Coaching and Consultations (Blog)

[pianoperformer]

Originally Posted by ellie

Well I bite (for the negative)...I think it's sad, but at the end of the day it's who you are and you got to do what you believe in. You can't change your values or beliefs to suit everyone else. However, It also gives me a glimpse into steve and erin's values.

... Snip ...

I agree with you. It does seem a little off. No, maybe the broke college student can't affect as many people, in comparison to a CEO, but who is probably in the most need of the growth? Is this going to become a service for the rich, by the rich? I think that flies in the face of what the site's been about.

Steve usually seems to be all about innovation. This isn't very innovative. This is traditional economics.

[Apollia]

Hi Steve. I've been wondering for a while, why do you want to remove the ads from your site?

Just curious, since in the future I think I'm going to be relying quite heavily on non-pay-per-click advertising as a way to monetize my site, and I'm wondering if there's any reason why I shouldn't.

As for the coaching/consulting - surprisingly, I actually don't have any problem with the idea of those who want one-on-one consulting paying a high price for your time, even though I am very sympathetic to anyone who can't afford that (or any other extremely worthwhile but high-priced purchase).

I guess it doesn't bother me because the way I see it, every moment you spend on helping people privately and one-on-one may be depriving your gigantic audience of more wonderful free blog posts and whatever other one-to-many creations you might have used that time to produce. So, if someone wants to monopolize you, why shouldn't they pay extra?

Best wishes,
Apollia

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by seeker5

I assume you're talking about a CEO who wants to use the consultation to increase the good he is doing. I can see perhaps a darkworker CEO who may want to consult you simply to gain more ability to do what he is doing. Will you automatically accept anyone who buys the consultation like Erin automatically accepts all new clients who buys a reading from her site, or will you have another screening mechanism to filter out people who are able to pay the $500, but whom you're not interested in helping out, such as a darkworker CEO?

Although, I can see that a darkworker CEO may not want to reach out to get a consultation with you considering your known lightworker views. Furthermore, it's possible you could help a darkworker CEO see the benefit of being a lightworker if he is spending money to consult with you. However, I still thought I'd bring up the question.

I wouldn't be interested in helping McDonald's kill billions more animals and pump more methane into the atmosphere if that's what you mean.

I think many CEOs feel trapped. They don't wield as much power as you might think because they must answer to the company's BoD and investors. And the investment climate is often "Make us money. We don't care how you do it. Just make us richer." This ends up creating a nasty consciousness-lowering atmosphere downstream, where the employees are treated as cogs more than as human beings.

Many of these companies have missions statements, but those statements are B.S. They're just for show. Same goes for many corporate charitable donation programs. It's for PR purposes, not from a real alignment with love.

But it is possible to shift a fear-driven company to a love-driven company where everyone is happy and the investors make a bundle. It won't be easy, but if you can shift the mindset of enough people at the company (a critical mass), the business will change.

When a company is fear-driven, virtually no one feels good. The CEO is panicked. The employees are beaten down into submissive slaves. The investors are anxious about what might blow up (are we sitting on another Enron or Worldcomm?). And the customers are always talking about how clueless the company is at customer service.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Toine

Is it not more interesting to work with the one who has the most potential? Perhaps helping to shift the mindset of a CEO would have some direct effects and even lasting ones on the people he works with, but what if this broke student has more potential the CEO. Who knows, maybe a talk with Steve would shift the mindset of the student and set him on a course to change the way business is being done in general and would affect more people as a result. It might take longer for a tree to grow, but with the right support its base will be stronger. You can only prune a CEO.

Unless I could see that the student has extraordinary potential, I'd bet on the CEO. The CEO has more leverage. One good idea implemented by the management of a large corporation can benefit thousands of employees, millions of customers, multiple governments, the environment, etc.

Bill Gates has been quoted as saying that he has as much power as the President of the USA does. He's probably right.

As for your other comments about consulting being a step back, you're missing the big picture. Consulting is only one piece of the business model shift I'm implementing. Other elements will come online over the next couple years.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by ellie

My mindset is obviously on quite a different wavelength. I much more interested in helping everyone and sharing the love (this makes me happy). Which steve and erin having been doing up till this point. I understand their logic to this new shift, I just don't connect with it at all.

Are you helping everyone right now? What kind of impact are you having on everyone?

You're ignoring billions of people you could be helping. Does that make you a selfish, self-centered person? Or does it just mean you're being selective with the time you have?

