Women and Intellectual Property Protection

This past month one recurring theme among my female clients rose above all others: Intellectual Property protection.  Each woman had confusion on who owns what in their partnerships. They seemed unable to ask for just compensation for their ideas or unique products invented. 

Let me say this very clearly:  It's yours if you invented it.  Copyrights, patents, trademarks are easily registered with the US gov't to ensure ownership and revenue rights for years to come. Tony Robbins does it, Martha Stewart does it, so why not you? 

I asked Beth Andrus, author of "The Essential Business Handbook," to weigh in on the matter.

"I work with very small businesses and many of the women I encounter are new to the business world," says Beth.  "Women are often reluctant to take legal steps to protect their intellectual property as they think it involves a long expensive process with lots of attorney fees.

"I have found that women will form partnerships quickly, without committing to paper the division of labor and IP.  Women don't want to appear distrustful as most of their partnerships are based on some type of 'best friend' emotions. Important to have someone neutral draw out the terms of the agreement for you so the emotion is kept to a minimum," suggests Beth, CEO of  www.minibizbuzz.com.

This is so true! We meet a woman with whom we have instant bonding. We talk, we plan, we dream and work our fingers off to get the 'dream' going. And then when "putting it writing" needs to be done, it's either blood on the table or dissolution of the partnerships with hurt feelings on both sides.

I advise all my clients the following: 

Protect all your material.  File with the US Gov't all your ideas, process, books, CD, DVD that you have developed.  Hold the material as an individual so you can then license it out to the company created to sell the service or item. You enjoy the protection of the US gov't on ownership and revenues.

Take a toy away from any two year old and they'll tell you firmly, 'Mine!' Let's take a page from their playbook shall we?

Clients: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is an adept description of the feelings we have towards our customers. 

Those we love (the good), those that drag their fee to pay, but pay big (the bad) and those that drive you straight into the arms of the shrink!

So what is an entrepreneur supposed to do?  Keeping a consistent revenue stream is so important to the small business and entrepreneur market segments. Let's look at ideas on how to deal.

The Bad - Large Health Care Organization

Problem: 

Client had not paid their bill in 8 months.  They did not return calls, ignored dunning notices and trashed the emails.  The bill was up to $15K! Outstanding invoices created a additional $641 in interest accrued.  Our services had saved this client 50K in operational costs.

Solution:

Did a bit of research and found out the objectives of the CFO.  What does he stand for?  What is he measured on? He had been PROMOTED because of his cost-cutting measures.

Letter:  We wrote an old-fashioned letter, sent via registered mail, to the CFO letting him know that 1) his company had saved 50K by using our services and 2) his company had accrued an extra $641.00 in interest COSTS due to ignoring the bill.

The client called the next day (after having his butt chewed out by the CFO), apologized with some excuse (ok by us) and said the bill would be paid immediately.

The check arrived the next week - All 15K of it!  AND......

We got a call to come back in and help them save once again.

What are you doing to turn your bad into good! Future blogs on the good and the ugly.

'Tis the season of customer retention

I have received more emails, newsletters and blog postings from all whom I have encountered during this very tough year of 2009.  That's ok, but doesn't float my enthusiasm boat. I think in tough times, personal touch means everything! So 'tis the season to GET PERSONAL!

Clients love to hear from their vendors, vendors love to hear from their clients.  Your personal touch means you care, you are ready to listen to them about what is going on in their lives and you both will walk away with a feeling of mutual gratitude.

Here is a reach and touch a customer tips for the season:

1. Make a list with phone numbers of all clients, however brief, that you did business with this year.
2. Make a list of all the vendors, with phone numbers, however brief, that you did business with this year.
3. Prepare a thank you statement that has at least three versions.  Ex: Hi I am calling to thank you for your business this year.  Hi, I am calling to thank you for being such a great vendor.  I so appreciated bringing the (insert product/service name) to (XYZ company).  Have a happy new year and a prosperous 2010!
4. Take one hour each morning until December 31st and CALL EVERY CLIENT and VENDOR. Use the prepared statement as a springboard for what you really say. 
5. Don't ask for anything - no referrals, no more business, no reminders.  Just a THANK YOU to them for having chosen your product or service.  Just a THANK YOU to those vendors that did a great job servicing your account.

