You’ve quit your job and have set up your own business. It’s been a long-standing dream of yours and now that you’re finally here, you are excited, relieved and yes, even a bit overwhelmed! However, 6 months down the line and you are beginning to question your decision. Have you made the right choice and is this what you really should be doing?

Sounds familiar? A lot of women step into their entrepreneurial shoes without having first answered the all important question of ‘why am I doing this’? Let me give you an example of a friend of mine. After her third child was born, she decided she would restart her yoga sessions to get back into shape. She spent the first week enthusiastically rolling out her mat at home. But the next week, the baby kept her up and she had a few late nights, and so skipped her sessions. And then again she got back to it with a vengeance for a couple of days before being distracted again. She soon began to realize that she needed something more structured if she was to keep it up, so she joined classes at her local community center. But paying a fee was not reason enough to keep attending. It’s only when she set herself a goal- to qualify as a yoga instructor within a year, that she began to attend her sessions regularly. And did she qualify? It took her a year and a half, but she did. And today she runs her own very successful yoga studio.

Bill Gates once said, “My success, part of it certainly, is that I have focused in on a few things.” In order to run a business, it is imperative to have a ‘focus or a why’ that is tangible enough to support your goals. If your why is not big enough, your actions simply cannot be manifested into successes. Your why will give you the self determination and most importantly, the direction required to propel you forward. Think of all the extraordinary men and women you know who’ve achieved greatness in both their business and personal lives. They need not be famous celebrities, but friends and family members. Now think of why they are where they are and chances are, it’s because their ‘reasons’ are BIG.

Signs that a person’s reasons not big enough for business include procrastination, demotivation, indecisiveness, fear of failure and self-doubt. If you let these get in the way, then it’s clear that you need to rethink your reasons.

On the other hand, what happens if your reasons are big enough to support your goals? You immediately see a clear and straight path toward to your final destination. You are inspired not only to visualize your success, but to make it come true. You find the inner strength and motivation that is required to let you get up early mornings, join classes, read books and hire the correct team to help you grow this vision. And you definitely find the courage it takes to make all your dreams come true.

Make your ‘why’ the center of your business focus and make it a big enough and more importantly, an ‘urgent’ enough reason. Act timely and within a deadline, because deadlines are important. It’s no use saying you want to achieve a million dollars in your lifetime. Rather you need to set a final date so you can work toward it. Giving your goals a deadline will also make you impassioned and determined to succeed.
So find your ‘why’ and make sure it’s BIG enough to sweep you forward and make your business dreams come true.

Janet Giacoma is a business coach and marketer who assists serious entrepreneurs in building a profitable online business with multiple income streams.

[tags]reasons to be in business,set up your own business,women entrepreneurs,janet giacoma,fear of failure[/tags]

Cindy was a new manager in a mid-sized company. She had worked for years for a manager who had discussed strategies with her and encouraged her to try new things. He had given her constant feedback and approval. When her manager got promoted Cindy was promoted to her manager’s job.

After about six months in her new job Cindy was ready to look for another job. What was missing? Cindy missed the feedback and acknowledgement she received from her previous manager. Her new manager was only interested in her results and left Cindy to find her own strategies. In our coaching session Cindy said that she thought she needed acknowledgement and praise to do her best work.

What do you need to do your best work? How do you get it? Everyone has emotional or personal needs as well as physical needs (food, clothing, shelter etc.). Somehow it’s acceptable to ask for food when we are hungry but asking for acknowledgement and praise when we work is somehow embarrassing. Cindy asked me, “Shouldn’t my manager know to do this? Why do I have to ask her?” Perhaps her manager should know but why not help her if she does not. Since Cindy is very capable, it is possible her boss thinks she is getting all the satisfaction she needs out of doing a great job.

One of the best ways to get what you need is to ask for it. Whether it is your husband/wife, friend, or manager it is important to realize that everyone is different. What is important to you may not be important to them. If they care about you however they will want to help you.

Practice the words before you make your pitch. You won’t want to sound whiney or needy. How about, “I really want to do a good job on this project. One way you could help me is to give me ongoing feedback. I especially appreciate it when you let me know that you really like what I have done because it helps energize me.”

