A Public Letter To My ATSuccess Members

In this post, I am giving you a heads up on what I am planning next for ATSuccess. First I want to thank you all: having you as members of ATSuccess, learning from you, figuring out what kind of service works best; this has been a stimulating and exciting journey for me. It's had it's ups and downs (but mostly ups) and it has been a privilege to witness many of your personal struggles and triumphs. Like you, I was surprised at how personal and deep it became between us. This is more than just biz development, it is personal development. I also learnt that my way of helping teachers is long-term - I am not good giving people a quick fix. I work best by supporting a person to discover what thrills them, what works for them in teaching - the people they like, the activities they understand. Creating this base with you, allowed me to start offering guidance on how to construct a biz that will withstand the test of time. I have been doing this myself with BodyChance, and I watch with great satisfaction as I see other members of ATSuccess slowly achieving the same thing. It is frustratingly slow - I know! - but as creatures of a "meanswhereby" world, we can live with that, even appreciate it as stronger and surer, rather than rushing towards success. As I've often written, Alexander is industrial. There are no sudden, instant ways to propel a career that will last a lifetime. This must be conceived, planned, and constructed steadily, with insight to biz technologies that can support a leading-edge approach to crafting a community that will support your work. Now, I am looking for those long-term teachers. THE NEW ATSuccess CONTENT I am going to "upgrade" Basic membership - and call it "Village Membership" - to have a stronger interactive community component. I will charge more and give more - mainly in the form of a regular live contact between us via Skype, once every month. I will also ask you to join for the year, although I will offer shorter options. I recognise the need for creating an open space every month where we can explore issues verbally that need more back and forth. Our new monthly meetings on Skype will create this space and bring a lot more value to the work we do together. I have been reviewing all my material this last month, and sorted it out into three modules that make more sense: Module ONE: Choosing Your Community (Sept ~ Dec) Module TWO: Building Your Community (Jan ~ April) Module THREE: Strengthening Your Community (May ~August) Each module contains four of my 12 steps, reorganised and named to make more sense. The first module is about locating your passion, your student, your service and your studio. What I am learning is that this is the base of your biz, and evolving your understanding of these elements is essential to your long term success. There is no repeating anything: it's more about depth of understanding. Every year I go deeper, learn more, get more skilful at it. There's a risk of slipping back, of losing connection, of forgetting what got you here, and what keeps you here and how to grow. This would be your aim - to continue your own self-education in understanding and evolving with your community. The second module is about finding the supports you need - technically, financially and emotionally - to get your students to know you, like you and trust you. This process can take years within your community, but it makes the meat it feeds upon. Progress is slow, but fulfilling, as your name gets recognition, and you become a buzz presence. Vigilance is a necessity - what will keep you in the game? How will you sustain this work when you feel down, defeated or too tired? It happens, you need to be ready to meet it. Belonging to a community like ATSuccess is critical to keeping you awake, motivated and on task. You learn how you personally can open up to your students, attract them to you using leading edge methods of online communication The third module is about strengthening your business by meeting the psychological challenges of creating a public identity of authority, creating your own educational system and finding partners you can synergise into your business model to create enduring, long-term financial security. This is the most advanced work, yet the seeds for it have already been created in the first and second module. HOW LONG? This is now a year long program, and involves studying and interacting with me to creatively stay on path with building a biz that serves you. I see no point in people joining for a short period of time, so my new pricing system will reflect that. To get the lowest price, you need to book the year. You could alternatively book for any one of my three modules, but it will be more expensive. You can even continue on monthly membership if you want - but that will now be the most expensive of all. However, for some of you it may still be the most appealing. I will continue offering Pro membership at the same price - I have a small but strong group now that works daily on their business, and has ready access to me any time they need it. That will continue at the rate of $298 per month. VILLAGE MEMBERSHIP PRICING These days it's popular to call tuition fees "an investment" and I used to think "Oh that's just a sneaky way to avoid telling people it's a fee!" Now I think differently. At BodyChance, I invest about 5% of our income in my own and BodyChance's development. Do a quick calculation now - how much is that in your case? For a person earning $50,000 a year, it equals about $208 per month. Don't worry - I won't charge that much for Village Membership! For a lot of you, 5% of your income may seem like a lot of money to pay on something as fussy as "biz development." I understand, but now you know that biz development is equal to personal development, and I think that gives it more value to you. I love the personal challenges and calls for change that creating a viable AT biz creates - it is one of the great secrets of ATSuccess: that we are as much about personal development as we are about biz development. ATSuccess monthly Membership that I have been previously offering - when you can cancel anytime - will now cost $148 per month. Honestly - I don't really want members like that any more. It isn't satisfying for me - it's frustrating. I love working with people over a longer period of time, so I am redesigning ATSuccess to be of most benefit to those people. You can just do a module - over 4 months - and pay the equivalent of $128 per month. However, if you commit and pay for a year in advance, then monthly membership is $98 per month. For that you will get more access to me - a monthly Skype - to check in, ask questions and more important discuss your situation with me on the call. I am wanting to both motivate and guide people into staying the distance. It is easy to feel overwhelmed, and at those times you need the commitment to keep you going. It's clear for me now that people who don't have time to work on their business have no real place at ATSuccess. Sometimes the best way to improve a business - as I always teach you all - is to only attract the people who really suit you, who suit what you offer. I want ours to be a community of achievers, people who love to work on their business, and make the time for that to happen and are in it for the longer term. That is more rewarding for me, and more rewarding for you. I am working on the new website now, which will include a different system to join, and I plan to get going mid-September, so take this month to think about whether this is right for you. You can join any biz course - not just mine - but whatever your choice, I believe you must have continuous self-education and emotional support to succeed. It means investing in you, not just your biz. Are you worth it? Of course you are! It's amazing you even have to think about it. You deserve to give your Self what you need to succeed. For Alexander Technique teachers, ATSuccess is a village of like-minded people that you can not find anywhere else. I hope you continue to stay as part of this community of ours.