First of all, I apologize to everyone who got a double dose of the last blog post on “How mug shots matter.” I forgot that I had our email blaster on auto-pilot after I had already sent it out via on-demand last week.

It’s been a hectic week. I put the finishing touches on a 50-plus page marketing directive for one of my global consulting clients, worked hard on transitioning Oddpodz into a more social and user-friendly Website, and took my mom to Chicago for two days to see Oprah.

Early next week, I’ll blog about my trip to Chicago and the Oprah experience.

This week I’m focusing on an important aspect of entrepreneurship, or what I call “the high cost/high return of learning curves.” My goal is to share some lessons that hopefully will help you turn your learning curve experiences into meaningful milestones too.

Most of you know, the Oddpodz team has been at this community-building thing for a few years now. The founders had strong marketing and business backgrounds, however, none had technology expertise. But, we are a Web-based business so naturally the Oddpodz business model is reliant on technology.

Sound like a crazy path to take? And a bit risky? It was. But if you look at successful businesses throughout history, it’s not what they didn’t know that really mattered, it’s how they managed their weaknesses and leveraged their strengths.

Our company’s lack of in-house technology has definitely been one of our most challenging obstacles. This was evident from our first major Web site build in 2006. We hired the wrong Web development firm, expended over $400,000; lost 18 months in time-to-market, then realized our site was total crap and had to rebuild it just to meet basic functionality standards. During that time, we also needed to manage our content changes and hosting fees in a cost-effective manner, which brings us to today; we have our interim site up and running but with a whole new slew of flaws.

These could have killed us. But they didn’t. They made us stronger.

Fortunately, in 2007, when it came time to re-build and launch our second site, we connected with a Web development company that worked in .php open source (versus .net- or Microsoft-based), and also needed branding services, which I could provide. So we bartered about $40,000 in fees and kept our shaky train on the track. The good news, this technology time around, was that our leadership team was starting to gain a little ground on the IT learning curve. The new site was built with a much more user-friendly content management back-end called Joomla; we could make more updates ourselves. However, we were still very dependent on a fee-based, external team for support and many site changes.

Our second site was light years better than our first one, and it functioned. But soon after its launch, the honeymoon was over. Oddpodz was not generating revenues, our funding was gone, and the amount of cash we had to invest with our Web development company was not significant enough to get any timely service. This is one of the challenges of being small. Read more.

This put us in a very tough situation. Social media sites are continuously evolving. The industry is learning what users want from a Web site and community experience, new tools are becoming available; but without in-house technology expertise at the time, we were unable to move forward.

We needed to find a new Web service provider. Unfortunately, moving from one Web developer to another, or even finding an independent programmer can be risky, time-consuming, and potentially costly.

Even in a perfect world, a switch in developers can open up a can of worms. Custom programming and issues with workaround applications are discovered and then a blame game starts between the old and new resources.

For us, it all boiled down to Oddpodz having to choose its pain: stay and suffer, or switch and suffer.

I started researching alternate Web developers that knew Joomla. Through a Joomla training company, I was referred to several resources.

I soon found a company that I was comfortable with and they seemed to welcome small businesses accounts. I provided the contact with our back-end access so he could carefully look at our site before we made the move. He assured me his firm could help us and their fees and hosting costs would be substantially lower than what we had been paying. He also mentioned that our site was built in Joomla 1.0, which is no longer supported. He stressed the importance of upgrading of our site to Joomla 1.5 soon, or our site could experience all sorts of problems with no easy answers. We discussed upgrade costs and he said most conversions cost between $3,000-$4,000.

All of that sounded great to me; significantly reduce our hosting fees, upgrade our back end, and have a firm that seemed like it was truly interested in helping us with affordable services.

During this time of trying to source a new Web service provider, our current Web Company was beginning to generate more frustration. Our site programmer unexpectedly left and no one who remained seemed to have a clue what he had been doing for us. I felt like a change had to be made quickly.

So I pulled the trigger with the new company. This “simple move,” as sold to me, was not. This was due to both parties; the old company not being responsive to what the new company needed and the new company had not really looked under our hood while they were pitching us on the smooth hosting transition.

Yes, our site was moved to new servers. And we were saving some money. But at this point, lots of site functionality was lost for a host of reasons, including certain applications tied to old IP addresses. Others were just not available at all. Bottom line, we incurred $500.00 in troubleshooting fees just to get the site to function at 90 percent. Among the ten percent not functioning was our member sign up. So, if you came to our site, you could read content, but you couldn’t socialize or sign up as a new member.

