One of the groups that I am involved in is pow.wow: networking the power of fabulous women. Next Tuesday, we are having an event on this new and increasingly popular concept of doing business: GREEN.

(photo by Tomatoskin)

But what does it mean to be Green? Do you actually save money? Or it just makes you look good? Another way of marketing?

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Blogging has become the new love and one of the fave past times of real estate professionals, and a lot even swear by it because blogging has helped them getting clients & establish their credibilities. What I would like to find out is that if you blog consistently, do you consider blogging as an income producing business activity?

Oh, if you miss that ongoing poll, feel free to vote below

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I have been reading about Ashley Quells on several different money blogs recently and I find her story very inspiring. She went from divorced parent family that was struggling for money to owning her million-dollar business and her own house at the age of 17. That’s pretty darn impressive if you ask me!

The Money Blog wrote a fantastic post in regards to it and those tips are very applicable to any small business owners or entrepreneurs. His tips resonate with me a lot when it comes to running my own staging business in the industry as a young single woman who didn’t have a lot of support from others or someone who didn’t have a very strong network that applies to my sphere of influences (come on, how many 20-year-olds need staging services?). I also love Ashley’s story because not only she is a woman, she is young. People often doubted my abilities when I first started because I looked very young and a woman. It was definitely tougher to do business.

Moreover, you can tell Ashley is really passionate about her hobby, which she then turned into a business, then into an expanding empire. I think My Money Blog’s observations are just right on the money (no puns intended)

Enjoy his post here:

She grew up in a working-class household near Detroit, with divorced parents who argued about unpaid bills. At 14 years old, she had to ask her mom to buy an $8 domain name for her. Today, at 17, she owns her own 2-story house and is head of a company that earned over $1 million in revenue in 2006, with even more projected for 2007.

Who is she? Ashley Qualls, owner of WhateverLife.com, a MySpace-related website that get over 7 million unique visitors each month. That’s more than Oprah.com and CBS.com. She’s had a multi-page profile done in Fast Company magazine and has been written up in other local publications. I actually saw her story highlighted briefly while watching CNN.

This piqued my interest - I mean, she seems like a good web designer with decent graphic design skills. But good designers are everywhere now, she had to do something special in making her millions. What was it?

She piggy-backed onto the next big thing
Without MySpace, this whole thing might not have happened. I mean, I still do not understand the appeal of MySpace. It’s cluttered. Music plays automatically when you visit someone’s page. The blogging platform is confusing. Who wants to read 100 people saying “Thanks for the add!” or linking to the same 10 blinking images over and over?

Click here to read more about how Ashley banks her first million at The Money Blog

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While FreeMoneyFinance is taking his sweet vacation, I am guest blogging several blogs on Staging:

If you missed the previous entries:
*Quick & Cheap Tips for Selling Your Home
*How to Earn Extra Income By Becoming A Home Stager
*Use Staging to Sell Your Home

Starting your own business is probably the best thing I have done in my life. It taught me a lot of my limits and my worth, it also has challenged my personal characters. Moreover, it is a great way to increase your net worth because after all, you can control your destiny.
Having a small business can also be a money pit, where you can over-invest on inventory (if you have any) or machinery, equipments, office supplies etc. I personally don’t believe in over-investing because you can drain your financial resources very quickly. You can grow your net worth by grasping your financial picture. Here are a few tips if you are thinking about starting a small business:

1. It’s okay to be small: I am very happy that my company is still very small, because it is manageable for me and if I take on full time employees then my monetary responsibilities increase dramatically. It is also a very personal thing to have my own small business, everyone who comes through the doors, including clients, become family. After all, it’s a people’s business.

2. Get a financial plan: We all have this dream that once we go out on our own, we will strike a goldmine immediately and clients will be calling us non-stop. Well, if that doesn’t happen, make sure you do have resources to fall back on. Generally it is recommended to save 4-6 months worth of living expenses save up when you work hard to take your business off the ground. You should also speak with a professional to plan everything out financially before you start. You need to figure out what your start up costs are which include marketing, licensing fees, continue education if any, investment in inventory, machinery, computers, etc.

3. Network, network, network: It doesn’t mean you go out and hand out business cards to everyone you meet, because you are not building meaningful relationships that will make you memorable and become part of someone’s rolodex and referral list. One of the ways I network is that I started my own support group for other small business owners who are women. I feel that it’s more important to develop personal relationships, that way the referrals are stronger and more meaningful. Running a small business can also be very lonely, so it doesn’t hurt to meet other people who can support your endeavors and who understand what you go through on a daily basis. I am the only one among my friends who have her own small business. They have no idea what I go through every day and that can get frustrating sometimes.

4. (click to read the 4 remaining tips at FreeMoneyFinance)

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A good friend of mine send me this today:“What would your life be like if every decision, every word you spoke or whispered, every thought, and every deed first went through a filter of love? The Sufi poet Hafiz is quoted as saying, “When all your desires are distilled, you will cast just two votes: to love more, and be happy.” What if we could live for (more…)

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