New: 2010 PMBA Group Workshops

PMBA Group Workshop Registration is now closed! Keep your eyes peeled for information on how to participate in the future!

I’m happy to announce that I’m opening the doors to three brand-new PMBA Group Workshops, which will begin in January, 2010. I’ve been offering 1-on-1 PMBA Coaching for two years now, and I’m very excited to offer you the opportunity to work alongside me and a motivated group of learners to improve your business knowledge and skills.

If you’re committed to making 2010 the year you finally start making things happen in your business and personal life, you’ll find PMBA Group Workshops quite valuable. In these workshops, I’ll be sharing ideas and techniques I’ve developed and have never discussed outside of my private circle of coaching clients. Group Workshop participants will also get a preview of my upcoming book, which will be coming out in September, 2010.

What is a PMBA Group Workshop?

PMBA Group Workshops are monthly web / phone conferences designed to build your business skills and connect you with like-minded peers all over the world. Every month, each group will convene for 2-3 hours to learn about a core aspect of business practice, ask questions, and share their knowledge and experience with others.

PMBA Workshops are optimized for specific groups – the goal is to gather a group of people who are interested in doing similar things, so I can tailor the conversation to your needs and so everyone can benefit from the experience of the other group members.

The first three PMBA Workshops are being established for the following groups:

• Creative Professionals – designers, programmers, artists, and other professionals who rely on their creativity and ingenuity to make things happen.
• Entrepreneurs – people who’ve already started or own a business, large or small, who are looking for ways to get better results.
• Consultants / Teachers – people who want to make money by teaching others useful skills or sharing knowledge.

Who Should Consider Participating in PMBA Group Workshops?

If any of the following qualities resonate with you, you’ll find PMBA Group Workshops extremely valuable:

• You feel like you suck at business things, and you’re sick and tired of feeling like you don’t know what you’re doing or feeling like you’re an “impostor” in your current job.
• You have an interesting or promising idea and you want to figure out if and how you can make it work as a business, but you don’t know where to start.
• You want to work alongside a group of like-minded people with similar business interests to improve your business skills vs. “going it alone”. Social support makes a huge difference in your ability to get things done.

PMBA Group Workshops are also more affordable than 1-on-1 PMBA Coaching (my current rate for bi-weekly coaching is $497/mo), so this is a great way to get the many benefits of coaching if you’re on a budget.

How will PMBA Group Workshops work?

Every month on a regularly scheduled Saturday, the members of the Workshop Group will gather via web / telephone conference at 12:00pm EST (-5 GMT). After you sign up, I’ll send you more information about how to participate, log-in / contact details, etc.

Each workshop session will cover a set of interrelated topics that are essential to the effective and sustainable practice of business, which includes concepts in Business Fundamentals, Human Psychology, and Systems Thinking. I’ll share with you the results of my research and the core concepts worth knowing, and you’ll share your questions, insights, experiences, and stories.

These workshops will be highly interactive and – dare I say – fun. Don’t worry if you’re a complete business beginner, either – business is not rocket science, and I specialize in making complex concepts simple and straightforward. With each workshop, you’ll actually be able to feel your knowledge and confidence growing, which will help you do what it takes to make your business a success.

Topics PMBA Group Workshops Will Cover

Here’s the basic outline for the topics we’ll cover in PMBA Group Workshops:

The Fundamentals: How Businesses Work

• Value-Creation: how to create something people find valuable enough to buy.
• Marketing: how to attract quality attention.
• Sales: how to close profitable transactions.
• Value-Delivery: how to make your customers happy.
• Finance: how to keep what you earn.

How People Work

• The Human Mind: how people collect and process information and make decisions.
• How to Work With Yourself: how to enhance your own daily productivity.
• How to Work With Other People: how to interact with and influence the people around you.

How Systems Work

• Understanding Systems: how to understand the basic components of every system.
• Analyzing Systems: how to figure out how any system works.
• Improving Systems: how to improve a system without blowing things up.

