Announcements and Opportunities

Training & Grants for Women-Owned Start-Up Businesses. A series of entrepreneur seminars in 21 cities around the country will include the chance to receive $10,000 in start-up grants. Produced by Women on the Move and The KARS Consulting Group, sessions of the Women's Empowerment & Education Tour are no ordinary workshops. These seminars are designed to teach attendees how to “create effective, compelling grant proposals, and just as importantly--if not more so—explore methods to garner support for their organization and insure sustainability through the acquisition of volunteers, donations, fundraising and sponsorships.” Cost is $50 per attendee. For more information or to register, contact The KARS Consulting Group at www.karsconsultinggroup.com or 866.224.1285 or Women On The Move at www.mywomenonthemove.com or call 561.200.0580.

Free Foreign Language Translations. I discovered these sites while doing family history research, but they’re equally useful for business purposes. Yahoo’s Babelfish lets you copy and paste a block of text – or type in a website URL for translation: http://babelfish.yahoo.com/. You pick the languages: English to Italian, Spanish to English, etc. Dictionary.com offers a similar block-of-text translation: http://translate.reference.com/. All the sites seem to work better with Latin-based languages, while German to English produces some rather hilarious results. By Googling “online translators” you can find many similar sites.

Want to promote your business? A square display ad (120x120 pixels) in one issue of NAFE News & Notes is just $75.00. Larger skyscraper ads (600x120 pix) are also a bargain at $175. Contact newsletter editor Paula Damiano to place your ad.

Member News

Rebecca Shambaugh’s second book, Leadership Secrets of Hillary Clinton, was recently released by McGraw-Hill. In the new book, this leadership expert reveals the unique formula of open-mindedness, intense focus, authenticity, and resilience that has led the current Secretary of State to her historic rise onto the world stage. Click here for more information: http://www.amazon.com/Leadership-Secrets-Hillary-Clinton-Shambaugh/ dp/0071664173/ ref=sr_1 ?ie=UTF8&s
=books&qid=1276695167&sr=1-2-spell.

Network News

From NAFE Regional Coordinator Robbie Motter, we have photos of tables from the Tea For Me To Be Safe community outreach event that Murrieta For You/NAFE Network and South Orange County For You/NAFE Network were part of. Robbie says, “Working with Fonda McGensy of Operation SafeHouse was great and now this will be an annual event for them. We look forward to again supporting them next year.”

5 Tips… for More Effective Emails

This issue’s 5 Tips were submitted by newsletter editor Paula Damiano. (NOTE: This means we need more contributions from readers – so sit down and write something!)

Maybe I’m too critical of colleagues’ and friends’ email habits. It might be because I’m a writer and I view emails as writing. Is that too radical a notion? I don’t think so. But email has been around a long time now, so perhaps a refresher course is in order. Here are my five top tips for more effective emails.

1. Meaningful subject lines. Be specific: “Need speaker bio for Jane Doe/WorkLife Congress” is meaningful, while “Upcoming event” is not. A finely-crafted subject line can almost make the message redundant. It also allows you or the receiver to locate the message again a week from now, without reading a ton of emails on the same general topic.
2. Only one topic per email. Emails should be short and to the point. Even if you have three topics to discuss with the same person, don’t include them all in one killer message. Instead, send three brief messages – with meaningful subject lines (see above). Think telegram – not War and Peace.
3. Forward with care. If you’re sending the message on to someone else, make sure there’s nothing embarrassing in the forwarded email. If the original message includes a negative comment like “Can you answer this pain-in-the-butt’s question?” it may be diplomatic not to forward, but to summarize and rewrite the question. What if the original sender ultimately receives the entire string – do you really want her to see that remark?
4. Include contact info. The receiver already has your email address, as the sender of the email. But if you’re asking her to call you, include your phone number – even if you think she has it. Your full name, title and company name are helpful, too.
5. Casual – but not too much. Yes, emails are more chatty in tone than traditional business letters. But it’s still a business communication. If you’d call this person Mr. Smith to his face, then “Dear Mr. Smith” is a more appropriate salutation than “Hi Bill!”. And lose the smiley-face emoticons – unless you’re emailing your 8-year-old niece.

Learn all about your fellow business women on nafe.com under Member Profiles. Janice Gallick of CareCircle is currently featured, as well as Vikki Pryor, Robbie Motter and Teriilee Harrison. Click here: http://www.nafe.com/web?service=vpage/268.

Know another outstanding NAFE member you’d like to see profiled on nafe.com? Send details to NAFE News & Notes editor Paula Damiano at pauladamiano@hotmail.com.

Upcoming Events

For a complete list of events, see our online Calendar!

New York, NY
June 29, 2010
Workshop In Business Opportunities offers a FREE program on “Customer Care and Your Bottom Line” from 6:00-8:00 PM at the Edwin Gould Foundation in downtown Manhattan. Click here for full details.

St. Louis, MO
July 7, 2010
PWA St. Louis invites you to attend its morning meeting. The topic will be “Understanding What Social Media Is and How You Might Use It To Meet Your Objectives.” Come and learn what Twitter and other new media can do for you! More information can be found here: http://www.nafe.com/web?service=direct/1/ViewCalendarPage/
insertCalendar&sp=S1217.

Seattle, WA
July 23, 2010
“Strategic Planning.. Simplfied One Page, One Day” is the theme of an all-day workshop presented by Maria Marsala and Elevate Your Business: http://www.nafe.com/web?service=direct/1/ViewCalendarPage/
insertCalendar&sp=S1159.

New York, NY
March 30, 2011
Save the date! NAFE’s Top Companies for Executive Women annual event will be held again at the famed Cipriani’s in Manhattan. Stay tuned for more information.

• Go to nafe.com to view our ever-expanding Calendar of Events for opportunities around the country. The new Search function makes the Calendar even more useful and accessible.
• Use the Event Submission Form online to let us know about events in your area. Events submitted for the website will also be considered for the NAFE News & Notes– twice the exposure for one listing!

Check the NAFE Calendar of Events for network meetings, workshops and other happenings around the country.