Devoted to women of color in business

Joling Mew is a San Francisco Bay Area resident who realized that plastic bags were going to be passé --- she decided to take matters into her own hands by creating an eco-friendly, environmentally conscious, reusable plastic bag.

Called "520 nm bags" and on the web at http://www.520nmbags.com, these bags are a terrific way to reduce, reuse, and conserve. Made out of 100% recycled plastic bottles, these reusable shopping bags are recommended by environmentally-friendly shoppers. They're eco-friendly produce and bulk food bags to help you shop green.

As a great plastic bag alternative, you can tote them to the farmer's market or the local grocery store. They come in a variety of colors and fold easily into your pocket or purse.

As a minority woman in business, Joling's product fulfills a number of niches. "520 nm is the wavelength of green light. It’s everywhere you look," she says, referring to the name of her company. The mission of her company is to "help you see the green in every day by offering simple solutions for a healthy planet."

Visit Joling's website at:

http://www.520nmbags.com 

You may have heard of the reorganization for Know More Media, which affects all the blogs within this business network.

I'll be updating SistersinBiz.com on a less regular basis from now on, but keep posted for changes, as I plan to change the site around in 2009.

In the meantime, feel free to contact me through my other blog or through my company website:

 http://www.asuccessfulwoman.com

http://www.10kwebdesign.com

Thanks so much for your support.

Warmly,

Monica 

Thomas Friedman just chastized our president's poor planning when it comes to America's dependency on oil. According to Severin Boreinstein of the University of California Energy Institute, on Apollo Alliance blog, "the world consumes about 86 million barrels a day of petroleum, and the United States uses nearly 21 million barrels a day of petroleum and liquified hydrocarbon fuel, or nearly 25% of everything the world produces daily. The US has 5% of the world’s population."

President Bush now wants us and the Saudis to increase production: this from a president who, as Friedman says, "has for six years resisted any pressure on Detroit to seriously improve mileage standards on its gas guzzlers; this from a president who’s done nothing to encourage conservation; this from a president who has so neutered the Environmental Protection Agency that the head of the E.P.A. today seems to be in a witness-protection program...But, most of all, this deadline is from a president who hasn’t lifted a finger to broker passage of legislation that has been stuck in Congress for a year, which could actually impact America’s energy profile right now — unlike offshore oil that would take years to flow — and create good tech jobs to boot."

Friedman is referring to H.R. 6049 — "The Renewable Energy and Job Creation Act of 2008," which extends for another eight years the investment tax credit for installing solar energy and extends for one year the production tax credit for producing wind power and for three years the credits for geothermal, wave energy and other renewables.

I truly believe that we as a country and as a world need to get off the petrochemical "teat" and start investing in solar, wind, and geothermal power.

What types of green activities are happening in your community or in your business? We all can take small steps to change our behavior: many people are now doing things like:

commuting using public transportation, bicycling, or a cooperative approach
bringing their own bags to the grocery store
only buying local foodstuffs or produce generated within 100 mile radius
conserving energy or installing solar panels

None of us wants to be in a position where we are in crisis due to a lack of oil. When we change our behavior and our purchasing decisions NOW, we are better prepared and we contribute to the solution.

Please find five ways to integrate green thinking and sustainable living into your business and your life TODAY. There are methods to increase your energy conservation, your water usage, your appliances, your commute, and even your printing habits (why print if you can use online documents?)

I will be going over a number of ideas over the next few days on more ways to go green for your business.

If you have ideas, please send them to  me at monica at sisters in biz.

Did you get your free cone at Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day yesterday? (April 29, 2008?)

I hope you did. My favorite is Coffee Heath Bar Crunch: whenever I get to a Ben & Jerry's Scoop Shop I get that on a sugar cone.  Last year, the company gave away more than a million cones from its stores worldwide on Free Cone Day.  Wow!

In thinking about the publicity Ben & Jerry's generated, Free Cone Day is just a small part of the company's outreach to community and its ability to capitalize on its brand as a loyal, family-friendly, salary-capped, organic and eco-friendly company (I know some of you are grumbling that the original owners sold out, but remember, the company continues to donate over a million dollars to charity-- and also gives away significant amounts of ice cream-- every single year).

A free giveaway of your main product may not work for you and your business, but I know you can find something -- even a little something! -- that you may give away as a promotional item or an introduction to your services.

