Grand Prize: Full tuition for the 12-week teleclass, Authentic Promotion, plus one month of private coaching after the class is over. Value: $900.

Second Prizes: Three people will win full tuition for any four-week teleclass. Value: $159 - $199 per class.

Third Prizes: Seven people will win a copy of the e-book, Authentic Promotion: Grow your Business, Feed your Soul. Value: $29.95 per book.

I'll announce winners in the March 30, 2004, issue.

Question of the Week
If you wanted to find products and services like mine on an Internet search engine (and did not already know about me), what key words would you use for your search?

Send your answers to keywords@mollygordon.com with "keywords" in the subject line.


In This Issue
Question of the Week
Fast Focus: Success Without Formulas
Simple Gifts: Getting Free from Fear
Open for Business: The Dignity of Work
Teleclasses: Discounts End Tuesday
The Bedside Table: Crossing the Unknown Sea
Resources and Links: E-zine Alternatives from the E-zine Queen
Small Print: Copyright | Getting On and Off the List
Privacy Statement | Contact Info


Please forward The New Leaf without cutting to your neighbors, friends, and colleagues. That's how we grow. To show our appreciation we donate 10 cents to Childreach for every new subscriber, and in 2003 we sponsored two children as a result. http://www.childreach.org


Fast Focus
Success Without Formulas
While there is no formula for success, there are principles we can follow to achieve the firm persuasion that unites work with meaning. True success calls for action in the world that we take as we resonate our inner experience with outer challenges and opportunities, listening and acting in the service of something bigger and more fundamental than our fears.

Success grows from who we are and how we show up as we take action, not after. Do not wait until your business is profitable or you have left your day job in order to begin. Start here. Start today.


Simple Gifts
Getting Free from Fear
Download your free copy of my e-book, Getting Free From Fear: Four Principles for Living the Life You Want, at http://www.mollygordon.com/resources/index.html . Fear is an important and powerful ally when it alerts us to real threats. However, too often we live in unexamined fear, and, as a result, our lives are smaller than they need to be. This little e-book offers practical tools for understanding your fears and mastering them so that you can live the way you want to live, not the way you're afraid you have to live.


====> My family has been using my phone bridge to come together in support of my mom as she makes a major move. I've long appreciated the value of this seamless teleconferencing service for business, but I'm newly appreciative of its power to connect hearts as well as minds. For information about renting my bridge or leasing your own, send a blank email to bridge@mollygordon.com with "bridge" in the subject line.


Open for Business
The Dignity of Work
Last week my husband and I spent two days at Timberline Lodge on the slopes of Mount Hood in Oregon before I went on to Tom Antion's "Butt Camp," an Internet marketing seminar in Portland. (Learn more at http://www.antion.com/t.cgi/192738/buttcamp.htm .) As it happens, the expected snow manifested as chilly, wet rain and extremely low visibility, so I had ample time to explore the inside of the magnificent lodge.

Timberline was built during the Great Depression by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps. Every detail of the building speaks of the dignity of work and the relationship of humankind to our environment. A massive central hearth of rock cut from the mountain is circled by hand built furniture in a space illumined by wrought iron fixtures and graced by carvings, paintings, and mosaics that are not so much decorations as expressions of the spirit of the place and of the men and women who found there a reprieve from despair and an opportunity to build something of enduring value and meaning.

I happened to have with me a copy of David Whyte's book, Crossing the Unknown Sea, Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity. Whyte, a poet who has made a career of bringing poetry to Fortune 500 companies (how's that for getting out of the box?), writes:

"To have a firm persuasion in our work--to feel that what we do is right for ourselves and good for the world at the same time--is one of the great triumphs of human existence. ... To have a firm persuasion, to set out boldly in our work, is to make a pilgrimage of our labors, to understand that the consummation of work lies not only in what we have done, but who we have become while accomplishing the task."

Helping people attain that firm persuasion is at the heart of my work. It's what I offer my private clients and my classes, and it's why I wrote Authentic Promotion. Even this newsletter is intended to prepare and equip business owners who want to do right for themselves and for the world and who are willing to undergo profound challenges and changes in the process.

Having a firm persuasion in our work is not a matter of following five or seven steps to success. Instead, it calls for action in the world, action that we take by constantly resonating our inner experience with outer challenges, listening and acting in the service of something bigger than our fears. For while there is no single formula for success, there are principles we can follow to achieve the firm persuasion that unites work with meaning.

