Being introduced to new experiences can change your perspective on life. They can also change your perspective on how to run your business. Karen Post and the Oddpodz team experienced many new things this past week and we’re sure you’ll enjoy the take-away.

1 – Miracle Whip and Cate Blanchett. What do these two have in common? Differentiating you brand will help you succeed in the long run.
2 – Making history in Saudi and 5 lessons from the experience. Being introduced to global challenges can be very rewarding.
3 – Size can matter. 4 ideas to help your brand impact measure up. Increase your brand memory with objects bigger than life.
4 – Waiting patiently. An oxymoron and opportunity. Don’t wait for your competitors to measure up to you, start creating a masterpiece now.
5 – Have an AT&T iphone? Don’t expect service in NYC. You’ll be disappointed. How some technology can’t always keep up to speed.

If you missed last weeks wrap up, click here.

Also, be sure to check out:
What Jimmy Fallon taught me about marketing.
5 promotional ideas to earn serious visibility for your venture.
Facebook, I’m just not that into you.

This week, I’ve been blogging from the Middle East. I was invited by the Saudi Arabian Airline to address their corporate conference on Branding. It’s been an incredible experience. Today, I learned that I actually made history. I was the first women to ever address the group as a keynote speaker.

If you are not familiar with Saudi traditions, women do not had the same rights as men in their culture. They cannot drive, have limited leadership and governing roles, have strict dress codes and do not mix with men in dinning and many public places. I knew accepting this invitation would be an experience. I was aware of their traditions and values, but until I arrived had not fully realized that I was making history.

Doing business globally introduces many challenges to a day’s work, from the work product you deliver to how you communicate, to respecting their culture and protocols. Read the story in New York Times on my travels.

Here are 5 important lessons I learned from my trip.
1) The world is very small.
Even if you are a small business you can earn rewarding and exciting global assignments. And a single project can develop into a long term cross the pond relationship too.

2) High Google search results are equal to an elite global sales team.
The client found me because of my high Google ranking.

3) A strong and professional website presence can project as much credibility and capability as a firm ten times your size. If you want big projects, you need to practice smart marketing and can’t look like a small potato.

4) Assume presenting your offering to a foreign culture will come with significant challenges. From technology glitches to communications differences, don’t fall short of delivering the best. You may think it will all be like it is back home. It won’t be. Do your homework, plan well and be prepared for travel bumps.

5)  Global adventures can teach you so much and open unexpected doors too.
This trip connected me and my firm not only to this client, their industry, and unique culture, but to other entrepreneurs involved in the project that can be a source of business, knowledge and world friendships.

I’m headed back to New York City tonight.  A thirteen hour flight, and then I’m in Manhattan for a week. While in the big Apple, I’ll be working on client projects, writing my new book, conducting some business meetings and having some fun.

More soon!

For more lessons, check out: I’m going to Saudi, join me!

This week I’m headed to two extreme cultures and climates, Manhattan, New York (low 20′s) and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (low 90′s). Both should be an adventure. But to prevent any undo stress, I’m working from a detailed traveler’s checklist.

The trip will not only be long, but it has some unique elements.
My Saudi excursion is a speaking engagement in a country that adheres to very traditional Islam values. This means respecting their code of dress for business women. Women wear an abaya – which is the black floor-length coat associated with Muslim women that covers everything. I purchased one online and Edith, who works at Walgreens, also brought me a couple others to take on my trip, with some scarves and a list of etiquette dos and donts. Who would have thought that the quiet women who helps me select lipstick would be giving me cultural and wardrobe advice for my Middle Eastern trip. There are many kind people in our world.

Wardrobe
PJ’s, robe, flip flops.
Work out clothes (for my room, not sure women can go to the gym).
Secure travel pouch.

All hygiene items
+Sleeping pills for plane.
+Asthma and other meds.
+Sun screen.

Other items I’m packing per Edith, my resident Islam adviser:
Light make-up.
Several changes of dark colored, no skin showing, long sleeved, high neck clothing to be worn with my abaya.
Close-toed shoes and black socks.
Assorted head scarves.

Don’t pack
Any fashion magazines with sexy images, they will be seen as porn.
or wear any religious symbols.

Office equipment:
Two computers (these computers with non removable batteries suck).
Nightlight for reading.
Chargers and conversion adapters.
Cell phone with international service activated.
WiFi card.
Ether net cables.
Flash drive with presentation on it.
2 Back ups of presentation on DVD. One in carry on, one in suitcase.
2 Print outs of presentation. One in carry on, one in suitcase.
2 Print outs of speaker intro. One in carry on, one in suitcase.
Camera.
Batteries.
Legal pads.
Journal.
Computer remote.
Bose head phones.
Power pens.

Other:
Passport and Visa.
Business cards.
Gift for host.
Sunglasses.
Reading glasses.
Distance glasses.
Watch and minimal jewelery.
Couple copies of my book.
Energy bars.
Provide travel itinerary to my assistant and family members.
Travel folder with print outs of all travel and meeting details.
Neck pillow.
Cash/travelers checks.
My good luck charm.

New York City Trip
Drop off extra suitcase with winter clothing, boots, coats at FedEx to ship to NYC hotel.

I’ll be covering my trip in the Oddpodz marketing blog too. So check it out for some global trends and ideas.

Last Oddpodz wrap-up of 2010! The O-Team wishes you happy holidays and hopes 2011 will bring you much joy and success.

1 – In Mind freeze, is there a fast way to thaw your thoughts? , Karen shows us the extent to which procrastination hit her during one weekend. For those who know Karen, this doesn’t sound like her. But hey! We all have our ups and downs and it’s okay. What really matters is our ability to always challenge ourselves to find new efficient ways to beat procrastination. Karen also gives us an insightful source that I advice you to check out. Read Karen’s article here.

