The best advice I can give you is allow yourself to be vulnerable and let connection and collaboration take the lead. Sure be the authority, but also understand in your heart that the magic of groups is in the group

Everyone makes mistakes. They are never fatal to the program. At worst you might upset someone, but if you’re tracking the energy, you’ll know that and can easily make up for it by being real, owning your mistake and offering an offline private conversation. I’ve been amazed how in those circumstances the individuals always come back as more enthusiastic contributors who take leaps in the program.

Here some favorite facilitation mistakes and how to avoid or correct them.

1. Too much information
   Limit yourself to 3 key points for every 90-minute period. Illustrate your point with powerful open-ended questions, exercises and stories that are relevant.
2. Content is overly intellectual or too fluffy
   Aim your content at the average participant and then be ready to throw in some advanced or beginner concepts as needed for the group.
3. Getting way off track or being too rigid with the agenda
   Plan in some time for interesting (short) sidetracks. Ask permission of the group before you stray too far from the agenda. “Is everyone interested in taking this side track?”
4. Pacing is too fast or slow
   Listen for how well the group is staying with you. Adjust your pacing to suit the group. Be willing to redesign a bit on the fly.
5. Losing the group
   Even if it’s your intention to deliver educational content in lecture mode, build in ways attendees can participate (such as Q & A, breakouts).
6. One participant dominates
   Ideally, you want participation from everyone without one person dominating. Set the tone at the very beginning: “This will be really fun if everyone participates with laser statements and questions. To allow everyone to speak I ask that you get to your main point or question within 30 seconds. I’ll ask you for more information if we need it.” Use limiting phrases: “Let’s hear from 3 people who have not shared yet.”
7. Weakly phrased questions
   Pithy and challenging questions are the trademark of masterful coaching and facilitation. Take the time to plan a few of these for every 60 – 90 minute group session. If no one responds right away, count to 10, then check in… “Did that question land with anyone or was that the wrong question?”
8. No continuity
   Connect everything you present together into a main theme that fits your topic and is highly relevant to your audience (your target market).
9. Technical difficulties
   Of course, test all equipment and systems before in a trial run. But technology is naturally unpredictable. Even the most polished big players experience technical difficulties so don’t take it hard if it happens. Your audience will understand if you’re relaxed and flexible. Be ready to switch to lower tech ways of delivery on the fly if needed.
10. Stepping over a participant’s feelings or comments
    Always validate feelings. And invite transformation. If you don’t agree with what someone has shared, use the “Yes and…” method of validating the participant’s contribution while also including your key point.

However you tend to present, try pushing out of your comfort zone a little bit each time. Record your sessions and listen to the recordings. Notice your pace, energy level, responses. Get feedback from your participants, outside the group, with an evaluation form or a follow-up phone call.

MOST IMPORTANTLY look for the gift of every group experience. Take in the good moments and forgive yourself for the awkward ones. You’ll get better and better at this the more you do it.

I’d love to hear your questions or favorite facilitation mistakes – or mistakes you’ve witnessed in group programs you’ve attended (no names please). And share also how you lived through mistakes and did better next time.

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE AT: Quick Fixes for 10 Group Coaching Mistakes Nearly Everyone Makes the First Time

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Go for high quality, high impact time with your clients. But be sure to play to your strengths while also considering what people in your market really want. Some markets will be too busy for individual calls and prefer live events at an exciting destination where they can tack on vacation time. Some markets will want more “hand holding”, so you’ll want to load on opportunities for both group and private support.

Bundle Together Lots of Goodies

It’s really “anything goes” when it comes to designing your high ticket coaching package so feel free to get really creative as long as you know it will please you and your market. Here are a few tried and true features you can mix and match.

Keep in mind, what makes a program worth the big ticket price is proximity to you and in depth experiences.

Group calls — Offer one type or a combination of group coaching, mentoring, educational teleseminars, and/or mastermind calls.

Small group support —Break your larger group into sub-groups with mini-masterminds or monthly or weekly accountability buddies.

Private coaching by phone — Include 1:1 sessions of any length that are pre-scheduled or set “open coaching” time periods on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Live events — These could be private or group half-day or full-day intensives or retreats.

Online connection — Provide some sort of low touch venue for members in your group to connect, ask questions, share wins and challenges, such as private social networks or Q&A forums.

Extras — Throw in educational modules, exercises, checklists, templates, mp3s, CDs, books/ebooks, and free tickets to live educational events. It’s best to include relevant things you already have in your product funnel to make the package feel juicier and more valuable, rather than having to create these from scratch. Dig deep, you’ve got some of these things ready to go.

