You’ve trained as a coach and are now ready to grow your business now you need to focus on attracting clients. Get some tips from Sharon Pearson, CEO of The Coaching Institute and one of Australia’s most successful coaches!
Archive for the 'Marketing your coaching' Category
Bottom Line…
If your clients trust you, they’ll stick around.
Problem is…
If you fear them leaving you then your fear can ultimately hurt this client loyalty.
And then the Good news…
You Can Do Something About This.
Realize your fear could hurt your business.
No service provider wants to lose clients, business opportunities or revenue. Ironically, though, this fear of losing business actually hurts your ability to keep and increase business because it causes you to avoid doing the difficult things that bring about even more loyalty and trust from your people, the people you are trying to serve.
It’s worth remembering that your clients can smell fear and desperation a mile away, note this is completely off-putting for a potential client. What your prospect are attracted to is a service provider who will be honest and direct with them. Even though you may see this as being at the risk of jeapordizing the relationship, your people will respect you more for it.
Put it this way. It’s just like dating. Girls prefer honest and self-assured guys over desperate ones who tell them what they want to hear. Sounds crazy and counterintuitive, I know, but it is true. 
Put your clients first.
What clients want more than anything is to know that we’re more interested in helping them than we are in maintaining our revenue source. And when we do something, or fail to do something, in order to protect our business, they eventually lose respect for us and understandably question whether they should trust us.
Always start with your client in mind. How can you provide them with outstanding value?
If you look after the needs of your client then the law of reciprocity states they will look after your needs in return.
Be vulnerable.
The most successful service providers are those that are not overly concerned about the possibility of losing a client or for being under-compensated for what they do. I call these guys the ‘naked service providers’becuase they refuse to worry about having their ideas misappropriated by a client, they give all their best content up front and go the extra mile for every client all the time.
They do this because they know it will earn them the trust of their clients in the long term.
The most successful people understand that despite setbacks that are naturally occurring along the way, communicating with prospects and running a business from this perspective will provide more good along the way.
Overall in any business whether it be coaching, holistic services, hospitality, health and fitness or a corporate market your highest intention should always be to provide outstanding, honest and valuable feedback to your market at all times. People come and go in the world of business… It’s the people who play with this mentality that stay.
Here’s to Your Staying Power
Kim Rowe
National Student Liaison
The onslaught of “join my team” and “buy my stuff” posts from direct sellers on social networks leaves me wondering…do we forget that these are PEOPLE on the other end of our messages? This has been the problem from the beginning of online communication: the anonymity of hiding behind our computers makes us forget the basics of interpersonal communication. You would NEVER walk up to someone on the street and begin pitching your products and opportunity without at least making an effort at small talk. Why do we think it’s OK to do that online?
Social media is first about PEOPLE. There is a person on the other end of every single communication that you write.
So the next time you are tempted to blast a status update pitching your products or opportunity through your profile, ask yourself…has every single person that will read this opted in for this type of message? Have I done the necessary background work to build relationships first? Or will I be just another “interruption”? If it’s the latter, STOP.
Social networking is about connecting with people, understanding their needs, and providing value. Stop with the sales pitch. You’ll achieve much greater long-term results by meeting 5 new people per day online, and getting to know them. Then you can provide your products and opportunity individually, in a way that’s actually relevant, and will bring you the results you’re seeking.
Your thoughts?
Kim Rowe
National Student Liaison
Make networking part of your relationship-building strategy, and you’ll see real results.
Networking: The process of meeting people, staying in touch and then asking them for business, requires patience and practice…. It’s a little bit like fishing.
I heard a story a little while ago about a fellow net worker who was planning on canning his networking memberships because he believed that his referrals were coincidental.
Despite a full year of getting great referrals, my fellow net worker did not feel the fortnightly connection with others in the business world was a viable business strategy. Their belief was the business they were being referred was purely generated by “chance” — one person knowing another who “happened to know them” — even though these “chance occurrences” were coming directly from their networking contacts, they believed it couldn’t last and subsequently left the group.
