Collaboration takes many forms within a business. There is collaboration with your employees, virtual team, colleagues, potential JV partners, and more. Let’s explore some of the important elements for creating magic by collaborating effectively with others.

Shared Values

Having shared values and goals are a foundational part of the structure that drives good collaborative efforts. Therefore, it is important to evaluate your personal goals and values, and make them very clear to those you are collaborating with. For example, do you know what type of style you use in relating to your team and/or colleagues? Are you aware of whether your actions align with your values and priorities? Do you know your “hot buttons?”

Lack of awareness of these emotional drivers will limit your ability to proactively respond to difficult situations in constructive ways. Effective collaboration requires an understanding of yourself, and those you are collaborating with.

Strategic Alliances

Over the past 25 years I have created successful businesses, built sales teams, created products and events, and touched the lives of thousands of people – all by forming strategic alliances. How can your business, or business dream, expand by collaborating with strategic alliances?

If you are weak in a crucial part of your business, collaborate to form a partnership that benefits both parties. If you need to expand your reach and build your database of prospective clients, form strategic alliances with others looking to do the same. For example, you can collaborate to do a telesummit or gift opt-in program.

The biggest point here is to overcome your fears and approach others. The worst that can happen is somebody says “no” – and the magic happens when you hit a “Yes!”

Collaboration Tools

Collaborating with virtual teams can be challenging without the use of technology. Our team uses Dropbox every day to update and access shared documents. We use Skype for online instant communications and screen sharing. These tools work for us right now, but as we change and grow our technology choices may change too.

We also use closed and private Facebook groups for community masterminding collaborations. There are many more collaboration tools to use, based upon your needs; here are a few: Basecamp, Producteev, Teambox, and Join.me.

Whether your team is virtual, or sitting right around the corner, collaboration tools will give you leverage to run a smooth business.

5 Collaborative Action Tips:

1. Create a results-driven structure that is appropriate for the goal you wish to achieve.
2. Have a very clear goal in mind and relay it effectively to all parties involved.
3. Establish a solid communication system and data-sharing setup.
4. Be certain that each person involved clearly defines their role and their tasks – and that they aren’t the same as each others’.
5. Establish ways to monitor performance, provide feedback, and move through bottlenecks efficiently.

Collaboration is one of the keystones to running a thriving business. Put this information to work and begin experiencing the magic of collaboration for making more money.

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When we decided to take ShowcasingWomen.com from putting our toe in the water to launching our newly revamped website, we had two priorities for maximizing our online presence. We had already laid the foundation of quality content targeted to our ideal audience, so our first priority was to increase brand exposure through our social media channels, and our second priority was to create a phenomenal Alexa ranking. By serving up great content, our targeted female audience would grow and the traffic to our site would positively impact our Alexa ranking.

We utilized specific strategies to drive traffic and in 60 days we were able to take our Twitter following from 0 to over 15,000. We also took our Alexa ranking down from 200,000 in the U.S. to approximately 38,000 in only 90 days! As a result, we started raking in the opt-ins… capturing leads for our ideal clients by providing the content they wanted. In 90 days we created a powerful online presence completely organically – without paying one penny in marketing costs. The strategies we used are solid gold for any small business owner.

Here is precisely how we did it!

First, we determined which social media channels our ideal clients hung out at. We learned that our audience mainly hung out on Twitter and Facebook. We strategically chose to focus primarily on Twitter because we knew we could build relationships and network with several “connectors” simultaneously at any given time. With the click of a mouse we could send our message out to thousands of people at once. Twitter allowed us to cast a wider net in a shorter timeframe. Many business owners don’t understand Twitter, and therefore leave money and opportunity on the table by avoiding it.

In order for us to build a large Twitter following of ideal clients in such a short time, we developed relationships with other influential players in our niche. Our favorite tool to find these influential players is Twellow, which is considered the “yellow pages” of Twitter.

We began fostering relationships based on the law of reciprocity by retweeting their optimized content out to our followers. Our followers loved it because we were providing them with great resources for their business and the word began to spread that ShowcasingWomen.com was the go-to resource for entrepreneurial women. And our influential women loved the fact that we were showcasing their optimized content, so they started sharing our content with their followers, who would in turn follow us and visit our website. A win-win for everyone! Learn our step-by-step process here!

