Click to Read Part I here

Part II in a series dealing with the Modern Service Business on the Internet, pricing products, stuff you really DON’T know about our back ends (get your mind out of the gutter, it’s not what you think) and Scouting Badge Competency Filters

Crucial Knowledge About The Model & Product Range In Modern Service Industries

(stick with it – after the Crucially Cool & Deadly Accurate education bit, comes the cute & fuzzy punch line)

While the coach Amanda hired (see Part I of this article) may have mis-stated the tiered level of their services and products – and badly – there’s fundamentally nothing wrong with this approach as a business model.

This tiered pricing structure is a common model used in the coaching, therapy and internet marketing industries. As do thousands of authors, speakers and coaches, I use this model myself – offering a basic-but-still-valuable product for considerably less than the full-bore-workshop/teaching/coaching experience-with-lots-of-extras.

This helps people who can’t afford to hire us privately STILL benefit from the teachings we have to offer. I’ll continue to offer this model because it’s one way I stay in integrity with my personal goals by not excluding anyone, but also not giving away or cheapening the value of my own hard work.

Something to GET…and Get Over:

People DO NOT VALUE what is given for free. Check out any lottery winner ten years down the line and you’ll see what I mean. They’re right back to the state they were before they won (and squandered) all the money. If you want to truly value and USE a training or product, my sincere advice is to pay as dearly as you can for it.

When it hurts just a little bit to get something you want or need, you will value it ten times as much, use it over and over time and again, and grow exponentially from its benefits.

And in defense of the many who are in integrity about their teachings — most of us pack our lower priced trainings full of value and don’t misrepresent them. Those teachers are out there for you — when you’re ready, you’ll find the right one.

Education On How A Profitable Online Business Works

If you don’t run an online business, you wouldn’t necessarily know all the components that go into a pricing or product partitioning decision. If you have your own business, a lot of what I’m going to say now will be old hat. But remember that your clients and customers all too often don’t have such education. And because they don’t understand the back end of how a coaching or therapy business works, their perceptions can be a little skewed.

Here’s a little education on some of the basics if you’ve never seen the back-end of an online business. Pay attention, particularly if you feel prices asked are “unfair”. Here’s how the information marketing thing unpacks:

1) A full-price product or class or coaching group costs more because it’s more involved and much more work on my end and my team’s. We deserve to get paid well for our effort, this is the way online teachers, coaches and etc. make their money.

2) Only the person who creates the product knows the real value of it, and can set a fair price. If you don’t like the price someone set, move on and find someone teaching at your financial level or….uplevel your finances. There are coaches for that you can find by Googling “Financial” or “Abundance” coaching.

3) I can’t speak to anyone else’s business but my own so here’s my perspective as a business owner with a lot of calls on her time. My time is finite, so I choose to work in large groups where an hour of my time teaches anywhere from forty to hundreds of people. That way the message I have to get out to the world gets to the maximum amount of people, they pay far less than to hire me one-on-one privately, and I get paid well for the hours of research, composing, editing of the material, rehearsal if with others if present, and so on that take place before the class even begins.

4) Figure  for each one hour class you attend (even the freebies) perhaps 10 hours of thought and preparation went into that one hour. So you’re not just paying for an hour – you’re getting anywhere from eight to twelve actual hours of education condensed down into one for you….which is getting off cheap!

A coaching industry standard fee for a one-hour class in 2010 starts at $47. But if you figure 10 hours prep including the one hour of class, you’re paying a bit over FOUR DOLLARS AN HOUR. That’s totally CHEAP.

Therefore, don’t ask for anyone’s work for free.

4.5) I put plenty of free articles, teaching and coaching out there as do most coaches and teachers. If the person you want to learn from doesn’t, it would be good consumer feedback to let them know, and let them know you would be happy to test-drive any free products or trainings they put out for the payment of a great review. This will hopefully encourage your prospective teacher to consider putting out something in your price range. It won’t be the whole enchilada, more like a few good nibbles off the side. But it’ll still be delicious, filling and teach you something valuable.

And if you do get this….be happy. Send a glowing review (teachers really need these!). Work the program. Often it is helpful people like this that a vendor will decide to comp into their trainings. Couldn’t hurt to try, now could it?

5) Just as every teacher and coach out there, I can’t (and wouldn’t even if I could) give you the farm in a one hour class or free ebook, and have too much respect for myself and my hardworking team to give away our work for free other than the free telesminar and other events I already participate in.

Whatever price I put on my work is a fair representation of what went into it, is already made as affordable and as inexpensive as I can realistically make it. There are points of engagment at all possible levels.

6) The prevailing model that makes a coaching business profitable is teaching to hundreds at lower prices like $47 and $97, to a smaller group at the mid to high hundreds and to an even smaller, more intensely engaged-with group for several thousand, depending on the breadth and length of engagement.  It’s a good and fair model that allows win-win all around the board and allows a coach and their team to be fairly recompensed for their time and effort.

7) Which brings me to the point that there are TONS of expenses involved in creating a premium product that the buyer never sees or knows about, but that on our end, we need to recoup before we ever see a penny’s profit. That includes:

• paying monthly fees for shopping carts
• autoresponders so we can communicate with you
• merchant bank fees so we can sell our products easily
• packaging and fulfillment fees if a physical product
• help desk staff, assistants & editors
• website team who pulls it all together
• online research, marketing team and other unsung hero/ines of the journey

As an example in my case: multiple thousands in fees for a DVD project, for experts to shoot, cut, edit and so on. Plus untold hours writing, rehearsing and etc. on my part. The information is premium content that represents some of the best lessons I had to teach at the time. That DVD set like similar products others offer does not sell cheap. This is why. Paying rent or mortgage and buying food for our families is another reason why.

