Conference Sponsors & Exhibitors!

Yes...October 9th is next week, which means KBWomen's Strength 2 Strength Conference is almost here! Conference Sponsors Include:

















Exhibitors Include:
Your Greater Purpose Coaching
The BLING Shop & Purs-onality Purses
KIROS
Silpada Jewelry
Gimme Grace Christian Cards
Andelcare

There will be more sponsors and exhibitors added to this list shortly!
Will you join us? www.KBWomen.com/conference.htm


We look forward to meeting you!

Starting a Business?

According to the Puget Sound Business Journal, more Americans are "living paycheck to paycheck. The number of Americans living paycheck to paycheck is on the rise, with 61 percent reporting they are just eking by."

The CareerBuilder survey they are quoting also noted that 33% of those surveyed, "report that they don't put any money aside into their savings each month, up from 25 percent in 2008, while 30 percent set aside $100 or less each month for savings, and 16 percent save less than $50, according to CareerBuilder.This survey polled 4,478 U.S. workers between May 22 and June 10."

What does that mean for Christian women in business? That means we have an opportunity.
Here's how I see it:
1. We have the opportunity to solve problems
2. People are hungry for hope and answers
3. Desperation can lead to decisions for positive change
4. Through faith, we can boldly enlarge our territory, and inspire others

Although we ourselves as Christians have times of trouble, strain, challenges, and failures, we are not forsaken. Our Provider knows what we need, and is causing all things to work together for our good. We can offer hope to others. We can learn and model Godly principles for finances, work ethic and discipline to others who may be struggling during this time. Let's get wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Let's put that to use in our lives, businesses and careers. Let's display or "shine" a light of hope during dark days.

LOVE is at the core of God. Is it at the core of us? Ultimately, it is love that people respond to.

• Do we have love for others? Can we consider what others need from us? Are we willing to develop our gifts, skills and talents to impact the world around us?
• Do we have love for ourselves? Enough love to take care of, and develop ourselves?
• Do we love God, therefore obeying His ways? Releasing control to Him and trusting His will?

All good questions to ask ourselves! Let's reclaim some territory!

"I have never seen the righteous forsaken, or God's seed begging for bread" -Psalm 37:25

www.KBWomen.com

Let's Talk Cash Flow - by Audrey Godwin

If you are a business owner, you know how valuable it is to receive sound financial wisdom, advice and ideas. Thankfully, we have Audrey in our midst to share valuable information with us. Thank you Audrey!


Cash and profit are not mutually exclusive, although many business owners think that if they have cash in the bank, they should be profitable. When you talk about money in your business, what are you really talking about? Cash flow? Profit? Sales? When you discuss finances, what comes up? Cash? Debt? Equity contributions? Or am I being too forward in stating that you are regularly looking at your financial statements? There are many businesses that are in the throes of putting together their tax returns for 2008, yet have very little idea about what is going on in 2009. We just figure that we’ll file our taxes and then eventually catch up to make half-way decent decisions about what to do by the end of the year. And by the way, the end of the year is rapidly approaching!

Let’s talk about cash flow – what is it? Cash inflow comes from sales, debt financing and capital infusions by the owner. Cash outflow is payments of vendor trade credit, operating expenses, sales and marketing costs, overhead, product costs, owner compensation, equipment purchases and debt payments. Yes, this is a bit of the obvious, but if you are not reviewing cash flow regularly, then you may run out of steam way before you get to the finish line. And let’s ask a bigger question, what do you have in place to monitor and measure your cash flow? We tend to tell ourselves that the bookkeeping is more than we can handle because it’s “just not our thing” or, “I don’t do numbers”. While there may be a little bit of truth to that, we really want to dig deeper to “peel back the onion” so-to-speak, in order to understand what we believe around money that is keeping us from managing it well.

Money beliefs are not developed just because you started your own company. Money beliefs are formed way before that. As a matter of fact, owning your own company will bring to the surface those issues much more quickly. If we find ourselves struggling to keep cash flow positive, timely and available, there is a different conversation we need to be having. I have worked with women who are great at keeping detailed books and records for others, but when it comes to their own finances, they fall flat and miss the mark. Now, there is no blame here, it is just a matter of perspective.