As our Twitter following began to grow exponentially, the visitors to our website started increasing as well. It was exactly like a snowball effect and powerful to watch – and of course, it directly impacted our Alexa ranking! To cultivate a desirable Alexa ranking you must do two things: drive a steady stream of reoccurring and new visitors, and offer top-notch fresh content every week. An entrepreneur with a plumbing business would be less concerned with having a great Alexa ranking – however, this is crucial to a business seeking to demonstrate they have a successful following in order to attract advertisers, JV partners, affiliates, and prospects doing a competitive analysis.

Our single Twitter strategy brought new eyeballs to our site every single day. Once we reached 15,000 followers, we changed our content strategy a bit. We started serving more of our own contextual content up to our viewers. By doing this we drove more traffic to our site and it positively impacted our Alexa ranking. From there, we began seeing a steady increase in the sales of our products, coaching programs, sponsorships, and advertising venues. And more importantly… we achieved our goals!

There are many ways to drive traffic organically, or with minimal cash outlay, in order to positively impact your bottom line. We could write volumes on this topic! However, a few useful strategies would include using social bookmarking sites so your blog posts reach more people – one of our favorites and most effective is StumbleUpon. Ad-swapping is a much underutilized lead generation strategy. You can also spread the word with Ezine advertising – find other relevant content providers and advertise in their newsletters for a nominal fee. Finally, you can, and should, repurpose your content into other venues for distribution. One method is to repurpose a blog post into a slideshow presentation to post on sites like SlideShare and other slide sharing services. This is a very powerful way to get your message out and flex your “knowledge” muscles. If you would like to learn more valuable tips, please grab a free copy our of our Epic Traffic Strategies For Female Entrepreneurs (guys, you can grab it too!).

There are endless ways to drive awareness and traffic to your website and to build a strong online presence that can be monetized. Our biggest piece of advice to any entrepreneur is to pick a simple strategy to begin with in order to manage and maximize your online presence. Don’t make it complicated, otherwise it could be too difficult to implement with all of the other pressures that face every entrepreneur. Outline it, and then every day consistently work toward your goal like we did. If your learning curve is too high, or you simply don’t have the time or desire to execute on these valuable marketing and promotional strategies, hire someone – your return on investment will be well worth it.

Whether you execute on your own, or with the help of your staff or an outsourced expert, the results will pay off in your bottom line!

We are blogging on behalf of Visa Business and received compensation for our time from Visa for sharing our views in this post, but the views expressed here are solely ours, not Visa’s. Visit http://facebook.com/visasmallbiz to take a look at the reinvented Facebook Page: Well Sourced by Visa Business. The Page serves as a space where small business owners can access educational resources, read success stories from other business owners, engage with peers, and find tips to help businesses run more efficiently. Every month, the Page will introduce a new theme that will focus on a topic important to a small business owner’s success. For additional tips and advice, and information about Visa’s small business solutions, follow @VisaSmallBiz and visit http://visa.com/business.

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So… if you are not involved in creating and distributing videos, you are missing out on a huge piece of online purchasing power.

Video Syndication is simply one of the hottest trends online. It involves creating videos and funneling them through some of the top video sharing sites. If you want people to engage their purchasing power and buy from you then videos are a must!

Think about it like this:

When you are in the business of video-making,
you are in the persuasion business!

You are persuading your viewers to virtually engage with you. That is exactly what television does. People get so involved with television that they either schedule their lives around their favorite shows or they record them to watch later.

Your goal is to create videos that are as powerful and as persuasive as a person’s favorite television show.

The process of video syndication entails turning your blog articles into fabulously informative videos. These videos should be articulated in a simple, easy-to-follow fashion with a call to action at the end.

In order to get maximum exposure for your videos, understand that video sharing sites like YouTube rank really highly with Google. So it is imperative that you know how to use keywords in your video titles, descriptions, and tags.

When searching for keywords, look for phrases with competition that is less than 30,000 monthly searches. It is easier to rank higher in search queries for videos that have less competition. I recommend using a free tool like Google AdWords when you are first starting out doing keyword research on competitive phrases.