This was not acceptable.

When I contacted our new Web developers, I was told that Oddpodz must upgrade to Joomla 1.5. But with this new information, the cost would not be $3,000-$4,000, but rather more like $16,000, and more for our testing time and involvement.

This totally sucked.

We would have been better off overpaying and getting under-serviced from the old company… at least the community worked.

Hence, my quandary: I believe Oddpodz can start generating revenues by offering tools and content for a fee. There are many successful sites that do this every day and one of our company’s strengths is creating solid content. But can we earn $16,000 in a few months to cover this investment? With our current team and resources, I don’t think so.

So what were our other options?

Using our in-house expertise, rebuild in Wordpress, add an ecommerce section and focus on our strengths in content development? This would cost under $5,000.

Upgrade the site to Joomla 1.5, but scale back functionality? This would cost around $8,000?

Throw in the towel and just focus on my other businesses.

After much deliberation, I concluded we would rebuild in Wordpress with our core team of contractors. We will leverage as many free tools as possible, build it slowly, and build it right.

This journey I just walked you through has been a big expensive pain. A lot of it was due to my and my partners’ lack of knowledge in Web technology, and not knowing what questions to ask the service providers when we engaged them.

Today, everyone is a lot smarter. And the company is still swimming toward success without water in its lungs.

The happy ending to these chapters of learning curves is, every one of these experiences taught us valuable lessons in technology and managing service providers. Even though these lessons are in hindsight, this entire learning curve has been a meaningful milestone.

1. Don’t let your fear of not knowing something stop your dream from launching.

2. Don’t let the fact that you don’t now beans about some part of the business stop you either. Life is a learning journey. Just know that it may get bumpy.

3. Don’t beat yourself up when you make mistakes. Stay focused on what you need to do to keep moving forward.

4. No matter how excited you are about building something, when you are making a big investment in your company, ask questions of yourself and your vendors about worst-case scenarios.

5. Don’t delegate a major project to a lone team member who does not have expertise in that area. As the leader of the company, don’t micro-manage, but do stay engaged with that person until you are enjoying smooth sailing.

6. If you have at least $100,000 to invest in technology, consider hiring someone (a programmer) who just works for you, not a company.

7. Beyond the time anyone says it takes to build a Website, add 10 percent for testing, and 10 percent for unforeseen changes.

8. Don’t build anything in a version of software that will soon be outdated, just to get something up, unless you are certain of the cost for the upgrade.

9. When a company is giving you a bid on a technology build project, if they have not thoroughly looked under your hood, be prepared for a higher cost.

10. Journal all your learning curves. At least once a year, pull them out and remind yourself of the progress you made because of them.

I am fortunate that in addition to Oddpodz, I operate a successful consulting practice. I can continue to fund and contribute to this company until we really start rocking and making some money.

Within the next 30 days you will see a new and improved site and community. It will still be a work in progress, but it will be another important milestone toward our success.

About the author: Karen Post, a.k.a. The Branding Diva® is an international authority on branding, marketing, and entrepreneurial matters. She has been featured as a business expert in print publications; on TV, radio, and on Web channels. Karen authored the best-selling book Brain Tattoos Creating Unique Brands That Stick in your Customers’ Minds and she is co-founder and CEO of Oddpodz.com.

You may not have given much thought to this question until the recent popularity and emergence of social media touched the masses. Beyond the social implications of this new media, social networks and social online tools play an essential role for all professionals, entrepreneurs, and business people. Posted content and images either add or subtract from your desired brand.

With over 800 million profiles on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIn, and millions more on micro social sites, a mug shot or profile avatar has quite a bit of brand power.

Mikolaj Jan Piskorski, Associate Professor and Mervin Bower Fellow in the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School conducted extensive research on the subject of social media and images. His findings indicate 70 percent of all social media actions are related to viewing pictures or other peoples’ profiles.

The day when only authors, rock stars, celebrities, and other gurus needed to consider their photo images is gone. Today everyone has a new stage on which to shine or look like a goofball.

And this is not limited to online social communities; the same goes for speakers at conferences. Regardless of your professional status as a speaker, if you are contributing to the program and the organization is promoting you on a Web site, your image counts. This also applies to printed association directories and what you put on your own Web site.

Your mug is your surrogate persona and a voice for your brand.

Don’t fall victim to the crappy, old, and tired photo thing. You can control this part of your brand.

