Is It Time For YOU to Automate?

I am frequently asked how I manage to do so much stuff with just me in the business.
 

I always smile and say "I let machines do the work".

It was one of my pet sayings from my corporate days as well. If you embrace technology and don't run from it, there are many times when it can be your friend, saving you a lot of time and making you look really good.

You are in front of new clients all the time and if you can get the WOW effect - they will want to keep working with you too.

 

But to create a long lasting impression you need to create a miracle for them, within moments of them encountering you.

The best place to impress them is before they even come to see you.

If people get a good impression as they visit your value filled website, get drawn to click on the "book now" link and like magic find themselves booked in with you - then their first impression is good. If you WOW them in the session, it will make it incredibly easy for them to want to book with you again.

This is where technology can be your friend. Imagine how you would stand out from the crowd if you have an automated booking system that allows people to book with you anytime of the day or night. It automatically emails them a confirmation when they book. And then sends them a text to remind them of their appointment 24 hours before their treatment is due.

The lovely thing for you is, this can be going on while you are in a treatment with another client.

There is nothing more frustrating about wanting to book with someone and they have to get back to you.

This year I trialled three automated booking systems 

• Flash Appointments
  
• Clickbook
• TimeDriver 

Clickbook won because it did everything I wanted it to and I qualified for the f*r*e*e service - gotta love that price.  

Flash Appointments  also did everything and was slightly easier to use, but was $10 a month

TimeDriver  did a nice job of working in multiple time zones but wouldn't allow me to set the changeover time between sessions.

All these systems offer a free trial period and there are many other great products on the market and as always discern for self if they are right for you.

I'd have to say it took a little while for me to set it up and test it but the long term benefits have far outweighed that initial investment of time.

• No more naughty forgetful clients
  
• No to-ing and fro-ing of emails to get times set up (this used to drive me nuts!)
  
• Great reports in my inbox each day to remind me what I am doing

The system will only book people in the times I specify but I can over ride anything that is set up and book people whenever I like.

The challenges I see for someone who is a bit frightened of technology

• Trusting it can work for you - you won't know unless you try

• Letting go of your old systems - you can try before you buy

• Keeping your paper diary and forgetting to update it when you get a new booking

• Managing demand!

Seriously you wouldn't think the last point would be a problem, but there is a blog post on clickbook from someone who trialled the system for free but didn't go ahead because they got too many new clients and couldn't cope.  Good problem to have I would have thought!

Automation can also stave off the need to employ someone to answer your phones and take your appointments.  One of my clients has put a message on her answering machining telling people they can either leave her a message or book online right now.  She finds most just go and book themselves in online.

Clickbook offers people the next available appointment so you can fill gaps in the day while you are working with clients, maximising your takings for the day and not letting people down because they can't get hold of you to book.

People often comment on the ease of the booking process, which means they have been impressed.

An automated system has the potential to give you a competitive advantage over people who cling to their paper diaries.

Most who do automate, report clients loving the system and they find in most instances that people prefer the online option.

So why don't you consider making use of some downtime over the holidays and create miracles in your practice, simply by letting a machine do the work.

Full disclosure: NONE of the companies mentioned in this article pay me a commission for my recommendations - I mention them because they are quality providers

We all love our modalities right?

We all know how amazing and how much difference they can make to people, animals, the planet in general …. right?

So, if you were the one and only experience a total stranger had of your modality, what would it tell them?

A friend introduced this concept to me just last week and let me tell you the question got my attention and has smartened my act up a lot.


Let’s say for instance you are out at a social event or attending one of your kid’s school functions and someone asks you what you do?

In the next thirty seconds you have the opportunity to shine yourself, what you do and what your modality is all about………..

What will people see?

A strong, clear and confident response that gives people a sense that you are really proud of what you do and have spent the time to really understand what you do for people.  Will they see someone who is basking in the glow of having made a strong, clear decision to move forward in their practice and be someone who is a shining ambassador for the work they love to do ……

OR will the person see someone who is riddled with self doubt, lacking in self confidence, oozing the “not good enough” gene and is so unsure of themselves and what they do with their modality that all they can do is waft on, espousing fluffy and hard to understand descriptions of what their modality might do for someone.

Surprisingly, the difference between the two scenarios has nothing to do with the modality and personal confidence but more to do with the practitioner’s sales and marketing knowledge.  Weird huh!

When it comes down to it, everyone loves their modality or modalities and would fight to the death to defend them ….. but in general most practitioners are actively out in the world damaging their modality with their own self doubt and inability to clearly articulate how it can help everyday people.


Most don’t even know you can learn how to be confident and courageous.  

But the truth is the people who have mastered that level of clarity have actually gone and learnt how to do it.  I’ve invested thousand of dollars to get over myself.  To be honest I still work on it all the time because I’m naturally shy.  Very few people carry a natural ability to sell themselves but it is what makes or breaks you when you encounter new people.  

Most fail to see past the end of our nose.  

My Mum used that statement a lot when I was growing up.  It means to look past yourself and see how your actions are impacting others.  We chug along pretending to be ordinary and not really looking at the ripple effect of our work.  

But who is to say that the Mum you speak to at the school event doesn’t yet realise she has a few cancer cells starting to form in her breast due to the stress she carries in her body.  Maybe a couple of treatments with you to relieve her stress could return those cells to balance and halt that process before it even gets noticed.  

If you haven’t studied sales and marketing and don’t know how to clearly articulate what you do and how you help people at a level they understand, who knows how many don’t get to experience the amazing work you do.  

If you are in the confident category and have a practice full of people who are happily paying your fee, rebook and refer others to your practice and are fully receiving the benefits of regular visits to an alternative health and wellbeing professional.  WELL DONE!  You are very likely changing and in some instances saving lives every day.

But if you are still struggling to even articulate what you do and are still filled with fear and self doubt, don’t beat up on yourself, just know it doesn’t have to be that way.  

I was in the latter category for a very long time until I realised the ripple effect of what I do.  The reason I got really serious about being able to sell myself was simply because I couldn’t deny the power of what I do anymore.  

So I invested in many different programs to help me gain confidence in myself, so I could do the work I love.  It hasn’t come without challenges but my investment in myself and my business has bought a rich layer of satisfaction to my life and work that would never have been possible if I didn’t step out of my comfort zone and educate my weaknesses.

I found five things helped me to get over myself .... I:

1. Understood this thing is bigger than me and not really about me, I’m really only a pawn in a much larger game.
   
   
2. Connected to the undeniable reality that said I wouldn’t have been given the gifts in the first place if a higher power didn’t think I was good enough to use them.
   
   
3. Knew I had to either give up completely or get on with it completely – there was no more sitting on the fence because that was making me really uncomfortable.
   
