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Ispent the last several days on #INDIECruise MasterMind 2012. You can enjoy the photo album at the Indie FaceBook Page here. Along with Lela Barker, Melissa Rivera, Dawn Fitch, Jennifer Hardaway, Robin Schmidt, Stephanie Craig, Marilyn Schindel, La Shonda Tyree and other IBN members and friends, and accompanied by my children, I spent 5 days combining a great vacation with power MasterMinding.

Our theme this year was Create The Life You Love, and boy, did we ever! Here are 10 things I did on #IndieCruise.

1. I swam with dolphins. The proof is in the photo of me, my kids and Ziggy. I also kissed and was kissed by dolphins. Their skin is soft and smooth. They must be the most gentle and friendly creatures on earth.
2. I kept my business going or should I say my assistant did. Thank you Kayla!

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Feb 27, ’12 7:00 AM Author Stefan Töpfer Categories Top 5 Tips Tags online social networking, Social Media,

Top 5 Tips posts are always full of hints and tips for small, home & micro business owners.

1. Try to avoid any Twitter gaffes by making false assumptions about the service. Many brands and high profile people have made embarrassing mistakes on Twitter by posting tweets publicly that they didnt mean to, so learn from them.

2. Change your Twitter avatar from the default egg. Use a picture of yourself or your business logo instead.

3. Post thoughts and observations about your industry. Ob

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The New York Times just published an interview with Chuck Benjamin, a turnaround specialist who talks about how the changes in the bankruptcy laws have affected small businesses. According to Mr. Benjamin, it is now almost impossible for a small company to get out of Chapter 11 with its ownership intact.

If that is true, it is unfortunate. Entrepreneurship is good for society, and bankruptcy laws help make the risk tolerable although certainly not pain free. Still, my perspective is very different from Mr. Benjamins. While I have never gone bankrupt, I have been on the other side of the equation as one of the creditors. And I take exception to Mr. Benjamin’s assessment of the creditors position in these matters.

In the interview, he said, “I think it is every businessman’s responsibility to know to whom he sells and offers credit. If I sell to you and you begin to pay very slowly — which often happens before a bankruptcy — I should stop selling to you on credit. But if I

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From prior posts, including this one, you may know that I am the National Work At Home Network Director for Mocha Moms, Inc., a non-profit support group for mothers who have chosen not to work full-time outside of the home in order to devote more time to their families and communities. I joined Mocha Moms within weeks of the birth of my first child. I was lost, exhausted, frustrated, confused and unsure of whether I could be a good enough mother. Mocha Moms saved my new mom life, and for that, I will always be a grateful participant.

What an honor to be invited to the White House! Can you imagine? This photo features the wonderful women of Mocha Moms national board, who organized the briefing: Kenya Robinson, Kim Scott, Gabriela Sanchez, Kuae Mattox, LaShaun Phillips-Martin, Shalaun Newton, and Cheli English-Figaro.

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If youre contemplating starting a retail business, you may be on the fence about whether to make it a virtual store or a brick-and-mortar. Here are the pros and cons of each to help you in your decision.

Online Retail Benefits

The really wonderful thing about starting an online retail business is how easy and affordable it is. As long as youve got your inventory and an ecommerce website,  youre ready to go. You can operate from anywhere, and you dont have to pay high-priced commercial rental rates.

Online Retail Drawbacks

Some items dont sell as well online as they do in person. If youve got high end handmade crafts or art, you can post them to Etsy, but it might be months before anyone stumbles upon your glassblown vintage owl collection. If you sell in a category with a low search rate, you may find an online ecommerce business less successful than a physical storefront.

While marketing your website is easy, it does take effort (really thats the case with any business, online or otherwise).

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Jan 28, ’12 11:59 AM Author Adrian Swinscoe Categories Small Business / SOHO Tags bad, customer experience management, customer feedback, customer perspectives, Customer Service, customers, feedback, impartial product, price comparison, product reviews, reevoo

In a recent article from Econsultancy: Bad reviews improve conversion by 67%, which referred to a study undertaken by Reevoo (a provider of impartial product reviews, ratings and price comparison) called Bad Reviews are Good for Business, they found that 68% of consumers trust reviews more when they see both good and bad scores and if customers dont see poor reviews 30% suspect censorship or faked reviews. T

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The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute projects that women small business owners will create 5 to 5.5 million new jobs across the U.S. by 2018, transforming the workplace of tomorrow into a far more inclusive, horizontally managed environment.*

Whats more, women-owned small businesses are expected to generate more than half of the 9.72 million new small business jobs projected to be created, and roughly one-third of the 15.3 million total new jobs anticipated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics by 2018. If these predictions come to pass, it will be increasingly important for women entrepreneurs to excel in the executive chair. I recently interviewed Linda Henman, PhD, author of Landing In The Executive Chair, about how women can prepare themselves for these exciting challenges.

To listen to my 30-minute interview with Linda, and to put her insights to work in your business now, scroll to the bottom of this page and click the play arrow.

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What’s affecting me, my clients and other small-business owners this week.

The Big Story: The President Sings

In his annual State of the Union address, President Obama cranked up the populist pitch. The G.O.P. responded. Representative Sam Graves outlined what he thought small businesses wanted to hear but small-business owners were split. A small-business owner in West Virginia was excited. One study finds small-business owners are dissatisfied with all of the presidential candidates. Joel Kotkin says “this is Americas moment if Washington doesnt blow it.” Your cellphone can now sing like the president.

Davos Update: An Intern Is Bored

As the sun bombards Earth with radiation, billionaires occupy Davos and bemoan the inequality of incomes. Their outlook is gloomy. Haley

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