That question was very easy to answer. It wasn’t a single word… it was a phrase. Make Good Blood.

Lots of stuff happened in 2009. I learned a lot of lessons – but the most significant one was taught to me this past July when I spent 10 days in the hospital. You can read about it here, if you want.

I know, I know, this is a business site. And you want business information.  And sure, I can throw a phrase or two out there for you – but that wouldn’t really sum up my year.

I’m the kind of person who will work, work, work – from sun up till way past sun down. When I was in the hospital, I had to take a break. And it felt odd to be away from the computer that long. Trust me!

During my hospital stay, there was a time when I was questioning if I was gonna make it.  The original treatments weren’t working. I didn’t have time to think about the emails I needed to send or the blog posts I had to write.

I could only concentrate on one thing: Make Good Blood. For those moments, that was all that mattered. I needed to get better before I could send an email again or write another post.

Long story short: the doctors figured out what was wrong and I got out of the hospital. Things have pretty much returned to normal. My hemoglobin is still low, but it’s a lot better than it was. I take a lot of vitamins, and I have also been making an effort to shut my computer down earlier at night.

The phrase Make Good Blood is more than just a phrase. It taught me to be calm, to have patience, taught me that I’m stronger than I realized, as well as more vulnerable than I ever knew. It’s a new lifestyle.

It’s something that I will not forget.

My pal, and Indie Biz Chicks Contributor, Gwen Bell wrote a great blog post yesterday on “The Secret to Becoming an Entrepreneur.”

I’m not going to spoil the post for you – I want you to read it on your own. But I will tell you this – there is no “secret formula” or “magic potion.” I think Gwen makes an excellent point in her post… and I’m anxious to hear what you think.

I posted something similar (though a lot more long-winded) last week. In my opinion, you can make one of two choices… you either do it or you don’t.

I’m going to stop talking for now. Go read Gwen’s post and then come back here and let me know what you think!

Instead of just writing out what I think, I decided to show you! I took some screen shots of some of my favorite websites and wrote in some notes about why I liked them. You’ll notice that they are all different types of sites with unique designs. But they do share a few things!

They all have clean lines, are un-cluttered, provide clear navigation, feature complementary colors, and easy to read fonts. These things combined make for a very aesthetically pleasing website. And when your website looks good, your visitors will stay longer, and your chances of making a sale increase!

HandmadeDetroit.com

GwenBell.com

AliEdwards.com

MadeByAmyD.com

And that is exactly WHY I wanted to add some new faces around here. While we all have the common bond of starting a business, we also have differences.

Our new contributors are known for their skills in social networking, branding, marketing and crafting. I’m talking about people who know their stuff! So not only will you be getting my opinions and advice, you’re going to have a whole team here who will be guiding you and helping you.

This is seriously awesome and I hope you are as stoked about it as I am!

So, please help me welcome our new contributors! (and you can learn more about each of them by clicking on their names below)

Gwen Bell of GwenBell.com

Lindsay Maines of RockAndRollMama.com

Bethany Nixon of RewareVintage.com & HandmadeDetroit.com

Lish Dorset of HandmadeDetroit.com

Christie Ingram of WorkAtHomeMomHacks.com

This term makes reference to “payola” which is where radio stations receive bribes from record companies in order to give airtime to a certain song. That is, of course, illegal. The listeners don’t know they are listening to a song that has been “bought.” Using a play on that term is implying that blog readers are being misled by bloggers. The FTC will be imposing new guidelines about companies compensating bloggers to make sure that their audiences are not being misled (you can bet I have some thoughts on this – but first, I’m going to give you the facts).

The article focused on two well-known bloggers, Jessica Smith of Jessica Knows and Stephanie Precourt of Adventures In Babywearing. I am familiar with both women, as I follow them on Twitter and have  guest taught a session of Smith’s “Rock Your Blog” class.

The article implies that Smith and Precourt are somehow hiding the fact that they receive compensation from their blogs. There is nothing further from the truth! The piece is pretty stuck on how Precourt received the Ergo baby carrier to try out and the glowing review she gave it. Well, if you read her review, it starts out with her saying she received it from the company to try out. She isn’t hiding anything.

Smith is well known among  bloggers as being very successful. We all know she is making money with her blog. She teaches others how to monetize their blog. She is very forthright with it. If someone is reading her blog and the message isn’t clear to them, that person either has a problem seeing words or they are suffering from a reading comprehension disorder. Either way, it’s their problem, not Smith’s.