   
4. Accepted that not everybody will like me, agree with me or even want to work with me but I need to give the ones who do the opportunity to find me because when they do a massive ripple effect ocurs.
   
   
5. Realised I didn’t want to die with the dream of helping others positively locked in the vault of my “not good enough” fears.

Also, there as was a part of me that wanted to prove wrong the PE teacher who used to shout out “and here come Beetle Bomb” in front of the whole class when I ran across the finish line last EVERYTIME and the boyfriend who used to call the me the “I’m gunna gal – gunna do this, gunna do that”.  These cruel taunts hurt and we all have these type of memories.  I’m discovering too that many therapists have serious instances of abuse in their past.  We have all had people tell us things and do things that hurt us at deep levels and make us feel less than.  They win if we don’t stand in our real truth, the truth that we are amazing and that we have special gifts that help others positively and that those gifts deserve to be experienced by those who need them.

The Universe Will Never Give You More Than You Can Handle

This saying buoyed me on and I can tell you its totally true.  Sure thing they have chucked me a couple of curved balls and I dropped some of the balls thrown at me …. but eventually by accepting the help and knowledge of others I figured out how to catch those balls fair and square.  Then of course they just adjusted the machine up a notch :-)

Everyday we are ambassadors for the modalities we love so much.  

Our work can help people at a very high level but are we actively stopping people from accessing the true benefits of a healthy, balanced lifestyle simply because we cannot deliver a confident presence when in public?

Do we continue to give an audience to those drama queens in our head that keep telling us we are not good enough?

There is a miracle in our work that deserves to be experienced by many.

But the truth is – you may be the only person some people ever encounter who is a massage therapist, or a kinesiologist or a crystal healer or a reflexologist, art therapist, reiki practitioner or any of the other thousands of modalities being practised in the world today.  I believe it is our duty to ensure it is the best experience possible and not one riddled with jargon and therapy “in talk”.

We hang out with therapists all the time, so we think everyone knows about natural therapies but I can tell you all those years back when I worked on the desk at the local tourist spa to make ends meet, people turned up every week who had never had a massage in their life.  Many thanked me afterwards for telling them the therapist would hold up a sheet while they got on the table and they would have towels draped over them while the therapist worked on specific areas.  Most importantly they wouldn’t have to wander around the spa butt naked showing off their flabby bits to total strangers.

It was always a great reminder for me to be to mindful that not everyone has encountered the same things we take for granted and it still drives me to encourage therapists to speak in language a five year old would understand.  

It is also a fine time to remember that we are ambassadors for natural therapies and how we hold ourselves in public will sometimes be the only experience people have of a professional from the “alternative” side of medicine.

How are you presenting in the world?

Molly Carlile on The Circle

My dear friend and colleague Mz Molly Carlile was featured on the morning TV show The Circle recently speaking about her new book "Sometimes Life Sucks When Someone You Love Dies"

 

Molly is a grand example of someone with a congruent message.  That means that everything about her and her message fits together in one stream lined package.

Molly spent many years on the wards as a pallative care nurse.  She has helped literally thousands of people pass from this life.  Whenever you sit down for coffee with Molly you can bet the topic of conversation goes to death within 5-10 minutes.  She is passionate about the topic of death but not in a morbid way, but in a way that educates and gives people permission to feel safe about the topic.

Already she has done SO much to change the way people deal with a process we will all inevitably go through but weirdly know little about.  She is making it safe for people to talk about the topic and helps them deal with their fears and curiosity in an open and frank way.

Over time her message is morphing and she is really focusing on helping young people understand the process of death and not be fearful.  She is using the performing arts as a great way to get her message to more people.

Strong messages open your world up to new and exciting ways to market your business or your products and services.  This week the play Molly collaborated on with renowned actor and playwright, Alan Hopgood will be the feature of the International Hospice and Palliative Care Awareness Day event, Four Funerals in One Day at BMW Edge, Federation Square on September 28^th 2010 at 7pm

You can book here if you would like to attend

If you would like to hear more about what Molly does, she was my guest on a Mosh Pit call - you can listen here

Imagination in Business

As I continue to break down the benefits to therapists of the 12 Personality Traits of Wealthy Guerrilla Marketers shared by Jay Conrad Levinson, the inventor of Guerilla Marketing, he placed imagination at number two spot on his list.

I was SO pleased to see it even hit the list let alone rank so high because I believe healthy doses of imagination are vital to a successful marketing campaign. 

At Disney the people who imagine up all those wonderful theme parks are called "Imagineers" and I think every business owner should study Imagineering before they set out in business.

"Disneyland will never be completed as long as there’s imagination left in the world”
Walt Disney

Walt Disney was well aware that anytime someone's imagaination was switched on, there was something that could be improved on or done better.  In business if we have this focus, then every day will be an adventure.

The very first time I visited Disneyland I was blown away by the details and by how much thought had gone into this magical kingdom. I can still remember floating through the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and seeing a tiny little dog in one of the scenes and his tail was wagging.   Even though he was made of bits of fabric glued together and he was a small and an insignificant part of a very big production, he was still given personality and movement.  Thirty years on I can still imagine him in my mind, eyes sparkling and tail wagging and all because someone was given permission to imagine him into life and then animate him.

Bringing the ordinary to life for people has to be one of the greatest gifts we can share.

It's the same in small business.  Sure we have to do certain things in a regimented or even some times boring way but because we are our own bosses, we have permission to apply imagination to everything we do.  We can bring ordinary things to life in the way we teach, in the way we share or in the way we run our business.  Every day is a new opportunity to be innovative or to improve on some aspect of our business, or our marketing or our message to the world.

I've always put my message out in a quirky non standard way and I've found the more off the wall I get the more responses I get.   My How to make Your Duck Boogie anti-Christmas newsletter got the best response and sign up rates of all time.  You can never be sure why this sort of thing happens but I'd like to guess that it stood out from all the plastic christmas wishes people were sending at the time.

When you let your imaginination out to play regularly I find it makes the day go faster and it helps you stand out from the crowd AND it allows the fun in.  I can't tell you how much fun I had creating that duckie newsletter - matching the pictures to the duckies circumstances made me laugh till my sides hurt.  Quirky stands out but it also brings joy and helps you be remembered.

On his teleseminar Jay was talking about how it used to easy - we could put an add in the Yellow Pages and off we'd go, instant business success.  But today in the fast and wild world of social media you have to be different to get noticed.  People notice positively when you have the guts to turn up as yourself and show you are imaginative, creative and unique.  They also notice negatively if you take the easy option and just copy something.  They won't say a lot but it gets noticed.   