Deliver High Value

While you can create a general support group for your market, it’s best if there is a specific topic and purpose for the program. For example, if you offer a workshop or live event, have your coaching package be the follow on or upsell to help your clients implement what they learned and take advanced steps. That makes it easier to fill your programs because you leverage the momentum.

As with all offers, design your package to include all or a subset of the following benefits:

Educate: Fill the holes in your market’s knowledge.

Correct: Help them stop making the same mistakes and create better habits.

Simplify: Show them how to do something in a step-by-step format.

Shift: Bust myths, breakthrough to more powerful mindsets, open their eyes to a better way.

Inspire: Motivate them to take action, stay the course, keep the faith.

Added to these is the wonderful value of community and connection.

Pricing for Profit and Commitment

If up to now you’ve been all about building income but not profits, it’s time to make the shift to a more sophisticated business mindset. If you make six figures every year but spend half of that on your biz no matter how much you make, it’s one thing. But if you can increase your profits while increasing revenue, it’s another thing entirely. That’s real growth!

There are several reasons why you want to shift to high price points for your coaching programs:

1. To leverage your time. If you want to work less and earn more there are two main things you can do: scale up and raise fees. This allows you to do both: serve many people at once for high value plus earn more for your time.
2. For proximity to you. As you gain expertise and/or demand, you will want to create more low touch opportunities for people to learn from you. Then reserve your time for ideal clients who want to take bigger leaps.
3. To encourage deeper commitment through financial investment. No doubt you’ve already realized this, but to a degree the lower your prices the lower your client’s perception of the value they are getting. And vice versa. Perception of increased value increases commitment. That means your clients are likely to get more out of your services if they are investing at a higher level. It really is true in most circumstances that people will get what they pay for.

A bundled coaching program can literally double your income or more with one offer. And you’ll find that you raise your standards of delivery as well. You’ll be a better coach when you serve in several different ways that stretch you.

Let’s hear what you’re up to with your coaching programs. Share in COMMENTS — what have you been thinking about in terms of coaching packages? What are some other features you’ll include? When will you launch your next high ticket coaching package? How about 2011?

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE AT: How to Create a High Ticket Coaching Package

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Be a Go-Giver

If you’re involved in social networks, like Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, you already know that a big part of the networking culture is to promote businesses other than your own, friends and even competitors. Sometimes you do that with an affiliate relationship (that pays you a commission for referred sales), and sometimes not.

It’s easy to retweet a blog post or teleseminar invitation without thought of return. But when you are an affiliate, you’ll go further — post an announcement to your list, invite the program sponsor as a guest speaker to your group, offer a bonus, or create an interview opportunity for that person. Because you’ve got “skin in the game”, you’ll do more.

And your extra effort pays off in more ways than one:

1. It shows that you’re connected and a good resource for things your network needs and wants.
2. It saves people you know time and heartache.
3. It’s an income stream created by good old fashioned collegial networking.
4. It builds alliances with spheres of influence who can help you build your list and boost your income.

Getting a referral fee doesn’t make you less sincere. It makes you more motivated.

I use Aweber and I’m an affiliate. I don’t feel anything but good about promoting Aweber, because they have helped me stay organized, build my leads list, and create countless connections with my market. They are simply the best email campaign company.

I also promote my webmaster,  Nichole Betterly. She doesn’t offer an affiliate program, but that doesn’t stop me from singing her praises and handing out her url, because I want my clients – coaches like you – to have the best technical support to create your web presence. Check out her site:  NPoweredSites.com

Why Become An Affiliate?

The best reason to become an affiliate of a company or program is that you think it’s great! If you’ve experienced something that helped you, why not pass it forward to others in a committed way by becoming a part of their promotion team? That’s why affiliate programs work, because smart business people know that their loyal fans help create more loyal fans.

Choose Your Friends Wisely

So someone has asked you to help promote them; should you? That depends on your joint venture criteria.

Set up guidelines about when and how you will affiliate with other companies. My first filter is simple. Do I feel the person/company delivers high quality with integrity?

There’s no substitute for first hand experience. If you’ve actually read the ebook, or taken the course, then you know what it did for you and can authentically say so. If you haven’t, then you have to rely on what you know about the person or group putting out the new program. If your jv criteria aren’t met, it’s not worth risking your own integrity for the bucks.

Be Up Front

The FTC requires that you disclose if you’re an affiliate. The easiest thing is to say it plainly. “I’m an affiliate of XYZ.” And you can proudly explain why you feel so good about referring people. Share what you got out of the program or why you trust them. (I’ll go into more detail about the FTC requirements in a future post.)

