by Erin Shell Anthony, MBA

If you love lists – and you love Twitter – I’ve compiled just the thing for you:  a listing of the Top Ten Inspirational Business Women to Follow in 2012.

Before I get into why I have each one of these women on my Rockstar-Womenpreneurs Twitter list, I want you to know that even though my blog is primarily about expressing your purpose through business, business and purpose are just two facets of being a Rockstar Womanpreneur.

At the end of the day, balance, priorities, joy, family…all of these are important, and they all help you to be more well-rounded and authentic with your followers, subscribers and customers.

Why Did I Choose Them?

I didn’t choose these women for their number of followers (even though they have quite a few)- but for their substance and style.  They are dynamic, insightful, funny and full of wisdom about business, social media, balance and family.  They also capture both inspiration and sincerity in their tweets, which makes them fun to follow.  I absolutely love following them – and I think you will too.

Top Ten Women Tweeters to Follow in 2012

@jenniferbourn:  Jennifer is a graphic artist and web designer who I started following several years ago not only because I was inspired by her clean, beautiful web designs, but also for her business knowledge and transparency in sharing her journey.  Follow her for quick tips on design, optimizing your site and enjoy her musings on family and business.

@MelissaOnline:  Creator of sheownsit.com (gotta love the name of her site!), Melissa Stewart “celebrates, connects and supports women entrepreneurs” and she does it through producing insightful content full of resources that help women be better, stronger entrepreneurs.  She also tweets her knowledge and actively engages her followers.  Follow Melissa for entrepreneurial tweets on happenings on the web as well as a lot of friendly interaction.

@powermommy:  Powermommy is actually a personal friend of mine who has been inspiring women for years!  She has a beautiful (and big!) family and manages them with such ease and grace you would think that anybody could just whip up homemade meals, balance a career as a Corporate Executive and take their teenage sons to spoken word events any day of the week.  She’s the bomb Mom!  Follow her for tweets on balancing life, career and family.

@isazapata:  Isa is an artist and it shows in her tweets.  Inspiration moves people to action and she shares the best of it through quotes, ideas and art through words.  In her own words, Isa wants to “remind everyone that life is simple and beautiful.” Follow Isa for mindful, positive tweets and to incorporate the beauty of art in your daily life.

@ElenaVerlee:  I began following Elena a few years ago and she has just about the best blog I’ve ever read for PR tips and tactics.  She’s a fabulous business woman, and her tweets and blog posts always introduce others to new ways to create positive PR for their businesses.  Follow her to learn more about public relations and implement her tips to attract more business.

@SheriMcConnell:  Sheri McConnell is the CEO of the Smart Women Institute, which is a community of women 50,000 strong.  She’s a master of membership based businesses and is generous with her wisdom – both on Twitter and on her website.  She’s also an inspirational connector of women! Follow Sheri for business advice and simply great mentorship.

@Womenworking:  An online community for women who want to advance in their careers and enjoy life, I love @womenworking for their concise, impactful tweets.  Their mission is to dare women to go for their dreams, and I retweet them regularly because their tweets are so inspirational!  Follow them for ways to optimize your career as well as for business motivation.

@AnnTran_:  Ann Tran specializes in sharing quick ways that you can optimize social media – but she also sprinkles that social media wisdom with beautiful quotes, like a recent one by Bono – “Grace defies reason and logic.”  With over 270k followers, she’s a great example of how to use Twitter, and make it useful for both yourself and others.  Follow her for really good information on social media and for inspiration.

@ponderful:  Lynn Ponder is the founder of webcitygirls.com, a multi-cultural social media press team.  Another great example of how to use Twitter, Lynn fills all of her tweets with such a positive vibe, you can feel it!  Follow Lynn for tweets on social media news and happenings as well as to interact with someone who truly takes interest in her Twitter followers.

@drtiffanybrown:  If you like affirmations, you’ll love Dr. Tiffany Brown.  On a regular basis, she posts morning prayers that are truly positive affirmations for a healthy mind and spirit.  Her prayers are easy one-two sentence tweets that are perfect for getting your day started right, and perfect for retweeting.  Follow her for inspiration and mental clarity.

