Video of Interest: Funding Your Dream

Find out what venture capitalists have to say about funding a dream -- from how many deals they have done to how long your business plan should be to what mistakes entrepreneurs make when presenting.

It's all here on video.

Article of Interest: The Art of the Barter

A growing number of Web sites are trying to lure small firms and independent contractors to swap goods and services. Does your firm barter? If so, how?

Online Sites Promote The Art of the Barter.

News: Weekly Informational "Marsha Minutes"

Want a minute with our founder, Dr. Marsha Firestone? Well now you've got it! Find out more here.

News: ATHENA Award Luncheon Recipient (11/6)

I had the honor of serving on the 2006 ATHENA Award Selection Committee and attending the luncheon today. What an amazing group of gifted women. Here's the list of nominees:

• Cheryl Burton, Anchor/Reporter, ABC 7 Chciago, WLS-TV
• Julie Murphy Casserly, Owner, President, JMC Wealth Management
• Eileen Durkn, CEO, Neumann Association
• Janet Froetscher, President and CEO, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago
• Susan Fullman, Corporate Vice President, Director, Consumer Solutions and Innovation, Motorola
• Kathy Hopinkah Hannan, Area Managing Partner, Tax Services, KPMG, LLP
• Judy McCaskey, Board Chairperson, State Treasurer's Advisory Board for Women's Issues
• Sarah Pang, Senior Vice President, CNA Corporate Communications
• Alice Peterson, President, Syrus Global

And the award winner is ... Kathy Hopinkah Hannan, Area Managing Partner, Tax Services, KPMG, LLP! She is shown second from the right on the stage. Click on the picture to get a closer look.

On behalf of the Women Presidents' Organization, congratulations to all the nominess and in particular to Kathy for her well-deserved honor.

For more information on ATHENA International and how to get involved, click here.

Event Reminder: Chicago Athena Award Luncheon (11/6)

ATHENA Award Recipients are individuals who:

• Demonstrate excellence, creativity, and initiative in their business or profession.

• Provide valuable service by contributing time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community.

• Actively assist women in realizing their full leadership potential.

Find out who becomes the next award recipient on Monday, November 6 at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel. Startup time is 11:30 a.m. For more information visit: Athena International Organization.

The Women Presidents' Organization is a proud partner to ATHENA International. We hope to see you there!

Video of Interest: WPO Chicago Conference

Many of you have been asking what's so great about WPO, why should you become a member and what's the fuss about the WPO annual conference especially next year's in Phoenix (April 19-21) celebrating our 10th anniversary. We've got answers.

Watch the video and learn more about WPO here.

Site of Interest: Social Innovation Conversations

Yes, we are busy building our companies. But in addition to focusing on the bottom line, are you at least thinking about changing the world and the importance of the human connection to everything you do, day in and day out?

You can be a social entrepreneur -- a creative and inspiring leader -- and also be a WPO member. They are not mutually exclusive.

Read more here >> Social Innovation Conversations: Reinventing the World Together One Conversation At a Time.

And if you are making the world a better place, let us know about it. We welcome hearing from you.

Site of Interest: Second Life

As business owners, one of the things we have to always prepare for is how to see through and stay ahead of trends, challenges and opportunities. Here we present a glimpse of the future. Second Life is a 3D online digital world imagined, created and owned by its residents. Soon, your single greatest competitor won't be in China or India but at Second Life. Yes, you read that right.

Read more here >> Your world. Your imagination.

>> Wired Travel Guide: Second Life.

>> Popular Science: Your Second Life is Ready

Welcome to a new world of endless reinvention.

Article of Interest: Women Have Room to Grow Companies

In September, the Center for Women's Business Research projected that as of this year, there are an estimated 10.4 million privately held, women-owned firms in the United States. This accounts for two in five of all businesses in the country. These firms generate $1.9 trillion in annual sales and employ 12.8 million people nationwide.

Yet at our recent Women Presidents' Organization 2006 annual conference in Chicago, participants in a Key4Women focus group identified undercapitalization as a common mistake women business owners should avoid. Undercapitalization can create a host of challenges for a company -- not only is it more difficult to get an undercapitalized business off the ground, but it creates obstacles while trying to secure funding from banks.

While access to capital may have been a challenge for women 30 years ago, today's woman business owner has a wide range of banking resources readily available to her. Some banks have created specific opportunities for women-owned businesses.
Don't wait until it's too late.

Key4Women is an initiative of KeyBank, a corporate sponsor to the Women Presidents' Organization.

Read more here >> Women Have Room to Grow Companies

News: There's No Glass Ceiling for Women Entrepreneurs

Where is the glass ceiling when you’re a woman entrepreneur of a multi-million dollar company? A Compensation Survey of members of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO) suggests that there is none.

Highlights from the survey are as follows:

• More than half of respondents (56%) believe their salary is the same as their male counterparts.
• Over half (53%) of respondents believe their total compensation is the same as their male counterparts.
• More than half (57%) of respondents routinely investigate and adjust salaries to ensure gender pay equity for positions of equal qualification and responsibility.
• Over half (51)% plan to increase their salary and/or their bonus, benefits, commissions, partnerships distributions, or compensation.
• Being able to provide themselves and their employees equitable compensation for work performed was an important issue for respondents when they started their companies.