Your getting the Irony of this right?
So the question is now raised… despite “chance” is networking something you can rely on as a consistent means of getting new business?
There are two major factors that platy a part in Networking being successful for your business. Repeatability and Understanding.
If you step back and ask, “Is it possible that somebody will know someone else who’s looking for my services and will give me that referral?” Well, there’s that repeatability–especially if you focus on building relationships–because there’s always a “somebody.
Then the Understanding. If you focus on the specific people who gave you the referral, rather than the process and relationships that allowed it to happen, then it’s unlikely you will consistently get more business from networking. Focus on the relationships, people talk.
Networking Is a Long and Winding Road
When it comes to networking and passing referrals, it’s not about who’s giving what to whom, and it’s hardly a straight line. If you’re thinking, “For every referral I give, I can expect one in return,” it’s time to put that idea to rest. Reciprocity is nice, but networking just doesn’t work that way, energetically yes, with direct person to person networking… No.
Think of referral-giving in the context of the Abundance Mindset, which is the awareness that there’s more than enough business to go around. If you hear of a business opportunity that would be well-suited for a referral partner–in other words, not your kind of business–think of it as “excess business.” When you pass this kind of excess business to others in the form of a referral, you’ll wind up attracting more prospects who want to work with you.
Call it a gift from the referral gods, but when you do good things for others, those good things have a way of making their way back to you–often from a different person or group of people. Even if it seems that you’re not directly benefiting from the referrals you’re giving others, take note of all the other business that just happens to come your way.
- The guy who stumbles across your website and gives you a call.
- The old prospect you haven’t heard from in months who suddenly wants to get together for lunch.
- The inactive client who wants to renew his contract with you.
Even though it seems “coincidental”, some or all of these occurrences are likely to be new business you attracted by giving away excess business (in the form of referrals) to people you know.
Network With a Net
Referral networking is a lot like catching fish by casting a net. Each fish comes to the net by a different path–each has a unique “story” that is not repeated. You don’t focus on a particular fish and then try to get it to come to the net–in fact, you probably don’t even see the fish until you pull in the net. Instead, you focus on the action of setting the net. You know that if you set your net correctly and consistently, fish will eventually come, no matter what path they take to get there.
The same is true for getting referrals. You don’t have to worry about how a specific referral got to you because you understand the process of setting your net.
And the best part is your net can be working for you all the time. You don’t have to be there whenever someone you know runs into someone else who could use your services–this means you can be “fishing” in many different ponds simultaneously and reaping tons of new business. This is especially true when you’ve become a referral gatekeeper and begin to get referrals not only from your own network of contacts but from the networks of others as well.
When it comes to networking, there is no coincidence about referrals. They are the inevitable cumulative result of the day-to-day activities of relationship-building. And even though those efforts can’t be measured as easily as cold calls, the results are far more powerful.
Happy Networking!
Kim Rowe
National Student Liaison
Over your life you will no doubt have several Coaches or Mentors. Because these are the people that will help shape your life it is important that you choose Yours wisely. You will commit a great deal of time and attention to these people and ideally they too will be just as focused on you.
To select the best mentor for you, you must first start with the end in mind. What are your life’s Goals for your career and your personal life?
If you are just starting out on a health and fitness regime you might choose a friend who knows a lot about exercise or go to a gym where their are friendly personal trainers who will show you the foundations and help you get started. If you are just starting a family and you are faced with the adjustments that come with that phase of life, you may select a mentor who is reaching the other end of this challenging and rewarding journey. And if you are a coach starting out in business, it would be enviable to select a mentor who has already taken the action and put the step by step processes into place to make it happen for them, so they can make it happen for you.
Across the board your mentors should be people whose experiences you can model to support you reaching your goals in the most important areas of your life.