You can't help everyone, can you? So what's the best way of deciding when to help and when not to? Wouldn't it be best to help where you have the most leverage instead of where you have the least?

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by pianoperformer

I agree with you. It does seem a little off. No, maybe the broke college student can't affect as many people, in comparison to a CEO, but who is probably in the most need of the growth? Is this going to become a service for the rich, by the rich? I think that flies in the face of what the site's been about.

Steve usually seems to be all about innovation. This isn't very innovative. This is traditional economics.

My goal is optimization, not innovation.

This site is about living consciously, which includes personal optimization.

Optimizing is sometimes innovative, sometimes not.

[Goldhart23]

Hi, Steve

What about someone like me, who was working in a field she loved and suddenly became disabled and put on SSDI, but who is trying to rise above it all? Since going on SSDI (and after having surgery), I have been working on my own personal development and also discovered a way to do the work I love online, have made careful plans about how I would do this, but am held back by Soc. Sec. rules. If I joined something called the "P.A.S.S." program, I would be allowed to pay you the $500 for one consultation. And I am very motivated and know my business (in education) would help many people across the globe. So you see, I'm not a CEO (not yet, anyway ) but I wonder if you'd be willing to consult with someone in my situation...

Thanks,
Barb

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Goldhart23

Hi, Steve

What about someone like me, who was working in a field she loved and suddenly became disabled and put on SSDI, but who is trying to rise above it all? Since going on SSDI (and after having surgery), I have been working on my own personal development and also discovered a way to do the work I love online, have made careful plans about how I would do this, but am held back by Soc. Sec. rules. If I joined something called the "P.A.S.S." program, I would be allowed to pay you the $500 for one consultation. And I am very motivated and know my business (in education) would help many people across the globe. So you see, I'm not a CEO (not yet, anyway ) but I wonder if you'd be willing to consult with someone in my situation...

Thanks,
Barb

Of course. I love helping people who work in education because they can have such positive rippling effects on the people they touch.

My mother has been a college educator her entire adult life, so I grew up hearing many stories about how her students would come back years later to tell her how her classes helped them in the real world.

After retiring, my Dad also started teaching college classes. So I must have educator blood in my veins.

[Goldhart23]

Thanks, Steve!
That is very true about the students--they even keep in contact with me to tell me how they've progressed and also because they care about me as a person. It's a wonderful feeling!

I am so glad you answered as you did, because that is proof positive that you are not just after the richest people. I am far from it, being on SSDI, but yet you are still willing to help someone like me. Bravo, Steve!

I will be smiling for the rest of the day and beyond!

[Bruce Achterberg]

I'd like to come in and mention that perhaps it'd be good if we could give Steve some feedback on this idea as opposed to essentially grilling him.

(Although I'm sure Steve can see the forest from the trees here and knows that most of the reactions in this thread are indeed feedback about the consulting, just heavily tried to a subjective viewpoint.)

I too think that raising price is a silly way to filter potential customers--but that's not what Steve's doing. Steve explained what he's doing, he "gets it", and he also has many other projects in the works that will cater to people who aren't able to benefit from his consulting services (I bet you'd like to know how I know what Steve is going to do in the future without Steve having told me. Let's just say that patterns extrapolate).

I can also understand why Steve wants to avoid the needy and clingy people. I too avoid dealing with such people by not even bothering to attempt to offer consulting services even if I know they'd be of use to people (as a rule, zero people believe I'm useful, but whenever I use my ability on my own personal projects, I enjoy wild success and praise from others). Right now, in terms of measurable value, I'm probably nowhere near Steve when it comes to the value I can deliver, and even I'm taking efforts to only spend time on things that are really worth it. In general, the more time you spend on things that aren't worth it in the long run, the less time you have for what's really important and the less impact you can have. Sometimes some sort of barrier, even if it is in the form of a clever system (or even a simple system, like a high price tag) is the best way to be most effective (as counter-intuitive as that sounds).

* * *

Anyway, here's my feedback on some of the ideas.


Public consulting
I liked the "public consultation" option. I think it'd be great to give people the option of having their consultations recorded and shared somewhere--probably on StevePavlina.com--as a sort of public archive. Not everyone will opt to share their consultation, but for those who do, it seems like it could help a fair amount of people. Steve might say that he doesn't want to share such things, but if people actually want to do it, I don't see why not (it's not like Steve needs to hide his ideas). Of course, I can understand if Steve doesn't want to offer this, since I often opt to do seemingly illogical things because that's the way I want to do them (usually it has to do with a preference or a talent of mine).

