How did you get started as a Wild Women Entrepreneur?

I got started when I was not yet old enough to count, literally. My parents had a Portuguese store in Hudson, Massachusetts and one day I vividly remember being at the store with my Avo (grandmother) and trying desperately to figure out how numbers were added together. My Avo was illiterate, barely able even to write her own name. That in itself taught me many life lessons. Mainly it taught me to never forget where I came from and the people who helped me throughout my journey. As I grew, I would search for and keep articles about entrepreneurs, especially those about extra-creative women and kids. It felt so right to me to create a company from nothing. Being part of a corporation was good for some parts of my life but I would always eventually become restless. I would "go back" when I was afraid I'd run out of money or wanted a break from being my own boss. As time went on, the length of time I could work for others kept diminishing until I could not even stand to be an employee for even a day. It was a pull that just kept getting stronger no
matter what I did. Being an entrepreneur is not usually the easiest route but for most of us, the alternative is unthinkable. I wouldn't change a thing!

Maria, what are the differences between men and women in
business?

Ahhhh, the age old question. I went to the only business school in the world for women. It's the incredible Simmons Graduate School of Management right here in Boston. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to earn her MBA. First, you can take an accelerated program so instead of two years you do it in 11 months. It is harder than most things you'll ever do, but what you learn when they squeeze you out reawakens you. I grew up with three brothers and no sisters. I went to Boston College for my undergrad degree and for the most part, lived in a patriarchic society fighting the good fight (to be heard, seen, and respected) but to most people I was too young and female. Simmons taught me the rules of the game. The founders are the first women allowed to attend Harvard Business School. The stories they shared helped put everything into perspective. They not only pointed out the challenges, but on every level, they offered solutions - solutions and perspectives I use to this very day. I am a communications expert. I have immersed myself in many cultures. Basically you need to study the differences between men and women and find creative strategies to override the system which I LOVE DOING! A simple example is getting consensus on a project/idea. What men do is go to each other behind the scenes and develop allies. When they enter a meeting they already have supporters and therefore it's easier for the others that are just learning the idea to go along with it because they see others think it's a good one too. Another example is getting promoted. Most women tend not to talk about their accomplishments because they don't want to be seen as show offs. Well, I guess that I'm a show off! (I've been called a lot worse.) I love telling people I worked with Mikhail Gorbachev and Yahoo! I love telling people that I speak a bunch of languages and have lived around the world. If they are jealous, that’s their issue. In the end it's about the legacy you leave. Now that I have three wonderful children, I feel that even more. I want them to know that life is a wonderful ride if you only get on to your next adventure!



What are three of the biggest lessons you've learned along the way?

It’s hard to pick just three. Hmmmmm, the first one is easy. I came to the United States when I was almost four years old and for as long as I can remember I was made fun of for being able to speak two languages and sometimes wearing different clothes and practicing different customs from other kids. It got so bad that I was beaten up, name called, and even spit on from grade school through high school! Even though I was completely fluent in English and learned all the American customs in the small town I grew up in I would always be a "portuguee." This made me an outsider, so I adapted in my own way. This has been one of my most wonderful gifts because what does not kill you makes you stronger. There were some really dark times but it’s important to go through them and not dwell in them. That is where most people derail themselves.

Another lesson is that most people don’t know what they want. The art and influence of asking good questions is key. With a simple question you can completely reframe a situation. There is nothing more powerful in communication than a question. I could talk about this one topic for a long time, and in fact, have given many lectures on it around the world.

Okay, now that I’ve mulled this question over, a deluge of answers have popped in. I will only pick the best of the bunch right now so as to keep within the limits of the question. Last but not least, the biggest thing to remember is that everyone is human. Many of us walk around feeling inadequate comparing ourselves to
others. This is life’s universal joke because everyone else feels the same way. I love the quote, “other people’s opinions of me are none of my business.” No matter what you do, there will ALWAYS be someone who loves/likes it and someone else who dislikes/hates it. That is the balance of humanity. The only way to combat this is to be happy with what you do and make sure your actions and choices are what you like, not what you think they should be. You will go A LOT further in success that way!

How do you juggle your family life with your busy work
schedule?

