'Work Half the Time and Make Twice the Income
Leading "Virtual Action Groups"'
Guest Expert: Robert Middleton
The Program:
If you give a lot of information, ideas and inspiration but you don't see a lot of implementation from your clients, you might want to consider setting up "Virtual Action Groups." Virtual Action Groups are not only powerful programs designed to support your clients in putting your ideas into action, they can be a great source of income. Robert Middleton now makes these Virtual Action Groups his main service offering and has a six-month waiting list. He's mastered the art of promoting and leading these groups and is now able to service five times as many clients, double his income and work half the hours while seeing better results from clients than through consulting, coaching or workshops.
You will learn:
- The big difference between teleclasses and Virtual Action Groups
- How to get your participants to do the lion's share of the work
- How to build in accountability so that participants actually implement
- Secrets of a marketing system that has people begging to be in the groups
- How to earn a five-figure monthly income with Virtual Action Groups
- Web, email and audio technology required to give maximum value
More about our guest expert:
Robert Middleton has been working with small business owners and self-employed professionals since 1984. He is now known throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, United States and the world as "The Marketing Expert for Independent Professionals."
Robert has been a persistent researcher of the most effective marketing strategies for professional service businesses and has developed systems and models for marketing that have helped thousands of professionals attract more clients.
In the course of his 20-year career, Robert has been a consultant, coach, speaker, writer, designer, workshop leader and Web developer. In 2002 Robert moved to a home in the Santa Cruz Mountain redwoods and turned his business completely virtual, leading his Marketing Action Groups while overlooking the San Lorenzo River. Robert publishes his weekly ezine, More Clients, which goes out to over 30,000 subscribers in almost every country. He has sold his comprehensive marketing guide, The InfoGuru Marketing Manual, to thousands of independent professionals worldwide.
www.actionplan.com
'Anatomy of Creating Six-Figure Products'
Guest Expert: Robert Middleton
Additional resources for this seminar:
Handout -- (PDF, 85K)
The Program:
You know you should create products or expand your product line. But you have some hesitancy since you've spent chunks of time creating products in the past, but not had the sales you wanted. What is missing? Is it the content, title, benefits, price? Did you create something you thought people wanted but weren't willing to buy? How can you create a bestseller next time? What do you need to consider before beginning?
Since 1996 Robert Middleton has been selling information products online with great success. Every year he sells in excess of $400K in manuals, toolkits and other marketing programs. And he does it without bombarding his subscribers with endless emails or over-hyping what he has to offer.
In this teleseminar Robert will share his secrets to developing and selling products online.
You will learn:
- how to determine the highest payoff products
- how to price the product for the most and most profitable sales
- the keys to writing online sales letters that actually work
- how to give the biggest bang for the buck with every product
- how to structure a guarantee to remove the risk of buying
- holding sales and other promotions that increase volume
- how to avoid the biggest mistakes people make when developing products
- how to produce high-selling products on a shoestring
- getting people to actually use your product (the law of consumption)
More about our guest expert:
Robert Middleton has been working with small business owners and self-employed professionals since 1984. He is now known throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, United States and the world as "The Marketing Expert for Independent Professionals."
Robert has been a persistent researcher of the most effective marketing strategies for professional service businesses and has developed systems and models for marketing that have helped thousands of professionals attract more clients.
In the course of his 20-year career, Robert has been a consultant, coach, speaker, writer, designer, workshop leader and Web developer. In 2002 Robert moved to a home in the Santa Cruz Mountain redwoods and turned his business completely virtual, leading his Marketing Action Groups while overlooking the San Lorenzo River. Robert publishes his weekly ezine, More Clients, which goes out to over 30,000 subscribers in almost every country. He has sold his comprehensive marketing guide, The InfoGuru Marketing Manual, to thousands of independent professionals worldwide.
www.actionplan.com
'Creating, Marketing and Selling
High-End Services and Programs'
Guest Expert: Robert Middleton
Additional resources for this seminar:
Handout (PDF, 2.5MB)
The Program:
Most speakers, consultants, coaches and other independent professionals would like to charge more for their services, but just raising prices won't automatically take their practices to a higher level. What they need is to develop a whole new category of services or programs. These services have the potential to generate $100K or more in new business in a year.
