“Choose A Live Event” Checklist | Are you looking to make the right decision about attending a live event?

Whoa!  You’re not imagining things – there are a lot of events to choose from these days!  Gee whiz, which one is right for you?

Of all the choices I have, how can I make the right decision about which live event I should attend?

Obviously, most people make this decision emotionally.  It’s lonely being a small business owner after all.  And after all those long weeks, don’t you deserve to reward yourself?

There’s nothing at all wrong with that, but it pays to be rational about it as well, especially with SO MANY events to choose from, and only so much time and money that you can really spend trolloping along to events.

Putting aside the fun factor for a moment…

The upshot is simple:

What is the total cost of attending an event? (Money, time, lost opportunities, physical wear and tear, all of that.)

What is the total benefit of attending an event? (Increased income, potential for increased income, leveraged contacts, and much more – there are a LOT of benefits, tangible and intangible.)

Put those two answers together and what do you get? A pretty good cost-benefit analysis for attending.

But that said, like tens of thousands of entrepreneurs like you, you have a budget for personal and professional development.  So you plan, let’s say, to attend at least one, or perhaps more, live events each year.

In that case, I’ve developed an easy-breezy ‘Choosing a Live Event’ Checklist for you below, to further help. It includes a few lines for you to fill in, because each one of us has our own criteria. This makes the rational part of the decision making process much more evident.

I hope you find this useful.  If you do, please forward it to someone you think could benefit as well…would you?

“How to Choose a Live Event” Checklist

Did you know that there are over 80 seminars, workshops and events happening every year, and growing, each of them specifically designed to help you, the small business owner, succeed?

Amazing, isn’t it?  And, it’s great news.

Because it means that you have many more options than I did when I first started my business 13 years ago.

Thank goodness for options, because there are many different kinds of entrepreneur, and now you can choose the live event that will suit you, your values and your success path most. I invite you to carefully consider the field of options, because your choice of live event can have a real impact on your success as a small business owner, year after year.

Here’s a link to the PDF version for easy printing.

And here are just the questions.  To really benefit from this checklist, be sure to use the PDF worksheet at the above link.

Now review your answers and rank or choose the event you most want to attend, then register to begin reaping the rewards of your clarity.

1.	Is the event in a geographically positive (convenient, environmental, energetically fitting) location?
2.	Is the training a good value-for-dollar? Does it permit me to make payments, if that’s better for me?
3.	Will there be frequent high-pressure scenarios to invest further than my comfort zone?
4.	Is there a support system to taking action and following through post-event?
5.	Is the agenda leading-edge and future-oriented, addressing topics I can’t get addressed elsewhere?
6.	Can I speak with previous attendees to candidly hear their comments without filters?
7.	Will I be learning business models in addition to technical how-to?
8.	Will I also be learning how to grow and sustain myself as an entrepreneur and human being?
9.	Will I be able to access the hosts and presenters easily in a group that’s the size I’m comfortable networking in?
10.	Will I be intellectually stimulated and challenged to develop in surprising ways?
11.	Does the event represent an entrepreneurial community I’d be proud to associate with?
12.	Will the community serve my long-term needs if I return yearly, and as I become a more experienced business owner?
13.	Is the event community open, welcoming and helpful to newcomers?
14.	How current/fresh is the content that I will be learning?
15.	How practical is the content that I will be learning and will there be new case studies?
16.	Will what I learn increase my fees or income?
17.	Will attending bring me more business/clients? Estimating how much?
18.	Will what I learn support me in my definition of balance and success? Work hours, lifestyle, leverage?
19.	Will I be exposed to key concepts that clients will pay a premium for?
20.	Will what I learn set me apart from others in my market?
21.	Will the training be complete and actionable without additional investment?
22.	Will I leave clearer or more overwhelmed?
23.	Will I leave tired and if so, how much recuperation or down-time should I plan for?
24.	Will what I learn stay with me long term, and equip me to make better decisions later?
25.	Is there another reason to travel to this event – client for-fee work locally, other business generation, etc.?
26.	Is the event hosted by an organization that walks its talk and whose values I respect?
27.	Does the event look enjoyable and like I can comfortably be my real self without pretense?
28.	Can I get a 100% refund if I am not completely satisfied?
29.	_________________________________________________ (insert your additional criteria here)
30.	_________________________________________________ (insert your additional criteria here)

When The People Who Help You Collect Money Online Have New Rules – It Pays To Pay Attention

My friend Ken McArthur has the ear of people in the know, and the people in the know say that new rules have arrived.

