Print the value of index0
Entrepreneur Unleashed - Patti Keating On Line Biz Club, Breakthrough Mastermind Beware of promises of taking your one-to-one coaching business to one-to-many with Patti Keating Lake Oswego internet
I was involved in a one-year contract with Patti Keating and her business, Entrepreneur Unleashed. The promise that hooked me was that she could help me create an on-line coaching model that would do what she claims to have done herself and helped others to do which is to generate $350,000 in a year through this model.
She claims her expertise to be in Facebook marketing, selling through webinars, structuring an on-line business model and coaching you to over come road blocks to success.
My experience is that as soon as you sign on the dotted line and set up the payment system, she is focused on bringing in the next person.
The first issue is that she does not have an on-boarding system to help clients understand how to navigate the resources avaiable. So despite feedback from nearly everyone in the group while I was there, most people didn't even understand how to connect with the one-to-one coaching benefit until they were 3-4 months into the 12 month agreement. She states that she can help you develop a virtual team to support the business model she will help you build, but she has had to revamp her virtual team several times in the months I've known her and at least one member has taken legal action against her.
The second issue is that all the resources she offers are adaptations or redo's of one thing she sells over and over and calls her "Signature System" It is a few basic steps to figuring out your target market, ideal client, your sales presentation and how to close sales. All of it is stuff found easily for free on the web.
Third issue is that I, like many others in the group, did not actually generate any more money than I was making when I joined. One group member said to me, "My business has actually gotten smaller since I started working with her". Verbally, Patti guaranteed my investment would be earned back in less than six months by following her recommendations (Facebook ads, webinars, closing the sale, on line training). I did every step she suggested and didn't earn a cent. When others in the weekly group coaching calls shared their frustration on not getting any sign ups or returns on their time or money investments and following the system, Patti blames and shames them.
She uses her sales skills (which are extemely good from her years in multi-level marketing) to actually get them to buy into something else from one of her affliate programs.The On-Line Biz Club is about $1,000/year. The Mastermind Coaching Group is $25,000 per year. I did have a great deal of busy work to do as Patti's weekly calls and on demand coaching frequently resulted in tasks. She clearly does not keep notes on what she coached me on from month to month because each month she had an exciting, new idea (podcasts, telesummits, live speaking) and she always had another expert to refer me to. She had affiliate relationships with these businesses so if I signed up, she added to her bottom line.
Fourth issue communication. There were missed appointments and changes in meetings dates. For her on-site programs, participants would be wandering around the hotel without an agenda, meeting times or locations. One 3 day program in San Diego that involved travel was actually not a workshop at all but an opportunity for Patti's affliate programs and joint venture partners to sell their services (all of which Patti made money one). There was to be a dozen industry leaders present and there were only 3. Most of us had already bought into their services through Patti's insistence early on that we needed them to be successful. She also invited many new prospects to attend and it became clear that our "coach's" focus would be completely on selling these new people into her program - not on providing those who had paid with coaching.
Fifth issue accounting and record keeping. Several people, myself included, had additional payment removed from our accounts. I over paid several thousand dollars that was removed from my account by auto draft without authority. And while I was able to recoup my money, others are still battling to get their's. Patti is unresponsive when this occurs. When I worked with my bank to get her access blocked from my account, they were shocked to see that she had changed her business name more than once and recommended that I send a certified letter stating that any attempts to take money would warrant action. Through research I have discovered that there are SEVERAL legal cases outstanding against her.
Sixth issue is that her coaching is not clean. She is not able to leave her fear of scarcity out of it. She also is aggressive, bullying and doesn't listen for the nuances. I have not seen her demonstrate empathy, compassion or kind heartedness. Her attachment to others outcomes as a statement about her own success drives where she coaches you towards.
I could go into the many stories that I heard from group members who called me directly to share how they have had money taken without authority, refunds never generated and promises unfulfilled, but those are their stories to tell. My only goal in writing this is to help someone else. When I researched this program before joining I could not find one negative story (or positive story) on line. She signs up people frequently you give her $25,000 to help them build their business. This is wrong. And I wanted to be sure that I didn't remain silent.
I did attempt conversation and dialogue directly with Patti. And to give her feedback which she doesn't ask for or welcome.
I paid the full amount I owed because I entered into this. I didn't try to get my money back, I was just happy to get back the thousands she took without authorization. But I did stop participating in the program at the six month mark because I can't abide by the ethics. It isn't the energy I want in my life or my business.