What do you need to be in business?

I regularly work with people who want to become self employed. These days, I am often told that before they can start trading, my clients need: a company name, website, business cards (complete with logo); perhaps even brochures or branded materials. One client insisted she needed printed, letterhead stationery before she could consider marketing her business!

Sometimes I wonder if they really believe this, or it’s a way of working on their business that is less scary than selling.

In my experience nothing says you are successfully in business better then generating your first sale.

Most often, your first sale will come from someone you know. The potential customer already trusts you and has a good idea of what you can give them. So, is it really likely that they will refuse to buy from you because you don’t have a website or a professional brochure?

You might think, “This is obvious, why is she telling us?”

Because.... business start up activities can be great forms of procrastination. You can genuinely say you are busy developing your business whilst not getting out selling your services. It’s clear which activity is more likely to earn you money and build your confidence but we are all capable of avoiding those tasks we feel least comfortable with.

So, in my opinion what do you really need to start your business as a consultant or coach?

• A phone
• A company name or trading name ( check out what options you have in your country)
• An email address – ideally not a free gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc account as these tend to look less professional
• A business card – doesn’t have to be perfect – use one of the online cheap printers to get 250 cards.
• A bank account – it’s better to keep your business earnings completely separate from personal money
• Professional insurance

These shouldn’t take you long.

Then, put your time and energy into marketing and business development and get CLIENTS!

I still have a photocopy of the first cheque I earned as a self employed Coach. It felt fantastic to get a sale. I was in business.

Beverley Grant, PCC

So, be honest with yourself – what activities do you have planned to get your business started?



More importantly, what actions will you take today, tomorrow, next week, next month to get your first paying clients? Then you can truly say you are in business.

Beverley Grant, PCC, is a very experienced career coach who has helped many people find the right role and excel at work they enjoy. Learn more at www.realmsofpossibility. Follow Beverley on Twitter.

The (sometimes) tough decision of choosing a coach training program

Last month, we asked our Facebook fans “coaches, with so many options out there for coach training, it is often difficult to decide where is best for you. What factor was most influential for YOU when it came to choosing a coach training program?”

Several responses were shared and all are listed below for your reference. If you are searching for a coach training program, the below insight will show you how other coaches determined which program was best for them:

• “One that helps focus on the core values of my niche and gives the marketing techniques to really get your practice off the ground.” (Shay DivineGlow Love)
• “Core values/philosophy.” (Francine Kolacz Carter)
• “Integrity and reliability!” (Detre Webster Tarbert)
• “I chose based on flexibility and the variety of niches they offered. I wasn’t clear going in what I wanted my niche to be. I had the opportunity to experiment with a few before making my choice.” (Nicole Avery)
• “I agree with Shay. The Core Essentials are the foundation of a great training program. In addition, it was important for me to have instructors who had a variety of coaching backgrounds as well as being ICF Credentialed.” (Jennifer Howard)
• “Ok, so I want to say core values but when it comes down to it, it needed to be affordable and flexible.” (Melani Luedtke-Taylor)
• “The degree of practicality-behavior base; the capacity of taking me out of my comfort zone; and no or little ‘tools’, a.i. marketing-based frame of reference.” (Mihai Stănescu)
• “I chose CTI on instinct and it was the best decision for me.” (Janice Cunning)
• “Accredited program, that is flexible (online) and relative. Also, price is an influence. Its more about education to do a better job at coaching than it is having a certificate.” (Robert Crawford)
• “I chose a flexible, affordable accredited program that was well known and online. After years of graduate school, I didn’t have too much time or money to give.” (Shannon Kearney Lessard)
• “I needed an online program; moreover, I continue the training. So much to learn…” (Tafari Educational Consulting, Inc.)
• “An accredited program with a scientific basis, i.e. a brain based approach—Results Coaching Systems, global organization.” (Diana Pettie)
• “Shaping the industry, including the ICF standards, experiential learning in small groups, amazing course leaders, a powerful model, extensive support and business mentoring—CTI.” (Laura Ahnemann)
• “I wanted one that I could do coursework from home since I’ve got 4 kids. And I like being able to telecommute to conference call classes and presentations. It was fun, fit my schedule and helped me learn technology that I use as a coach now. Bonus!” (Living Power Life Coaching)
• “I researched three program in depth and chose iPEC, the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching. It’s an ‘all-in’ program that includes 4 weekend intensives, weekly teleclasses, peer coaching, -peer groups, mentor coaching and even books for the book reports. iPEC centers their training on coaching a client’s core energy, moving it from negative to positive. They teach ICF competencies and ethics. They have the best instructors I’ve seen and I’m a trainer. Check them out at www.ipeccoaching.com and tell them I sent you! I’m a recent grad.” (Laurie Battaglia)
• “I wanted the most expensive accredited program.” (Andrew Carter)

What about you? How did you choose the coach training program you used? We’d love to know—share it with us on at Facebook.com/ICFHQ.

Joint Venture Your Way to Success Using Social Media

When small business owners talk about having success with online marketing or social media, it usually has to do with getting more clients or customers on their own. While that is a wonderful result of course, there is another way the top success stories online are growing their businesses—joint ventures.

With more and more business owners jumping into social media especially, it’s good to keep in mind that all those people you’re connecting with out there are not just potential prospects, but possible strategic partners as well.

What is a Joint Venture?

Joint ventures are sometimes known as strategic alliances and generally involve two people entering into a partnership in order to leverage what both parties bring to the table.

A joint venture can be where you promote the other person’s services or products to your target market, and your partner promotes your services or products to their target market in order to share the resulting profits.

