Do you Make this Mistake in Building Your Coaching Business Online?

You don’t make money on the phone (or in person) coaching.

Yeah – that’s collecting money.

You don’t actually make money unless you’re marketing your coaching business.

This was actually my second biggest mistake in building my coaching business -  not realizing:

• that my online activities – blogging, social networking, article publishing – were actually building my coaching business for me 24/7
• that I needed a daily/weekly plan for my activities to calculate and predict a response on my efforts – a Return on (time) Investment

We could probably argue about that all day long, but just think about this – Nobody knows who you are, or about your coaching message unless you’re publishing your coaching solution and making relationships. That’s where the real money is made.

If you don’t build brand awareness for you and your coaching business you probably won’t get hired – at least not often. Think about any client you’ve had until now. Did they know you on any level before they hired you? At the very least they knew you through a referral they trusted – but somehow your reputation preceded you. That’s what I am talking about.

You might be asking yourself – “What do I do to cultivate a business brand for my coaching business online?”

Here’s the short list with links to a few places that expand on the activity nicely:

• Post to your self-hosted blog daily
• Publish articles 3 – 5 times a week – daily if possible
• Build followers & friends on Twitter & Facebook
• Make connections on LinkedIn
• Selectively find other Social Networks to participate in depending on your nice
• Participate and read everything with in a specialty network where your ideal prospect

In fact, Chris Brogan put’s it this way:

If you’re looking to establish your online presence, and build relationships, it’s not the kind of project where you show up, build your profiles, friend a few people, and call it good. It’s a lot like tending the farm. Here are seven particular “chores” you could do every day that should prove beneficial to your online interests.

You can read his post “19 Presence Management Chores You COULD Do Every Day”

Here are a few more basics to make sure your social networking profiles are set up for the best “farming” experience in cultivating relationships:

Personal Branding Tips for LinkedIn

Get More Business Show with LinkedIn Expert – Viveka von Rosen

6 Tips for Using Your Twitter Profile to Get New Followers

10 Ways to Use Facebook for Business

I cannot emphasize this enough – You must have a daily / weekly plan of these business building activities with a particular focused action of what you want to happen to establish a following and an internet presence so that you will have clients coming to you for coaching and your products.

Don’t make the mistake of not taking your online presence seriously enough – and not serioiusly enought to craft a plan to deliver results.  And if you don’t know how – hire a coach to walk you through the process.

I’d love to talk about it with you.

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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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“What do you do?” Impact in 30 seconds or less

Recently I was invited to join a great coaching network on Yahoo called New Coach Connection. This morning I received an email from the group conversation that went as follows…at the bottom is my 2 cents to a great nugget of marketing instruction:

Re: Full Practice Wednesday: What Do You Do?

— In newcoachconnection@yahoogroups.com, Biana Babinsky wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> How do you answer this (sometimes) dreaded
> question, “What do you do?”

It’s actually pretty interesting.

4 examples from 4 different people to your great question, and EVERY ONE said the same thing.

Yes, there was some indignation and chiding, but for every commenter that gave an example, (regardless of what fancy name they give it) what we all do is consistent:

You need a short (definitely less than 30 seconds – shorter is much better) statement which consists of the following parts:

• I
• (do what)
• (for whom)
• (in order to)
• (which results in) (also known as WIIFM- What’s in it for me)

The four examples (exact quotes with the above 5 points inserted):

I (do what) guide (for whom) people (in order to) to transform their negative states of perception,thinking, decision-making, behavior, and emotion into positive equivalents. (which results in) This raises their consciousness and vibrational frequency,
and thus their brain output and likelihood of success in all ways. With
this skill, they facilitate a renewal.

I (do what) help (for whom) successful executives (in order to) improve their performance and wellness. (which results in) This can result in:

Improved Corporate Performance

Improved Corporate Risk Management, and

Better Executive LivesI (do what) help (for whom) solopreneurs (in order to) attract more clients (which results in) and make more money.I (do what) love to help (for whom) holistic entrepreneurs and helping professionals (in order to) move
their small business to an exponential level. I help them (which results in) realize their goals and bring their life joy!

Have fun with your own statement!!

Best Regards,
Chuck Schroeder
All Things Coaching

I would add only one more thing to this

If you can put numbers or something specifically definitive of the result:

…30 days to your first client
…lose 10 lbs in the first 10 days
…increase net worth 300% in the first year

Often these specific results come out of the mouths of the people we have coached already. One new client recently told me that in just one hour of coaching I gave her 30 ways to monetize a live speaking event – many that she could easily implement immediately in her practice.

For my 30 second answer I would want to dissect this testimonial – maybe even more than one testimonial – so that I can use different compelling self introductions in different circumstances & to test to see which one provokes the most conversation after I’ve said what I do.

In September of last year I did an Internet radio show with Ann Convery who spoke with me about this very thing – It’s free to listen…

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What do Martha Beck, Michael Niell and James Ray all have in Common that Sealed their Success as a Coach?

