You will need to register with us so we can all connect!

Come Join us for Breakfast & Networking!

** All Meetings will be held at Panera Bread on  the first & third Wed. of each month.(back room)  It is located on Hunt Club & Grand Ave. in Gurnee, IL. We like to arrive after 7:30 am to get our food/drink and then start our meeting promptly at 8 am.  The meeting lasts one hour.

We are currently working on long term & short term goals for each of our businesses and personal life.  Group discussions help us each strive for our goals.

Feel free to contact us to attend that meeting 847-543-8372

See you there!

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Guests are always welcome! 

Come & meet sensational business women!

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“ If you make a sale you make a living.  If you make an investment of time and good service in a customer, you can make a fortune.”

Enjoy these classic videos for women!

Living By Numbers - Do you live by these numbers?

Our Russian Adoption - One of our WIN members shares her adoption story.

Look for “Listening Opportunities”

“Business breakfasts” or other networking type events can be a great opportunity for you to meet new people and make contact with potential business partners and customers – If you know the right way to interact with people, that is.

A common mistake is to fall into the trap of thinking that you have talk about yourself first.

Instead of doing that, here’s an approach that I used when I networked at a meeting of corporate business leaders and owners. You can easily adapt it for your own situation.

As you can probably imagine there is a lot of “nervous energy” and “anxiety” flowing when people are trying to put themselves in the best light possible telling each other about their services.

However, doing that can actually produce poor results. With everyone wanting to get their “say” in – most people are not listening!

So what to do if you find yourself in a similar situation? Simple! Turn your telling into a “Listening Opportunity” and…

Stop Telling (Selling) and Start Discovering

Stop the unproductive idea of talking about yourself, and instead ask about them and listen and respond to what they have to say.

Doing so keeps you calm while you quickly qualify people as to whether there is any value talking with them later on. There is no faster way to increase your bottom line as well!

Here’s how it worked for me and what I found was a great “ice breaker”.

In a light hearted way I asked the question after introducing myself…

“So how can I help you?!!”

Usually the reply that came back with a grin was…

“I don’t know! How can you help me?”

Too which I would respond with a smile…

“I don’t know either, though we can soon find out… what kind of business are you in?”

Once I had established that I was talking with the right person in terms of what I had to offer, I then went on to ask these types of questions…

“What do you find are your greatest challenges in the area of your sales or sales people?”
“Do you ever feel you or your sales people could be more effective but not sure how?”
“Are you satisfied with the results your sales people are getting for you?
“What sort of challenges do you face with selling your products/services?”
“How is that affecting you?”
“Does that also possible affect you in the area of (describe a knock-on effect)”
“Have you done anything, or are you doing anything to resolve these challenges?”
“How did that work out?”
“What did you feel worked/didn’t work?”
“If you could do it all over again, would you do it differently?”
“Have you thought about what you think the problem might be?”

“What if the reason you’re only doing marginally better when you took that course of action, is because the cause of your problem might not be what you think it is… what if it was because of something else? Have you ever thought about that?”

Of course, adapt these questions to fit your own situation.

I let them talk and all I did was listen, ask them to expand on the answers they gave and ask more questions.

At the right time I would then make a short statement followed by a question…

“The reason I’m asking is… (customizing how what I do could help this person) and if this is something of interest to you, perhaps I could give you a call tomorrow to explore further about whether we might be able to do something together… would that be OK for you?”

The answer was always “Yes” because we were talking about something that was important to them.

It was Fast and Precise

Each “listening opportunity” took no more than 2- 4 minutes, after which I moved on to the next “listening opportunity“.

The world is full of opportunities when you rethink the way you think, question conventional wisdom and do things differently!

The key to creating a “Listening Opportunity” I described is knowing how to ask the right types of questions at the right time. This isn’t hard, but you do need to shift your thinking a little.

Chapter 10 of my book “How to Sell Network Marketing Without Fear, Anxiety or Losing Your Friends!” is titled “The Art Of Asking Questions” and reveals the secrets to using this approach to help you achieve your goals quickly and easily.

Subsequent chapters go further and illustrate how to use questions in practice and in a range of different circumstances.