2 – Yeah we all have ups and downs, and in Tiger Woods and other Monday morning losers, Karen gives her 7 insights to get through an unsuccessful period for whatever you are doing. Read Karen’s 7 steps to be a winner here.

3 – In Can a monkey make our mail better? , Oddpodz switches email services to Mailchimp from Feedblitz. Is this tool the best solution? Karen talks about why the company changed, new features and challenges. Read email story here.

4 -In Trading your time for money is a mind set you can no longer afford, Thomson Dawson shares his point of view concerning a matter that we all meet in our business: time. He argues the fact that in the society we live in, getting paid on a timely basis is no longer what needs to be done. It is now all about the value you add to your customers’ business and the level of satisfaction they get from it. Read Thomson’s ideas here.

5 – In Do you have what it takes to be an unstoppable entrepreneur?, Karen becomes a box office critique. Her entrepreneurial lifestyle got energized with a movie break. Karen gives us the take-away advices she brought back from the viewing of Unstoppable (With Denzel Washington and Chris Pine) and her thoughts on Love and other Drugs. Check Karen’s few entrepreneurial-minded thoughts here.

7 – In If you are going to tweet, why not make it really sweet, Lauren Angrick lists 5 tools which help your business to manage its twitter account and followers. FriendOrFollow, Twitoria, WeFollow, Twellow and Just Tweet it all get Lauren’s thumbs up. Read Lauren’s reviews here.

6 – In Coupons, Groupon and gambling with a brand, the Diva is back and we love that! Karen hits strongly and tells us why she is not a coupon fan. According to her, if you are peddling a premium product or service, couponing can hurt a brand. However, she also understands that the world is made up of many diverse market segments and a discount play can work for some offerings. Also check out her thoughts on Groupon, this startup which deny Google’s $ 6 billion offer here

8 -In Inspiration and gratitude from 30,000 feet, Karen shares her experiences from a week in the Big Apple. NYC is such a source of inspiration for any entrepreneur and KP filled up the box of ideas and kept us updated on what’s hot in Manhattan! Thanks to Google’s holiday gift, this article was sent from the sky via FREE Internet service to all on her flight, check it out here!

9 – In Hitting the streets in NYC, flavors, history and tired feet, Karen shares her journey from the streets, food tours, dining and marketing. Have a bite of the Big Apple experience here.

10 – In What Jimmy Fallon taught me about marketing, Karen tells us the insight she got from attending NBC’s Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show. From customer service, to enhancing the brand experience to how humor feels good and should be incorporated in business. Great points to read and get inspiration from here.

11 – A weekday radio program geared towards small businesses invited Karen back to their show. View Small Business Advocate radio show to feature Karen Post to learn tips on how to retool, recraft and reinvent your venture and stay tuned for the posted radio segment here.

2010 was great year. We hope you gained as much as we did from our journey together. If there are specific things you’d like to learn about next year, please drop us a note.

Three topics that interest me and all have some synergy.

Seth Godin is one of my favorite smart guys. He’s a best selling author on business and marketing, The Purple Cow, Permission Marketing, Linchpin just to name a few,  a prolific speaker and a great thought leader. I so admire his insight and style. I regularly visit his blog, his books and videos for inspiration. Seth and his work always challenges me to notch my work up even higher.

He like I were both born in Buffalo, New York in 1960. So that gives us, give or take a few months, 18, 250 days of life experiences to tap into when we tell stories, make points and or argue about something we don’t agree with.

Our backgrounds are quite different and very similar. Seth went to Tufts University and studied computer science and philosophy, I went To Bauder to study fashion.

We both have written books, are serial entrepreneurs and speakers. Seth gets the volume badge on book sales. But, I definitely score higher on the more hair award.

I’ve thought about Seth Godin, Buffalo, NY and being 50 this week.

In the Seth case, it’s because I often analysis other people with commonalities to me, and ask, I wonder what their biggest, best break through moment, day or decision was in their life that resulted in reaching significant goals? I also think about what was their most profound failure that contributed to their current success? All high achievers have a collection of both.

Buffalo, I hate to break it to you, but, usually when I think about you, like I did this week was when I’m dipping my hot wing in some blue cheese dressing, and for a nanosecond, I think thank goodness for Buffalo and The Anchor Bar and that they discovered this extraordinary culinary delight.

And my last item of interest, that I’ve thought about this week,  being 50.

I was playing tennis last night. And my body was really sore. I’ve played everyday this week and my joints were screaming. After making a smoking point from serve, I made a comment to one of my team mates about this pain, and she voiced back. “Well, you know you are not as young as you used to be, Karen.”

There was silence. I looked around, remembered that I did not play tennis 10 years ago and that I was in the best athletic shape of my life. I stated back, “Oh, but  yes I am”.

The results of my pondering mind this week.

Identify people you admire and observe them often (This is not the same as stalking).
1) Pick 2 or 3 colleagues in your industry and learn from them. This can happen without ever meeting them in person. I’m lucky, I’ve met most of Muses. Never compare their wins or defeats with yours, they are equally as important, but do challenge what you are doing with the inspiration you garner from them.

Honor your place of birth, even if it’s related to a high fat food item.
2) Seriously I love Buffalo. And I’m grateful that it provided my mom a nice place to give birth to me and others like Seth, Tim Russert, Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, Wolf Blitzer and Rick James.

Own your own story. Don’t buy into what others may believe.
3) My tennis pal may be feeling like she’s getting older. She can buy that story. I feel like I’m getting better and younger. That’s my story and I’m stickin to it.

Be sure to check out: You know you are engaged when you take your laptop and Seth Godin to the bathroom.