Besides having a start-up real estate company and all that entails, I have three children: 10, 19 months, and 3 months. The youngest has Down Syndrome. We also have a dog and a cat. Life is definitely full and I would have it no other way. I picked a partner who is incredible. We did not start off that way but we have worked on creating a wonderful support system for each other. I believe in the family support systems that were so prevalent in the past. I don’t like being away from the children. We have an in-home nanny who is here 40 hours a week. I could not work without her. Having her allows me the freedom to do my work (most of the time) AND be around my children. Since I was much younger I have been thinking about how to create a life so that when I got to this stage I would have the ability to raise my children the way I wanted. I don’t believe in daycare for our family. That’s just me. I respect the choices others make though. It’s whatever works for you. Brick House Realty is a virtual company, meaning that there is no central bricks and mortar structure for an office. We all have the freedom to work out of our home offices and also spend a lot of time going out showing homes.

Who have been your mentors along the way?

This is probably the hardest question because I have not had many mentors in the purest sense. I am a creature who loves to see examples of others and then be inspired by them. There is really no one who has been a straight up mentor to me though.


Why did you make the switch from marketing/public relations
in Silicon Valley to owning a real estate company in the Boston area?


It was time. I had been in San Francisco for five years and had done many wonderful things, but my biological clock was ticking, 911 happened, I missed my nieces and family in Massachusetts and the Internet boom was winding down. I left PR because at the end of my day, I was not adding value to our planet.In fact, I was adding
more bullshit. That is not the legacy I wanted to leave. Now with Brick House Realty, I am teaching people how to take a basic life necessity (a place to live) and turn it into a strong financial asset. It feels really good to help change someone’s financial life in a way that ultimately gives them more financial freedom.

If you could offer these Wild Women Entrepreneurs a piece
of sound advice, what would it be?

BE YOU! There is a quote that goes something like, “If you try to act like someone else who will be you?” To find true happiness, achievement, and fulfillment you need to go out (actually it’s really about going in) and finding you. Most of the problems we have in the world are because people spend way too much time, money and effort blocking who they are and trying to be like someone
else. Save yourself the aggravation!

Labels: wild we member of the month

Have you ever thought about contracting work or trading work with friends? You just know your best friend, Jill, would be the perfect person to write copy for one of your clients? Or that John will give you tickets to the theater if you do one small copywriting project for him? Preserve your friendship AND your business reputation by following these simple tips.

My colleague, Jane, recently lamented to me an all too familiar story about mixing business and friendship. Jane subcontracted copywriting work out her friend, Joan. Jane’s copywriting business was blossoming (partly in response to her most recent brilliant article marketing campaign) and giving the work to Joan seemed like a win-win for both of them.

As expected, Joan delivered a glorious first draft. The only problem was halfway through the discussed project, Joan suddenly disappeared!

It turned out that Joan was becoming overwhelmed with juggling her own work and the freelance work. The freelance work sunk to the bottom of her priority list because, hey, Jane was her friend and she wouldn’t mind. However, as the days turned into weeks, Joan became embarrassed and began hiding from Jane’s e-mail
messages and calls. Now both friends were in a pickle!

Jane would have preferred Joan tell her up front that she couldn't meet the agreed upon terms. She didn’t get angry with her friend, but it made her wonder how wise it is to involve your close friends in professional endeavors.

One the other side of the fence is the business person who agrees to do something for a friend for a reduced price or free. Another writer stated that she believes she gives away too much of her goods and services dirt cheap or free to friends. She’s had experiences doing business with friends in which she’s thought, "Oh, I'll do this one thing for him and then he will do something of
equal value for me." Often this writer ends up feeling irritated because she’s running short on time and money and she often doesn’t get back what she put into the trade.

Here are some tips to help you no matter what side of the fence you’re on:

1. Your time and services are valuable. Don't give them away. You can volunteer for PTA bake sales, donate blood, or give money to your church, but your business services are not free. You've got bills to pay and a professional reputation to maintain.

2. If you're thinking about doing business with
a friend, ask yourself, "Is this a person whose services I would pay for even if I didn't know him? Do I admire and respect the way she operates her business?" I have some friends who are great business people and some who are just great friends (and I'm not convinced they're savvy business people). That's okay. If you can't give an honest affirmative answer to these questions, DON'T do business with this friend.

3. If you choose to do business with a friend, be clear about the project specs, deadlines, and payment arrangements before the work starts. Get it all in writing (e-mail is fine). Be specific! Did I mention be specific?

4. Frequent check-ins are a must. (E.g., "How are you doing with that dog food project we talked about? Do you need any further information or material from me? How can we work together on this?"). Nip any problems in the bud with constant communication.

