Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ Abundance for Life, Effortless Success abundance reality check

Hello,

I am an artist.

A week before I got the "abundance for life" course. . . I got a appraisal for a Monet Masterpiece painting that I copied at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D. C. 15 yrs ago. I was delighted when a Web appraiser for in told me his opinion was it was worth $6,000. (the Monet copy, Bridge at Argenteul can been seen on http://www.carolsakai.com/nga.html)

Then I got the "abundance for life" program, and really thought that this would help jump start my art career.

However, I did a Web search, and submitted a carefully crafted letters to 6 auction houses, including the great Christies to try and sell my NGA copies. . .and got rejected by everyone.

One gallery/art framer wanted to frame them (I had to pay for the framing) and he said he could sell them. I was dubious at the time because I thought that copies didn't sell. The copies stayed in his shop for several months, and didn't sell.

I am very disappointed since they are exceptional paintings down the last brush strokes of the Old Masters, and Titian "Venus and the Mirror", and Monet "Odalesque" are very striking and unusual pieces.

So now I wonder. . yes, I have "abundance" in talents and determination. The "Abundance for Life" course has been useful in dispelling negative ways of thinking.

However. . .maybe the reality is, I can work on myself. . have more energy and confidence in my work, and my ability to create work. . .but I cannot control the market place or what others do.

Yes, I know the congruence aspect of the course is supposed to take care of the "selling" aspect. . but for now, I am have doubts as to whether this course lives up to the hype in advertising.

Carol Shireena

Carol,
I wrote a long reply to support you as a fellow AFL student. And I did an error in typing my username. So, it got lost. Please accept my shortness. You push some of my buttons, I had a choice, either let go or share the best I can in time. So, I hope you can look beyond my directness and find the value in it. I believe you can succeed because you have become a wonderful artist. So, now, you want to become a bigger selling artist, that will happen as you clear through your issues. Same with my buz.

Bottom line, the course been successful for you in improving attitudes. Great. But you feel it fail you in marketing. Wonderful, take those feelings through the same process you did with your art feeling.

I don't see the course has failed you yet. Great, you did one marketing to a highly select group. As a fellow resister of direct marketing, I had lots of issues to work through. I went from a 0% reply rate to > 8%. Industry standard for big successful is 2%.
My writers and art friends have gone through many different approaches and had to widen the group sent to before. Yes, they all started off going for the moon publisher and most ended up with them by first selling through others until built up their name.
Just take you post as another marketing approach, here you gave a link that someone may read the post and click on it to see your art. They may be so moved and pass it on. And ... Yet, your link came back could not be found. NO SALE.
Marketing is a business. Many creative people pay others from 10 to 50+% just to sell there stuff. Book publishers sell their books typically for a 40 to 55+% discount to big chain bookstores. So great on a web appraisal. Did you ask him to buy it? Did you ask him the market he used to base that price? How would be the best way to approach them. Great you wrote a carefully crafted letter, by your standard, but was it in the standard excellent form the company you sent expect.

What ever you do, is perfect, because it will give you the result you most want.
Best,
Richard

Carol,

I too have had your frustration with the course, several times over these 3 months. And yet, if I plot the improvement over my life these months compare to the previous 3. I rock.

Each time, I was ready to run. My pattern, blame someone else. I did all I can. Yet, each case, I double check to make sure it was not me avoiding change. So, I work the course more and surprise, move to next level. Amazing, how I listen to a CD many times and then hear something new or get an insight that shifts me forward. And again, I am playing with another obstacle/gate. My friends just want me to do it. Yes, they see I can, have everything I need, and it's only clinging to my current thinking that I see I have an obstacle.

So, again, congratulations for doing a reality check to find out what it is for you. I see these feelings a gate keeper to make sure I truly want to change my life, leave my comfort zone = reasons for living the way I do so I can experience what I intend.

Thank you again for you courage, your passion to get your art out into the world that you were willing to post. Thanks for teaching me what I wanted to learn now. I know you will experience exactly what you want most.

Best,
Richard

Thanks for comments. As far as the link, it was correct, however somehow the parethesis got in the way. Here is the link:
http://www.carolsakai.com/nga.html

Anyway. . .I'm keeping the course, and don't regret it.

However, if you look very carefully at the promotional material. . .it only gives the "success" stories.

Life has two parts. . .they are all parts of the WHOLE.

Edison tried over 1,000 alloys before he finally got one that lit the bulb. All I'm saying is the realty check is about giving the whole picture.

I understand promotional material is supposed to "Sell". However, I also believe that it is possible to give the whole picture, rather than making things sound like it is all success all the time.

