Audio Testimonials Complete the Credibility Cycle

By David Barrett, Co-Founder, AudioAcrobat

Few things warm the heart than recognition for a job well done.

So, when you get one of those written emails from someone who adores and praises your service or product, go a step further and ask for an audio recording and give adulation a whole new meaning.

The results can be truly magical!

AudioAcrobat is celebrating its 8^th year in business.  Since 2004, we have received many email acknowledgments from members worldwide about our testimonial recording feature.

I can recall one such commendation where one member, in particular, espoused how audio testimonials had dramatically increased their business.

“Aaaaah,” I remarked. “This deserves some attention.”

We discovered that thousands of our members where using recorded testimonials on their Web sites, blogs and in their social media venues.

AudioAcrobat’s quiet testimonial feature was no secret.  It is right up there with salt and pepper as needed ingredients.

The desired audio testimonial is about a minute or two in length in length.  A recording of 5 minutes is considered the limit and AudioAcrobat has set this length as the maximum recording time.

The testimonial such include these key points:

1) Name of the person making the recording
2) What this person does for a living
3) What the product or service is that warrants the testimonial
4) How the product or service has affected this person

To set up an AudioAcrobat testimonial line is quite simple.  Like voice mail, it is a process that has no ambiguity or confusion. It is a telephone number created in minutes and placed anywhere along with simple instructions to call and start recording kind words.

Nothing beats a heartfelt emotive characterized by the sheer enjoyment of an experience.   It is like a referral of the highest order.

Here is an example of a testimonial line:   Call (512) 827-0505 ext. 2244

The magical part is taking the recording(s) and posting for everyone to playback and hear.  By the way, AudioAcrobat can do that, too.

Check out this playback example: http://www.audioacrobat.com/play/WdhGLFrk

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Structure Breeds Freedom and Abundance!

Sounds totally counter-intuitive, right?!  How can structure lead to freedom? Doesn’t it lead to putting us into a box? Or keeping us playing small?  The opposite of structure is freedom.  Without structure shouldn’t we be able to do anything we want, however we want, how often we want?  That is what we so often hear from coaches who are in purgatory; stuck between the worlds of hobbyist vs. business owner.

The way so many coaches define structure is what we call the tug-of-war mentality of the entrepreneur:  “Either I have structure in my business and I am confined to playing small in a box OR I abandon structure and live free; live the life of my dreams doing what I love.”  These are conflicting views, and therefore the problem with this either/or tug-of-war is that neither side wins. It always ends up in a stalemate; each conflicting view pulling in equally opposing directions.

As a coach, it is time to redefine “structure” through the perspective of Both/And.  You leverage the skills, resources, and people that integrate a sense of focused structure that paves the way to your greatest freedom.

It takes quite a bit more brain power, energy and time to reinvent the wheel each time you interact with a prospect, a client or a member of your team.  And that is precisely what you are doing when you buy into the illusion that structure and freedom do not go hand in hand.  When most coaches hear the word “structure”, it’s like fingernails on a chalk board.  The right-side of their brain, the part that is what makes them creative and outstanding coaches, goes off like a red warning light.  They quickly believe that if they apply any structure to their day, their activities and how they work with their clients, they then won’t be able to “be fully present” to support their client in the best way possible or to do what they love.  And they also fear they won’t be able to live the life of their dreams.  We have been so fearful of the extreme end of the spectrum, labeled “corporate structure”, that we have abandoned the power of structure and the elements of structure that lead to our greatest freedom.

The 3 elements to leveraging structure into freedom:

1. Knowing What to do in your business
2. Knowing How to do “it”
3. Doing “it” consistently every time

Element #1 “The What”

This element of structure is all about the actions and activities you experience on a daily basis within your business. The “what” includes things such as:

• Attracting prospects and referral sources
• Collaborating with strategic partners
• Guiding contacts through your sales funnel
• Integrating exquisite client support
• Implementing the best practices when it comes to billing and payment processing

Element #2: The “How To Do It”

This element of structure is all about the specific steps you take when you are involved in the above-listed activities.  In every activity in your business there is a specific sequence of steps that, when done in sequence, will generate the greatest flow and quickest results.  When we reinvent the wheel each time we engage in these activities, we waste brain power, energy and time “figuring it out.”  When we can identify in advance the sequence of specific steps, the “how” becomes effortless and we recoup much of our time and energy to put towards other result-based activity.

Element #3: Consistency

It is not just enough to know the specific sequence of steps to take in each business activity, but rather it’s also about doing the sequence consistently each time.  It is in this consistent application where we truly leverage our time.

