Personal Life And Business Coaching Notes August 06

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Life and Business Coach Steve Mitten MCC

Steve Mitten's Life And Business Coaching Notes - August 2006

Dear Friends,

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful summer. Out here on the west coast of Canada, we've had another lovely one.

As the summer evenings shorten and cool, my thoughts drift back to re-engaging in the business of my life. Here are some thoughts, information and programs that might help you with your transitions.

Sincerely,

Steve

Summer Coach Pic

A dad with two of his daughters, enjoying a lovely morning out on the water.

NEWSLETTER CONTENTS

1) The Power of "Priming".

2) Marketing: Get Practical and Personal.

3) Business Development Programs For Coaches - New Program Dates.

1) The Power Of "Priming".

For many years sports psychologists have recognized the importance of "mental preparation" in helping athletes perform optimally. A past client of mine was the performance coach for a major league sports franchise. He used to tell me that for elite athletes - who are so similar physically - it was their mental conditioning that contributed a full 85% to their overall performance.

While mental preparation, or "priming", is well established for elite athletes, only recently have we began to understand how important it is in our everyday life. In his recent book Blink, author Malcolm Gladwell relates a study in which two Dutch researchers separated a group of college students into two equally qualified groups, in preparation for answering 42 fairly demanding questions from the board game Trivial Pursuit.

Prior to the test, one group is asked to think about what it would be like to be a college professor.

The second group is asked to do the same exercise focusing on what it would be like to be a soccer hooligan. Primed in this manner, the two groups then answered the same set of questions.

The results showed that the group who imagined what it would be like to be a smart college professor scored 55.6% on the exam, while the group who imagined being a hooligan scored only 42.6%. These repeatable results revealed a significant difference in performance.

In a separate study conducted by American researchers (on two equal groups of college students administered the same set of questions from a graduate school admissions test) the group that was primed with a very subtle negative association (a sole extra question that evoked unfounded prejudice) only got half the number of correct answers as the control group.

What this and other research reveals, is how sensitive and powerful our subconscious mind is, and how easily it can be influenced.

Whether we are conscious of it or not, whether it is our own internal commentary or from an external source, whether it is positive or negative, we are constantly priming our minds with information that dramatically effects our performance.

If you want better results in your life, choose your priming well.

"You have to strive every minute to get rid of the life that you have planned in order to have the life that’s waiting to be yours."
- Joseph Campbell

2) Marketing - To Get More Clients, Get Practical And Get Personal.

One of the big challenges coaches face, is trying to market a service nobody understands. The fact is coaching is a wildly successful service. 98.5% of clients find it valuable. 83% of clients stay with their coach over 3 months, with the majority staying over 6 months (ICF studies). When coaching is taken into organizations, it has demonstrated a return on investment (ROI) of between 500 and 700% (Manchester and MetrixGlobal).

However coaching is such a young profession, and so few people have actually experienced the benefits, that if you go out in the world calling yourself a coach (and trying to sell generic, amorphous coaching) you'll meet with struggle.

To successfully sell something most people have never tried, you will have to either selectively give away free samples (good for your first few clients, but exhausting in the long term), or package your service in terms of a specific solution to the challenges, changes or outcomes your potential clients are already spending money on.

In marketing, the more practical and personal your solution is, the easier it is for a prospect to say yes. As this relates to coaches, creating a personal and practical solution entails:

Finding your ideal client group you are called and best suited to work with.
Researching what their biggest unmet needs are.
Creating a coaching solution (say 6 months of coaching covering a range of key issues) that provides them with the individualized attention and follow through only coaching provides.
Raising your profile in your market so everybody knows you, and knows 3 good reasons why you are the best solution.

When your clients see your coaching services as the most personal and practical solution to their most pressing problems, you will never lack customers.

"Everybody has their own private Mount Everest they were put on this earth to climb. You may never reach the summit; for that you will be forgiven. But if you don't make at least one serious attempt to get above the snow-line, years later you will find yourself lying on your deathbed, and all you will feel is emptiness."
- Hugh MacLeod

3) Business Development - Trying to do it all on your own is exhausting!