Certified training
Training people to become certified in the things Steve teaches is interesting, but it seems kind of... well, it would take a certain kind of person to be able to do that. You couldn't just go learn some knowledge--you'd actually have to embody personal growth, which would put you on the same path that Steve is on, even if you aren't quite as developed in him in terms of level of consciousness, skills (such as being able to read your intuition), polarisation (i.e. certain people are more effective at working with polarity than others), etc. I'm sure Steve could find such people (although I still do wonder how he plans to hire people for Pavlina LLC; my guess is that he'll draw on existing connections and familiarity with certain people... any other means seems to make it challenging).

Internal Pavlina LLC consulting
It might be pretty darn effective for Steve to focus some consulting on his future employees of his company--at least, those who need it, or those who would make significant improvements if they were to get consulting from Steve directly. From what I've seen of Steve managing the moderation team for the forums, while Steve can certainly do a good job when he needs to, either (A) he isn't very good at managing people compared to managing himself, or (B) he doesn't have much time to devote to managing the moderation team (which, essentially, is a team, just like a business team), which gives the illusion of point A. Whichever it is, I think Steve might be wise to direct at least some of his efforts inwards into Pavlina LLC since he has a degree of influence there and enough certainty to know that his efforts will be put to good use. In this case, though, you'd be perhaps trading profit for impact (since Steve wouldn't really make much cash from doing consulting with his own employees, although that may not be the case--it depends on what the employees are doing).

Holistic, "effective integration"
Steve is a master planner, and his ability to take everything into account and adapt to things on the fly continues to amaze me (although I've deconstructed his model and am busy integrating it, and I can see how he's able to do it; it's not magic, just intelligent focus and leverage in the right areas), but what I think is most important with this consulting practice is that Steve integrates it effectively with everything else he'll be doing (speaking, blogging, book writing, audio program creation, more large-scale altruistic projects).

I don't know what 'effective integration' looks like--that's something Steve will have to decide, and will probably mostly arise from intelligent reviewing, intuition, and the ready-fire-aim approach--but I think without really making an effort to focus on prioritising that value or some sort of high-level guiding value as this project relates to all his other projects, this could potentially balloon out of control a bit mainly because I can see there's going to be a pretty crazy demand for Steve once people hear about this consulting service and how good Steve is (people know Steve is good, but I'm not sure most people know quite how good Steve is; when they do--which will probably happen gradually, then really quickly as he reaches a critical mass of influence in various mediums--he'll be getting money thrown at him from many directions).

This might sound awfully high level and even simplistic, but hopefully Steve can appreciate the subtlety in what I'm trying to say (since he's equally high level, heh, and has that great "big picture" vision; you could say we speak the same language).

[Love]

So there's the line connecting love and power, which is part of Steve's triangle.

I think what I'm hearing is that time is important.

If you're base is at love and you start moving to power, you will start by influencing a few people strongly immediately and then gradually increase to work with more people.

If you're at power and then you work yourself to love, then as soon as you make one step down that line, you are affecting a lot of people, even though maybe your message won't be as strong initially.

In version one, wonderful college kid may grow to be quite a positive and powerful force, but the world is going to get that impact later. In version two, you will affect the most people in the quickest amount of time.

It brings up a question that was first posed to me my last year of college. A bunch of students and I were meeting with a group of people involved with non-profits for some info about the non-profit world. I remember this old guy, who looked at us intently, and asked us why take the non-profit help route instead of going the money first--help second route. He had taken the non-profit route but told us that if we didn't examine both of the paths, then we would be entering in the world without a clear picture of what you were trying to accomplish and how you would do it.

I think it comes down to personal preference, and that one of those preferences may be speed.

[Bruce Achterberg]

To those who are disappointed about Steve not offering cheaper consulting, I think you have to ask yourself: will I benefit more by personal growth, or more from what Steve has to offer?

And I mean that in a very literal sense.

We could all use some help from Steve, but how many of us would really use what he specifically has to offer as opposed to just needing a solution for some issue in our life?

There's also the "guru vision" issue at play. To explain, recently I learned how ineffective it can be when you relate to someone if you percieve them to be more glorious than they really are. Essentially it puts them on a pedestal, and you interact more with your thoughts about this person instead of the person themselves, and when you work closely together, eventually you begin to see cracks, or worse then that, your relationship--that was based on an inaccurate model of who you thought this person was--begins to not work out (which can be non-ideal if you're doing a project with this person).

