Karen Post

My friends and business colleagues often ask me, “How do you constantly produce so much stuff, ideas, stories, images, books, products and speeches?!”. The answer is simple. I consume this delicious cocktail, straight up daily, which let’s me get more done and have more fun!

Start with ample sleep, for me it’s 8 hours.
+
Eat often, at least five small meals with protein daily.
+
Set accountable goals, daily (one or two is fine).
+
Meditate and do deep breathing, even if it’s 5 minutes.
+
Pay attention to what you experience.
+
Hang out with people smarter than you.
+
Exercise, for me it’s tennis.
+
Read, books, labels, faces, bumper stickers, the WSJ.
+
Find patterns.
+
Connect dots.
+
Journal good ideas.
+
Goof off.
+
Ask questions that feel stupid.
+
Whip through magazines, daily (notice headlines, photos and ads).
+
Limit hard problem solving to two-hour sessions at a time, break for food, fun or exploring.
+
Act goofy.
+
Watch spectacular performances.
+
Observe super successful people.
+
Push yourself 20% more than your comfort zone welcomes.
+
Enjoy the fruits of your production.

Time to reinvent? Jumpstart your business or your career with this simple, easy to follow Reinventing you Ta-Do list.

So many books, so little time to read. The next 4 titles I’ve read, I loved, I recommend. They cover marketing, branding, the human condition and how to stay competitive.

Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun
Loaned to me by another speaker, I laughed out loud for several nights while reading this book. It’s a gem. Whether you do presentations as part of your job or you are a paid professional speaker, this book is raw, funny and a valuable resource.

Why it’s worth the read

• It’s a fast fuel to improve your speaking, around 200 pages.
• I love snarky humor, its got lots of it.
• It provides simple, actionable how to’s.
• It’s real. Scott has been around.

Covers:
Provides applicable checklists.
Interesting science about attention, human fear and communication.

Biggest take away for me
Preparation and practice are the magic moves to home run speeches. Period.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
I’m an Apple addict. I’ve been one since my first computer in 1983. So I really connected with this book, feeling like it was part of my personal and business growth. It’s a big book, almost 600 pages.  Most importantly I related to how a college dropout, who lives a Zen life and had a very quirky, intense, odd personality with bouts of distorted reality could end up being a such legend and leader in global business and life changing technologies.

Why I’ve given it a glowing report

• It’s inspiration on steroids.
• It proves you can be a little weird and succeed.
• It’s well written.
• It proves sticking to your standards. With Steve, extreme attention and dedication to design and doing things differently, can pay off.

Biggest take away for me
Dreams can come true and turnaround even while operating a company on death row (almost out of cash and losing millions) is possible.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Conquering Fear and Anxiety by Sharon Heller, PhD.
Everyone feels fear and anxiety, including me, the brave soul who has walked on fire, driven a Porsche around a race track at 120 miles per hour and addressed thousands of strangers on a huge stages. If you don’t battle with moments of mental craziness every blue moon, I suspect you are an alien who flew in from a planet for the day. Even history’s great leaders faced fear and anxiety. I love this quote by Winston Churchill.

“You may take the most gallant sailor, the most intrepid airman, or the most audacious soldier, put them at a table—what do you get? The sum of their fears.”

As a student of better and happy living, I’ve also been curious about stress, phobias, fear and anxiety as I have my daily share of all of them. This book has been a useful tool for me. I really like it because the format is organized in a way that after you finish the book, you can refer back to a specific section for a quick fix.

If you battle with high anxiety, this book is a must have survival resource

• Beyond ways to manage stress and mental demons, it exposes the root causes.
• Provides simple rituals that can greatly reduce nervous bouts, panic attacks and sleep disorders.
• Shares real professional people situations that I related to.

Biggest take away for me
Peak mental health, just like physical health, is a work in progress. A better understanding of human psychology, triggers and controllable external factors can accelerate one’s journey to personal and professional bliss.

Sharkonomics, How to Attack Market Leaders by Stepfan Engeseth
I recently met a new friend and marketing expert from Sweden. The new business relationship was the result of meeting and counseling a student from the University of Tampa who is also from there. I love how the planet is so small and one local connection opens up a world of new resources. After a few online chats, Stepfan sent me his latest book, which was an exhilarating read to say the least.

