On May 30-31^st we’ll be teaching tools and tactics for coaches to grow their businesses at the only remaining Coaching with Excellence event this year.  Here’s just one issue that comes up every time.  How do I get my first client?

The difference between an amateur and a professional is just $1.00.  As soon as you’ve been paid one dollar you’ve moved from amateur, volunteer, good neighbor and empathetic shoulder – to a professional.  The key then, is to learn how to replicate that process.

We know why people have coaches in basketball, golf, tennis and swimming.  People use coaches in other areas of life for the same reason; they want someone to work with them, to encourage them, to push them, to make them better.  Many people who engage coaches are already successful.  They understand the process of setting goals and reaching them – they just want to achieve more in a particular area.  They want the unbiased feedback a coach will give them.

No matter how good you are as a coach, if you sit around and wait for word-of-mouth to bring you your first client, you may be sitting for a very long time.  Word of mouth is wonderful, but only comes after you’ve been coaching for a period of time and have a strong base of happy clients.  Getting your first client can be compared to a recent college graduate getting that first job.  Employers want people with experience, but the new grad can’t get experience without having a job.

But you can break into the coaching arena by being creative – just like a new grad can if they know how.   Here are my 10 Tips for Getting Your First Client.

1.  Identify your area of specialty – don’t be a generalist.  Don’t say you are a Life Coach.  Say you work with Moms who are re-entering the workplace or Baby Boomers who are close to retirement.

2.  Know your Ideal Client.  Don’t worry about being too narrow or rejecting a large segment of the population.  You will build your credibility and reputation much faster by being known as a specialist in a particular area.

3.  Create your Elevator Speech.  Be able in 30 seconds to describe what makes you remarkable.  Instead of being a “dentist” you are someone who helps people gain a new sense of self-confidence in one hour.  Then you have the opportunity to tell how you do that.  Make sure your response to “What do you do?” initiates further conversation.

4.  Let your Ideal Client get to know you better.  People do business with people they know, like and trust.  If you are speaking somewhere, invite a potential client to come with you.  Send them a helpful article or book.

5.  Make it easy to do business with you.  Have a selection of products and services so people can feel like they can chose what they are most comfortable with.  Provide clear payment options.

6.  Connect with other coaches.  Don’t see them as competition.  Believe that a rising tide raises all ships.  Learn from other coaches and share your advice with them.  Let them know your area of expertise and refer to them when there is a fit.  Create projects, events and programs you can work on together.

7.  Prepare a 20 minute speech around your topic.  This can fuel your success quickly.  If you speak and people are interested they will approach you about personal work together.  Have a one-page handout with contact information.

8.  Volunteer to coach 5 clients through a worthy organization – get testimonials and referrals.  The best source of new clients is hearing past client brag on what you did for them.  Get in the game and then ask for referrals.

9.  Pitch yourself as a radio guest.  Have a “hook” to make you an interesting guest.  I often speak on “Hold Fast to Dreams” and I’m asked often if this is a time to pay attention to our dreams – or should we just be realistic and practical until the “economy gets better.”

10. Ask for the commitment.  You have teach people to give you money.  Don’t be afraid to ask which option would serve them best, but then ask for the commitment.

Set a timeline.  I will have _______ paying clients in the next _________ days.

At Coaching with Excellence you’ll get all the forms I used for initial engagement with a client, the interaction I use for keeping someone accountable, how to present your fees in a comfortable way, 48 Tips for filling your schedule, and how to leverage your expertise for additional income.

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Sign over a Gynecologist’s Office:

• “Dr. Jones, at your cervix.”

On a Plumber’s truck:

• “We repair what your husband fixed.”

On a Plumber’s truck:

• “Don’t sleep with a drip. Call your plumber.”

Pizza Shop Slogan:

• “7 days without pizza makes one weak.”

At a Tire Shop in Milwaukee:

• “Invite us to your next blowout.”

On a Plastic Surgeon’s Office door:

• “Hello. Can we pick your nose?”

On an Electrician’s truck :

• “Let us remove your shorts.”

At an Optometrist’s Office

• “If you don’t see what you’re looking for, you’ve come to the right place.”

Outside a Muffler Shop:

• “No appointment necessary. We hear you coming.”

In a Veterinarian’s waiting room:

• “Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!”