Robert calls these "High-End, Outcome-Based Programs" (HEOB). He will explore how these kind of programs work and how you can fit them into your already successful business.
You will learn:
- How to create, structure and brand a high-end service to generate the maximum attention and interest.
- The most effective marketing strategy system for launching high-end services.
- The selling process that will convert the highest percentage of prospects for your program into paying clients.
Attend this teleclass if you are ready to take your business to the next level and offer high-end services and programs that will not only grow your business, but make a bigger impact with your clients.
More about our guest expert:
Robert Middleton has been helping independent professionals market their services with more impact and less struggle since 1984 (25 years!). Robert is a coach, consultant, writer, designer, speaker, and entrepreneur. He is the author of the online bestsellers "The InfoGuru Marketing Manual" and the "Web Site ToolKit." The main way he works with clients now is through his "Action Plan Marketing Club" with over 600 members.
www.actionplan.com
'Establish Client MasterMind Groups for
Ongoing, Significant Income and Results'
Guest Expert: Steve Miller
Additional resources for this seminar:
Handout (PDF, 100K)
The Program:
Want to have the same group pay to work with you every single quarter? Would you like to know how to have this group be an important income source, including referrals, speeches, consultations, product sales and other projects? Would you like to have a more in-depth impact with your clients without your having to know all the answers?
Steve will share how he established and runs what he calls his "Clubs" -- what we might call an όber-mastermind group. He attributes 90% of his business in the last 10 years to the two groups he put together and runs. He'll share how he started, how he gets members, what goes on in the meetings and in between, how he gets income from the members, and his secret for their never wanting to leave.
You will learn how to:
- Establish a group, no matter what your industry niche.
- Put together a group, from the first invitation to criteria for membership.
- Charge for your services.
- Spin other business from your group members and their colleagues
- Facilitate group interactions between meetings
- Create golden handcuffs by offering a service no one wants to let go of.
More about our guest expert:
Steve Miller is first and foremost Kelly's Dad, and Kay's first husband.
Steve is a visionary in the trade show industry.
He is a student, teacher, and designated thinker of curious, forward thinking, and continually restless (defined as dissatisfied with status quo) organizations. He operates a virtual strategic laboratory developing practical tools for applying the concepts that flow from his research and experience. (OK, he's a consultant.)
The essence of Steve's work is to develop creative and implementable ideas that create value propositions for associations, and corporations. Steve has been variously called a change agent, alchemist, visionary, gadfly, and pain-in-the-butt. Some people actually don't like him, and even say bad things about him.
His clients are unquestionably elite, and in his own words, "very way cool people," including 15 of Tradeshow Week's Top Twenty expositions and many Fortune 100 corporations.
www.theadventure.com
'Insider Secrets to Promoting Your Services
and Products on Craigslist to Gain
Free Worldwide Publicity'
Guest Expert: Nancy Mills
The Program:
You want lots of publicity for your services and products. You don't want to pay a fortune for it. Craigslist.org, the free online community board used by 10 million people monthly, offers an amazing publicity tool for publicity at no cost, in 190 cities all over the world. But you must know how to use it properly and effectively -- otherwise you're wasting your time.
Write a newsletter? Teach teleseminars, workshops, classes? Sell products or consult to others? Are you a speaker, consultant, coach, author, event promoter? Then Craigslist is your promotional dream come true.
But in order to use Craigslist effectively for publicity you *must* know the strategy for your particular promotion, and use a writing style that is Craigslist-specific. And there are rules -- lots of them -- otherwise you'll get kicked off the site.
Nancy Mills, a Craigslist media pro, will share her insider tips gleaned from 3 years of using Craigslist to promote her and her clients' workshops, teleseminars, products, newsletters, and more. She finds 90% of her workshop attendees and Web hits come from Craigslist. She maintains Craigslist is the most invaluable PR tool of ANY kind for ANY business.
You will learn:
- Why Craigslist is such a valuable tool for anyone promoting their products/services and why you're paddling with only one oar if you're not using it.
- How to decide exactly which cities to choose for posts to generate the most exposure.
- Why you should spend more time thinking about the strategy of posting instead of just posting.
- Why you can't post the same news item over and over -- and how to get around this rule so you reach people in multiple cities.
- What you should do when you first arrive at the Craigslist Web site -- Nancy says this will save you lots of time later.
