Are you ready to reinvent yourself and take control of your own destiny in this crazy unpredictable world?

Join me, SBTV’s co-founder and CEO, Susan Solovic, as I present “Reinvent Yourself Now: Become Self-Reliant in an Unpredictable World” on KAET-TV/PBS, Channel 8, Phoenix, Arizona. The PBS special program airs on December 3, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. MST.

Not in the Phoenix area? Watch it streamed "LIVE" online: www.taylortv.com.

I'll take you on a journey that is sure to energize and revitalize your business perspective. The program is filled with insight, advice and resources to help you reinvent yourself, take control of your destiny and become a self-reliant business success.

If you enjoy the program and would like to support PBS, please consider pledging. Pledge levels include premium items to help you excel in today's business environment. Just click here to pledge online: http://kaet.convio.net/reinvent_workshop_tickets or call the number on your TV screen during the program. Pledge premiums include:

• Pledge Level: $60.00 “Reinvent Your Career” Book
• Pledge Level: $75.00 Reinvent Workshop Ticket with Susan Solovic, May 8, Phoenix -- 3 hours
• Pledge Level: $100.00 Two DVDs (PBS Show & 5 Steps to an Entrepreneurial Mindset)

I admit it.  I am really into the whole social media thing.  I rationalize my interest as purely business related.  However, while I use various network for business, I also enjoy keeping up with friends and family.  I’ve connected with people I haven’t seen or heard from in years. 

Social media sites can be a huge time grabber - particularly Twitter.   It’s easy to get sucked in and before you know it an hour or more has passed.   Personally, I like to check in at night and some evenings I almost have to force myself to turn it off and go to bed. 

Is it healthy to be communicating through these social media sites?  According to recent studies, some people are actually addicted to this new form of interaction.  Are you?  Could you go a day or more without logging on?

If you want to know whether or not you’re a social media addict, there’s an expert quiz you can take.  I found it when doing research for an article recently.  Click here to find out if you’re interested in knowing whether social media has caused you to succumb. 

Oh, you want to know my score?  I have a 35 percent addiction.

Speaking of social media.  Don't forget your can sign up for my daily small business success text tips here. 

Known as the pitbull of personal development, author and internationally acclaimed speaker, Larry Winget, is a unique character by his own admission.  He wears designer Western shirts and boots in explosive colors.  He adorns himself with silver jewelry including pierced earrings. And he doesn’t soft-pedal his message. In fact, a lot of people describe him as caustic.

Despite the unusual packaging and communication style, Larry is on a mission to help people clean up what he calls “life’s messes.”  His first three books:  “You’re Broke Because You Want to Be”, “It’s Called Work for a Reason”, and “Shut Up, Stop Whining & Get a Life,”  have been listed on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Seller lists.   

This week, Larry launches another book destined to fly off the shelves.  “People Are Idiots and I Can Prove It:  The 10 Ways You Are Sabotaging Yourself and How You Can Overcome Them.”   You need to put this one your must read list.  Why?  Because Larry articulates the truth most of us don’t have the courage to address.  He says people say they want a lot of different things such more money, more customers, to be healthier or to have more opportunities.  The bottom line, however, is people really want what they have because their actions and words have produced those results. 

Now, that makes you stop and think.  We all know people who do stupid things to sabotage their success in business, in their personal lives, even with their own health and well-being.  It’s easy to see what someone else is doing that’s preventing them from achieving their goals. 

In his new book, Larry forces you to step back and face the truth about your life. What stupid things are you doing?  Larry’s goal is to make you (no one else) responsible for your results.  He helps you recognize where you are being an idiot so you can take action to fix it.  He wants you to be uncomfortable.  “Change happens when you feel uncomfortable,” Larry explains. 

On a personal note, I think Larry is a great guy who doesn’t pull any punches.  There’s never a hidden agenda with Larry because you know exactly where he stands.  And despite his amazing success as a speaker, author and host of A&E’s Big Spender program, he doesn’t cop an attitude.  He’s the genuine thing and he wants to help others succeed. 

In my opinion, you’re an “idiot” if you don’t read Larry’s new book.  During these tough economic times, we don’t need to be wasting time on stupid things that interfere with our success.  Let’s fix it and move ahead. 

For more:  Listen to my interviews with Larry Winget on SBTV.com.  You’ll also find Larry’s “Ten Rules for Business Success.” 

OR..........Necessity is the Mother of Mittens.

