Put what you most want people on the planet to know into a 30-minute speech. Call your local Rotary, Lions and Apex Clubs – in fact any clubs in your area – and offer to speak at their regular meetings. While it can be very scary at first, get five of these under your belt, and you’ll start to worry less about how you look and more about what kind of impact you can make. Plus – it’s great for getting clients.
The following is an excerpt of a transcript with a client.
Client: Around the newsletter, I actually started the freebie, and I’m kind of designing that from what I felt. It was a little tough but I did a draft.
David: Alright, very good. I like that you said that you did a draft. This is really important. I get into this too. I’m like, I don’t want to start it because I don’t know how to really do it well. Well, do something, do it badly. At least you have done it. In the next time that you do it, you’ll do it better. This is a key point around creating your product as well which I may see more about later that if you just think, “Oh, I have to create a product that I can sell and it’s going to be amazing” then it’s putting a lot of pressure on yourself. It’s your first one, for most of you. So you just want to create something and maybe you don’t even anybody but you’ve done the first one then you can create the second one.
The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
Rather than go through the theory of what you could provide when you start coaching, I’ll simply tell you what I provide:
While these forms will be available to coaches later in the year as part of a paid package, I wanted to give you one of the forms here free of charge:
I’ve included my coaching agreement here to give you an idea of the areas you could consider covering. Please note that as I am not a lawyer I cannot give you legal advice. I therefore recommend you get legal advice specific to your country and do not rely on this agreement for legal protection.
The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
Coaching is still relatively new, so if this were a baseball game your ‘First Base’ to get to would be getting three solid testimonials. Do whatever it takes to get three managers or executives to work with you for three months each. Take a pay cut if necessary, coach in exchange for a donation to charity, or even better — charge what you like and offer a 100% money back guarantee. Let them know up front that you’ll ask for a testimonial backed by their name and company at the end, which you will only expect if you’ve done a great job.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Leza Danly in 10 Super Coaches.
Would you advise coaches to purse certification? If so, at what stage in their practice, and through which accrediting body?
Absolutely. Coaching certification is absolutely necessary. There are many people who are innately gifted coaches, and that’s great. Even so, coach certification offers a maturing of your skill and an opportunity to discover more of the artistry of coaching. I encourage certification through a coaching school and then to also purse credentialing through the ICF.
As for the pace, it’s a personal decision. I think there’s a lot to be said for riding the momentum of moving through the training process and into certification in a short period of time to keep a hard focus on skill and to solidify the self-image as a coach. You need to coach a lot to see yourself as a coach. Seeing yourself as a coach, having that self-image, has everything to do with your ability to create clients. If you drag it out over a long time it can sometimes feel more like a hobby than a profession.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Michael O. Cooper in 10 Super Coaches.
What was most disheartening for you while building your practice?
I barely survived my first year as a full-time coach – and sank over $40,000 of my own money into the business and on living expenses. That was a real slap in the face. After all, I was helping my clients achieve success in their businesses and I had succeeded in other businesses before, why couldn’t I do it on my own now?
I felt like a fraud. But I also knew dozens of other coaches experiencing the same situation; some even left coaching for more security. Underneath, my fears of failing, attachment to the outcome of marketing efforts (the antithesis of attraction marketing), and stubborn resistance to positioning myself as an expert within a niche, nearly contributed to catastrophe.
Within one month of allowing success – by providing value for the joy of it, establishing a clear nice where demand already existed and trusting that I could succeed – my business quadrupled in revenue. More importantly, other coaches started sending me endorsed referrals out of the blue!
Copyright 2018 David Wood.