For example, when women need to be direct and straightforward, they are often subtle and circuitous in their communication. That’s what’s expected. We expect women to care about what other people think. So, if I give you my opinion in a direct and straightforward way, people might think, “You know, she’s a little strange. She’s a little too aggressive for me.”

But if I give my opinion in a direct and straightforward way and then say, “You know, you can hear that I feel strongly about that, yet at the same time I’d like to know what you think as well.” This is what I call an inclusive tag line. Now, all of a sudden my message becomes one that’s a little bit more palatable to most people.

Men don’t have this challenge of having to be inclusive – women do. I’m not saying it’s right because some women are probably listening and saying, “You know all of that is a bunch of bologna, we shouldn’t have to do that.” As I often say, “I don’t make the rules, I just report them.”

Now, you may encounter some resistance or pushing back when you stop playing the part of the nice girl. After all, who doesn’t like a nice girl who doesn’t make waves, takes care of everyone and never asks for anything?

When you start factoring in your needs, you can expect that some people are going to say, “I like you better the other way.” You need to be prepared to say something like, “You know what? It’s not that I don’t want to consider your opinion and it’s not that I want to be nasty. I just want to factor my needs into the equation as well. Making you happy does make me happy, yet I need to make myself happy as well.”

Being able to say something like that and push back in that nice kind of way is very important for women who want to make sure their needs are met.

Click the image to listen to the podcast interview with Lois Frankel by Suzi Dafnis on the Australian Businesswomen’s Network website.

Books by Lois Frankel

	Nice Girls Just Don’t Get it 99 Ways to Get the Things you Want, the Success you’ve Earned and the Respect you Deserve By Lois P. Frankel and Carol M. Frohlinger Paperback  Order your copy from Booktopia today and save.
	Nice Girls Just Don’t Get it 99 Ways to Get the Things you Want, the Success you’ve Earned and the Respect you Deserve By Lois P. Frankel and Carol M. Frohlinger Hardcover  Order your copy from Booktopia today and save 45% off the retail price. (click this link to watch a video with Dr. Frankel on booktopia.)
	Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office 101 Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers By Lois P. Frankel  Order your copy from Booktopia today and save 20% off the retail price.
	See Jane Lead 99 Ways for Women to Take Charge at Work By Lois P. Frankel  Order your copy from Booktopia today and save 43% off the retail price.
	Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich 75 Avoidable Mistakes Women Make with Money By Lois P. Frankel  Order your copy from Booktopia today and save 45% off the retail price.

Lois Frankel – Corporate Coaching International Lois P. Frankel, Ph.D., is an internationally recognised expert in the fields of workplace behaviour and female empowerment, and the president of Corporate Coaching International. In addition to her work with Fortune® 500 companies, Dr. Frankel is a sought-after speaker who’s been featured in Fast Company magazine and Entrepreneur and quoted in US national publications, including the Los Angeles Times, Fortune and The Wall Street Journal. Dr. Frankel’s books Nice Girls Don’t Get The Corner Office and Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich are international bestsellers, translated into over twenty-five languages worldwide. Stop Sabotaging Your Career, a book based on her experiences as a pioneer in the field of business coaching working with everyone from CEOs to entry-level professionals, is a must-read for both men and women. And See Jane Lead is a virtual road map for any woman who wants to take charge at work. Nice Girls Just Don’t Get It is her latest book, published in April 2011. Email: info@drloisfrankel.com Personal Website: www.drloisfrankel.com Company Website: www.corporatecoachingintl.com LinkedIn: View Lois’ Public Profile

What’s the story of your business? Have you considered it?

“Businesspeople should never underestimate the power of story,” according to Valerie Khoo, founder of the Sydney Writers’ Centre. “It’s not just for best-selling books and short stories. What’s going to sell your product and personal brand is absolutely the story behind it.”

Valerie and I met at the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Conference in Rio de Janeiro, where she was excited to meet businesswomen from around the world: “Already, 40 percent of our students are online, so they’re already all over Australia and the world. We’re really making a push to go global, so it was great to meet women in business from so many different countries and find out more about their markets and how to expand into their countries.

“Apart from the networking and learning about regional differences and what would work in different markets, this conference has really been about the inspiration. It’s just been so fantastic to see the caliber of women here and to learn from them and leave full of ideas about new ways to do business.”

The Sydney Writers’ Centre offers adult short courses and educational training in all sorts of writing such as business writing, writing for the web, travel writing and magazine writing.

