Dec 19
Welcome to the New Coaching Manifesto web site!
“The New Coaching Manifesto” is a document that discusses coaching as a business, why 91% of coaches are not achieving their financial goals, and what the remaining 9% do right to thrive and prosper. If you haven’t downloaded a copy of this document, you can do so by using the form on the side bar.
As a reminder, here are the topics discussed inside the manifesto:
- The Biggest Coaching Paradox
- Coaching Anybody on Anything (Including Bottle Washing, Dog Grooming, and Potty Training)
- How Coaches Coaching Coaches Limits the Growth of The Coaching Industry
- Why “Non-Coaches” Are Doing the Coaching and What We Can Learn From Their Success
- How Marketing Aversion Hurts Coaches and How to Successfully Overcome It
- How Low Quality Mailing List Holds You Back, and How to Build a High Quality List Fast and Easy
- Coaching Burnout: Practice vs. Business
- It’s Not a Time Management Problem
- Becoming Irreplaceable in Your Business
- The “X” Factor in Replicating Success
- Where Are You Today and How to Get Where You Want to Go?
Your comments are welcome here. You may freely discuss the issues addressed in the manifesto, any additions, observations, or disagreements. Of course, remain civil at all times 
Milana
January 3rd, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I just read your New Coaching Manifesto. It really struck many chords with me. I know I will get a lot more as I read it again. The one thing I wanted to comment on was your statement “When a coach is feeling financially desperate, she’s taking any client who comes along with no regard to whether this is someone she’ll enjoy working with or not. This results in poor client results and a low level of client fulfillment.” Ouch. Did that hit home. Last year I worked with a client that I knew going in was not going to be a good fit. All the signs were there, the flags where being thrown at me, but I took the client on anyway. Why? Because I “needed” the money. I told myself, I can do this, I can change the situation. Now I look back and see I should have bowed out sooner than I did. It ended on a poor note and although it took care of a lot of my immediate financial woes, it was a drain on me and my business. The worst part is I cannot use them as a reference which really hurts since they turned out to be a significant portion of my business. Thanks for this document
January 3rd, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Hi Milana,
being a coach from the Netherlands, most of the time I just feel overwhelmed by the American approach to things. I’ve been on your mailinglist for some time now and I have enjoyed every one of your emails so far but some how I felt that your approach could never work for me here in this small country.
Nevertheless I must say that with this Coaching Manifesto you have succeeded in creating a mindshift for me! I recognized myself in so many things you have written down it was uncanny to say the least.
And so I’ve come to realize that this isn’t a Manifesto but an actual toolkit that, if you also read between the lines, offers everything you need to build the business you want to build.
I thank you for this highly interesting information and look forward to hearing more from you.
Thanks again, my compliments and warm regards,
Joe Passage.
Personal Coach on Lifedesign.
January 3rd, 2008 at 3:59 pm
While I have been successfully working for my coaching certificate I have paid much attention to the web sites of successful coaches.
The paradox is that successful coaches seem to draw their income from unsuccessful coaches who are needy and not from clients.
All sites tell of coaches earning small amounts and that if their tips are followed and their coaching business ideas followed through then clients ‘q’ up and the income appears even when you are not coaching clients.
This indicates that to be a successful coach one has to devise a way of selling th recipe for ’success’ to the 91% of coaches who are not getting clients but are prepared to pay only small individual amounts to coaches who advertise the best system.
At present I do not possess enough money to invest in any of these systems but I do like your ‘tool kit’ ideas and will eventually compile one for my clients ( and for you?).
I am far away, physically, in Rotherham England, but look forward to communicating with you - although I realise all of this is on autoresponse? Can’t afford the web site yet.
January 3rd, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Happy New Year Milana,
Page 14 of the New Coaching Manifesto says:
“The best advice I’ve ever gotten about hiring the right coach
was to find a coach who successfully built the business model I want to
build myself.”
’nuff said!
This is exactly the road I’m taking and others should be too.
Gosh, it’s so much easier, isn’t it?
January 3rd, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Congratulations Milana on a very useful document which I will put into practice.
I am a graduate of the Hudson Institute of Santa Barbara, and my niche is farm family succession communication. I have a book, cd’s speak, a column, and a TV spot..but my weakness is the internet generated tools. I have a “wanabee coach” file ,too of others who would like to join my niche.
