2. FEATURE: How I Got Started

A major business magazine is talking about publishing my story early this year. I enjoyed their questions and writing the answers, and realized many readers have an interest in how I got started in the business.

Here are my answers to this journalist; I hope you find them useful:

1) How did you get started?

I was in a cushy consulting job on Park Avenue – helping multinationals with their international pension fund arrangements. Sexy, hmm? I was an actuary with a numbers addiction, and only 1% of the population had any idea what I did.

I did a personal development course with Landmark Education because my marriage was falling apart, and lo – the clouds parted.

I saw people having life changes in three short days, that most people wouldn’t have in a life time. Cynical, actuarial David gradually gave way to a man who saw great possibility for all people – beyond what most can imagine.

I quit my consulting job and started handing out business cards that said “life coach”. When I had 23 clients in 5 countries, making 6 figures working 2 days a week on the phone, I found new coaches and other professionals flocking to me to find out how to build a successful coaching practice using the internet.

Now I show all professionals how to share their gift with the world using the internet. And how to automate it, so they serve the world while they sleep, freeing up their time for other things that get the soul juiced up! From my laptop, I shout my message to 91 countries, encouraging people to escape their wage slavery and do the same.

2) Why did you choose the business you’re in?

As mentioned above, I was blown away by what was possible in people’s lives. I realized I was naturally coaching people anyway; I just wasn’t getting paid for it. I found I had a natural flair for marketing and a talent for training and writing. I couldn’t stop coaching people if I tried. I combined these with my nerdy internet genes and an online business was born.

3) What are your goals for 2009?

There are so many!

• Launch my new book to best-seller status: “THE WEALTHY GYPSY How to travel the world, serve others, and get paid for it” (still playing with the title).
• Use the book as an excuse to do a national talk-show and radio tour to build profile and sales and reach more people.
• Have Richard Branson write the foreword to the book.
• Develop a $15,000 product.
• Develop a 3 day retreat/bootcamp.
• Develop a high end coaching program for The Wealthy Gypsy training.
• Write four more books.
• Deliver 4 speeches to audiences over 1000, selling $300,000 in training at each.
• Increase my rate of taking ideas to reality by a factor of 10. How? By posting ALL internal projects on a web site, and inviting my 70,000 subscribers to either volunteer for, or manage a project. Some will receive product in exchange, some will be paid cash, and some will share in the profits. This project (in progress) can be viewed at www.solutionbox.com/mindmap/index.pdf (by publishing date this will be fully functional with application forms).
• Live communally with friends for 3 months out of the year.

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Action: Post on the blog:

1) What’s one action you will take to increase your exposure to the media?

2) What are YOUR goals for 2009?

3) Post your answers to the blog.

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