Telstra Business Women Awards inspiration...

Last Thursday night I attended the 2009 Telstra Business Women of the Year Awards at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne.  I was very fortunate to be seated on a table with three finalists, Nicole Lander, Susi Tegan and Selena Cartwright.  

I was particularly impressed with the Keynote Address given by Christine Nixon the Head of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority.  Christine spoke with great honestly about a number of issues however left the audience with some very simple, yet powerful insights into business - these are three tips that I found very powerful.

1. Respect - Have a high degree of respect for yourself and the people around you. Ensure that the decisions you make in your day to day life/job are ones where you can walk away with your head held high
2. Back yourself - Sometimes it is necessary to make a decision or decisions and be strong enough to back yourself, even if others wont
3. Get a life! - Ensure that somehow you balance work and family/life

A very inspiring evening!

Google tools I recommend…

I have been recently working with a number of different clients on improving their online presence. Part of that process has been to implement the use of a number of free google tools. Here are three that I consistently recommend -

1. Google Analytics – although your website hosting company will often provide statistics on your website traffic, I use and recommend the Google Analytics tool. I find it easy to use and navigate.
2. Google Keyword tool – there are a number of keyword tools available on the internet that can assist with identifying words/keywords to help your business be found/ranked highly in google. I tend to start with the free Google tool and have found it to be very comprehensive. If you would like extra help getting started, check out this article by Get Elastic.
3. Local Business Centre – a great way to get your business listed in Google maps and to help with your keyword rankings.

Business and Leadership tips

In BRW a few months ago I read a very honest interview in BRW that featured David Rock from Results Coaching Systems whose business faced a 50% drop in revenue in 2008. I re-read this article recently as part of putting together my business plan for 2010.  I thought David’s five tips were very powerful -

1. Never appoint staff to fulfill contracts ahead of signing them
2. Keep management costs low
3. Maintain oversight of managers
4. Invest in top quality financial reporting
5. Focus on the most effective (ROI) marketing efforts.

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