Not all needs are emotional needs. Debby was a piano teacher with a very busy business. She came to me because she was struggling to make ends meet. What she needed was more money! Since she kept her expenses in check the only way to make more was to raise her fees. Asking her students for more money made her very uncomfortable. She was sure she would lose students.

This was a possibility of course but she knew also that she could not stay in the business doing what she was doing. Debby wrote to each student asking for an increase of 25%. To her amazement she only lost one student in the process and then was able to add a new one immediately from her waiting list.

Unsatisfied needs get in the way of our having a joyful life. Identifying our needs is the first step in the process. In my practice I use an assessment called the Needless Program to help my clients identify their personal needs.

Another way to identify needs is to sit in a quiet place and ask yourself what you really need to have a happy and fulfilling life. The next step is to get those needs met - Ask for help!

Take Action
1. Identify your needs. Take a half an hour to write down all the things you need to feel happy.

2. Look at your lists and prioritize the needs. Work on the 2 or 3 that are your highest priority first.

3. Who do you need to ask to help you get your needs met? A friend? A spouse? A coach?

Alvah Parker is a Practice Advisor for Attorneys and a Career Coach as well as publisher of Parker’s Points, an email tip list and Road to Success, an ezine with career and business information. Subscribe now to these free monthly publications at her website free monthly publications and receive a free values assessment along with your subscription.

[tags]Best work,emotional needs,physical needs,ask for help,getting needs met,joyful life,[/tags]

Coming from a family of entertainers with a demanding stage-dad, Michael Jackson had been in the limelight since he was a young boy. Super stardom was all he knew. Although talented, famous and adored, his was a lonely life - one full of contradictions. He tried to create his own private reality around castles, theme parks and pet chimpanzees. In his own mind he was a modern-day Peter Pan. In the mind of others he was “Wacko Jacko” and his bizarre behavior often overshadowed his musical brilliance.

Jackson was living proof of the emotional cost of a life spent in the public eye, often experiencing the psychological turmoil that can accompany global fame. He was fragile and, because of his sensitive nature, delicate personality or preexisting emotional problems, it was hard for him to handle the pressure.

You may have been entertained by Michael Jackson, as so many were. But, more important, you may understand how he could be affected by the strain of it all. Pressure - about finances, work, family or health - can really get to you. Follow some of these tips and learn what to do when you feel your life is spinning out of control:

1. Give yourself an emotional break. You may be building up feelings of frustration, anger or disappointment, even despair. Take a deep breath and free yourself from negative thoughts. Although you can’t necessarily change what happens to you, you can change how you handle it. Reframe pessimistic ideas into neutral or optimistic ones. By learning about constructive responses to difficult situations, you’ll have access to more choices about how to react.

2. Get the help you need now. Work with an individual therapist or a life coach who will guide your healing as you decide how to move forward. It’s important to develop positive self-regard, confidence and the life skills for this. The therapy should focus on areas like anger management and stress reduction. Stay in treatment as long as you need in order to figure out why you’re having these feelings and what to do about them.

3. For a problem with drug addiction, get help through a treatment center. Abusing prescription drugs can be medically dangerous, so be sure to find a center that specializes in prescription drug withdrawal and rehabilitation. A treatment program that confronts addiction directly will also address other problems you face and help you find solutions that will prevent a relapse.

4. Focus your thoughts on what you can accomplish rather than on what you cannot. Release your mind from worries and try to work on feeling more empowered. Be grateful for what you have by getting outside yourself and focusing on others in need. Set goals and then begin to follow through with your plans by taking small steps.

5. Honor your body by noticing what makes you feel better, both physically and emotionally. Pay attention to your exercise routine, what you eat, your sleeping habits and what gives you pleasure. Reduce the situations that cause stress and increase the ones that make you feel healthier and more alive. Spend time relaxing and rejuvenating as you counteract burnout. Attend to your mind and your spirit - set aside quiet time to practice your own form of meditation.