Most of us take our payment processing for granted. It’s like our banks…do you ever worry that they’d refuse to let you withdraw money? But if shopping carts, merchant accounts, and other payment processing tools were to disappear, wow, where would we be, right?

For the full list of guidelines, click here to read Ken McArthur’s post in his Marketing Thoughts Blog. Thanks, Ken, for passing along this direct source of info!

Three Major Entrepreneurial Shifts in the Markets I Want to Share

There are three major shifts happening in entrepreneurial markets I want to share with you as we peer over the last page of the calendar into the fresh, new, so-far blank one.

Shift #1: The call for top quality content has begun in earnest.

Markets are increasingly dissatisfied, and more important, UNMOVED, by ‘sameness’ and are NOT BUYING unless there is a compelling, original story being told. That story then needs to be backed up by something they’ve never heard before, even just by 10%, or, the pulses of our clients, they just aren’t quickening.

This shift has already started more than murmuring, with giant content generating moguls like @garyvee @chrisbrogan and so many more, dominating the field.

Thought leadership – having a strong opinion and a voice that expresses it – is no longer a ‘nice to have’, it’s become an essential.

2010 will see the rise of this kind of content in the way that matters most – the transfer of money to your bottom line.

(And well, it should, by the way. If your content doesn’t provide some kind of unique value, again, at least by 10% compared to others, why would someone give you money?)

Shift #2: The drive to create value at higher prices will become much more important.

If you’re investing in creating your best ideas – it will become essential to find high-ticket money models to support selling them.

When your ideas are great – you know, ideas that are WORTH selling, versus ebooks for $7 or $19 or even $49 – you can build a business around them at the higher price points.

If you’re familiar with the Pink Spoon Marketing funnel – Google it if not, it’s freely available on the internet – you’ll know that this is the middle of the funnel, where the price points are high, yet your time is still well leveraged.

Making your business work in this ‘sweet spot’ will become a big focus for forward-thinking business owners. There are about 5 major business models I see working in this way now, but the principles are the same. New models can be created based on those principles. One just needs to grasp hold of those principles.

Shift #3: The notion of taking care of the ‘golden goose’ will find the spotlight.

Who, might you ask, is that golden goose? You guessed it, it’s you.

A goose, a golden one especially, would be well taken care of, wouldn’t it? It would be the best food, lovely shelter, maybe it would even be surrounded by loving people who would pet it and scratch its ears…wait a second, geese don’t have ears!

You take my point though.

It takes more than a virtual assistant to take true, abiding, sustainable care of a business owner who’s holding nothing back, and going for it.

It takes what I’m calling a PERSONAL ECOSYSTEM and done well, it can sustain the money-making POWER that emerges when the two above items are in place.

All three of these things are not rocket science. I’m sure you ‘get’ them all. But putting them together in a way that sheds all the ‘me-too’ habits…

Gets you out of the rut of learning without results…

And does so in a way that not just ALLOWS but REQUIRES you to be an individual, think for yourself, take a stand for something you care about?

This is my biggest wish for all of us for 2010.

It’s not my resolution, it’s my heart’s act of creation, just by stating it here with you.

“The best way to create the future is to predict it.” – Peter Drucker

You can create the above. I know you can and I urge you to. And I will thunderclap for you from the mountain tops through all of 2010 and more, as you do.

TIMELY Open House Call for Virtual Support Pros: “How to Work for and become indispensable to… High End Clients”

At times it seems like business owners and the virtual support professionals who work for them are speaking two different languages… which isn’t too far off from the truth.

