Education First
Any good coach must first acquire good training. As coaching has become a more prevalent profession in today’s society, various training schools have popped up. In order to receive proper training, you must pick the proper school. When deciding where to receive your training, choosing an organization that is International Coach Federation (ICF) accredited, such as iPEC Coaching, is key as they require their students to meet set qualifications.

You should also look for schools that offer in-person classes, as iPEC Coaching does in order to acquire a more realistic learning experience, where you will engage in simulated coaching situations and gain first hand feedback.

Get Your Message Out
The next step to creating a successful coaching business is to develop a good marketing plan, because if you can’t attract clients, then you won’t be able to use your newfound skills. Keys to effectively marketing your coaching business include, but are not limited to:

• Specializing in a niche market in order to narrow down your client base.
• Figure out what your target market’s core issues and struggles are and develop original and new ways to solve them.
• Speak your prospective coachees’ language.
• Research and understand the current market.
• Offer other forms of training, aside from individual training, such as group coaching, teleclasses, books, etc. in order to reach a wider audience who might not be able to afford your one-on-one classes.
• Present yourself in a non-threatening manner. Don’t require contracts, strict coaching schedules or money months in advance. Keep things relaxed so prospective clients feel they can try coaching out without having to make any scary commitments. They’ll more than likely enjoy their “tryout” and stick around for more of your services.
• Continue your own coaching education and expand your services.

Love What You do
Perhaps the most important factor in being a successful coach is having a passion for the profession. Since it’s what you do day in and day out, loving what you do will make you a happier person, which will be reflected in your performance. If you enjoy talking with people, figuring out what makes them tick and helping them overcome obstacles to achieve their goals, it will show and inspire your clients.

It’s All in the Timing
The most effective feedback is delivered shortly after the action it is referring to because waiting too long to offer it will lose its impact, Also, consider where you deliver your words of wisdom. Choose a time when you are out of earshot from other people, so as not to embarrass your coachee.

Innocent Until Proven Guilty
Don’t begin handing out your feedback by assuming your coachee knew what they were doing was wrong. Enter your coaching session by believing your client was unaware of how negatively their actions came across and that they were doing the best they could. Assuming your coachee was acting in a negative manner on purpose will adversely affect the way you handle the situation and nine times out of ten you will be wrong anyway.

First Person Feedback
Do not rely on third person accounts of your coachee’s actions. Provide feedback on the behaviors you have observed so as to eliminate other people’s biases and distortions.

Authentic Feedback
Pointing out people’s flaws is not an easy task, but in order to help your coachees meet their intended goals, you need to provide them with feedback they can work with. When offering up your thoughts, don’t sugar coat them. Dole out your feedback in an honest and direct manner, just be careful that you don’t come off as judgmental.

Let Go of Control Issues
When coaching, it’s tempting for your control issues to surface, but you need to keep them in check. Instead of trying to force someone to do what you want them to, keep in mind that you are trying to help your coachee instead. Enter your feedback session thinking about what your coachee’s goals are and what you are trying to accomplish with them.

Point of View
Using language that suggests your feelings instead of handing out absolutes will put your clients more at ease when hearing your feedback. Talking about your feelings in reaction to your client’s behavior will go over better than just telling them what they did was wrong. Saying “I feel _____ because you did ______” instead of, “You are wrong because of ______” will make your clients, or anyone else for that matter, less defensive.

Constructive Criticism
Offering up feedback is how your coachee’s will succeed in meeting their goals. Without it they won’t know what is working and what isn’t. However, in order for feedback to be an effective tool, you have to learn how to deliver it in a non-threatening way. Be aware of the delivery of your ideas and your message will have a bigger impact.

Specialize
Decide on a specialty in order to figure out who you want as clients. Narrowing down your field will help you better determine who you should market and who you want to work with. By focusing on one area, your marketing message will be a lot more clear and concise.

Speak Their Language
Once you’ve settled on who you want to work with, figure out what it is they need. Find out what their concerns are and what they are willing to pay for you to solve their problems. After you’ve figured this out, create a marketing plan that speaks directly to them using language they understand and that addresses their problems. Put the focus on them, don’t make your marketing all about you.

Diversify Your Services
Offer your prospective clients a variety of ways to hear your message. Write books, tape video seminars, offer teleclasses and of course provide one-on-one sessions. This will strengthen the impact of what you have to say, as well as spread the net, so to speak, on your clientele. For people who can’t afford your personal services, they can still benefit from your advice through other means.