If your goal is to build an online footprint that supports your professional substance and brand, here are some tips I recommend to get the biggest bang from your mug shot.

1) Consistency is key.
Use the same image of you in all of your social communities. This will build equity in your visual mark and strengthen the memory factor.

2) Production quality says a lot about you.
Grainy, wrong, and low-resolution images scream cheesy, unprofessional, and that you are foreign to the online environment.

3) Project your true you.
If you are a creative soul, let your photo image convey that. Cropping, adding a compelling prop, and the right facial expression can achieve that.

Are edge and risk part of your brand? Then demonstrate this with the style of image.

Are you serious, conservative, or highly intelligent? A traditional portrait may best suit you.

For any of these personas, consider your wardrobe, accessories, and the background. All of these elements project a message.

4) Keep your image current.
There is nothing worse than meeting someone who is 25 years older than his or her published photos. Update your photos every couple of years, unless you look pretty much the same—and good for you! This can be a trust issue too.

5) Invest in your brand.
Using a group shot where others were cropped out of the original, or posting a poorly-lit image with no contrast to feature your brilliance are often the product of being cheap and not valuing your brand. Your photo image is often the first thing people associate with you and your qualities.

Remember, first impressions only happen once and people make immediate judgments based on what they see.

As noted on front page of Oddpodz, we are experiencing some changes to our site. Our plan is to re-launch in the next 30 days with better social dialogue tools, more blog contributors, and useful tools to help you grow your business.

During our transition, some items in the Community section of the site are not functioning properly. We are working on all of these.

Thank you for your patience!

About the author: Karen Post, a.k.a. The Branding Diva® is an international authority on branding, marketing, and entrepreneurial matters. She has been featured as a business expert in print publications; on TV, radio, and on Web channels. Karen authored the best-selling book Brain Tattoos Creating Unique Brands That Stick in your Customers’ Minds and she is co-founder and CEO of Oddpodz.com.

Whoever said “No pain, no gain,” obviously had a few start-ups and small businesses under his or her belt.

The past few months for Oddpodz have been a period of growth and transformation. We are happy to report, we are still moving forward, however, we’ve also had a good share of “OUCHES!”

We have struggled through a frozen economy.

We have danced with investors and fundraising gurus in “not-much-action-for-pre-revenue-deals” funding market.

We have squeezed 18 hours of productivity out of 8-hour work days with a limited team.

And we have kept smiles on our faces, when inside we were often scared and freaked out.

If being an entrepreneur—starting and leading a small business—is in your life path, put your thick skin on and embrace the ability to let challenges not defeat you, but drive you forward.

Progress and change are essential for business success. But when you are a young and small enterprise they also bring several suitcases of uncomfortable side effects.

For almost a year, Oddpodz knew our Web development company was not the right fit. They were not a bad company, but our needs and budget and their needs and budgets were miles apart. We didn’t make a change because the interruption and anticipated new expenses outweighed the acceptance of sluggish service, spending more than we needed to for hosting, etc., so we just carried on.

For nearly eight months, Oddpodz has been operating with a half-tank of gas too. Running a community, marketing, producing content, managing a site, and still earning a living to fund a pre-revenue producing company requires a full tank of dedicated resources.

No matter how creative and passionate we were, this combination was not going to take us to the Promised Land. In fact, it was likely moving us closer to the end.

No matter how painful it was going to be, change had to happen.

We needed a new, responsive, affordable Web partner.

We cut our ties with our old dev firm and found a new resource. They are 3by400. They are Joomla specialists, (Oddpodz is build in Joomla), they have a track record of social media and ecommerce successes, and most of their clients are our size; small, but with potential to scale up quickly. Today we had our first strategic planning meeting with Brent, Kim, and Beth. We heard about many new applications and solutions and are looking forward to enhancing our community platform and site with their expertise.

We needed an additional dedicated, strategic partner, and contributor.

If the one lone founding partner was to lead and fund the company’s growth, at a pre-revenue stage, we needed another social media- and business savvy entrepreneur to add to the team. Rome or any city of stature was not built by one person. We drafted a very comprehensive position description for an ideal community manager. We placed it on high traffic social and job sites and started the process of finding Oddpodz a new community master. Ultimately the winning candidate came through a Twitter post. His name is Keith Burtis. He is a balance and mix of techno-dude, market maker, and creative wonder. He resides in my old stomping grounds outside Buffalo. Oddpodz is ecstatic about our new relationship. We will share more about Keith soon, but just know that there are lots of exciting and new things around the corner for the company and you.

