@CRAVEToronto (Andrea Rocca)(Crave Toronto.com) held a Tweet-Up last night, which was hosted by @HeadMistresse (Melanie Groom) and @mrsfoxylocks (Tara Clark) of @bloheartsyou – Blo Blow Dry Bar (Toronto’s King Street location) – (www.blomedry.com).

I (@photsbyardean) was lucky enough to be in attendance, having been invited by a friend, Michelle Richardson – one of the owners of Feather Factory. Crave has established these networking events, specifically targeting women entrepreneurs, allowing US to connect with each other, share ideas, make contacts and ultimately grow our businesses. Our hosts for the night, Melanie and Tara, were kind enough to share info on how they went from franchising 1 Blo Dry Bar, to now opening their 4th store in the Toronto area. They had a lot to share. Here are a few key points that resonated with me and where I am in my business today:

– Be specific. Do something no one else is.

– Do one thing at a time. This is SO true for me right now!

– Know exactly what you are spending on supplies/operating costs for your business. i.e. don’t purchase items for your business, without keeping track of how much, why, and what’s left!

– Simplify your platform. This pertains to your different web interfaces, like your website – make it simple and easy to navigate and use!

– Focus – SO important and without knowing exactly what your business focus/goal is, you waste time going in wrong directions. Figure out exactly what you want to do/the product and focus and go with that!

I have to say it was really great, informative AND inspiring to meet with a group of other like minded women! This is continuing me to spur on and keep growing my photography. The next Crave event – I’m there! And ya, I wanna get in the book!

Woo – THAT was a-LOT of Tweeping! 🙂

Shouts to all my other new Tweeps: @idealsamples, @MeditativeArts, @sheshopsthecity, @maggie_fogg, @annecayer, @ideaatelier and everyone else!

co-owners of Blo – Melanie Groom and Tara Clark | Andrea Rocca of Crave

enraptured entrepreneurs!

Michelle Quaranta – @sheshopsthecity and another Crave attendee

smells so Yummy!!!

(on the right) Linda Chan of Aradia Fitness (Pole dancing ladies!)