Keep it Simple
Many people aren’t quite sure what to think about personal life coaches. So to help them feel better about understanding it, keep things easy and relaxed. Don’t demand contracts, a strict meeting schedule or a lot of money up front. Allow them to sample your coaching services without feeling like they will be trapped later on and they’ll be more open to it. More often than not, they’ll be happy they tried it and come back for more.

Competitive Rates
Before you start pricing your services, do some research and find out what your competition charges. You may be compelled to undervalue yourself and price too low, but fight this urge. Your services are valuable and you have the training and skills, so price accordingly. Some say, if at least 20% of your clientele isn’t objecting to your pricing then you are offering your services for too little.

Stand Out From the Pack
In order to attract your client base, you need to stand out. You may feel insecure when starting out, but if you don’t put yourself out there and get noticed you will never create a successful coaching business. Once you have a few clients under your belt and feel better about your abilities, you’ll want to start moving forward and gain more business. Raise your profile, start making connections and up your marketing strategy.

Never Stop Learning
Even though you are the coach, there are still things for you to learn as well. Once you’ve “mastered” the coaching game and have a thriving business, you can’t afford to rest on your laurels. Continue to educate yourself, expand your services, trouble shoot your problem areas and further your business.

The following are tips on how to talk to your clients, as well as how to help them communicate more effectively with the people in their lives.

Choose Your Words Carefully
*Using inclusive language helps to build a collaborative environment and stress teamwork. When coaching, instead of using the word “you”, which can trigger your client’s defenses by inferring judgment, say “ we” in order to build a more trusting rapport.

*Avoid sounding like a parental figure and eliminate the use of the word “should.” “Could” is more open sounding and infers possibilities rather than implying control and manipulation.

*Another good inclusive term is the word “and”. Use this instead of “but” in order to make room for other points of view and avoid canceling out what was just said.

*Don’t leave room for failure by using the word “try.” Instead, replace it with “will” and ensure that your coachees are making a much stronger commitment without giving them an out.

Vocabulary
You may know all the technical terms, shorthand and more eloquent ways of presenting your ideas, but the people you are talking to might not. If the person you are trying to help doesn’t understand what you are saying, then they will feel inferior and your message won’t come across. You don’t have to talk to them like they are in kindergarten, but using common, direct words and phrases will help facilitate the coaching process and/or business relationships and keep everyone on the same level.

Body Language
Not only do our words have impact, but how we present ourselves speaks volumes as well. Pay attention to facial expressions, lack of eye contact, folded arms and bitten lips when speaking to or being spoken to by your clients. As these cues could be a result of not handling constructive criticism well or other emotional issues, they should be dealt with in order to move forward.

Creative Wording
Presenting ideas in a sensitive manner is a key aspect to coaching. You don’t want to make your clients defensive while trying to point out what they need to improve on. So instead of of saying “always” or “never,” say “sometimes”; instead of saying “can’t,” say won’t”; and instead of saying they made a “mistake” (which is a huge defensive signal) say it was a “learning” process.

The Importance of Communication
If you’re not getting your ideas across in an effective manner, then you are not helping anybody. A good coach knows how to hand out advice in a constructive manner without raising defenses. Pay attention to how you communicate with your clients and you’ll have an easier time of influencing them.

Even if you are a seasoned coach, giving yourself a refresher of the following tips from time to time will help keep you on track and produce successful sessions with your clients.

1. Ask for Feedback – Receiving feedback is a critical part of any successful business. Discovering what is working and what isn’t will only help you improve your coaching skills. Ask your clients how they feel things are going; find out what they think works and what doesn’t; and then make the necessary adjustments.

2. Be Supportive – The idea of a coach is to help clients achieve their goals, therefore, you should support your coachee’s intended end game. Ask your client questions, truly listen to what they have to say and find ways to help them remove the obstacles to their goals.

3. Engage in Conversation – Make sure you aren’t talking at your clients and talk with them instead. People don’t want to be talked down to when receiving advice, so keep your meetings relaxed, informal and humorous when appropriate. Suggestions on how to make better choices will go over much easier if you don’t sound like a parent or boss.

4. Offer Encouragement – Don’t wait for the end result to hand out praise, as this may never happen. Instead of holding out positive reinforcements until “perfection” is achieved, let your clients know their hard work is paying off and they are making positive progress with every forward step they take.

5. Provide a Personal Touch – Much of your communication with clients may be through email or over the phone. While this is a quick and easy way to get your ideas across, they can also lose their impact this way. Make sure that in between your messaging, you make time to meet face to face. Having an in-person meeting will help you get your points across in a more powerful manner and help restore your client’s enthusiasm.