NOW HAVING SAID THAT….

And going back to Amanda’s example – Coaches/teachers/healers/etc. who misrepresent what you get in an entry-level product, constantly try to upsell you in a ham-handed manner are not cool.

Though….more than anything this indicates such a teacher’s immaturity, lack of learning or lack of enough time in the trenches. Your teacher acted irresponsibly, but remember that people also do this because they are:

(A) Scared

(B) Don’t know any better.

While you had a weird experience, it’s tremendously empowering to GIVE THANKS for the valuable lessons (you’ve learned more than you know), and to bless and release people like this. They *need* your blessings. And when you bless folks like this, it comes back to you, multiplied.

Plus, you’re aware of the integrity gap and how icky that feels.

Yay!

You now have a valuable tool to use in future situations like this. If you are or have ever been a Scout (GirlScout, BoyScout, Campfire Girl etc) – sew that badge to your vest, you now have a new and immeasurably valuable competency filter.

So really – you win in several different ways.

THE CURE: Having A Kitten In
Your Tummy Is Good For You

In any case, what about releasing judgment of the Unscrupulous Teacher… and also, of yourself? Judgment is never useful in such cases – we just use it to beat ourselves or others up with. What about thinking of making a “considered decision” and use that filter you gained to help you filter out the klutzes, the out-of-integrity & the just plain money-grubbing nasties? Done=Done

Now you know how good holding a baby, petting a puppy or kitten or getting a hug makes you feel…right? Feels good in the tummy, happy and warm, doesn’t it?

Look at the kitten…awwww…ain’t he cute? I had to take a break when I found this pic just to coo at it for several seconds. Happy and warm in the tummy. Mmmm…

Go for teachers who make you feel that way.

Who cheer for you, give you content with real meat on it, with rich juices dripping off in each encounter you have with them, who uphold your best interest in all ways, especially if you don’t even know what that is yet.

Teachers who tell you hard truths when necessary but always with love and more respect than you probably give yourself.

And who do this whether they are sharing a small piece of their particular pie with you, or the whole enchilada.

That’s a teacher, coach or therapist I’d want to hire and tell ALL of my friends about. That’s a precious resource to share with the world.

This is the reasonI try to bring great teachers I know and respect more exposure to a wider audience whenever I can. The more you SHARE resources like this, the greater will be your own benefit, and the benefit to all you expose these new teachers to.

On this flip side of all that this is – (and will you release that and all that these thoughts bring up NOW please….? Thank You)  there is the question:

Who do you feel about like a warm happy kitten in your tummy?

Who just “does it” for you? Who

- upholds you

- respects you

- loves you

- champions you

- GROWS you

just by being in your life?

If you’ve got that my friend, you’re blessed.

I’ve been so blessed many times in this life.

Am so thankful for many blessings.

The more thanks you give the more you have to give.

I intend the same for you.

Bright Blessings of Summer….

…Being a tutorial on How To Know You’re Being Scammed, How To Avoid Being Scammed & How To Make Lemonade In a Poor Learning Environment

PART I:

Amanda sounded-off on the previous post saying:

“I have heard several free teleseminars, and signed up for the $97 package….her offering was misrepresented (she apologized for that, but claimed no responsibility)…and essentially tells those of us who signed up that because we received such a large discount, we’re not getting the same benefits that her private clients get, AND if you really want the results that she promises, you need to sign up for the next level, at considerably higher cost.

I have learned many valuable tools but…I guess I’m feeling the “once bitten, twice shy” thing. I think the work is very valuable, …it just seems that some folks are working out of integrity, and then I’m left with the self-judgment of having made yet another “interesting” choice…”

First of all, THANK YOU Amanda for bringing up a number of issues here, that I think are  worth a more extended response, some talk about what fair and unfair is, and some general education that coaches, speakers, teachers and others who conduct information-based businesses really wish the general public knew.

I hope the following is helpful not just to Amanda, but everyone who has ever felt gypped, cheated, taken advantage of or used by someone selling a service. And on our side of the fence, every coach, therapist or other kind of teacher who has put their heart and soul into a product only to be told they stink, their product or training stinks and it’s not worth either the buyer’s time or what was paid for it.

The below is meant with respect, to educate.

And sometimes that takes hard truths.

Plus, there’s a lot that goes into running a coaching,
therapy or speaking business that you don’t know about, that bears on the decisions and behavior you’re seeing.

Put your dander in park.

Enjoy the ride.

The Map Is Not The Territory…

This NLP presupposition is particularly apropos when talking about He Said/She Said and other Point Of View type of situations.

The consumer has their point of view “I’ve been screwed” but the vendor has their own point of view too, which ranges from “I truly care about my customers and clients, I’ve done my best to explain the product and will deal fairly with them in whatever they need. ” to the less prosiac: “Screw the customer.”

Crappy trainings, constant annoying/unskillful upsell and dismissive teachers infatuated with their own mystique and the observations Amanda made about her experience  are the “elephant in the middle of the room” in the world of coaches and other service professionals. There are both unscrupulous people involved in selling their wares, as well as people who think they know what they’re talking about …. and simply don’t. And who just don’t get it. And who pass that not getting it on to an unsuspecting public.

Unfortunately, Amanda seems to have gotten one of these. I’m sorry Amanda, that you had that kind of experience. But having had that experience, you’ve actually come out more a winner than you know.