You will be amazed at the reaction you will get and you will automatically rise to the top of visibility list.
Happy Holidays to all of you!

Google trends and more trends

Mary Ellen Bates is a superb librarian, and Bates Info Tip has transferred her skills of classifying information to the internet.  I received this from her and am using the tools provided by Google below.

Google has been doing some interesting things with its analyses of what people are while they are on the web. Google Trends, which was rolled out in 2006, lets you see how frequently words or phrases were search for in Google, over time. You can even compare the relative frequency of two different words or phrases. I was curious about how people referred to the H1N1 flu, and when the shift occurred from calling it “swine flu”. I typed in the two phrases, swine flu and H1N1, separated by a comma. [“swine flu”, h1n1] According to the search results, it wasn’t until October that most people shifted over to referring to the flu strain as H1N1. I can also see search trends in specific countries and in specific cities and states or provinces.

Google’s latest analysis tool is Google Trends for Websites. You provide one or more URLs; for each web site, Google displays the number of daily unique visitors, the countries or states/provinces they came from, other web sites that they have also visited, and terms they have also searched for. Just as Google Domestic Trends went beyond search queries to compare financial trends to its information, Google Trends for Websites extends its reach and analyzes information on web traffic from a number of outside sources.

Google Trends for Websites only works for fairly high-traffic sites, but can be a useful tool for seeing the relative popularity of web sites, and for getting ideas on alternative search queries on a topic.
Companies can use this as a quick way to see how their web traffic compares to those of its competitors, as well as to see what search words were being used to find them. See, for example, the difference in traffic by geographic location and over time for NBC, CBS and ABC.

Use this tool well to help you increase your keywords to direct traffic to you web site.  Also good information to use to see what your competition is doing.

Flight Damage

Hubby took care of all the arrangements for our trip back to Chicago to visit family. He cashed in the chips for flights, hotels, car rental and limo to the airport.

But he forgot to mention a slight detail; food is no longer served on flights. So when he informed me of this fact, I panicked!

Ok, airport food it is.  We get through security and arrive at the gate with 15 minutes to spare.  I suggest Hubby board first and save us overhead compartment space. I park the kids and run to the Starbucks to buy sandwiches and bottled water.

The line was moving quickly. I figured I had 5 minutes to grab, pay and go. That is until “Miss Professional Complainer” stepped up to the counter.

“Um… I’ll have a this and that and ok that too. No wait, I don’t want you charging me for this one as you guys owe me.” The Starbucks crew of three looks befuddled and all manner of movement comes to a dead stop. FOR 4 MINUTES. And then it takes her another 4 minutes putting it all in her large bag! The entire line is rolling their eyes and doing the impatient dance.

I stand firm, knowing Hubby is not going to let the plane take off without us.

The line moves at a snails pace as the orders become complicated a la “too much choice” menu and time slips away. I abandon the line knowing I can buy (and at even higher prices) snacks on the plane and race to the kids. The line is empty, the passengers all on board and I think, cool, we just swipe and go.

But the Professional Complainer steps up right in front of us! And she now goes into her spiel with the ticket taker.

“You guys owe me an upgrade to business class. I missed a huge important party and well it was really important and you guys owe me an upgrade. I talked to the guy at the counter, but he didn't get how I missed this really important party. So you need to give me an upgrade.”

The ticket taker smiled her “valium smile” and waved PC on down the jetway to the airplane. We swiped passed the woman and smiled the “knowing smile.”

We are the next to last passengers down the jetway and I have "where are u?"texts buzzing my cell phone from Hubby.

