savvy

Anything new you undertake has always got an element of risk attached to it. If it's new, it's untested and therefore risky. That is a fact. If you are risk adverse, starting a business is not only a bad idea, it may be the worst idea you ever entertain. There are no guarantees in business. None. That old adage "if it appears too good to be true it probably is" IS ALWAYS TRUE! I can't remember, without exception, any time I've found that phrase to be wrong. I've set out on some "too good" schemes in my day, with high hopes and high expectations and I have fallen flat on my face. So hard that I finally vowed to stick by the "too good, too bad" rule - I know it's too good friend, too bad I won't try it.... Which doesn't mean I'm risk adverse, just savvy. It took a while to get here, with some hard knocks along the way, but here I am, still standing.

Risk. Most of the best things you will ever do in life will require some form of risk - from choosing where to go to school, whom to marry, what to eat, where to go on vacation. The aforementioned sounds mundane but there are risks involved. I love hearing from people who pride themselves on not taking risks and playing it safe. They can be smug all they want but we know the truth - life requires risk to be lived, not just to its fullest, but lived. Period. Our natural state is a fragile one. These bodies we inhabit are not exactly made of tough stuff. Just walking out your front door on any given morning can produce hundreds of potentially risky situations. Still, we get up each day and take a walk out that front door. Some of us just take a riskier walk than others.

Since you’re loyal followers, I thought I would give you all a little insider info that we recently got wind of – there’s a new multi-media online community launching on the 17th that is guaranteed to turn you into one savvy lady! With editorial content, style news and reviews, gift giveaways and a webisode series, 24/Savvy is going to be the new go-to destination. Oh and did I forget to mention, that the brains behind this super fun, new site are the team at Brand Building Communications! 

I don’t know about you, but I love all tips and tricks that help me live smarter and more creatively, especially in our economy. This site will have you living savvier by your first visit and, get this, you can even win all the great products they talk about. I used to steer clear from sweepstakes and anything with the words “promotional,” or “giveaways,” but with gifts like diamonds, vacations and great designer duds, you better believe I will be the first to sign up.  
 
Now for my absolute favorite part of the site – it features a webisode series hosted by Kathleen Monteleone (AKA “Elle” from the “Legally Blonde” traveling Broadway production). Each week she and a variety of experts will give a celebrity personality a ‘Savvy Edit’ on their closet, kitchen or playroom, etc., and then all edited items are auctioned off or donated to benefit a charity. I am a huge promoter of charities, so I can personally testify that there is definitely nothing savvier than sharing what you’ve got!

Trust me, you will LOVE everything about this site, and the reason I am telling you about it now is because you will want to be one of the first to join. Only the first 50 to register will win the ‘Savvy Gift’ each week, so all my savvy ladies mark your calendars. 

 Endless.com

Whenever my roommate has a date, work event, family holiday, trip to the grocery store, she declares: “I need a new outfit.” I, on the other hand, declare that I need new shoes. We all have our thing (or in my case things…lippies and shoes). If you relate to this, click as fast as you can to Endless.com. EVERYTHING is here from Dolce & Gabbana to Dolce Vita. Free overnight shipping and the best prices around. Trust, I’ve looked.

I’ve been feeling cash poor lately—like most of my countrymen.  And I’ve definitely gotten a lot feistier about my purchases. Luckily, I am quite the savvy spender so I really feel that I haven’t been looking or dressing less cute than the standard I have always held myself to…cute wise.  So I thought I’d share a few of the smarter alternatives I’ve been turning to in these times that try men’s souls. Stay tuned for the next week, friendly readers.

Wet N’ Wild Lipstick in Hot Read

I have been lusting after Nars Semi-Matte Lipstick in Jungle Red for years now. BUT I already have one in Manhunt and cannot justify another $24 spend for such a similar hue. (Have I mentioned I have a lippy addiction?) Thus, Visual Therapy’s resident maven Sarah Davidzuk showed me the way, the truth and the light by recommending Wet N’ Wild’s Lipstick in 519A. It is a movie star pinup, Rita ‘Hay-worthy’ matte red lipstick. And it’s $1.29, people!!!!
 

Source: nyshirt.com

At this point, it's clear that social media is here to stay, but instead of asking what social media can do for you, let's consider what you can do with social media.
 
Our first natural instincts are to shamelessly promote ourselves with social media, and if you're in the selling business, you're looking for the best ways to market your product/client. Today we can get the word out quicker than we can get a cab, so this all makes sense. I get it. Recently, I’ve been thinking that maybe we should dedicate a week to doing good with our savvy social media skills. This week, let’s shamelessly promote a great cause to help those less fortunate in our community. And, I know just the cause: A Box of Love from Here’s Life Inner City.
 
Here’s Life Inner City New York is a non-profit organization we work with that is dedicated to helping the poverty stricken members of the inner city. From now until November 11th, they are hosting a campaign to sponsor Boxes of Love. What is a Box of Love? For only $36.71 a box of filled with all the trappings for a Thanksgiving feast is delivered to families in need just in time for Thanksgiving, and each Box of Love feeds a family of six!
 
In the past, this campaign has been wildly successful, but this year they want to make a greater impact – they want to reach 7,000 families. Seven thousand families means reaching 42,000 people - people you see everyday on the Subway and walk next to on the street. Just imagine, we could impact the same amount of people that it would take to fill Madison Square Garden twice!
 
So, together let’s use our amazing social media skills and make a difference. Blog about it, tweet about it, become a Facebook fan. Let’s make a difference! Donate a Box of Love today http://bit.ly/gBu8Q.
 

There's a new Webisode series on the net and I LOVE IT! The brainchild of that sassy lady Candace Bushnell of "Sex and the City" fame, "The Broadroom" is a look at a gaggle of gals in business who "go off" on their lives - professional and otherwise. These women are funny, savvy and all too real. Their escapades include closing deals with men by sneaking the scent of vanilla into the proceedings—apparently male cat nip—to waxing poetic about their personal lives: "My sister has 2 kids and doesn't work, I can't imagine asking my husband for money everyday!"

There is a great cast (Jennie Garth, Jennifer Esposito, Talia Balsam, Mary McCann and newcomer Lauren Devereux). These women have style and substance and an all too real approach to what it's like for big city women to make it in biz. I love the female camaraderie, the witty (and honest) dialogue and the great clothes—this is how women in these upper echelons dress. Everything is spot on and I can attest to this because I've seen it in action.

Maybelline is a sponsor so the cursor that leads you through the site is a lipstick tube. Cute. Not sure who Maybelline's demo is, because these are not youngish girls, but I guess they know who they're looking to reach.

What I love most about the series (have I said this before?) is how real it is. Sure the clothes are fun and the banter is upbeat, but the underlying sentiment, at least for me, is bittersweet. Let's make fun of ourselves, but when it all comes down to it we're just "making it happen one day at a time." No matter how glamorous the perception is on the street anyone in that world knows when you enter that world you leave your glamour at the door.

Source: weblogs.wpix.com