Does Personal Investment Bring Business Success?

I’ve been in conflict this week. Big time. I’m hiring a new online marketing coach and because my previous multiple-experiences with online coaches have woefully under-delivered, I don’t want to let my past experiences taint the entire industry.

But there’s a further challenge … I’m out there in the online market place too. I’m offering products that I passionately believe will make a difference. And if others have had the same experience of feeling ‘duped’ as I have, how can they decide whether I’m a expert worth trusting?

HOW do we locate the sincerity amongst all the hot air? Here’s are my top 5 recommendations:

• Do your research – don’t be afraid to get behind a long sales letter. They’re long because they have to deal with every objection the reader could possibly think of. But when you have a phone, skype or face-to-face dialogue with a seller, you get a sense of the source. Ask them for more examples of how an individual truly went through a process. Ask what percentage of their students get the results they’re highlighting. You wouldn’t buy an offline purchase – a car, some curtains, a new iPhone – without all the answers. And what might work for the masses may not be your thing … so ask until you feel clear and confident.

• Expect accountability - if the new juicer you buy isn’t juicing like it claimed it would – you take it back. Often you don’t want your money back, you want the value of what the product said it would bring to your life. So you ask the supplier to be accountable for the product they’re selling and either show you how to use it more effectively or NOT sell the juicer with these unfulfillable promises. It’s the SAME principle when you’re buying knowledge. If it’s not producing for you as it was sold – it’s right to challenge that.

• Listen to your intuition – take time to look around a person’s website and check out their social media presence. If you sense a sincerity and authenticity, check out their credentials (like if there are testimonials on their sales letters, find that person on facebook and ask them to share more detail). I’ve seen teeny glimpses of some online marketeers which have changed my instinct of them entirely – both ways.

• Put your investment in context – ask yourself how the money you’ll spend will influence your business, career and life. Be aware of statements of worthiness, like ‘I do charge multiple 5 figures for my program- so it’s only for those who are serious about business, serious about stepping up, serious about huge results’. Whilst I do believe that our beliefs alter what we attract (I teach universal law after all), know that you are always worthy, always enough, always connected to your purpose through your soul.  So, clear head, clear heart, clear decision making.

• Learn from each experience – like I said, I’ve invested 10s of thousands of dollars in seminars, coaching and development programs with varying results: the best ones for me had personal coaching time built in (but not outsourced to a team of off-site coaches); the worst (and usually the most expensive) where seminars where there was a mass download of information and no follow up.

So, I hope some of this will help you with decisions of online knowledge purchasing. And when you find the stars, the way-showers that you really resonate with – stick with them!!