Selecting a mentor is more than just selecting someone you like, or feel comfortable with. Your mentors must be able to show you a track record of success. I am continually amazed by the number of people who choose mentors based on superficial success. This is important to remember because even ‘experts’ can make mistakes of judgment when choosing a mentor. Next time you visit Borders spend some time looking at the best-sellers from four or five years ago, you may find some of the ‘gurus’ are now out of business? I don’t say this to trouble you, only to impress upon you the importance of taking great care in selecting a coach whose success will stand the test of time.
On top of selecting a mentor based on their ability to achieve goals similar to your own, make sure your mentors have also overcome similar obstacles to what you are currently facing. Ideally your mentor will represent who you want to BE and what you want to DO.
If you can choose a mentor who you can spend time with sharing ideas or with whom you enjoy having conversations with and sharing ideas then it makes the whole experience more enjoyable and can also hold you more accountable to help you take even more action.
Of course, you can have admired historical personages, authors, educators or artists as role models. If you discover someone with whom you feel a special affinity, make an effort to obtain everything that person has written or said. Really become a student of the person’s work and life. Don’t just admire him or her, genuinely learn from him or her.
One of the most interesting aspects of selecting a mentor is the fact that one can rarely separate people’s tangible achievements from the qualities of their character. More than their bank accounts or their real estate holdings, role models prove by the conduct of their lives that they’re worth emulating.
Here’s To Finding Sensational Mentors
Kim Rowe
National Student Liaison
Hey Loyal TCI readers!
Because Diploma Students and Fellow Masterminders have been hanging out with Matt Church lately I thought today I would share with you a little of Matt’s wisdom.
Taken from “How to become a Million Dollar Expert” by Matt Church
So here it is, you know something that others don’t. You are constantly being asked to share that information. maybe you are asked to speak, maybe someone asks you to write a book, maybe people are always calling you to pick your brain, buy you lunch or shout you a coffee. When I hear this or see this happening I know that person is a Thought Leader, they simply may not have recognised it yet.
The Million Dollar Expert Model illustrates the stages of income and key activities you would take to progress to the next level. The focus is on you running a practice and using the six idea-sharing modes of speaking, training, facilitating, coaching, mentoring and authoring.
The idea is to build a whole ‘practice’ around one income generating guru. This is not for everyone. You have to become an expert, love what you do and want to actively put yourself out ther 100-200 days a year.
What’s a ‘Preneur’?
Ten years ago ‘entrepreneur’ was the biggest buzzword in the business. These days, entrepreneurs are experiencing huge metamorphosis becoming infopreneurs and solopreneurs. Solopreneurs are the champions of the free-agent nation. Gone are the days of launching huge businesses with enormous upfront costs. The new age is all about building personal brands and making ‘you’ marketable.
The 3 Building Blocks…
There are 3 key areas you should be focusing on to build your Million Dollar practice: development, support and distribution. Ideally you will be doing several activities in each area in order to build up your practice.Simply focusing on one is not enough.
Development:
- Capture what it is you know
- Deliver your message so it engages more people more often
- Get a coach/mentor
- Read twice as many books as you know
Support:
- Manage debtors and creditors tightly
- Manage your schedule efficiently, chunk activities and stack appointments
- Get an Admin/Support person (part time initially)
- Develop contacts and systems for creating products and resources quickly
Distribution:
- Instigate a 12 month business development strategy
- Design an online marketing campaign
- Network effectively
- Learn how affiliate and referral programs work and use them
These are no way collectively exhaustive, there is more you could add.
Look at two activities you could undertake in each section to kickstart your success.
Modes and Methods:
As an infopreneur you can diversify the WAY you deliver the information you provide. There are 6 ways you can share information with your market. Author, mentor, coach, facilitator, trainer and speaker.
So what does this have to do with building a million dollar practice by working smarter not harder?
Everything!
Let’s assume that each of these modes can generate $600 000 per year when operating at 100% capacity. To do this amount solely from Coaching is nigh on impossible. To do so as an author it means ‘cracking the big time’. Also, the investment to build such a dominant position in each methos kills your take home funds.
