From the Indianapolis Recorder: State to Help Minority and Women-owned Businesses at 2010 MWBEResource Fair & Workshop Series.

INDIANAPOLIS (January 22, 2009) – To promote minority business enterprises (MBE) and women’s business enterprises (WBE), the Indiana Department of Administration’s Minority and Women’s Business Enterprises Division will host its 2010 MWBE Resource Fair & Workshop Series on Wednesday, February 24, 2010. Visit the link above for more information.

Trying to build your online brand and not sure where to start? Check out the BrandMakers and their new site–BrandMaker News. Tia Jackson and David Harley are co-Founders of this excellent venture that provides entrepreneurs with the tools and resources to brand your way to success. The site is nothing less than amazing and the content is even better. Style, substance, & swag. Sleep no more.

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Black Twitterati posted this entry on their blog about Social Media @ Work: Crisis in Haiti. Donations via text messages, twitter updates and pictures and websites are reaching out and providing assistance where the damaged infrastructure is simply unavailable. Facebook and YouTube are becoming media outlets that family and friends both within and outside the country are fully utilizing to make and maintain contact. If you ever had any doubts about the power of personal media as a legitimate informational source, doubt no more.

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Aiming to develop economic and community strength through patronizing black businesses exclusively, John and Maggie Anderson founded the Empowerment Experiment as a means of increasing black business revenues from $88 billion to something more representative of the $1 trillion dollars spent by black consumers annually. Read more at Frost Illustrated, an online version of a popular black newspaper headquartered in Fort Wayne.

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It was always a long term goal of mine to publish a book of poems and short stories by age 37… 5 years post goal age here we are. Once the decision was made to proceed with the project I had to decide which poems to include in the book that would showcase my writing ability, style and personality.

So many people over the past thirty plus years have left an indelible mark on my life and so many of these people live in my writings.  As such, it was a difficult to decide which writings to include and which to exclude; all being so personal in nature. Some of the prose is more than twenty years old; written at a stage in my life where I was very militant, outspoken and some times crude. However, no matter how difficult it was to read poems that I penned so long ago during a different period of my life  I decided to leave them in to give the book its own identity;  a truthfulness that the reader would enjoy.  With the exception of “Snow Ball Fight” a story written about a tragic death that occurred at Kennedy King middle school in Gary, In… I was not willing to re-open those wounds, so I left it out.

Actual events inspired some of my writings, for example “Shadow Fade” was written two years after the 911 terrorist attack and 44 was inspired by the election of President Barack Obama.  Both poems were written long after the actual events, this was done to ensure that my writings were not influenced by the plethora of poems that were written as a result of those events.

Finally, with a rough manuscript in hand I was ready to find an African American publisher that would be willing to publish my book; this is where the frustration began.  Believe it or not what I discovered was most African American Publishers will accept very few if any books of poetry for publication.  Langston where are you?   A friend informed me about iseecolor.com; I joined New Authors on the Move group developed by Author Sherrie D. Cotton.  This site offers a wealth of information for new authors trying to get published.  With the information gained from this site I decided that self publishing would be the best route to accomplish my goal.  I decided to utilize  Outskirstspress to self publish my book, the deciding factor was of all of the self publishing companies I researched it was the only one to have an actual number to call and speak to an individual to inquire about the progress of the book.  I also utilized Outskirstpress to edit the manuscript pre-publication, of all the services offered by Outskirtspress the editing proved to be the most valuable; correcting embarrassing grammatical and spelling errors.  The final product is Tenderheaded: A Saga of Plaits and Beads.

Originally from Gary, Indiana I am the sixth of seven children born to Nellie and Freddie Neal. I graduated in 1985 from William A. Wirt High School after which I joined the United States Navy.  While enlisted in the USN I attained an Associates degree in General Studies, a Bachelors Degree in Psychology and am currently working on a Masters Degree in Psychology. I retired from the USN in August 2007 after serving 22 years. I am now a government contractor employed by Universal Consulting Services working for Marine Forces Reserve coordinating health screenings for Marines returning from combat related deployments.   For more information about the book please visit www.outskirtspress.com/Tenderheaded.

Karen Hannon, inventor and owner of Lounge N Lax functional children’s wear, was inspired to create a line of children’s clothing after becoming frustrated with keeping her son’s head dry in the winter given the perspiration he was experiencing with existing hat options. As a result, she invented a functional hat and a matching set of lounge pants. This innovating thinking then led to a unique stylish scarf wrap design that maintained her daughter’s hairstyle while she napped.

