By Holly Reisem Hanna

For me going to the book store is like a kid being in a candy shop, I get all giddy and excited, and I just can’t decide what books I should purchase. And because my daughter loves attending story time and playing with Thomas the Train we head to out to our local book store A LOT (plus they serve Starbucks which is a nice treat for me).

Last time I was at our local book store, I picked up a couple of books, one being Michelle Goodman’s The Anti 9 to 5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube. Which I thought would be perfect for this month’s book review since so many people are making resolutions and goals for the New Year.

So listen up! If you’ve needed some help getting your rear into gear so that you can have your dream career, Michelle has you covered!

Michelle escaped from Corporate America 18 years ago to become a freelance writer. Knowing in her heart that “quality of life trumps all else” she took the “leap before you look” approach to launching her own freelance writing business. Fumbling and scraping by the first few years Michelle learned some valuable lessons and insight that she shares within the pages of this book. (more…)

By Jim Mandeville

Why are you really interested in starting your own business or buying a home based franchise? Is it simply to make money, be your own boss, and control your own destiny? Surely these are pretty important factors, but you should think about it a bit deeper.

I know several franchise owners who after just a few years have no passion at all for their business. These are business owners who are doing well financially but here is where it gets interesting. They dislike their customers, their company, their duties, their products or services, and their entire industry in some cases! Their own business has become unfulfilling, boring, and stale. They ventured into their own business for most of the right reasons but I know that none of them looked at things from this angle, something I call the passion perspective: (more…)

By Holly Reisem Hanna

It’s no doubt that Twitter has become one of the web’s leading social networks for connecting with like-minded people. In fact I’m always looking for new women entrepreneurs, bloggers and business owners to connect with.

But with this said, sometimes it’s difficult to find women who are really receptive to connecting and being responsive.

Often Twitter is just a one way street – you following the infamous tweeter.

Or people repeatedly tweeting the same sales pitch.

I have created the following list of 20 business savvy women and bloggers, who are responsive tweeters.

20 Women who Care about the Relationship on Twitter: (more…)

By Sandie Lee

If you Blog it they will come.

Sometimes this statement is true.  Other times it feels like a frustrating game of chance.  I started Blogging in 2008 for fun and wasn’t really concerned about how many hits I got or who was following me; I Blogged what I wanted, when I wanted.  My content reflected my personality and I thought that would be enough.

I was wrong.

Blogging is addicting (I’m sure a support group isn’t far off).  I soon became more and more aware of the number of, or rather, lack of hits I was receiving.  So I started doing some research into Blogging.  My biggest question was…

“…what were others doing to make their Blogs a success?” (more…)

Do you work at home?

I work from home when I am not out flaunting my jewels and enjoying myself at my trunk shows!

How many children do you have?

One. Kelton, he is 21 months and the absolute light of my life.

How many hours do you work a week?

I work around 20-30 hours per week, give or take.

Tell us a little bit about Stella & Dot and how you got started.

I was laid off in December 2008 from a wonderful advertising agency in downtown Dallas, Texas. A friend of my husband’s knew my current Sr. Director with Stella & Dot and asked me if I wanted to look into it. I went to their site and instantly fell in love! It is a company inspired by and created for strong women. It is the modern home-based career that your mother never had. They’ve put the power of e-commerce, social networking and personal service behind an irresistible product. It’s the next big opportunity for our era. (more…)