These days its all about how you stand out and how you show up as yourself.  So have the guts to get the glory by using your own imagination.

Most certainly keep an eye on what is happening in the marketplace and see what your competitors are up to.  But don't just copy them, add your slant to it, show your own opinions, come up with your own ideas and set free the ideas and thoughts that are currently locked in your imagination.  You might like what you find when you do.

Jay Conrad Levinson is coming to Australia for a short teaching tour in September 2010 – you can find out more here

Healthy Marketing TeleSummit

I am going to be appearing at the Heathy Marketing Telesummit on the 14th September and it was wonderful to interview the creator of the program Krishna Everson. You can listen to the interview here:



The Heathy Marketing Telesummit will see ten marekting experts interviewed over six weeks and there will be a heap of great marketing ideas and concepts shared, all for free, to help natural therapists grow their business.

I trust you will be able to join us and in particular listen to my segment on the 14th of September 2010 (whihc of course will be FABULOUS) where I'm going to be talking about Making Your Story Your Glory.

You have to register on the website so you will receive all the information regarding the calls and how to get on them.

Hear you on a call soon! 

Don't forget to register at the website www.HealthyMarketingTelesummit.com

Patience is a Virtue

There is a saying that has been dated back to the thirteenth century:

    “Patience is a virtue,

    Possess it if you can,

    Seldom found in woman,

    Never found in man”

I could also add rarely found in people starting out in marketing!


Why is patience so important when marketing your products and services?

I was on a great teleclass recently with Jay Conrad Levinson, the genius who coined the phrase “Guerrilla Marketing” back in the 80’s. On this recent call Jay shared 12 Personality Traits of Wealthy Guerrilla Marketers.

His #1 trait was patience.

Many would think there would be many more fancy things he could have thought up to place in the #1 spot but I also believe patience is the number one thing you need when growing your natural therapy business because patience and persistent consistent action brings results in every other area of life ......... so why wouldn't it bring success in marketing.

I encourage my people to start doing good things like blogging and setting up their website and regularly doing newsletters very early in the set up of their practice.    I get VERY frustrated when I go back to them a few months later and ask how they are going with those tasks only to hear them say that they gave up because they thought it a waste of time because no one was reading them.

One client was recently featured on a two hour radio program.  Was her website finished, did she have a free product to offer the listeners to encourage them to visit her site?  Did she have a blog so people could get a sense of her opinions and methods? No, so all she could do was hope they would write down her phone number.  People will remember a catchy website name but they have little hope of remembering a phone number so her wonderful piece of free publicity was limited to people with a pen and paper close by.

Another client was recently telling me how her partner had read the single blog post one of my old clients had put up and it changed his life in that instance.  Imagine if he had kept up the posting, he might by now have changed many more lives with his words.

You can see why I get frustrated when people lose patience because they end up losing patients.

These stories highlight the need for patience.  It is also based in the beautiful words of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Take the first step in faith.
You don't have to see the whole staircase,
just take the first step.

Marketing is all about the first step, not the staircase.

Most who are starting out want the big sweeping staircase from Gone with the Wind but the reality is that most don't have the budget to purchase one step, let alone the whole solution.  That is where Guerrilla Marketing hit the spot for so many people because it offered low cost ways to get your message out and gave many of us the faith to stay in the game because Jay's methods worked for so many.

The staircase appears after you have patiently worked your strategies for a long time and been patient enough to test and measure your results, tweaking as you go and eventually working out what it is you like doing and what it is your clients like receiving.  I’ll give you a hint – when those two things are the same, magic happens BUT it takes a little time, effort, energy, frustration and feeling like you are wasting your time to get to that point.

But if you don’t start you will always be struggling to get your message refined enough for people to want to listen to you.

Marketing is not a short term fix.  You can’t write one newsletter and expect miracles.  I’m not saying that won’t happen but in my experience it takes a little while for you to find your voice and find out what does resonate with your people and what does get them commenting and letting you know they are reading.

For a long time I also thought no one was reading until I started to speak to small groups and associations.  Then people would start coming up to me and talking about small things I had written in a newsletter that had helped them or had inspired an action that helped them move to the next level.

If I hadn’t been patient enough to keep writing even when I thought no one was listening, then for sure I would have given up and those people wouldn’t have had that small success or small step up that made a difference for them.

Jay shared on his call a strategy that is key to Guerrilla marketing and that is the concept of getting known.  He shared the importance of getting known by forming interactive dialogue not monologue with your audience.  The Internet creates so many ways you can interact with potential clients but most still aren’t making the most of it because they run out of patience and stop the activities that could result in many more clients being attracted to them.

During the call Jay also spoke of a survey that was done that calculated how many times it took for someone to experience your marketing message before they bought something.  The magical answer that this survey came up with was nine times.  I’ve heard some experts say it takes eleven touches before someone will move from apathy to “purchase readiness”

Each one of these “touches” or “experiences” of you or your products and services moves the potential client one step closer to purchasing from you.

But here’s the thing – there is another crippling piece of information that goes with being patient – you must also be consistent in getting your message out or people will forget you.  I have heard it said that if you don’t keep in touch with your people at least bi-monthly they will forget you.

It stands to reason then that if you only have one post on your blog, have sent a couple of newsletters and meant to get around to building a website and people can’t easily find you, then you are going to struggle.

If you are prepared to get into the game for the long haul, these are the things you will need to have on your to do list:

• Send out your newsletter each month
• Post to your blog at least once a week
• Spend 15 minutes each day on social media sites
• Create a free e-product to give away on your website that gives people a taste of what you do
• Speak to people in your target market, it can be small groups to start with at least twice per month
• Submitting articles to websites or media once a month
• Make contact with an important person in your industry (at least one per week) and then make it easy for those people to send you clients
• Arranging small workshops so people can understand how much you know about your preferred topic and get to know a little more about you.

Most certainly the most powerful way I know of connecting with people is in person so that puts speaking right up on top of the list of things you patiently need to be delivering to people.


If you take these type of actions, eventually people are going to notice you and then guess what?  Your business will start to get traction.


Natural therapists are some of the most patient people I have ever met.  They will sit for hours listening to people’s stories, taking case notes, being there for their clients at all hours of the day and night.


So why not move some of the traits of patience over to your marketing and start doing all the actions that are necessary to grow your business.

Ask and Tho Shalt Receive With a Cherry on Top

All weekend I've been banging on to the participants of Sanctum for the Soul about how we are totally in charge of everything now and not to forget to ask for the things we need - no matter how small.

Well I decided this morning that I needed a new Monthly Planner for 2011 so I can start getting next years events planned or as my new branding manager calls it my "launch sequence".  Its a bit oo-la-la huh - sounds like "mission control to mz margz" but what can you expect she lives in Dallas which is up the road from NASA so I guess they are a bit space ship oriented in Texas.

