5 Steps to Income Through Innovation | A Primer on YOUR Thought Leadership

Discover Your Thought Leadership and Connect It with Income Today!

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Measuring What Matters | The EKG For Your Business

Tracking metrics tells you how well you are doing from week to week.

It helps you measure the things it’s most important to measure:

1. The number of customers you have.
2. The number of products you have.
3. The amount of sales you are making.
4. The frequency of your promotions.
5. What you want – what your goals and targets are.

You will immediately see when your measurements ‘spike’ or ‘tumble’.

This means you know precisely what you should keep doing, and what you should stop doing.

Your own Metrics Worksheet can act as an EKG for your business.

It will tell you if your business pulse goes flat-line, fast. Obviously flat-line is not a desirable state for us or for our businesses, and the more quickly you can respond when things are ‘slow,’ the better chances you have for a healthy business. (Simply keep an eye on whether your metrics change. In all cases, if they aren’t moving somehow, things are not as they should be.)

A great Metrics Spreadsheet also sharpens your focus

Would you be better off adding new income streams to your product funnel? Could your existing streams be doing higher volume?

Although there are many more deductions you yourself can make when it comes to your Metrics, be aware that the process of tracking your metrics is a clever and elegant management tool.

How Do You track Your Metrics?

It’s really quite simple — I recommend using a simple Excel spreadsheet to track your metrics. There’s no need for any fancy or complicated software here.  Check out the “Measure What Matters” item below for more information on how you can get access to our Sample Metrics Spreadsheet and additional information on the when, what, where, why and how of collecting metrics in your business.

You’ll find that as you collect your metrics and post them to your spreadsheet, it will become the driver of your business.  You will begin to do some analysis and make decisions based on the information you have collected.  You may be surprised at what you find — some very positive ones, but also others that may require a change in your business.

Who knows … you may become a ‘metrics-addict’ like me!

Tell us … do you currently track your metrics?  What do you measure?  Or will you be implementing metrics into your business?

We look forward to receiving your comments.

What’s Your Peanut Butter and Chocolate Combination? AKA “Why Joint Venture?”

There are lots of reasons to pursue a joint venture. Here are a few; see if you can add any that pertain to your own circumstance:

1. Make more money. By accessing your joint venture partner’s client database, you have the opportunity to make more sales, and of course, so does your partner by accessing yours!
2. Lighten your workload. Many hands make light work when it comes to any project. If you decide to offer a TeleSeminar together, perhaps you’ll do the marketing and your joint venture partner will create the content. Whatever permutation of this, you’ll do less work and still cross the finish line.
3. Increase creativity. Loneliness is a common experience among online business own¬ers. Joint venturing combats this, and as an added bonus, often leads to MUCH better ideas for products because the combination of your content together makes for something far fresher and more innovative than you could have come up with yourself.  (That’s where the peanut butter and chocolate expression comes in.)
4. Pave the way for future projects. Once you try a joint venture, and you find the right partner (more on this in the ‘How NOT to Mess Up a Joint Venture Kit’ below) you may find yourself hooked. By starting small, you get to know your partner, and can make wise decisions about how you could work even closer next time.
5. Have fun. After all, inspiring or helping for a living is a gift in and of itself…when was the last time you thought about waiting tables or something else for a living? Sharing the joy of running an online business with someone who’s in the same boat can really shine a light on how fortunate we are.

So how to make the most out of Joint Venturing?

After seeing all the benefits possible, you may be tempted to run out and grab the nearest warm body and offer them a joint venture. Probably not the best technique. That said, here are a few key points to bear in mind when entering the joint venture arena.

• Select your partners with care. The main criteria is that the partner should be someone who is already in touch with, or doing business with, people you want to do business with too.
• Get to know your partners. In preparation for approaching them with an invitation, sign up for their publications, visit their websites, read everything about them and their history. Try to understand their values and motivation as best you can from what they make public.
• Start asking, what value could I provide this partner? What do I have that they don’t? What could they be doing that they aren’t? What challenge or goals are they pursuing and how can I help them get there?

With this in mind, the best first step is to create a shortlist of potential joint venture partners. An excel spreadsheet would be nice since you’ll likely be tracking a few things over time.

Love the sound of a joint venture boost to your business but stuck on some aspect of this? Remember that one of the most important elements is negotiating the revenue share. I address that in full detail (sample scripts and exceptions included) in the mini-product below. For other questions or insights, leave your comments below.

Is It Time to STOP Procrastinating and START Implementing the Multiple Streams Complete System Into Your Business?

Creating, building and leveraging your business means more than simply getting more clients and creating more products.