Yes, all this progress is exciting. But with it comes time-consuming, brain-stretching, and investment-needing stuff too.

Turns out our old site was pretty cobbled together with lots of out of date applications and workarounds from a programming team that was no longer anywhere to be found. In fact, Joomla 1.0 had no support and the hosting and IP change caused many features to not transfer or function.

Yikes! This kind of progress hurts a lot until you start reaping your first season of fruit.

Our new community master is awesome. Smart, thoughtful, and creative. His presence feels like a double shot of B12. And once our immune system gets strong again, we are confident there are no marathons we won’t be able run.

We know many of you fellow entrepreneurs are feeling this stress too. Here are five tips to help you manage through your progress and change too.

1. Stay focused on the big things that matter. Answering every email and looking at vendors’ offers when you don’t have the time or resources to invest in them are a huge waste of time.

2. Amp up your efficiency, in everything you do. Put instructions and expectations in writing, start every meeting with an agenda, and utilize productively tools to maximize the hours in your day. While this takes time, it saves a lot more in the end.

3. Keep your standards high and don’t compromise because you are feeling beat up or frustrated. This will, in the long run, produce better results.

4. Do not worry or obsess about things that you cannot control or are in the past. Channel your unequivocal energy on finding solutions that get you closer to your goals.

5. Make your physical and mental fitness regime a top priority. Exercise daily, stretch, meditate, and take deep breaths often. Eat right and sleep enough.

In this time of change we are doing our best to support and grow our community. What types of things can we do better? What types of features would be valuable to you?

Until next time

Thank you for your continued support, your visits, time, and suggestions.

About the author: Karen Post, a.k.a. The Branding Diva® is an international authority on branding, marketing, and entrepreneurial matters. She has been featured as a business expert in print publications; on TV, radio, and on Web channels. Karen authored the best-selling book Brain Tattoos Creating Unique Brands That Stick in your Customers’ Minds and she is co-founder and CEO of Oddpodz.com.

Whoever said “size does matter” was partially correct. In a lot of cases it does. I suppose if you were a small mouse and a fat hairy cat had you in a corner, that could be grim. Or, if you were wrestling a 700-pound sumo and you only weighed 99 pounds with your three-pound Nikes, I wouldn’t want to go there either.

However, in business, being small does not need to be the big curse, if you manage it correctly.

During the past of couple years, with Oddpodz; my young, petite startup, I’ve felt that small-seriously-sucks syndrome, often and with some giant challenges.

• Vendors regularly provide small firms less-than-stellar service because our cash contribution is relatively small and if they lose the business, it is not a big loss to them.

• Potential employees view small companies as a tightrope career track full of risk, limited security, and likely with no insurance.

• Strategic partners believe success happens by big company association
• Client prospects often get delusional and bonus your larger competitor with meritless points because of their grander size and scale.

That sucks no matter how you package it. And the reality is that everyday, worthy small companies get discriminated against and doors slammed on their little toes because of their size.

So do you stop there and say: “Poor me. I’m small. Being broke is in my DNA”?

No, you don’t let those temporary situations get you down, in fact, use them to get stronger. And appreciate that being small has its benefits too.

Here are four ways to turn around feeling small and disadvantaged into being tall and on the road to mammoth success.

1) Select vendors that are sized for your needs. This may take some additional due diligence, but the outcome will be worth it. Interview with high standards and trust the red flags you see or feel early on. Set expectations up front and put them in writing. And no matter how much you like the vendor, think about what happens if they don’t deliver; how will you get out of the deal without scary repercussions? And if they do an awesome job, let them know with a testimonial and refer new business back to them.

2) Recruit like-minded self-starter, risk-takers. If you are a small, entrepreneurial company, you need entrepreneurial team spirit and support. Don’t waste a lot of time on people who need security blankets. Changing a corporate type into an entrepreneur is like finding a frog that can meow; i.e., likely not going to happen. Be honest with recruits and employees, but it is not always wise to share every detail. And be thoughtful on recognition and rewards. Do both and often and remember it does not always include money.

3) Consistent performance supersedes size every time. There are big strategic partners and ideal clients who will give opportunities to small businesses. In some cases it is luck; in most cases it is because the small company earned the opportunity by doing a great job, going the extra mile, and squashing the big partner or clients’ perceived risk associated with small. From your proposal to delivering the goods or services, don’t settle for being average; go for brilliance everyday.

