Are you a life or business coach looking for a very affordable way to get yourself a website – and not prepared to compromise on quality?

Are you avoiding telling people about your coaching business because you know their first question will be: "I’ll look you up.  What’s your website address?"

If so, I’m delighted to tell you about the just-launched Coach Website Express which is going to be a huge help to coaches who are on a tight marketing budget but still want a unique and professional-looking website.

I created this product because I was once where you are now.  Actually, I had a website but was frustrated that I couldn’t update it myself.  Yet I felt that to learn how to build a website myself would require too much time and likely to be fraught with pitfalls.

Then finally, one day I realised I held in my hands the solution to my despair!  Take a look at CoachWebsiteExpress and you will learn what I discovered and how it can help you create the website you want at a price you can afford  – even if you have no technical ability!

Click here to visit the Coach Website Express site.

With the relaunch of New Coach Business Network later this year, I am looking for coaches at all stages of their career to interview for 15 minutes on my new Blog Talk Radio show.  It doesn’t matter how much experience you have as a coach as long as you enjoy talking about yourself (one of our favourite subjects surely?).

What’s in it for you?  A chance of course to promote you, your coaching, your website.  Great SEO from Blog Talk Radio and your website will get a link from BTR – valuable external link.  And if you haven’t got a website yet, well just look at my latest offer.

I’m looking for an angle that will be of interest to listeners.  That might simply be your personal journey as a coach, It might be about your niche, a type of marketing that has worked well for you, a favourite case study, your take on goal-setting, limiting beliefs, eliciting values, accreditation… I don’t want to give you too many options and overwhelm you but as long as you would enjoy talking about some aspect of your coaching journey for just 15 minutes I’d be interested to hear from you.

Practically speaking it will involve calling a US phone number and talking over the phone, not too hard, is it.  Timing will be to suit the two of us though I have a regular Sunday slot scheduled in the months to come – 11am.

Please don’t be put off if you’re a new coach.  This is the new coach business network, remember, and there will plenty of other new coaches who would love to hear how it is for you and if you’re having the same challenges or finding breakthroughs they could benefit from.

Email me direct please at marion@marionryan.com with:

• A brief paragraph about yourself, your coaching and any angle you’re interested in talking about.

• An idea of your availability.  Not keen on evening interviews but if you can’t do daytimes, I can do some weekend calls.

If you’re up for it just not yet, let me know what month I could schedule in your 15 minutes of fame.

And the offer is currently open only to members of New Coach Business Network so if you’re not yet, you can do so by clicking on the link in the right hand sidebar.  It’s still completely free.

Would you like to get more traffic to your website or blog quickly and for free? 

If you are a half-decent writer then writing articles around your expertise – by which I mean of course the expertise that would draw clients to you like a bullet if they just knew you existed – is a magical way to get lots more people clicking on your site.

How?  There are many many article directories out there where you can submit your articles.  You don’t get paid for them, nor do you pay to submit them. 

If, however, you do a little bit of planning around your keywords and make sure your article includes them, you will find that they quickly rise to the top of the search engines.  A descriptive and sexy resource box (your author bio) is always included at the end of your articles and if your words have enlightened, delighted or intrigued your readers a percentage of them will click onto your site.

There are many tips and tricks to help you improve and perfect your article-writing but if you have a brain, an internet connection and a keyboard then Bob’s your Uncle.

Ohh, but it’s so hard finding time to write regularly.  That’s why you should quickly hop over to the LK New Year’s Article Challenge which starts today – 17th January – and ends on my birthday – 19th February.

The Challenge is to write and submit 30 articles in that time period.  Don’t worry if 30 sounds a lot in that time period.  If it only encouraged you to write and submit 10 that you wouldn’t otherwise have done, wouldn’t that be great.

Go take a look and if you’re interested, sign up quickly.  You’ll find it at www.LKArticleChallenge.com

The prize for completing the Challenge is the Golden PJs award which you can proudly display on your site.  I managed to achieve this in the LK Fall Challenge.

Look forward to seeing you there!

Dear Fellow Coach

Don’t you just love being a coach?  Nothing beats the exhilaration of coming off a coaching call knowing you’ve helped a client make a real difference to their life.  And nothing’s more disappointing and frustrating than trying to find enough of them.

Where are they all hiding?  It’s tempting to go round peering under cabbage leaves in the hope of locating the rare lesser spotted coachee because helping the people you were meant to serve feels so damn good you can’t get enough of it!

If you’ve experienced the frustration, scarcity or anxiety around filling your coaching business, you are far from alone.  Many wonderful coaches have given up the work they love because they learnt how to coach – and loved it – but never learnt how to attract their ideal clients to them.

People talk about the secret of a profitable coaching business or the key to your coaching prosperity but this is baloney. 

Honest, there’s no secret.  There’s only stuff you don’t know yet and – more infuriating – stuff you know but don’t do yet.