Learn more here.

Event Reminder: Women's Summit (October 17)

The Women Presidents' Organization has agreed to partner with the University of Chicago Women’s Business Group to support the second annual Women’s Summit, to be held on October 17, 2006 from 3:00 to 9:00 p.m. This year's theme is: "Creating a Shared Vision."

The Women’s Summit will provide a venue for diverse leadership from corporations, law, medicine, economics, public policy, education, journalism, science, technology and non-profit organizations in the Chicago area to join together. In addition to celebrating successes and connections, we will develop a collective vision for increasing the contribution and success of women and minorities to the community in which we live and work.

In honor of this occasion, Cherie Booth, QC will be the featured speaker at the event. Her husband, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair, has given his wife credit for being "... an enormous source of strength and an extraordinary person in her own right. I never know how she manages with all the different things she does -- the work, the family." ~ The New York Times.

The Summit will start with facilitated visioning sessions to explore important topics for women today. Each session will have a thought leader with expertise on the topic and a professional facilitator. You are invited to share your thoughts and ideas and get involved. Our goal is for the community to come together, create a shared vision, and shape our future.

The breakout sessions will be followed by a networking opportunity, and by dinner and the keynote address.

"The Women Presidents' Organization is delighted to be a part of the UCWBG's Women's Summit. And with the United Kingdom being such a strong and loyal ally to the United States, we are thrilled to have Ms. Booth share her wisdom with us." -- Laurel Delaney, Chicago Chapter Facilitator

All Women Presidents' Organization members will be entitled to the member rate ($125), so please click the appropriate option -- Friends of the Summit -- when registering.

For more information and to register please visit:
the UCWBG's website.

Article of Interest: Women Entrepreneurs Reach for $1M Level

And when they arrive, WPO supports their very next step.

Read more >> here.

FYI: Activities Offered By The National Women's Business Council

Areas of interest and activities going on through the NWBC:

• NWBC Public Policy Web Cast
• Council Meeting
• USHCC Conference
• OPIC Global Markets Workshops
• Longaberger Interviewed in SCORE Newsletter
• New WOB Legislation
• Center Releases New Data
• National Preparedness Month

Check out further here: National Women's Business Council -- ENGAGE!

Sound Advice: Recommended Reading on Sales and Marketing

Most entrepreneurs recognize that marketing is integral to the success of their business. WSJ's StartupJournal spoke to Michael Port, 35, the author of "Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling," for a list of his favorite marketing and sales books. Mr. Port says that he is surprised by the small business owners that he meets who don't read consistently.

"There is no better way to continuously invest in your professional development than reading," says Mr. Port.

Below are some of his top picks, comments on each and an understanding as to why we featured a picture of Elvis:

Top Picks

Thought Piece: Dream It. Do It.

You've come a long way baby and this thought piece will prove it. How many of you have gone from rags to riches by following your dream and doing something about it?

Take a peek at the childhoods of 14 self-made members of the Forbes 400 who did just that. Find out if your dreams, mistakes, routines and motivations are the same as these world elite entrepreneurs.

Read more here >> Secrets Of The Self-Made

Thought Piece: How Strategy Guru C.K. Prahalad Is Changing the Way CEOs Think

Against all logic.

Take a cab ride through Bombay, and these are the scenes that will likely strike you first: raggedly dressed homeless families sprawled on blankets amid shacks. Traffic hopelessly clogged with every manner of soot-belching vehicle and wooden cart. Gaunt hawkers and beggars tapping on your window at red lights. For foreign visitors, such jarring images of poverty and desperation are hard to shake.

View those same streets through the eyes of C.K. Prahalad, however, and they become a beehive of entrepreneurialism and creativity.

Read more >> Business Prophet.

Article of Interest: Origin of Million Dollar Ideas

Million dollar business ideas have no boundaries, age limits, race restrictions, time lines, or economic class. They can occur when you least expect them. And searching for the million dollar business idea is less a product of business planning and market research and more born from observation and frustration.

What else can we tell you? How about a big hint: The final and most important connection between a million dollar idea and a regular idea is the response of the marketplace. Even if others see it as a great idea, the consumer must want to buy it.

Read more >> here.

Event of Interest: WBDC's 20th Anniversary Conference (September 27-28)

Save the date: September 27-28, 2006 at Navy Pier in Chicago. To download the 2006 Conference brochure and to register, visit: Women's Business Development Center's 20th Anniversary Entrepreneurial Woman's Conference

The Women Presidents' Organization is a proud partner to the WBDC in Chicago. Please stop by our Booth No. 527. See you there!

Article of Interest: What Makes A Good Leader?

When discussing business leadership, the distinction between good management and good leadership is often made.

Managers are thought to be the budgeters, the organizers, the controllers — the ants, as one observer puts it — while leaders are the charismatic, big-picture visionaries, the ones who change the whole ant farm. But such a construction, those interviewed for this Harvard Business School Working Knowledge article agree, erroneously leads to a bimodal way of looking at something that should really be evaluated on two separate scales.

Read more ... here. And what do you think?

Happy Labor Day

Labor Day is a celebration and a tribute to the contributions of workers who have made our country stronger. Enjoy.

P.S. I took this photo near my home.