Biz Mix: B2B and the Art of Collaboration – Lonely no more

Running your own business, especially a small business, can sometimes be a lonely endeavor. From the first spark that sets your business in motion, to the day-to-day operations, it often seems like you spend a great deal of time with yourself, your idea, and it can be difficult to feel connected to the larger [...]

Lisa Trank’s Biz Mix: Looking in the Mirror on Monday Morning

I get a lot of newsletters that land in my email every week. I’ve signed up for them, so I know what I’ve gotten myself into as far as how much “weight” they add to my inbox, which is already bursting at the seam. Most of them I just scan and delete, but once in [...]

Lisa Trank’s Biz Mix: Is it Time to Reinvent? Some ideas on how to weather the economic roller coaster

I’ve been thinking about a great deal lately about reinvention. Not the wheel, or the perfect mousetrap, but how a business, employee or job searcher stays competitive, in business and in demand during a rough economic patch, like we’re experiencing today. In the last week, I’ve read about two local businesses shutting their doors, [...]

Biz Mix: How to succeed in presenting 101

I ‘ve been asked lately to do a number of presentations on social media Recently, I presented on “Social Media and Insurance Industry Trends” for a group of professionals . I was one of a number of featured speakers and on this occasion, I was lucky enough to be able to sit in on a [...]

Biz Mix: Women-owned business thriving in down economy

R osie the Riveter. Oprah Winfrey. Martha Stewart. The woman who lives next door. What do all of these people have in common?
Simple. They represent the vast spectrum of women in business, from the most powerful and influential to the entrepreneur and the owner of a shop on Main Street. According to the National Association [...]

Too old for Facebook, Twitter? No way!

I recently gave a talk at the Longmont Area Chamber of Commerce on social networking for a group of Longmont business owners.
The group was a true snapshot of Longmont’s business community, with representatives ranging from nonprofits, to financial services, to legal, real estate, sales training and coaching, to retail and professional services. One common thread [...]

Biz Mix: Necessity – the Daddy of invention

Sometimes opportunity comes knocking and you just have to answer the door.
For Longmont resident Peter Champe, that knocking when his second child was born. It’s funny what the brain of an exhausted parent is capable of creating.
After a series of colds that inhibited his then 1-year-old son from breastfeeding, Peter and his wife were fed [...]