Regardless of how masterful someone is in a particular area, if you interact with the pedestal version of them rather than the actual version of them, they relationship will probably not work out very well in one way or another (it's hard to say how specifically it'd manifest, but the underlying phenomenon will play out one way or another eventually).

Most of us probably think so highly of Steve that our interaction would be tainted because we'd be interacting with the thought of "darn Steve's awesome" instead of the useful, practical "Steve the person." However counter-intuitive it may seem, people who see Steve more as a resource, (including those with less familiarity with Steve) rather than as some sort of super-1337 guru, will probably get more out of a working relationship with Steve.

* * *

If I turned these questions on myself I'd have to admit that no, I wouldn't be the kind of person who'd benefit from Steve--at least, not yet.

I'd largely resist a lot of what he has to say, not because I don't believe him, but because I want to discover my own approaches, etc (note: I already do this with his writing, heh). This doesn't mean Steve isn't useful to me, though. What it does mean is that he's more "selectively useful" and I'd benefit from being exposed to his ideas and being able to selectively pick and choose from them instead of having Steve being with me saying, "ok, X is the most effective route; I highly advise you do that" or "here is something that's worked for me; give it a try."

That's generalising things a bit, but I imagine those who Steve will be most interested in working with are those who will readily apply what Steve says and not be too interested in exploring the territory themselves; people who want results since they already have the self-expression area covered so they're mainly looking to optimise results, not creatively express (since they're already doing that).

[Bruce Achterberg]

Originally Posted by Love

It brings up a question that was first posed to me my last year of college. A bunch of students and I were meeting with a group of people involved with non-profits for some info about the non-profit world. I remember this old guy, who looked at us intently, and asked us why take the non-profit help route instead of going the money first--help second route. He had taken the non-profit route but told us that if we didn't examine both of the paths, then we would be entering in the world without a clear picture of what you were trying to accomplish and how you would do it.

I think it comes down to personal preference, and that one of those preferences may be speed.

It may seem to be the case--I can't be sure either way, at least, not yet--but from what I can see, it seems there are some objective "best routes" out there. There's a lot of room to move in within those routes, but they're defined routes nonetheless.

I think Steve's approach falls within that area.

The deciding factor is the pre-established systems that Steve has to work with. Sure, Steve could probably get something ideal going if he had the opportunity, but for the most part, it's probably easiest to work within the existing systems. This means that he's also bound by the (mostly silly) constraints of these systems, but it's less work to go this route, which is good because you can spend more time making an impact rather than doing something about the non-ideal systems. It's about the point of highest leverage.

I think Steve inherently understands that life is indeed a limited resource, so it's best to make best use of it as much as you possibly can *now*, so when you do run out of life, you did the best you could with what you had.

It may be preference for some, but at least with Steve, I think it comes down more to efficiency and how best to serve his mission. Now I could talk lots about how Steve seems to be able to serve his mission darn well and behind it all, him serving his mission might be a preference thing overall (it has to do with talents, and lots of up-front work setting up the right systems), but that's another topic and I digress.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Bruce Achterberg

Public consulting
I liked the "public consultation" option. I think it'd be great to give people the option of having their consultations recorded and shared somewhere--probably on StevePavlina.com--as a sort of public archive. Not everyone will opt to share their consultation, but for those who do, it seems like it could help a fair amount of people. Steve might say that he doesn't want to share such things, but if people actually want to do it, I don't see why not (it's not like Steve needs to hide his ideas). Of course, I can understand if Steve doesn't want to offer this, since I often opt to do seemingly illogical things because that's the way I want to do them (usually it has to do with a preference or a talent of mine).

I think there are other vehicles that would work better for that, such as a teleseminar, webinar, or video/audio. Coaching/consulting tends to be very personal.

Certified training
Training people to become certified in the things Steve teaches is interesting, but it seems kind of... well, it would take a certain kind of person to be able to do that. You couldn't just go learn some knowledge--you'd actually have to embody personal growth, which would put you on the same path that Steve is on, even if you aren't quite as developed in him in terms of level of consciousness, skills (such as being able to read your intuition), polarisation (i.e. certain people are more effective at working with polarity than others), etc. I'm sure Steve could find such people (although I still do wonder how he plans to hire people for Pavlina LLC; my guess is that he'll draw on existing connections and familiarity with certain people... any other means seems to make it challenging).

I think some elements could definitely be taught by others, especially the material from my book. This may be a ways off, but it has potential.