There’s a strategy behind how all the pieces work together so that instead of working 24/7, you’re leveraging your time and expertise and all pieces are interconnected and supporting each other.

Are your fr-ee items, paid products, and services all inter-connected and supporting one another?

After over 1000 hours of individual coaching on the specific topic of how to create multiple streams of income for the active coach, plus a track record of having directly and indirectly support coaches to generate multiple millions of dollars in income, this complete package represents the culmination of Andrea’s own leadership in the field of coaching.

This package consists of:

PLUS full outlines, samples and real-life success stories from individuals who have utilized these items.  You get more than just the facts … but also how to adapt a new way of thinking about income-generation as a coach.

“Hi Andrea and Tina… I had to write to tell you that I did it – I made $10k this month! And I did it by following your ‘pink spoon’ marketing model. Although I’ve been applying the concepts you teach for awhile now, it still astounds me that this simple business model is so incredibly powerful – and I’m so grateful for that! As a busy mom of two little ones and a serious business owner, I needed something very simple to follow, but effective enough to bring me the kind of income I want to make, by working as little as possible for it. Because the less time I spend on my business, the more time I get to spend with my family – and by following the ‘pink spoon’ model, one way I get to spend that time is by taking the entire summer off to be vacation at a waterfront cottage with my family while still putting money in the bank. It’s amazing. I’ll admit that before I was introduced to the Multiple Streams Workbook, my online business was floundering at best. Once I started applying the concepts of a free taste and building a relationship with my market, not only did it feel so much more authentic, but my business actually started to turn a profit. Within 4 months, I went from zero income and 17 people on my email list to hundreds of people on my list and to converting 40% of them into buying customers for my first information product. That’s an incredible conversion rate! And that was about three years ago. I now have thousands of people on my list and generate thousands of dollars each and every month, all from following this very simple business model. You know, ladies, I’ve realized (with much chagrin) that I didn’t have to spend the thousands of dollars or the hours of time I did getting my MBA. All I needed was Multiple Streams!” - Alicia Forest, ClientAbundance.com

It’s time … get your Multiple Streams Complete System today and put into place the essential pieces needed to build your multiple streams of coaching income business.

Already have these products?  Tell us how they have most impacted the growth of your business – post your comments below.

Chapter 17: The Clay is Never Dry

A realtor friend once said “There is no such thing as a mistake in Real Estate.” Meaning that, if you feel as though you’ve made a mistake in Real Estate, you only have to wait long enough, and it will turn out alright – your mistake will no longer seem like a mistake.

We’re of the opinion that’s a little more extreme that is – ‘There is no such thing as a mistake.’  Everything is fixable, absolutely everything.

Put another way – a metaphysical kind of way – we like how Abraham-Hicks puts it, that is, “The Clay is Never Dry.” If we think of our businesses as works of art, or sculptures in progress – just for a moment – we can tap into a feeling of great freedom.  We can start to understand there’s never a time when we can’t go back and mold, shape, or refine.

Consider that phrase for a moment and see whether it releases you from some of the pressures of being perfect.

No matter what business you’re in, you’re going to be faced with starting new things on a regular basis. If you tend to get stuck, or have a hard time starting – try focusing on completion, not perfection.

Here’s a case study to help demonstrate this point.

I was training a Virtual Assistant for one of my clients a little while ago.

I was showing her around a few systems, and noticed when it was her turn, she would come back a few times to make sure that she was ‘doing it right.’

While there’s nothing wrong with wanting to ‘do things right from the first time’, I could feel the enormous amount of pressure it was causing her.

It occurred to me how much easier it would be, to come from a place of knowing “It’s all fixable’.

Get over the fear of making a mistake and just get it done.

If a mistake is made, you can always come back and fix it later.

Some coaching questions for you:

What is something you’ve been procrastinating about?

Would it help you get started if you focus on completion, as opposed to perfection?

How can you benefit from focusing on completion, not perfection in your business?

We’d love to receive your responses to these three questions.  Please leave your comments below.

30 Ways to Get Your Mailing List to Respond (How to Increase Open Rates and Click-Throughs)

Ever get asked “How big is your mailing list?”

It’s often a question you receive from potential joint venture partners … who are eager to get in front as many people as possible.  What’s been forgotten here is the QUALITY of a list – i.e. the RESPONSIVENESS of a mailing versus the size of a list.

I’ve been known to thoroughly decline joint venture opportunities with people who focus on the size of my list.  While relatively small compared to many, my list has one distinguishing and noteworthy characteristic – it responds, and responds in relatively high percentages.

Which would you rather – a mailing list of 1000 and a 35% response rate OR a 10,000 person list and a 3% response rate? In both cases, the number to respond is 300.  But which way of earning money, and impacting people is more desirable to you?