AFFORDABLE MARKETING SUPPORT FOR COACHES, BY A MASTER COACH.

As summer draws to a close, the August/September business development programs are getting ready to start. I recently announced dates for many of the programs. If you are interested in any program, send me an email and I will reserve you a spot. These programs prosper by word of mouth because they all deal with growing the coach, as well as delivering proven content. As with everything I do, there is a 100% satisfaction guarantee..

FREE INFO

I have just updated and expanded my main web site. If you visit http://www.acoach4u.com/coach-services.htm you will find lots of free information for coaches.

SUPPORT FOR ESTABLISHED COACHES

6 FIGURE PRACTICE MENTORING PROGRAM

This program was designed to provide affordable and convenient mentoring for coaches who have been in business a few years and find themselves plateaued out making between 30 and 80K.

It is focused on providing the support, information, inspiration, calling-forth and accountability to help coaches reach a much more enjoyable and rewarding place in their business and life.

The program combines a monthly 1 to 1 call with me, a monthly group call, and weekly accountability calls with a small group. (Each of the previous programs filled quickly. Everyone has enjoyed the deeper work this program allows. We spend a lot of time on the "being", which is where all the major breakthroughs occur.)

You can read all about the program at: http://www.acoach4u.com/lifecoachmentoringprogram.htm. The next program starts September 7th at 1PM Eastern (10 AM Pacific).

WEB MARKETING - HOW TO GET YOUR SITE TO THE TOP OF THE SEARCH ENGINES

This is a 4 sessions teleclass designed for those technically timid souls who are ready to convert their websites into something that attracts their ideal clients in LARGE NUMBERS.

I really believe this info is worth a fortune. I have put it all in a 65 page e-book you can either apply yourself or use to instruct your webmaster.

This information has literally allowed me to attract 75% of my clients, and generate hundreds of thousands of dollars of business, without ever leaving my office. (And you do not have to be a techno-nerd to do the same thing.)

I have now had the chance to see other coaches use this information and make big changes in their practice. It really works.

If you are interested, check it out at: http://www.acoach4u.com/lifecoachingviatheweb.htm.  We have a waiting list forming.

SUPPORT FOR NEW COACHES

SICK OF STRUGGLING TELECLASS - 8 SESSIONS ON MARKETING COVERING EVERYTHING FOR NEW AND NEAR NEW COACHES.

This is the venerable and affordable, learn-all-the-secrets-of-successful-coaches-and-get-inspired-on-a-budget program that has helped hundreds of coaches make real breakthroughs. It's for coaches who are newer to coaching and wanting to find their quickest, most natural and authentic route to a successful practice. Check it out and read the latest testimonials at: http://www.acoach4u.com/marketingprogram.htm. The next SOS stars August 31st at Noon Eastern (9 AM Pacific).

NICHE DEVELOPMENT CLASS - 4 SESSIONS FOCUSED ON FINDING & DEVELOPING A PROFITABLE NICHE.

Over the years, I have been asked to put together a program that focuses solely on niche development by many coaches. The DREAM NICHE program is designed to address this need, by digging very deeply into the process of finding and developing a profitable niche. (This program will allow us to go through this very important process in much greater detail and depth than we have time for in the SOS program.)

It runs as a teleclass format, with 4 one-hour sessions spread out over 8 weeks. (One session every two weeks.) Each session is recorded to an audiopodium so even if you miss a live session you can catch up with what we are doing.

It is for coaches who have been coaching for awhile, know the basics, are sick of trying to market to everyone, and ready to begin to attract their ideal clients. You can read all about it at http://www.acoach4u.com/nicheprogram.htm. We have a waiting list forming for this program.

THE BOOK FOR COACHES

The 2006, Revised and Expanded Edition of
Marketing Essentials For Coaches is available for review and download at:
MARKETING ESSENTIALS
Check out this Industry Best Seller that has helped thousands of coaches build their practices.

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Life Coach and Business Development Specialist Steve Mitten B.ApSc, CPCC, MCC helps individuals, professionals and leaders find their niche, be their best and make an impact.

Visit Steve at www.acoach4u.com

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