Media Relations for Coaches: Top Insights of 2019

2019 started off like any new year—with a steadfast commitment to resolutions. As a coach, you play an important role in helping your clients hold themselves accountable for their new goals. Did you do the same for your own goals to increase your profile with media engagement?

Reflection is a necessary quality for anyone who wishes to embark on a successful coaching partnership. To close out the year—and the last month of this decade (!)—we are reflecting on the top insights and strategy from this year as a way to enhance the media relations and marketing aspects of your coaching business.

Here’s a look back at our top takeaway tips for coaches, from leveraging social media to preparing for a media interview.

Amp Up Your Social Media Engagement

Twitter is a great platform for new audiences to discover your coaching insight, especially if you link it with trending topics or relevant hashtags. Some of those new connections you build through consistent and relevant posting can also include influential journalists that write about topics aligned with your expertise. Instead of coming across as promotional or spammy, show off your skills by retweeting a reporter’s recent article and offering some additional insight on the topic.

Drive Media Connections with Strategy

Social media is just one way to catch the attention of relevant journalists. Sending a “fan mail” note about an intriguing article before you eventually sell yourself as an expert can pay long-term dividends, and even build relationships with reporters who turn to you for future stories.

You can also learn how to leverage trending news to tie back to a creative coaching angle. Make sure to have topics and client testimonials at the ready—and preferably a unique viewpoint—as follow-up commentary.

Be Ready for Your Interview

What do you do after you pique a journalist’s interest? Effective interview preparation starts with researching the reporter and outlet, creating concise and jargon-free talking points, and using active listening to engage with follow-up questions. Don’t forget to send a thank you letter to the reporter as a token of appreciation.

These same strategies also apply to preparing for a podcast interview, although this format has some slight nuances that you’ll want to review.

Go Beyond the Interview

Articles and interviews aren’t the only ways to augment your media relations repertoire. Writing bylines for media outlets read by your target audience can give you control over how you deliver your expertise. When presenting yourself as a thought leader, make sure to include your ICF Credential and other relevant background information. Being authentic and offering relevant case studies are also beneficial for bringing to life the impact coaching can have, both personally and professionally.

Professional coaches, like any business owner, wear many hats. When it comes to marketing, honing your public relations skills is a cost-effective way to attract new clients through insightful thought leadership in the media. As you look ahead to 2020, take time to reflect on your media relations accomplishments and set concrete, measurable goals for how you want to build upon those achievements.

Author Adam Yosim has a background in broadcast journalism, and he spent seven years as a local TV news reporter in North Carolina, Kentucky and Baltimore, Maryland. He is a senior account executive at Stanton Communications, ICF’s public relations agency of record.

What Does It Mean to Be In Transition?

During these past summer months, I have been deep into researching, reading, and writing about “Life Transitions” and all that transitions entail.  If you have been a client of mine in the past you know I frequently call this: “Surfing Lava.”  It will be no surprise to you that you, me and everyone we know is always in a state of “change” or “transition.”  It is my belief it is not the transition itself that gives us trouble. Instead, it has the tools and questions to navigate the transition which is the real challenge.  What do you think about that statement?

Dr. Henry Cloud wrote an excellent book around this topic entitled: “Necessary Endings.”   Dr. Cloud’s premise along with many other author’s is this process of “transition:”

1. Something must come to an end.
2. There is a period or a gap before the next thing begins, like a desert.
3. Then there is a new beginning.

I’d like to explore each of these three components of “transition” in this blog post. We will begin by encouraging you the reader to think of a most recent time when you had an end to something, then a gap, and finally a new beginning.  Think about this for a couple of minutes.  Let the memory come into your conscious awareness and all the emotions that accompany it. Okay, now let’s take that memory and unpack it with our three-step process mentioned above.

1. Something must come to an end

Let’s look at a life experience that happens to most of us as parents.  For those of us who have children, they all transition into each year of education.  Think about the first day of school for your child.  They got on the big yellow bus, or you were in the carpool drop off lane for the first time.  Then there was the first day of High School.

Later the first day of college.  As you drove away after the big “move-in,” how did you feel about that role you played had come to an end.  Each of us handles this type of transition differently.

1. There is a period or a gap before the next thing begins, like a desert. Often when we end one phase of life, we begin to “wander” around wondering what is next for me or perhaps you are so excited at the ending of one thing and the beginning of another, and you do not experience the gap moments in your life.  If you do experience that gap or being in the desert, this is a time to step back and take inventory of where you are in other areas of your life.  This is time when you can focus your energies elsewhere, where you may have neglected and now is the time to re-engage in these areas of life.  You have heard the saying do not be sad it is over, be thankful that you experienced it.  This is so true for all of us.

3. Then there is a new beginning. Think back to a time when you were the one who was going off on that new adventure.  Perhaps it was moving into your dorm room at college. Maybe it was that first job and first apartment or buying a new car without a co-signer. Perhaps it was getting married or welcoming a new life into your family.  These all come with lots of emotions; everything is unique to you no matter how much you prepare.  We all have some sense of excitement, fear and lots of questions which we do not have the answers for.  Welcome these into your life. 

Recently I took a course creation online training, and I learned something which ties into what we are talking about today.  There are three learning truths that we each have, and if we apply them, we can navigate through transitions in our lives. Here are these truths: 

1. “All learners come to the learning experience with some prior knowledge” – The facilitator explained this as: “A toddler may not know what azure is as a color, but the toddler knows what a blue sky looks like.” We all know things based on some, even if it is limited knowledge.
2. “Existing knowledge does not go away without a new experience.” – Here again, this may seem elementary; however, our past experiences good and bad stay with us until a stronger new experience dislodges the old one. Let’s say you had an awful experience with a carpet cleaning service, and you would never recommend that company to anyone, and you even posted a negative review of the company online.  This experience lives in your mind until such time as you have a positive experience with another cleaning company which can replace your existing negative one.
3. “All knowledge is built upon existing knowledge.” We each use our previous experiences to base our knowledge of the current situation.  As a coach, I frequently challenge my client’s assumptions based on their existing knowledge.  I do this by asking them to think of someone who has navigated their current challenge, and I like them: “How did they do that?”

You can see when you put all these questions, experiences and points of view into a process for navigating the transition; you begin to see a roadmap of how you might traverse the void you find yourself in today.

So, what about you?  As you read this blog on transition, did you find yourself stuck in one of the three descriptions?  If you answered NO, good for you.  I would encourage you to look around you and see who is surfing lava tomorrow.  If you answered YES, then let’s talk about that or find someone in your circle of peers or someone 5 years older than you are who have already weathered the storm you find yourself in and see what they can contribute to let you know how they navigated this save transition.  Remember we are all in a constant state of development every day of our lives.  Transition is a normal part of your human experience. 

Author Janice Bastani is a certified executive leadership coach and holds many credentials in the coaching arena.

2019 Year-End Review

Don’t look now, but 2020 is upon us!  Can you believe it?  What an exciting time to be alive and to be in business!!  Are you excited?  You sure should be!  Things are changing, and opportunities are everywhere. 

Now is the time to take stock of what you did in 2019 and where you want to go in 2020.  You may be asking yourself: “I have no idea where to start; I think I will just pull the covers up and stay right here where it is warm and cozy.”  Wrong Answer!  Jump out and wake up and let’s get going with the promise of 2020.

In the holiday edition of the online version of Inc., this magazine put out an excellent article on evaluating the year past and planning for the new year ahead.  I suggest you go here and read this article: https://www.inc.com/marla-tabaka/heres-your-guide-to-a-smart-year-end-businessreview.html .  I am sure this year they will do another article, please check it out.  You never have to do anything alone.  Someone has already put a plan together or a guideline that you can use to get a jump start. 

Every year I write the same thing, and these are the tips to make your year-end transition easier.

• Pull out your calendar and look at every week of every month and circle in green what produced dollars, or new clients, or new business for you.
• On each of those same weeks and months, use a red pen to “X” out all the things you attended, people you met, online training you wasted your time on, and money you spent on things that did not return value to you or your business.
• Pull out this past year’s goals and see what you achieved and what is left unrealized.  Make a decision right now as to what will go forward and what will be left behind. 
• Do you see “opportunities” which you were unable to capitalize on?  Think long and hard on how you can turn those opportunities into new business in the coming year.
• If you are feeling bogged down, or in a fog, or just plain stuck and out of creativity and ideas; this is the time to pick up a fellow business owner and set an “ideating” date to do some serious brainstorming in the week between Thanksgiving and December 21^st or at the latest the Christmas and New Year. Why this time frame?  Because if you get your 2020 plans down on paper before the end of the year, you can get a jump start on your competition.  Most businesses go into a quiet time and slumber through the holidays at the end of the year unless you are in retail.
• What did you learn new this year?  No one can afford not keeping their skill level up.  If you are even a little tech-savvy, you need to take the free courses for the programs you use in your business.  I routinely receive emails from Microsoft, LinkedIn and so on for new training.  Keep your mind and company up to date and sharp.
• Let’s talk for a moment about “disappointments.”  We all have them.  Don’t believe all the hype of Facebook and Instagram.  Everyone has failures.  One of the best pieces of advice I ever received is to just look at the disappointment in a way that is removed from you.  If you felt pressured, you did not have all the information you needed, or the timing wasn’t right, accept that for what it is and learn from the experience.  Make a mental note and do not fall for the sell again. 
• During this slow, down in business, do a little research on who your competition is, read up on where your market is going, read up on your niche segment of your industry and become informed, learn what is coming down the pipeline and what you might consider next. 
• If you are running a small business, or are an entrepreneur who works alone, it is easy to become overwhelmed and isolated.  Make sure you sprinkle some business networking opportunities and attend in your local community.  If you also belong to some US large organization or a Global organization, plan to attend the yearly conference and put aside money to attend.  I do not believe you have to go every year, but you might collaborate with others, and one of your group goes each year and comes back and gives a debrief to your group.
• Okay, so let’s look at 2020 and what you want to achieve, what your goals are, what you are excited about, what new products, programs, and writing you want to do.  In order to do this kind of dreaming, you will need to block off some white space to think.  Many people like to do this in a coffee shop, in a park, on an airplane where they are not interrupted, or some other seclude place they believe is a great thinking place.  Remember, nothing is to wild, unbelievable, undoable, impossible – the only person who can derail you is Y-O-U!
• CELEBRATE!!!!  If you are an outgoing person, and a solopreneur, get together with others in your area and celebrate the year, all the right business stuff, your achievements, and do not be shy about it.  We all need lifting up, and we need to celebrate.  We are not talking about being prideful here, just celebrating all the great things that happened in 2019.

May your New Year be full of Focus, Planning, & Prosperity!

Author Janice Bastani, Master Mentor Coach is a certified executive leadership coach and holds many credentials in the coaching arena.

Her credentials include the following certifications:

Professional Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation, Energy Leadership Coach, Emotional Intelligence Coach, Global Group Coaching Coach, NeuroLeadership Coach, Certified John Maxwell Coach, Speaker, Mentor & Trainer.

Janice holds certifications to give and debrief Energy Leadership Assessments, Level One DISC assessment as well as being a Trainer with the DISC Personality Profile, Emotional Intelligence Assessments, Personality Profiling, along with several others in her faith ministry for Spiritual Gifts, and Strengths Profile. She is a founding member of the John Maxwell Team. Janice holds a BA in Journalism.

5 Tips to Be an Expert at Time Management

5 Tips for Proper Time Management

*This is a re-blog from Success.com, by author Jim Rohn

Let me give you some thoughts on time management. Here is a list of things you should consider to make the most of your time:

1. Run the day or it will run you.

Part of the key to time management is just staying in charge. Here’s what usually happens: We start something and we’re in control, but as the day starts to unfold, we start losing it. It’s like running a business. If you don’t stay on top of things, the business will run you before long. You have to stop every once in a while and say, “Wait! Who’s in charge here?”

“Some will master and some will serve.”

Here’s a good phrase to remember: “Some will master and some will serve.” That’s the nature of life, and you have to make sure you become the master. You have to run the day. You have to stay in charge.

What is the key to staying in charge of your time management? You must have your written set of goals with you at all times. Prioritize your goals and decide which are important. Constantly review your goals, then make them a part of a good written game plan.

With your game plan in hand, try to separate the majors from the minors, the really important things from the things that you just have to do. And prioritize. A little thought will save you a lot of time.

Is this a major day or a minor day? Adjust your time accordingly. Is this a major conversation or a minor conversation? A lot of people don’t do well in this area, and here’s why: They major in minor things. They spend too much time on things that don’t count and too little time on things that should count.

2. Don’t mistake movement for achievement.

You probably know some people around you who are just plain busy being busy. You’ve got to be busy being productive.

Consider this: A man comes home at night and flops down on the couch. He says, “I’ve been going, going, going.” But the real question is, “Doing what?” Some people are going, going, going, but they’re doing figure eights. They’re not making much progress.

Don’t mistake movement for achievement. Evaluate the hours in your days, and see if there’s any improvements to be made to time management.

3. Concentrate on where you are.

You’ve just got to zero in on the job at hand. Don’t start your business day until you get to the business. I used to start my business day in the shower. I’m trying to compose a letter in the shower. I’m not awake yet, and I’m trying to compose a letter. I found out that it doesn’t work that way. Wait to get to the office to start your work. Don’t start your business day at the breakfast table. It’s not good for the family, and it’s not very productive.

So here’s what you’ve got to do. On the way to work, concentrate on your driving. In the shower, concentrate on the shower. At the breakfast table, concentrate on the family. Wherever you are, be there. Don’t be somewhere else. Give whatever you’re doing the gift of attention. Give people the gift of attention. Concentrate on where you are.

4. Learn to say no.

Boy, it’s easy in a society like ours to just say yes too much, to over-obligate yourself. Then it takes all that time to back out of it. Don’t say yes too quickly. It’s better to say, “I don’t know if I can make it, but I’ll give you a call.” It’s nicer to say that than to back out later.

Being too eager to please can be dangerous. You need to appreciate yourself, your time, your limits.

One of my colleagues has a good saying: “Don’t let your mouth overload your back.” Being too eager to please can be dangerous. You need to appreciate yourself, your time, your limits. Know when your commitment to someone else will end up taking time away from yourself and your family. Appreciate your special time alone. And appreciate your time with those you love and those who love you.

This is especially important when it comes to charity work. A group of entrepreneurs I know have been very successful in their own business. They get a lot of press. And they’ve been swamped with requests to do pro bono work. They must get a couple offers a month to sit on one charity board or another. Here’s how they handle it: They take all requests, weigh them for time commitments and evaluate them for opportunities. Then they take a collective vote on which two they’ll accept during the next year.

You can’t immediately say yes to offers that sound prestigious. You can’t immediately say yes to social functions, even if they sound like a lot of fun. You’ve got to say maybe and take time to evaluate what’s truly important to you and what will just take time away from your ambitions and your family.

Be eager to please yourself and your family. Don’t be so eager to please everybody else. Appreciate your own limits. You don’t have to fill up every second of the day; take time to appreciate what you’ve accomplished. Take time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

5. Appreciate the little details.   

Your success should be a pleasure. Appreciating what you’ve acquired and what you’ve done and who you’ve become is important. It’s an important component in fueling your future achievements. Just knowing that you finished all you started out to do that day… that’s encouraging! It’s these little daily gains that continue to fuel your achievement.

Let’s say you’re figuring out tomorrow’s game plan tonight, and tomorrow looks pretty light. So all you write down for tomorrow is “cleanup day.” Clean up all the little notes on your desk. Write all the thank-you notes you haven’t gotten around to writing all week. Take care of a few phone calls that keep getting shuffled from one day to the next. It’s just minor stuff. Nonetheless, it’s the little stuff that keeps weighing you down until you get it done.

So you spend your day in cleanup mode. You file the notes, write the thank-you cards, make the phone calls. It’s not a major day. But at the end of the day, you feel you’ve accomplished so much. Why? Because you’ve taken care of so many little details. It’s the little details that can make a major difference. You feel like you’ve really achieved something during a day that started out to be so minor.

Little achievements are just as important as big achievements. Success is the constant process of working toward your goals, little achievement by little achievement. Little achievements produce big results. Anything is possible in those 24 hours we’re given each day.

Set Smart Boundaries with Coaching Prospects and Clients

Author: Rhonda Hess

I’ve been a life long student of boundaries. That is to say, boundaries have been a core issue for me in the past and now it’s much less of an issue. When I sense myself leaning in too far, trying to do too much, to people please or over-deliver, I rein myself in.

Still, I occasionally fall into old patterns, even in coaching relationships.

I’m a 2 on the Enneagram. That’s “The Helper.” More than anything, I want to be of service to others, to help them better their circumstances. It’s a good fit for being a coach. And a strength overused becomes a weakness.

In the past, it’s often meant that I gave too much in all of my roles and relationships. And, I allowed some people to step on me… repeatedly.

Powerful Questions to Uncover Boundary Challenges

What about you? Do you like to fill in the holes and make sure everyone is taken care of? Are you a natural helper or people pleaser? A lot of coaches are.

Here are more specific questions to ask yourself:

With coaching prospects…

Do you reduce your fees habitually to suit prospects?

Do you bend over backward to prove your worth in Discovery Sessions?

With coaching clients…

Do you habitually go over time in sessions?

Are you charging enough to cover your investment of time outside of sessions?

Repetitive Over-Delivery Hurts You and Your Coaching Clients

Early on in my business I attended an International Coach Federation conference and met Cheryl Richardson.

She was asking a group of coaches… Do you want more for your clients than they want for themselves?

Bam! That was an aha moment for me. The answer was ‘YES’… always.

I learned from Cheryl that ultimately your client must choose transformation for it to happen. They must want it with all of their heart, mind and be willing to take action outside their comfort zone.

If you want something for them more than they do for themselves, it creates an imbalance in the co-creative relationship and the reality is, you’re going to be pushing them and they won’t appreciate it.

Later on, a friend of mine created a training based on years of research called Right Use of Power and I attended one of her first workshops.