4) Confidence is a powerful weapon. Being small is no cakewalk. However, it is pretty amazing how many small details can make a big difference when you are a small potato. Much of the perception a small business creates is controllable. Confidence is communicated by posture and your handshake (stand tall and leave the wet fish at home), dress (better to overdress any day); and choice of words, written and spoken (don’t feel or think something, believe it and don’t suggest an idea, recommend it).

Be proud of small.

All the giant firms out there—Google, FedEx and Victoria’s Secret—all started small. And staying small can be good too. Big is not best for everyone. No matter what size success you want, or what scale you want your dream to be, taking the above actions will add value and benefits to your business.

About the author: Karen Post, a.k.a. The Branding Diva® is an international authority on branding, marketing, and entrepreneurial matters. She has been featured as a business expert in print publications; on TV, radio, and on Web channels. Karen authored the best-selling book Brain Tattoos Creating Unique Brands That Stick in your Customers’ Minds and she is co-founder and CEO of Oddpodz.com.

For all the doubters and naysayers, social media can bring in the Benjamins. In fact, for my consulting practice, Brain Tattoo Branding, Twitter scored an exciting, new, six-figure assignment.

So how did it happen?
First, you’ve got to be signed up. It’s easy and painless. If you are clueless to the new world of Twitter, watch the video on the Twitter web site and also check out these excellent books on the subject.

All A Twitter by Tee Morris

Twitter for Dummies by Laura Fitton, Michael Gruen and Leslie Poston

Secondly, you need to understand what Twitter is and is not. In a bird shell, Twitter is a micro blog that enables you to post and read “tweets.” A tweet is a text message in a concise, less than 140-character format. A tweet post has no content boundaries other than length. You can tweet or twitter anything, from a question, a quote, an opinion; a status on what you are doing, feeling or about to do; share resources, or dish an experience.

Twitter is a real-time communication channel for personal and business purposes. It is intended to adhere to the new social media etiquette and be more about dialogue and helping rather than hard selling. But, like many things in life, there are always a few bird brains that don’t seem to get that part.

Back to how I did it.
I set up my profile, selected a handle — @brandingdiva.com, uploaded a photo, and added keywords that are relevant to my world. Now, as a twitterer, I get to follow others, which means their posts are in a timeline on my Twitter page. It’s not about quantity, but quality. You must follow people who can add to your success.

A few years ago I joined a mentor group lead by The Million Dollar Consultant, Alan Weiss. Alan has authored over 32 books and is one of the smartest cats I know. He helped me improve my business proposals, leverage my intellectual property, and just become a better consultant. I delete reams of newsletters and mail in my inbox daily, but, I’m very religious about reading Alan’s stuff.

In a recent email, he suggested I follow him on Twitter @BentleyGTCSpeed. And because I like Alan’s thinking and humor, I thought this would be a great way to get bite-sized samples of his brilliance, fast. So I started following him.

That Saturday night, I was drinking my BV cab and perusing my tweets, and I saw one from Alan. It read something like: Global industrial company looking for branding and naming specialist, interested parties contact XYZ.

So I did, right that moment. I shot an email to the contact listed. My branded email was formal and included my contact info, background on me, services summary, web site links, and an article from a prominent business publication in India that highlighted me and my views on brand naming.

Within minutes, I heard back from the contact; we exchanged a few more emails and then chatted on the phone. It turned out that he had also been in Alan’s mentor program. He was not the client, but was making recommendations to the client. After all of our dialogue, I was on the short list.

A few weeks later, I got a call from the client outlining the actual assignment, background on the company, and other details. I listened more than I talked. From there, he requested a proposal. I explained to him, that before I could produce the proposal, I needed some additional information from him and agreement on key issues around the project. My list was extensive, but he promptly answered all my questions and I submitted my proposal.

My proposal was brief; not a lot of selling, but it did include our agreed-upon goals, measure of success and value expected, pricing options, and a strong overview of my company’s credentials and B2B experience.

Three weeks later, I get another call. They want me to come to their home office to meet the team. They also requested I summarize my proposal into 3-4 pages. I obliged, on my nickel. For those you who squirm at shelling out travel expenses in advance of getting a deal, I say get real, if you are worth your proposal, you will earn this back quickly.

As it turned out, they were interviewing several firms and I was still in the hunt. To reinforce my position as a branding authority who works in diverse sectors, I prepared and did as much homework as I could. I flew in the night before, leaving nothing to chance, flight delays, bad weather, etc.