Internal Pavlina LLC consulting
It might be pretty darn effective for Steve to focus some consulting on his future employees of his company--at least, those who need it, or those who would make significant improvements if they were to get consulting from Steve directly. From what I've seen of Steve managing the moderation team for the forums, while Steve can certainly do a good job when he needs to, either (A) he isn't very good at managing people compared to managing himself, or (B) he doesn't have much time to devote to managing the moderation team (which, essentially, is a team, just like a business team), which gives the illusion of point A. Whichever it is, I think Steve might be wise to direct at least some of his efforts inwards into Pavlina LLC since he has a degree of influence there and enough certainty to know that his efforts will be put to good use. In this case, though, you'd be perhaps trading profit for impact (since Steve wouldn't really make much cash from doing consulting with his own employees, although that may not be the case--it depends on what the employees are doing).

I definitely have too much on my plate, so I'll be delegating more to free up time for different kinds of work. This is already in the works.

Holistic, "effective integration"
Steve is a master planner, and his ability to take everything into account and adapt to things on the fly continues to amaze me (although I've deconstructed his model and am busy integrating it, and I can see how he's able to do it; it's not magic, just intelligent focus and leverage in the right areas), but what I think is most important with this consulting practice is that Steve integrates it effectively with everything else he'll be doing (speaking, blogging, book writing, audio program creation, more large-scale altruistic projects).

My primary business aim right now is to build a platform for taking this work to the next level. As you figured out, that requires some careful planning. Really it's about envisioning the right model and then figuring out how to get there. I know the model I want to reach, so now I'm working on the details of transitioning. Consulting is just one piece among many.

I'm basically thinking in terms of a "surgical team" model, where I build a support staff that can handle everything I don't need to be doing personally, so I can spend my time doing what I'm best at and where I have the most leverage (creating content, sharing ideas, helping people grow). This means offloading admin, accounting, routine communication, web development and maintenance, etc.

This model will require more overhead, and my current business model isn't good enough to support it. The current model isn't bad, but I really need something stronger, more resilient, and more empowering. So I'm shifting to what I feel will be a better model. For starters the new model will allow me to take advantage of a lot more media forms.

I'd love to be doing video, teleseminars, webinars, workshops, seminars, etc. in addition to blogging, speaking, and writing books. But the truth is I don't have the bandwidth to handle all of this as a solopreneur (or a duopreneur with Erin). I had to slow down my blogging just to get my book done. We have plenty of cash coming in, but we don't have the time and infrastructure to grow beyond a few media forms. It would be putting too much on our plates and would ultimately become a mess to manage.

My ultimate goal is really quite simple. I want to help create a more conscious, growth-oriented planet. I think it would be awesome to live in a world where the average person on the street was committed to personal growth... where you might meet someone at a bus stop and ask, "So what's your purpose in life?" without getting a blank stare. Basically I want to see humanity become smarter and more self-aware. To me this is a very interesting and challenging vision to pursue.

As I see it, in order to seriously pursue such a goal, I have to focus my energy where I have the most leverage to push toward a tipping point. I can't just help random people on the street and expect to get there. I have to keep aiming for better and better leverage points. Blogging technology, for instance, is an awesome leverage point because it allows me to spread these ideas to millions of people at low cost. Consulting is another potential leverage point because it can help me reach other people who have a lot of leverage to create change in the world. Writing a book is yet another leverage point because it can impact people for years -- even decades -- to come. Even dietary improvements can be major leverage points if they offer a lifetime boost in energy and mental clarity.

Basically my goal is to substantially infect humanity with the virus of conscious growth... so much so that the virus keeps going even after I'm gone.

What other leverage points am I missing that I haven't already listed?

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Love

It brings up a question that was first posed to me my last year of college. A bunch of students and I were meeting with a group of people involved with non-profits for some info about the non-profit world. I remember this old guy, who looked at us intently, and asked us why take the non-profit help route instead of going the money first--help second route. He had taken the non-profit route but told us that if we didn't examine both of the paths, then we would be entering in the world without a clear picture of what you were trying to accomplish and how you would do it.

This either-or mindset is junk -- it's something we definitely have to discard in order to live more consciously. It just isn't well aligned with truth, love, and power. It says that in order to make money, you must sacrifice truth and love to get power. It also says that if you pursue truth and love, you'll be powerless. Both approaches are suboptimal.

It's much better to adopt models that allow you to pursue truth, love, and power simultaneously -- without compromising or sacrificing. It's true these models are more rare (especially in the USA), but they're definitely possible in the real world.