Another huge aha. Let me explain…

When you are in a practitioner or authoritative or helper role, that role carries a certain amount of power. Hopefully, as coaches, we believe we are our client’s equals, but even so, they may hold some deference for us.

It’s up to coaches to do our best to equalize the power in the coach-client relationship. And this requires a lot of self-reflection and self-awareness.

Right Size Yourself

You might be kind of surprised that the answer to balance the power is not to give clients more, more of your time or make it easier for them by taking some of their responsibilities your own shoulders like giving them discounts.

Those kinds of things actually increase the power differential. And they do something to you too. You’re inflating your role and deflating your own power.

The answer is to invite the client to stand in their own power by making their role clear to them. And to stand firmly in your role without inflating or deflating your power.

Learn how to be right-sized.

Treat your prospects and clients as responsible people who are creative, resourceful and whole. That means:

• Charge fees that pay you well. Don’t discount those fees to enroll a client.
• Set and maintain time boundaries for sessions. If you’re about to go over time, acknowledge that you’re purposefully going over time and set a reasonable time boundary that you stick with.
• Hold your clients accountable for paying their fees on time, showing up on time, being ready to coach, and doing their own work in between sessions. Don’t do their work for them unless that’s explicitly part of your program.

To know if you’re being right-sized, notice if you’ve over-inflated your role by taking responsibility from them or under-inflated your role by not owning your own power.

It is a dance that requires self awareness.

Set Boundaries Early On

If you clearly show prospects and clients your boundaries early on in relationships, you have a better chance at a mutually satisfying relationship.

If they are empowered, they will take leaps.

“We teach people how to treat us.”
Phil McGraw

With prospects, that’s as simple as holding the time boundary on your Discovery Sessions and by not stepping into the coaching role in that session.

• Be transparent on your website and in emails about what they can expect from your Discovery Session. It’s a get-to-know-you conversation where you’ll each assess fit for working together.
• During the session, ask them open-ended questions. Let them talk.
• Understand what they want right now and what’s keeping them from it. Then apply that to your signature program.
• Share your fees and stand behind them.

With new clients, give an orientation at the beginning of your first session.

• Set ground rules about cancelations, showing up on time and time boundaries.
• Tell them your role and responsibilities and explain theirs. They send a Session prep. They set the agenda. They show up truthfully. They take action between sessions.

If they fail to bring an agenda, illustrate what an agenda is and reinforce it’s their role to set a specific bite-sized takeaway for each session.

These are small things. And they set the tone powerfully.

And still, there will be tests.

Red Flags That You’ve Inflated or Deflated Your Coaching Role

How can you tell if your boundaries need fortifying?

1. You feel desperate to enroll this prospect.

• That desperation will deflate your power while tempting you to inflate your role and discount your fees.

2. You feel overwhelmed by a client’s energy.

• The client may not be a good fit. Maybe you’ve said ‘yes’ when your intuition clearly said ‘no’.
• Or, you might need to make requests for them to slow down. Consider doing a grounding meditation at the beginning of the session.

3. You feel emotionally tapped out after working with a client.

• The client may not be a good fit.
• Or, you were over-delivering. You might have inflated to prove your worth. Get right sized. Stand in your power. Hold your boundaries.
• Try an energetic disconnecting exercise to release energy after the session.

4. You are beginning to feel resentful toward the client.

• You likely inflated your role while deflating your power by taking some responsibility from the client such as charging too little or repeatedly giving too much for the fees you’re charging.

Only some people will be ideal coaching clients for you. And it takes time to realize what makes you a good fit for them and them a good fit for you.

Pay attention to ease and to your reactions to people to inform you. When you think of enrolling clients imagine your avatar — the ideal client for you.

The ultimate boundary is to learn how to say ‘no’ when you’re clear something is not right for you. Do it in an honoring way. Take it onto yourself. You might say something like:

“I feel strongly that I’m not the best resource for you.
And, fit is really critical in the work I do with my clients.
I’ve learned over time that I’ve got to listen to my integrity
and sometimes not take on a client, even if they want to work with me.”

Have some coach colleagues or other resources to refer those non-ideal people to. If they are not right for you doesn’t mean they won’t be right for someone else.

Author Rhonda Hess co-authored the Coach Training AcceleratorTM and designed the CTA Certified Coach Program. She has a super power for helping coaches choose and champion a profitable niche they’ll love. Learn more at Prosperous Coach. 

8 Powerful Coaching Questions to Ask Any Client Anytime

These are powerful questions that are standard in the coaches toolbox.

The right question can really help anyone zoom past obstacles and into a power zone of awareness and action on their own behalf.

That’s why questions are so valuable to coaches and in coaching.

So the first question unlocks a lot for your clients:

What do you want?

Well, sometimes people have a hard time answering this question, but with probing questions beneath it, you might be able to get them to it.

The second question is:

What’s holding you back?

As human beings, we do generally have a sense of this. We might be in denial about it, but we generally do know what we’re doing that’s either sabotaging ourselves or what we’re thinking, what we’re feeling that is lingering too long for us to be able to transform.

So what’s holding you back?

That question will cause your coaching client to go inside and really look at the truth with a capital T.

The third question is:

What is it costing you to continue holding back?

I don’t know if we normally as human beings think about what the costs are of our actions, of our thoughts, of our habits, but to ask someone that causes them to look at themselves from a place of self responsibility.

The fourth question is:

How could you show up differently?

Presumably you’re talking to them about a circumstance or a situation and this question allows them to wonder, Oh, I’m at choice here. How could I show up differently?

I remember this one time where I was going to be speaking in public at a pretty big event for coaches and I was just so nervous. I called my husband for support and he has asked me: How do you want to show up, Rhonda?

I paused and I thought about it. Well, I want to show up standing in my power, believing in myself and being open and vulnerable to my audience as well as delivering something that is actually valuable to them.

Those four answers just grounded me. They made me feel good again, made me feel ready again. And I realized that it was okay to be vulnerable with my audience. It’s okay that I was nervous and I didn’t have to try to obliterate that nervousness before getting on stage.

The fifth question is:

What is a new perspective that you could adopt right now?

Oftentimes when our coaching clients are telling us how they feel or what they think about something, it might be a gripe. It might be the raw feeling and there’s nothing wrong with that.

As a matter of fact, I invite my clients to share their raw feelings.

You can respond to that raw stuff with the question: What’s a new perspective you could adopt right now about that?

You’re inviting them to pick themselves up out of the situation and get a 30,000 foot view. Look at it from the other person’s point of view. Or from their highest self point of view.

The sixth question is:

What is the most meaningful action you could take right now?

So often when our clients are stuck, it’s because they’re unwilling to or afraid to take an action and when you put that word meaningful in front of action, it helps them think differently.

Meaningful to them could be journaling. Or it could be having a conversation with you or someone else. Meaningful to them could be deciding not to do it at all and to take a different direction.

The seventh question is:

What new habits will you put in place right now?

Habits are amazingly powerful in our lives and in the lives of our clients.

We all have bad habits. If you take any aspect of our lives on the life wheel, we’ve got bad habits in those areas, whether it be finances, or how we behave at work … how we feed or exercise ourselves.

We all have habits that can be improved and habits are amazingly powerful if we put the right ones in place.

That’s partially why I’m talking to you about client management because these are habits that we can have in place with our prospects and our clients.

 And the last question, number eight is:

What new skills or support systems will ensure your success?

We want to teach our clients and ourselves to realize that sometimes we have to learn something new or go get help in order to ensure our success.

I always ask my prospects about their support systems. I want to know do they have a family? Do they have a partner? Is that partner supportive of them building a coaching business? Do they have childcare? Do they have ways that they’re going to be able to segment parts of their day to work on their business?

With your own target audience around the niche you have, the ultimate outcome you’re going to help them achieve —be sure they have support systems in place and not just you. You don’t want all of the help and succor to be on your shoulders.

Going back to the skills too, of course everyone who is undertaking something new or trying to do something big.

Hopefully, you’re helping your clients achieve something big to get past or solve a big problem they have or to achieve a huge goal they have. Because if you’re doing that with your clients you may not be able to earn enough as a coach

New skills might something like developing a stronger intuition. It might be developing greater awareness of themselves, of their body, of what their mind or emotions is telling them. Or it could be something really nuts and boltsy such as taking training in order to succeed.

These questions are useful for coaches, for nearly any client at any time, so I hope you use them for your success!

This blog post has been extracted from the Prosperous Coaching Blog Podcast. The podcast can be found here: https://prosperouscoachblog.com/ep-37-8-powerful-coaching-questions-to-ask-any-client-anytime/

Author Rhonda Hess co-authored the Coach Training AcceleratorTM and designed the CTA Certified Coach Program. She has a super power for helping coaches choose and champion a profitable niche they’ll love. Learn more at Prosperous Coach.

10 Trends That Will Redefine Coaching in 2019 – ReBlog

It’s time to buckle up and get ready for some major transformations in the coaching space

Looking to implement the latest coaching trends for 2019? In our technology-driven world, the demand for skilled coaches is greater than ever before.

**This blog is a re-post from http://membershipfix.com/coaching-trends/**

Inc.com recently published an article entitled, “Science Says 92 Percent of People Don’t Achieve Their Goals. Here’s How the Other 8 Percent Do.” Within the article, Inc.com cited a University of Scranton study which found that only 8% of people accomplish their goals.

Because the achievement of goals is the foundation to a fulfilled life, that statistic proves there are many disappointed people and businesses out there. Yes, there are a small group of individuals accomplishing their goals. However, far more are living out “quiet lives of desperation”.

There are many obstacles facing technology overloaded goal seekers today. Things are increasingly complex and require expert solutions. But not all coaches will be ready to solve the unique problems their clients will face in 2019.

Are you an executive, spiritual, fitness or life coach? Regardless of the type of coach you are, here are ten coaching trends to be aware of in 2019 so you can continually stay relevant.

Technology Will Continue to Replace Location

It wasn’t too long ago that location was everything when it came to coaching. Location-based coaching will continue to become obsolete in 2019.

Coaches and clients will advance the trend of being okay with long-distance coaching. It won’t matter where the coach or client is living. In some cases, it could be years before a face-to-face encounter ever happens. Even so, the impact coaches have on their clients will be real and powerful.

Seeking to Be as Human as Possible

With the digitalization of coaching, things are both easier and more complex now. The coaches who’ll thrive in 2019 will be those who, despite lacking face-to-face encounters, provide “the human touch” for their clients.

This will include as many communication forms as possible to provide well-rounded interactions. Coaches who find cutting-edge ways to make interactions feel as face-to-face as possible will find unique success.

Proof of Coaching Results

Due to the complexity of coaching in 2019, clients will want to see the measurable results coaches have already achieved. As already shared, the added challenges of technology require more than the simplicity of traditional coaching methods.

Clients are looking for coaches with a proven track record of delivering results. Because the bar is higher now, there will be a greater disparity among coaches skilled at delivering results and those who are not. Being a part of a coaching membership site will help you display your wins in a way that will convert clients.

Greater Accountability in the Coaching World

With the rise of technology and the Internet, it became easy for anyone to simply call themselves a coach. The challenge for those seeking a coach, however, is that it’s become more difficult to determine if prospective coaches are truly qualified.

Expect more concrete licensing and qualifications for coaches in the future. We’re reaching a point where clients need to see qualifications in a coach to feel confident in their investment. Coaching membership sites are a great way for coaches to stay current with regulations to put their best foot forward.

Increased Rates for Qualified Coaches

Already, you’ve noticed a theme in this article and it boils down to higher standards for coaches in 2019. Coaches will need to:

• Solve more difficult problems than in the past
• Have an increased understanding of technology
• Be able to prove past successes before landing new clients
• Have a strong web presence
• Be highly competitive
• Adhere to industry and governmental regulations
• Use more complex automation to complete administrative tasks

It stands to reason that fewer coaches will successfully make these adjustments. But for the truly persistent, these higher standards will allow coaches to demand higher rates. The need for the few who can provide unique solutions will increase coaching wages for the truly skilled.

Greater Focus on Positive Psychology

As the understanding of positive psychology continues to advance, coaches will increasingly draw from this wisdom when helping their clients with mental roadblocks.

Coaches will be able to show their clients that their biggest enemy is often themselves.

Negative or self-defeating internal dialogues will be evaluated by coach and client alike. That negative dialogue will be replaced with positive self-talk. And once the positive self-talk is in place, many roadblocks previously thought insurmountable by coaching clients will begin to crumble.

The Demand for Coaching Will Increase

Because today’s coaches will be tackling more difficult problems, many more businesses and individuals will need help. They’ll recognize how unprepared they are to solve those challenges on their own and will look for assistance.

In 2019 and further on, coaching will be seen less and less as a luxury. Instead, it will be an understood necessity for success. It will no longer be only perceived elites who utilize the benefits of coaching. A membership to a coaching site will help you find the growing number clients that best suit your expertise.

Specialized or Niche Coaching Will Increase

It’s becoming significantly more difficult to remain an expert in multiple industries. The greater complexity of problems industries and individuals face will develop the need for specialized or niche coaches.

More than ever before, coaches who brand themselves as generalists won’t be taken as seriously. In addition, they won’t be able to command high rates like specialized coaches will. Coaching experts will need to stay specialized to keep up with all the latest trends.

Greater Need for Automation and Delegation

Because of the increased need for expert advice, coaches simply won’t be able to do it all. Trends in 2019 will continue towards the automation of administrative tasks through software and other advances.

Also, coaches will need to delegate or outsource work to freelancers. That may mean help with videography, ghostwriting books or web content. Today’s coaches will need to make sure they’re not spread too thin because of the increased expectations they face.

If you’re struggling to know how to best use technology for administrative purposes or who to hire, a coaching membership site will help you sort that out.

More Relationship-Driven

Gone are the days of sterile coaching relationships. Expect coaching in 2019 to continue the trend toward building authentic, meaningful relationships. This bond is necessary to tackle personal and psychological roadblocks.

There’ll be a need for vulnerability on the part of both client and coach. The more difficult problems faced in 2019 will require the shift to ensure success. Also, with more at stake in the event of failure, a greater level of trust will need to be built.

While coaching in 2019 will be more challenging, there are greater potential rewards for coaches who are prepared for the latest trends.

This blog is a re-post from http://membershipfix.com/coaching-trends/

All content is to their credit.

Could This Be the Reason Your Coaching Business Hasn’t Arrived Yet?

Your mindset.

It’s true. The make or break factors in coaching business success are rarely about education, specific business skills, or experience. Instead, it all comes down to how you manage your mind.

Nearly all my clients have struggled with believing in themselves at one moment or another. I’ve struggled with it on and off myself. What’s pulled me forward again and again is a BIG WHY. With all my heart I want to serve and earn with the freedom to do it my way. Over the years I’ve learned to use obstacles as my prosperous path.

Change Your Mind

When you break through, it’s a shift in perspective that does it. You simply change your mind. Suddenly, what seemed like a steel wall in your way becomes a wisp of cloud. If the steel wall persists, it’s not because it’s real. It’s just waiting for you to see the wall come down. You have the power.

There’s a simple tool you can deploy whenever you feel that knife edge of wanting to give up: Turn what feels like a big deal into no-big-deal. Release your fixation on whatever you think is lacking and put their focus back on serving.

Move forward like a toddler reaching for a toy – with joy and determination.

The Powerful 12

So what does it really take to build a successful coaching business? A little of this and that – all of it easy to develop if it doesn’t come naturally. Here’s my list of 12: A big enough “why” – the reason you carry on.

• Curiosity.
• A passion for learning.
• Self discipline.
• Creative juices.
• A deep desire to serve.
• Focus.
• The ability to re-resource.
• Stick-to-it-iveness.
• Seeing mistakes as guide posts.
• Patience.
• Loving kindness towards yourself.

Author Rhonda Hess co-authored the Coach Training AcceleratorTM and designed the CTA Certified Coach Program. She has a super power for helping coaches choose and champion a profitable niche they’ll love. Learn more at Prosperous Coach. 

5 Things That Inspire Coaching Clients to Enroll with You

By Rhonda Hess

Have you ever felt like your potential clients are giving you a mixed message? They grab up all your free stuff — your irresistible offers, free discovery sessions, articles and other goodies — but too few hire you, buy your products, or enroll in your programs.

It’s clear they need help. They seem to be attracted to you and your message. So what’s missing?

They aren’t properly motivated to invest in what you’re offering. All 5 of these things must be aligned for your prospect to say YES to you!

1. They truly want the outcome you’ll help them reach.

Are you speaking clearly to exactly what they most want?This is easy if you’ve niched to a unique target audience. If you’re selling what you do — coaching — you’ve failed to provide a link to an outcome they want. Draw out of your prospects the specific tangible and emotional outcomes they most want, then speak to how your coaching or program helps them get there. A set of powerful questions asked during enrollment helps them tap into what they really want with all of their heart.

2. They believe that you are the right person to help them reach that outcome.

Who are you that aligns with who they are? This is about your personality, your style, your skills, your experience and maybe even your credentials. And it’s also about your story. People want to know that you’ve been in their shoes and thrived beyond where they are now. (You don’t need to be far ahead.) Show that you’re a vulnerable human being who courageously took the leap. Relate to them with compassion and curiosity. If they feel understood, they are more likely to listen to what you have to say.

3. They want that outcome right now!

Is the timing right? Think about the times when you’ve invested in support to get where you want to go. You had a fire in your belly and you were ready to take a leap. Help them identify closely with what they want as an immediate possibility. Then trust them to do what’s right for them, which may be not taking this step right now. It will be better for you to have clients who are truly ready for change.

4. They understand what you’re offering.
Is your process or system crystal clear? They want to know… what will it be like to work with you? How will they benefit in incremental ways? What will they be doing? Will it be difficult? They need to know that THEY CAN DO IT and that you’ll be with them every step of the way.

5. They believe they cannot afford NOT to hire you now.

Are the costs of status quo becoming intolerable to them? The double negative is necessary here. Help them see the costs of being where they are now, the immediate relief and long term rewards of moving forward in their lives. If possible, monetize the value of transformation so they can justify the investment of working with you financially as well.

