Learn how to be a better and more profitable coach in this new, empowering telesummit lead by my friend, Joel Monk.

http://bit.ly/ajGQar

He’s collected some amazing speakers. In these calls you’ll learn:

* How to combine business and consciousness to create both wealth and well-being

* Why it’s so important to “niche”… and how that can catapult your earnings as a coach to a new level

* The number one mistake new coaches make when talking to clients about coaching and how to communicate the real value of coaching to attract your ideal client

* Key practices and rituals to implement on the path to becoming a successful coaching entrepreneur

I think you’ll get a ton of value from all the speakers Joel has gathered – especially if you’re a coach ready to play a bigger game.

http://bit.ly/ajGQar

I see too many entrepreneurs getting lost because they don’t have a complete map to guide them to freedom and fulfillment. They have maybe a quarter of the map, which they clutch onto with dear life thinking it’s the whole map that will lead them to the lost treasure. If you’re building your market strategy on a partial and fractured map you’re doomed to struggle. There’s a better way…us e a map called Integral Marketing.

In the past few decades there’s been, for the first time in history, a focused effort to take all human knowledge - all the known maps of human potential - and combine them into a more comprehensive and accurate map of reality. The American philosopher, Ken Wilber, was the first to unlock the code around 1997 and created a “Big Map of Everything” - also called the Integral Map.

The Integral Map is now being used to radically improve results in medicine, politics, art, psychology, economics, spirituality, business…you name it….and in our case - Integral Marketing.

~~ It’s All About Perspectives ~~

I want you to play a game here with me so I can show you something very cool…

Take a second and look up. Notice the objects you see around you.

Good. Now imagine standing ten feet away from where you are and look around. It’s a different perspective, right? You’d still see the same objects in the room…just from a different angle…so you can relate and communicate about these objects easily because you’ve seen them from different perspectives.

Stick with me here because I’m going to take you on a weird perspective trip…

Imagine someone you know and like comes in the place where you’re reading this now. You know this person so you say, “Hi.” They say, “Hi” back.

Now imagine taking the perspective of that friend of yours. Imagine seeing the world from THEIR eyes. What do they see? Yes - they see the same objects you see…but from a different perspective. They might see the same objects as you - but for them it triggers different emotions - maybe a different memory. You know your friend well so what do you think they would FEEL about the objects around you?

And as you look through their eyes you also see YOU sitting there reading this now. (Now things are getting interesting!)

…what do they think and feel about YOU?

(Sounds funny - I know…but stick with me here because in a minute I’ll show you how it affects your bank account.)

You just experienced what it’s like to see things from different perspectives - even different interpretations. This is the Golden Key to unlock great marketing from within you.

Let’s say you have a great idea. From YOUR perspective you think it’s awesome. It’ll *make-you-rich* - you’re sure. But here’s the thing…what does your idea look like from the perspective of your target market? Before you jump to saying, “They’ll LOVE it!” I want you to really take the view of the other (i.e. get out of your emotional attachment to your idea.) Is your idea what THEY really WANT or is it what YOU think they NEED…

…Because there’s usually a Grand Canyon difference between what you think people need and what they’ll actually pull out their wallet for.

Integral Marketing allows you to take into consideration different perspectives to ensure your success so you don’t have to waste time on money-sucking, bad ideas.

~~ The Integral Marketing Framework ~~

There are four main perspectives to take in integral marketing that will give you freedom and fulfillment in your business.

To create this basic “map”, imagine (or draw out) a line going vertically down the center of a blank page and a line going horizontally across the middle. (It should look like the classic “x” and “y” graph from math class.)

The left half represents the Interior (what you think and feel inside.) The right half represents the External (the objects you see outside of you.) The upper half represents the Individual (things that are singular like a single chair or single thought.) The lower half represents the Collective (things that are more than one - like a collection of chairs or a thought that a group of people agree on.)

You now have four quadrants for your integral marketing map…each quadrant is a place to stand and look at your business.

Let’s go through these four quadrants with a business idea you have. Think of some product or service idea you have right now (choose anything - remember, this is a game we’re playing here.) Or choose a product or service that you are actually offering the public right now.

