Coaching Biz Tips

5 Powerful Mind Success Strategies

Building a coaching business is a fantastic and challenging experience.  You can wake up exhilarated to begin your day and go to bed feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.  The key to success is to maintain a positive, "can do" mindset. 

Easier said than done, right?  Here are 5 keys to help you create and sustain a positive mindset so you attain the success you desire.

1. Surround yourself with successful and positive people.  The influence people have over our own personal energy is amazing.  Moods and attitudes are so easily spread – think about how much of a difference a simple smile from a stranger can make for your day and then magnify it 1000 times to demonstrate the power of positive and successful friends, family and associates.  When you have people around you who inspire you, believe in you and want you to succeed, there’s no room for doubts--and even when they creep up, they’re quickly swept away.  

2. Create a mantra or an affirmation.  Repeating positive affirmations has been shown to get people through tough times and to actually help them truly believe what they’re saying.

For example, “I am building a powerful and profitable coaching business.”  Many of the most esteemed business professionals have used the same affirmation strategy to attain their success.  To find the right affirmations for you, consider writing a quick list of your doubts, insecurities and complaints.  These can then be quickly turned into affirmations. 

For example, if you write that you’re always feeling disorganized then your affirmation would be, “I am organized and in control.”  Repeat your affirmations several times a day and feel the power of positive thinking.

3. Cancel negative thoughts.  We all have negative thoughts from time to time, however, negative thoughts and emotions can derail you and prevent you from achieving all you desire.  Of course catching those negative thoughts takes practice and persistence.  When you find yourself thinking negative thoughts or having negative emotions, say "Cancel that", and then use an affirmation to turn your thinking around.  You can also find quick pick me ups like a favorite song, a walk outside in the fresh air, or some exercise to help improve your mood.

4. Set goals/intentions and then be willing to let it go.  You attract what you focus on the most.  However, desperation--needing your business to be a success--sends mixed messages and a lot of negativity into the situation.  Set your goals and intentions and then let them go.  A certain amount of faith in yourself and in the power of attraction is helpful.  Give it a try!

5. Be grateful.  Gratitude is perhaps the single most powerful and positive tool for success.  When you’re grateful for all of the wonderful people and blessings in your life the challenges you face seem significantly less important and are easier to deal with. 

Consider keeping a gratitude journal and make a practice of writing in it daily.  That way, when you’re facing challenges a quick peek at all the amazing things in your life will make you feel as if you can tackle anything. Additionally, an attitude of gratitude helps you maintain a positive perspective so you can face challenges as opportunities rather than obstacles. 

Success is within your reach and with the right attitude you can accomplish anything you set your sights on.  Embrace these five powerful mind success strategies and you’ll build a better coaching business and live a happier, more satisfying life.

5 Quick Tips To Get More Website Traffic

One of the most significant keys to coaching business success is getting website traffic.  The more visitors you have, the better your sales and profits.  Presumably you have a niche and you know your keywords, and regularly conduct keyword research to stay on top of what’s popular.  Based on those assumptions here are five quick and easy tips to get more website traffic and better sales and profits. 

Tip #1  Make sure you’re actually tagging your keywords. 

Do you spend a lot of time optimizing your content and then neglect to tag them on your webpage?  Tags are where search engines look and if there are no tags they’ll pass right by your web pages.  Here’s a quick brief on tags.

There are a number of tag types including:

• Title tags.  Title tags are quite possibly the most important place to situate your keywords.  Here’s what they look like - <title>Primary keyword phrase here. </title>
  
  Your title tag is where you place your primary keyword or keyword phrase.  The sentence will describe your business in less than 90 characters. 
• Header Tags.  Header tags are next in order of importance to search engines.  They’re ranked in order of importance and look like this - <h1>Primary and/or Secondary keywords here</h1>
  
  The “1” designates this header as the most important header on the page.
• Meta Tags. Meta tags provide the small descriptive text found underneath the title tag on the search engine results page.  Like title tags these should be kept brief, informative and up to date.
• Alt Tags.  Alt tags are used to provide a text description of a graphic.  Each graphic on your site should have a description and an alt tag. 

Tip #2 Add content to your site daily

Content is essential for traffic and a top search engine ranking.  Content is what search engine spiders look for and index - without it there’s nothing to index or rank.  Give visitors and search engines a reason to visit and index your site. Make a commitment to provide daily, optimized content and your traffic will soar.

Tip #3 Procure valuable and relevant incoming links

The more websites which link to your web pages the more valuable search engines perceive you to be, though not all links are created equal.  Search engines give more leverage to links from sites which are popular and credible and from sites which are relevant to your website topic. 

