As someone who offers mentoring, classes and info products, one of the saddest truths is that about 90% of people buy a package from someone and do absolutely nothing with it. I suppose it’s because when you make a purchase, your brain tells you that you have the solution now, so you don’t take

action.

You swear that you’ll do whatever the self-paced study program or ebook is about, but chances are it languishes forgotten on your hard drive.

I’ve been wanting an online interactive training tool, but the one with which I am familiar is sterile, remote and hard to use. That online environment is a pain in the behind to use for creating a product or course, because you have to flip back and forth between various areas, and you can’t rearrange things either. Plus on the client side, it’s really not enticing. Oh, and the one I know doesn’t let the mentor/trainer brand it in any way. You only get this sterile, cold, YUCK background.

I wanted something better.

I want a flexible interactive arena that empowers me to create various online writing courses, mentoring or coaching programs, and even information products that help you the customer interact with and use the materials in a fun and easy way.

Here is my wish list for an online interactive training environment.

• Ability to include audio’s, videos, hunks of html code, and text easily.
• Ability to upload materials, such as work sheets, graphs, documents, etc.for the client.
• Interactive so the client can answer questions right there, not in a downloadable workbook.
• Easy for me to use with one area for me to create a module or a course (or coaching / mentoring program).
• Has my logo on it and my branding
• Ability to change the background color.
• Ability to adjust font size
• Spell check
• Ability to edit all aspects of the module even in a live course
• Affordable
• Scalable
• Ability to formulate various packages without re-inputting the materials
• Ability for client to export their questions and answers for continued use on their computers.

So imagine my glee when I discovered Jigsaw Box! A British coach developed this program so she could deliver her services without using so much of her time. This tool gives me 95% of my wish list. And with a 2–week free trial, I was able to try it out at no risk.

Jigsaw box lets you create multimedia modules. You can include whatever materials you want, including uploaded documents. Then, like a jigsaw puzzle, you can create various packages, selecting the modules you want as if you’re choosing items on a menu.

One example of Jigsaw Box in action…

I’ve already made sales on the first product I created with Jigsaw Box. It’s Easy Write & Publish Your Book. I show you the 5 fastest, easiest ways for how to write a book and publish it fast

See how easy it is to create a module with an article that I “dressed up” using the editor inside Jigsaw Box. I added a few questions, then included a video. Watch this…

I had a blast turning articles I’ve submitted into directories into interactive teaching modules with questions for you to answer. Since the materials were already done, it only took me a couple of minutes to fancy them up a bit and add some questions.

This takes an article and makes it a valuable tool for you because you can incorporate the teaching into your life.

The best part

There are 2 “best parts” of this tool.

One is how infinitely malleable the program is. You can move modules around and create whatever packages you want. Plus there is no limit to number of clients or size of package.

The other best thing is that you can create scalable programs with this tool. Scalability is important for your business growth.

If all you had was 1–on-1 coaching, you only have so many hours in the day and maybe you’d like to have a LIFE too. Now with Jigsaw Box all your training materials are there in an interactive format, so you can offer a mid-range product to hundreds or thousands of people. This vastly increases your income potential.

Jigsaw Box gets my 5–star recommendation. What a fabulous tool! It is easy to use.

Improvements I hope to see

As I mentioned, I got almost my whole wish list with Jigsaw box. Here are the enhancements I hope will come forth in updates of the program.

• Ability to edit questions after a program is live.
• Ability for clients to easily export their questions and answers to their computer.

I’m thrilled with this amazing solution. Also, I have to say that Jigsaw is fun for me to create in.

Resource

First off, do yourself a favor. Before grabbing your free trial, think of one of your electronic info products that you’d love to make interactive. Maybe it’s an ebook you are offering. Start thinking of how you can break that ebook into modules and what questions or activities you can add to it to increase the value for your customers.

Get your 2–week free trial of Jigsaw Box. Then put your ebook-turned-interactive course into it. You can even start selling it before the whole thing is ready. Just get the first couple modules there and your customers will have something to start with immediately. Then you can add the other modules. So you can pay for your affordable membership with sales you make during the free trial..

Now if you want to know the 5 fastest ways for how to write a book –  pick up my Easy Write & Publish Your Book program..

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How much time and energy do you put into your personal development each day? Do you read, study and improve yourself? If you are not currently doing so, I urge you to spend at least a few minutes each day reading a book or listening to a recording that empowers you to expand yourself.

Reading stories of people who raised themselves out of difficult situations and change lives everyday is one of my favorite passtimes. The book I review today

Kenneth Brown, author of LIFE: 6 Principles for Living In Freedom Everyday, lived his early life in poverty. Yet he had a dream of owning his own restaurant. Naturally, he did not effortlessly move from dream to fulfillment. He faced numerous challenges along the way. Only once he gained the right mindset and associations, a sense of vision and purpose for his life and took responsibility for his circumstances did he discover the meaning of freedom.

in LIFE, Kenneth Brown walks you through a journey of self discovery that will help you connect with what I would call your passion and he calls your calling. This is a book for those who appreciate a Christian perspective and/or who hold the belief that God directs your life.

He says in the book that when he first tried to borrow money from family to live his dream, the deal fell through because he used “earthly currency” and because he had not been made ready. After gaining skills working in McDonald and other restaurants, he discovered a passion for leadership and a clear sense of what God was calling him to do..

The guiding principles he talks about in the book are:

• Faith in God
• Vision  of success
• Purpose ordained by God
• Passion  and energy
• Ownership of your life and situation
• Associations that strengthen you

The book is written in a very friendly and accessible style. Kenneth uses some of his own stories, Biblical tales and stories of people he knows throughout the book.