…a Book!

Watch this video – there will be a different video daily and discover how a book and what you do with it will change your coaching career forever.

Alex Mandossian is the creme de la creme of Internet Marketing, no make that Electronic Marketing Strategists. (includes, iPods, Voice Messaging, Fax, any electronic communication tool that can be used to market). You may know of him, but did you know he is responsible for the success of many of big name authors success? including self published authors. There will be a total of 8 videos. I highly recommend that you come back and view them all.

If you are unfamiliar with Alex and his marketing genius – let me tell you that you have never, ever heard anything like this before. He’s not your average “Internet Marketer”. My words here would seriously be inadequate to convince you how important I believe this information could be to you. I hope I’ve earned your trust enough to say – “this is worth your time to watch.”

To Open Page with Video Player Click here

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Top 10 Reasons to Use a Blog to Build an Online Presence & Establish Yourself as an Expert in your Niche

The very first thing a new coach or a coach new to online marketing needs to do is to

Build an Online Presence & Establish Yourself as an Expert in your Niche

There are many tools available that assist in this process of building an online presence, in my opinion and the opinion of many other business people online – a self-hosted blog is the best ‘hub’ for establishing yourself as an expert. The other tools such as social media play a part in your overall marketing plan and work well with your blog as “home base”.

Here are the top 10 reasons for a coach to use a blog to build their practice:

1. Your blog is a “hub” for all your other activities online. All marketing /networking efforts you do should point back to “home base” where your friends and fans can discover everything else (all your other publicized marketing / networking efforts) about you in one location.  Add links to your social media / social networking profiles where you can be found. If you produce audio or video to share your coaching message with your market – also list it on your blog.
2. Establish yourself as an expert with regular posting on your coaching method / solution.  Your posting frequency will increase your popularity two ways.
   • Face Value – the more you get your coaching message in front of your ideal prospect the more you build your credibility. Not a post that is a sales pitch – though it’s not bad to ask for the business – post something that is truly of value.
   • Google Juice – Google loves fresh, relevant, updated content with lots of internal linking – exactly what your blog is designed to provide as long as YOU post with regularity.
3. Engage your ideal prospect in conversation – the whole purpose for having comments available with every post is to open up the other side of the conversation. You will learn so much from you readers. The more feedback you get from you ideal prospect and readers the better your posts will be. Your readers will think you are reading their mind! So, write provocative posts, ask questions, encourage your readers to comment. Don’t worry though according to Jacob Nielson, 90% of online community users are lurkers (read or observe without contributing) with only 9% of users contributing “a little” and 1% actively contributing.
4. Help people – after all isn’t that why you became a coach in the first place? As you build up your readership and get feedback in the comments you will begin to see comments how helpful your post was or you might see it on a social networking site. Even better is when your readers love your post enough to re-tweet and share it with their friends & fans.
5. Market your own product and services, as well as selectively promote affiliate partners. Your blog is your online place of doing business so don’t feel awkward “selling” something from your blog. This is the place to talk about your coaching services. This is the place to announce your newest product launch. Bad idea to make every post a strong push for business, but you can “season” every post with a small dose of soft sell.
6. Connect with Your Ideal Prospect. Your ideal prospect is online searching for products and services to relieve pain or improve the quality of their lives. Every post is an opportunity to connect and engage. Your readers will discover and connect with your energy as you share your information. And as far as search engines go – the relevance of your posts is how the searcher is matched up with your blog. The more you post the more often that is likely to happen.
7. Make a difference. Your blog gives you the tools to use words to make a difference in individual lives as well as in your community of readers / followers as a whole. This is very powerful. You’ve heard the saying, “The Pen is mightier than the sword.” You power to influence your niche is limited most often by you. Be a bold idea person! Make a difference!
8. Stay active and knowledgeable in your niche. If it is credibility in your area of expertise is what you are after – then count on putting time into research for your topic. Or as Guy Kawasaki put it “eat like a bird and poop like an elephant.” Birds consume 50% of their body weight in nourishment & food – and elephants…well you can imagine how they poop. What Guy was communicating in that statement is to consume voraciously on your topic of expertise and share your knowledge generously.
9. Create product. Yes, you read that right to create product - everything you post in your blog could be put together in an organized fashion to become an ebook or a printed book. This is a great thing to keep in mind as you’re laying out your blog categories & topics. In 30 – 60 days you could have enough material for a book (depending on how frequently and at what length you post.)
10. Attract clients – Isn’t this why you’re reading my blog? It is time to start making money. Your blog will attract and then develop the interest of your ideal client, but the more he or she reads desire will develop for closer access. If you are doing your job and making the offer in a variety of ways – you will attract your ideal client with your blog.

Here’s a question for you – How often would you be willing to post, if the more frequently you posted, the faster you could be considered the expert in your niche? 3 times a week, 2 times a week? Would you make time to post more frequently?