Having worked online now since 1999 has given us the unique perspective of being able to see both sides… and being able to see clearly where these disconnects are occurring.

On this no-fee call, you will learn:

• The top 5 reasons why these working relationships are falling apart (it is usually the simplest things that cause the biggest issues)
• What business owners REALLY want from you (and it’s not what you think)
• The 3 best things you can do for your clients (but they won’t ask you specifically for help in these areas)
• The one thing that – if done right – will make you an in-demand, highly paid and indispensible virtual support professional.

Join us won’t you? It’s time to stop struggling and start creating the powerful and profitable relationships that we and our clients deserve. Click here to register.

Limos or Llamas? Is This An Era of Homogenization U? Or Am I Just a Negative Nancy?

First, a sorry to all my friends, past, present and future, by the name of Nancy.

So can I let you in on a few things that have popped onto my radar the last, oh, 6 months?

The majority of my current coaching clients are enrolled in significant trainings with other mentors/coaches, these high-end trainings costing thousands of dollars.

Yet they aren’t in the higher-end mastermind programs of those same trainers/mentors/coaches. They are coaching with me, at my additional fees, for various reasons, or so they say, but we use the material these others provide in their various expertise-based programs, and we implement into a business system of their creation.

Not so weird. That’s coaching. Except for…how many of these kinds of clients there’ve been this year and, sorry to say, how often I hear ‘I enjoy learning their content but I’m shocked by what these gurus are doing when it comes to charging small business owners like me big money for their mentoring.’

‘Please tell me Andrea, do I have to do it like that? Tell me I don’t have to become THAT in order to succeed.’

A little discontent is to be expected, and I don’t exempt myself from that. If I’m going out on a limb with clients, things don’t always work out perfectly! But what pricks my ear is questions like these, topics for coaching, being brought up:

• “The business models that are being taught – is that the only way to succeed? Doing it that way feels like I’m just another sheep in a crowd! And/but I don’t want to say anything in public, that would be sacrilege.”
• “The prices that are being charged by these trainers, and we’re being taught to charge, sometimes 6 figures just for group coaching, and not even 3 sessions a month…is there something off about that or is it just me? It seems inflated somehow, but I guess if everyone’s doing it, it’s okay?”
• “The personal values being modeled…being successful doesn’t mean limousines to me, yet everyone gets so excited by that Hollywood celebrity stuff. What if I want to live on an island with dirt surrounding me, fresh heirloom vegetables and an alpaca by my side? Can I hold a retreat where my participants get to milk a llama as the big door prize?
• “Where is the mentoring program for people with my values and why when I try to stick it out in one of the existing programs, do I have to feel wrong about being different?”
• “I’m scared, Andrea. I feel like we’re getting homogenized.”

And therein lies the rub.

Long-time readers will recognize this chestnut from me. Anyone who says (or suggests) there is only one right way to do things, is not okay with me.

As trainers and coaches, thought leaders all, the only constant truth – in my opinion – is that our job is to help others learn how to know what’s best for them. Showing a path that works is fine. Teaching by modelling. Using examples. That’s all great.

But not being clear that this is just one way to do things, isn’t, not in my book.  Are you catching what I’m pitching? Is this uncomfortable to you at all? Because it is for me too.

I don’t think it’s enough to say ‘people should know to think for themselves without me telling them that.’

They don’t always, that’s why coaching is (1) such delicate inner surgery and (2) such a great responsibility!

I don’t think it’s okay to say ‘you shouldn’t learn from other sources, only learn from me.’

Putting precious gray matter into preformed molds …that’s criminal, in my book.

But, you know, as esoteric this line of thinking may be…

I know the ultimate responsibility lies with the individual. So I write posts like this that are designed to say

‘Hey, it’s okay to disagree with the prevailing wisdom.’

‘It’s great to decide to do something completely different from everyone else.’