So read on and let me tell you how you can grow your business…

As well as being a successful coach for many years I now run The Abundant Coach which is a group coaching programme for new or somewhat experienced coaches who are always in a state of struggle about how to find more clients.

Find more clients?  We make it sound like they’re stuck in a dark cupboard or at the back of the garage under a pile of old newspapers.  The truth is we need to know how to attract clients and because so many coaches struggle with this, they don’t get enough experience and that in turn affects their confidence.

I used to have a particular client with a huge hairy business goal.  She was amazing.  She swung into action between coaching sessions and came back each week with a list of accomplishments as long as your arm.  When she wasn’t building that successful business she was a trainee coach struggling to keep up her skills and she often said to me – I wish you’d create some sort of programme for people like me.  I need to learn how to get some clients but my confidence is so wobbly now I’m getting in my own way.

In the end up the only way to keep her quiet was to create the programme.  Yes, persistance was one of her great strengths.  And though I felt sure she was echoing what many other newer coaches were feeling, I decided to survey a group of them anyway.

I guess that’s my first tip.  You have to find out what your potential clients are struggling with and give them what they want, rather than what you want.

How you survey them is up to you.  Sit down with a little focus group and let them talk.  Get on the phone to a handful.  Set up a simple online survey using SurveyMonkey.  You can do this for absolutely free as long as you keep your survey to fewer than 10 questions and no more than 100 people answering.

In my experience you start seeing patterns and similarities very quickly.

A note of caution though.  Just because you can identify a problem they have isn’t enough.  You have to be sure of two things:

• That they want to solve their problem
• That they are prepared to pay to have that problem solved

I’ll be sharing my second tip with you in a couple of days.  Remember, there are no secrets.  Just stuff you don’t know yet and stuff you know but don’t do yet.  While you’re waiting for my next tip feel free to visit TheAbundantCoach.com and see what my programme is all about.  In fact, you might also spot some other essential elements in the matter of attracting more clients to your coaching business.  See if you can see what I’m talking about!

Many otherwise outgoing professionals are hesitant about using networking events to attract new business to them. They feel self-conscious about joining a room of strangers and uncertain how to ‘sell’ their business to others.

Networking, however, is not about selling what you do to others and remembering this, makes attending such events much more comfortable for the life, business or executive coach looking to grow their business. It’s not about who can help you but who you can help.

You can find my first five networking tips here. So now let’s take a look at our remaining five effective business networking tips:

1. When you find a regular business network that you know is the right
match for you and your coaching business, give strong consideration to
helping out or joining the organising committee. This will raise your
profile in the group, give you increased exposure to the regular
members and put you in pole position for speaking or other business
opportunities.

2. Become a match-maker — think creatively and remember what other
members have told you about their business and who their ideal client
is. Perhaps you can make new introductions between people in similar or
complementary businesses or even link a potential client with another
small business owner; both of them will love you for it.

3. How can you continue to build relationships in between meetings?
Suggest meeting for coffee as many business owners will be just like
you — looking to extend their contact base and delighted to get an
opportunity to get to know you better. Alternatively, if you are
time-pressed, ring and say "it was great to meet you the other day, do
you have a few minutes now? I’d love to find out a bit more about your
business so I can recommend you to others." This then gives you the
same chance to share more about your business and the type of clients
you are looking for.

4. Be on the look-out for useful resources for fellow members. Whether
it’s a newspaper article, a website or a book recommendation, email or
pick up the phone and share it with someone else. They will remember
how helpful you were and keep you to the forefront of their mind should
they or one of their contacts be in need of a coach.

5. How else can you become memorable to others? This could be an aspect
of your image, like always wearing a particular colour. It might be
your business card that includes an inspiring quotation or poem. It
could be your strap-line that is fun, punchy or just a little
provocative.

Remember, people can usually sniff out insincerity quite easily and you
will achieve far more effective long-term success at network events if
you work to build genuine rapport with others rather than selfishly
trying to convince others how great you are!

No-one likes a hard sell and those coaches who are anything less than
professional sales people, can take heart that when it comes to
networking, "givers gain." With this in mind, you can approach your
next networking event with the confidence of knowing you have at your
disposal the perfect opportunity to optimise and increase your client
base.

Networking, in its broadest sense, means communicating, sharing information and building relationships with others. Though business networking can conjure up an image of doling out business cards to all takers at the meeting of the local Chamber of Commerce, this is not the way you’ll attract new clients and grow your business.

But networking as a business-building strategy can be extremely effective for life, business or executive coaches. Bear in mind that it is a type of marketing that can give us a much quicker client win than building a newsletter list or writing a weblog. It doesn’t mean however that you attend meetings with the aim of getting rid of as many business cards as possible or sharing your lovingly polished five-minute business speech with whoever you can steer into a dark corner!

You are lucky. You are a coach. You are paid to listen, be curious, ask questions and share resources. You already have all the skills you need to be a great networker.