It is wonderful to see how you’ve gleaned a bountiful harvest from the sowing of ideas, and cultivating great systems. Lots of food for thought in your manifesto.
All the best as you are generous with your bounty. Thanks for sharing.
Elaine Seeds of Encouragement
January 4th, 2008 at 7:09 am
Dear Milana
Excellent excellent report - a really brilliant use of creating a high value product, giving it away for free, addressing a real problem, and attracting a community (not being mentored by Rich by any chance LOL?)
As someone who found her niche early (wealth coaching) as it was a topic I was fascinated by, for myself and I just started sharing what I was learning and who has been a successful 1:2:1 coach (25+ clients paying £300 a month) then nearly giving it up because I couldn’t stand the repetition of it all, then learning, slowly and sometimes painfully, how to build a coaching business with 5 coaches, two business partners, I would agree with everything you say.
I accidentally learned from another successful coach, Chris Barrow (dental business coaching), the importance of a niche, and how to put the “automated marketing machine” in place, which was niche > website > ezine > ecourse > ebook > workshops > group coaching programme > 1:2:1 coaching.
I never had to have the “value / price” conversation, because it was on my website, and people had a choice of which participation / price point level in The Money Gym they joined.
I had an automated online diary, where people could book their “complementary introductory session”, but I always confirmed by email that they had had a look around the site and were aware of their options, before they came to the call.
To address David’s points above; you must have a website. You can set up a Typepad blog (with linked webpages as well) for $89 a year! Blogger is free but not as customisable or professional or well indexed by the search engines but start with Blogger if you really can’t afford $89 a year. To host your ezine list will cost you pennies as well and I recommend TotalBusinessCart.com as a starter - use the basic package for your ezine distribution, then scale up. Start with text only, then learn some basic HTML (a good book is Elizabeth Castro’s “HTML For The Worldwide Web”).
You could use Constant Contact or aWeber, for your ezine initially, but if you even intend to sell eproducts or workshops, you may as well go with a decent shopping cart from Day 1.
I hope this helps and if you have any more questions, ask them here! I’ll keep an eye on Milana’s new blog as it’s fascinating!
Cheers
Nicola
January 4th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Who’s Rich?
Actually, I found his report to be fascinating and bold, and wanted to create something similar on coaching. I think many issues aren’t being talked about for many reasons: fear of being “shunned” by other coaches; being called “hype”, etc. It was overdue…glad to see so many people enjoy it!
Milana
January 4th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Happy New Year Milana,
I enjoyed reading your coaching manifesto report and it resonated with me at a deep level - just what I am looking for. I want to spend the next few years building business freedom and I think you have a very useful roadmap. Thanks so much!
Jim
January 4th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Excellent! The advice against the pitfall of relying on client appointments alone for income applies to other service providers, such as personal trainers, massage therapists, and psychotherapists.
The radical critique of the “professionalization” of coaching is long overdue. I believe sports coaching and voice coaching and acting coaching are better models for life and business coaching than professional counseling. In those fields, licenses and certificates are not the norm; the test is knowing how to help people do a particular thing.
January 4th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Milana,
Another brilliant bit of content! I learned a bit about repurposing in here as well as got a swift K-I-T-B to get back on track with organizing my plan and always always asking the questions:
Is this the best use of my time and Is there something else I could or would rather be doing that will get me where I want to go.
Thanks for this and the timing could not have been better.
Gregory
January 4th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I so admire you how you give it all when you give. I have been working as a
coach for six years and are now moving from step one to step two. I have
judged myself many times why I move so slow, but instead of doing that I see
myself at least still moving forward and have learned a lot. I am in your
coaching millionaire program and am slowly moving forward there as well. And you help me set my goals.
Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge. I am very grateful for that.
Warmly,
Evakarin
January 4th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
Milana,
You are so right about working with people who are ready and willing to pay for coaching as a way to solve their problems or reach their goals! Ready and willing is key to success!