Create Your Own Affiliate Program

If you take credit cards for your coaching services and you have a shopping cart, you can set up your own affiliate program. (By the way, I’m an affiliate of Practice Pay Solutions who can set all this up for you. I’ve used their merchant account service for 13 years. They are professional, reliable, and they specialize in serving coaches.)

I have an affiliate program and many of the coaches who have taken leaps in Champion Your Ideal Coaching Market tele-workshop have earned back their investment by referring their coach friends. I enjoy writing those checks because I know it’s for a loyal fan.

If you provide an affiliate opportunity, it’s easier to set up a “joint venture” relationship with someone who has a list full of leads in your target market. Let’s say you’re a coach for massage therapists and you want to market your services through massage therapy schools. You’re more likely to “get in the door” with them if you can offer something to their list that they don’t offer, and provide a commission if the connection results in a sale.

As you cultivate your relationships with these spheres of influence, they can help you multiply your coaching income. Why? Because they can connect you with more people in your market fast!

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE AT: To Be or Not to Be An Affiliate?

member commitment,
intentions,
group energy,
connection, and
variety.

Solidify Member Commitment

Presence powers the Mastermind. Each time a member shows up fully to a session they help fuel the manifesting ability of the group by building a bond of trust. If there is not a strong commitment from each member to show up and participate in group discussions, the Master-mind will never fully develop, and the group may flounder.

As you enroll people into your mastermind, explain how their commitment is critical and how that benefits everyone in the group, including them. Provide the schedule of sessions in advance. Ask members to safe-guard those session times in their calendar.

If a person cannot participate in a majority of the dates, they are not a good candidate for the group.

Set Powerful Intentions

Both group and individual intentions help set the “container” for the group.

What does each person want from the Mastermind? Ask members to write down and share their intentions. Encourage everyone to “hold” each person’s intentions – as you would hold a coaching client’s potential.

Then, occasionally, check in about those goals. Accountability is key to the Mastermind. That includes witnessing and celebrating growth, as well as making course corrections.

Also set “operating agreements” or intentions for the group. Co-creation of the agreements helps with buy-in. Here are some agreements my Masterminds have designed:

I agree to:

1. Attend every Mastermind call that I possibly can.
2. Be 100% committed to my own success and that of my colleagues.
3. Hold in confidence everything shared in the group.
4. Hold space for the transformation of each individual in the Mastermind.
5. Come ready to participate and ask for the support I need to take a leap forward.
6. Not multi-task during the call.
7. Actively listen and give only constructive feedback.
8. Only offer suggestions based on positive results I’ve experienced in my own business.

Raise Group Energy

A certain amount of energy is necessary for a Mastermind. Energy comes from the number of attendees and the way they show up in session.

I prefer groups of 6 – 10 people. Smaller groups are at a disadvantage if someone misses a session. Larger groups are more difficult to serve in a reasonable time frame.

If participation is low, the energy in the group may feel sluggish. As the facilitator, you can improve this by slightly raising your own energy. Or walk the group through a grounding/breathing exercise and ask them to help you raise the energy that way.

Provide Avenues of Connection

It’s important to create other ways for group members to connect outside sessions. Make it easy for them. A social networking group exclusive to members is a great way to facilitate more interaction. Members can post profiles, photos, questions, discussion groups, documents and resources there.

In one of my Masterminds we have a secret Facebook group that allows conversations to continue and friendships to grow. Valuable feedback and resources are posted there as well. In a VIP think tank for established coaches, we have a dedicated Ning social networking site that enhances connections between sessions. Without it, the bonds wouldn’t be as strong and participants would not accomplish as much.

The more your group members get connected, the more they will want to be together, bringing energy to the group.

Spice it up with Variety

A bit of structure is important for people to feel safe and ready to participate. But as the group matures, it’s equally important for sessions to feel fresh and inspiring. Shake things up now and then by reading a short quote or poem relevant to the group, varying the format of the group, asking pithy questions, telling stories, sharing humor, discussing a book, or having a member of the group other than you lead the discussion.

In one of my recent Masterminds we looked at Barbara Stanny’s Overcoming Underearning Quiz online and discussed money mindsets. Another time we reviewed the websites of participants. Often a group theme will emerge from individual check-ins and become a catalyst for juicy dialog.

You already have some great ideas, and remember, you can morph your Mastermind as needed. Now it’s time to get your Mastermind launched and have some fun. What else do you need to know to get your group rolling? Ask your questions here.