In my pitch I stressed my creative problem-solving ability above my knowledge of their industry. I rehearsed my key points and continued to listen and ask questions. In fact, I walked in with a list of both, so I wouldn’t forget anything. While I had plenty of B2B experience, I did not have hands-on experience in their specific industry category. However, I presented my lack of specific experience as a strength, not a weakness.

A few weeks later, I got the bright green light and today I’m working with a great company on a challenging project. Once we take it public, I will share with you more on the branding and project processes and outcome.

I am thrilled that a new social media like Twitter made this opportunity possible. I hope it soon does the same for you. Following are the key lessons I took away from this experience.

Lessons learned:

1) Twitter is tool, just like your business card.
2) Twitter is not an autopilot sales associate.
3) Twitter is a marketing tactic that you must use strategically.
4) Social media is not a magic potion that cures all; it is one piece of your marketing arsenal.
5) Jump on opportunities when you see them. Even on the weekends.
6) First impressions only come once.
7) Be efficient and “on your brand” with all of your touch points.
8) Not having experience in someone’s business is not a deal killer.
9) Listen more. Talk less.
10) Do your homework on the prospect’s competition, their leadership, and the challenges they face.
11) Proposals are to confirm goals, methods, measures, and expectations; not to convince.

About the author: Karen Post, a.k.a. The Branding Diva® is an international authority on branding, marketing, and entrepreneurial matters. She has been featured as a business expert in print publications; on TV, radio, and on Web channels. Karen authored the best-selling book Brain Tattoos, Creating Unique Brands That Stick in your Customers’ Minds and she is co-founder and CEO of Oddpodz.com.

And connect more dots.

One of the most important attributes of a being a successful entrepreneur is having the ability to generate fresh and meaningful ideas, often. Then, connect the dots to move your business forward.

Many times circumstances for entrepreneurs make this pretty darn challenging. You have a microscopic budget, no staff, juggle two full-time jobs to pay your bills and your cat has the chicken pox; all while you’re building your dream.

No problem. Some of the biggest and best ideas are birthed because of the above. Why? Because you are forced to be a truly creative problem solver.

My best creative thinking happens when I stimulate my brain by exposing myself to other cool ideas that empower me to recognize patterns, think in a metaphoric way, and absorb a lot of information quickly.

Here are 4 easy ways to increase your idea flow.
1) Visit online and offline, high-volume idea venues.
Trend reporting websites like Springwise and Iconoculture are two of my favorites. Springwise showcases entrepreneurial ideas from around the globe, and Iconoculture recaps top consumer and business trends with a good mix of recent market facts and statistics in a free newsletter.

Schedule a trip to a shopping mall. Don’t go to shop. Go to discover with a conscious eye. Watch how people behave and respond to marketing initiatives; evaluate displays, and listen to conversations.

Annually attend industry tradeshows in innovative sectors. Journal what you see; the good and bad, pick up marketing collateral and take pictures of exhibits and people.

2) Pay attention to smart, successful companies and people.
My list includes competitors and random organizations, both large and small. I keep an admiration notebook and folder on my computer. I include words, images, and processes that I find intriguing.

3) Develop a habit of producing idea quotas.
This means, need a solution or big idea? Set a daily volume quota for your ideas. For instance, need a new product name? Jot down five possibilities a day for two weeks. Invite a friend or colleague to do the same. In 14 days you’ll have at least 70 seeds for finding your big idea. Remember, don’t set any limits for your ideas, the wilder the better. Ignore budget restrictions and don’t strive for the perfect idea; aim for quantity.

4) Master the art of scan and skim, and read more.
Early in my career I attended a workshop on how to read the Wall Street Journal in less than 15 minutes. This 60-minute class dramatically increased the amount of information I can absorb which, in today’s world of massive data deluge, is a necessary skill to have.

Here’s the fast track on how to be a better scanner and skimmer of publications.

Turn off distractions like music and the TV. Go straight to a publication content summary, sometimes this is the table of contents, sometimes it is a special section that features top stories. Find subjects that interest you, jump to those articles. Then read the subheads, the intro and the last paragraph. This filtering method is a quick and efficient way to cover a lot of ground. I also scan all visuals, images, and charts and graphs and set a reading time limit on a publication. I also use an index card to underline what I’m reading and I highlight information I want to retain.

New, different, and sometimes even recycled ideas are the vital ingredients for problem solving and connecting the dots. The better and bigger the idea flow, the higher propensity you’ll achieve success.