‘There ARE other ways, many ways, to financial and meaningful success.‘ A llama ride would be right up my alley, actually, and I can see a world, post self-help bubble when llama rides could be the next limousines…but that’s for another day.

I give myself permission to be sad, that sometimes people don’t have the support they need to think thusly for themselves. Sad and a little cynical.

Your thoughts on this? Am I just a negative Nancy? A dread Cassandra?

Aside: In case it needs saying – let me be clear that this isn’t greed or jealousy talking.  I’ve been rather tough with myself on that, examining. I don’t think it’s misplaced ego or the desire to tear others down, either. All I’m asking for is more open-minded thinking, more individual thinking. Less unquestioned, oddly Borg-like behavior. More celebrating of individuals.

Speaking of the latter, time for me to wrap up, and over to you. Thoughts?

Canadian Thanksgiving Juju: *WIN* A Copy of ‘Advanced Streams of Coaching Income’ Contest Rules Here PLS RT

Canadian Turkey Day, ahhh, all that tryptophan coursing through the veins of the nation. Mmm…cranberry sauce. You know, the only hope for a cranberry patch before the ‘move-over-raisin, now there’s something yummier’ craze kicked in.

Except, at our house, Mike was perverse and made an unworldy prime rib roast with Yorkshire pudding instead.

We’re blessed in more ways than one, for sure.

In honour of giving, with thanks, I’m giving away 5 copies of the Advanced Streams of Coaching Income Multimedia kit on Friday, October 16. This is the meat-off-the-bones stuff taken from years of individual coaching on Multiple Streams. The stuff that – if integrated, mind you – can really take you head and shoulders above the run-of-the-mill information business. The kind of coaching you want to run a marathon, as opposed to a sprint. Long haul stuff.

With 5 MP3s – one full track on each strategy, including examples sites and how-to steps – plus an immediately useful mini workbook (not transcript) – I am quite pleased with how this turned out. It can be hard to convey advanced strategies when not working on specific businesses, but this turned out so well, we’ve now released it in digital format at the Thought Partners store.

You can read more about the product (retails for US $96.75 – 5 individual MP3s plus mini-workbook) including the 5 strategies themselves here: http://bit.ly/Lruhb

So how can you win one of the 5 digital copies?

How to Enter

Tell me why you’re ready for the advanced strategies. In other words, what you’ve done with basic multiple streams concepts. In your current business, what non-1-on-1 coaching revenue streams have you successfully created, how, and to what extent? Your success so far will demonstrate to me your readiness for the advanced steps. Concrete results and example links will help.

No longer than 3 paragraphs please, and shorter is way okay.

Contest Rules:

Post this to your blog, as a comment below, or, if short-short is your style, go ahead and tweet your entry instead!

If you’re commenting below you can skip this, but if you’re entering another way, be sure to include

via twitter: @andreajlee and the bit.ly link to this post which is http://bit.ly/Lruhb

via blog post: the bit.ly link in the subject of your post: http://bit.ly/Lruhb

Mmhmm, I really wanted to make sure I didn’t forget the link. Maybe prime rib has tryptophan in it too?

This Friday at 12pm pacific, I promise to be wide awake while reviewing your entries and will announce the 5 winners.

I look forward to reading your entries and making the Canadian Turkey deities smile!

Doubled my income …Recordings as Powerful as Live Coaching, available at the Press of a Button…

“Andrea’s Advanced Strategies for Multiple Streams audios were exactly what I was looking for, coaching and a gentle kick in the pants from Andrea at the push of a button. Andrea seems to coach you through the audios as though you are sitting with her and just like she would coaching you live.

The strategies have had an amazing impact on my business in 2009. I’m very creative and my brain pumps out a million ideas for products and offerings a day. With the help of the Advanced strategies, my income has doubled over last year and I’m a sought after expert in my field.”

- Sandra De Freitas, WordPressBlogsites.com

A Tool That Makes Selling Your Teaching Videos Easy | By Subscription Or A La Carte (Of course, you can also buy videos too…)

Finally, a well-supported place to upload your teaching videos and sell them on a subscription or a la carte basis. Gotta love technology that makes new revenue streams possible! Question is, what will be the right chess move for you: wait to try it, jump on the bleeding edge, or something else?