So to get my launch sequence happening I really need that 2011 planner.

I looked to see if I could get a monthly planner online and it turned out that I could but I need it now!  

So I decided I'd have a look in the newsagents in the town later today but resigned myself to the fact that I'd probably have to wait to get one next time I was in the city or breakdown and buy it online and deal with it getting damaged in the post - ever noticed how things never quite come out of the your post office box the same way they went in.

Then my next thought was lunch.

Finally the sun has decided to shine after days of rain so I put my walking boots on and I headed down the two blocks to the Hepburn General Store for a #4 toastie.  While they were making it up I had a wander around the shelves.  The Hepburn General Store has a unique ability to stock and serve either gourmet food options or things the local tradies love like Gillies meat pies.  But they also have some nice bits and pieces for the tourists to buy and they have a great range of magazines.

So I was having a nosy in the flash mag section and imagine my surprise when I thought I was looking at a pile of monthly planners.  Imagine my delight when I picked one up and had a look and it WAS exactly what I wanted.  The weird thing was that there were no other diaries on the shelf, no other stationery items just magazines and 2011 Monthly Planners.

We love the Hepburn General Store but they aren't the cheapest option because they don't have the buying power of the big chains. 

So what is most remarkable from today's lesson is that not only did I get exactly what I wanted in the most unlikely place in the world - it only cost $7 - the least I have ever paid for a planner is $9 from one of the big stationery suppliers in the city so this price truly fitted the "can't believe my eyes" category.

Talk about ask and tho shalt receive with a cherry on top!  

It really was a great example of letting go and not putting boundaries around the way things can happen.  Now I better fill those dates up fast because the Universe clearly have a few people they want me to teach.

12 Personality Traits of Wealthy Guerrilla Marketers in a Natural Therapy Context

I was on a great call today with Jay Conrad Levinson.  He is the genius who coined the phrase “Guerrilla Marketing” back in the ’80s.  He has sold over 21 million books during his highly successful career.and his books are “must have’s” on any small business bookshelf.

Image Credit

So does he sell apes?

No, that would be silly :-) 

Wikipedia describes the concept of guerrilla marketing as an unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget.

Levinson used the concept of guerillas (rebels who live in the mountains and use unconventional methods to get their political message across) as a really clever way of describing marketing done at a base level often using free or low fee tactics to get your message to the world.

It was nothing short of sheer brilliance as it tipped the marketing world on its head and he has helped many people all over the world embrace marketing.


Something he shared today made me just about fall out of my chair! 

Why?

Well because it’s the exact opposite of what you might think for natural therapists.

In fact, I’m so excited I’m going to write about each category so you can really get why this information was so mind-blowing for me.

Natural therapists think they are bad at marketing or not designed for business.  

Well, this list turns that theory on its head.  If one of the greatest marketers in the world is right (and why wouldn’t he be) it seems we have every ability to be awesome marketers – we just gotta stop believing some of the misinformation we have been given by well-meaning “business experts”. 

For instance, I had an awesome woman in my Sore to SOAR group this month who had been told by many reliable sources that her business ideas and concepts were basically “rubbish”.

This made her “think” she was not good at marketing.

As it turned out she had an incredibility distinctive way of getting her message out to the world.  To date, she just hadn't found the right person who was prepared to look beyond the obvious and be prepared to help her find her unique voice.  I was honoured to be that person and I’d have to say I was pretty blown away by how creative she was once she got the hang of it.

The sad thing is she is not alone. 

Success stories abound in our industry when we figure out that standard conventional business theory won’t work when applied to something as “tactile” as a natural therapy or coaching business.

This is why Jay Conrad Levinson’s method’s changed the world ….. simply because he found another way to give people confidence and take actions that would achieve results when applied in unconventional ways. 

So I was really excited when on today’s call he shared the following twelve traits he has observed in every successful Guerrilla Marketer he has worked with.

My elation was because of course most of my people do the first eleven really well – its only item 12 they aren’t so hot at! 

12 Personality Traits of Wealthy Guerrilla Marketers

01.    Patience

02.    Imagination

03.    Aggressiveness (never give up)

04.    Sensitivity

05.    Embrace change well

06.    Educators

07.    Generosity

08.    Energetic

09.    Constant Learners

10.    Love people

11.    Maintain Focus

12.    Action oriented

This blog post does an excellent job of describing Guerrilla Advertising.

I'm so excited about this list that I’ll be breaking down each point on my blog.  I believe it is important that you get that you are ALREADY a great marketer – you just need to find a patient person who will help you roll your message out your way and stop you listening to the crap most of those "pointy-toed business coaches" deal out of textbooks.

When Jay Conrad Levinson came to Australia, I got to queue up and say hello.  When he kissed my hand it made the wait worthwhile!

Should a website be a crucial part of your business?

There has been an election declared in Australia this week and already we are hearing politicians do what they do best = answering questions with questions.

So in answering the question – should a website be a crucial part of your business?

I’m going to ask you an even deeper question before I start to go down the website burrow. Not because I’m avoiding the question but because you need to ask yourself a more important question before you even consider a website.

A client was reflecting on a question I asked them at the start of their coaching program recently. They said it really slapped them around the ears because it was something they hadn’t even considered.

It’s the same question you need to ask yourself before you decide if you need a website or not.

The question is ........

“how big do you want your business to be?”

This is a really basic question every therapist needs to ask themselves before they consider building a business or a website but it rarely gets asked let alone answered.

If you don’t know the answer to the question or if you haven’t even considered whether you want small, medium, large, grande or the super size me option – you are going to be constantly setting things up that won’t work for your business further down the track.


Two truths to be aware of:

1. You won’t know exactly how big you can go until you start getting a few runs on the board in your practice - I recommend set up to be big at the start just in case things take off... then - at least you are ready.
    
2. Each year the landscape will change from where you thought you were going 12 months earlier as your business knowledge and confidence grows.

The other truth is - Size does matter!

I was chatting to a friend this week who has just set up a beautiful property to host retreats here in Daylesford. He is already starting to note some differences in the way organisers get people booked onto retreats. He has noticed I am having far more luck getting people on my retreats than people with a small database or no a database at all.

I just laughed and said “size matters” ....... referring to my database.

With both of us coming from the lurky murky world of musicians we had fun creating several colourful analogies around the size matters discussion. But the conclusion drawn was that my dream to have retreats this year is being met by a database that was created eight years ago.

This is where the decision on the size of business starts to cascade downwards because even though I do sign people to my database at live events, the biggest number of "stranger" sign ups come from my website.

