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By Barbara Weaver Smith, Ph.D.

88 pages Ebook - $14.97

Firstly I’ll point out that in this book Whale Hunting is a metaphor for ‘doing deals’ with big companies - and has nothing to do with the gory and bloody killing of our beloved whales here downunder.

Whale Hunting is all about encouraging women to embrace a fast growth culture in their business.

The book is part workbook with each section including space to reflect and plan your action and strategy steps with some valuable prompts.

The book outlines strategies for deal preparation, breaking the ‘think small mindset’, how to be perceived as a big company, improving processes, building alliances, nurturing a fast growth team and culture, thinking abundantly, eliminating bureaucratic thinking, not underselling yourself, and overcoming obstacles.

Importantly, Barbara addresses the ‘think small’ issues that could be holding us back. She recognizes and celebrates women’s leadership styles - the styles that can make us big deal-makers.

The Whale Hunter is a quick, practical read - and the value of the book is emphasized with the workbook sections that allow you to transfer your learning and insights into your business straight away - so you can make those big deals and grow your business!

Thank you for visiting this post about Barbara Weaver Smith and Whale Hunting Women.  We are offering a free giveaway to two people who comment during the tour and to the hosts where they posted. It is simple to be entered in the giveaway - just post a comment on any post about the tour and you will be entered. But, an interesting post is more likely to get our attention. 

  To see the tour schedule visit http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/2009/04/whale-hunting-with-barbara-weaver-smith.html

Barbara Weaver Smith’s website - http://www.thewhalehunters.com

Barbara Weaver Smith’s blog - http://blog.thewhalehunters.com

Order your copy of Whale Hunting Women - http://cli.gs/WHWEbook

A self-help guide to confident and competent presenting

Author: Amanda Fleming

Published by: Soapbox Books

RRP: $29.95 NZ

More info and to purchase copies: http://www.amandafleming.co.nz/book.html

Banish the pain of public speaking!

If you make presentations as part of your work or social life, or if you want to feel more comfortable and even enjoy (imagine!) public speaking, then this book could be the boost you need.

Author Amanda Fleming has designed and presented seminars and workshops that have helped thousands of people be more confident and competent presenting. Amanda’s passion for encouraging people to ‘speak up’ is very evident in her book.

I can speak clearly is different from other public speaking self-help guides in that Amanda encourages the reader to be an ‘authentic’ speaker, and to not cover up the real (and possibly terrified) you with tricks and gimmicks. The first half of the book digs deep to explore and address issues that could be holding you back from genuinely enjoying public speaking, and the rest of the book builds upon your self-development with practical speaking skills.

As capable women who are passionate about our businesses, the ability to speak up or present confidently when called upon is an invaluable skill - and I can speak clearly will definitely support you in achieving this if you are willing to take yourself on a personal adventure!

******WIN A COPY!!******

We have two copies of I can speak clearly now to give away! To go in the draw to win a copy, simply comment below; tell us about your public speaking experiences or why you’d like to win a copy.

Here’s a selection of blogs that we enjoy and subscribe to and want to share with you. These are blogs by women in business about business.

Blog: Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist: Advice at the intersection of work and life

Who writes it: Penelope Trunk is the founder of three startups, most recently, Brazen Careerist, a web service to help companies find candidates. Her career advice appears in more than 200 newspapers and magazines including Time, San Francisco Chronicle and Boston Globe.

Why you should read it: Penelope’s blog is about career advice and about Penelope (including her marriage, the end of her marriage and dating). She has 26,000+ subscribers to her blog - who are not afraid to love or hate Penelope’s posts. Penelope is a regular blogger who is open and frank around her personal life and writes valuable, well-researched and linked posts about career issues.

More about her blog here . And check out her tips on blogging.   I think she very eloquently sums up why you should be blogging: “A blog is a great way to build a network of people who respect you for your ideas, so it is the perfect tool for helping you to attain your goals and dreams, when you know what they are. And, this pretty much covers everyone, right? The super-focused and the super-lost: You should all be blogging.”

Blog: Crafty Synergy

Who writes it: Patricia is a graphic designer and creator of handmade goods working in Texas. Paper is her favorite medium for her hand crafted projects. She’s just finished a book on paper projects for the home.

Why you should read it: Crafty Synergy is a collection of interviews with inspiring artists. This is a beautiful blog with stunning photos of various crafts, created by people in creative businesses. Worth checking out to be inspired by people’s creativity and for their business stories.

Blog: Lip-Sticking; marketing to women online 

Who writes it: Yvonne DiVita (with guest authors) is the founder and president of Windsor Media Enterprises, an ‘author services’ company that specializes in print-on-demand book publishing technology, professional business blog creation and social media.

Why you should read it: The blog has a focus on the woman’s market; with lots of different resources, ideas and trends around women and business from a group of well known women bloggers.

Blog: Women on Business  

Who writes it: Susan Gunelius is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a full service creative solutions provider offering copywriting, business communications, blog and article writing, and marketing and branding consulting services. 

Why you should read it: This blog / website is the ‘online destination for the news and information you need to be successful in the business world’. Lots of resources, a blog directory and posts from guest authors about all things business.

Blog: Inspired Business Growth - exceptional marketing, branding and entrepreneurship

Who writes it: Wendy Piersall, founder of e-moms; and her new business is sparkplugging; work at home resources for web 2.0 entrepreneurs.

Why you should read it: While Wendy’s blog hasn’t been updated for awhile, it’s an inspirational read of her journey in starting an online business and what she’s learnt along the way about business and branding.

Her blog is part of a collection of blogs at women entrepreneur.com - which is also worth a read with a range of blogs about financial, legal, baby-boomer, weekender, book reviews, tech, PR and growth topics.

