Donna Maria is an entrepreneur mentor, the founder and CEO of the Indie Business Network, and the host of the Indie Business Podcast and the Indie Business Retreat. She has been recognized as one of the most trusted voices for Makers and Creative Entrepreneurs. Her coaching and consulting enterprise trains thousands of new and evolving entrepreneurs every day.

Fall: The Season Of Me

It’s Fall. Hibernate. Take Time For You. Recently, it occurred to me that the Indie Business Blog is all about business. That’s as it should be I suppose. However, for people who don’t know me personally, it may look like I eat, live, sleep and breathe nothing but business. Guilty. Sort of. Well, except when…

Craft Gossip

Check Out The Latest Indie Beauty Gossip I love gossip — craft gossip that is. But with two young’uns, a radio show and a growing business, there’s not much time for crafting (or gossip) unless it’s done with safety scissors and crayons. But I can live vicariously through Craft Gossip. Former Indie Beauty Network member…

Vault Episode #83: Mark Sanborn [Podcast]

The Vault is an archive of my first podcasts so there is a record for you to enjoy. Welcome to the Vault Episode 83 featuring my interview with Mark Sanborn, an international best-selling author and renowned authority on leadership, team-building, and customer service. In this episode, Mark enlightens us on how to use passion to…

The Coupon Queen

How Couponing Is Changing My Life For The Better Last night, a friend I’ll call "Jim" dubbed his wife the "Coupon Queen" because she saved $700 on groceries last year by clipping coupons. No offense, Jim, but your wife’s coronation is a fraud. My next door neighbor, a stay at home mom named Suzanne, is…

Vault Episode #82: Shannon Kilkenny [Podcast]

The Vault is an archive of my first podcasts so there is a record for you to enjoy. Welcome to the Vault Episode 82 featuring my interview with Shannon Kilkenny, the author of “The Complete Guide to Successful Event Planning”. In today’s digital age, the Internet has revolutionized networking and sharing common interests and concerns.…

Good Things Come In Three's

Indie Herbalist Combines Three Passions To Make A Profit Like all new college grads, Maria Noel Groves of Wintergreen Botanicals in Allenstown, New Hampshire, looked forward to putting her degree to good use. As a journalism major who also loved herbs, it seemed almost predictable that she would make a living by using the written…

How We Live

Indie Business Owners Redefine Working For A Living Last night, I watched a little of The Billionaire Inside. Donald Trump was the guest and one of the things he talked about was how his father worked all the time. "There was never a time when he wasn’t working," said Trump. "He hated to take  a…

Dot Com or Dot Dud

Don’t Stop Your Online Sales Before They Even Start An Indie recently contacted me about joining the Indie Beauty Network. After talking with her, I realized that the business had a few significant problems, starting with their website address: BusinessName.info. Yick.            It’s difficult indeed to launch a business with a unique…

Vault Episode #81: Deborah Balmuth [Podcast]

The Vault is an archive of my first podcasts so there is a record for you to enjoy. Welcome to the Vault Episode 81 featuring my interview with Deborah Balmuth, a seasoned publishing professional and the Director of Editors with Storybook. As the saying goes, there is at least one book in every person, and…

Raising Kids And Profits

7 Parenting Skills To Make Your Business Successful As the mother of two children, I have only just begun my parenting journey. But in the short time I’ve been a mom, home manager and business owner, I have noticed several parallels between raising a child and raising a business.            Doing both…

Blanket Coverage

Indie Mom Turns Sewing Habit Into Thriving Business Like all new moms, Jill Bredow used soft blankets to welcome her babies into the world. Like me, she made them herself. Like me, she didn’t care whether anyone else liked them. Like me, she just wanted to make her kids feel loved. The similarities end there.…

Indie Gets Her Own TV Show!

Aromatherapy Comes To The Small Screen Indies wear lots of hats and juggle a dizzying number of balls in the air. But a truly impressive Indie is one who can catch more balls than she drops. Take Indie Beauty Network member Noelle Katai (pronounced "Kay-Tai"), of Vim Essentials, for example. She contacted me earlier this…

The SBA Wants To Honor You!

Hundreds Of Businesses Will Be Celebrated, Why Not Yours? In April 2008, we will celebrate Small Business Week. To mark the event, as it does every year, the US Small Business Administration will recognize small business owners for the contributions they make to our nation’s economy, to society and to communities across America.     …