Building a Strong Coaching Practice

As a person who has been around the coaching profession for a number of years, I wish I could say that my practice is full right now. But the fact is that I've been pursuing TV gigs in the last few years and haven't put much emphasis on building my individual coaching practice. I've also been blessed to receive several corporate coaching and training jobs so the individual coaching has taken a back seat.

But I've recently moved to a new state and have had a chance to evaluate what I want my schedule to be in the coming months. I'm currently working from home so I can be available for my son because he is in school for the first time and I feel I need to be around. I've decided to ramp up my individual coaching once again so I'm making my plans. Since I've done this before I have a plan. I did it in NJ, NYC, and NC and now I'll be doing it in FL. I'm also pursuing corporate coaching and training opportunities. For these I use professionally designed promotional materials and videos of me speaking and leading workshops.

For my individual practice, I have a website which has attracted people nationally. In addition, I've done speaking in different parts of the country which has brought in clients. This past year I did a few national TV tours and secured a few clients from there. In years past, I've been highlighted in the newspaper or magazines and that always brought interest, but to be honest, mostly from curiosity seekers! I've gotten several clients that were referrals from other clients. But most of my individual coaching clients have come from me doing workshops.

What workshops can a coach provide? We've all heard about branding and finding a niche. That is true to a certain extent, but I started from what I already know. I started where I felt I was already an expert. I was an expert in selling. I decided to teach that, and from that sprang many other courses such as communication, customer service, telephone skills, time management, creativity workshops, team building and so on. Once you deliver a few workshops that you build from scratch, you'll be getting the experience you need to accumulate information for articles, books, workbooks, tapes and other products.

What are you an expert in? Where do your talents lie? Have you trained people in getting in shape? Have you taught people better vocabulary skills? Were you a computer trainer? Start wherever you are, get training, free clients, and the word will spread. Start giving workshops at local community colleges, learning centers, at your church or even out of your home. Advertise ahead of time at least 3 workshops that will be presented. Give out free information at each seminar in exchange for their business card and when you get home, develop an email list where you can send a newsletter discussing your business.

As for me, I'm now in the process of building more workshops to my repertoire. I'll write several new programs this year and start marketing them locally and eventually nationally. Now that I've discovered I enjoy writing creatively, I've started and am writing articles for different ezine newsletters.

Building a coaching practice takes time. It's a process that takes a few months or even a few years, but worth it. The lifestyle of knowing I can pick up my son nearly every day at 2:30 and get to work out almost every day while still adding value to my clients every week has its advantages. There's a lot of work up front, but the personal and professional rewards are enormous.

Mary Gardner, The Charisma Coach! is an Executive Communications Consultant and Trainer. She works with, coaches and trains individuals, sales teams, executives, and celebrities. She owned and operated one of the first coaching institutions on the east coast, CCI, in NYC, Philly and NJ. Mary has appeared on ABC's 20/20 and has self published a book on public speaking. Mary is married to Sway and is mommy to Jeremy 5, and lives in Orlando, FL.

For more information contact: mary@marygardner.com or WEB: www.marygardner.com

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