Enjoy this interview with Valerie Khoo at the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network 2011 event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Valerie Khoo – The Sydney Writers’ Centre Valerie Khoo is a writer and editor whose work has been featured in a range of magazines around the world. She runs an editorial and communications consultancy in Sydney with clients including magazines, newspapers, companies and websites. Website: www.sydneywriterscentre.com.au Facebook: sydneywriterscentre Twitter: @SydneyWriters; @valeriekhoo Blog: Writing Bar

Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network 2011

From June 5-7 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, more than 120 female business leaders from around the world gathered with Dell to learn about technology, marketing, brand, social media and raising capital while building relationships and sharing insights. It was an impressive group of participants, including Moira Forbes, Arianna Huffington and Luiza Helena Trajano, the founder of the third largest retail chain in Brazil. Over the course of two days, the conference participants explored and learned that women entrepreneurs truly share a unique perspective and approach to business.

Building on Dell’s entrepreneurial heritage and recognising the unique challenges and rocky journeys entrepreneurs can face led to the inception of the Dell’s Women Powering Business Initiatives, including Dell’s Women Entrepreneurs’ Network (DWEN). DWEN strives to help women entrepreneurs expand their networks, innovate and grow their businesses. The DWEN event and LinkedIn community supply a social network to grow B2B and exchange ideas to help build confidence. Dell’s believes never in the history of the world has the entrepreneurial spirit been more alive or in a more favourable position to drive global growth.

Australian women business leaders are invited to join in the conversation and share who and what inspires and motivates them as entrepreneurs and leaders via the Women Powering Business Network group on LinkedIn.

Is your company based on a fantasy or a dream? The answer may be the key to your success . . . or failure.

Tammy Camp is the Managing Director at Camp International, a venture advisor and equity investor.

“What we do is bring capital from the Middle East to invest in extraordinary technology companies,” Tammy said.

When Tammy considers a new investment opportunity, she asks herself, “Is this a fantasy company or a dream company?”

“Over the past couple of years since I’ve been investing, I’ve been looking at all sorts of companies and trying to find that one differentiating factor for why some companies fail and others succeed, and I have a bit of a hypothesis,” she explained.

“I think fantasies are selfish and dreams have purpose. For instance, take a company like Groupon. It’s the fastest-growing company in the world. It’s worth $25 billion. It’s grown from $0 to $25 billion in three years. It’s on the cover of Forbes magazine; it’s everywhere! You’ve basically been living under a rock if you haven’t heard of Groupon. However, I think it’s flawed because it promotes consumption, and it’s not a real innovation company. There’s nothing innovative about an email marketing company, and at its core, that’s what it is. So, ultimately, I think Groupon is a fantasy, and it will ultimately fail.

“If you look at Twitter, it’s about a $5 billion company, but look at all the disruption it has caused, in Iran, with the elections. A few years ago, that actually kept them in business. And now, with what’s happening in Libya and Syria, it’s a technology platform that has given the common man a voice. That is true democratisation of the Internet, and that’s a dream.

“It comes down to values. Is your company going to have a great impact on the world? You really need to think about this when you’re starting a business.”

Enjoy this interview with Tammy Camp at the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network 2011 event in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Tammy Camp – Camp International Tammy Camp, known as the “Lara Croft of the web” according to Forbes, is a venture investor, company advisor and adventure traveler living in San Francisco, CA. An entrepreneur since the age of 21, Tammy has taken part in numerous successful business endeavors, facilitating over $1 Billion+ in sales. Tammy has collaborated with organisations such as Lloyds TSB, Hotwire.com, Holiday Autos and eBay to scale their businesses on an international level. Tammy also arbitraged media buys resulting in a capital performance track record of 60% return on investment, outperforming the world’s top hedge funds 3 to 1. Tammy also serves as an advisor to numerous startups in the security, consumer Internet and executive research fields. Tammy has been featured in Forbes, USA Today, NPR and the International Business Times. She has also appeared at SXSW, BizTechDay, BlogWorld, New Media Expo and served as a host for the US Department of State’s “New Beginning: Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation” program, which hosted the top entrepreneurs from over 28 countries. Website: www.tammycamp.com Facebook: TammyCamp Twitter: @TammyCamp Blog: A day in the life of Tammy Camp

Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network 2011

From June 5-7 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, more than 120 female business leaders from around the world gathered with Dell to learn about technology, marketing, brand, social media and raising capital while building relationships and sharing insights. It was an impressive group of participants, including Moira Forbes, Arianna Huffington and Luiza Helena Trajano, the founder of the third largest retail chain in Brazil. Over the course of two days, the conference participants explored and learned that women entrepreneurs truly share a unique perspective and approach to business.