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE AT: 5 Ingredients of a Successful Mastermind

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A Mastermind is a group of like-minded individuals with similar goals, who meet regularly in person or by phone to support each other in manifesting personal and professional success. The members commit to attending group sessions, and participate by sharing stories and information while “holding space” for the transformative growth of each individual. The concept was popularized by Napoleon Hill, the author of Think and Grow Rich. He said:

No two minds ever come together without a third invisible force, which may be likened to a “third mind.” When a group of individual minds are coordinated and function in harmony, the increased energy created through that alliance becomes available to every individual in the group.

The result is that the generative power of the group far exceeds that of each individual. And it’s a fun way to be in community.

You don’t need to create training or didactic materials for your Mastermind. Your role is simply to facilitate the discussion, manage time, and create a safe, lightly structured environment or “container” for the meetings. Time in session is spent setting intentions, brainstorming ideas, sharing progress reports, feedback, advice and resources, and celebrating wins.

Why Everyone Loves a Mastermind

Like coaching, Masterminds demonstrate that “two heads (or more) are better than one”. They are a place to find collegial support, community, accountability. If well facilitated, the group provides relief from isolation, and helps members develop an abundance mindset and take bigger actions.

I owe much of my professional success to Masterminds – groups I’ve run and groups I’ve participated in. If not for the power of these groups, I’m not sure I’d still be an entrepreneurial coach. There’s nothing like the synergy created by a conscious community to make the journey easier.

Masterminds that I’ve been a part of have a sense of familial love that lasts beyond the time they meet. Members make big shifts, take bigger risks, and receive lasting inspiration from the feeling of “all for one, one for all” generated by a committed group.

Three Steps to Your Own Mastermind Group

If you’ve already chosen a viable coaching market to champion, you can launch your own Mastermind in just three steps:

1. Identify an over-arching topic that’s highly relevant to your coaching market, and give it an evocative title.

The common ground of the group might be a problem they want to solve, or a goal that has a long growth arc or a lot of moving parts to implement. For example, if your coaching market is direct sales people, a problem they want to solve is how to keep their down-line inspired. The title could be Highly Inspired Down-line. If your coaching market is Realtors, the Mastermind might be called the Fast Closer Circle.

If you’ve already created an article, a freebie, a workshop or presentation, you may have an instant focus for your Mastermind. Those other offerings will help you create the credibility to attract people to the group. But remember, you don’t need any kind of lead-in product in order to run a successful Mastermind.

2. Design the few details you need to market your Mastermind.

Size of group: I recommend 6 – 10. Four is too few and more than 10 is difficult to serve.

Monthly fee: I suggest one-third to one-half of your 1:1 coaching fee.

How often it meets: At least twice per month.

Length of sessions: 90 minutes is standard. More will exhaust the group’s energy. Less is too little to serve everyone.

Where it meets: On a telephone bridge line is easiest.

3. Choose a start date and start enrolling group members.

Market the first openings to your past 1:1 clients. It’s a great way to give them preferential treatment, re-engage them, and refresh their previous work with you. Then, open it to your whole list. Also market it through social networking, your blog, articles, free presentations or as a follow up to an ebook or workshop you already offer.

In my next post, I’ll cover some ingredients of a successful Mastermind.

Want to amp up your year fast? Launch your Mastermind in the next 90 days! Share your ideas and questions here.

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE AT: Create a Mastermind Group for Your Coaching Market

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1. Tune into Your Niche Market
2. Leverage Your Product Funnel
3. Outline Your Coaching Product
4. Map Out a Project Plan
5. Create Your Product
6. Create Your Marketing Campaign
7. Get Set to Deliver

Part 1 talks about the first three steps. Steps 4 and 5 are covered in Part 2. Here’s the scoop on 6 and 7 (plus a bonus step).

Step 6 – Create Your Marketing Campaign

Assuming your product costs money, it will need its own marketing campaign, including:

• a sales page, and
• a way to drive traffic to that sales page.

Your sales page should be packed with persuasive copy evoking your product’s benefits in language that speaks to your target market. This is where your courage in choosing a viable market, and the work you have done to learn your market’s top challenges and goals, really pays off. When you have narrowed your market and learned how to speak their language, sales copy that positions your product as essential will come naturally to you.

To up the excitement for your visitors, add bonuses or bundle your product with a free coaching session. If you have field tested your product, consider adding testimonials.

The best sales page ever written will only sell your product if it gets visitors. Your traffic driver could be your blog, speaking gigs, social media strategy, or anything that gets you in front of your target market with a chance to give them a link.

The best traffic driver is your own email list, because they already know you and the value you offer. That’s why bloggers still collect email addresses, even though they could just rely on RSS to deliver their blog to subscribers.

Plan to test and tweak your campaign from time to time, as you learn more about what works. Once you have multiple products in your funnel, you may want to create a marketing calendar to plan which ones you will push most actively each month.