This kind of success is not something we get after we have taken certain steps. It grows from who we are and how we show up as we take action, not after. You do not have to wait until your business is profitable or you have left your day job in order to begin to live into your own firm persuasion. Start here. Start today.

I welcome your comments and questions. Please send your letters to letters@mollygordon.com . If you do not want your letter to be included or quoted in the Readers Write Web page, just let us know. Please do not reply to this newsletter as your message will be lost in cyber-limbo.


Teleclasses
Discounts End Tuesday
The early registration discounts for Thriving in the Sweet Spot and Believe! end February 3rd. Sign up today.

Believe! Working with Your Beliefs to Build Your Business. Are you tired of worn out clichés about positive thinking yet wanting some way to work responsibly and creatively with your thoughts so you can be more successful? This class shows why positive thinking is not enough and equips you to work with your belief systems in a practical, wholistic way so you get the results you want. Four 90-minute teleclasses on Tuesdays from Noon to 1:30 pm eastern time February 17 and 24, and March 2 and 9. Learn more or sign up at authenticpromotion.com: http://www.authenticpromotion.com/teleclasses/believe.html

Thriving in the Sweet Spot: Naming a Meaningful and Profitable Niche. Are you struggling to tell people what you do really? Do you want a simpler, more effective way to market your work? Thriving in the Sweet Spot will teach you a way to name your niche that increases your scope and your value to prospective clients while vastly simplifying the task of marketing your work. Four 90-minute teleclasses on Tuesdays from 2 – 3:30 pm eastern time February 17 and 24, and March 2 and 9. Learn more or sign up at authenticpromotion.com: http://www.authenticpromotion.com/teleclasses/sweetspot.html

Only three days left to enroll in Discerning Meaningful Action in Life and Work with John Forman, OblSB. Starts Thursday, February 5. I've long been fascinated by the relationship of belief and reality, by the interplay of Spirit and my own actions in the world. Early on I noticed that sometimes my choices, even my moods and attitudes, seemed to be guided by a loving and benevolent Spirit. Other times, I could feel myself resisting that guidance, thinking that there was something else I needed or wanted or fearing some loss. And there were countless times when I could not for the life of me find the connecting thread of either acceptance or resistance. So I’m delighted to have the opportunity to explore with John Forman how the spiritual practice of discernment can inform our choices in life and work. Four consecutive Thursdays in February (Feb. 5, 12, 19, and 26) from noon to 1:30 pm eastern time. Learn more or register here:
http://authenticpromotion.com/teleclasses/discernment.html

Watch for new teleclasses featuring integral theory!
In a few weeks I will be publishing a list of possible class titles and descriptions for your review and feedback. If you want to be placed on a special notifications list, send a blank email with "integral" in the subject line to integral@mollygordon.com (AOL users, copy and paste this address: integral@mollygordon.com) and I'll be sure you get a heads up about integrally informed classes.


The Bedside Table
Crossing the Unknown Sea, Work as a Pilgrimage of Identity
David Whyte, a writer, poet, and Fortune 500 consultant invites us to engage work as if our lives depended on it:

"To have a firm persuasion in our work--to feel that what we do is right for ourselves and good for the world at the same time--is one of the great triumphs of human existence. ... To have a firm persuasion, to set out boldly in our work, is to make a pilgrimage of our labors, to understand that the consummation of work lies not only in what we have done, but who we have become while accomplishing the task."

Learn more, http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1573229148/mollygordonperso


Searching for a book or CD or other product on Amazon?
When you use these links to Amazon search engines you support The New Leaf. Please visit and bookmark them today.
US: http://www.mollygordon.com/searchbook.html
UK: http://www.mollygordon.com/eurobook.html

Don't miss a single issue of The New Leaf. Make an entry in your address book today for newleaf@mollygordon.com. For additional tips on ensuring delivery, send a blank email to delivery@mollygordon.com.


Quick Links
Resources and Links: E-zine Alternatives from the Ezine Queen

Last week Debbie and I attended Tom Antion's live Internet Butt Camp in Portland, Oregon. I met Alexandria Brown, the E-zine Queen there, and I was impressed.

Three E-zine Alternatives
You May Not Have Considered
by Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen"

During the free e-zine publishing teleclasses I offer every month, I always get a few people who say to me, "You know, publishing an e-zine sounds great, but I just don't think I have the time to do it on an ongoing basis." Or, "I'm not sure if I'll have enough content to publish an e-zine."

If this is your case, you may want to consider one of these e-zine alternatives. These can still help you achieve your goal of establishing credibility, staying in touch with your prospects, and capturing your Web site visitors.

