This is a 6 week telecourse that I created with my dear friend Jen Blackert as the Info Product Angels. Yeah, we were playfully spoofing Charlie’s Angels and we had a blast with the course.

Here is the complete course, the recordings as well as the notes, that originally sold for $397. It’s yours as a thank you for supporting me in what I do.

Click here to access Info Product Angels Course

(it’s a word doc with all the audio file links embedded into it- if you need a different format, buzz me)

If you like it, share it. If you love how I look at things, want to launch a product, and need some help, call me at 512-917-3347. You can also find me via twitter at @Smartwoman

You don’t have to opt-in – just download and for pete’s sake, put the information to work. I know dozens and dozens and dozens of folks who have done this and love the money they make from packaging their expertise. Could that be you?

Seriously, just do it (and let me know if I can help).

Together, we are stronger!
Vicki Flaugher, CEO
SmartWoman Guides

This week at the Austin Social Media Club, @db, one of the evening’s presenters, used a tongue in cheek porn analogy to comically discuss social media.

Let me say, I don’t think porn is bad. Yes, I am a feminist, but not the kind that thinks being naked, or overtly sexy, or having sex (whether you film it or not) is exploitative. I am speaking generally here, of course, but I actually fall more into the consenting adults can do what they want to category. And, frankly, some porn is hot. If I had a complaint, it was that @db didn’t include any beefcake pictures to make the analogy more accessible to the women in the room. I mean, these pictures weren’t of anyone doing sexual acts – they were of naked women in high classed fantasy situations. And, again – the SHOES! Wow.

Some women in the audience complained that the pictures were offensive. Some other people (both men and women) complained about the f-bomb usage in the presentation. Again, I didn’t agree. I was able to look past any potential offenses, as it appeared to simply be @db’s style rather than a verbal affront, and listen to his message. And what a message it was!

Perhaps @db could have chosen a different approach, but he was brilliant, simply brilliant. I approached him after his presentation and he was friendly, accessible, very well connected, and a super nice guy. He made many relevant and helpful comments that I will put to use in my social media and I hope to meet up with him again. I liked him a lot.

So what about you? Does porn affect your listening? Have you ever been so put off by a person’s presentation style or power point slides that you couldn’t pay attention to the good stuff they were saying? I want to hear how you feel about this. Was @db wrong to give this type of presentation? Time for you to sound off!…

Consider creating a new website with a new URL

If the new concept is wildly different than your current one, consider creating a completely new website. Don’t attempt to fold in too many disparate ideas into one site. The search engines don’t like it and your current fans will get confused or potentially offended. Managing multiple websites takes a little effort, but it’s not too bad, especially if you have to do what you have to do. Love wants what it wants, so don’t be afraid to break out just because of a little extra work.

To ensure that the two identities online don’t get crossed (like when the ultra conservative moms you cater to discover your 1-900 chat line), be sure to choose private registration for the new domain so your Whois site info is not public or easily searchable.  Be careful where you put your given name or perhaps create a proper legal pseudonym and use it instead. You can do a similar thing by using a company name. Although somewhere your name may come up, it takes a lot of effort to find it. The goal here isn’t to be nefarious but to build in a little distance between your two personas. A determined person will figure it out, so pretty much realize that it’s only a speed bump but these steps will help.

Consider coming clean and living out loud

You can choose to navigate a change gradually and openly or even announce and leverage a radical one. You can use that announcement as a one time publicity stunt or to launch a formal re-branding PR campaign. If, for instance, you use yourname.com as your website and you want the final result of your change to still be the real you, then you have to decide how you are going to “come out” (so to speak).

The best way, generally speaking, to communicate an emotionally driven personal transformation, is to tell an emotionally charged story. People forgive and accept some of the most diverse ideas placed right next to each other when told through a sincere, human emotional story. Take some time to craft your message, explain your choices without sounding patronizing or rationalizing, and drop the pander. Tell the truth and let the chips fall where they may. Have enough respect for your audience to let them decide instead of trying to manipulate them into thinking a certain way.

I don’t want you to believe that you won’t lose some (or even all) of your current audience, but you might be surprised. If you’ve been sincere, explained your situation, and left it to the audience to choose, you could end up with a very supportive fan base who is fascinated with the real you. That’s kinda cool, isn’t it?

What it gets down to is this – just do it. Whether you’re graceful about it or not, ultimately it doesn’t matter. Don’t let what other people might think of you or the past success you’ve enjoyed be a barrier to you expressing yourself honestly and fully. Life is too long to live it halfheartedly. Go for it!

So, do you have an online re-branding experience you can share? How did you do it? What worked and what didn’t? Please comment below!

Today I had an interesting and educational experience. One of the great bloggers I follow on Twitter introduced a friend of his to the community. This friend is apparently well-known by many but, unfortunately, not me. But, since I trust the blogger who recommended him, I went to go check out the newbie’s profile. But I was foiled – the newbie didn’t have a profile! Gasp!

In an effort at brevity, I joked that the newbie’s Twitter profile was a little slim – no website link, no bio, nada. Just his name and a picture (which was a nice picture, admittedly). Frankly, I didn’t want to have to google the newbie to find out about him. Maybe I’m too focused on instant gratification, but well, fair enough, maybe I am. The web is all about instant info and ease and convenience and I’ve bought in.

One of my other Twitter buds messaged that this newbie was already so well known that he didn’t need to create a profile to get followers and he was busy. Wow. Not only did I still not know about this newbie (who now I wanted to know about even more, since he’s so busy and great) but now I felt like an outside, the only one left in the world to not know who he was just on his name and picture. The big capital “L” for loser felt squarely tattooed to my forehead.

After a moment of being stunned, the conversation got me thinking - are you ever so big that you don’t have to introduce yourself? You can guess my answer – a resounding NO.

Being focused on beginners, I try to be aware of the idea that there are people who aren’t living in my personal world, who don’t live in my bubble of experience. Like meeting people who’ve never heard of Twitter, or who have never purchased anything online, or don’t know what RSS is, it’s easy to think that maybe they’ve just been living under a rock. That’s not very kind or compassionate and it’s a bit foolish from a marketing point of view. It gives the impression that you don’t care.

I know that the Twitter newbie does care and I do imagine that he’s quite busy. I also do not hold him responsible for the response others give me about him. I’m guessing the lack of profile is either an oversight or perhaps an indication that it’s time to outsource some admin tasks. We’ve all been there. We’re all human. No one, even the highest of high, always gets it right 100% of the time. No biggie. The issue comes when you don’t fix it when you find it.

What I’m hoping you pick up is this: You grow your business by getting new clients and getting the established clients to buy again. Don’t forget your new clients. They don’t know you and they want to. Make it easy for them to do that without embarrassment or extra hassle.

Must go now – time to go double check all of my profiles!

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman

This is a 9+ minute interview.

I asked Chris to discuss her entrepreneur journey and her view of both the advantages and challenges of female entrepreneurs in the marketplace. She offers insights about the power of networking, the need for a leadership mindset, and gives suggestions other women can implement to achieve even greater success. I  found her to be thoughtful and inspiring.  

Please go check out Chris’ website. She is a remarkable resource and a devoted advocate for female entrepreneurs.

Together, we are stronger.
Vicki Flaugher, the original SmartWoman