About the author: Karen Post, a.k.a. The Branding Diva® is an international authority on branding, marketing, and entrepreneurial matters. She has been featured as a business expert in print publications; on TV, radio, and on Web channels. Karen authored the best-selling book Brain Tattoos, Creating Unique Brands That Stick in your Customers’ Minds and she is co-founder and CEO of Oddpodz.com.

Today, Oddpodz is trying something new.
We are now feeding our blog through two methods: 1) an RSS feed and 2) via email. Both are sent from feedblitz a content distribution company. The email will arrive every Tuesday in your mailbox and will contain content direct from our blog.

Our content focus will be entrepreneurial and provide ideas and insight to grow businesses.

If you are a Brandingdiva fan and want to receive only marketing and branding content just click on our blog and choose the relevant category in the right column.

If we are missing something, post a comment in the blog or forum or shoot me an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it any time.

This week’s post was written a couple weeks ago, but I thought the message was good for anyone faced with challenges.

Hope you enjoy!

If this sounds difficult, it is.
If this sounds dangerous, it certainly can be.
And if this sounds scary as hell, it’s that too.

It’s also my favorite metaphor for how it really feels when you are leading a start-up.

Let me cut to the runway.
I’ve been dodging bullets, striking out and smacking some base hits on a start up for nearly three years. Had an idea, raised some money, made a slew of choices, bought some snake oil and experienced some great moments of joy.

I’m still standing.

I’ve had some super-sized disappointments. They came from vendors who oversold and under preformed, ding dongs who came dressed as smarter persons, partners who bailed and from me too, who was present during all of that.

Learned lots of things they don’t teach you in any business school.
1.Most people do not have the wiring to be a card-carrying entrepreneur and won’t understand you.
2.Cash poor can be as valuable as having a fresh round of funding.
3.People have limits and most won’t change. This will aggravate you often especially if you are a high achiever. Get pissed off for about 20 minutes max, then accept it and move on.

Common emotions, but temporary situations
o Feeling deserted and alone (Go to the airport, you won’t feel alone and you will feel skinny)
o Feeling stupid (Start wearing glasses even if they are fake, instant IQ)
o Feeling like a big loser (Watch the Enron story, you’re not even close)
o Feeling slightly more empathic to bridge jumpers and workplace violence (Just stop that)
o Feeling like there is a national conspiracy to not return your calls, emails or ever meet with you (99% of all conspiracy stories are fiction, if you are that 1% the FBI may be a better answer than this blog)

Frequent questions you will ask yourself
o Why can’t I figure this out?
o Where is my magic wand when I need it?
o What the hell is wrong with me?
o How did a company that goofy do that so well?

Things you may want to do.
o Move to France and wait tables under a new identity.
o Drink a lot, everyday
o Sleep for several months

Been there, done all that.

Things you need to remember.
o No one said being an entrepreneur was easy. If it were, every Schmo in the hood would be one. Sacrificing stuff and people, going to scary places and working seven days a week is common in most startup stories.
o One of the most important attributes of an entrepreneur is they try stuff, sometimes they try a millions times before they discover the winning formula
o Only you can control how you feel every day. Decide to feel great. Feeling like crap will not fix anything, feeling happy, confident and throwing off positive vibes will increase your odds of success and attracting good things.

What you’ve got to do.
o Exercise, eat right and take care of you
o Work smart, focus and prioritize on achieving things that will move you closer to your goal
o Let things go, disappointments, yesterday’s stuff and all screw ups, yours too
o Believe in you, your team and your dream

I’m not only still in the game, I’ve got a big second wind gusting momentum.

I’m proud of my jet plane, even though it’s fueled by a ½ paper clip and may not be all pimped out with a full crew and resources. It’s still in the sky and this moving forward.

After months of bumps, damage control, fighting off flying alligators, rebuilding a site, moving back to Tampa and trying to figure out how to build a sustainable venture, while eating and paying a mortgage—we have a new plan—and a very bright future.

There’s a few seats left, you may want to jump on fast.

(The following post is by Sarah Guinot, Oddpodz newest team member).

I was until this week, when I attended Social School in Tampa.

I just joined the Oddpodz team as an intern. I’m finishing my MBA at the University of Tampa and I am thrilled to be working with such an exciting, young social media company. To learn more about me and connect, my Oddpodz user name is sarenka. I’d love to hear from you.

Part of my contributions to the company will be helping the Oddpodz community members and attracting new ones through social media.

My first assignment, get in the social media grove fast.