Following her success with these designs, Karen considered the the lack of practical healthcare clothing options for child cancer patients and other children in the hospital for various reasons. Her efforts to address a deficiency in this area resulted in a full product line that is eco friendly, hypoallergenic, thermal regulating, and odor free. Her products feature bamboo terry cloth that is ultra soft, cashmere-like, and naturally whisks away moisture. It is anti-bacterial and grown without pesticides and fungicides. The outer shell is made of 100% cotton. The styles vary from stripes, plaids, dots, paisleys, skulls & bones, etc. Whatever your heart or style desires, you can wear it. The sizes range from newborn, which is xx-small to size 14 (children), which is xx-large.

Karen’s greatest challenges in starting her business were getting her family to believe in her idea and to provide financial backing. She had to learn the business by performing every job to include being owner, researcher, marketer and sales professional to packing product and obtaining bar codes. Her business discipline and family balance require her to work, think and research during the wee hours of the night from 11pm until 4am every night while her kids are asleep.

She is motivated by her children and advises other entrepreneurs to follow their dreams whether others believe in them or not. She reminds all of us that it’s a lot of work, but it’s worth the blood, sweat and tears. She sees her business becoming an exclusive store that she can pass on to her kids and grandchildren. Through her agreements with hospitals and ongoing licensing arrangements with strategic partners including the American Cancer Society, she will grow her revenues and launch the opening of a bricks and mortar location to complement her strong internet presence. She is currently working on certification with the Women Business Enterprise National Council which will provide opportunities for distribution with Macy’s, Target and Walgreens.

Karen likes the creative nature of entrepreneurship and the ability to determine her own destiny. For her, it’s all about gaining knowledge and feeding her addiction for learning. Her marketing plan is focused on her website, trade shows, word of mouth, and published marketing materials. She has also used fund raising events to secure inventors to fund her patents while using some old-fashioned hustle to maintain ownership of her enterprise to manufacture, produce sales, and reinvest in the business. Her commitment to learning and professional development led her to take classes for grant-writing and consulting to better educate herself on procurement and contracting with the government  as a means of further reducing expenses and increasing her revenues.

Lounge N Lax is produced by Xaydon, LLC headquartered in Portage, Indiana. Xaydon was named after Karen’s children and  is committed to providing opportunities for others through its entrepreneurial success. This is evident in Xaydon’s work with Trade Winds, a Gary, Indiana based organization that offers employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Tradewinds partners with Xaydon to manufacture Xaydon products. For more information about Xaydon, LLC and Lounge N Lax products, visit their home page at http://www.loungenlax.com/default.html.

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With January 26th getting even closer now that we’ve entered the New Year, Apple fans are going crazy with rumors about the Apple Tablet that many say will be released later this month.

Will it be a Kindle Killer or a large iPhone-MacBook hybrid multimedia machine? Perhaps it will be all of what the legendary Newton should have been at a time when the general population wasn’t quite ready to adopt a personal media device.

Whatever the case, Apple stock is reaching all time highs as speculators buy based on consumer interest in seeing some kind of a table-based computer from the good folks in Cupertino. Apple has indicated in the past that it had no plans to offer such a device but recent reports appear to contradict those early claims suggesting that a tablet is clearly close to being announced.

As a Kindle, iPhone, iMac and MacBook owner, I’m curious about how a tablet would work should it actually be announced. Certainly the potential portability of a table versus a notebook is appealing even though current MacBooks are pretty slim. Having something bigger than an iPhone for remote work would also be ideal; however, I’m not sure there is a perfect device that can offer the right combination of screen space, keyboard input (as good as a virtual keyboard might be, nothing quite compares to a physical keyboard and tactile feedback), memory, and battery life. Let’s see if the mythical Apple tablet–the iSlate–can satisfy our great expectations.

Bags, Bling & Beauty provides unique accessories for women and men. The business began five years ago as an upscale resale shop  on eBay.

Founder, Audra Hiller Johnson is working to develop the online arm of the business which is now hosted on its own domain name into a multi-state network of independent sales consultants in addition to opening an additional storefront beyond her current physical location in Schererville, Indiana.

Although advertising and diversifying have been challenges for the business, Ms. Hiller generates new ideas through networking event and social sites in addition to brainstorming with family and friends. Her attendance and tradeshows and over twenty years of retail experience also serve to effectively market her passion for fashion accessories. She has also fully utilized offline marketing techniques to include flyers, ads, storefront displays, and the best sales technique of all–word of mouth.

Bags, Bling & Beauty is a self-funded enterprise that allows Audra wot work three to five hours per day while allowing her the freedom to do volunteer work, while also attending her daughter’s school activities and showcases.

Audra advises other entrepreneurs or those aspiring to become entrepreneurs to do what it takes to make it happen and to never give up.

For more information about Bags, Bling & Beauty, contact Audra Hiller Johnson at info@bagsblingbeauty.com or visit www.bagsblingbeauty.com.

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