As women, it’s easier to do for others with excellence, yet not really believe that we are deserving of that excellence. I spoke with a client a couple of years ago about this very issue. She was always getting her taxes done at the very last minute (October time frame) and wanting to do better the following year. However, her verbal commitment did not reflect her actions. I asked her what she was really willing to commit to in order for her business to thrive and flourish. Our conversations led to the childhood memories of how her parents handled money at home and the challenges they faced as a family. Her father seemed to always work overtime, but the cash flow was only enough to pay those bills and break even. What was modeled for her was always living hand to mouth and working hard for someone else, let little at home to have more than enough to support the family. What we finally did was determine what it would cost for her to get a bookkeeper for her own company and look at her financial statements every month. Uncovering the root of the issue, allowed us to pull it out, remove the toxic soil and plant new seed in the form of God’s word about finances, money and accountability. Moving forward, she has filed her taxes in April, with a cash flow and profit plan created for the New Year in place to ease the cash unknowns from her business cycle.

Having stable cash flow is the foundation to a successful company. Planning to have cash at the end of the year, is not only to determine how much to spend on tax write offs, but also to determine how much needs to be set aside for operations in the following year. Plan to be cash rich and profitable – it allows you to be a blessing to others in your company and community.

By Guest Author Audrey Godwin, CPA, of www.TheGodwinGroup.net

Flight of the Bumblebee Life?

We found a fun "flight of the bumblebee" song that we'll be using for one of our "Strength 2 Strength" conference videos.

It is a fun song, and gets me thinking about our 'pace' in life. As Christian business women, we are amazing. We are busy bees! Families, career/businesses, serving at church, planning, friends, problem solving, household chores, etc. However, just remember this - if you and I are too busy for God, then we are too busy. If we are too busy for renewing your minds and spirits, then we are too busy.


If you find yourself at a light-speed pace, an unsustainable frenzy or near burn-out, get your priorities straight. Do you know what your top 5 life priorities are? They may be slightly different for each of us, but might include God/spirituality, family time, education, career, business, creativity, serving, teaching, health & fitness, etc. If you're a busy bee on overload, you may want to consider trimming your schedule and commitments. Trim away things that are outside of your top 5 priority categories.


Just some food for thought, honey!! Blessings to you...



Posted by Krista Dunk

Dondi Scumaci on KBWomen Radio!

Did you catch the show last week? Dondi Scumaci joined us for a conference sneak preview discussion on KBWomen Radio. In fact, you can click the online radio 'player' on this blog page (top of right column) and listen in! Otherwise, visit our KBWomen Radio home page at www.blogtalkradio.com/KBWomen and get the archived show there. Dondi is our keynote speaker for "Strength 2 Strength - A Conference for Christian Business Women" on October 9th, in Bellevue, WA!

Next week, we interview one of our other lovely conference speakers - Audrey Godwin! Join us live at 9:30 am PST next Thursday, September 24th, via phone at (347) 202-0747 or online at the blog talk radio link shown above.

If you are a Christian woman who is a business owner, professional woman, aspiring entrepreneur, ministry team leader, etc., KBWomen radio is especially for you. Additionally, so is our upcoming conference event, and also our free *BLING* ezines. We encourage you to take advantage of these tools for getting wisdom, inspiration and connected with a community of like-minded women of faith.

Blessings!

Posted by Krista Dunk

Conferences for Christian Women?

Are you a Christian woman in the Pacific Northwest looking for conferences to attend? If you are a Christian woman who is also in the business world (or desire to be), we invite you to "Strength 2 Strength - A Conference for Christian Business Women" on October 9th, in Bellevue, WA.

This will be an amazing event, not to be missed! Our speaker line-up is fabulous. Not only will you have the opportunity to network, create community and share with other like-minded ladies, but you'll also enjoy shopping, food, SWAG bags (with pre-registration), building your business skills, encouragement, and inspired faith.

Will you join us? Please do, and bring a friend! Tickets are a steal at just $67. Find out more and register today at: www.KBWomen.com/conference.htm.

Feeling Glad? 4 Tips to help you increase your 'Glad Meter'

"Anxiety in the man's heart causes depression. But a good word makes it glad." -Proverbs 12:25

Are you in a place of gladness or a space of depression? Much has been written and spoken about vision in the secular world in more recent years. And interestingly enough, we don't hear about it a lot in the faith world. We hear a lot about being filled with joy and peace, letting go of wounds and hurts and focusing on all things good. There are words spoken and books written about getting understanding and finding peace to rid one of depression and anxiety. We even see things written and prayers prayed that fill us with good things and cast out the negative. But what makes us glad and how do we find it?