More about that below. But first to address everyone:

On the flip side of the disgruntled buyer situation, there’s the customer having unrealistic expectations of the class or product, or not knowing what they’re signing up for because they didn’t do the homework, or didn’t read the sales page entirely, check the guarantee or ask hard questions of the trainers before buying.

Each side of this equation has valid points, but there is a commonality: Education and communication. These are the key factors in why a training is perceived as “bad” after the fact or a customer feels scammed. This resolves into three categories:

1.  Either the teacher didn’t tell the prospective students what to expect

2. The teacher is lying (call it “creative accounting” if you will – amounts to the same thing)

3. The student expected much more than was ever on the table, and didn’t check those expectations out before they bought-in.

Let’s examine all sides of this equation. I’ll also give you some real Coaching Tips and a Cure for this problem you can implement immediately…

I’ll come out front and say I’ve been in situations, trainers/coaches/healers/etc. like this before myself. Several times early in my coaching training I took marketing trainings that ranged from decent to sucky. The suckier ones of these were inevitably given by someone who barely knew what they were talking about themself, or a self-styled “guru” who was too full of themself to care about their students once the money was in the bank.

While I’ve for the most part stopped taking such trainings, I do like to have a refresher every now and then. So earlier this year I participated in a training that had me rolling my eyes at the lack of integrity.

Like the training Amanda referenced, (though costing in the several-thousands) this program was very content-light and aimed at beginners when advertised (and sold to me) as advanced, the “guru” was rarely there when advertised as the main teacher, and she left the teaching to incompetent subordinates who simply read from the pdfs. Ugh. The training was definitely set up to be a clearing house for the even-more-expensive program the person was offering and heavily promoted throughout. And…the guru and her teachers seemed surprised that more of us didn’t want to buy into the next training. That always has astounded me, that you would give a shitty training, not look at your feedback forms to KNOW that it was shitty, then be surprised people aren’t begging for more.

I asked the hard questions before buying as well, and can’t call it anything but what it was. Her organization blatantly lied to me and to others I spoke with about the nature and scope of the training. NOT Attractive!

---

Gurus, this is for you:

WHY on earth would you lie to a prospective customer who is clearly not in your demographic, or on the flip side, who doesn’t have the funds to pay your fees – even the least expensive ones?

Are you THAT BROKE with all your cars, expensive art, the  house in the country and the other one in the City and your elite Diamond and Platinum clients (that you constantly tout)  that you need to deceive people?

Because that’s how this kind of behavior comes off. And it ain’t cool. Not even close.

It’s downright chilly.

And as  karma is a very real force, I’m issuing a challenge to you to STEP UP, tell the Truth, even if it means losing customers. You’ll make a good friend and earn good-karma points by sending them to the people you know who DO offer what they need.

---

…So sometimes Amanda, and others reading this -  even if you do all your homework you can still get a sucky experience. It was up to me to turn my experience around, mine the few valuable resources it contained and go on. I’d suggest you do this with any training you come up against that’s like this.

Oh and also don’t wait for things to get better as I did. I wanted to ask for my money back after the first week, when I found the “guru” wasn’t to be present in our actual class meetings. But I thought “wait and see”. I want to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. So I let it go too long and the “ask for a refund by this date” blew past me. If you get that icky feeling in the pit of your stomach – pull out and ask for a refund immediately. Learn from my mistake please.

So yes, I get it.

Speaking as a business owner….taking responsibility for everything in my business, A-Z is the ONLY thing I can do and remain in integrity. I can pass some jobs off to other people who do them better than me (and do!) but the buck stops with me, the business owner. You too, I bet.

I’ve fluffed it with my students before and done my best to make it up to them. Sometimes due to family issues or pressures of writing a book or producing an intensely-engaging product, I’ve let commitments to my students slide. And mostly, they’ve understood, gone “Uh, hello – we’re here and we need help” and that’s all it took for me to get back to them. If you’re at this place in a training, schedule a one-on-one with the teacher and let them know they’re letting you down.

BUT CAVEAT EMPTOR: BUYER BEWARE.  BE SURE FIRST – that you have a reasonable expectation of a seller’s behavior and what you should be getting (what was promised) out of the product or program. If you were promised a private session with the guru and it hasn’t come to pass, call them on it. If you EXPECT an hour (or more) of coaching and only half an hour was promised – don’t go there. Be reasonable.

“When In Frustration” Coaching Tip:

On the flipside…when you’re dealing with little to no content, upsell-upsell-upsell and blah answers to your serious questions…it’s not very attractive, is it? Pisses you off. But, despite all that, those of us who have gone through this kind of experience have a really good filter set to tell those without integrity from those  we’d like better.

Take that filtering you gained, as a GOOD OUTCOME of this experience, along with the valuable tools you did learn.

Remember where in your body you FELT IT when you realized you’d been had. Then if you go for another opportunity like this, check in with that part of the body not once but several times before you make your final decision. This kind of thing happens no matter what the price of the intro product is. It’s the quality of the teacher involved, not the price point. Vote with your feet in such cases.

Amanda shares:“She tells us because we received such a large discount, we’re not getting the same benefits that her private clients get…”

Well that’s just dandy, isn’t it? It almost sounds like a “neener, neener, you can’t have any” when I’ll bet what she meant to do was entice you into buying up to the private client level. So your coach really doesn’t know how to communicate correctly. Not only did she misrepresent the benefits, but had crappy delivery. You’re miffed and I understand that.  You bought the product and by gosh, you wanted those results promised on the sales page! Fair enough.