6. Implement what you know about resiliency. Recognize how your character strengths support what you do. Integrate your values and ideals into how you view the world. Knowledge is power, so use it to your advantage. Gather information about ways to deal with how you are feeling - explore Internet search engines or the self-help section of bookstores. Release tension through laughter and watch yourself begin to bounce back.

There’s something wrong when our society sees fame and celebrity as core values. The intensity of the public spotlight can be traumatic in and of itself. And it’s sad that the power to create and destroy is in the hands of pop culture and the media. A gentle soul and vulnerable, Michael Jackson’s life was open to public commentary and scrutiny. It looks like perhaps it was just too much for him.

Don’t let anything like that happen to you. If you’re having a hard time coping, develop the tools and strategies that can make a difference in your life. And trust yourself as you look inside for greater self-understanding and answers to your problems. Use any emotional discomfort you may feel as the signal for a chance to grow.

(C) 2009, Her Mentor Center

Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D. is co-founder of http://www.HerMentorCenter.com, a website for the sandwich generation, and blog, http://www.NourishingRelationships.Blogspot.com.
[tags]Michael Jackson, drug addiction, stress, the price of fame, celebrity, therapy, support, stardom[/tags]

That facts are that there are only so many hours a week that a coach can work with clients our earning power is limited by time unless we develop multiple streams of income. Many coaches ask me how they can create products because they don’t understand what a product is.

Coaching products are information products that help people in your target coaching niche. Information products can be ebooks, eworkbooks, teleclasses, telecourses, audio recordings, and webinars or any combination of these.

If there is anyone in your target coaching niche who would like to learn and get more information to help them learn, grow and change then you have a market for your own information products. Many of these products begin as simple articles.

This process is called repurposing content and it is an essential element to grow your business and give you the freedom you want.

Expand the Article and Add Action Steps to Create a Teleclass

How would you like to add an additional income stream from doing teleclasses or group coaching programs? All you have to do is expand your article by elaborating on each of your main points. The nice thing about teleclasses is that they are verbal rather than written so you can talk about the ideas in your article and add examples or stories to illustrate your point.

Talk about your own experiences and the experience your clients have had as they relate to the topic you are speaking about. This will help you to get your point across by painting mental pictures for your listeners.

You can also add action steps related to each idea contained in the original article. Tell your listeners how to put the information to use in their own lives by giving the steps and actions to take.

Allow time for listeners to ask questions related to the topic of the teleclass. You can take short breaks throughout the teleclass or wait until the end of the teleclass. Make sure to tell the audience that you would like them to give input and ask questions or they may not feel it is appropriate. Encourage them to ask questions because every question they have is probably question that another participant has as well.

Record each of your teleclasses using a teleconference system that allows you to record and replay your teleclasses at anytime. You will be able to repurpose these teleclasses in many ways in the future. You will want to use a teleconference system that will allow you to record easily, preserve your calls and give others access to your recorded teleclasses.

Combine your series of teleclasses with an ebook and an eworkbook to create a home study program that can be sold for hundreds of dollars to a hungry market.

Adding digital product to your revenue stream will increase your income exponentially and allow you more freedom.

Learn how to attract clients. Get Suzan’s FREE eCourse at http://www.thecoachmarketer.com.

Get weekly teleclasses designed to help you increase your coaching income and grow your coaching business. Check out my mentoring group “Zee Inner Circle” at http://www.zeeinnercircle.com

[tags]Get coaching clients, client attraction, marketing coaching, get new coaching clients, suzan schmitt[/tags]

Life coaches serve as a mentor, helping someone develop certain life skills or attain a desired achievement. Life coaches use a variety of techniques to work with and interact with their clients. These consist of seminars and workshop with motivational speaking, as well as tutorials and in-house visits.

It is the business and desire of life coaches to help their students discover as well as attain their true ambitions and desires. Using many different teaching styles, life coaches can help you build habits and behaviors which will influence your life for the better. Those who are dealing with psychological problems or illnesses are not best served by a life coach. Life coaches are not trained to deal with these problems. It is recommended to use a certified doctor for this kind of work.