It’s not very often you see a grown man sporting mittens shaped like bear paws and a neck scarf adorned with a stuffed animal.  In fact, can’t say I’ve ever encountered that before – until last week.  Headed to a meeting in the Time Warner building in Columbus Circle, I passed through an area outside of Central Park where a variety of vendors were selling specialty gifts for the holidays.  And there he was – up close and personal.

You simply have to stop and say hello to a man with bear paws on his hands.  And it turns out, Jeff Golden wasn’t just modeling the winter accessory, he’s the co-owner and inventor of BearHands® & Buddies.  He told me it was a ski trip a few years ago that inspired the concept for the gloves.  Jeff and his partner Zach Golden, (father and son), recognized the need for a way to keep your hands warm and still access your fingers without removing your gloves.  As they say, necessity is the mother of invention – or, in this case, mittens.

Jeff and Zach designed a unique, super-warm, Thinsulate™ lined, paw-shaped mitten that permits you to access your bare hand through a secret Velcro flap.  The mittens come in a rainbow of colors as well as several fur patterns and range in sizes to fit the tiniest hands in your family all the way up to the adults.  Three of my step-grandchildren are getting them for Christmas. (One is a teenager and Jeff and I decided, he might be too cool to appreciate the mittens right now.)  The two girls are also getting the “Buddy” scarves – both hot pink, one with a French poodle and the other with a teddy bear. 

Founded in 2002, BearHands® sells through children’s stores across the country and is beginning to expand globally.  During the holidays, in addition to the booth at Columbus Circle, there is also one in Bryant Park.  You can find a retail location close to you on their website.  In addition, there are tons of testimonials, including a few from some well-known celebs. 

The reason I wanted to share this story with you is not simply because it’s a cute entrepreneurial success story.  It’s also not to justify my holiday shopping break during a normal business day.  I’m writing about this because Jeff is a typical entrepreneur working hard to run a business.

You see, normally Jeff wouldn’t have been at the booth.  He’s usually back at their Little Ferry, NJ headquarters.  But as luck would have it, his car broke down that morning as he was delivering something to the Columbus Circle location.  Jeff’s misfortune was my good fortune that day because I got to meet the man behind the paw.  And there’s nothing better than a great small business story to pick up my spirits. 

BearHands® has been featured on “The Today Show” and in “Parenting” magazine.  The day I was there, the Fox network was filming a story. 

If you have a great small business story, please share it with me.  I believe small business is going to be the savior of our country’s economy in the next couple of years so I want to know what’s up in your world of entrepreneurship. 

Even if you just have an idea for a business and need advice or resources, let me know.  That’s what SBTV.com and I are here for – helping you succeed.  Please consider joining our new SBTV.com community – Small Biz Central.  That’s where you can interact with our experts, other business owners and me.  You can also upload your video, audio and text content to become one of our contributors.  I like to call it; YouTube meets LinkedIn with a purpose for small business. 

Can you believe it? The holidays are here.  In fact, this week is the SBTV.com holiday party. I'm looking forward to it. It's a great time to get everyone together and say thanks for a fantastic year and it's a wonderful opportunity to meet spouses, partners, friends and significant others.

Of course, there are often the post-party stories that get told over and over again about someone dancing with the lamp shade on his head or a stolen kiss under the mistletoe. Most of the antics are harmless, but if the festivities can get out of hand that could mean serious consequences for your business.

As an employer, you can be held liable for actions occurring during or as the result of your company sponsored social event – particularly if alcohol is served. It's a concept known as social host liability and it is recognized by many courts across the country. (It's a good idea to consult an attorney and your insurance carrier before your event.)

Here are some ideas to help you host a fun, yet safe holiday soiree. First, make sure attendance at your event is voluntary. You want to eliminate any implication that work is being conducted at the party.

Secondly, make sure you don't drink too much. Yeah that's right. Limit the number of drinks to one or two. You need a clear head and good judgment to avoid problems. Arrange for alternative transportation. Ask for volunteers to be designated drivers or arrange for a taxi service to ensure your guests arrive home safely.

Plan your menu so there aren't a lot of salty foods. Salty foods make you thirsty and as a result you drink more. Make sure you serve your guests their drinks. Don't provide a self-serve bar. It's even a better idea to hire a professional bartender who can keep eye on how much your guests are drinking. Also, make sure you have plenty of non-alcoholic beverages on hand. Consider hosting your party in the afternoon or early evening when people tend to drink less.

Finally, stop serving alcohol at least an hour before the party ends. Instead, offer a coffee bar and some wonderful deserts. I don't mean to put a damper on your event, but it is better to be safe than sorry. You don't have to be a grinch.  It is possible to host a fun event for your team and still protect your company from liability.