I don’t know how the product was offered, if you were offered a choice of three tiers on the page and chose the least expensive, or just how it went down. But Communication is the issue here. Often a tiered stack is how such offers will be presented. Here’s how most of us do this, either in a sales page or through a sales conversation with someone:

“Inexpensive Package A gets these benefits ( typically followed by a bullet point list). Medium-range Package B gets all the benefits of Package A PLUS the following bullet-point list of extras. Expensive Package C gets all the benefits in A and B and ALSO these following bullet pointed benefits.”

That way, there are no mistakes, and your buyer knows exactly what they’re getting.

The Responsible Position, or, what your coach didn’t do:
As a business owner, if I realized I screwed up and people were disgruntled, I’d give them their money back and say so long if that’s what they wanted. I’ve done this when weirdness has happened and it’s always the best policy. No harm, no foul. Particularly if misrepresentation is on the table, you’ve every right to ask for your money back.

Also as the business owner, I’d want if possible, to repair relations with the disgruntled person, and if not, to have their angry energy out of my environment as soon as possible.

If you’re a coach, teacher or other service provider in such as situation – give back the money. Trust me, you NEVER need money like this. It’s poison that will contaminate the energy of your business.

Give it up.

However….let’s look at the other side of this equation – Outcome Expectancy.

On this side of the fence, the consumer can equally be responsible for what happens in a buying transaction. Lets  float an analogy of vendors at the county fair. After hearing a vendor extol the virtues of his apple PIE, a customer passes the pie counter, picks up and pays for a single APPLE….but  in his own mind for whatever reason, EXPECTS to get the entire PIE.

The vendor, happy with making an apple sale, adds value by caramel coating the apple, and  kicks in a coupon for a dollar off a whole pie. The vendor sees this as an “I’m being nice” upgrade.

The customer, due to their Outcome Expectancy of wanting the whole $20 pie for the 50¢ apple price, sees this as a scam and tells all their friends “The Apple Pie guy took my money and didn’t give me what I paid for!”

The sign in front of the apples says “Apples, 50¢”.  The vendor took 50¢ from the customer. That’s pretty transparent. So why does the anger happen on the customer’s part? He made assumptions way beyond the scope of the product’s stated worth or intrinsic value.

Ok, so this is a silly analogy, but you get the point and can extrapolate out to things you might have bought and been dissatisfied with.

Let’s just say this is the case with a product like a $97 taster sample of what that coach had to offer. It was fully explained on the sales page, the upscale training was also explained in a series of bullet points as outlined above.

Any training inexpensive as $97 is BOTH a complete training in – whatever facet of the major topic it is designed to address – PLUS a “taster” of the coach’s services should you wish to engage them at a deeper level. But it’s NO WAY meant to be a full training in the entire scope of the topic, A-Z.  That’s what the higher level trainings are for. You jump in, get your feet wet and if you like what you’ve learned, you level-up and get more info. This is the “college approach” where you take English 101 before English 201, 301, 401 & 501. Same idea. Such trainings are incremental and build on each other.

This common laddering of skills learning should not be seen as “scamming” by the public unless the trainer really poorly communicates this concept.

Let’s say the coach is on the up & up with this, and has fairly represented themself from the beginning.

But the buyer wants more and ASSUMES that ALL their needs will be fulfilled by the cheaper option. Well you know that old saying about assuming so I won’t repeat it here. Suffice to say before you buy, do a REALITY CHECK.

Coaching Questions To Ask Yourself:

1) Why am I buying this product?
2) What do I hope to get out of it?
3) Does what I want to get and my eventual goal match up to the description of the training or product?

if not…then consider another purchase.  If you STILL feel you should be getting a huge pretty package of more stuff than advertised for that price then…

Some tough love:

When you pay $97 for a cut-price hotel room do you complain to the manager because you weren’t given the honeymoon suite?  No, of course not. If you’d got the honeymoon suite for $97 you’d wonder what the heck was wrong with the room.

(I’d probably be checking the closet for Mother at this point)

The honeymoon suite, just like any premium level product, contains much more care lavished on it at greater expense – personal attention from an assigned wait-person, much bigger space and more amenities, an in-room spa, nicer bed, assorted extra food and toiletry items and so on. You’d expect to pay more for a premium product like that and be suspicious if the honeymoon suite were offered to you for peanuts. (as well you should be)

Ditto a premium priced coaching program where the coach spends more time on her clients, gives them extra insider secrets, or a private phone line to contact her with, or advanced training or free live events etc. that those who pay for lesser products don’t get.

You get what you pay for, and shouldn’t expect the Premium Product for a relatively cheap investment. And yes, the $47 or $97 class is a relatively cheap investment.

I’m not talking to anyone in particular here, but IF this speaks to your sentiments….why would you be miffed at not getting what a coach’s premium clients get for the substantially cheaper fee you paid for a reduced-service product?

Would you expect your doctor or dentist to give you such a steep discount? No. Don’t expect it of any business coach, therapist or other service provider. It disrespects the provider and yourself too.

Does that cheese you off?  Get Over It.  This is How authors, coaches, speakers, healers, therapists and everyone else, online or off, make a living.

If you’re a subscriber of mine & think we should be giving the product of our hard work, hearts and souls away for cheap or free – please unsubscribe from my list right this minute. You’ll be doing us both a favor.

And..this is why like many coaches, I do joint ventures with organizations like Maestro Conference and people like Linda Pannell, Lisa Garr, Debra Thompson,  Adela Rubio, Ellen Britt, Michelle Skaletski Boyd and Tom Buford to name a few. Folks who offer free teachings to anyone who can pick up a phone or listen on computer.

