Still on the fence about enrolling in RHH B-School?

I was, too, until just yesterday.  I kept going over pros and cons and wasn't sure how to make the final decision.

So, as I've been doing for all my big life decisions for the past year, I made a decision grid.  It's a great way to evaluate any set of choices. (Some of my friends have used it to evaluate career changes, financial strategies, or even dating options.)

Here's how you do it.  You use a sheet of paper or Excel (I've included a template above) or any other spreadsheet program:

1) Create at least five columns.  In your first column, list all the "factors" or ways to evaluate the decision.  It's good to have as many as possible (target 20-25, if possible, though 15-20 could be sufficient)

In my case, the first 14 factors I brainstormed were:
cost
momentum for business
live feedback
stress of completing program
female-centeredness
copywriting skills
overbooking self
wordpress site help
communication skills
time with family
network of women
sales skills
templates
personal purpose for summer
etc.

2)  Then assign each factor in column one a level of importance (1-5, with 5 being most important) in column two .  Ex: Cost is very important to me so I assigned that at 5.

Try to give factors varying values because this forces you to evaluate what is most important to you.

3) Now, create at least two columns for your options.  Mine were "enroll in B-School" and "don't enroll" since I had already evaluated two other online training programs, Earn1K and Personal MBA, and decided not to do either since RHH B-School seemed to be a better fit for me as a woman.

If you are writing on paper this doesn't matter, but if you use a spreadsheet, put your first option (ex: "enroll in B-School") in column 3 and then skip column 4.  Then put your second option ("don't enroll") in column 5.  If you have more than two options remember to skip a column on your spreadsheet  between each option.

4) For each factor, write a value from -2 to 2 in each of your option columns based on whether or not the option has a positive, negative or neutral (0) effect on you.  Ex:   Cost of enrolling would be -2, since it's a lot of money.  Cost of not enrolling is 2 since I get to keep my money.

5) Now here's where the magic starts coming together through the power of multiplication. You create subtotals for each option multiplying the importance for each factor from step 2 (column 2) with the value for each option from step 4 (column 3 for option one and column 5 for option two).  If using a spreadsheet, you can write a formula in the columns you skipped between your options (columns 4 and 6, and so on if you have more options). 

Ex:     Cost: 5 (importance) x -2 (Value for enrolling)= -10,  then Cost: 5 (importance) x 2 (Value for not enrolling)= 10

6) Then add all the subtotals from step 5 into one grand total for each option.

7) Compare the grand totals because the one with the greater number is the option you should choose.  For me it was a smash hit for enrolling (like 80 compared to 20).  If your totals are too close, you need to find more factors to use to evaluate the options.

Like I said, for me enrolling far outweighed not enrolling but I was still worried about the price.   If cost is extremely important to you, you can always list it as two or more factors (to give it more weight in the final total).  In my case, however, once I figured out how to get $500 off the price, I was willing to take the plunge.  But do what works for you!

Hope this helps you figure out whether or not to go to B-School or that you at least find the Decision Grid to be a useful tool.

Wondering why I want to help you evaluate which decision to make?  Firstly, I love deals and am very excited that I got 25% off B-School.  Very excited. Secondly, Andy, the affiliate who is giving me the $500 discount, is in the running to win some tickets to Marie's next live event, RHH Live, and I want to help him win those tickets (which I could then win in a raffle) or win greater discount off the B-School price. That said, I 100% stand by my decision to enroll and think that B-School has the potential to help other women gain more business savvy and become more empowered.  I wouldn't promo it if I didn't fully believe in it.

Ready to take the plunge? you can sign up and get $500 off if you use this link and follow just two simple steps.

How You Get the Discount

1. SIGN UP HERE! (This is Andy’s affiliate link that tells Marie that he and I referred you)

2. Once you receive your confirmation/welcome email, forward it to me at amandalbnyc [at] gmail dot com with your PayPal account name. I'll then send it over to Andy and make sure that y'all get linked up so he can send you $500 via PayPal in 30 days.

And, of course, if you sign up through Andy, you'll also be entered in his contest to win tickets to RHH Live in NYC this October.

Curious about how this all works?

Read my previous post or Andy's original offer.

 

 

Background

One of my best good friends mentioned to me about 6 months ago that she looooves this business-strategy/female-empowerment blog by Marie Forleo.  I, too, have come to love Marie from reading her blog posts, watching her weekly videos, enjoying her distinctive personality, and grooving on her free business tips.

So, when I heard that Marie was offering an online course (Rich, Happy & Hot B-School) that covers website design, marketing, sales, and other business-related nuts and bolts, I was definitely intrigued.  However, RHH B-School is expensive and I'm not generating any income at this point.

