Coaches, What Do You Do? How do You Answer this Question?

I heard the most beautiful words from one of my clients. The words, “I think I understand who I’m marketing to much better.” When she did that my brain did a freeze frame. Yes! She is finally on the right track. She began to articulate who she discovered as her ideal client. But, that’s just the beginning. My next piece of advice to my client is really the most critical. Milana Leshinsky, of Coaching Millions, says it best (or at least I like it best) when she says in part one of her book:

“You can scream on the top of your lungs that you are a coach, but no one will care unless you can solve a problem.”

That line is underlined and highlighted in my copy of her book! This is absolutely THE most critical part of your coaching business. Leshinsky defines coaching with the following statements:

• Coaching is methodology
• A Coach inspires to take action and provides a “back-end” strategy that facilitates success
• Coaching is a tool or approach used to solve a problem

Let me ask you

• whose problem do you solve – this is your niche
• what problem do you solve – this is your message or solution
• how do YOU solve problems – this is your methodology

So, where do you start. First, after identifying your niche or your market, you start by listening, reading, watching the market to discover what they need. Jay Abraham says this well in this video on his “strategy of preeminence” – this is really important – it’s about identifying & articulating the needs, the pain, the anxiety of your market place.

Let me ask you again, Coach, what problem do you solve for your market place. That’s not the same as what is the benefit of coaching with you – tell me what is the “ouch” of your ideal client. Until you discover the problem, the pain, the frustration AND articulate it so well that your ideal prospect can identify with it – only then can you truely have a solution.

It’s like going to your doctor and have him pull out a box of bandaid, or bag of pills without ever taking the time to diagnose your need. Now, I know at coaches we don’t truly “diagnose” but you absolutely need to identify the need, problem, pain, whatever you want to call it – or you’re going to forever struggle as a coach trying to build a practice.

Here’s an example of what I mean by that. Scott Stratton created a movie to do exactly what I am talking about. I knew Scott on one of the early social networks before he was the go to expert that he is today. This movie went on to build his list to a quarter of a million subscribers. Watch this movie and tell me how this ‘moves you’ – we’ll talk more about this in another post – but see if you don’t agree that this movie not only articulated the anxiety that stirs in the soul of human-kind, but Scott never “spoke” a word in how he conveyed that he understood the viewers pain, questions, longing for more in a powerful way. Click here to watch Scott’s Movie – come back and tell me what you learned.

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What is the Biggest Mistake I’ve Made Building My Coaching Business?

The biggest mistake I have made in building my coaching business using online marketing is to not create enough content for my marketplace.

This year I committed to publishing more articles – every time I publish an article I get between 10 and 25 new subscribers to my email list.

Recently I decided to post to my blog daily and 2-3 times a day if possible. My RSS feed subscribers has increased SEVEN TIMES what it was two weeks ago.

I am not the only one who has noticed that consistent creation of content goes hand in hand with successful online marketing. Terry Dean, a  pioneer of many of the current Internet Marketing Strategies posted about what he has observed in his most successful clients. In his short video he says that his most successful clients produce regular content that is in some way unique in their market – Take a look at what Terry had to say about this here.

Perry Marshall, another pioneer of Internet Marketing Strategies, recently posted about the “constant drip” process of marketing via email.  He gives an excellent word picture of how over many years the tiny force of a drip of water could create the Grand Canyon, making the point that by regularly sharing content with your market place “carves deep grooves in your marketplace. It leaves permanent, indelible marks.” Perry further makes the point that well written email autoresponders over the long haul will turn prospects from cold to warm to hot. Take a look at what Perry had to say about this here.

Here’s another word picture that you might relate to…

This weekend I started working out (again) at a gym just across the field from my beautiful Montana home. My sister is a personal trainer and looks like a million bucks. She tells me that if I follow her simple plan for weights and cardio, that I too, will look like a million bucks – and – all of my friends will notice my results in just six short weeks. Since Friday I have run three miles, not once but twice a day, in additon to various weight lifting exercises. Yet when I look in the mirror 3 days later I don’t look any different.

If you know any thing about physical exercise and the human body, you know, like my sister does, that this is going to take a bit longer than three days of working out. And, if I work out for a few days and then take a week off, I’m not going to make much impact on my muscles and the shape of my body.

It is the same with establishing yourself as an expert on the Internet to build your coaching business. You must commit to creating regular installments of your expertise for your ideal prospect to discover the wealth of wisdom.