Once you’ve identified the steps to take, how to take them and the best sequence to take them in, you begin to realize you are saving time, money and energy to focus on things such as:

• More clients in the same amount of time
• Doing more of what you love (vacations, travel, etc.)
• More time with your family
• Using your entrepreneurial creative juices to develop your next vision

It is through structure that we recoup our time.  It is through structure that we reclaim our power and energy;  not the extreme type of structure often experienced in corporate settings where you are in a box (literally, a “cubicle”) and are limited in what you are able to do.  As the entrepreneur wearing all the hats within your business, it is these elements of structure that allow you to quickly and easily go back and forth between the various hats and leverage your strengths to yield the quickest and greatest results.

Are you ready to stop the tug-of-war stalemate in your business and to integrate the Both/And approach to structure?  If your answer is yes, we invite you to join our Business Success Inner Circle of coaches growing their businesses, and making a big difference (and big money, too)!  We so believe in this business growth program, we are offering the first two months FREE! But don’t take our word for it.  We are biased.  Try it for yourself!

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Get Your Panties Out of a Wad and Make More Money

Every day, coaches waste time, money and energy trying to master “the perfect” marketing strategies for their business. They know that if they just get it right and integrate the one, perfect, magic marketing strategy into their business, it will be the answer to their prayers – they’ll coach more clients and make more money. And more importantly, they’ll finally be successful at what they set out to do.

Entrepreneurs get so consumed with the various marketing strategies in the world of business that they focus so much time, money and energy learning and perfecting the strategies, and hardly any time integrating the strategies; much less seeing the results.  There are so many choices – speaking venues, webinars, free teleclasses, networking, advertising, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, sample sessions, authoring a book, and on and on and on.  People get caught up in making sure they select the “right one” because if they don’t, they fear their business will surely fail.  Don’t get me wrong. Marketing is essential in business. And the strategies I’ve listed will bring success.  The problem is that too much focus is placed on them while little or no focus is placed on what a coach is naturally good at (and loves to do).  Why make it harder than it has to be?

This leaves coaches with, as Kate and I call it, their panties in a wad and all out of sorts. They are frustrated because they’re making no headway toward getting clients. The “perfect” marketing solution they just knew was going to be “the one” to lead them to their success has not generated the results they hoped for.  And when one strategy doesn’t work, they are off to spend more time and more money locating the next “perfect” strategy to be the answer to their prayers.  This vicious cycle leaves a coach distracted from the goldmine right in the palm of their hands.  But they are so focused on marketing, they aren’t cashing in on the results that could be achieved in their business, simply by being the best at what they do – supporting their clients.

When a coach can place their attention toward integrating Exquisite Client Support, the ripple effect can begin.  You see, you are already magnificent at supporting your clients during the coaching session. It’s true, right? You’re an amazing coach and your clients LOVE how you support them.  The misconception is that this level of support is only done during the actual coaching session.  The truth is that when you can apply this same level of support from the moment they become a potential client, all the way to the end of their coaching agreement, and beyond, you create raving fans, which leads to referrals of new clients.  Your clients actually do your marketing for you!  And when you provide this level of support to your clients, they experience a faster return on their investment and accomplish even more than they originally set out to with you.  This leads to extended client agreements, and a bigger impact on your bottom line.

The key to integrating this type of support is to leverage your time, to automate the interaction and to bring consistency to the way in which you support your clients.  The goal is to spend less time as you provide more in-depth support – and it is possible.

I had someone once tell me that they experienced success in their business not because they mastered the absolute, perfect marketing strategy, but because they simply became the best at what they did.  Their clients loved them; they got the results they originally desired (and beyond) and regularly referred new clients to them, to the point they had to create a waiting list. In fact, one client was willing to wait 6 months to work with her because she was so good.  Imagine having a waiting list of your A+ clients.

When you place your attention externally on trying to figure out the right marketing to apply in your business, the typical result is analysis-paralysis.  So get your panties out of a wad, recognize the goldmine within you and become the best at what you do.  Cash in on the amazing way you are already supporting and being of service to your clients. It’s time to take it beyond the coaching session.  And the result will be an increase in your revenue, extended client agreements, and raving fans willing to wait 6 months to work with you.

Are you ready to cash in on the goldmine in the palm of your hands, to be the best at what you do? If your answer is yes, we invite you to join our Business Success Inner Circle of coaches, growing their businesses, and making a big difference, and money, too!  We so believe in this business growth program, we are offering the first two months FREE! Try it out; you will soon be leveraging your own strategic partners to create more clients and to make the difference you are meant to make.