Career Strategist,
Kimberly
January 5th, 2008 at 1:14 am
HI Milana from Israel-
I read, enjoyed and was intrigued by the “Manifesto”…it is not the first time I have read your material. I have always enjoyed it, not always did I feel it was relevant, but this time I felt a bit more intrigued and so I enrolled for the telesummit-
I found myself sharing some of what Joe Passage from Holland wrote above. We are even a smaller country with MANY people studying coaching. I have been a full-time coach for 4 years (did my training), following an international business career of 15 years (I am originally from the US and spent 5 years in the Far East as well). I believe I am considered by many as a “successful coach”, having coached over 2000 hours and a few hundred people, mostly one on one and the rest in mastermind groups, a concept I am developing strongly right now. I am touched by the value I have produced for clients and that, indeed, is why I came to coaching in the first place. I have a website which has served me moderately well, a monthly article, new column in a very local newspaper, a newsletter and am an active networker. My vision is strong and clear and yet…much of what you have written is true of me as well- how well am I really leveraging the different facets and aspects open to me?How well am I leveraging myself financially? Not very well, I’m afraid…
But here is the thing: although Israel is a very technological country in so many ways, so much of what ” American coaching” (if there is such a thing) seems to be about what I see so little or none of in Israel: ezines, cds, teleclasses, e- books, group coaching calls, books and more books on the same topics- who has the time to buy and read al this stuff anyway? And how many books on the same topic with a very small angle shift does our world really need anyway? Are we writing books just to say , ” I have a book so interview me on the radio…”???
In Israel the technique seems to be like this- if you have been coaching for a time open a coaching school and you will have lots of money and fame…well, does a population of 7 million really need 40+ and growing coaching schools? What does THAT do to the credibility of our profession? And how many hours of real “trench coaching” (yes, that one on one stuff that we are trying to expand on)- do these coaching “gurus” really have? Sure, we all want to expand but there is no escaping the essence and the deep-seated importance of the one on one coaching that can change a person’s life and make a difference- is that not the reason that most of us came to coaching in the first place?
I am a semi-technological person- I use internet and e mail all the time but get tired of just sitting around with computer screens and gadgets. I am proud to be a coach because it is so “down to earth”, and so much of what is “virtual” does not really seem that way to me…
So to wrap this up- I admire your work and innovatiion Milena, am intrigued and attracted to much of what you say, and yet I am not attracted and even deterred by what may or may not be lurking right over us with all this…
Thank you for your pizzaz and “chutzpah”- looking forward to hearing the telesummit-
Ronnie
January 5th, 2008 at 9:14 am
Hey, Ronnie. Great comments, thanks for sharing your thoughts from another part of the world!
A couple of thoughts on what you said…
Since coaching can be done over the phone, there is no reason to limit yourself to a specific geographical location. I’ve seen many coaches feel the constraints of a certain city, state, or country…economy, people, culture, traditions, and other factors influence coaching. It doesn’t need to be that way. You’re free to coach anywhere in the world.
The purpose of developing products is three-fold:
- Create credibility on a certain subject
- Leverage yourself by creating different ways of getting the benefit of your expertise
- Grow a company that doesn’t rely on your presence
And, it doesn’t even have to be complicated in terms of technology…It can be on paper, CDs, and DVDs, any way to capture your value outside of you.
Otherwise, what are you building? Will it last?
Again, thanks for raising some interesting points, Ronnie, and congratulations on becoming a success in one of the smallest countries in the world!
Milana
January 5th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Milana- thanks- I totally agree with your 3 points:
Create credibility on a certain subject
- Leverage yourself by creating different ways of getting the benefit of your expertise
- Grow a company that doesn’t rely on your presence
I think the real challenge is how to do this in such a way that you:
Don’t keep rehashing the same thing as everyone else (see how many thousands of times we read about the law of attraction, for example)
That what we are leveraging is really our expertise and not our marketing hype (see how many times we get e mails out of nowhere selling us stuff we don’t need)
And the business that runs without us is really worthy of that- a business that has our true value, expertise and “essence” and does not become a pile of auto-contracted, virtual assisted, teleclassed, laser-coahced and people who have “trained” with us for a weekend and so on…I think coaching is one of those professions that are really from the “heart” and really quite “personal”. That is where the value is created- is is really quite different than most other types of consultancy, if you ask me. So we have our work cut out for us to be creative, be economical but not at the expense of what are value is really all about…
January 5th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Hello Milana,
After reading your manifesto my first reaction was - there are many points in it reflecting the daily life of many coaches, and there are many advices which sound quite good.
My second reaction was - are you Milana doing what you are preaching?
Is your practice mostly full of non-coaches, as you suggest other coaches to have?
Do you have books, teleseminars,CDs, teleseminars etc. etc, bringing real value and being widly and successfully sold to hundreds and thousands of people other than coaches?
I would really appreciate you answering these question
and I’m sure your answer will be an honest one,
Best regards,
Giselle.