The more you share in articles, blog posts, Internet radio shows, teleclasses, etc the easier it will be to not only create but more importantly to sell your products and your coaching. Every article, every post, shared not only in your own blog or article account, but even as a guest post or article – your message is spread far and wide. Even better is when your prospect has accepted your invitation to accept your free report or audio, in exchange for permission to contact them by email. That is the beginning of trust in your marketing efforts.

Each piece of content you create works to create a place in your prospects heart and mind, moving them closer to becoming a life long customer, and client.

I can say honestly that any time I have seen a lull in my own business it has been because I have slowed down my content distribution. In my opinion, that is my number one mistake – and this mistake is one that I see is common to many other coaches.

Does your client have enough information available from your blog, your articles which hopefully can be found in various places online and in regular emails from you – to make an informed decision as to your level of expertise so they can hire you as a coach or purchase your products online? Have you given your prospects enough information to decide that they “know, like and trust” you?

I would love to read your feedback on this.

• Is there something that’s really working for you in attracting your ideal prospect and client?
• How often is too often to post?
• How often is too often to send your clients an email?
• Have you tested your own marketplace to see what amount of content and contact equals an increase (or decrease) in sales or new clients?

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Coaching Formula for Giving Yourself a Raise – Pain, Solution, Process, Mentor, & Action

I was in some serious pain. I lost all of my clients in one day. I received a  letter that told me the person who had given me access to the franchise owners of a large promotional products company was no longer employed in the corporate office. He had become a franchise owner himself. He was replaced by someone who wanted to take a different direction – and that included the decision not to use my services.

Identify the Pain

What was my pain?

Here I was a single mom with three kids, a mortgage to pay and I had just lost my source of income!

The real problem was that I had no idea how to get clients out side of the relationships that I had built in my former business as a promotional products distributor.

I had no income, and no idea how to get clients for my coaching busness – And it was just the beginning of the current “recession” that we’re in. All I could see was that NOBODY was spending money.

Identify the Solution

I realized that I needed to find customers that were already looking for a coach rather than trying to convince someone they should hire me when maybe they didn’t realize they needed a coach yet.

Before I could find the customers that were already looking for me (or at least already looking for life success solutions) & possibly a life success coach, I needed to define how to actually go about doing that on a bigger scale than in just my circle of influence – the people that I perceived as “not spending money”. What I needed is to have someone create a roadmap or a set of instructions for me to follow so that I could be found by my ideal prospect.

Identify the Block

The day that I sat there with the letter from corporate office in hand I was seized with fear. What if I couldn’t find any new clients? What if I couldn’t find the right instructions to help me understand what to do and how to reach the people that were already looking…someone – anyone…that was looking for life success training?

After I sold my promotional products business and took on clients from within that industry, I had never really left for uncharted territory, until the day that I received that letter, when I was forced to figure out what to do next.

Identify the Process

Here’s what I knew so far as I contemplated “What next?”:

• I needed to create an income for myself and my children, and fast!
• I needed to find prospects & clients with money to invest, that were looking for what I offered as a coach from a larger sphere of influence.
• I needed to overcome this fear of the unknown territory of how to find clients outside of the field in which I had just spent 16 years of my adult life.
• I needed a plan of action and a process I could follow from someone who successfully had found clients using the same plan.

In Discover of The Process

I had learned and implemented practices from several people on the Internet when building my promotional products business, so I had a really good place to start from. I went back to look up many of the individuals I had learned from who’s material had worked already for me.

I soon discovered that much had changed in online marketing in just a year or so. I needed to educate myself on many more tools that I had not used for my promotional products business. Things like blogs, social bookmarking, social networking, article marketing were all new to me. On my own I dabbled at each of them and wasn’t terribly impressed with the results.

I would post in my blog and watch my stats – but I wasn’t getting any visitors. I used the social bookmarking for my own personal benefit of finding and remembering the sites that were valuable to me. I didn’t understand the how and why of sharing links.

The one thing I did do that provided me with interesting results was start my own Internet Radio Show. I got brave enough to begin inviting guests from the group of people who’s material – email, telecourses, and blogs – that I learned from to join me as guests on my show. In fact, I started two shows – both of which started developing a following. In the beginning I didn’t realize that I could read the stats on TalkShoe.com to see how many people downloaded my show from the archives.  Sometimes I would record the show and no one but the guest and I would be on the call – but after the show was recorded, hundreds of people downloaded the show every week!

Even though I had discovered something that was finally getting attention and I even attracted clients from my radio show – it was hit or miss at best.

I needed a more cohesive process that would consistently work – and work whether or not I was working – 24/7 every day!

As a coach myself I knew the best use of my time would be to find a mentor, a coach, who had found a way to bring clients to them with a process that I could learn and duplicate.

