Join My Membership Site: The eGurus Community

The Internet has changed everything, and smart business owners know it's important to embrace it rather than resist it. On the one hand, it's easier than ever to reach more people, but it's also more difficult than ever in this busy, crowded, rushed, time-poor world.

There are plenty of places where you can get advice on how to use the Internet. But lack of information isn't the problem. In fact, the problem is that there's too much information at our fingertips, and it's not easy to know where to start.

That's where the eGurus Community comes in …

In brief, if you’re a professional speaker, trainer, consultant, coach, author, thought leader or other infopreneur, the eGurus Community gives you access to the right resources for your business.

You get access to resources in a variety of formats – including webinars, e-books, articles, Web sites, audio downloads, special reports and more. My goal is to keep you up to date with the best strategies and tactics for marketing and delivering your products and services. More important, though, I have personally reviewed and chosen the right resources for your business, so you get what works and aren’t distracted by what isn’t right for you.

It is a community, so you also get the chance to connect with other like-minded business owners.

Who is it for?

This is not for everybody! It's not even for everybody in business.

We are infopreneurs, not just entrepreneurs. In other words, it's for people who are actively engaged in a business that makes money from the ideas in their head, and who also want to tap into the power of the Internet to reach more people and deliver messages more effectively.

You might be a professional speaker, a trainer, a consultant, a coach or some other kind of infopreneur or thought leader. You'll be part of a community that runs a similar business as yours, though of course each in their own way.

This is an important distinction, because it means you'll be sharing ideas that are tailored to your business. For example:

We talk about clients rather than customers
We talk about personal branding rather than business branding
We talk about selling products personally rather than in a retail store
We talk about building a membership site for income rather than (only) for loyalty
We talk about LinkedIn for finding clients, not finding employment
We talk about leveraging your existing content in blogs, newsletters and social media (other business owners have to create new content for this purpose)
… and so on

"I have been a member of the eGurus community for just over a week now and have used the resources every day. What's more, one tip alone has already saved me at least my annual membership fee, which makes the membership already a great return of investment. There is a wealth of information in the vault that can easily be used and create instant results and a bottom line impact to for my business. Thank-you Gihan!"

— Emma Weber, Vivat, www.vivatonline.com

15 Reasons to Join the eGurus Community

1. Monthly webinars

I conduct one or two webinars a month exclusively for members of the eGurus Community, on various topics related to leveraging your expertise on-line.

Here is the list of member webinars scheduled for 2012:

February		Your E-Learning Strategy
March		Expand Your Internet Footprint
April		The New Rules of E-Book Publishing
May		Be Their First Choice with an E-Mail Newsletter
June		Webinar Smarts
July		Build a Paid Membership Site
August		Keep the Learning Alive – On-Line Courses
September		Show Them – Video Marketing
October		Your Own Radio Show
November		Build Your Own Online University
December		Web Sites That Work

Your membership also gives you access to a large collection of webinar recordings, including: Facebook, Google+, getting traffic to your Web site, YouTube and video marketing, webinars, blogging, podcasting, e-mail newsletters, on-line audio, Web site copywriting, creating a membership site, search engine marketing, iPhone and Android apps, and more!

2. Strategic consulting sessions

The eGurus Community has lots of valuable resources, but sometimes you might want to ask me a question directly. These don't necessarily require a paid consulting session, but a quick chat might be better than just an e-mail reply. And although a lot of these questions are answered somewhere in the community, sometimes it's useful to have that quick chat just to get you going in the right direction.

As a member, you have access to a 20-minute complimentary Skype or phone mentoring session every three months for this purpose.

3. Buy some of my "mental real estate"

I read a lot of books, blogs and Web sites; I listen to a lot of podcasts; and I watch many on-line videos. I actively look out for things that might be of use to eGurus and their clients.

This is an extremely valuable part of your membership. I won't send you low-value junk; whatever I recommend or pass on will be something that I truly believe would be useful to you or your clients.

4. "How-To" E-books and Reports

You get access to my collection of high-quality e-books and audio programs to help you leverage your Internet technology most effectively. Most people have to buy these products, but they're available to you free as part of your membership.

Here's a sample of what you get:

Be Their First Choice: E-mail newsletters (e-book and mp3 download)
Creating Interview Products (e-book)
Find Your Market: Market research and surveys (e-book and mp3 download)
Get Traffic Fast: Google advertising (e-book and mp3 download)
Keep the Learning Alive: Online courses (e-book and mp3 download)
Low Cost Promotion (e-book and mp3 download)
Make More Sales (e-book and mp3 download)
Other People's Expertise: Find free information on-line (e-book and mp3 download)
Outsourcing Your Jobs (e-book and mp3 download)
Reach New Markets: Create an affiliate program (e-book and mp3 download)
Share Your Thoughts: Blogging (e-book and mp3 download)
Show Me: Online video (e-book and mp3 download)
Speak Your Mind: Podcasting (e-book and mp3 download)
Spread the Word: E-books and special reports (e-book and mp3 download)
Tell The World: Teleseminars (e-book and mp3 download)
The Five Essential Internet Tools for Experts (e-book and mp3 download)
Write Now: Writing books, articles and special reports (e-book and mp3 download)
Webinar Smarts: How to Prepare and Present Profitable Webinars

5. On-Line Tutorials and Resources

Get free access to the eGurus Document Vault, a collection of links, e-books, articles and other useful resources for your on-line strategy:

Browse the Document Vault here to see what's available …

6. Special Interest Groups

Join our Special Interest Groups (SIGs) to engage with other members – asking questions, sharing ideas and building on everybody else's experience and expertise.

