I came across this post on the Orlando Sentinel website that inspired me to offer up a different view on why working mothers are desirable talent. The post “Have demands of motherhood made women undesirable employees?” points out how the strain of motherhood may have a negative impact on the perception of women in the workplace. It begs the question of whether employers should extend special treatment to working mothers vs. employees without children.

Financial Impact? You Bet!

I can spew out a bunch of opinions since I am a working mother, but let’s take more of a scientific approach. According to an article from USA Today, women make up half the American workforce. That is certainly a talent pool that cannot be alienated without seriously comprising productivity across the board.

That being said, what do working mothers have to offer the business world? Plenty! From a financial perspective (from U.S. Census Bureau’s latest Survey of Women-Owned Business Enterprises), women owned businesses:

• Make up 26.0 percent of the nation’s 20.8 million non-farm businesses
• Employ 7.1 million paid workers
• Generate $818.7 billion in sales

Talents of the Working Mother

Not too shabby ladies! Working mothers also have enhanced talents and skills that have developed due to the mass of responsibility we take on in our daily lives. Some areas where working moms tend to excel are:

• Being way super organized (balancing home and work gives us plenty of practice to do more with less)
• Queens of collaboration (creating a support network is a working mother’s best friend)
• Not afraid to take risks (conventional rules of engagement don’t tend to stay us)

What Working Mothers Want

When push comes to shove, working mothers are valuable members of the business community. Women will drift towards certain types of employers though. Companies that are family friendly will win the talent war every time when it comes to working moms. Employers that attract the working mother variety usually:

• Offer flexible work schedules (telecommuting full or part time is big)
• Have gyms and/or child care on site (save us time and convenience eases our minds)
• Provide career development and access to growth opportunities (we want career growth too)

Does that mean we should get special treatment vs. our child free counterparts (and the men too)? Of course not! Accountability is key. These policies should be available to all employees. Fair is fair!

Being an entrepreneur and mom all rolled in to one, I’ve gained a pretty unique perspective on striking a balance between work and personal life. I get up early to get a start on the day. Wake the kid up and we eat breakfast together. The husband floats in and out. Work out eventually!

The most important point is that I get to be a part of my daughter’s life. I am an involved mommy! In turn, between dance classes, trips to the park, journey to the library and all other sorts of after school activities, I get to meet other involved parents. Now that the kids are in school, we’ve got moms and dads who are at home with some time to spare. You don’t know how many parents I talk to that would love to have a part time flexible gig to make a little extra money.

I see super potential here! You’ve got a slew of small businesses who need part time help and an untapped talent pool who have some time to give. Think of all the things, as a small business owner, you have to do that would be awesome to hand off to someone else! I know I could use help, but cannot yet afford to another full time person.

When it comes to time consuming, but non-committal type tasks, think of how great an extra pair of part times hands would be. Especially if the hours per week will vary, a stay at home mom or dad is most useful. Besides, parents who take on the kids are totally organized!

Part time peeps can help with:

• social networking for your business (you know how many moms I see all over Facebook and Twitter?)
• organizing receipts and files (my least favorite activity)
• prepping RFPs
• research, competitive or otherwise
• finding leads, checking government sites for contracts
• keeping your schedule straight, answering the phone (can get a Google Voice account to ring where ever)

Where does one find these awesome resources? Talk to people when you take the kids to activities. Scour the schools when the kids are getting dropped off or waiting at the bus stop. Social networking!

Online social networking is becoming the way business professionals communicate out to the masses. The Florida Conference for Women is certainly no exception! Anne Hebert, Digital Content Director for the conference, has her thumb on the pulse of numerous social networks like Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Using these networks to promote the Florida Conference for Women is her main goal. This interview gives insight to how Anne is accomplishing her objective.

Q) Tell us a little about the background of Florida Conference for Women. How did it get

started?

A) The Florida Conference for Women (hosted by the Florida Commission on the Status of Women) was created to bring resources and information to thousands of women across the state, to foster networking and connections, and to provide inspiration and tools to help women lead and succeed in today’s challenging environment.

Q) What drove you to use online social networking to promote the conference?

A) Since this is our first year to host the Conference (May 12, 2009 in Orlando), we’re exploring every avenue to spread the word. Online social media is a great way to build awareness and complement our other outreach efforts.

Q) According to your website you are on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Why did you choose these particular online social networks?

A) As the most popular social networking sites (at the moment), we are using all three to share our message and encourage people to share with their own networks. We’re finding that each network has a distinct audience and protocol, so we’re communicating differently to each one.

Q) Which online social network has proven the most useful?

A) We currently have 850 followers on Twitter, 168 fans on Facebook, and 145 in our LinkedIn group. Of the three, Twitter provides the most direct traffic to our website.

Q) As the conference is on May 12, 2009, your current strategy for using online social networking does have a time limit on it. What are your long term plans for utilizing online social networking?

A) We certainly plan to use these networks to continue the dialogue after the conference, whether we’re sending updates on our speakers, forwarding job leads, linking to interesting articles, or even sharing connections made and stories told at the conference. Since we hope the conference will be an annual event, we want to provide relevant information and resources as much as possible.

Q) As a non-profit organization, volunteer resources are huge. How can the Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn communities help Florida conference for Women?

A) As a non-profit, we rely heavily on our online “advocates” to help us spread the word about the conference and encourage people to attend this amazing event. It’s hard to convey in 140 characters the incredible amount of opportunity and inspiration they’ll find at the Florida Conference for Women, but we’re trying, one tweet at at time!

