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(WARNING: profanity in first line of post) Do you have any idea what you are getting yourself into?

Faaaaaahhhhhhck.

That’s my general feeling about business right now. And, I put it right up front to weed out those of you who are too sensitive to be part of my Eyes Wide Open community and don’t actually want to hear what’s real.

[If you don’t like it, you can still benefit from my work through people I have trained as Personal Family Lawyers, Family Business Lawyers, Creative Business Lawyers, or Money Map Masters, most of whom would never use a “bad word” right up front in an email like this.]

eing Afraid and Doing it Anyway…Not Anymore

I’m done pussy-footing around trying to make everyone happy.

I’m building businesses to support people who want to live life and do business awake, aware and on their terms, with their eyes wide open.

I’m putting in a HUGE amount of effort to make the work I’ve created accessible to people without requiring the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of dollars of investment I’ve made along the way to learn how to do the things I teach.

I once invested $25,000 for a DAY of coaching with Lisa Sasevich on how to structure my business model.

I once invested $100,000 for a year long mastermind with Ali Brown. Out of that mastermind came my willingness to teach my LIFT System so you can be smart about the legal, insurance, financial and tax parts of your business.

Would I have created that system if I hadn’t made that investment? No.

As I was making these investments, I promised myself I would make my programs accessible to more people than just those who could afford $25,000 and $100,000 investments in their business.

It’s right about now, when I’ve circled back for a 4th time in the life cycle of these businesses to build the next level systems necessary for scale that I begin to wonder — have I chosen the wrong business model?

What the heck have I gotten myself into?

Currently, I sit behind my computer for 12 hours a day writing copy for sales funnels, reviewing opt-in sequences, creating autoresponders, talking to my team members, coaching my team members to make it through the conflicts, firing people, hiring people, writing job descriptions, creating organizational charts.

Training sales teams.

Considering new governance models.

Should we implement holacracy or keep the traditional hierarchy based governance structures in place?

Daily, I wonder if I should just say fuck it and stay a high-end coach, delivering expensive one-to-one services and going seriously deep with private clients.

I know how to do that, and I do it well.

As I am re-building the systems for both companies, I am working with two private clients and woah, the work is deep.

Both of these clients came to me to discover their own foundation of Enough, and who they are and how they be in the world from the spaciousness of Enough. They both happen to be navigating divorce settlements.

In one situation, I am supporting the entire multi-generational family dynamic, working with the young adult children, and the elder parents in addition to my client.

I LOVE the work.

And, I know it’s not yet time for me to do it full time.

I am compelled to build the systems in New Law Business Model and Eyes Wide Open for them to serve at scale.

All the components have been created.

The only thing in the way is my own ability to stay focused, keep my eye on the ultimate vision, and keep saying yes.

The resistance is alive and well.

I want to write my book. I want to post on Facebook. I want to be done with this part already. My mind tells me I should have done this years ago and tries to convince me I won’t be able to do it.

I know it’s a lie.

I know I can.

At least, I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

If I had known what I was getting myself into with the Star Creator Archetype path would I have chosen another way?

I can’t say yet. I’m not at the end. I’ll have to let you know.

For now, I am in it.

I am doing the work that I’ve discovered only I can do.

Each time I have tried to hire this work out to others, an interim CEO in one case, marketing funnel automation specialists twice (to the tune of $40,000), a promised Chief of Staff … what I discovered is that this part requires me.

If you could just hire it out, everyone with money would have successful, sustainable, make a difference businesses.

But it’s not as easy as that.

It requires determination, focus, grit, persistence, willingness, learning, growth, evolution.

I’m in.

And I’m going to do a better job of communicating and sharing from here.

I’ve been hiding out a bit.

Because I wasn’t sure I could keep going and frankly didn’t want to share from my uncertainty.

But when I got this message from Facebook yesterday, from 4 years ago, literally the month before I filed bankruptcy, I remembered ….

I chose this. I want this. I don’t HAVE to do this, I want to do it.

And I can share my uncertainty. It’s okay. Valuable and helpful even because you are probably uncertain about whether you can do it too (whatever your “it” is.)