5. Listen to your intuition. Does your friend generally keep her promises? Is she a good, clear communicator? How would you feel about her if the business arrangement you’re thinking about didn’t work out well? If you have any nagging doubts, it’s best to err on the side of caution and NOT hire
your friend.

In business and in life, communication is key. The people who have the most successful business relationships and friendships will always be those who can speak and write clearly, efficiently, and concisely. 

Copyright 2005, Ann Zuccardy.

Ann Zuccardy is a freelance technical and copy writer with 17 years of industry experience in marketing and technical communication. Ann is also the owner of Vermont Shortbread Company. Read her blog at http://vermontshortblog.com.

Labels: From the Editor

What exactly is a “brand?” The term probably originated at a time when when ours was a strictly agricultural society. Ranchers take a branding iron to their cattle, as a way to signify they OWN those cows. Likewise, modern corporations choose a logo to brand their name into the mind of the consumer. Every time you label an ad or website with your company logo; every time you take a political stance on behalf of your corporation, you’re putting your brand into effect. And if a brand indicates ownership, then it should be your ultimate mission to dominate, or own, your niche. Brand your company. Own the cow.

How do you determine your style of branding? Analyze your audience. Zero in on the group you’re trying to reach. Are they male, female, or both? What's the age group and economical level? What are their spending habits, their values? How do they TALK? What are they concerned about? What do they think they NEED? Where will their focus be in six months? And most importantly, how does your marketable product fit into the scheme? If you never really get to know your audience, you can read all the marketing how-to strategies in the world, and it isn't going to mean diddly-squat for your business. It isn’t going to help you build your brand.

What’s the next step? Always, always, always put yourself in their shoes. Jump right into their heads, if you can. Think of your audience during the business-plan conception process. How do they communicate? What do they find visually appealing? Are you marketing to senior citizens? Use bigger fonts, a nostalgic tone, and a morally forthright attitude. Is it the filthy, stinking rich whom you’re trying to attract? Save the Crazy Eddie shtick, because money is no object here. Every bit of energy used to promote your brand should be focused toward winning over your key customer.

There will be a time when you completely lose sight of who you’re
trying to attract. This, in turn, dilutes the power of your brand.
You’ll be in the middle of writing an ad, when suddenly your head is racing with potential buyer types. This happened to me once during my writing stint with a digital media company who sold Santa Claus greetings. In my sales letter, which went on for pages and pages, there was no limit to what Santa could do! He could praise tiny tots for using the potty. He could play matchmaker to a couple of young lovers. He could patch up an argument you had with Aunt Freida in Topeka. All of this was great, but it was really convoluting Who We Were as a company, and our Santa was becoming a Jack Frost of all trades. It was no good! So we went back to square one. And through simple words and a more narrow focus on our original audience of children, we finally captured the Magic of Christmas that we had originally intended to be Our Brand.

Reflect your brand in everything you do; from your website design,
to your public relations, to how you go about selling your product. Once you’ve done this, the next step is to create Brand Awareness. This is achieved through consistency. You can dream up the most brilliant ad campaign on the planet, but if you’re not consistent about putting it in place, you’ll never establish brand recognizability.

If the tone of your company is “fun, light and noncontroversial” steer clear of anti-war demonstrations. If Arial is your font of choice, then don’t go switching it up mid-campaign and putting out affiliate program materials using Tahoma. If tongue-in-cheek humor is how you attract attention, don’t line your website borders with super-mushy personal ads. Ask yourself: will this resonate with my key customer? And use your logo and company tagline wherever possible—in your email correspondence, on your website, as your letterhead, on your business cards, in your advertising and on your product packaging. Remind people of who you are. Burn your brand into their minds.

To some extent, branding is following the herd... emulating respected companies that capture what you’d like to be known for. Still, a wise entrepreneur must never forget that today's success story is tomorrow's dot-com that went under. "What sold" for someone else may not work for your company. Just because Joe Baloney made millions selling with a bilingual circus clown doesn't mean that will work for you... or that anyone's even going to find it remotely interesting in six months. The market changes like the tide, depending on what direction society is going in. Where they were before, which way they're headed, and wherever it's likely
they'll end up... socially, economically, ethically, politically, culturally, intellectually, psychologically, philosophically.

How will you know that you’ve branded successfully? When people start listening to you. Not just hearing what you say, but letting you call the shots. You’ll know it when people start imitating you, too. You’ll start seeing knock-offs of your products and your company image. This may flatter you or it may
annoy you, but when it happens, it’s your cue to lead the pack in a new direction. That's how to stay on top of the Branding Game.