Then one day I was invited to participate in a program that would change my life. It was a 60 day commitment that amounted to about two hours a day. I almost didn’t do it. I almost said I didn’t have the time because I was too busy trying to build my coaching business.

This program gave me the opportunity to look under the hood so to speak, to see the engine of thriving online marketing in practice and step by step put the practice to work for myself. This changed everything for me. Everything. I will always be grateful to the person that launched that program.

From Process to Action

What I see a lot of coaches doing is what I started out doing until I figured out what the step by step process is for running my business so that it attracts my ideal client – and that is dabbling in all the steps, never really understanding how they all work together.

Worse than that, I know many coaches, who know they should be doing certain things – but aren’t even doing what they know with any consistency. If every my business drops off I know it’s because I haven’t been consistently doing for myself what I know and teach my clients.

You must get started implementing what you know and discovering what you don’t know – and all the easier with a coach or mentor to guide on a path they have traveled.

This story describes a practice that can be used for many different situations to create successful outcome in the midst of change. These simple steps may help you in moving your coaching practice forward:

• Identify the pain
• Identify the solution
• Identify the block
• Identify the process
• Find a mentor to instruct you in the process
• Act on the process

This story is how these steps worked for me. Let me invite you download a report on “The Five Secrets to Making Change – Time Proven Questions to Ask Yourself Anytime You’re Starting a New Business Ventuere” from one of the most trusted names in online marketing (he has worked with T Harv Eker, Bob Proctor, Brian Tracy, Julie Andrews and many others) – Alex Mandossian.

Where are you at in this process? Are you dabbling at article marketing, random in your posting to your blog? Or does your audience here a clear strong consistent message and know where to find it?

Please share with me your questions, comments or thoughts on this. I love hearing from you.

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Practical Article Marketing Tips – How Do You Get Prospects to Read Your Articles?

I am a member of Jeff Herring’s Article Marketing Teleseminar Club and have been since January 2009. I would happily give up my Starbucks (if it were necessary!) to remain a member of Jeff’s AMTC!

Practical Article Marketing Tips – How Do You Get Prospects to Read Your Articles? By Jeff Herring

Here is an Article Marketing question from a former student who is now returning:

Q: I had taken your course early on. My life went in another direction off line and I have not written any articles. I am back on and may be interested in refreshing with your new material. BUT FIRST….I would love an answer to this. There are thousands of articles on EzineArticles.com and other article sites. The chance of anyone reading yours/mine out of all the other articles submitted in one’s niche is slim. So then, what benefit is writing and submitting articles for traffic if they are not read or used by others. Thanks for your time.

A: I love this question for a lot of reasons:

1. It’s great for article content

2. So much has changed since this person has been around

3. It’s great for teaching.

So here are my top 5 ways to get your articles read by hungry prospects, even in a crowded niche:

1. Give up your limiting belief about there being too many people or too many articles in your niche – Here’s the bottom line, demonstrated by me and many of my students:

There are more people out there in your niche waiting to hear from you, who can hear the message only from you, than you can ever get to in your life time.

2. Go deep on EzineArticles.com with great quality articles – You can’t just throw up a few articles and expect the world to come beating at your door. Your first goal should be 10, then 25, then 50, then 100, then 250 and keep adding from there. When you do this you build a massive web presence and you will be found.

3. Use the “auto-tweet” feature in your EzineArticles.com account – Each time a new article by you is published EzineArticles.com send an automatic notice to Twitter announcing your new article to all your Twitter followers. This in one of the ways I get 90 views in 90 minutes for many of my articles.

4. Buy the domain name “www.Articlesby(YourFirstName).com and forward it to your profits at EzineArticles.com - This simple strategy allows you to mention your domain name that sends people straight to all your articles and thus your links.

5. Use the description of your article as an email to your list members – Your articles are not just for people who have never heard of you. Your articles are also for bringing in return traffic. Send your list members an email that includes your article description and a link to your article.

And to learn how to build our entire online business with article marketing and turn your articles into money in your bank account, I’d like you to check out The Article Marketing TeleSeminar Club.

You’ll learn how to leverage the 5 things you need on the internet -

• content creation
• traffic generation
• list building
• marketing messages
• product creation -

and leverage your content into an end-to-end online business.

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I have a domain name registered that forwards to my articles just like Jeff recommends – Articles by Melody Campbell. You should register yours now while you’re thinking about it at My Small Business Website. It’s simple and inexpensive – but very effective promotion strategy.

Add additional streams of income to your coaching business with freelance writing and editing jobs…fresh jobs daily. Kickstart your writing career for just $7.00. Click here

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It’s your turn! What’s your biggest challenge in your Online Coaching Business right now?

