How good are you at tooting your own horn? I think that many women have a very hard promoting themselves and what they do. Sure, I’m making a big, blanket statement here, but correct me if I’m wrong. Tell me how YOU promote yourself on a regular basis?

I think women often have a hard time self-promoting because we - women - are expected to avoid drawing attention to ourselves. And when we do, it seems that other women are the most offended by this. I’ve had many women over the years label me a “Self Promoter,” their voices dripping with disdain. “Self Promoter” in their minds was synonymous with “Spotlight Hog” and “Egomaniac.” And when I refused to apologize when I tooted my own horn, I was called a “conceited bitch.”
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I’ve been thinking about the debate I have occasionally with other business owners about when to give away services versus when to charge. Some are of the mind that you should never, ever provide services for free. Others, like me, feel there is a right time and reason to provide services gratis but that you should apply sound business thinking to your decision.

For me, giving services away is not something I take lightly. I have to be careful how much time I spend on pro bono work, and as selfish as it might sound, I must be able to leverage the job to directly benefit my company - and my bottom line - in the long run.

Here are some tips for giving it away - when to do it, how to do it, when not to do it - and if you have any others to add, feel free! Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been writing for Work It, Mom (or WorkItMom.com as I refer to it) for a while now, and it occurred to me recently that I really need to devote more attention to my interactions on the site. Like any social networking site, Work It, Mom provides all the tools to connect to the people and resources you need to address an area of your life - in this case, work/life issues for busy, professional women. But if you don’t use it, it won’t work for you.

Even with cursory efforts, I’ve had some wonderful outcomes from being connected to like-minded moms on the site. One woman interviewed me on her blog. Another just requested to reprint one of my blog posts here and will give credit to this site and my blog here with a link. Both achieve one of my goals of being part of this community and writing for this site: the personal goal of publishing my thoughts and advice to share my experiences with other women in the hopes that we can support one another and the more business-oriented goal of marketing who and I and what I do.

But there is so much potential here that I’m betting few of us are tapping into. Here are a few tips on how to better leverage - but not misuse - the Work It, Mom community.
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As we all know and tend to learn the hard way, email is not the perfect communications medium and using it well when you are pitching something to reporters is an art unto itself. In order to improve the success of your email pitches, here are some things to keep in mind before hitting the “Send” button.

1. Don’t pitch unless you have the good match.

Do your homework and learn what reporters are writing about. Read their articles or columns. Get familiar with their “beat.” Your non-related pitch can put sour taste in their mouth, especially when they report on women in business and you pitch them an interview with a male CEO. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been developing, coordinating and hosting a lot of events in Second Life as part of my online consulting work, and am still honing my perfect mix of online marketing tactics to attract a steady audience, but here are the online marketing tools I’ve been using.

1. Twitter.
I can’t say enough about microblogging and how effective it is once you build a strong following. I have over 500 followers now on my Twitter page, many of whom are avid SL residents, so I have a nicely targeted audience for promos about my events. Read the rest of this entry »

I get pitches all the time from PR folks and business owners. Over the years, I’ve really developed my likes and dislikes in terms of how the information is presented to me via email. Since email is the ONLY way I like to receive pitches, I developed the following tips on “good e-mail pitching.”

If you are looking to make contact with a reporter via email, the following could help your email stand out - in a good way! Read the rest of this entry »

As an entrepreneur who has published 7 books, I’m frequently asked if writing and publishing books is a money-making endeavor or if having published books helps my business in any way. I initially explain that writing books has been a lifelong goal of mine, however, starting and running a business is only something I first tried 12 years ago.

In my case, starting an Internet company in 1995 led to my first book deal. I had been shopping a book proposal around through a book agent about women and the Internet. I was turned down by every publisher she approached. Then I was featured in the Wall Street Journal for my work on the Internet for women. That week, I was approached by 5 publishers asking if I’d write a book for them about women and the Internet - including the very publishers who had just turned me down a few months earlier. The funniest part of this experience was they didn’t actually know if I could write and didn’t really care. They were willing to hire a writer just in case I couldn’t. Luckily, I could and ended up signing a book deal with Ballantine Books. Read the rest of this entry »

In my previous post, I talked about public speaking as a marketing tool for you and your business. If you feel you are ready to get out in public and speak, you should probably start off as a panelist. That gives you a chance to get used to being in front of an audience while the entire “show” doesn’t rest on you. You can also learn from fellow panelists to see how they handle themselves in front of a crowd.

So how do you find speaking engagements?

I mentioned before that if you are interested in public speaking, make that clear on your Web site. But I don’t advise sitting around and waiting for the speaking engagements to roll in.

You have to be proactive about finding speaking gigs by making contacts and sending out your speaker media kit. Here are some places to look. Read the rest of this entry »

Every other month, I try to schedule some kind of speaking engagement to help promote my business, but I’m very particular about my speeches. I always make sure to provide valuable and practical information to my audience and not try to sell them on my services.

I’ve been to far too many lectures and panels where the speakers are doing nothing more than selling what they offer, and everyone leaves the event disappointed and often even angry. Ultimately, by being a great public speaker and providing truly useful information, you are selling yourself - and your products or services - in a much more effective way.

If you are thinking about public speaking in your area as a viable marketing tactic, here are some things to consider first. Read the rest of this entry »

Note from Aliza - I have to confess it is strange hearing from an entrepreneur who has the same name as me! I have only met 3 other Aliza’s in my life although it is a popular girl’s name in Israel. Anyway, had to mention that because it really was an interesting experience!

Aliza Freud is founder and CEO of SheSpeaks, a national network of women who are interested in influencing the products and services around them. SheSpeaks provides women with a forum to express what they need and want as well as opportunities to connect with each other. The women’s opinions are then broadcasted to a broad audience including companies that develop products and services, the media and other women.

Aliza suggests the following tips to avoid missing critical connections with your customers.

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