Be Your Own Boss Now!
A Step by Step Guide
to Successful Self
Employment ($39 Value)
Free guide here:
A Step by Step Guide
to Successful Self
Employment ($39 Value)
Free guide here:
Stinking Thinking
Feb 19th
Prefer to LISTEN to this week’s issue?
Turn up your speakers and
Click here to download…
Do you find yourself caught up in a lot of “stinking thinking?” When you wishfully think of something, do you immediately stop yourself with a “I can’t have, do or be that!”
How about when someone presents an idea to you – a dream they have -and it totally seems off the wall. Do you say, “well, it won’t be easy.” Or, “you’ve got a long road ahead.” Instead, why not say “great! what would have to happen to make that come true?”
See the difference. Once you start thinking about what the outcome would be, your brain will start getting creative and will begin to draft out steps you’ll take. You probably won’t know every step needed to reach your dream. But if you start in the direction your wise inner self guides you to, you’ll be led to the next step, the next person.
This is the power of planning. To me making plans is like playing. And to be honest, many of my plans go out the window. The secret is, that while you’re following your initial plan, all kinds of unexpected and wonderful things occur.
You meet just the right person who can help you with the next step towards your dream. You stumble upon a book that has just the key you need to unlock some blocked area you had. You stop into the “wrong” office and run into an old friend who can help you.
Planning in this way, loosely attached to the exact outcome, is the only way your dreams become real. Action rocks. You don’t have to create your entire dream alone…matter of fact, you can’t. When you get in the game, and take action in the world, the world will meet you and give you more than you can imagine.
Would love to see your comments here. Post a dream you have! You never know who might have a missing link you need.
How To Solve Problems
Feb 5th
Prefer to LISTEN to this week’s issue?
Turn up your speakers and
Click here to download…
What do you do when you hit a problem in your business? Maybe it’s how to generate more income, how to build a client list or how to create an information product. Too often you might find yourself getting stopped by a problem and just giving up. Here’s what you can do to get past those problems and on to doing what you love to do.
Jim Rohn, the wonderful motivational speaker, said to go inside first and see if you can come up a solution. If that doesn’t work, go to a book or internet sources to see if you can find an answer. If that doesn’t work, ask someone else who is where you want to be. This is good advice. Let’s explore further.
1. Go inside. You have an extraordinary amount of wisdom right inside yourself –from your past experiences and from your natural preferences. One great way to get your answers from within is to take some time to get quiet. Make a list of teachers you’ve had that made a positive impact on you. Some may have been conventional teachers; others may be people you met who were not in a classroom. You can even consider famous people, people who have died or you haven’t met in person but you learned something valuable from them. Now choose one that jumps out at you right now.
Now write out a dialogue between you and this person. Ask him/her for advice. I can bet you will find some powerful insights into how to solve your problem
2. Get some more information. When someone tells me they’re stuck on a problem, I quickly assess whether it is a lack of information that is the real problem. It often is. I’m amazed at how many people don’t take the time to seek information through books and the internet. Often there is someone out there who has solved a problem similar to yours and you can quickly get ideas about how to solve your problem.
3. Ask someone else. If you still can’t figure out how to get past your problem after going inside and doing some research…now is the time to ask someone else. Most people are willing to share information and help you IF you show them that you have done some research prior to asking them. It’s startling how many people ask me for advice and information and when I ask them what they’ve done so far to solve their problem…they say “nothing”.
I’ll give you a concrete example. You want to run a tour business. You don’t know where to start and feel overwhelmed every time you think about this idea…but it just won’t go away.
First, you take time and journal with your teacher within. You have a dialogue and get encouragement from the teacher that you are on the right track. You even get some ideas about where you would like to lead tours and get a strong sense of the feelings of satisfaction and joy you’ll get when you achieve this goal.
Now you think, “I don’t know how to start. What insurance do I need? How do I hire a bus? What kind of outdoor microphone will I need so that people can hear me? How will I find people to enroll for my tours?”