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Charging What You Are Worth

Have you ever had the following battle in your head (be careful, this is treacherous territory you are venturing into)?

“I’m fresh out of school and just starting my coaching business so people won’t pay as much for my coaching services as they would a more experienced coach.”

OR

“If I can just get them to understand how coaching works, i can justify my prices so they’ll want to hire me.”

If you have ever had these thoughts (and by the way there are many others) then you are not alone.  Many coaches buy into these two myths when it comes to setting up their coaching model and establishing their prices and, as a result, lose hundreds and even thousands of dollars each month.

This article will bust through these myths and equip you with what is necessary to charge what you are worth and what you deserve.

First – stop selling coaching.  If you attempt to sell coaching as a service you will immediately create the resistance within the prospect of, “Is this worth spending my money on?”, and the only battle in front of you is to overcome ALL of the objections the prospect has as to why they shouldn’t spend their money on your services.  Start selling the end results.  Remember those MasterCard commercials when they portrayed two or three examples of how much something cost, and the final example (which by the way was always the end result) was always “…priceless!”?  When you help the prospect paint the picture of the end result they will accomplish in their life as a result of working with you, your services now become “…priceless!”

Second – stop discounting all that practice coaching you did with your peer coaching buddies while in school.  Did you know on average that when a coach finishes their coach training they will have acquired over 350+ hours of coaching?!  That isn’t anything to dismiss, yet when you have the thought of “I’m a new coach so I should charge less”, you are doing exactly that – discounting the time, energy and investment you made in your coach training.  Start owning all the hard work and investment you’ve put into yourself and account for those hundreds of hours you completed during your training.

Third – implement systems and processes so that you are 100% sure that you can and will deliver on what you’ve promised your prospects.  Many coaches attempt to get their clients without having a solid business foundation in place.  What they don’t realize is that when they run their business this way, the often unconscious energy within themselves is, “Oh crap, now what do I do?!” when it comes to servicing their clients.  Nothing wreaks havoc on a coach charging what they are worth than an underlying worry and doubt about making sure their clients are getting what they deserve.  If you do not have systems in place and you are not 100% confident you can deliver for your clients, you will diminish the fees you charge – because you have to; you’re only providing mediocre services to your clients so they should only pay you mediocre prices for what you do.

So how do you establish your prices?

Here are a few pieces of information that will help you formulate your model and your fees:

1. On average, a successful coach in this industry is charging in the upper $300’s to low $400’s/month for private 2-3 coaching sessions/month.  And $150 – $200/month for group coaching.
2. The average one-on-one coaching agreement duration is for 6 months. The average group coaching duration is 3 months.
3. New coaches should charge no less than $350/month for their services (that is my personal opinion and not backed by any research other than the hundreds of coaches I’ve worked with over the years)
4. Pro-bono and Barter clients should be limited to a set number (1-2 clients/month at most)
5. “Friends & Family” discount should be limited to a set number (1-2 clients/month at most)

A few Key Points to know you’re on the right path to charging what you are worth:

1. When you think you’ve set your fee, double that number (now we are getting somewhere); I’m serious!!!  Most coaches, without realizing it, charge only HALF what their services are worth!  Double the number and stand fiercely for the difference coaching makes in this world!
2. When you think of the dollar amount you’ve set as your monthly fee and you have this slight sensation of vomiting – you’re close.  Then practice saying that fee into the mirror to get used to the number rolling off your tongue.
3. When you hear a prospect say, “That’s all you charge for your services?” – You’ll know you’re on the right path because what you actually charge ($400/month) is considerably less than “…priceless!”
4. When you can proudly (even though it scares the crap out of you) stand for the fees you are charging and think, “Damn, I’m getting paid this much to do what I love”, you’ll also know you’re on the right path!

Be fierce when it comes to setting your business model and prices.  You, better than most, know how powerful the impact of coaching is on someone’s life.  Be fierce and be greedy because the business of coaching is changing lives, one person at a time. Demand nothing less than what you deserve. Demand nothing less than what the client deserves. And you both will walk away knowing the world is a better place because of it.

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Exquisite Client Support… Extending the Ripple Effect of Your Coaching

Impact.
We are seeking greater and greater ways everyday to extend the ripple effects of our skills, strengths and services that we provide to our clients.

But, have you ever struggled with how to provide more, give more, and do more without falling prey to exhaustion and overwhelm?

Ever wondered how you can accomplish even more when your time is already exhausted?