The model I use for my business is a like a self-funding non-profit. It has a clear mission where having a positive impact is a higher priority than making money, so I can justify doing unprofitable things that help people (such as hosting these forums). However, the business also creates and delivers social value in order to generate income so that it can be profitably self-sustaining and fuel its continued growth.

Making lots of money and genuinely helping people aren't incompatible. If you adopt an intelligent business model, these two activities become mutually supportive.

[Rapid]

I think some of the keynote speakers earn a five-figure income per speech at corporate events.

Steve can probably reach more people by having big events (like Tony Robbins) while charging less money per person, but I think this route would require too much management.

I can't imagine paying $500/hour for coaching. I'm more inclined to pay $1,000 for a multiple-day seminar. I'm into the total immersion experience.

[Monique7nuns]

I have to admit that when I first read about this, given what I've expressed about my situation so far on this forum.. I was pretty put off, having the mentality of 'the rich helping the rich get richer'.

But now that I've let it marinate a little, I think that view is a cop out. It made me feel that since I can't afford it I'm not good enough to even be considered.. which isn't true. The way I react is all on me, their my feelings of inferiority no one else's and it's up to me to realize it.

Not that I was planning on hiring a life coach, although I think I would benefit.. but then I'd rather get a reading instead

$500 or not.. the shift comes from within.. no matter what anyone else says or does inspired by sound practice and experience or pure instinct and ESP.. it all comes down to the individual taking responsibility for themselves. When it comes right down to it there is only so much a teacher or advisor can do - all the work has to be down by the individual... who has to act and believe in themselves.

I think the best anyone in a position of wanting to help others can hope for is to inspire. In Steve's example, just look at all the information here that there is to work with.. it's so much.. anyone can do whatever they want with it whether it's nothing or making the most of it.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by Rapid

I think some of the keynote speakers earn a five-figure income per speech at corporate events.

$20K or more per speech is typical for top pro speakers and bestselling authors. Ex-presidents get 10x that. Bill Cosby gets $300K+ per speech last time I checked.

It's been said that pro speaking is the highest paid profession (based on hourly rate).

If my book hits the New York Times bestseller list, it's likely I'll earn significantly more from speaking fees than I do from book royalties. Vegas is a great place to live for pro speaking because there are 2,600 conventions here each year.

[Apollia]

Great thread. There are too many interesting and valuable points for me to reply in depth to everything.

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

As I see it, in order to seriously pursue such a goal, I have to focus my energy where I have the most leverage to push toward a tipping point. I can't just help random people on the street and expect to get there.

Makes perfect sense.

Basically my goal is to substantially infect humanity with the virus of conscious growth... so much so that the virus keeps going even after I'm gone.

That goal appeals to me as well.

What other leverage points am I missing that I haven't already listed?

I guess you could go on television, radio, any kind of mainstream media. Perhaps, release news releases. It costs a little money but they can end up going everywhere, newspapers, websites, etc.

I know you don't like the mainstream media, and I mostly ignore it myself, but a lot of people pay attention to it, and you could reach literally millions of people through it.

Put advertising on websites? The non-pay-per-click kind can be very cheap indeed - ads on low-traffic sites can run as low as 0 or 1 cent per day, etc. I suggest Project Wonderful. With that you can even target specific websites.

Maybe, make friends with lots of businesspeople, politicians, celebrities. Run for political office? Have a talk show and become the next Oprah? A syndicated newspaper column. Magazine articles.

Maybe publish your blog posts in book form. There are so many of them you could probably put out a lot of different volumes on different topics. Wide distribution of them to libraries might be good.

Translations of your work into other languages would widely extend your influence, too, and would also provide a good additional revenue stream.

OK, I guess I'm out of ideas for now.

Best wishes,
Apollia

[The Large Dude Scam]

This make me think of story i once heard. Someone tried to give away pizza slices to people on the street. Nobody accepted it. When he started to charge $2/slice they were sold in no time. If the only goal for Steve is to help very large companies to increase their profit, he might actually have to increase his pricing even more in order to attract them.

[lasti]

Originally Posted by Apollia

I guess you could go on television,

The Steve Pavlina Show.

[Erin Pavlina]

Many of the responses here got me thinking. There are a lot of things I wouldn't pay $500/hour for. But there is definitely one thing I'd pay a lot for. If I could get coaching and/or one on one training from John Edward, James Van Praagh, or Gordon Smith I would pay way more than $500/hour. I'd probably go as high as $2,000/hour for such a thing. In a heartbeat. In half a heartbeat even. Because if they can help me improve my skills it would be more than worth that price in the long run. They're already further along the path than I am and I know that private sessions with them would shave years off my learning curve.