So you go to Google and type in “how to lead tours”. You get nothing useful. So you try, “how to be a tour guide”. Bingo. You get a great article with lots of information and a link to an online course on the topic. You subscribe for the course. You then do an Amazon search and find a book that looks great on this topic so you order it.
After you’ve taken the course and read the book, you are about 100% confident that you’d like to achieve the goal of becoming a tour guide but you’d like to talk to some people who are actually doing it to get the real scoop on what it’s like and maybe ideas on how to break into the field.
Now, if you don’t already know someone in the field, it’s time to look up a few people in the field, approach them by email to request a 20 minute informational interview by phone. Send an email that says that you are interested in entering the field, you’ve taken a course and read about the field and now want to get some real world information.
Tell them that you’ll have 5-10 questions prepared before the call and that you’d be happy to email the questions to them prior to the call. You might want to ask what the best part of their work is and what the worst part of their work is. Don’t ask specific salaries, though you may ask what would be an expected range of pay for a beginner and for someone advanced in the field.
People are generally very happy to help out, happy to share information about work they love AND they will be impressed that you did your research prior to seeking them out.
So go ahead. What’s a problem you have? Try the 3 steps above and get unstuck now!
Repurpose Your Way To Making More Money With Less Effort and Time
Jan 28th
Prefer to LISTEN to this week’s issue?
Turn up your speakers and
Click here to download…
What the heck do I mean by “repurpose?” Well it’s when you do one thing and then spin that one thing into many. Let’s take a look at how this might work.
1. Write a top ten tip sheet. My first one was called “Top Ten Ways to Live Authentically.” I wrote it 10 years ago and put it online and I still get feedback from it!
2. Flesh out each of your top ten tips into a few paragraphs and now you have an article. Write a 400-600 word article expanding on your top ten tips. You put a “call to action” resource box at the end of the article. A resource box is the jargon term that online article databases use…kind of like a byline, only it’s much more.
Don’t make the mistake of using the few sentences you have here by talking about your bio data. Instead, give people a reason to go to your website and get something free, and of value, in exchange for their email address.
That one article becomes a client list builder. And the beauty of it is that article remains online for a very long time AND other website/blog owners looking for good content, may ask you if they can post your articles WITH your website, on their webs/blogs…this happens to me several times a year.
3. Create an e-course out of your top ten tips. Set them up in an autoresponder like Aweber or 1shopping cart. Now you have something of value to give away in exchange for a person’s email address. AND the best part is, they will receive 10 different emails from you, maybe one a week. That helps build relationships. If you’re really on top of it, you’ll have a call to action at the end of each of the weekly emails.
4. Rework your article into a press release. The key to getting your press releases published is to tie your content into something interesting and newsworthy. An example from my biz might be to write about how self employments may be the key to turning around the economy and then add the content of my article.
You can submit press releases to your local newspapers, business journals and online for free (or fee). One free online source is http://www.1888pressrelease.com/.
5. Create a teleseminar based on your article content. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Your content can be used in many ways. Teleseminars are a great way to build your list and to promote an upcoming fee-based teleseminar series.
6. Create a video of you teaching some of the content and post it on YouTube. You can do this easily with an inexpensive FlipCam. It doesn’t have to be professional. Just be you. YouTube gets tons of web searches each day. Some folks just plain prefer to learn by video.
And that’s just the beginning! The next time you decide to create something, brainstorm all the possible ways it can be used.
Want to Make Money While You Sleep? Start Affiliate Marketing
Dec 2nd
Prefer to LISTEN to this week’s issue?
Turn up your speakers and click here to listen.
I’ve made several thousand dollars this year through affiliate marketing. What the heck is affiliate marketing you ask? It’s promoting other people’s products or services in return for a commission. It’s easy to do and can quickly bring in extra income for very little effort. Your affiliate will give you your own unique “url” (that’s a webpage address). When someone clicks on your affiliate link and makes a purchase, the affiliate records the sale as credited to you. Most send checks to you monthly.
