Today I hosted a free teleseminar on how to make money with membership programs. The response was fabulous. With nearly 1,000 people registered for the event the energy was great.
I gave over an hour of nonstop content and an hour and a half of Q&A time. It was fabulous. The feedback from participants was amazing. Many couldn’t believe I shared so much in a free session.
As I often do, I invited those who felt they wanted me to work with them on a deeper level to join me for my four week mentoring course called – Short Term, High Profit Fixed Term Membership Programs.
Should I invest?
One woman asked me if I thought it was a good idea for her to invest in the program. “I have bought lots of great programs but I never seem to apply the information. I have several excellent programs that I have not yet used. Do you think your program is for me?” this woman sincerely asked.
“No, I don’t. If you have not yet applied the information from the other programs you purchased you are likely going to repeat this behavior. I would suggest you NOT buy my program but rather dig into the other programs you have invested in and put those to work first. It’s up to you to change the pattern,” I responded.
Like many people, I invest in information from other experts. These investments can range from a few dollars to a few thousand dollars. Regardless of what the cost I don’t let the information collect dust.
My standard practice is to put time aside to study the material. I make a commitment to a specific amount of time that will be used for application.
Recently I invested $2,000 in an information product. I applied one idea and within 48 hours more than made my money back. Was it by luck this happened? Not at all. It was by application.
What’s your practice?
What do you do when you invest in a program? Do you apply the information or do you let it collect dust moving on to the next bright shiny object?
Personally, I would much rather someone NOT invest in my programs if they are not going to apply the information. Those who know me know I am very passionate about what I teach. My teachings are based on real life experience and a proven track record. I know the information works, but only when someone works it and has the right mindset.
Skills are only part of what will lead to success. Mindset, belief and intention are all aspects of success. Another key element is action. Without action you are literally spitting in the wind.
When Joe talks I listen
I just got off the phone with a dear friend who is incredibly successful in his industry. Joe will be the first to tell you not only do you have to invest in training, you have to have the right mindset and beliefs as well as the willingness to take action.
Coming from someone who is in the top 2 – 3% of income earners in his industry, in a 35 year happy marriage, in great physical and emotional health, with a strong religious and spiritual beliefs I would say Joe knows of what he speaks.
So what does this have to do with my upcoming training program? In a word; everything.
I sincerely want to work with those who are ready to take their business to the next level. I thrive on working with people who are willing to take the necessary steps to achieve an outcome.
If you are serious about wanting to start a profitable membership program I encourage you to check out what you will learn over a 28 day period.
In four short weeks you will be given all the information you need to put your own program in place.
There’s just one thing. The program has only 97 spots available AND the price goes up on Friday, July 1st.
Take action now to see if this is a great fit for the direction you are taking your business. There’s just one thing; if you plan to invest and do nothing, do both of us a favor and don’t get the program. It’s not for you.
On the other hand if you plan to apply the information, great! This program is for you. Click here to learn more.
What has been your experience with information products? Do you use the information or do they collect dust among all the other purchases you make? What is your advice to someone who wants to learn how to discipline themselves into a higher level of success?
Comments welcome. Retweets also welcome.
Kathleen, I love the way you handled that on the spot. Whenever I have fallen into trying to convince someone to join my group, it was never a good thing. I don’t know how I would have handled that on spot like you did. I havn’t done a teleseminar yet with Q & A but now I am at least aware.
Thanks,
Shirley
Thank you for your comments Shirley. After years of offering programs I have come to learn that if someone has not applied the information from other experts I am not going to be an exception to the rule. I look at long term relationships with my market and find that by turning down a sale in the short term I build trust in the long term.
You are wise indeed.
Implementation is the key to success, and if the caller had never applied other programs she was definitely not going to apply yours. Even worse, she may belong to that group of people who bad-mouth programs they haven’t even tried because the programs didn’t work by osmosis.
Hi Kathleen
Good post, and the integrity you showed to tell that woman no is why you are one of the good folks in our world.
I’d have done the same thing, encouraging her to take action on something she already had, or depending on the situation, walked her thru how she was going to take action now, and it if looked like she was not, then turn her down.
You were practicing “selfish benevolence” – the benevolent part is helping her out by directing her to take action on what she already had, the selfish part is making sure you take on students who are actually going to do something, and then do well with it. That’s what I want, lots of successful folks who Go Use This Stuff and then make us look good 🙂
Just too many people our there who turn something that could change their lives into “shelf-help.”