Learn how to increase responsiveness with 30 specific, actionable ways outlined in this audio.  Be a little different … focus where everyone else keeps playing the same game of ‘bigger list, gimme a bigger list’.

Get immediate access to this audio, take action and start seeing a difference in the response from your mailing list.

Already listened to this audio?  Will you share the actions steps you have taken to build the responsiveness in your community? Please leave your comments below.

Build the Relationship: Infuse Your Online Interactions With Intimacy, Mystery and Sensuality

What does this mean?

When it comes to building relationship with your customers and prospects, there are three main components to consider.

You need Intimacy.  You create a more intimate relationship with your community when you use questions, tell stories, and create opportunities for interaction and dialog.

For example, if your own pink spoon or website is not converting well – ask yourself – should some of the copy be converted into a question? Many headlines or even titles can be improved through the use of a question mark at the end.

Why?

Because a question is a natural hook. By asking a question, you instantaneously create a dialog with many people.  By doing this, you have intimacy.

When it comes to mystery –everyone loves a mystery.  One with a little creativity where you can also foster some curiosity and enthusiasm.

You can infuse mystery in all sorts of ways – at the end of each lesson in your pink spoon mini-course, at the end of an audio by building excitement about what’s coming up next.  Add a little mystery and talk about what’s coming up next and not only will you stimulate curiosity, you will increase conversion.

Sensuality can make a big difference to your ability to convert customers.

Whenever possible, engage the five senses.  For example, when you create a graphical cover for a product, you lift up your writing to a new sensory level.

If you take more time to write you Pink Spoon using stories, recalling foods, places, events … you can waken the reader to their sense of smell, taste and even touch.

These are all things that further a trust relationship with you … and truth be told, not many business owners understand this.

If you go ahead and apply some of these things, you will have a much more free reign to grab the attention of the customers you want to serve.

Add interactivity to your publications.  This can truly deepen the relationships you are creating online.

One of our favorite and simplest strategies that we still use today, is called the ‘quick question’ email.  In it, we use a question as a hook to begin engaging with the customer on a very personal basis.

A ‘quick question’ email is an email that goes out automatically the day after someone subscribes to your pink spoon. It can be as simple as “I was wondering, what is your biggest question about XYZ (i.e. the topic of your pink spoon)?” You may surprised at the response you receive with this.  It is extremely effective because it is short, personal and written in a way that clearly expects a reply.

In our experience 50-70% of people take the time to answer this email.  A HUGE conversion rate all on it’s own.

And finally to really strengthen the trust relationship with your customers, you need a newsletter strategy.

It’s one of the best tools available to continue the relationship you started with your Pink Spoon and allows you to provide ongoing value to the people on your list.

Newsletters have been proven ‘necessity’ for years, however it’s interesting to see the number of online based business owners who have not implemented this strategy.

Start by setting up your publication schedule. Then consider the 80/20 content split of your newsletter.  80% is simply to provide value in the form of articles, case studies, stories, Q&As etc.  This is the key part — the GIVING part of your newsletter, where people get to know, like and trust you.

The other 20% is then available to make paid offers of your products and services.

What will you do to build better relationships?

Let us know in the  comments section below.

Chapter 15: The Lone Ranger Syndrome

I’ll be honest … it’s a pet peeve of mine to see people waste their time and effort learning skills that are  simply better off done by someone else.

Why does this happen? Why is it that we attempt to do things such as develop our own website, manage our own shopping cart, implement our own social media.

I bet if you think back even just a little bit, you’ll find something that you tried to do on your own rather than hire help from someone who really knew what they were doing. Why do we put ourselves through this?

On behalf of your sanity and the growth of your business, may I encourage you to hire help sooner rather than later?

In most cases, we’re familiar with the resources available to us in the form of Virtual Assistants, Online Business Managers, VA Specialists in areas such as Affiliate Management, Website & Blog Design, Ezine Management, Publicity Management etc.

What’s the key behind eliminating the Lone Ranger Syndrome from your business?

Think of the new addition to your team as a profit center.

By focusing the efforts of your new team member 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.  Here’s just a few ways you can do this:

Building a reservoir of newsletter readers, ezine subscribers or readers of your autoresponders is one of the most important, yet often overlooked responsibilities of an online business owner.

This is a perfect task to delegate to a member of your team.

An affiliate program can be a powerful element in the success of an online business.

Most online businesses are not making full use of their affiliate program.  Sales opps are getting missed because you haven’t taken the time and effort to cultivating strong affiliates.

Put Your team in charge of your affiliate program  and over the long term, this is one of the outstanding pieces of small business work that you can hand over to your team.