Lucky for me, the Oddpodz offices are located in www.Walkerbrands.com, a super cool place to work. Not only is it a design-centric, creative environment, the office culture has also lots of means for collaboration and learning via our roommates, tools and events.

This week the office hosted Social School. It was lead by Nancy Walker, President of Walker Brands and a super savvy, branding and marketing pro, and Julia Gorzka, a social media enthusiast and consultant.

The event attracted a diverse group of business people, all like me, hungry to get on the social media train.

So what is this international phenomenon sweeping the media, business and people’s lives?

It’s the “world’s largest cocktail party where everybody is invited”, explained Julia.

Such a definition makes it clear that social media challenges the “old school” marketing thinking. As most of the audience, you might find social media intimidating. After all, there are so many social tools out there, where does one start? How do you find your markets in this new World? You heard about Twitter and might wonder who is this new animal. But have no fear. The good news is that it is completely possible to understand social media and, even better, to make great use of them in order to support your brand and its delivery- two essential components for business success.

Here are some of the highlights I took away from Social School.

1) The first step is to define your brand. A brand is not merely a logo or a catchy slogan anymore. It’s what customers think, feel and expect about you, which is earned at every touch points, every contact with your customers, from product and signage to employee training.

2) Then, once you have a coherent and strong brand essence, it’s time for delivery. You are now ready to hit the social media universe. What are your goals? Is it brand awareness? Discoverability? Finding new leads?

3) Remember that in the World’s largest cocktail party (social media), the communication style is very conversational, helpful and educational and definitely not about hard selling. If you’re focused on mere transactions, you will be quickly black listed and your efforts will be a waste.

As Julia explained, “It is not as much about advertising anymore anyway, when companies were pushing their messages. It is about giving your customers something to talk about”.

For more on how social media can help your business check back, we will be posting other gems gained from the class. If you are interested in attending a future social media class go to social school.

Also we’ve posted and reviewed some great FREE social media tools and resources in Oddpodz FREE Biz Findz.

Even in this tight economy, there is no shortage of conferences to attend. From pure networking to specific educational events, there are plenty to choose from on any given topic. The question is how do you decide which ones to attend and which ones to pass on, and how to you get the most from your conference investment.

As a speaker and consent learner, I attend lots of conferences, both as a presenter and as a participant.

Through these experiences, I’ve compiled a list of items that have helped me better evaluate a conference before I sign up.

1) First, get clear on what’s important to you.
For me, it’s always a mix of learning, networking and experiencing a pleasant time with inspirational people. I would much rather attend fewer conferences that provide an awesome experience, than a whole bunch of mediocre ones.

2) Put the pencil to all your costs related to attending, conference fees, all travel costs, books, drinking and eating. And now look at what you will gain from attending. Does the math work? Or can you accomplish this online in your PJ’s?

3) Also determine whether the event provides all learning materials and copies of presentations after wards, online?

4) Do you get a list of attendees?

5) Are the speakers top-rate, business experts or mostly sponsors and vendors pitching their stuff?

6) Is there other business you can do while you are traveling to the conference city?

Should you decide to attend a conference, now make sure you use your time wisely.
1) Research the speakers and program options in advance.
2) Don’t sit by people you know, site next to people you want to know.
3) Pack enough business cards.
4) Dress like your brand. There is only one first impression.
5) If you meet someone meaningful and a new biz relationship is in the stars, follow up with them on a timely basis and communicate with something of value, not a form note that screams you are just another contact.

Tuesday, I addressed The Florida Conference for Women held in Orlando. It was a very nice, productive conference. Granted I was speaking there and not a paying guest. However, all the items that are important to me if I were an attendee were exceeded. In fact, whether I’m speaking or not, I would attend their next event in Florida.

Florida Conference for Women gets high marks from me.
-The attendees (over 1000) were a quality group of business woman, entrepreneurs and women in transition.

-The speakers were top rate and national business authorities.
-The visual experience (from collateral mail pieces to programs and gifts), the venue, the food and the staff were all excellent.
-The ticket price was very reasonable for the overall experience, along with the quality knowledge and connections that were made accessible.

This event was sponsored by the Florida Commission on the Status of Women and the FCSW Foundation, Inc.

For other conferences produced by the same group, check out:

TX
PA
MA

If you attended the FL Conference for Women event and would like a copy of my Power Point Presentation on Personal Branding, view it and download below Personalbrand Flconf.Ppt

For the Personal Branding Audit go to the Free Biz Findz section, then the personal branding section and it is posted there for download. If you have a problem, shoot me an email.