So that there is an option for folks who are cash-strapped.

So that there is a range of offers for all ends of the spectrum. And I pack that option as full of value for the short time we’re together as I pack my longer paid programs.

I Do Not however, serve the gratitude-free.

Neither should you.

TWO Coaching Tips:
Before purchase, ASK EVERY QUESTION YOU NEED TO about a product, the guarantee for that product, what exact parts the product contains and so on.

If you expected marketing training out of a basic EFT course and didn’t check it out, that would be one example of an incorrect assumption & expectation plus failure to verify parameters of the deal. DO. NOT. ASSUME.

So if you didn’t ask, your bad. If the vendor didn’t take every opportunity to clarify the parameters to you – their bad.

I personally have been on both sides of this, so yes I can speak to both the customer and the vendor bit. We’re all learning, making mistakes (there is no failure, only feedback – remember?) and growing. 

2nd Tip - WANT for others what you want for yourself. In the note above I asked you to unsubscribe if you wanted me to give you things that are immensely valuable for cheap or free. That means you don’t want me to make a living which besides being disrespectful also prevents YOU from making a living.

Check your feelings and your life – if you have this feeling of deep entitlement like the world (or me, or anyone else) “owes” you, how are your finances? Probably not great.

Truly abundant people want to share the wealth. It’s a lesson to take if you want to improve your life – want for others what you want for yourself.

Tune in again tomorrow for PART II: Crucial Knowledge, Scouting Badges & Why Having a Kitten in your Tummy Is Good For You

Just a week! In just a week I’m going to be on a big jet plane bound for PARIS. Whee! Well, that’s if the British Airlines folks are done striking and will consent to honor my ticket and ferry me there. 

So looking forward to my first real vacation in years! And for a month! Me! Whee!

Of course as I mentioned earlier here, you’re going to have a chance to come with me on the “DO THE IMPOSSIBLE” world tour, Paris edition and learn how to make the “impossible” (ain’t no such-a thing) happen in YOUR life.

Get in here! If you’re interested in being an Early Adopter (I reward Early Adopters very heavily) you can join my “Do The Impossible” Experience in Paris by filling in this handy form. I’ll be holding some very special calls and giving you previews of what’s going to happen and also what isn’t. Only those on this list will have a chance to get in on the earlybird and help me PLAN A DAY IN PARIS to videotape, and did I mention my super-secret weightloss tips? I’ve lost 75+ pounds so far, just doing my “energy thing” – so can you.  Sign up now – I’ll even send you a free gift of Parisian lore!

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In Which Broke-But-Brilliant Conscious Entrepreneurs Win Really, Really Big.

I decided that The EFT Marketing School is the last time I’m ever going to teach marketing for service professionals. I’ve been successful teaching this kind of program and I really love the conscious entrepreneurs I’ve met (they’re up to such exciting things!), but ultimately…it’s not the reason I’m here, and not the work I’m meant to do.

But I know there are many of you who read these pages and are subscribed to my newsletter who are still in great, great need of connecting the dots between you and your Ideal Clients, sweet profits and the work YOU were meant to do.

Maybe you didn’t get in on any of my trainings because you’ve just been waiting for the “right time” to invest in the right training to generate clients, make friends and have a ton of fun, ethically and naturally.

Well let me tell you, that time is now. Because the people you were uniquely meant to serve, who can only hear that unique message from YOU are out there. And they’re suffering without your wisdom and experience to guide them.

After comparing many, many service business marketing programs similar to my own, the perfect teacher for me to refer you to for great teaching, and tapping for elimination of your “marketing ick” is good friend and EFT Master – Pamela Bruner! Learn more about her amazing offer here:

http://bit.ly/9qwtod

We just had a lovely call with Pamela on 6-Figure Success Formula. If you help others for a living and aren’t making the money you need to and are stressing out about it, you’ll want to sign up for the call even though it’s over as you’ll get a replay of our fantastic tutorial/interview.

I was just a tad on the sleepy side when we left the call and had some other happy things to say which you might possibly be interested to hear — especially if you’re into Conscious Business, Sustainability in income as well as elsewhere, and feelin’ blissful. Check it out here and get a replay:

http://bit.ly/9qwtod

Pamela shared with the Transformational Entrepreneur/business owners in my community how to market ethically, joyfully and effectively, without being perceived as a Charlie Cheeze-Weasel. And while making fat stacks of cash by simply offering who you are naturally, to the specific people you were put on earth to help.

so just to recap, we stop “pushing string” and “rowing upstream” in our marketing.

can you say “whew”? i knew you could.

Pamela’s background, #EFT Mastery that helps you get clear of your marketing blockages is enough to pay hundreds for, but all that she’s teaching in terms of naturally training you to market your business with ease, grace and joy, represents a very rich package. What she’s offering is worth thousands of dollars, which I approve of as that’s a value I have in crafting trainings myself. But then Pamela revealed an amazing price -only $97 a month.

(a month? very cool.)

Dunno how she does it, but if you help others for a living yet aren’t making diddley, you gotta get in there quick. If you have to forgo dinner out twice a month for a few to take this training, let me tell you, it’s worth it. You’re going to get past those key “ew, ick!” marketing challenges and bring more in the door than you spent on the training by a darnsight.

You’ll also learn how to reach those whose suffering your unique “package” of life, trainings and experiences can really help, and make a great living – naturally.

http://bit.ly/9qwtod

Run, don’t walk. For the first THREE in the door from those on this call or listening to it, Pamela’s offering a free coaching session. Really, really kind of her, and high-value for you. Enjoy!