Useful business knowledge isn’t complicated, but it is essential. By participating, you’ll be learning real, practical skills, not useless jargon and MBA-speak. My goal isn’t to help you simply look like you know what you’re doing – it’s to help you know what to do in any business situation you’re likely to face in your life and career. That kind of knowledge and confidence is priceless.

I teach these concepts because they work. Over the past two years, my clients have used this knowledge to start new businesses, create new products, make more sales, get promoted, land new jobs, and muster the courage and fortitude to eliminate unnecessary and counterproductive projects and positions. Once you know the fundamentals, it’s amazing what you can accomplish.

7 Benefits of Participating in PMBA Workshops

Being a PMBA Group Workshop participant will enable you to benefit from the following:

• Full-participation access to all monthly group workshop calls, each of which will be 2-3 hours long. (I’ll go until you run out of questions or I tire out.)
• In-depth, first-look access to the topics I’m covering in my book, which are based on 5 years of intensive research, experimentation, and experience. (Trust me: these ideas are much better than mere book summaries!)
• Access to a large group of like-minded peers who you can tap for feedback, information, or suggestions.
• Full downloadable recordings of all workshop sessions and materials, so you can review workshop sessions at any time.
• Access to private workshop-only PMBA Community groups, so you can continue the discussions between official workshop sessions.
• Priority access to me via phone / e-mail – my time is limited and I get a lot of requests, so my clients get first priority.
• The confidence of finally feeling like you know what you’re doing when it comes to business – because you WILL know what you’re doing!

Why are Workshops Starting in 2010 vs. Right Now?

The end of the year is typically filled with holiday activities for most people, while January is a good time to begin a new project and focus on improving your capabilities. Better to relax and enjoy the holidays, then kick-off the New Year right.

In addition, I’m in the process of completing my book and moving from New York City to the beautiful Rocky Mountains in Northern Colorado, so starting in January will help me ensure that my schedule is clear and the new infrastructure is up and running properly before sessions officially start.

In the meantime, I’m planning on hosting a couple of unofficial “meet and greet” calls for workshop participants before the official sessions start, which will give us a chance to get to know each other before we start so we can hit the ground running. You’ll receive information about these calls after you sign up.

How to Participate in PMBA Group Workshops

If you’re interested in participating in a PMBA Group Workshop, click the appropriate button below:

My automated billing system will auto-bill you the first month’s fee (January, 2010) immediately as a security deposit to hold your slot. If, for whatever reason, you can’t participate when official sessions start, your deposit will be completely refunded. There’s absolutely no risk to you, so sign up with confidence.

The system will handle recurring billing automatically, so you won’t be billed again until February, a month after the first official session. Billing then occurs monthly until the Workshop is over or you cancel. You can, of course, cancel at any time, but you will no longer be able to access workshop calls, past recordings, or the private workshop groups on the PMBA Community after you suspend your membership. Fair enough?

Limited Slots Available – Act Quickly

One last important thing: I’m only accepting 30 members for each Workshop. Although I could definitely make more money by making these workshops huge, I really want to ensure everyone in the group gets the opportunity to participate, and a smaller group size is much more conducive to good conversation and discussion.

If you want to participate, I highly suggest signing up now. The Personal MBA is actively followed by over 14,000 people all over the world, and there are only 90 workshop slots (3 groups x 30 participants) available. These slots WILL sell out quickly, so if you’re interested, I highly suggest signing up immediately to ensure you don’t miss out.

I’m not going to shift into hard-sell mode on this: you already know whether or not you’d find PMBA Group Workshops beneficial, so I’ll spare you the long-winded pitch. If you’re not interested, no worries – don’t sign up. If you’re serious about enhancing your business skills in 2010, you should sign up immediately so someone else doesn’t take your slot.

You can choose to make 2010 the year you transform your life the way Evan has – by learning the fundamentals of sound business practice and working with a group of highly-motivated people, you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish in a very short period of time.

PMBA Group Workshop Registration is now closed! Keep your eyes peeled for information on how to participate in the future!

I’m looking forward to working with you personally in 2010!