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Coach Training Course: Write a List Post [Day 2 - 31DBBB]

Remember – In this series I am writing follow up posts to Darren Rowse’s series on his website with my post taking off on his topic/task expanding on it for coaches who are building their coaching practice.

Day 2 – Today Darren’s topic/task is “Write a List Post” . Go there now and read his post and do the task assignment.

Darren says  a list post is an “effective technique … to write content that gets spread from one person to the next.” This is the goal – to spread your message far and wide to your ideal prospects.

From his “8 Reasons Why List Posts are Powerful for Bloggers” my personal favorites are #2 and #8 -

• Lists keep posts succinct
• Lists break down the complicated

How I feel as a reader of list posts.I enjoy reading a blog that “cuts to the chase” so I don’t have to read thru the “blah, blah, blah” to get to the good stuff. This is especially true if the content of a particular blog can be complex information. A list can be a way to serve up a big idea in small “bite size” installments so that the whole concept is easier to grasp.

How I feel as a writer of list posts. As a writer, I feel that writing a list post can sometimes make communicating a concept in writing much easier.When I begin to write out an idea for a blog post I tend to break it down into a list in my mind so that I know how much I plan to share in one post. It helps me decide if I want to break up my thought into multiple posts.

Here is a process that I like to use:

1. Create a title that sets the stage for delivering a concept
2. Make a list of particular points that I want to make to explain the concept in the post
3. Add 2 – 3 sentences to each item on the list to further elaborate on the point
4. Add an introduction paragraph that leads with a compelling statement of fact to grab reader’s attention
5. Finish the post with a paragraph that calls the reader to action

Here are some of the calls to action that I have in mind as I finalize the blog post:

• comment on blog post
• click through to another post
• email capture page
• ask the reader to consider engaging my services as an individual or group coach

I use these steps frequently as a template for articles as well.

Lists are also a great tool to share resources with your readers. For example if you are a parenting coach you could share a list of the top ten activities to bring on a road trip to keep toddlers occupied. Or, if you’re a business coach you could share a list of places on the Internet to advertise a local business for free.

I would love to hear from you on this. Please leave a comment. Did you make a list to post on your blog? Did you do yesterday’s homework and create an elevator pitch for your blog that ties in with your unique coaching message?

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Jott – A most revolutionary communication tool

One of the brilliant friends I met on Ryze told me about a really cool communication tool found at www.Jott.com. (find my brilliant friend Lamar Morgan here and here)

The following is directly from www.Jott.com about page:

Jott™ is a revolutionary new service that automatically converts your voice into e-mail and text messages—anytime, anywhere, with any cell phone. Jott™ makes you more productive and efficient by capturing your ideas, notes to self, tasks, and more without using your keypad.

✓ Stuck in traffic? Just speak your to-do list into Jott™.
✓ Want to eliminate repetitive calls? E-mail your team with a single Jott.
✓ Forget something? Use your voice to create Jott reminders.

Jott™ is a safer, hands-free way to send text and e-mail messages on the go. And it’s free, so sign up today.

Think it. Jott™ it. Get it done.

Okay, imagine sending a single email message to a handfull of your friends or family members all at once, like, “I’m stuck in traffic but I’m on my way to Christmas dinner I’ll be there in 30 minutes.” No big deal, right? What if you sent this email message by dialing a toll free number and leaving a 30 second voice message that is transcribed within minutes to an email that’s delivered to the select group of contacts that you choose?

Or, how about sending an email message to your customer list about a product that has just sold out or will be going on sale today only – and sending this email message using a phone to voice record your 30 second message to your list of customer contacts. One phone call – one list – many email messages.

Check out the Jott Blog to learn more uses for this genius tool.

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Registering your domain name and hosting has never been so easy and so affordable – and FR>EE software to build your website. Check out My Small Business Website.

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Mindpower

I have some great news that I think you’ll appreciate.

Many of you are very familiar with Mike Brescia and Think
Right Now’s line of Accelerated Success Conditioning
Programs.  They are phenomenal products that use the
technology developed by the famed psychotherapist Georgi
Lozanov that allowed people to learn information from 5 to
10 times faster than normal teaching methods.

And so you may already be aware that these programs
actually teach you the unconscious empowering thought
patterns found in people who are the best at a variety of
different life disciplines. In other words, they don’t just
give you information and leave you on your own.  No, they
actually install the knowledge into your long-term memory.
So you actually learn to think on a moment-by-moment basis
like the people you want to be like, so you automatically
make similar decisions and thus, get similar results.
Plus, the whole process is the model of simplicity.