Professional Complainer is now on the plane at the entrance giving her you-owe-me spiel to the greeting attendant. It lasts another 5 minutes while we wait impatiently behind her. She is told, “sorry no seats available in business class.” And the discussion picks up again. AHHHHHH!!!!

By now I am 1) hungry, 2) totally frustrated by this woman’s need to claim her upgrade at the last minute. I am ready to blow past her with a loud “Excusssse meeeee” but am dead stopped by a look from D#1, who is not about to be humiliated by her mother so early on in the trip.

Hubby falls asleep right after take-off so I reach into his pants pocket to grab his wallet. Years of marriage have taught me that once he’s out, he’s out so I continue working my hand down his pocket while the food service attendant looks on with patience.  Guess she has seen it all. I spend $25.00 on ‘snacks’ to make us happy.

We can hear the Professional Complainer, four rows ahead of us, still going on and on to her seatmate about how “they owe me an upgrade. I missed a really important party and well they owe me!”

In listening to her I realized how her speech was incredibily ineffective.  As she got off the plane, she was still letting all airline personnel, "you guys owe me an upgrade 'cause I missed a really important party."

What what is wrong with her spiel?

Mommy War and Peace: It's personal by Darrlye Pollack

Made the supreme mistake of watching a episode of Dr. Phil on the topic of working moms versus stay-at-home moms. The debate centered around which was better.  Can you imagine the call to arms for blood on both sides?

Here is a blog I thought said it so well.....

Can we please declare a moratorium on the mommy war?  The one where the mommies are fighting about whether to stay at home or work?  The war that's almost halfway to the Hundred Year's War?  Can someone please muzzle Dr. Phil and all the people who fan the flames?

Enough already.Most mommies don’t have a choice about fighting this war---they’re drafted.Even for those who have choices, it surprises me that today's mommies are so sure about where they stand.Because I could never choose a side. In fact that’s my point: that the most intense mommy war takes place not  BETWEEN mommies but INSIDE mommies. I had never yearned to be a mommy; had not a single domestic bone in my body; no stirrings when I saw a baby.In fact, what stirred in me was doubt. In my thirties the body clock ticked loudly enough to wake me up and the alarm went off and suddenly I was pregnant.

At the same time, I knew, deep in my soul, I was not meant to stay home.  So I hired a nanny before giving birth.

I fired her before she ever got started.

Because I was in love.

So began the  mommy war within myself.   Maybe it was due to my age---growing up with one foot in the fifties and one foot in feminism.  Or maybe just because I’m basically an indecisive person.
Fortunately (or unfortunately), thanks to other choices in husbands and career,  I had options, making me luckier than most women.

When my first baby was 3 months old, I took a writing job.   Only I wasn’t as ready as I thought I was.  After days of agonizing and soul searching, I backed out of the job and stayed home for months that turned into years.

By the time my second child was born 4 years later, I had switched sides.   I took business calls in my hospital room; and took my two-week old son to a business meeting, even nursing him there (hey, it’s Hollywood.)

Back and forth.  For years, the conflict continued on the battlefield of my brain.

Would it matter to them if I brought team snacks made at Costco rather than in our kitchen?  Would they be traumatized by the succession of babysitters who came through one year like a revolving door?  Would they feel cheated that someone else fed them milk and cookies after school or supervised homework?

Would I feel cheated being out of town when the first chicken pox appeared or a tooth fell out?  Was I wasting my time, my brain power and my education? And then the standard question-- what would I say when someone asked what I did at a cocktail party?

The easiest times---in terms of angst ---were when the choices were made for me.

During the time I was a single working mom,   I was so stressed and guilty, I forgot (more than once) to pick up the carpool.  At least I wasn’t as frazzled as another single mom who was so distracted in the carpool line, she drove her car into the wall of the school.

The internal mommy war grew particularly bitter when I was diagnosed with cancer.  I looked back--- and agonized over past choices.  Looking forward was no better---I didn’t think I would be around long enough to rebuild all the bridges I had broken.
To my readers:  I made
The war ends when the kids leave home---leaving, like in any war, the survivors--me and my two fully- functional adult children.  Also leaving me convinced that internal conflict is reflected in the conversation between mommies.

