Online Diva Hollie Turner on the run from creditors

Founder of OnlineDivas.com.au, Hollie Turner (pictured), is currently ducking creditors and a long line of dissatisfied members who are demanding their money back from the women’s networking site.

Australian Women Online has spoken to several women who say they have been let down, ripped off and in some cases, verbally abused by Hollie Turner, who is reportedly in the United States at present and can’t be reached. When reports surfaced last week that the TV program A Current Affair, were interested in doing a story on the Online Diva, Hollie Turner silenced her critics by promising to pay what she owed. Read more

How to Effectively Use Social Media for Business

People involved in small business have found a powerful marketing tool in social networking sites.

Among the top social media used by business people today are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. By using these sites, you are able to expose your business to more people, at both a local and international level.

Facebook
www.facebook.com
Facebook has become highly popular in recent years attracting millions of users from across the globe. This popularity has, in fact, led the site’s management to offer marketing platforms that encourage people to share their business endeavors and build communities as well.

To use Facebook to your advantage, make sure to create an interesting personal profile page. Include photos and business information that will attract visitors and encourage them to read through your profile.

Update your information regularly so that existing and potential clients know what you’re up to. Discuss recent happenings regarding your business. Interact with readers who post comments on your page and create a “fans” page and invite clients to join. Read more

Commonwealth Bank to Provide Support for Women in Business

The Commonwealth Bank has launched a new program designed specifically to support women in business, called Women in Focus.

The Women in Focus program will offer tailored, flexible business coaching and networking opportunities for women to help achieve their business, career and personal goals. Introductory Sessions for those interested in learning more about the program will commence in late September in each capital city.

Head of Women in Focus, Ms Gail Hackett, said a key feature of Women in Focus is a tailored business coaching program targeted towards business owners or partners, and women in corporate senior executive or management roles. Read more

Mentoring Without Borders

The benefits for participants of mentoring programs have been well documented. Here we will take a close look at a successful mentoring relationship that has been developed over a vast distance.

Living and working in a remote part of Australia and regularly facing isolation, anthropologist professor Dr Tess Lea (pictured on the left) is often confronted by issues such as gambling, public housing amenity, the social and emotional well-being of ‘at risk’ children and education reform. Working in a remote area also means finding another person to provide advice and be a sounding board especially on business issues, can be difficult. Read more

Business Mums Conference

Running a small business is challenging and requires a lot of energy; recharging the owner and the business at the Business Mums Conference is a key to ensuring the long term success of those businesses.

“Our conference is about getting business parents out of the house/office and into an environment where they can learn from each other and professional speakers,” says Melissa Khalinsky, founder of the Business Mums Network. “And yes, Dads, tradespeople and non-members are most welcome!”

Keynote speaker at the event will be Di Padgett of You Are Special, talking about things such as making small changes for big results and developing effective working relationships. Read more

Ladies, pitch your business idea to investors

Pitch Club provides aspiring entrepreneurs of all ages with the opportunity to connect with investors, business angels, venture capitalists and other entrepreneur enthusiasts.

Pitch Club is a fun, fast and furious business networking event like no other and offers entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their ideas from a miniature boxing ring to an audience of potential investors.

A typical Pitch Club event starts with ten entrepreneurs invited into a miniature boxing ring, where they each have ninety seconds to pitch their idea to the crowd. The audience decides who makes it to the final round through preliminary voting and then the finalists have the opportunity to interact for another five minutes with the audience through their pitch and a Q&A session. The audience then votes for the winner of the night with Pitch Club dollars, signifying their endorsement of the ideas presented to them. Read more

Business Women Use Social Media to Celebrate International Women’s Day

To celebrate International Women’s Day the Australian Businesswomen’s Network (ABN) is using Social Media to connect Australian business owners with women internationally.

“We’ve put together three 90-minute webinars with local and international guests to give women access to best practice and expertise from across the globe. Women in small business, whether they live in Perth, Albury Wodonga, Cairns or Canberra, can take part in these events, without leaving their desk,” said Suzi Dafnis, National General Manager of ABN.

“Our international speakers from the USA, Canada, Philippines and Singapore will bring their knowledge to our shores and our Australian speakers will help women put new information into practice right here at home.” Read more

International Networking Week

International Networking Week™ starts this week with networkers around the world celebrating the role that networking plays in the development and success of business.

BNI Australia’s National Director, Frederick Marcoux, said the purpose of International Networking Week™ is to raise the profile of networking in the wider community, recognising it as an essential tool for success in today’s business climate.

He said that business people throughout Australia, USA, Canada, Europe, India, SE Asia and dozens of other countries have been invited to luncheons and/or breakfasts to hear speakers discuss the benefits of networking in today’s business environment.

Mr Marcoux commented that during 2008 over $70 million worth of qualified referrals had been passed by members of BNI in Australia, demonstrating the power of networking and word of mouth marketing.

Major networking events are being held in most capital cities in Australia, with chapters in all parts of Australia undertaking their own celebrations, including inviting members of local Chambers of Commerce to some of their events.

For more information visit www.internationalnetworkingweek.com.au

Mega Networking Breakfast in Sydney to kick off International Networking Week

International Networking Week™, an initiative of BNI, will be celebrated in Concord with a Mega Networking Breakfast on Tuesday 3rd February at Roman’s Restaurant.

It will be addressed by some of Sydney’s leading networkers who will talk about their networking experiences. They will include The Hon Patricia Forsythe (Sydney Chamber of Commerce), David Baumgarten (Business Enterprise Centres), Candy Tymson (Author and public speaker) and Flying Solo’s Robert Gerrish. Over 100 people will be in attendance. Read more

International Networking Week launches in February

International Networking Week, an initiative of BNI, will be held during the week commencing 2nd February, 2009.

BNI is a business and professional referral organisation whose primary purpose is to exchange qualified business referrals and develop word of mouth marketing techniques. It has become the world’s largest business referral organisation of its kind. In Australia, there are over 3700 members in 181 chapters.

BNI Australia’s National Director, Frederick Marcoux, said “The goal of International Networking Week is to recognise and celebrate the role that networking plays in the development and success of businesses around the world.” Read more

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