At the Electric Company:

• “We would be delighted if you send in your payment.  However, if you don’t, you will be.”

At a Propane Filling Station,

• “Thank heaven for little grills.”

And don’t forget the sign at a Chicago Radiator Shop:

• “Best place in town to take a leak.”

Just think about the obvious connection for each of these businesses.  And yes, you can be cute!  Make sure the slogan fits you.  I would probably not choose something humorous because I’m not a funny guy – but take the opportunity to play with something memorable to brand your business.

We are seeing lots of fun businesses and slogans being developed in the 48Days.net community.  What are you using for your business?  Or what slogan made a business memorable for you?

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But then I see people starting successful businesses that are not high tech at all.  Darren Rayborn is considering starting a headlight restoration business – where you polish the faded headlights we so commonly see.

Jeff David loves food – so he visits local restaurants and writes reviews.  He is now writing regularly for his local newspaper and has restaurant owners calling him to come review their stores.

Jim Anderson bills himself as a garden consultant and aesthetic pruner.  I just had him create a master plan for our property here in Franklin, TN.  His suggestions are going to add color and intrigue to the areas around our house and the Sanctuary.

Jacinta Kroll is a 34 year old stay at home wife and mother of two young kids, ages 6 and 2.  She paints on garden stones and sells them  on Etsy.  She calls her little business Blessing and Light and in her first 124 days had over 350 sales.  Now she’s working on setting up wholesale accounts because of the requests she’s getting.  This week I officially became an LLC and am working towards setting up wholesale accounts

I could go on with many, many more from the 48Days network.  But as we can all see, these are not complicated businesses.  Rather, they represent people who simply found a way to follow their passion.   I love these simple businesses – and still think about new businesses I could start – about 8 times a day.

And they are getting inspiration and advice from other members of the 48Days.net community.  As I describe in 48 Low or No Cost Business Ideas, there are only three reasons people never act on their dreams to achieve the financial independence they desire.

1. Fear of Failure
2. Lack of Knowledge
3. Perceived lack of money

But nothing is stopping these people mentioned above.  They just moved ahead with their dream – and the resources they found readily available.  Any talent you have can be turned into a successful business – if you take action.

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Let’s take a common situation.  You hate your job but look at the options like this:

1. Be responsible and keep the job – no one would quit in this economy
2. Quit the stinking job – prove your mother-in-law right and have no income

Don’t assume too quickly that there are only two or even three possibilities. In No More Dreaded Mondays I describe that if you despise your boss, you could

1. Quit your job
2. Ask for a transfer
3. Learn to love your boss
4. Buy the company and fire the boss
5. Do a great job search and find 2-3 new opportunities
6. Join the Marines
7. Go back to school
8. Marry the boss’s daughter or her son
9. Praise the boss’s work to facilitate a promotion for him or her
10. Start your own business

Some options are clearly more attractive than others, and I’m confident you could think of several more as well. The point is, you always have multiple choices. There is never one option only.

More often than not, you have more choices than you first think.

Genius seems to have little to do with scoring 1600 on your SAT, mastering quantum physics at age seven, or even being especially smart.  Genius seems to be more about the ability to see solutions that others don’t. The mark of genius is a willingness to explore all the alternatives, not just the most likely solution. Asked to describe the difference between himself and an average person, Albert Einstein explained that the average person, when faced with the problem of finding a needle in a haystack, would stop when he or she found a needle. Einstein, by contrast, would tear through the entire haystack looking for all possible needles.

Are you missing choices by “narrow framing?”

Check out our Creative Thinkers Package that includes No More Dreaded Mondays, The Strangest Secret (the little book that opened my eyes to new opportunities at age 13), our famous 48 succulent peppermint candies – and more. Don’t miss the rich opportunities in choices 3-10 in any situation.

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Once there was an old man who lived in a tiny village. Although poor, he was envied by all, because he owned a beautiful white horse. People offered fabulous prices for the horse, but the old man always refused. “This horse is a friend, not a possession,” he would respond.

One morning the horse was not in the stable. All the villagers said, “You old fool. We told you someone would steal that beautiful horse. You could at least have gotten the money. Now the horse is gone, and you’ve been cursed with misfortune.”

The old man responded, “Perhaps. All I know is that my horse is gone; the rest I do not know. Whether it be a curse or a blessing, I can’t say.”