- A trick that you *can* use that will pull visitors to your Web site.
- Why the writing style of a Craigslist post should be very different than the standard press release.
- Etiquette you must follow so you use Craigslist properly, ethically and intelligently.
- How to know if your strategy is working.
More about our guest expert:
Nancy Mills has been successfully involved in public relations for over 20 years. In the '80s, she owned Nancy Mills Public Relations, a Beverly Hills PR agency specializing in entrepreneurs. At the time, traditional PR was her forte. Press kits, press releases, media placement (national and local -- newspapers, magazines, radio and TV), photo shoots, and more.
In the '90s, she moved over to the media side of the business and became a rather well known freelance journalist. She began as a columnist for "The Hollywood Reporter." Her specialty was travel and she freelanced for 50+ top newspapers and magazines. Many of her newspaper stories ran front page in the travel section.
Also in the '90s, she founded "Travelin' Woman," a fee-based monthly hardcopy newsletter for women who love to travel. That led to inspirational seminars. Basic concept: Ordinary Women Who Do Extraordinary Things Through Travel. Rand-McNally became her sponsor, and over 3,000 women attended the seminars nationwide, which received a lot of press coverage.
In the 2000s, Nancy segued from travel writing to inspirational writing for women. In 2001, she completed the manuscript "Spirited Woman," and from that touchstone she now teaches workshops, moderates teleseminars with famous women authors and actresses, sells Spirited Woman products, and is known as the creator of Spirited Woman, a very inspired woman's empowerment community. Over 2,000 women internationally subscribe to the free Spirited Woman Newsletter.
To put Spirited Woman centrally on the "Web" map (not easy to do with a $0 budget) she created a 30+ page blog-centric Web site (TheSpiritedWoman.com). She's written EVERY word of copy, publicized the site in every way known to man or woman -- Craigslist, Ezine and Web portal articles, on-line calendars, forums, links, Web-specific press releases, newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, blogs and other Web sites - and along the way learned about search engines, increasing business sales, and gaining more recognition.
Recently, in addition to Spirited Woman, she has begun Nancy Mills Communications, a freelance-oriented, project-based PR business, combining her PR and web skills. She is considered an expert on using Craigslist for publicity purposes, writing Web-specific press releases, utilizing forums and blogs to create buzz, using online calendars to generate interest, and ezine/online article writing. She also understands the value of how PR affects search engine optimization.
Nancy graduated from UCLA with a BA in Psychology. She is also a member of PEN USA. Currently, clients from Africa to Tulsa, Oklahoma, use her community-based web PR services. And in case you're interested, she loves to dance and read murder mysteries.
www.NancyMillsCommunications.com
'Get More Memorable to Get More Business'
Guest Expert: W Mitchell, CSP, CPAE
The Program:
In any economic climate, those who thrive are those whom customers think of instantly when they have a need. So how do you increase your memorability with your prospects and clients? What can you do to be top-of-mind when a need for your services arises?
Mitchell has mastered the art of memorability. He knows how to make his name and message stick even years after someone has seen him speak. He'll share his techniques for thriving even in a tough economy. He annually speaks on five continents.
You will learn:
- how you can become more memorable every time from meeting someone to giving a speech
- how to make it easy for people to find you when they have a need
- how you can stand out from the clutter of your competitors
- ways you can ensure you're getting better for each engagement
- how to keep your finely tuned presentation fresh for yourself so it will have high audience impact
- how to make an indelible impression even with foreign audiences
More about our guest expert:
Undefeated by a blazing motorcycle accident and a paralyzing plane crash, Mitchell learned to take responsibility for the countless changes in his life. Based on his real-life experiences and the remarkable achievements that followed his accidents, worldwide organizations now seek his insight and proven strategies.
When Mitchell speaks, no one goes away unaffected as he proves, beyond a doubt, that setbacks can be transformed into exciting new starting points. Overcoming impossible situations and successfully moving forward is Mitchell's area of expertise. And, the proof that he is "the real deal" can be found in the remarkable achievements that followed his accidents.
