Posted by Leela on February 25th, 2009
You can now find me at my new website …
Posted by Leela on October 17th, 2008
I often receive emails from aspiring writers, as well as those who have been in the industry for a while, asking a variety of questions from how to get started in the industry through to how to use sales and marketing strategies in a writing based business.
As such, I’m currently working on developing an e-course for writers on how to get set up in your writing business, how to find clients, how to actually complete a writing job and then into information on sales and marketing.
The course will be delivered as a weekly email and will have two components - the writing component (6 weeks) and the business component (6 weeks). You’ll have the option to purchase either or both components, depending on what works best for you. I’m also considering running live workshops on this topic and offering free tickets to the first few people who order the course.
If you would like to pre-register to receive information about the course when it becomes available, please fill out the form below. If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to contact me (see contact details on page at side).
Filling out this form does not oblige you to buy anything and will NOT sign you up to a newsletter or autoresponder - your information will ONLY be used to inform you when the product becomes available.
Posted by Leela on September 9th, 2008
Check out this awesome site …
Basically, it creates word clouds … you either put in a URL of a page you would like to Cloud … or you cut and paste some text in. For instance, I took my USP
“Leela Cosgrove is Australia’s first and only information product creation specialist who leverages exponential business growth strategies and award-winning creative writing skills to craft simple and effective ways for entrepreneurs to have high impact, regular conversations with your suspects, prospects and clients who will knock down your door to do business with you, putting more money in your pocket so that you can live your dreams sooner.”
And got this:
Which is cool to start with … but then you can also play with directions and COLOURS!:
NEAT!
And it’s free …. I LOVE the internet …
Posted by Leela on June 13th, 2008
This is very cool …
Being able to read this fast is VERY handy … especially in this age of information overhwhelm …
Generally, your reading speed would be about 250words per minute - this is 600 words per minute …
Look at it like this - a typical business book is around 60,000 words. Which means currently if you want to read it, you’re going to spend around 240 minutes (or 4 hours) reading it … with this, your reading time comes down to around an hour and a half. All of a sudden, you can finish an entire business book on the plane from Sydney to Melbourne.
Some people are skeptical of speed reading - they think that you must have to sacrifice understanding to read that fast.
Let me tell you this is NOT true.
Last year I took a couple of business university subjects through open university, for fun.
I used the speed reading and study techniques that Marc taught me and did the work for TWO subjects in HALF the recommended time for ONE subject.
AND - I got Distinctions in both subjects.
Having the ability to learn in this way not only opens up a whole new world of possibilities - it’s also FUN!
Posted by Leela on June 6th, 2008
More than you may think!
You know both of these names for one reason - they both created PRODUCTS that allowed them to spread their name and image across the world in a way they could not have possibly managed by only expending their personal efforts.
Whilst I won’t get into my feminist issues about Paris Hilton (and particularly her effect on young girls), as a commercial entity, she is fascinating.
She was no one until she was launched into our lives due to a certain movie. Allegations abound as to whether the movie was, as claimed by the Hilton family, a mistake … or whether it was, in fact, a calculated strategy to launch Paris’ career. I don’t have an opinion on this one way or another - but I am fascinated by clever move after clever move.
Television, movies, perfume, accessories, nightclubs … even an album (although that disappeared very quickly) … Paris isn’t a person - she’s a brand. The kind of brand that most brand-building agencies would KILL to create.
Paris is a business.
Tony Robbins is pretty much the polar opposite of Paris Hilton (… although I would LOVE to see him do an intervention with her!). Deep where she is shallow, on a mission where she is a manifestation of pure capitalism, charismatic where she is tabula rasa.
However, his worldwide fame also has a lot to do with products … tapes, videos, infomercials, movies … he has placed himself in millions of homes around the world, speaking to people one on one, changing their lives - in a way it would take literally thousands of years to do if he did it all in person …
Creating a product isn’t (just) about making money. It’s about cloning yourself - gaining the ability to travel anywhere and talk to anyone, 24/7/365 - no matter how you feel.
It’s about gaining the ability to spread your word - to develop your mission so that it can spread independent of your time and effort …
Posted by Leela on June 5th, 2008
As I’ve mentioned previously, I’m a member of the Empowernet Business Mastery Platinum Program run by Dr Marc Dussault.
Gavin Buckett is a fellow member of the program and a real ‘doer’ - I was working on his bio the other day and he’s your quintessential over-achiever - one of those people everyone else gets exhausted just watching.
The reason I’m telling you about Gavin is simply this … he’s in food safety. I KNOW he’s good because he works with some businesses in my local Melbourne area … places I eat at regularly … and I’ve never gotten sick from any of them! 
If you’re in the food industry, you need to keep up to date with what Gavin’s doing … if you EAT FOOD - you probably want to keep up with it too!
His latest post is an email from YET ANOTHER Platinum member who changed his purchasing habits due to some information Gavin gave us … he realised the eggs he had been eating may have actually been unsafe … and so switched brands …
Which brand to buy? How do you know if the food you are eating is safe?
You’ll need to read Gavin’s blog to find out …
http://safefoodsolutions.blogspot.com/
By the way, let me know what you think of the headline for this article … it gives me visions of homicidal plates of scrambled eggs running around with knives and shotguns …
Am I the only one who finds that funny?