Keeping in touch with your newsletter subscribers should not be under-estimated.

Your team member can help you manage your newsletter by researching newsletter topics, formatting and broadcasting according to your schedule.

These are 3 very simple, yet significant ways to support you in building your business, as well as eliminating the Lone Ranger Syndrome.

How do you get started? Ask yourself these simple questions throughout your business:  “Is this something that a team member can do for me?  Is this the best use of my time?”

Comment below to let us know how you will eliminate the lone ranger syndrome from your business.

Multiple Streams of Coaching Income for YOU | If Not Now, When? If Not You, Who?

Originally released in 2005, the Multiple Streams of Coaching Income book is still considered the ‘Rosetta Stone’ by coaches of all kinds across the globe.

It’s not one of those books you see collecting dust on a bookshelf, it’s that sticky-note filled book that people refer to time and again as a reference tool to support the development of their legacy.

How do I know? Because to this day, I receive emails from coaches (and non-coaches!) who have read it for the first time, or who have re-read it as a refresher in getting going in their business.

“Multiple Streams of Coaching Income not only separates the myths from truth, but provides new truths which, if followed, will lead many frustrated coaches to the success they desire.  A must-read!” - Marcia Bench, MCCC, CBC, CCMP, Director & CEO, Career Coach Institute and Coaching and Training Solutions

“This is the book the coaching industry has needed for a decade. Reading it will set you free to make the money you deserve as a professional,  Finally, permission to associate the word M O N E Y and coaching in a powerful and uplifting way.” - Robert Alderman, MCC, CPBA, Managing Your Success

Don’t have your copy of the Multiple Streams of Coaching Income?  Get yours now >>> http://tinyurl.com/2a6y3ob

Already have a copy?  Let us know how you use it in your business by leaving your comments below.

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.
Please leave your comments below..

Our brains on Andrea

On day three here at the Wealthy Thought Leader, Andrea asks some very special coaching questions:

1. What is it you want for your business?

2. What is important to you?

3. What might you let stop you from the two above?

4. How can you prevent that from happening? How can you find a detour around the natural tendency to stop yourself?

Seriously. How do you break through the current obstacle that is keeping you from where you want to be?

Andrea reminds us it is usually a decision – not a process.

Are you ready to be done with what is stopping you?

For me, personally, the answer is a HECK YES! (Did I just commit to it here on Andrea’s blog? Now I know she will hold me to it!)

Thanks for letting me my share my experience of these last three days at the Wealthy Thought Leader event with you. It has been such a joy. I hope I will meet you at next year’s Wealthy Thought Leader Event – either live or via simulcast.

Love and blessings,
Casey

Salad dressing as a business lesson?

You may know that Andrea’s husband Mike is, among other things, a trained chef. In this morning’s session at the Wealthy Thought Leader, Andrea shared that when she enters the kitchen to cook for the two of them, she has a wee bit of insecurity.

Here is her story about making salad dressing. But food is never just about food when Andrea is involved. Watch this lovely metaphor about getting results with less effort.

Where are you working too hard for too little result?

Go Big or Go Home? How About Go Deep?

Casey Truffo back with a peak into the festivities at the Wealthy Thought Leader Event.

But first, have you noticed that Andrea has really cool friends? Well one of her newer friends is Coach Charlie Gilkey. In his presentation yesterday at the Wealthy Thought Leader event, Charlie challenges the idea that bigger is better with some lessons from his grandfather. Here is a three minute juicy snipet of his talk.

While other business building experts are encouraging us to grow that mailing/contact/prospect list so that we can make some money, Charlie reminds us:

Small fires don’t take a lot of maintenance and can keep a nice, intimate group of people comfortably warm. Thank you Charlie for such refreshing insights.

Words of wisdom from Andrea and friends…

Casey Truffo here again reporting from Andrea J. Lee’s Wealthy Thought Leader event in San Francisco.

One of the really great things about attending an event like this is tapping into the collective wisdom of the group. And often those wisdom pieces come in what at first look like simple sound bites. But upon closer reflection, it is clear there is a much deeper meaning.

Here are just a few that caught the ears of many of us:

Declutter your brain.

What is the grit in your oyster?

Fail quickly.

Ideas tend to fade in.

What is your unique medicine?

Be-Do-Have rather than Have-Do-Be

Go big or go home? How about go deep?

Don’t quit before the miracle.

If there’s no sense of urgency, there’s nothing at stake…

The “how-to” should come AFTER addressing the “whether or not to do it” and if so “why”  questions

Under-promise, then plan how you are going to over-deliver.

Break the rules along the way.

You are the Goddess of your own planet/business.