It can also be where you partner with another business owner to jointly provide a product or service that both of your target audiences have an interest in—even if those audiences initially look like two totally different groups.

Why Joint Venture?

First, you are obviously able to provide your market with a valuable product or service that enhances their life in some way. However, the best joint ventures benefit not only your target market, but also your own business. Because you are being exposed to an entirely new community, you’ll often gain more website traffic, list subscribers, friends, followers and even new clients and customers.

It’s also a great way to boost the credibility and authority of both parties. When a community sees someone they perceive as an expert recommend you by way of your partnership, you often immediately gain credibility in their eyes as well.

Similarly, when you are in effect “endorsed” by a reputable and respected joint venture partner, this raises the level of trust vested in you and your own capabilities and integrity.

Finally, it’s a simple example of “two heads are better than one.” You both bring your own strengths to the partnership—whether that’s knowledge, ability or sheer numbers of list subscribers, fans, followers and friends.

How to Joint Venture?

Here are a few ideas for how to structure a joint venture:

You could partner on a workshop, teleseminar or webinar on a topic that would be of interest to both of your audiences. The great thing about this is that as long as you record it, you’ve got an instant information product for each of you to sell on your respective websites.

Another popular method is to recommend each other’s newsletters or freebie offers. This is very much a “set it and forget it” strategy. For example, when a new subscriber signs up on your site, they are re-directed to a thank you page that also includes a recommended resource—your partner’s free offering or e-zine.

Lastly, you could pool your expertise and resources together and create a product. This could be created once but sold over and over—the very definition of leveraged income! You could either both sell it separately or have one of you sell it and split the profits.

Ready to get started collaborating? Begin by building relationships with others in complimentary niches or with target markets that might need what you offer, and you’ll be well on your way to a creating a win-win situation.

I myself have connected with several really great peeps via social media and created successful joint ventures with them, so I can attest to its power. Have YOU been able to hook up with others through social media and form strategic alliances? If so, I’d love to hear about it in the comments—any questions on this topic are welcomed as well!

Christine Gallagher is founder of http://shesgotclients.com/, a company dedicated to teaching women entrepreneurs all over the world how to use authentic relationship marketing and online strategies to attract raving fans, enroll more clients, and enjoy more income and freedom in their business, all while sharing their gifts and their message in a much bigger way. After applying Christine’s proven online marketing methods, her clients typically experience a significant increase in traffic, subscribers, clients, affiliates and lucrative joint venture opportunities.

To get Christine’s popular, free “Online Exposure Kit” as well as her weekly e-zine on success, marketing and mindset for entrepreneurs, visit http://ShesGotClients.com.

Got five minutes? You can refresh your member profile.

You are only a few minutes away from an up-to-date member profile at Coachfederation.org. To begin, you will need to be logged into Coachfederation.org. Forgot your password? No worries; have us send it to you.

Update my profile today.

This task can be done in five easy steps:

1. Add a photo. If you do not have a photo included in your profile, this is one of the biggest (and easiest) changes you can make! Or perhaps you have a photo but it hasn’t been updated in a while. Whatever the case, a new photo can refresh the look of your profile.
2. Add or change your privacy settings. You can select how much (or how little) of your personal information is displayed in member searches. Choose from full profile listing, contact listing, geographical listing or unlisted.
3. Update your coaching information. There are drop boxes where you can select your years of experience, your coach training and your leading coaching specialty. Keep these up-to-date so potential clients perusing the website may have your most current coaching experience and specialty in mind.
4. Update your personal and contact information. Here you can add a prefix to your name, list non-ICF Credentials, add your business name, address, email address, telephone number, fax number and website url. Keeping this information current is vital!

Other profile items you may choose to update include:

• Chapter affiliation: Belong to a local ICF Chapter? Add your affiliation.
• Coaching types: You can select from career, corporate, personal life, small business or wellness.
• Language preference: The ICF is currently translating select member communications into French, German, Portuguese and Spanish. To receive these translated versions, your language preference must be selected. Even if your language is not one currently translated, selecting your language preference is a great way to make your preference heard!

These items may be updated from the main membership profile page.

QR Codes Demystified

QR codes (or quick response codes) are popping up all over marketing campaigns—and chances are, you’ve seen them on the packaging of your favorite foods in the grocery, on pages of the magazines you read or even on the back of a peer’s business card.

These simple codes may prove to be the next technological wave of marketing future.

The basis of a QR code is to capture the intended audience at the peak of interest. They are basically two-dimensional bar codes, similar to what you would find on a clothing tag at the department store.

QR codes can be scanned using a scanner or reader on your smartphone—and they instantly take you online (be it a Twitter page, YouTube video, website, profile, etc.—anything with a dotcom address.)

If you own a smartphone and haven’t yet downloaded an app to read QR codes, do so today! There are numerous free options; simply search for “qr code reader.”

So how can you use a QR code to market your small business? There are three basic concepts you will need to think about to use these codes effectively to connect and engage your audience.

1. Content. Where will the QR code take your audience? How will it be used? What is your customer call to action?
2. Position. Where will the QR code be placed? Where will it be used?
3. Share. Don’t just wait for people to stumble upon your code—find a way to share it! (Perhaps via email or social media.)

When it comes to actually creating your QR code(s), there are plenty of free options available online. Simply search “qr code creator” in your favorite search engine.

If you are looking for creative ways to use QR codes, check out this article by Fast Company.

Are you currently using QR codes in your marketing ventures? If yes, what ways have you found most effective? If you aren’t, how would you be able to incorporate a QR code in your marketing plan?