If all five of these things are aligned in the mind of your potential client, they will get to YES!

Play around with this the next time you enroll clients. Often, small changes in your approach make a huge difference in your results.

Author Rhonda Hess co-authored the Coach Training AcceleratorTM and designed the CTA Certified Coach Program. She has a super power for helping coaches choose and champion a profitable niche they’ll love. Learn more at Prosperous Coach.

Too Many Voices

By: Janice Bastani

Like many who are in the field of personal development, I look in from time to time to see what my peers are doing and where they post and whom they are following and learning from.  Since January 2019, I have noticed a troubling trend.  The trend is from their posts on social media and in the groups we jointly belong to, it seems they have fallen into the trap of jumping on board anything that sounds like it might be a “solution” or “great idea.”

Is this a bad idea?  Or is it a good idea?  This is strictly my opinion on this specific topic, but what I am wondering is how they have time to work.  These folks are following, listening, doing assignments all hours of the day and night, and from the looks of it, they are not getting down to the business of working vs. learning.

One of my mentor’s once told me this:  “…just because you have a great idea or a thought does not mean you have to express it…” and this is true too of these types of decisions:  “…just because it sounds like a great idea, course or something you want to explore does not mean you should abandon your daily schedule, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly goals and jump on the next learning train…”

Another one of my mentor’s from long ago impressed upon me the freedom which is experienced by have days to do certain distinctive types of activities, just like an athlete.  One day the athlete will do strength training, on another day endurance training, cardio one day, upper body, lower body, the psychology of their specific sport and so on, you get the idea.  As an author, trainer, speaker, coach and mentor, each of these requires different skills, and I am not good at trying to do multiples of each every day of the week.  However, I can be very effective if I block off one day for research for training, or for writing, or developing a training program.  I block off my “people” days for coaching and mentoring my clients.  When I speak publicly, I have to do my due diligence for the audience I am going to speak to and write and practice my speech and that has specific blocked time to do that.

Daily, I read, I have my own spiritual practices, and block off time to eat, wind down, exercise, speak with loved ones, and so on.  These are my daily non-negotiables. A grown child is just as disappointed as a grandchild if you forget the important dates in their lives.  I also leave “WHITE SPACE” in my calendar.  When I was much younger, I falsely believed that having a packed calendar with every day and hour packed with something meant, “I WAS GETTING SOMEWHERE!”  The only thing I got was burnout, irritability and disconnected relationships.  A packed calendar is one of the sure ways to bring on overwhelm and distress.

There are principles that never change, and one of the best ones comes from the field of “Marketing”:  “…a confused customer never buys….”  This is so true in business when we have an influx of multiple learning sources, multiple mentors, multiple social media influencers who are all vying for our attention, time, and dollars we become deer in headlights – frozen on the road.  Good decision and good reasoning suddenly become lost in the noise of the constant email solicitations, the reminders, memes, and social posting rants that are continuously being brought to our attention through “alerts.”  It all becomes a dizzying lifestyle that leaves us empty.  We do not have enough time to implement or use what we have just expended our most valuable resources on….our time before we are jumping into the next thing being offered to us.

I am of course talking here about our own “personal development.”  I have counseled my new entrepreneur clients on the dangers of accumulating knowledge which is not implemented into a business plan.  I learned this the hard way.  Each time in my early career when I thought I didn’t know how to do something, I actively sought out that “something” and I was plunged into the world of lists, fresh lists, old lists, partnering lists and it goes on.  Once on these “lists,” it is virtually impossible to get off of them so the solicitation cycle can go on for your entrepreneurial lifespan.

We must first learn the basic, then once we have that, see where the gaps are in our skill base and go from there.  You may have heard this called Bright Shiny Object Syndrome.

So, every day this week, I have set aside a small block of time [basically while I am waiting], and I have “unfollowed” anyone or anything that is not adding value to my feed.  I have also made this a habit each December when I purge my own lists and contacts.  It is incredible how much you no longer are distracted by when it isn’t in your face or tech items.  I can attest it is very freeing and time blocks open up which are better spent on other pursuits.

Author, Janice Bastani, is a certified executive leadership coach and holds many credentials in the coaching arena: Professional Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation, Energy Leadership Coach, Emotional Intelligence Coach, Global Group Coaching Coach, NeuroLeadership Coach, Certified John Maxwell Coach, Speaker, Mentor & Trainer.

Janice holds certifications to give and debrief Energy Leadership Assessments, Level One DISC assessment as well as being a Trainer with the DISC Personality Profile, Emotional Intelligence Assessments, Personality Profiling, along with several others in her faith ministry for Spiritual Gifts, and Strengths Profile. She is a founding member of the John Maxwell Team. Janice holds a BA in Journalism. Learn more about Janice at www.janicebastanicoaching.com  

If It Feels Weird, Do It

By: Jeff Orr, CTA Graduate, Certified Human Capital Coach

A long time ago, I wrote an article (I say “article” because I don’t think blogging was even a thing yet) for a triathlon coaching company I owned along with a couple of other guys. I titled the article “If it Feels Weird, Do It” which of course was a play on the old saying, “If it feels good, do it.”

At the time, I was coaching a weekly swim workout for a local women’s triathlon club. As in many other human attributes, the ability levels of the swimmers were distributed in a bell-shaped curve.

There were a couple of former college swimmers who could literally swim laps around me on the right side of the curve. There were a handful of absolute beginners on the left. Most of the group lived in the middle of the curve. They had great attitudes—a joy to be around, in fact—and they had lots of room to improve in the water.

To be effective at any sport, one has to pair good conditioning with efficient technique, and swimming is no different. However, the act of moving through a liquid magnifies the effects of poor technique much, much more in swimming than in other sports.

Because of the primacy of technique in swimming, I spent most of my workouts teaching my athletes to swim more efficiently versus making them work harder. The thought was if you could get a 10% decrease in your swim times by making small, maybe even tiny, changes in your swim stroke, that beats the heck out of getting a 5% decrease in your swim times from working yourself to death all summer in an effort to improve your conditioning. Most of the swimmers were relatively inexperienced which meant there were lots of opportunities to make small but significant tweaks in their strokes.

On any given day, I would watch one of the swimmers go back and forth across the pool keeping an eye out for things that she could improve upon. When she’d stop at the wall, we would have a short conversation that 90% of the time consisted of advice to “keep your head lower” or “keep your elbows higher.” Then, she would swim down and back, stop, and ask me how the “new” stroke looked.

99% of the time, my answer was that visually, nothing had changed whatsoever. Then, we would have a slightly different version of the first conversation, she’d swim another lap and ask me how it looked. I would shrug my shoulders and to the great frustration of both of us, tell her that nothing had changed.

The problem was that in her mind it was different. As she swam, her thoughts were all about proper head position and high elbows. Those thoughts would make it down the line as far as her neck and her elbows, where her body rejected them because they felt weird.

Her brain was doing a ton of work thinking about doing something new, but her body was rejecting the newness for the comforting feeling of doing what it had always done.

When you do what you’ve always done, you’re going to get what you’ve always gotten.

The problem is that thinking about making a big change in your life, your business, or even just your swimming, is daunting all by itself. Exhausting. Terrifying, even. Because of this, your brain will trick you into believing that if you’re THIS wrung out from grinding through the options in your head, the work MUST be done.

Perhaps you’ve thought about one or more of the following:

-Leaving the safety net of your current job and opening your own business

-Exposing yourself to the slings and arrows of outrageous critics* by writing your book

-Taking on the responsibility for another person’s livelihood by hiring your first employee

It’s grueling to the point that at the end of the day, it feels like it should be enough. But it’s not. As tough as it is to think the thoughts, it doesn’t mean anything until they engage the body to do the action.

Eventually I discovered that to get a swimmer to make a positive correction, I had to emphasize that she first must break out of her comfort zone and that it was going to feel weird. Leaving the comfort zone was more important than the stroke change itself. To this end, I would go one step further and tell her to exaggerate the weirdness! To make it feel so weird that other people on the pool deck would look at her and wonder if she needed to be rescued. Forearmed with that notion, she could shake herself out of the routine in order to get those difficult thoughts to translate into concrete actions.

If you want to make a big change in your life you have to be mentally prepared for the physical process to feel weird. Having a coach standing on the virtual pool deck helping you work your way through that preparation can go a long way toward breaking through your comfort zone and keeping those elbows high.

*Apologies to Shakespeare

Author Jeff Orr is a highly-respected CTA Graduate and a Certified Human Capital Coach who helps organizations achieve their peak performance by blending business coaching skills with 24 years experience as a USAF fighter pilot. Jeff has trained over 300 F-16 pilots from 5 continents. He also currently works as a pilot for a major commercial airline.  Learn more about Jeff at www.JeffOrr.com

How to be sure your clients come back for more

What’s better than a new client? A repeat client.

It may seem strange to look at it this way… whereas new clients come at a cost, including the time and energy it takes to market and set them up, repeat clients are cost-free. You’ve already built rapport and results. You already know their strengths and opportunities.

I’m lucky that most of my clients come back repeatedly for more support and I’ve designed my business to make it an easy choice for them.

Are you doing all you can to bring your clients back to you for more?

3 Simple Steps = More Repeat Clients

1. Make it a part of your business model.

Design a natural flow with all your programs that drives clients to your next step. Create a funnel or pyramid of programs where the first one builds to the next.

It begins with listening to what people in your niche market specifically want (not what you think they need). You’re looking for program topics and titles that:

• Provide relief from one specific acute pain or challenge.
• Help them correct specific mistakes.
• Fill the holes in their knowledge or understanding.
• Give specific guidance to achieve their ultimate desired outcome.

Convert your “insider” understanding about your target audience into valuable freebies and for-fee programs. Your funnel of offers will inspire and motivate your prospects to invest in themselves repeatedly. You provide easy-to-climb steps to the outcomes they most want.

Every step in the chain of offers is related, while increasing their investment and the value you deliver. Then it’s easy for you to “seed” the idea of their return before your clients are finished with their current program.

2. Put the spotlight on them

Everything you create for your business should be tailored for your target audience. Everything!

I see a lot of websites that are all about the coach or expert. The language is general and vague. The offers are basic and could be found on any coach’s website. It’s an online brochure and nothing more.

That kind of website does little to help you get and keep ideal clients.  But when your tribe feels at home and understood by you, they’ll bookmark your website as a resource. They’ll keep tabs on what you’re offering for them next.

Take an objective look at your website today:

Is it a home for your target audience?

Are you speaking their language and offering specific solutions they know they want?

3. Check in

Many entrepreneurs are shy about this, but simply asking clients to return is the easiest way to get them back.

Your call may come at the perfect time and they’ll be thrilled to hear from you! At the very least, you’ll show once again that you are truly interested in them. And, you’re likely to enroll a repeat client with a simple check-in phone call.

1. Check in about something specific that you worked on together before. Where are they on that now?
2. What do they want most for the near future? That gap is your next step together.
3. Have a program or coaching package at the ready. Don’t forget to pay yourself well.

Call rather than email. The high touch approach will mean the most to them.

What can you do today to bring past clients back into the fold? How can you improve your business model, website or offers to speak directly to what your target audience wants most?

Rhonda Hess co-authored the Coach Training AcceleratorTM and designed the CTA Certified Coach Program. She has a super power for helping coaches choose and champion a profitable niche they’ll love. Learn more at Prosperous Coach.

Coach – Give Yourself a Raise

A classic problem for coaches and other service entrepreneurs is that they run out of time to:

• build automated systems that create a flow of future clients.
• create recurring revenue streams like products and membership programs.
• expand their potential by reflecting on their business and making continuous improvements.

The problem begins early on like this…

1. Desperate for initial clients, coaches often set low fees and say ‘yes’ to many opportunities that aren’t likely bring a high enough return.
2. When a client moves on, the income loss is keenly felt and there’s a scramble to enroll more clients “from thin air”.
3. The limiting mindsets become habitualized for the coach, so new clients are also enrolled for low prices.
4. Months or years later, it’s hard to breakthrough the ceiling on their income because the belief is that this is the best they can do.

Somethings gotta give.

2 Steps to Break From the Money for Time Paradigm

Step One: Give yourself a raise.

To gain time to work ON your business now, reduce the number of clients you’re working with through attrition while increasing your fees for new clients.

Instead of 15 clients at $350/mo = $5250…
you could have 10 clients at $525/mo = $5250, freeing up 15 hours each month,
or, 7 clients at $750/mo = $5250, freeing up 24 hours each month.

It may seem shocking to suddenly double your fees. But it’s quite common in service businesses like coaching and consulting. Mindset is generally the only thing in the way. And since you’re raising your fees only for new clients you reward those that stay with you.

Higher prices attract clients that, by investing more in themselves, get more out of your private coaching or consulting. And, seemingly magically people will show up because you’re empowering yourself.

Offer group programs for those who want to pay less for your support so you don’t leave anyone out. (See step 2.)

You may need to make some changes in the way you enroll. Primarily, the shift comes down to believing in yourself. Your services are valuable!

Step 2: Use the time you open up to improve the model of your business.

Offering group coaching in place of some 1:1 coaching will add some relief. But to really breakthrough the money for time paradigm, create education-based programs and products that are not solely dependent on your time for delivery.

Design your offers as a funnel of related steps leading your clients to incremental successes and more engagement with you.

One of the brilliant things about add on or follow on programs is how they leverage the initial enrollment process. That means less selling! Think about it… you’re already doing good work and building relationships of trust with your clients. They are enjoying the momentum and naturally want to know what you have next for them.

Here’s an example of my funnel for my target audience: coaches.

What do coaches need after coach training?  To choose their niche then craft messages and offers that easily attract clients.

So my first offer is a program called Your Highly Profitable Niche where coaches do just that: choose a viable niche, find out what their target audience really wants, craft messages and offers that will inspire new clients to invest.

After that what would be the next natural step for a coach? To create a powerful online presence.

That’s why my second program in my funnel is called Client Winning Websites & Blogs, a blueprint to help coaches make smart choices and write compelling content for their website plus manage the web design process so they launch a site that converts visitors into clients.

See how that works? And both of these bundled programs have add ons of private time with me.

Now, how could YOU create a funnel of programs with would create a natural desire to take a next step with you while leveraging your time so it’s offered at a premium? Make sure that each of your offers or programs:

• Brings in revenue without requiring much of your time for delivery.
• Solves a very specific problem your target audience faces.
• Take your prospects on a transformational journey.
• Encourages follow on enrollment in your “next step”.

Author Rhonda Hess co-authored the Coach Training AcceleratorTM and designed the CTA Certified Coach Program. She has a super power for helping coaches choose and champion a profitable niche they’ll love. Learn more at Prosperous Coach.

The Top 21 Things a Mentor Coach Needs to Know

Dr. Dave Krueger has had a long-lasting, successful career as a mentor coach. His wisdom has touched the lives of many. He offers up the top advice that can help mentor coaches grow stronger in their roles:

1. Listen with the intensity most people have only while talking.
2. Change is constant and inevitable; it is the resistance to change that generates most problems.
3. It takes two real people for a co-created immersion and collaboration to occur.
4. The role of storyteller and listener unfolds in the shared space of the mentor coaching relationship, co-creating a new story.
5. Clients know what they need, though not perhaps in conscious, logical, or daytime language, and will show us in the relationship process what it is like to be them, and what needs to be addressed.
6. We need to see the self that the client hopes to become, the evolving new story that sometimes gets obscured from view.
7. At times, a thought, feeling, or behavior is an answer to question its creator has not dared to ask.
8. We have to believe in the client until he or she teaches both of us why.
9. An authentic belief in someone activates their brain to create a state of mind that transcends usual thinking and performance.
10. The architecture of trust silently forms while you talk about other things; the co-created new story gives oxygen to hope, highlights the relief and release of new experience, and pushes creativity to full flight.
11. A fact or a belief is an anatomical reality in someone’s brain; a new belief or strategy can’t simply overwrite what’s already there.  Change is a process.
12. We need to recognize the silent intent embedded in the compromised result, to see the possibility camouflaged in the frustrating process.
13. To make change permanent, the new experience needs to be incorporated into one’s identity.
14. Regulating states of mind is the most important success strategy.  Each state has its own story.
15. Your state of mind will have emotional contagion for your client and others.
16. Confident is a state of mind.
17. Knowing what not to do is at least as important as knowing what to do.  You may not always know what the next right thing is, but you can almost always know what it isn’t.
18. Knowing how to reverse a behavior pattern is evidence that we truly understand it.
19. The most common thing that gets in the way of understanding something is trying to fix it.
20. Old stories have to be mourned and along with them, the self left behind.  No matter how ready someone is to change, to give up a long-practiced habit is like saying goodbye to an old friend.
21. You have to have a new story to be in before you can completely let go of the old one.

DAVID KRUEGER, M.D., Dean of Curriculum and Mentor Coach at Coach Training Alliance, is an Executive Mentor Coach who works with executives and professionals to develop and sustain success strategies. A former Professor, Psychiatrist, and Psychoanalyst, his coaching and writing focus on the art and science of success strategies: mind over matters. 

Dave is author of 17 books on success, money, wellness and self-development. His latest book, The Secret Language of Money(McGraw Hill), is a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages.

The Powerful 12

Could This Be the Reason Your Coaching Business Hasn’t Arrived Yet?

Your mindset.

It’s true. The make or break factors in coaching business success are rarely about education, specific business skills, or experience. Instead, it all comes down to how you manage your mind.

Nearly all my clients have struggled with believing in themselves at one moment or another. I’ve struggled with it on and off myself. What’s pulled me forward again and again is a BIG WHY. With all my heart I want to serve and earn with the freedom to do it my way. Over the years I’ve learned to use obstacles as my prosperous path.

Change Your Mind

When you break through, it’s a shift in perspective that does it. You simply change your mind. Suddenly, what seemed like a steel wall in your way becomes a wisp of cloud. If the steel wall persists, it’s not because it’s real. It’s just waiting for you to see the wall come down. You have the power.

