The following is taken from David’s interview with Anna Dargitz in 10 Super Coaches.
What was most disheartening for you while building your practice?
Marketing was disheartening. I’m not a traditional sales person. In my day, the law of attraction was addressed but there was no hand-holding through the steps of marketing with authenticity. I bought and read all the power and guerrilla networking materials. I tried a bunch of them. They only blocked my natural flow. So I set out to write my own workbook and teleclass on marketing that focused on authentic affiliations and partnering. I eliminated anything that seemed phony to me. I was interested in soaring with strengths and delegating weaknesses to affiliations and partners who were strong in the areas of our weakness.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Ginger Cockerham in 10 Super Coaches.
In the first year, what percentage of your coaching was face to face versus phone?
100% by phone. I started coaching by telephone and have only coached one client face to face since I began coaching. I coach all my individual clients and all my groups by telephone. My clients are scattered all over the country and the world – the telephone allows me to provide extraordinary flexibility and allows me to coach more people and groups.
Telephone bridge calls are a great way to stay connected regularly with many clients – and I feel people relax their guard and share more freely and openly on the phone.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Mike Turner in 10 Super Coaches.
In order, what where the top three sources of your clients in the first 2 years?
From people who had been clients in the time before I was a self-employed coach. The work arose from on-going conversations with them about what I was doing and what the challenges facing them were. This was the main source.
From my website – this only brought a few clients but one at least has now been with me for 6 years off and on.
From a magazine article which mentioned me.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Ginger Cockerham in 10 Super Coaches.
Are there any particular school(s) you would recommend?
I am a Master Certified Coach with IFC and a Certified Mentor Coach with Coachville. Also, I am a certified Teleclass leader at Coach University and at the Graduate School of Coaching at Coachville. I encourage clients to explore credentialing with quality organizations who train significant numbers of coaches that impact the industry. To be connected to a strong community of coaches is one of the most wonderful things about coaching.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Jim Earley in 10 Super Coaches.
Roughly how much capital/money did you spend in the first 6-12 months, and on what?
I already had a computer. I would have purchased my time and billing software ($200), and initial business cards ($30). My ongoing expenses would have included, paper, envelopes and postage, membership dues, meals, and automobile expenses.
After a year or so, I spent the best money ever on a high quality business card with a particularly evocative label. I bartered the design, and spent $400 on the cards. They were cool. Made a statement. Got noticed every time I used them. Bolstered my confidence, big time.
Some time later, I had a brochure printed. My attitude towards brochures is that they might be an important process to experience, but they’re probably not an important tool to have.
The following is taken from David’s interview with Marcia Reynolds in 10 Super Coaches.
What method did you find most effective in getting your initial clients, and what advice would you give to coaches trying this method?
Go be visible, whatever this takes. Tell people what you are doing. Network wherever you can. Speak, write, and give seminars. The more people that know you and like you, the more the referrals will come in.
Also, get your own coach immediately, even if funds are low. Your coach will get you up and running quicker than if you try to do it by yourself. And your coach will help you clean up your own life so that you are more attractive to others.