Where I got trapped back in my last iteration of “success” that ultimately led to my giving it all up was that I stopped sharing vulnerably.

I listened to the voices that said “you can’t do that, you can’t say that, you can’t write that, you’ll hurt the business.”

So I fired everyone, let it all go and traveled around in my RV, lived on the farm, and said whatever I wanted for a couple of years. Remember the Whole Truth Show? I loved that show! I loved speaking my truth.

But I missed the businesses.

I missed knowing that when I am being all of myself, and speaking at events, and writing what’s in my mind and heart and soul and people are inspired that they can easily flow into business structures of support that can help their learning, growth and evolution.

I want the both/and.

I want to be a free spirit with business systems to support my freedom.

Ali and Alexis, integrated.

And to have that, I need to put in the effort and focus to truly build the next level scalable systems that work to support it.

So I am.

What are you building  that’s forcing you to face all of your resistance, all your old patterns, all your places that you just want to play small?

Are you compromising your life just because it seems easier to do that than to stretch?

It’s time to stop doing that. I’m stopping with you.

Love beyond,

Ali

PS — On July 7, I’m hosting my first live training in 6 months, specifically for those of you who want to stop compromising and start building your life and income awake, aware and on your terms — with clarity about what you are doing and what you really want so you can choose the “how” strategically and wisely, instead of just throwing money at problems like I’ve done so many times in the past OR being stuck in your head wondering what your next steps should be. Sign up here.

How Are You Going to Fund the Transition?

I run into so many people (both online and offline) who tell me they want to build business models that scale.

You are likely bombarded with messages that tell you the path to success is a scalable business.

You likely have seen loads of Facebook ads telling you that your next step is to create a course, launch an online program, create a digital product.

That your path to a life of success is to make money while you sleep, selling your information and knowledge. Passive revenue, multiple revenue streams, the dream come true!

And, because I am committed to you building your life and income awake, aware and on your terms, I’m here to tell you the truth and help you make the best decisions along the way.

I wish I had had someone to help me do more of that along the way myself.

So, yes, you can totally build a business that scales, if you are fully, 100% committed to spending a lot of time behind your computer, managing teams, of people, learning to become a leader, building systems and writing a heck of a lot of copy. And, investing big time, energy, attention and money (TEAM resources) in all of it.

In our Money Map system, this is the Star Guide and Star Creator archetype paths. And with eyes wide open, you can do it.

But, where do you start? And how will you fund it? And what are the steps along the way.

In most cases, it all starts with you creating a Sage Guide business model that actually works

All too often, people want to skip this step and get right to scale.

I get it.

The marketing gurus out there almost encourage it.

But what the heck are you scaling?

Before you can scale, before you can transition to the next level, you need to have mastered the prior level. Then, you can “transcend and include.”

That means that you take what works from the prior level as you move to the next level, leaving behind what doesn’t work, and always keeping what does.

So what is the prior level to master on your way to a business that scales?

GENERALLY speaking (all caps because I acknowledge this is a generalization and not always true), the level prior to scale, or programs, or courses, or products involves you providing a 1-1 service that truly delivers a valuable outcome.

That one to one service is the thing you do that provides tremendous value to people, you love doing, and before you transcend it and go to the next level, you create a sustainable income model around it for yourself.

So that looks like an enrollment process that works for you and the people you serve.

Packages and a fee quoting system that allow your prospects to choose the best way to work with you.

And THEN, once you’ve got that rocking and rolling, marketing strategies (oftentimes programs, products and courses) to keep your pipeline full.

And finally, if all goes well, maybe you can scale those programs, products and courses so you can drop the one to one work altogether. But that’s a seriously long road and one I think far too many people are anxious to get to far too quickly.

It’s an expensive path to scale.

It requires serious capital investment. It requires serious time, energy and attention focus.

It will take everything you have. Read this article about Elon Musk and what it’s taken even him.

And the best way to fund it?

If you aren’t going to seek venture capital, or other outside investment (including credit), you can fund it with a 1-1 service that you can deliver consistently with an enrollment process and packages that work well for you and the people you serve.

If you are a lawyer and you want to learn to create that in your law practice, sign up for my next training on how to create your own client engagement system.

If you are not a lawyer and you want to create an enrollment structure that leads to yes nearly every time, you want to get Bill Baren’s reports that he is coming out with this week.

You can get Bill’s report “The Yes Blueprint: Your Step-by-Step Method for Turning Conversations into High-Paying Clients” plus two other amazing reports he created here.

Alright, I need to run now — my team is waiting for me to run a sales/support meeting with them. Part of “scaling” is leading teams. Leadership stretches me far beyond what I ever imagined.

I’ll be back with a message about that tomorrow.

Love to you on your journey,

Ali

PS — On July 7, I am hosting a live webinar (my first in 6 months) to help you choose the right income model for you, identify where you are now, get clear on where you are going next and stop the mind spin of wonder, worry, stress and strain. We’ll send sign-up info soon.

Are you investing in the wrong strategies (and guides) for your income model?

Willow was determined.

She saw me online and after checking my story out (of going from traditional lawyer to feather-wearing online business owner impacting on a much broader scale), she knew she needed to meet me and work with me one-on-one.

It didn’t matter that I wasn’t taking on private clients.It didn’t matter that she had to email my team through five different portals.

She didn’t care what she would have to pay.

Willow was committed to sitting down with me.

This is a woman who knows how to get what she wants.

Willow has been doing hair for 15 years. And during that time, client after client would tell her “Willow, you’re reading my mind!” So she calls herself the accidental psychic and is ready to transition from 1-1 hairdressing work to a more leveraged, online business teaching others how to tap into their own intuitive and psychic powers.

She took B-School, she’s got her brand, her website and even her free gift.

But one major piece was missing from B-School. A really great understanding of the business model that would make the most sense for her.

together here at my home That’s why she came to me. She wanted to learn from someone who has already done what she wants, has the kind of life she imagines for herself and the people she was meeting online or who hadn’t been there/done that couldn’t offer that to her.

 

And, yes, while we hung out together here at my home for an hour, I downloaded the step by step to her and she didn’t have to pay tens of thousands (okay, I likely paid hundreds of thousands if you add up all the investments I made over the years) for it.

I rewarded her determination, her tenacity, and her heart and soul by just giving it to her straight.

The step by step from where she is now to exactly what to do next.Because it’s my mission.

I remember that version of me that was HUNGRY for guidance. HUNGRY for direction. PRAYING for someone who would just tell it to me straight.

Now, I am that one I was praying for and I am grateful to be able to give it to you.If you want the step by step to make your own transformation, get informed, survey the field, read everything you can that speaks to you, watch all the videos, read all the sales letters, get all the newsletters.

BUT, don’t make a decision to invest in ANYTHING until you are super clear on your income model and what will support you to create exactly what you want.

Here’s the next thing I suggest you watch that will guide you to understand more of your own income model.

Justin Livingston and Callan Rush have put together a documentary-style video that lets you into the details of their own decision-making process when they were at a business model crossroads back in 2010.

Plus, a training that goes along with it to help you choose the right way to enroll clients for YOU based on your business model.Enter your first name and email on this page and you’ll get to see all of it.

But remember, this is all research for now. You are not going to invest in anything, make a decision to do another training or hire another coach, or make another investment in THE thing for the next level of your business, until you are certain about your own income model.

I’m here to help you get the clarity you need so you can get where you actually want to go as rapidly as possible.With your eyes wide open,

Ali

PS — Enter your name and email address using this link and then watch Justin and Callan’s documentary style video that takes you behind the scenes into their business model decision-making process — it’s HUGELY instructive for your next steps.

Do webinars really work to generate you clients? My experience + a resource 

I’ve been building my businesses in the online world since 2006 and have tried just about every single method of selling products and services online you can imagine.

Some of it has worked like gangbusters, some (most?) of it has been a big fat flop.

The most frustrating part was that what seemed to work for others, didn’t work for me.

