If you're thinking of treating the special green businesswoman in your life for a gift - for a birthday, a work anniversary, a personal milestone, or something else - here are five great ideas to help you choose something thoughtful.

1) Happy: Just Ask

photo by jodiwomack

You know best what makes your significant other happy. Do you need to take the kids for an afternoon while she reads a book and enjoys a coffee by herself? Do you need to book her for a spa session, deep massage, or yoga class? Does she prefer a night out on the town with great friends and camaraderie? How about a special date night between the two of you? Has she been eyeing something, or hinting about something, or telling you what she'd like? Listen, understand, and make it so. Your loved one deserves happiness. Do just one thing that you know will make her happy. If you don't know, ask: "Honey, if there was something special, just for you, that would make you happy -- what would that be?" When she answers, you figure out how to make her wish come true.

2) Efficient: Zenni Optical

The Zenni Optical online service offers prescription eyeglasses for as little as $6.95. If you already have a prescription, choose any frame online and have the glasses created and shipped directly to your desired address. There are stainless steel, titanium, and holiday themed frames for bifocal, progressive, and single vision.

By reducing the stress of having to choose from racks of online frames, and having an easy, efficient delivery system you can take advantage of this hassle-free and super-effective way to get a spare pair, some prescription sunglasses, or a fun set of frames for your lady friend's special occasion -- maybe some Valentine’s Day glasses? Bookmark the Zenni site because most people need new frames about every 12 - 24 months.

3) Useful: Maid Brigade housecleaning service

By using eco-friendly products and focusing on a competent, complete package that is consistent, reliable, and affordable, this maid service helps organize your life by taking away the ongoing chore of vacuuming, dusting, scrubbing, and sweeping. The service uses Green Seal certified non-toxic cleansing agents and specially recognized vacuuming equipment to help improve indoor air quality.

Your self-employed woman needs all the support she can get… and more!.

• Get the housecleaning service
• Add on a meal preparation or CSA box service
• Help out with childcare
• Do your share of laundry
• And take care of vehicle maintenance and garden chores

If you're doing this, you're already ahead of 99% of the population. Really! Go with useful solutions.

4) Cute: Oh, Little Rabbit

Oh, Little Rabbit is a housewares company using sustainable, organic, recycled and natural products, as well as non-toxic water based inks to print hand-drawn illustrations onto a variety of surfaces. Check out their delightful dish towels, darling cotton onesies, and quirky shopping bags.

5) Green: The Greater Equator

The Greater Equator is a new product boutique offering the best of the made in the USA marketplace of sustainbly-created, organic, artisan, handmade/recycled/upcycled, and eco-friendly products. From Bearded Brothers organic energy bars to Skincare by Feleciai shea butter and soaps, you'll find a wide selection of household needs and gift items in this catalog. Get a gift certificate and give suggestions on something special.

Here's a compact list of some gift ideas for your braniac friends: keep their hands and minds busy with any of these. Great for birthdays, stocking stuffers, and bon voyage baskets. If you've moved beyond Legos, chemistry sets, semaphore posters, and trips to SpaceCamp, here are some other interesting potential ideas.

1) Titanium Spork - doubles for adventure and nature-type people (most geeks are into outside sports like climbing and cycling). Titanium is a strong, non-corrosive metal, and the spork shape makes it easy for your friend to store in their car or bag for a quick meal of soup or entree.

2) A Survival Kit in a Sardine Can (sardines not included) - Tidy, compact, and ready-to-go, this kit is waterproof and float. It has 25 items to deal with an emergency, including "medical supplies, nourishment, and navigation aids". Includes matches and a firestarter cube, a teabag, a fishing hook, even a compass. Perfect for house, car, and work.

3) Citizen Eco drive watches - Get free shipping by purchasing this online. A thoughtful gift for someone who needs to keep track of time - it's solar powered and will derive its power from any available light source. Choose a stylish version for your girlfriends.

4) Rubik's Cube - keep your favorite geek's mind occupied for at least two minutes (if they know it) or a few hours (while they figure it out). Good for the plane or on longish road trips, at the dentist's office, or anywhere that requires waiting.

5) iRobot Roomba - help your friend keep his/her apartment clean. This vacuum cleaning robot could also be considered a low-maintenance "pet."

6) iTunes Gift Card - always popular for the teens to get a movie or the latest tunes. Comes in many denominations and colors. Wrap in a nice envelope - perfect for birthdays.

7) Mintronics: Survival Pack from the Maker Shed - Perfect for kids, this little mint tin comes packed with 60+ components for "making, hacking, and modifying electronic circuits and repairs on the go". Includes photocells, LED lights, resistors, capacitors, and diodes. Great for those learning more about electronics.

The art of making a business deal—- from the biggest ones that take months to finalize and involve teams of lawyers, to the nominal ones that are sealed with a handshake after a 10-minute chat -- is a craft that can be mastered, believes Arthur Wylie, author of "Only the Crazy and Fearless Win BIG!: The Surprising Secrets to Success in Business and in Life" (www.CrazyandFearless.com).

Wylie notes that green businesswomen should not "underestimate the small deals, which can help you gain confidence with the process and also nurture other people's confidence in you - and reverence for you. Wylie points to the example of Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, Mark Zuckerberg and Sam Walton - "[they] didn't start out making headlines. They crawled before they could walk and ultimately made sure they were prepared to win the proverbial race when they approached the starting line of a mammoth business deal."

Wylie's specific suggestions for green businesswomen when it comes to winning BIG are these:

• Understand your industry better than anyone. It breeds confidence in deal making.
   
• Know your competition.
   
• Understand how you are different and what makes you better.
   
• Network with people in the industry and establish yourself as a leader in the field.
   
• Always understand how you can add value to the other party first then plug yourself into the equation. The money you make is a byproduct after a successful closing but not the focus.
   
• Remember banks give money to people who don't need it! Never be too hungry.
   
• Once the deal is close people like to know that you won't disappear. Have a quality control plan in place and effective communication.

Internationally-regarded investing and entertainment mogul Arthur Wylie is the author of “Only the Crazy and Fearless Win BIG!: The Surprising Secrets to Success in Business and in Life” (www.CrazyandFearless.com) and serves as CEO of Arthur Wylie Enterprises – a brand with diverse practice areas, including include business consulting, real estate, investing, speaking, entertainment/film production, book publishing and philanthropy.