Chat soon…
~ Jeff
Kathleen! You did it again! Your integrity blows me away every time. And you are so right! I remember you giving us that ‘instruction’ when I went through your awesome program. Here you have someone asking you that very thing, which you know, I applaud her for even asking. It gave you the opportunity to be real with her, and hopefully saved her time and money.
What I tell my clients about my programs is, “The program DOES work…if YOU work the program!”
Keep on rockin’ it!
Deni
Thanks Deni. Yes, I too applaud someone for having the willingness to ask the tough question. Most would not bother to ask but rather try one more thing hoping that is the answer.
Excellent input
Excellent advice Kathleen!
Imagine the following scenario…
One woman asked me if I thought it was a good idea for her to invest in a new car. “I have bought lots of great cars but I never seem to use them. I have several excellent cars that I have not yet driven. Do you think that your new car is for me?” this woman sincerely asked.
You would have to be pretty underhand to sell a car to that lady 🙂
We must demonstrate integrity and show that we want the best for our customers, and not just the best for our bank balance……..
Great analogy. Thanks for your comments.
Great post Kathleen. I love the way you handled that. It’s so true that if we don’t implement what we learn, then we don’t move forward. Training + Action = Success!
I advise my clients to only invest in programs that help them reach the specific goal they are focused on / overcome the specific challenge they currently face. If you can’t implement what you learn right away, you’re much less likely to take action on what you learn. Even then, many people buy programs and don’t move into implementation mode.
With one-on-one coaching there is accountability but in these types of micro-continuity programs, it can be harder to create accountability. I’ve done a couple of things to inspire accountability in my programs, and would love to hear your thoughts on how to incorporate an element of accountability into such programs.
Thanks Kathleen. I appreciate you!
warm wishes,
Cindy
Any ideas for those who are trying to dig our way out of poverty–because of disability. I’m struggling to write and hoping one day I’ll get somewhere. I can’t afford to pay for training, and I find myself not signing up for free things because they only go so far and I can’t go the rest of the way. Not only because of money, but time and energy also.
Enough complaining. Back to the manuscript! I do appreciate what you do, and you do encourage me!
Thanks for your comments Cheryel. When my co-author and I wrote Law of Achievement we did so while she was the 24/7 caretaker of her husband who had been in a very tragic accident. The process was about pacing ourselves to have an end in mind but not so much that it became so overwhelming everything came to a standstill.
Without knowing full details of your situation I cannot say how much is or is not possible. Only you can do that. However, if you could find others who have been in your situation and possibly find out what they have done to work within limitations that cannot be avoided, this likely would help.
When I rolled out my membership program I did so while being my mother’s caretaker. Each day I would ask to be guided and ask for the strength to do what I could to move to the next level. As I look back on this time I really don’t know how some of the footwork got done. It was a very tough time and yet, by asking to be guided I was able to follow that guidance.
Kathleen, that woman was me. And what I was trying to get across was that a lot of the programs I sign up for need technology to get you up and running and I am techno phoebic….so I get stuck with needing help getting everything up and running because these programs don’t take you any further than that. They tell you what to do but they don’t tell you how to do. So you either need to hire someone to do for you but how can I explain when I don’t know what I’m doing really. I’m 60 years old…a young 60 in my body and mind…but this technology is just soooo overwhelming and it’s definately blocking me from moving forward. My brain is paralyzed here. The other thing is that some teachers just have a way of presenting things where you understand it better than others…listening to you made me feel that I might click better with you because you said ‘step by step’… I definately work better one on one but that costs a lot more money… It would be GREAT if there would be programs where people would take you step by step on how to set up the things on the computer that you need for starting up the business..landing pages, opt in page, autoresponder, etc. I’m taking a 24 wk online class right now on how to do teleseminars and webinars online where you actually have to show up every wk and do your presentations online and the group critiques you…a lot like Toastmasters…Very one on one oriented.
For instance….how did people get their photos up with their posts??? How do you do that? I hate that I can’t figure this stuff out!
I had someone set me up on Sype but never showed me how to use it…urghhhhhhh!!!!
Thanks for your comments Carole. I was glad you asked the question during the call. Your points about technology are those which many people have, myself included. Some things you can learn with time and patience. Other aspects it is better to hire it out.
For simple things on technology, like posting a photo, often times you can find the answer by going to YouTube and searching out a specific topic. I have one client who wanted to learn how to do landing pages in WordPress. She found some videos on YouTube and in one afternoon learned how to do her own landing pages. And this is someone who is not tech savvy.