6. Plan Every Move – Preparation is key in everything you do and your meetings with your coachees should be no exception. Before each session, make sure you know what points you want to make by concisely organizing your thoughts and ideas before presenting them.

7. Be Direct – Many issues that affect your clients may be sensitive, but in order to make progress with them you have to speak concisely. Of course find a delicate manner to approach the topic, but make sure you always clearly map out your ideas, plan of attack and suggestions. There is no room for vague discussions when it comes to coaching.

8. Respect Your Clients’ Time – Do everything in your power to keep your meetings with your clients. You’ve worked hard to build up a trust and rapport with them, so don’t blow it by missing a meeting. If you must cancel, don’t be disrespectful and just fire off an email. Make it a point to discuss it with your client and reschedule.

While there are several different niches you can choose from, the following is just a sampling of the various areas for you to specialize in.

Life Coaching
This specialty in the coaching field focuses on helping clients figure out what they want most out of life. Mentors who specialize in life coaching help their coachees identify and build on their strengths, learn to be happy with who they are and discover the unique talents and strengths within themselves.

Business Coaching
Business coaches focus on maximizing potential in the workplace by helping their clients succeed at work and in life. Instead of telling their clients what to do in the corporate world, business coaches assist individuals in figuring out the solutions for themselves and therefore help them prepare for other aspects of their lives as well.

Business coaching can then also be subcategorized:

*Executive Coaching
*Global Executive Coaching
*Leadership Coaching
*Management Coaching
*Organizational Coaching
*Sales Coaching
*And many more

Relationship Coaching
Coaches in this market zero in one helping their clients develop healthy, successful and fulfilling relationships in every aspect of their lives. Relationship coaches also have a variety of specialties they can choose from including:

*Singles and dating
*Couples
*Gay/Lesbian relationships
*Divorce issues
*Parent/Child relationships
*Extended family relationships
*Age specific relationships including, Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers or teens.

Spiritual Coaching
This niche market of coaching centers on the power from within both the client and the coach. Listening to their inner workings, intuition and thoughts from the heart, spiritual coaches combine these tools with more tangible information to form the best strategies for their clients.

Career Coaching
You’ve already found the profession that fulfills you, now you want to help others find their passion. If this describes you, then career coaching might be the specialty for you. In this niche, you will help your coachees rediscover why they chose the profession they’re already in or propel them to try a new one.

Mentor Coaching
Like other coaching areas, mentor coaches assist people in becoming the best they can be, but in a very specific field. By focusing on one profession, mentor coaches can give their clients more insight into their specific field and offer practical solutions and tips on how to become a success. For example, a writer would hire a mentor coach who might already be a successful novelist or a struggling photographer might hire a mentor coach who has already enjoyed a long and successful career as a photographer. By becoming a coach in a very specific field, you can offer your clients pragmatic and useful information a general coach might not be able to.

Find Your Niche
When becoming a coach, figure out where your strengths lie and who you feel you can help the most. Not only will this make marketing yourself easier, you will be a more confident and passionate coach.

Instead of telling your employees what to do every step of the way and therefore essentially doing everything yourself, taking a step back and simply supervising your support staff will not only make them happier and more productive, but give you some breathing room as well.

Believe in Your Employees
Have enough faith in your employees to let them carry out the tasks you’ve assigned. If you are constantly checking up on them, telling them how to do something or second-guessing them, they will begin to resent you and will eventually stop trying to do a good job.

Delegate Responsibility
You can’t do everything yourself. It’s a fact of life you have to learn to live with. Delegate tasks and allow your employees to actually carry them out. If you are constantly hovering and checking up on the progress being made, you will run yourself ragged and not be able to complete your own work. You have staff for a reason; so let them take care of business and conserve your energy for what’s on your own desk.

Keep an Open Mind
Your way is not always the only way to do things. Accept the fact that your employees are competent and know a thing or two as well. Give them their assignments and allow them to figure out their own way to accomplish it. Who knows, maybe you’ll learn something in the process.

Be There in a Pinch
There may be times when your employees drop the ball and you have to step in. However, you need to make sure they have room to make their own decisions first. In order to avoid picking up your staff’s slack, make sure you have trained them properly and they know what is expected of them. If necessary, you may have to get rid of a few people who need your constant attention, but by keeping the lines of communication open you should be able to avoid or at the very least detect any problems.

A Good Manager
To ensure you aren’t doing everyone’s work on top of your own, you have to properly prepare and then learn to trust your employees. Allowing them to make decisions on their own will give them a greater sense of accomplishment and ownership in their project and more importantly, lighten your workload.