Hello Kitty is a great role model.

Elyse Killoran Rocked the House

Elyse Killoran’s TED-quality presentation at the Wealthy Thought Leader event rocked the house. In case you haven’t met Elyse, she is the founder of the Soul-Aligned Business Collaborative and the internationally renowned Prosperity Game.

In a lovely bold, provocative and refreshing manner,  Elyse suggested that we are working way too hard for too little reward. Is it possible that we are working so hard because we are trying to implement other people’s ideas and systems that don’t fit with who we are?

Instead, Elyse invited us to “Engage your soul as your co-creative business partner. You can’t have a better business partner than the part of you that sees the whole picture and is connected to you and to everyone. [This part] wants you to make this journey – not just for the end result but for every very yummy, delicious moment on the journey.”

My favorite take-away from Elyse’s presentation is this: Many people start each week with a “To-Do” list. How about a “To Be” list instead? Imagine that today, you are already the person you want to be at the pinnacle of your success.

Now consider your day.

How will you be (show up) in all of your interactions today?

What actions are you being called to do today?

Thought Leaders Start Conversations

Thought leaders start conversations about ideas. And a wealthy thought leader creates businesses around innovative ideas. But how do you develop an idea that could be the platform for a viable and sustainable business?

Concept and Book Strategist Janet Goldstein says that ideas – for a book or for a business – need three things:

1.  Time. Ideas need time to marinate to make sense.

2.  Human Connection. Good ideas don’t occur in a vacuum. They grow as they are shared.

3.  Structure. Ideas need a set of guiding principles because without structure, ideas don’t have meaning. For example, imagine a cookbook written with no structure. It would be extraordinarily hard to find a new recipe for turkey without a structure.

That was just one of my “take-aways” from today’s WTL event. Looking forward to sharing more with you tomorrow.

Day 1 of the Wealthy Thought Leader

What do you get when you put one dynamite visionary with a room full of thought leaders?  The  Wealthy Thought Leader event in San Francisco with  Andrea J. Lee!

As your onsite blogger, I am here to tell you the ballroom is abuzz with old and new friends saying hello.  The positive and powerful Wealthy Thought Leader 3-day Training Event with Andrea J. Lee energy is palpable. And of course we know how innovative Andrea is so it probably isn’t a surprise that this event is also being  simulcast to people in eleven different countries. Fingers everywhere are flying on computers with #WTLead tweets.

Let’s get to the good part. What is Thought Leadership?

Thought leaders make things happen.

Thought leaders create value where there was none before.

Thought leaders look at something plain – something ordinary – and look at it in so many ways until they see how a simple strand of  straw can be turned into gold (for you and the people who need you.)

Thought leadership is also a commitment. Once you decide you are ready to stand up for something – for you and for your market -  there is no going back.

(OMG! Pam Slim just defined thought leadership as really getting in bed with your people! “But in a metaphorical way.” She went on to explain that she means getting to know your market in a deep and intimate way.)

Your turn now. What is thought leadership to you?  Please share your thoughts in the comment box below. I look forward to  connecting with you over the next 3 days.

I don’t have to remind you that we are are living in a complex and overwhelmed world. Our brains (and those of our clients and  clients-to-be) are filled with zillions of shiny new ideas and plans.  But seriously – do we have the mental, physical and emotional   bandwidth to do all that we want to? That we are called to? How do you know what to say YES! to?

Andrea tells us that we often need to say a real goodbye to something(s) in order to be open and ready to say a proper hello.

Seriously, how many of us have found ourselves peddling really hard with our hands squeezing the brakes?

What do you need to say NO! to in order to be the thought leader your tribe is calling you to be?

I look forward to connecting with you over the next 3 days.

How To Get The Most From A Coaching Program, Any Coaching Program

1. Show Your Personality, early. The more data you provide your coach with, the more aligned they can be with who you are,your values and preferences.

You wouldn’t want your coach to be talking about the mansion you can now buy if that’s not your thing, right?

Withholding your personality in an effort to ‘save time during precious coaching sessions’ or ‘sticking to the facts and tasks’ often winds up wasting time later. Allow your coach fully into your world so they can be fully aligned with you. Besides, your personality is what makes you stick out in your coach’s mind. Not being rude, but, a boring client makes for a bored coach so be your lively self!

You want to easily flow into, and stick, like a great melody, in your coach’s mind.

2. Share Your Wisdom, freely and proactively.

Just as your coach is outstanding at something, so are you.

In most cases, the coach has just as much to learn from you, the client, as you do from them, just in a different area of expertise. Part of what happens naturally in a deep coaching relationship is the coach becoming an advocate for you. The question is, how staunch an advocate?

