Ponn’s Personals:

When asked, “How to I do it all?” [In regards to applying to all the contests and book opportunities that I share here on my blog.]

My answer, “I don’t”.

For example, I desperately tried my hardest to meet the Napkin Contest deadline. I wanted to hopefully bring a couple of my dreams in front of Venture Capitalists in Silicon Valley…BUT, I didn’t read the directions carefully.

There’s always a “fine print” somewhere…or, in my case: it was just the last paragraph that stated to fill out ‘this form’ which was a live link.

Prepared to send my 3 napkins via overnight mail, I finally checked out the ‘link’ the day before the deadline.

Much to my depression…I mean, Surprise, they wanted a 2-page Executive Summary that detailed finance predictions, market research, etc. This would take me much more than 24-hours to complete and fill out to the best of my abilities, and I also had 2 other deadlines due that next day.

So, although I knew this was my first and only year to apply ‘alone’, as you must be under 35 years of age to apply; I learned this valuable lesson:

Read the whole assignment, contest rules, disclosures, and/or ‘fine print’ in full the very first time you sit down to apply!

Additionally, while I’d love to take advantage of all the wonderful opportunities afforded to women entrepreneurs, time is a factor. So, here’s how I weigh my time and investment:

• What are the short-term vs. long-term marketing affects of my involvement?
• How competitive is this contest? Is this a contest running for the first-time, second, third, etc? Is it a well-established contest, so registering alone is great exposure?
• How much are they marketing this contest?
• What are the networking opportunities for just applying? What relationships can be developed?
• How personable, professional, approachable are the contest host/ess? How is their customer service?

Please share your ways to weigh your contest involvement, or how you’ve dealt with deadline mistakes before below.

W.E. (women entrepreneurs) don’t want to make the same mistakes again. Any tips you share are much appreciated!

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Posted on April 7th, 2007 by Ponn Sabra
Filed under: Empowerment