Online Video, as you may have noticed, is all growed up these days, and it will be a matter of a short few months before we’re all groaning at the beautiful Hollywood-ized videos being produced with green screen technology. Hey, I’m attracted to them too; I just wish they felt less cookie cutter. But you know me, I’m die-hard when it comes to original self-expression and thought leadership.

To assist with that, I’m delighted to share this informative interview between Phyllis Haynes and Silvia Cole, CEO of SmartICast, a newish service provider in the video space.

If you teach for a living online, and have been looking for a reason to bother with teaching via video, it’s worth a look. The video encapsulates it well, saving you having to poke around the site yourself.

Click here to watch the video “Smarticast Learning on the Go.”

Thoughts on web video and this as a new revenue stream for you?

Books vs. Programs, $ vs. $$$ | The Answer To ‘Why Would Anyone Buy That, When…’

In my capacity as product-creating, funnel-building coach/consultant, I hear certain questions repeatedly.

One of them is:

“If I’m offering this material in XYZ format, why would anyone buy the same material in another format?”

In this context, think in terms of XYZ usually being a lower-priced item such as a book, or, say a 3-part teleclass versus a 2 day live training event or lengthier program.

The best answer I have to this comes like so:

‘It’s a good question…tell me, what is the name of one of your favorite musicians or music groups.’

The answers here are quite fun. I’ve had everything from Andrea Bocelli, Roberta Flack, Billy Joel, The Ramones.

This answer in hand, I then ask… ‘Well, if you have their CDs or MP3s, why would you ever go to a concert?’

This way of answering is an example of a shorthand coaching moment, within what is arguably a very consulting- oriented conversation.  Most consultants would not take this tack, agree?

Value comes in many forms, indeed, and not just in obvious ways. Keep this in mind as you productize or strategize your next SKUs. What name would you give the value you are creating? Is it the equivalent of a concert? CD? Other?

A great little extension of this occurred this week, wherein the coachee answered the name of their favorite band, and said in addition that it was a very sad thing that he’d never had a chance to go to a concert and they regretted it greatly!  So the extra learning became available – in what manner could the ‘concert’ they were to create – live training, keynote speech, etc. – be so valuable and so rich and intense an experience, that word would get around and people would regret missing it?

Great coaching or consulting or business rule number one: have something great to say. That requires some ongoing thought, and inevitably involves finding and developing your thought leadership.

—-

Crafting coaching moments like this is one of my favorite activities.  There are five more available in the Money and Meaning book excerpt available – no-charge – near the top of this page. Takes less than a minute to avail yourself and – it’s as easy a read as this post was. Why not go for it?

The Lone Ranger Syndrome

It’s time to stop doing it all…

(An excerpt from Chapter 15 in Money, Meaning and Beyond)

It’s not unusual for either of us to get variations of this question:

“Tina, I want to build my website, set up some Pink Spoons and manage my different streams of income, including online. So how do I become tech-savvy?”

Our response: “Why should you become tech-savvy?”

It’s easy when adding online elements to our business to think that we need to do it all ourselves, which simply isn’t true…

As a small business owner, isn’t your time better spent elsewhere, such as delivering value to your clients or building your business? When your time is limited, doesn’t it make sense to work on the stuff that only you can do in your business?

It’s a pet peeve of ours to see people waste their time and effort learning skills that are a poor match to their talents, they don’t enjoy, and in many cases don’t benefit their business!

So why is this so common? Most people think they can’t afford to hire help for themselves and their business, especially in the early days when cash flow may be tight. And so they resign themselves to either:

• Doing everything themselves and letting their business suffer, OR
• Under-utilizing the help that they do have, thus hampering their growth.

On behalf of your sanity and the growth of your business, hire some help sooner rather than later.