There’s a simple tool you can deploy whenever you feel that knife edge of wanting to give up: Turn what feels like a big deal into no-big-deal. Release your fixation on whatever you think is lacking and put their focus back on serving.

Move forward like a toddler reaching for a toy – with joy and determination.

The Powerful 12

So what does it really take to build a successful coaching business? A little of this and that – all of it easy to develop if it doesn’t come naturally. Here’s my list of 12: A big enough “why” – the reason you carry on.

• Curiosity.
• A passion for learning.
• Self discipline.
• Creative juices.
• A deep desire to serve.
• Focus.
• The ability to re-resource.
• Stick-to-it-iveness.
• Seeing mistakes as guide posts.
• Patience.
• Loving kindness towards yourself.

About the Author: Rhonda Hess co-authored the Coach Training AcceleratorTM and designed the CTA Certified Coach Program. She has a super power for helping coaches choose and champion a profitable niche they’ll love. Learn more at Prosperous Coach. 

Coaching Red Flags

As coaches, we talk a lot about the “red flags” we hear from our clients – the things they might say, do, or even not say that indicate a potential obstacle to their progress. These red flags trigger our intuition and seizing these moments in a coaching session can be the start of a powerful shift for the client.

But what about those things we say or do that indicate an obstacle to our ability to be a masterful coach?

What gets in our way?

Here are three of the red flags I’ve noticed in my coaching classes:

Cheerleading
There’s a powerful difference between cheering your clients on and believing in their abilities and supporting them to push their limits. “I know you can do it!” becomes, “I sense your high level of confidence and have already seen you take huge steps in a short time.”

Too much empathy
When a client is experiencing strong emotions, like deep sadness or hurt, it’s easy to slip into that energy with them. That turns empathy into commiserating, and your role as a coach becomes muddled. It’s more powerful to honor their emotions with genuine sensitivity and still maintain your appropriate role as a coach.

Coaching to make YOU feel better
Another red flag is coaching a client out of their pain and discomfort so the coach can feel better. If you begin sensing that you need them to feel better so you can feel better, STOP! Coaching is not about how you feel; it’s about how you support your clients to do what they need to do, even if it’s to be frustrated for a while.
What other red flags do you notice in your own coaching? Awareness is the first step to change, and just beyond that change is even more masterful coaching!

Author Laurie Cameron is a is a Coach, Speaker and Trainer for Coach Training Alliance. She is the author of the Sage and Scholar’s Guide to Coaching Singles.

18 Caveats on How NOT to Change

….and What to Do to Stay Where You Don’t Want to Be

By David Krueger, MD

Change is not simple. Why do we repeat behavior that doesn’t work? Especially those actions that lead to stifling debt, disappointing careers, or stuck relationships. Then do it harder, yet expect a different result? Why is it not obvious that trying to exit an old story by simply writing a “better ending” only recreates the same story, and ensures that we remain in it? That a thousand better endings to an old story don’t create a new story? That the past cannot be changed and is a settled matter? That too often, we see ourselves as the victims of the stories that we author and the feelings we create?

18 Caveats on Avoiding Change:

1. Focus on the system. Devote special attention to the things that seem frustrating, out of your control, and impossible to address: politics, corporations, and economics. Systems must remain in focus as broad categories in order to feel distanced and disaffected.
2. Maintain a focus on theory. Avoid detail, singular aspects, and application. Remain theoretical about how to transform various systems, about what needs to be done, maintaining the frustration of what seems to continue out of your control.
3. Believe that the answer will appear when you step out of the box, or when you simply oppose the system.
4. Keep the point of reference external; keep believing that the antithesis of conformity is opposition; know that one or the other of these external points of reference of conformity or opposition holds the real truth.
5. Do not decide. Allow the urgency of a situation to decide for you. The gravity of a last-minute emergency forces action and avoids planning. Waiting for the deadline excuses responsibility for thoroughness and excellence.
6. Believe that the answer is more rules and further structure.
7. Debate the obvious, and give energy to the controversial.
8. Believe in experts unequivocally, and that expertise is authoritative. Dismiss any notion that expertise is perceived, processed, and filtered through assumptions, belief systems, and prejudices of experts.
9. Do not seek your own information or develop your own solutions when you have experts to listen to. Rather, find someone to provide a map for you and avoid anyone who wants to help you develop your own guidance system to navigate.
10. Always find some cause and effect relationship to explain things otherwise not understandable. Maintain a consistent external focus to blame someone, or find some tangible explanation that offers a specific, concrete focus on what is wrong. Warning: much work is required to maintain this caveat, as you must be certain that the obstacle can never be totally removed, or its causal effect would have to be confronted as inaccurate. The perceived cause must always be just beyond reach and remedy in order to remain as blame, and to maintain its obstacle role.
11. Keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome. If the outcome doesn’t change for the better, do the same thing harder.
12. Be suspicious of new ideas.
13. New ideas, being perturbators of the existing system, must be curbed if not silenced.
14. Meticulously guard against mistakes; the best way to be sure to avoid mistakes is to keep doing the same thing again and again with perfection as the goal.
15. Maintain a focus on failure, giving it the proper respect of fear so that it remains ever in focus with its guiding principle of avoidance.
16. Be extremely wary of new strategies and solutions, and invest instead in enforcement of the existing approach.
17. When you make mistakes, focus on the mistakes and attempt to get them right.
18. Continue to hold prejudices because they are markers of emotional landmines.

Reprinted from the NeuroMentor® Blog Series by David Krueger, MD at www.MentorPath.com

DAVID KRUEGER, M.D., Dean of Curriculum and Mentor Coach at Coach Training Alliance, is an Executive Mentor Coach who works with executives and professionals to develop and sustain success strategies. A former Professor, Psychiatrist, and Psychoanalyst, his coaching and writing focus on the art and science of success strategies: mind over matters. He founded and served as CEO for two healthcare corporations, co-founded a third start-up that went from venture capital to merger/acquisition.

Dave is author of 17 books on success, money, wellness and self-development. His latest book, The Secret Language of Money(McGraw Hill), is a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages.

Empathy: The Bridge to Common Ground

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?
—Henry David Thoreau

How can you recognize what never before has been considered? See what you don’t believe? Discover what you don’t even know to look for? Discern that your reality is a view refracted through your own formulaic lens?

Empathy hinges on an initial reflection on our own experience, as well as resonates with the experience of another. This emotional contagion allows us to both predict how our words and actions will influence others, as well as to move beyond our own subjective awareness. To enter the subjectivity of another requires creating a common ground for sharing the experiences and resonances with another.

All signifiers of personal meaning and construction (reality, relationship, experience, perception) carry the unspoken foundation question: From whose point of view? This is what empathy is primarily about: to really get another’s point of view and convey it while not abandoning our own point of view, To see beyond our own point of view may include the previously unrecognized, disregarded, unacknowledged, or taboo. True empathy uses the vantage point of the listener to be in the moment with the speaker to move together to a new place of reflection, understanding, or meaning. Two divergent pathways meet, as L. W. Sander has described in infant research, and both are changed.

Empathy is to place ourselves in the inner world of another person without getting lost there. Empathy describes a listening perspective positioned inside the experience of another, to resonate with and understand his or her subjective reality, an entire mental state. This learning affects our brains. Parents, therapists, coaches, and teachers are all brain surgeons, each training parts of the brain.

All the present moments of lived experiences, sewn together, create an evolving pattern of meaning and relating, the basis for new implicit and explicit learning. Any new experience has an unknown future. Only repetition of the past allows prediction by preempting the future. A new experience moving forward is both unfamiliar and uncertain.

To be empathic with another, we must move beyond our own position to inhabit the experience of another, to know how the person feels, senses, perceives, and processes subjective and intersubjective experience moment by moment, frame by frame. It takes two for someone to be empathic: one to be attuned, the other to be open to allow that empathic connection. At times, empathy infers what another individual would feel if he or she could feel, to shine light into a dormant portion of the interior landscape. The unspoken desire may be, as one psychoanalytic patient brilliantly told me many years ago, I want you not just to empathize with me, but to stick up for that part of me that’s not coming through yet.

Ultimately (lastly for some) is empathy for one’s self, an internal attunement that may seem elusive and ethereal. This intimacy with one’s self precedes and makes possible true intimacy with another. Empathy involves self-awareness, to resonate with another by attunement to to ourselves. We can only be empathically aware of the experience of another to the extent that there is awareness of its register in ourselves.

The greatest thing in the world, it has been said, is to know how to belong to yourself.

Reprinted from the NeuroMentor® Blog Series by David Krueger, MD at www.MentorPath.com

DAVID KRUEGER, M.D., Dean of Curriculum and Mentor Coach at Coach Training Alliance, is an Executive Mentor Coach who works with executives and professionals to develop and sustain success strategies. A former Professor, Psychiatrist, and Psychoanalyst, his coaching and writing focus on the art and science of success strategies: mind over matters. He founded and served as CEO for two healthcare corporations, co-founded a third start-up that went from venture capital to merger/acquisition.

Dave is author of 17 books on success, money, wellness and self-development. His latest book, The Secret Language of Money(McGraw Hill), is a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages.

Stop Overdelivering in Coaching Sessions – Why and How to Shift

Over-delivery can be strategic, such as amping up the quality of your free offers or loading up a paid program with juicy bonuses. But chronic over-delivery in coaching sessions could actually undermine your financial success and relationships with clients. That’s because it’s often rooted in a lack of trust… either in the value of your services or in your client’s abilities. Or both.

Think about it…

• Do you chronically go beyond the time boundaries of your sessions?
• Do you sometimes do your clients work for them (when it’s not part of your package?)
• Have you ever sensed that you might want more for your clients than they do for themselves?
• Do you ever feel resentful that you’re not paid well enough for your time, but then still over-deliver?

If it’s “yes” more than “no”, you’re in good company. Even some highly experienced coaches undercharge and over-deliver habitually. They offer services that they don’t enjoy to clients that aren’t a good fit and struggle to earn enough. If unchecked, this could go on indefinitely!

The shift to a healthier, more professional and lucrative approach is beguilingly simple. Haven’t you already made small but definitive changes in your life that created a dramatically positive result that rippled out? That’s the potential here. And it begins with trust.

Trust Your Self

RESISTANCE to charging more and doing what’s right for you in your coaching business may seem like a solid insurmountable wall. It turns out though that resistance is just smoke and mirrors. That’s what this thing of undercharging and over-delivering is… a sham. So, make the decision now to:

1. Say ‘no’ to clients who aren’t right for you.
2. Make changes in your targeting and branding to attract ideal clients.
3. Highly value your time and pay yourself well, always.
4. Set boundaries for both your sessions and stick to them.
5. Train your clients to bring specific bite-sized agendas to calls.

Remember, big problems are solved one integrate-able step at a time. Support your clients to make leaps in their perspective, and to make progress on their own between sessions. Then you won’t take responsibility for what isn’t yours.

How will your clients benefit from this?

• They will invest more deeply in their own transformation.
• They will learn to value their time from your modeling.
• They will appreciate your professionalism.
• They will make bigger leaps without overwhelm.

Trust Your Clients

The other side of the coin to not trusting yourself and your value is not trusting your clients either.

1. Trust that your clients are creative, resourceful and whole… even if they don’t act like it in the moment. The real beauty of coaching is the co-creative relationship: where coach and client focus collaboratively to draw out and utilize the client’s wisdom toward high payoff actions.
2. Replace the desire to effect change on your clients with an understanding that what is best for your client is only what they are ready to commit to change within themselves right now.
3. Ask your clients to step up and take action.

We can never know the path of another person. If we react protectively, anticipating our client’s pitfalls and mistakes, aren’t we also keeping them from valuable experiences that may bring success more quickly? If we jump in to solve all their problems and salve all their hurts too vigorously, don’t we take away their power?

About the Author: Rhonda Hess co-authored the Coach Training AcceleratorTM and designed the CTA Certified Coach Program. She has a super power for helping coaches choose and champion a profitable niche they’ll love. Learn more at Prosperous Coach. 

If Information Was Enough…

If information was enough…we would all exercise every day, eat mostly vegetables, be thin, and have a lot of money saved up for the future.  And a lot of librarians would be billionaires.

So why does proven evidence not change our beliefs and behaviors? 

Facts as well as beliefs are anatomical realities in our brains.  You don’t create a change by suddenly introducing a new idea and expect it to overwrite the one that’s already there.  Facts and logic are not powerful tools to alter opinions.  Data is not a way to change minds.  It is simply not how we decide. Established beliefs are extremely resistant to change, even when scientific evidence disproves those beliefs.

People do regard information as valid evidence when it reinforces their existing views.  This is how arguments more staunchly solidify an original position.  Presenting someone with information that contradicts an opinion causes that person to generate new counterarguments to further strengthen their view.  The boomerang effect.  As a result, people grow more confident in their initial convictions, and use information to further polarize opinions such as abortion, gun control, and climate change to name a few.

We quickly accept evidence that confirms our preconceived notions, and we assess counterevidence with a critical, even disbelieving eye.  We then cherry pick information to fortify our beliefs, without even being consciously aware of it.  In fact, recent studies have shown that the more intelligent people are, the greater their ability to creatively rationalize and interpret information to fit their opinions.  They use their intelligence not to examine data or to draw more accurate conclusions, but to find fault in data that they already disbelieve.  The mind’s desire for continuity and certainty, coupled with activating the brain’s error detection mechanism with new and unexpected information, both contribute to the continuity of existing belief.

So what can we do to catalyze change?

Neuroscience research supports what parents of teenagers have known for centuries—and regularly disregard.  The first words spoken trigger a neurochemical reaction in the listener to boot up a specific mindset that then processes the remainder of the conversation. A conversation that begins with remarks perceived as authoritative, critical, or adversarial activates the brain’s defensive circuitry of self-protection. A conversation that begins in a collaborative mode activates oxytocin, the brain’s neurochemical system related to bonding and connection.  This initial perception of a collaborative framework induces our desire to listen without judgment and pay full attention to the speaker. The listener feels heard and understood.

Since information is evaluated relative to pre-established beliefs, the further away any new information is from established beliefs, the more likely it will be considered invalid.  So instead of challenging a cemented belief, consider seeding a new one.

Instead of contradicting existing beliefs to prove someone wrong, a collaborative model builds common ground and has more potential to persuade. To elicit change with success, identify the existing belief, common motivation, and common goals.

DAVID KRUEGER, M.D., Dean of Curriculum and Mentor Coach at Coach Training Alliance, is an Executive Mentor Coach who works with executives and professionals to develop and sustain success strategies. A former Professor, Psychiatrist, and Psychoanalyst, his coaching and writing focus on the art and science of success strategies: mind over matters. 

Dave is author of 17 books on success, money, wellness and self-development. His latest book, The Secret Language of Money(McGraw Hill), is a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages.

10 Powerful Questions to Enroll Coaching Clients Every Time

The secret to enrolling more coaching clients is surprising. Don’t coach them in the discovery session. Many coaches find their prospective clients walk away from a sample coaching session feeling “done”.

It may be because a sample session is oriented around selling coaching rather than attracting the individual to what they already know they want — the vision of their ideal future.

If you want to transform your ability to enroll new clients, engage them in their own story and vision. Help them feel the gap between where they are now and where they want to be. Then tell them how you can help them close that gap.

It’s easy. Take these steps in order:

1.  Make a connection and set up your conversation for success. “I’m really excited to connect with you today. Is it all right if I ask you some interesting and meaningful questions about your ________ (life, business, health etc)?”
2.  Get a quick snapshot of where they are now. “Tell me a bit about your __________ right now.”
3. Uncover what they want most. “If you could have everything you want in your _______ in the next 6 months, what would that look and feel like.” Draw the details out in full color.
4.  Help them connect emotionally to their vision. “What would _______ (achieving this specific dream/goal) do for you?” “And what else?” “And what else?” “How important would you say this is to you on a scale of 1 – 10?”
5.  Ask them to list their challenges or obstacles. “What’s stopping you from having this _______?” “And, what else?” “And what else?” Resist the impulse to coach them!
6.  Help them realize the cost of living with the status quo. “What has it cost you not having ______?” “What impact has that had on you?”
7.  Show them the bigger why. “If you could overcome _______ (specific obstacle mentioned) what would that do for you?” “And what else?”
8.  Gather the gems. “What have you taken away from our conversation so far?”
9.  Invite them in. “Are you ready to hear how I can help you achieve _________(their specific dreams and goals)?” Share your “system”, share your fees & terms, weave in benefits of working with you and success stories.
10.  Create a sense of urgency. “Are you excited? Let’s get started.” Give them an appropriate first assignment that’s simple and powerful. Tell them what the next steps are. Follow up immediately with your Welcome Packet.

If by the end of these questions they haven’t gotten to “YES!” yet, coach through their objections. If they say… “I need time to think about it.” … honor that. “What do you need from me to know if this is right for you?” Set up a follow up call in a short time. Review in a follow up email what they shared with you about what they want and connect your services to those outcomes.

Give this a try and let me know how it works for you. I’ve heard from so many coaches that this approach frees them up from trying to convince prospects how great coaching is. And when you’re not trying to convince anyone to hire you, you’ll find it’s easier to be genuinely curious about them and open to outcome rather than attached to a certain result. Energetically, that alone, can turn the tide.

About the Author: Rhonda Hess co-authored the Coach Training Accelerator™ and designed the CTA Certified Coach Program. She has a super power for helping coaches choose and champion a profitable niche they’ll love. Learn more at Prosperous Coach.

Make it The Client’s Idea

There will be times when you are called upon, by your client, to deliver great advice. Your client looks to you to be the strong mentor who has been in the shoes in which they are now walking.
This is such a tempting situation. You know exactly what needs to be done and what needs to be said to remedy the problem. You can’t wait to share your brilliant ideas.
Resist!

Resist the urge give advice, first. Notice the times when you had a sound idea and good advice only to find the person you shared it with never did anything about it. Even if you know the answer, let your client say it. Give them time to work with a situation first before you automatically jump in. Even if you plant the seed for a great plan, let your client ‘come up with the idea.’
Once a person verbalizes an idea, it begins to take shape in their minds and becomes real. It is the savvy coach who lets solutions come out of the client’s mouth. You just may discover how quick they are to move on it.

