Riding your bike in the city is a great way to commute to work, meet up with friends or run errands. However, riding safely is key to being a savvy urban rider. Many motorists don’t see or don’t think about cyclists, so it is important to make yourself as visible as possible and be prepared for anything.

Make sure you never leave home without your helmet and lock. Always ride in the bike lane if it is available. If not, keep to the right as far as safely possible. Always be prepared for cars to turn right in front of you, as many motorists only check cross traffic and sidewalk traffic before making a right turn. Always obey the rules of traffic. When in doubt, yield to cars.

If you ride at night, make sure to have proper lights on the front and back of your bike and brightly colored or reflective clothing. Safety can be fashionable too! Find yourself a sassy patterned helmet and put some reflectors on it. Create a glow in the dark jacket for when you ride at night. Get some bright orange shoes. Whatever you do, make sure you stay safe and stay seen!

Check out these amazing cycle-wear lines designed for women, by women:
Shebeest
SheSpoke

Click here to read part 1 of this series, posted on March 18, 2009.
Click here to read part 2 of this series, posted on March 30, 2009.

The Dream Man founder Deborah Buchta and her Dream Man production team have been working hard to deliver the first ever Dream Man Creator, a tool to assist you in creating a three-page story of the man of your dreams. And they want your feedback!

Be one of 30 women who are beta testing the upcoming Dream Man Creator. For a few years now, Deborah has been match-making, interviewing, and coaching women on creating and attracting their dream man. And now, she has devised the Dream Man Creator, a workbook and creation tool available for the initial beta test. Needed for testing are 10 women in the 20-45 age range. If you are serious about finding your dream man and you want to put in four to six hours of time (over a two-week period if needed) into testing the Dream Man Story Creator and learning a powerful way to help you attract your dream man, then they want to hear from you!

Here’s what you need to do to participate:
• Email the Dream Man production team at attractyourdreamman [at] gmail [dot] com
• Include your name, age, email address, mailing address, and phone number (this information is held confidential)
• Give them your “Sense of Urgency” rating from 1 to 10 (10=Urgently Seeking My Dream Man)
• Tell them a little about your dream man search.

If they determine you are a fit for the beta test, they will contact you to explain the balance of the process and get your Dream Man Creator Workbook in the mail to you for your own personal use. Some of the beta testers have already finished and the feedback is very positive!

By beckyblueeyes

We are trying to compress all of the advice we collected from SHOP/09, held last week at the Portland Center for Performing Arts. There is so much! We decided to pull just a few of our favorite quotes from the day:

“Time is your most valuable resource. Guard it carefully.” ~Jackie Babicky, Small Business Advisory Council

“Don’t sell your product. Sell your story.” ~Jen Scott, Maxwell PR

“Stop having sales.” ~Sarah Shaoul, Black Wagon

“You already have an inherent hook, if you’re LOCAL. That’s as good as a gift basket. That’s your in.” ~Laura Gunderson, The Oregonian

“Your brand is bigger than your business!” ~unknown, speaking to Wicked Quick Founder Tarran Pitschka

“I love Twitter. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.” ~Dina Nishioka, Provenance Hotels

“Re-tweeting is a nice way to acknowledge someone else’s tweet. It’s classy and generous.” ~Kent Lewis, Anvil Media

With the dawn of a new presidency, a deepening recession, and a fine-dining culinary culture that sometimes veers into the impossibly surreal, soberness is setting into the food world. Gone are the behemoth restaurants, $1,000 omelets, and ice cream made of dehydrated chili flakes. Hallmarks of 2009 will include a return to families cooking together and eating at home more than they have in decades, a premium on high-quality, seasonal ingredients that provide good value, and an emphasis on simple food for the people, by the people.

Check out Epicurious’s top 10 food trends for the home cook and restaurant-goer in 2009:

1. “Value” is the new “Sustainable”
These days, the economy dictates our cooking and shopping decisions: Bargains are in, no matter where they come from.

2. The Compost Pile is the new Flower Garden
Growing your own now refers to vegetables, not just herbs, and that will in turn help feed the gardener’s compost pile. Live worm garnishes, however, will not make it to the house salad.

3. Peruvian is the new Thai
You thought Peruvian cuisine was all about seviche, maybe? Guess again: Peru boasts culinary influences from Spanish, Basque, African, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French, and British immigrants. Pisco Sour, anyone?

4. Noodle Bars are the new Sushi Joints
With some seafood being suspect or over-fished, and raw fish prices high, noodles make complete sense. If there’s no ramen, udon, or soba shop in your neck of the woods, there will be soon.

5. Ginger is the new Mint
Move over, mojitos. Ginger beers and ginger cocktails (like the Ginger Rogers, Gin Gin Mule, and Ginger Smash) are bubbling up at places like The Violet Hour in Chicago, the Clock Bar in San Francisco, and
Matsugen in New York.

6. Smoking is the new Frying
You know how everything tastes better fried? Well, almost everything tastes better smoked, too, and that includes cocktails. Bartenders are smoking their bourbons (Eben Freeman at Tailor, for example), and chefs, recognizing the national craze for BBQ, are smoking more than just salmon and ribs: nuts, salts, even smoked steelhead roe (at Chicago’s Alinea). Who says smoking’s bad for you?

7. Regional Roasters are the new Starbucks
It’s come full circle. What started as a local coffee phenomenon migrated to other cities and turned Americans into java junkies. Then the chain overexpanded and overreached, and the little neighborhood
coffee roasters thrive again, like Stumptown (Portland, OR), Bluebottle (San Francisco), and La Colombe (Philly).