If during your coaching, the opportunity presents itself for you to offer insight or even concrete assistance to your coach, step forward! Give your coach a chance to experience your greatness personally – even just a taste will do – and you’ll become more than a treasured client but someone whose work MUST be shared with the world.

3. Make Time to Play Full Out.

Just as the manufacturing industry has waste, so does the coaching industry. A great deal of waste is generated when participants in coaching programs neglect to create time in their schedules for the coaching. A coaching program, especially at the high end, is not a side dish. It should be central to your days and weeks, something that you have room to utilize easily, without ‘having to find time to squeeze in.’

4. Identify and Leverage Your Coach’s Delight.

Among all the talents your coach has, they have a favorite superpower. Maybe it’s identifying new income streams; improving your conversion rate, or seeing you make change on a being level. Perhaps they have a hobby, something they collect, or a personal story you relate to.

Great coaching is not a commodity! We avoid commoditization through personalizing things, so pay attention to what juices your coach personally, beyond their skills or experience as a coach. If there’s a fit there with something you want to create, or you have that thing in common, this chemistry can be highly combustible – in a good way – and can lead to the best of coach-client relationships.

Remember – a great coach will help you get the most from your coaching, but you’re in the driver’s seat! The above 4 tips will help your coach help you.

The Wealthy Thought Leader Event is About to Begin

Every few minutes the street cars go by my hotel room window offering me a reminder that I am in San Francisco.

Hi, I am Casey Truffo and I am here to attend the second Wealthy Thought Leader event hosted by Andrea J. Lee, the author of Multiple Streams of Coaching Income and Money, Meaning and Beyond. Andrea is a mentor coach and visionary who is currently turning the coaching (and business) world on its ear by shouting “no more infocrap.”

The idea of creating passive revenue by creating and selling information products was quite innovative for the coaching industry a decade ago. It allowed us to share our wisdom in a leveraged  way. “Making money while you sleep” was the idea. Create something quickly. Put in online. Watch  the money roll in while you are laying on the beach.

Now everyone on the planet is doing it. The internet is no longer the relaxing place it once was.  We  are smashed in the face with pixelated offers and popups for reports, e-books, audios and videos  that will save or substantially improve our lives in some way – with our families, businesses, health,  and finances.

With all that noise out there, how can we as business owners create businesses that help people and   make money  – in a way that leverages our time and energy? How can we ensure that what we are producing is of value and doesn’t contribute to the noise?

This is what the Wealthy Thought Leader event is all about.

Starting tomorrow, we will be learning how to create sustainable businesses by flexing our thought leadership muscles. We will  become clearer on our message – what wisdom we are here to share that is bold and unique.

Instead of trying to make a living selling $19 ebooks, we will look at high-end money models that can make the best use of our time  and energy – while providing incredible value to our markets.

And I will be here as your on-site blogger.  I will share my takeaways and the power points that I learn from Andrea and the other  thought leaders here at the event. I hope you will engage in the conversation with me and let me know your thoughts on these fresh ideas. Please leave your comments on the blog and I look forward to connecting with you throughout the next three days.

But before we get started, let’s wipe the slate clean.  Let’s, at least for a moment, step away from our current way of doing business and take a deep breath.

And to start us off, I am sure Andrea would ask: As a thought leader, what is YOUR message? What do you want the world to know?

I can’t wait to connect more with you tomorrow!

Presenting…leaders of the “Anti-Infocrap” Revolution…

Have you ever heard the saying ‘it’s easy to earn money when everyone’s earning money?’

With many people NOT earning as much money recently, it’s easy to be hard on oneself.

But if you’re sustaining or growing your business – even just a little bit – you have something very worth celebrating, and I hope you will.

Why? So glad you asked! Because you’re not just sustaining or making small gains, you’re also NOT shrinking. I know, that sounds a little lame, but truly…business owners like you and I can be awfully hard on ourselves.  In the context of a lot of shrinking, sustaining, or growing a little, is a big deal.

My intention this fall is create more easy inroads into growth despite what seem like the ‘odds’, and I hope you find great value in it! On that note…a very special announcement that sheds light on this very thing:

Leading-Edge Topics That Surf The Future: The Wealthy Thought Leader Live Event Announces Its Roster of Speakers!

I am inordinately excited by the line-up of speakers we’ve confirmed for our September 30 to November 2 event in San Francisco.

This is a cutting-edge group of Picassos-in-their-own-right, and they’re covering topics that I KNOW are going to create trends – no following worn-out ruts here.  I can’t wait to sit and learn from each of them and let the anti-infocrap revolution begin!