Do you actually go on vacation when you go on vacation? Typically, I don't.

This Thanksgiving week my husband and I went to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. We frequently choose that holiday week for our vacation because I'm only gone for three business days. (Yeah, I know – pretty pathetic.) Of course, that doesn't mean I don't work.

Much to my husband's chagrin, packed right along with the sunscreen and swimsuits, are piles of uncompleted work projects. In the past I've finished book manuscripts, written business plans, even reviewed financials as part of a due diligence process. But this trip was different.

First the resort didn't have an Internet connection in the room. Panic attack! Then, my phone signal was extremely weak. Another panic attack. I had to face the facts: My constant communication connection had been unceremoniously cut.

Okay, I can deal with that, I thought. So I accepted my plight and decided to focus on projects that didn't require communication with the outside world.

But guess what! I did nothing. Yep, absolutely nothing. Didn't accomplish one darn thing the entire week. There was something freeing about being cut-off from the world. I wasn't compelled to check emails all day long or return phone calls. Instead, I took leisurely walks on the beach, enjoyed lazy lunches at beachside cafes, read a couple of great books, watched a few movies and relaxed. And amazingly -- I enjoyed it.

So my best vacation tip to my fellow small business workaholics, go on vacation and do nothing. RELAX.

Oh by the way, here's a photo I snapped one morning on the beach. Enjoy.

I was speechless (and for me that hardly ever happens) when I met Valerie Plame Wilson last week at a VIP reception in New York hosted by the Women's Leadership Exchange (WLE) and Aetna.  You may recall, Valerie is the former CIA undercover agent whose identity was revealed after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times criticizing the Bush Administration for the Iraq war and claims that Saddam Hussein was acquiring uranium ore from the African nation of Niger to build nuclear weapons.

Valerie's career with the CIA took her all over the world gathering information, recruiting spies and working deep undercover. In 1998, she started spying for a new CIA division, counter-proliferation, and became Director of Operations for the CIA's Iraq joint task force. She and her team met with Iraqi scientists trying to find evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. About a week after her husband's article was printed in the New York Times, Valerie's name and CIA affiliation were disclosed in a newspaper column written by Robert Novak. Her career was over and her security as well as that of her family was put in jeopardy.

Valerie's story is something of which movies are made. She's written a book entitled: Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House.  I can't wait to read it. 

Now for the reason I was speechless. I knew Valerie was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the WLE East Coast Summit, but I wasn't expecting to meet her at the VIP reception. Therefore, when I was introduced to her, I was taken aback. Heck she didn't look anything like a spy.  She's blonde, very attractive, thin, fashionable, and the mother of girl-boy twins. She remembers her toddlers running around underneath her desk when she was Director of Operations at the CIA -- a scene to which many working moms can relate.

But not many working moms I know carried an 80 pound backpack and 5.56 mm ammunition for an M-16 through thick woods and swamps as part her job training.  This gruesome exercise was part of Valerie's paramilitary training at the CIA "farm." Casually and with a little reserve, she also mentions she was the best shot with an AK-47 in her mostly-male CIA training class.  Unbelievable. I don't even like camping -- roughing it to me is staying at a hotel without 24-hour room service.

However, the thing that impressed me most about Valerie (other than the fact we were both wearing great looking red shoes -- it's a girl thing) is how she's dealing with this life-altering experience that destroyed her career, her husband's consulting business, harmed both their reputations, nearly ended her marriage and put her children in danger. To survive, Valerie explained she went back to the basics and defined what she wanted the outcome of her ordeal to be. She made a list of the most important things she wanted to salvage: her marriage; the well-being of her children; and her dignity.

So what did I learn about small business from a spy?. At the conclusion of her keynote remarks the next day, Valerie said, "All of us face crisis that throws us off track. As long as you remain true to your personal convictions, you'll get through."

She's right. Fortunately, most of us will never experience anything comparable to Valerie's ordeal, but there are always going to be tough times.  Right now, as the economy continues to spiral out of control many of us are bracing ourselves for financial struggles, personally and professionally.  Often times, strength of character is the key differentiator among those who succeed and those who don't.

Ken Blanchard, author of The One Minute Manager says there is only one boss and that's company values. But it's not just company values that are important, it's our personal values too. Entrepreneurs are resilient, innovative, persistent and determined. Hold onto your beliefs and don't compromise and as Valerie says, you'll get through.

