The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
Exercise
- List the Top Ten Reasons someone should hire you. What are your strengths?
- List everything you can think of that you have done in your life – including training, experiences, insights, etc. Cross out anything that doesn’t add to your credibility or express who you are. (Suggestion: check with a fellow coach on this to make sure you are not throwing out valuable information that you are blind to.)
- Write a half page Bio. Then go through and cut it down to two to three paragraphs that really describe you well.
- Search the internet and print off three bios that sound attractive to you (yet don’t rely on hard facts you cannot replicate; e.g., a Doctorate in Psychology). Use these to inspire ideas and rework your bio.
- Have a friend who is good with words or marketing, edit it to give you a Bio that sounds great! A great sounding Bio can make an amazing difference to your confidence.
- Run your Bio past three friends or colleagues who you would like to coach and that represent your target market. Use their feedback and suggestions to further improve it.
- Put your Bio on your web site, and in a handy electronic file where you can easily find it (to insert in an e-mail, or to forward to a prospective client or audience).
The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
I believe it makes sense for your client-gathering strategies to depend on how far you are along the coaching ‘curve’. If you have at least a year’s experience in coaching, and an existing client base, then I suggest you jump ahead to Advanced Marketing Strategies.
However, if you’re still building up your confidence, then I’m going to outline here a strategy, which I have found to be the fastest for building confidence, and getting your initial clients. (Once you are confident and have a full practice, revenue increases, your attraction increases, and you’ll know more about who you want to coach.)
The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
3. Once you’ve decided to go ahead, consider professional coach training. This will give you resources, insights, tools, and support. It will also help you to build your coach network — other coaches you can call on for help and advice. You should pick a school which has happy, successful coaches. Do you require face-to-face training, want the flexibility of teleclass (phone conference calls) training, the multidimensional impact of online learning, or a combination of these? And shop around — prices vary. For a list of training schools and the specials we’ve negotiated, visit: http://www.becomeacoach.com
4. Work with a coach to build your practice. Some people skip Step 3 and jump straight to working with a coach to enter the industry. People in this category are usually those with existing transferable skills (e.g. counselling, or a lot of personal development training). Or, they are people short on cash, who want to generate some revenue from coaching before they invest in a proper training course. A coach can help you avoid common mistakes, and build your practice faster, with less effort than you would on your own. What business systems do you need in place? Where will you find clients? How will you keep your clients? And how do you keep your chin up if you lose three in one day!?
Some new coaches like to combine Steps 3 and 4 by finding a training program which supplies them with a coach.
The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
Here are the key steps:
- Interview 2-3 coaches to find out more about the career and lifestyle you would be getting into. They can tell you the good and the bad; how easy or difficult it is; and … how they got started.
- Hire a coach and experience coaching for yourself. But don’t get coached on Becoming a Coach. Not just yet. Get coached on something else you want to achieve or something you want to alter in your life. This will give you the best feel for whether or not this is the career for you. AND, it’s actually the best training you can get. Training from a live course, teleclass, book, or online environment is great. But there’s no substitute for the experience of personally being coached, and seeing how an experienced coach moves you forward.
The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
Ask for referrals of the ones he/she is not willing to do; e.g., they can’t pay enough. Offer to go along and assist at their talks. Many really are open to this kind of help. Or ask them what kind of help they could use. Many new speakers apprentice, and again, a local chapter of the NSA is a great place to find a speaker that one can shadow. Also, the local chapters of NSA have mentoring programs that match up new speakers with experienced ones.
The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.
Rather than go through the theory of what you could provide when you start coaching, I’ll simply tell you what I provide:
- A List of Common Coaching Goals
- A Self Coaching Form (Preparation Form to fill in for each session)
- The ‘6/3 Goals Form’ (which helps them set out three goals with milestones and possible strategies)
- Our Coaching Agreement (which includes my policies and procedures).
While these forms will be available to coaches later in the year as part of a paid package, I wanted to give you one of the forms here free of charge:
I’ve included my coaching agreement here to give you an idea of the areas you could consider covering. Please note that as I am not a lawyer I cannot give you legal advice. I therefore recommend you get legal advice specific to your country and do not rely on this agreement for legal protection.