Read on to find out who we’re rolling out the red carpet for, and the topics they’re speaking on. See if you agree – the Wealthy Thought Leader speaker roster is an education in and of itself!

Charlie Gilkey, the creative force behind the very popular blog at ProductiveFlourishing.com and winner of the title of “Thought Leader of the Future,” will be addressing an all-important dilemma that every success-bound entrepreneur will face, and the sooner you face it the better:

“How Much Is Enough?” “Go Big or Go Home…or Go Deep.”

Janet Goldstein, go-to Publishing Strategist and former NYC Publishing Executive responsible for such titles as ‘Getting Things Done’ by David Allen, The Dance of Anger, by Harriet Lerner, as well as her own “PublishingReset.com,” will be answering the question on every thought leader’s mind:

“How Can I Be Sure My Good Ideas are the BEST they can be?”

David Goldsmith , Founder and Senior Partner of The Goldsmith Group, will break open a lucrative topic for authors and other thought leaders, helping you create intellectual property and then maximizing the profitability of that work:

“Licensing for Longevity and Profit: The Under-the-Radar Income Stream That Could”

Kathleen Lorden, featured in Time Magazine and celebrated as a 20+ year Million Dollar Producer in the toughest market in the world, Beverly Hills, Kathleen will share a coveted and elusive talent, one that can suddenly ‘make or break’ the trajectory of a thought-preneur:

“Making Contact and Building Beneficial Relationships with Hard-To-Reach People: Your Backstage Pass to Everyone You Could Want To Know.”

Cath Duncan, Agile Career Coach, Creator of The Bottom-line Bookclub and deft coach indeed, gives us an action-orientation with her topic that strikes directly at the dark heart of “Infocrap…”

“From Eagle Eye View to Mouse Eye View: Ensuring Your Info-Products Get Results and Banish Infocrap for Good”

Elyse Killoran, Founder of ChoosingProsperity.com, Creator of the global phenomenon called the Prosperity Game (based on the work of Abraham-Hicks) and celebrated as an international Inside-Out teacher without peer… will be giving us a window into new paradigms for success, addressing the deep ‘being-level’ question:

“How can I go from pursuing (grinding, struggling, pushing) to being pursued (leaping, magnetizing and defying convention)?”

Linda P Jones, Founder and CEO of VisionaryWealthNow.com, will share an electric story of wealth despite the odds. With her mind-expanding way of looking at and building wealth ESPECIALLY for future-oriented entrepreneurs, Linda’s bringing a custom-designed, not-your-ordinary talk to us:

“Shopping, Financial Bubbles and YOUR SERIOUS Wealth: Financial Freedom for Entrepreneurs.”

With an agenda including the above, plus the teaching and experiential segments led by yours truly over the course of 3 days…on Money Formulas, The Gap, Manifesto Creation and more…

Does the above strike your fancy as a thought-soup that would nourish you?

May the Anti-Infocrap Revolution begin in earnest!

Early Bird Prices and Payment Plans Expire Today, Thursday September 9th…save up to $300

For the Simulcast (attend from ANYWHERE for 60% of the cost)…

http://www.wealthythoughtleader.com/simulcast

Click above for Simulcast details – no travel, fewer expenses, no excuses!

And for VIP tickets to the Live-in-Person venue on top of Nob Hill, San Francisco…

http://www.wealthythoughtleader.com

Click above for Live Ticket details – hobnob with guest presenters and forge partnerships with fellow thoughtpreneurs.

We’re back to our usual programming later this week.  Until then…

Happy September!

Remembering to Forget

Imagine for a moment your home. Lovely in its way, whatever that is, and most importantly, yours.

Now imagine it for a moment with no garbage cans. The can in the kitchen is gone.

The smaller garbage containers in the bathrooms and your office, all gone.

If you’re brave, imagine your home with no sewage system.

Right, let’s move on quickly from that.

Now come with me and think about your brain. (I know, it’s a little like tickling yourself, but give it a shot anyway.)

Do you have the proper waste disposal system for your thoughts?

How cluttered is your brain after all these years of thinking, especially if you’ve never cleared it out?

Unlike our homes, we can’t move out of our brains and start fresh, so it’s imperative that we actively create and pursue a disposal mechanism for our thoughts. The alternative is slow death by too many thoughts – more popularly known as overwhelm, analysis paralysis, procrastination, and even, sometimes, plain old depression.

Have you ever read the story about the medical condition that – perhaps fictionally – cannot forget anything? One of our brain’s greatest gifts to us is the act of forgetting.  Think of it – of all the data that enters our lives minute by minute, the hourly task of sifting through what we experience and throwing away almost everything is a critical life skill.