Gwen Bell interviewed Precourt in this Mom It Forward post and several fantastic points were brought up, including the fact that celebrities are paid to be seen in certain brands of clothing. Does anyone really think that these people went out and bought those dresses? Obviously, the designer is giving the dress to the star so that the celebrity will be photographed in it. Do you feel manipulated by this? Do you feel that your choices of fashion are being misguided because Reese Witherspoon wore one designer over another? Should the celebrities start disclosing this information as they are walking down the red carpet?

Both women feel that bloggers should disclose when they are receiving compensation. This is a practice that reputable bloggers do take part in. Both women have posted their views on this article on their blogs. You can read Smith’s post here and Precourt’s post here.

I do understand where the FTC is coming from. Technology has changed the way we send and receive information. People are drifting away from newspapers and magazines and are now reading Blogs and Twitter feeds. I’m glad that the FTC is concerned that people are not being misled…. but I also think the BusinessWeek article is a little ridiculous.

I find it curious that they chose to focus on two well-known Mommy Bloggers. I wonder if traditional media is a tad bit upset that they are not receiving as many ad dollars as they once were. I wonder if they will try to take this anger out on the people who are now stand-outs of new media.

One thing that companies are realizing is that bloggers can reach an audience in a way that is unprecedented by any magazine or newspaper. A blogger makes a connection with their audience. People read blogs and develop a relationship with the blogger.

The FTC needs to remember that this relationship is important to the blogger, too.

I live in an online world. I know a lot of bloggers. I think that many of them will agree with me when I say that we are humbled and amazed every day by our readers. When we started our blogs and websites, we may have dreamed about making money with them. But did we really know if we could? No.

In most cases, these blogs were started on a wish and a prayer. They were outlets that we used to connect to other people. And lo and behold, people started reading them. And then more people. And sooner or later, that turned into an audience. An audience that looks to us for advice, for a sense of community, and for a sense of belonging.

The women bloggers that I know, the women I consider my peers and contemporaries, the women I look up to, would never take their readers for granted.

Yes – for some of us, blogging is our business. But we do have morals and ethics, and anyone who challenges that has obviously not taken the time to read these blogs or follow our community.

These women found a way to earn a living using their skills and talents. I think that they should be commended, not criticized.

Now, what do you think?

For example, Amy Schroeder’s session gave me some great ideas about starting an intern program (watch for that soon!) and Jenny Hart definitely taught me a lot in her session on protecting your work with copyrights.

Maggie McDonald’s session also stood out for me. She taught us about promoting an online event to promote your brand. Now, I think I have done a pretty good job to establish the Indie Biz Chicks brand … but I do think I need to step up my game on branding my name — as in Crissy Herron.  (I even started a new Twitter account @CrissyHerron, so follow me there… @IndieBizChicks isn’t going anywhere, so don’t worry!)

Gwen Bell did a fantastic job as well, and I love how she intertwined her Chicken Nugget, Chicken Bucket, Chicken Dinner theory : ) Laura Allen taught us how to create a 15 second pitch and Kelly Wilkinson gave out some great ideas on how to pitch the press, and Handmade Detroit did some great tips on craft shows!!

I will be sending out a proper “thank you” to everyone who spoke, sponsored, and helped to promote this. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you! But right now – it is the end of a long two days, and I am going to go take a moment to breathe : )

But for now… THANK YOU. And be on the watch for the proper one : )

I think that branding is something a lot of people get tripped up on, and I thought that Gwen’s approach provided an easy-to-understand and  interesting way to look at things.

The nugget approach makes sense! In today’s world, people have very short attention spans. And even when someone is interested in learning more about you and your business, they don’t always have time to talk the moment they first meet you.

Communicating who you are and what you do, as Gwen puts it, “in 140 characters,” is important! (For those that do not get this reference, we are talking about the amount of space provided by Twitter to update the world on what you are doing.)

Aside from that fact, the beauty in the nugget theory is that you can start small and work up from there. If developing a whole brand and image has scared you or seemed like a daunting task, focus your efforts on developing your “nugget.” Once you have your nugget defined, work up to your basket of chicken, and then make your full-course chicken dinner.  (again, read Gwen’s post for an explanation of what I’m talking about!)

Truth be told, it does start with a nugget. I mean, honestly… if you don’t have a nugget, how can you have a whole chicken?

Having trouble figuring out what your brand is? Read This:
The Quick And Easy, Down n’ Dirty Way To Create Your Personal Brand