For the first two alternatives, you'll need an e-mail autoresponder. This is like a fax-on-demand system that sends out e-mails automatically when others request them.

The great thing about autoresponders is that you can preset the timing of a series ahead of time. For example, you can schedule message 1 to go out immediately once a person signs up for the list. Message 2 could follow two weeks later. Message 3 would follow two weeks after that. Get the idea?

Alternative 1: The "Evergreen" Newsletter
If you don't foresee yourself writing fresh new content every week or month that you publish, why not make your newsletter "evergreen?"

This means that you write all your content ahead of time, and none of it can be time-sensitive. That is, it should be just as relevant today as it would be a year from now.

Evergreen e-zines are brilliant and easy to do. Here's how it works: Suppose you want to publish a short tip every two weeks. That means you'd have to write 26 issues for a year. Once you had this content written, you'd just set up the messages on your autoresponder and tell it when you want them sent out. (For this example, it would be day 1, day 14, day 28, etc. — each reader would get a message every two weeks.)

Internet marketing expert James Maduk does this. He offers an evergreen e-zine called "52 Secrets My Mom Never Told Me About Internet Marketing." When you sign up, you get one secret a week, which adds up to a whole year. Very effective! (You can see what I mean and sign up at www.jamesmaduk.com. I signed up about 10 weeks ago, so I'm on secret 10. But if you sign up today, you'll start on secret 1. (See how easy this is?)

Alternative 2: The Mini E-Mail Course or Report
These are very popular right now. You simply create several e-mails' worth of content to spread out over a certain amount of days, and set them up on your autoresponder.

Many sites offer 7-day courses or reports, and quite frankly, many of them are awful. So here's a chance for YOU to stand out. Make sure yours offers really useful or interesting content that's more helpful than salesy.

For example, say you're a small business coach. You could offer a course called "5 Ways Hiring a Coach Will Make This Your Most PROFITABLE Year Ever!" Just sit down and list the 5 ways, then write a few paragraphs of copy under each.

Then write one final sales message that you'll add on to the end of the series as the 6th message. This should be a friendly invitation encouraging the reader to call you for a consultation, buy your book, sign up for your workshop, etc.

Paste all the messages into an autoresponder series, set the timing to what you want (e.g. Every day or every few days), and voila -- you've got an e-mail course!

Alternative 3: Promotions Only
If you offer products on your site that don't lend themselves well to creating related content, just offer what you've got!

Give your visitors the chance to receive something that will save them money at your site. The trick to high sign-up rates is to make them feel as if they'll be part of an exclusive group. Use words like "special, exclusive, limited, VIP, first looks, discounts, savings, club, and members-only."

For example, one site that I frequent sells discounted designer clothes. During my last visit, they invited me to sign up for "discounts, exclusive offers, and first looks." I jumped at the opportunity!

Don't underestimate your visitors' interest -- many of them WILL sign up for e-mail offers if you politely extend the invitation and make them feel special.

Just make sure not to overdo your messages to this crowd. Keep your blasts to a maximum of once a week. Otherwise your readers will get irritated and may unsubscribe.

(c) 2003 Alexandria K. Brown

About the Author: Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," is author of the award-winning manual, "Boost Business With Your Own E-zine." To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site at
http://www.mcssl.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=122415

Thank you for supporting The New Leaf by purchasing the products and services recommended below. I personally test every product I recommend, and every merchant will refund your investment if you are not satisfied. If they don't make it right, I will.

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Small Print
Copyright | Getting On and Off the List
This newsletter is sent only to confirmed double-opt in subscribers who have signed up at mollygordon.com, learntolovemarketing.com, or authenticpromotion.com or who have emailed a request to be added. This mailing is part of a recurring series of weekly email newsletters and occasional supplemental offers.

You can get off this list at http://www.mollygordon.com or by sending an email to mailto:http://www.mollygordon.com . You can subscribe at http://www.mollygordon.com.

Unless otherwise attributed, all material is written and edited by Molly Gordon, MCC. Copyright (c) Shaboom Inc.(r) 2004. All rights reserved. www.mollygordon.com

"Shaboom, Inc." and "Authentic Promotion" are registered trade or service marks of Shaboom, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

You may reprint material from The New Leaf in other electronic or print publications provided the above copyright notice and a link to http://www.mollygordon.com is included in the credits. Please send me a copy of the publication along with a note explaining that it includes a reprint.

When you forward this material, please send the entire newsletter. Thanks!