Have a peaceful and prosperous…
Best Selling Author of “How to Sell Network Marketing Without Fear, Anxiety or Losing Your Friends!“ - Selling from the Soul. Ancient Wisdoms. Modern Practice.

Want to get rid of all the techniques, systems and gimmicks simply by changing the way you think and the way you act on what you think? Choose one of the many convenient options on the right hand side of this newsletter. Or click here www.NaturalSelling.com

Women in Networking….Helping Business Women in Lake County, IL.

If your company has ever printed a brochure, you know the time and cost involved–as well as the potential waste. I’ve seen many businesses spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a brochure, only to have boxes of them cluttering their closets years later. If this sounds familiar, you’ll certainly appreciate the many benefits of e-brochures.

An e-brochure is pretty much what it sounds like–a brochure that can be distributed, delivered and viewed via the internet. Like printed brochures, e-brochures feature photos, graphics, copy and your logo. However unlike printed brochures, e-brochures can be sent as e-mail attachments, incorporated on a website or burned onto a self-playing CD. There’s no question that e-brochures represent a new and highly cost-effective way of branding.

While traditional, printed brochures remain the industry standard, and many customers still expect them, e-brochures are quickly gaining popularity due to these unique selling points:

 Cost effectiveness–No more guessing numbers for your print run, then winding up with too few or too many brochures. The cost of an e-brochure is fixed, whether you send out one or one million of them. Fees are based on the number of pages and any extra “bells and whistles” like video or audio. What’s more, digital distribution means you omit postage costs.

Interactivity–This can greatly boost the overall impact of your message by engaging your audience. Viewers can turn the interactive pages, view video or listen to audio with a simple click of their mouse. Better yet, they can immediately place orders or request more information by clicking on embedded links.

Customization options–E-brochures let you to target your messages to specific audiences, increasing the likelihood they’ll buy from you. Such market segmentation is much harder with printed collateral.

Easy to update and edit–You can quickly and efficiently customize your message, target your market and adapt to changes in the marketplace without re-printing a single page. Nor do you need to reprint your brochure if your offerings or price points change. Updating your e-brochure “template” is a simple and affordable editing job.

Unlimited distribution–The ability to e-mail your brochure means you can immediately and affordably respond to requests for information from anyone at any time. In fact you can instantly send your brochure to prospects around the globe and create a viral effect–one potential customer can forward it to other potential customers, which in turn can forward it to more customers and so on, at no cost to you.

Access to additional information–Your audience can quickly browse through content, zoom in on items, and print pages, all from the convenience of their home or office. You can also include a homepage link for customers who want to learn more about your business.

Tracking–With traditional printed materials, it is extremely difficult to track your ROI. Not so with e-brochures. You can track how many times your e-brochure is downloaded as well as how many orders you received from its distribution.

Environmentally friendly–Obviously, no trees are involved in the creation of an e-brochure. You won’t need any storage boxes to house extra brochures, either.

Makes your company look smart and innovative–Having an e-brochure gives the distinct impression that you’re ahead of the curve and well-positioned for the future. Customers like to do business with savvy companies who literally think outside the box.

John Williams is president and founder of LogoYes.com, the world’s first and largest DIY logo website. In his 25 years in advertising, he has created brand standards for Fortune 100 companies like Mitsubishi and won numerous international awards for his design work.

Phone answering skills are critical for businesses.

The telephone is still most business’s primary point of contact with customers. And the way you answer your company’s phone will form your customer’s first impression of your business. These phone answering tips will ensure that callers know they’re dealing with a winning business:

1) Answer all incoming phone calls before the third ring.

2) When you answer the phone, be warm and enthusiastic. Your voice at the end of the telephone line is sometimes the only impression of your company a caller will get.

3) When answering the phone, welcome callers courteously and identify yourself and your organization. Say, for instance, “Good morning. Cypress Technologies. Susan

speaking. How may I help you?” No one should ever have to ask if they’ve reached such and such a business.

4) Enunciate clearly, keep your voice volume moderate, and speak slowly and clearly when answering the phone, so your caller can understand you easily.

5) Control your language when answering the phone. Don’t use slang or jargon. Instead of saying, “OK”, or “No problem”, for instance, say “Certainly”, “Very well”, or “All right”. If you’re a person who uses fillers when you speak, such as “uh huh”, “um”, or phrases such as “like” or “you know”, train yourself carefully not to use these when you speak on the phone.