In the meantime, since they don't offer such a service, I content myself with their $20 books and $30-$60 audio programs. It's the closest I can get to personal attention. Maybe a seminar too. But to be just one on one with them, dream come true. Worth almost any price.

I think it's the same with Steve. If Steve has mastered something that is very valuable to you, you have to ask yourself if it's worth the price to get one on one coaching from him. I've been on the receiving end of Steve's coaching for our entire relationship and I can tell you without a doubt that it's because of him and his insights that I am doing what I love, successfully, happily, and with great impact. Oftentimes he can set my feet on the right path in just minutes. I have long felt wonderfully blessed to have him available to me to discuss issues or problems I'm having. I'm glad others will have the chance as well.

[Jake Birkett]

Erin's post made me think of a recent thing I paid a lot of money for:

I just paid $5700 for a hernia operation. I didn't have to pay the money, I could have waited to get the operation done on the National Health Service for free, but it would have taken months and I'd have missed my 2nd Dan Aikido grading in September which I'm now back in training for.

I expect the surgeon got a big payout for his hour of surgery, but it was worth every penny. Some things are just worth the money. The surgeon was an expert in a keyhole surgery and has trained for many years, so the hour I paid for was really a culmination of all his experience.

I didn't have $5700 lying around - I had some money I put towards it, I also asked relatives for help with some more, and I put some on a 0% interest card which I'm now paying off. There's always a way if you want it badly enough.

Also the surgery meant I didn't feel uncomfortable sitting at my computer doing work for moths and the type of surgery I paid for has a faster recovery time, thus I was able to get back to my life and work quicker. Therefore it was a good investment.

By now you should have seen the analogy I'm making with Steve's consultancy without me spelling it out...;-)

[ericabiz]

Hi Steve,

I think you're underpricing yourself by at least 5x.

-Erica

P.S. There are many who will happily pay thousands of dollars for an hour of consulting if it will dramatically improve their business. I'm getting into this business, too, but I don't want to charge less than $1000/hr list price.

[foxbivvy]

One thing is sure. I know Steve will spend the money he gets well. And personally I get all the advise I need from his site. I guess no adds would be a bonus - but not too bothered by that. As long as I keep getting his excellent articles to read - and many others do - we cannot go wrong.

Of course one idea to consider for the future is to look for what Tolle does in vetting - see what stands out. If something stands out or has chance coincidences connected - then it is sign to do business with them. This could be combined with a high cash per hour fee. But if the universe needs something really bad - it gets sorted out. So people may well end up finding themselves in high cash and then wanting to contact Steve, or perhaps more likely if they ask for cash for just that purpose and it comes the next day!

Ok, I just asked, speaking with you later Steve!

[ellie]

Originally Posted by Monique7nuns

I have to admit that when I first read about this, given what I've expressed about my situation so far on this forum.. I was pretty put off, having the mentality of 'the rich helping the rich get richer'.

But now that I've let it marinate a little, I think that view is a cop out. It made me feel that since I can't afford it I'm not good enough to even be considered.. which isn't true. The way I react is all on me, their my feelings of inferiority no one else's and it's up to me to realize it.

Not that I was planning on hiring a life coach, although I think I would benefit.. but then I'd rather get a reading instead

$500 or not.. the shift comes from within.. no matter what anyone else says or does inspired by sound practice and experience or pure instinct and ESP.. it all comes down to the individual taking responsibility for themselves. When it comes right down to it there is only so much a teacher or advisor can do - all the work has to be down by the individual... who has to act and believe in themselves.

I think the best anyone in a position of wanting to help others can hope for is to inspire. In Steve's example, just look at all the information here that there is to work with.. it's so much.. anyone can do whatever they want with it whether it's nothing or making the most of it.

Yes I have to admit last night I had a good think about what my real annoyance was. Getting to the "root" of it all

I understand that Steve wants to attract people that have the a similar mindset/ traits as him, because lets face it we all do and it's the most effective way to work. It's no different to a relationship. This is when we're most happy, when we connect with people on the same wavelength as ourselves.

So it makes totally sense that Steve will work with people not to dissimilar to himself, CEO's, business people, risk takers etc and so the hourly rate is more than fair.