The success stories they’ve got are absolutely astounding.

And the REALLY interesting part today is that Think Right
Now is running a 3 day sale.

All their Think Right Now and Instant Inner Power programs
are 20% off until Thursday at 2pm U.S. Eastern Time.

If you want to experience some truly profound positive
change in your life and you love saving money, you should
check it out now.

To save 20% on all Think Right Now programs, go here.

To save 20% on all Instant Inner Power programs, go here

And remember, on Thursday at 2pm U.S. Eastern Time, they
are shutting off the discounts, no exceptions.

I recommend you find out about these products now and use
them. I have some of their programs and I love them.

I believe you will love them, too.

Especially since you’ll be saving 20%.

All the best,

Melody

P.S. Remember, this sale ends this Thursday (Feb 7th) at 2pm
U.S. Eastern Time.

P.P.S. Oh, and by the way, you should go there now to sign up to receive Mike Brescia’s Life Transformation Kit. Let me tell you what is in this Life Transformation Kit:

• ‘How to Absolutely Positively Guarantee Success In Everything You Do’
• How to Feel Powerful Instantly
• ‘How to Instantly Gain Momentum… and Keep It’
• ‘The 11 Mental Patterns That Naturally Attract The Life You Desire’
• ‘Exposed: The Unedited Conversations In People’s Minds’
• Over 500 Think Right Now case studies in the words of our clients
• Think Right Now Owner’s Manual  (Audio) 
  [(John Harricharan and Mike Brescia]

There is no charge for this Life Transformation Kit – just sign up for Mike’s Newsletter. I’m sure you will find that it is well worth it.

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The Ultimate Referral System Webinar

“If You Only Had $500 In Your Budget and You Needed To Double Your Customers, What Would You Spend It On?”

I’ve been asked that exact same question hundreds of times from business owners who are frustrated with their marketing results.

My simple answer is, “Referral Marketing!”

In a study done by our company with 2,134 small business owners, we found that over 55% said that they received the highest return on their investment from referral marketing. Referrals are the lifeblood of your small business. You know it and I know it. Without referrals, our businesses would dry up and blow away.

That’s why I’ve developed the “Referral Marketing Best Practices Webinar.” This is a one hour webinar in which I share with you what the best referral marketers are doing to generate more referrals. I want to invite YOU to attend one of my webinars.

If you’ve been frustrated with your ability to get more referrals or to motivate your clients and customers to talk about you, then you must attend this webinar.

It’s not too late to register for tomorrow’s event – Wednesday January 30, 2008 at 1 pm Pacific (3 pm Central, 4 pm Eastern)

We will be using GoToMeeting for the Webinar. Go here to register for this fr.ee event: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/893400884

There will be a special bonus announced at the end of the event. You don’t want to miss this.

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The Ultimate Referral System Series

Today on www.GetMoreBusinessPodcast.com  we covered part one of a series of shows on The Ultimate Referral Marketing System.

We covered several “best practices” of what makes a good “intentional” referral marketing plan that you can predict a steady flow of referrals from when you’re offering a quality product or service.

Even if you’re a superior technician in you business there is no guarantee of referral business if you don’t have a system in place to generate referrals.

In this series I give you all the secrets – well, today was just part one of all the secrets used by the all the “business by referral” gurus.

Join me in a live webinar where I cover all the best practices and strategies for this gold mine marketing technique by sending me your information below so I can send you the date and time of the event.

When you attend the Live Webinar “The Ulitmate Referral System” I will send you a 2008 Referral Marketing Plan that you can use as a guide to help you prepare your own personalized system for getting all the referrals you can handle.

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Other related reading

• Referrals out-pacing advertisng 10-1?!

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Get More Business Podcast

I just finished recording with Jeffrey Gray of iContact you can download or listen on demand here.

Today’s podcast covered some of the basics to get started. The information can be used no matter what email service you’re using. I have a dedicated page with explanation on the tools you need and why. I’ll be expanding on this content over the next few weeks.

Here’s more in-depth information on iContact and the tools available for messaging and managing your email newsletter, complete with screen shot visuals. Try the service out free for 15 days.

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Next Friday’s Podcast is with Ron McDaniel, Author of Buzzoodle. He’s an expert on how to start an intentional “buzz” about your product or service. On the show He’ll talk about how to start a buzz and keep customers and downline talking about your product or service for all the right reasons.

I’ll be reviewing Ron’s book – Buzzoodle where I’ll give some of the examples he has in his book of how to create a buzz. These are things that ANYONE  can do and the results are way better than traditional advertising.

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Take the Survey! Tell me what you want to know about Email Newsletter Marketing…

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