Archive for September, 2008
Keeping Your Email out of the Junk Folder
Posted by: | CommentsToday’s tip is thanks to Kathy Mallory who sent out a link to the MAPS guidelines. MAPS is a major anti-spam blacklist service and this site will give you lots of information on how to insure the emails from your coaching business are being delivered to their intended recipients.
The mailing list of a coaching business is one of the most valuable assets and you want to make sure you manage yours correctly. The purpose of the MAPS site is to give you guidelines for managing your mailing list to avoid the common traps that can get you into trouble. One of their first reminders is that all traffic on the internet flows by mutual agreement. The site goes on to list ways to ensure that you meet regulations concerning email and even several ways to determine that you have valid addresses on your list. Every coaching entrepreneur would do well to spend a few minutes learning some of the information MAPS is providing on this site.
FaceBook Marketing for Coaches
Posted by: | CommentsThere is a lot to be learned in the world of FaceBook. I started weeks ago and am just feeling like I understand what to do there. I have attended several teleseminars on using FaceBook effectively in the past month and thought I should report in on some of what I have discovered to help you as you grow your coaching business.
The first thing to remember about social networking sites in general and FaceBook in particular is that they are first and foremost social sites. The site was built and flourishes on the idea that people are looking for relationships and interaction with others. Gen Y members, the originators of social networking, do not react well to overt sales campaigns and so these are not appropriate on FaceBook. Success for your coaching business on FaceBook seems to be about walking a fine line. You do want to present yourself as professional and on target with the brand and message that you want. However, you must put yourself into the mix – your personality, style, sense of humor, hobbies, etc. You are connecting in this medium by developing real relationships.
You can also do promotion in FaceBook if you stay on the fine line. It seems the best way to do this is to start either a group or a page. Profiles are the way an individual is listed on Facebook; pages are intended for the description of a business or product. Once you have your page, then you can notify your friends to check it out. If they join the page, they become “fans”. What you do not want to do is spend lots of your time posting messages about your business. It is fine if it fits a conversation within a particular group and if you are sure to include helpful ideas in addition to the promotion.
Another safe way to promote on FaceBook is through the events function. For example, if you have an upcoming teleclass, you can announce it as an event. Everyone that agrees that they will go to your event will be sending a notice automatically to their friends about the event. This will help spread the word quickly. FaceBook marketing always occurs this way – through relationship.
I have learned a great deal about FaceBook and am excited about the possibilities there. I have discovered the learning curve is steep though and it is best to proceed carefully. One great resource is Jason Alba who may be the King of Facebook and in particular his blog, FaceBook Advice.
Please post here any great FaceBook tips you have or just your experience as we move into the age of social networking.
One Page Business Plans and the Institute for Life Coach Training
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Coaching Support Groups
Posted by: | CommentsCoaching support groups provide the budding entrepreneur with ideas, accountability, support and increased chances for success. If you are in the growing stages of developing your coaching business and finding yourself struggling, you may be the perfect fit for a coaching support group. These groups are a proven way for coaches to achieve increased success. Held virtually, the group helps you to increase your accountability in business matters, explore business ideas in depth, have a safe place to increase your confidence as an entrepreneur and develop relationships with other supportive coaches.
Here are some comments from support group members in groups that I run -
“Participating in the support group has definitely kept me in action and helps me to feel a sense of accomplishment as I build my coaching business.”
“The group has been a safe place to experiment with ideas and learn how to grow my coaching business.”
“Whenever I have a question in my coaching work, it is comforting to know that I have a forum of supportive colleagues where I can discuss it and get good, always helpful feedback.”
“It is inspiring and encouraging to hear what others accomplish. I learn from their breaking what they do down into steps and from the solutions they find for the problems they encounter. I find myself prepared when I get to a similar point.”
“Our support group rocks.”
Currently, I have openings in a support group which meets every other Wednesday afternoon at 1:00-2:00pm eastern time. A low monthly fee covers the cost of the group. If you are ready to get the support you need for your coaching business to grow and can make a commitment to this group, please send me an email at janet@lifeadventurecoaching.com.
This may be just what your coaching business needs.
Strategic Thinking for Coaches
Posted by: | CommentsRegular readers know that I have been studying and learning about social networking for coaches in the past month (read previous post here). The more I learn about the subject, the more it reminds me of the need for strategic thinking before plunging into a new marketing avenue. So today’s post is about strategic thinking – what it is, why it matters and how to do it.
Strategic thinking is all about mindset and how you approach the running of your coaching business. It is the idea that you have a vision as an entrepreneur and take the time to develop a plan on how you will get there. First, this means you focus on the long term and not just short term issues. This requires you to think about your business as a system. Each decision is impacting other decisions and so to be effective you must have a handle on the big picture. When you think strategically, you carefully assess resources, weaknesses and opportunities for your business and base your plan on this analysis. If your plan is developed strategically, it also includes the concept of leveraging – how to use what you have for maximum effectiveness.
This type of thinking utilizes the best of both sides of your brain. You must be able to be creative and intuitive in deciding where you want to go and how to get there. At the same time, it is important to be able to analyze the path, make regular reviews and take stock of true progress of your coaching business so you can make appropriate course corrections.
Strategic thinking is about finding the best possible answers for the actual conditions you find yourself in. It is vital to be able to bounce ideas off others, both trusted advisors and members of your target market, in order to succeed. Strategic thinking involves the careful application of your best hypotheses about success. You must be able to examine your assumptions, question your belief systems and be open minded to new and different ideas in order to do this. The growth of your business will be more rapid if you make input from informed others a large piece of the process.
Strategic thinking requires time and effort and so it is often a neglected area for the busy professional. It is easy to overlook planning or let it get put on the back burner because of urgent matters. Instead, put your strategic planning time into your calendar in pen – don’t allow anything else to get in the way. No matter who that successful person is that you admire in your field, I can guarantee you that they have achieved success because they had a goal and a game plan on how to achieve it. Success does not come from shots in the dark; success comes from having a blueprint and the wisdom to adjust it when needed.
