The following is taken from David’s interview with Ernest F. Oriente in 10 Super Coaches.
How would you recommend coaches start to build their business?
I co-authored a book with my partner Judy Feld, titled ‘SmartMatch Alliances’. If we were building a business in 90 days and we put the driving principle of SmartMatch Alliances into play, we could catapult our business from nothing to something and be moving forward at a rate that is simply extraordinary.
The interesting piece, or the challenging piece, is that many and most coaches are not using this formula, and quite frankly they’re not building businesses that thrive and exceed their expectations. Many, many coaches are not making enough to even be considered a paycheck.
It took us thirty two thousand words to put this formula together. It took the entire first half of the book to explain the concept of ‘living in the world’ and having maximum exposure and having the foundation in place so that you can serve those who are your exact perfect audience.
The once you have that in place, the alliances, and all the additional services that you might provide for that audience, it just falls right into place like dominoes, it’s extremely easy.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Jim Earley in 10 Super Coaches.
What top three methods, in order, did you use to get your clients in the first 2 years?
Normally I wouldn’t mention this one, but the thing I did the least, but which brought me the client that kept me in business, was cold calling HR directors. I only pursued the torture of cold calling for six months, but netted a client that provided up to $25K in revenue in a couple of years.
I joined the Minnesota chapter of ASTD (American Society of Training and Development), volunteered to serve on the newsletter, became newsletter editor, and was invited to join the board. I participated up to my ear lobes in that organization for about five years. That gave me lots of visibility and credibility with people in the training and development circles.
I also bartered a membership in an Inner Circle group; a facilitated peer coaching group for business owners. This was a miracle of the highest order. It gave me the opportunity to rub elbows with people accustomed to making a lot of money. It also gave me a source of accountability (I didn’t want to look like a chump there). In time, it led to some business.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Leza Danly in 10 Super Coaches.
Would you advise coaches to purse certification? If so, at what stage in their practice, and through which accrediting body?
Absolutely. Coaching certification is absolutely necessary. There are many people who are innately gifted coaches, and that’s great. Even so, coach certification offers a maturing of your skill and an opportunity to discover more of the artistry of coaching. I encourage certification through a coaching school and then to also purse credentialing through the ICF.
As for the pace, it’s a personal decision. I think there’s a lot to be said for riding the momentum of moving through the training process and into certification in a short period of time to keep a hard focus on skill and to solidify the self-image as a coach. You need to coach a lot to see yourself as a coach. Seeing yourself as a coach, having that self-image, has everything to do with your ability to create clients. If you drag it out over a long time it can sometimes feel more like a hobby than a profession.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Michael O. Cooper in 10 Super Coaches.
What was most disheartening for you while building your practice?
I barely survived my first year as a full-time coach – and sank over $40,000 of my own money into the business and on living expenses. That was a real slap in the face. After all, I was helping my clients achieve success in their businesses and I had succeeded in other businesses before, why couldn’t I do it on my own now?
I felt like a fraud. But I also knew dozens of other coaches experiencing the same situation; some even left coaching for more security. Underneath, my fears of failing, attachment to the outcome of marketing efforts (the antithesis of attraction marketing), and stubborn resistance to positioning myself as an expert within a niche, nearly contributed to catastrophe.
Within one month of allowing success – by providing value for the joy of it, establishing a clear nice where demand already existed and trusting that I could succeed – my business quadrupled in revenue. More importantly, other coaches started sending me endorsed referrals out of the blue!
The following is taken from David’s interview with Rachel Pryor in 10 Super Coaches.
What top three methods, in order, did you use to get your clients in the first 2 years?
In the first 2 years, I committed to never getting a client through my network – I wanted to start again. So I attracted media attention, and clients came through articles. It took around 3 years to have a totally self-sufficient, referral-based practice.
However, coaching is no longer ‘news’ so I would recommend that coaches get clients through doing what they enjoy – if it is speaking, writing (internet-based publications are always looking for new material), or finding more original ways to enjoy themselves and become known.
I also mentored other coaches for 5 years or so, though I made sure that I never had more than 1/3 of my practice made up of coaches, because I felt that would become unreal.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Ginger Cockerham in 10 Super Coaches.
What was the most interesting or exciting thing for you about building your practice?
Number one – creating my own business.
Number two – results for my clients.
I had a client who was a professor in a major University who was on her way to becoming tenured and was miserable. She came to me to help her put more zest into her life outside her work so she could accept the fact that she wasn’t happy in her job. I challenged and encouraged her to look at alternatives to what she was doing. She loved to travel, spoke several languages and enjoyed cultural diversity. She also liked to work intensely for short periods and then have a break.
She explored how she could use her strengths and expertise in another model. When I asked her about being a Global Trainer, she replied that she had never heard of such a thing. After days of research, she found herself in all the descriptions of a global trainer. Soon she was headed out on her assignments to Turkmenistan training managers for a Multi-national company. She doubled her revenue and had four to six months off a year working in new environments intensely for a few months. She is happy in her work life now and in her personal life.
I have so many examples of people having the courage to make changes in their lives that I feel the excitement for each one of them and the joy that I was part of the coaching partnership.
