Since starting, WiB has been contacted about a variety of events and offers from outside the business world –  social and charity -ranging from sports to fashion.

How can you get your message out through the WiB network?  The best, easiest and most effective way to share something you’re involved in that may of interest to WiB members is to post a comment or event on the Women in Business Linked In Group (we’re at 67 members) and also on the Facebook group page (56 fans).  These are the most effective ways for you to get your message across and connect with others. Plus, it raises the profile of what you’re doing and helps members have a more direct and informative connection with each other.

If you have a short article on a subject you can also submit it for inclusion on this blog site.  See this post for guidelines.  It would be fabulous to have photos included with your articles too.

In addition, you can also communicate and interact by posting comments on the blog site – this is open to anyone and can be done at a few click of a button.

Don’t forget, you can also raise questions and discussion points and provide help and advice by any of these methods also.

So, share what you’re involved in with the wider network and enjoy making new connections through WiB.

Kate

Our 2^nd meeting was another great success.  On an August evening that was only fit for Ducks and Fish to venture out we had over 50 people turn up at The Courthouse.  Most of whom didn’t know each other at all, but judging by the noise levels became friends very quickly.  Just about every industry group was represented from Beauticians to Bankers, Film professionals to Therapists.  Apart from a lot of fun a lot of business was done as well.  I made some great new contacts for BigFish.   Like I said at the Launch Party ‘Women we make it happen!”  Roll on September is all I can say!

Debs Gwinnell

Jo Fairley, the entrepreneur and co-founder behind Green & Black’s Chocolate will be the keynote speaker at the Isle of Man Sporting  & Dining Club event 29 October, 2009.

Green & Black’s is one of the best-known food brands, and is one of the very few to be feted both for its quality and for its ethical credentials. The chocolate is not only  delicious, it’s good for the planet – and for the people who produce it.  Green & Black’s Chocolate focuses on organic and fairtrade production based on a practical and viable blueprint for sustainability.

Jo has been “green” since 1972 when she got into trouble at school for putting bricks in loo cisterns to save water! Having left school with minimal qualifications, she started a career in journalism and soon became the UK’s youngest-ever magazine editor at 23.  She went on to become an environmental  columnist at The Times and  and co-presented a BskyB TV Show called Go For Green with David Bellamy.

She is Chair of The Soil Association’s Health Products Standards Committee, and helps to set the standards for organic and natural cosmetics in the UK, and is also “Matron” of the Women’s Environmental Network.

Jo created Green & Black’s with her husband Craig Sams, and together they wrote  a book Sweet Dreams, in which they tell  how their combined expertise in organic food, marketing, branding, integrity and ethics have helped grow and sustain Green & Black’s to a successful product.

John Wannenburgh of the Sporting & Dining Club said,  “Whilst Jo Fairley’s name may not be as instantly recognisable as that of her creation Green & Black’s, her entreprenerial spirit, business acumen and loyalty to her green roots have given us all a wonderful product to enjoy. Her story is one of David vs Goliath and her marketing skills single handedly changed how chocolate is sourced and sold.”

For more information contact John on 07624  49 57 49 or at  john(at) sportinganddiningclub(dot)com or see www.sportinganddiningclub.com

That’s the Talking Topic for the Women in Business Tuesday Club on 18TH Aug, 6pm – 8 pm at The Courthouse, Athol Street, Douglas.

It would be great to have your views and thoughts here on the blogsite too . . . so why not start the conversation here by commenting on this post.

What does success mean to you?

Members of the Steering Committee at the Launch of Women in Business

Following on from our successful launch last month, we want to keep the networking momentum up. So we’re inviting all women in business in the Isle of Man to join our the WiB Tuesday Club.

Each third Tuesday of the month, we’ll be getting together at The Old Courthouse in Athol Street at 6 pm (upstairs), and we want you to joins us.  The idea is to create a social environment where women in business can meet up, make new friends and, hopefully, generate some business opportunities at the same time.

The next Tuesday Club meets 18 August. Why not come out and mix business with pleasure.  Bring plently of business cards and any flyers or brochures you’d like people to have.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Rethinking the role of women (accmanpro.com)
• Business card ideas for artists and creatives (myventurepad.com)

Dawn Webb,  Sue Moore, Fiona Moore and Zoe Shepherd, all women in business at accounting firm Moore Stephens, completed 99 miles in the Parish Walk raising £1,000 for Noble’s Hospital Special Care Baby Unit.

Top row L-R: Zoe Shepherd, Pauline Smith, Dawn Webb. Bottom row L-R: Fiona Moore, Sue Moore

This is your blog all you women in business in the Isle of Man.  Tell us your news and we’ll post it here for everyone to see.   Have you hired a new team member?  Starting a new initative? Doing something new and innovative?  Let us know!

Here’s what we want:

• Company news
• Team stories
• News about awards or accolades
• Opinion on business issues
• New innovations/products/services
• Advice, tips and ‘how to’

Here’s what we don’t need:

• Company profiles
• Adverts/brochures or sales copy
• Anything that states that your company ‘is delighted to announce…’

Email your news to wib(at)strivepr(dot)com or ring Sherrilynne Starkie on 613 434 to discuss your idea.

Here’s an interesting way of sharing information and shows how “story telling” and profiling is a great way of sharing knowledge and experience.

Click here and visit the Women 2.0 site for interviews with women entrepreneurs and technology leaders about their professional experiences and lessons learned. Education, transitions, risk, and networking are covered in the series.

Are you interested in sharing your professional experiences and lessons learned?  We’d be very interested to hear from you.

Do I have news? Yes, I have news.  I stopped and thought about it and I’ve certainly learned about some  interesting and relevant matters over the past few days.

• Enterprise / Entrepreneurship undergraduate course to be launched for Isle of Man residents. Click here.
• Skills and development opportunities – bite size courses for busy people .
• The Isle of Man is being represented at the Business North West conference in October.
• Two of the companies being assisted by the Isle of Man Business & Innovation Centre’s incubation programme will launch this autumn.  What are business incubators? Click here.

What have you learned this week?

This week I’ve heard about some accessible and valuable courses that you can benefit from without huge commitment.  Ideal when most of use are trying to balance a million and one things at once anyway!

• PR workshop s 1 or 2 day workshops, held by Strive PR in October, click here.
• Marketing Essentials, Chartered Institute of Marketing Course at IBS. It’s one unit of the Professional Certificate in Marketing, so you can just take that or go on to do more.  It starts in September so contact IBS without delay if you’re interested.

Also . . . a second workshop on Intellectual Property is to be held on the Isle of Man.  I’ll share more when I know but I’ve heard that the last one was excellent and informed a range of interested parties from business, government and education about IP issues and opportunities on the Isle of Man specifically.