Money, money, money . . .

Spring is on the way and businesses all around me are showing new determination for growth, expansion and optimism. A lot of them are looking for money; many are not sure where to start.

My advice, for new start-ups in the Atlanta area, is to first of all go to the March 16 “Stepping Up To Business” event at Cobb Galleria. I am certain there will be important information disseminated, and the networking will be excellent as well. Who knows – one might even find a partner, affiliate or new client there!

A few years ago, I attended an event about investing and entrepreneurship at which Eugene O’Malley, Managing Partner of Cobblestone Advisers, was the keynote speaker. Wisely, to help people remember, he has come up with an approach he calls BE SMART, an acronym in which each letter represents a specific task or process the business owner must carry out when in pursuit of capital. The other day, looking at his hand-out again, I focused on the “S” – Spoke & Wheel: get to know the top 50 influences in your community. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

I also like O’Malley’s “M” – Management Team, and will write about that some other time.

Atlanta Women in Business – Loans, Inc., meanwhile, continues to move ever closer to opening its doors for loan applications. Be patient a little longer, please.

“Marry an American”. Is this serious career advice?

A LinkedIn group of which I was a member (until today), had a discussion post from a young man in Europe: a serious inquiry. What advice did other group members have for the pursuit of a career in the United States.

The first response came from someone who advised him to “marry an American”. I responded to this by writing “Tacky, tacky, tacky” and then went on to give the inquirer a serious answer.

The group’s moderator just came back to me with:

I was just looking over our Linked In group page to see how it was going, and I noticed a comment you had written on Mr. XYZ’s post. Thank you for giving lending him your advice, but I am worried about the comment you then directed toward Mr. “first commenter”. I’m sure you meant the “Tacky, tacky, tacky” in a playful manner, but that is not how it comes off and I must ask you to refrain from such type of comments. From the outside looking in, it would look as though we allow our group members to treat each other with disrespect and I cannot tolerate that. Please be mindful of how your messages can be interpreted moving forward. Thank you for all of your positive engagement otherwise in the group. We appreciate your input.

Yikes!

Goodbye, group!

Chain Letters

Do you remember the chain letters from bygone decades? You’d receive a letter in the mail, were asked to make six copies and send those on to six friends, etc., etc., etc. Often the letters included money (I think this became a criminal offense – and a good thing, too!), or a poem or ‘blessing’ -- all fairly harmless and perhaps even somewhat amusing.

Ah, the days of innocence!

How quaint that now seems in comparison with the electronic chain letters we receive these days and which are sharper, more offensive, threatening even.

I received one of these missiles this week. From someone I know well, with a headline that was sure to lead to me opening it, which I did. There was no connection between the headline and the e-mail’s content. It did not threaten me directly, but it did give gruesome examples of death and disaster that had befallen others who had received this chain letter also and had failed to forward it to twenty people in their address books.

Are some of our friends now becoming terrorists?

I’ve advised the sender that she was out of line in sending me this e-mail, and I hope that is the end of that. No one should engage in this practice; certainly not serious, responsible business people. I had for many years regarded her as such – an image she destroyed with one keystroke.