After fifteen days the horse returned. He hadn’t been stolen; he had run away into the forest. Not only had he returned, he had brought a dozen wild horses back with him. Once again the village people gathered around the old man and said, “You were right – what we thought was a curse was a blessing. Please forgive us.” The old man responded, “Perhaps. Once again you’ve gone too far. How do you know if this is a blessing or a curse? Unless you can see the whole story, how can you judge?” But the people could only see the obvious. The old man now had twelve additional horses that could be broken and sold for a great deal of money.

The old man had a son, an only son. He began to work with the wild horses. Unfortunately, after just a few days, he fell from a horse and broke both his legs. Once again the villagers gathered around the old man and said, “You were right. The wild horses were not a blessing; they were a curse. Your only son has broken his legs and now in your old age you have no one to help you. You are poorer than ever.” But the old man said,“ Perhaps. Don’t go so far. Say only that my son broke his legs. We have only a fragment of the whole story.”

It so happened that a few weeks later the country went to war with a neighboring country. All the young men of the village were required to join the army. Only the son of the old man was excluded, because he had two broken legs. Once again the people gathered around, crying because there was little chance their sons would return. “You were right, old man.  Your son’s accident was a blessing.  Our sons are gone forever.”

The old man spoke again. “You people are always quick to jump to conclusions. Only God knows the final story.”

And so it is with our lives. What we see as a blessing or a curse may simply be part of God preparing us for what lies ahead.  Be careful in seeing “disaster” in any change.  Just recognize it as change – which opens the door for good as well as bad – for gain as well as possible loss.

I’ve spent 25 years seeing people go through unexpected and unwelcome change – and have enjoyed seeing most move on to more opportunity, freedom, fulfillment and income.

What experience have you had – where initially what seemed a curse turned out to be the beginning of a blessing?  

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”I realize that some people, especially some of my co-workers, might see me as a strange duck,” Mr. O’Rourke said. ”But where does it say that a man can’t love what he does for a living?”   Walter adds, ”I don’t need the money,” he added. ”I need the job.”

How’s that for a healthy perspective on work?  Walter seems to understand that work provides benefits in addition to just a paycheck.

In Turning Pro: Tap Your Inner Power and Create Your Life’s Work, Steven Pressfield says we all get two salaries – a financial salary and a psychological salary.  The first can be called conventional rewards – money, applause and attention.  Those are great if you can get them.

But then there’s the psychological reward – the sense of honor and satisfaction that comes from knowing we did something well, lived out our calling, or made our part of the world just a little better.

How do we find – or create – that kind of work? We should ask ourselves what we are good at, what we have a passion for, and what talents God has gifted us in. In what kind of work do we find our greatest spiritual and emotional satisfaction?

Finding the work that provides a big psychological salary may also protect us from one of the great temptations of our times: consumerism. Doing our work well, and finding satisfaction in it will protect us from the desire to drown out our unhappiness in buying things we don’t need.  And as Dave Ramsey would add, to impress people we don’t like.

Doing the work that God gifted us for—whether it be writing, driving a truck, or selling train tickets – does not make us second-class citizens, but rather people who are worshiping God with the unique abilities He gave us and expects us to use.

Is your work so important and meaningful that you would continue to go even if you didn’t need the money?

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Two years ago I finally got fed up enough with my job and the way my life was going to take action on my dream a being an author.

I worked as hard as I could to save up enough money to self-publish my first book. I can clearly remember the day I reached my goal – all I could do was cry.

From that point on I hit the ground running promoting and doing everything necessary to make this book a best seller. I told myself that I had a goal to do so well with this book that I could quit my job.

The day the book came out I was excited and expected to see at least 100 sales, so many friends and family members told me they were going to buy the book. By the time the day was over I had sold ZERO copies. For the first three months I sold five copies, and that was to friends.

I was completely crushed and ready to give up on my dream.  If it were not for a good support system, I might not be writing this post today. After two weeks of being depressed and not touching a computer I reached out to three good friends.

They told me to figure this self-publishing thing out and stop feeling sorry for myself, so that’s what I did. Once I started researching how to successfully self-publish, I was shocked by how much great content was available to me.

At that point is was all about figuring out the right strategy and from that strategy forming goals, not expectations. The strategy was to figure out who my target audience was, write guest posts on sites my target audience read so I could grow my own traffic. I did guest posts and interviews everywhere and made some amazing connections online that helped me spread the message of the book.

As I got more exposure (to my target audience) they started talking and sharing about the book, as more people got exposed, some of them bought the book. It didn’t happen overnight and there were many struggles along the way, but after a lot of hustle I logged onto Amazon three months later to see I had sold over 10,000 copies.

Before I implemented my strategy I set a goal of growing my blog to 500 email subscribers and 5,000 monthly page views. I also set a goal of at least 10 reviews and 10 people sharing on social media about the book by the five month mark after the release. Once I implemented the strategy, I was blown away by the results.

To date my two self-published books have sold over 80,000 copies and I got several offers from publishers without an agent or submitting a book proposal. Now my second self-published book is scheduled to release in book stores everywhere May 1 but is already in a few Barnes and Nobles!

Going through this experience taught me a valuable lesson: I hadn’t set any goals, all I had was expectations.

The difference

Dan Miller has said this about goals and dreams: “A goal is a dream with a time table attached to it.” This is not what I had.

I didn’t set any specific numbers or any dates when I wanted to reach certain levels. More than that, I didn’t even have a plan to achieve any goals. All I had was an expectation that this book would generate enough revenue to help me quit my job.

As you chase your dreams and move on to work that you love, you have to set specific, time oriented goals. You have to have a mark to work towards, not some pie in the sky fantasy.

An expectation is something that you think and want to happen. You might even fool yourself that you are setting goals when the reality is you have certain expectations.

It’s just like when we were younger and wanted something so badly for Christmas. We asked our parents for something and expected that when Christmas came, that present would be under the tree.

Just like back then, we get just as disappointed when our expectations aren’t met. When we release that book and don’t sell the thousands of copies we expected to sell. Or when we don’t get that raise or promotion we expected to get.

The danger

The danger in confusing a goal with an expectation is that when you don’t get what you expected, you get frustrated, depressed and are ready to give up on your dreams.

We have a hard enough road ahead of us on this journey to make our dreams a reality, adding unrealistic expectations will only make that journey harder.

Try a different approach

Instead of doing something and expecting a certain result, make that result a reality by setting a real goal. Your goals are the key to success!

Make those goals specific, attached a time table to it, have them somewhere you can go back to them repeatedly for some extra motivation.

Next time you’re launching into sometime new be honest with yourself about what you expect and then work towards the specific goals that will make those expectations a reality.

Have you ever confused an expectation with a goal? 

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No matter how it happens, a job loss is painful.  Maybe you were caught up in a corporate downsizing – it’s nothing personal.  Maybe it was personal; your boss was an insensitive jerk who didn’t recognize your talent.  Either way, it’s easy to start questioning your self-worth at such a time.  You may wonder if you’ll end up homeless, never to contribute in a meaningful way to civilization again.  In 30 days, your savings will be depleted.  Are your old office workers laughing behind your back?  Are your neighbors looking at “the loser” when they see you at home on a weekday?

Well, don’t get caught up in the negatives.  This will only sabotage your immediate future.  Here are some tips for moving forward:

• Release Your Anger.  It’s OK to be angry at the unfairness of the boss, the company or the world.  But don’t stay there.  While you may have been treated unfairly, sharing that will only make potential new employers uneasy and prevent them from wanting you on their team.
• Evaluate Your Life.  Take advantage of these transitions to take a fresh look at your life.  What is unique about you?  How important is time flexibility?  What income do you want?  See this as a time to move up and forward; not down.
• Network Constantly.  Start each day with an action plan.  Get out there and meet people.  Talk to anyone you can who might offer suggestions on how to improve your job search.  Don’t be embarrassed to let people know you are looking for work.  You are selling a product, and that product is YOU.
• Don’t Make Excuses.  You are not too old, too short or missing a degree.  Excuses tend to become self-fulfilling after a while, and mentally you can become your own worst enemy in the job-search process.
• Stay Balanced.  Our success tends to spiral up or down together.  Career success leads to financial success, more social and family success, etc.  The opposite is also true.  Don’t allow a job loss to turn you into a couch potato.  Stay sharp physically and mentally.  Keep developing your important relationships.

Here are the questions (Countdown to Work I Love) from the end of each chapter in 48 Days to the Work You Love.  Answering these will help you clarify your strongest areas of competence and a plan of action.

And here’s the 48 Days Schedule.  Walk through this and you WILL have new opportunities.

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Two days ago I got a long message from a mid-20s lady (whom I’ll call Sarah), not from the ghetto in Paraguay, but from the fine state of North Carolina.  She’s going to school part-time and lives with her parents in a trailer for which they pay $50 a month.  Both her parents are drawing disability and there is literally no food in the house until the next disability check arrives.  Her grandmother is in a similar situation and deeply in debt.   Sarah informed me that she has “no expertise, training or knowledge in anything,” she doesn’t have money to put gas in her dad’s car and there are no jobs anyway.  She’s not working while attending school because “that is too much for me to handle.”

I wrote Sarah a lengthy reply – here is a short snippet:

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Thanks for feeling comfortable in sharing your story.  Wow – you describe a pretty unfortunate and unhappy scenario.  I don’t have a magic pill to make that all better, but I don’t believe “circumstances” can hold us down.  Ultimately, our success springs from attitude, optimism, faith and positive action – to do something that others may say can’t be done.  

You can’t change your parents or grandparents – BUT you can show them you are not going to get caught in the same pattern.  You say you are in school and don’t want to work full time.  I would suggest that school is not the best use of your time right now.  It’s a slow process with very unclear benefits.  But you should be able to define your:

• Skills & Abilities
• Personality Traits
• Values, Dreams & Passions

and from those be able to see where you can provide unique value to an organization.  I’m confident there are companies right there where you are that are looking for people who are clear on what value they bring to an organization.  I would take that step immediately – to break this family pattern of looking for assistance and being convinced circumstances are holding you back.  

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Today in Asuncion, Paraguay they have paved streets, health care and fresh water.  600 families pay 50 cents each month to belong to their own association that provides nutrition, education, microcredit and a community radio station.  There are food sellers, people who raise animals, clothes vendors, pharmacy services and other creative small businesses.  They were not the recipients of foreign aid, they didn’t build a casino or win the lottery.  But someone had the audacity to let them know poverty is caused – it is not a fact of life.

Need ideas to change your family tree?  48 Low or No-Cost Business Ideas

How have you experienced poverty and what have you done to break the cause?

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We know that much of what a college freshman learns will be obsolete before they graduate.  So why would we, in a rapidly changing workplace, think the value of a diploma will last forever?

The expiration date of pharmaceuticals specifies the date the manufacturer guarantees the full potency and safety of a drug.  Why don’t universities specify the length of time a degree will be fully applicable and useful?

When I graduated from The Ohio State University I was required to take a computer course to be eligible for a BA degree.  I took FORTRAN.  Developed in 1958 it was an early version of programming.  Today it’s right up there with the rotary phone in terms of usefulness.  My diploma should have estimated the value of that to expire in perhaps 1979.

Imagine you have a degree in biology.  Will the knowledge we have now be current 10 years from now?  Of course not.  Your diploma has a built in expiration date – we just don’t like to be upfront about that.  Universities don’t want to stamp on your degree – “Good for the next 15 years.”  As a result, we pretend to do great work with the knowledge we gathered 20 or 30 years ago.  And as a result, we stifle innovation and opportunity.

Recently, I sent a note out announcing that we are looking for a couple new team members at 48 Days.

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I would like to add a couple team members who are rock stars in the following areas:

• Joint Ventures
• Sponsorship Partnerships
• Affiliate Relationships
• Ning Technology
• Product Launches
• Sales Copy
• Traffic Conversion
• LinkedIn Maximization
• Facebook, Twitter, YouTube integration

I don’t want to see your “resume.” I don’t care if you have a PhD or if you got kicked out of the 8th grade. But I will want to see what you’ve done in the last 12-18 months in these areas. I’d like to explore having 48Days.net share resources in ways that Etsy or Threadless have done.  We have the audience – we just need to carefully craft revenue models for moving forward.  We are considering adding “premium content” to the 48Days.net community.  If you have talents that could make you the next Mark Zukerberg or Jack Dorsey, shoot me a note with links to your work and a brief description of who you are. (dan@48Days.com)  I’m sending this out to a wider audience but would love to find a couple star players who already know our brand and message.

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This is typical of what companies are looking for today.

What do you think the “shelf life” of your diploma is?

If your diploma has expired, what are you doing about it?

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