The Savvy Entrepreneur

Starting in May 2008, I’m running an internship program for a team of four or five people to help grow my coaching practice.

The idea is to find a diverse group of motivated people who want to join together to create a collection of neat projects. The tools we use will range from:

• MS Office
• basic website (Dreamweaver MX)
• Internet
• social media (Facebook, et al)
• blogging (WordPress)
• podcasting / audio (Audacity)
• surveys (SurveyMonkey, iContact)
• membership site
• copywriting / sales or web copy / writing / ghostwriting
• newsletters / autoresponders (iContact)
• shopping cart / ecommerce (E-junkie and PayPal)
• design / graphics
• editing / proofing
• SEO / keywords
• RSS (FeedBurner)
• FTP
• online appointment scheduling (Web-appointments.com)

Topics might include:

• marketing or product funnel / info product empire
• multiple streams of passive income
• ebooks / small reports
• podcast / blog
• contests
• online courses / ecourses
• teleclasses / web conferences
• newsletter marketing / autoresponders
• article marketing
• branding
• leveraging
• presentation / speaking
• press releases
• editorial calendar
• target market / niche / specialty
• processes / systems / automation
• small business development
• project management

We’ll be focusing on taking the big picture and breaking it down into bite-size pieces. We’ll be creating, developing and implementing events and products to get us closer to our expansion goals. We’ll be working as a group (remotely, so it doesn’t matter where you live) to create a collection of useful resources and events that matter to my target audience.

The program will run 8-25 hours per week from mid-May to mid-September, with a short break in July (so I can give birth). We will be meeting regularly via telephone bridgeline, instant messaging and email.

This is an unpaid internship. You’ll be doing “real” work, in your area of expertise — no cold calling, stapling, or running errands. You will be given every opportunity to shine. In exchange, what you get is:

1. concrete, practical experience in your field
2. practice in a real world, business setting
3. the chance to build your portfolio/CV/profile with real-life examples of your accomplishments (without divulging confidential information, of course).

I want to reward your efforts, so I will pay you 15% of the profits generated by what we created during our time together (paid at the end of the internship program). It’s understood that if you leave before the program is over, you automatically forfeit your share.

Once the internship program is over, we will discuss the possibility of extending your role as an independent contractor (read: paid).

My internship program offers you the chance to get paid work as well. How? I may require your services on client projects. These projects will be considered apart from the internship program and you will be paid as an independent contractor.

Ground Rules:

• I must receive your application by May 2. Application date extended to May 10.
• Please include examples of what you consider is your best work in any of the areas above.
• To get a glimpse of your personality, please share with me the best compliment(s) you ever received and your top 3 pet peeves.
• THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME: I’m looking for people who have strengths that I do not possess. My goal is to create a well-rounded, powerful, complimentary and productive team. Please buy a copy of the book entitled StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath. Use the access code provided at the back of the book to take the strengths assessment. If you want to be considered for this program, please include on your application your top 5 strengths, per the results of your assessment.

Send your application as a Word document or PDF via email to coachcriss (at) gmail (dot) com. Other than the Ground Rules stated above, you decide what you put in your application — that’s the part of the process. Only candidates who are being considered will be contacted.

If you know someone who would be interested in my internship program, please forward this post to them.