There are different types of links.

• A direct link looks like a basic website address, for example, www.yourwebsite.com
• A text link occurs when the webpage address is embedded in the text.  Readers simply click on the link and are redirected to a new website page. 
• If the link is to an internal web page, for example an article published on a website, rather than the home page, it is called a “deep link.”

You can encourage linking to your website by:

• Adding content to your site. 
• Submitting to article directories. 
• Publishing press releases. 
• Blogging and participating in social networking forums, chat rooms and social networking sites. 

Tip #4 Be Social!

Now more than ever before, internet marketing is about building a community.  Whether you offer a forum on your website or you participate in social networking sites, social networking is a valuable traffic generating tactic.  Sites like Facebook and Twitter can be powerful tools for generating links and traffic to your site – create a profile and then post comments, links to your site and ideas which generate conversation. 

Get involved - many chat rooms and forums are industry-specific, find those which cater to your market, and begin participating.  Speak to and connect with a highly targeted audience. 

Tip #5 Advertise for more exposure and traffic

Advertising, when handled strategically, can be used to promote your content and products or services.  PPC advertising is often the tool of choice because you control the advertising budget on a daily basis and have the tools to test and track your advertising efforts.  Once you’ve honed your PPC ads the return on investment can be phenomenal in terms of traffic and purchases.   

For maximum results, create a traffic and SEO strategy.  Outline your plan and your goals and then take the necessary action.  Take advantage of these five traffic and search engine tips to boost your business.

Technorati Tags: Website,Traffic,visitors,profits,niche,keywords

Stop Digging. Start Climbing.

Let’s say you have Something Big that you want to accomplish in your coaching business this year. Something you really, really want to be, do or have, and not only do you want it bad, but it’s also (like I said) Big.

So it’s both highly desirable and a stretch. And let’s imagine that this Big Something is at the very top of a mountain.

You’re at the base of the mountain; it’s at the top. And there’s a whole lotta “stuff” between you and It – stuff that has to be confronted, thought through, overcome and put behind you in order to reach the goal.

Slippery slopes, loose rocks, hidden dangers, hungry critters, cold, dark, lonely nights, unforeseen hazards, really scary moments when you look down, etc.

So you walk around the bottom of the mountain to check things out, and you ask yourself “What’s the best way up this mountain?” “What if <insert bad thing here> happens?” “What if I can’t make it? How will I get off this mountain in one piece?”

There’s a lot to think about, so you keep walking around the base of the mountain, thinking about things.

By about the third time around the mountain, it’s starting to feel like you’re in a rut. You’re not coming up with any new ideas; you’re just having the same thoughts over and over.

In fact, the longer you circle the problem, the deeper the rut. And the deeper the rut, the easier it is to just stay IN the rut. If you’re not careful, pretty soon the rut will turn into a moat.

And then the problem won’t be getting up the mountain; it will be getting out of the moat.

Here’s the thing: Going around and around with yourself doesn’t get you up the mountain.

To get to the Big Something at the top, you’ve got to stop turning things over in your mind, and face the mountain.

Stop digging. Start climbing.

What’s the Big Something at the top of your mountain this year?

Chicken or Hog: The Difference Between Being Involved vs. Committed

I heard something on Dr. Phil the other day that caught my attention: “The difference between the chicken and the hog on the bacon and eggs breakfast special is – the chicken is involved, whereas the hog is committed”.

And that got me thinking about the difference between being involved vs.  being committed to a coaching niche:

COMMITTED	INVOLVED
You’re insatiable when it comes to researching and learning about your customers and how to help them. Someone could probably figure out what your niche is just from the titles of the last 20 books you’ve read. And you’re probably writing your own book on the subject, too!	Your library may be filled with great books, but an observer wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell what your niche is just by looking at the collection. Plus, you’re having trouble coming up with articles and blog posts, never mind writing a book.
You stick your neck out for your clients. You take a stand and make bold promises that are backed up with a proven approach and bold results.	You play it safe. You feel more comfortable just describing how the process of coaching works and feels; you tend not say too much about specific results.
You’re exclusive – you screen your clients carefully to make sure you’re working only with the people who are most likely to succeed with you. You tend to focus on a specific market segment who want specific results.	You’re more of a generalist; you help a wide range of people make some progress with whatever they’re up to. You'll work with pretty much anyone who wants to work with you.
You’re “married” to your niche. You’re dedicated, faithful and loyal; you’re not interested in playing the field.	You’re “dating” your niche – keeping your options open in case something better comes along.