If you're predominantly in services, consider doing some pro bono work for a local nonprofit. If you offer books, software, tapes, or CDs, consider giving some away to people who will help you publicize your work. If you have physical items, find schools or groups who will help promote your product to generate "buzz" about your corporate generosity. You might want to follow Ben & Jerry's example and do an annual day where you focus on your pro bono or volunteer efforts, just for the day.

For some more ideas on sharing, try this link from A Successful Woman:

Business Builder: Give Something Away to Receive Something Back  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_&_Jerry's
 

I just returned from a wonderful trip to Honolulu to attend the annual Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) Hawaii Chapter installation and scholarship dinner, a fun-filled event with honorary guests, a silent auction, lucky raffle tickets, and entertainment. The new chapter president was sworn in at this event, which was graced with the attendance of Honolulu's mayor, Mufi Hannemann.

The event was held at the swanky Sheraton Waikiki, in the upstairs ballroom with about 50 tables of 10 people each. I sat with my host, Claudine Cheng, who gave me a fragrant lei and who introduced me to the various officers of the group. Thanks Claudine!

We had great food (six courses including egg flower soup, duck with taro, sweet and sour fish, and fried haupia -- mmmmm), and great conversation with the people at my table, including the OCA president-elect Susan Chong Wong, city councilpersons Rod Tam (District 6) and Romy M. Cachola (District 7), and the State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism business development program manager Steven R. Lee.

I was definitely impressed with the enthusiasm these guests and all the others raised for the organization: the fundraising from just the lucky ticket sales alone topped $2500.

The Organization of Chinese Americans was founded in 1973 to advance the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) in the United States, and there are currently 80 chapters throughout the country.

[picture of Ginny Gong and Claudine Cheng from ocanational.org] 

The group recently completed a campaign to buy a building in Washington DC to serve as the main center and home for APAs nationwide: OCA is the first organization of its kind to make this kind of purchase. The importance of having a physical structure is very high to Asian Pacific Americans: it signifies that the group has arrived and is here to stay.

OCA plans to start a new Asian Pacific American Policy Institute and to provide other services from the Washington building.

[picture of new OCA building in Washington, DC]

What warmed my heart about this event was the members' emphasis on giving back to the community, especially to young people. OCA Hawaii sends young adults to Washington on a fellowship so they may learn more about how the government works. There's also a new Jessie Cheng Scholarship that sends young people to intern at the city, county, or state level to get a sense of how public service works.

I took away two ideas from the dinner:

1)  Being a part of a community helps smooth business connections.

Perhaps you've heard of the term guānxi (wikipedia entry) , which loosely translates into "social capital." The basic premise of this is just like whuffie (SistersinBiz article: Where is whuffie?), where you as an individual operate within a large network of people who help each other with mutual assistance, contacts, and support. In business, personal reputation means everything, and referrals and recommendations are extremely important in some cases.

From attending the dinner, I see the obvious benefits (friendship, connections, business opportunities, charitable giving) that come with being a part of a large network of people. When you tend to others, they tend to you.

The honorees at the dinner were all leaders in business, government, and community organizing. I realized that it's so important to share back with people, groups, and associations who help you along the way. The OCA event honorees were all extraordinarily successful, and they all have the capacity and willingness to give back much in the way of time, treasure, and talent to help support the organization's mission.

Because of the nature of my work (web development) I get periodic inquiries from offshore companies wanting to know if I'd like to hire them to fulfill the demands of my business.

Here's one such message (a .WAV file from my voicemail):

Listen to file 

If you can't hear it, it's a solicitation message and it's a little bit garbled.

This is the e-mail that came with the message:

<snip>

This is

[name here]*  (*for privacy, I took out any identifying information)

., working for WEBDEVCOMPANY* - a web Solution Company. I visited your company`s website and wanted to inquire whether you would be interested to hire our well experienced web designers or web developers.

Our Company provides efficient web designers & web developers who are equipped with creative minds, fast fingertips, and are proficient in latest technology. We take great pride in our diverse and exciting designs, from simple text and graphics to more intricate designs, we provide you with amazing services at very affordable prices. No matter what your budget is we will give you the absolute best solution to accomplish everyone of your goals. We invite you to browse our website and learn more about our services.