Savvy business owners know a little secret.
They’ve integrated what I call Exquisite Client Support to help facilitate the optimal coaching experience.

The impact that we make on this world is directly related to the level of service that we provide to our clients.  With the thousands of coaches that I’ve worked with over the years, I’ve observed that a coach who supports their client only at the time of the actual coaching session is only somewhat successful, and it takes a lot of effort to keep that level of success maintained.  But when a coach can provide exquisite support to their clients before, during, after and in-between the coaching sessions, their level of impact is increased and the ripple effect is expanded.  So how does a coach provide more without working harder and putting in more hours?

Support Before The Coaching Session

A coach can provide support to the client before the coaching session even begins through what is often called a “Call Strategy Form.”  In this form, the client is able to collect their thoughts, challenges, and questions and provide them to the coach prior to the coaching session. This helps the client to cultivate focus and consistency not only within their coaching, but in their life overall; for how we do one thing is how we do everything.  This also helps the coach prepare for the best way to support and guide the client to their desired goal.  When preparation can be done before the coaching session even begins, the time during the actual coaching appointment can be leveraged and a sense of laser-focused coaching is accomplished in a short amount of time.  I have known coaches that utilize this type of form to accomplish more in a 20 minute session than a coach who works with their clients for 60 minute sessions.

While this Call Strategy form aides in the increased level of impact your coaching can have with your clients, automation of this form can ensure that you are not tied to your computer sending emails, reminders and forms to your clients every minute of everyday.  Discover how you can automate the sending of this form prior to the appointments and even integrate it into an automated appointment reminder.  As your client is prompted about the reminder notification, they are also prompted with direct access to this form so they can quickly and easily complete the information prior to their session.

Support During The Coaching Session

During the coaching session, it is often helpful for a coach to take notes. Not write out every word that the client says (although I had been known to do that early in my coaching business), but comments, thoughts, observations, statements by the client that triggered a certain response, etc.  You want to be sure that not only do you have a secure place to capture these notes, but more importantly that you have an organized way of saving these notes for future reference and access.

Did you know that on average, Americans waste 55 minutes each day; 27.5 hours each month; 2 months each year trying to find stuff they know they have, but can’t find?

Many coaches will attempt to be in the moment, be present and not take notes or reference past sessions, while this can be effective, the jotting down of important nuggets can equip you with insight as to the best way to support the client.  It will also shed light on what is NOT being said in the coaching sessions, which can also be a great source of coaching.

Support After The Coaching Session

Our clients hire us because they believe we can help them get to where they want to be.  During the coaching sessions there is great learning that is experienced by the client and it is the art of our coaching skills that provide them with the best support during the actual session.  Another key component to exquisite support, that cultivates what Ken Blanchard calls “raving fans,” is to provide accountability after the coaching session is complete.

It has been our experience when we talk with clients, that when a coach provides support after the coaching session in the form of quick and simple follow up, that the client feels heard, stood for and they have a deeper sense that their coach is really supporting them in accomplishing their goals.  This increases the trust factor between coach and client and therefore results in deeper levels of coaching, additional topics that the client desires coaching around as well as extended coaching agreements with the client.  By creating raving fans through the simple act of follow up after a coaching session, the client is also more likely to refer the coach to their colleagues, friends and family.

The exquisite level of support that is offered after the coaching session can make a huge impact on the success of your business. You can increase your revenue from the same, existing clients by discovering additional topics of coaching.  You can make more money through the added referrals that are generated as a result of the raving fan referrals.  And you can deepen the impact of your coaching by supporting the clients to strengthen their learning.

Support In-Between The Coaching Sessions

While providing support to your clients before, during and after the coaching session cultivates a high-level of client support, what really takes you to the exquisite level of client support is through the offering of support in-between the coaching sessions.  This exquisite level of support also becomes a value-added benefit that you can offer prospects in your marketing. Most coaches only provide support during the actual coaching session. But when you make the offer to your prospects and you tell them that their investment for coaching will get them the coaching package PLUS, support and preparation before each session, PLUS support and interaction in-between each coaching session, now the client feels like they have access to your skills, strengths and wisdom on an on-going basis and make their investment much more lucrative.  It will be easier for your clients to see that you not only provide the service they are purchasing, but they are also getting so much more as well.

The key to providing support in-between each coaching session is to leverage tools and technology so that you can also leverage your time.  For example, at The Coaches Console, we saw the huge benefit for this level of service and integrated a feature we call the “Client Log.”  A client can log in to a private and secure place of the coach’s website and access a place where they can post questions to their coach, journal their Aha’s and “light-bulb” moments that occur after the coaching session is over and even upload documents to share with their coach.  And in this Client Log, the coach can also post replies, comments and share documents/materials with their client as well.

