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article by Sherrie Campbell, Entrepreneur, October 30, 2014 on how to use conflict constructively.

from Entrepreneur.com. Another article on how to network when you are an introvert. First suggestion is network and make connections online to develop relationships on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms. This is especially helpful if you are going to a conference or event as you will "know" people before you get there, and they will know you. Arrange to meet up with them ahead of time. Talk about your accomplishments to better connect with others so they know what you have done and what connections you have with them. Discuss your goals and ideas to join or jumpstart the conversation, and ask for others' goals and ideas. Don't overthink it and go over and over your interactions. Concentrate on the positives you get out of the interaction. Maintain strong relationships when they develop and keep in touch regularly. Take Notes - remember faces, names, and what they said. Send an email to them to continue the conversation and remind them of who you are.

From Entrepreneur, February 19, 2015. Identifies 2 different networkers online: posters and seekers. Those who actively post info, resources, tips, offers are posters. Seekers are the consumers of products, services, and content. On social media, look for high-level networkers (HLN), those who are very active and have at least 500 connections on LinkedIn or Xing.

This is an amazing page from a woman who gave a testimonial on the WomenWhoLaunch website. Look at how easy she makes it to understand what she does and the value she brings to women entrepreneurs.

"The growth of women's entrepreneurship in the last few decades has been extraordinary. According to the Small Business Administration, women-owned businesses accounted for a mere 4.5 percent of all businesses in 1977. In 2008, more than 40 percent of all businesses are 51 percent women-owned. However, only 3 percent of these companies gross more than a million in annual revenue. The Center for Women's Business Research studied this elite group (those businesses grossing over a million in annual revenue) and determined some key characteristics that were common in all of the companies. These characteristics are as follows: "

An organization that uses chat, livestream, instagram, YouTube and other social media to connect young, female entrepreneurs in their 20's and 30's. They ahve a Book Club, ACTION calendar, networking events, and live online Thursday night networking events.

Interesting model for us to look at

Meghan Casserly of Forbes interviewed 20 young female entrepreneurs and how to use Twitter to find mentors and those that can give you advice as you build your business. All agree it is essential to have mentors, not just 1, and a support group of women in the same stage as you are or a little ahead in building a business.

A group of friends in Mexico, all entrepreneurs, started talking about their failed ventures. The conversation engendered such deep learning and reflection, they created a regular meeting where they modified the Japanese Petcha-Kutcha model of presenting slides for and narrating the slides for a very brief time. The Mexico group named these f2f thriving on failure group Fuck Up night. Others around the world began to hear about the FuckUp night via social media, and soon were asking the Mexico group if they could replicate the model. Now FuckUp nights are global, and the original group only asks that the model be followed, and any slides and videos of the presentations be shared with the world on the fuckup nights website.

A group of friends in Mexico, all entrepreneurs, started talking about their failed ventures. The conversation engendered such deep learning and reflection, they created a regular meeting where they modified the Japanese Petcha-Kutcha model of presenting slides for and narrating the slides for a very brief time. The Mexico group named these f2f thriving on failure group Fuck Up night. Others around the world began to hear about the FuckUp night via social media, and soon were asking the Mexico group if they could replicate the model. Now FuckUp nights are global, and the original group only asks that the model be followed, and any slides and videos of the presentations be shared with the world on the fuckup nights website.

This profile of Ari Horie moves me a great deal. I like her assessment of the power of collaboration and this quote: "Horie doesn't want women to feel limited by the culture they were born into or the place where they live, she says. She believes that their opportunities should be endless." I also like the idea of an "accelerator" program for entrepreneurs and/or learners/leaders.

"Women's entrepreneurship has hit a media tipping point. The question is: Is it just a passing media fad that will soon be a blip on the radar screen, or is it actually a real, fundamental economic force that's reshaping the world? I think it's safe to say that it's the latter. Women-owned entities in the formal sector represent approximately 37% of enterprises globally - a market worthy of attention by businesses and policy makers alike. While aggregated data is often challenging to find, the recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) found 126 million women starting or running businesses, and 98 million operating established (over three and a half years) businesses. That's 224 million women impacting the global economy - and this survey counts only 67 of the 188 countries recognized by the World Bank."

Rachel Sklar is holding networking events for women who work in the tech industry. She is about to make it a business, where women pay to be connected with other women like them. Interesting business design.

Women to women networking in a specific industry: tech

by Andrew Vest from July 28, 2014 in Forbes/Entrepreneurs. Although geared to f2f encounters, these tips work for online networking as well. Start networking before you need it; Have a plan; Forget your personal agenda; Never dismiss anyone as unimportant; Connect the dots.

Written by Yuhyun Park , the chair of infollutionZero Foundation. Great graphic of the digital literacies children must learn as "they spend, on average, 7 hours a day in front of screens from television and computers to mobile phones and various digital devices." He defines these skills as Digital Intelligence, or DQ: Digital Safety (behavior risks, content risks, contact risks), Digital Security (password protection, internet security, mobile security), Digital Emotional Intelligence (empathy, emotional awareness/regulation, social and emotional awareness), Digital Communication (online collaboration, online communication, digital footprint), digital literacy (computational thinking, content curation, critical thinking), digital rights (privacy, intellectual property rights, freedom of speech), digital identity (digital citizen, digital co-creator, digital entrepreneur), and Digital Use (screen time, digital health, community participation).