What a great way for professional women to spend a day connecting, learning and growing. This is one Florida woman who intends on going to this conference!

If you would like more information about the Florida Conference for Women, contact Anne Hebert or visit their website.

If you, as a small business owner or entrepreneur, question the value of using social networking to promote your business, Adore de Salon’s story is one to admire. I had the unique pleasure of meeting and interviewing Lisa Cordero and Michael Nunez. By the way, Lisa is fantastic! She has a client for life now.

At any rate, Adore de Salon caught my attention on Twitter. I was very impressed with their use of social networking for their business. After some investigation, I found their website and Facebook page. We started communicating back and forth and before I knew it, I was at the salon getting my hair done while interviewing Lisa and Michael. So on to the interview…

Q) Tell me a little about the salon. What made you decide to open your own business especially in such a rough economic environment?

A) I (Lisa) have always wanted to open my own salon. I love doing hair because it makes people happy. My goal is to get it right every time! This builds relationships, which are so important to me. Opening my own salon allows me the freedom to offer great services at a price that is fair. Regardless of the harsh economic times, I do not worry. Doing what I love and providing my clients with the ultimate customer service is what means the most.

Q) What made you use social networking to promote Adore de Salon?

A) As an Internet marketer (Michael) and truly understand the value of social networking. It is such an under utilized form of promotion that is utterly inexpensive to use. Instead of spending a large chunk of money on more traditional forms of marketing, like direct mail campaigns or magazine adds, online social networking provides an avenue to reach a vast audience while building relationships within the Central Florida community. I am surprised more businesses have not started using online social networks like Twitter and Facebook. Our website is even a Wordpress blog. I found a template that Lisa and I loved and the rest is history!

Q) How did you come up with the logo and branding?

A) There is a great site called 99 Designs. We simply signed up for $200 and got our logo. The whole premise of 99 Designs is to solicit input from thousands of designers, in the form of a contest, and people vote on the favorite design. It’s a great way to get your entire corporate branding very inexpensively.

Q) What are your plans in the future to use online social networking for the business?

A) The sky is the limit! To start, we are building Adore de Salon’s following on Twitter and Facebook. We encourage interaction from our online friends! LinkedIn might be our next target since we want to reach the professional women out there (talks of offering free WIFI ladies which is great for those of us who can’t stop). Lisa is very excited about the idea of getting a blog going with tips, photos and videos of hair how-tos. We, are also thinking about offering different types of classes, like proper blow drying techniques, taping them and putting it online for all to see.

My experience at Adore de Salon was a fantastic one. Lisa and Michael were so unbelievably cool, smart and easy to talk to, especially considering how long curly hair like mine can take to blow dry. Bottom line on this savvy business couple, they are unique! From the salon design to business philosophy to use of online social networking, I am completely satisfied and floored! Lisa has herself a client for life.

As a professional mom or “momtrepreneur”, your time, energy and devotion is torn in so many different directions. Being a full time entrepreneur (because you are never off), full time wife and full time mother takes its toll. On the bright side, my hair dresser is making extra money to cover all my gray hairs!

So for all you professional moms out there, I thought a blog post dedicated to “what to do when” is in order. Here is a list of top tips of “what to do when” which will hopefully help in sticky situations we face every day.

1. What to do when have a meeting and a child’s event at the same time – network with other mothers! There is nothing more powerful than having a team of mothers who can help out when you need it the most. Can’t make it to dance class because a meeting got in the way? Ask one of the other moms to fill in for the day. You can take the next class.
2. What to do when you have a business trip coming up at the same time as your husband – enlist the grandparents or people you trust to take the kiddo to school, do homework, get to bed on time (good luck with that).
3. What to do when your child needs homework help and you have a huge deadline – divvy up your time the best you can! I’ve amped up the coffee intake, gotten takeout for dinner and discussed homework topics while eating dinner. This saves time on the whole cooking thing, transitions into homework mode and gives you the extra energy you need to continue on your tasks.
4. What to do when you have a whole bunch of little to do’s hanging over your head – pay another mom to assist you. There are many mothers out there who are looking for part time work as a way to pass the time while the kids are in school or simply make a few bucks on the side. Why not ask one of these moms in your network to help on the nagging smaller tasks so you can concentrate on the bigger picture?
5. What to do when you simply have to get your hair done, cannot miss the appointment you tried months to get and have a pressing time frame to get things done – bring the laptop with you! Since it could be two to three hours with you sitting and only magazines to keep you occupied, it stands to reason that getting some work done is a fantastic idea. If there is a wireless connection around, all the better!

For all you momtrepreneurs and working moms, I hope this list of tips helps you out with time management and how to balance the various moving pieces that makes up your lives. If you have some tips to share, please make sure to leave a comment. Ideas and dialogue are always welcome!

As I sit here at my daughter’s dance class watching her tap away on the flat screen, I am writing this blog. To my left is a mom clicking away on her cell phone sending text messages and the mom to my right is working away on her MacBook, same as me. Welcome to the new age of technology and the new mobile office!

It’s amazing how the work world has changed. You truly can find balance. What I find truly interesting is how the environment has changed over the few short years I’ve been a mother in the mom circle. It used to be the mom’s would be rushing from work to take their children to dance class or whatever activities, but now with the advent of WiFi in more places and laptops being mainstream, there is a huge shift in how and where work gets done.

So professional moms of the world, there is light at the end of the tunnel! We can be a involved with our kids, be fully engaged in our work, and maybe even get some down time between the chaos that can be life!