Tuesday 29 June 2010

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

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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.

GoDaddy.com - World's No.1 Domain Name Registrar

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.  

Saturday 12 June 2010

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