Blog post by Lara Galinsky on Dowser (who's solving what and how), August 6, 2012 "This may sound idealistic but we are already on the way. According to Net Impact's recent Talent Report: What Workers Want in 2012, the Millennial generation wants, and expects, to do good and do well in their paid work. In fact, a majority of students (65 percent) expect to make a difference in the world through their work, and 53 percent would take a 15 percent pay cut to work for an organization whose values matched their own. However, in my experience, too few of these students know the kind of difference they want to make, and how to make it. And that is the real opportunity. In order to harness this generation's desire to create change, we must move away from the antiquated concept of vocation, which emphasizes what's in it for the individual: whether it will sustain their interest or bring them fame or fortune. Instead, we need to help young people start their professional lives by asking questions. What issues, ideas, people, and projects move them deeply? What problems are theirs to own? How can they combine their heads and hearts to address those problems? What is their unique genius and how can it be of use to the world beyond themselves?"

Interesting article published 1/6/2014 on Second Acts for baby boomers. Quotes Marc Freedman, Elizabeth Isele (who lived in ME for a long time), and mentions Bevan Rogel. The Boomerworks online service for matching BBs with work opportunities is very interesting--wonder how they are doing? And whether we should try to ally with them? "In 1998, living in Maine, Isele created CyberSeniors, a multilingual nonprofit computer training company that eventually trained more than 28,000 seniors in 24 states. She's led numerous nonprofits over the decades and is now pushing public policy changes and forging connections between organizations to create an "entrepreneur ecosystem." That ecosystem is flourishing in Sarasota. Sarasota's Institute for the Ages, established in 2009 to change the conversation about aging as one of deficit and decline to one about enhancing lives, is a lab for companies and services that want to tap into the needs of older adults. In late 2013, the Institute launched Boomerswork.com, a web-based network to connect freelancers with companies seeking seasoned professionals for project-based work. The program started in Canada and the Institute is the first organization to bring it to the U.S. When the Institute convenes a national convention here in February, entrepreneurship and encore careers will be a large part of the agenda. In addition to a keynote address by Freedman, Isele is leading a workshop on entrepreneurship with Bevon Rogel, who runs a Freedman-related Encore Academy in St. Petersburg to help seniors find meaningful work. For Southwest Florida, which has one of the highest concentrations of seniors in the nation, the idea of an "encore" seems natural. As the rest of the country and world grays, branding this life stage as one that brings years, or potentially decades, more productivity and meaning to life has become an imperative."

Amazing paper by the Berkana Institute on how networks serve as incubators for CoPs, leaders, new ideas and ways of doing to emerge. It makes me think about leadership training programs vs. networks/forums for growing leadership in the collective. This aspect of emergence has profound implications for social entrepreneurs. Instead of developing them individually as leaders and skillful practitioners, we would do better to connect them to like-minded others and create the conditions for emergence. The skills and capacities needed by them will be found in the system that emerges, not in better training programs.

Here are five ways to successfully tap into the women's market: 1. Provide good quality information. Producing a newsletter and Web site are excellent ways to demonstrate your expertise and to keep your image in front of clients and prospects. Include plenty of strategies and tips that will help guide women to be more successful in running or growing their businesses. Conducting free seminars or workshops is another good strategy for imparting your knowledge and has the added benefit of serving as a networking forum. 2. Build relationship marketing strategies. Develop and sustain relationships with women and cultivate a sense of community. 3. Host networking events. Historically, women have not had the same opportunities to network as their male counterparts. You can create your own networking events for women clients and prospects. Featuring a guest speaker in your industry can be an excellent addition. Just be sure to build in enough time for networking as well. 4. Sponsor women's business associations or events. If you are looking to target this market and build awareness, consider sponsoring one of the many women's business associations and events. These range from something as specific as mentoring programs (such as the Step Ahead One-on-One Mentoring Program - www.stepaheadonline.com ) to associations for women exporters (such as the Organization of Women in International Trade - www.owit-toronto.ca ). Most hold regular meetings and special functions. Some provide opportunities for sponsors to speak and showcase their expertise. Contributing material to their newsletters, publications and Web sites is another good way to build your identity among members, as these associations often welcome good quality, educational submissions of interest to members. 5. Share core information on a regular basis. Email or mail information that is considered to be "in our mutual interest." News clippings, industry data, notes from indus

"-- Nearly half of new microbusinesses are women-owned -- Many microbusiness owners are pulling double duty, depending on a second job to make ends meet -- Despite struggles, 69 percent of microbusiness owners say they have the ideal job -- Microbusinesses would rather spend more time serving customers than taking time off WASHINGTON & BENTONVILLE, Ark.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 03, 2014-- One in three microbusiness owners (31%) depend more on a second job for their personal income than they do on their business, yet 69 percent say owning their business is the ideal job, according to the new Sam's Club/Gallup Microbusiness Tracker. In collaboration with Gallup, Sam's Club unveiled a new quarterly tracking poll today focused on America's smallest businesses -- microbusinesses -- with five or fewer workers. With more than 25 million microbusinesses in the United States*, they account for approximately 10 percent of all American jobs across a broad spectrum of businesses, such as pizza shops and cafes, convenience stores, pet groomers, mechanics, offices, day care centers and more. The results of the inaugural Sam's Club/Gallup Microbusiness Tracker provide new insights into the preparedness, concerns and needs of America's vital microbusiness segment. The results reflect 868 phone interviews made in March 2014 with companies of five or fewer employees."

article in INC on definition of entrepreneurship by Howard Stevenson, HBS professor, captured in book Breakthrough Entrepreneurship by Jon Burgstone. "Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity without regard to resources currently controlled."

From the Harvard Business Review, 2/1/13 We want people with entrepreneurial spirit on our team, and actively seek it out. These are the people that challenge the norm, have original opinions that move a discussion forward, and act with tenacity and determination.