Still, I figured that I'd do my research on the program and so this past Wednesday I participated in a promotional webinar where Marie and her partner-in-crime Laura Roeder answered some FAQs.  Then searching #rhhbschool on Twitter, I found someone who called herself an affiliate and posted a link with a supposed discount, but I couldn’t figure out how to get the discount.  Argh.  I despaired, continued weighing the pros and cons, and even made a decision grid, but I was still worried about the price.

How I Found Out About the Discount

So, I googled "RHH B-School affiliate program" to see if anyone else was offering a discount.

Here's the first link that popped up:

http://www.destinationthrive.com/blog/05/heres-500-enroll-bschool-plus-possibly-win-tickets-rich-happy-hot-live/

This promotion effectively discounts B-School by 25%.  If you pay the full price ($1999), this affiliate, Andy, will then PayPal you $500 after 30 days (when the refund policy for the course has timed out).  If you pay in installments, he'll give you even more money back since you have to pay a bit more and he's dedicated to returning to you 25% of the cost of B-School.

How You Get the Discount

1. SIGN UP HERE! (This is Andy’s affiliate link that tells Marie that he and I referred you)

2. Once you receive your confirmation/welcome email, forward it to me at amandalbnyc [at] gmail dot com with your PayPal account name. I'll then send it over to Andy and make sure that y'all get linked up so you can get your $500 back in 30 days.

And, of course, if you sign up through Andy, you'll also be entered in his contest to win tickets to RHH Live in NYC this October.

Questions?

So, you may be wondering why am I tooting the B-School horn?

To be honest, there are two reasons: Firstly, I am super excited to be a B-School participant.  I sincerely believe that it'll really help any of my future business ventures.  That's why I was willing to pay so much of my own money to join.  As such, I also think that B-School could help a lot of other women (and men, too!) who are looking to get into business. Secondly, in recommending Andy, I am working to help him win tickets to Rich, Happy & Hot Live in NYC in October, tickets which I could then possibly win in a raffle.  Oh and I love contests, so I guess that's a reason, too.

Why support Andy?

I've corresponded with Andy a few times in the past couple days and he seems to be a conscientious and kind member of the blogosphere.  I liked his honesty in his blog post and video about B-School, and I am happy to support a creative, blogging dad who is down with being Rich, Happy & Hot.

Hope this helps you make up your mind about B-School and if it does, congrats on getting this discount.  If you have any further questions, please shoot me an email.  Remember, the deadline to sign up is this Monday, May 16th. 

Don't wait! I signed up and am super excited by the content that I can already see on the B-School website.  And I am eager to apply the B-School tools to my life and business so that I can become even richer, happier, and hotter.  Hope you give yourself that chance, too.

SIGN UP HERE!

http://www.itgirlstech.com/home.html

My voice will be your light.

It's snowing!

So here's the scoop.  Paloma and I have spent A LOT of time together since the middle of summer when we both quit our jobs and left Korea.  Both of us are funemployed and traveling and trying to enjoy each other while doing so, but having a nomadic lifestyle can be hard.  We're relying on the kindness of our family and friends (who we're SO grateful for!) to house us and give us a place to sleep.  And while we appreciate all the kindness and hospitality, we are aching to have a place of our own to call home.  The fact that we're navigating the world and trying to start a business together just adds to the stress.

Spending so much time together also invites more opportunities for conflict to arise.  But lucky for us, our friends who've been a couple for a long time shared with us some of the tools they use to try to understand the other person.  It involves understanding your and your partner's love languages--words of affirmation ("I love you"), quality time ("Five minutes of uninterrupted eye contact," lol), receiving gifts ("An iPad!  You shouldn't have!"), acts of service ("Thanks for doing the dishes"), and physical touch ("SnuggleFest 2010!").  They got them from the book The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman.  I didn't read it, but I explored the website in detail and even took an assessment test of my primary love language.  [Note:  One thing I would improve about the test would be to make it more gender neutral, which they accomplished in their apology language assessment test.]

Though I thought my primary love language was acts of service, it turns out that it's quality time.  Actually, I scored equally for acts of service, quality time, and physical touch ,and got a ZERO in receiving gifts.  (Hint hint:  don't get me presents, spend time with me and give me a hug instead!)  Paloma has yet to take the test, but I'm very excited to discover her primary love language.  Hopefully I'll be bilingual when it's all said and done.  ;o)

So what's your primary love language?

No, you won't fool us. I'm here watching TED Women at the Paley Center in NYC and feeling absolutely inspired and empowered by all these women doing AMAZING things around the world.

Truly, to all my boys and all my men, when the revolution comes I got your back.

To the ladies at Autostraddle, THANK YOU.  This is probably the most lesbian YouTube clip I've ever seen.  You make me proud.

And trust me, it really does get better.  I'm a licensed professional.

http://www.itgetsbetter.org/

Take THAT!

We were somewhere in the middle.

So go do it already!  And please take part in the cessation of the crazies.  I've attached a progressive guide to help you.

Democracy is awesome.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/06/business/global/06khosla.html?src=me&ref=business

Microfinance on!