Prosperous Coach Blog

6 Signs That It’s Time to Narrow Your Coaching Niche

Coaches often know that they need to narrow their niche, but it’s scary to take the leap. Here are 6 signs to confirm that it’s time to narrow, and some advice on how to do it.

Is Coaching Worth Paying For?

Draw your clients from groups of people that believe coaching is worth the ongoing monthly investment. Use this simple 3-step approach to find and connect with those people.

How to Be Influential in Your Coaching Niche

Influence is the watchword in the world of client attraction. Here are six ways to build influence and get meaningful conversations going with people in your coaching niche.

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What Are You Putting Off Now?

January 23, 2012 | Read 6 comments and join the discussion

Sometimes it’s a good idea to put something off. You make a conscious choice to postpone a task or a project because it’s for your highest good, or the timing will be better later. But I find the main reasons I put things off for my coaching business have more to do with my state of mind.

I looked into this recently because there was an important project I put off all week and then guilty thoughts about the thing occupied my entire weekend. No good!

Have you ever done this?

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Here’s the scenario… you wake up and think about that thing you’re putting off, your mind wanders to it through exercise and breakfast. By the end of the day, you feel like you’ve been royally nagged. It’s almost as if some part of you really wanted to get going on that thing while the rest of you resisted. Big energy drain!

So I created these questions to manage my states and stop wasting energy and it’s working!
Continue reading What Are You Putting Off Now?

Topic: Coaching Business Tips

Read More About: Business Tips, Mindsets, Powerful Questions

Topic: Client Attraction for Coaches

5 Easy Ways To Start Enrolling New Clients NOW – by Barb Wade

January 10, 2012 | Share your comment

This is a guest post by my friend and colleague, Barb Wade, “The Coaches Coach”.

As most coaches know, the bridge between a potential new client’s interest and their actually signing on to coach with you is always some kind of a powerful exploratory conversation. There’s nothing that comes close to the intimacy that is created when you speak voice-to-voice with a potential client, exploring the tremendous cost of the problems they’re facing, and demonstrating that your guidance and expertise will solve their challenges and help them truly create the life or career that they dream of.

I call these sessions “Strategy Sessions” or “Discovery Sessions,” and again, they’re a first hand opportunity for your potential client to feel heard and understood, and to begin to have some hope that you can truly guide them to change their situation. This is why, after such an empowering conversation, coaches are often successful at enrolling their potential client into one of their paid coaching programs.

So naturally, generating these initial, exploratory conversations is crucial. Here are 5 ways to easily and naturally invite potential clients from your ideal target market into such a conversation.

Continue reading 5 Easy Ways To Start Enrolling New Clients NOW – by Barb Wade

Topic: Client Attraction for Coaches

Read More About: Business Skills, Client Attraction, Coaching Skills

What’s Hot and What’s Not for Coaching Businesses in 2012

December 27, 2011 | Share your comment

As the new year approaches I thought it would be fun to share my 3 predictions for what’s in and what’s out for coaches in the coming year.

Webinars Overtake Teleseminars

I’m not saying that teleseminars are out, but webinars are certainly IN! Have you noticed there’s more webinars being offered than ever before? One reason is that social media has raised the desire for visual cues. When I browse through my Facebook news feed, I tend to focus faster on posts with photos, graphics and videos. What about you?

Another reason webinars are gaining popularity is that attendance rates are higher and people enjoy the chat function. When there’s something to follow along and a way to connect, attendees stay longer on calls and multi-task less. And if you’re promoting through webinars, that means more clients and higher income.

A well-done set of power point slides delivered as a pdf handout may accomplish the same thing for a teleseminar. In either case, the quality of the visuals and timing will affect results.

Also, there are new systems for webinars, such as Evergreen Business Systems, which makes distributing webinars so much easier. The replays are more interesting that audio alone.

Of course, the big downside to webinars is the cost of the webinar recording systems like GotoWebinar and the potential for technical difficulties. But, like any 3rd party system, invest in it with intention to use it frequently, which justifies the cost while you get more technically savvy.

Continue reading What’s Hot and What’s Not for Coaching Businesses in 2012

Topic: Coaching Business Tips

My Favorite Things for My Coaching Biz

December 20, 2011 | Read 6 comments and join the discussion

Thank you for following my blog. In gratitude for your big heart, your big goals, your courageous actions – I’m sharing some of the tools and support systems that have made this past year so much easier, more joyful and more profitable for me.

#1 My Fabulous Online Business Manager

An online business manager is much, much more than a Virtual Assistant. She keeps me on task, on track and manages all my promotions and projects. She’s always hip to what’s hot and new in marketing, online tools and trends. She streamlines my email, takes care of customer service and keeps all Prosperous Coach web pages, documents and processes up to date. Sorry to say my OBM is booked but you can find a good one too at the link above.

#2 My Ace Webmaster – Nichole Betterley

There are web designers and then the more rare, web MASTER. Nichole is bar none the finest designer/coder. Not only did Nichole make my website beautiful, clean and easy to navigate, she keeps it that way. And when I want to add some new fangled system like Digital Access Pass for my membership programs, or Evergreen Business Systems so I can get webinars out there big time to my market, she digs in and finds the most elegant way to code it so it works like a charm.

#3 Erika Ruggiero Graphic Designer Extraordinaire

It used to take so long and cost so much to get a little thumbnail graphic done for a new product, program or bonus, but Erika is lightening fast, has great sense of style and keeps her prices so affordable. Yay Erika!

Continue reading My Favorite Things for My Coaching Biz

Topic: Coaching Business Tips

Stop Letting Fear Keep You From Playing Big

December 14, 2011 | Read 10 comments and join the discussion

Fear is actually a great ally. It signals opportunity (unless you’re living out in the wilderness and then it can signal “run”!) But seriously now… fear puts you on notice that you’re at the threshold of realizing more of your potential.

If you step through the threshold despite your fear, you’re likely to never look back because action replaces fear with inspiration. Your creativity and motivation take over and propel you forward.

But you do have to decide… to risk transforming yourself. Without decision, commitment and action it’s not possible to get any closer to what you want. And, indecision out of fear is a joy and creativity killer.

“It’s fear of outcome, not the outcome itself that causes pain.
– Larry Crane, The Release Technique

So here you are… wanting with all your heart to have a financially successful coaching business helping others make decisions and take powerful actions to get what they want. You have important decisions before you. Who is your niche market? What is your message? What offer will be irresistible to them? And, what can you do today to attract more clients and income?

But if you’re paralyzed with fear and need to make a decision now, what do you do?

Five Steps to Move Through Fear and Decide

1. Greet Fear as An Ally.

Everyone feels fear, no matter how confident or capable they are. Fear is inevitable.

So your goal isn’t to stop feeling fear forever, but rather shift to seeing fear as an ally and harbinger of opportunity. Make it a friend, and then the pain of it is fleeting. (And by the way, it will visit you less often too.)

Continue reading Stop Letting Fear Keep You From Playing Big

Topic: Abundance Tools for Coaches

Read More About: Abundance, Business Tips

12 Things That Make a Preview Teleseminar Rock

December 5, 2011 | Share your comment

You can learn almost anything by watching mentors who are already successful. I call it “observe, model, test and tweak”. Of course it’s also really handy to learn the “insider secrets” from experts and get templates that short cut your way to a great teleseminar.

When I think of the best teleseminars I’ve experienced, here’s what they all have going for them:
12 Things That Make a Preview Teleseminar Rock