Achievements include: founding chairman of a $65 million company, a two-term mayor and congressional nominee, a radio host and television personality, published author, Speakers Hall of Fame inductee who has spoken in over 30 countries, invited to the White House by five United States presidents, continues his love of piloting airplanes and outdoor activities, and currently serves as President of the International Federation For Professional Speakers.
www.wmitchell.com
'How to Be an Effective Spokesperson'
Guest Expert: Marilynn Mobley
The Program:
Would you like to be paid for media interviews, as well as having someone book you to speak at conventions, without your paying a commission? Corporations hire spokespeople to do these things, and more. Being hired as a spokesperson is not easy, but when an opportunity appears, you want to be ready. Getting the opportunity and seizing it are two entirely different things. Being an effective spokesperson involves much more than knowledge. You have to know how to articulate information in a way that's concise, compelling, and colorful. Do you know how to pack a punch that will make you a sought-after spokesperson?
You will learn:
- Create opportunities to become a corporate spokesperson
- Spin a spokesperson inquiry into a much bigger contract
- Determine what to charge
- Keep the interviewer and yourself focused on your points
- Use your appearance and body language effectively on TV
- Turn a phrase that turns heads
- Create and use effective analogies, comparisons and examples
- Avoid lures and traps to get you to say something negative
- Use a negative question to give a positive answer
- Say things in a way that compels the interviewer to follow up
More about our guest expert:
Marilynn Mobley founded Acorn Consulting Group, Inc., after 20 successful years as a professional communicator. Acorn's client list has included IBM, Georgia-Pacific, PepsiCo, Candle Corporation, Sun Data, Inc., Atlanta Internet Bank, as well as several small and medium-sized technology companies. She is also a professional speaker and member of the National Speakers Association and the Georgia Speakers Association.
Prior to founding Acorn, Marilynn was senior public relations manager for IBM's Southern Area marketing region, capping a 15-year career that included a wide variety of communications assignments.
Marilynn has earned accolades and awards as an executive speech writer, publications editor, employee communication adviser, marketing communications consultant, and media relations manager. She has served as director of public relations for a quasi-governmental agency, a media relations representative for one of the nation's largest public utilities, and a newspaper reporter for a large metropolitan newspaper.
http://www.theacorngroup.com/
'How to Generate Big Laughs by Interacting
with Audience Members Without
Embarrassing Them -- or You'
Guest Expert: Brad Montgomery, CSP
The Program:
You've heard that those who can deliver a message and humor get paid more. But you don't tell jokes, and your stories just aren't that funny. So how can you add natural humor without it seeming forced? Tap your audience for humor! No, we aren't talking about embarrassing anyone, although a little loving teasing may be in order. As a comedian and magician, Brad learned how to engage individuals in his audience or else he couldn't do his tricks -- which meant he didn't eat! He uses these honed techniques in his motivational keynotes and will share how you can add more humor and get your audience more involved not only to make your presentations funnier, but also to increase the connection between you and your audiences.
You will learn:
- How to use interview skills to improve the connection between you and your audience and to maximize laughter. (Ask questions -- get laughs.)
- Five questions to ask your audience that lead to laughs.
- Tips for treating volunteers with class and charm -- and humor.
- How far can (and should) you go to push the envelope?
- What to do when your audience-involvement humor fails.
- How to be witty, creative and impromptu, even when you aren't.
More about our guest expert:
Brad Montgomery, CSP, never planned to be a nationally recognized humorist motivational speaker, business comedian, publisher and author. He planned to be a lawyer. After graduating with a political science degree from Brown University, Brad intended to be a magician for a year and then start the serious part of his life with the study of law. To date, he is still waiting for the serious part of his life to begin.
Brad urges his audiences to lighten up and to remember that our lives are filled with humor and magic. He helps associations and corporations manage change and improve morale. Brad reminds groups that "Life Is Fun & Funny. And Filled with Magic." By the looks of things, his clients agree. Folks use him to kick off conventions with a bang, close 'em with a laugh, or lift them up somewhere in between. His audiences enjoy his entertaining, inspirational and motivational speeches and leave his keynotes with a spring in their steps.