The strangers start to become friends and  magic happens

The decision eight years ago to firstly have a website and secondly have a database that actively collected the data of visitors on the first day that website went live ..... is now rewarding me generously.

At the time I made that decision I never dreamt I would be this far down the track but I had a big dream that I knew would need big support and set my website up accordingly.

Before you start the "oh but its alright for her, she's a rock star" routine - just know that my database started with ten people (mostly friends and family) and was decimated at one stage when I had to resign the database to my new shoppingcart system. I have grown my database from scratch twice.

Getting the formula right from the start will mean your website can begin to work for you in the future, often without you knowing its working.

For instance I have been working with a client who is putting together a brilliant free program to attract people to her website. She has 52 different topics she is going to address in a give-away program and needs 52 resources to put links to on her website.

As I went through my little black book of clients and contacts – I could only give her people with a strong website presence and a strong, clear WHO & WHAT that clearly fitted under each of her 52 different topics, simply because her information is only going to people on the web.

She fits the “super size me” category which is aiming at an international audience and as it turned out I could only give her people with a similar vision. The bottom line was that the ones who made the list have a strong web presence and have paid to learn from me so they know how to be set up to attract easy referrals.

There were some really good people who got left off the list because they made didn't make it easy to be referred, simply because they had no website or their message was murky which made it impossible to fit in one of the 52 categories. They are talented gifted people but they have limited themselves by being afraid to learn about how the web can help them now and into the future.

Some of you will be surviving without a website

All I can say is well done if you are. BUT the challenge is going to come when you want your business to not only survive but thrive.

So if you are the type of therapist who will be happy in a word of mouth practice maybe working a couple of hours a day, don’t want people to easily forward your information to others, don’t want people outside your circle of influence to find you, don’t want ideal clients to come to you from other suburbs or states or even different countries and only want to earn a meagre living that will see you standing by a massage table until you retire or your body gives up on you – then you might get away without having a website.

However, if in the future you want to teach workshops, do retreats, run teleclasses, be steadily keeping in touch with people who have seen you in the past and have the potential to return again in the future ..... I’d say start learning about the Internet yesterday.

If you want to have any ability to walk away from your treatment room and be creating product and passive income (money you earn without having to be there) – then you definitely need a website now.

In fact these days I believe everyone needs some web presence even if it is just a one page document with your name and phone number on it – so people can at least find you when they do a basic search.

People do survive without a web site, but the web allows you to quickly get to a bigger audience AND it allows you to get that audience on your database. Then if you are committed to keeping in regular contact with those people, eventually a percentage of those people will buy something from you.

However, its not a case of build it and they will come. I’ve heard it said that it takes around eleven “touches” for people to trust you on the Internet and eventually to get to a point where subscribers will buy something from you.

That means at least eleven newsletters, or offers or free product or information before they trust you enough to either work with you or buy from you.

The reality is - if you aren’t in the race you will quickly get forgotten.

Another scary fact is if people don’t hear from you at least every two months, then most will forget you – no matter how good your service was for them.

So getting a website is only the first step in a long corridor of doors that need to be opened and strategies that need to be put in place. My Practice Building Success System steps you through many of these processes – you can find out more here.

Its not just about the website

The key point you need to understand is that websites no longer stand alone these days.

Many experts are now stating that a blog is more powerful than a website, not for the number of followers you get but for the way the information can be searched and used in many different formats.

I heard a rumour from a reliable source who stated that the calculation that goes into how search engines rank your website will include how many blog posts you push through to social media sites like Facebook and then how many relevant comments you get from your friends.

So your web presence now must be part of a marketing system that includes a blog, social networking, regular newsletters and keep in touch strategies that keep you in the memory of your people.

To be honest all this stuff is doing my head in trying to keep up with it all, but its just something we all have to come to terms with.

The blessing is that the technology is getting much simpler and cheaper to use. So there really is no excuse. If you aren’t on the net and you aren’t gaining knowledge in this area, you stand to be left behind in the future.

I’m so convinced of the power of a website that I’ve set up a small e-course to help you understand more about websites. it will cover the truths you need to understand, the interconnectivity you must have and the important things you need to be aware of BEFORE you start spending your valuable time and money creating a website. There will be no charge for this information and you can unsubscribe at any time.

If you would like to join the website e-course, simply send a blank email to this address: info1749-536514@autocontactor.com

You might like to read a blog post I did last month that tells you how to get a web presence for lo or no cost here:

You can leave a comment below:

The Lo or No Cost Solutions to Online Business Set Up That Any Gumby Can Master

MP3 File 40:18mins

The early days of your business are the hardest.  Generally there is a lot of set up cost and little income flowing in.

There are certain critical tools you need at the start of your business but it can all become too daunting and hard.  Then valid but show stopping excuses begin to form as to why you aren't actively promoting your business.

I’m over hearing excuses from people who say they either don't have the money to get started or the computer skills to get online to grow their business.

So I’m giving you “The Lo or No Cost Solutions to Online Business Set Up That Any Gumby Can Master”.

Gumby was a piece of green clay that became a very famous cartoon character back in the 50s but a Gumby also is a tongue in cheek way to describe someone who can't use a computer.  So even if you are a piece of green clay when it comes to computers you will be able to either set these tools up yourself or bride a teenager or 5 year old to do it for you.

Marketing your business is about getting your message to as many people as possible in your target market.  The time to start is always yesterday.  When I speak to people who tell me they are WAITING for business cards or WAITING for a website or WAITING to finish their logo BEFORE they get serious about their business because they don't have any money or don't have IT skills, I want to cry.

• Firstly because every day they aren't working on their business is another day they won't be getting the opportunity to help someone and 

• Secondly there are some great free or lo cost products available on the Internet that make it SO easy to set up an Internet presence and they make it really easy to get started.

 
The truth is you can probably create a full online presence in a weekend using free or lo fee products which are freely available to anyone.  I recommend you start small and build up as opposed to “waiting” for the perfect time to get out and about or online.

Technology can be your friend and I’ve seen people who are complete IT gumbies get these systems set up and working for them within 24 hours.

So lets get over the excuses and get over the seven deadly excuses and get going right now!

#1 Excuse “I don’t have (have run out, the dog ate them, my details have changed blah - blah - blah) any Business Cards”

Excuse Buster:  Vista Print 

Vista Print will give you 250 free business cards with a choice of 42 designs – yes they stamp their branding on it – but don’t let that stop you.  A vista print brand on your card is better than scribbling out your old email address and writing on your cards in Biro which I see many people doing - that's a sin.

If you dont' want the Vista Print branding then there prices are ridiculously cheap, so #1 excuse handled.

Click here for more info on VistaPrint

#2 Excuse “I’m waiting on brochures.....”

