Donna Maria's Handmade Beauty Connection
September 6, 2004
For those of you celebrating Labor Day today, I hope you have a safe and enjoyable one! For anyone who has been in the path of Hurricane Frances, I am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers!!

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Be sure to visit our 'Specials Pages' and stock up for your
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SunRose Aromatics | SunRose Wholesale

1. HBN Update: Welcome New & Renewing HBN Members!
2. Handmade Beauty Recipe Of The Week: Honey & Lemon Sugar Scrub
3. Beauty & The Business Trivia Question: win a bar of soap handmade by an HBN member!
4. The Handmade Beauty Cookbook: Join the Handmade Beauty Revolution!
5. Lifestyle CEO™: Lifestyle CEO™: The Rules Of (Business) Engagement, Part II: Select Your Battle Tools

Tvål! | Anna Hellqvist | Canada
* renewing member; rustic Swedish handmade soaps made from a wonderful blend of vegetable oils like olive, canola, coconut, shea, castor and almond

Savonerie | Deborah Wendell | Oregon
* renewing member; cold-process soaps made with fine vegetable oils and butters, scented with essential and/or fragrance oils, and colored with mineral pigments

Clare Le'Dor | Teresa Dorsey | Oregon
* renewing member; handmade skin care and aromatherapy products using exotic oils, pure essential oils and herbal infusions

Sungate Elementals, LLC | Christopher Frazer | New Jersey
* renewing member; handmade, all natural soaps, salves bath salts and fizzies made from the most natural ingredients under the sun

Swanrose Essentials | Viola Joyner | Nevada
* renewing member;  handmade vegetable-based glycerin soaps and bath salts blended with natural botanicals, essential oils and fine fragrance oils

Naked Herbs | Teresa Dorsey | Oregon
* therapeutic herbs and aromatherapy products made by an Master Herbalist and Integrative Aromatherapist

Institute For Synergy Arts | Jennifer Tan | California
* hand-crafted aromatherapy products to benefit mind, boy and spirit. Infant massage, birthing hypnosis and feng shui workshops. Custom-blending | private label available

Blue Monkey Herbal Company | Monica Naples | Texas
* natural products perfect for those seeking a natural alternative -- herbal mineral bath salts, aromatherapy massage oils, herbal body lotions, lip balm, etc.

Learn more about these and other members and their exciting activities by visiting their Web sites through HBN's Online Member Directory, with 4 ways to search: (1) by state/country; (2) by member business name; (3) by keyword search; or (4) using our new alphabetical listings.

Last Week's Question: I am a living museum where trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants are cultivated for scientific and educational purposes. I'm the home of the National Herb Garden and photographers come from all over the world to take pictures at my world famous Columns. In the spring and summer, I am alive with daffodils, flowering cherry trees and magnolias. As fall approaches, the focus turns to bird watching, bonsai and my koi pond, plus an upcoming seminar on Native American herbs. What am I? 

Last Week's Answer: I am the US National Arboretum. For more information about USNA events this month, including the Japanese Koi Festival and the seminars on Native American herbs, flavors and fragrances, visit their website.

Be the first to answer this week's question and win a bar of soap made by HBN member Moonshine Soap!

Please read the contest rules here before submitting your entry. Put "TRIVIA CONTEST ANSWER" in the subject line or your answer will not be considered.

While time does not permit me to respond personally to all entrants, the winner's name will be announced in the next newsletter!

1. A Fluid Business Plan. OK so you have a great business idea. Join the club! Don't we all ... but where are you going with it??! Smart soldiers only go into battle with a plan. Some enter the battlefield by air while others enter by sea. Still others enter by land and others are on the ground before the battle even starts. The most successful battalions turn their plans into action using a focused plan. Just like in battle, without a plan, your business will simply be movement without meaning, activity without direction and events without reason. That's why it is so important to have a plan. Stated simply, you have to know where you are going!! Would you accept an invitation to dinner at a friend's house, get into your car and then wonder how in the world to get there? Of course not! You could end up stranded anywhere, with nowhere to go and no one to ask. Instead, you would get directions first, and then plan your route. The same course of action should apply to your business. Yes, it's great to have an idea, but without a plan to make it reality, what's the point? Make the plan definitive, yet fluid enough to accommodate any changing goals or anticipated (or unexpected!) changes in lifestyle and/or circumstance. Business planning is a huge topic and there are far too many components to the process to address them all here. Over the years, I have written extensively on the topic of business planning. Two of my favorites are here:

o Do I Have A Business Plan?
o Do I Really Need A Business Plan?