WEBDEVCOMPANY offers reputed companies monthly human resource hiring. We provide you with a team of highly trained professionals who are well experienced in ASP.NET, Web designing, Graphic designing, PHP, MYSQL and much more.
Our resources will do your work with high quality and a very cost effective rate.

You can hire our professionals for $7.27/hr onwards. This cost effective rate does not imply that we compromise with the quality of our work. Please go through the following links and get back to us if you are interested.

We have two different packages which will be suitable for your web solution needs.
</snip>

 (image from the demotivational series at e-forwards.com)

All in all, a pretty standard solicitation message, but it does remind me to revisit my policies on staffing.

In terms of what we offer and what we believe in, I feel good that we are able to hire locally, create long-term relationships with our staff, improve people's lives in our communities, and provide great service to our customers. Hiring overseas wouldn't be in keeping with our values. We may be able to grow much more quickly if we hired offshore, but in the long run I wouldn't feel like we were building a company that was focused on our mission of community involvement.

That said, $7.27 an hour is a bargain for web development work. I know a number of people who follow the "Four Hour Workweek" also hire people offshore as virtual assistants or to help with e-mail, research, or data entry. Offshoring is not just grunt work: there are medical transcriptionists and accountants who are also being hired offshore.

What do you think? Some would say that the money invested in offshore companies means you're increasing the quality of life for a Filipino, or an Indian, or a Russian, in their own country. Some would also say that with a focus on efficiency, you get tremendous amounts of work done for the money paid. After all, this may be no different than manufacturing goods and even foodstuffs in China and shipping them to the United States to sell at a higher profit.

 For now, however, I appreciate having staff that I trust and who I've met and know.

My NAWBO newsletter came in and there were two tax-related points that interested me and which I thought would be of interest for other women business owners.

1) 50% Bonus Depreciation: allows American businesses that buy new equipment this year to deduct an additional 50 percent of the cost of their investment in 2008.

2) Increased Section 179 Expensing: means that a business placing less than $800,000 worth of equipment into service this year would be able to immediately deduct up to $250,000—up from $128,000—of its investment in 2008.

If this is a year of expansion or you've been considering investing in equipment, now would be a good time to take that expense. For example, if you've been leasing equipment or you need to increase your output with a more efficient machine, these rulings will assist you this year.

And of course, here is a list of my favorite business expenses that you'll want to take, if applicable (always ask your tax person for specific advice regarding your situation)

daycare assistance for employee

auto expenses (for company-owned cars/trucks)

membership dues for business organizations

books and magazines directly relevant to your industry

transit passes or parking expenses

company meal plan or business meals with clients

If you have your tax forms available, you might want to check out the IRS's rebate calculator to see how you personally will benefit from the "Economic Stimulus Package": http://www.irs.gov/app/espc/
 
If you're in business, now might also be a good time to  plan when you'll offer a "Rebate Check" sale or some other way to encourage consumers to buy with you (when they receive their rebate)!

Springtime is here! Now is a terrific time to do your inventory of things in your life and your business that you'd like to focus on. It's also a terrific time to get rid of things that are weighing you down, from unproductive staff to unhelpful clients to unnecessary furniture.

Today is the vernal equinox, and as a business, here are five ways you may celebrate:

1) Spring Sale: Offer a discount or springtime special. Are there products in your inventory that have been lagging? Spruce them up and sell 'em off with a "Spring into Spring" sale.

2) Easter Celebration: If your business focuses on children or families, how about offering an Easter special with an egg hunt or egg-dyeing activities? Toddlers and preschool age children (and their parents) are always looking for activities in their neighborhood. Bring in some customers with an Easter Special.

3) For the season, you may compile a list of resources such as part-time job opportunities, nonprofits in your area, or ways that people may volunteer. Encourage your customers to find a way to reach out to others in your community: spring is a great time for rebirth and regeneration, and many of your clients will appreciate the opportunity to focus their energies on helping others.

4) Spring Cleaning List: Offer a drop-off box in your store for customers wanting to do their spring cleaning. They are able to collect some gently-used clothes or useful items around the house and drop them off at your store for you to collect and send to Goodwill or Salvation Army. Offer a discount for people who participate.

5) Springtime Festival: Are there spring festivals, tradeshows, sporting events, or gatherings in your community or industry? Find a way to either support, sponsor, or raise awareness for your company at your local event. You'll increase your brand visibility and make great connections with others.