Excuse Buster:  Vista Print

Again Vista Print will do a standard basic DL card for next to nix.  Anything else at the start of your practice is a waste of money.  A clear, basic message on the top of a DL card so it jumps out at people whilst sitting in a rack at your local coffee shop is much better than a fancy brochure.

Still can't afford it - then there is still a lot of sales to be made from a flyer that comes off your ink jet printer – there really is not excuse.

Click here for more info on VistaPrint

#3 Excuse “I’m waiting for my cousin/husband/wife/mate from work/teenager to finish my website”

Excuse buster: Blogger

Having a web presence these days is crucial – any presence is better than none.

At base level you can create a great looking site on Blogger for free

I just knocked up an information website this week for a Retreat I’m having in Daylesford http://www.sanctumforthesoul.com/ - I’ve already sold four tickets and to date haven’t invested one single dollar in the event.  By the time it comes to paying venue deposits I will already have the money in the bank to cover it.  I’m not ashamed to have a blogger website promoting a Retreat – and everything I have on that site is standard blogger issue.  Send me an email if you can’t figure out how to get something I have and I’ll tell you how I did it.

Wordpress is another way to create a similar product but frankly it does my head in and you need more IT experience to make Wordpress work - if you are a beginner don't go down the Wordpress route.  

Click here to enter the 3 step process to get your own blog


Excuse #4 “Getting a proper web address and professional email is too confusing and expensive”

Excuse Buster: GoDaddy:

GoDaddy hosts all my live websites, my email and my other 25 non live domain names.

Quite frankly I have little idea how all this stuff works.   Whenever I want to do something I phone up their 24 hour, 7 day a week hotline and they talk me through how to do everything.

They pride themselves on the person answering your question AND solving your problem on your first phone call.  I can confirm I have NEVER needed to phone back and they have ALWAYS delivered on their promises.

Their marketing is weird and their website has race car drivers promoting it but you just got to remember their target audience is mostly male IT geeks – having worked alongside a lot of big IT departments I can confirm you couldn’t find an IT geek in a corporate office when The Grand Prix hit Melbourne.  But non-nerds are well supported by the help desk, who are honestly some of the most patient and knowledge people I have ever met.



Find out more about GoDaddy here

 

Excuse #5 “It’s too hard and expensive to get a newsletter out”

Excuse Buster: Mail Chimp:

Still today with all the social networking and ways to push your message out – the humble newsletter is still being used by the gurus around the world.  When they stop – I stop and so can you.

Mail Chimp is awesome.  I use it for my Retreat database and I also use it for a community event I run each month.  It is dead easy to use.  They allow you to store 500 subscribers and give you 3,000 emails a month before they even think about charging you anything.

The product they produce looks awesome AND this includes autoresponders AND the ability to set your campaign to run in advance AND it allows you to easily publish your newsletter to social media sites.

It’s also quirky as all get out and frequently encourages you to “eat a banana” and to “stop flirting with the monkey”.  They also have pre-designed forms to send out specials and birthday cards to members – and so long as you stay under 500 it’s free and well frankly if you have more than 500 people on your database you need to start getting serious about your business and paying for services.

Free is great in the early days but remember likes attract – if you aren’t prepared to pay for quality service neither will your clients be.

Find Out More About Mail Chimp here

Excuse #6 “I don’t have time or energy to do the admin for a workshop”

Excuse Buster: Eventbirte

I LOVE this site and it really helps sell events and workshops and they don’t charge you anything until you sell a ticket and then it’s just a small percentage of the price of the ticket. 

In return – your attendees type in all the info so you are assured your spellings are correct and that you have the right email address.  Anyone who has ever had to type up a registration list and name badge list will be jumping with joy at this news.

It has helped me sell out most of my events and the waitlisting function allows you to know who missed out and might like to attend your next event before you even release it.  It also posts your event on social media sites looking hot to trot and takes interested people directly to your registration page.

They also have an iPhone app that lets you check your participants in via your phone on the day of the event – gotta get an iPhone first  :-)

If you sell a ticket outside the site, they don’t even charge you to enter the person’s name but the details still print out on the rego list.  It saves a HEAP of time, energy and effort and your workshop goes out to the public looking really hot and will delay your need for a personal assistant or VA.

Find out more about Eventbrite here

Excuse #7 “I don’t have a way to collect credit card payments online”

Excuse Buster: PayPal

I still don’t have a formal Payment Gateway with my bank because it costs and arm and a leg to set up.  My shoppingcart simply connects to good old PayPal and they keep taking people’s money online without hassle or stress to me.  To be honest there have been a couple of people who had trouble with the system but I suspect user error was the cause because 99% of transactions flow without error or stress.

You can do recurring billing, have Buy Now Buttons which just sit on your website without you even needing a shoppingcart or you can simply do an email request for money if everything gets too much for you.

You can transfer funds internationally and it takes care of all the exchange rate nightmares. 

The only downside of PayPal is that it takes a couple of days to transfer funds to your bank account, whereas a full Gateway fill transfer overnight.  I can live with that.

If you want the hoots and whistles shopping cart I recommend and use 1shoppingcart.com
 


You do need a bit of IT nous to get 1shoppingcart working and to be honest I'm still only using a very small part of it. It is a big system that I recommend you either use or upgrade to if and when you are ready to very serious about online sales. Click here for more details

If you have found any free or lo fee resources that helped you get started I'd love you to add a comment and share your resource with others.

Full disclosure:  The above links are affiliate links and these people do give me coffee money if you sign with them.  It is not why I recommend them and I only ever recommend things I either use myself or have personally experienced or someone I trust has used the product.  

Do you believe strong messages and consistent action change the world?

I reckon the following is one of the strongest messages ever


“OUR DEEPEST FEAR IS NOT THAT WE ARE INADEQUATE.

OUR DEEPEST FEAR IS THAT WE ARE POWERFUL BEYOND MEASURE”


This is just one of the beautiful messages Marianne Williamson has created through her words.

Most therapists I know can recite the whole section Nelson Mandela quoted from Marianne’s book A Women’s Worth, under water or ten ton of wet concrete if necessary!

They have it on their fridge. Their eyes roll if you dare to give them a copy because of course they “know it” so well.

I was at a seminar once and a guy stood up in the middle of the room and challenged the presenter.

This *lone standeruper* was angry because the presenter was in his opinion “churning out the same old stuff”. As he spat out his accusation he wanted to know “when was he going to start teaching us something new?”

An uncomfortable silence critically draped itself across the room as the presenter spun in the direction of the question. As the presenter locked eyeballs with the *lone standeruper*” a soundless noise resonated throughout the room like a gigantic metal door being slammed against steel.