In order to learn the strategies to help people live out their dreams, the IPEC training course, created by Bruce D Schneider, M.C.C., will show you how to become an effective coach through their Coach Certification Training program. Consisting of four Modules, you will receive the education and skills needed through a variety of different methods including, videos, role-playing and presentations to become a successful coach.

Each Module is a three-day intensive course consisting of information, experience and practice in a comfortable and non-threatening environment where education and enjoyment is encouraged. After the first Module is completed, you will start on your required 50 hours of live coaching experience with your peers, where you act as both a coach and a client. These sessions will be conducted through email and phone supervision. In addition, IPEC offers required weekly teleclasses for further coaching education.

Each participant in the coaching training class will be assigned an ICF-credentialed coach who will assist your development, as well as a support liason to answer any questions or concerns you may have. There are also programs available for those who are looking to fast track their business or for those who aren’t looking to build a coaching practice at all, but still wish to benefit from IPEC Coaching’s expertise.

IPEC’s Core Energy Coach Certification Program and Coaching Mastery Curriculum is made up of the following Modules:

Module I: Life Potentials Training
The first step in IPEC’s training program, Life Potentials Training, will teach you effective coaching skills, principals and exercises. IPEC coaches are considered some of the best in the world because they practice what they preach by incorporating IPEC’s principals in their own lives.

After taking the Life Potentials Training, you will learn:

* How to help people from all different backgrounds set and achieve their goals.
* How to eliminate hot button issues in your clients’, as well as your own life, thereby letting go of any negativity.
* How to help people overcome their fears, doubts or other obstacles on the way to achieving their goals.
* How to teach people to find their own answers to their questions by giving them the confidence to succeed without dependency on others.

Throughout the course of the Life Potentials Training program you will not only be equipped with the tools to develop relationships with your clients, but with yourself as well. The Foundation Principles and 10 High-Energy Concepts will assist you in breaking though limitations that you have set for yourself and give you the ability to eliminate obstacles you might not have been aware of or had the ability to overcome before.

As this is an introduction to the basics of IPEC Coaching, Life Potentials Training is the first step to building the life you’ve always wanted.

Module II: Core Transformation
The next step in IPEC training builds on the skills learned in Life Potentials Training and applies them to the eight main areas in a client’s life including:

* Personal Development
* Career Development
* Family
* Fun
* Health
* Social relationships
* Finance
* Spiritual Awareness

In Core Transformation you will delve into coaching for couples, families, groups and businesses. Your coaching skills will deepen as you learn how to work through resistance and coach the entire person. Not only will this course prepare you for common client concerns you might face, but it will also bring up issues you might have yourself as you begin coaching. You will also be introduced to advanced coaching techniques that will help you determine your very own coaching specialization.

Module III: Breakthrough Coaching
Once you’ve got the coaching skills down, it’s time to learn the business side of things. This third step in the IPEC Coach Certification Training Program will show you how to become a successful and well-marketed coach. Focusing on the specialty you’ve decided for yourself, you will be introduced to new opportunities where you can practice your newfound skills.

During Breakthrough Coaching you will learn how to find and choose clients and price your services, as well as be given training on sales, marketing, advertising, networking, and getting your clients off the fence and committed to working with you. Before this three day intensive course is over, you will be exposed to IPEC opportunities and learn how to develop an action plan that will provide you not only with a living, but a fulfilling lifestyle.

Energy Leadership: Coaching Mastery
This is the final leg of the IPEC training journey. Here you will be exposed to the 7 levels of energy and the Energetic Self-Perception Chart, which will teach you how to grasp people’s behaviors and viewpoints in a way you never could before. The Energy Leadership Index Assessment will also be introduced, which will demonstrate how to alter a person’s view on life in one 45-minute coaching session. Training will also be conducted on how to use the 12-segment Energy Leadership Development System with your clients. In addition, Mastery Skills will be taught including turning weaknesses into strengths, increasing awareness, breaking default tendencies and transforming destructive behaviors into powerful leadership abilities.

Credentials and Certifications
Once you’ve completed the fully accredited curriculum, you will receive:
* An industry-standard coaching certification to be a Core Energy Coach
* An accreditation in Energy Leadership coaching and the Energy Leadership Index Assessment
* Comprehensive coaching programs that you can sell to clients
* A comprehensive marketing system, which will allow you to expand your coaching business.
* A lifetime membership to the IPEC Coach Community and Support Network.

All the hours you put in will qualify you as a Master Credentialed Coach (MCC) with the International Coach Federation. No more training is necessary, aside from your client hours, which lPEC Coaching will assist you with.