One Extra Shout-Out!

And although I can’t put him on the list above for obvious reasons -I couldn’t end this post without thanking Sean Gardner, aka @2morrowknight, one of my Twitter friends who introduced me through Twitter to two of my top 10 (@ponderful & @isazapata), and who, even with almost 300k followers, takes time out to respond personally and connect others.  Through his example, he demonstrated what is, in my opinion, one of the most useful ways to optimize Twitter and establish real connections.

Take a moment to follow these fabulous folks in 2012.  I’m sure you’ll enjoy them as much as I do!

Follow Erin @erinsanthony for tips on finding your purpose and expressing it through business, solid business & marketing tips and especially for #RENEW Wednesdays which are full of Erin’s affirmations for a joyful business and life!

—

Want to be a Smart Woman Blogger?

Would you like to write for our blog and promote your company or website in the process?

We are looking for health, wealth, and business experts to write short weekly blog tips. E-mail us atinfo@smartwomeninstitute.com for details.

Would you like to personally mentor with me in February?

Good Monday Morning,

It’s Sheri, and I’m writing all my Smart Women friends today since many of you have expressed interest in receiving personal mentoring from me, so please read on…

Once or twice a year, I offer a two-day mastermind meeting for 10 women. It is a transformational, two-day, closed-door session for 10 select women entrepreneurs who need to receive honest and experienced objective insight on what the next best strategies are to take their businesses to the next level, much faster.

You may or may not know that I’ve coached hundreds of women over the last decade from start-up to successful 6 and 7 figure businesses.  Although, I no longer offer year long programs, I still open up my office once or twice a year to help women create and grow businesses that change the world.  It is my big WHY.
Well, the universe has been up to magic again and due to a cancellation, we have opened up another spot for a lucky Smart Woman!

So, that means we have a spot just for you.

Please join me for two powerful days of high-level input on your individual business, February 21st & 22nd here in San Antonio, Texas.

In addition to our two live days together, you’ll also get private pre- and post-meeting calls with me to discuss your business in-depth, one-on-one.

During these calls, I will assess your current Smart foundation or lack thereof, and determine your specific Smart Plan to help you grow fast.

If you feel this could be exactly what YOU need at this time, then send an application in right away, you can download it here:

http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com/coachsulting

I think you owe yourself this opportunity as well do the many you will serve in the future.

I look forward to meeting YOU soon!

Supporting You One Smart Step At A Time,

Sheri McConnell

Smart Women’s Institute™

P.S. This Business Stimulus two-day mastermind will most likely be the final session I host this year. We have already filled most of the spots and have just one left due to last minute cancellation.  Did the universe open up the space for you? If so, grab an application today at http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com/coachsulting

Smart Biz Tip of the Day

Manifest a Brand New Reality Through Journaling

Dear Smart Women,

Some of you may know that for ten years I was the CEO of the National Association of Women Writers before reinventing the company into the Smart Women’s Institute™.  For years I was happily down in the rabbit hole serving a target market of primarily women writers.

That journey was just what I needed in my thirties as I learned how not to be a super mom anymore to my children (thank goodness!) and I learned how to create an extremely profitable company that didn’t require I work more than 25 to 30 hours a week on average.

The reason the writing journey was so important for me and I believe it is for you too (even if you don’t think of yourself as a writer) is that the physical act of putting words on paper is healing and it is the best tool I know of to manifest a new reality with in the very near future.  Along my journey of changing into a new person over and over again, you can bet I was journaling as I figured it all out.  Somedays I was letting the universe know what I intended to do and other days, I was mapping out entire plans and the steps to make it happen.  And somedays, I needed to vent about what wasn’t working in my life. Remember frustration leads to change.

To help you commit to the journaling process, I offer a few tips.  Enjoy!

Just write, don’t think.

Make a list, write your intentions for the day, week, or year.  Or just write something you are grateful for. Commit to a daily practice and I promise you that journaling is one of the best tools I know of to support the process of cultivating a higher self.  Of course once you are committed, “think” all you want.  But in the beginning while trying to create the habit, I find it is best for people not to think too much.

You are brilliant.