Then all you could hear was the awkwardness of bums rustling on seats as we waited in the intensifying silence.

The presenter held a steady gaze for what seemed an eternity. He didn’t seem to blink, he just stared at the guy. Then he calmly asked the man “had he implemented all the old stuff he had been taught?”

A vacuum formed as the crowd sucked in what seemed like every gasp of air in the room.

The room filled with the electric anticipation of a rock concert but silence was the only chord ringing out. We all felt for this *lone standeruper* because we all knew the answer. He was like an open book and even though this man was a total stranger to the room we could see and sense his current status and we knew he wasn’t going to come out the victor.

The presenter now owned the room, which means he had the full undivided attention of 100% of the people in the room.

He smelt the blood in the air and was heading straight in for the kill using silence as his sword.

His eyes stayed locked on the *lone standeruper*, now head down with a roving mic in hand. The *lone standeruper* had no where to hide and was eventually forced to confess from a place of shame to the hundred or so people crammed into that expansive ball room that despite “knowing” everything that had been taught that morning, he had in fact not “implemented” one single piece of the information in his business.

The presenters response dispensed with the exact right dose of silence was simply: “if you haven’t implemented it – you don’t know it”

The crowd exhaled.

The lone standeruper quietly sat down and didn’t utter a peep for the rest of the weekend.

The presenter returned to the whiteboard and continued to teach to a room that was listening way harder than they were a few minutes before.

Five things to be learned here:

1. NEVER confront an expert if you aren’t 100% squeaky clean yourself

2. The RIGHT eye contact replaces a thousand words

3. SILENCE is sometimes your most powerful companion

4. KNOWING and DOING are different

5. LEARN how to own a room before you open your mouth.

You have also just experienced the power of learning through a story which leads to a discussion point.

My point is: I’ve found most therapists “know” Marianne’s beautiful words backwards but very few have fully “implemented” them and live them fully in their life


“IT IS OUR LIGHT, NOT OUR DARKNESS, THAT MOST FRIGHTENS US”


I have observed that most therapists can clearly articulate what’s wrong with them.

Our light is what’s right with us, however, most have never really owned what is right with them.

Therapists, practitioners, healers, coaches can be prone to hide from their light but spend copious amounts of time telling others how awesome they are and encouraging them to shine.

This creates a silent lack of credibility that others will see in you. You won’t be able to see them looking but you will feel it. What others can see is the insincerity you create within yourself if you haven’t walked through a fear you are asking others to face.

I find heartcentric people more likely to cower from their light than people who don’t even understand what “the light” is.

When you hide behind every excuse imaginable so you don’t have to put your name or yourself “up in lights” whilst telling others to do that, then a disconnect will form.

This causes even more hiding because you will fear that people will find out the “what’s wrong” part of your story.

Vicious circle huh!


WE ASK OURSELVES, ‘WHO ARE WE TO BE BRILLIANT, GORGEOUS, TALENTED, FABULOUS?’ ACTUALLY, WHO ARE YOU NOT TO BE?


Most heartcentric people think they know why they are in business and it usually goes something like “I just want to help others” or “I want to make a big difference on the planet”.

Basically they “want to change the world” ………. but are often frustrated because to do that you need to be teaching workshops and speaking to groups. Sometimes people are not even getting their message to an audience of one in their treatment rooms.

Most are not even regularly communicating with their people or writing articles because they don’t know what to write about. When you have a strong message the problem becomes too much to write about and to little time to do it in.


“YOU ARE A CHILD OF GOD.

YOUR PLAYING SMALL DOESN’T SERVE THE WORLD.

THERE’S NOTHING ENLIGHTENED ABOUT SHRINKING”


Most people I meet are hiding from the world and don’t or won’t put themselves outside their comfort zone. They have shrunk so much it’s like they are trying to sail a row boat in a puddle and are getting frustrated that only a few people can fit in and they can only take those people on a short ride.

To help more people get bigger results you need to create a bigger pond and you need a clear message that will encourage more people to come on board with you.


“WE ARE ALL MEANT TO SHINE, AS CHILDREN DO.

WE ARE BORN TO MANIFEST THE GLORY OF GOD THAT IS WITHIN US.

IT’S NOT JUST SOME OF US; IT’S EVERYONE”


Many see their mistakes or their weaknesses or past addictions or bad habits as faults.

Here’s the thing: These “faults” or “hiccups” ARE your message and your truth. That is why we are given the challenges so we can learn and grow from them. We tend to stuff them under the mat so others can’t see them but the world can still see it.

If you hide that truth your only course of action is to adopt someone else’s truth.

When you adopt the truth of others you end up living a lie.

No wonder you aren’t coming in contact with the right people to allow you to make the difference you yearn to deliver for people.


“AND AS WE LET OUR LIGHT SHINE

WE UNCONSCIOUSLY GIVE OTHERS PERMISSION TO DO THE SAME”


As people tell me their stories I’m coming to understand the reason why they want to make a difference to others is because they know how it feels to be down, or sick or addicted or stressed or like I was in a job I hated and needed to get out before it killed me.

Most people have found themselves training in a modality that will allow them the freedom to have their own business because at some time in their life, they wanted to move away from something that was causing them discomfort.

They never tell or even own that personal story in business because they think it will be seen as unprofessional, coming from ego or lets get real – most people don’t have a clue about the importance of their story ………… so have never tapped the gold in that vein.

When you finally tell your story, it allows others to come up and share that they have had a similar experience. People can relate to your story, so it is easy for them to relate to you.

As I teach Sore to SOAR, my speaking intensive workshop, I have come to understand that your story is your glory.

Once you understand and embrace your discomfort – you have your story.

***Clear and powerful messages create business success***

When you understand your story you can start to run towards opportunities because you know why people need to work with you.

When your story is clear everyone including YOU understands why you are in business.

But that’s not the biggest thing I do for people. Learning to speak makes you aware of how you have been hiding away from the world, playing small, not letting your light shine and not helping as many people as you want to. I give you permission to leave those limiting beliefs behind once and for all.

Fear stops most people from speaking in public. It’s a genuine fear and yes sometimes some idiot stands up in a room and challenges you. If you have the right knowledge to deal with the situation and a strong message, you will come out as the hero and grab the glory.

In Sore to SOAR three things we learn is the power of silence, the power of eye contact and how to own a room. We also learn how to keep repeating your message in different ways until the audience gets it.

You speak when your message gets bigger than your fear.

I had Marianne Williamson's words on my fridge for a long time. When I had the guts to have an opinion and a message, even when it wasn’t what everyone wanted to hear, I took the words off the fridge and started to speak.

