But I know that writing a weekly article (or posting a video) can start to drag. And if you keep procrastinating, you’ll eventually lose the benefit of publishing a regular article out to your list – continuous presence and building trust. And it adds stress!

So how can you keep fresh ideas flowing to your blog or ezine? Shake it up! And, if you want to really de-stess, plan most of  your posts!

Both you and your readers will enjoy your articles or videos more if you vary the TYPE of post you publish. Here are 12 types posts that won’t fail to entertain and inform your readers:

1. How To /Educational
If you’re good at simplifying complex concepts and processes, this may be your ACE in the hole. And it’s easy to re-purpose these types of posts into freebies, bonuses or entire products.

2. Series
If the topic you’re simplifying has several steps, you can make it into a series.
Here’s an example of a series I did:
Seven Steps to Your Own Coaching Products, Part 1
Seven Steps to Your Own Coaching Products, Part 2
Seven Steps to Your Own Coaching Products, Part 3

3. Stories & Interviews
Stories always entertain. Share your own failure-to-success story,  interview a client for their success story or an expert your target market will enjoy.

And you can create a whole interview series as well. Here’s an example of an interview I did with one of my clients.
Real Coaches, Real Results – Kristin’s Success Story

4. Opinion piece
If there are fresh concepts, important issues, big changes, or current events being discussed in your industry or for your target market, then this post type is perfect, but they can’t be created very far ahead.

Be sure you thoroughly research an issue or event before you put your opinion out there. Consider getting quotes from various other thought leaders on the subject. Of course, invite readers to join the discussion.

5. Predictions & Trends
This is a great thing to do close or begin a new year. Make it fun but also get your message out to your audience about what you think is important for them. Here’s one I did recently:
What’s Hot and What’s Not for Coaching Businesses in 2012

6. What/Who Influences You
This is a really fun type of personal post. Be sure to only include things that will resonate with your target audience.

7. Things You’ve Learned
I find that my readers really appreciate hearing about how my mindset or systems are evolving. The aim is to inspire them to share their lessons learned, as well as allowing them to understand how you relate to them.
What’s Learning You? Lessons from Your Coaching Biz

8. Reviews
I don’t know about you, but I love it when someone will tell me WHY they recommend a book, movie, product, program, expert or online tool. If you really got value from something and you think your tribe would value it too, bottom line it for them.

9. Guest Blogs
This is something I’ve resolved to do more often in the coming year. Employ this type of post when you’re promoting someone else’s event or program. Ask them to write a guest post on the topic of their preview call/webinar and invite your readers to the event.

Or pick people for guest posts who have knowledge on topics that would engage your tribe.

10. Reflect on Something
Dig into a pithy topic, such an obstacle that you or your audience has faced.
Are You Afraid to Promote Your Offers in a Big Way?

It could also be a gratitude post, about a recent travel or retreat experience, or the passing of someone you admire.

11. Lists
This could be a “top ten” style list, based on your opinion or results of a contest or survey. Or it could be a list of resources, tips, or just fun diversions.

12. What People Are Talking About
Find a quality post on another blog that your market will be interested in, and link to it with a short quote or summary. Add your take on the topic, and invite your readers to comment. Or, research something of interest to your market and provide a collation of links to the best ones you find (with a short quote or summary of each).

Want help planning your articles for a whole year? I’ve created a really simple free guide for you called 52 Weeks of Blogging Ideas to Boost Your Traffic and List. Grab it and other valuable gifts for coaches by signing up for Barb Wade’s upcoming mastery course called The Get to Yes Formula, which is 100% free for you.

It’s all about client attraction strategies. I’ll be speaking (on Thursday, January 19 about client winning websites), along with 20 other savvy client attraction experts. Grab your FREE ticket for this Mastery Course here: http://prosperouscoach.com/get2yes

And please share any ideas for articles in the comments below, along with any questions.

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE AT: 12 Types of Blog Posts or Ezine Articles that Entertain

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.

1. Personal Invitation – It’s likely that you know people personally within your community or circle of social relationships whom you know are suffering and whom you could help. There’s nothing wrong with reaching out and making a personal offer of a strategy session to such a contact, especially if it is heartfelt.

