Today was the first day that I had the time to look at the notes I took while I was at the Altitude Design Summit (or Alt).

Each day was filled with amazing panels with successful panelist talking about social media and how to grow your business.

This was my second year at Alt and I didn’t take as many notes as last year but I did socialize more:-)

If you were not able to make it to Alt I wanted to give you the cliff notes from the panels I attended.

Here we go…

Successful Collaborations

What I took away from this panel is that it is always a smart move to collaborate with other successful women.

When you take the time to collaborate you are able to cut the work AND grow your business.  Look for women in a different area than your own but someone that compliments your look/feel/business.

If you have a blog start monthly posts that bring other bloggers into your posts.  Be creative and be authentic.

If you are doing a large collaboration make sure that you use a social calendar like “Google Calendar” so everyone can make changes in real time.

Life Work Balance

I think this is a subject that most entrepreneurs struggle with.

Especially when you work from home it is hard to separate when it is work time and when it is family time.

Here are some of tips that I heard:

Hire help for the things that others can do.

Create a huge schedule that includes the extra things that you want to make time for like creating and working out.

Say “no” more often.  We can’t say “yes” to everything even when we are growing our businesses.

Many entrepreneurs can become addicted to the go, go, go of growing your business and they need to break this addiction.

It is also essential to maintain your mental and physical strength.  You have to make time for renewal.

I know all of these things sound like commonsense but it is always good to be reminded.

Runway + Streetstyle: Fashion Blogging 101

Obviously, I am not a fashion blogger but I do make fashions so I thought this might be interesting.

This panel was really helpful for someone wanting to get their start in fashion blogging but I took away that it is time to get an intern.

There are so many people that want the experience that a fashion business can provide and that they can get credit for it in school too.

Food for thought.

{at this point there should have been more panel notes for day one but obviously I was living on coffee at this point and have nothing for you}

Day two brought more great panels.

Let’s go.

Using Facebook as an Effective Tool to Connect

This was a roundtable discussion group and I really like these smaller groups.  Hint, hint Alt….more of these would be awesome!

I use Facebook a lot but there were a few things that I thought would be fun and helpful.

The first one was to purchase the app Picframe because you can create collages with the photos you take from your phone.

This is really helpful if you post photos to Facebook and Twitter.  You can also add text which is fun.

I have apps that make collages but I didn’t have one that can add text.

If you are on Facebook and you have a business page you might want to invest in creating a “landing page”.

This is just a page that new visitors will see before they “like” your business page.

You can give a brief summary of your business, showcase product and even give coupons for people becoming a fan of your business page.

From Blog to Shop

When you have a blog and an online shop don’t forget to make local connections.

It is easy to spend so much time making online connections that we need to remember to grow local connections because those connections are invaluable.

Those connections will help you with word of mouth and also local newspapers etc.

It was also suggested to read the book The E-Myth Revisited.

Make sure that you are paying yourself and following a formula for wholesale and retail pricing.

On a closing note that when people sign up for your newsletter….they actually WANT your newsletter so make sure you are sending them out a few times a month.

Building a Personal Brand

Make sure you have a brand statement.

Know what your assets are!

Personalize your brand by showcasing who you ARE not what you DO.

I know I have heard this a million times but it takes time to really fine tune it…have an elevator pitch.

Have that 10 second pitch that tells exactly what you sell…who you are!

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OK, that is it.

I just saved you a ton of money:-)

Sorry I didn’t take more notes but I was having so much fun listening and participating that I forgot:-)

Come back on Wednesday for a peek into where I am going to celebrate turning 40!!!!