So how about giving our brains a hand in this critical task and actively remembering to forget?

Instead of using our brain as a storage facility like some dilapidated shed, let’s learn to use it as a thinking facility.

Assume The Throne | People Like To Win, Why Not Give Them The Pleasure?

Cast YOUR Vote for the Next Top Newsletter Contest sponsored by Linda Puig

In coaching sessions lately, I’ve talked frequently about integrating the ‘gaming mentality’ into all aspects of business.  In case you missed a previous issue of Creating What Matters, and are sceptical about ‘gaming in busines’ as an important trend…don’t get left behind.
Google “Jane McGonigal” or watch her 2010 talk at TED.com.  World-changing viewpoints and definitely a doorway to breakthroughs in your business.

Linda Puig’s latest endeavour demonstrates how businesses of any kind can embrace the gaming trend quite perfectly, and I told her myself when we were catching up on the phone.  People just love to win.  And since High School, when was the last time you really competed? Do you remember the thrill of winning the cheerleading contest? Or envying the trophy the Head of Debating took home? Wherever your interests are on the spectrum that feeling of being acknowledged for achieving something doesn’t grow old.

Holding a contest requires you to ‘assume the throne,’ one of the steps to claiming your thought leadership.  In what way can you make a contest that lends you credibility, brings you traffic, and allows your community to play?

Because customers who play, stay.

For more inspiration, definitely head on over to (1) see how Linda’s set up the contest (2) cast YOUR vote for next top newsletter and (3) hang around for some newsletter wisdom, too!

Way to walk the line between ‘templating’ the systems part of newsletters and ‘celebrating’ the creative parts.  Wuhoo!

Look Where Others Are Not, Then Go There! | Mobile Technology Is Your Friend

As you might imagine, I often get asked – standing for something bold sounds good, but how do I start? There are many ways to answer this question, depending on where you’re starting. But one of the most tried and true ways is to ‘look where others are not.’

Since we’re on the topic of books this issue, let me quote "The Art of War". “Go where the enemy least expects you.” And while it’s not so PC to call our competition ‘the enemy,’ it’s a useful construct. Where on the battlefield, or playing field, if you prefer, is there a ‘hole’ in the market? What isn’t being done by anyone and why not you? These are some of the most important questions to ask, to stir that thought leadership pot.

Do you have any sense of what you could do that would help you stand out, far above the noisy market, helping people be in hot pursuit of you, rather than you having to chase them?

That’s one of the big benefits of bothering to be bold.

We are going bold this fall as well, with the even bigger gamble of taking our 3-Day Live Event in San Francisco, and making the Simulcast version available via mobile technology. It’s another one of the ‘Big 3’ trends I’m teaching to every small business owner who’ll listen. You still have a chance to grab the ‘early adoption’ wave on mobile for your market. What’s keeping you?

Oh right, you’re reading my newsletter…got it. Well… are you curious about how this we’ll apply mobile technology to this oaching/training/speaking/writing business? And how it could apply to you too, even if you’re on a budget, and all that? We have information calls and mini-e-courses in the works. Go here for details and sign up.

Imagine the World Without Just One Author | 21 Author Brains on an e-Platter

Lynne Klippel and Christine Kloser Raise the Bar On Quality Book Conversation

Think, just for a moment, of a book you feel is important. What title comes to mind?

Is it the Holy Bible? The Velveteen Rabbit? Atlas Shrugged?

Or maybe I should mind my audience – Crush It? Tribes? The Zen of Social Media? The E-Myth?

Now think for another moment, and imagine…

That important-to-you book, disappeared. Wiped from the history of our species as if it had never been written. That it never existed.

Can you imagine how that single title, gone, causes an outward ripple of enormous proportions? How many other books would not exist if we remove just ‘E-myth?’

How many things would NOT happen if YOU don’t write YOUR book.

Who’s to say what piece of writing, what action, what decision of yours, today, will be the linchpin for something great?

The Successful Author Secrets 9-step Curriculum brings together 21 authors (including Michael Gerber, taking a stand for a title other than THAT one… which I must admit makes me want to support him, if only because coming up with ‘my book after the E-myth’ is pretty much inconceivable.)

I’ll present on the topic of ‘From Author to Thought Leader,’ next week, among all those bright, shiny names. Goodness. Well… you tell me how I did, won’t you? All calls are no-charge, as part of Christine and Lynne’s efforts to fill the world with the greatest possible books, period. Now THAT is a bold, outrageous, provocative (BOP) thing to stand for if I ever saw one! And then you don’t need to be too sad that you’re not here in New York, either.

Go to http://www.successfulauthorsecrets.com to get all 21 Author Brains on an e-Platter.

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