I took it off the fridge not because I was a know it all but because I didn’t need to “know” it anymore. I had broken through the fear and was “living” her words in my life and my business.


“AS WE’RE LIBERATED FROM OUR OWN FEAR, OUR PRESENCE AUTOMATICALLY LIBERATES OTHERS.”

To change the world, we need to live our message.

If you are ready to get out from under the rock of fear that has been holding you down, I can promise you that attending my Sore to SOAR workshop will be one of the most uncomfortable things you have ever done.

There is a workshop at the end of June and the early bird ends this week.

The guy who taught me to own a room is the same person who eyeballed down *the standeruper*. In Sore to SOAR I teach you the same formula he taught me.

This workshop is full of good information but it won’t be easy for you. You will be asked to speak at the end of the weekend and actually implement what you have learned over the two days before you leave.

That’s why this course creates people with credible messages. It is also why 80% of past participants have created their first workshop within weeks of attending Sore to SOAR because all the fears have been walked through by the end of the weekend. You leave “knowing” it because you “implement” it.

So if you are sick of being the “I’m gonna” type of person and are really ready to serve a bigger audience, ready to teach others what you already know and are ready to get over yourself in one weekend ……….. book now.

My part of the deal is that I will treat you and your feelings with the greatest of respect because I have been through the process myself.

I will create a loving and safe environment where you and five others will break through together and support each other at each stage of the journey.

I promise you will leave able to liberate others with your pure light, simply by being your true self, knowing your story, seeing how it impacts others and being able to tell it in a way that not only liberates others but gives you the freedom you have been seeking to create your dream your way.

Book Now: all details here - www.Sore-to-SOAR.com

Are you ready to go to the next level?

Two strangers walk into a workshop.

Both were natural therapists looking for similar outcomes but nervous as all get out. They had never met before but by “co-incidence” managed to sit beside each other.

As it turned out both these women did have something in common. They had both seen me speak at their industry associations in 2007.

I hadn’t heard from either of them in nearly three years but they were here today because their message had got bigger than their fear of public speaking.

Despite their own reservations, they were ready to find out if they were “good enough” to speak from the front of a room.

I quizzed them as to what it was that they remembered most from the talk I delivered to their respective associations. Both immediately came back with a vague recollection of a couple of things I had taught them during that brief 60 minute talk.

However both cited the reason they were sitting in the chairs, about to take themselves to hell and back, was because they remembered my story. They felt they knew me from that story and they trusted me to help them.

Both talks had caused me extreme discomfort but this short exchange showed the reality of speaking your truth. I felt honoured by their trust but I also honoured and thanked myself for having the guts to go and speak to them all those years back.

The talks these women attended were “walk in and talk” events both delivered in bleak environments. One in particular I remember being VERY nervous at because no one had mentioned my talk would be videoed. I’d driven for two hours that Sunday morning telling myself the worst that could happen was that I’d only bomb in front of a few people. The video going out to their national membership upped the odds dramatically!

The other talk had been delivered during the worst weather Melbourne could conjure up. I was tired and weary because I’d had to leave home three hours early because three out of the four exit arteries around my town were closed due to snow blocking the roads. The journey normally takes around three hours. It took me six hours this day as I progressively drove through snow, gale force winds and driving rain.

Despite these not so harmonious circumstances I made an impact on both occasions not because I was good but because the story I told resonated deeply.

It wasn’t a fancy story. In fact it was a rock bottom story without a happy ending.

It was however my truth.

These two women remembered me and my story enough to pay to attend one of my workshops three years later. Not only that, they chose to turn up to a workshop and let an almost total stranger help them overcome a fear most would rather die than do.

Back then I knew nothing about method. I hadn’t been taught how to work the energy of a stage. I didn’t know how to adequately roll out a learning set. I didn’t know how to put knowledge into conceptual bites that make it easy for people to understand. I probably broke all the rules at both talks but still my message came through because I knew how to earn the right to be in the room.

A well crafted “earn the right” makes you credible and memorable no matter what is going on because it demands you speak at the intersection of love and truth.

I influenced those women not because I was some fast eddy with slick sales techniques. I impressed because I had experienced and lived through every wart, every crinkle, every tear and every emotion I spoke about.

The power of emotional speaking is that it builds relationships.

Once you learn how to harness the emotion and tell your story from your heart, people will not only sit through a sixty minute talk without throwing tomatoes, they also remember you years later. This alone is marketing gold. BUT it gets seriously golden when people will come and work with you without you having to evoke hard sell marketing techniques to get them there.

Sure it’s not the fast road to success but it’s powerful, it’s genuine and it’s real.

The course they attended last weekend was called Sore to SOAR and man did everyone soar. One participant contacted me this week to tell me she has sent away for the material she needs to run her first workshop. She has been meaning to do it for ages. Difference this week is that she has done it.

But I get this feedback all the time. It is awesome and I love hearing every word.

However there is something more important for me than seeing participants float from the room espousing how much they’ve grown and how good they feel. What is truly remarkable is the undeniable fact that 80% of the participants who have attended fully have either spoken in public or delivered their own workshops within two months of completing Sore to SOAR.

That’s my point of difference – people actually step up and step out, some within weeks of attending the course.

The people who have done the course are just everyday people who have a dream in their heart and a burning desire to help more people.

Many who are breaking through are busy Mum’s, people just setting up in practice or people who have already had success in one aspect of their practice. To date they have been a bit “scaredy cat” about the next step but are good to go now.

They are the unseen heroes who have been standing beside a massage table treating people one on one or sitting at home knowing something is growing within them. Knowing their message is important for the world but they have no idea what that message is, how to find it or how to get that message out or even where to start. This eventually causes discomfort.

Discomfort is the one thing that makes most humans move.

What’s weird is that these supposedly “ordinary” people already have the story within them that will gain them recognition and give them the confidence to leap up to the next level. Sore to SOAR allows them to connect with their story and we all have one. The true magic occurs when you learn to apply the “earn the right” formula to your story.

Sore to SOAR is not just another workshop it’s a personal expansion.

The two strangers left with an admiration for each other rarely forged in a weekend. One shared as she walked out the door that she felt she finally had all she needed to speak. It was an incredible honour to move her from feeling ordinary to extraordinary in such a short period of time.

Sore to SOAR gives people two ultimate gifts – confidence and no excuses.

If you are ready to go to the next level there is a Sore to SOAR intensive workshop running in Melbourne 26 and 27 June 2010.

Sore to SOAR takes you on a journey from a sore place of really hurting inside to one where you SOAR out the door on Sunday evening with a heap more clarity around what you do and how you can make a difference to a lot more people.

The early bird price is running out soon.

Book now: www.Sore-to-SOAR.com