I’m telling you…it feels so great to open my mailbox and see checks…that took little or no effort from me to get after the initial set up on my webpage.
Here are 4 simple steps to getting started. And in the interest of full disclosure…the affiliate links I’ve given you as examples are my actual affiliate links which bring me commissions.
1. Decide which products/services you’ll promote. I am very choosy…I am proud of the excellent quality of my products and services AND the amazing benefits that my clients/customers experience… flexible lifestyle, more income, and greatly expanded beliefs in what is possible in their lives. A good reputation is your most valued asset…so don’t compromise it.
Here are some examples of what I promote and why.
Site Sell’s Build It System. This system teaches you, with a very doable step-by-step manual (videos too if you prefer watching to reading) and website about how to create websites, around topics that you are passionate about, that are true profit centers…bringing in $3,000+ per month. I’ve bought it, and am building a new profit center for my business. I’m amazed at how easy it is, and how much I’ve learned about search engine optimization…painlessly…something I’ve been resisting forever. My work in progress is www.providencelover.com. Once I’ve got more content and my monetization methods in place, I’ll create a new website…this for me is so much fun…no kidding…am I officially a geek?
Amazon’s Kindle. I LOVE my Kindle book reading device. I gave myself the first generation Kindle as a birthday gift a year ago November…the new versions are way better but I just don’t want to part with my beloved gadget yet.
What do I love about it? Instant downloads (and gratification) of books when I want them and the ability to tote 200 books around without breaking my back (the latest generations hold 1,500 and 3,500!). When I travel or even just hang out at the Dana Point harbor, I love having all kinds of books with me. I dip into a business book, then a dose of spirituality, and then maybe a good mystery.
There really is no limit to the amount of Kindle books you can own…you can keep some on your Amazon website account and transfer them back and forth to your Kindle when you like.
I can’t go into all the amazing features here…but do know that you can bookmark, highlight and take notes. I save all these as “clippings” and then upload them to a Word doc and create my presentations from them.
I take it everywhere…and soon discovered that people are curious about the Kindle and want to hold it and check it out. At the car wash, the harbor, and airports, I ALWAYS have strangers ask me if they can check it out.
It finally dawned on me that I’m a walking sales person for Amazon…enthusiastically promoting their product…AND they offer a commission. So I wised up, joined their affiliate program and had biz cards made with my Amazon affiliate link on it. After I share my Kindle with a new person, I give them the card and ask them to purchase their first one there and then I tell them to set up their own affiliate link! You get 10%…you can receive between $20-$49 each sale, depending on the version folks buy.
American Writers & Artists Institute. These folks provide high quality, home study kits on several realistic ways to make money from home including resume writing, travel writing, copywriting and much more. I’ve purchased several of these for my own use and can highly recommend them. Here’s an example of their home study kits: http://www.awaionline.com/go.php?Clk=3363528
2. Create a blog or website where you will promote your affiliates’ products. You can start with a free blog using blogger.com or wordpress.com. If you’re serious about making money with your website, I highly recommend Site Sell’s Build It…they tell you why you need more than a blog.
3. Send regular notices to your client email list about your affiliates’ products. You ARE building a list right? If not, join our Success Circle now so you can learn how.
4. Write, and post on the internet, articles on topics related to your affiliates’ products and include a link to your affiliate webpage in the “resource box” of the article. Google “article directories” to get ideas about where you can post them (it’s free!).
Consider making affiliate marketing part of your marketing plan for 2010. You’ll thank me! Post a comment on our blog when you get your first affiliate check so we can all “Whoo Hoo” with you.
How to Make Money With Teleseminars
Nov 19th
Prefer to LISTEN to this week’s issue?
Turn up your speakers and click here to listen.
Do you ever wonder how those folks offering free teleseminars ever make money?
I’ll let you in on three secrets.
First, making money with teleseminars is a great goal…however, don’t overlook the importance of building your email list with teleseminars as well. Many people from all over the globe have registered for my teleseminars and continue to receive information and promotions from me.