Probably …
Posted by Leela on June 4th, 2008
Like so many other kids I had a horrendous time with bullying during Primary School and High School.
This program should be mandatory in EVERY school around the world.
Posted by Leela on May 13th, 2008
I’ve been getting this question a lot recently, so I’d like to explain it … I’m an Information Product Creation Specialist. What does that mean?
Let’s start by defining ‘Information Product’.
An Information Product is, as the name would suggest, a product made up of information. So, this could be an e-book. Or it could be an audio (or a series of audios), it could be a workbook, it could be a video - any of these could be considered a product … now, the point of an Information Product is NOT to sell. In fact, I recommend to all of my clients that their Information Product be totally devoid of any sell. Don’t mention how great your services are … don’t try and get people to take action. Give them PURE content and trust that if it’s good enough, the right people will seek you out (of course, you can help that along by some clever marketing in other areas).
So, we’ve got this clear, yes?
Here are some great examples of Information Products (NOTE: not MY Information Products, although I’ve assisted on some of them):
- A combination of DVDs, Audio and Workbook in a 10 Day Program
- A daily autoresponder program
- A rubiks cube???
So, as an Information Product Creation Specialist, it’s my job to sit down with a client and come up with ideas like these … and then create them. I offer a ‘full service’ - i.e. I have the idea and then manage the entire job.
Why use my services?
The links above should be fairly self-explanatory … imagine making money online while you sleep … that’s PRECISELY what the above products do. Take what you already know, put it into a format that other people can use and then become a passive profit stream for your business.
Who uses my services?
Mainly people who are in effort-based businesses and have reached a point where they have decided “enough is enough!”. They don’t want to keep working 80-100 hours every week … but they want to continue to make the same kind of money (or MORE!) that they have been making previously.
Think of your Information Products as clones … imagine if you could have an unlimited number of clones of yourself, going out to clients and solving their problems … while you sat around the pool sipping cocktails … or took your family on vacation.
Not only are the Information Products a profit source in their own right - they will also generate more (and often more highly paid) work for you. An Information Product makes you an instant expert. That makes you more valuable than you are now … so you can cut down your work hours and up your hourly rate, while still having clients knocking down your door and money rolling in.
That’s my job - to free up your most valuable asset, your time - AND to make you money.
In fact, when you put it in perspective, my services are free. Because they are designed to pay for themselves and then take you into the profit zone (I don’t know about you, but that’s SO my favourite zone … ).
Posted by Leela on April 5th, 2008
I wanted to call it Day 1 … but that would get confusing, so instead let us call it the Day o’ Registration …
We flew into the Gold Coast this morning - got confused about the time change - especially after Monday’s ‘Is Daylight Savings over or not?!?!?’ debarcle. Some last minute changes with accommodation means that I’m still not sure which room I’m staying in tonight …
The stocktake was much quicker and easier than I’d anticipated - in no small part due to the lovely crew members who assisted … one of my FAVOURITE things about Tony Robbins events are the people. They are just so -happy- and willing to help … everyone is so nice …
Anywho, I am now very tired … which is funny, because I haven’t really done all that much … but planes make me want to go to sleep.
I’m meeting with my product crew for a quick sales training session tomorrow morning at 8am … then we’ll get the products table set up and ready to go by 4pm … in time for a crazy sales day (because all of the attendees get a 10% discount on the first day … ). I expect to be doubly as exhausted tomorrow … but also about a bazillion times more pumped ’cause, you know, it’s Anthony Frickin’ Robbins!
Posted by Leela on April 1st, 2008
The good old Law of Attraction.
Earlier this year, I decided I wanted to go to Anthony Robbin’s Date with Destiny on the Gold Coast. But I really couldn’t justify taking a week away from my business to do it. So I focused on manifesting being able to go and have it ADD to my business.
Last week, I was offered the position of Product Manager for Date with Destiny 2008. While this means I won’t be there as an official attendee (more like crew) - I will get to be there and to be involved. Very exciting!
I’ve got some awesome ideas for how we’re going to make this the most fun retail experience ever … oh yes … it will be MAD. I like mad. Normal is so … well … normal. Don’t you want to have FUN when you’re buying stuff? The most fun I ever had shopping was, believe it or not, at a butchers. The apprentice butcher was one of the most surreal people I’ve ever met. He would always be saying strange things … once I was a bit tired and was staring off into the distance while waiting for my order.
Apprentice: What are you looking at?
Me: Oh, I’m just staring off into space.
Apprentice: *points towards the sky* - space is up there.
The meat really wasn’t that great … but I kept going back for the experience. I like things that shake people out of their mundane existence and make them think …
Do you have an awesome retail experience you care to share? Leave a comment telling us all about it … I have some great ideas but I’m more than willing to rip off other people’s great ideas too - no sense in reinventing the wheel!
Oh and now that I have my Date with Destiny attendance confirmed - I’m manifesting a photo with Tony. Watch this space for updates (including various photos) from the Gold Coast throughout the week!
So if you’re going to be at Date with Destiny this weekend - come and say hello! I’ll be the manic chick running around collecting more products (because, obviously, we will be selling out …) and pattern interrupting the clients …