6) Train your voice and vocabulary to be positive when phone answering, even on a “down” day. For example, rather than saying, “I don’t know”, say, “Let me find out about that for you.”

7) Take telephone messages completely and accurately. If there’s something you don’t understand or can’t spell, such as a person’s surname, ask the caller to repeat it or spell it for you. Then make sure the message gets to the intended recipient.

8) Answer all your calls within one business day. I can’t emphasize this one enough. Remember the early bird? The early caller can get the contract, the sale, the problem solved… and reinforce the favorable impression of your business that you want to circulate.

9) Always ask the caller if it’s all right to put her on hold when answering the phone, and don’t leave people on hold. Provide callers on hold with progress reports every 30 to 45 seconds. Offer them choices if possible, such as “That line is still busy. Will you continue to hold or should I have ________ call you back?”

10) Don’t use a speaker phone unless absolutely necessary. Speaker phones give the caller the impression that you’re not fully concentrating on his call, and make him think that his call isn’t private. The only time to use a speaker phone is when you need more than one person to be in on the conversation at your end.

11) If you use an answering machine to answer calls when you can’t, make sure that you have a professional message recorded, that does the same thing as tip # 3, and gives callers any other pertinent information before it records their messages. Update your answering machine message as needed. For instance, if your business is going to be closed for a holiday, update your recorded answering machine message to say so and to say when your business will reopen.

12) Train everyone else who answers the phone to answer the same way, including other family members if you’re running a home-based business. Check on how your business’s phone is being answered by calling in and seeing if the phone is being answered in a professional manner. If they don’t pass the test, go over this telephone answering tips list with them

]]> http://women-in-networking.com/2011/business-tips/how-to-use-a-telephone-properly.htm/feed 0 http://women-in-networking.com/2011/business-tips/marketing-your-website.htm http://women-in-networking.com/2011/business-tips/marketing-your-website.htm#comments Wed, 25 May 2011 17:50:08 +0000 admin http://women-in-networking.com/?p=633 Read More]]> Make Your Website Famous

Marketing your site on and offline can be just as important as marketing your actual product or service.
The question used to be, Do you have a website?

Now, the more relevant question is, How do you market your website?  It truly isn’t a “Build it and they will come” scenario.

If people don’t know about your website, they can’t visit–and learn about what you have to offer. That’s why marketing your website online and offline is just as important as marketing your product or service.

Promoting your site can be simpler than you think. Here are some suggestions:

Offline Marketing

• Many website owners forget about the offline options for marketing. But you need to make yourself visible in the places your target market lives and that means the offline world as well.
• All marketing communication materials should emphasize your URL and entice readers to visit your site. This includes business cards, letterhead, envelopes, brochures, flyers, folders and newsletters.
• Print your web address boldly on the front side of direct mail postcards. Sometimes simply printing your URL in a large, attention-getting style will cause the recipient to turn the postcard over and read the other information you want to share with them.
• You can issue a press release announcing anything new or newsworthy on your site. Maybe you’re offering a free report, a free e-course or a unique approach to the marketplace that the media will be interested in.
• On-hold messages are now very popular for directing people to a website, especially with phone systems that use automatic attendants. But live attendants can direct people to your website, too. Make sure they know what information is available and relevant for the caller.
•  If you ever get the opportunity to be interviewed on the radio, make sure you find ways to drop your URL. You can say things like, “On my website, www.market-for-profits.com, I offer free marketing articles and products for sale to help grow businesses.” Don’t just say, “On my website …” without mentioning the URL. This applies to any interviews you might do with a reporter, editor or producer.
• Some publications will ask you to write a guest column or a feature article related to your expertise. At the end of the column or article they’ll usually let you include a few sentences related to your experience and ways to contact you. Obviously mention your website and e-mail there.
• Advertising specialties are great ways to distribute your web address. They include key chains, coffee mugs, mouse pads, pens and pencils, as well as any apparel that might carry your logo or identity.
• You can also promote your URL offline with the following: fax cover sheets, vehicles, billboards, license plate frames, Yellow Page ads, other printed ads, T-shirts, and golf balls and bags.