Just an idea…

Will Craig is the founder and dean of Coach Training Alliance, an international coaching and mentoring company based in Boulder, Colorado. He holds a Masters degree in Education and Human Development from The George Washington University.

6 Easy Copy Writing Tips for Coaches

6 Easy Copy Writing Tips for Coaches

by Rhonda Hess |  Print

Author: Rhonda Hess co-authored the Coach Training AcceleratorTM and designed the CTA Certified Coach Program. She has a super power for helping coaches choose and champion a profitable niche they’ll love. Learn more at Prosperous Coach.

Emotional Intelligence in Your Practice

Chances are you’re familiar with emotional intelligence. It burst on the international scene in 1995 with the publication of Daniel Goleman’s bestselling book (Emotional Intelligence), and has become the fastest-growing area of life and executive coaching today.

Coaches who offer emotional intelligence coaching:
– distinguish themselves from other coaches;
– help their clients accelerate their success and achieve bigger goals;
– gain a reputation for outstanding coaching and exceptional results;
– expand their coaching practices significantly;
– reap substantially higher financial benefits by offering more comprehensive, higher-level services

As coaches, we see again and again that it’s not how book smart our clients are that makes the difference; it’s how people smart they are.
Emotional intelligence is about becoming aware of our own emotions, in the moment, and the emotions of others, and using that information to manage ourselves and our relationships with others. Emotional Intelligence Coaching offers a comprehensive set of coaching skills and tools that provide a natural extension to life, executive and corporate coaching.

While cognitive intelligence (measured as IQ) is set at birth, research shows that emotional intelligence (measured as EQ) can be learned. What’s more, the research shows the best way to enhance emotional intelligence is to work with a coach.

Coaching tools are now available to support coaches in coaching emotional intelligence. Furthermore, EI can be measured, making it possible for coaches to help their clients identify their strengths and vulnerabilities, and pull together a comprehensive coaching program and development plan that will lead to accelerated client success in life and work.

I strongly encourage you to incorporate emotional intelligence coaching into your practice. You will be impressed with the positive results it produces for your clients (and for yourself!).

Dr. Laura Belsten is Dean of the Graduate School of Coaching, a Master Certified Coach (MCC) and a national leader in the field of Emotional Intelligence. 

The Coaching Business Backslide: How to Get Out of Your Own Way

You’ve invested a lot of time, money and passion to become a professional coach. No doubt, you’ve already made a difference in people’s lives.

But that initial push to learn how to coach and build your business foundation can quickly turn into disillusionment if paying clients don’t beat a path to your door at the get-go.

Impatience slows manifestation. Is it time to get out of your own way?

After 16 years of mentoring, I witness 3 main ways that coaches get in the way of their own success at this stage:

1. Allowing doubts to crush momentum after a few coaching prospect rejections.
   
2. Hiding behind the computer, constantly repositioning their niche, website and messages.
3. Becoming paralyzed, afraid to get out there consistently to build trust and enroll clients.

Sound familiar? Here are 3 ways to think differently about your blossoming business …

Check Your Expectations

Expectation is a possibility killer because it lacks the most essential ingredient of possibility thinking – being open to outcome.

Words to live by: Happiness is low expectations. The idea isn’t to settle for less or shut down when challenged.

The idea is to BELIEVE in the journey. Set goals and create a vision. Then, make it happen with courage and grit. After all, isn’t that how you’d coach your clients?

That’s why self-made entrepreneurs are so celebrated. They believed and persevered.

But, if you ask them, they’ll tell you of delays, unexpected challenges and learning from mistakes … many mistakes.

There’s a lot of rhetoric out there that might make you think any coach can and should become an instant phenom.

But, if you pause for a moment, you’ll see that the people selling that message are working very hard at their own success. They’ve got a profitable niche, smart messaging, conversion processes, clear offers, and a team working with them to build their own little empires one day at a time.

Like every other entrepreneur, they built their empire on delays, unexpected challenges and learning from mistakes.

Give Yourself the Gift of Momentum

Consistency + congruence = leverage.

Leverage rocks! After 18 months of consistently blogging to my audience with a congruent message, I started enrolling clients from Google searches! I earned more with less effort.

One day – when you’re not tapping your foot with expectation – your efforts will arrive at a critical mass and something unexpected and wonderful will happen that takes your business to the next level.

Faithfully nurture your reputation and show up consistently.

Look at it this way …

If you get a cavity in a tooth, you wouldn’t stop brushing your teeth would you? You’d improve your habits. Maybe even become an avid flosser.

If your child falls while trying to walk do you encourage her to stay down and give up? No way. You let her fall on her bum and show her how to get back up.

So get out there every day with enthusiasm for your message, your value and your offer. Enjoy people. Even if they don’t hire you … right away.

Your ideal coaching clients are out there. Keep waving your arms so they can see you.

Yes, there are ways to get attention more quickly and enroll clients more easily at higher fees. It takes congruence – connecting the dots between your audience’s desires, your message and offers. It’s an art. I can help you with that.

Timing Does Matter

Sometimes, you begin to build your coaching business but there’s not enough room in your life to bring it fully into reality.

If you’re gainfully employed or have a family you’re caring for full time, there’s often not enough drive left to stay the course and grow your coaching business into a thriving livelihood.

Your options? Create a transition plan, clear space and redouble your efforts. Or, put your business to the side until you’re willing to take that leap. No shame.

But if you want it now, shrug off doubt and expectation, and aim for leverage!

Author, Rhonda Hess, co-authored the Coach Training Accelerator and designed the CTA Certified Coach Program. She has a super power for helping coaches choose and champion a profitable niche they’ll love. Learn more at Prosperous Coach.

Credibility and Professionalism

How important are credentials? Do your clients expect you to be a certified coach? Will being certified make you a better coach? Will you need to be licensed at some point? These are all valid questions and each will generate a variety of responses depending on whom you ask.

The Reality
Rarely, if ever, will a prospect ask you if you are certified or where you received your training. What they are most interested in is what you can do for them. What benefits can you provide them? Can you help them achieve their goals?

Rightly or wrongly people assume you are qualified at what you do. Think about it… When was the last time you asked a professional service provider where they went to school?

More Reality
Here’s what’s also true: With the ability for anyone to hang out their shingle and call themselves a coach, there’s an opportunity for the ‘less than genuine’ types to hurt the profession. Of course, a coach without integrity and honesty won’t be around long.

Your Reality
A piece of paper won’t make you a better coach. The process of becoming certified, however, can enhance your skills and hone your abilities to a higher level. Certification is only achieved through a combination of training and coaching as a professional. Ultimately, it will add to your credibility and self-confidence.

After hearing all sides of the issues—the benefits and disadvantages, the pros and cons—it comes down to a personal decision. What’s best for you? Is it something you want to aspire to in the future? Or, is this something you need to pursue right now? It’s your call, coach.

Author Will Craig is the founder of Coach Training Alliance and invites you to look at our Certified Coach Program.

Your Brand, Your Promise

What’s your promise?  

The answer: Your brand. 

Your brand is an organizer for everything you do, for every connection with potential clients and readers, including website, blog, articles. Your brand triggers meaning and connections; it carries its own value. Brand awareness is the link in the consumer’s brain between the brand name and certain associations about the product or service.

What’s the opposite of a brand?  

The answer: Generic.  

Our clients – and potential clients – consciously and unconsciously take notes on how we brand and value ourselves, charge what we’re worth, and handle the business of coaching. How we handle this will determine if we have clients, and how successful we – and they – will be.

Brand, value, fees, and best practices constitute four of the greatest challenges for the business aspects for Professional Coaches. And it is crucial to present a model of professionalism as we work with clients and in every aspect of our business.

Neuroeconomic studies show that we make purchase decisions at the midbrain level due to the psychological impact and associations we have to a brand. These midbrain preferences and decisions occur seconds before the choice and action registers in the logical brain – the prefrontal cortex. Once your unconscious mind makes an emotional commitment to a “yes” or a “no” it sends the conscious mind on the mission to gather all the logical reasons to support that decision. This rationalization is called confirmation bias.

Whoever has the best story wins. Storytelling excellence is not something you just pick up along the way. It is an art, a craft, and a discipline to be mastered.

DAVID KRUEGER, M.D., Dean of Curriculum and Mentor Coach at Coach Training Alliance, is an Executive Mentor Coach who works with executives and professionals to develop and sustain success strategies. A former Professor, Psychiatrist, and Psychoanalyst, his coaching and writing focus on the art and science of success strategies: mind over matters. 

Dave is author of 17 books on success, money, wellness and self-development. His latest book, The Secret Language of Money(McGraw Hill), is a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages.

Upcoming Classes:

The Nuts & Bolts of Authoring Your First Book with David Krueger, MD

This course is designed specifically for coaches wanting to write their first book. It is also ideal for those who have started a book but haven’t quite been able to finish it. The secret is in the system. Telling and Selling Your Story can be simple if you follow the right path.

Dr. David Krueger’s latest program, the Nuts & Bolts of Authoring Your First Book, uses materials and resources he has designed especially for the first time author.

This four part Teleseminar begins on Monday, April 9th, at 7pm ET. Class size is limited so don’t wait to sign up for this fascinating and comprehensive program!

Like Minded People Create Magic

What does it mean to live in a time of anticipation? I am sure you have seen a “MAGIC” show either in person or on television and there is a moment when you are leaning forward in your seat in anticipation of catching the magician in the act of creating that magic trick, haven’t you? I know I sure do. I remember when a magician came to my elementary school and he actually sawed a teacher in half!….well, not really, but to my young eyes, he sure did.

For those of you in business, you often meet with your finance people and do a cost-benefit analysis and what you find out will either bring a smile or alarm bells will sound. Being strategic is vital in business and too in our personal lives. Here is a principle which governs this; to anticipate doing significant acts, you must position yourself to immediately take action. When taken to the extreme, a person can burn out, due to the fact that they are always in “fire-fighting” mode vs, positioning themselves to take the action required to correct course, or solve a challenge. Being on the front lines as a fire-fighter is exhausting and yields poor results.

When we live in a healthy state of anticipation we are more aware of the value of Today. You understand that every day is your time to make a difference.

Anticipation prompts us to prepare. Living and being in this state causes us to look at everything differently. And the end result of this is we prepare differently. A friend of mine chooses “one word” that will be their focus for an entire year. This process usually begins between Christmas and New Year. Once the word is chosen an interesting thing begins to happen: lessons and experiences begin to occur revolving around that word. Growth happens, and perspective changes because the word brings certain attitudes, opportunities, and provides a personal catalyst in this person’s professional and personal life. I challenge you to think of one word to focus on this month.

Good ideas are a result of healthy anticipation. Did you know that if you come up with an idea and you believe you are the only person on earth who thought of it; you would be dead wrong! Millions of people come up with the same ideas every day around the world. Those who A-C-T on their idea are the ones who are successful.

Anticipation helps us to have an abundance mindset and to help others. Anticipation is the key to unlocking the door to abundance thinking. When we believe positively about what is behind that door of opportunity we will be more willing to open additional doors. With each door we open, we continue to move forward.

Unfortunately, the majority of the world is set firmly in “scarcity” mindset, and work in a j-o-b, and live for Friday and their next paycheck. As a result they never open that first door and become bitter individuals.

If you want to make a difference and to open the door to significance, you must first ANTICIPATE!

Reprinted from Janice Bastani’s Coaching Blog – https://www.janicebastanicoaching.com/articles/blog-posts/

Author: Janice Bastani is a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation and holds multiple certifications in the coaching sector.

Connecting with Like Minded People who Make a Difference

Did you know that it is impossible to achieve significance alone? The “Law of Significance” states that one person is too small a number to achieve any type of greatness.

For those who do try to make a difference and achieve significance on their own, are fooling themselves. Why? A big ego, their own level of insecurity, their temperament, or even their naiveté.

Simply put, we all need other people to make a difference and achieve significance.

In order to go from “me” to “we”, a shift in thinking must occur. Throughout human history there inevitably comes a moment when leaders must step forward to meet the needs of that moment in time.

There are 9 factors which attract people of significance to one another.

1. Opportunity – significance acts almost always in a response to opportunities.
Ask this question: “What opportunity do you see right now to make a difference?”

2. Belief – Believe and ask for others to be placed in your path who desire what you do.
Ask this question: “Do you believe people are coming to you to help you make a difference?’

3. Possibility – possibilities involve sacrifice of something, in order to achieve something else.
Ask this question: ”What are you willing to give up to make a difference?”

4. Faith – Fear is the most prevalent reason why people stop. Faith is what makes people start.
Ask this question: “Is my faith bigger than my fear?”

5. Challenge – There are no really “great people”, what there are, are people who are willing to tackle the challenge before them.
Ask this question:”Are you challenged to stretch to significance?”

6. Attitude – Our attitude must be one of not losing hope in order to achieve significance.
Ask this question: “Is you attitude an asset or a liability?”

7. Winning – Starts with putting on shoes which are too big for you and as you take one step at a time, you grow into those shoes, and before long you and your team will be winners.
Ask this question: “Are you connecting with winners to achieve significance?”

8. Promise – You have heard the saying that: “…if you dream it, you can achieve it…?” This is not entirely true. A dream requires a partner; called: commitment.
Ask this question: “Have you committed to a path with great promise for you and for others?”

9. Invitation – Who you connect with matters in getting to the goal, the dream which brings significance. So you might say it is “Who Luck”. Who are you going to invite to your team.
Ask this question: “Are you ready to start inviting others to join you in living a life that matters?”

Reprinted from Janice Bastani’s Coaching Blog – https://www.janicebastanicoaching.com/articles/blog-posts/

Author: Janice Bastani is a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coach Federation and holds multiple certifications in the coaching sector.

Self-Talk: The Silent Story of Optimal Performance

A study of Olympian gold medalists found two traits, in addition to deliberate practice, that set super achievers apart:  complete confidence, combined with self-talk to create that total confidence.

We always engage in self-talk, always ask questions, whether or not we are actually conscious of this process.  More often we focus on a problem to fix rather than attune to self-reflection.

Many studies show that self-talk can enhance performance.  To be most effective, self-talk must be brief, specific, and focused.  A simple phrase or mantra can be wired to instantly evoke a state of mind ideally matched for a task at hand.  One All-Pro cornerback I worked with uses a single word after every play to reboot a focused, performance mindset: “Reset.”  This simple word cues an entire process preprogrammed to ground and center himself in an optimum state, to focus energy entirely on the next play.  Football is episodic, a play followed by a time interval, rather than a flow such as basketball and tennis.  The most common reason that someone moves from the flow of an optimum state is a really good play or a really bad play, both of which are state altering.

We are just beginning to study and understand the functions of our inner talk and story.  The (usually) silent self-talk we engage can be self-regulatory with reflective mental dialogue.

In a related application, persuasion neuroscience studies have shown that a message itself is not directly responsible for change.  It’s what the recipient says to himself or herself as a result of the message—the self-talk—that is both remembered and acted on to make the most difference.

A variation of self-talk involves an internal dialogue of conversational exchange, which activates the same brain areas as actual conversation and attunement to another.  Since it requires thinking about the other person’s experience and point of view, an imagined dialogue can enhance empathic resonance with another, including alternate ways of thinking and feeling.

The stories we tell ourselves – our self-talk of internal conversation – often frame our experiences to either enhance or compromise them.  The most resilient individuals are ones who create self-talk to reframe a failure as an anomaly and a learning experience.  A message such as “I’m not that good at technology” reframed is: “What is one action I can do today that can start progress?”  “I’m just an average tennis player” reframed is “What part of my game will I focus on today for improvement?”

The reason you can’t get what you want is the story you create about why you can’t have it.

Reprinted from the NeuroMentor® Blog Series by David Krueger, MD at www.MentorPath.com

DAVID KRUEGER, M.D., Dean of Curriculum and Mentor Coach at Coach Training Alliance, is an Executive Mentor Coach who works with executives and professionals to develop and sustain success strategies. A former Professor, Psychiatrist, and Psychoanalyst, his coaching and writing focus on the art and science of success strategies: mind over matters. He founded and served as CEO for two healthcare corporations, co-founded a third start-up that went from venture capital to merger/acquisition.

Dave is author of 17 books on success, money, wellness and self-development. His latest book, The Secret Language of Money(McGraw Hill), is a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages.

Living a Purpose Driven Life

Are you living your life the way you want to? Do you love the life you are living? If you live your life in an intentional, purposeful way, you control how you want to live and feel, every moment of every day.

A purpose driven life requires that you have:
A positive vision for your life, focused on living your life purpose;
Core beliefs and a values system, which guide your decisions and behaviours;
A personal code of ethics, where values are transformed into deliberate actions;
Integrity, where deliberate actions are consistently aligned to your values system;
A Mission Statement and policies for living your best, values-based, purposeful life;
The desire to make the world a better place for all now, and for generations to come;
The ability to be mindful of your surroundings, living fully present, in each moment, expressing gratitude for all that you are, have and do, deeply engaged in the beauty and joy of living.

The secret to living an intentional, purposeful life lies in knowing yourself, and in creating those tools that will keep you on track, living with joy. It’s important that they be written down, and reviewed regularly, incorporated into daily schedules, plans, and actions. That includes focus on legacy – the footprint that you will leave in this world. Will your footprint be shallow, one that fades into oblivion, after a brief time, or will it be an imprint that impacts positively on the world, lasting across generations?

As coaches, we want to help others, to be of service to others. We work with clients to enhance the quality of their lives. How often do we examine our own lives, to ensure that we are living purposefully, with intention, guided by written vision, values, ethics, and goals? How often do we stop to consider the legacy we want to leave to our children, grandchildren, and others in the world, for future generations? What would happen if we invite our clients to live purposeful lives and leave powerful legacies? Wouldn’t a world of people living on purpose, with the intention of loving life, be an incredible legacy?

Author – Nan Einarson is a Mentor Coach and Trainer for CTA’s Certified Coach Program. She is an experienced veteran of coaching and author of the Do It Yourself Relationship Repair Guide.