More years ago than I’d like to admit, I owned a small advertising and public relations business.  When I say small, it was just a few freelancers and me, but that didn’t deter me from going after the big fish.  Nope.  And I finally caught one.  My big fish was a rapidly expanding deli chain, and I won all its business.   Wow!  There was so much work involved that it consumed me so I didn’t have time to reel in more clients.   Then one day, the owners of the deli chain just disappeared.  Poof! The headquarters building was locked tight and the owners were nowhere to be found.  The company filed bankruptcy.  Well, there I was left with thousands and thousands of dollars in unpaid bills to vendors, media outlets and for other expenses -- not to mention the money they owed to me for my work.  Not a good situation. Fortunately, I worked out deals with my creditors and gradually paid them off, but it forced me to close up shop.  I went back to a job earning a regular paycheck. So what would you do if this happened to you?  A customer’s bankruptcy can easily bankrupt your business too.  When a customer files bankruptcy, you may be surprised to learn that you have little or no protection under the bankruptcy laws.  Bankruptcy courts are for debtors, not creditors.  And business bankruptcies are on the rise.  According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, business bankruptcies in the first half of 2008 were 42.1 percent higher than the same period last year.  Now, is the time to take steps to protect your business before it’s too late. Don’t push product out the door on easy credit terms.  And if you are dealing with a first-time customer, make sure you check credit references even if you’re sure it’s okay.   Watch for changes in payment habits, too.  If a client that normally pays on time, starts lagging behind, you need to consider that a huge red flag.  Don’t let them get in too deep.  Another thing to watch out for is a break-down in communications.  People who owe you lots of money and can’t afford to pay you tend to not return phone calls.  And of course, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.  Diversify your client base so you won’t end up closing the doors as I had to do. 

I never thought I'd be there, but sure enough – there I was on the stage at the NASDAQ -- part of a group invited to ring the closing bell. What a thrill! We were there because we'd been selected to participate in a venture capital forum for women-led media companies called ALL THINGS MEDIA. The program sponsors were Springboard Enterprises and The Paley Center for Media.

Although it was an incredible experience for me, the real stars of the show were Gail Goodman, Chairman, CEO and President, Constant Contact (CTCT), the most recent women-owned business listed on the NASDAQ, and Kay Koplovitz, the founder of USA Networks and Chair of Springboard Enterprises.

Gail hadn't expected to be so moved by the experience. "It was an exciting moment. It truly gave me goose bumps. The entire time I was up there, I thought about our team and how proud I am of them," Gail shared.

And proud she should be. Talk about a small business success story. Constant Contact is one of seven Springboard companies now listed on the NASDAQ. Springboard is dedicated to accelerating women's access to equity capital.

Constant Contact® began operations in 1998 with the goal of designing an affordable, easy-to-use email marketing tool—to help small businesses build successful, lasting customer relationships. Fast forward to October 2008 and Constant Contact has grown from a small start-up to a leading provider of email marketing and online survey tools for small businesses, associations, and nonprofits by focusing on our customer's satisfaction and needs with helpful, personal coaching.

It's great to see women business owners succeeding to this level of success. Thanks to Gail and Kay for leading the way and giving us the inspiration and support to shoot for the top. Who knows, wait a few years and it could be SBTV.com. Or you and your company!

Small businesses can often feel like family.  Small staffs typically lead to close working relationships and lifelong friendships.  Workplace bonds can be strong in and out of the business, but this blurring of the lines can lead to problems.  It's easy to forget work related friendships are built on a common professional foundation.  When this basic rule is disregarded, problems can develop.  Often employees and their managers may find it tough to be accurate, logical and fair in their attitudes and working relationships because of the closeness and intimacy they have experienced over the years working side-by-side in a small firm.

I asked some SBTV.com viewers and members of our online community, Small Biz Central, if they encountered this challenge.  Several have faced similar circumstances in their companies and they shared some tips on easing these situations.  Everyone seems to agree, it is good to discuss issues openly and candidly.  Note the impact relationships and behaviors are having on the firm, other employees and the individuals themselves.  Often, a sit-down talk with all parties involved will take care of the problem. However, I recommend scheduling a follow-up meeting just to ensure things are going smoothly.  Sometimes an experienced human resource manager or similar consultant may be helpful in resolving issues and making the workplace less personal and more professional 

These meetings will not only get employees talking; the sit-downs will build trust among the staff.  As a small business owner or manager, staffers will appreciate your action to address a topic almost everyone is aware of, but afraid to tackle. 

Your small business team can be like family in many ways and we all know families have disagreements.  But if you handle the personal differences in the right way, they can build stronger bonds for your business.

Learn more about dealing with workplace conflict in your business on SBTV.com's management and legal channels.  You'll even learn how to deal with tears on the job from expert Patricia E. Adams.