Online Marketing

• Online marketing should be done in conjunction with the offline marketing mentioned above. Here are some ideas to get you started:
• Even though people are at your site, mention it often within the text of your web copy. This will reinforce it in the readers’ minds and help with search engine optimization.
• Mention your website or include it in your signature for all news group, discussion group or forum postings.
• Ask your fusion marketing partners, board members, advisors or other business partners to mention your website on their sites.
• Use online press releases and articles just like the offline method mentioned above.
• Pay-per-click marketing
• Banner advertising on your site, as well as other related sites that your target market visits
• Online directories
• E-mail signatures

Be creative with both your offline and online marketing. Sometimes the best marketing comes from the wild, crazy, extreme or unique ideas that your competition hasn’t thought of. Remember the guy who auctioned off his forehead as advertising space for a URL, or the pregnant lady who offered her pronounced stomach for URL placement for a Super Bowl ad website? Now that’s guerrilla marketing.

Al Lautenslager is the “Guerrilla Marketing” coach at Entrepreneur.com and is an award-winning marketing and PR consultant and direct-mail promotion specialist. He’s also the principal of  Market For Profits, a Chicago-based marketing consulting firm. His two latest books, Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days and The Ultimate Guide to Direct Marketing

This is important information for females of ALL ages.

When this was sent to me, I was told to forward it to my lady friends,
but I forwarded it to most everyone in my address book. My men friends
have female friends and this information is too important to miss
someone.

Please pass it along.

A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interviewed on what
they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:

1) The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle. They
are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun, braid or other
hairstyle that can easily be grabbed. They are also likely to go after a
woman with long hair. Women with short hair are not common targets.

2) The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for women
whose clothing is easy to remove quickly. Many of them carry scissors
around specifically to cut clothing.

3) They also look for women on their cell phone, searching through their
purse, or doing other activities while walking because they are
off-guard and can be easily overpowered.

4) Men are most likely to attack & rape in the early morning, between
5:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.

5) The number one place women are abducted from/attacked is grocery
store parking lots. Number two: Are office parking lots/garages. Number
three: Are public restrooms.

6) The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman
and quickly move her to another location where they don’t have to worry
about getting caught.

7) Only 2% said they carried weapons because rape carries a 3-5 year
sentence but rape with a weapon is 15-20 years.

If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged
because it only takes a minute or two for them to realize that going
after you isn’t worth it because it will be time-consuming.

9) These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas, or
other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands.

Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the
attacker to use them as a weapon. So, the idea is to convince these guys
you’re not worth it.

10) Several defense mechanisms he taught us are: If someone is following
behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in an elevator or
stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question, like what time
is it, or make general small talk: ‘I can’t believe it is so cold out
here,’ ‘we’re in for a bad winter.’ Now you’ve seen their face and could
identify them in a line-up; you lose appeal as a target.

11) If someone is coming toward you, hold out your hands in front of you
and yell STOP or STAY BACK! Most of the rapists this man talked to said
they’d leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be
afraid to fight back. Again, they are looking for an EASY target.

12) If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a huge advocate of it
and carries it with him wherever he goes), yell I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY and
holding it out will be a deterrent.

13) If someone grabs you, you can’t beat them with strength but you can
by outsmarting them. If you are grabbed around the waist from behind,
pinch the attacker either under the arm (between the elbow and armpit)
OR in the upper inner thigh VERY VERY HARD. One woman in a class this
guy taught told him she used the underarm pinch on a guy who was trying
to date rape her and was so upset she broke through the skin and tore
out muscle strands – the guy needed stitches. Try pinching yourself in
those places as hard as you can stand it – it hurts.

14) After the initial hit, always GO for the GROIN. I know from a
particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy’s parts it is
extremely painful. You might think that you’ll anger the guy and make
him want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists told our
instructor is that they want a woman who will not cause a lot of
trouble. Start causing trouble and he’s out of there.

15) When the guy puts his hands up to you, grab his first two fingers
and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down
on them as possible. The instructor did it to me without using much
pressure, and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked audibly.

16) Of course the things we always hear still apply. Always be aware of
your surroundings, take someone with you if you can and if you see any
odd behavior,don’t dismiss it, go with your instincts!!!

