You are a driven, female entrepreneur and you want nothing more than to be a full-fledge Bombshell: a bold, brave, female entrepreneur, so you need a Bombshell Squad to support that mission. With this in mind, my team and I created a thing or two to help you thrive as you work through the actionable business advice in The Bombshell Business Woman with your very own book club (AKA your Bombshell Squad).
Maybe you’re not the biggest extrovert, or Susie Homemaker, or perhaps you don’t have a slew of business besties to gather up, but I’m telling you…ery’one is looking for a place of belonging and YOU, Bombshell, can provide that place for the female entrepreneurs in your sphere of influence. So let’s talk about how you can roll as a leader in this Bombshell journey.
Step One: Download The Bombshell Business Woman Facilitator’s Guide
Of course, if you want all of the deets on how to lead a Bombshell Squad Book Club, you just have to ask: Register at TheBombshellBusinessWoman.com by clicking “Bonuses” in the menu bar and sending us your email address. This guide will lay out exactly how to manage a group of female entrepreneurs through the TONS of tactical business advice in The Bombshell Business Woman (found at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Walmart, and many other retailers). The thing is, even if you are not in the same season of business as the other women in your squad, there are plenty of life experiences, ideas, and experiences that can be shared that will strengthen your perspective as a Bombshell.
Step Two: Decide on Your Book Club Format
Offer a one-time meetup or a four-week, weekly book club experience. It’s important to be clear on the commitment level you are suggesting for very busy women. While most hungry, driven women will seek to push themselves into the next level of their business over the course of a short month, some may have a more limited availability. Either way, spell out what days and times these fempreneurs need to mark their calendars for so they can participate.
Step Three: Form Your Bombshell Squad
You may have a great network of fellow female entrepreneurs whom you can approach to join forces as you start your Bombshell journey. Or maybe you need to dig a little bit to find that squad to encourage, edify and…well…kick each other in the pants. Here are a few places you can find other women in business who want to work through The Bombshell Business Woman alongside you.
*Local organizations: Check out your local chamber of commerce, entrepreneur center, National Association of Women Business Owners (or other similar organizations), Meetup.com, Rotary or Lions Clubs, and even Eventbrite.
*Online groups: Likewise, online groups on Facebook or LinkedIn, or Twitter Chats can be a fantastic place to garner interest in a Bombshell Squad. Be specific about what you hope to accomplish. No matter what groups you tap into to grow your squad, if you are clear on your expectations and anticipated outcomes, you will be sure to attract the right women (or very brave men) for your crew!
*Your personal network: Invite your friends! You never know who is ready to next-level their business or who may be a wantrepreneur looking for a little push to make that huge leap to becoming a fulltime entrepreneur, or even a full-time employee with a solid side-hustle. Nos are free! Ask around!
Step Four: Choose a Location for Your Bombshell Squad to Gather
Local Book Clubs: There are plenty of places you can host a one-time meetup or a four-week book study. Those include these physical places, for example:
*Your home. Perhaps your living room or bonus room can seat a nice handful of Bombshells. Or you may even have a lovely outdoor space that would be perfect for a book club gathering depending on the time of year.
*Your place of business likely has a break room, a conference room, a waiting area or some space that you could pull a few chairs into, set up a table, and adorn it with lovely trays of snacks.
*Your local Chamber of Commerce usually allows members to rent one of their conference rooms to use for such gatherings.
*Local coffee shops or wine bars. If you give the manager a heads up on your Bombshell Squad’s size, they will be highly likely to welcome a small group of women ready to buy their coffee, wine, and food. This also takes you off of the hook for preparing anything. Just be sure everyone arrives early enough to place their orders before you get started with your book club time.
*Your country club meeting space. Some country clubs include free or nominal meeting room rental as part of your member amenities.
*Homeowner’s association or apartment/condo clubhouses. (Be sure to reserve this in advance, as every neighborhood Bunco group or family birthday party may also be jumping at the chance to reserve the clubhouse, too!)