2. Networking – Too often coaches attend networking events and simply exchange cards with people. If there is someone you meet whom you know needs what you offer, there’s no reason not to offer that person a strategy session on the spot, or at least to follow up with such an offer later that day.

3. Public Speaking – It’s ideal to look for public speaking opportunities, as they get you in front of multiple potential prospects at once. When you’ve got such an opportunity, it’s wise to offer a limited number of one-on-one strategy sessions from the front of the room as a “follow up,” and again, explain to the audience how they might apply.

4. Tele-seminar – This is where you design and promote a free tele-seminar on a topic of genuine interest to your target market. Then, during the call you offer a limited number of one-on-one strategy sessions and explain how your listeners can apply. Assuming that they’re impressed with the content of your free call, you should see a good percentage requesting private time with you.

5. Email – If you have been amassing a mailing list of supporters and prospects from your ideal target market, you can do a targeted “email campaign” and offer a limited number of one-on-one strategy sessions to this list. Assuming that most of these people have been following you for a while, those who like most what you have offered thus far will jump at the chance for private time with you.

The bottom line is that conversations turn into clients. Don’t be afraid to use your imagination to come up with intriguing and even unexpected ways to invite potential clients to talk with you further. They can’t say “yes” if you don’t offer!

Want to learn more about how to GET TO YES? Join Rhonda, me and 19 other business experts for coaches at “The Get-to-Yes Formula” 2 week 100% FREE Virtual Mastery Course. It starts January 18.

Register Here: http://prosperouscoach.com/get2yes

Barb Wade, M.A. specializes in teaching Coaches to create thriving, 6-figure practices in under 20 hours a week! For a FREE “How To Get Clients” BUSINESS BREAKTHROUGH KIT just for Coaches, visit http://www.BarbWade.com
 
 
 
 

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE AT: 5 Easy Ways To Start Enrolling New Clients NOW – by Barb Wade

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When I think of the best teleseminars I’ve experienced, here’s what they all have going for them:

1. Hot Topic

Emails and social networking posts convey a pinpointed topic that’s highly relevant to me and makes it clear why I should sign up.

1. Rockin’ Key Points

What will be covered is intriguing enough that I commit in my calendar to attend live.

1. Outstanding Optin

There’s an obvious link to optin, the page looks great, covers all details and benefits and it’s easy to sign up.

1. Clear Details

I immediately receive clear instructions in my inbox to get to the call. And before the call, I get a reminder with all the details plus more inspiration to attend.

1. Powerful Presence

On the call, the thought leader starts on time, comes across as authentic, authoritative, relaxed and upbeat.

1. Connection & Credibility

The thought leader shares their personal story in a way that makes me want to listen closely to everything they say.

1. Focus Features

The thought leader lays out exactly what will be covered so I can take clear notes, or there’s a handout to follow along that keeps me focused.

1. Interaction

There’s an opportunity for asking questions and getting answers.

1. Tasty Takeaways

I learn at least one thing that inspires me, shifts my mindset, clarifies, corrects or educates me on something I can implement right now.

1. Opportunity to Go Deeper

There’s an appealing offer to learn more and get support from the thought leader through a paid product or group program.

1. Sense of Urgency

I’m clear that the opportunity is limited in some way, either by time or number of people allowed in the group. There are some juicy fast action bonuses I really want.

1. Decisive Action

I know, or can easily find out, everything I need to decide if I want to engage in their program now. Signing up is easy.

When I attend a teleseminar that does all these things, I’m impressed, even if there were a few technical snafus or imperfections. In fact, whether I enroll in the paid program or not, I will follow this thought leader by signing up for their free offer on their website.

And when I run my own preview teleseminars, this is what I’m aiming for.

Keep in mind that perfection is never necessary and in fact, being real is much more important that having everything together. Every time you give a preview teleseminar you’ll learn more and have more fun. Plus think of the exciting income you’ll earn and people you’ll serve!

Please share anything you think I left out in the comments below. And I encourage you to set a plan to host a preview teleseminar and launch your own group early in 2012. You can do it.

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE AT: 12 Things That Make a Preview Teleseminar Rock

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If so, you’re not alone — most coaches deal with these same problems in their coaching businesses, especially in the first five years or so. But there are coaches who have plenty of high paying clients. They get great referrals and have long term clients that pay them well. Those coaches must know some marketing tricks that make all the difference.