The day that you find yourself functioning as a real, live spokesman
for a group of individuals, is the day you’ve achieved Brand Recognition. The day that you make the front page news headlines is the day you’ve become a household name. But a word to the wise: once your brand achieves true power, someone will try and take you down. Remind them that you own this cow.

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto.

Dina Giolitto is a New-Jersey based Copywriting Consultant with nine years' industry experience. Her current focus is web content and web marketing for a multitude of products and services although the bulk of her experience lies in retail for big-name companies like Toys'R'Us. Visit Wordfeeder.com for rates and samples.

Labels: communication corner

This month, Ann Zuccardy, City Leader for Burlington, Vermont has joined Wild Women Entrepreneurs. Ann is a senior technical writer currently consulting for IBM. In her "spare" time, Ann runs Vermont Shortbread Company and is working to transition out of the corporate world and direct her energies full time into her areas of passion: her business, writing, and teaching. Ann is taking over the WWE newsletter. Ann lives in rural Huntington, VT with her partner, Brian, daughter, and two stepdaughters. Please e-mail Ann with newsletter ideas, comments, or submissions.

A Wild Woman Entrepreneur from Yourtown, USA writes:


I have worked full time for corporations during the past 20 years (or so) and am now interested in working for myself. During this time, I've been in an office environment doing everything from secretarial to office management type jobs. My husband and I are now living in a rural area and I still work in the corporate world with a hospital in a small town setting. We are building a rustic cabin which we
will be renting out to tourists this time next year. I want to be able to stay home and run the cabin rental plus work from home as a virtual assistant. Being a VA is very competitive and I would like some advice on this avenue of work, or even better, some links to possible jobs. Knowing I can't/shouldn't quit my full time job now, but would love to at least start out and build up a portfolio. I would appreciate anyone with any ideas. Thanks much!


Wild Woman Entrepreneur, Ikan Makeithappen writes: Market research is a great way to know what your competition is. Secret shop other VAs to see what they offer and how much they charge. First, I suggest creating a business plan for both business ideas. The SBA (Small Business Administration) is a great resource for this and they have many offices across the
country. Best of all, it is FREE. Creating a business plan that includes both ventures and having someone with experience read it is very helpful in building a viable businesses. A plan also allows you to set goals and think through how you will achieve them. A great way to start out is to offer services for a discounted price for a specific amount of time, say 6 months. This gives you a client or two (be careful not to take on too much too soon) and lets you work out your kinks. I would start locally, associates at work that have a home business? Your local Chamber of Commerce is also a great place to network. This is a place to start. Best of luck.

Wild Woman Entrepreneur Sense A. Bell answers:
The very first question I ask anyone planning to start out a business is: do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Being an entrepreneur involves a much broader skill set than the skills you are trying to market. Some key attributes are: willingness to take risks, skill in marketing and positioning your business, skill in handling customer problems and complaints, and the vision to grow your business. Fortunately a lot of these skills seem to be comparable to those required of a virtual assistant. I highly recommend The E-Myth Revisited: Why So Many Small Business Don't Work and What To Do About It for anyone who is thinking about
starting a small business, or wondering why their business doesn't seem to be taking off. It will help you with your cabin rental business, as well, and you can click
our Resources page for more information about this title. You may already know about International Virtual Assistants Association (http://www.ivaa.org/), an organization dedicated to the advancement of the Virtual Assistant profession.

Wild Woman Entrepreneur Bea Smart says:
Lucky you! It sounds like you have a smorgasbord of work possibilities. That's smart. What is your goal? Do you want to eventually leave the corporate world completely? Or do you want to mix and match with multiple sources of income from all your jobs and talents? The savvy wild woman entrepreneur starts out with the end in mind. What's your vision? Write it all down. What does your home look like? What does your typical day look like? What are you doing for fun? C'mon, let your imagination go wild. Smell, see, hear, and touch the vision - no holds barred. Once you've done this homework, you are likely to be pumped. From that place of passion and excitement, you are now ready to create your action plan for how you will get there. I suggest hiring a coach or a career counselor. Spend as much time as you can around people who have done exactly what you intend to do. They will inspire and mentor you. Write your vision, then create the action plan. Read your vision often to keep yourself pumped and focused on the end result. Be smart - you can't do it all at once.

--Christina Favero


Check out the books on the main Resources page. The books now directly link to Amazon's website, so if you like a recommendation, you can easily find the book online!