8 Ways to Continue Learning after Education Is Over

by David Krueger, MD

When I coach executives and self employed business people to develop their success skills, they come to know themselves and others better. As they have worked to learn human dynamics, they have used the following strategies to enhance their growth and continue their education.

• Schedule time for learning.
  You have to carve out time for yourself to engage in continuing education, just as you would set aside time for a business appointment or for working out. I am often asked, “When do you find time to write?” The answer, of course, is that I never find time to write. I reserve time to write. Learn with (and about) your partner. My wife and I do “Seminar” each evening at 9:00, during which we read and discuss, on a rotating basis, what we have selected as some of the great philosophical literature of all time it generates some of our best business strategies.
• Study psychology.
  The science of human behavior, especially irrational business behavior, garnered a Noble Prize (Daniel Kahneman for psychological insights into behavioral economics). Since our emotions rule our minds, study the emotional aspects of business. People create narratives of self-statement according to their assumptions, since brain and emotions are both programmed to ignore facts that contradict beliefs.
• Study fields unrelated to your own.
  Some of the most promising creative innovations will come from the synthesis and integration of divergent fields of existing knowledge. For example, neuroscience maps the brain to tell us which marketing efforts best capture consumer attention and determine emotionally based decisions. My previous work as a Psychoanalyst helps me apply money psychology in various settings; awareness of different personality styles can resolve conflict and enhance effectiveness.
• Learn to listen empathically.
  Empathy involves understanding another’s experience, feeling, logic, point of view, and way of thinking. Our best continuing education will come from empathic listening, one person at a time, to loved ones as well as those within our professional orbit: colleagues, clients, and competitors.
• Learn to tell a story with brevity, clarity, simplicity, and humanity.
  All business is conversation. Stories sell. Facts don’t. People buy stories. A stockbroker knows that when a client buys a stock, they are buying a story. Toastmasters offer a wonderful opportunity to develop storytelling. Everyone loves to hear a good story.
• Learn from your clients’ stories.
  Rather than trying to sell or network, ask powerful questions to elicit points of view, opinions, and ideas. When you really hear their accomplishments and meaningful experiences, you will be in a more informed place to co-create new stories with your clients.
• Apply self awareness.
  Developing your self awareness and effectiveness is the most powerful tool you have. The awareness of instincts, intuition, and emotional intelligence often has far greater impact than facts and logic.
• Seek a mentor.
  Yoda is booked solid, but other sources of wisdom are yours for the asking, eavesdropping, or hiring. Mentors can guide your development of self awareness, strategically address what’s next, how to get there, and how to succeed at what happens after what happens next. An Executive or Mentor Coach can collaborate as you write the next chapter in your life or business story.

Reprinted from the NeuroMentor® Blog Series by David Krueger, MD at www.MentorPath.com

Dr Dave’s Coaching Classes with Coach Training Alliance:

Certified Coach Program

Mentor Leadership Program

New Life Story™ Coach Training and Licensing Workshop

Nuts & Bolts of A Branded Coaching Business

Nuts & Bolts of Coaching Money Mastery

Nuts & Bolts of Mind and Brain Coaching Mastery

Nuts and Bolts of Authoring Your First Book

The Art & Science of Coaching Professionals

The Art & Science of Coaching Transitions

The Art & Science of Coaching Wellness

3 Simple and Loving Behaviors

Honor and respect your partner’s feelings as if they are your own.

Feelings are the barometer of our outside existential lives. Feelings let us know how things are going for us inside ourselves. They are not good or bad; helpful or not helpful; constructive or not so constructive. Feelings exist because they do, in and of themselves.

We cannot choose to change, modify, not feel, or otherwise positively or negatively impact or affect our feelings. The only choices we have are directly related to our behavior.

Feelings are as normal as hunger and fatigue. When we dismiss, diminish, ridicule, criticize, mock, belittle, disparage or demean anyone’s feelings we are acting in the most disrespectful and unloving way.

When your Honey expresses a feeling, consider hearing the feeling as a sacred offering. Be curious and compassionate.
Remember: It is not your job to fix anything. She or he is not broken. Don’t get distracted by the content of the event. It isn’t necessary to offer insights, suggestions, give answers or otherwise provide brilliant advice or express profound guidance.

Here are 3 Simple and Loving Behaviors to remember and use:
1. Listen with your heart.
2. Tell your partner that he or she matters to you and that his or her feelings are important to you.
3. Ask if there is anything you can do or say right now that would be helpful.

Believe that your presence and your caring go a long way to soothe hurt and upset hearts. Take a deep breath. Remind yourself to stay in the moment with the feeling(s). Trust that the 3 Simple and Loving Behaviors are enough!

Try it and let me know how it goes! Remember, only YOU can make it happen.

Author Dr. Jackie Black is a mentor coach and trainer for Coach Training Alliance and author of the Sage and Scholar’s Guide to Coaching Couples. Find out about Dr. Jackie’s upcoming classes here: https://www.coachtrainingalliance.com/upcoming-classes/

This is Possible

Where will you be in five years? This is a question for you to answer as well as one to put before your clients. Chances are you’ve already dropped into Possibility Thinking. This is good.

One of the distinct gifts of being human is our ability to create our own destiny. Isn’t it surprising how many people never accept this gift or just give it away, making someone else responsible for it?

Think about what can be done in five years. Better yet, think about where you were and what you were doing in 2009. This is always fun. Look at what has changed since then. Most likely, a lot. Were you even aware, for example, the profession of coaching existed?

Question. What are you thinking about doing right now that might take some time to come to fruition? Are you working on a degree or certification? Are you considering taking a course that would improve your coaching practice but would require time to complete?

Here’s the bottom line. The future is coming and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Your goals may take some work. Worthy goals usually do. You can either take action now; accomplish these goals and enjoy the rewards -or- you can still be putting them off, five years from now, because they take too long to achieve.

You get to decide — right now — where you want to be. Dream of the possibilities. Set the intention. If you could have it anyway you wanted, what would it be? What would it sound like, smell like, look like and feel like? Listen to your intuition. Breath it in. Envision your future. Embrace the moment.

Now, go out and make it happen. Make it happen for your family, make it happen for your clients, and –most of all– make it happen for you. It’s your destiny. Create it and it will come.

Author Will Craig is the Founder of Coach Training Alliance and holds a Masters Degree in Education and Human Development. He is co-author of the #1 best-selling coaching home study course – the Coach Training Accelerator. www.willcraig.com

Will Craig travels the world researching and documenting the subtleties and nuances of a life well lived. Will’s passion is creating dynamic stories using engaging content and captured moments. A select number of his travel photos can be seen at National Geographic and the full collection here.

As an avid explorer, the odyssey that fascinates him the most is the inner journey. In Will’s current book, Living the Hero’s Journey: Your Role in the Action Adventure of a Lifetime, readers uncover the map of self-discovery, chart their true course, and return with the Elixir of Life.

Will is the founder and former dean of Coach Training Alliance, an international coaching and mentoring company based in Boulder, Colorado. He holds a master’s degree in education and human development from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Will has worked with entertainment giants like the Walt Disney Company, Up with People, and Universal Studios. For twelve years, he was a writer-producer of film and television projects in Orlando and served as president of the Florida Motion Picture & Television Association.

Coaching Success Strategies

Coach Training Alliance Launches Online “Coach Training Accelerator™”

Jan. 13, 2016 – PRLog — Fort Collins, Colorado – January 13, 2016 – Coach Training Alliance (CTA), the market leader in providing accredited coaching tele-classes, continues to expand and deliver with the launch of their new online self-study classroom for the pioneer product and best-seller – the Coach Training Accelerator™.

“For fifteen years we have offered industry-leading curriculum in both self-study and mentor-guided formats,” said Chris Osborn, CEO of CTA. The Coach Training Accelerator™ has sold tens of thousands of copies in it’s CD-rom format and launched amazing coaching careers. Our graduate community is filled with some of the industry’s most successful and renown coaches. While we’ve meticulously updated and revised the Accelerator over time to keep the curriculum at the forefront of the industry, we have never really ‘shifted’ it into the online world.”

The new format will offer you to create your own vape juice anywhere, anytime online, and continues to maintain all the exclusive learning methodologies and trademarked systems for creating “Teachable Moments”, using the Circle of Learning™ and the Four Pillars of Wisdom™. CTA is steadfast in the belief that lifelong learning is the only sustainable competitive advantage, and by offering this curriculum in a private online classroom, a wider audience of online users will be able to maintain competitive advantage in a rapidly-growing industry.

About Chris Osborn

Chris Osborn is the Chief Executive Officer of Coach Training Alliance. Osborn is a serial entrepreneur, executive and executive coach. His passion lies in growing businesses that aid in personal growth or business expansion of others. He has been widely recognized for his ability to lead change through organizational growth and strategic planning.

He currently serves as both a board member and in executive capacities of numerous organizations in the corporate and not-for-profit worlds. His experience varies widely from distance education and healthcare from this effective weight loss program by healthysa to e-commerce and financial services.

He periodically authors material for the Coaching Compass and is the visionary and co-author behind the Human Capital Accelerator™. Osborn is licensed as an Opposite Strengths® Executive Coach as well as a New Money Story Coach. He is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and the University of California at Berkeley.

About Coach Training Alliance

Coach Training Alliance is a pioneer in global coaching certifications, having trained and certified thousands of professional coaches with ICF Credential certified coach programs. CTA’s faculty is second to none in passion and real-world coach business building experience, with each faculty member having been with CTA for a minimum of 7 years. CTA has a network of 9,000 alumni in 13 countries with numerous alumni support and business building opportunities.

Speaking of alliances, we are now collaborating with Dr. Andres Bustillo to expand our services. We are now targeting worldwide.

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Professional Coaching May Not Need Selling But Don’t Forget the Sales

In my experience, new coaches struggle with the concept of selling. Most of my coach certification students have had a lot of experience with giving away their coaching services free of charge – they have been the “go-to” person to whom family, friends, colleagues, even strangers have been drawn, to tell their stories and share their struggles. It’s because coaches’ natural gifts for effective listening and empathy leave people feeling fully “heard” and understood. People rarely get to experience that feeling, and are so grateful to experience it, they keep coming back for more.

The coach-client relationship is very special and feels magical, for both client and coach. New coaches want everyone to have access to that co-creative coaching experience. They find it extremely hard to charge people to share that experience with them. It takes some time for them to put a value on the benefits of coaching to the client, and recognize that we pay for everything in our lives, especially those things that we value highly.

Everyone has some natural talent. Some are athletic, some academic, some artistic. I liken coaches seeking to create coaching businesses to people with other gifts – figure skaters, ball players, singers, comics, etc. They hone their skills as amateurs, giving away their gifts free of charge, until they decide to go “pro.” Once they announce their new status as “professionals”, they begin to charge and collect fees for their gifts and services. Coaches are no different.

I believe that coaches in their new businesses are “professional coaches”, regardless of their certification status. As such, they must determine their value, set their fees, create a brand, choose their niche and their marketing strategies, and be ready to conduct sales conversations with prospective customers.

There is a difference between marketing and sales. Marketing is the message that attracts prospective clients to a business. Selling is not about pushing a product or service onto someone that they don’t want, it’s about saving or rescuing them from a situation that is frustrating and painful for them.

Once connected, a relationship develops between coach and prospective client, and if good, the coach must help the prospect understand the benefits and value of coaching, the fees and fee structure of the coach’s business, and what must happen for the prospect to be able to have coaching as part of their investment in themselves, by enhancing their quality of life now and for their future.

Author: Nan Einarson, CTA Mentor Coach

Intellectual Property

by Dr. Jackie Black

Intellectual Property (IP) is just a fancy way to identify your good ideas that would be helpful and valuable to others.

And BusinessDictionary.com explains that IP is documented or undocumented knowledge, creative ideas, or expressions of human mind that have commercial (monetary) value, are protectable under copyright laws from infringement, and is one of the most readily tradable properties in the internet (digital) marketplace.

Coaching is a seamless process and as such, that means it is all about your clients; and there really isn’t very much room for you to bring your good ideas, sage advice or offer helpful how-to’s.

That’s where your IP comes in!

When you learn how to identify your IP, you can literally spin one good idea (IP) into thousands of dollars of leveraged income! How is that possible, you ask? Because you will take that one good idea (your IP), repurpose it (develop a variety of products and services based on that one good idea) and monetize it, which means make lots of money!

Intellectual Property is valuable because it represents your ownership and your exclusive right to use, manufacture, reproduce, or promote your unique creation or idea. In this way, it has the potential to be one of the most valuable assets a person or a small business can own.

It is the obligation of every entrepreneur to leverage what you know by creating a whole variety of products and services based on your IP, at a number of different price points, while delivering non-stop value to your target market, and earning thousands of dollars by doing it!

The need for entrepreneurs to understand that you do NOT have to reinvent the wheel over and over and over again is essential to your long-term success and profitability.

Give strong consideration to believing that you have at least one good idea that you can spin into thousands of dollars; that you can become a subject matter expert, add massive value to those in your target. This intention produces higher fees and creates leveraged income for the long-term by repurposing and monetizing your IP!

Dr. Jackie Black, an internationally recognized relationship expert, has spent over 15 years in a corporate environment and built two successful businesses. Learn more about Jackie here: https://www.drjackieblack.com/meet-dr-jackie-black/

The Longest Relationship of Your Life

You’re writing a story that you may not know how to fully tell. It’s a very personal story with its own history and language. It’s highly visible to others but often not to you. As Loren Eiseley observed in The Unexpected Universe, “Reality has a way of hiding from even its most gifted observers.”

It’s a story that you talk about every day, think about several times a day. It is remarkably simple yet intricately complex. This story has an internal and external dialogue, a secret language, and encrypted messages.

It’s complicated because some important aspects are emotional, unspoken, and even unconscious.

This story is about the longest relationship you’ll have in your life. Your parents discussed it before you arrived; people will deliberate it after you die. Maybe you’ll get ten years out of a car, perhaps fifty with a spouse, but this story you can never stop writing or living. You can’t break up with it, run away from it, or coax into loving you more.

Even though it’s unexamined and elusive, you orient life decisions around it.

When I spoke with a well-known self-help guru, his response was, “You know, Dave, I don’t know how to tell this story to myself in order to know what to change.” You alone determine the genre: fiction or nonfiction, tragedy or triumph. The story tells most about the teller.

This story ghostwrites every aspect of your life story. From what you eat and drink, to what you plan and play. Health, recreation, stresses—even the water you drink—are all impacted. At times you’ve used this story to regulate your moods, increase self-esteem, influence others, or to soothe emotional pains.

The villain or hero is the most popular legal substance to all people of the world.

It speaks to you. You speak with it.

It’s your money story.

David Krueger, MD , is a Trainer/Mentor Coach and Dean of Curriculum at Coach Training Alliance. His latest book, The Secret Language of Money (McGraw Hill) is a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages

What Are The Benefits Of Coaching Groups?

As you know, one-on-one coaching is not the best way to leverage your time or your earning potential as a coach. Plus, in these economic times, not everyone can afford you one-on-one.

Coaching Groups is the solution – By charging less for each participant in the group you become very affordable AND you greatly increase your earnings at the same time.

Everybody wins!

When you facilitate small groups you…

• Position yourself very competitively in the marketplace;
• Create demand for your expertise;
• Deliver accessible, affordable and tremendously valuable services;
• Charge group clients less than your one-to-one clients;
• Greatly increase your own hourly earnings in the most highly profitable coaching service you can include in your mix of services.

Dr. Jackie Black shows you how to leverage your time and help more people than you ever could coaching one client at a time.

How Do You Listen?

Many people define listening as sitting quietly, while another person talks. Most are surprised to learn that listening is actually a 2-way, circular process. Effective Life Coaches understand the listening process, have mastered the techniques well, and employ effective listening skills in all of their communications.

Each of us has a personal filter through which verbal information flows. Our filters are based on our unique life experiences, education, culture, religion/spirituality, language, work/career, etc.

A speaker’s words are delivered through his/her personal filter. The listener hears those words through his/her own filter (created from their own life experiences, education, culture, etc.) In a coaching session, the Client is the speaker and the Coach is the listener.

The Client’s Words

When a client speaks, of course the coach will sit quietly and listen until the client finishes. That’s not where listening ends. That’s where the listening process begins, and the coach then has an active role to play.

After hearing and processing the client’s words, the coach formulates an interpretation of what the speaker said. It is then critical that the coach clarifies that what he/she heard was what the client intended, by voicing that interpretation in his/her own words.

In response, the client either acknowledges the accuracy of the interpretation, or re-frames/re-states the information and the process begins again, until the client and coach achieve a common understanding. Once there, the co-creative coaching relationship is fully engaged.

Whenever a coach fails to clarify his/her interpretation of the client’s words, the process breaks down. The resulting conversation will be based on assumptions, not reality, and the client has not been fully heard and understood.

Active listening is a skill and like any other skill, improves with practice. So, what’s the secret to being a Masterful Coach? Practice listening actively until it becomes habit.

Nan Einarson is a Mentor Coach and Trainer for the Certified Coach Program.

Our Life Stories

For tens of thousands of years before books and computers, we transmitted our essence and principles by story. Story linked to the past, organized the present, and illuminated the future. Story allowed us to connect with each other’s humanity in the paths crossed on the long journeys out of Africa to populate the rest of the world. Then the anatomy and physiology of our brains grew by putting thoughts and feelings into stories. Stories informed, instructed, inspired, governed, and organized.

Story is the most powerful way humans communicate. Stories give birth to possibility. Stories are a way that we resonate with our earlier selves, connect with others, and create a road map to proceed.

Our brains are wired to process information in narrative form. The narrative we construct navigates our lives.

Despite being natural storytellers, and our brains being wired for stories, some of us actually tell our stories to ourselves—to step out of our stories and figure out what they are about, how to amplify and edit. To figure out who is really writing the script. To understand why we have chosen certain roles. To reflect on the challenges that we face. To figure how we can turn circumstances into possibilities and strengths. To plan the next chapters.