2. Technological Expertise. Today's battlefield is driven by more than just manpower and artillery. It is also driven by technology. The soldiers of the 21st century can do so much more than those of past generations, not because they are stronger or because there are more of them, but because advances in technology provide them with incredible capabilities. Like most military operations, Lifestyle CEOs operate their businesses on a budget, and they do so as much out of love for what they do as for the desire to be successful. Those are both great motivators, and each is necessary in order to achieve excellence. Today's Lifestyle CEO is the "chief cook and bottle washer" (CCBW)," of pretty much everything and there's nothing wrong with that. But I find that far too many people think that being the CCBW means that they actually have to DO everything. But that's not true. The commander of the operation delegates many of the day to day activities to others, and one of the things they delegate most readily is the job of taking fullest advantage of today's technological advances.

Lifestyle CEOs should can take a tip from this. Many spend considerable resources (both time and money) learning how to design their website, take decent product photos, programming shopping carts, designing logos, swatting spam and googling search engines. In so doing, they become jacks of all trades, but masters of none -- most especially their own businesses. In other words, they spend so many resources learning how to do everything, refusing to delegate anything to experts, thinking that they are saving time and money. While there are exceptions, all to often, they end up saving neither, and thus they do not experience many of the benefits of the new technologies which have nearly single-handedly paved the way for Lifestyle CEOs around the world to pursue their business and lifestyle goals. A better alternative, and one which I recommend regularly, is to decide what technological tools are needed to accomplish goals and engage the services of people to help you maximize them. My first website was designed by a part-time web designer. In hindsight, I know that she knew very little about what she was doing. I had to spend so much time monitoring her activities that I had little stamina or time left to manage my own business. While it was hard at first, I eventually bit the bullet and hired a professional who can design a website based on my specific instructions and help me manage and maintain it. Her fees are respectable yet reasonable and while I spend some time working on web and technological issues, she does the bulk of the work freeing me to run my business. A local computer professional performs quarterly maintenance on my hardware, checking for viruses, loading software, removing outdated programs, archiving old data and helping me make the most of my computers. he is also available to me by phone and email when there are minor problems I can resolve on my own with his help. I need computers to run my business, but I don't need to know everything about them, nor do I want to. I highly recommend that all Lifestyle CEOs, even the most staunch "do-it-yourselfers" hire people to help them make the most of today's technology for the benefit of their businesses ... and personal lives too.

3. Good Judgment Regarding Opportunities. This can't be bought. It must be learned, sometimes through great stress and adversity. Under intense stress and pressure, a soldier must decide on a moment's notice whether to go left or right, whether to accept one option to accomplish a goal or whether to accept another one. They sense the danger in one direction and they go in another. It simply boils down to knowing when to say "no" and then saying it. Likewise, Lifestyle CEOs must also learn when to say no, and practice doing so with definitiveness and grace. As small business owners, we are usually strapped for cash. We have lots of ideas yet little finances to make them reality. It is therefore crucial that we judge every opportunity with a keen business eye to discern whether we should spend our precious time and money on it. For example, if your business plan calls for taking portrait photographs of speakers and you have invested thousands of dollars in equipment such as backdrops, make-up and lighting specifically for headshots and the like, if a bride calls you to do a wedding, that opportunity should be quickly scanned not only for whether it would bring money in in the short term, but also for whether it fits into your business plan. Simply stated, train yourself not to waste time chasing down short term winners if doing so might hinder long term progress. Most of us are programmed to want to please people, especially potential paying customers. But scrutinizing each opportunity for all of its pros and cons means that many times, it's best to simply say "thanks but no thanks." Not only will this help you stay true to mission and reach goals faster, it will also help you stay on task, freeing you up to enjoy more of your business and your life.

Invest in a fluid business plan, and track progress and update it regularly. Use technology wisely and to your advantage, using the services of professionals wherever possible to maximize its potential to your benefit. And learn to say "no," and then practice doing so regularly. There's more to business, but armed with at least these 3 battle tools, you've got a good start to your arsenal!