Archive for February, 2009
Counsel Me
Posted by: | CommentsAs a Professional Coach, a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Coach’s Coach, I consider it my responsibility to keep abreast on what is being written and spoken about the Coaching Industry. In my recent perusal of the Harvard Business Review’s (HBR for short) website, I read two articles, similarly titled, that I not only thought were interesting but also slightly disconcerting because the articles were accurate. Here is the first that I read; I will post the other this week.
The first of the articles that I read was called “What Coaches Can Do for You” and mentions the frequency at which the line between Coaching and Counseling is crossed during sessions. This is an enormous error for Coaches who are untrained in any form of Counseling as they can often do more harm than good.
Because Counseling is a profession where the wrong assessment and advice can lead to disastrous results on a professional, personal and emotional level, a counselor must be well trained and certified to handle these situations with great care, understanding how the effect of their advice garners great responsibility in the short and long term. Counselors go through years of schooling to prepare for minute and major nuances of their advice. They HAVE to understand what their counseling can do to and for an individual.
From the standpoint of a Certified Counselor, Coaches who are not Counselors can cause more harm than good. Please be wary and avoid the slippery slope.
Top 10 Sales Mistakes Coaches Make
Posted by: | CommentsI recently had the pleasure of hosting a teleclass for Practice Pay Solutions with Michelle Schubnel of Coach & Grow R.I.C.H. called The Top 10 Sales Mistakes Coaches Make.
Michelle discussed the top reasons that coaches have such a hard time getting sales. She is a hard hitter and really emphasized that the coach must come to terms with being in business, that sales are essential to the survival of the business and finding a way to sell that both feels right to the coach and gets the sale.
Over the course of the call Michelle hit the nail on head about:
How to discover the right and wrong way to learn more about coaching.
How to see if you are making any fatal mistakes when meeting with prospects.
How to learn the things that most coaches neglect, and that you absolutely need to do in order for someone to feel great about hiring you.
How to understand why most coaches fail to convert more prospects and what YOU can do to get better results.
The call is available for download now from Practice Pay Solutions. Just go to Practice Pay Solutions, click on Support, then Business Development. The recording is located about ½ way down the page.
About Janet Slack
Janet Slack is the National Education Director for Practice Pay Solutions and the principal of Life Adventure Coaching. She is a specialist in helping new coaches, therapists and consultants create the thriving business of their dreams. Janet is the author of Mind Your Own Biz: Discover the Secrets to Creating a Successful Coaching Business a step by step guide to starting your coaching business right and Biz Tips: The Book.
About Michelle Schubnel
Michelle Schubnel is the President and owner of Coach & Grow R.I.C.H., a popular business-development training company for professional coaches. Michelle has been coaching for 10 years and regularly speaks at industry events, including the International Coach Federation Annual Conference and the European Coaching Conference.
Affordable Coaching Tools, Now More Affordable – Recession Busting Sale
Posted by: | CommentsIf you have read my newsletters or blog or purchased my books, then you are aware that I always want to provide more than what you expect. Truth be told, I am dedicated to helping your business grow. Even in this economy, there are great opportunities for success. It is not easy, but together we can do it.
Recent financial times have been tough. But does the sad state of the economy have to affect everyone? Well, I sure hope not. But the reality is that the average Coach is feeling the pressure of these hard times.
It means that you have to be extra savvy and conscious of where you invest your hard earned income. You also need to be diligent and work exceptionally hard to keep your clients coming back to you.
You may need to be extremely careful with your purchases. You may even have to pare down the number of resources that you use. There is no shame in that. It is just smart money managing.
But as a savvy business owner, you can thrive in hard times by being smart. Smart with your time and with your money. You need to recognize necessary and useful resources that can help you, especially one that exceeds its perceived value ten-fold or more.
In light of the economical issues that are readily apparent everywhere you look, I wanted to help in as many ways as I could. So check out these Recession Busting Offers.
..:: Offer 1 ::..
Biz Tips – The Book – 20% OFF
Sale Price $7.95
This is the book with more than 50 ideas to improve your business.
Go here to take advantage of this time-limited special offer.
..:: Offer 2 ::..