And your blog?

If you’re a woman in business with a blog, tell us about it (even better, join flokka and add your existing blog here so we can all learn about it) or if you’re inspired to start your own, join flokka and start blogging!

Or tell us about your favourite blog to add to our list.

Book Review - Competence and Commitment - getting the best from your team, by Lee Astridge and Caroline Britton.
(WIN one of four copies!)

Told in a story format, this book describes the types of people you’re likely to find in your team. The book then shows you how to understand them and how to maximise their performance through your management style using the competence/commitment model.

This book packs a punch - don’t let the brevity (only 66 pages, 12,000 words) fool you. Competence and Commitment is an easy and very worthwhile read and makes for perfect airport reading.

In a nutshell: Simple, powerful and extremely useful for anyone managing a team. This is a book I’ll be recommending to a friend who recently took on a new role as a team manager and who was sifting through my bookshelf looking for a book just like this.

Published by Polygraphia Ltd. Order copies from www.4life4business.com $26.99NZ

**** Win your own copy!!

We have four copies of Competence and Commitment to give away. To go in the draw to win a copy, simply comment below.

The Chic entrepreneur: Put your business in higher heels

By Elizabeth W Gordon with Leanna Adams (Atlanta, Georgia, US)
Published by Robert D Reed publishers; www.rdrpublishers.com

The Chic Entrepreneur is 200-odd pages packed with stories, advice and tips for the entrepreneur starting out or wanting to grow her business.

Topics covered include picking your niche, figuring out what customers want, attracting employees, systems, sales and marketing, strategic alliances and planning and measuring.

The book is practical and an easy read with lots of business stories illustrating the do’s and don’ts of business entrepreneurship.

There’s been a scarcity of this type of book for awhile; so this is a good one to add to your business library.

Here’s an example of a ‘chic tip’: Ask your employees how they do their best work. Do they need total silence and solitude, the hum of activity, or a fun team environment? Give them the environment they need to flourish by doing things like playing music in the office to spur creativity; supplying caffeine, chocolate or healthy snacks; or allowing them to work from home at times.

Visit www.chicentrepreneur.com for more info.

* * * *

WIN A COPY!!!!!

We have two signed copies to give away to two lucky winners! Simply comment below and you’re in the draw!

Book review – Your Extra-Ordinary Life: Simple steps to a life of fulfilment

Author: Thomas D Poland

Reviewed by: Fiona Powell

I’m a course junkie. Over the years I’ve been to many, many workshops, courses, seminars and conferences. I left school at a very tender age (I’d scored a brilliant job as a trainee draughtsperson) so I was keenly aware that my continued learning and development was squarely my responsibility; not the governments or even my employers’. And I love to learn new stuff, different ways of thinking, of looking at the world and broadening my horizons - I’m an open and eager student.

A few years ago I came across the ESP programme – the entrepreneur success programme – through an introductory seminar. The concepts of this programme resonated with me so much that I signed up straight away for the three year programme. And I loved, loved it. Every 90 days Tom Poland would lead a one day session packed with practical ways to make ourselves, our relationships and our businesses extraordinary. We’d take away notes, calendars and tapes and for the next 90 days we’d meet up with our course buddies, chew over what we’d learnt, and put it into practice.

Tom Poland was the coach, presenter, facilitator and author of the material. Although I was a wary and jaded course junkie, Tom’s material was fresh, enlightening and really balanced; not only did he cover strategies to build our business but also ways to look after our health and our relationships – a holistic approach that pushed all my buttons.

And Tom walked the talk; he’d done a ton of research, he’d put it into practice himself, lived it and coached successful business people and listened to their feedback – so he wasn’t spouting from theory. I admired Tom’s integrity and his passion for developing others. He led by example and went on to climb Mt Cook, complete an Ironman triathlon, and race superbikes - all extraordinary dreams of his own.

I was such an advocate of the programme that when we held our Her Business Conferences we invited some of Tom’s colleagues to present some of the course material.

Even now, I still believe the ESP programme was one of the best things I have done in terms of developing myself personally and my business and just looking at life and business from a different perspective.

So Tom finally wrote a book in 2006 – and I (of course) loved it. ”Your Extra-Ordinary Life – simple steps to a life of fulfilment,” is written in Tom’s typical direct style. The book is all around creating an extra-ordinary life (and although you may well think what other kind of life would I want – it is really easy to get caught up on the day to day treadmill of just existing). Tom writes about understanding your purpose, identifying your values, creating your personal vision and your goals. And this isn’t ‘just another’ shallow goal setting book; there are 334 pages of stories, practical strategies and exercises.

The final chapter is about the Extra-Ordinary Personal Goal; the one goal that takes you way out of your comfort zone, isn’t business related, makes people say ‘wow’ and will be talked about at your funeral. Now that’s living a ‘life less ordinary’!

The ESP programme itself is no longer available – so reading this book could be as close to the course material as you can get!

Available from www.tompoland.com ($29.95 Au) or from Amazon

Book Review - Humour Works

Author: Pat Armistead – the Joyologist (New Zealand)

Pat is referred to as ‘The Joyologist’ and her passion is about living life with humour and joy. Pat is a speaker and coach facilitator and organises the Humour in Business Awards in New Zealand.

Pat’s book, “Humour Works” is a compilation of columns originally published in the Business to Business newspaper. The short articles are full of anecdotes, stories and inspiration that emphasise Pat’s message; humour is good for you… your business and the world.

Pat’s book is available via her online shop for $29.95 plus p&p. Check out her website to learn more about Pat and her Humour vision.