I was among the millions who watched Big Brown gallop to victory in the Kentucky Derby this weekend. My celebratory mood was quickly changed to shock, horror and sadness as I learned that second place finisher, Eight Belles, had suffered a life ending injury (sidebar: my heart really sank because as an almost-lifelong equestrian and horse owner, I have experienced first hand the tragic loss of a horse due to a freak accident. My heart goes out to all who were associated with Eight Belles).

If you’ve never had the opportunity to be face to face with these magnificent animals, it is hard for me to describe what it is like to be in their presence. Whether you are a horse lover or not, they are awe inspiring, frighteningly powerful and strong. And, sadly, incredibly fragile.

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Getting married and want to make your older relatives shake their heads in a collective lack of understanding? Your company’s gone bankrupt and you want an appropriate way to celebrate?

Or do you own a restaurant and you’re looking for a cool little promotion that will probably get you some free press? Well then why put together a special Last Meal on the Titanic event?

Cooking Monster breaks down the final Titanic meal in all of its ten-course glory. As gout isn’t as much something to brag about as in ages past, you could mix and match from this menu to make a full set meal. Or, serve the whole thing and give people a taste of what it was really like:

“Each of the 10 courses was served with a special accompanying wine. Following the tenth course, fresh fruits and cheeses were available followed by coffee and cigars accompanied by port and, if desired, distilled spirits.”

Bonus: Put together a special 3^rd-class below-decks eating experience for the kids by serving them a special meal of boiled potatoes in the restaurant’s locked basement.

Sorry this idea came so late. But there’s always next year! probably.

If you’re like me then, well, I’m sorry. But also, if you’re like me, you do a great deal of reading online but also like to collect random stuff to print out and read later at home, on the subway, in the bathtub. Here are a couple tips on how to get the maximum value out of your take-home reading. 

One thing I like to do during my days is to keep a temp MS Word document saved to my desktop. Every time I come across something I want to read later I simply copy all the text on the screen and then dump it into my Word document. If it’s an online magazine page this is easiest by clicking “printer friendly” or “print” versions and then copying (not printing though) from that window.

Finally, when then end of the day comes I go into my Word document and scroll through and delete all the pictures (those are for children’s books and porno). Then I go the “edit” top menu and “select all.” Next change the font size all to 10 or 11pt. and an easy to read font like Arial or Times New Roman. Finally, go to the top and bottom margins and stretch them out as far as possible. Now you’re maximizing your print job and saving paper.

Tip: Magazines are hard to read on the treadmill because you’re no steady enough to read the tiny print. So if you use the elliptical, bike or treadmill in the gym, why not try printing your reading material in a larger font size thus making it easier to read while huffing and puffing along. Heck, if you’re a lawyer you might even be able to bill for that 4 mile run.

Have a question? Any question*. We’ll put our collective heads together, leverage our experience and try to answer it for you. 

Send it to info@oddpodz.com

What do you have to lose?

*No. Go and see a doctor for that.

What is the productivity cost of the lag time or make-up period when one employee leaves and another moves into his or her position? That would require math which I’m not so good at so I’ll refer you to William G. Bliss of isquare.com. 

“Calculating and adding all these costs, given our original example of the $50,000 person can easily reach $75,000 to replace them. As you can see, the costs and impact associated with an employee who leaves the company can be“

Read the 1,800-word breakdown in its fascinating and intricate entirety.

But turnover is inevitable. So what one should look to do is to minimize these costs. And with a little foresight this is possible.

Employees at the end of their line have no real incentive to make their job easier for their replacement. They’re not going to get fired. So why not create incentives for employees that are not going to leave (at least that you know of) to put together a current job description so you’re not left having to train somebody for something that you, let’s face it, probably forgot a long time ago (if you ever knew at all).

Tip: Pick a slow time during your business cycle to ask for this.

Tip: Encourage bullet pointing. We hate it but it works (the Ten Commandments were bullet pointed; are YOU going to argue with God?)

Tip: Ask that a most currently used contacts list be added to the description’s index.

Tip: Encourage them to use screenshots. Pictures are the easiest way to teach somebody. Have them print out screenshots of the steps in commonly-used programs with a red pen. This way the new hire can use it as a visual cheat sheet.

Tip: Finally, incentive it. You get what you pay for; by offering an selfish motivators people will be more willing to take the job seriously. And don’t punk out on the cheap and get everyone a pizza party; this is an investment that hopefully will SAVE you money down the road. Think iTunes gift cards or maybe a restaurant voucher.

Anyone else have suggestions?

So you have this crazy product idea. But you just don’t know if there’s a market for it. 

Well, if this is any measure then there probably is.

[What’s our Amazon Associates product link again? ed]

Digging through a mountain of old papers the other day I came across a business plan written in 2003 for a New York area YWCA. Which reminded me of the simple money-maker than is Amazon Associates.

Are you a blog or a non-profit or some other small business that has a loyal following? Are you trying to find (additional) revenue streams but just do not have the bandwidth to take on any large projects or the investment dollars to sink? Are you ready to admit that selling self-branded mouse pads and t-shirts does not work? Then Amazon Associates might be for you.

Amazon.com now sells thousands of products, including groceries. I get many of my non-perishable foodstuffs from them (at good discounts). Now, if you are a small organization looking for some extra money (e.g., community church, little league, community organization) why now set up an Amazon.com associates account from which you will be paid percentage referral fees on sales sent from your website to Amazon.com. You don’t even always need to feature the exact items, any purchase made through your link counts. Though, to maximize your potential profits you should find out what you your potential supporters might want MOST and then feature those items.

The percentages are low (generally 4% to 6%) but that can add up. Take me for example. Say I spend $50 a week at Amazon.com on groceries (and occasionally other stuff). That might be $4 I produce in commissions. Now, multiply that by 200 people or so per week and you’re talking a legitimate return equaling hundreds of dollars. And all for almost no work on your organization’s part. You also don’t have to worry about forcing your supporters to buy stuff they don’t want or need.

The key to getting the most out of your Amazon Associates account is to impress two things upon your organization’s members or supporters.

1) Every time they think about buying something, ask, “Can I get this via Amazon.com just as easy?”

2) If yes to #1, then be sure to use the link to Amazon.com from your organization’s site. Ta da. They get what they need AND support you in the process.

Make sure you stress that this is a painless way they can offer their support. Also, if you still have a strong desire to make those mouse pads, then at least use them to print a reminder to shop Amazon.com via your site.

Oddpodz usually don’t fit into one category, so it’s tough to pin them down. Myers-Briggs, or the Bird, Horse, Muffin test all get close to classifying us. But, it’s usually a case of triangulation – a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Apparently, handwriting can tell a great deal. This page told me that I was somewhere between Mother Teresa and a Windmill. Can’t wait to put that in my C.V.

Anyway, if you have some spare time, it’s worth a try.