Put simply it takes time and money to get, and stay at, the top.
Don’t think for a minute that I don’t believe in excellence. Diversification doesn’t exclude mastery!
I simply suggest you stabilise your cash flow and create the revenue and time you need to pursue excellence in the areas you choose.
The Rule Of Diversification:
Diversification is the golden rule of investment.
You need to have several support structures, several development initiatives and several distribution methods in place. Use a mix of all and then offer them to different markets and build your million dollar practice.
Its easy to become a thought leader, first decide what you want to be an expert in, then look to who would value this, and using the suggestions above, focus on activities that position you as the guru in your chosen field.
———————————————————————————————–
Mmmm… Nice one Matt!
I have something a bit spesh if you are interested email me at action@thecoachinginstitute.com.au and mention the Matt Church blog and I will email you a copy of Matt’s 7 Stages to becoming a Million Dollar Expert!!
To Your Success
Kim Rowe
National Student Liaison
I have said it before and I will say it again, I am absolutely convinced that any success you experience is due in the largest part to how you think, and subsequently, any success you fail to attain can be attributed to the way you don’t think!
You can’t deny it, there are some irrefutable laws in the universe, as much as you try to deny, ignore or change them they simply exist.
Gravity, for example, exists regardless of your belief. Unequivocally undeniable despite its invisibility.
There are other laws that are just as invisible and equally as powerful, laws that govern our results and lack of.
Your thinking shapes your reality
Your actions shape your outcomes
Your focus shapes what you can see to exist
Wealth exists – the question is then, do you see it?
The equally intriguing aspect to this last irrefutable law in particular is that there are strategies you run on a consistent basis that will dictate your success in business, life, health and of course wealth.
So if you do not see wealth then you are not running a strategy or mindset that wealthy people are running to see what they see and experience what they are experiencing in good fortune. The question now becomes, how do you develop a wealthy mindset so you can run a wealthy strategy?
First, let me give you the tip – Luck has little to do with it!
Do you expect things to work out as planned? Do you anticipate success and plan for it or do you see all the things that could go wrong, which then makes you hesitant and procrastinate?
I know people who don’t believe that getting rich is possible. I also know there are people who tell you to “be realistic” about what you can achieve, that it takes 2 years to build a business, getting rich quick is hammered by “realistic” people as a “scheme”. If I had believed this – I would not be where I am today.
What we are really doing is applying successful business strategies to get succcessful results.
Which belief suits you better?
It can”only happen to someone else” or “It happens to me fast, it happens easily and it happens for me all the time.”
Food for thought?
Be the person who is curious about how to get results faster than most people think possible.
Become successful, give yourself a wealthy mindset now because you are using strategies that work, even in the face of setbacks.
Model the people that make it happen.
Choose your belief system.
Make decisions on a daily basis that move your forward – Despite Circumstance.
This is not a magic bullet, not a miracle shortcut – It will take some work, there will be some setbacks along the way…
So I put this to you.
One foot in front of the other, step by step, let’s do it together.
You know what you need to do for now.
I’ll catch you tomorrow…
Here’s To Your Success
Kim Rowe
National Student Liaison
Another day, another installment of wisdom!!!
Here’s an article I read this morning which I thought you might like and was quite apt for today… plus I love Zig Ziglar…
When you plan and prepare carefully, you can legitimately expect to have success in your efforts. When you recognize and develop the winning qualities that you were born with, the winner you were born to be emerges. When you plan and prepare to make a sale, for example, you can legitimately expect to make a sale. Although not all your expectations are going to come to pass, you give yourself an infinitely better chance of succeeding by taking the proper steps. Regardless of your goal—losing weight, making more sales, furthering your education, earning a promotion, saving money for a new home or an exotic vacation—you can expect to achieve your goal if you plan and prepare for it.