Well, they are coming together next week in The Easy Biz Telesummit: Summer School for Coaches — a series of FREE telecalls to help you learn those tricks fast!

I’m honored to be in the lineup of 12 business experts among some other folks you’ll recognize and enjoy, including Andrea J. Lee, Michael Port, Kim Clausen and Michelle Schubnell. Each of us will be sharing our best ideas for what makes marketing EASIER. We’re all about helping you avoid the kinds of mistakes we made early on, and we’ll share with you exactly what you need to know to succeed today.

This “Summer School” will be in session from July 11th to the 14th. We aim to make it the best “class” you have ever taken on how to build your business and attract all the clients you need.

It’s rare that this many of the top business leaders in coaching join together to focus on your success. I encourage you to sign up today! http://www.easybiztelesummit.com/rhonda

Meanwhile, let’s get the “school” going early, and share some of those life-changing tips right here. Here’s one to start us off:

People don’t buy what they need. They buy what they want.

That may be obvious to you. But many coaches are so “sold” on the transformation they got from a particular coaching experience that they turn around and try to sell that same coaching experience, thinking “Everybody needs this!” And it doesn’t work.

Most people don’t spend their money on what they need. People often don’t even know what they need. But they know what they want, and that’s where their money goes. When I finally got this point, it changed everything about how I approach my market.

What about you? Have you learned something recently that helped you leap over months or years of trial and error? Share it below.

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE AT: Timely Tips That Can Catapult Your Coaching Biz to the Next Level Fast

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You have this tool within you too. In fact, so much has been written about it over the last 20 years that it’s cliché.

It’s manifestation. Remember this? Successful thoughts followed by powerful actions are like the track and the train, or like water and fish. Prosperous thinking makes the way for what we want to move towards us.

The simplicity of this is usually lost in the rush and hustle of our lives. We are so driven to do, do, do, moving at break-neck pace. Unfortunately, while doing what we think will get us what we want, we are often actually focused on what we don’t want – what isn’t working or what doesn’t feel good.

And then, it’s like a train heading for a bent or broken track or like a fish suddenly pulled out of the water.

It’s time to bring our minds back to envisioning what we want rather than what we don’t want.

Regular People Manifest What They Want All the Time

Years ago, I met a man who decided to earn his livelihood for one year just by doing this process. This guy wasn’t a guru or a monk. He was a regular Joe who decided to test his faith.

Three times a day for about half an hour he consciously envisioned what he wanted – in this case, the means to live. If he felt doubtful or worried, he’d stop whatever he was doing and do the visioning process again.

Now here’s what seems extraordinary… as he needed it, money for rent, utilities, food, and other needs came to him. He wasn’t sitting on a street corner with a sign begging for donations. He was living his life – writing, reading, cleaning his house, and walking the dog like every one else does. He just didn’t have a job or a paycheck.

Every time that I’ve bothered to do this manifestation meditation into my life just once a day good things that I want flood into my life. So here we go…

The Manifestation Meditation

Start by getting quiet and relaxed. Breathe deeply. Be with your body. Let anxious thoughts drift away.

1. Go Into Gratitude

Gratitude is the fertile ground for manifesting what you want. It primes the pump for more wonderful things to come. Why is that? Because it puts your focus on the prosperity you already enjoy, making you magnetic to more. “Count” your blessings. Besides all the obvious privileges you enjoy, be grateful for current challenges. Take some time in this step. Feel refreshed by it.

2. Acknowledge Your Co-creativity

The universe around us is making miraculous new things happen every moment. It’s creation energy. Your ability to influence your reality with your thoughts and actions is creation energy too. Acknowledge your guides, helpers, the Universe, God – however you think of the Infinite. Then recognize your gift as a co-creator of your reality. Access the sense that you are not alone, but part of something vast and fertile.

3. Engage Your Vision

Create a vision – the seed for your new reality. Open your imagination. Then flesh out the vision of what you want with all of your senses. See, hear, taste, smell, and touch every detail about what you are manifesting. Picture yourself living it now. Feel yourself already there.

4. Let Go of Outcome

This last step is critical, and may take practice to master. Once your vision is complete, surrender the details and let go of any attachment to the outcome. Trust that the opportunities, resources, motivation, time, money – to create whatever you have just envisioned – will come to you in the way that is for your highest good.

