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So why the heck are women losing ground in the venture capital pool? Less than four percent of venture-backed companies are headed by women, the lowest in ten years.

Four percent.

It’s not much better for angel investors. Only ten percent of angel money goes to businesses headed by women.

As I said, yeeeeesh.

It’s not that the money isn’t there. On the contrary, there are billions and billions of dollars in new venture capital funds and new angel groups. I track those funds, and I know there is a lot of money there.

So how come women aren’t getting their fair share?

The simple answer is that venture capital and angel investment firms are run by men.

More importantly, what can we do about it? While there isn’t a magical answer, there are some real steps that women can take to make their companies a success.

1. Bootstrap the company. Well over 90% of all companies are still bootstrapped, financed by the owners. Male, female, Hispanic, disadvantaged – it makes no difference. This is still your best way to finance a company.

2. Incorporate. If you take your business seriously, others are more likely to do so too.

3. Create a strong Advisory Board. Few things say as much about your company as who chooses to put their names on it. A strong Advisory Board drawn from the industry, comprised of men and women, is a huge asset.

5. Create a strong business plan. Remember, the business plan isn’t meant to sell the business – it is meant to sell you. Your abilities, and those of your management team, are the real key to a strong business plan. Everything else is secondary.

6. Network like your life depended on it, for in truth, your business life may well depend on your contacts.

7. Create a commanding presence on the internet. The next generation will find its success anchored on the internet. Be there.

8. By-pass traditional sources of funding and go straight to corporations. Many corporations have venture capital arms with the sole purpose of identifying and promoting technologies in their fields. And, there is money in those venture capital arms right now.

9. Promote your business before it ever becomes a business. Pre-publicity can bring you to the attention of finance people in your area, and at the very least can begin to create buzz about your business.

10. Don’t shy away from “women’s businesses”. There’s a lot of money in those pocketbooks.

Yes, it is still very possible that you can have the business of your dreams. It is happening every single day for thousands of women.

By the way, did you know that about eighty percent of the venture capital funded businesses fail? Without doubt, the businesses begun by women have a much better batting average than that.

Go for it.

Get Up And Running

The nuts and bolts of a website...

What is needed for a website to be up and running on the web? - You need a webhost to host your html files - and then you need a website name (a domain name) so people can find you website. - First you need the website html pages (design)

* Get a affordable reliable webhost that WON'T eat your bank account!

This is not a very easy task. So many people get burned by signing up with the wrong hosting company. The majority hosting companies claim to provide above average support, but once you hit the Order button you are left in the dark. Lucky for you I have hosted 30 websites across 10 different hosts and there is one hosting company that constantly gets my number one recommendation. They are HostGator. Hostgator provides the best support plus they are one of the few hosting companies that will charge you by the month and not up front. So you pay the bare minimum right from the start! You don't have to pull out hundreds of dollars to get a hosting account!

* Domains SHOULD be cheap - so get yours for less than $10!

A domain is the address of your website. Without a domain, you can't have a website...and the same thing goes for hosting. A domain and Hosting goes hand-in-hand. There is only one place I recommend for domain names. You can get a domain name for under $9 from NAMECHEAP. You can even Google "NameCheap Coupon" and grab yourself a coupon that will drop the price even further!

Once you bought yourself a domain name, you need to change the "DNS" settings in your NameCheap account so that the domain name points to your hosting. You have to do this so that the World Wide Web can associate your domain name with your hosting and that your website gets pulled up properly. If you don't know how to do this, simply go to HostGator's homepage and click on the "Chat" button. Ask the support team how to do it. They will provide you with the necessary instructions.

*Get a website design asap.

You can get a website design done for you or you can do it yourself. Doing it yourself is not such a difficult task as you might think. All you need is an easy to use website editor and you can start creating your first website starting today.

There are several website editors, some of which are more expensive than others, while others don't cost you one penny.

Priced Website Editors:

- Dreamweaver (the best, but very difficult to learn)

- Adobe GoLive (very powerful, also very difficult to learn)

Free Website Editors:

- NVU (very powerful and free)

- Kompozer (new, unique and free)

- Trellian WebPage (drag & drop plus free)

You can build a 5 page website in a few hours! Heck you can build a 15-20 page website within a day! Getting a domain name and a hosting account will take you less than 15 minutes.

So that's it...all you need is a web host, domain name and a website design and you'll have a website up in running in no time.

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About Author

Both MaryAnn Shank & Reinhardt Gallowitz are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

MaryAnn Shank has sinced written about articles on various topics from Network Marketing, Network Marketing and Business Plan. MaryAnn Shank, the force behind Business Plan Master (http://www.BusinessPlanMaster.com), battles financing for women every day. In spite of the huge obstacles, sh. MaryAnn Shank's top article generates over 60500 views. Bookmark MaryAnn Shank to your Favourites.

Reinhardt Gallowitz has sinced written about articles on various topics from Affiliate Programs, For Women Entrepreneurs and Interview Questions. Want to learn how to make BIG money from your first website? You don't even need your own product! Learn from the top industry experts as they show you how to do everything from A-Z. *Highly* recommended for newcomers. ->. Reinhardt Gallowitz's top article generates over 2900 views. Bookmark Reinhardt Gallowitz to your Favourites.

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