As coaches we know that while there are often huge “light-bulb” moments that occur within the actual coaching session itself, it is when the client takes that learning and integrates it into their life that the biggest shift occurs and the greatest learning happens.  Providing support to your client in-between coaching sessions through a tool such as the Client Log is a way to facilitate that level of learning with your clients.  Through this level of exquisite support you are teaching your clients to fish, rather than giving them a fish.

Remember the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins?  That is exactly what you are doing in your coaching practice when you offer support before, during, after and in-between the coaching session.  You are offering exquisite level of client support and therefore are taking your business from good to great.  So what type of coaching experience do you desire for your clients to have:  Good or Great?  Integrate these levels of support to help facilitate the optimal coaching experience for your clients and you will deepen the impact and extend the ripple effect that your coaching has on this world.

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Are you a Hobbyist, or a Business Owner?

Do you even know?

Do you even realize how this one, single insight can impact the level of success you have in your business and with your coaching?

If you don’t know this answer or don’t even realize the importance of this distinction, then you may be hitting upper limits of your level of success and not even realize it. If that is the case then no matter how great your efforts, no matter how impeccable you implement the best strategies you will not be seeing the results you desire.

There are two potential levels at which you can participate in being a business owner as a coach. That of a Hobbyist. That of a Business Owner.

Hobbyists can articulate a general direction for their business. They grasp the idea of business discipline, but tend to think it’s too early to get it fully under control — or feel they don’t have time.  Hobbyists’ planning, goals, priority-setting and sense of business purpose also tend to be less focused, more difficult to understand.

Business Owners, on the other hand, can clearly define how they will make a difference in the world, and who they will serve. They know it takes a thriving, profitable business to create that difference. Far more than Hobbyists, they have practical, well-grounded faith in the discipline and the systems that build greatness in any business. Because they are clear and specific, Business Owners’ strategies, articulation, priorities, choices, goals and even words have more impact.

Are you a Hobbyist, or a Business Owner?

How The Hobbyist Will Experience The Business of Coaching:

1. Business and client support is reactive versus proactive. They figure out the answers as they go.
2. Jack of all, master of none.
3. Provide the support to their clients on a situational basis. Things are unique to each client and situation and often done differently each time. There is customization in how they support and work with their clients because the hobbyist only coaches when they want to coach.
4. Run their business manually with limited technologies and support resources.
   
5. Coach few clients and continue to dream of having a deeper impact on the world.

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How The Business Owner Will Experience The Business of Coaching.

1. Build a strong foundation up front for their business.
2. Collaborate with great people to leverage their own time.
3. Use the right technologies, tools and resources to simplify and automate tasks that don’t produce new business directly.
4. Use effective internal systems.
5. Use their systems consistently.
6. Coach more clients, make more money, and make a far greater difference in the world.

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Both types are great coaches. And in our five years since founding The Coaches Console, we have also learned that Hobbyists share the dream, but not the discipline. Business Owners are different; they take disciplined action to make their dreams, and many more clients’ dreams, come true. It’s vital to your success to know which approach you desire and which approach you are taking each moment. Otherwise growing your business will seem like you are pushing a boulder up a hill.

It’s understandable if, as a Business Owner, you feel overwhelmed sometimes. There’s so much to learn, such an array of new skills to master. You’d be less than human to feel otherwise! Hobbyists feel that pressure too. The difference is in how they respond. Hobbyists think they need to learn every single thing, as in everything. They never will, of course, but they beat themselves up for not knowing it all, and even for having just “average” skills.

Really, the Hobbyist’s response to pressure is a kind of perfectionism: Like all forms of that Holy Grail, it’s not reachable. Not on this planet, anyway. Still, on and on the Hobbyists go, endlessly expecting what amounts to a long list of daily miracles, then blaming themselves for endlessly falling short.

Business Owners don’t attempt the impossible. Their outlook is a lot more useful, and healthier, especially on two points:

1. They’ve learned to be comfortable with the stress that accompanies life as an entrepreneur.
2. They focus on their greatest strengths, and find systems, tools and experts (assistants) to help them with the things they don’t do as well. They don’t waste time trying to learn things they’ll never be good at. Instead, they “leverage their community,” surrounding themselves – from the outset — with experts and resources.