January 5th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Hi Giselle,
Great question! Actually, I don’t consider myself a coach, but rather an entrepreneur who provides business solutions to the coaching market. Going back to the roots of my business, I started out as a web designer. I spent several years building a web design business, and noticed that many of my clients are coaches who desperately tried to build their practice online.
After working with coaches as a web designer and learning a lot about this field, I expanded into providing other services and solutions to the same target audience.
The problem I see with coaches coaching coaches is that they never leave the field. They complete coach training then become mentors to other coaches based on nothing but coach training itself.
Ronnie also raises some interesting points…rehashed materials…true business value without being there…absolutely possible! The key is in YOU (remember the “X” factor? it also applies to your personal story, background, emotions, etc.) and how other people can relate to you. Someone might hear about law of attraction a thousand times, but when they hear it from YOU, they’ll say, “Wow, I never saw it put it this way, she’s really good”
So, personality in business is important, and capturing it in products and in process is very important. Toni Robbins, Brian Tracy, Donald Trump…their businesses can function without them. Donny Deutch (the guy who runs “The Big Idea” TV show) is, on the other hand, irreplaceable…that’s because the brilliance of his business is in his interviewing style.
I am not saying that you should stop coaching and start creating products, not at all! All I am suggesting is that capturing your coaching process in a product allows you to offer it to people who a) can’t afford coaching; b) aren’t ready to hire a coach; c) don’t fit your ideal client profile, etc. It gives you a *choice* in your business.
Plus, of course, there are dozens of other promotional benefits of having created a product.
Hope this helps,
Milana
January 5th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
This is the BEST piece of information I have received regarding the pros and cons of the coaching business. You are so very true in that Coach Training provides you with just that - training. It is a value-added tool to cultivate your acres of diamonds. It does not teach you one thing about business.
It is incumbent upon everyone who desire to operate as a business should develop and implement systems, procedures, policies and processes. And, if you are having a difficult time writing these material for these documents - contact the Business school of your local university. A graduate student just might like to earn some extra cash and take this on as a project and at the same time receive a grade for it.
Prior to entering into Coaching, I owned and operated two very successful businesses - the same guidelines for operations and generating revenue applied then; it also applies now to coaching. I also would like to add that when you engage the services of an independent contractors/team members, make sure you have a ‘teaming agreement’ in place. Thank you
January 6th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Well done, Milana… and about time, too, that someone put all of the threads together and published a coherent message. This made me enrol in the Telesummit - which I had done a two years ago, coming away with many ideas, some confusion, and the idea that most of it was not that relevant for me, given my target group (top management and business owners of 200+ employees). Plus of course I felt -still do, but to a much lesser extent- that Europe is a little different
I am not looking into creating products to “sell” to that target group - that’s just not what I gave up my previous career for. I love and thrive on the live interaction with highly motivated clients who have great ambitions. BUT: I can (and will) produce “products” to attract media interest, so that I am being invited to the right type of conferences, getting interviewed by the right people and magazines, or being asked to contribute to business dailies.
Can’t wait to see what I will come away with from this year’s summit!
January 6th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Milana, here’s my new years blessing to you:
I bless you with tremendous successful in 2008,
inner and outer abundance and
healing power# (even for those coaches that groom dogs!).
I’m really looking forward to the summit!
More blessings
Peter Guess
“Accelerating Change through Business, Life & Career Coaching”
#ps: I see myself as a healer even though I do simple things like performance and career coaching. The healing work, for me, is about moving beyond the barriers (real or perceived in our lives), inspiring people to take those leaps into th unknown, balance on the edges of life viewing the golden vistas and helping to liberate the potential for change.
January 6th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Milana,
Thank you for your voice, your rebellious streak and your continued work for the coaching profession. I have read you manifesto eagerly and agree that most coaches are not being enough of a business person to truly succeed. I hope your attention to this will help bring it to the forefront. I have worked with dozens of beginning coaches and have to disagree with your statement on page 40 that says moving through the stages is a process that happens naturally. I believe that each coach needs to carefully take stock of his/her knowledge and skills and take the action needed to fill the gaps in either coaching skills or business acumen. Those coaches who get stuck at a certain level are most often those who have not done this work. Thank you again for making the discusion clear and relevant. I look forward to the summit.
Warmly,
Janet Slack
“Helping Coaches Build Business”
January 7th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Hi Milana,
Exciting and intriguing your message! I like the way you challenge “traditional” marketing practices and I thank you for giving to me ideas for the future.
