One important concept to understand for anyone running a coaching business is that everything you do is part of your marketing. Each time you are in touch with someone in person, by telephone, by recording or in writing, you are making an impression on them about who you are and what you and your business are like. Once this is fully understood, it becomes imperative that your writing be as clear and informative as possible. Coaches take time to practice and learn ways of communicating verbally, but very few spend much time improving their writing skills.
Writing matters for other reasons besides pure marketing. As a coaching entrepreneur, you need to establish yourself as an expert in a certain area. Writing with clarity, force and appeal on subjects that are timely and informative goes a long way towards establishing your expertise. A coach who writes poorly and cannot communicate his/her thoughts well does little to increase credibility. Writing well boosts your confidence, increases your visibility and gives you more connection with the world. All very postive benefits.
I have always been deeply indebted to my high school English teachers. No, wait, I was not that pleased with them while I was in high school. Later, I discovered that I had exceptional training as a writer and was fortunate to be able to easily construct all types of written material. You may not have been so fortunate or feel as secure in your writing skills as I do in mine. This morning I found an interesting resource that may help solve this for you.
The Customizable Style Guide for Coaches Who Write sounds just like what is needed for those of you who want some writing assistance. This is an interesting manual by a Canadian coach, Linda Dessau, who has compiled a book talking about writing in general and also offering specific tips for the types of writing that coaches do. You could use the information to improve your website, articles and even your emails to your clients. Although I have not read the book, at a price of $19.95, it would be hard not to find value in a purchase like this if you want to improve your writing skills.
Last week’s Biz Tips was about using on-line scheduling services and one of my sharp readers, Bonnie Hill, has given me another great resource to tell you about that may be useful for your coaching business. TimeDriver is not only a way for clients to schedule with you, it is a scheduling promotion system through the use of invitations and easy-access buttons. TimeDriver calls itself an appointment invitation system and the intriguing aspect is those buttons. The system provides a way for you to include a “Schedule Now” button for your emails, website or even LinkedIn profile that connects the prospect directly to your openings. The TimeDriver Marketing strategy is that their system compels action from prospects and customers by making the scheduling immediate - sounds like a way to make an entrepreneur happy!
The system coordinates directly with either Google or Outlook calendars and determines appointment times for you. All you have to do is say when you are available - example, Tuesday mornings for 30 minutes - and the software does the rest. No one is given access to your calendar directly; they do receive email confirmations and reminders. There is also a feature allowing you to ask a direct question of each person scheduling so that you can know the nature of the appointment or the issue being addressed. TimeDriver gives a generous free trial of 90 days and then has an annual cost of $29.95 which makes it affordable for many coaching businesses.
I am pleased to announce that I have taken on a contract position as the National Education Director at Practice Pay Solutions. I am excited about this work because Practice Pay is a company that is truly committed to helping business owners succeed. What a great pairing for the work that I do helping coaches, counselors and consultants grow their businesses. I am honored to be taking on this position that has previously been held by C.J. Hayden and Karyn Greenstreet.
Practice Pay Solutions is well known in the coaching world as the most popular company for credit card processing with what is called a merchant account. In addition, they provide shopping carts, Learning Management Systems, a Website Builder and a registry for virtual assistants. They are dedicated to great customer service and training on all their products. My selection for this position is related to the company’s new initiative called Practice Pay University which will unfold in a very exciting way over the next several months.
My role as National Education Director will include hosting free classes and teleclasses on both Practice Pay products and on important topics in business development. We’ll be discussing e-commerce, automating your business, and creating passive income. You should be hearing quite a lot from me! And even though this sounds like a lot - I’ll still be working as usual in my own business, giving you lots of information and ideas for growing your business on a very personal basis.
The first classes from Practice Pay University have been announced. The first call is “Using a Virtual Assistant for Your Business” and is scheduled for November 5th at 5pm eastern. On November 6th at 5pm eastern, I’ll be interviewing Deborah Gallant about “Building a Coaching Website”. You can find out more about either call or register for free here.
I am continuing to poke my toe into the waters of social networking for business development. The newest experiment is with Twitter. This is an extremely fast paced site where thousands of users are repeatedly just answering the question “What are you doing?” Oh, and all your posts must be 140 characters or less (characters, not words!). Simple concept, but it really is powerful because it is a quick way to develop relationships and connect with many people you would otherwise not come into contact with. Many people that I know have been achieving quick success in gaining new partners, projects and even clients from these conversations.
I highly recommend doing some research and studying before jumping into this pool. The best resource I have found is a great, free ebook called the Twitter Handbook. Written by Deborah Micek and Warren Whitlock, it is a complete guide for what Twitter is, how it can help you and how to get started. I am trying to follow some of the suggestions in the book and have begun to make my own posts - called tweets. If you are already tweeting, I hope you will follow me @janetslack. You can also find me at http://twitter.com/janetslack. Come join the conversation!
Here is a great resource for every coaching entrepreneur - The 100 Best Business-Building Resources for Coaches. Thanks to Lynn Serafinn, coach from Bedford, UK who has compiled this list. She originally put it together for a London meeting of the European Co-Active Community and is available in both Excel and PDF formats. Lynn says, “Each resource has been reviewed carefully and described in detail, with explanations as to why you might find it useful for your business. This saves you months of time-consuming research, and hopefully will save you money by avoiding costly mistakes as you build your practice. AND, nearly half of these resources are absolutely FREE.”
I am proud to say that two of my products for coaches are included on this list. My free weekly ezine, Biz Tips for Coaches, is listed as well as my book, Mind Your Own Biz. I have explored the list at length and am honored to be listed in such company as such well known coaches as C. J. Hayden, Andrea J. Lee and Christian Mickelsen. If you are looking for resources about business development and want to find the best of the best - this list is a valuable tool for your search.
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