Every single part of the Hobbyists’ business carries the same weight. They haven’t identified specific actions that bring new clients, business growth and income. Stress and pressure drive Hobbyists back into their comfort zone, where they keep on spending all their time and energy on the same things – the activities they know how to do and/or love to do. Business Owners, on the other hand, understand that running a business means wearing many hats, and that some actions help build your income a lot more than others. They know how to choose which hat to wear, and when.

Hobbyists know they need to market. They do learn specific strategies and try them out, here and there. But they don’t do it consistently enough, and they don’t create a system to help them market and sell. Business Owners take a different view. They know marketing is the lifeblood of a healthy, vibrant practice. To them, “marketing” is a description, just a header referring to a more specific idea that they find far more important and exciting: Marketing is a conversation. It’s a way of helping others by sharing a great tool with them. And wanting to tell them!

Business Owners think differently, choosing a “One-to-Many” mindset. That means they realize that, to double their practice, serve more clients and charge higher fees, they must leverage their relationships. So they build strong networks and partner with like-minded colleagues.

So are you a hobbyist or a business owner?  The real question is: are you reaching the level of success you desire?  If you are, then exactly where you are – hobbyist or business owner, is perfect. If not, take a closer look at the distinction to identify where you are and where you want to be. Then place your attention on closing that gap. As you do you will begin to have the desired impact you wish to have on this world.

Are you ready to become the Business Owner you know you can be?  If your answer is yes, we invite you to join our Business Success Inner Circle of coaches, growing their businesses, and making a big difference and money too!  We so believe in this business growth program we are offering the first two months FREE! Try it out, you will soon know if you are a Hobbyist or a Budding Business Owner!

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I’m A New Coach. How Would a VA Assist Me?

This is one of our most common questions and one of the biggest problems that new coaches have to face. Throughout coach training, you have heard that you need a VA to help you with your new practice. However, you didn’t understand what that meant. Maybe the following questions crossed your mind:

1. How do I get my coaching business up and running with a VA? Or without?
2. What would a VA be looking for from me? Am I ready for a VA?
3. What do I want from my VA? What should I be looking for?
4. What other systems, applications, or processes do I need?
5. Will a VA be worth my money and time investment right now?

In this article, we will explore Question #5.

Will a VA be worth my money and time investment right now?

The simple answer to this question is, “It depends.” We could all use a VA to help us from the very beginning stages of our business planning, while still in coach training, and to implement strategies for marketing our web presence. An extra set of hands and “two heads are better than one” rings true whether you are “building the road as you drive down it” or moving to the next level of your product funnel.

A Coaches VA should know how to help design a marketing strategy to generate buzz and get your face in front of your market. Truthfully, you have to decide which market you want to serve and have evidence that they want the services you want to offer. Your VA can help you find where they live, work, and play online and locally. How much of your time could be spent on introducing yourself to various online communities, meeting face-to-face with local business owners, or reaching out to those who are in your inner circle? Your VA will be able to help you create a plan to make the best of these connections with a reply to, “so what have you been up to lately?”

When I work with coaches, we develop a marketing plan that includes opportunities for prospects to come and learn more. I heard it said early in my business to “always have something to invite them to”, and it has been one of the best strategies for planning. Imagine entering a virtual room or networking event knowing that your systems are in place for those who are curious or interested in knowing more about you. The right virtual assistant can help you put all these pieces together.

Working with a Coaches VA at the early stages of your business will help you to focus and create a series of tasks to complete for your marketing plan. If you are clear about your target market and willing to do some of the work, you can save money by working with a VA for only 5 hours a month. However, as you start to bring on clients, you will want to delegate more to your VA so you can do more of what you love – helping others achieve their goals.

I do hope this 5-part series has answered many of your questions about how a VA would assist you. My closing advice is this:

• If you are still in coach training, wait until you finish your first level of certification before working with a VA. You will be in a much better position to talk about your passion and market at that time.
• Be sure to find a VA that works with coaches on a regular basis and is savvy in the areas where you aren’t. You want your VA to be a complement to your business, someone who has been there and can be proactive.
• If you are still employed and launching your coaching practice, find a VA that is willing to help you transition into your full-time coaching practice. You may need her to be flexible and available outside of your work schedule or during your lunch breaks for meetings.

If you still have questions please feel free to register for our last Keys to Success Call for 2010 on Wednesday, December 1 at 7:00 PM Eastern (4:00 PM Pacific, 5:00 PM Mountain, 6:00 PM Central).

Would you like to be a guest on our panel of new coaches for the December 1st call? We are looking for 5 new coaches who can bring a fresh perspective to the 5 questions posed in this article series. If you are interested, please contact me at kim@coachesconsole.com by November 22 so we can coordinate all the details.