A contrast from the book review above on managing fear, Sharkonomics will likely spread fear in some boardrooms with just cause.  Not only is the shark metaphor a very cool marketing idea, the author actually spent time in the water with these very strategic predators (sharks) and parlays this insight into meaningful business lessons and useable management methods. His premise is that nature can be smarter than business as usual. Instead of endless PowerPoints and studies, companies need to embrace a hard survival psyche.

Business can be a dangerous adventure, here’s just a few ways to make sure you are not someone’s lunch

• Strike unexpectedly.
• Hunt in packs.
• Leverage blind spots.

Biggest take away for me
Don’t get stuck in history. Keep moving. Kill with style.

Till next time, read on!

For more books reviews, click here.

This week, Oddpodz took advantage of the simpler things in life and learned how fulfilling they really are. Here are some ways you can look at your business half full too:

1 – Fox TV calls for a 30-minute live interview. Will you be ready? Learn how to interview like a pro, here.
2 – How reincarnating an old idea can be a BORN AGAIN HIT. Check out word-smithing at its best.
3 – Birthdays, gifts and marketing – an interesting trio. Do you have a way to remember your customers’ special days?
4 – Can being happier change your entrepreneurial success? It’s true! Identify the small things in life and make them happen.
5 – Don’t forget to Celebrate loving being an entrepreneur everyday. And start making your own life choices.

If you missed last weeks wrap up, click here.

For more ways to fulfill your life, check out these posts:
Why creatures of habit are champions in sports, business and life.
Work less, accomplish more!
Money, money, money!

Starting this week, we are providing a weekly wrap up email from Karen Post’s Oddpodz blogs on marketing, branding and entrepreneurial matters. In case your week went flying by, here is what you’ve missed from:

1 – 2nd chance. 2nd book cover. 2nd wind. When something does not work the first time, don’t give up – just give it another shot.

2 – If you have ever tried calling internationally, then you will relate to Global phone mess – a lesson in assumption and learn why you should always plan ahead.

3 – Can a good tease convert, engage and conquer customers? We think so. Learn how to get attention from your market, before you give them all the goods.

4 – In 5 Super Bowlicious marketing practices for any size business, discover the trends and how to apply big game marketing strategies to your own business.

5 – In How to make achievements a national holiday, learn 5 ways to turn your achievements into a holiday and why it’s important to celebrate them.

6 – Don’t even think about calling me a senior or reminding me that I’m over 40 is a reminder that marketing towards the young boomers has changed.

7 – Have you learned How to juggle multiple projects and keep your cool? If not, here are two approaches that can help.

Too much email, but still want easy access to the content for from Oddpodz the place for creative-minded entrepreneurs? Then, sign up for the RSS feed and read via a feeder or in your web browser.

And thanks for your continued interest and support!

Karen has joined the daily blogging club! Use the RSS feed to get everyday insight or sign up for the Oddpodz ezine, which is a summary of blog posts that is sent out bi weekly.

Here is a wrap-up of the last 15 days:

1 – In Mystery of pricing exposed. How much would you pay to look smarter?, Karen Post highlights the fact that we tend to forget: behind every decision we make, there is a price. From this standpoint, ask yourself ‘How much am I ready to pay for a particular situation?’ In order to do so, Karen recommends Eduardo Porter’s book The Price of Everything: Solving the Mystery of Why We Pay What We Do. Check out Karen’s literature choice and the awesome trailer, here.

2 – In You know you are engaged when you take your laptop and Seth Godin to the bathroom, Karen shares with us 4 tips she learned from the Seth Godin’s recent webinar she attended (and could not get away from…!). Engagement is one of the primary sources of success. Even during challenging times, do your best to keep engaging in what really matters. The four tips also discuss guest bloggers, blogging frequency, Twitter and not giving up. Learn from Seth and Karen here.

3 – In 10-steps to making writing your blog easier, Karen gives great tips to help each and every one of us to enhance our blogging experience. Keeping up with a consistent daily post is harder than what we can expect. Try out Karen’s 10 ta-do’s and bring your A game when blogging. Check out Karen’s list here.

4 – In The #1 strategy that is giving me more money, influence and balance, Karen discusses her focus on trying to align all of her business ventures. These strategies can be good for your business as well. See how she does it with Oddpodz here.

5 – In 3 productivity tips to prevent eye strain & pain from your computer, Karen shares a few tips on how help your eyes if, like the average business worker, you spend more than 8 hours a day, 7 days a week, in front of a computer screen. See what Karen does to avoid painful eyes and how to stay productive here.