If you feel a desire to understand God’s purpose for your life or you wish to deepen your faith, this book will definitely inspire you.

One of the great stories he tells is about the importance of your associations. He shares a time when he nervously started a horseback riding lesson. The instructions given to him reminded him of his wife. No, he does not liken her to a horse, but the instructions a rider gives a horse are like those of a good accountability partner. Sometimes you give a gentle direction with the reigns, and when you want the horse to go, you kick him in the stomach. While the contact does not hurt the horse, it gets him moving. That’s what Brown says his wife does for him at times.

One of my favorite stories is in the section on vision. Brown coached a businessman whose company was failing. While the man talked about wanting his employees to buy into his vision, and while he had created excellent training materials for them, his vision statement was not posted anywhere either in the manual or around the offices. How can anyone buy into a vision when they do not know what it is?

Brown shares an unfortunate truth in the book, which is that most people do not have a written vision statement or written goals. He created a simple yet powerful guiding vision statement for his restaurant. This single sentence stated the vision so clearly that all he had to do to demonstrate to an employee that they were not in alignment was to point and say, “Read the vision.”

I really appreciate Brown’s use of stories throughout LIFE. This isn’t surprising, since I’m definitely an advocate of connecting with people through storytelling. His stories poignantly guide you into an understanding of how to improve your life in the 6 arenas he covers in the book.

While there are no specific “exercises” in the book, there are many questions for you to consider and suggested actions you can take to raise yourself up in each of the 6 areas. You will find this book easy to read and powerfully pertinent.

Give yourself the gift of LIFE Tuesday, Jan. 26 and receive some life-changing gifts from Kenneth and his promotion partners right here..

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I just finished reading the Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield.  This is a story of intuition, insight and beauty. Instead of the author sharing his teachings in a nonfiction book, he chose to share them in a novel. This is the first of 4 books teaching the Insights that empower people to live from Source/beauty and stay connected wiht the divine power no matter what is happening around you.

The story begins as a restless former teacher hears from an old flame. She tells him about secret scrols and lost teachings in Peru that are being rediscovered, and every time she thinks of the scrolls, she thinks of him. Thus begins his H

ero’s journey and a huge adventure.

When John arrives in Peru, he discovers that government and church officials are trying to suppress the prophecy that he is now compelled to discover.

Here is the theatrical trailer for the movie based on the book:

This hybrid story/study guide for living connected with Source/divinity will hold your attention and give you something to think about as well. If you’re like me, you’ll gain a fresh appraoch to look at familiar understandings.

I am a person who has always let intuition guide me and someone who is aware of the energy of life around and within everything.  It’s fun to find a book that teaches people a way to live from intuition.

This book was a runaway bestseller, on the lists for 3 years. I first encountered the Celestine Prophecy because of the movie, which I watch several times a year. I actually found it at a WalMart, which surprised me for whatever reason. You can rent it from Netflix or your favorite rental place.

I am adding this to my recommended books section because I believe there are powerful insights that will help anyone along your path. The journey begins by understanding the power of meaningful coincidences that are truly messages.

The other insightstake you through a progression of adventure and understanding of how to awaken wisdom.

Most of the time, the book is better than the movie. I want you to read the book and see the movie, and in this instance, I feel the movie is better. And in the book you will gain some specific practices you can do yourself, revealed in the pages of John’s adventure.

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So I’m in this sticky spot. I am not recommending the product, but as I write a commentary, I don’t want to name the product either. It’s in the realm of books. So if you’re considering any large purchase in that arena, just write and ask me first.

Let me share what I look for in a product, so you’ll understand how I evaluate what to offer as an affiliate or what to present to potential joint venture partners.

I look for the following aspects in a product:

• GREAT product that people want.
• step by step instructions in it or some sort of easy to follow plan.
• much more use value than cost.
• solves a big problem.
• makes a hard task simple.
• Breaks things down into manageable chunks.
• multimedia.
• value in the PRODUCT itself even without bonuses.
• when I review it, I can honestly say I would refer it without a moment’s hesitation to my closest friend and to my tribe.

So here’s the thing. I got a copy of the product from him and…well…um…I’ll say it this way…it’s multimedia, because there are 5 CDs and a manual.

It’s NOT great. It’s OK. Well, it’s OK if it were about 80% off. If I had to pay full price for it I would have thrown it across the room first and then packed it up to send for a refund.

It is supposed to solve a big problem, but it doesn’t. Not really. It is a hipey more fluff than substance product where the 2 people who did what they did remembered back to how they did it. Out of 5 CDs, 2 are good. 2 are almost duplicates and the last misinforms completely.

There is no step by step. The system has more holes than a pound of Swiss cheese. You couldn’t possibly follow the steps and accomplish what you’re intended to do unless you have a lot of tenacity. And then it wouldn’t be their steps but your tenacity that got you there.

It makes a hard task even harder, because they don’t tell you how to get “the thing” listed where it needs to be in order to use the system at all.

What this product shows you how to do (supposedly shows you how to do) has been done so many times that it has lost its shine. And with so little detail, unless you are already on a path to a solid business, you’d never get the intended result.

One whole CD has a system that is flat out wrong on it. They tell you to do something, and if you know how the company you would be dealing with works, you KNOW it doesn’t work that way. Plus at another point they give wrong information about when changes are calculated in the system.

Someone else I know puts out a truly great multimedia product that gives you a blueprint and makes things simple, requires less of an  investment and gives much more detail, information, and step by step. I’ll make less money per unit promoting this product but sleep well at night knowing I served my audience well.

Although I very much want to support my friend’s product, I cannot honestly do so with a joyous heart and a clean conscience. So, when friendship and business collide, which one wins? Business.

I hope this has helped you consider how you select products and services to recommend.

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