Our New Year's Love Letter to Entrepreneurs

As the New Year approaches and you prepare to toast in 2010, we thought this would be the perfect time to reflect on 2009, and look forward together towards a prosperous, fresh year.

First, we just have to say that this year we've been so proud of entrepreneurs - especially our Collective-E members.  2009 was a harrowing year for many, with uncertainty and a faltering economy; virtually everyone was hit in one way or another.  Nevertheless, what we saw with our Collective-E members was resilience, creativity and innovation.  We saw you change strategy on a dime, make tough decisions, take risks, experiment and invest in yourself and your business.  We watched you work so much harder this year, build websites and receive great press recognition, become skilled members of the social media world and launch brand new businesses and products.  We saw you hire and sometimes fire if that was the right choice, and we even saw some of you take on part time jobs, change your lifestyle and forego many luxuries just to keep your business going.  We saw you pull together and collaborate, partner and share resources, ideas, leads and support.  But what inspired us most is what we didn’t see: we didn’t see you quit, stop, give up or even complain excessively.

We feel truly optimistic for 2010!  We know that there will still be challenges, but we strongly believe the worst is behind and that small businesses are well positioned for growth.   We see you heading into this new decade running smarter businesses with even more determination and drive. We think that you are among the great heroes of our country and its economy and we are proud to know you.

We want to thank you for making Collective-E a part of your success strategy and assure you that it makes us all the more determined to create more great products, services, events, workshops and features to help you nurture your ideas and build your brands in 2010...so stay tuned!

WORKSHOPS/EVENTS COMING UP

	NATIONAL - January PR Tuneup (FREE) A half hour lunch time pr teleclass that will cover what you should be doing in January in terms of your pr campaign to prepare for short leads and long leads. A must-listen for product, service or expert base brands currently running their own publicity campaigns. DETAILS & REGISTRATION
	NATIONAL - Retirement Planning for Entrepreneurs Entrepreneurs can be good with money, but who is telling us how to plan and save for retirement? What is our plan for colleges if we have children? How will we live comfortably and save money at the same time? These questions are crucial to every entrepreneur, and we don't have HR departments to guide us. We're on our own. That's why we went to our trusted friend, Galia Gichon of Down to Earth Finance, to bring her financial program, Simply Money, as featured on CNN and the Today Show, to Collective-E. What's best - she is tailoring it to entrepreneurs and you can attend online! Space is limited so that she can focus on you. You do not need to share any financial data, and she is not selling anything. You will come away with an action plan to implement in your home with your family so that you can think comfortably about IRAs, money markets, budgets, and more. This is yoga for your business, and peace of mind. DETAILS & REGISTRATION
	NATIONAL - Virtual Tea Party with Collective-E (FREE) The Virtual Tea Party with Collective-E is free and open to members and non-members to learn how membership with Collective-E benefits your business strategy, online strategy and PR strategy. Learn how to get featured on our website, and be on the other side of an entrepreneurial marketing vehicle. We will walk you through all the online benefits that come with membership and you will learn how you can start using our website as a tool to increase awareness for your brand. DETAILS & REGISTRATION
	NATIONAL - February PR Tuneup (FREE) A half hour lunch time pr teleclass that will cover what you should be doing in January in terms of your pr campaign to prepare for short leads and long leads. A must-listen for product, service or expert base brands currently running their own publicity campaigns. DETAILS & REGISTRATION

Onward and upward,
Beth, Katie & Sabina