If you haven’t yet encountered Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT, you’re in for a treat. If you’re an old hand, you’ll still enjoy this “spiritual documentary” (a la “The Secret”) style introduction to what EFT can do, and features some of my most esteemed colleagues. Really beautiful work – pass this one along to your friends and families. And, as Gary is retiring March 1st and has said he will be taking his website down, if the link at the end no longer works, you can download a free “EFT Quickstart” from me, here (will open in a new window)

http://maryamwebster.com/eftbasics/

EFT Works Great for Pain

I know. I used it to help me end years of chronic pain from a broken back, and to heal those tissues and  even grow new bone. Oh yes, you really can. EFT is a really great introduction to energy magic for people of all ages, cultures and belief systems. Pass this one on too. You can use a sophisticated Energy Coaching technique called “Borrowing Benefits” to tap along with Gary here as the pain is tapped out. Just think of your own pain for a moment, then let it go and use the lady’s set-up phrasing and reminder phrases. Tap right along. Get over it.

GREAT back pain release video

This one is from Robert Smith. He’s a wonderfully intuitive EFT practitioner and teacher. Beautiful NLP related interventions and submodality shifting for you NLPers in the community. Enjoy this video and especially if you had back pain like I did, this will be a welcome relief. Again Borrow Benefits, as you tap along with Robert and the lady with horse related issues…and a big pain in her back that goes away in a really interesting process:

Can KIDS do EFT? You bet’cha! (they’re a lot smarter than we are, y’know?)

I’ve taught children young as four how to tap with EFT and though I don’t have one, I highly recommend a Tappy Bear.  (I turned my childhood bear into such a happy tapping guide a few years ago) They’re the BOMB for teaching EFT to kids! Enjoy this wonderful video from Karin Gustafson teaching a little boy how to tap with a homemade tapping bear. The giggles alone are worth listening – and Borrowing Benefits – through the whole video. For those who don’t resonate to “I’m a good boy” – “I’m okay and feel grrrrreat!” is a good substitute.

Come claim your FREE “The EFT Way To Market Your Services: More Clients, Money & Fun in 2010″ intro class at http://eftmarketingschool.com You’ll learn more in this FREE CLASS than you will in any other, AND GET COACHED ON YOUR BUSINESS. More genuine “take-action takeaways” than you’ll experience any other place.

Why You Need To Take This Class Now

Gary Craig, the founder of Emotional Freedom Techniques or EFT, is retiring after many years, and taking his massive, resource-crammed website down. Latest reports say he has put off his retirement from January 15th to March 1st due to the overwhelming amount of requests for a little more time to copy website materials and shut down the business. I for one have benefitted tremendously from Gary’s work and want to tender a personal “thank you and well done – rest well deserved”. Without EFT, there would be no Energy Coach Institute and I would not have been able to create the profession of Energy Coaching!

In this week’s tribute to Gary’s work, my colleague Pat Carrington brought up that people were upset over the fact that Gary’s fantastic marketing skills that would no longer be available to the community. “Who will teach us how to market our businesses when Gary is gone?” she cites one client as saying.

Just as I took up the challenge to help Gary market EFT along with several other top tappers and EFT Masters five years ago, I’m taking up the challenge today to offer this kind of training to you, the EFT Practitioner.

Gary and I both trained in the same neurolinguistic programming business marketing methods, and I have additional experience as a professional industrial psychologist researching what makes products & services sell, plus training in Guerrilla Marketing, in how to Get Clients Now and Book Yourself Solid. These are only three of the over thirty service business marketing programs I’ve taken in the last ten years.

I’ve spent probably fifty to seventy-five thousand dollars to learn these secrets and now, I am going to share them with you in a unique program created especially for EFT Practitioners, Coaches & Therapists – a unique blend of time-tested techniques you simply CAN’T learn elsewhere.

If you’re ready to stop practicing at it and get really good at your business – good enough to take lots of time off, be there when you want to for your family, take liberal vacations, buy whatever you need without worry and all the other things you may have been putting off, go over to:

http://eftmarketingschool.com

and GRAB YOUR SEAT FAST. We have two FREE classes that begin next week, so hop to it!

“You are Love, You are Loved and You are Loving”
- d. deLarm, the Missouri sweet medicine man

At this point in time, many people aren’t having that great an experience of life.

The economy sucks, jobs are lost, relationships are suffering and affordable healthcare seems like a dream. And everyone dislikes some aspect of their life. Thighs and hips are still top the list, followed by jobs, spouses, the economy, personal problems and concerns about our kids.

People are really focusing on the negative, even meditators and therapists I’ve known for years to be the voice of good cheer.

And we wonder why there’s fighting in the world!

LOVE YOUR LIFE TIP #1:

I’ve been teaching this for years but never has it been more important for us to really GET:

“What you give A.I.R. – Your Attention, Your Intention and Repetition – LIVES. And what you give your attention, and intention to repetitively, will manifest more and more in your life.”

Like the flab on your thighs, the dwindling balance in your bank account, how horrible your relationship is, etc. It’s really just that simple. But people don’t get it, and keep paying attention to the bad, not the good in their lives.

(it was a “duh!” moment when I realized this)

One way you can realize when you’re doing this is an old trick from behavioral psychology. Loop a rubber bandaround your wrist and snap it every time you catch yourself thinking negatively. It will soon insert a “pause” in your process where you can choose. A choice you could make given the previous example might be: “Do I want to dwell on how horrible it is to be fat, or will I take a walk and think about how wonderful my thighs will feel when they NO LONGER rub together?”