The truth is there is no right answer---for mommies as a group or even for an individual.  There is only the best answer for any person at any time.  Most mommies---whether they work or not---try their best and want the best on behalf of their kids---all the time.

Looking back, I wish I could have avoided the emotional whiplash that tormented me ---because  when you consider the costs of fighting, it's just like a real war---nobody wins.

Although maybe we deserve a Nobel peace prize for trying.

Darrlye Pollack

Demise of Print!

"See how light it is," says my friend Randy B.  "Just settle on the couch and you'll see it's lighter than a book. It's so easy to see the text on the screen and you push this button to move forward, this button to move up or down and this one for backwards!"  Randy is very proud of her Kindle.  It's changed her life when it comes to reading.

I thought about how a Kindle would better my reading life.  I think it would not. Why?  Well for starters, I'm a bit sick of all the button pushing that goes on in my life these days. 

And second....I love books.

I love the smell of a new book.  Some women like the smell of new shoes, but me, I like the smell of ink drying on paper.  I love bookstores.  I love wandering in bookstores,  getting lost in picture books and magazines.  I love perusing the pages of a book with an interesting cover only to discover that I am falling into the story as quickly as Harry Potter falls into the pensive.  My brain goes to zen in 6 seconds flat.

Upon exiting the book store with the new purchases under my arm, I am impatient to go home to pop some corn, grab the cat and settle down to read.  I can't wait to live in the world of the story.

At times I am so enthralled with a 'page turner' that I don't even hear my name called unless the person is two inches from my ear  - at full volume. That happened a lot in 8th grade algebra.


I guard my collection of signed first edition in a locked glass cabinet.  I STOOD IN LINE for those signatures! I had a brush with genius and walked away with a snippet of conversation and being able to say, "I met her at a book fair.  Great author!" Some signed books (by dead authors) are currently priced at $5,000.  Yes, $5,000 for a signed copy of "Riders of the Purple Sage," by Zane Grey, one of my favorites.


So the Kindle got me to thinking.  How does an author "sign" a downloaded version of their book? How does a collector collect "e-books" from favorite authors?  And how do you sell an "e-signed, e-book on eBay?"


I will grieve profoundly the day books go the way of gas-guzzlers. But for now I will continue wander the last book stores, smell the drying ink and plot my attendance at book fairs.

Turmeric Powder and a Little Subversion

My daughters are allergic to anything "mom" says or tries to impose when it comes to their health.  So the idea of taking vitamins, eating more fruits and veggies and laying off MY coffee in the morning is met with a resounding "NO!"  Feels like the terrible two's all over again. 

Subversion is the only tool left to me to insure their continued health. 

D#2 has decided not to take her asthma medicine.  "Ok," I say.  "Where are your inhalers?" Why-are-you-bothering-me roll of the eyes tells me she has no clue.  So I crush the pink pill and sprinkle it over a cup of "froyo," which she eats without an ounce of suspicion. 

D#1 has a great immune system.  All that breast-feeding really paid off.  But think she'd take calcium supplements to boost her bone strength? The eye rolling happens here too.  I bought good-tasting Tums - stuck them on her computer with a note stating that her password was changed and the consuming of 2 tabs a day will keep the computer humming in her hands.  Worked like a charm!

But the Hubby, he's another issue.  He's leery of anything promoted by his wife as "good for your health." He rarely gets sick except if he's been on a plane.  Then he is miserable with sneezing and coughing all over the house. 

I shared my frustration-Husband syndrome with a friend of mine from India.  Samir Doshi, of Telecomers, mentioned they use Turmeric powder as an anti-septic.  "How does it taste?" I ask.  My mind is busy flashing pictures of me sitting on the Husband whilst pouring this powder directly into his mouth.  "Of nothing," he replied.  "It just turns the food a bit yellow." 