Mind Your Own Biz Book – MORE THAN 25% OFF
Sale Price $27.00
This book is the complete resource for starting a successful coaching business with details, resources and exercises in vital business areas. Find your unique package as a coach, learn the entrepreneurial skills to succeed, discover how to use a business plan successfully and develop powerful ways to manage your time, money, information and
equipment.
Go here to take advantage of this time-limited special offer.
..:: Offer 3 ::..
Biz Tips for Coaches Newsletter – FREE
Get the weekly email that can make a difference in the success of YOUR coaching business.
Filled with new and insightful information that is relevant to the growth of any coach’s business.
Go here to take advantage of this special offer.
..:: Offer 4 ::..
Support Group for Coaches 25% OFF
$15.00 per Group
Join a support group of determined coaches lead by a certified coach. Increase your motivation, creativity, accountability and more. Use the collective wisdom and support of a group to crystallize your ideas and accelerate your progress toward building your coaching dream.
Email me at janet@lifeadventurecoaching.com to take advantage of this offer.
I really want you to succeed as a coach and I know these resources can make a difference.
I hope you will take advantage of this special offer – times of economic stress can be times of great growth for an entrepreneur. My hope is that these tools may be what you need to spur your growth.
Warmly,
Janet
Taking Action to Conquer Your Goals
Posted by: | CommentsAlmost all of us have goals in life we’d like to reach, but many of us fail to see them through because we lack the knowledge to get started in making them reality. Don’t let starting your business be a goal that never happens. Today we will discuss how to take action towards getting your most important goals out of your head and into reality.
Follow these step-by-step instructions to help you create goals and the actions needed to realize and complete them. By following this plan, you will be more apt to succeed at meeting your goals in your business and your life.
1. Write it down.
Many dreams are forgotten because we neglect to put them on paper. One day we’ll say, “Oh, yeah, I wanted to do that when I was young.” No one says that you have to pursue all of the goals that are listed on the paper, but if you do choose to work towards some of them, you’ll remember what they were in the first place. One effective way to do this is to make your list of goals within a journal so that you have space for writing other lists that pertain to these goals as you work towards their completion. Use your journal to list your business goals for the next few years.
2. Make a decision about the goals you’ve written down.
Each goal has possibilities and difficulties. Begin a list of the pros and cons of each goal you wrote down in step one. This will help you narrow down your choices. Those with too many cons may need to be omitted from your list or at least moved to another list for now. Be sure to write pros and cons for the practicality of that business goal for who you are as a business person.
3. Are these goals for me?
Now that we have narrowed the list to the possible goals, how do you feel about each one? Take the time to list your feelings about the goals left on the list. Be sure to list positive thoughts as well as any misgivings you may have. Decide which goals have priority now.
4. Create a plan for the goals.
This goes for every goal even if it won’t be pursued right now. Five years down the road, you may want to think about a business expansion or writing a book. When it comes time to look at this goal, you will already have a plan for achieving it. Each plan can be for a long term or short term goal. If plans for different goals mesh together, more than one goal can be pursued at a time.
It might be wise, especially if this is the first time working with goal planning, to focus on one or two goals right now and revisit the others at a later time. It is always better to achieve goals in sequence than never reach any of them.
5. Divide and conquer in manageable steps.
It is easy to become overwhelmed when thinking about the completed goal and what big task it may be. Starting a business is a commitment both of finances and time. Realize, everything doesn’t have to be done all at one time. Steps or milestones, allow for smaller goals to be achieved on the way to the bigger one. Outline carefully the significant points along the way to your goal.
6. Get moving.
The hardest part is over. You have taken the time to put a plan in place and pursue the dream that has lain dormant for years. Start with step one and work your way forward.
Taking action towards a goal does not have to seem overwhelming if you take time to decide which goals are worth going after, planning the steps necessary to get to the desired result, and simply get going with those steps. Before any goal can get off the ground, it needs a direction and a plan. Once you have the direction it’s just a matter of checking things off your list until they are complete. Take things one step at a time and you’ll reach the finish line before you know it.
If you are a new coach, a coaching support group may just be the boost you need to realize your ultimate goal. If you’re interested in this affordable opportunity, please send me an email. (Janet @ LifeAdventureCoaching dot com)