Here then are the first five of my top ten tips for effective business networking:

Top Tips for Top Networkers

1. Give all your attention to the person you’re speaking to. Don’t look over their shoulder to see if someone ‘better’ is available. This rather uninspiring individual could very well be exactly the person your business needs right now

2. Be friendly and curious. Smile, make eye contact and be genuinely interested in learning more about their business. Some great questions are:

* What do you enjoy most about what you do?
* What made you decide to become a ______?
* Where else do you network? (This can be useful information for yourself and for you to pass on to others)
* So who’s your ideal client?

They will feel flattered by your interest and much more likely to show an interest in your business too

3. Ask for their business card and don’t throw it carelessly into the pit of your briefcase — treat it with respect. Take a moment to look at it with interest and keep it in your hand till you’ve finished speaking or put it carefully in your card holder.

4. Avoid the temptation of getting stuck with one person because you feel nice and safe with them. Be on the look-out for others you can include in your conversation and be prepared to introduce new people to each other. They will love you for it, especially if they are new to the group and feeling awkward on their own. It is perfectly ok to excuse yourself after a few minutes in order to mingle with others

5. Often, you will find the best networking takes place before and after the event so aim to arrive early and have enough time to stay chatting at the end. Arriving early puts you in pole position to meet and greet others while by the end of the event, people are feeling more comfortable and are likely to be looking to build relationships further.

Join us today, Tuesday 9th October at 6.45pm BST for this fab FREE teleclass!

• Are you ready to create coaching products to supplement your work with clients?
• Are you ready to build your income streams?
• Do you want to make money while you are away from the telephone and your computer?
• Do you know that you want to package your expertise into products but you don’t know how?

Join us Tuesday October 9th at 6.45pm BST when Sandra De Freitas, The Coach’s Tech Coach and the creator of The Coach’s Start-up Program will spill the beans about:

• The easy ways to take your knowledge, skills and expertise and turn them into passive revenue products
• How to satisfy your target market with the products they want in the format they want (so that they buy what you create!)
• How to fill your products with valuable content even when you think you have nothing to offer
• How to promote and sell your product before it is complete!

Sandra is the techie expert who speaks ‘coach’ so this is one call you can’t afford to miss.  There’s NO CHARGE for joining the call but you must register in order to receive the call-in details.  The call will be recorded and the recording made available to everyone who pre-registers.  Simply drop a blank email now to marion@marionryan.com with SANDRA in the subject line to receive the phone number.

Looking forward to a great turn-out from everyone who wants to start working smarter!

And don’t forget to check out more of Sandra’s offerings here.

Stop Chasing Abundance; Start Choosing It!

•  Are you a new or nearly-new coach feeling daunted at the prospect of finding her first paying clients?
• Or a coach with some experience
  but no clear plan for attracting new business to you?  Especially not
  if it means any of that dirty M word, marketing!
• Are you concerned you will start losing your coaching skills if you don’t get some practice fast?

Now discover a way to become
confident, professional and attractive to the people you are meant to
serve.  Choose to be an Abundant Coach with one of our two new courses starting this month, September!

Find full details of the programmes here.

Here’s what Lynne, one of our current delegates, has to say about it:

I am much clearer about where I am headed, have new clients, plans for products and coaching programmes and an explosion of confidence. I finally know exactly what my coaching practice looks like and I have a second niche that is absolutely me.

There have been some wonderful aha moments. People on the programme are getting things done and sounding much more confident and purposeful The triads are great – they provide an opportunity to coach and be coached. I thought I would hate them but they’re not the scary thing I imagined.

Lynne Lee – www.christianlifecoaching.co.uk

So if you are sick of struggling with techie challenges or don’t understand where to start with marketing your coaching (and are losing confidence in your coaching skills to boot!), we would just love to have you join us. 

Full programme and joining details here now.

Due to the high interest in The Abundant Coach programme, the first intake is now full and I have twelve great coaches to work and have fun with over the coming weeks to help build their coaching businesses and practise their coaching skills. 

I will be posting details of the next programme dates soon.  If however you would like to pre-register your interest, without any obligation, drop me an email to abundant @ marionryan.com and you will be among the first to get the low-down on the next course.

Remember, The Abundant Coach is a group teleclass programme so you can participate wherever you are in the world.

• Are you a new or nearly-new coach feeling daunted at the prospect of finding
  her first paying clients?

• Or a coach with some experience but no clear plan for attracting new business
  to you?  Especially not if it means any of that dirty M word,
  marketing!

• Are you concerned you will start losing your coaching skills if you don’t
  get some practice fast?

Now discover a way to become more confident, professional and attractive to the people you are meant to serve.  Choose to be an Abundant Coach!

Wouldn’t
it be wonderful if you could fast-track your coaching success, stop CHASING it,
start CHOOSING it!

Well
Now You Can.  Visit The Abundant Coach for details.