2012 - Inner Firewalking

Your Coaching Service – The Details

The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.

Remember that most people have never worked with a coach before. In fact a coaching ‘structure’ is probably new to them (and you!).

You don’t have a coaching service they can buy, until you have the details. You need something they can get their mind around – wrap their arms around – so they can buy it or commit to it.

Is there a minimum commitment? How long are the sessions? Face-to-face or via phone? Is e-mail support provided? Are results guaranteed? What will be expected of me? What can I count on the coach for? What are your coaching hours? Are there any bonuses you provide? Are you available in between sessions? Do I have to pay in advance? What forms of payment do you accept? What if I want to stop half way? What if I want to miss or postpone a session?

Once you have answers to these questions, you have a coaching service. At this point you will have something your potential clients can say YES to, when you invite them at the end of an Exploratory Session.

Rachel Pryor on Finding Initial Clients

The following is taken from David’s interview with Rachel Pryor in 10 Super Coaches.

What top three methods, in order, did you use to get your clients in the first 2 years?

In the first 2 years, I committed to never getting a client through my network – I wanted to start again. So I attracted media attention, and clients came through articles. It took around 3 years to have a totally self-sufficient, referral-based practice.

However, coaching is no longer ‘news’ so I would recommend that coaches get clients through doing what they enjoy – if it is speaking, writing (internet-based publications are always looking for new material), or finding more original ways to enjoy themselves and become known.

I also mentored other coaches for 5 years or so, though I made sure that I never had more than 1/3 of my practice made up of coaches, because I felt that would become unreal.

Creating a Product

What kinds of products are we talking about? You could do a book, I don’t recommend it. You could do an e-book, you could do a special report that’s like 17 pages. You could an mp3 which is an audio file, just a simple recording. You can someone interview you and sell your interview for $9.95. There are many different things you can do. You can create video now online. If you don’t know how to do it and many of you do now because of Ezra; he’s getting into that. It’s so simple. You can go on Facebook now and if you’ve got a webcam, you go on Facebook and you click a couple of buttons and it records video and puts it on your Facebook account. That’s really not difficult to do. What I suggest you do to get started is you create an audio product, and we’ll get soon into how to do that.

Franchise, or Free Agent?

The following is an excerpt from David’s independent report on coaching training and certification.

A breed of training company has emerged which provides your initial training at a discount, in exchange for a percentage of your future coaching revenue. This ongoing payment pays for certain support structures such as business cards, client referrals, ongoing training, and a license to continue using the technology.

By contrast, most non-franchise companies will still provide you with training, and a lifetime license to use their technology, forms, and client programs, for an up front fee.

Be wary of franchises that require a percentage of your income or a high annual fee. Some of them even charge twice as much as ICF certified training programs. You should not go into one of these companies unless they can put you in touch with several coaches who have gone through their program, and earning a good income – and who don’t have a financial interest in you joining!

A Note on Certification

The following is an excerpt from David’s Independent Report on Coaching Training and Certification.

You don’t actually require a certification from your school to get your ICF certification. For example I (David) didn’t. I did 50% of a course, and then resigned so I could build my own training school. I then added up the training hours I had done, and combined those with the hours I had done with Landmark Education (not their normal courses, but actually training to be a coach with them), and submitted it to the ICF accompanied with a barrage of documents. In other words, it’s possible to piece together your training from different schools, as long as it’s coach specific, and you clock up enough hours.

Public Speaking Exercise

The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.

Exercise:

Imagine you will die at midnight tonight.

Your friends and family have been invited to come to a great hall to hear you share what you have learned, that you wish to pass on to others.

At 9pm you walk onto the stage. You look around at their smiling, loving faces. They are listening, ready to soak up what you have to pass on.

You have 30 minutes to speak. Write down what you say to them, that it may be passed on from generation to generation.

Introduction:

– Tell them what you are going to tell them

– Include what gives you credibility to speak on the topic, and WHY you left home to come and speak on it

Main Section:

– Tell them what you want to tell them

– Point, story illustrating point, point

Conclusion:

– Tell them what you told them

– Reiterate why it’s important

– Possibly let them know briefly what you do and how you can help them

– Consider leaving them with an action they can take; perhaps invite them to email you the results.

Questions:

– (Optional 5-10 minutes)

Archive

Yearly Archive for 2012