Second, teleseminars are a great way to deliver good content that you can then repurpose (reuse) in other information products that you can sell. Here are just some ideas to get you started:
1) Record your teleseminars and post the audios in a membership only library on your website or blog. Members pay a fee to join.
2) Record your teleseminars and turn them into a CD that you can sell or send for free to people who will share their postal address with you. Gathering postal addresses is becoming more important as people are inundated with emails that they don’t open.
When you have their postal address, you can send direct mail pieces like postcards and letters.
3) Have your recorded teleseminar transcribed – you can then combine the CD and transcript and sell them as an information product. You might “beef it up” with additional bonus pages and reports.
4) If you have several related teleseminars or a multi-part teleseminar series, you can create several CDs with transcripts and create a home study kit. These can sell from $97 to $997 depending on the topic and volume.
Topics that are targeted to a very special niche are good candidates for the higher dollar information products. For example, you could sell a “time management for busy professionals” information product. If you instead created “time management for dentists” you’d command more money. You’d have to use their jargon and know something about the demands of their work to customize your content to them but you don’t need to be a dentist!
Third, teleseminars are a great way to gather information for a book or for a coaching group or a teleseminar series. Hold a teleseminar on your topic area and leave plenty of time for participant questions.
Have it transcribed and note your answers, in your words, to their questions. You find out what your audience’s concerns are, how you provide solutions and where you might need to do research to get more information.
Now you’re on your way to creating your next information product –the biggest secret is that you’ll want to create several products –once someone loves your product they WILL want more.
Ready to get into action? “Launch Your Teleseminar in 14 Days: Make $100,000 Income Sharing Your Interests and Passions” at http://authenticlifeinstitute.com/teleseminars.htm is a complete training in Teleseminars which opens the door to unlimited opportunities. My clients who use it say “I’ve been putting off using teleseminars because I didn’t know how to begin –now I know!” In addition to discovering how to create powerful teleseminars, you’ll get tips on how to leverage them into information products for profit, and free coaching with me to be sure you USE the information and much more.
Living a Rich Life Without a Job
Nov 6th
My current coaching clients are all in the process of becoming self employed. They’re excited (and so am I). And they’re thinking about how to creatively make money doing what they love. Are you considering becoming a “free agent”? If so, here are some questions to ask yourself:
What topics/subjects really interest me?
How could I be paid to inform people about this interest?
How could I be paid to provide people with a service related to this interest?
How could I be paid to perform this interest for other people?
How could I be paid to create products related to this interest?
How could I be paid to assist people who are focused on this interest?
How could I be paid to learn more about this interest?
You may find that you have several interests. And if that’s the case you may want to pursue more than one. Imagine if you could live 5 different lives and in each you get to go deeply into different interests. Here’s my list (you can have more or less than 5 if you like!): I’d be a writer, traveler/tour guide, teacher, sex therapist, and singer. How can you indulge in all your interests in one lifetime? You can pursue your interests sequentially –doing one a time for a period of time. You can do some of them simultaneously. You may work on them in alternate blocks of time -6 months a year on one, 6 months on another. And, sometimes you can combine interests. For example, I may choose to combine my love of travel with writing and be paid for travel articles.
I’ve noticed that my clients tend to focus on their “options” and that these options are limited by their previous experience. Instead, I invite you to ask “What is possible?” You may want to have this conversation with another person to help expand your “possibility” thinking. Please know that you absolutely can earn money by providing value –not time.
As you begin this exploration, fear will most likely creep in. The best antidote for that is to remind yourself that you can only live one day at a time. Don’t try to forecast too far out in the future. You can take a step today towards fulfilling work and that step may lead you to a very unexpected, exciting place that you could never have foreseen. Just keep taking steps and moving forward. AND, get support! As Barbara Sher says, “Dreams Die in Isolation.”
Your Honesty is Your Originality
Oct 30th
I took a workshop last weekend (life long learning rocks) on writing and speaking with Barbara Sher –one of my heroes. She said something that immediately dissipated any lingering doubt I had about not having anything original to say.
