Philosophy, Felines & Becoming A Footballer’s Wife

On Friday 13th I wrote my usual brilliant “Note From Nicola” (*grin*) and then had a big problem with my new laptop, which Steve tried to fix, and in the process, my NfromN was deleted completely.  Now anyone who blogs, comments on blogs, writes anything at all, will know how heart-breaking that is.  As I was off to speak for “Recession Free Seminars” and “Build Your Wealth” at the weekend, I had to leave it (just WALK AWAY from the computer) and try again today.

Being of a philosophical but obviously non-woo-woo nature, I’m reflecting today that it was meant to happen.

Because if it hadn’t, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you about the biggest thing to happen to personal development blogging, yet.  A new site has launched and if I told you that a new best-selling author has been born, I wouldn’t be exaggerating.  If you loved “Wife In The North” and the rather risque “Belle De Jour” blogs, then you will love this…..Ta da!

Danny The Guru Cat is a jaded, cynical, slightly scary cat, whose owner Graham Wendes (aka Softboy) has empowered Danny to share his thoughts on life, love, the universe and everthing.  Danny has a half-sister called Winnie who is dispensing the softer element of the blog, in her “Ask Winnie” section, but don’t be surprised if it’s Danny who answers the questions!

Now, I’m the least soppy person about pets you can imagine, having taken back to the shop our Cockatiel called Elvis because it was too damn noisy, it’s a miracle our five goldfish are still alive, so blogs by animals leave me cold usually….

But because I’ve been experiencing the power, wit, vulnerablity, tough love and wisdom of Danny The Guru Cat via our private Money Gym Google Group for a while now, I’ve been looking forward to his writing debut and it doesnt’ disappoint.

Check it out for yourself and subscribe to the RSS feed by email if you like it.  We have to keep Danny blogging!

Friday 13th was also Red Nose Day, which necessitated Phoebe creating a striking red outfit to wear to school in honour.  Now she says she’s too shy to go on the stage but if this isn’t a star profile outfit I don’t know what is!

We boo’ed and donated our way through the evening and the highlight for me was David Beckham’s face as he tried not to laugh at the dressing down the England team got from actor James Corden, Smithy from Gavin & Stacey.  Watch it here >>>

What a good looking lot those England boys scrub up to be eh?  I can almost see the appeal of being a footballer’s wife now, LOL.

So, two speaking gigs in one day, this last weekend, now that’s what I call time management.  I experienced one of those rare moments of pure happiness on the train, whooshing through the sunset listening to Nu Yorican Soul and twittering from my new Blackberry.

Then I arrived at one of the hotels the organisers had mentioned, only to find it was not only not a 4* or 5*, but it was about a 1* rating.  My heart sank and I nearly got back in the taxi again.  I was hoping to hook up with a load of the speakers and delegates but there was NO WAY they would be staying here.  Serves me right for not doing more research!  No bar, no restaurant……..However when I got into the room (with a KEY!!) I found it was relentlessly 80’s decor but spotlessly clean, warm and very comfortable so I went for it.  No internet connection working so I was forced to wander out onto Esher High Street where I found a good selection of restaurants including a Carluccio’s (Judith, make a note for when you get stuck in Esher!).  Very posh and couple-y though….

So I thought I would pop into the rather nice looking gastro pub next door for a drink first as it was still early, and then Alan, who was marketing the gig, rang me back and told me that they were staying at the Hilton up the road (of course they were!) but they were going to the promoter’s house, for a curry with some of the speakers, and would I like to come.  O yes!  Into a taxi to Weybridge, through a security gate, round a very, very nice private estate and up to the front door of a house that was just jaw-droppingly beautiful.  Saved!  A very nice evening with some great company, accompanied by a VERY good curry from the No #1 all-natural-ingredients curry house in the UK apparently.  Loads of property investors from Cyprus there too!

I woke up at 6.30 to a sunshine filled bedroom and breakfast in a sunny dining room helped a lot too!  A totally empty Sandown Park Racecourse was an interesting venue and the balcony overlooked the sunny and beautiful “Owners Enclosure” which reminded me of our outing to Brighton Races last year (my first time).