Click here to register your seat and come prepared to take notes. We will review all 5 of the questions in this series and allow opportunities for questions.

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Creating Raving Fans: It All Starts With Exquisite Self Care

As a coach or service provider, there are two ways to live in this world.

The first is with you “on your list” and dare I say, at the top of your list; practicing exquisite self-care and giving of the overflow of your time, energy and spirit, to yourself and others?

The second, and most common, is when you are NOT anywhere to be found “on your list.”  Or maybe, at the very least, you’re at the bottom of a very long line of expectations, responsibilities and other people to take care of.  It is here, in this spot, that you are giving of the fumes and sputtering through life on empty.   This feels like overwhelm, hard work, and exhaustion.

I’m guessing the first option feels like “that’s too good to be true,” while the second option is closer to reality.  You’re not alone.  Most coaches love helping others so much that they forget to take care of themselves. Many actually feel guilty for taking time for themselves.

Sound familiar?

This is a result of living from what I call the “Either/Or” mindset.  Either I take care of everyone else (which means I’m not taking care of me) OR I’m taking care of me (which means I must not be taking care of everyone else like I’m supposed to).  This Either/Or mindset is based on the paradigm of sacrifice. If I win, someone else loses.  It is this Either/Or mindset that keeps you paralyzed in the rat race of your life; because as a coach, taking care of others is a core characteristic that is part of your genetic make up.

When you travel on a plane and the flight attendants are doing their safety demonstrations and they get to the part about the oxygen mask, what do they tell you to do? “Place your mask on you FIRST, before assisting the child or person next to you.” Why do they say that?  Because if you don’t place it on yourself FIRST, you won’t even be around to help the people next to you!  The same is true with your business.  Yet, you are running around helping everyone else with their oxygen masks while holding your breath, hoping you don’t die.

The “Both/And” mindset allows you to place your mask on you first AND to also take care of everyone (clients, family, etc), and everything (business activities, marketing, family obligations, community obligations, etc.) around you.  With Both/And, you create a win-win-win for everyone involved, including  you.  And that is the key, “including  yourself.”  Your top item on your to-do list becomes taking exquisite care of you so you have an overflow to give to others.  As you practice exquisite self-care, you continue to fill yourself up from the inside out, and no longer need external “fixes” to provide temporary relief.  You have an abundance to ensure your own health and well-being, as well as more than enough to contribute to your family, your business, and your passionate causes.

Are you ready to place yourself at the top of your list so you have even more to give to your clients?  If your answer is yes, we invite you to join our Business Success Inner Circle of coaches, growing their businesses, and making a big difference, and money, too!  We so believe in this business growth program, we are offering the first two months FREE! Try it out; you will soon be giving of the overflow! Click here to learn more.

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Are You Ready for a VA?

I’m A New Coach. How Would a VA Assist Me?

This is one of our most common questions and one of the biggest problems that new coaches have to face. Throughout coach training, you heard that you need a VA to help you with your new practice. However, you didn’t understand what that meant. Maybe the following questions crossed your mind:

1. How do I get my coaching business up and running with a VA? Or without?
2. What would a VA be looking for from me? Am I ready for a VA?
3. What do I want from my VA? What should I be looking for?
4. What other systems, applications, or processes do I need?
5. Will a VA be worth my money and time investment right now?

In this article, we will explore Question #2.

What Would a VA Be Looking For From Me? Am I Ready for a VA?

THINK ABOUT YOUR CURRENT RELATIONSHIPS: Look at your friends and family members that you cherish. What types of people are they? What about them is attractive to you? If you had to describe their qualities to someone else, what would you say? On the flip side, what do your friends and family say about your qualities that are attractive? If they had to say only one good thing about you what would it be? Remember that YOUR ideal VA will be attracted to you if presented correctly.

Have you ever watched the show “Bringing Home Baby”? Well, the new parents are chronicled as they make the transition into parenthood, bringing home their new baby. The first week of their life is shared across America from their joy down to their sleepless nights. Those of us who are mothers know that no one can truly be ‘ready’ for a new baby. Each one is slightly different. The same is true about being ready for a VA. You could have the funds to afford a VA and not be ready to handle the relationship. Or you could be ready for the relationship but not able to afford the commitment.

Another good way to get answers to these questions is to join us on August 18 from 5:00 – 6:00 PM Eastern for our next Keys to Success Call: Am I Ready for a VA. On this call, we will discuss some critical steps to take before you work with a VA.