Also understand that the path from where you are to where you want to be is not always smooth and straight. The reason for the twists and bumps is simple, and it has nothing to do with you. It has more to do with the fact that not everyone is as interested in your success as you are. Some people may accidentally hinder your efforts; others who are in competition with you and have little or no integrity may try to sabotage your efforts.
Keep in mind, though, that when you hit those roadblocks, your character, commitment and attitude are the determining factors in your success. Carefully review your plan of action, seek wise counsel, and be particularly careful to feed your mind good information. An optimistic, positive mind is far more likely to come up with creative solutions than a mind that dwells on setbacks and difficulties.
Bottom line: expect success and you can achieve it!
by Zig Ziglar
Kind of ties in with the Accelerated results classes I am running for you doesn’t it!
- Review Your plan of action
- Seek wise councel (email me action@thecoachinginstitute.com.au – all your business questions)
- Feed your mind good information (get the answers on your Accelerated Results Classes)
- Together we will come up with creative solutions for your business!!
Check out your class schedule or for more detail email action@thecoachinginstitute.com.au
Enjoy and have one of those ‘extra special’ days!
To YOUR Success
Kim Rowe
National Student Liaison
Howdy!
Continuing you on from my passionate rant about the benefits of Social Media for your business on yesterdays ‘Accelerated Results and Group Accountability’ Class, I thought it would be apt today to share with you some of the key reasons Why I am so passionate about this craze we know as Facebook and How you can use it Now to positively imnpact Your Business!!
Facebook is a social network, it is one of the fastest growing social networking platforms of this era with hundreds of thousands of people logging in every minute to check out what’s going on in the world around them.
So why should a business allocate any resources creating and maintaining a Facebook page? Becuase even if your members have no ‘initial’ intention of ‘buying’ anything from you, the relationships you establish, the community you create and the education value you give here in countless ways will mean you have an underlying trust with your audience, and also a strong degree of credibility.
- Capture a broader audience and widen your brand exposure
Creating a Fan Page provides your business and brands with another branding outpost on the Web where prospects, customers, future employees, vendors, and even the media can find information about you and your business and the products and services you provide. Facebook Fan pages are different to your ‘personal profile’ in that they are able to be viewed by every one. This is called ‘public-facing’. This means that your audience or people seeking your services do not need to be logged in to view your fan page -so even more people have access to the information you post. - Drives Traffic to Your Website
Fan Pages have no restrictions on driving Facebook traffic to websites. In fact, Facebook encourages you to link to your website from your business’s Fan Page. Redirecting even a small portion of Facebook’s huge amount of daily traffic to your website could significantly improve the amount of qualified traffic on your site.
3. Improves your SEO
The more content your provide to your audiece and the world wide web surfers the more Google will reward you. Google loves content that is updates regulary. So by linking your website and facebook together and updating the 2 regularly with new content you will improve your SEO. Likewise, the more people that visit your website the higher your ranking will be on Google.
4. Stack the Free in Your Business
A Facebook Fan Page is Free! In minutes you can have a branded Fan Page where cutomers can and other brand advocates can post to your wall. You can also share photos and video, ask and answer questions, and interact with your community. The other great thing is that managing discussions on a Fan page is easier that launching and monitoring discussion forums or message boards on your own domain.
5. Facebook gives you a direct connection to your raving fans!
Your Fanpage means you have a direct pipeline from you to your fans. In one minute you can send a message to everyone, or target individuals by a range of demographics. You can also advertise your upcoming events! Using the Events App, you can schedule upcoming events or promotions you have going. The best news is all this and more is Free to your business!!
6. Strengthens the bond – build the relationship spectrum
By having a presence, creating a community and giving your audience valuable content you can significantly deepen your relationship. 90% of your audience may not go to Facebook with the intention of ‘shopping’ however they do expect that businesses and organisations have an online presence they can access. By not selling toyour audience and instead giving them content and contact information, when they are ready to ‘make a purchase’ they will feel comfortable with you becuase you have built a relationship based on high value and trust.