This simple process inserts Choice, and gives the monkey-mind that tends to fix on negative things, a pleasant and positive alternative. Just keep feeling the air between your thighs, or seeing that gold gleaming in your bank account, or whatever it is that really turns you on when you think about it.

People need those kind of alternatives.

That’s why I want your help to Spread Love to End War as a grass-roots people’s movement.

Let me explain:

Doesn’t it stand to reason, that if we stop fighting ourselves internally, and learn to love ourselves really well, and spend more of our time in a state of supreme bliss, that we’ll be less warlike as a planet?

That’s my goal, because I know that if you love yourself well, you become a beacon to spread that love out to others who don’t have as many happy resources inside themselves.

And what happens when one center of love spreads the love outward? Other people start loving themselves! And outward it spreads, as a movement.

Like a virus, exuding love is infectious. People get happy just being around you!

Isn’t that COOL?

That’s why I’m bringing it back home with these tips, and in sharing more deeply on in our Love Your Life Again Class.

When you learn to love all of you, 100%, even your thighs, and your boss and your bank balance, those things CHANGE. Did you know that? Extra coolness.

Here’s another important tip on how to feel good. I think you’ll find it easy and even enjoyable to implement, to help you, and everyone around you to spread the Love virus:

LOVE YOUR LIFE TIP #2:

If we know the right questions to ask, we open up even more possibilities for happiness, in.come, relationship goodness, and other things you may be seeking. Here’s an absolute barn-burner of a question to ask – and not be attached to any answer or outcome of:

“What generative energy, space and consciousness can I be to manifest ______________?”

Fill in the blank with the SOLUTION you’re wanting – NOT the problem.

Then say: “Anything that wouldn’t allow that to happen, I uncreate, dissolve and release it completely”. Take in a big breath, blow it out, and let it all go.

Then, super-power this affirmation, with the ETHOS Method cues and step aside into your Unlimited Self where these problems don’t exist. You also might wish to use the One-Point acuhold if you respond best to meridian energy work.

If you have difficulty letting things go, want to join a Master Class in The ETHOS Method, or just want more support, love & joy in your life, please join us for the “Love Your Life Again” class. I promise, you’ll come out of this month-long class changed in ways that will delight you!

Is Now the right time to turn YOUR life around? If so, join us:

http://www.maryamwebster.com/love-your-life-again/

This material is literally changing people’s lives. I taught a large chunk of it last year in my three month 12 Keys To Bliss program, and am committed to EVERYONE having the same result as Sandy did in that class. She says:

“I want to give this class and Maryam a resounding testimonial!
I thought I was happy. I had a great life, good marriage, great
kids. But was I really blissful? When I thought about it I had to
admit no I wasn’t. I signed up more out of curiosity to improve
my life and got SO much more than I expected! It changed my life
for the better in many, many ways. I learned great techniques and
tools to set us on our path that I can use for the rest of my
life, that I can help my kids, teach my clients. They were easy &
simple to learn yet lifechanging and profound. I’m very very
grateful and happy that I’ve taken this class. Every day I enjoy
my life more and don’t feel life is passing me by.  I’m living my
life to the fullest!”

- Sandy Lenz
Hypnotherapist & EFT Practitioner
Bourne, Massachussets

Until next time, I wish you that same happiness and bliss – each and every day. Spread it around!

the mind | body | soul retreat Don’t you love Louise Hay? I picked up her wonderful affirmations book “You Can Heal Your Life” twenty years ago and have been hooked ever since. And do you know Louise gives a retreat each year? This one is super-spectacular with your favorite life-change authors like Dr. Wayne Dyer, Byron Katie, James Twyman, Joan Borysenko, energy psychobiology pioneer Dr. Bruce Lipton…and the list goes on. Louise sent me an email about it to pass on to you so I’ll let her tell you the rest. This sounds like an amazing retreat though – will you be there?? Check it out: ….Come to beautiful Tampa for a life-changing retreat. We want to make it easier for you to see your favorite authors, so we’re presenting the I Can Do It! Tampa 2009 conference (November 19–22, 2009) at a reduced price! If you register today, you will receive pricing for as low as $50! Plus, you will have the opportunity to learn from some of the biggest names in the industry. Come for the day, the evening, or the entire weekend. This is an inspiring event that you won’t want to miss! Meet us for a Mind, Body, and Soul Retreat! Discover and rediscover yourself over and over! Bring a friend, a spouse, or just yourself. With over 30 amazing authors and over 35 sessions to choose from, you’ll want to be part of this unique and uplifting opportunity to recharge and rejuvenate yourself. Learn from the masters. You’ll get the opportunity to see the internationally renowned author Dr. Wayne W. Dyer; world-renowned psychic Sylvia Browne; noted spiritual teacher and intuitive Caroline Myss; the author of the international bestseller You Can Heal Your Life Louise L. Hay; renowned psychics John Holland and Lisa Williams; authors Gregg Braden; Sonia Choquette; Dr. Bruce Lipton; Dr. Brian L. Weiss; Byron Katie; Sandra Anne Taylor; Bernie S. Siegel, M.D.; Cheryl Richardson; Marcelle Pick; Neil Einbund, Ph.D.; Robert Ohotto; Peggy McColl; Lauren Mackler; Denise Linn; David Kessler; Marilyn Kagan, LCSW; Eldon Taylor; James F. Twyman; Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D.; Jean Haner; Chris “SparkGuy” Downie; Barbara Carrellas; Joan Z. Borysenko, Ph.D.; Colette Baron-Reid; Marianne Williamson; Caroline Sutherland; Thomas Moore; and Loretta LaRoche. In addition, you’ll be able to attend riveting workshops, sit in on live radio shows, and enjoy spiritual nourishment at the I Can Do It! Tampa 2009 conference. We look forward to seeing you soon! Full Conference Pass – $250 for general seating (preferred seating is sold out) includes Friday evening keynote, all day Saturday, all day Sunday, and discounts to preconference events. Thursday Keynote Pass Featuring Sylvia Browne and Colette Baron-Reid - Only $75 preferred seating / $50 general seating! Friday Preconference Pass – $150 features your choice among seven intensive all-day workshops. The Friday workshops are discounted 50% with the purchase of a full conference pass. Friday Keynote Pass Featuring Wayne Dyer – Only $75! Saturday All-Day Pass – $195 features welcome by Louise Hay, keynote by Bruce Lipton, AND your choice of workshops. Sunday All-Day Pass – $195 features keynote by Gregg Braden AND your choice of workshops. Click here for complete details and to register online. The I Can Do It! conference events are held at The Tampa Convention Center from November 19–22, 2009. Hurry! Preferred seating has sold out and general seating is going fast!

