Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hello SUN members,

 

I have found my passion and now I am in need of a few (3 or 4) people who are considering hiring a business coach to allow me to coach them absolutely free for one month.

 

What is coaching? Coaching is working with a client to help them clarify and solidify their goals and provide support and motivation until the goals are accomplished. Coaching is not a check list I give you or a list of goals that I set. You set the agenda.

 

Why free? So that I can work to improve my techniques and get some referrals for the official start of my business.

 

What`s involved? All coaching will be done via email as opposed to phone coaching. We will do two sessions per week for 4 weeks.

 

If anyone is interested just contact me via SuN and we will begin work.

 

 

 

Hello JesseMia,

 

You can have the last spot. I`m looking forward to working with you.

jwatkins,

 

it has been almost exactly a month since your post. can you share with us your experience and what this has done 1) for your confidence and 2) for your business/client base?

 

this is a hot niche that is growing fast. that said, i am very interested in it myself. i do not do it for a living, but i am currently coaching 6 individuals (word of mouth and because they personally approached me) with internet entrepreneurship and we are all doing very well.  with god`s grace my websites are doing well on auto pilot and coaching is something i am considering more and more as a full time business. i have on many ocassions however contemplated how to make it scaleable (earn more for the same amount of time and energy invested in the business).

 

any suggestions from your research and experience?

Webjunky,

 

I`d be glad to.

 

I had four very good seesions with four great paople. These were done with email which tended to be very slow. Maybe chat would have been better. A 30 minute session always lasted an hour or more. But it was easy to do with email. I think phone sessions are more prudent however. You can get more done and also convey enthusiasm and excitement which is what a coach is supposed to do.

 

Coaching is a new field and people tend to have their own idea of exactly what it is and what is involved. You will need to lay out the groundwork upfront so that everyone knows what is expected. Although most people can benefit, not all will be good clients. Some want you to give them the magic formula for their success not realizing that coaching only helps them find the magic formula for themselves.

 

My sessions were offered for free so even though it was an easy sell there was no intrinsic value placed on the service by the clients and though all enjoyed the sessions and gained some benefit, they (so far) have only opted for one session. I`m sure I could have persuaded them to do more had I tried but as a coach you have to let the client make the decisions. Now, had they paid me I`m sure they would have completed all the sessions.

 

I think most people are looking for a mentor rather than a coach, at least in the beginning so as you market your services you will also need to educate. If you have had success in a particular field then you can definitely make a living mentoring others by giving them exact processes and steps to take to achieve certain goals. Coaching is different in that you don`t give steps to take or processes, you help the client decide what steps and processes are best for them.

 

Keep in mind if and when you start a coaching business that the clients you will need are ones who have had some measure of success and can afford your services. People that tend to use these services are those (for instance) who have made their first million and are stuck finding a way to make the second. They see the real value of coaching and can pay for it. Normal people who want to succeed but haven`t met with success usually will not or can not pay the high fees you will charge. Therefore there seems to be an industry growing in the training of coaches more than coaching itself. There just aren`t that many clients who can or will pay for your services. The most successful coaches on the web all have this secondary sideline business going on. Is it just a willingness to help others get into coaching or are they supplementing their meager coaching incomes?

 

I think that in order to succeed in this business you will need to find your niche and also go offline to market. You will also have to spend time doing other things besides coaching to build your credibility such as speaking or writing books. This is a good business and its fun but its not as easy as its made out to be by some (especially training schools).

 

Hope this helps.