She said “your honesty is your originality.” That’s it. HELLO…I called my biz Authentic Life Institute for a reason! My life has been about being very very true to who I really am and helping others to do the same.
So I hereby officially release any doubt that I have nothing new to say. Look out because my originality is feeling very free and ready to shake up a lotta lives. And I hope one of them is yours!
November is an important month for me –many milestones have occurred during November including my wedding last year on the 12th, my birthday on the 13th and my wonderful husband Ted’s b’day on the 14th!
I’d love for you to join me on a call –my birthday gift to you –where you can ask me anything you’d like about self employment –how to get started, how to choose an idea, how to get clients/customers, how to grow an existing biz, how to set up systems, how to manage team –anything at all. Open Q&A. Rare opportunity for 1-1 coaching with me.
No registration. No recordings. Be there live – November 16 3:00 pm Pacific/6:00 pm Eastern 712-432-3900 Conference Access Code: 117957
OR post your question here and I’ll post an answer.
Client Attraction: 3 Keys to Getting Ideal Clients
Oct 15th
Prefer to LISTEN to this week’s issue?
Turn up your speakers and click here to listen.
Getting clients and customers is the #1 need I hear from my clients. If you don’t have your client attraction system in place, you have no business!
Strategy #1. What do you do?
You’ve got to have a short, great answer when someone asks you this question. Start by knowing who your ideal client is so you can identify them with your answer to “what do you do?” You have to know who you are talking to every single time you write an email to your list, or create an ad, or write website copy. Who are you talking to?
Create a composite person who possesses every great quality all your ideal customers have. Then, every time you write or speak or do other marketing activities, you are speaking to that ONE person. This is the most powerful client attraction magnet –so you must master it.
You can start with demographics like age range, income levels, geographical area where they live but then expand it to how they are thinking, what they are feeling, what do they want from you. Write it out. Say it aloud to your coach or trusted buddy. Change your marketing materials if needed to speak directly to this wonderful person who you can’t wait to serve. And watch the calls/emails come in!
Strategy #2. What Makes You Different?
Here are some of the ways I am different from many business coaches. I love my clients and am not afraid to tell them so. I value relationships and it shows -I have long term relationships with many, many clients –many have worked with me for nine years or more.
I have been in my client’s shoes and know what they’re feeling and know how to express that to them while giving them a vision of the possibilities of their future along with practical action steps to take in the present.
I have invested a ton of money and time into learning how to create a portable and prosperous lifestyle and share all that I have learned freely with others.
I bring a consciousness of spiritual principles to all I do –including business.
I am introverted and love working alone from home, AND have challenged myself to bust through perceived limitations and fears to bring my work into the world in a big way through speaking, creating information products and facilitating coaching groups…thus I serve as a role model for others with similar doubts and fears.
So give some thought to all your unique quirks. What makes YOU different? I’d love to know –leave a comment in the blog section so we can all see it!
Strategy #3. What is the Outcome Your Clients Get?
Big, big mistake I see in just about every new business owner (and I did it too!). They talk about the FEATURES of their service or product and not the BENEFIT to the client.
Example –my Success Circle –features include a monthly teleclass including laser coaching with me, audio recordings, weekly audio coaching minutes and a weekly online journal.
Some of the many benefits of the program are that participants take action more consistently and quickly resulting in increased clients and money in their business. They have support and are able to ask those questions that may feel “dumb” in a safe space.
What is the outcome your clients get? Get clear on these 3 things and you are far ahead of most business owners.
PR Basics for Your Entrepreneur Success- Part II
Oct 7th
Prefer to LISTEN to this week’s issue?
Turn up your speakers and click here to listen.
Are public relations a big mystery to you? Have you avoided creating your PR plan because you just don’t know where to start? Well the good news is most PR is free and I’m going to show you how to begin. Here are 3 more success tips (see last issue for the first 3 tips) that you can implement RIGHT now to get the exposure you need to be seen as an expert and to become a “go to” person in your field.