Become a Coach
Whether you hope to assist others in their quest for a fulfilling life or you’re looking to add to the quality of your own, IPEC Coach Training will teach you how to achieve inspiring results. Start making a difference in your life, as well as the lives as others today with IPEC Coaching.

Advantages of a Home Business
Many people dream of being able to work from home, and for good reason. The many pros to working out of your house include:

• Minimal start-up costs
• Tax write offs
• Avoiding rush hour traffic
• Flexibility and Independence
• Elimination of demanding bosses and competitive co-workers
• Comfortable surroundings

Disadvantages of a Home Business
While there are many pros to working from home, there can be just as many cons. Things to look out for include:

• Difficulty motivating yourself
• Lack of socialization
• Clients feeling uncomfortable in your home
• A blurring of home and work life
• Work space issues
• Limited support system

Make Your Home Coaching Business Work For You
In order to keep your home coaching business a positive experience for you both personally and professionally, keep the following suggestions in mind:

• Establish a set work schedule. There are so many distractions at home to keep you from your work, including TV, household chores, the morning paper and friends and family, that it can be easy to let a whole day go by without getting anything done. In order to combat these temptations to slack off, set up your work day as if you were going to a corporate office. You don’t have to work 9 to 5, but you do still need structure, so determine which hours work best for you and don’t let outside forces distract you during those times.

• Set boundaries. Once you’ve set your work schedule, make sure your friends and family know when it is. Since you’re home, it will be temping for them to drop by or ask you to do favors for them during the day. Make sure they know you still have work to do and can’t just take off because they call.

• Get dressed. Fight the urge to lounge around in your robe all day by getting up, taking a shower and putting on some clothes. Make it as similar to going to a corporate office as you can.

• Designate a work space. Create a specific area in your home for your office to help set you apart from your personal living space. While you’re at it install a separate phone line and computer for business needs. If you don’t have a separate room to use, define a specific area in your home that will allow you to focus solely on your business and create a more professional atmosphere for your clients.

• Avoid isolation. While you may be eliminating those chatty co-workers you don’t want to deal with by working from home, you are also eliminating the camaraderie you receive from your fellow employees. In order to prevent yourself from being cut off from the rest of the world, join networking groups, meet clients in public places and keep up with hobbies and friends after hours.

Personal and Professional Satisfaction
Building your coaching business from home can be extremely rewarding, but you have to take certain steps to ensure you don’t get sucked into the home business traps. By putting these suggestions into practice there’s no reason why you can’t fully reap the rewards of working from home.

So what makes one person’s vision a success, while another person’s falls flat? According to many successful business men and women you need to enjoy what you do, carefully map out a plan and have a firm grasp of basic business techniques and formulas.

Seems simple enough right? Well, not always. Aside from the above basic principles, building a successful business also requires the following traits:

1. Fulfillment – When deciding what career path to take, let alone which business venture to start up, you have to decide if you will be happy doing it every day. Loving what you do makes it easier to overcome challenges, go the extra mile and figure out how to make your business succeed. Having a passion for your product will shine through and become contagious.

2. Confidence – People are attracted to confidence, therefore if you believe in yourself and project a self-assured image, you’ll instill that belief in other people as well. Your prospective clients are looking to invest in confidence so act accordingly and success will follow. It’s all about positive thinking.

3. Decisiveness – Snap decisions are key in business and often require one right after the other. You must act fast and trust you’ve made the right choice. Listen to your gut, don’t waste time second guessing yourself and move forward.

4. Courage – You have to be willing to take risks and not fear failure. If you never take a chance you’ll never get the things you want in life. Make those cold calls, ask for capital and branch out. The worst that can happen is someone will say no, but if you never ask you’ll never give people the opportunity to say yes.

5. Competence – This seems like an obvious trait to posses when it comes to business, but many companies fail due to a lack of it. Being prepared and knowledgeable is key to building a successful business. Ensure you have the skills, education and experience necessary to run a thriving organization.

6. Perseverance – In order for your business to succeed you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. This means sticking it out during the tough times, working as many hours as it takes to get things done and believing in your product even when no one else does. You can’t give up after the first set back. Use it as a learning experience and push on!

7. Drive – Perhaps the most common trait in successful business owners is their drive to succeed. You know these people, they’re constantly working, coming up with new ideas and have a never say die attitude. Failure is not an option. If you have the desire and the burning fire inside, then everything else will fall into place.

Find Success
Building a thriving business is not impossible, but it also takes more than just an idea. Possessing the above traits will go along way in helping you to succeed. Some are instilled at birth, while others can be learned. You just have to decide for yourself if you have what it takes.