I am at the beginning, I am building my practice after successfully graduated a great Coaching school - International Coach Academy - I enjoyed very much all I learned, my life is already different, but I can see is not enough for starting a successful business.
I completely agree with you when you say: no matter how good the school, it only gives us tools and it is still up to us to build the coaching practice in the most sustainable way we can.
I cannot wait to participate at your Coaching Telesummit 2008!
Cheers,
Mariana
www.yesYOUcan.be
January 7th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Dear Milana
Thanks for your kindness. Your ability to give so much left me without words.
I took a lot of staff for my own business and also for my colleagues.
Thanks so much for the manifesto it’s brilliant. I thought that as a former CEO of a software house I knew a lot and then you came and toaught me new tricks and a lot of common sence, some which I wasn’t familiar with.
My main coaching tool is interactive coaching and I find that many things that you wrote are strongly alive and kicking in that tool - my clients can work while I am sleeping and visa versa.
I want to invite you to be our guest in Israel and to share your knowledge and wisdom with us. We just had Deepak Chopra with us…..
Your journey is a one of kindness, wisdom and sharing. I love it and I identify with it.
Again Thank you very much
Best regards and keep sending brilliant staff like that.
Shachar
January 7th, 2008 at 9:59 am
Hi Milana
I read your book with excitment knowing it will answer alot of the problems I am facing in my coaching business. I knew it straight away just by the title of the book.
I have to say last year was not a good time for my coaching business specially financially spent hours and months looking for other infomation that will help me be more focus for 08, checked my emails and there was your book and downloaded it there and then and read it
Being based in Europe (UK) i was not sure how it would benefit us in Europe just like the guy from Holland said, nevertheless it was a bonus it came at the right time. I wanted to come to the summit unable to afford it as I have to focus on getting revenue into the business for the next 12 month. With your book Iam going to hit the right notes and make it happen this year.
Q Any chance you will be able to come to UK or Europe this year and do a summit
God bless you and keep up the good work
January 7th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Thank you Milana!!! You always share such valuable information and truly have you finger on the pulse of the coaching industry! I wish I would have had this type of information 2 years ago before I spent thousands of dollars in a coach training program that promised I would make $100k in my first year. Although I did learn applicable coaching methods, it seems that coach school was always pushing more products, which got annoying. You offer true, solid, applicable information on the coaching industry and how to become successful. I pass along your info to all my coach friends.
I agree with the posted comment that life/business coaching should follow the models of voice coaching, sports coaching, etc and less on a professional counseling model.
I truly enjoy working one on one with my clients, however, I do see how it can lead to burn out. Thank you for sharing valuable ideas on how to add income!
Once again thank you!!!
January 8th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Milana,
Beautifully written and well thought through.
I am a non-coach who became coach certified last year. For the past 20 years I have owned a successful consulting practice grossing 6 digits devoted to leadership and team development and developmental group facilitation.
I took two years off to recover from burn-out because I exhausted myself exchanging time for dollars.
I am now taking 20 years of proprietary experience and looking at helping others work with my tools so that they too can do well working with business, education, family and not-for-profit group niches.
My website is the banana you wrote about. Companies who have hired TIGERS in the past have had to know a lot about what we do before making initial contact. Good business has come from the web and I was one of the first female owned companies using the web for brochure marketing back in 1987. To have a website back then, you had to hook-up with a University or another business because web real estate was quite small. It was hard to get your own URL.
What your Manifesto has opened for me is the conversion of a few of my pages to a tastefully automated selling process. I am carefully evaluating this now because nothing is more offensive to me and the level of leader I work with than loud, verbally extreme sales pitches with bold colorful lettering and hyper-language. So the balance is between offering tasteful, valuable context and getting right to the point. And, your advice regarding leverage has me searching for the right copywriter now.
Bottom line — I think you are right on target. I’m still scratching my head as to where you got my e-mail address … I have a lot to learn from you.
Warmly,
Dianne
January 9th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Hello Milana
I’m an executive coach, focusing on women business owners. I’m enjoying your telesummit, the first time I participate in one.
I’ve read your book “How to coach millions” and got trillion ideas about this industry. Thank you!
