Work on Words Communication Development
By Application Only

To All Those Who Offer Transformative Services: Don't Give Up Hope! There is a Way to Get Your Work Out in the World, Be Understood, and Make a Living Doing What You Love!

Imagine . . .

It's a typical busy day in your business. Between working with clients, you have a whole range of opportunities to write and talk about what you do and put your work out into the world.

• You update your web site. The words flow from your fingertips. You smile as you're reminded of what you help people do and feel, and how cool it is that you get to make a living doing the work you love. You feel satisfied knowing you are expressing the deepest, most profound message you can.
  
  
• You speak to a prospect. The conversation is easy and the right words come to your lips as you talk about what they will get from working with you, and what the process of working together will look like. You sound clear and confident, and your prospect really gets it, nodding enthusiastically, and asking just the right questions.
  
  
• You read an article in a magazine that relates your area of specialty. You sit down and dash off a passionate response to the editor, concisely making your key points, getting your letter in print and bringing your name and point of view in front of thousands of people.
  
  
• You're finally ready to bring out that book inside of you. It's coming together quickly, because you know the structure of your philosophy and approach, and you have a track to follow as you bring each of those components to life.
  
  
• You have a proposal deadline. No problem. You know the basic story you want to tell, and you simply customize your message for the company you're pitching and incorporate their language and needs to personalize it.
  
  
• You're speaking to a local business group. You review the powerful messages and talking points you've already developed and put together a dynamic, interactive presentation to address common misconceptions and new ways of looking at old problems.

Or Does your Reality Look More Like This . . .

• Your web site has been waiting for a year or more to get updated, but you're not sure how to say what you want to say.
  
  
• You hear an expert whose work relates to yours and you think about writing a letter to her, but you give up because you aren't quite sure how to present yourself in a way that will make a connection.
  
  
• You dread being asked "What do you do?" because you feel like your words never quite match what you mean.
  
  
• Each time you write a proposal, or a speech, you start from scratch trying to figure out what to say, and how to make it sound right.
  
  
• You're getting by fine, but you see that you aren't quite being "gotten" the way you want to be.

Can Words Really Express the Essence of What You Do?

If your work is a little off the beaten path, intangible or spiritually-oriented, you may be resigned to struggling to find good words. You may say to yourself things like:

• Words can't really express what it is I offer!
• You have to experience what I do to understand it.
• People will be turned off if I talk about the spiritual aspect of my work.
• The world isn't ready for me and my ideas.

You may have tried to use traditional copy-writing strategies, only to lose the heart of your message. Or you just say what you want to say in the moment, and hope that your words hit the mark. Either way, you know deep down that your words aren't matching the power and scope of the work you do, and that you are holding back from putting your work out there because you feel self-conscious about what to say.

Are You Missing the Less-Obvious Step?

As small business owners, we need good words to put our work out into the world. Our words make the case for our services, and move people to buy, and to buy now.

But we get messed up because no one's told us HOW to translate the deep meaning and intangible value of our work into words that work. If you are selling something straightforward - clothing, hair cutting, how-to information - then it doesn't take much effort or creativity to get across the WHAT of what you are offering.

But, for this new kind of businesses - the ones that offer personal and spiritual growth, or a radical new way of living and working - going right to benefits or comparison leaves out the real story!

Most of us in the "transformative" field aren't promising a discrete, isolated benefit: make more money, grow more hair, save more time. We are inviting people on a journey to expand their understanding of themselves and their world, to experience a way of living that they may have never imagined for themselves. Our promise is transformation, which brings with it a rich tapestry of new feelings, experiences, and capabilities.

Our language -- those key words and phrases we use to paint a picture of what the world could look and feel like if they take the leap--is the way we make that promise tangible, the way we pull all these great ideas, concepts, and insights down to earth so they can feel real, compelling, and inviting to someone encountering them for the first time. Our language needs to be fresh, distinctive, and original if it's going to break people open to a new awareness or understanding of themselves, their lives, and their place in the collective dance.

Before you can sell your services, you need to communicate. You need words to get you and your audience on the same page, sharing a common understanding. You need a story that resonates for both you and your audience.

And that's not copywriting, that's the art of developing your message.

Are You Missing Having a Clear Message?

Message development is the deeper work of digging inside yourself and your life story, for the words, images and feelings that make that profound message come to life. It's about finding words and metaphors to express the common thread that ties all the best work you've done together. It's about finding the language inside of you that paints pictures, stirs feelings, and expresses the powerful change that you want most for people.

If you focus on writing strong sales copy, before you've fleshed out the story you are here to tell, your words will always fall flat. Develop your powerful message and the words to say it, and copy writing becomes the skill of adding the selling touches to your already powerful message.

Develop Your Message with the Work on Words Training

In our Work on Words Communication Development Training, I'll guide you step-by-step through the process of first developing a personal language to present your work to the world, and then integrating and applying that language throughout your business.

You'll move through four specific phases of finding words to make your work come vividly to life for your audience. As far as I know, this is the only training program designed specifically for people who offer transformative services (meaning work that offers people the possibility of transformation) to help them find words that honor the depth and power of their work!

Work in an Intimate Group from the Comfort of Your Home

In our Distance-learning Group, you'll meet weekly on a conference call for an hour, with an intimate group of no more than 7 like-minded business owners, to learn each step and technique for bringing your words into focus. You'll have a chance to share the language you're developing, get feedback, and address the internal aspects of your transformation.

Plus, you'll get detailed personal feedback from me on every piece of fieldwork that you submit in writing. I am committed to making sure you produce the very best words you are capable of using. You won't fall between the cracks the way you might in one of those big "cattle call" teleclasses where you have no personal contact with your instructor and no system in place to make sure your work is on track.

You'll start with Words for Yourself. Over 8-weeks, you will develop the True Spirit of your Work: the specific outcome you love to deliver that's been a theme throughout your life, written in words that make you come alive. And, you'll find a way to capture your logic, process or philosophy in a limited number of elements.

You'll move on to Words for Your Audience. In the next 8-weeks, you'll explore how to make the essence of your work relevant to your audience. First, you'll learn 4 specific verbal formulas designed to bridge any gap between you and your audience's point of view. These Messages form great talking points for talks, articles, and proposals. Then, you'll take on the challenge of weaving everything you've developed so far into one cohesive story, a sequence of ideas that flows together and leaves your audience with a full body impression of what you offer and why it matters. You've now completed the language development portion of the program.

You'll continue with Words for Your Business. In these 8-weeks, you'll tackle the question of how, on a practical basis, you will bring your work to the world. We'll explore three critical communication areas including how you plan to position yourself and your work (from your internal conversation to your business name and introduction), how you plan to deliver your work to the world through programs, products, and services, and how you plan to introduce the world to your work through educational and marketing efforts. You'll have the chance to make the strategic choices that will support your forward momentum and clarify where to focus the development of new tools for your business.

Finally, you'll participate in our four Practical Application classes. Now that you know which tools are most important to develop to bring your work to the world, you will spend 4 weeks (in each class - 16 weeks total) with the other small group participants, creating new tools to support the growth of your business. Your classes include:

• Crafting Your Web, Brochure, and Flyer Copy
• Introductions and Bios
• Promotional Talks and Teleclasses
• Sales Letters and Proposals

Support Your Own Transformation

While the program is always focused on teaching you specific communication tools and techniques, the benefits of the training aren't just about having great language you can use daily in your business. As you make conscious choices about your words and language, you will be transformed. By that I mean that in doing each step of the communication work, you will come face-to-face with all the internal barriers, doubts, and beliefs that have limited your ability to put yourself and your work forward and have the opportunity to move through them. You will gain incredible clarity about what it is you have to offer, and emerge more confident in your ability to express yourself and make a living doing what you love.

7 Ways that Developing Your Communication Changes Your Experience of Doing Business

So, what's it worth to you to invest in developing a powerful message and expanding your capacity to communicate? These are the 7 main ways our clients say that their experience of doing business changes:

1. Writing and Talking About Your Work Will Get Easier and More Fun
   
   Instead of being hesitant or uncomfortable to speak up, you'll be ready, eager even, to grab any chance to write and talk about what you do. One of my clients said that after hearing an expert on retirement on the radio, she sat down and quickly wrote him a letter by reviewing and selecting from the material she'd developed in class. "Six months ago, I would have never have written him. I would have sat down, then given up because I didn't know what to say."
   
   
2. Your Words Will Keep You Connected to Your Passion and Excitement About What You Offer
   
   Your energy is a big part of selling your services. When your words remind you daily of what you are here to do, in the biggest sense of the word, your excitement and enthusiasm become contagious. That energy is essential to keep you moving and taking action to develop your business and get your message out into the world.
   
   
3. You'll Be More Confident and Willing to Step Out and Be Seen and Heard
   
   When you are confident you can write and speak and be heard, you feel much more confident about saying yes to all the opportunities that come your way. You'll say yes to a speech, to drafting an article, to meeting with a center of influence.
   
   
4. Your Audience Will Respond More Passionately to What You Have to Share
   
   When you get to that sweet spot of expressing the deepest and most profound message you are here to share, people respond. More and more people will grasp what you do quickly. And more and more will be drawn to learn more because the ideas you express will touch their hearts and stir their souls. You'll find it easier to make alliances with other professionals because they will get that you know what you are talking about.
   
   
5. You'll Attract More of the Right Kind of Clients
   
   When you can say exactly what it is you are here to offer, you naturally draw to you the people who share your values, and gently dissuade the one who won't give you permission to do your best work.
   
   
6. You'll Do Better Work - Really!
   
   This one surprised me, but more and more of my clients started telling me they were doing better work with their clients because they were so clear about what they were doing, and where they were in their own process!
   
   
7. You'll Make More Money Doing the Work You Love
   
   While good communication alone won't make you a better businessperson, it does make all aspects of doing business easier and more effective. As you step out more boldly, express yourself with more passion, and attract more people who respond passionately to you, it follows naturally that you will make more money doing the work you truly believe you are here to do. And what could be better than that?

Here's What Some of Our Graduates Have to Say. . .

So, What Do You Need to Invest?

To work with me one-on-one, clients must either be part of one of my high-end mastermind programs or pay $8,000 to work with me one-on-one for a singe day. This Work on Words Distance-learning Group combines a high level of personal input and attention from me, combined with the efficiency and fun of learning alongside others.

If you're accepted into the program, you'll get all of the following:

• 8-week Words for Yourself training
• 8-week Words for Your Audience training
• 8-week Words for Your Business training
• Four 4-week Practical Application classes
• Detailed, personal email feedback on all your written assignments
• 1½ hours of private consultation with Isabel (a $1,500 value!)
• Access to call playback for 30 days
• PDF manuals for each class

And you get all this for signifcantly less than the cost of working with me privately. Request your application now, with no obligation, and you'll receive advance notice of the next session, currently planned for Spring, 2010.

Are You Ready to Transform Your Experience of Doing Business?

Now, participation in our Work on Words Distance-learning Group is by application only! Because our groups are so small, it's important that we have only participants who are ready do this work and get the most benefit from it. The application process is designed to help me get to know you, evaluate if this work is truly right for you and if you have what it takes to be one of our select group.

Note that Vibrant Language training or purchase of the Vibrant Language CD / Book training materials is a prerequisite to our advanced Work on Words training.

If you believe you qualify, then fill in your name and primary e-mail address below. You'll automatically receive a full set of instructions on completing the application process, including the questions you'll need to answer.

Work on Words Communication Training will be offered again in the spring of 2010. Request the application now to get advance notification of the program, and when we will begin accepting applications.