While I was wondering if I could get the energy levels up sufficiently for the second, I found it easier than I thought!  However, I was a bit thrown to find, while sitting on Esher train station, that @Paul_Elliott who comperes at Build Your Wealth, was twittering that he was listening to Topher Morrisson…..and I suddenly realised that this might mean I was on stage next!

Do you know Topher?  I haven’t heard him speak before but all our Money Gym gang rave about him and he’s an NLP expert and supposed to be a very charismatic speaker (so the last thing I wanted to do was go on right after him!)

However I duly arrived at the venue, was slightly thrown to find Warren Borjse hanging out behind the registration desk (isn’t he supposed to be in Australia?!!) and the lovely Gary Vurnum hanging out at the back of the hall (just for fun apparently!!) and yes, Topher on stage, doing his charismatic thing!  I see why everyone raves about him now, he’s great!

Eeek.

Then I spotted some Money Gym gang in the throng, Karen from TimeBomb T-Shirts & Online Rock School and Matthew Green who has been to some of our Cashflow Games.

Always nice to know that you have some supporters in the audience, so I took some deep breaths, reminded myself to just be authentic and me, and go for it.  And I did a good job, better on the second gig than the first I think.  Karen supported me wonderfully, she’s a star/creator profile for sure.

Nice to connect with Gary, Daniel Priestly (and able to hook him up with some potential business), Paul Elliott, Warren again but from a speaking/selling point of view, both gigs were only moderately successful, even though I got a good reaction, as the audience are really unbelievably un-clued up about the internet……….although half put their hands up to being self employed or having a business, out of 200 odd, only about 4-5 put their hand up to having a website, or knowing what a blog was, so I’ve got to re-think what I’m presenting to that kind of audience.  Membership sites are great but they are just too advanced, in my opinion, for the “starter” wealth creation crowd. Only two people who had heard of Twitter for heaven’s sake and both of those were our Money Gym two.

We need to advance our plans for the Money Gym “Money Box” product and fast!

But first it’s our big day on Saturday……….the Property Extravaganza.  Only about 40 – 50 tickest left now ….. and every time I click “send and receive” another 5-10 or so have gone.

This is going to be one of the biggest days in this year’s property calender….anyone who came to the Brett McFall weekend knows the atmosphere we get when 200-odd Money Gym maniacs get in the room together.  For a whole day, the recession and credit crunch will be forgotten, as folks connnect, re-connect, find out how they are making money in spite of the doom and gloom, and generally have a great time.

You really can’t afford to miss it – and you will be helping us help the Big Issue, help the homeless help themselves.

http://www.TheMoneyGym.com/events/property

C’mon, you know you want to.

If not, have fun, we always do.

Nicola

Dawn, Daniel, Trades Descriptions & Direct Talking

A very early start on Saturday, to fly to Manchester to spend the day with an early client of The Money Gym, reviewing his business and investments and planning the next year for him. He’s asked me to meet up once a quarter as he finds a coaching relationship very motivating! Now this man does not need motivating, let me tell you, but I’ve decided he’s an entrepreneurial personality type so he thinks while he talks. And he values having someone objective to talk to! We definately came out of that day with a focused “to do” list for each of his “Lanes of the Wealth Highway”.

A lovely meal with my client and then I waved him off and had an early night at the rather nice Radisson SAS hotel, which was full of well behaved football supporters rather than hunky tough soldiers. Trades descriptions act, anyone?

Then to the Tower Thistle to speak for WIN Investing’s “Build Your Wealth” event. Very strange day, as while the response was very positive, nobody took me up on my offer, whereas with much smaller crowds in London, they’ve been beating my door down. Lots of sidling up and trying to get my private contact details as well, which was very odd.

A lovely lunch with Daniel Priestly of Triumphant Events, who I’ve heard a lot about but never met before. He caught the end of my talk and was intrigued, and I loved his presentation on Wealth Dynamics profiling, which of course we are big fans of at The Money Gym. Judith and I are Creator/Star/Mechanics (no!) and Steve is a Lord/Accumulator/Mechanic. Any Deal Makers or Supporters out there?

