Become A Certified Coach

Pilot Program Diary: My First Doubts

I’m feeling a bit discouraged about the habit change coaching pilot program today. On the one hand, the seven coaches have accomplished a tremendous amount in these first three weeks: selected a coaching business name and domain name got website hosting obtained a business address ordered business cards got a professional photo taken wrote 5 pages of content for website, based [...] Related posts:

Rookie Life Coach? You Can Still Sound Experienced (Because You Are)

Today one of the pilot program coaches send me this email: I have been working through the eight marketing questions to develop my own replies. I have a problem with the “What’s your background” question. I may have had many years in the corporate/training and development environment and perhaps ‘coaching’ (in one form or another) [...] Related posts:

Marketing Your Coaching Business: 8 Questions You Might Be Asked

Having completed the coaching website and business card modules, the pilot program coaches are now starting the marketing segment of the habit change coaching program. The first task in marketing any service is to know what you are offering and be able to talk about it. Together we developed answers to these common questions [...] Related posts:

MailChimp: Free Newsletter and Autoresponder Service

For years I’ve recommended Aweber as my email newsletter and autoresponder service of choice. I still like Aweber for its great service and reliability, but I’m setting up the pilot program coaches with an alternative service called MailChimp. MailChimp is the new kid on the autoresponder block. From what I can see, it provides everything [...] Related posts:

Coaching Business Website: Getting Started With Wordpress

Note: In this article I use the terms website, blog, and site interchangeably. These days, there’s not much difference between a website and a blog in terms of how they are set up. Getting a business website set up is a major challenge for most coaches. There are so many options and decisions [...] Related posts:

Pilot Program Diary: Coaching Business Without Tears

When I was in university struggling through upper-level statistics courses, there was a little handbook called Statistics Without Tears. Boy, did I relate to that title! I was reminded of that book today when I received an encouraging email from one of the pilot program coaches. She was referring to how frustrating and time-consuming it is to get [...] Related posts:

Pilot Program Diary: Getting Business Cards

Here’s the advice I gave the pilot program coaches about how to get started with business cards. 1) don’t wait until you have a logo designed – getting a logo is a “nice to have” thing but not necessary to get started 2) since your website is just a “starter version” at this point, get relatively [...] Related posts:

Selecting a Domain Name and Hosting for Your Coaching Business

Each of the seven pilot program coaches has now successfully registered a domain name and purchased website hosting. Although the actual process of registering a domain name and purchasing website hosting can be done in 10 minutes, it’s the decisions that have to be made before (what domain name? which hosting company?) that tend to be [...] Related posts:

Tips for a Complimentary Coaching Session

One of the pilot program coaches sent me this email today: I am corresponding with a new potential client. Do you have any good advice on handling complimentary coaching sessions and getting them to buy? Please let me know. Thanks! Here’s the reply I sent to her: Don’t try to accomplish too much Don’t give advice interact as a professional, [...] Related posts:

What Address Should You Use for Your Coaching Business?

There are many details I’m asking the Readymade Coaching Business – Habit Change pilot program coaches to decide on this week. One such detail is: What mailing address will you use for your business? It’s wise to think about this before you get started with your coaching business website and other services. The options are: 1) [...] Related posts:

Habit Change Pilot Group: First Mentor Coaching Session

We had our first mentor coaching session (via teleconference) of the Habit Change Coaching Pilot Program on Monday. It was exciting! We have seven coaches in the group: Roz – South AfricaEdna – CanadaJacqui – UKCheryl – TennesseeEbbie – ColoradoKelly – GeorgiaRobyn – Florida I’m glad I limited the group size. Each coach has lots of questions [...] Related posts:

Top Ten Reasons to Become a Certified Coach

Julia Stewart is a coach, coach trainer and seminar leader who uses her creativity and humor to expand people’s thinking and inspire them to work brilliantly. She’s President of School of Coaching Mastery and has been helping coaches pass difficult certifications since 2003. Is there really any good reason for a business or life coach [...] Related posts:

Vote for Your Favorite Habit Change Tagline

I’m working on developing a list of website taglines for the coaches in the Readymade Coaching Business – Habit Change Coaching program. Which of these do you like / dislike and why? Learn From a Habit Change Expert Change your habits now…so you won’t have to later. Better living through better habits Making healthy habits a [...] Related posts:

Typical Questions Coaches Have When Starting a Coaching Business

As you know if you’ve been following my Habit Change Coaching pilot program diary, I’ve got six coaches undertaking a pilot program to determine whether my Readymade Coaching Business concept actually works. A week ago I notified the six participants of their acceptance into the pilot program. They all sound keen and excited :) I asked [...] Related posts:

First Steps in Organizing Coaching Business

We are just one week away from the official start of the Readymade Coaching Business – Habit Change Coaching pilot program. I’ve asked the six pilot program coaches to do the following in preparation for our first meeting on Monday, August 16: Domain name and hosting Let’s get a head start on this. Please contact me for [...] Related posts:

Habit Change Coaching – Pilot Program Diary

Over the next few months I’ll be mentoring six life coaches in a radical new approach to starting a coaching business. This is a pilot program for my proposed Readymade Coaching Business service. Although the Readymade Coaching Business approach will eventually contain modules that address a range of coaching niches, for this pilot program we’ll focus [...] Related posts:

Habit Change Coaching – Pilot Program Terms and Conditions

TERMS AND CONDITIONS 1. I understand that this is a pilot program, and as such theschedule and content may change. 2. I grant permission for recorded mentoring sessions to be usedby Barbra’s company in digital or print form. 3. I commit to spending a minimum of 10 hours a week implementing this program. 4. [...] Related posts:

Readymade Coaching Business – Pilot Program Outline

Month 1: Website, Email Newsletter, Biz Cards, Becoming an Expert in Niche 1. My VA will set up your website. It will be a self-hosted Wordpress site. Self-hosted means that you own the domain. Your web address will be something like www.yourname.com or www.thehabitchangecoach.com (I’ll help you decide). 2. You’ll write content for your website, based on [...] Related posts:

Why the Habit Change Niche?

I’ve been hinting for the past few weeks that I’m up to something big. That “something” involves a particular coaching niche that my research tells me has TONS of clients looking for coaching. I have been coaching in that niche for years, and want to empower other coaches to do the same. More than that, I want [...] Related posts:

Readymade Coaching Business: Would This Work for You?

I’m sitting on an egg that’s getting ready to hatch. It’s a system that provides coaches with a ready-made coaching business. I think it could make a huge change in how quickly and easily coaches start earning money. I don’t want to say too much about it right now, because it’s still in the incubation stage (pardon [...] Related posts:

Free teleclass: “Enough for Life” by Vicki Robin

Have you heard of the book “Your Money or Your Life“? This classic book on voluntary simplicity, available now in eleven languages, was written 20 years ago by Vicki Robin and the late Joe Dominguez. Vicki has been called the “prophet of consumption-downsizers” by the New York Times, and is a [...] Related posts:

Coaching Certification Bootcamp – For Pro Coaches Only

I’m pleased to recommend this brand new course to you. It’s called Coaching Certification Bootcamp – For Pro Coaches Only. As the title makes clear, it’s only for pro coaches. And it’s intensive. But if you know you’re coaching at a masterful level, and you just want to get the certification bit off your “to do list”- [...] Related posts:

Can’t Sit Still to Meditate? Try Active Meditation

by guest writer Pooja Bhangar Khandelwal You want to meditate but you just can’t sit still? There’s a form of meditation that might work better for you. It’s called “Active Meditation” and it uses physical activity such as breathing, movement and visualization to find the stillness within. This article gives instructions for an Active Meditation. What is [...] Related posts:

Will the Coaching by Example CDs Help You Pass the Test?

I received this enquiry today: Coach Bob T Moran told me about you, and I think I am interested in your 9 cd series. He said if I become a member of the IAC, I could get a discount on the cd’s. Is that correct, and how does that work? I couldn’t find anything about it [...] Related posts:

Job Opportunities for Life Coaches

Job opportunities for life coaches normally involve being self-employed or working for a coaching firm. Although an increasing number of organizations hire in-house life coaches, those job opportunities for life coaches are rare. There are several different ways to begin a career as a life coach. Many people choose to start their own life [...] Related posts:

Work-Life Integration: Great Idea or Dangerous Trend?

In the past three months I’ve been to Italy (in person), as well as India and the Phillipines (virtually). On the surface, Italy was personal, India was volunteer work and the Phillipines was for business. But here’s the thing: very little of what I do these days fits in discrete boxes. Italy was a trip with [...] Related posts:

30 Day Coach Training Intensive

Note: The 30 Day program is no longer running. We recommend the Coaching By Example CD series as it covers all the material previously included in the 30 Day program. The 30 Day Coach Training Intensive covers the fundamentals of modern life coaching, based on Barbra Sundquist’s CCEC coaching model. CCEC is an [...] Related posts:

Do You Need to Get Angry Before Anyone Listens?

by guest writer Judy Toth I’m writing this for all the women with children, husbands, boyfriends, employees, relatives….well, I guess I’m writing this for all women. (Men–you are welcome to read also. It’s just been my experience that this is more of a “woman” thing. More on that later). So women, have you ever found yourself thinking, [...] Related posts:

A Video Message from Barbra – Announcements!

Announcement #1 – Introducing new instructors Nina East and Doris Helge Nina East, IAC-CC: Nina is our newest instructor in the BACC program. She brings a wealth of experience to coaching, coach training, and coach certification. Nina was one of the first coaches to become certified by the IAC and was immediately asked to become a [...] Related posts:

How to Coach Anyone, Lesson #1

Of all the coaching materials that Thomas Leonard produced in his lifetime, the How To Coach Anyone (HTCA) series of 68 lessons is my very favorite. In fact, I’d venture to say that much of what I know about coaching was learned from these lessons. Although I have electronic copies of HTCA saved on my computer [...] Related posts:

How to Coach on Life Purpose

In our BACC coaching classes this month we are talking about the value of having a coaching “repertoire” – a set of tools and exercises that you can “pull out” in different coaching circumstances. You can listen to an excerpt of our class below. Below are the class notes on the Life Purpose exercise (adapted [...] Related posts:

What is Charge-Neutral? The Opposite of Drama Queen

When coaching we strive to be “charge-neutral”. What does “charge-neutral” mean? Ruth-Ann Harnisch sums it up as “the opposite of a drama queen”. She goes on to explain: Charge-neutral is a tone, an attitude, a way of being. It’s the opposite of a drama queen. It’s the non-judgmental way to approach a client. Clients don’t need the [...] Related posts:

Coaching “Safety Net” Questions – For When Your Mind Goes Blank

Have you ever had the experience of “going blank” while coaching? You know, it’s your turn to speak and your mind freezes? It happens to all of us from time to time, particularly if we are coaching under challenging circumstances (such as being evaluated in an exam or training class). When it happens to me, I [...] Related posts:

What was Thomas Leonard Really Like? A Candid Interview with Andrea J. Lee

Barbra: Andrea, let’s start at the beginning. Can you tell us how you came to work for Thomas J. Leonard and Coachville? Andrea: Complete and utter luck, actually. Well, if I had to give credit somewhere, it would be to computers, and the internet. Which in itself is interesting, because without those two things CoachVille certainly [...] Related posts:

You Can Do It! Fridge Magnets

My CompassVIP.com fridge magnets arrived today. I ordered them instead of standard business cards. Related posts:Readymade Coaching Business: Would This Work for You? Related posts:

Readymade Coaching Business: Would This Work for You?

When the Pain Disappears, The Beauty Remains

Many of us get discouraged when results don’t happen as fast as we think they should. The fact is, most change happens in a “two steps forward, one step back” kind of way. It takes dedicated effort and sticking with the program. We get what we want through practice Many BACC participants are now at the end [...] Related posts:

How much practice to become a masterful coach?

A member wrote this on the BACC forum today: My goal this month is to find 5 ‘clients’ or classmates, to do more audio recordings. I’m offering free 30 minute coaching sessions in exchange for permission to record the session. My goal is to have 100 audio recordings to learn from. I applaud her dedication and [...] Related posts:

20 Great Self-Care Resources

These self-care resources come from the Hollyhock Leadership Institute. The Urgency Index Many people find that despite their best efforts, even in work they love and feel good about, they have trouble feeling grounded and on top of things at work. Work is often filled with a sense of urgency—and this, as we all know, can lead [...] Related posts:

Beginner’s Guide to Become a Life Coach

Are you interested in becoming a life coach? If so, this article is for you. I’ll be sharing what I tell people when they ask “how do I become a life coach?” Keep in mind that this is not a comprehensive guide to becoming a life coach. Rather, it’s practical advice based on my experience over [...] Related posts:

How to Coach: Helping Clients Slow Down

In this article we talk about two chronic themes found in today’s world – too little time and too much work. In stressful environments, people are prone to unconsciously react in habitual ways – often leaving them with the attitude that they had no choice. As coaches we can assist our clients to develop [...] Related posts:

How to Coach: Procrastination

A very common topic that coaching clients bring up is “procrastination”. Coaches need to realize that procrastination has very little to do with the client’s skills to plan or manage time. So don’t waste time going down that deadend. According to research on procrastination done by psychologists Joseph Ferrari, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at De [...] Related posts:

CCEC Coaching Model

Click here to listen… And click here to get the CCEC chart that shows how the four CCEC components relate to the IAC Coaching Masteries™. I’ve developed a coaching model that is simple, easy to remember, and powerful. It has just four things to remember: Connect, Clarify, Expand and Create (CCEC). If you can remember to do [...] Related posts:

Sample Questions from IAC Step 1 Exam

Your first step in achieving IAC certification is to pass the Step 1 online written exam. This is an open book multiple choice exam based on the Coaching Masteries ™ Ebook. Before you take the Step 1 exam “for real”, you may want to try the free sample exam that is available on the [...] Related posts:

BACC Coach Certification Program

Note: the BACC program is now closed. We recommend the Coaching By Example CD series as it covers all the material previously offered in the BACC program. We had a lively and informative Open House call yesterday. Here’s the recording, and the summary notes below. Click here to listen… Click here to download… Q: Will I be certified [...] Related posts:

Feedback Template for Coaching Triads

This feedback template may be used as a guide for the Observer in a coaching triad to structure constructive feedback. If time is limited ask Coach which of the three areas (skills, presence or expertise) they would most like feedback on. Feedback Template The Coach asked for specific feedback on ______________ and ____________. 1) COACHING SKILLS The strongest [...] Related posts:

Practice Triads for Coaches

The purpose of this article is to give you some hints on how to set up coaching practice triads that are effective, supportive and meet the needs of all participants. The Observer may also want to use the feedback template when giving feedback to the Coach. When You’re The Client Pick a real issue … something that [...] Related posts:

Who Appreciates You?

My first coaching teacher, the late Thomas J. Leonard, declared that we become like the 5 people we spend the most time with. That’s a powerful idea. Consider this: even as adults we are subtly influenced by “peer pressure”. We tend to pick up on the attitudes, language and mood of the people we hang out [...] Related posts: