It's a popular term to say that you need to earn your customer's trust these days, especially with the advent of social media tools.

But what about the people you let into your business that aren't your customers? What about your friends, family, employees, your clients, strategic partners, vendors?...

Chances are, if you're reading this article, you are at work. If you're not at work, you've probably been to work recently, or you are about to head there again. In fact, according to some studies, the 70-hour work week is the new norm. It doesn't matter if you're in...

The light in my Los Angeles bedroom is soft and dreamy as I sit back in bed, Mac on my lap. It's a very early Saturday morning, less than a week now from "tax day" -- the dreaded April 15 deadline that sends businesses and individuals of all kinds and...

If you're not familiar, the New Power Girls series follows the life and times of a group of real-life women as they work to get what they want out of life and business. I don't just mean having the killer careers they want and need, but their own unique vision...

It's a sunny but chilly morning as I head down Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles, my newly acquired iPhone Verizon phone on my lap as I talk business over speaker phone with a friend and fellow female founder. Like a lot of today's new modern women entrepreneurs and executives I've...

It's amazing that technology both crippled and aided an entire population all at once, which is what happened when Egypt blocked Internet access among its citizens. For the first time, the Internet media and business in America saw for the first time what our invention can do. It's...

Beverly Hills is sleepy and sunny on an early Saturday morning as I make my way to the Physique 57 studio for a class. The area, notorious for its shopping and restaurants, is virtually empty with exception to a few early risers ducking into the Rite Aid pharmacy...

I admit that I am a bit of a resolution junkie. I make them four times a year, not just one -- once every quarter (or every three months). It can be in life, work, family, friends, relationships. I always look forward to it. If there is one thing you...

The topic of net neutrality is on everybody's mind this week, but it's not likely even with the laws in place that our government will be able to adequately control much of what will go on. Not only will it be difficult to know where and when carriers...

It was a simple enough trip. A business traveler, on the way home from a few days of meetings in a remote city, is stranded by way of an airline with the reputation of rarely getting passengers to their destination, let alone on time. The option of two hotels are...

In a way, the New Power Girls came out of one of the most coveted categories on the internet: Online shopping.

It was early 2005, each of the four of us early stage founders of fashion/shopping related startups. It was at a time before open CMS platforms and $9 websites....

The four girls gathered loudly in my living room are women I've known and hung out with for years. One by one they roll in, first Sayeh and Alison, unexpectedly early for arriving from the Valley, then Jenna and Meghan in unison by happenstance. Meg's toy collie Griffin comes eye...

"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."

As I sat back in bed to write this installment of the New Power Girls tonight, I wondered who might have first said that common saying above. Growing up, every time I heard it, it sounded like one of those cheer leading things...

Jenna, Meg and I are at the dark wood kitchen table of Meghan's Los Angeles place, sipping wine, water and munching on seasoned nuts from Trader Joe's. A trio of Mac laptops are before us as early evening sun drops below the California skyline. Griffin, Meghan's dog, is squarely on...

The day starts early on a weekday morning last week. I'm up a little earlier than usual to work around a speaking engagement I have at 10am that day. Between celebrity clients under contract for Site Canvas and advising other clients, along with the day to day operations of my...

I suspect there have always been secret meetings and clandestine relationships among forces in business. The "Old Boy's Club" didn't get its name from having just one member, of course. People bond and create relationships with their colleagues, fellow CEOs, investors, etc. We get to know who is who at...

Palo Alto, CA is quiet but busy on a late weekday afternoon as I join fellow Power Girl Julia Kung for a business lunch on the outdoor patio of one of the city's cute restaurants. A half dozen or so places dot the "downtown" area of the sleepy town, many...

For nearly ten years (almost my entire adult working life), I worked intimately with the actual, physical building of the internet you are using right now to read this article, Twitter to your friends, or whatever else you're doing on it.

I knew when it would be able to...

The first game of the NFL season plays in the background as I sit down to work on the talk I'll be giving at next week's Pacific Northwest Newspaper Association (PNNA) Conference. I'm just nursing a wicked throat infection as I lean back in my Los Angeles-area living...

We live in a world where everybody wants to be everything to everyone. Mega-stores sell everything, online retailers carry endless merchandise, etc. It's casting the widest net with the idea that it's the best bet. In some ways, that may be right. But, there's still something to the lost art...