Then off to Manchester Airport which I always find most entertaining, where I got chatted up by a barrister en route for somewhere else. It took me a while to realise it was happening, as I’m a very friendly and outgoing type generally, but by the third compliment in thirty minutes (vivacious, lovely eyes, nice coat, warm personality etc etc) I was starting to twig. Ooo-er, what to do? Being a wimp, I couldn’t say “no” outright when he asked for my number but I figured if I took his, then at least I would be able to screen the calls. The man has a live-in lover for heavens sake, where do guys like that get off? He probably reads this ezine by now, my profile not being exactly low key, online, so, if you do, you were very nice but I’m not interested in breaking up homes OR playing second fiddle. Don’t you watch “Mistresses” – it ALWAYS ends in tears.

Talking of possibly ending in tears, check out my article on business and taking responsibility for your money, as nobody cares as much about your cash as you do. It’s a theme that Judith and I are very keen to make sure you are aware of, as the news gets grimmer and grimmer on the TV. It’s not just about jobs being in the firing line, but businesses too. And that may have a knock on effect on your earnings, your savings and your investments. Not to doom-monger but to encourage you to be aware, be pro-active and make plans for a different world than it was last year!

Back to work and it’s all been about the Property Extravaganza Day this week, with bookings pouring in. We are nearly half sold out so if you are thinking of coming along, book your place at http://www.themoneygym.com/events/property – it’s only £25, all going to the Big Issue after we pay the VAT, and eight great speakers. Loads of lovely networking and re-charging your wealth creation batteries.

This week, Judith and I interviewed the very lively Anthony North, who is the Head Fundraiser for The Big Issue, and an entertaining and moving hour it was too! I broadcast the interview on BlogTalkRadio, I’m going to podcast via the blog here on iTunes. You can listen to Anthony’s story here

I did a quick look on YouTube to see if the Big Issue had much up there already – perhaps their own channel, as they do Big Issue tours and events. Not a sausage on YouTube except some piss-taking videos of Big Issue vendors doing their best to bring a bit of Christmas cheer to their selling activities.

So I’m given myself the rather tedious job of breaking the interview down into six x ten minute segments, and getting it up on YouTube as video too. If Anthony gives me the go-ahead, I’ll create The Big Issue their own channel, so they can add our videos and those of some of the bands who have been on their tour.

While there I found an interesting video of Big Issue founder John Bird, talking about Ethical Business at the British Library and you can view that here >>>

And then I did a search on Google for John Bird and found this interesting article where John says the only solution to the homeless problem is to ……lock up the homeless!

I’m amazed at how this whole Big Issue thing is touching me actually, must be a “there but for the grace of god, go I” element creeping in. There have been many times in my life when I needed to move and have been housed by family and friends and I couldn’t help thinking yesterday, when listening to Anthony’s passion for his job, what would I have done without anyone to help and support me?

Off to London Friday ready for the next Membership Club Magic “Bonus” Workshop. All the people who signed up in September at Brett’s event are coming and the new people who signed up via the free online webinar presentation or via the Build Your Wealth events. Old friends, some not seen since 2003, and lots of new ones – marvellous.

Now, we are starting to think about taking on an intern for 6 months to a year. This would be someone, probably a college leaver or gap year person, who wants to learn how to become an internet marketer, run an online business, organise and host real world events, and discover how to develop information and software products. There would be no pay, for the internship, but all expenses covered, and the chance of a job with us, or someone we know at the end of it. I don’t think you would need to live near Sussex, as we could work remotely most of the time but the South East would probably save you some travelling.

Skills would include a thorough knowledge and use of the online world, for example, use of Bebo, MySpace or Facebook a must, and if they can use spreadsheets and type fast with good English, that would be a great advantage. Self starter, goes without saying, and outgoing with an eye for detail. Must be willing to learn HTML, blogging, shopping carts, autoresponders etc.

More to follow, as we thrash out the details, so watch your email. This is how Steve found out I was looking for someone to run the hotel, so you never know…

As he always says, he rues the day he opened that email, but he’s still here so… LOL