People go to therapy when they are stuck on old stories and can’t figure out how to extract themselves. People come to Professional Coaches when they want to convert problems to possibilities, plan for bigger and more fulfilling future stories.

Frankly, there isn’t anyone you couldn’t learn to love once you’ve heard his or her story.
~Mr. Rogers

We each have the ability to write a new story. Whatever we think, feel, and experience is what we create each moment. And whatever you experience, you either create or accept.

By recognizing, owning, and assessing each component of our stories, we can decide what to change, map changes, and author new beliefs. We can even program the changes to transform our identities according to the new stories, to make them the default mode.

All good stories give a promise in the beginning. We invite the listener to join the campfire of the story. The implicit promise is that it will be worth our time. Once upon a time…

Author David Krueger, MD, is a Trainer/Mentor Coach and Dean of Curriculum at Coach Training Alliance. His latest book, The Secret Language of Money (McGraw Hill) is a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages.

Check out New Life Story Coaches Training® – it provides the methods, workbook, assessment tools, guides, and self-quizzes which are licensed for use by you, the New Life Story Coach®. This unique and effective system blends the insights of psychology, dynamic neuroscience, and the principles of strategic coaching.

Gratitude: Rooting Present

by Chris Osborn

I have been thrilled to see this month the gratitude movement finding voice in social media and across communities. As coaches, we know firsthand both the power and the motivation that can be found in the marriage of acceptance and gratitude.

Gratitude roots “present”. As coaches, we ask both our clients and ourselves to stay present to allow for the balanced place from which to grow. We often spend significant time both explaining and distinguishing our work from that of therapy – a practice focused on healing and exploring the past. Coaches often rightly ask, “How can a client properly explore where to grow if they don’t know where they have been?” The simplest answer is gratitude. Gratitude can be foundational in providing the healthy acceptance of what is past. It roots both what is present today and what can grow into the future.

We should not be surprised that the fall presents a time of thanksgiving. Humans have incorporated this into spiritual practices for thousands of years. Today, neuroscience is catching up. We now know that gratitude fuels and then patterns the areas of the brain that create positive emotion, minimize stress and expand perspective. Listing, disciplined acknowledgement verbally and meditation are all tools coaches may use to co-create and root the foundation of gratitude. It is upon this foundation that the client can stretch their growth, expand their lives and try new avenues of living. Gratitude during this time of expansion aids in keeping the client grounded to not only the present but to themselves.

Thank you for what you do, your desire to do, and being a part of this community.

The struggle ends when the gratitude begins. ~ Neale Donald Walsch

What are you grateful for? Use the comment field below and share with us!

High Touch Marketing

High touch marketing is an important part of promoting any invisible product, especially coaching. What is high touch marketing?

• Personal
• Direct
• Experiential
• Interactive

Looking deeper, high touch marketing is allowing the client to experience you in a personal way that builds a foundation of trust between the coach and the client. Whether you are doing relationship coaching, personal coaching, or executive coaching, building trust is a critical part of the “safe haven” that is an essential part of the coaching experience. If you have many clients then I recommend to use CRM, if you dont know what is it then salesforce.com explains what a CRM is.

According to https://placementseo.com/seo-reseller-services/, an expert in SEO consulting & coaching, when trust exists between the coach and the client, the client is more inclined to be honest and upfront in their answers to the coach’s questions. They are more likely to be open to the coach’s insights, intuitions, and suggestions. And they are more likely to respond in an honest, forthright manner when they know that they are in a safe relationship.

Count the Ways

There are a number of ways to allow potential clients to experience you in a high touch marketing way. Sample Sessions are the single best way for clients to experience you and are the perfect example of high touch marketing. But clients can also experience you over the phone, on the television or radio, and in group settings like workshops, seminars, or speaking engagements. This is important for increasing your high touch marketing strategy.

A more in-depth examination of High Touch Marketing can be found in the Coach Training Accelerator. Any time the client can make a personal connection with you, you have the chance to build a relationship and build trust. And that is the essence of high touch marketing.

Dave Meyer is a Mentor Coach and Trainer for CTA’s Certified Coach Program. He is an experienced veteran of coaching and author of The Sage and Scholar’s Guide to Coaching Assessments.

Staying Present

by Chris Osborn

Coaches often share with me the struggle of maintaining the duality of “present”. That is, the challenge of staying simultaneously present themselves as they co-creatively work to find that same state with their client. I would offer that coaches need to think about “present” differently.

In a recent yoga class, the yogi shared her view of the value of being present. This was great. Then she shared her definition of present and I became…well, challenged. Blanket statements followed. “Let go of all of your past. Do not worry or care about the future and what is expected to be done or completed.” Neither appropriate nor easy to enter debate from child’s pose, but it did prompt thought, and for that I give her thanks.

Think of being “present” as simply being aware and balanced in this moment. I like to use the analogy of the sailboat and that “present” is the keel of the boat. The keel properly insures that the force of the direction (past or future) is weighted to the base of your journey’s vehicle and that the power coming from leaning in balance against that force creates the proper, balanced energy to forge ahead on your journey. Both as a person and as a coach, great positive energy can come from turning with sail into the energy of our past or future. The key is the weighted keel – the balance of the “present” and the place from which we find the stability to harness life’s force into our progress.

Chris Osborn is the President of Coach Training Alliance. His lifelong learning includes experience as CEO of a large financial services company and founder of several growth oriented service companies.

Can a Person of Faith…

…Assimilate Law of Attraction Principles with Personal Religious Beliefs?

by Nan Einarson

Universal Law of Attraction is a proven scientific principle: Thoughts have energies – positive and negative thoughts have different energy waves. Because “like attracts like”, positive thoughts attract positives and negatives, negatives, whether or not those thoughts are expressed aloud.

Law of Attraction practitioners (often, more spiritual than religious) believe, “What you think about you bring about, what you focus on you expand and manifest”. They speak of “Universe”. When the Law works, believers say it’s because they applied the Law of Attraction successfully, with a positive focus on achieving their goal (Universe is abundant).

People of religious faith speak their name for the Deity of their beliefs. People send up prayers asking for what they want/need. When a prayer works, believers say Deity answered their prayers (Deity is generous).

When things don’t manifest as planned, one believer could attribute it to subconscious sabotage and improper application of LOA, accept their failure to work the Law properly, and give up. Another could attribute it to Deity’s plans or will, accept Deity’s plan as the final verdict, and release the dream. In both cases, that acceptance, without challenge, keeps them comfortable, and keeps them stuck.

In either situation, each believer has choices. One could interpret unexpected results as lessons, as a necessary part of the process, and continue to persevere, through positivity and focus. The other could continue to pray to Deity about next steps, and continue to persevere, through prayer and focus.

The greatest contribution to enhanced quality of life comes from a positive internal attitude – being open to outcome, gratefully accepting outcomes different from expectations (treating them as opportunities for exploration, learning and growth). And, by always believing – always knowing those dreams will be fulfilled.

Author – Nan Einarson is a Mentor Coach and Trainer for CTA’s Certified Coach Program. She is an experienced veteran of coaching and author of the Do It Yourself Relationship Repair Guide. 

Your Professional Coaching Fees

by David Krueger, MD

Fees are often one of the most challenging aspects of practice for Professional Coaches. Issues can include inexperience in setting and collecting professional fees, fear of rejection, and low perceived value of the services.

Value is both monetary and intrinsic. If we devalue our services, we devalue the results obtained with clients.

Some of the most common mistakes in setting your life coach fees:

Stating your fee without clarity and confidence. The Wharton School of Business found that for professional services, confidence was a greater factor in signing on clients than expertise, credentials, experience, and amount of the fee.

Setting life coach fees based on your peers. Most coaches have fees that are too low or outdated, may have different expertise, may not be as good as you, or may be in a different niche.

Setting fees based on not seeing yourself as an expert. We are experts at change, and specialize in choice architecture.

Determining your fee based on where you live. If you work by telephone, you have an international venue. If you have a website, a blog, or an article, then you attract clients from all over the world, specially if you use help from a web development company, you will simply have more strategies to do so.

Believing that you will not be able to help those in need if your fees are too high. Affordability is your projection onto a client. You won’t be able to help clients as much if your fees are too low. Keeping your fees low until you have more expertise, or a bestseller, or have a sufficient number of clients.

Deciding in advance that clients won’t pay. This is the coach’s money story projected onto the client. If someone says that they can’t afford you, that’s the person who most needs your services.

Over-delivering: Sessions run over; over-availability to clients; afraid to raise fees; compensating for self-doubt about value or fee.

Each of these mistakes has its own set of beliefs and behaviors. You can change any of them.

David Krueger, MD is Dean of Curriculum at Coach Training Alliance, CEO of MentorPath, and author of The Secret Language of Money (McGraw Hill), a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages.

Check out Dr. Krueger’s upcoming classes at Coach Training Alliance: https://www.coachtrainingalliance.com/upcoming-classes/

Learn More About Intellectual Property

by Dr. Jackie Black

Intellectual Property (IP) is just a fancy way to identify your good ideas that would be helpful and valuable to others.

And BusinessDictionary.com explains that IP is documented or undocumented knowledge, creative ideas, or expressions of human mind that have commercial (monetary) value, are protectable under copyright laws from infringement, and is one of the most readily tradable properties in the internet (digital) marketplace.

Coaching is a seamless process and as such, that means it is all about your clients; and there really isn’t very much room for you to bring your good ideas, sage advice or offer helpful how-to’s.

That’s where your IP comes in!

When you learn how to identify your IP, you can literally spin one good idea (IP) into thousands of dollars of leveraged income! How is that possible, you ask? Because you will take that one good idea (your IP), repurpose it (develop a variety of products and services based on that one good idea) and monetize it, which means make lots of money!

Intellectual Property is valuable because it represents your ownership and your exclusive right to use, manufacture, reproduce, or promote your unique creation or idea. In this way, it has the potential to be one of the most valuable assets a person or a small business can own.

It is the obligation of every entrepreneur to leverage what you know by creating a whole variety of products and services based on your IP, at a number of different price points, while delivering non-stop value to your target market, and earning thousands of dollars by doing it!

The need for entrepreneurs to understand that you do NOT have to reinvent the wheel over and over and over again is essential to your long-term success and profitability.

Give strong consideration to believing that you have at least one good idea that you can spin into thousands of dollars; that you can become a subject matter expert, add massive value to those in your target. This intention produces higher fees and creates leveraged income for the long-term by repurposing and monetizing your IP!

Dr. Jackie Black, an internationally recognized relationship expert, has spent over 15 years in a corporate environment and built two successful businesses.

The Nuts and Bolts of Making Money Packaging What You Know

It is essential for entrepreneurs to understand it is NOT necessary to reinvent the wheel over and over and over to be successful over the long-term and to continually assure profitability.

Now you can learn how to leverage what you already know and create a whole variety of products and services from a single idea! If your company is in need of new materials, the go to A.J. Weller, there is lots of materials you will be able to use for a while.

On May 5th, Jackie Black, Ph.D., BCC, will be holding a Nuts & Bolts Workshop for those coaches and solo-prenueurs who can no longer afford to simply deliver services to clients and who realize the importance of maximizing their opportunity to create leveraged income.

Class size is limited and filling up fast so register today!

Learn more…

Essence of Your Business

by Dave Krueger, M.D.

What’s your promise?   

The answer: Your brand.

Your brand is an organizer for everything you do, for every connection with potential clients and readers, including website, blog, articles.. Your brand triggers meaning and connections; it carries its own value. Brand awareness is the link in the consumer’s brain between the brand name and certain associations about the product or service.

What’s the opposite of a brand?   

The answer: Generic.

Our clients — and potential clients — consciously and unconsciously take notes on how we brand and value ourselves, charge what we’re worth, and handle the business of coaching. How we handle this will determine if we have clients, and how successful we—and they—will be.

Brand, value, fees, and best practices constitute four of the greatest challenges for the business aspects for Professional Coaches. And it is crucial to present a model of professionalism as we work with clients and in every aspect of our business.

Neuroeconomic studies show that we make purchase decisions at the midbrain level due to the psychological impact and associations we have to a brand. These midbrain preferences and decisions occur seconds before the choice and action registers in the logical brain—the prefrontal cortex. Once your unconscious mind makes an emotional commitment to a “yes” or a “no” it sends the conscious mind on the mission to gather all the logical reasons to support that decision. This rationalization is called confirmation bias.

Whoever has the best story wins. Storytelling excellence is not something you just pick up along the way. It is an art, a craft, and a discipline to be mastered.

David Krueger, MD is Dean of Curriculum at Coach Training Alliance, CEO of MentorPath, and author of The Secret Language of Money (McGraw Hill), a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages

Put Money in Your Pocket

by Jackie Black, Ph.D.

Did you know that there are people earning serious money just by offering teleseminars and onsite seminars? Many make hundreds of dollars in a few hours; some make thousands and others make tens of thousands of dollars in just a few hours.

TeleSeminars and on-site seminars are a wonderful way to get paid to market to prospective clients – and they can be very profitable as well.

So if you have specialized knowledge to share; and the desire to share it with an information-hungry world; AND you would like to make some money along the way; AND you would like to increase your visibility and credibility in your niche and in your community… teleseminars and on-site seminars might very well be for you!

Here’s the Formula   

Registration Fee     
+ Products you sell from the platform.
+ New business you generate just from people being able to spend a little time with you
and get to know you
= Your revenue

The seminar registration:

The total number of dollars you generate from people who attend your event –on the phone or on-site.

Product Sales:     
Sales you make at the back of the room and orders that come in at any point after the seminar. The key to success in this area is to have a variety of products to sell at different price points.

Make sure that you create products that use the variety of learning styles: some people like to read; some like to listen; others like to watch; and still others prefer to experience something.

New Business:
Expect new business to continue to come in long after the teleseminar or on-site seminar is over. That’s the good news because this business will very likely represent the highest dollar value.

Short Presentations:   
These are “talks” you give to service organizations, professional organizations and social clubs at their monthly lunch or dinner meetings. These “talks” are excellent opportunities to raise your visibility and credibility in your local community and to generate some new business as well.

Remember, people will hire you because they know you, like you and trust you!

TeleSeminars, on-site seminars and short presentations provide the perfect opportunity to accomplish just that!
Dr. Jackie Black, an internationally recognized relationship expert, has spent over 15 years in a corporate environment and built two successful businesses.

How Do You Listen?

by Nan Einarson

Many people define listening as sitting quietly, while another person talks. Most are surprised to learn that listening is actually a 2-way, circular process. Effective Life Coaches understand the listening process, have mastered the techniques well, and employ effective listening skills in all of their communications.

Each of us has a personal filter through which verbal information flows. Our filters are based on our unique life experiences, education, culture, religion/spirituality, language, work/career, etc.

A speaker’s words are delivered through his/her personal filter. The listener hears those words through his/her own filter (created from their own life experiences, education, culture, etc.) In a coaching session, the Client is the speaker and the Coach is the listener.

The Client’s Words

When a client speaks, of course the coach will sit quietly and listen until the client finishes. That’s not where listening ends. That’s where the listening process begins, and the coach then has an active role to play.

After hearing and processing the client’s words, the coach formulates an interpretation of what the speaker said. It is then critical that the coach clarifies that what he/she heard was what the client intended, by voicing that interpretation in his/her own words.

In response, the client either acknowledges the accuracy of the interpretation, or re-frames/re-states the information and the process begins again, until the client and coach achieve a common understanding. Once there, the co-creative coaching relationship is fully engaged.

Whenever a coach fails to clarify his/her interpretation of the client’s words, the process breaks down. The resulting conversation will be based on assumptions, not reality, and the client has not been fully heard and understood.

Active listening is a skill and like any other skill, improves with practice. So, what’s the secret to being a Masterful Coach? Practice listening actively until it becomes habit.

Nan Einarson is a Mentor Coach and Trainer for the Certified Coach Program.

Success Strategies for Coaching Professionals

by Dave Krueger M.D.

Coaching is only beginning to be discovered by professionals in legal, financial, medical, and architectural arenas. These practicing professionals tend to be highly and specifically trained at what they do, think rigorously and want active collaboration.

They have in common a career dedicated to a body of knowledge, with clients or patients who come to them for the sole purpose of purchasing their expertise. Their precise training solves specialized problems of medical illness, emotional struggles, legal issues or tax matters.

Coaching professionals offers unique opportunities and challenges. They can benefit from coaching to:

• Know themselves better
• Understand the dynamics of human behavior
• Pursue personal development as vigorously as they pursue professional advancement
• Transition from work ethic to performance ethic
• Emotionally and strategically manage career transitions
• Market their expertise and business

Coaching this unique brand of client requires an in-depth look at the coaching theory and application that is useful for professionals. Get inside your client’s head to catalyze change and discover the most powerful and effective secret we have as coaches.

DAVID KRUEGER, M.D., Dean of Curriculum and Mentor Coach at Coach Training Alliance, is an Executive Mentor Coach who works with executives and professionals to develop and sustain success strategies. A former Professor, Psychiatrist, and Psychoanalyst, his coaching and writing focus on the art and science of success strategies: mind over matters. 

Dave is author of 17 books on success, money, wellness and self-development. His latest book, The Secret Language of Money(McGraw Hill), is a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages.

Credibility and Professionalism

How important are credentials? Do your clients expect you to be a certified coach? Will being certified make you a better coach? Will you need to be licensed at some point? These are all valid questions and each will generate a variety of responses depending on whom you ask.

The Reality   

Rarely, if ever, will a prospect ask you if you are certified or where you received your training. What they are most interested in is what you can do for them. What benefits can you provide them? Can you help them achieve their goals? They are continuing their california center facilities for patients who no longer require the level of care dispensed by a hospital, but nevertheless requires continued care.

Rightly or wrongly people assume you are qualified at what you do. Think about it… When was the last time you asked a professional service provider where they went to school?

More Reality   

Here’s what’s also true: With the ability for anyone to hang out their shingle and call themselves a coach, there’s an opportunity for the ‘less than genuine’ types to hurt the profession. Of course, a coach without integrity and honesty won’t be around long.