There are training courses that are specific to technology. The process of getting up and running on the Internet is just that, a process. I don’t know of one program that is an end all be all for everything we need to learn.
You mentioned Skype. I did a very quick search on YouTube and found these links to videos.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH80vs8DweU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pN1TZ9wlt9U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sodMDs7rEEk
I also did a search on how to upload a picture specific to WordPress. Here is what I found
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2gmA8RUNxU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro6UfYUG5e8
I don’t know how good they are as I did not take the time to watch them. Rather, I want my readers to know how easy it can be to find solutions right at their fingertips.
The key to a lot of this is to find that which is most important for you to learn to move forward. If need be hire someone. I have lots of people tell me they can’t afford to hire people and yet, if we plan to run our businesses like a business there are investments that are required. We just need to be conscientious of how and what we are investing in.
Thanks again for your post and I hope these videos help.
Hi, Kathleen,
First, thanks for your presence which is real, honest and encouraging. Second, thanks for your integrity. And third, thanks for caring. I understand Carole’s frustration. I too have paid thousands of dollars in so called coaches to find out that they did not really know how to teach or really cared about the other person. I have a great respect for teachers and I see that some of those coaching online these days are not truly teachers. Being an expert is not the same as being a teacher. If you’ve had a couple of bad experiences that let you with thousands of dollars less and the problem not solved, then I can see how you can become weary.
On the other hand, as a shaman and spiritual teacher, I have observed that not everything on our way is in our circumstances. There are internal roadblocks that may be creating the pattern of not implementing. Here are several reasons that may be behind someone’s inability to implement the coaching:
Learned limitations: Especially for those of us over 50 who did not got schooled on internet and computers, the learning curve can be overwhelming. At the bottom of all of this is an emotional limitation that predisposes us against technical things because they are unknown. My advice is to do what Carole ultimately did: get a basic training to familiarize with technology. But start by changing your attitude. Open your heart and mind to technology. Observe the negative beliefs you have. They are usually false, like “computers are taking over human relationships”. In their stead, create affirmations. Here are a few I have used: “internet and computers facilitate my business start-up/book writing with little investment,” “Social media allows me to know fascinating people from all over the world and expands my outreach,” “Internet allows me to present my gifts to the world without having to travel or spend a lot of money” and “Learning computer technology for daily use helps my brain stay young and prevents mental deterioration.”
Hidden limitations: The other block to implementing is that there may be hidden limitations in your subconscious of which you are not aware. The subconscious governs more than 95% of responses to life, including the autonomic system. If you observe a pattern of not implementing, stop going after more coaches or products. You need to address your subconscious limitations. Seek help for this. Self-sabotage has deep rooted causes. You need to find these causes so that you release the beliefs, emotional triggers or hidden limitations that are blocking your progress. For example, Inner Wars often keep us in a back and forth little dance. An Inner War can be beliefs that pit prosperity vs. spirituality, for example.
Ineffective External Actions: Most of us take actions that are only External Actions. But progress often requires Internal Actions. These are emotional and energy processes that transform our subconscious, emotional and energy patterns. These actions are so simple that many of us overlook them. They come from the Sacred Feminine and are powerful transformations that clear the way to effective External Actions. Releasing, allowing and receiving, for example, are Internal Actions. Develop a radar to know what Internal Actions are taking place inside you and how to create the right Internal Actions for your goals.
Finally, a note on spirituality and success.
My passion is to help creative women and out-of-the-box men to achieve success with soul. I have come to understand that this requires that your success is from within. When you run into these patterns of not implementing, you may be using resistance because of two reasons:
1) You are afraid of the unknown and attached to what you have, even if it sucks. (LOL)
2) What you are trying to do, planned with your conscious mind, is NOT what you soul needs or wants to do or betrays your life purpose or Essence.
In the first instance, you need to develop tolerance for the success and happiness you want. Make the unfamiliar familiar and release what you don’t want in your present reality. Both of these are Internal Actions.
In the second instance, you need to take time for self-intimacy. You may need help for this. Connect to your soul. Discover what makes you happy. What is your passion? What is your unique way of doing what you do? What does your Soul need right now to feel nurture and to express your Essence in the world? Once you are emotionally and spiritually clear, your path will be unobstructed and the resistance will dissolve.
I hope this spiritual and emotional perspective helps,
Light and love,
Maria Mar
The Dream Alchemist
What a wonderful post Maria. Thank you for your insights.