I realize now that when the things I was trying weren’t working it was because I had mismatch between my income model and the strategies I was using.

I had gotten sold strategies that worked for others who actually had different business models than I did!

But I couldn’t see that because from the outside, their models looked to be what I wanted.

From the inside though, it wasn’t anything like I thought it would be.

If you’ve been seeing people doing gangbusters with webinars and you wonder whether they will work for you and your business model, you’ve got to see these resources my friends and mentors Justin Livingston and Callan Rush put together.

First, the video: it gives you the behind the scenes of the business model shifts, changes and all the possibilities they considered before deciding to use webinars.

It’s like a really great documentary.

Then, the training itself. A super in-depth training on which enrollment strategies will work best for you and your business model.

Before you make another business investment or decide on your next business steps, you must do it with your eyes open —Justin and Callan’s video and training materials are a super start.

To your eyes wide open life and income,

Ali

PS — Enter your name and email address using this link and then watch their documentary style video that takes you behind the scenes into their business model decision-making process — it’s HUGELY instructive.

EEEEEE!!!!!! This is big news…

It’s been a LONG time coming. I’ve known I’d be writing my next book for years (my first book, the best-selling book on legal planning for parents, Wear Clean Underwear, was published back in 2008), but each time I sat down to write the proposal, it just didn’t feel ready.

While I had sense of the concepts for my next book, they hadn’t been fully tested in my own life.

I was in process and though I love to share while I’m in process (primarily these days via Facebook), I couldn’t write a book until I was on the other side.I knew I had a radically new understanding of why and how we were getting screwed over chasing financial freedom that could rarely, if ever, be reached and that there was another way (which I now understand asfinancial liberation) and I could see the vision and the big picture, I didn’t have enough detail level case studies of people I had seen through the process for me to truly KNOW that what I knew wasn’t just me making shit up.

And until I was truly SURE and had seen the proof with my own eyes, I simply couldn’t sell the book to a publisher.

Well, after a major astrological shift in my chart this past January, and many, many proven case studies including my own, I finally felt ready to get the book proposal finished.
I had a great agent, met with five big publishers last week and this week I got notice that the book has been picked up!The manuscript is due December 1. And the book will be published in the Fall of 2017.

Working title: Enough! The Money Wake-Up Call to Reclaim Your Time, Energy and Attention in Service to a Life Worth Living.

Over the next several days, we’ll have some big news to announce about how YOU can be part of this movement to support more people to come into right relationship with time, money and how we get paid.

Stay tuned …

With so much love,

Ali

PS — I’ve started recording an informal podcast series with a good friend of mine, George Kao, where we are talking about income models, how to choose them consciously, how to get into a place where you are investing consciously in how you build your income in alignment with your life, instead of chasing the next bright shiny thing that captures your attention that you may or may not need. I’ll let you know as soon as the first recording is available. Watch this space.

Individuation and Motherhood in the New Economy

Individuation and Motherhood in the New Economy

I was really resistant to the idea of my kid getting a job. I had this idea that I wanted her to get started on the entrepreneur path ASAP.

I had started working at restaurant jobs at 14 and didn’t come to entrepreneurship (reluctantly) until after law school and a few years of practice.

I thought she could learn from me, skip the job route and go straight into business and get a huge head start.

But she wanted the job, perhaps in rebellion to my wishes for her to start a business (individuation is so important).

So she went out and found one at the local bagel shop.

And it’s so good.

I’m remembering that there is a huge value to the experience of minimum wage/restaurant jobs.

She’ll come to entrepreneurship, if she does, with a far broader spectrum of experience.

And she’s already started to consider how she can make more money, seeing that minimum wage isn’t enough to live on.

Her creativity and motivation is sparked to a far greater degree than it was when I was overly encouraging and supporting her to explore business ideas without having had the experience of the $300 paycheck for two weeks of nearly full time work.

How do you work with your children in this way? Do they have jobs? Entrepreneurial ideas? Send me an e-mail at [email protected] to let me know.

Love beyond the beyond,

Ali