Your Reality   

A piece of paper won’t make you a better coach. The process of becoming certified, however, can enhance your skills and hone your abilities to a higher level. Certification is only achieved through a combination of training and coaching as a professional. Ultimately, it will add to your credibility and self-confidence.

After hearing all sides of the issues—the benefits and disadvantages, the pros and cons—it comes down to a personal decision. What’s best for you? Is it something you want to aspire to in the future? Or, is this something you need to pursue right now? It’s your call, coach.

Will Craig is the founder of Coach Training Alliance and invites you to look at our Certified Coach Program.

Role of Coaching in 2014 Planning

Free Call January 17th at 1pm ET.

Purpose:
Help managers and employees take the first step as a coach during planning.

Sign Up Now!
Who should attend?
Managers responsible for executing organizational plans for 2014. Internal Business Partners, HR Business Partners and Talent Management Professionals who support managers or departments in meeting their strategic goals.

Format: 35 minutes, live tele-class on Wednesday January 17th at 1pm ET.
20 min presentation and 15 min Q&A.  Focus will be on creating and executing plans to achieve goals set in 2014. Managers receive quotas/expectations/sales numbers/initiatives from upper management. They must develop a plan and map out how they will reach those goals.

• What is the role of coaching in supporting leadership as they Create a Plan, Identify opportunities, Move through unexpected blocks?
• What is the role of coaching when Strategy and Plans (goals/quotas/initiatives) are handed down to employees and communicated downstream?
• How do managers coach employees towards 2014 organizational goals?

Additionally, during December performance reviews, employees typically identify personal and professional goals for 2014.

• How are personal/professional goals aligned with the organizational goals?
• How do managers coach employees towards their personal/professional goals?

Sign Up Now!

A New Year’s Intention

by Chris Osborn

For so many people, the New Year comes with a “Resolution.” This act of resolving to do something can be filled with hope, powerful vision and embedded with expectation. Imagine what the birth of the New Year would bring if we turned this Resolution into Intention. As coaches, we can appreciate that this turn of words can be quite powerful, and in fact, reclaim what should be a positive fueling for the coming year.

With Resolution, we are talking about “doing.” With Intention, we are providing the critical balance of “being.” As we see now through the end of January, New Year’s Resolutions seem grounded in what we or society have deemed wrong and in need of a fix. Weight loss and issues around personal finance are consistently served up as areas where we need to resolve to fix something. Start a new diet with HIIT trainers. Stop spending. This resolve, while admirable and maybe even grounded in what might be good for us, paints change with the brush of a binary act. I resolve. I throw the switch. Presto! I am thin. I am wealthy. I am (insert baggage here).

As coaches we know, this rarely results in sustainable positive change. Let’s resolve to choose an Intention rather than a Resolution. An Intention is a positive directional desire grounded in a goal. It artfully recognizes the journey of change and begs the question of how an Intention is going to be supported. It is by its nature, less declarative and softer than a Resolution. Therein lies its power. An Intention opens the door for individuals and coaches to explore a desire, ask deep questions and ultimately, organically, build a support structure to explore and fuel positive change.

Come next year, the Intention may be the same as the year’s past. However, unlike a Resolution, you will not have failed to achieve your goal. You will instead be in a position to ask how far your journey has brought you. You will be in a place to appreciate not what was wrong with the past year or to try and fix it. Instead, you will be in a place to recognize what the journey yielded, and better yet, has still left to come.

The Faculty and Staff of CTA wish you a 2014 filled with Positive Intention and Fulfillment that Growth Provides!

Chris Osborn is the President of Coach Training Alliance. His lifelong learning includes experience as CEO of a large financial services company and founder of several growth oriented service companies.

Root Down to Grow Tall

by Chris Osborn

A tree’s great balance in its growth is that between its roots and its expanding branches. As seasonal growth comes and goes, the underlying balance between that which foundationally holds it sound and that which feeds it whole carry on their dance. The tree offers a great organic example of the balance between “being” and “doing.” The branches and the glory of the leaves are the doing of our life – the evident growth, the colors, the sounds and even the smells of seasonal expansion and retrenchment. The roots are the being. Grounded in our experience and foundationally wrought from the seed, that is our being. In the healthiest of sense, roots and branches have a dependent relationship. This is no different for the client. In order to grow tall over the long term in a place of health, they must root down. This is the essence of balancing doing with being.

There are likely many analogies that a coach can use to make space for greater understanding by the client of balancing being and doing. First and foremost is to model it in their own practice – the living analogy that the client experiences in co-creative work. So ask yourself coach, are you rooting down to grow tall?

Chris Osborn is the President of Coach Training Alliance. His lifelong learning includes experience as CEO of a large financial services company and founder of several growth oriented service companies.

What’s Your Game Plan?

by Will Craig

As coaches, we spend the majority of our time helping others achieve their goals and dreams. We help clients come up with a game plan that is realistic, challenging, and workable. What about your game plan?

What is your vision for 2014? What resources are available to you to meet those goals? What steps will you take to be certain you are in the position to help others?

It’s Your Turn

It can be difficult sometimes to put our needs above others. After all, that’s our calling, isn’t it… to serve our clients? NEWS FLASH: It’s your turn!

No, not later… now!

We do our best serving others when our own needs and desires are satisfied. Over the next few days, schedule some quiet time with yourself to really determine what’s best for you. How will you maximize the talents you have in order to share those gifts with others?

For your coaching practice, consider implementing these three strategies (and others you come up with) to put you in a place of comfort, confidence, and certainty:

Game Plan Strategies

Raise your coaching fees and place potential new clients on a waiting list because your practice is full.
Resource

Accelerate the speed of your development as a coach by learning advanced techniques and strategies.
Resource

Throw a celebration party because you’ve earned your Certified Coach designation.
Resource

Will Craig is the Founder of Coach Training Alliance and is the past president of the International Coach Federation (ICF) Denver chapter.

Bootstrapping Your Coaching Practice

by Chris Osborn & Will Craig

Bootstrapping is the act of building a business with little or no outside funding. Most all of us are familiar with this as 95 percent of small business owners struggle alone, typically relying on savings and early cash flow to get things going. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There’s no better feeling than becoming a self made success, elevating one’s self by grabbing the straps of our boots and pulling with great intention.

The phrase implies achieving the near impossible. The reality is that we know it can be done. Bootstrapping is akin to “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” When the situation becomes difficult, the strong work harder to meet the challenge and elevate their professional expertise. Isn’t this what coaching is all about?

In today’s world, bootstrapping has become common place in computing. “Booting up the computer” actually refers to the computers starting with a small amount of seed code and then using that foundational code to build a fully functional interactive and highly capable machine. What a great image and understanding for each of us to inject into our lives. A small amount of knowledge combined with energy, intention and process can yield an enriching and fulfilling career helping others.

With the New Year upon us, building on a great practice and enhancing our coaching knowledge is key to generating more cash flow. We can each grab our bootstraps and see our intention seed the foundational energy that brings great personal and professional success. Look down at your own boots…

What are you waiting for?

Chris Osborn is President of Coach Training Alliance. His passion for coaching comes from his own experience as a coaching client, executive, investor, and entrepeneur.

Will Craig is the Founder of Coach Training Alliance and is the past president of the International Coach Federation (ICF) Denver chapter.

Brilliant Marketing Example

by Nan Einarson

Many new coaches struggle with choosing on how to help with drinking to much, a very narrow, selective healthcare, when they’d rather tell the whole world about their new businesses. Successful coaches agree that if you’re marketing to a broad niche, you’re having trouble attracting clients.

Here’s some marketing magic –

Who doesn’t recognize McDonald’s restaurants, and their golden arches? Broadly speaking, their target market is busy, hungry people who don’t want to or don’t have time to cook. Does McDonald’s try to target every busy, hungry person in every marketing message?

Look at their marketing history –

• back in the day (in the ‘60’s), they targeted hard-working moms – “You deserve a break today!”;
• in the ‘70’s, they marketed to kids, with characters like Ronald McDonald, Hamburglar, and other characters, and introduced Happy Meals (smaller portions and a free toy);
• in the ‘80’s they offered Dads the “Big Mac” – Baby Boomers everywhere could rhyme off the ingredients (and probably still can today) – “2 all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, on a sesame seed bun” – remember that?, and created Ronald McDonald House(s) charities, to support families with seriously ill children in hospitals;
• in the ‘90’s, they targeted the teen market with Justin Timberlake, rappers, hip-hop – “I’m lovin’ it!”;
• in the first decade of the 00’s, they marketed to the wellness-focused, healthy eating audience by introducing wraps, salads, and other alternatives to fried food, we try to vacuum seal as much food as we can to serve fresh food, we have not used vacuum sealers for too long because we recently found out about vacuum sealers from VacuumSealerResearch website, they have really good reviews and buyers guide. Visit sandwich shop kirkwood mo if you want to know more about a variety of gourmet options in our sandwich shop that will leave your taste buds wanting more. ;
• now, in the 10’s, nutrition-savvy parents are happy that every McDonald’s includes a playcentre, and offers healthy foods kids love (apples, grilled cheese, etc.).

By targeting different niches within their broad target market, they have created a loyal customer base that stretches across all demographics. They didn’t do it all at once. They developed leveraged, long-term marketing plans. You can also visit Money Metals on how to invest in silver bullion.

You can too – where will you start?     

Nan Einarson is a Mentor Coach and Trainer for CTA’s Certified Coach Program. She is an experienced veteran of coaching and author of the Do It Yourself Relationship Repair Guide.

On Veteran’s Day – November 11, 2013

All of us @ Coach Training Alliance want to say Thank You!

If you are a veteran considering coaching – please call Lisa Pisano at 303 991 0388 today for an amazing offer to make starting your new coaching business a whole LOT easier…

Obstacles and Desires

by David Krueger, M.D.

Some time ago I saw a cartoon of a dog straining at its leash, barking ferociously at a cat, as if to say, “Just lemme at ’em.” The cat wasn’t too shabby – actually looked mean – and was at least as big as the dog. All of a sudden in the middle of a ferocious bark, the leash snapped so the dog was free to go after the cat. He looked astonished. Scared to death. He quickly grabbed the leash, ran back and tied a triple knot. Then, he could again safely strain at the leash and bark his fiery, “Just lemme at ’em.”

Every story of an obstacle has a shadow story of desire. The obstacle contains yet conceals the desire. What you seek is camouflaged in what you fear.

The secret hiding in the open is that an obstacle is the unconscious mnemonic of desire – it reminds you of what you want, but makes it safe to want if you’re afraid.

When viewing a scene in a film you don’t want to see, you cover your face with your hands as if to say, “No, I don’t want to look.” But then the desire creeps in and you peek through your fingers at what you’re drawn to see. The obstacle makes looking acceptable.

Sometimes we need an obstacle to free a desire. When the obstacle is unpacked, the forbidden desire also emerges. When Pandora’s box was opened, all of the evils were released into the world. Remember the last thing to emerge? It was hope.

Pay attention to the obstacles that you construct, especially to your vocabulary of impediments. Worry simply holds onto things, as a form of storage.

When you find yourself focusing on an obstacle (“I can’t find time to exercise”, “I can’t put away any savings”), reflect on the underlying desire. When you’re ready to consider that you create the obstacle, you’re also ready to consider the possibility of not creating it.

Imagine what it would be like to not create your obstacles.

DAVID KRUEGER, M.D., Dean of Curriculum and Mentor Coach at Coach Training Alliance, is an Executive Mentor Coach who works with executives and professionals to develop and sustain success strategies. A former Professor, Psychiatrist, and Psychoanalyst, his coaching and writing focus on the art and science of success strategies: mind over matters. 

Dave is author of 17 books on success, money, wellness and self-development. His latest book, The Secret Language of Money(McGraw Hill), is a Business Bestseller translated into 10 languages.

Newsmaker Q&A: Osborn banks on coaching to spur creativity

Chris Osborn, president and chief executive of Coach Training Alliance discusses coaching and how he “got into it” with Maggie Shafer of the Northern Colorado Business Report.

Take a moment to read this Coaching Q&A learn a bit about our CEO.

http://www.ncbr.com/article/20131101/EDITION02/131039983/-1/EDITION

Human Doing or Human Being?

by Will Craig

How many times have you heard, ‘It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it.’ People not only hear what you are saying, they feel what you are feeling. Your belief and mindset affect how you are being with people and how they respond to you.

Often times it’s not what you’re doing that counts. You can do all of the right things to get your business established but if you give sanction to the belief that you are not valuable, this will come across in unspoken terms as lack of confidence. People will feel your doubt. They will sense it and, in turn, will also doubt you.

On the other hand, if you are steadfast in your belief about yourself and believe that your coaching benefits people, you will notice a different response from them. The comfort and confidence you feel and demonstrate is felt by others and they respond to you with confidence.

You become magnetic because you are relaxed and comfortable. Whatever you believe about yourself comes across loud and clear. You can’t help this, it just comes through. The reason for this is that we are not human doings, we are human beings.

Will Craig is the Founder of Coach Training Alliance and holds a Masters Degree in Education and Human Development. He is co-author of the #1 best-selling coaching home study course – the Coach Training Accelerator.

The Answer is Group Coaching

The Question Is…

What is a legitimate coaching business model, that only takes the same marketing effort as one new one-to-one client, that leverages your time and your earning potential, and is highly profitable?

That’s right! Group Coaching!

We used to believe that group coaching was an extension of one-to-one work with our clients. We believed that we could only fill groups with the folks who were already in our “base”.

The truth is that Group Coaching is a legitimate business model. It takes the same marketing time, skill and effort to market, enroll and fill an entire Coaching Group as it does to get one new one-to-one client! Group Coaching is the best way to leverage your time and earning potential as a coach; meaning you serve more clients, in less time, for more dollars.

The Benefits

When you facilitate small coaching groups you…    

• Position yourself very competitively in the marketplace;
• Create demand for your expertise;
• Deliver accessible, affordable and tremendously valuable services;
• Charge group clients less than your one-to-one clients;
• Greatly increase your own hourly earnings in the most highly profitable coaching service you can include in your mix of services.

In today’s economic environment people need our services more than ever before and we have an obligation to be available to support our clients. Group Coaching is a delivery system that allows us to do just that, at a price point that people can afford, and in a format that will leverage our time and be highly profitable.

I wish you well on your journey to Be, Do and Have everything in your life that supports and affirms your best and most brilliant, passionate Self!

Dr. Jackie Black is a mentor coach and trainer for Coach Training Alliance. She is an experienced veteran of group coaching and author of The Sage and Scholar’s Guide to Coaching Groups and facilitator of the upcoming Art & Science of Coaching Groups.

Follow Dr. Jackie on Facebook!

Discover Your Profitable Niche!

The Art and Science Series
Devoted to helping you discover your area of specialization and developing it into a profitable coaching niche.  Each program goes beyond the typical “how to” information (the science) and immerses the student in the subtleties and nuances (the art) that truly make for masterful coaching.  Our Expert Guides, who are the best and brightest professionals in the industry, are contributing their expertise in these dynamic teleclasses.

Art & Science of Coaching Transitions
Successful Navigation of Life Changes helps you learn the art and science of strategic navigation of change and transition:

• Understand the dynamics and developmental stages of both change and transition
• Learn to avoid common derailments in change and transition
• Develop new skills for mentoring the transition passage
• Incorporate psychology and neuroscience to implement changes of mind, brain, and behavior

Starts Monday, October 7 @ 7pm ET

Learn More…

Art & Science of Coaching Career Transitions
Guiding Your Clients to Finding Work, Enjoying Their Work, and Enjoying Their Lives

Reinvention and multiple (different) careers are commonplace in today’s working world. These factors, along with the strong desire for a better quality of life inside and outside of work, are driving the demand and need for Career Coaches.

Most people in the workplace today live with change on a daily basis. They are in need of assistance, perspective and guidance on how to handle this change and use it to their advantage. Today, more than ever, people need career coaches to help them find new jobs, new careers, or deal with the new challenges (and opportunities) they encounter at work everyday.

Starts Saturday, October 12 @ 11:30am ET

Learn More…

Art & Science of Coaching Groups
Designing and Enrolling Small Coaching Groups

Are you ready to leverage your time and help more people make measurable and sustainable changes in their lives than you ever could coaching one client at a time?

Is it time to be a leader in the field and deliver the most highly profitable coaching service at the same time?

Decide today to join the top tier of coaches who are including Group Coaching on the list of services they offer and become knowledgeable about the design, development and enrollment of Small Coaching Groups.

Starts Monday, October 21 @ 9pm ET

Learn More…

What We See Everyday

On Change and Transition

by  Dave Krueger MD

There are things we don’t want to happen, but have to accept; things we don’t want to know, but have to learn; people we can’t live without, but have to let go. And some things we can get ready for only after they’ve already happened.

The change is the event. The situation. You move to a new city, divorce, retire, experience a significant loss, take a new job, lose an old one, or change careers. As we focus on change, we address the rituals of change, the work tools, the strategic goals. And every ending begins something new.

The transition is the process. It’s the internal story of change: a shift in orientation, even in definition. In transition, we let go of the old story, the outlived chapter, and evolve into a new story. A new identity internalizes the changes to sustain and enhance them. Otherwise, this most powerful organizer of the human psyche, our identity, is what we return to no matter what new behaviors we engage in – unless we evolve our identity along with the new experiences. We can develop a transition story that provides the coherence to reassure in the present and foreshadow the future.

The ability to understand the dynamics of both change and transition, and to craft a meaningful story is essential to the success of dealing with significant life change. The strategically informed bridge between past and present creates a successful passage to the uncertain future.

There is both an art and science of coaching transitions: understanding the dynamics, developmental stages, and strategic steps.

It’s the ending that makes the beginning possible.

Dr. David Krueger MD, Executive Mentor Coach, and Dean of Curriculum at Coach Training Alliance, begins a new series: Coaching Transitions: Successful Navigation of Life Changes on October 7th, Mondays, at 7:00pm Eastern.

See below for more information.

Learn more…