So – on the breakfast special of your coaching biz, which are you – poultry or pork?

The Finer Points of Drive-By Marketing

We’ve been having a lively discussion lately over at the New Coach Connection discussion forum about self-promotion on the discussion list – what’s appropriate and/or effective, why people like or don’t like self promotion in a discussion group, etc. It’s a conversation that seems to pop up every couple of months.

Most discussion forums have guidelines about how and when to post promotional offers. This particular forum restricts promotion to Friday – Sunday. It’s almost half the week, which seems like it should be plenty of time, but every so often, someone forgets (or maybe doesn’t realize there are guidelines) and posts something on a Tuesday or whatever. When a couple of people happen to post on the wrong day all in the same week, it gets everybody stirred up.

I don’t really mind it when people post on the wrong day; I’m always interested to see what my friends at NCC are up to. I do, however, have a problem with  “drive-by marketing”.

Drive-by marketing is lazy

Drive-by marketing is when you show up out of the blue on a social network, throw out an offer and then disappear again. Marketers who use this approach are lazy; they’re not taking the trouble to really connect with their market or earn trust or cultivate relationship.

And the thing is, drive-by marketing simply doesn’t work – it’s a waste of everyone’s time, both the market’s and the marketer’s. The only thing it does is make the marketer feel like they’re “doing” marketing. They’re not. They’re just annoying people.

Don’t be that crazy guy on the corner, shouting

In the social network universe, it’s all about exchange, contribution and sharing for mutual benefit. Whether you’re on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, a discussion forum or even a blog comment thread, the reason it works is because of mutuality. Win-win, or no deal.

Unfortunately, some marketers join a discussion forum just so they can post their promotional offers. They’re not there to share, they’re there to get.

The problem is, if you’re not actively participating in the discussion, you’re not really “in” the group. Your self-promotional posts are going to stick out like a sore thumb, for all the wrong reasons. You look like the crazy guy on the corner shouting at people walking by.

I’m sure you’ve heard this a million times, but it bears repeating: People buy from those that they know, like and trust. We don’t trust the crazy guy shouting on the corner.

Trust and credibility develop through interaction and exchange, not simply through visibility. Just showing up with an offer once in a while doesn’t foster trust and relationship, no matter how good your offer is or how well-intentioned you are.

Mind your manners

A discussion forum is a social network. Most folks are there for discussion, connection and networking. Over time, people interact, they check each other out, trust grows, relationships deepen, sometimes a little business gets done (sometimes a lot of business gets done!).

Most grown ups tend to follow a certain etiquette at social functions like meetings and parties: Be polite; follow the conversation for a while before jumping in with help or opinions; don’t be pushy, etc.

The same approach works with online discussion forums: Listen in and deepen the conversation first, before expanding it in a new direction. Having good social manners shows respect, builds trust and relationship, and is far more likely to deliver the results you’re hoping for.

Are you stepping over piles of gold to grab a few pennies?

Here’s another way that drive-by marketers fail: If your prospective customers are active on a certain discussion forum, and you’re not paying any attention to the conversation, then you’re missing out on a priceless opportunity to learn about your customers.

The conversation is where the GOLD is! If you listen carefully, they will tell you exactly what’s bugging them, what they really want, and how you can help. And then when you do post something self-promotional, it will feel more like a helpful resource in the context of a real conversation, rather than a rude interruption.

And if the forum you’re blasting offers at isn’t where your specific target market hangs out? Well then, why the heck are you bothering those poor people?!? It’s like driving through a nice neighborhood and throwing fliers out the window.

Bottom line: Drive by marketing may keep you busy, but it won’t keep you in business.

Who Moved My Mantra?!

Years ago, when my (now ex-) husband and I were first-time home owner "wannabees", we stumbled across what looked like the perfect house. It had everything we wanted, and more -- three bedrooms, two full baths, an updated kitchen, new carpet, a family room, etc. It even had a basketball court in the back yard. Taylor (our son) was only about 3 years old at the time, but I'm sure his father had fantasies of teaching him the finer points of shooting hoops.

As soon as we found it, I was ready to stop looking any further. That house was IT for me.

We had our agent put an offer in right away. We were so excited to think we'd soon have the house of our dreams!

…And then we found out that ours was not the only offer.

If you've ever bought a house, you know how agonizing the waiting is, especially when there are multiple offers. You know you shouldn't count your chickens before they're hatched, but you can't help feeling intensely attached to the outcome...