Once you have established a particular keyword, follow these guidelines to strategically maximize your video for enormous exposure:

1. Place the keyword in the beginning of your title – this is critical for high Google rankings. If you are going to place your video on several video sharing sites, then come up with different variations of the title.
2. Use the keyword in your description at least twice, and one of those times should be at the very beginning of the description. The key is to make it sound natural. Advanced marketers often take their entire article and put it in the description of the video. This allows them to have various other keywords within the description as well. If you follow this advanced strategy it will help your video rank even higher.
3. Put your keyword(s) in the tag or keyword section.
4. Include the URL to your website at the very beginning of your description.
5. If possible, include the URL inside your video at the end with a call to action to visit your site.

Once you have your videos created and uploaded, you need to funnel them through your syndication partners.

The first step is to announce and share your video on your Social Media networking sites like Pinterest, Facebook, FriendFeed, and Twitter. Let your friends share it for you! Consider using a retweeting alliance like JustRetweet. JustRetweet alone can get you hundreds of views.

The second step is to submit your video to all the various social bookmarking sites out there. These would include StumbleUpon, Digg, Delicious, and Reddit, just to name a few. If you want to automate the task, use a tool like SubmitBookmark. It will get you thousands of visitors.

The third step is to embed your videos on other sites that allow video sharing like WonderHowTo. This will get you hundreds (if not thousands) of views, depending on the topic. To get immediate exposure, funnel your video through other video sharing sites – use this comprehensive list from ReelSEO.com. Also, consider using a video submission tool like Traffic Geyser to automate the process for you.

All in all, spending the time to get your video syndication set up and moving along is one of the best ways you can get thousands of visitors to your site.

If you would like to learn more amazing traffic generation strategies like this, then join our premier community of women entrepreneurs, “Born To Blaze.” In this community, we teach you exactly how to build lead generation pipelines that consistently drive traffic to your site!

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They say that we inherit how we handle our money from our parents and from what we absorbed during the experiences we had as children. Those experiences are what created our subconscious feelings towards money… a subject for another day. But what our parents told us (or didn’t tell us) about money and the role it plays in our lives is what created our conscious attitudes.

At some point, little boys were taken aside by their fathers and told about the mysteries of money. Directly or indirectly, they were told what their role and responsibility would be for the rest of their lives: providers, protectors and financial decision-makers.

But our fathers rarely pulled any of us girls aside. After all, why should we bother our pretty little heads with something our handsome princes would handle anyway?

Fast forward 30 or 40 years, and more of us are on our own than our parents could ever have imagined. Many of us tried the Prince Charming family route – some of us succeeded and some of us failed. Others didn’t try at all. And an ever-growing number of us today are in business.

For us entrepreneurs, we tend to think our fathers had the greatest influence over how we conceive and operate our businesses today. After all, that’s who our role models were, right? That’s who was “in charge” of the money in post-War families – they made it, they brought home the bacon, and they gave our mothers a budget to spend on the household and the children.

At least that’s the Norman Rockwell version…

The truth is that, if we look more closely, it’s actually our mothers who made the greatest impact on our conscious attitudes towards money. Sure, Daddy made the money, but he did that at some elusive place he disappeared to each day called “work.”

Our most intimate memories are with Mommy in the supermarket… Mommy in the toy store… Mommy buying school supplies. We may have watched as she scrimped and calculated to get us what we needed, but not without sacrifice. We learned that there were tradeoffs – if you got one thing, you didn’t get another. Often you had to choose. Money was something finite. And we learned to value what we received, because “things” were somehow linked to money, and money was hard to come by. In fact, Daddy “slaved” to get it.

Or… maybe we watched as seemingly unlimited amounts of money flowed, buying us whatever our hearts desired. The sky was the limit. Ask and you shall receive. There’s always more money; it comes from an unending supply, and buying has no consequences.

Or maybe what we experienced fell somewhere in between.

Stop and think for a moment. Whatever the case, what we were witnessing was not the reality of how much money was available. We were witnessing how our mothers felt about money and how they chose to live it. And we, in turn, were influenced by those choices.

So, as we approach Mother’s Day, reflect on what lessons you learned from your mother – or taught your daughter. Think about how they affected the way you manage the finances of your household and of your business.