Yellow?  I can do yellow!  I rushed off to the market, bought some turmeric powder, yellow squash, tomatoes and made a ratatouille.  I liberally sprinkled the Turmeric on the squash before drenching everything in garlic, caramelized onions and olive oil. 

I served the dish on a decorative platter and made it look FANTASTIC, key to getting the family to eat new dishes.  They ate it up and suggested we have this dish more often! 

Gosh, I love subversion. 

Belgium Cousins

Just got a call from Michelle and Nathalie. They arrived in San Francisco safe and sound, are sleepy and looking for a great restaurant to eat at. Any suggestions?

FOUND FAMILY!!!

My family has found me. They found me through concerted effort, followed the ramblings of a senile grandmother and located my 1st cousin in Paris who then let them know about the "american" cousins in Los Angeles.

Michelle and Nathalie (mother and daughter respectively) are only children and direct descendants of my grandmother's younger brother. Got that? My grandmother was born in 1878 and gave birth to my father in 1907. Herman, the younger brother, was born in 1887 , daughter Giselle was born in 1925, gave birth to Michelle in 1953. I can give you the ages of all other descendants and a trend emerges: no one gives birth early in life. Remember that in the 1900's women gave birth multiple times by age 20. My grandmother was 29! Giselle was 28! My father was 45, 47 and 50. I was 38.5 and 41.75 respectively with my two girls.

We are adventurous at heart and deed, intensely curious about all aspects of life and great travelers.

I have never met them, they have never met me. So meeting family who are perfect strangers will be a new adventure for me and them. They are staying with friends of mine who have graciously agreed to host them. I am throwing a dinner with friends who knew my father and my family while growing up in LA. The French Chef I hired for the occasion is an old family friend who knew us quite well.

So stay posted as I will be blogging on the experience and discovery of common traits, mannerisms, etc. We already look alike to the rest will be up for exploration.

Laurelle

My Think Tank moments.

I am in dire need of a morning in the garden to myself to think about what I need to think about. It's the way I sort items out. Those items that require less immediate action and a thought or two about how to go about the action. What will it do for my business, costs involved; time and money, how will this affect my my life, and etc. etc. etc.

The joy of the garden is to do a physical activity with a visible result while doing something that has no physical manifestation of the action: thinking!

On the list to think about how America just loves its drama. Why are we so into drama of the human being? Why do we love to scare ourselves? Why do we resist change, yet change at such a rapid rate that we can't keep up! The right wing is worried about the left wing and the left wing is worried about the right wing. Well two wings, working together mean flight is possible. So why are they not flying together. Means it just one grounded bird.

You get the idea....

So off to the garden I go in the morning to pull ivy off the hillside and think about what I need to think about.

And you? What do you think about?

Laurelle Rises to the Top Once Again!

Laurelle Johnson is
“Entrepreneur Mother Of The Year”

Los Angeles (April 14, 2009) - Laurelle Johnson will be honored as “Entrepreneur Mother of the Year” by Working Mother magazine at a ceremony in New York on May 8. “The Working Mothers of the Year are extraordinary moms who adeptly balance career, motherhood and self development with grace and determination,” says the magazine. Laurelle joins a select group ranging from high-powered executives to the First Lady of the United States.

Laurelle balances being mother of two teenage daughters with a business helping entrepreneurial women prepare to present their companies to angel and venture capital investors.

Women are terrified to ask for funding. Knowing what to say and how to say it is key to gaining interest in their products and services. Laurelle’s business experience both at high corporate levels and as entrepreneur, puts her in an ideal position to craft messages that bridge the communication gap between women-owned businesses and male investors.

With her help, women entrepreneurs have raised over $1.5 million in financing.

Her workbook “Is Your Elevator Speech Taking Your Business To The Top Floor,” takes women through a process that helps them present their core message succinctly to potential investors. The workbook costs $17.00. Order it here. [this is a link to your order page]

Read Laurelle’s profile in Working Mother magazine here. http://tinyurl.com/wmlaurelle