If your product is a freebie, it is part of the marketing for another action (say, signing up for your blog). So the freebie doesn’t need its own marketing.

But put on your marketer’s hat anyway, and consider how you can make the most of the value you have provided to everyone who downloads your product. How can you build that first contact into a trusted relationship?

For example, set up an autoresponder system with successive emails going out after sign-up. In the autoresponders, help your prospects get the most out of your freebie. By taking them deeper into the material in your product, you show them more of the expertise you have for them. Then it’s natural to give them links to your website, blog and other offerings.

Step 7 – Get Set to Deliver

If you have not already set up systems to take payments and deliver your product (online or physically), you’ll need to get that handled before your product launches. You will need:

• an online shopping cart system that connects to a way for your buyers to download your electronic product after they purchase.
• a credit card merchant account and a payment gateway (or at least a Paypal merchant account).
• if you are selling a physical product, a fulfillment company to provide printing, assembly, and shipping.

If you have set all this up for previous products, you just need to get your new product added into your automated payment and delivery system.

Make sure to test everything before you launch. After all your hard work getting the product and marketing lined up, the last thing you want is a bunch of unhappy customers who can’t get their download.

Bonus Step 8 – Tease Your Second Product

If you are planning a next product that follows on from the current one, consider building a teaser for it into your current product and your current marketing. This will show there’s a next step, which will encourage people to buy. And it will leverage the momentum you’ve created through your campaign, by starting to warm up buyers for the next product.

You can do this if you have created these elements of your second product:

• a product outline including a strong title, clear benefits and a few features.
• a project plan with a solid delivery date less than six months out. (But don’t promise when it will be available, just say “coming soon”.)

If you do this, make sure to keep your second product on schedule as much as possible. If it takes too long, you’ll lose the momentum from your first campaign, and your credibility will take a hit.

What you are doing here is building an automated sales system. If you’re doing it for the first time, there are a lot of moving parts. Be patient and don’t fret. It gets easier each time you do it.

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE AT: 7 Steps to Your Own Coaching Products, Part 3

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1. Tune into Your Niche Market
2. Leverage Your Product Funnel
3. Outline Your Coaching Product
4. Map Out a Project Plan
5. Create Your Product
6. Create Your Marketing Campaign
7. Get Set to Deliver

The first three steps are covered in Part 1. Here’s the scoop on steps 4 and 5. I’ll cover steps 6 and 7 in Part 3.

Step 4 – Map Out a Project Plan

You’ve already outlined what your product will be, and how it will benefit your market. Now put it on a schedule. Break it down into actionable tasks, and target a completion date for each task. Remember to include editing and formatting, writing and designing your marketing campaign, and setting up a sales and delivery process. See this post for an example of the major steps needed to get an ebook published.

Ink in any firm deadlines, then work backwards to set a completion date for each task. For example, suppose a colleague has offered you an opportunity to build your list by offering your new freebie as a bonus for their product launch. That means it will need to be ready for download by a certain date. Work backwards from that final deadline to set the rest of your target dates.

Project planners often say, assume everything will take twice as much time as you think it will.

If you are the only one marketing this product, it’s OK if the dates move – but having a project plan will still help you avoid procrastination. And if you have a creative team helping you put the product together, your plan will help keep everyone’s responsibilities and deadlines clear.

Step 5 – Create Your Product

Now, get it written (recorded, transcribed, designed, formatted, produced). This is the part that often gets procrastinated, but just do it. Use your project plan deadlines to help you stay on track.

Get an editor or proofreader to look over your product before you publish. You’re probably too close to the product to do this yourself, and typing or grammatical errors will not help build your brand.

If you are not fully confident of your content, run your completed draft past a few savvy people in your target market. Get their feedback (and maybe a testimonial) in exchange for a free advance copy. If snazzy design is not your thing, hire a graphic designer to add a professional touch. Make sure your graphics are properly licensed, and put a copyright notice on your work.

Remember, you’re not going for perfect. 
The important thing is to get your valuable content into the hands of your market. Whatever is left out can go in the second edition, or the follow-up product you make later.

While you work, keep notes toward the outline of your follow-up product.

Also, be sure to keep a final copy of your product in editable form (including any graphics). Chances are, you’ll want to release an updated version later; you don’t want to have to recreate it.

There’s such satisfaction in shaping your knowledge into knowledge capital. Create a product that helps your market meet a key challenge more successfully, and you’ll have an asset that will serve your business for years.

SHARE YOUR COMMENTS ONLINE AT: 7 Steps to Your Own Coaching Products, Part 2

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