David Wood | Inner Firewalking

About David Wood

For 20 years David has helped entrepreneurs around the globe to grow their results, by growing themselves. A former consulting actuary to Fortune 50 companies in New York, David quit corporate life to pursue his inner journey, which now deeply influences his work. A digital nomad, David is currently dancing salsa, paragliding, and coaching his rock star entrepreneur clients from Colombia. His specialty is doubling your productivity and profits, while halving your stress. If you become a highly authentic and inspirational leader in the process, well….that can’t be helped.

Ginger Cockerham on Building a Practice

The following is taken from David’s interview with Ginger Cockerham in 10 Super Coaches.

What was the most interesting or exciting thing for you about building your practice?

Number one – creating my own business.

Number two – results for my clients.

I had a client who was a professor in a major University who was on her way to becoming tenured and was miserable. She came to me to help her put more zest into her life outside her work so she could accept the fact that she wasn’t happy in her job. I challenged and encouraged her to look at alternatives to what she was doing. She loved to travel, spoke several languages and enjoyed cultural diversity. She also liked to work intensely for short periods and then have a break.

She explored how she could use her strengths and expertise in another model. When I asked her about being a Global Trainer, she replied that she had never heard of such a thing. After days of research, she found herself in all the descriptions of a global trainer. Soon she was headed out on her assignments to Turkmenistan training managers for a Multi-national company. She doubled her revenue and had four to six months off a year working in new environments intensely for a few months. She is happy in her work life now and in her personal life.

I have so many examples of people having the courage to make changes in their lives that I feel the excitement for each one of them and the joy that I was part of the coaching partnership.

Mike Turner on Charging Clients

The following is taken from David’s interview with Mike Turner in 10 Super Coaches.

What advice would you give coaches about charging clients?

Set a fee rate that reflects the most value you can deliver. Be very clear with clients that this rate reflects the value you deliver. If the client can’t afford this rate, find trade-offs you can make which reduce the amount you charge. For example, you might suggest that if the client commits to a certain number of sessions that you will reduce your rate by, say, 10%. But be clear that the value of your coaching has not been reduced.

Do you recommend offering free coaching?

Generally not, unless their hunger for coaching is very high. If someone is paying, even if only a nominal amount, they are more likely to value and get value out of the coaching.

Where to Look For Domain Names

The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.

You can search for names and variations at www.MyDomainFriend.com — a very powerful free tool.

But don’t register the domain there as it’s a bit expensive. Once you know the domain(s) you want, go to www.godaddy.com and register a name for only US$9 per year.

You’ll also want to check the name is not trademarked in the country where you’ll do business.

Don’t get discouraged if even the first twenty names you want are taken. This is just the way it is. Keep being creative and you’ll soon have your perfect domain name.

Your Approach

The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.

Everybody loves a ‘pilot’ project, so here is one approach:

Start with your network and get on the phone to HR people & senior managers whom you know. If you don’t know any, call your network and get referrals for these people.

Give them your rough pitch and see if you can get to a meeting to discuss it further. A great offer is to do three staff members for three months as a ‘pilot’ project. If they get great results, you get paid, and a corporate testimonial. And — you start rolling coaching out to other key staff. If they don’t get great results, then no fee is necessary, and thanks for your time.

Or, if they don’t want to bring in other people at this stage, invite them to trial coaching for themselves. They can do an Exploratory Session to set some goals and then decide if they want to trial three months of coaching. Similar deal to the above.

Vicki Hoefle’s Get Paid For Who You Are Story

The following is an excerpt from the book Get Paid For Who You Are.

For 18 years Vicki Hoefle had taught six-week parenting classes that changed lives. As she approached retirement, it occurred to her that by filming the class, she could create a product to sell online which would fulfill two goals: create a passive income stream and enable her to travel to see her kids once they left home. She had no start- up money and no internet or marketing experience. She was also raising five teenagers at the time.

In her words, “I began by writing a basic business plan and my product began to take shape. I took every training program I could afford and i hired people to help me. together with my partner and team, we developed a multi-media product (video, audio and workbook) with a one-year membership to an online forum. In less than a year, we increased our database from 500 to 1200 people. Our income rose from $26,000 a year to $75,000 a year in less than two years. In the last six months, we have expanded our customer base from vermont to all of the U.S. and into Canada, and i just started my personal blog (www.parentingontrack.com). I have wonderful new relationships with people I never would have met had I not expanded my work in this direction. I love knowing that i am changing lives today, which will impact the next generation of leaders.”

Vicki’s advice? “Ask a million questions and then ask some more. Know that you will make countless mistakes and that’s oK. and surround yourself with people who are smarter, funnier, cuter and richer than you are.”

It’s Completely Possible For You!

Let me share with you my experience, not to impress you, but to show you success is ~completely~ possible for people who seek the right information, and apply themselves.

I didn’t have any background in online marketing, and I was very new to my profession of coaching. Within just four years of taking my own business online, I attracted clients in 13 countries and earned six figures, providing my services just two days a week. And a whopping 95% of these clients came from the internet.

Posts by David Wood