A curious thing happened at that point. I kept hearing the same song over and over on the radio and in my head. It was a song by EnVogue, with an unfortunately REALLY catchy chorus:

Never gonna get it, never gonna get it
Never gonna get it, never gonna get it
Never gonna get it, never gonna get it
Never gonna get it (whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa)
Never gonna get it, never gonna get it
Never gonna get it, never gonna get it
Never gonna get it, never gonna get it
Never gonna get it, never get it

I'll tell you one thing: I was pretty darn sure I was never gonna get that stupid song out of my head. It was the suckiest mantra EVER.

And, you guessed it, the home owners accepted the other offer. However, we did end up with a lovely house that we liked a lot, so it all turned out okay in the end.

Now, I can't say for sure that the suckiest mantra in the Universe was the reason we didn't get the first house; but the words I was repeating to myself DID affect the quality of my life at the time. And the more I tried NOT to think of the song, the more I couldn’t NOT think of it.

As they say on Star Trek, “Resistance is futile.”

These days, when I catch myself starting down the Never Gonna Get It path, I simply say "Cancel that" and affirm something more aligned with what I want to create. (Sometimes you have to keep saying “Cancel that” A LOT.)

I often make up specific little mantras for different things, but my "umbrella" mantra this year is "I am expressing, experiencing and enjoying more abundance, success and love, every day in every way."

What's YOUR mantra?

Exciting news: Coaching Biz Tips has won an award!

Coaching Biz Tips landed in the top 10 Best Coaching Blogs of 2010!

Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to everyone who stopped by to cast a vote and leave a comment. A special thanks to Julia Stewart at the Coaching School of Mastery for sponsoring the Best Coaching Blogs of 2010 contest.

Ten Clues That You Picked the Wrong Niche

Technorati Tags: Coaching,coaching niche,wrong niche,niche toolkit

I’m up to my eyeballs working on the Biz Model Toolkit launch, but I don’t want to neglect my blog readers! So here’s a quickie post to help you figure out whether you’re on the right track with your chosen market niche:

10 Clues That You Picked the Wrong Niche

1) You don’t feel excited or challenged by your niche.

2) You can’t easily describe your niche in a simple sentence.

3) Your target market is so large and diverse that it’s hard to get focused or write marketing copy that doesn’t sound fuzzy and generic.

4) You can’t easily find or connect with prospects.

5) You can’t find a single other service provider who’s targeting the same market.

6) You can’t find any books written about your target market’s agenda or problem.

7) Your prospects take the freebies but don’t want to pay for your products and services.

8) You don’t have the interest or the inclination to stay on top of new developments and information about this market.

9) You don’t see yourself becoming an expert or being a prominent player in this niche any time soon.

10) You picked this niche because:

• You think you should.
• Someone else thinks you should.
• It’s not your first choice, but it seems like it might be where the money is.
• This niche was the least unappealing idea that you could come up with.
• Well, that’s where the dart landed on the dart board…

Hopefully, none of the above apply to you!

If you’re satisfied that you’re on the right track, there’s only one thing left to do: Say YES to your niche! You’ve done your due diligence; don’t sabotage your success by second guessing yourself or holding out for a ‘better’ niche to come along.

Once you’ve chosen a niche, stay focused on it for the next six months, minimum. If you’ve truly done your best to make an informed choice and you fully commit to your niche for the long haul, the payback will be far greater than anything you might have gotten by ‘playing the field’ so far.

Want some help with your niche? Check out the Niche Toolkit for Coaches – it includes a really cool workbook that takes you through a simple targeting process, step-by-step.

Getting Out of Your Own Way

The following is an excerpt from my current work-in-progress, The Biz Model Toolkit for Coaches. You can get a sneak peek by joining the interest list here.

The process of creating a business model isn’t all that difficult. It’s actually pretty straightforward--the hardest part of this process is simply getting out of your own way, because the biggest hurdles are the doubts and fears and limiting beliefs that make you hesitate when you want to be moving forward confidently.

Three Bug-a-boos That Might Be Nagging at You

A fly on the wall would think you’re cool with this whole business-building gig, right? One step at a time, eyes on the prize, and all that.

And yet… there’s this nagging ‘thing’ that keeps tripping you up! Or maybe not a ‘thing’, exactly, but more like a familiar thought.

For some, it’s a chronic, low-grade concern lurking in the background. Sometimes it’s louder, other times it’s quieter, but it’s never far away. You might even be kind of numb to it by this point.

See if it sounds like any of these common concerns:

Bugaboo #1: What if I fail?

What if I do all the work, and I still fail?

OK, let’s say you fail. What’s the worst that could happen?

In coaching, we call this “walking the plank” –taking the fear all the way to the worst possible outcome, and then a going a few steps beyond. If the worst DID happen, then what?

