Be A Great Business Coach

I always admired Atticus in the book, To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus was a larger-than-life lawyer and would help those who needed help, even when they couldn't afford to pay him, at least not with money. Atticus was committed to helping the people who need it most. Similarly, a successful pharmaceutical company has this motto: "We help improve patient's lives. When we focus on that, profits come. The more we focus on that, the more profits come." The lesson is to continue to develop your services and your skills and your bag of tricks in such a way that you are always focused on your clients and on helping them improve their businesses. If you are able to do that, and do it with a passionate zeal, you will be successful!

Being a business coach can seem like a relaxing, rewarding, easy-going business. While times like that will come, getting it to that point takes a lot of hard work. You will be attending business mixers and events, hosting speaking events, doing some free sessions, writing blogs and other online updates. You will need to be disciplined and dedicated to your marketing plan, which will keep you very busy at first.

In addition to the hard work in marketing and promoting your business, you will put in some long, hard hours working with your clients. Because you are a human being, you will have some hard times, some tough days. However, when you visit with a client, you must be on top of your game and be ready to give them 100% in your coaching. Doing that for 2-3 sessions per day can be very draining, and very rewarding. So, be ready to put in some hard work and the business will reward you accordingly.

Most coaches start their practice with a pretty good marketing plan in place. Just like our clients, we tend to drop some of those activities as we get busy. Don't do that! Get yourself a checklist each month to remind you to do your newsletter, attend events, make calls, visit with referral partners, etc. The key to any effective marketing plan is consistency, tracking results, and making minor adjustments along the way. As soon as you drop your marketing efforts, you will see the effects on your calendar, when it's too late. So, keep it up, stick to the plan and keep yourself booked solid.

You can't avoid this. Gotta do it. Get on Squidoo, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Make yourself a Fan Page on Facebook, too. I use LinkedIn as my referral rolodex. When someone needs to make a connection, I refer them to my LinkedIn profile. I use my Facebook profile to add a little color to my persona. I'll put up some personal pictures or notes about myself, while staying away from religion and politics. I use all of them to promote my events. The point is, keep your name in front of your market with these easy tools.

As part of the Hard Work, you'll be attending lots of mixers, groups, expos, and other business events. Be sure to grab business cards and ask, "May I connect with you _________________." Fill in the blank with a request to connect on Social Media or your email newsletter or an invitation to receive your free materials. Whatever the case, start building your database and making contact with them.

Just having a brochure website is no longer good enough. There is a simple formula for capturing leads. Make an irresistible and useful free offer on your website (like the one you're reading now) in exchange for contact information. The secret is to ask for minimal contact information. Get their name and email. You can gather the rest later. There are a number of great email autoresponder systems out there, so find one and get the system working on your website.

It is the old, "Big Fish, Small Pond," adage. Back during the Great Recession, I had a PR associate ask me how business was doing. When I said it was going well, she doubted me. When I asked why she doubted my success, she said, "The other business coaches I know are really struggling, how are you doing so well?" My answer was simple. I target a small geographic area, and I focus on being known as THE business coach in that area. My marketing plan is based on that concept, and it sure did prove effective.

A real key to a successful business coaching practice is the service mix. You will want to try to have a service that addresses each level of need and affordability within your target market. Look at having an intense, one-on-one coaching service, a group program, and some self-directed tools for them to use on their own. The other key to having this mix is a better base of recurring sales and cash flows.

Having an online component to your business will build credibility within your market and, hopefully, provide you with a recurring stream of revenue. Look at your services and materials. Which of them would make good web-based tools or services? We put our Dashboard (www.DashboardToSuccess.com) online, and it has been central to retaining our clients and building recurring revenue.

You'll hear this from many others besides me: make money while you sleep. A great way to do this is to have an online store or listing of products that your clients can purchase from your website. Look at templates for business plans, spreadsheets, and workbooks that include the information from your seminars and workshops. Start making money on those great materials!

Those are the nine keys to running a successful coaching practice. All nine are very important, so make sure you don't just focus on one, and then forget it as you move on to the next one.

I highly recommend picking one per week for the next nine weeks, and making it your goal to integrate each one into your practice.

If you are already running your coaching practice, I recommend sending out a survey to your current and past clients and to your prospects to find out how you can even BETTER serve them. You may find some real surprises there.

Having a successful coaching practice is a very rewarding business. You are helping others achieve their dreams, so it's only fitting that you achieve yours in the process. I can help you do that. If you have any questions, please contact me. Better yet: check out our Certified MyBusiness Advisors program. This program will help you execute these concepts in a proven, ready-to-go package and avoid common startup mistakes. Why reinvent the wheel? Join our team and get your practice up and going the right way with the support you need.

You can check us out at http://www.mybusiness-advisors.com/Business-Coaching-and-Consulting-Franchise.html

Contact me at spreston@mybusiness-advisors.com or 480-242-3780 to schedule a web meeting. I will give you a behind-the-scenes look at our training and materials, so that you can see for yourself if this program is for you.

Good luck to you and your coaching practice!