Building on Dell’s entrepreneurial heritage and recognising the unique challenges and rocky journeys entrepreneurs can face led to the inception of the Dell’s Women Powering Business Initiatives, including Dell’s Women Entrepreneurs’ Network (DWEN). DWEN strives to help women entrepreneurs expand their networks, innovate and grow their businesses. The DWEN event and LinkedIn community supply a social network to grow B2B and exchange ideas to help build confidence. Dell’s believes never in the history of the world has the entrepreneurial spirit been more alive or in a more favourable position to drive global growth.

Australian women business leaders are invited to join in the conversation and share who and what inspires and motivates them as entrepreneurs and leaders via the Women Powering Business Network group on LinkedIn.

By Amanda Falconer, Sydney Small Business Centre

If you think that the main thing you can learn from Ita Buttrose is how to dress well and maintain grace and poise under incredible pressure, think again.  Here are three things you can learn from Ita Buttrose about growing your small business.

As I watched Asher Keddie playing Ita Buttrose in ABC-TV’s Paper Giants – the birth of Cleo, I was literally moved to tears. What an inspiration Ita was – and is. And what a great marketing brain she has. Now if you’re wondering what on earth that has to do with growing or marketing a small business, then in just a moment I’ll tell you.

1. Know your customer

Remember when Ita was writing the first letter from the editor? She was able to be very specific about the person the magazine was for. It wasn’t just for women as one big group, it was a specific kind of woman…

“We decided that you were an intelligent woman, who’s interested in everything that’s going on, the type of person who wants a great deal more out of life, like us. Certain aspects of women’s lib appeal to you, but you’re not aggressive about it. And again, like us, you’re all for men as long as they know their place…”

2. Know your competition

Remember when it was the anniversary issue? And Ita bought a copy? Kerry Packer said why are you giving Fairfax 60 cents of your money?

Remember when Ita was fighting the anti-pornography lobby? She made sure that she knew what they were doing – in all its intimate detail. Knowing her competition was one of the things that helped her find the gaps and the difference.

3. Stick to your guns but don’t get stuck in a rut

Remember when Kerry wanted Ita to sack two people? Remember when he argued with her about the centrefold? And remember when Ita wanted to put Barry Humphries as Dame Edna on the cover? (This was a move that resulted in 250,000 copies of the magazine being sold too.)

In all these instances – and there were lots more – Ita stuck to her guns. OK she did sack the art director, but even as she did that, she spoke a universal truth.

“Things change, magazines are dynamic things.”

The same is true of most business.

Just like Ita, you also need to know your customers, your competition, when to stick to your guns and stay consistent and when to evolve and experiment. If you do, you’ll have all the ingredients for growth.

MORE GREAT BLOG POSTS BY AMANDA FALCONER

• Using a shopping list to grow your small business
• Small business growth: adding the commander’s intent to your plan
• Are you running your business like a young puppy?

Found this quote today from R. Buckminster Fuller. Was actually looking for a different one about making a difference… but this one is great too.

Never forget that you are one of a kind.

Never forget that if there weren’t any need for you in all your uniqueness to be on this earth, you wouldn’t be here in the first place. And never forget, no matter how overwhelming life’s challenges and problems seem to be, that one person can make a difference in the world.

In fact, it is always because of one person that all the changes that matter in the world come about. So be that one person.

Richard Buckminster Fuller

Here’s a quote by legendary actress Meryl Streep.

Put blinders on to those things that conspire to hold you back, especially the ones in your own head.

—Meryl Streep

Some days life doesn’t feel like it’s working and other days – it’s like a well-oiled machine. How was your day, today?

This quote appeared in Oprah’s eNewsletter today. 

The secret of making something work in your lives is, first of all, the deep desire to make it work; then the faith and belief that it can work; then to hold that clear definite vision in your consciousness and see it working out step by step, without one doubt or disbelief.

—Eileen Caddy

Wishing you a life that works.

Suzi

Freedom is choosing your responsibility. It’s not having no responsibilities; it’s choosing the ones you want.

- Toni Morrison, Author and Nobel Prize winner

During a recent trip to the US, I saw this poster in the women’s bathroom at a Starbucks. Sometimes inspiration comes from the strangest places.

“The Deeper the Roots, The Higher the Reach”.

What have you done today to deepen the roots, to ground further, my business strategy?