Come join us for “Loving Your Life Again: The Tools, Techniques and Coaching To Get and Keep You Conscious, In Joy and Aligned With Your Highest Purpose Every Day”

This is a Four Week Teleclass with online eCampus, Forums, Community Center & Resources with me, Maryam Webster, creator of the Energy Transformation and Healing Open Source Method and expert in how to be happy every day, all the time.

Yep, YOU CAN do it! It’s even going to be fun… 

And, there’s a special bonus: When you get happy and stay that way every day like you’re going to learn in this class, it rubs off onto other people and THEY get happy.

As a result, YOU become the center of a peaceful wave that ripples outward.

Guess what that does? It creates peace around the planet. Or at the very least, it creates a whole lot of other happy people. And happy people are rarely violent, and don’t start or participate in wars.

Result: A Great Opportunity To Create World Peace.

We make ourselves happy and the world gets happy as a result. (is that cool or what?)

Don’t knock it, it really does work.  Join us and spread the love:

Details Of This Extraordinary Opportunity:

DATES: WEDNESDAYS THROUGH SEPTEMBER: 9th, 16th, 21st & 30th

PLUS: (My accountant says I’m crazy, but -) Register now, and I’ll give you a BONUS WEEK of Everyday Bliss Coaching & Resources on Oct 7th

TIME: 10:00am PT/1:00pm ET / 6:00pm UK in 75 minute sessions

WHERE: On the phone (number sent with registration) and The Energy Coach Institute’s exclusive online university ecampus

Join us even if you can’t make the time – it will all be recorded and available in our private eCampus, and you’ll have access to all the resources (see below for the perks) for an entire year.

Register, here:

Using my Everyday Bliss Process coupled with the powerful tools of energy therapy and The ETHOS Method in particular, you will learn these power tools:

• Grace Under Fire: Drop stress like a hot potato, the second it starts
• FightFear.fm: Keep the fear off your “radio station” to avoid attracting bad things
• Comfy & Clear: Get Conscious and Stay that way – be comfy inside your own skin!
• Trap Mapper: Avoid the 3 common traps that suck us back into unconscious misery
• Outsmart Your Own Brain: Short-circuit your primitive biology to stay Conscious
• FastChange: Hate your thighs? Your job? Your relationship? We’ll deal with it!
• Bring On Abundance: Wade out of financial muck using your body
• Fire Your Inner Executioner: Free yourself from those inner voices that torture you
• Painbody Pulverizer: gain immunity from the hateful situations it attracts
• Calm Children: Use ETHOS with your Children to deal with their issues & aid school success
• Goal Magnetizer: Use ETHOS in a startling new way to realize goals you never have been able to before

JUICY BONUSES that make up an entire SECOND CLASS in how to improve your life & success rate in every way:

• My 9-Day Spiritual Self-Improvement Program:
  “Just For Today”
• The bombshell “Unquenchable Ethusiasm” Lesson 7
  from “The Laws of Success” by Napoleon Hill that is
  the foundation of “The Secret” book, and material of
  other teachers like Abraham-Hicks, Wayne Dyer,
  Louise Hay and Eckhart Tolle.

Is today the day you’ll join us and improve your life? Register, here:

An Open Letter from Maryam

In case you read the blog but are not on my email list, this is to let you know that effective immediately, all of my public offerings, including classes at The Energy Coach Institute, are on indefinite hiatus.

Thank you, for the beautiful memories, and invaluable experience.

I’m taking my own advice, following my Bliss, and honoring that I need to take a break from teaching to rest, renew and research new possibilities.

This is something I am doing mindfully and with great joy. It feels light in body, mind and soul, and I’m full of gratitude to have the full support of my family and those close to me.

If you’re worried about me – please don’t be – I’m just fine, am moving onward and upward, and looking forward to the infinite possibilities. What grand and glorious adventures are around the corner? It’s going to be so much fun finding out!

Until then…you can follow me on Twitter if you’d like a running stream of consciousness:

http://twitter.com/maryamwebster

Or connect on Facebook:

http://maryamwebster.com/facebook.html

And please take my invitation to get started benefitting yourself and the world around you with  The ETHOS Method. Bonus points if you join our community and start sharing in the forums!

Live Your  Bliss…

Warm Blessings,
Maryam