One of the best resources for support available these days is to hire a Virtual Assistant. Also known as a VA, these skilled professionals are able to help with anything from general administrative tasks, customer service, technical projects, marketing initiatives and more. The word Virtual simply refers to the fact that they work from their location, not yours, and that may mean they’re up to half way around the globe.

Because VAs usually work as contractors, you can hire them for as much or as little work as you need, be it just a few hours each week or up to full time hours as your business grows. Since VAs work from home and have their own equipment, you save the cost of hiring and housing a fulltime local assistant.

But won’t a VA – or any other kind of help for that matter – cost money? Money that you may not feel you can spare just now? The answer is yes, however there is one key point about turning a VA from a business liability, into a true asset.

Think of them as a Profit Center.

Instead of an expense, like stationary, office furniture, or your internet connection, a Virtual Assistant can be a profit center.

Most people don’t think about ‘getting help’ this way, so it’s to your benefit if you do. By focusing your VA on profit generating tasks, you leverage yourself, add capacity to your business and in fact, alleviate the pressure on you to be the only ‘bread winner’ in the business – a very common situation if you’re working solo.
Although it seems simple on the outside, this one mind-set shift will differentiate you from other business owners if you go ahead and implement it.

Ask, “How Can My Virtual Assistant Be a Profit Center In My Company?’

This mindset-shift is one of the main reasons why we have been able to help build our client companies so quickly from six figures to seven. Think about it. Being able to add capacity in a way that makes it possible for you to do much more work, more quickly, is a pretty neat thing. Not to mention bringing in more money!

Let’s talk a bit more about what these profit-generating tasks might be. First, the best VAs are NOT just glorified secretaries.

Read more

Open House Call: Online Business Management OR Navigating The Quarter Million Dollar Speed Bump

Open House Call from Wednesday April 1, 2009
Led by Andrea J. Lee and Tina Forsyth

Take just a moment and imagine…the corporate world without managers. Jokes aside for a sec, now ask…where are the equivalent managers in the online business world?

As online businesses grow, especially to the now-famous Quarter Million Dollar Speed Bump, it quickly becomes mission critical to get a certain kind of help. Not the administrative kind but the strategic kind. The Virtual Assistant on steroids (not literally, okay?) is what Tina Forsyth and I have dubbed the Online Business Manager, and the demand for OBMs is nothing short of extraordinary. When the right OBM joins a business, the results are too.

Join this call to learn the 5 key reasons you may benefit from having an OBM, how to know when you’re ready to hire and the things you can expect an OBM will do. Even if you’re not quite ready to hire, and you anticipate filling the role for yourself for now, join the call to get much more strategic about it. 

Online Business Managers and aspiring OBMs are welcome too – there won’t be an OBM-related conversation that’s more client-centric than this. We’ll also give a brief intro to the Association of OBMs where clients and OBMs can meet, and the release of the world’s first OBM certification.

To listen to the recording from this live call just click the “Play” button below:

And, as mentioned on the call, here are some of the additional resources mentioned for your convenience:

• To browse a directory of OBM’s who are in various stages of certification, including highly experienced, to newbies, click here.
• To see the list of ‘What you can expect an OBM to be able to do’ go to the OBM certification page
• And last but not least, if you’re fairly new to this whole topic, you may be curious about the book Tina Forsyth wrote on the subject, called Becoming and Online Business Manager.

Open House Call: Me, My Brain, My Meatsack | What Your Body Wants To Say To You About Money, Meaning & Productivity

Open House Call on April 8, 2009
Led by Andrea J. Lee

Do you feel as though you’re too smart for your own good sometimes? The amount of time you spend at a computer, thinking things up, are you basically a brain-on-a-stick?

Why do you even have a physical body anyways? For all you move it around some days, it could just as well be a sack of meat hanging off your neck, right?

It’s the ‘Me, My Brain, My Meatsack’ syndrome – the elephant in the room few are talking about, and that’s just wrong! We live our lives tied so much to flat, square, illuminated screens, the physical world replaced by pixels, it’s no wonder we’re disoriented on weekends, trying to relate to flesh and blood people!

