How Not to Be Afraid of Failure

Bluster or Blowhard?

Another thought-provoking piece by Karen E. Klein and published by Bloomberg Businessweek:

Must Women Entrepreneurs Learn to Bluster?

Truth be it, I had to look up the word to figure out what it meant in the context in which it was being used because I only thought of bluster as "a fierce wind blowing!"  But take a look at the definition above, especially how the two examples referenced are from "men."  And don't miss the word "blowhard" either because they might be interchangeable.

Great article by Karen -- definitely worth a read -- and how refreshing to catch Camile Alcasid's insights:

Camille Alcasid, a software engineer who runs Santa Monica, Calif., new media consultancy Westside Websites, says she routinely experiences the double standard. "Men can get away with bluster because it is more accepted or expected in society and in the workforce, while bluster is sometimes confused as noise when not properly executed or received," she says. Working in a male-dominated field, she says, "I've come to learn some of the tricks men do to cover up for what they don't know and how they expose or conceal their flaws and strengths, depending on the situation."

Ladies ... What do you think?  Can you muster up the bluster?  Or should you bother?

Illustration credit:  Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Posted by:  Laurel Delaney, Escape From Corporate America blog

Jam'n to Her Own Business

Learn how Dafna Kory (pictured) spends nine months of the year working full-time on her budding food business (INNA jam is the name of her company/blog here), and supplements her income the other three months with editing gigs.

You can get to where you need to go -- starting and running a profitable business -- with baby steps.

See how she's doing it here.

Photo credit: Dafna Kory website

Animate Out of the Gate with Your Business: Here's How

These wonderful user-friendly animation tools make it easy to set your business apart from others by expressing yourself in a distinctive, fun-loving way.  Check them out and see how you can use them to bring positive attention to your business.

1. GoAnimate
2. Animasher
3. Xtranormal

Illustration credit here.

Posted by:  The official Escape From Corporate America blog

From Superdoglover to Superentrepreneur to Supercollar®

Jane Angelich, CEO of supercollar®, has two passions:  her dogs and her business.  She invented a product, supercollar® (pictured above), that satisfies both her passions and at the same time fulfills the needs of her customers who are dog lovers too.  And to accomplish this she just happened to leave corporate America at the age of 39.

Jane got her big idea one day when noticing her fireman husband's utility belt. Firemen need to carry a lot of tools around their waist and do so by having them attach to a retractable belt —the tools can be pulled, used, let go, retracted, and returned to their spot quickly.

Learn how you too can get a new, entrepreneurial leash on life (pardon the pun) -- just like Jane did -- by reading USA Today columnist Steve Strauss's five tips on how to do it here.

Illustration credit here.

Astia Propels Women Entrepreneurs

A resource you should know about:  Astia (www.astia.com).

Sharon Vosmek (pictured-right), is CEO of Astia, a global not-for-profit organization that propels women's full participation as entrepreneurs and leaders in high-growth businesses, fueling innovation and driving economic growth.  "Women are a part of the economy that if tapped for their full potential and abilities, could provide us the economic recovery we seek," says Vosmek.

According to research conducted by Babson College, 'if women entrepreneurs in the U.S. started with the same capital as male entrepreneurs, they would add a whopping 6 million jobs to the economy within five years -- 2 million of those in the first year alone.'

Source:  No. 14

Astia blog

Photo credit Flickr.

Posted by:  the official Escape From Corporate America blog