8. Portland (Maine) is the new Portland (Oregon)
Abundance of great chefs, restaurants, and local foodies? Check, check, and check. Want examples? Visit Five Fifty-Five, Hugo’s, and Fore Street to start.

9. Rustic Food is the new Molecular Gastronomy
Wacky-weird-science cuisine that requires fancy-schmancy equipment doesn’t necessarily make food taste better, and more often than not it adds needless complexity (there are exceptions). Most importantly, no one really wants to do this at home. Expect to see comfort food stage a comeback. Again.

10. “Top-Rated” is the new “Critic’s Pick”
Power to the people; single critics are a dying breed. Why believe what one person says when you can read and reflect on what hundreds think?

Michelle Rafter, Business Reporter & Blogger at WordCount: Freelancing in the Digital Age spoke at our SHOP Symposium in Portland on Monday and posted these very helpful tips.

I spent Monday afternoon talking to small business owners at the ShopSymposium/09 conference in Portland. The subject of the panel discussion I participated in: how small business owners can use social media without having it take over their lives.

That’s not all the panel discussion covered. To track everything that was mentioned do a Twitter Search of #ss09. But productivity is definitely one of the main things small business owners worry about. That and creating a social media strategy in the first place, which can be intimidating. The key, according to the dozens of small business owners, consultants and industry experts I’ve interviewed, is to take it one step at a time.

As promised, I’ve compiled a resource guide to stories and blog posts I’ve written on social media basics and how small business owners can use it in various aspects of running their companies.

If you were at Shop/09, be sure to say hi or leave a comment. If you weren’t, I’d love to hear what social networking issues you’re grappling with. And don’t forget to find me on Twitter at @michellerafter and on LinkedIn at michellerafter.

The Tools

• The secret to my LinkedIn success – Advice on using the business network aimed primarily at writers but applicable to any solo entrepreneur.
• There is no such thing as a dumb Twitter question – After avoiding the Twitter phenomena for a long time, I figured out how to start making it work for me.
• A writer’s guide to getting the most from Twitter – More basics applicable to any small business or sole practitioner.
• How to start a business podcast – 10 rules to create an podcast that will attract listeners and boost business. From IncTechnology.com

The Strategies

• Michelle’s social media maxims – Compiled for a recent Willamette University MBA Program First Thursday presentation. No. 1 – Everybody’s doing it, but not everybody knows what they’re doing.
• My TwiTip guest post: When one Twitter account isn’t enough – Use different accounts for different aspects of your business, work and life.
• LinkedIn’s corporate play takes aim at recruiters – A new suite of prospecting tools LinkedIn hopes will appeal to the recruiters and HR professionals among its 35 million members. From Workforce Management
• Turn social networks into your recruiter – If corporate headhunters can mine Facebook for job candidates, small businesses can too. From IncTechnology.com
• Sex sells, and other blogging lessons learned – Good headlines attract attention, especially on blogs. That’s just one of the things I learned in my first year as a blogger.

The Problems

• Taming Twitter: Did they really just say that? – Forward-thinking companies are mitigating the risks of social networks by designating Twitter reps and updating electronic communication guidelines. From Workforce Management
• Tech security forecast for 2009 – Experts predict more malware and attacks from mobile devices and social networks. From IncTechnology.com
• Social network scams – Welcome to the latest online hustle. From YourSecurityResource.com

I spent a day last week with 15 entrepreneurs and we shared best practices for our businesses. I thought I would share a few:

• Test assumptions
• Keep people up to date with what you are doing both professionally and personally
• Understand motivations of reactions
• One person writes the checks, one person signs the checks, one person reconciles
• Compensation = Metrics
• Do a 360-degree review of employees
• Start projects with project briefs and checklists
• Personal follow-up with clients
• Research and pre-plan all projects
• Make money before you spend it
• Always be building relationships
• Stay on top of technology

Now… can you guess which practices came from the girls in the group?

From start-ups to well-established businesses, to nine-to-fivers who want to break out on their own, this is an special opportunity to get practical answers and major inspiration to take your business to the next level.

Group Fire Starter Session with Danielle LaPorte:

3 hours. 10 entrepreneurs.
My success story. Your questions. Our ideas on how to rock your business.

“My Fire Starter Session with Danielle is the best investment I have ever made. Ever.”
- Sarah Bray, Web developer, Virginia Beach

When: Saturday, April 11
Morning sessions: 9:30 to 12:30 (only 10 spaces available)
Afternoon sessions: 1:00 to 4:00 (only 10 spaces available)
Price: $100

Acumen, instinct, brass tacks advice, and inspiration to blaze your trail. Spend a morning or afternoon think-tanking your business. I’ll offer up the grace and grit of my accomplishments and philosophy – from investor leads to Oprah pitches, social media to social responsibility. After that opening “entrepreneurial story time” (which alone will be worth the day) we’ll actively jam on strategies for everybody’s business. We’ll look at branding, social and guerrilla marketing and publicity, publishing, raising capital, and defining success on your own terms. Real experience, unfettered opinions, and genuine encouragement. True magic. Truly PRACTICAL.

When you book your space, you’ll receive my set of “Burning Questions” about your work. And I will personally review your site or media materials in advance and may come armed with some ideas for you. The day will be part motivation, part how-to, and 100% inspiring.

Booking is on a first come, first served based. Contact me directly: d@daniellelaporte.com to reserve your space, or with any questions. Upon payment via Paypal, I’ll email you the “Burning Questions” for you to explore in advance of the group Fire Starter, and send you directions to the meeting location.

Group Fire Starter Sessions are incredibly useful and meaningful experiences. I hope you’ll seize the opportunity. Spread the word.

With Love,
Danielle
whitehottruth.com