Your facilitator will be Kim Gray, our Certified VA liaison. She has been piloting our newest program, the Inner Circle, with a select group of new and emerging coaches. This pilot group has produced some amazing results and given her some valuable feedback. By attending the call, you will learn about our next Inner Circles scheduled to start in September.

Next month, we will address Question #3: What do I want from my VA? What should I be looking for? So, take the time to reserve your seat on August 18 for our next Keys to Success Call and learn the answer to ”Am I Ready for a VA?”. Who knows? You might be one of our next Inner Circle participants in September!

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Six Impossible Things

Alice Kingsley claimed that she sometimes believed six impossible things before breakfast. By doing so, she had great adventures, far beyond the limitations and possibilities set out for her by other people’s beliefs.

In Tim Burton’s fantastic re-make of the classic Alice in Wonderland story, Alice is portrayed as a ingénue who is caught between two worlds: the staid expectations and beliefs of her Victorian era social structure (as lived and endorsed by her family), and the world of the possible, as taught and demonstrated by her late father, a man with visions of grandeur and adventure in far-off lands.

We each have this same tug-of-war inside of us. Our biology drives us in two directions at once: toward the secure, same, and known on the one hand, and toward the new, novel, and unknown on the other. We live inside this tension, and we make our lives work – or not – by how we deal with these opposite forces within us.

Why is it important to believe in six impossible things before breakfast? Because belief in the impossible creates the possible. Every great invention was once an impossible dream. Every great adventurer was once a crazy dreamer. Martin Luther King believed that there could be peace between the races. Impossible. John F. Kennedy believed that we could land a man on the moon within ten years. Impossible. A few German citizens believed that the Berlin Wall could be brought down. Impossible.

In Burton’s new film, Alice is a teenager who has lost her “muchness” by the time she encounters the White Rabbit. In the midst of her family’s and society’s expectations, she has lost her self-possession, independence, and belief in controlling her own life. When she falls down the hole and enters Wonderland, she regains her ability to believe and imagine the impossible. She remembers her True Self, and re-gains her ability to create from nothing (which is where all true creation comes from). Doing so, she become a heart-based hero, choosing her own path, making her own dreams come true.

Have you lost your ability to believe the impossible? To dream impossible dreams?

Don’t give up hope. You can restore your own ability to live your own Truth. Begin by removing the overlay of other people’s expectations and dreams for you. Eliminate the beliefs you have been indoctrinated with. They keep you small and limited. Decide what you want to create, without limitations. You may encounter people who do not want you to become your full and glorious self. They are afraid you will abandon them. They are afraid of being reminded of their own limitations. Leave them behind as you blaze your trail forward. Set torches along the way, so they can follow later, if they dare.

Those in power do not want you to remember your infinite capacity. You might become difficult to control with their weapons of mass distraction, fear and lack. You will not find much support for believing or doing the impossible. Walk away from those who would kill your dream. People who do so dedicate their lives to proving the dream-killers wrong: Olympic snowboarder Sean White with his Double McTwist; Candidate Barak Obama in the last Presidential election; James Cameron with his breakthrough movie Avatar, who pushed technological limits to create impossible beauty.

You can achieve your own brand of glory — if you will but believe. I speak as one who has done so, having believed myself into many impossible successes, including numerous money “miracles” that produced hundreds of thousands of dollars.

There is work involved in creating the impossible. Magic isn’t created by saying affirmations or believing in the Law of Attraction. It does starts with a belief — but then the real work begins. You must remove all of the limiting beliefs stored in your subconscious. You must muscle the energies down through the chakras from crown (thought) to ground (actions). The art of manifestation begins with an idea, a vision, a belief in the impossible, but it doesn’t end there. Alice has to do battle with the nasty Jabberwocky. Martin Luther King did battle with both police and the public. Presidents do battle with politicians on the other side of the aisle. There is no “free ride” to manifesting the impossible. But it doesn’t cost anything to begin.

What six impossible things can you believe before breakfast?

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Lion Goodman is the creator of The BeliefCloset Process, a methodology for permanently eliminating negative and limiting beliefs from your life, and utilizing new empowering beliefs for creating your dream life. He teaches this methodology to therapists, coaches, and facilitators of transformation through monthly teleclasses. He also teaches his manifestation workshop, “Creation is Ecstasy!,” with his partner, author Anodea Judith, on both coasts. For a limited time, you can download a free copy of the BeliefCloset Process by signing up for his BeliefCloset Jump-Start Kit on his website: www.BeliefCloset.com.

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