This will be an interactive, experiential call in which we’ll engage your eyes, your back, and okay, your buttocks. Parental guidance not required, no permission from doctors needed either. If you’re curious how my Feldenkrais(r) training has strengthened my business coaching chops, come to this call for useable coaching exercises that will set you apart.

To listen to the recording from this live call just click the “Play” button below:

Remember…

This call is one of a series of open ones we’re holding regularly at Thought Partners International. The goal is to stretch our minds into new areas, the better to keep limber and awake. I hope you’ll find time to join us for some yoga of the mind.

Setting Up Your ‘I’m Away’ Email

Tech Tip From Tina Forsyth

This is a slight pet peeve of mine, so forgive me if I come across a bit ranty.

I get so annoyed when I continue to receive the same ‘I’m out of the office’ or ‘I’m checking email twice a day’ email every time I send a message to certain people. It becomes just one more thing filling up my inbox, and we all know that we don’t need that!

Don’t get me wrong, I know these emails are important. I do want to know if you are out of the office on vacation or if you only check email at certain times. Then of course I know when to expect a reply.

What annoys me is the fact that I’m getting this same email over and over again, especially when it’s someone I email multiple times a day. To protect the not-so-innocent, notice how I’m refraining from naming names.

So here’s the tech tip.  Most of us set up an autoresponder in our email hosting plan. This sends out an email in response to every new email – indiscriminately.  The autoresponder isn’t smart enough to know if the same person has sent 10 emails or even 20. 

The alternative – much friendlier – is one you can set up using a Gmail account.

Guess what? Gmail is much smarter than your average ordinary email autoresponder.  It knows to send out your automated message just once every 4 days to each individual that emails you. Translation? It doesn’t matter how many emails a particular individual sends you in a short space of time, your ‘I’m away’  reply will be sent just once every 4 days. Love it!

How to set this up for yourself?

If you already use Gmail as your main email service, you simply need to turn on the Vacation responder setting. To do this:

• Click ‘Settings’ at top of page. You will be on the ‘General’ tab.
• Page down a bit and you will see the Vacation Responder section
• Put in the message you want to send out and set the Vacation Responder to on

If you don’t use Gmail as your main email service, for example, you collect your email in Outlook, or in webmail or something else, there are a couple of extra steps.

(This is what I do as I’m an Outlook fan, which may make some of you cringe, but hey, it works.)

• Setup a Gmail account for yourself, or if you have one already dust it off.
• Set your regular email account to forward to the Gmail account.
• Repeat the steps above. Forwarding your email on to Gmail causes Gmail to do its job with your ‘I’m away’ message. 

Done! Just that easy…and don’t forget to send an email to yourself to test it and make sure it works.

Get Certified As An Online Business Manager (OBM)

Calling All Online Business Managers (And Those Who Want One)

Internet-based businesses continue to thrive and proliferate, and no wonder! The web-based entrepreneur continues to represent the dream for many: high profit margins, low risk, and the work-from-anywhere lifestyle.  As these businesses mature however, their need for reliable and dedicated management grows too.  

If you’re a business owner who’s nodding “Yes! Yes, my business needs more than what a Virtual Assistant (VA) can provide,” congratulations on your growth. Same goes if you’re an online support professional looking for career advancement and earnings potential.  In both cases, you’ll be interested in the launch of the International Association of Online Business Managers (IAOBM).

When my business partner Tina released her book Becoming an Online Business Manager last fall, it was as if water had been poured on a patch of desert.  Business owners have shown an incredible hunger to hire the few OBMs that are currently qualified and available, and VAs are chomping at the bit to meet the need.

Suffice to say, in over 5 years of business coaching, I can personally vouch for the great leaps forward that occur when entrepreneurs find the right key player.  OBMs can be one of the most significant keys to unlock your earnings from six-figures, to seven.  How do I know for sure? I’m in that category myself.