Success Tip #1. Hold a Contest
Everyone loves a contest. They’re fun, generate client interest and they can get attention from the media. You can send a press release announcing the contest, keep the media posted throughout and then let them know about the winner(s).
You can create a contest around your business birthday, when you release a new product or service, or to celebrate holidays. You can use local celebrities to serve as judges to boost visibility. Don’t forget to get contact information and email addresses for everyone who enters the contest. It’s a great way to add to your marketing list.
Success Tip #2. Use Social Media
I use Linked In, Facebook and Twitter. The key to success with these tools is to establish relationships with people online –don’t just sell to them-especially when you first meet.
I have to admit, I resisted Twitter for a long time after I saw that many people would post the trivia of their life –I really didn’t care what time they got up or what they ate for breakfast.
I’m now a convert. Using social media is a great way to build your list and get noticed (you could also announce your contests here!). I have had people refer my work to their “friends” (that’s what you’re called when you join someone’s facebook page). I am reaching people I never would have through these amazing networks.
No, I don’t fritter away my time. I spend an average of 15-20 minutes a day nurturing these networks. AND I don’t have to get dressed and drive anywhere to meet all these nice folks!
Success Tip #3. Write Press Releases
You can use press releases to announce the launch of your website or blog, to draw attention to a new service offering, your contests, industry groups you’re joining, and pro bono work. Make press releases a part of your marketing calendar so you don’t forget to do this. Type “how to write a press release” into Google and you’ll see plenty of samples and formatting tips.
Do You REALLY apply the 80/20 Principle: Why ignore one of the most important success factors?
Sep 16th
Prefer to LISTEN to this week’s issue?
Turn up your speakers and click here to listen.
I can’t remember where I first heard about the 80/20 rule – Pareto’s Principle –a powerful success factor. I do remember that it sure got my attention. True to form, first I researched it to see if there was truly evidence for it. There was. Then I applied it to my business and my personal life. And I saw results. It’s now 2nd nature for me to ask myself routinely –does this activity fit into my 80/20 rule? Maybe you’ve heard of it but forgot all about it…or maybe you’ve never heard of it. Either way, here it is:
About 80% of effects come from 20% of causes. Joseph M. Juran, who studied quality improvement, suggested the principle and named it after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto, who observed that 80% of the land in Italy was owned by 20% of the population. Juran found that in quality management, 20 percent of product defects caused 80 percent of product problems.
Turns out this success factor applies in all areas (maybe not always 80/20 but close enough!). Picture your clothes closet. If you’re like most of us, you wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time. If you keep files, there’s a good chance you look at 20% of them 80% of the time.
In sales 20% of customers bring in 80% of sales. 80% of delays in schedule arise from 20% of the possible causes of the delays. 80% of customer complaints arise from 20% of your products or services.
Here are 3 tips for applying this rule to your success:
Tip #1: For a few days, write down everything you do. Then pare down your list to the 20% of things that you see as most important. For example, if you find in the last 3 days, you’ve done 15 different things, which 3 things were most important to reaching your goals, or bringing in money, or serving your best clients? Now focus most of your daily time and energy on those things…when distractions start occurring…remember where to keep your attention…on YOUR success factors.
Tip #2: Do you sell products? Even if you’re in a service business, I encourage you to have information products! Pay attention to how much of your profit comes from each item. Put your effort into the 20% that give you 80% of your sales. Sometimes it pays to bundle together and discount the others that aren’t bringing in 80% of sales.
Tip #3: Most of the time, 80% of your sales come from 20% of your customers- the ones who make the big purchases and are repeat-buyers. Make that 20% feel special. Give them advance notice of new services/products and offer them discounts. Give them exclusive services, available only to them. If you do business face to face –periodically host a breakfast or lunch for your best clients…don’t ask them for anything in return, just honor them.
For the next week pay close attention to what activities you’re doing. Ask yourself if they fit into your 80/20 success factor rule. This is one of the most powerful ways to moving away from working “hard” to make money to working “smart” to make money.
