Coaching Blog

An example? Well a nice upbeat article on Life Coaching came out in the March 26, 2006 Sunday New York Times and suddenly, one coach that I know got called by a potential client who read the article and hired him on the spot! And other coaches that I know are also suddenly hearing from more potential clients. One article can have a big rapid ripple effects.

One article can spawn more media mentions. My partner at ACE, Donna Steinhorn, was just called by someone who is looking for coaches to be guests on her radio show. Donna's scouting that for our ACE members.

Can we attribute all of this new interest in coaching to just one article? Well, maybe. Don't underestimate the power of the media to help you create coaching success.

And don't sit on your hands while opportunity knocks. One Coach 100 ECPer went out right away and posted coaching flyers in all the apartment buildings in her neighborhood after the NY Times article appeared. Will she immediately get new clients? Who knows? Sometimes people pull off numbers, carry them in their wallets for a year and then call. I've had that happen lots of times.

That's why you need to be consistently doing things that will bring attention to your business and patiently waiting for those things to pay off AND you need to be prepared to act fast when there's a genuine opportunity - like when a big article or TV spot on coaching comes out in your city.

• What are you doing on a day-to-day basis to bring yourself more clients?
• And what are some creative ways that you can leverage media mentions?

By the way, as coaching becomes a household word, you see more jokes being made about it. Did you see what the Daily Show with Jon Stewart did to us? Don't worry, all media coverage is good coverage. This is just another sign that the mainstream public knows about us. (Jokes about lawyers haven't exactly ruined that profession. Rather, they offer feedback to reputable attorneys about how not to practice law.)

Here's a link to the NY Times article on life coaching

And the link for the Daily Show piece on life coaching

Your challenge: How can you leverage these pieces to create more success for yourself (and your potential new clients)?

More on this subject in Coach 100 class #18, Where Are Your Next Clients Hiding?

If you're not already a member of the Coach 100 and you don't already have a full practice, then you might want to check it out.

Should you get coach certification or fill your practice, first?

I get asked this question a lot by coaches that I'm mentoring, because these are two of my mentor coach specialties (the other is advanced personal development).

I'm a little mystified by this question. Why does it have to be either/or?

Most coaches aren't independantly wealthy, so getting clients quickly is important to them. On the other hand, they know that getting certified is important, too. Not so much because it's important to clients - most potential clients won't even ask if you're certified. The real reason certification helps coaches be successful is because it helps them get past feeling insecure, like frauds, like people who don't quite know what they're doing, yet.

That's the Kiss of Death for coaches who are trying to sell their coaching services!

So, the stamp of approval that certifcation brings is important to the coach, not the client.

However, coach certification can take years of hard work. How do you survive in the process? Well, fill your coachng practice, of course. But hold on! How do you fill your practice if you're still suffering from the Kiss of Death??

That's why the Coach 100 Program is designed the way that it is. To make it easy to sign on clients, even though you're new to coaching. There's something about being part of a program and having made a commitment to coach 100 people that makes it easy to ask people to help you out by letting you give them complimentary sessions. Each session you give is priceless practice for your coaching skills and your selling skills. Long before you finish coaching 100 people, you'll be excellent at both and getting clients and certifications will be a piece of cake. 

Not only that, but you'll get the Certified Experienced Coach designation, too. With 100 clients under your belt, you'll have strong skills and certification, too. No more Kiss of Death!

Hmm, Kiss of Death or Piece of Cake? That's an easy one.

If you don't know the Coach 100 techniques to invite people to complimentary sessions, take Coach 100 classes #1 through #4. (a.k.a. C100 Module 1)

Find out more about the Coach 100 Business Success Program.