The mission of the IAOBM is first, to train, certify and support Online Business Managers and second, to support the business owners in hiring them.  If this seems intriguing, I invite you to visit the freshly-launched website – I’m told the paint is dry, but only just!

Of course, as a reader of Creating What Matters, I’m always pleased to offer a special gift.  If the IAOBM is right for you and you decide to join, the first 100 new members will receive a very special ‘unadvertised’ gift – they will get the popular recording ‘Hiring an Online Business Manager to Take Your Business (and your profits) to the Next Level’ sent direct to them on CD. Check it out here. 

Advanced Strategies for Multiple Streams of Coaching Income

In sharing the Multiple Streams of Coaching Income book last week I was reminded of how far we’ve come in what seems like such a short time! (I can’t believe it’s been over 4 years since the first edition of the book).

And in that time there have been lots of advancements in technology.  Lately, the economy has forced some evolution.  And more than anything, our capacity as coaches to apply rigor and sophisticated thinking has grown. Quite simply, we’ve come a long way, baby. 

What would I do differently, myself, in applying Multiple Streams to my business today, as compared to say 4 years ago? How does this, the current economic climate, etc. provide us with even greater opportunities to build multiple streams in a way that uniquely suits you?

Join me for a lively and sometimes deeper, more thoughtful conversation about Multiple Streams in 2009 and forward.  Time permitting, I’ll also cover advanced strategies that normally are reserved for 1-on-1 coaching clients; they’ve done so well with them it’s time to share more widely.   

And, if you haven’t already, do take some time before the call to review the Multiple Streams book itself. Whether you prefer the print copy or the downloadable you grabbed last week…dip your toe in just a little won’t you?  And then join the thought-stream…

To listen to the recording from this live call just click the “Play” button below:

Here is a sneak peek of the 5 Advanced Strategies discussed on the call

• Strategy #1: Infrastructure Vs Information
• Strategy #2: Beginning, Middle and End, Vs an Infinite Open-Ended Burden
• Strategy #3: Fewer Big Ideas Vs a Lot of Little Ideas
• Strategy #4: Making the Rules Vs Looking for the Rules
• Strategy #5: Escape Plans Vs Balls and Chains

A free copy of Multiple Streams

The 300+ page book ‘Multiple Streams of Coaching Income, The Future of Coaching Is Now’

Available to Anyone, Anywhere on the planet by PDF Download >>> Completely F’REE-OF-CHARGE <<< for the next 5 days.

(But why?? Why this, Andrea, out of the clear blue, you may ask? Well…I have a secret hope to start a domino-effect of generosity, but more on that in future.

For now, I hope – dearly hope! you’ll (1) download a copy of the book and dive in, or, if you’re already in possession of a well-worn copy (2) pass the link along to someone you feel would benefit. Make it YOUR gift to THEM…just because you thought of them. And why not?)

A few kind things have been said about Multiple Streams over the years:

“I don’t read many books, but this one is really good.”

- David Wood | CEO, SolutionBox.com

“the most avant-garde and straight-forward book on coaching I’ve seen so far!”

- Milana Leshinsky | Founder, ACCPOW.com

“the be-all, end-all to turning your desire to help others into products that help you make money”

- Michael Port | Author, BookYourselfSolid.com

“…just one idea could triple your income this year”

- Chris Knight | Founder EzineArticles.com

“A must for any coach”

- Steve Stockton | CEO, 24-7coaching.com

“…I couldn’t put it down.”

- Leesa Barnes | Author, PodcastingforProfit.com

“…generated $30,000 in profit in 10 days.”

- Chris Barrow | CoachBarrow.com

Best news of all? I have it on good authority – hundreds of readers to date – that this is the easiest read you’ll experience in a long time, and almost as easy to begin implementing. A tall cool drink of water, in fact. Perfect for when you’re in need of refreshment. Ready for that refreshment?

>> Click here to get your no-fee PDF copy of Multiple Streams of Coaching Income by Andrea J. Lee

*Available by download until 9pm eastern/6 pm pacific on Monday December 8, 2008.

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