7. Bing on the Brand Evangelists
Facebookers do not want to be sold to. Instead they are after high value information, content and/or entertainment. Furthermore facebookers are more likely to recommend or ‘rave’ about a company, brand or product to their Facebook Friends when they perceive it to be of ‘value’. If oyu establish strong relationships with a number of vocal or influential ‘fans’ who themselves have plenty of connections you can gain valuable brand evangelists who authentically market and sell on your behalf.
8. Listening and observing has the potential to improve your business
Each time a fan interact with your page you are presented with a wealth of information. This is becuase over a social media platform as opposed to face to face, your market is more inclined to share with you information about products and services they like, good and bad experiences they’ve had and their unfulfilled needs. This information is invaluable to your business becuase it means you can gather information and evidence to improve your business its products and services.
9. Analyse your market and become a better business
Facebook provides a lot of tools known as page insights that can be used for market analysis. The Page Insights dashboard can facilitate the analysis of marketing and communication by revealing data related to interactions on your Facebook Fanpage. (Comments, Wall posts, and “Likes”); discussed posts, reviews, and mentions; Fan demographics (gender, ages, geographic location/distribution);etc. These tools mean you can develop custom information for your audience, generate talking points they are actually interested in and support even more your businesses word of mouth growth opportunities.
10. Its Fun!
Still not convinced a Fan Page is worth setting up? Think pof it as an opportunity to learn something new, to challenge and stretch yourself, while providing your audience with even more value and opportunity to connect with you. It free, and its Fun!
One more thing…. think about this, what would be one little piece of action you could take today that would bring you one step closer to Accelerating your business even more? Take an hour to take some action and stake your free claim early to establish your business as the industry leader before the competition has a chance.
To Your Success,
Kim Rowe
National Student Liaison
A business without a brand is like being lost in the woods without a compass. Developing a compelling brand gives your business focus and direction, and enables you to target your ideal audience.
- Your Calling Card Think of a catchy, easy-to-understand name that says something about what you do. Really when naming your business it should incorporate who you are (your character – more on that another time), what you do (your content) and who you service (your community). Your brand is your hook. Are you the friendly fruiterer, the hip startup, the cutting edge guy or the cooking diva? Match your name with what you do.
- What makes you memorable? It could be your reliability, great customer service or your friendly attitude. Work to become known for at least one trait.
- Define your niche. Who is your target market? What is the value you provide? “Trying to be something to everyone is not the answer. Just like going from the G.P. to the Specialist (I know, you have heard it before!) When you go to a specialist you know what to expect from them in terms of a service, and because they are the expert you are also prepared to wait longer to see them and of course pay more to see them. Marketing to everyone who could possibly buy your products or services, will water down your message, and actually repel potential clients,” For example, Martha Stewart targets women and homemakers. Steve Jobs? The hip and cool computer user.
- Create a customer experience. Your customers will evaluate your brand by the entire experience they have with your business from the first point of contact. What does the experience you create say about your brand?Incorporated in this is your presentation, certainty in your offer, communication, delivery and follow up. Be the person worth recommending!
- Determine your unique selling position. What is your compelling argument on why a customer should buy from you? Ideally it should solve a key problem faced by your target market.For example The Coaching Institute is the only NLP based school in Australasia, with the most face to face training, most accreddited and only award winning. Are you getting the picture??
Start with these baby steps and you’re well on your way to identifying your brand!
To hear more answers like this or have your business questions answered check out the Accelerated Results and Group Accountability Classes running TOMORROW 12-1pm and every 2nd Wednesday. Log into your members only area to register for the class!
Email your business questions to action@thecoachinginstitute.com.au
See you on the class tomorrow nicely branded!!
To YOUR Success
Kim Rowe
National Student Liaison
Become A Life Coach
TCI Coach
Coaching Institute
Get Updates