The more physical space you give yourself to express your real thoughts and feelings, the more wisdom will emerge.  I call this tapping your brilliance… the more you do it, the easier your newly discovered brilliance begins to flow.

Speak your truth.

If you are not honest with yourself in the physical realm on paper, the universe knows you are not ready to move forward and grow.  You will uplevel when you are ready to learn from yourself and the universe.

Practice makes juicy.

Perfection = Poison  Honestly, I wish the word “perfection” didn’t exist so we wouldn’t even know what it meant.  Women especially would be much better off!  My suggestions for a truly enriching  journaling experience are to develop a ritual, show up for yourself and connect deeply to the voice inside you as often as possible.   Five minutes or five words can be just as powerful as five pages.

Supporting You – One Smart Step At A Time,

Sheri McConnell

Smart Women’s Institute™

http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com

PS

Want to connect with other Smart Women?

Join the Smart Women’s Institute today for free at http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com/free-stuff

Want To Use This Article In Your Ezine or Website?

You have my permission, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:

Sheri McConnell is the CEO of the Smart Women’s Institute™ (formerly the National Assn of Women Writers). You can visit Sheri, access her free article archive, and become a member absolutely FREE at http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com/free-stuff

Smart Biz Tip of the Day

How to Write A Bio or Resource Box

One of the most common questions we receive is how to write a bio or resource box.  A bio is used in many places professionally.  On website “media” and “about us” pages, as well as in books and at the end of articles (often called a “resource box” when at the end of an article).  It is also used for hosts to introduce you when you speak live or virtually.

The Power of a Bio

Next to the name of the company and the tagline, I think the bio is one of the most powerful tools you have to position yourself.  The 2 or 3 paragraphs is very powerful real estate on your website and should be valued as such.

Here is a copy of my bio below and then all of the tips you can use to write your own.  Have fun and remember to rewrite your bio once a year at least and most importantly to always be proud of yourself no matter where you are at in your journey.

Sheri McConnell is a bestselling author, inspirational speaker, mother of four, and the CEO of the Smart Women’s Institute™, a global company with over 50,000 women subscribers and members. The Smart Women’s Institute™ focuses on empowering women to be healthy, wealthy, and smart!

Sheri has built and sold multiple networks (associations and institutes) over the last decade and is known as one of the leaders on and off the Internet today when it comes to creating equitable membership-based businesses.  Sheri has also consulted with hundreds of newly created networks across the Internet and considers herself lucky to have helped birthed so many powerful and successful brands over the last decade.

Sheri speaks to worldwide audiences inspiring them with her story of survival and triumph.  She was the only child of a mentally ill and often homeless mother and left at age 17 to work her way through two college degrees and eventually building a multiple seven figure business while raising four children. She is also the author of the Smart Women Book Series™, including Smart Women Create Membership-Based Businesses, The Smart Women’s Book of Powerful Quotations, and Smart Women Know Their Why.

Sheri has appeared on CBS, NBC, FOX, San Antonio Living, NPR, and featured in many business publications including “Women Entrepreneur” as well as achieving the status of being the only female business author in the top 25 on Amazon.com.  Visit her at http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com and become a Smart Women Member today absolutely free!

The Positioning

A bio should be short and paint an overview of your career so far.  Its main purpose is to position you well so that people know that you can help them and so they also know you are a person they need to stay connected with.

Here are a number of tips and examples from my bio.  Pay attention to the italics as it shows what part of the sentence applies to that tip. You should use at least three of the tips and feel free to use all of them if you want.  It is possible to use more than one of the tips in one sentence in your bio.

1. Share Your Personal Story

Sheri speaks to worldwide audiences inspiring them with her story of survival and triumph.  She was the only child of a mentally ill and often homeless mother and left at age 17 to work her way through two college degrees and eventually building a multiple seven figure business while raising four children.

2. Share Your Position

Sheri McConnell is a bestselling author, inspirational speaker, mother of four, and the CEO of the Smart Women’s Institute™, a global company with over 50,000 women subscribers and members.

3. Share Your Philosophy

The Smart Women’s Institute™ focuses on empowering women to be healthy, wealthy, and smart!