Step1: Upper Left Quadrant of The Integral Marketing Map
From this perspective (interior and individual) you can see your individual thoughts and feelings. How do you feel about your product or service? Does it align with who you are and what’s important to you?

If you’re doing something only for the money and you have no passion for the topic…you’ll suffer. It’ll feel like you’re out of alignment - like random notes hitting a piano. There will be a disharmonic feeling inside of you if you choose to do something that’s dead to you. Draw on your courage from within and make the shift to follow your bliss.

Step 2: Lower Left Quadrant of The Integral Marketing Map
From this perspective (interior and collective) you can read what your target market really wants. What is their worldview? What do they believe is true? Don’t bother wasting your time trying to change people’s worldviews - it’s not your battle to fight. So while I just said “Follow your bliss”, from this perspective, think about that advice carefully. It’s too easy to get swept away with a product or service you want to impose on people because you think they need it. Don’t. This perspective teaches us that we have to listen to what our target market is asking for.

Step 3: Lower Right Quadrant of The Integral Marketing Map
From this perspective (exterior and collective) you can see if your product is right for where the economy and technology is. What is the economic standing of your target market? Will they pay more than you think for your product or service? Are you leveraging the full power of technology in your business or are you still doing things the old industrial hard way? (i.e. trying to do everything yourself.)

You can build a team around you consisting of virtual assistants all over the world. Let them do the technical stuff like websites so you can free your time to build more products and services.

Step 4: Upper Right Quadrant of The Integral Marketing Map
From this perspective (exterior and individual) you can understand what marketing tools to use and when. Ezines, Google AdWords, direct mail, info products, articles, etc. are all great money-making tools…when used in context with the rest of the quadrants…

This is one of the big traps I see entrepreneurs fall head first into. They think these marketing tools by themselves will be the magic bullet that will make them rich. “All I need is a blog…THEN the money will rush in.” Sorry - no. If you have a rotten offer that has no clear benefit to the target market, you can spend thousands of dollars on your branding…but you’ll still get little or no return for your investment.

~~ Your Integral Marketing Plan ~~

Your bank account is directly affected by how well you can take in these four perspectives. If you limit your business decisions to just one quadrant only you’re going to suffer…sadly, this is how most people operate.

With every business decision and every new idea you have I invite you to run it through these four perspectives. This will free you from making unnecessary errors and lost opportunities.

It’s the difference between seeing the world from monochromatic glasses or glasses that see in the whole spectrum of color.

© 2006 - 2009, Info Marketing, Inc.

Over 100,000 people have experienced the Big Mind process and used it to achieve a richer and more deeply relational life. Please take this rare opportunity to see and hear Zen Master Genpo Roshi and Big Mind. You deserve it.

* Experience your heart and mind as one beautiful reality
* Unlock the power and grace within you
* Learn how to use the Big Mind process to understand your life and how you can help others to understand theirs.

March 6 - 7, 2010 Seattle, Washington

Find out more:
http://www.bigmind.org/Events.html

There’s a buzz happening. It’s a dawning that there may be more to marketing and business than the two big tribes know about.

The two big tribes are…

1) Internet Marketers: Guys who want to make a lot of money online selling you the next big magic bullet that promises to make-you-rich. In this tribe, 15% are doing well financially or are outright wealthy. The rest are struggling to make the promises in the headlines a reality in their life.

2) Social Media “Cool Kids”: Web 2.0-savvy kids who are usually broke, but have thousands of friends on Facebook. They are all about building relationships, but struggle to offer something and ask for the sale.

The 3rd tribe integrates the best of these two tribes.

They are entrepreneurs who want to build a solid business without the hype of classic “direct response” style marketing. We want to build relationships AND make money. They offer something of true value and aren’t shy to ask money for it.

For well over a decade we’ve all been wowed by the internet. (And computers for that matter.) It’s been a cool ride. But now that we’re all getting used to this new lifestyle, it’s time to acknowledge some time-tested, proven fundamentals that have always been there, but might have been forgotten with all the glitter.

…tried and true principles like:

* Offer something substantial that truly adds value (and not just bloated promises of magic bullets.)