You see, this manifestation process requires you to align with the flow of forces greater than yourself. That means allowing your vision to arrive in whatever way providence decides – including all the ways you could not have conceived of. Faith is a crucial ingredient of prosperity.

If you find yourself feeling expectant, disappointed, or discouraged, you haven’t fully let go of the outcome. If you think – “Huh, that didn’t work” – you have probably attached to something. Or you might have kept your focus on what’s missing.

Okay, I double dog dare you to try this for 40 days. I’m starting right now. Join me?

What tools are in your toolbox that you’re ready to dust off and use? Is there something you already have that if you fully utilized it you’d be happier, more fulfilled and attract what you want? Share that here. Let’s amass some wisdom right now!

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE AT: Four Simple Steps to Attract What You Really Want

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Of course you want to feel that rush of exhilaration that comes from making a difference in the lives of your clients. You know what I mean, right? You have a session with a client and they see solutions where before they only saw problems. And now they are so happy! It’s a rush!

But… if you’re not getting enough clients to work with, there may be one BIG reason for it. Let ME coach YOU on that right now…

You see, most coaches want to help people so much that they don’t even care about the money part. Can you relate? Of course, as coaches we put helping people over making money. But I realized something BIG about this. Before I share it with you, let me ask you:

Do you like sales & marketing?

What is your initial gut response to this question? When you think about selling and marketing your coaching to potential clients do you feel afraid? Do you get tightness somewhere in your body? If so, you’re not alone. In fact, I used to feel this way too. But, the shift in thinking I made helped me get a lot more clients and make a lot more money!

Here’s the shift… Sales & Marketing ARE Coaching.

What??!! It’s true! Let me say it again: Sales & Marketing ARE coaching! I’ll explain why this is true. But, before I do let me tell you why this is important. When you see sales and marketing as part of the coaching process, you’ll feel a lot better about doing it! You’ll enjoy it more and you’ll have a lighter feeling in your body and a smile on your face.

PLUS, you’ll:

• make your coaching business a viable long term career!
• grow your coaching client load (more fun clients to work with.)
• earn a lot more spendable revenue (for vacations or a new car.)

Sales & Marketing are like coaching because they do the same things, see what I mean…

My Coaching is about ACTION. When I coach people, I want to get them to the point where they know what they want, what their challenges are, and what to do. I want them to take action. Don’t you too?

My Sales & Marketing are also about taking action. My marketing materials speak to a goal that people have — like growing their business or getting more free time — and how to solve their problems to reach that goal. The action may or may not be to *buy my program* or hire me, but either way they are in a much better place now than they were before.

My Coaching is about helping people see new possibilities. For example: I talked to two coaches yesterday and helped them see that they could charge much higher fees. And instead of charging clients per session, they could charge a monthly retainer fee and it would be better for both them and their clients. I showed them new possibilities.

My Sales & Marketing are also about helping people see new possibilities. When they read my“headlines” with big fat claims and then they read the testimonials of other coaches I’ve worked with that have “made it” to six figures with my help, they may get inspired to go for more! They may or may not get inspired to *buy my program* or hire me. But, that’s not the point.

SEE WITH NEW EYES:
Right now I’m teaching you a coaching technique you probably already know called “reframing”. Instead of looking at sales & marketing the “old” way, you can start to look at it as a part of the coaching process.

This is just one of the “10 Sales & Marketing Mindset Shifts” you need to make as a coach in order to reach all of your goals.

Another BIG mindset shift…

You may already believe this, but you need to *really, really, really* “get” that this is true: When you are giving out a sample coaching session hiring you is the best thing the potential client can do for himself!

You may be thinking “of course”, but do you really feel it in every cell? It’s not the best thing he can do for you, it’s the best thing he can possibly do for himself! Why? Because of all the goals and dreams that he has and all of the challenges he’s facing right now, if he had your help he’d be more likely to reach his goals, and get there faster. PLUS he’d be more likely to overcome a lot of the things that are frustrating him right now.

Hiring you is the BEST THING a potential client can do for himself!