Brad lives in Centennial, Colorado -- a suburb of Denver -- with his attorney wife. (Brad assumed that the next best thing to being a lawyer was tricking one into marrying him.) Although he is proud of his many awards and national credits, he's convinced that his best tricks so far are his three small kids.
www.bradmontgomery.com
'Create Salable Products from Your Blog Entries'
Guest Expert: Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC
The Program:
Using your blog postings is the best way to produce your next book. Creating audio product from those entries is an easy way to create CDs and MP3s for sale. Why use this route? There are so many advantages that writing a book or creating an audio album the old way no longer makes much sense. In fact, you may have so much content that you are able to launch a series of books and CD albums Rebecca has released 15 books (100230 pages each) from her blog postings in the first four months of this year.
What are the advantages? Are there disadvantages? How do you maximize your writing to position your book/recording for strong sales when it's produced? How can you use excerpts of your blog to drive book/CD/MP3 sales and create a boatload of raving fans in the process?
You will learn:
- How writing a book via your blog differs from writing the old-fashioned way
- The many advantages of writing your book (or your recording script) through your blog
- How to leverage your blog's exposure to promote your book and CDs/MP3s
- What you have to do to turn your postings into book format and into recordings
- Getting your blog's fans to be peer reviewers and editors, and to market for you
More about our guest expert:
Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC, produces two popular blogs. She's turned the postings into 15 books that she now sells BOR and on the Internet. The prolific writer and bestselling author of 8 other books will share how she produced so many products without writing in one setting for hours on end. She's now turning her writing into podcasts and paid MP3s/CDs.
Her consistent blog postings resulted in top search rankings, interviews on TV and radio and in newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal twice as well as international media. Her other books have landed her on Oprah, 60 Minutes, in USA Today and even the Borneo Bulletin! She travels the world sharing her workplace effectiveness expertise with clients from Bakersfield to Brunei.
www.RebeccaMorgan.com
www.GrowYourKeyTalent.com
'Teleseminars Soup to Nuts: How to Provide
Profitable, Low-Work, High-Value Seminars'
Guest Expert: Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC
The Program:
You've watched as your colleagues have added teleseminars to their offerings and seen them have great success. You want to start offering these yourself, but you don't know all the intricacies. Where do you start? How do bridge lines work? What format works best? What day of the week and time of day? How much should you charge? What about registration and logistics? And then how do you manage the call itself to give the highest value?
Rebecca has been called the "Barbara Walters of teleseminars" for her ability to provide in-depth information via her teleseminars. She's a pioneer in conducting teleseminars in various formats. She will share info on how to get started and how to refine your sessions if you are already offering teleseminars. Come hear from one of the true masters in this medium.
You will learn:
- The hidden benefits of doing teleseminars
- The type of teleseminars and pros and cons of each
- Pricing strategies for your target market
- What you need to know about logistics: bridge lines, registration, confirmation, pre-session surveys, recording, post-session evaluations
- Best strategies for getting the word out to your market
- How you prepare for your teleseminar that is different than an in-person session
Additional resources for this seminar:
When you purchase the recording, you will be emailed a link where you can download a handout prepared by Rebecca, with additional resource information.
More about our guest expert:
Rebecca Morgan, CSP, CMC, is a bestselling author, consultant and professional presenter. She focuses on creating innovative interventions for long-term results to people development issues. She's a pioneer in using teleseminars as a revenue stream, an introduction to her services, a follow on to her in-person sessions, and an alternative for remote groups. She's led teleseminars with participants around the world.
Here's what her peers say about her skills:
"Wow, Rebecca is REALLY good as a teleseminar facilitator -- organized, professional, personal, honest, relaxed, insightful, inquisitive, and humble enough to step aside and let the expert talk." --Mariah Burton Nelson
"Rebecca did an excellent job of facilitating Joe Calloway's seminar. She followed the outline, covered the points, and added an additional question when there was an opportunity for a more in depth answer." --Pam Gordon
"I truly did not fully appreciate how good Rebecca is at hosting the SNN teleseminars until last week. I participated in a teleseminar last week and almost went nuts when the "facilitator/host" failed to interact/comment/guide/direct/help, etc., the guest speaker at all. She just introduced him and then "forced" the poor guy to talk to dead air for 45 minutes! Absolutely amazing." --Liz Weber
"In my corporate life I was the chief executive human resources officer and did many presentations on interviewing. I shared this so that you know my observations about interviewing skills come from experience. In each tape you were simply outstanding in your initial questioning and your follow up inquiries. Someone one said that you can better judge first rate minds by questions asked rather than by answers given." --Juan Negroni
www.RebeccaMorgan.com