* Referral marketing is still king. If you have a service-based business with a great website, chances are more than 80% of your business still comes from word of mouth. So why not invest more time into building referral system over taking on the latest and greatest new flashy Internet thingy.

* Run it like a business. Half-assed businesses won’t stand the test of time. If you’re going to do business, then DO business. It’s not a hobby. It’s not just about making a difference. If you are building a business to “follow your bliss” and don’t actually have a hungry market that wants to buy what you offer, then don’t use business as the means to follow your bliss.

If you’re serious about attracting more clients and want a direct, simple solution, then I highly recommend you work with Melanie Hahn. She is an experienced energy healer who helps entrepreneurs experience rapid breakthroughs in their business. Many of her clients attract new clients of their own within 24 hours of working with her.

Find out what energy healing can do for you. Email Melanie now: Melanie@melaniehahn.com

This past weekend my wife and I brought out the flip chart paper into the living room and mapped out both of our businesses for 2010. It was fantastic and I highly recommend you do something similar.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Identify your current income streams. Get clear on the income you bring in every month and the total for the year.
2. Identify, in general, what are your total expenses. Figure out the total for the year and monthly average. Separate what your living expenses are and what your business expenses are. (This is for me because I run all my business expenses through my American Express card for the airline miles and all my personal expenses on a separate card – also for airline miles. This is great…but only if you pay off your credit cards in full every month.)
3. Now you know the lay of the land. You know how much, in general, is coming in and how much is going out. Now identify what you want to earn total for 2010.
4. Identify how you’re going to earn your desired income for 2010. This will fall into two categories: Identify what projects/products/services/offerings you’ll do in 2010. AND…identify how you can cut costs. (You will be amazed at how much you can increase your income by being more rigorous with cutting unnecessary expenses.)
5. Brainstorm all your old and new offerings. Figure out which ideas are the lowest hanging fruit. Which ones will make you the most money with the least effort. Prioritize.
6. On a flip chart paper, map out all the months of the year. Fill in what big projects (or themes) will happen every month.
7. Make it happen! I use an “At A Glance” 2010 wall calendar that I got from Staples. It’s pinned up in my office. It shows all my travel, vacation time, special events, etc. I also have a big white board with all the months projects laid out. The final step is transferring all your tasks into your online calendar, for example, Outlook.

Another thing I do is designate certain days for certain business and personal activities. For example, my Monday’s are what I call “Admin Days” where I deal with all those pesky life and business things: emails, errands, meetings, bills, bank, post office, etc. Wednesday’s are my coaching days – I coach all that day and only that day of the week.

It’s SO worth it doing these kinds of things. I hope you’re inspired to do something similar for yourself.

Over your lifetime you’ve expressed your life purpose in different ways. As a child you displayed certain natural talents and inclinations. It showed up again in your schooling. It showed up again in your choice of jobs. You can still see the same patterns in how you operate in your business today.

Life Purpose Defined

I made up the phrase “Core Gift” because there’s no one word I know of that captures exactly what I want to convey to you…It’s your life purpose.

It’s an important concept because when you have a sense of your life purpose, you’re closer to finding your business niche and what makes you unique from others who do what you do.

Your life purpose is what I call the core theme of how you do things in your life, your natural life choices. It’s like being naked. You may put on different clothes everyday, but at the core…well…you are your naked self.

Your life purpose is a certain way you do things in life. There’s a unique way and style you drive your car, walk and talk. You may not be able to say what it is in specific words, but you know that you DO have a special way of doing everything. It’s your unique voice.

Your life purpose is much more than JUST a skill. It’s the overarching theme how you do ALL your skills.

Let me give you an example…

I define my core gift as, “I take the abstract and make it concrete and tangible. I’m a mapmaker.” (Now, this might mean nothing to you, but I know exactly what I mean. This gives me a reference point to think about how I do everything in my life.)

Throughout my life, I’ve manifested my core gift in lots of different skills:

*  When I play the piano, I know exactly how I want the piece to sound before I play the first note. All I do is take the abstract ideas in my head and translate them through my fingers and play the music.

*  When I do photography, before I even raise the camera to my eye, I know exactly what I want the final print to look like. It comes to me in a flash all at once. The image appears to me and the rest is just going through the motion of taking the picture, touching it up and printing it.  Again, it’s effortless for me to take the abstract and make it concrete.