4. Share Your Popularity with Them

Sheri has appeared on CBS, NBC, FOX, San Antonio Living, NPR, and featured in many business publications including “Women Entrepreneur” as well as achieving the status of being the only female business author in the top 25 on Amazon.com.

5. Share Your Partnerships or Past Clients with Them

Sheri has also consulted with hundreds of newly created networks across the Internet and considers herself lucky to have helped birthed so many powerful and successful brands over the last decade.

6. Share the Progress You’ve Made

Sheri has built and sold multiple networks (associations and institutes) over the last decade and is known as one of the leaders on and off the Internet today when it comes to creating equitable membership-based businesses.

7. Share the Press You’ve Earned

Sheri has appeared on CBS, NBC, FOX, San Antonio Living, NPR, and featured in many business publications including “Women Entrepreneur” as well as achieving the status of being the only female business author in the top 25 on Amazon.com.

8. Share Your Call to Action

Visit her at http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com and become a Smart Women Member today absolutely free!

Supporting You – One Smart Step At A Time,

Sheri McConnell

Smart Women’s Institute™

http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com

PS

Want to connect with other Smart Women?

Join the Smart Women’s Institute today for free at

http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com/free-stuff

Smart Holidays Savings Starts Today!

…and lasts until the end of the year.

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Our annual holiday sale has officially started.

Head on over to our Smart Store now and get 35% off everything — it’s our holiday gift to you!

Be sure to enter coupon code “HOLIDAY12″ at checkout to grab your 35% discount.

Remember this sale lasts until December 31st only,
so do NOT miss your chance to learn, leverage, and lead!

Shop the Smart Store Now!

WHAT’S NEW?

We’ve been busy revamping and updating
our most popular products over the last few months.

We also converted them to downloadable versions
for you and now they are more affordable than ever!

Shop the Smart Store Now!

Here are the products you have to choose from:

• Smart Women’s Create Your Own Network Today!
  
• Smart Women’s Marketing 2.0 – Everything You Need To Know To Grow
• Smart Women’s Guide to Publishing a Book that Build Your Business Fast and Easy
• Smart Women’s Guide to Publishing Infoproducts Fast and Easy

Dear Smart Women,

Welcome to all the new Smart Women Members this week! So happy to have you as part of the Smart Women Family.

And a special welcome to our latest Smart Women Members that I met in Atlanta last week. I had such a blast this last week with my brilliant friend Christine Kane (See her below when she accepted the Smart Woman of the Year award earlier this year). I spoke at Christine’s UpLevel Live event on the Infinity Business Model and the attendees gave me lots of collaborative feedback on this new business/life paradigm. Very juicy and exciting times we live in.

Become an Author In Our Next Book!

Title and Mission of Book

The Smart Women’s InstituteTM is proud to open up the opportunity for you to participate and be an author in the 5th book in the Smart Women SERIESTM.

Our first 2012 book title Smart Women Embrace Transitions – How to Lean Into 2012 with Your Body, Mind, and Soul will be a compilation of tips, advice, inspiration, and stories from women who have “thrived” through transitions.

The mission of our next book is empower women to embrace change as a catalyst for growth and to share how this is especially important moving into 2012.

Your stories regarding transitions such as career changes, marriages, child birth(s), adoptions, deaths, health changes, etc. are encouraged.

Special attention given to submissions that integrate 2012 specific advice into the story or after the story.

LEARN MORE NOW at: http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com/2011/12/become-an-author/

Have You Officially Joined the Smart Women’s InstituteTM Yet? It’s free!

If you you haven’t officially joined the Smart Women’s InstituteTM yet, now is the time. Click HERE to join now and get a lot of cool SMART TOOLS. And remember, if you post the membership seal on your website and/or at Facebook, and email us, we’ll send you a free PDF copy of our latest book, Smart Women Live Their Why!

Take Care!

Sheri McConnell

Smart Women’s Institute™

http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com

This “intro” was taken from our latest newsletter. Not getting our newsletter? Sign up by clicking on “Grab Your Smart Tools Now” at the TOP of this page and you’ll also receive a free membership!

Smart Biz Tip of the Day

Dear Smart Women,

As many of you know, I think having and growing a business is much like having having and growing a baby.

