One tool that I have found invaluable in the growth of my coaching business is the discussion forum. I have learned a wealth of information and have had some important questions answered for me by others with more experience. There are a host of boards on the internet but the one I find most helpful, most often is the New Coach Connection. This group, they call themselves “the NCC”, is actually much more than just a discussion group. They are a community of coaches and those in industries who serve coaches, such as virtual assistants, who come together in the spirit of support and camaraderie.
The listserve is the location for the terrific discussions on a variety of coaching subjects. I have seen discussions about technology, philosophy, marketing, business issues, client issues and even finding a roommate for a training or conference. There truly are no silly questions here. Other aspects of the community include a marketplace area to list resources, a “perks” area where there are recordings of old teleseminars, and a blog with info on many topics related to coaching. If you would like to read my recent post on the NCC blog about testimonials as a marketing tool, click here. Other recent NCC blog posts include information about protecting your ebook from theft, product funnels and best marketing techniques.
Please check out the New Coach Connection, then come back and leave me a comment about what you find…
The discussion in one of my coaching groups this week led to the subject of beginner’s anxiety. When you started your coaching business did you have a background in the business world? Many of us do not at the start. You are likely to be a true beginner when it comes to being an entrepreneur. So many of us forget how much anxiety is involved in being a beginner. If you are middle aged, you may not have done anything that you weren’t skilled at for years.
Whenever you learn any new skill that is significant, there is a big learner’s curve to move through. At first, there is the excitement of the new skill and its possibilities. Progress is fast because everything is new. You don’t even realize how much you don’t know. But soon the excitement wears thin and you start to realize how much there is to learn. You feel ackward and uncomfortable in your new role. It takes a great deal of business savvy to start any business from scratch. Some coaches react to the anxiety created by realizing how much they do not know by giving up. Others set to work to learn what they need to know in order to be successful. This attitude will allow you to move slowly along the learner’s curve to the point where you do know a thing or two.
This usually happens before you realize it. You are making good business decisions and seeing some results but the anxiety remains. Finally, as your business continues to grow, you start to relax and realize that you have become an entrepreneur. Allow yourself to go through this natural process. There’s no real need to fight that anxiety, however don’t let it derail you from persisting and learning as you move along on the curve.
It is hard to miss the buzz these days about social networking. People are talking about FaceBook, Digg and Twitter everywhere you turn. If you spend much time on the internet, there are classes and reports on how to use social networking effectively. Many people report social networking sites as important elements in their marketing plans. So I finally decided to jump in.
My first step was to try and sort through all the different possibilities and decide which sites would be best for my marketing. There are sites specific to many demographic and special interest groups. One danger that I did not want to fall into is trying to do too much in too many places. It is possible for a social networking site to take up vast chunks of your time and as an entrepreneur, you just can’t let this happen. I have two niches and so I settled on two places to promote them - FaceBook and LinkedIn.
Once you have decided where you want to be - just jump in. There is much to learn in the world of social networking, but you will learn best by doing. Your first step is to develop a profile that includes info about who you are, what you do, keywords that will help people find you and a good picture of yourself. Social network sites are going to help you with the part of marketing where people get to know and like you so think of it as developing losts of virtual relationships.
Next you will want to make connections with others and expand your network. Then use the format of your particular site to gently promote what you do. On LinkedIn, you can showcase expertise by asking and answering questions. On FaceBook, you can update your activites, join and participate in groups and add links to your own websites and blogs.
There is still a great deal I haven’t yet discovered about social networking. I am taking a few teleseminars in the upcoming days to increase my understanding of marketing in this way. I’ll be sure to keep you posted. In the mean time, why don’t you join me on FaceBook or LinkedIn.
If you are a member, you can join my online network. Just go to LinkedIn or Facebook and invite me to join your network. You can find me here -
Facebook - click here.
LinkedIn - click here.
I found great news when I returned from vacation. SCORE, “Counselors to America’s Small Business”, has developed a great new free training that you may want to know about for your coaching business. “Creating an Online Presence” is the name of a new online class being offered in conjunction with Concentric, a web hosting company. The purpose of the class is to help you define and implement a strategy for a website. Emphasis is on the steps to developing a website, tips for creating content, deciding on a Web Host, and how to promote your site once it is completed. Did I mention this is free?
SCORE could be a great asset for your coaching business. They have a wide variety of free training in addition to resources and written material for business planning, marketing and much more. Of course, one of their famous free services you may consider is meeting with a personal advisor to help you in your business development. This is available to entrepreneurs at local SCORE offices all over the country. If you are not familiar with SCORE, check them out soon.
Thanks to everyone who has emailed me about my starring role in the new YouTube Video “Mind Your Own Biz”. If you haven’t yet seen it, click here. It is my latest adventure in marketing and features me talking about my popular ebook and about helping coaches develop their businesses.
The feedback has been very positive about this first try with video. I thought I would give you a little of the specifics in case you are considering video yourself. I have had mixed reactions about the graphic questions that I am responding to on the film. Half of you like having the graphics and half of you would have liked to hear the interviewer asking the questions to break up the sound of my voice. Because we edited out the voice of the interviewer, you will notice I trail away in volume on my answers. Boy, she was jumping in there quickly and we almost had to cut me off to get her out. This is not an ideal situation and I realize now that next time I would leave the sound as is and just add the graphic questions to show while the interviewer is talking.
Secondly, they always say you learn so much about yourself from seeing yourself on tape. I had no idea that I close my eyes whenever I am deep in thought - like when answering interviewer’s questions. You can see it on the video, there I go again closing my eyes. You can believe me that next time, I will be very aware of this and be looking wide open at you in the audience. Now that you have heard some of the details of the marketing aspect of the video, go watch it again. Think about what you might do differently, how would you have liked it better, what needs to be changed. Please come back here and leave your comments. Let’s all learn from this experiment how to market most effectively for your coaching business.
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