"...the wild psyche can endure exile. It makes us yearn that much more to free our own true nature and causes us to long for a culture to match...and if she cannot find the culture that encourages her, then she usually decides to construct it herself. And that is good, for if she builds it, others who have been looking for a long time will mysteriously arrive one day enthusiastically proclaiming that they have been looking for this all along..." - "Women Who Run With the Wolves"
 

In 1993, I was living in Gridley, Illinois.  The town was awarded  a grant and a group of interested business persons, students, housewives, retired individuals and myself formed a user beta test group and went to work purchasing equipment, learning the internet and merging this new resource into our business, personal and recreational lives. Eventually, we put together the entire server and a home page for our community from the information we obtained from user experience on the net.

Originally from Texas, when I relocated to Illinois, I did not know how business was conducted, who to contact or where to even begin. I looked for women in business groups and support for small business owners in my rural area. I did not find the support I wanted or needed. 

The closest help for me was Chicago or Springfield, both cities are a 2 hours drive from my home. The area where I live is predominantly farming and livestock production. I had no supportive women in which to network on a business level and found myself in a minority or special interest classification. I even attempted to promote my business through the Bloomington newspaper and was told they didn't have enough space to address "special interest groups."

I joined different newsgroups, and learned the communication skills necessary to get what I needed...when I needed it... directly from the business community on the internet.

All of a sudden my basement office between a corn/soybean field, down from a hog confinement farm became "corporate america" and my dream started to become reality. I found mail forums and began participating in groups, listening to needs, hearing the same message I was screaming to anyone who would listen!

So, I started a link page for Women in Business. Within 2 weeks the page began to stall in loading time and I realized this was much bigger than a link page. I told the women in the group if I could get some volunteers to design a logo and theme for this dream of mine, that I would lead us to become a driving force for women in business on the internet. 

Immediately volunteers came forth. Louise Meyers, in California designed our logo and background design. I called this site Women In Business Cyberspace Field of Dreams and the bases are loaded, so let's play ball! Simply said, but magnificant in scope!  On December 10, 1998 we purchased the BizWomen.Com domain and joined both our sister sites together.  I now live in Texas but the website, being global, continues to reach women in business ...hopefully, for generations to come.

We now introduce you to OUR FIELD OF DREAMS EXPERTS business mail list and the Field of Dreams.Com WWW website, including its directory and resources and invite you to build a global community on the WWW for women in business. 

The web is wonderful, and it is seductive. As the number of sites has exploded into the overwhelming millions...the next phase is to focus our efforts. This is especially true of any site that intends to promote women. Mainstream media continues to foster the erroneous assumption that women are "invisible" on the Internet. We are not, of course, but as usual, we have less money with which to promote and emblazon our presence.

If you choose to network in cyberspace as part of your overall plan, where do you go to connect? So you have this computer and this modem... now what?

The women in our directory and the Experts group come from different cities, with businesses in different industry areas, and all levels of education and experience. One of the women knows something you don't... and you probably know something she doesn't. 

Makes all that much more sense, that name "Women In Business Cyberspace Field of Dreams"... doesn't it. Most of these same Women in Business are listed in the directory, so that we always have an available list of women-owned businesses to contact when we have a need.

Some of them have been awarded the FoDreams Award for their contribution to networking, mentoring and promoting women in the business community.

And nearly all of them visit here for answers and links when they need a place to start. One great feature of this website, for example, is the Building Your Business page where there are links to Business Plans, Marketing Strategies, Website Design, Freebies Online and many more useful links that would take a small business start-up a year of research to obtain...or lots of money to buy! And, of course, the entire site is free!

Everything we do each day is aimed at building our businesses. So we should be doing hard core business utilizing the Internet as another marketing or exposure avenue to make it worth our time and money. The internet is not supposed to replace your present marketing plan. It is an additional avenue of support and networking which has a community or family atmosphere at the same time.

Networking through the use of mail forums within your discipline or industry begins with you, and you, and you. Whether you network in person, or virtual in cyberspace, you must network to grow your contacts in business.

If you have an oven, milk, eggs and butter, flour, pans & utensils and you're hungry...make a cake. If you have a directory of women owned businesses, a group who compliments business and the will to succeed, then why would you ignore that additional exposure? Take those ingredients, stir them up, and make a business!

I see this group of business women as a creative tool for all our success. Posting questions to the group which instill education and insight for all to benefit from. The joining of resources and customer lists, opening up our rolladex files, talking to our clients about using one of the woman-owned businesses registered on our sister websites...mentioning new businesses opening up in your geographical area...sharing and growing. 

Forming virtual partnerships with each other for value added benefits from your own company...providing script for marketing calls on-line within the group...sharing how to deal with difficult clients...sharing bid process information...giving someone else your buyers' names so they can get the great rates you have...putting together a one-page generic homepage for other women to retrieve from your server so they can have WWW presence too...remember 90% of your business comes from 10% of your contacts! What would you rather have: 10% of 10 or 10% of 100,000?

What can YOU do, TODAY...TO HELP ANOTHER WOMAN-OWNED BUSINESS SUCCEED? Thank goodness we have the women's forum, because at least WE can admire one another for these accomplishments, and even for the dreams... or perhaps ESPECIALLY for the dreams.

"People don't go after success until they think they are worthwhile as people." I suspect the biggest hole in the women in business community is mentoring! The guys who make it to the top often pass along their knowledge to a surrogate son. The closest person in their lives is usually not family but the eager young bucks who absolutely worship the old codgers and pick their brains and receive a legacy of business knowledge. The other thing is the intramural loyalty -- doing business with each other.

This women in business group seems to be more lavishly and indiscriminately sharing with any of the members who ask a leading question than the ol boy's network ever did. I think we've got something here! You don't have to be a sycophant to receive the best advice we can come up with. And the diversity and depth of the group is fascinating. 

What a fabulous bunch of women we are! And how lucky the women who can dip into this rich reservoir of talent, experience and know-how and come up with just what they need to clear that hurdle or endure those tough times or to sharpen their vision or expand their goals. 

Sometimes I think of this group as a huge staff meeting -- with 2000 "staffers", all with different experiences and expertise wandering in and out. I think in our own way we EACH have something valuable to contribute to this group. 

This site is starting to take form/structure. Witness the state/regional get-togethers. We are growing.  We are not the #1 site. I don't think any of us intended for us to be #1. What we are seeking is a community of joint ventures which will help us all."

Thank you for your time. Enjoy this wonderful site. Come back often... We love your company.
 

Deb Nyberg, WebMistress

P. S.  Today, my husband and I have relocated back to Texas.  We operate our family business.  If you'd like to know more about it click here.