Life coaches got a start as executive coaching in the corporate world which used management consulting firms during the beginning of the 20th century. Life coaches use inspiration from sociology, psychology, adult development, career counseling, and mentoring. Life coaches help people achieve their goals by helping them improve their behavioral traits.

Many people can vouch that working with a life coach can make a vast improvement on your life. A survey revealed that growth in the coaching area is primarily because of referrals, which illustrates the benefits of utilizing a support person to attain personal goals. Students list their jobs, their sense of entrepreneurship, their relationships with others and their financial situation as their top areas of interest.

The International Instruction Committee has two existing coaching organizations at hand.

These groups are the membership association for those who do life coaching. Professional organizations for life coaches work to increase the credibility of the profession by setting standards and increasing accountability among its practitioners.

Life coaches will work with you to expose mindsets and habits which limit you from achieving your goals; needless to say, visiting a life coach is not always easy. A lot of people felt that the coaching process was difficult. This is due to the fact that the student needs to reprogram their mind and body to go beyond many years of the same way of thinking. At whatever point this challenging process is over, the rewards appear.

Usually life coaches are matched to their customers through a very detailed and rigorous questionnaire that helps them get the life coach that fits their needs best. The result is a closer connection between them and a greater achievement level.

Ultimately, each person is responsible for their own destiny. Life coaches only offer you support to make it happen. Thus, no mentors will guarantee particular results for a client. They will promise to work as hard as you work.

Will Smith is an enthusiastic provider of self help programs and boosts consumer understanding within the online market place. Get more info about
life coaches by visiting http://www.attractedactions.com/mind/life-coaches

[tags]life coaches[/tags]

A client who chooses to coach with you is investing a lot in the process and the coaching relationship. They must feel very comfortable with you and the decision to coach before they will sign up and begin coaching.

Client invest money, time, emotion, and trust in the coaching relationship so they must have a great deal of motivation to make the choice to coach. You can help them gain that motivation by using these tools of persuasion.

The Law of Social Proof

The law of social proof states that people look to others such as their family, peers, and friends before they make a decision about something. Seeking social proof is seeking social validation prior to making a purchase.

Social proof is looking for social validation prior to making a decision. The law of social proof is easily seen in the buying behavior of teens and other tightly knit groups.

You can offer your potential clients social proof by using testimonials in your sales materials. The more social proof in the form of satisfied customers with glowing testimonials the more they will trust you and want to coach with you.

The move valid the social proof the more convincing it will be so be sure to include photos of the person giving the testimonial. Video and audio testimonials lend a great deal more credibility so use them if possible.

The Law of Scarcity

The law of scarcity states that when choices are limited or availability is threatened the more exciting and valuable the resource. In other words you are more eager to have something that you know is available in a limited quantity or for a limited time.

This law is very powerful and drives people to take action for fear of missing out or missing a rare opportunity. You can create a powerful impact with your offers when you apply this law. Create a sense of, or actual, scarcity by making limited time offers and limited quantity offers. These methods increase the buyers perceived urgency and perceived value of your products and services.

Do not fear that you are manipulating potential coaching clients because you are using these laws as a tool to motivate them to get help. You are helping them to see their challenges clearly and to see how coaching with you will help them to overcome their challenges and reach their goals.

The combination of the law of social proof and the law of scarcity will have a powerful persuasive effect on your potential coaching clients and you will see the results quickly.

Learn how to attract clients to your coaching business now. Get Suzan’s FREE eCourse at http://www.thecoachmarketer.com. Learn to Attract dozens of clients to your coaching business “No Sales Required Client Attraction” http://www.nosellingclientattraction.com

[tags]coaching business, get coaching clients, starting a coaching business, suzan schmitt, coaching tools[/tags]

The upper management of your company has decided to hold a corporate event next year to kick off its new campaign and its accompanying goals. As part of that event, they would like to hire a motivational speaker to come and inspire the employees and get them pumped up about the coming year. You have been assigned to select a speaker, but you aren’t sure how to go about selecting one. Here are some ideas for helping choose the right motivational speaker who will help make your corporate event a memorable success.

First of all, meet with management and organizers so that you are very clear on what the people in charge expect from a speaker. Are they expecting him to be an entertainer only? Do they want him to provide inspirational motivation? Is there a particular area of expertise they want the speaker to focus on such as sports? Are they giving you carte blanche and want you to make all of the decisions? Is there a price range they are set on? Making sure you are on the same page as your bosses will definitely help you to make the right decision. When you have a list of possible speakers drawn up, make sure to involve management in the final decision.

– Be careful when selecting someone who advertises himself as a “professional” speaker. If the person you select is not famous, make sure to see his credentials by visiting his website and getting a good idea of what he is all about. A professional speaker’s website will usually have video footage of performances available for immediate viewing. You’ll be able to get a good idea of how a speaker performs by viewing various videos. Obtain testimonials from recent clients and ask for their phone numbers so that you can speak to them personally.

– Professional speakers generally can be categorized according to their style and content. The broadest categories include humorists, motivational speakers, celebrity speakers, industry expert speakers, and all-purpose speakers. Many professionals straddle two or more of these classifications, making them ideal candidates. For example, if you hire a sports celebrity he will no doubt also be inspirational and, with luck, he’ll use a lot of humor as well. If your emphasis is on motivation, experts in your industry are probably not the best choice since they tend to focus exclusively on informational content.

Once your choice is made, make sure to book the speaker as soon as possible since they usually are booked up well in advance. This is particularly true of well-known people who are always in high demand. Take the time to choose your speaker carefully, and your corporate event will definitely be one to remember.

karlmecklenburg (http://karlmecklenburg.com) is an NFL Speaker and Leadership Linebacker, he will tell football stories of perseverance and leadership along with family stories that are every bit as motivational. Art Gib is a freelance writer

[tags]nfl speaker[/tags]

We would all like to have more influence in our personal lives and our business. Robert Caldini, says that there are certain laws that apply to this great power and that we can harness those laws and use them to effect the outcomes of our interactions with others.

I would like to share two of those laws with you and discuss how these laws can help you attract coaching clients and how you can use them to persuade clients that coaching with you is a choice that will help them reach their desired goals.

The Law of Reciprocity

The law of reciprocity states that when someone does something for us or gives us something we feel a sense of indebtedness and we want to reciprocate in an effort to relieve that sense of obligation.

When you take the time and effort to go the extra mile for your clients then they will feel an increased sense of indebtedness and loyalty. You can give to a potential client by helping them pinpoint what their problem is and showing them that there are many possible solutions.

Introductory coaching sessions are the place to clarify and define the client’s problems and begin to point toward several possible solutions. Many times potential clients are extremely frustrated because they cannot define their problem. Most potential coaching clients will be incredibly grateful and feel the need to reciprocate when all you have done is help them name and define what their challenge is because one can only solve a problem once we define it.

The Law of Expectation

This law states that our expectations influence our results and outcomes. Our expectations influence our reality then influence our behaviors and our results. In other words our expectations can create our reality.

The expectations others have of us can also influence our reality and outcomes. When others hold high expectations and communicate their confidence in our ability we are able to perform better than under different circumstances.

We see this play our in our school systems, homes, families and work places. How you communicate your expectations to your client can have a huge effect on their actions, beliefs and results.

Individuals tend to make decisions based on how others expect them to perform. You can easily see how the way you express your expectations can influence a client’s decision to coach with you. If you have confidence that they will achieve their goals with your coaching then the decision to coach with you is a logical next step.

Learn how to attract clients to your coaching business now. Get Suzan’s FREE eCourse at http://www.thecoachmarketer.com. Learn to Attract dozens of clients to your coaching business “No Sales Required Client Attraction” http://www.nosellingclientattraction.com

[tags]coaching business, get coaching clients, life coaching, suzan schmitt, the coach marketer[/tags]

Persuasion is a skill that can be very helpful in coaching. Our goal as coaches is to help the client see past their limiting thoughts and beliefs to achieve their objectives. Sometimes those limiting thoughts and beliefs limit the “sight” of the clients so dramatically that we must help them see any available options and opportunities. The first opportunity we want to help a client see is the value they will receive from coaching.

Robert Caldini wrote the book “Influence-The Psychology of Persuasion.” His research suggests that there are laws at work in our society and that we can count on the laws to hold true when it comes to influence and how we interact with others. Let’s examine a couple of these laws and see how they can be applied to your coaching business.

The Law of Consistency

This law states that we have an unconscious need to stay consistent. We have a need to be consistent in the things we do, the things we say, the things we believe, and our other behaviors.

So anytime we are placed in a situation or position that violates the law of consistency we have the unconscious need to return to a position of consistency. What does that tell you effective persuasion? It says that as we work with someone we need to work with them in a way that allows them to be consistent.

It follows logically that to be an effective persuader we must allow our potential to make the decision to coach while being consistent with their values. Clarify how your coaching will help potential coaching clients become more in line with their values and goals.

The Law of Contrast

The law of contrast says that introducing two different alternatives in succession will cause them to appear vastly different. The options will appear more different than if presented separately.

Our job as coaches is to help clients explore many possibilities and make choices that will help them improve their lives and reach their goals. You can use this law to examine possibilities with your client and help them to make better choices.

The law of contrast can also be used as a powerful motivator. When three options are presented and contrasted the middle option is usually the most attractive choice. As a master persuader you can use this information in many ways including offering three different price options for coaching with you.

Clients will not benefit from coaching unless they choose begin coaching so as coaches we must persuade the potential client to sign up for coaching with us. These laws of persuasion are a useful tool to help clients and as coaches we can also pass this knowledge on to our clients so that they may have these same tools available to reach their individual goals.

Learn how to attract clients to your coaching business now. Get Suzan’s FREE eCourse at http://www.thecoachmarketer.com. Learn to Attract dozens of clients to your coaching business “No Sales Required Client Attraction” http://www.nosellingclientattraction.com

[tags]coaching business, get coaching clients, life coaching, suzan schmitt, the coach marketer[/tags]

Life coaches serve as a mentor, helping someone develop certain life skills or attain a desired achievement. Life coaches have many different methods and ways that the can work with clients. The training involves methods such as motivational speeches, seminars, workshops, tutorials, training in phone-calls, and field-work like in-house visits and so on.

It is the business and desire of life coaches to help their students discover as well as attain their true ambitions and desires. Using many different teaching styles, life coaches can help you build habits and behaviors which will influence your life for the better. Life coaches are not expert or schooled in psychology or medical issues. It is recommended to use a certified doctor for this kind of work.

The corporate world, more specifically at the executive level were among the first to employ the service of life coaches. Life coaches use inspiration from sociology, psychology, adult development, career counseling, and mentoring. Life coaches use several methods to help their students overcome problems and reach their goals. Among those methods are value assessments and behavioral changes.

Strong connections to instructors is a widespread feeling to life coaches, as well as fabulous results. Referrals have been a major factor into the growth of the coaching industry, which showcases the positive results that can be attained by using personal support in order to reach specific goals. Most students are interested in entrepreneurship, career, money and relationships.

The International Instruction Committee and the International Organization of Corporate Coaches are the two leading life coaching organizations. These groups are the membership association for those who do life coaching. The groups endeavor to officially recognize life coaching in general through creating formalized rules and regulations.

Having a life coach can help point out to you the routines and thoughts that are holding you back from your goals and challenge you to change. A number of people believe that this aspect of the coaching is very stressful. The reason is that the student must break down deeply rooted beliefs, modes of thinking, and habits and rebuild from the wreckage a new mindset. At whatever point this challenging process is over, the rewards appear.

A thorough question-and-answer session that details interests and personality is used to match life coaches to their clients, in order to ensure compatibility. The result is a closer connection between them and a greater achievement level.

Ultimately, each person is responsible for their own destiny. Life coaches are just a way of giving advice and support for those working toward their goals. Thus, no mentors will guarantee particular results for a client. They guarantee that they will only put in as much effort as you put in.

Will Smith is an enthusiastic provider of self help programs and boosts consumer understanding within the online market place. Get more info about
life coaches by visiting http://www.attractedactions.com/mind/life-coaches

[tags]life coaches[/tags]