6 – We have all asked for feedback on a project and found that good feedback does not always necessarily mean nice feedback. In Hard candy advice. Why sweet is not always better, Karen tells us about the feedback she received from a recognized author concerning her book proposal. Although it might not have been nice to hear, she definitely received helpful tips. See how she used her advisor’s insights to the fullest here.

7 – In 4-simple habits of champion goal-getters, Karen lists 4 qualities that a well-driven person should have. From setting clear objectives, to surrounding themselves with focused people, some day-to-day habits are essential for anyone who attempts to be a successful goal-getter. See what makes Karen a goal-getter here.

8 – Productivity is a powerful thing. In Save at least 5 hours a week. Subscribe to RSS feeds, Karen tells us how to increase our weekly productivity and to save precious hours. Stop surfing the web looking for pieces of information you want from your favorite websites. Make the news come to you – learn to use RSS feeds here.

9 – In Feet and footers should both be sexy, Karen mentions one of her pet peeves: feet! And also the footers on web designs. Have you checked your website/blog footers lately? You might want to reevaluate and see if they’re eye catching. But before doing so, see what Karen thinks about feet and footers here.

10 – In A crazy combination that works. Bad spelling+psycho cats=$30M in cash, Karen tells us about a crazy success story. Ben Huh, former journalist, bought a website: I Can Has Cheezburger and turned this misspelled domain name into a venture that just raised $30M! See how Ben did it here.

11 – In How to scale up the experience you deliver in 4 dramatic steps, Karen deals with a notion that is really important in the start-up world: scalability. How can a company use all the space available to communicate and sell their products? Learn more about scaling-up your business here.

12 – Want to be a standout brand? Avoid these 5 costly mistakes discusses tips every business should follow if they want to standout from the pack. To become a memorable brand, Karen Post talks about what to do and what not to do here.

Happy delayed Thanksgiving! After this holiday, the O-team keeps on giving- advices and freebies are on the menu. Here is what you’ve missed these pasts few weeks:

1 – In 3 Free Twitter account management tools, Lauren Angrick gives us three useful applications that will make your Twitter experience easier. TweetDeck, Hootsuite and CoTweet get Lauren’s attention, what gets yours? Check Lauren’s selection here.

2 – In Hiring a coach is a waste of money, unless you show up, Karen Post shares her experience on how to choose a good coach. We all have to go through periods of doubts. And at times, buying the services of a professional adds great value to your business. See what you have to look for in a coach according to Karen here.

3 – In 5 promotional ideas to earn serious visibility for your venture, Karen talks about visibility and the impacts it can have on your business. She lists 5 ideas that you will get inspiration from. Therefore, get inspired reading Karen’s post here.

4 – When having a Mind freeze, is there a fast way to thaw your thoughts? In this article, Karen Post wants to know! Her weekend procrastination gave her stress, guilt and an excellent read on high-level creative thinking. To read this article and more, click here.

5 – Can a monkey make our mail better? We think so! And hope you like our new look. Since Oddpodz decided to switch email services, we’d love to hear your feedback. Sign up here to see our new switch and you will also receive a free eBook. For more monkey business, click here.

We hope you enjoyed this content. Stay tuned.

The other day I received an opt-out to the Oddpodz ezine email. A long time reader, this person explained they preferred a great story and felt when we offered several stories with a link to the full site it felt to him like not-cool marketing.

When anyone opts out, I try not to take it personal or wig out, but I am always curious to why they are moving on. I called this chap and emailed him right way. I explained that beyond my blogging, Oddpodz now had other experts chiming in, plus we have a diverse readership that I try to feed with useful content, and  the one story approach did not allow me to do that. I understand that no blogger can please everyone, but I’d like to know what you think?

Please comment on this post, so if we need to make some changes to the format or content we will.

1. Do you like the Oddpodz weekly ezine with one full story?
2. Do you like the Oddpodz ezine with several teaser paragraphs from different stories and then links back to the full steak? Or if you are a vegetarian, full potato?
3. How often do you want to receive the ezine? Once a week, once a month, couple times a week?
4. What subjects would you like to see covered more often?

Thanks for your feedback! We appreciate it.

And FYI, thanks to readers like yourself, our traffic is up over 150%!!

GRACIOUS!

Also, check out: Save at least 5 hours a week. Subscribe to an RSS feed.