Then get ready to thank someone, forgive someone, or ask for forgiveness.

Remember, our mothers most likely taught us what they learned themselves, because no one questioned money beliefs openly. Those beliefs simply slid from generation to generation.

Is it finally time to break the cycle of unhealthy beliefs and behaviors? If so, start with yourself and then – if appropriate – gift that knowledge to your daughter.

What’s the most valuable Mother’s Day gift you can give or receive this year? An open dialog about money with someone you trust… to repair the past and prepare for the future.

You’re either a mother or a daughter. Or both. Make this Mother’s Day a day of liberation: the day you took – or gave – control over money.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Sharon O’Day combines a long, successful entrepreneurial career in international trade with an MBA in Finance from the prestigious Wharton School and a lifetime of personal peaks and valleys. The result is an effective tell-it-like-it-is money mentor to women who are willing to do what it takes to be financially secure for the rest of their lives. Today her mission is to show as many women as possible how to become financially free through her writings and programs. SharonODay.com

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However, there are other skills that women must know that can’t be neglected. These are skills that are imperative because they are part of every aspect of your daily life. For example, you can’t get very far if you don’t know how to use a cell phone. And, in fact, it is generally assumed that most people know how to email.

Today, we are going to focus on the seven conventionally applicable skills that are often neglected but critical for women to succeed at anything. So let’s dive in…

1. Being Positive
Our world is constantly evolving, so much so that it can make any woman’s head spin! From time to time every woman I know has wanted to throw her hands up in the air and just give in to feeling grouchy! However, research has proven that we often feel a certain way because of how we act. Interesting isn’t it? So how does a woman stay positive when things are constantly changing and feeling overwhelming?

Women who view our revolving world as a constant opportunity to learn and evolve will stay positive no matter what life throws their way. If this isn’t your forte, don’t worry. Start with smiling and finding one positive thing to focus on each day. Decide that this very hour something is going to be great, and it will be. Try it – you’ll see! The positivity skill will become your best friend.

• Stop The Self Sabotage And Be Happy
• Seven Simple Ways To Be More Positive

2. Analytical Thinking and Information Analysis
Sorting through all the information thrown at us on a daily basis and objectively analyzing and prioritizing it can be mindboggling and overwhelming. The art is to develop the imperative skill of sorting through the information, evaluating it, and then determining how it relates to every aspect of your life. Once a woman has developed this ability, she can pretty much do anything and achieve optimal success. The first step is to determine whether the information is worthy of analysis. If so, then categorize it into “good,” “better,” and “best” categories, and practice your technique on the “best” information first.

• A Practical Guide To Critical Thinking
• Critical Thinking Web

3. Time Management and Prioritization
Even though women are known for multitasking, it can become a daunting task to wade through, efficiently tackle, and prioritize your tasks. And if the success of your business and personal life depends on the universal skill of effective time management, then you need to figure it out quickly!

Time management means managing your time – not the other way around. You are in control. Don’t let the world around you dictate your life. Prioritize your tasks, and delegate or get rid of the ones that don’t fit into your “best” category. Then schedule blocks of time for you to tackle the most important tasks during your peak performance times. Your productivity and ability to implement effectively will increase profoundly.

• How To Delegate Tasks Effectively
• How To Prioritize A Schedule For Optimal Time Management

4. Money Management
Every medium of exchange in today’s society is moderated by some form of money. Money is how you get the basics and luxuries of life to survive. It is a critical skill to learn. When finances are in order, it makes for a much smoother journey in life. The successful woman will know how to budget and manage her money, whether for the necessities of life, retirement, luxuries, or charity. If you struggle in the money-management facet of life, then your first step is to start with a simple budget. Then build your confidence from there by taking on investment or retirement planning. You will find that not only will it help you survive better, but you will thrive!

• 10 Steps To Making A Financial Budget
• Ultimate Guide To Retirement

5. Productive Communication and Negotiating
It is time to stop expecting other people in your life to read your mind. And the reverse is true also – quit trying to read someone else’s mind. Provide the people in your life with proper, productive communication. When you are open and straightforward then it leads to fabulous communication. Practice speaking authentically and honestly with one person a day, and then give that person a voice and actively listen to them in return. This is the first step in positive and successful negotiation!