Christian Mickelsen is the author of “How To Quickly Get Started In Professional Coaching: The Surprising Truth About What It Really Takes!” and has been coaching for over 10 years. He’s been seen in Forbes, Yahoo Finance, MSN, and the Boston Globe. He served 2 years on the board of directors for the IAC (International Association of Coaching), and has created numerous support programs to help coaches become financially successful.

www.coacheswithclients.com

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It’s easy to pour your time into Internet marketing, thinking that social networking and blogging alone will get you all the clients you need. But those methods are best for building a leads list and bringing you future clients. If you want more coaching clients right now — real time connection is still the easiest, most direct and most effective way to engage new clients. And it’s fun!

Enrolling is a simple coaching skill that will do more than any other approach to get you high paying private clients. And you can easily adapt the enrollment process to preview teleclasses and public speaking, to enroll people into your group programs too.

Should I Give a Sample Session or Consult?

Most coaching schools recommend delivering a full blown coaching session as a sample to enroll clients. There’s nothing better for stretching your coaching skills as you’re first getting started. And, if you are vigilant about keeping your time boundaries, avoiding over-delivery, and acing the close; prospects will become your clients through sample sessions.

But, after a while, you might find that sample sessions are too time consuming. Coaches also tell me that in sample sessions they tend to focus more on their technique than engaging the client. From sample coaching, prospects often slip away from the full session feeling “done” rather than primed for long-term support.

A different approach is to set up a short, themed consult as a simple discovery process to enroll clients. You still get to use your coaching skills – asking powerful questions and listening – to quickly uncover where your prospect wants to go, where they are now, and the gap in between.

Then it’s easy to show them how you can help them bridge that GAP.

Your prospects will get value from the questions and be inclined to hire you. And it’s such a relief that you don’t have to solve anything during the consult. It’s simply a discovery process to highlight the gap and how you can help. And after doing this a few times, you’ll become very good at it.

The Non-Pushy Way to Enroll Coaching Clients

For the “how to” of enrolling clients through consults, the Master is Bill Baren. Maybe you’ve seen Bill’s recent video series that reveals dozens of easy-to-apply enrollment secrets. Bill is a regular guy who enrolls high paying coaching clients through consults 80% of the time or better. Wouldn’t you love to have that result?

Bill has agreed to let me interview him so you can hear how to:

• Lead prospective clients to “YES” – it works anytime, anywhere. Whether you are in a one-on-one consultation …. leading a teleseminar…. or speaking on a stage.
• Turn the dreaded response of “I can’t afford it” into the perfect opportunity for you to close the sale right on the spot.
• Use a simple fear-busting technique you can apply right away. You’ll feel much more comfortable talking to people about fees and inviting them to work with you.
• Implement his proven 5-step system for making money and enrolling new clients through teleseminars and speaking engagements (and if you’ve never done them before, this will make it easy to get started).
• DOUBLE the number of potential clients who hire you.

I hope you’ll join us to hear Bill share this directly with you on: Wednesday, October 27, 4:00pm ET.

Save your spot in that call!

When you sign up you’ll have access to Bill’s insightful videos that show you how to enroll step by step.

Marry Online with Offline Enrollment Processes

Don’t wait to have all the bells and whistles of your online presence set up before you start scheduling consults every week. It’s absolutely possible to fill your coaching business with clients through consults before you have anything else in place — your website, social networking, an ezine or blog. 

Once you do have a website up, use it as the platform to set up an automatic “conversion” process:

1. Your blog or static website offers a compelling freebie as the obvious first step with you.
2. Once they sign up for that, send out an autoresponder to prospects inviting them to your consult.
3. Block out specific times in your calendar each week for consults.
4. Use TimeTrade or another online scheduler, so people can easily choose a time for their consult. Put the link to sign up in your autoresponder. A reminder will go out to you and the prospect.

As your leads list and credibility with your market grows, you’ll be able to limit your consults to people you expect are highly motivated to enroll. And that leverages your time!

Take the 90 Day Get-More-Clients Challenge

In the next 90 days, set up as many consults as you can with people in your target market. Make it into a game. Use Bill Baren’s  Master of Enrollment process to make it easy and effective. You’ll feel more confident and have a lot more clients and income in just three months! Then re-up the challenge for another 90 days, so it becomes a success habit.

Comment and let us know if you’re taking the challenge and how it’s going for you. What’s working? What are your favorite enrollment questions? How have you gotten past objections?

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE AT: Consults: The #1 Easiest Way to Enroll Coaching Clients

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