(Read: Honey, I am Having A Business)

After speaking to the local CBS station this week, I thought of another comparison as it relates to Social Networking on the way home.

Just as a child or any living being must have “air” to thrive…

Social Networking is healthy for your business.  The “people” are the oxygen to your business.

So if you are having trouble committing an hour a day to the social networks on behalf of your business, think of it as a life and death matter for your business.

Because trust me, it is.

Need help setting up your WordPress Blog, or Facebook and Twitter accounts?

Contact our SMARTWOMENTEAM.COM division at http://www.smartwomenteam.com and one of our team members can have you up and running in a very short time frame.

Supporting You – One Smart Step At A Time

Sheri McConnell

Smart Women’s Institute™

http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com

PS

Want to connect with other Smart Women?

Join the Smart Women’s Institute today for free at

http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com/free-stuff

Smart Health Tip of the Day

Dear Smart Women,

We tend to be an all or nothing kind of culture.  We either take care of ourselves or we don’t.  Overboard or no effort at all.  You get the idea.

I wanted to share this video above to help all my left and right brained smart women out there get back on track.  With just 30 minutes a day of just about any type of full body movement (like walking!) you will be happier and smarter and shinier!

And if you use time as the excuse, I guarantee you that much of what is on your daily list is there to provide a release.

What do I mean?  I mean the coffee you drink, the favorite show you watch, the shopping you do, the book you read, the Facebook you check… all of it PROVIDES A RELEASE at some level.  You are essentially trying to feed your soul.  When your soul isn’t being fed–feelings and emotions build up that must be released.

I’ve found that exercise feeds my soul on an emotional level as well as a physical level.  Try it.

Pay attention to the “release” you feel each time you allow more air to enter your body and each time you cause the blood to circulate in your body.

I just have one question for you.

“How Will You Use Your 30 Minutes?

Want to connect with other Smart Women like you?

Join the Smart Women’s Institute today for free at

http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com/free-stuff

Supporting You – One Smart Step At A Time

Sheri McConnell

Smart Women’s Institute™

http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com

Become an Author In Our Next Book!

Title and Mission of Book

The Smart Women’s Institute^TM is proud to open up the opportunity for you to participate and be an author in the 5th book in the Smart Women SERIES ^TM

Our first 2012 book title Smart Women Embrace Transitions-How to Lean Into 2012 with Your Body, Mind, and Soul will be a compilation of tips, advice, inspiration, and stories from women who have “thrived” through transitions.

The mission of our next book is empower women to embrace change as a catalyst for growth and to share how this is especially important moving into 2012.

Your stories regarding transitions such as career changes, marriages, child birth(s), adoptions, deaths, health changes, etc. are encouraged.

Special attention given to submissions that integrate 2012 specific advice into the story or after the story.

Ways You Can Leverage This Book

Becoming a Smart Woman co-author is the next best thing to authoring your own book and a lot cheaper.  And when it comes to the promotion side of book publishing, being a co-author is a lot better because you have a large company with an established brand behind you as well as 29 other co-authors in the trenches promoting with you.

Co-authors can leverage this book as a marketing tool for years by:

• Sitting on physical and virtual panels together
• Booking media interviews such as TV, radio, and print
• Creating virtual events together
• Taking advantage of the positioning along side very successful women
• Sending to potential clients/friends as a gift
• Using it as a bonus, benefit, or list builder in your current business
• Using it to build your contacts
• And so much more!

Submission Details

- 1500 to 2000 words (usually about 3 to 5 pages)
- Submission deadline is January 15, 2012. (Will extend to January 31st at the latest)

Possible ideas:

• Focus on mind, body, soul techniques for dealing with transitions
• Your stories regarding transitions such as career changes, marriages, child birth(s), adoptions, deaths, health changes, etc. are encouraged
• Special attention given to submissions that integrate 2012 specific advice into the article/story or after the article/story

Feel free to email us with your ideas too!

AND you can use past content as long as you own the copyright to it.