• Savvy Negotiating Principles
• Active Listening – Hear What People Are Really Saying

6. Networking
Today’s world of information is cultivated through networking and exchange with other people. In this global economy, women need to effectively master the art of cultivating a large network of the right people. Networking with the right people will open up appropriate doors at the right times in your life. In order to develop this skill, a woman should start with concentrating on one task at a time. For example, if your goal is to hire a phenomenal copywriter, you would begin by joining groups of copywriters on LinkedIn, and then asking others for introductions to their A+ copywriters. You will soon meet the perfect copywriter!

• How To Network: 12 Tips For Shy People
• 7 Steps For Networking With A-Listers Fast

7. Relaxation
Stress will kill even your best efforts. The successful woman has managed the universal skill of listening to her body and knows to be attentive to what her body is saying. Even in her busiest moments, she takes the time to relax and reduce her stress with short breaks when needed.

In order to master this skill, start by listening to your body. If you feel tired, take a five minute break, breathe and relax. Grant yourself permission to just STOP for a few minutes. Regrouping gives you time to reflect on your activities and adjust your actions to align with your overall goals. You will more than make up for it when you are able to get higher quality and more productive output just from taking a moment to relax and regroup.

• You Deserve To Be Pampered
• 37 Stress Management Tips

Now, it’s your turn. Share with us the life skills you are in the process of mastering in the comments below!

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Whether you are selling something, seeking to attract a JV partner or an amazing new employee, or creating an opportunity… do you just go straight into the nuts and bolts of things? If so, you are bypassing an opportunity to truly draw people in and create a dialog that takes down any wall that may be blocking you.

For example, I begin by sharing my story about how Showcasing Women came to be… and how Angela and I met and became partners. I briefly talk about my early days as an entrepreneur in a man’s world, and how brutal it was. I share some of the things I’ve encountered that drove me to create a business to support women with confidence and business-building tools. I then briefly touch on my goals for the company and the women we serve.

Because I share some pretty “spicy” stories, people will openly engage with me. Their walls come down quickly, the comfort and trust starts building immediately, and the rest falls into place quite nicely. My “story” gives people a reason to care about Showcasing Women, and they can relate to its purpose.

But it’s not just simple storytelling that will increase your sales and/or results. As Gazzaniga noted, simply appealing to the heart isn’t going to cut it because both a left-brained and right-brained approach is required. With that in mind, below are five practical tips to help you get your storytelling mojo cranking for results!

Be Real
Your storytelling has to be genuine and concise – don’t go overboard. Don’t talk so long that people’s eyes start glossing over. You don’t need to compete with a well-known business person who has a story worthy of making a movie out of it. Use your strengths, back up with hard data if it’s relevant, and follow things up with a viable business proposition. Make it all come alive. Draw people in with your truth and passion.

The Beginning, Middle, and End
Short and sweet. Paint the picture with one quick sweep. What started the whole thing (business, product idea, service, etc.)? Then what happened? And now here you are today… (fill in the blank)! Make it flow. Take people on a mini-journey with your story.

Storytelling Isn’t A One-Way Street
Interact and engage your prospect or audience. Get them responding with a quick question or comment throughout your storytelling that allows them to connect with you and relate to what you are sharing. For example, I may say, “I was a woman in a man’s world of hardcore fundraising for my business… can you imagine the things I encountered?” And of course, that opens an engaged dialog.

Share “Heart And Data”
Per Gazzaniga’s studies, you must trigger both left-brain and right-brain perspectives. So your storytelling should intertwine emotional aspects with facts and data. I may say, “When I started out there were no female mentors for me to turn to and it was tough. But now, women are in the forefront with 30 million of us owning, or aspiring to own, a business!”

Simplicity Keeps The Story Alive
Determine the outcome you desire, the emotion you want to draw out, and the facts you want to share… and wrap it around a very brief but powerful story. Eliminate wordiness, monotone voice, or a track that goes in ten different directions. The more compelling the story (with simplicity and brevity), the greater the chance your opportunity for the desired sale or outcome will succeed.

What’s your story? Share it and reap the rewards!

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