The BOSS Network Blog

The first consultation with a new client is always the most fun! Many times, independent professionals and entrepreneurs hear a lot about branding and marketing, yet know little about how to apply this widely misunderstood concept to their everyday routine. When this is the case, I reassuringly tell my clients; fret no more! It’s always my goal to guide clients, and now you, through the basics of branding and marketing; how one can fuel the other and how they can work both independently and interdependently. The first conversation I make sure to have with clients is simple but hard hitting... Begin with the ending in mind. Profound, right?! In one year, two years, three years down the line, what is it that you want to be known for? Answer that question... Now work backwards. That's how you begin with the ending in mind. Often times your end will be further away than three years, however, the same rules apply. Taking the time to brainstorm and reflect on your end 'game...

We are blessed to see another New Year.  Most of us have claimed 2012 to be “our” year.  As I scroll through myFacebook newsfeed and Twitter timeline, I often see proclamations of how this year will be the best year yet!  However, my question to you is, “What is your PLAN to make this year (and beyond) greater?” That’s right.  I said it.  YOUR PLAN.  I mean, Oprah did not go from the anchorwoman of the local news to having a billion dollar media conglomerate without having a plan.  Steve Jobs was not able to resuscitate a dying Apple to become a company with more cash on hand than the United States of America without having a plan.  I guarantee you that these two business icons createdat least two types of plans:  a business plan and an estate plan .  Your plan is a personal roadmap to your success.  It will serve as a guide to your ultimate dreams and goals. 1 st   #DAPLegalTip  – Have a business plan As an attorney, ...

As the infamous popularity of reality television shows increase each season… One can only begin to speculate: how many people do I know, are truly as busy as they allege?  How often are we too busy to stick to the diet we’ve insisted on working this year, or learning to speak the language that has always intrigued us, or finishing the summer novel we purchased fourth of July weekend, only to look at the calendar and see it’s January… The answer might perplex you.  But when considering time [or lack there of] I beg to differ, everyone is NOT as busy as they claim.  Mathematically it’s impossible, given that millions of people tune into these programs each night. Many people define the 60 minutes lost from their lives, as simply, a guilty pleasure.  It is important to note, when adding the time, in hours, that are lost each week on this activity, it is potential time lost to enrich ones self. Although the masterminds behind many of these programs highlight aggres...

For Immediate Release The BOSS Network Launches Re-Branding Campaign in an Effort to Reach Women Who Need Professional Development and Community Most Sneak Peak into the 2012 Plans for the #1 Online Network for Professional Women of Color Chicago, IL (January 9, 2012) –  Kick starting 2012 with their “New Year New You” pledge, The BOSS Network has ignited members with an encouraging message of forward movement in professional growth and opportunities. While leading by example, The BOSS Network is taking this opportunity to develop a new look and feel of BOSS for the New Year.  Launching in March of 2012, the BOSS Network will present an exciting new interactive and content based website allowing them to reinforce their efforts on reaching the needs of members in the areas of professional development and community involvement [www.thebossnetwork.org]. The BOSS Network’s strategic re-branding campaign is setting the stage to reach an additional 100,000 more professional wome...

Over the holiday break, I took the opportunity to catch up on some long overdue reading.   Although there were at least a couple of news stories related to business closures that I read which left an enduring mark, for the purposes of this blog post, I will discuss the article called “ 5 Businesses That Failed to Survive Trials of 2011 ,” which appeared in the nationally-recognized New York Times. From my perspective, there were six very important takeaways and common themes that are applicable to the novice as well as experienced business owner: 1)       Nothing is off the record when you are speaking to the media , so THINK before you speak.   If you’re not careful, your harsh words may haunt you well beyond your years in business.   Resist the urge to tell the reporter that you did everything right.   Don’t get caught up in playing the victim, as you may feel like you have all the power when you are talking and the reporter is hastily ...

This has been an AMAZING yet CHALLENGING year for everyone.  It doesn’t matter if you are a media mogul, nonprofit president, entrepreneur, corporate VP or a small business owner.  This was definitely a year of ups and downs. Whether the number of your employees went down, your stocks went up, you opened a second location or simply gained 1,000 Facebook friends. This was a year we ALL had to do some extra work to figure out what we are good at, when we needed to update our files, who we needed to hire or fire and which clients were truly our target market. One thing that I have found more entrepreneurs and women struggle with is separating their personal and professional lives.  Since I am BOTH, it clearly has been an issue for me. I made a decision a LONG time ago to merge them because separating them is a LOT harder to do and SO MUCH of my life is connected to what I do and also to who I am. I’ve decided for 2012 to make this my practice—because it is when I am most pro...

Her Journey… Take a good look at Shante Bacon because she is a prime example of what can happen when you dream big, and then relentlessly go after it.  Raised in the drug-riddled neighborhood of Jamaica, Queens, there was very little around her indicative of what her successful future would behold, except a strong affinity for the then emergent hip-hop culture. “There was a lot of talent out of my neighborhood, so it never seemed farfetched to me that I could do this for a living,” says Bacon, who grew up in the same neighborhood as future hip-hop legends LL Cool J, Run DMC, and Salt-N-Pepa. “What made it a reality for me was when I was a kid, my brother was pursuing a career as a rapper and he would go to Def Jam Christmas parties and that had me all starry eyed about it.” After reading an article in her brother’s Billboard magazine as a child, her goal was officially set: she wanted to work for Russell Simmons as part of the Def Jam empire. “There was a little itsy, bitsy,...