If you reread carefully the promotional material. . .it is just one side. . .all positive.

carol shireena

About Edison:

He didn't try a thing. He basically ran a slave shop in which true inventors and engineers who received none of the fame and little of the fortune toiled and toiled and made his discoveries for him. Edison was good at two things: 1) marketing and 2) taking credit for other people's work.

I think those facts are especially pertinent, considering were talking about the underbellies of things.

I agree with you about the marketing.

[This message has been edited by babayada (edited November 20, 2004).]

shireena,

Where in the promotional material does it say it will make you a fantaistic marketer overnight?

Take your post and what you wrote and do an Inquiry Process. Right now your ready to blame the course for not marketing the paintings for you.

Then, apply what you learned about congruency to your marketing pitch. Yes do an Inquiry Process on each sentence.

Also remember there is a right time and right place, when you get impatient about selling your paintings, you're saying something about what you expect the market to be like and you get what you expect.

Alex

Here is EXACT wording from the promotional material. . .

"The secrets to having the things you want miraculously appear"

Doesn't this exact verbage encourage and claims that sound remarkably like magical thinking????

"Call it supercharged serendipity, even blessed luck. It is when things go your way and all you can do is shout to the heavens, "Thank you!"

We figured out how to bottle it!"

Doesn't this promise that somehow if you buy this couse that magical things will happen?????

"If you want that magical "stuff" to happen in your life..."

"If you want abundance flowing all around you... then"

Doesn't this promotional material make it sound like all you need to do is buy the course and find out how to complete transform your life?????????

This course does have valuable things to offer. . .but certainly not the extent as "advertised". If this is what marketing is, then I guess I don't hawk my wares loudly or extravagently enough.

Sometimes there are limitations, sometimes dead ends. . .this is a fact of life. Success is always a combination of luck, talent, hard work, perseverance etc., etc.,

I've gotten 6 "abundance for life" emails thus far, still hawking the same goods, and making the same promises. I don't usually respond to forums or emails, but after 6 emails from Learning Strategies Corp, I felt I had to express my opinion.

The promotional supports and encourages magical thinking, it doesn't encourage reality checks.

carolshireena

I like the course, and I get a great deal of value out of it. But I agree with her on this.

I don't like the way LSC markets some of its programs. It does indeed sound like your dreams will come flying out of your butt if only you buy the program.

Something less bombastic and more indicative of personal involvement would be more fair and honest. But honesty is not what advertising and marketing is about. It's about enticing and luring with what can be argued aren't exactly lies, but are. Of course, it doesn't have to be that way. It takes a decision to be more honest and less "persuasive" (read: deceptive).

Shireena, is it their fault for enticing you to think in a particular way and your fault for responding by letting yourself think that way? Yes. I read that section of Genesis linked via your website. Remember the schpeel about the inner voice?

You bit the hook. You let yourself think a certain way. Now reality is giving you a lesson to learn. But the ball is also in their court, too.

I'd agree with you if you said LSC was marketing magical results overnight. They use language that is vague concerning the details because they know, having studied hypnotic language and other techniques, the power of being artfully vague.

Really, I am glad someone has addressed this. I like LSC, and I thought it'd be really impolite to come out and say these things, but here it is. Someone has had the guts, and I'm glad she did.

I doubt, however, that it will have any effect. The benefits of advertising your products in a certain way are just too seductive.

Regarding advice to use the Inquiry Process, LSC might want to run the Inquiry Process on each sentence of its own marketing copy.

[This message has been edited by babayada (edited November 21, 2004).]

Funny thing is it does work that way. However if you persist in putting up the barriers it won't

That's why the Inquiry Process is important for you shireena. Whether you like it or not you building a trance and your post is only going to reinforce it for you that things cannot "miraculously appear" for you because you are disallowing it.

Again try the Inquiry Process on your post and your website promotional.

Alex

The promotional hype of "Abundance for Life" is extreme. Here's another sample:

"when you open the flow of energy as our system will show you, health, welath, abundance, and power come your way - automatically on their own, without your having to do anything more -- all to serve you, to make you happy. Just ask Paul Sheele:"

This hype really goes to the limit. . it says even the extreme " without you having to do anything more" . . . so yes, this is intriguing, and does want the buyer to try it and see what it is all about. . . but the reality is realty. . and of course things take effort and time and perserverance. . . instead of only "positive" success stories, it would be good to have reality check of those who may have ultimately have succeeded but it wasn't "without effort".

I got recently a DVD from Spiritual Cinema, there was a documentary about the first person (who happens to be blind) to climb Mt. Everest. All throughout the documentary, they stated the dangers, AND the fact -of the 1000 who have climbed Everest, 200 have died. This is reality. . .reality is powerful - more powerful than promotional hype

Carol Shireena