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Coach Training Course: Your Unique Coaching Message [Day 1 -31DBBB]

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 1 – Today Darren’s topic/task is “Write an Elevator Pitch for Your Blog” . Go there now and read his post and do the task assignment.

Two statements that I want to highlight from Darren’s post are:

One of the most important reasons to do this exercise is that to develop an elevator pitch YOU as a blogger to have thought through and crystallised in your mind what your blog is about.

In fact almost every task that we’ll be doing in this next 31 days should flow from this task.

Your elevator pitch for your blog should be consistent with your Unique Coaching Message. We’ve talked about how important this is before.

Since your blog is the #1 way to gain ground as an expert it’s imperative to invest your time into developing your unique coaching message for your blog. There’s a few things I’d like to add to the starting points that Darren shares in his post – I won’t go through all of them – so be sure you read his post to get the good information:

1. Solve a problem or a need – My addition to this would be to say “be specific”. Don’t over generalize the problem or need that your blog meets.  The more focused your solution the move attractive your message will be.
2. Define your Audience – More of “be specific” – Don’t try to reach too large of a market by lumping several markets together.
3. Be clear - Take the time to research how someone who is looking for the solution that you provide would be searching online. What words and phrases does your market place use to describe their problem and the solution they’re looking for? Use those words in your elevator pitch.
4. Be intriguing – Use anumber, word & phrases that indicate results in your elevator pitch if possible. For example: “I help small businesses reduce employee turn over by 20%” or “Parents that coach with me tell me they spend more than 20 minutes a day engaging with their teen over important topics – and they don’t end the conversation screaming at each other”
5. Consider using a question – Questions are a coaches best friend! One of my favorite lines used by Jeannette Maw, Good Vibe Coach on her voice mail is, “What would you like to happen next?” Obviously this is a question but it’s also intriguing. How could anyone not ask her to tell them more!?
6. Be ready to Expand upon Your (blog) Pitch - The point Darren makes here is that your elevator pitch is a conversation opener; it should make your listener want to know more. If you’ve really spent time developing your coaching message this should come easy – but, still be prepared with what to say when someone, “Really? Tell me more.” or “How do you do that?”

This is the starting point for everything you will be doing for the rest of these 31 days. Let me invite you to take the time to do this now – even if you have a blog. Is your existing pitch the best it could be for perpetuating your Unique Coaching Message around the world from the plate form for your blog?

Please share your new or improved elevator pitch for your blog and your coaching business.

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Coach Training Course: Blogging the Platform for Your Online Business Promotion

In a previous post “Online Marketing: How important is blogging to building your coaching business?” I talked about your blog being the hub of your online business promotion – in fact, your blog is the #1 way to gain ground as an expert. So, if your blog is so important it makes sense to spend some time understanding how to:

• make it an interesting read so that your visitors return
• implement strategies to get the visitor to get to the site
• create a conversation with your audience that spreads
• generate more leads / sales for your coaching & your products

One of my favorite blogs to read and learn from is Darren Rowse’s Problogger site. He just recently launched a wonderfully interactive “conversation” classroom style over at his blog called “31 Days to Build a Better Blog – join 9100 other Bloggers Today!“  His basic ideas is to daily post (for 31 days, of course) with:

• a brief instructional post
• a matching task to carry out your learning experience
• and…he invites you to come post a link to your home work on his blog (wonderful link back to your blog from high traffic site!)

Okay, so here’s my twist on this learning experience. I am going to post a matching post for each of his with some suggestions and / or examples that are specifically related to coaching or online marketing for coaches.

If you are a coach (this won’t be for everybody), and:

• you are serious about jump starting your coaching business online
• you are ready to take action now and consistently until you begin to see the results you’re looking for

Then You are invited to join me for the next 31 days. Here’s how you can participate:

• Go subscribe to the Problogger announcement email for “31 Days to Build a Better Blog – join 9100 other Bloggers Today!“
• Come visit my blog and read what I’ve targeted the topic for coaching
• Leave both Darren and I a comment with a link to your homework
• Share any questions or challenges that you might have about the lesson so that I can develop follow up posts to answer the questions.

What if you are new to blogging?

You should at least have a blog set up. I recommend setting up selp hosted Wordpress Blog – but don’t let it stop you if you don’t have a self hosted blog. Go get a free blog at www.wordpress.com and you can transfer to something ’self hosted’.  Or it’s extremely simple to register a domain, set up hosting and set up a blog. You could have a basic blog set up in about an hour. Personally I use My Small Business Website.com for my blog and domain registrations.

What if you already have a blog and have been posting for a while?

Consider this like blog audit. This is a great time to make sure that your doing what you know and discover what others might be doing that might be new to you.

We’re three days behind, so let’s get started. Watch for a response to Darren’s first three posts in the next three days.

Remember, my posts will be similar to Darren’s but aimed specifically to coaching or examples of how the strategies are implemented by coaches.

It’s never to late to get started!

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Welcome to Building Your Coaching Business!

Teaching you to build Your Coaching Business is the most important thing I do!

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