What’s on the other side of failing?

I’ll tell you what most people do on the other side: They change things up, try something new. They adapt.

Isn’t that what you’ve always done in the past? Isn’t that what you would do if you saw that your business model wasn’t working? As a matter of fact, isn’t that why you’re thinking about switching your niche or tweaking your business model in the first place—because it’s time to adapt?

But let’s say you’re still feeling a little nagged by fear of failure, even after all that. No problem, I have two more tricks up my sleeve:

1) Reframe it. It helps to think of failure as part of success, and vice verse. What if failing is part of a cycle instead of the end of the line?

2) Feel the fear and do it anyway. The best antidote I know of for fear of failure is to chunk things down into baby steps. Let yourself be a little uncomfortable for a while -- just do the next obvious step and see what happens.

Bottom line: Find a way to mitigate the risk of failure, so that you have the freedom to try.

“When you make a failure, it is because you have not asked for enough; keep on, and a larger thing than you were seeking will certainly come to you. Remember this.” – Wallace D. Wattles, author of The Science of Getting Rich

Bugaboo #2: What if I succeed?!

Will it be worth it? What if I accomplish all that I set out to—but I’m still not happy, content or satisfied once I reach my goal?

Fear of success can be just as paralyzing as fear of failure. People fear success because it tests your limits and makes you vulnerable to new situations, or because you’re concerned that it might expose weaknesses and force you to deal with your flaws. (I know –yuck, right?!)

How you can tell you might have some fear of success going on:

• Are you self-sabotaging? Setting yourself up for failure, like forgetting important details or letting things drop through the cracks; getting in your own way?
• Are you procrastinating? Putzing around with non-significant tasks and busy work, instead of taking care of business?
• Are you all talk, no action? Hanging out in “what if…”, imagining success and telling yourself and others how it could/would/might be, while not taking the necessary steps?
• Do you have a pessimistic outlook? Are you prone to indulging in what one of my clients calls stinkin’ thinkin’; focusing on all the things that might go wrong? Stinkin’ thinkin’ provides a convenient excuse for not trying.

Interestingly, studies show that people who view their abilities as ‘fixed’ or set tend to get disoriented when they succeed, while those who view their abilities as flexible and expandable are more likely to enjoy sustained success. Apparently, if you have a growth-oriented mindset, you get along with success better.

Bottom line: Remember that you’re on a path of growth and discovery, and that your mastery in business naturally grows with practice and gets rusty with disuse. Don’t let yourself get rusty with regards to success! Practice success instead of pushing it away.

Bugaboo #3: What if it’s too hard?

This business model stuff sounds kind of complicated, and it’s probably going to take sustained effort, and I need more/better/different time/money/hand-holding, and there’s already so much else to do…wah wah wah…

OK, first of all:

Secondly, here’s a reframe for when stuff seems too hard: When you find yourself wishing something was easier, try bringing ease into it. Ask yourself “How can I be easier with/about this?” 

Focus on expanding your own capacity for ease and grace, and guess what? Life will seem more easy and graceful.

Bottom line: Hard work may be uncomfortable, but it’s not fatal. Quit letting the size your comfort zone keep you from doing what needs to be done.

Get a Grip

If all else fails, think about this: When you’re feeling worried or insecure about working on your business, where is your attention? You’re focusing on your own concerns rather than on serving the needs of your customers.

If you focus on their needs – and the specific value you can provide them right now – then working on your business doesn’t seem so fraught with drama.

Seriously, get a grip. You’re not trying to do brain surgery, you’re just trying to help people get on with whatever they’re trying to get on with.

So when the fear and the worry start gnawing at you, remember the people you’re meant to serve, and the spark of genius that you’re meant to share. And get on with it.

---

Find out more about getting out of your way to create a viable coaching biz model.

Are you taking your own advice?

It always delights me when a client shows up with a situation where the best possible thing they can do is simply take their own advice.

It happens a lot, since my specialty is helping people design their own signature system -- over weeks or months, my clients describe in great depth the core principles of the work they do, and sooner or later, an issue or situation arises where they themselves are swimming with the same sharks as their own clients.

Only they usually don't see it right away -- sometimes, it's hard to see the water you're swimming in (all you can see are the sharks!)

Get your butt back in the boat

So then I get to ask them, "If you were coaching a client with this issue, what would you ask/reflect/do?"

And suddenly, they're back in the boat, safe from the sharks. Usually, laughing sheepishly and exclaiming "D'oh!" like Homer Simpson.

When you find yourself in the water with the sharks, what's your best advice? And are you taking it!?