As I am probably none of the above, or strive to be that, I probably wouldn't connect with steve on a one-on-one basis anyway. Mind you now that I think about it a lot of my friends that I'm really an close with are not to dissimilar to steve in drive and are quite high up in their field of work CEO's or Directors, they're very driven and what they want they get, plus very philosophical in nature. So maybe I would connect with him?

There are a few posts however where I see steve's replies and I think oh I wouldn't connect with steve on a one-on-one basis. Mainly because he is dry in his replies or maybe his slight lack of compassion. Everyone will probably disagree with the "compassion" part. I can't quite explain it, but there is lack of something which I don't connect with. Maybe "compassion" is not the word. It's very straight to the point and very rarely do I see him take on someone else's views or advice. Which is fine there's nothing wrong with that, but it wouldn't work so well with me. Actually now that I think about it my friends would connect quite well with steve I money would not be a factor them. Hmmm I might suggest that they take a look at what you have to offer steve

Ok so I went completely off topic...but was just trying to nut it all out what was going on in my mind and I think I have - ha ha! So basically I wanted Steve to fit into what I wanted - so basically I was being selfish, but since I am manifesting my world, shouldn't steve be the way I want - he he

[mncz]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

My ultimate goal is really quite simple. I want to help create a more conscious, growth-oriented planet.

When I came up with something equally global when thinking about my life purpose, it freaked me out. Completely. (The usual "look where you are now and what exactly you are imagining of yourself???" train of thought.) Thanks for showing that daring is possible and should be done!

And regarding the pricetag thing. I completely support it. As some have stated here, I even consider it underpricing.
When you look at the content this site and the book has to offer, it is easy to see that this content alone can bring you miles and miles ahead and well into the place where $500 for an hour of consultation is not a cause of any worry at all. If you have already mastered it and have unresolved issues still and really need the consultation, believe: the $500 will appear in your life out of nowhere. If they don't, it is well within your abilities to solve the issue yourself or get help somewhere else without any pricetag attached at all. Proven many times in my own life.

[codefreeze]

I think it's a fantastic idea.

On the question of the money - that's interesting. I think $500 is cheap for that kind of coaching and I don't believe that sort of price will last for long. I expect Steve to be OVERWHELMED at that price point.

I also think the $500 is a good way of filtering those who would benefit from those who wouldn't. I have a long experience with the Internet and one thing I've learned is there are plenty of people who talk, talk, talk but never actually DO anything. There are plenty of people here on these very forums who are quite happy to take time to create 10,000 posts but who never actually spend five minutes working on their own personal development.

I saw the same sort of thing in the Indy games industry (and I suspect Steve did too) where people will TALK endlessly about creating a game and spend hours debating all manners of issues relating to it - but they never actually get around to writing a single line of code. I would say of all the people participating in the Indy dev forums probably only 5% or less actually get around to creating a game.

That's a roundabout way of saying I think Steve's right, there are too many people who, if they got the consultation for around say $100, just wouldn't DO anything with the knowledge gained - which is a waste of everyone's time. Setting the barrier a bit higher is actually a positive thing.

[Steve Pavlina]

Originally Posted by mncz

When I came up with something equally global when thinking about my life purpose, it freaked me out. Completely. (The usual "look where you are now and what exactly you are imagining of yourself???" train of thought.) Thanks for showing that daring is possible and should be done!

Given enough time and a clear direction, the impossible has a way of becoming possible.

If I went back to my 19-year old self and told him what I was doing now, he probably wouldn't believe me.

It doesn't matter if a goal is possible if it's fun, interesting, empowering, and inspiring to pursue. Goals that are too small are boring and demotivating.

[carenkh]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

If I went back to my 19-year old self and told him what I was doing now, he probably wouldn't believe me.

It's possible that you already have! Why did you have that moment of clarity as you sat in jail? It could be that you visited your younger self, and said - 'Hey! Wake up! 'Cause here's what we're gonna do.'

I had an experience where in a guided meditation I visited my younger self, and I was very young: 3 or 4. Suddenly, my perspective switched and I was my younger self. I saw the older me as a bright light, and felt bathed in love and nurturing.

When I use TAT, I often work on healing past trauma or even ancestral imbalances. I sometimes think of it as me now visiting those people then, it's very cool and empowering.

Off-topic, I know - just wanted to let you know it was possible!

I believe if this is what your heart and gut are telling you to do, then you absolutely cannot go wrong. And I know you know that, too. I'm excited to see and hear about the impact this has on folks.