Please don't think this to be a disrespectiful or "smart-ass" kind of question (I'm known to be somewhat "direct"). I became aware of SOGR only a short time ago, although I've been a big fan of "Think & Grow Rich" for years. Well, after stumbling over the existence of this book, further web searching landed me on Rebecca's site. When discussing such a how-to topic as wealth attainment, it's natural to be curious as to the qualifications of the author, as well as the advocate of the author. Not to be construed as a challenge, the question is not whether Rebecca is wealthy (from the scope of the site, I would expect she is), but how did that wealth come about, and what part did SOGR play in the building of that wealth. I can see, of course, that this book is the centerpiece, if you will, of the empire, but wealth created in this way reminds me of the story of the man on TV who emplored: "Send $50 for my book. Find out how I make money" You buy the book and all the pages except the first one is blank. "Thanks for the $50", it says, "This is how I make money!". Rebecca, please excuse any ignorance of your history. I'm new to the "system" and am probably just unaware; and that's why I'm asking. Did this book come through for you in ways previous to the establishment of what now circles around it?

BlueHawk

I have to say something about the $10 payment for course. When I wanted to take the course, that was what I decided I could pay right then. I didn't want to wait and I didn't. I had some fairly quick successes because of my particular "aha moments" and sent two $50 dollar payments in after I finished the course. A few months later when I was more established and sure of my earning ability, I sent a final large payment for the course.

I went from having no income of my own three years ago, to having a professional career, a good income, benefits, respect, and so on. I had never been able to pull it all together. Along the way there have been lots of unexpected gifts, bonuses, and such.

I trace my current success back to the day when I was so excited about the course that I decided to be okay with spending $10. And I was always proud of myself for honoring the spirit of the class by paying a price that indicated it's worth even if it was later. However, truly it was a priceless experience.

Thanks again Rebecca!

Bravo! I much appreciate you sharing that with me (us), Rebecca, and especially in such a prompt and complete way. I'll say it was "complete". You must have been writing for a little bit. I believe that if I anticipated having to run that past some someone again, I'd be sure to have it written down! Wonderful story, and just what I was asking for. I can surely understand your thoughts toward changing the "write your own tuition" thing. The quirky fact of human personality is that people tend to equate the "worth" of an item or service with how much it costs. Therefore, if it costs little or nothing, then . . .well. I can testify to that from my years as a "high-end" portrait photographer in my own studio. When you raise your prices some of your clients won't be back, but that's because they can no longer afford you. As you lose those clients other, more affluent ones take their place . . . and for no other reason than the higher prices. These new people were waiting until the "value" of your merchandise increased before coming over. Wall portraits costing several times more than the local competition are well worth the cost because they validate the buyer. I have actually been accused of "taking advantage" of my clients in this way, but the reverse is true. Many of them had never felt better in their lives than when signing a credit card for that that special family portrait. (I can ramble too)

Still, please be careful how you change the tuition thing. I looked at the course propaganda myself and seriously considered signing up. How much would I have paid for it, you may ask. You may be surprised to read that it would have been just $10.00. Not only that, but my decision not to order the course was not because of "embarrassment" or lack of self worth. Neither, though, was it because I believe that $10 to be the "worth" of the course. The simple reason was that anything more than $10 (and even that) is pretty doggone tight presently. I considered doing the monthly payment thing, but in the end I opted to wait until I'd chewed on the book a little while longer.

But my real point is that I found the concept of "do what you think is right", or even better, "do what you think you can", to be be ultra refreshing in an area rife with hucksters, however qualified they may or may not be, professing to act for reasons prompted by their desire to serve their fellow humans, while picking off a fat $80 (or so) per written effort. Hey, I don't have a problem with making money . . .that's why I'm here! Let's just be straight with one another.

I am a believer in the power of thought. Some several years ago I was able to bring my business to the level of income required to purchase a new home and sustain the mortgage payments, simply by reading aloud, with great feeling, twice each day, a written "statement of expectation", I guess you might call it, according to the basic instructions outlined in "Think and Grow Rich". My goal was exceeded in a significantly shorter period than I had set forth. I'm a believer. In part because of the speed and basically unexplained "focus" seeming to direct itself toward the purpose of my complete loss of all worldly goods, I tend to believe even more strongly that this entire life, and especially this part of it, is some type of wild illusion. This interests me and, I have to say bothers me a bit as well, because I'm not really having fun. But thinking of it those terms makes it even easier to believe that all I have to do is fine-tune those thought waves a bit and the whole thing will reverse. While I do try to remaine accountable for my own actions, I might have been further down the road if my wife and business partner had elected to participate in these types of exercises as well. Yeah, I know "if only", etc etc. Well, when the goals are based mostly on the execution of a single business, and one partner is not in cooperation with the goals, it's just a little difficult. Still, I should have done something . . I just don't know what it might have been.

Well now I have my chance. After fifteen years, a fairly successful business, by a complicated and unfortunate series of events, has bitten the dust. I'm alone and unincumbered by anything related to what I used to call money. Here's my chance to really give a good tryout to the wealth attraction thing. We'll soon find out what this whole concept can do for my new web-based inkjet printing business. And in the meantime, hey is anybody hiring?
Wow, did I say all that or just think it?
Its been good speaking at you, and all thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

BlueHawk

quote:

One project I have in the works is a site to answer questions I get asked a lot now (and have been asked over the years) about how to create and run a business based on something you LOVE. I think that one will be a lot of fun and very successful, too.