HERE is a sign you can put on the door to your meetup house (or public, reserved room). Or if you are meeting in an open public place like a coffee shop, HERE is a tent card you can fold in half and place on your table to help identify your squad. (Pro tip: Printing it on card stock will help it keep it’s tent-like shape.)
Virtual Book Clubs: Or perhaps you could have a virtual Bombshell Squad. In that case, location does not matter, just a consistent meeting time and Internet connection. Here are a few places your Bombshell Squad can meet in a live, video format:
*Zoom hosts up to 100 attendees for free!
*Skype can host up to 25 people for free.
*Google Hangouts is also a free video conference service.
No matter if you meet in person or virtually via video conference, designate a “home” to continue the conversation between meetups. Tools that help you do this include:
*Facebook Groups are a convenient place to chat since people tend to be on Facebook anyway.
*GoodReads Groups can open your discussion to a much wider audience of book lovers!
*LinkedIn Groups are good if you are looking to have a more professionally focused experience.
*GroupMe is a group text app can be used on any phone without having to share your phone number.
*Slack Channel is for the more tech-savvy. You can create a Slack Channel to chat with the full group in themed “chatrooms”, send direct messages to those you want to offline with on a topic. Slack has a mobile app and can be viewed on desktop. Best of all, you can choose your notifications settings, including a handy snooze button for when you need to focus on the work in front of you.
*Email distribution list: Use this as a final squad communication option. We all get enough email as it is, and your messages may get lost in more urgent work messages!
Step Five: Make Bombshell Squad Book Club-Worthy Edibles & Elixirs
Do not overthink your book club meeting! Other female entrepreneurs will be thrilled you took charge and left them free of responsibility! If you are crazy busy, pick up veggie and fruit trays, a store-bought hummus, and some crackers. If you have even an hour prior to your meetup you can follow my Quick and Easy Book Club Menu, and maybe even create my Bombshell Signature Cocktail and/or Bombshell Signature Mocktail. No time for signature cocktails? Grab a few bottles of champs and a case of LaCroix sparkling water and you’ll be set. Disposable glassware is totally legit, by the way.
Step Six: Share Ideas & Support with Your Bombshell Squad
Did you get to a place in The Bombshell Business Woman that reminded you of your expertise? Speak up! The point of a “mastermind” group is to become a mastermind of everyone’s experience, knowledge, opinions, and intuition. Draw that out of your participants, and don’t hesitate to contribute once everyone else has had a chance. Your role as the Bombshell Squad organizer is to create a safe place of belonging, and be an encourager to all who have so much to offer the squad.
Step Seven: Hold Your Bombshell Squad Accountable
A great way to increase the commitment level is to pair up as accountability partners within the group. Some of my best accountability partners on my entrepreneurial journey had a business totally unlike mine. However, we were aware of each other’s goals and pushed each other to take action towards them by the deadlines we committed to.
Another way to hold your Bombshell Squad accountable is for everyone to commitment to an action they will take by the next meetup. Then, you can kick off your next meetup with a check in on everyone’s commitments. Continue to end and begin your meetups like this and see how far everyone gets during their time with their Bombshell Squad.
Remember, everyone has different goals and may be in difference seasons of their business. One Bombshell might be in startup mode while another is trying to add a third location in the next year. Use The Bombshell Business Woman as a tool to bring your squad together, but know everyone will be focusing on different strategies in the book!
Most Important Step: HAVE FUN!
Let’s face it. Business can be SO SERIOUS! It doesn’t always have to be. If you create a fun atmosphere, you will keep it light and energetic. Cue up my Ultimate Bombshell Business Woman Playlist, keep the the colors and food themed, embrace your balance of feminine luxury and super strength and determination, and encourage your squad to help or contribute as much as they wish. When everyone is moving towards a goal together, it is always WAY more fun!
Be sure to tag me in your pictures on social media and use #bombshellbiz and #bombshellsquad when you do!