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Happy New Year,

I hope it was a good Christmas and New Year season for everyone... I managed to make it away on holiday, giving me the chance to sit back and reflect on everything that happened last year, and what lies ahead for 2006.

We had a great finish to 2005 with the Christmas Cabaret, starring entertainer-to-the-stars Fay Presto — have a look at some of the photos in our gallery here. Thanks too to our sponsors, Williams BMW.

Everyone’s mind seems to be on the forthcoming year at the moment, so I made it the subject of my first Echo column this year. The best advice I was ever given is to make sure you write them down. You can download a New Year’s Resolution prompter from this email to help you carry them out…

But I’m determined that 2006 is going to be a year of opportunities. That’s what Winning Women’s really about — knowing what’s out there, and how you can get involved...

Best wishes for 2006,

esther@winningwomen.co.uk

By the way…
We’re expanding, and looking for some new staff. If you’re interested — either in part time or full time work — and have experience, and great attention to detail, email me a CV with your details.

The best of the rest — in business this month:

A framework for women’s business

Merseyside’s entrepreneurial heritage and future

Free seminars for businesses

Start 2006 with a splash

Get 2006 off to a winning start with our Top Tips for being successful in business. From finding out exactly what your customers want — and how to give it to them — to profits, promises and first impressions, these 50 tips will get you heading firmly down the road to success.

And — don’t forget — research proves that you’re far more likely to achieve your goals if you write them down and focus on them. Download our New Year’s Resolutions prompter here, and make sure you know what you want from 2006.

Male/ female salary gap increases

While you might not be surprised to hear that men still out-earn women doing the same job, what does come as a shock is that the gap has increased — by 3% — over the last year — to 27%. The study also reveals that may be because two out of every three women have never asked for a pay rise. Get out there and do yourself justice! Read the full story here…

Balancing risk and success

It’s an age old conundrum — risk = reward, but risk — by it’s very nature — is uncomfortable, challenging and harbinger of plenty of bad nights’ sleep. The Sunday Times recently ran a whole supplement about business success, and risk. The key, it seems, being to distinguish between operational risk — fraud, or machinery failure — and strategic risk — how you differentiate your company from the rest. Success stems from a balance of mitigating the risk by improving your contingency plans or taking up-front payments, and innovating, which means constantly taking risks, but ultimately allowing your business to prosper.

Winter warmers

Make sure you’re keeping healthy in the cold weather with these seasonal suggestions, packed with the vitamins you need for some winter sustenance.
Veg that’s grown underground is a great winter option, and if you’re fed up with your carrots, potatoes and cabbage, swap them for squash, yams or kale.

Hot food is also a great winter comforter — chillis, cayenne and black pepper literally keep your warm; try peppers, broccoli, strawberries and kiwis for Vitamin C, which increase your production of white blood cells to fight infection.
Onions, garlic, chillis and peppers contain mucalytics, which dissolve all that yucky mucus in your nose and throat when you’ve got a cold, while beta carotene — which is responsible for making carrots and butternut squash orange — is great for fighting off viruses.
Click here for some more food ideas from award-winning Liverpool eaterie Puschka. Or — if you’re looking for some more inspiration in the kitchen — take a look at Heathcotes at Home, the new cookbook from North West superchef Paul Heathcote, published by Liverpool-based Winning Women members, Capsica.

Leadership’s in the genes

Sixty senior business women — on both sides of the Atlantic — became the subject of a joint study by Aurora in the UK and Caliper in the US, attempting to draw together some of the DNA traits of female leaders. Look out for these personality traits as indicators of true leaders:
• women leaders are highly persuasive
• women leaders feel the ‘sting of rejection’, but rapidly learn from adversity, developing an ‘I’ll show you’ attitude…
• women leaders have an inclusive, team-oriented style of problem solving and decision making
• women leaders are more likely to ignore rules and take risks
Click here to see the survey in full

Dates for your diary

2006 is off to a busy start already… we’re launching the interactive online business women’s TV soon, and Winning Women in Chester, which kicks off with an evening of cocktails and canapes in Chester’s Living Room on February 23rd. Don’t forget to email us if you want to book a place — remember it’s free for all members, and £15 for non-members…
We’re also starting our Winning Weekends this Spring, with a health spa break at the De Vere at St David’s Park in Chester on March 3rd-4th. It’s £125 including your room, dinner, breakfast, cabaret, a treatment, and free run of De Vere’s luxurious facilities. Click here to sign up, or give us a call on 0151 703 1068.