Posts Tagged ‘learning’

Be a Great Student

As you walk along the path of growing a coaching business, there are tons of things to learn.  Besides the subject matter knowledge of your particular niche, you need to learn about business, technology, and coaching frameworks.
The Internet is a wonderful place to learn since there are so many f*ree tools and resources. But sometimes, you need the support of a structured class or training program.
The knowledge learned in these programs should be well worth the price. But if you choose your courses wisely, they can give you additional dividends:  strong relationships and even teaching opportunities.
When you bring focus and enthusiasm to a class, fellow participants and the instructors get excited about working with you.  You become a great candidate for a joint venture or mastermind partnership, and sometimes you can be in invited to help teach the class next time. Being a great student means:
  • Participating in group discussions in a constructive way, sharing your perspective and encouraging others
  • Doing your homework
  • Applying the information you learn in class in your life or business and sharing results with others
  • Being very supportive of other participants, even if you are all at different stages of learning
Pam was invited to co-teach a class with branding expert Suzanne Falter-Barns after taking her class as a student in 2005. She also found a great mastermind partner in Philippa Kennealy (Entrepreneurial MD) after both took an Andrea Lee class together.
Your personal brand is built on the way you show up in every part of your life. So show up fully when you are a student, and watch your opportunities grow.

Observe Your People in Action

The key to a successful coaching business is becoming intimately familiar with the fears, frustrations, hopes, dreams and aspirations of your people. The more you know about them, the better you can tailor our products and services to fit their needs.

So instead of sitting back imagining what your people want, observe them in action!

-If your people are stay-at-home moms, go to a playground close to a large housing development in the middle of the day and watch them in action.
-If your people are corporate managers, go to a conference or event that is teeming with them.
-If you like creative, open-minded urban dwellers, go to a First Fridays Art Walk, popular in many large cities

Your objective in these environments is to notice everything about them. What do they look like? How do they hold their bodies? What do they wear? What do they talk about? What does it feel like to be around them?

If you have the chance to engage with them, be curious and open. Don’t worry about launching into a big “I am a coach would you like to work with me” speech, since this is not the time for it.

Have fun learning about what they want. Then give it to them!

Be a consumer, not just a producer

Marketing these days is a content-driven business. Your client-attraction strategy depends on you delivering excellent, targeted information to your ideal clients on a regular basis through blog posts, ezine articles and podcasts.

You will learn to be a better producer by being a good consumer.

Choose a number of ezines, blogs or podcasts that you consider valuable sources of information for your coaching business.

Make time to read them on a regular basis.

Note what it is about them that you find engaging, and valuable. Pay attention to moments when you are encouraged to sign up for a teleclass, or buy a product, or participate in a program.

All are signs of marketing gone right.

Take the best models of what you read and apply them to your own marketing. For example:

-Take the structure of a well-designed sales letter and apply it to your own new product
-Note a really pleasing design, and see how you could freshen up your own
-Notice the language that is used when you feel gently encouraged to purchase something valuable, not strong-armed or hypnotized into buying something you don’t need

Consuming great information will make you a better producer.

You are what you eat, watch and read. :)