Webster's Dictionary defines glad as "feeling joy or pleasure; delighted; pleased: glad about the good news; glad that you are here" and yet there are no instructions on how to get "glad."

We are continually bombarded with ways 'not to be' or attitudes to be 'adjusted' and yet there still seems to be this illusive quality of glad that we strive for - only to continually fall short. My experience tells me from the years of coaching and encouraging others, that many people don't have a vision for what that place of 'glad' looks like, on the personal level. They haven't yet identified the steps and even desires to get to that place that is spoken of so frequently. Have you too been waiting for that good word in your life to get out of being depressed or anxiety ridden and into having a heart that is truly glad?

Good News! We have a good word for you today with 4 simple tips to help you identify and increase your "GLAD meter."

1.) Gauge the future not based on your past, base it on where God is leading you. When we know that we know, that we know the voice of God and how it moves in our life, we begin to set markers that support growth and joy.

2.) Lead from a heart motive. We are all called to lead, and when we lead with our heart toward what we know is God inspired in our life, we increase our efficacy for daily life and relationships.

3.) Action is always a necessity, we don't just happen upon things without some form of action. Defining what the steps look like to move toward what we are called for motivates us toward the results that are most satisfying.

4.) Define your life's vision - build a support network to help you see what you were created for and put it into a plan that defines your action, leads you toward satisfaction so that you can easily gauge your glad meter.

Would you like to take action, build a support network and increase your "glad meter?" Join us on October 9th at "Strength 2 Strength - A Conference for Christian Business Women" in Bellevue, WA. MORE INFO

Posted by Tammy Redmon

New Book Launch by our Friends Jill Hart & Diana Ennen!

TGIF Ladies!
As you may already know, we have an exciting conference for Christian business women coming up on October 9th. One of our fabulous speakers is our friend Jill Hart of http://www.cwahm.com/. She and one of her partners, Diana Ennen, have written a very informative and fun book that you should know about. Here is the book information:

Home-based businesses are estimated to be a $427 billion-a-year industry. In recent studies it was found that as many as 105 million people in North America alone were working at home. Considering this information, it is obvious that home-based businesses can be successful and authors Jill Hart and Diana Ennen will help you succeed with your own. So You Want to Be a Work-at-Home Mom details all the basics of starting a business in a spiritual, motivational, and comprehensive manner. From deciding what type of business to start to keeping your family and faith first, this helpful tool details every aspect of establishing a business. With proven success tips utilized by the authors and others who own work-at-home businesses, this inspiration approach will provide you with the resources you need to start your own home-based business. So You Want to Be a Work-at-Home Mom includes: * Detailed information on types of businesses to start * Ideas and assistance for setting up, operating, and marketing your business * Definitions and descriptions of work-at-home terminology and processes * Help for developing your Website * Explanations of the business nuts and bolts, including bookkeeping, taxes, and more About the Authors JILL HART is the founder of Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com. Jill is a co-author of So You Want To Be a Work-at-Home Mom. Jill has published many articles and is a contributing author in Laundry Tales, The Business Mom Guide Book, I'll Be Home for Christmas, and Faith Deployed. She holds a bachelor's degree in human development and family studies. Learn more about working from home at http://www.cwahm.com/work-at-home/ . DIANA ENNEN has been a leader and mentor in the work-at-home industry since starting her business, Virtual Word Publishing, in 1985. She is the author of many books, including Virtual Assistant the Series; Become a Highly Successful, Sought After VA and Words from Home: Start, Run, and Profit from a Home-Based Word Processing Business. She resides in Margate, Florida, with her husband and their three children. Below is an interview with the authors of So You Want To Be a Work-at-Home Mom – Jill & Diana. If have questions they are happy to answer your questions anytime. Leave a comment below or email Jill@cwahm.com or Diana@virtualwordpublishing.com How long have you been working at home? Jill Hart - I've been working at home since 2000. I had to go back to work full-time for a brief period in 2003 when my husband got out of the Air Force. At that point I got even more serious about making my business work and I've been home full-time since then. Diana Ennen – I’ve been working at home since 1985, when my son was born. He’s now graduated college and already working towards his own career. I absolutely love it. I can’t imagine doing anything else. What types of businesses do you operate? Jill Hart – I run Christian Work at Home Moms, CWAHM.com, a website full of free resources, job listings and information about home businesses. I also write articles and books (yes, more books to come!) and am a blogger for sites like Time/Warner's Christian Momlogic.com and a member of the Guideposts blogger team Diana Ennen– I’m the President of Virtual Word Publishing. I’m a virtual assistant and specialize in marketing & publicity. I’ve also written numerous books on how to start a VA business and offer PR and VA Coaching. Tell us about your book? How do you think it can benefit those who want to start a business? Jill Hart - The book has been such a "God thing." He orchestrated the entire sequence of events - from putting Diana and I together as co-authors to bringing us to the right publisher. The book is a hands-on practical guide for anyone who wants to build a business from home. We cover topics ranging from how to select the right type of business for you, to how to get started, to how to market and grow your business. Diana Ennen - I think one of the best features of our book is that it’s not only informative, but motivational as well. You’ll feel like friends are helping you on your journey to success. Also, we discuss numerous types of businesses to start and provide proven methods to achieve success. We also often hear how starting a business can be so overwhelming. That’s why we pay special attention to all the how tos. We feel very confident our book will help, not only those starting a business, but those already in business wanting to expand it. What types of businesses are featured in your book? Jill Hart - We have such a great range of contributors - everything from direct sales companies like Southern Living at Home and Avon to unique product-driven businesses like BSM Media and GrillCharms. These woman are amazing and give readers a great insight into how they've grown their businesses in very different ways. Diana Ennen - We cover everything from direct sales companies to specialized areas such as medical transcription and virtual assisting. Also, Jill shares detailed information on starting a community based membership site. We think you’ll get a lot of helpful tips too from such work-at-home powerhouses as Maria Bailey and Lesley Spencer Pyle. Do you have any tips for success for Christian entrepreneurs that you’d like to share? Jill Hart - I think my favorite tip - shared with me by one of our contributors, Tammy Degenhart, almost ten years ago is that working together benefits everyone. She told me, "Jill, what you give to others God brings back tenfold" and I've seen that hold true time and time again. It may not be in financial gains and it may not look like what we expected but God is so faithful in that when we work together there is no competition - it's a win-win situation. Diana Ennen - Do what you believe in and use your own skills and prior experience to find the business that’s just right for you. Research/Research/Research. The more you research, the better your business. Continue to market and be out there. So many once they find a few clients stop marketing. You need to get out there continually. You then become the go to person when someone needs services or products that you offer. What are some of the challenges that you see with those starting or operating a business? Jill Hart – In my experience, I've talked with many women who get frustrated because success doesn't come easily or quickly. Working from home may sound easy, but in reality it can actually be just as hard as working outside the home. There are many unique challenges, especially when working at home while raising children. If women don't prepare themselves, they can become discouraged and disheartened. Diana Ennen– One of the major challenges I see is losing belief in yourself that you can do it. That’s why I think a faith-based book will be so beneficial. Even when times get tough, you can rely on your faith to forge ahead. With the economy, do you believe it’s still a good time to start a business? Why? Jill Hart – I think it's a better time than ever. The internet is so much more widely used than it was even nine years ago when I began my website. If people do their research and find a company that fits them as well as their budget this can be a great time to break into the work-at-home field. Diana Ennen – Absolutely. In fact, I think there’s never been a better time. You might have to work a little harder, but it absolutely can be done. Plus, there are so many businesses who need us more than ever because of the economy. For example, with virtual assistants because businesses are downsizing they are seeking the help of a VA to help on an as needed basis. Your book is written from a Christian perspective? Tell us a little about that and how you feel that makes it so unique? Jill Hart – My faith is central to who I am and therefore central to my business. I began Christian Work at Home Moms because I wanted women to have a safe place where they could discuss not only business things, but also talk about an area that doesn't get talked about a lot in business circles - how our faith affects our businesses. The book is written in a way that doesn't hit anyone over the head with our faith, but it's true to who we are and talks about things from the vantage point that we see life - through the lens of our faith. Diana Ennen – There are so many books out there today on starting a business. However, few have the Christian mom in mind. We provide a lot of scriptures and examples of how you can use your faith to help you. Our hope is that not only will your business thrive, but it might just give a little boost to your faith as well. Learn more about the book at Beacon Hill Press or SoYouWantToBeAWAHM.com.