Can't wait. Sign me up now!

quote:

Originally posted by Rebecca:

Thanks for asking this. This site is being redesigned right now and I think I'll put this information on a page so people will know how this came to be. Useful, perhaps.

Welcome to the SOGR NETwork and the forum!

Rebecca, more useful than you know. I have to say though I have never been able to shake this impression that some people just blossom. And I can see that you have. I too did Network M. and although I didn't lose any money I certainly didn't get rich or debt free and I can see that I didn't have the frame of mind then that I am developing now. I now relax in a creative spirit holding my vision close to me. I appreciate you sharing this us.
Pete

There's an audio interview with me on the Update Page where I tell a little of my story.

(At least I THINK I told it there -- it's been a while since we put that particular interview on the page and I've told the story so many times I'm not quite sure!)

Briefly, when I was given a copy of this book, my partner and I were running a network marketing business (something I had thought I'd NEVER do, but when my partner signed up after one of our clients showed it to her and I noticed she was having more fun than I was running our "traditional" business, I joined in).

We both read the book and had "Aha!" moments about how we needed to change our attitudes toward the business and the people we were working with. We did that, following the principles in the book as well as we understood them at the time.

Within a few short months our so-so business had zoomed to the top and the company CEO announced on the company-wide voice mail system that we had "come out of nowhere" to be the top reps for the launch of the company into Canada.

Well, when you have a company with 100k reps in it and the CEO talks about you, you suddenly don't really have to "prove" anything to those folks. They've got the solid evidence that you're making big money. A bunch of them wanted to know more so I found the original manuscript of the book and made a PDF and we did a "summer science project" discussion group. Then I got tired of emailing the book to everyone who asked for it so I set up a little home-made website (this one!) and let people download it.

There was a forum and the ebook and that was about it. No products to sell because I didn't think of it as a business. I already HAD a business!

For the first few years I didn't even ask anyone for their email address to download the book. It just never occurred to me 'til later (which is kind of "scary" because before I did the networking business I was a direct response copywriter and marketing consultant!) Again, to me the site was just sharing something I loved, not a business.

After about six months or so (I think), I finally realized people had been telling me time and time again that they sure wished they could LISTEN to the book, in their cars and so on. Duh -- why not give them what they're asking for? So I went into a recording studio (another thing I had never imagined myself doing).

And then a couple years later I realized it wasn't "efficient action" to keep answering the same questions over and over. So I thought, well, I'll do one of those teleseminar things. Didn't know how to do it, just jumped in. And a whole bunch of people signed up. So I did another one. Big successes, too. People were getting results.

But I knew I didn't want to KEEP doing teleseminars. I get bored doing the same thing over and over, actually. So I thought, well, this is all on the internet, so why not do an online course? I figured that would do away with geographical barriers -- like the cost of calling the US from far away for a teleseminar or having to get up in the middle of the night for it (which quite a few people did).

But then I wondered, well, how to price it. Hmm. I knew I didn't want it to be free because people just don't take it as seriously sometimes and I wanted a commitment of some sort. So in my morning meditation I just put the question out there: Show me how to do this so it's available to the people who really want it, no matter what economy they live in or their current situation.

Then I picked up my reading for the morning, Charles Fillmore's book, Prosperity (written during this country's "Great Depression," by the way). And right there on the page I turned to was my answer!

Mr. Fillmore said he thought that work that was of a spiritual nature (not religious, but spiritual which SOGR certainly is) should have a fixed, set price if there were fixed, set hard costs involved. For example, a printed book.

But if there were no set costs or if they weren't too big, then he thought the work should be offered on what he called "a love offering" basis.

Bingo! That's it! I won't call it that (because it sounds kind of "churchy" and we have people from all kinds of backgrounds, cultures, religions, and so on), but I'll ask people to seriously consider the VALUE of the course to them and then set their own tuition.

That way I figured someone in an economy where $300 is a typical month's pay doesn't have to choose between paying the rent or taking the course. And someone who lives in an economy where he or she might spend that for a semi-fun weekend can pay more.

That was in 2003 (I think! It's funny how I can't really remember what happened when anymore -- yes, it has been nearly ten years this site has been online). And the course has chugged along quite well.

I do make money from it. Some months the site makes a LOT of money. It kind of goes in waves, it seems. Interesting to watch. And I do have a number of other income streams, although I'm no longer involved with the networking business and don't plan to do that again.

One project I have in the works is a site to answer questions I get asked a lot now (and have been asked over the years) about how to create and run a business based on something you LOVE. I think that one will be a lot of fun and very successful, too.

And something else I'm in the planning stages on is to go sail cruising all about the world on my own boat while running online businesses via satellite. I can hardly wait to get to that -- and it'll be starting SOON!

(I'm thinking that since I now have "friends and family" in virtually every country in the world, thanks to this website, I'm going to have a phenomenal time getting to meet SOGR fans everywhere I go. I won't be a stranger anywhere. How cool is THAT?)

I'll just say here, too, that I'm seriously evaluating whether or not to continue the "set your own tuition" approach. I'm thinking it might be time to test other ideas to see what's most effective in terms of getting people to go ahead and take the plunge AND really DO the course, the whole thing with a willing learner's spirit rather than just forking over $10 to kick the tires.

We'll see! I'll put THAT question out to All That Is and see what answers come.

Thanks for asking this. This site is being redesigned right now and I think I'll put this information on a page so people will know how this came to be. Useful, perhaps.

Welcome to the SOGR NETwork and the forum!

It is my understanding that Rebecca became wealthy as a result of reading the book and practicing the principles! She has many streams of income and more opportunities are opening up to her!