These are the three SIGs for 2012:

March to July: Membership Sites
For members interested in building or growing a paid membership site, based on your area of expertise. We'll talk about strategy, pricing, getting new members, keeping members, and what sort of resources to offer.

May to September: Authorship
For members interested in writing, publishing and creating information products. It's not only for written products like books and e-books; it also includes things like audio, video, slide shows and so on.

August to December: Internet Marketing
For members who want to leverage your expertise for on-line marketing, with expertise-based tools (such as blogging, newsletters, podcasts, video marketing and article marketing) and reputation-based tools (such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and on-line forums).

You're welcome to join as many as you wish, and there's no fee (they are included as part of your eGurus membership). We meet using Google+ Hangouts, a great new videoconferencing tool from Google. You don't need to travel anywhere – all you need is a computer, webcam, microphone and Internet access.

7. Promote Your Events

You're welcome to promote your own events – paid or unpaid – to other members of the community.

8. Slide Decks

There are a number of "slide decks" in the eGurus Vault, to give you an overview of a topic, with links to more detailed information. A "slide deck" is a cross between a PowerPoint presentation and an e-book. It presents information in an overview form, just like in PowerPoint. But it also has more detail, including links to additional resources.

9. Expect More E-book

Every year, I publish the Expect More e-book, with articles from eGurus members. The idea is that we each write an article, I compile the e-book, and we each have a high-quality gift to share with our databases. What's more, it's an excellent way to get your name and expertise in front of everybody else's database.

You can download the e-books – free of charge – here.

10. Access to Other Experts

I also invite other experts to present the webinars, not only to help you with your Internet technology, but also to help you with other parts of your business.

Here's a sample of what's already there – as audio or video recordings:

Creating Certainty – Goal Setting That Works: Erica Bagshaw
Presenting to Modern Audiences: Alicia Curtis
The Million Dollar Expert: Matt Church
Becoming a World Class Presenter: Matt Church
Work Smarter Not Harder: Matt Church
Rainmaking – Creating Something From Nothing: Jennifer Dalitz
Super-Productive Connecting: Neen James
How To Think Like A Futurist: Craig Rispin
Selling Skills for Information Experts: David Penglase
The Art and Science of Mentoring: Ann Rolfe
Outsourcing: David Price
Search Engine Marketing: Ed Keay-Smith
Financial Planning for Experts: Matt Hern
Coaching: Domonique Bertolucci

11. Group mentoring sessions

I also run regular group mentoring sessions in Perth, and other cities when I'm travelling. Each session is an hour long, has a small number of participants, and is focussed on answering your specific questions. To allow people outside Perth to attend, I regularly offer these in webinar format as well.

Non-members pay a fee, but they are included at no charge for eGurus members.

12. Interview me for your market

Of course, the Internet doesn't just affect us infopreneurs; it affects everybody else as well, including your clients. As an eGurus member, you can book time to interview me about how the Internet is affecting your clients. You have the rights to use this interview as a product, as a gift to your newsletter database, as a loyalty gift to top clients, or in any other way.

13. Use my network of suppliers

I share with you my network of suppliers, especially people I've built a relationship with over time. This particularly applies to the area of product creation – for example, ghostwriters, editors, transcribers and book designers. This saves you the trouble and uncertainty of sourcing these suppliers yourself.

14. Community

Be part of a community of like-minded experts looking to gain more from their on-line strategy.

15. Members-Only Specials

Access to member-only benefits and special prices, including:

Recordings of all teleseminars and webinars
Special rates on consulting, coaching and mentoring
Member-only events
Special rates on public events
Free Premium Membership to CEO Online

Why me?

In brief: Because I love this stuff and I'm good at it!

I've been working with infopreneurs and thought leaders in Australia and elsewhere since 1997. When I first started my business, we worked with anybody; but now most of my work is with infopreneurs and thought leaders. I know and understand the business. I know the difference between a speaking bureau and a speaker's agent. I know that self-publishing is not vanity publishing. I know that the glamour of travelling for work wears off fast!

I'm a speaker, trainer, consultant and author myself. I speak for money. I present 10-12 webinars a month. I attend – and speak at – speaker's conferences. I'm an active member of Thought Leaders, was one of the founding mentors, and now one of the few "Thought Leaders Ambassadors".

Most importantly, this is what I love to do! I spend more time in an average week supporting the eGurus Community than doing anything else. I do this by finding resources for you, preparing and presenting webinars, doing phone consulting, supporting the special interest groups, creating video tutorials, writing e-books, recording podcasts, and so on.

This is what I would do even if I wasn't being paid to do it!

Why is this more important now than ever before?

Because of the Internet, this is the best time in history to be a speaker, trainer, consultant, coach, author, thought leader or other infopreneur with a message to deliver and sell. It's easier than ever to reach more people, deliver your message in different ways, and do it more efficiently and effectively than ever before.

But if you don't do it right, the Internet can be your biggest threat – for example:

It's also easier for other people to step in and compete with you.
In a tough economy, clients and audiences want more than just a single workshop, keynote or coaching program.
Readers are moving away from printed books to e-books and multimedia products.
Your audiences have Googled you before you arrive, tweet about you during your presentations, and post reviews on Facebook after you leave.

That's why it's so important to take action now.

Become a Member

Membership is $55 per month, which is less than the price of a cup of coffee a day. Heck, if you make use of just one idea from the site in a month, it can potentially set you up for paying for all the coffee you could drink for the rest of your life!