*  When I drive, I work out the strategy of exactly how I’m going to get to my destination in my head beforehand. I see my strategy in my head all at once. All that’s left is to go through the motion of actually driving there.

*  When I work with my clients, I see very clearly their whole business strategy and info products - again, all in a flash. The rest is coaching it out of them and adjusting and fine-tuning the strategy to match what my client wants as we talk through the ideas.

Now, I could have chosen to build a career around being a musician or photographer or a carpenter or any of the many interests I’ve had over my life. But I chose to be a marketing consultant and marketer.

The point is… throughout all my passions and interests, there’s always the theme, “Taking the abstract and making it tangible.”

YOU also have a life purpose, a unique style that guides everything YOU do. How you do anything is how you do everything.  Your core gift will provide you with the inspiration to do what you love which will bring you success.

© 2009, Info Marketing, Inc.

You get to choose how you want to express your life purpose in your business. Your life purpose manifests itself as many different skills. What skill you choose to turn into a business is up to you. But I encourage you to choose a skill that solves a specific problem for a specific target market. The stronger your market’s desire to solve their problem, the easier it is for you to market your business and make lots of money.

People hire you because deep down they recognize that your life purpose can help them solve problems and achieve their desired result.  Now… you may not be conscious of this…but you ARE broadcasting certain energy to the world.

If you’re doing a business that’s not truly aligned with your life purpose - your core talents - then people pick up on this and will pass you by. Especially in service-based businesses, people aren’t just buying the end result you offer - they are buying YOU.

Your business is your core gift expressed through a specific skill to help solve problems for a specific group of people. Here are a couple other ways to see and understand your gifts that may inspire and motivate.

Lines of Intelligence

In the late seventies and early eighties a Harvard psychologist named Howard Gardner revealed to the world the idea of “Multiple Intelligences.” Up to that point schools were only focused on testing for “Intelligence”, which referred to mental capacity.

Since Gardner’s revelation, scientists have identified about twenty-four kinds of intelligence, or “Lines of Intelligence.” But really they are endless. If you have a gift for cooking, you could say you have Culinary Intelligence.

Use the list below to spark ideas about what Lines of Intelligence you have highly developed. This will help you identify your core gift.

*  Linguistic Intelligence: The ability to use words to communicate clearly and powerfully. Poets and writers have a way of capturing just the right words to convey an idea - they are wordsmiths.

*  Spatial Intelligence: The ability to see how things relate to each other. This is like being really good at playing the video game Tetris. Or when you’re moving and you get everything to fit just right in the van. Engineers often have this ability.

*  Kinesthetic Intelligence: The ability to use your physical body in amazing ways. Like a flawless pianist has dexterity. Or think of Michael Jordan, seeming to defy gravity as he flies through the air.

*  Musical Intelligence: The ability to capture, translate and produce organized sounds. This could include perfect pitch as well as the ability to communicate emotions and ideas to others musically.

*  Personal Intelligence: The ability to self-introspect and be intuitive. People who are life coaches or caregivers have this ability. It’s self-awareness.

*  Social Intelligence: The ability to interact and understand others. The gift of empathy and communication. The gift of natural leaders.

*  Creative Intelligence: The ability to communicate ideas and feelings in unique, artistic ways.

The key to remember with Lines of Intelligence is just because you were born with a particular gift doesn’t mean you’re automatically a master at it. Remember from the stages of development you go though in any endeavor: apprentice, journeyman, master. You still have to work on your natural gifts. Even Mozart had to practice the piano.

© 2009, Info Marketing, Inc.

My lovely new wife is giving a workshop at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in the beautiful Berkshires in Massachusetts.

Topic: The Fundamentals of Brennan Healing Science
Date: January 22 – 24
Find Out More: http://www.melaniehahn.com/
workshops.html

Brennan Healing Science is an enlightening system of energy work that combines hands-on healing techniques with spiritual and psychological processes. During this weekend you’ll learn how to work with energy for healing and personal transformation.

I’ll be there, too. Come and join us! http://www.melaniehahn.com/
workshops.html