your walk easier.

All too often I talk with women who do not seem to appreciate the work of women who came before them. They believe they have to invent the wheel all over again; that is someone did it before them, it just can’t be good.

This is particularly evident in women of my generation (youngest baby boomers). I think part of our “ungratitude” comes from the fact that we did have to do so many things before those women who are younger than we are had to do them. For example, I was one of the first young women to gain access to the previously-male-only weight room at my high school. Today, my daughter can use whatever facilities she likes at her school.

Because we were trailblazers in so many ways, it is likely we even think about the fact that someone could have done something before we did. So today, I’m taking a moment to thank one who came before me.

Liz Carpenter was the founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus and a tireless fighter for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. She also was instrumental in gaining admittance for women into the National Press Club in Washington, DC. I am grateful to Ms. Carpenter, and thousands of other women of her generation, for blazing trails that I merely had to walk down.

It’s still Women’s History Month. Thank those who came before you.

Congrats to the new varsity football head coach at Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington, DC. In celebration of Women’s History Month, I share with you the story of Natalie Randolph. While not the first (that honor also went to a DC high school), she is believed to be only one in the U.S. at the moment.

Happy Friday!

What will you do to celebrate?

OK, so there really is not a connection between Women’s History Month and a word of the day. But I came across the following while I was cleaning out some old writings.

Word of the day: virago. One definition is “noisy, scolding or domineering woman”; another is “large, strong, courageous woman”. Guess which one’s my fave?

March is National Women’s History Month…what will you do to celebrate the strong, courageous women in your life? Even more importantly, what are you doing to make yourself more strong and courageous?

Are you a woman struggling with…

• Running out of money for your startup?
• Possibly cutting salaries at your nonprofit?
• Asking the right price for your consulting services?

Asking for money is not just about the words you use. You can download tons of sales scripts off the Internet, and you still might not be successful. Over the ten years I’ve been working with women leaders, sooner or later the same issues come up around asking for money:

• Am I (or my organization) really worth that much money?
• How do I know the right amount to ask for?
• What do I do if the prospect says no?

Do I know what I’m talking about? You betcha. I’ve raised over $26M dollars for startups and nonprofit organizations. I’ve dealt with all of these issues and more. I often wonder how much more I could have done, and how much money I left on the table, if I had tackled these issues earlier in my career.

How do I know I’ve overcome these challenges?

I raised over $3M for a nonprofit organization last year, during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Now I’m sharing my expertise and mentoring with women who need to successfully ask for money…right now!