History of the Smart Women SERIES ^TM

The Smart Women SERIES ^TM has a inspiring track record.  Our 2010 book, Smart Women Live Their Why for instance reached No. 11 on Amazon over all at launch and then was the only female authored book in the top 25 books in business.  Sheri McConnell, the managing editor of this years book was the past CEO of the National Association of Women Writers for over 10 years.

The  Smart Women SERIES ^TM has also been

Here are some of the books in the Smart Women SERIES ^TM:

Launch Details

Our latest book is due to be launched in January 2012!

In addition to the initial launch, we will be adding this book to our Smart Women Catalog and website.

And finally as an author, you agree to promote and leverage the book.

• We will provide the solo email and you may add to it to personalize.
• We will have anywhere from 30 to a maximum of 40 authors promoting.

Deadline for Registration Fee

All authors will pay a one time fee of $1097.

Registration fee should be paid ASAP to hold your spot in the book.

Submission deadline is Jan 1, 2012

This fee covers:

• Editing of your submission
• Photo included on cover and bio and photo in book
• 1 free copy shipped to you as soon as book is produced
• Permanent solo feature with photo and website link of you (we will send interview questions to you) on Smart Women Blog and in the Smart Women Newsletter  during the 1st quarter of 2012
• Right to purchase all future copies at cost, exact amount will be between $5 and $10 (Cost is determined by size of book)
• Right to co-promote and participate in future book signings and/or leverage our brand for PR opportunities. See History of Smart Women Series above.

This is truly an amazing opportunity for women like yourself to partner with us and share your brilliance while at the same time using Smart leverage to grow your own business if you have one.

The positioning alone is worth the $1097. And by the way, we do care about quality, so if for any reason should we not be able to accept your submission, you will get a full refund of the author fee.  Final decisions will be made by January 3, 2012.

Secure Your Spot Today In Our Next Book

Before All Slots Are Gone

Click on the button below to pay one time fee of $1097 and secure your spot in our next best seller!

Smart Wealth Tip of the Day

Dear Smart Women,

Building wealth is about learning how to first create a flow of money to you and then learning how to manage it so it keeps flowing in and out.

I’ve found the best way to build wealth is to work on the way you think so you can clear up what is blocking the money flow in the first place.

We Block the Flow of Money in These Areas

Beliefs

One way we block the flow of money is through our limiting beliefs that are usually created during our childhoods and reinforced through media and other places that you are exposed to.  Think about the fact that most of our societal systems won’t continue to work unless you continue to think within limits.  Here are just a few ways you probably think right now without even realizing it:

• You think you can’t afford what you need
• You think rich people are bad or greedy
• Your afraid you will repeat past mistakes with your money
• You think you don’t have brilliance that people will pay for

Language

We also block the flow of money in a very physical way through the language we use.

We do this by:

• Talking about what we don’t have
• Feeling like victim and thus not using our divine power to manifest what we need
• We use doom and gloom language
• We blame external factors for anything

Negativity in all its’ forms deflects abundance.  Remember, money flows through people.  Being a positive person who says positive affirming statements to and about the people in the world absolutely allows abundance to flow to you.

Selective Focus

You can open the flow of wealth to you and to the world around you by:

• Seeing the world through an abundant lens – you just have to choose this path!
• Selecting friends who are out of debt or focusing on getting out of debt and building their wealth
• Learning and growing intellectually and spiritually each day

Divinity

One of my favorite ways to work on my money mindsets is around recreating my subconscious relationship to money itself.  Seeing it as divine thing is a huge shift for most people.

Here are a few ways to affirm that money is divine and a blessing:

• Be grateful to receive it and to give it
• Understand that is holds positive power that can bless others
• Feel worthy by learning to love yourself so that blessings can flow to you

Environment

Lastly, a very easy way to immediately raise your vibrational abundance is to create a clean and organized environment.  Throw away anything that is broken… let go of that which you don’t use and donate it to those who don’t have basic necessities. Eliminate clutter and you will eliminate many of the blocks that have kept abundance from flowing to you in the past.

Want more help on building your wealth portfolio one mindset at a time?

Join the Smart Women’s Institute today for free at

http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com/free-stuff

Supporting You – One Smart Step At A Time

Sheri McConnell

Smart Women’s Institute™

http://www.smartwomeninstitute.com