You may feel a little silly at the time, but you’d feel much worse if
the guy really was trouble.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body.
If you are close enough to use it, do!

2. Learned this from a tourist guide in New Orleans. If a robber asks
for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM. Toss it away from
you….chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or
purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE
OTHER DIRECTION!

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back
tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy.
The driver won’t see you, but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating,
working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list,
etc.) DON’T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the
perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun
to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR
CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.

a. If someone is in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF,
repeat: DO NOT DRIVE OFF! Instead gun the engine and speed into
anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you. If the person is
in the back seat they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car
crashes bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body
in a remote location.

5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot or parking
garage:

A.) Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side
floor, and in the back seat.

B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the
passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling
them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their
cars.

C.) Look at the car parked on the driver’s side of your vehicle, and the
passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car,
you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a
guard/policeman to walk you back out.

IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than
dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are
horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. This is
especially true at NIGHT!)

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS
RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times.
And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN, preferably
in a zigzag pattern!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic:STOP! It may get you
raped or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking,
well-educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting
women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked ‘for help’ into
his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next
victim.

9. Another Safety Point: Someone just told me that her friend heard a
crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the
police because it was late and she thought it was weird. The police told
her ‘Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.’

The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a
window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get
run over. The policeman said, ‘We already have a unit on the way,
whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.’ He told her that they think a
serial killer has a baby’s cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of
their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby. He said they have
not verified it, but have had several calls by women saying that they
hear baby’s cries outside their doors when they’re home alone at night.

Please pass this on and DO NOT open the door for a crying baby —-This
should be taken seriously because the Crying Baby theory was mentioned
on America’s Most Wanted this past Saturday when they profiled the
serial killer in Louisiana.

I’d like you to forward this to all the women you know. It may save a
life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle. I was going to
send this to the ladies only, but guys, if you love your mothers, wives,
sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it on to them as well.

V/R

//SIGNED//
KELLY L. SCHELL, MSgt, USAF
First Sergeant, 23 AF

And guys…keep an eye on that lady in your life! My doc in Omaha used to tell me that the conventional “stress” test was ineffective for women because it is calibrated for men…this lends credence to that.

I was aware that female heart attacks are different, but this is the best description I’ve ever read. You all take care out there!

Women and heart attacks (Myocardial infarction)

Did you know that women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have when experiencing heart attack…you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor that we see in the movies. Here is the story of one woman’s experience with a heart attack.

“I had a completely unexpected heart attack at about 10:30 PM with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might’ve brought it on. I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking,”A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up.” A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you’ve been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you’ve swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn’t have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of w ater to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation—the only trouble was that I hadn’t taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m.

“After that had seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably my aorta spasming), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR). This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws.

“AHA!! NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening–we all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven’t we? I said aloud to myself and the cat, “Dear God, I think I’m having a heart attack !” I low ered the foot rest, dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself “If this is a heart attack, I shouldn’t be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else…….but, on the other hand, if I don’t, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in moment.”

“I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics… I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn’t feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to unbolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in.

“I then laid down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don’t remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the Cardiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like “Have you taken any medications?”) but I couldn’t make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already> threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed 2 side by side stents to hold open my right coronary artery.

“I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must ha ve taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the Paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St. Jude are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stents.

“Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? Because I want all of you who are so important in my life to know what I learned first hand.”

 Things to be aware of…

1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body not the usual men’s symptoms, but inexplicable things happening (until my sternum and jaws got into the act ). It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn’t know they were having one, and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation, and go to bed, hoping they’ll feel better in the morning when they wake up….which doesn’t happen. My female friends, your symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you’ve not felt before. It is better to have a “false alarm” visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be!

2. Note that I said “Call the Paramedics”. Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER–you’re a hazard to others on the road, and so is your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what’s happening with you instead of the road. Do NOT call your doctor–he doesn’t know where you live and if it’s at night you won’t reach him anyway, and if it’s daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn’t c arry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do, principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your Dr. will be notified later.

3. Don’t assume it couldn’t be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it’s unbelievably high,and/or accompanied by high blood pressure.) MI’s are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let’s be careful and be aware. The more we know, the better chance we could survive…