As my passion and niche is pushing women going forward in their businesses, I’ve put up an global search and networking (social network) for professional business women. The site is www.Connected-Women.com and we already got among other professions, coaches from all over the world registered. I would like to use the opportunity for women coaches to use the site to promote them self, their service, niche. Participate in our global forums and take part building up strong female leaders in the world.
As you talk about, you need to be visual and have clear niche in order to succeed. To use the great part of using the Internet, both with coaches own good web site, and to register on networking site like Connected-Women.com to be visual world wide.
I welcome all female coaches who are find it interesting to get more business world wide,to register at Connected-Women.com, connect with other coaches and even finding new clients!
Thanks for your great work for coaches!
Virtual hugs from Iceland
January 9th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Niche-Niche-Niche…….Yes
I have ben resisting it forever.
How do I decide? Can I have more than one niche?
January 9th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Thank you Milana
Informative and inspiring telesummit.
January 9th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
Hi Milana,
Just want to thank you for having me as one of your speakers on today’s Telesummit ‘08 kick-off call. I throughly enjoyed myself. Here’s my talk boiled down into three words: Built your list!
January 9th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Milana,
Your manifesto resonates with me, and the experts today took it a step further offering little gems of insight - some that I’d forgotten - that will help me tweak my plan for greater success.
The gems were: focus on the problems, build relationships, leverage social networking technologies, follow one business model that works for you, and build a business not a practice.
I look forward to part 2. By the way, I like this format. I could never listen to all the experts before. This is doable and fits my schedule. Good concept. I may do this in my own niche.
January 10th, 2008 at 2:44 pm
Milana:
Thank you for your Coaching Manifesto. I found it a great companion tool to your book, “Coaching Millions.” Your book was recommended to me last month. I devoured it overnight and have read it a second time recently. I graduated from a coaching program last summer, have my business ready to launch, but the dollars aren’t coming in. My mentor coach says it is too early to niche, so I am not getting any support there. However, I know I need to niche. I conducted the exercise on page 30 of your book and have made a list of 14 possible niches. I am having trouble deciding which niche to pursue with the 23 questions from page 42. Can you suggest any other questions, exercises, or sources to help me narrow my niche choices and choose the right one? I think sometimes my entepreneurial spirit keeps opening me up to so many possibilities that directing it into a few niches to consider is difficult. Thank you in advance for any direction you can offer!
Kay
January 10th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Hi Kay and others who are looking for more help on choosing a niche market. I’m going to share with you a document that I am using in my Coaching Business Mastery program at http://www.coachingbusinessmastery.com because I think it’ll really help:
http://newcoachingmanifesto.com/files/science_of_niche.pdf
It contains many examples of niche markets to get your creative juices flowing, and several other ideas and exercises.
Milana
January 10th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Milana:
You are truly a gift! I’ve read your book, the manifesto and participated in yesterday’s call. You have a refreshingly direct, laser sharp focus that was mirrored by each of your guests. I was inspired and educated by all of you. I look forward to learning more from this “circle” of successful, gifted and talented people as I build my own coaching business.
You have my deepest respect and gratitude!
January 10th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Milana,
I practically never read this kind of material. But you produced a very serious work about coaching business, and I thank you very much for that. It emphasized some points I am turning around for a few years. The niche question… The fact you have to engage a client in a step-by-step process… I sure will follow some of your advice. Your manifesto reinforce my will
Of course, the situation is slightly different here, in France. People like to see each other so I am not sure they will spend money for phone calls and video material. Anyway yout strategic thinking about coaching business do worth it.
Best regards
Marc, from Paris, France
January 14th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Hi, Milana,
I am impressed by the clarity of the content of the manifesto. It answered many questions and validated important points I’ve had. The importance of defining our coaching niche and the title, changing our mind-set in terms of income potential and choosing business model based on our personal qualities and requirements can’t be underestimated. I’m in the early start-up phase and your advice is undeniably priceless.
Thank you,
Erika
P.S
I can’t pass up an opportunity to mention your story in “Coaching Millions” about standing in line to buy bananas. I am an immigrant from Russia myself and couldn’t relate more. In fact, when my friend came to US a year after I did (1989-90), she couldn’t stop eating those bananas for two days strait.
January 16th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Milana, thanks for asking me to participate in the telesummit. Your Manifesto is fabulous, and a must-read for all coaches. It’s so important for coaches to understand what it really takes to build a successful practice. A desire to help people and developing strong coaching skills are just the beginning. When you launch a coaching practice, you are starting a business, and you need to develop a powerful set of business and marketing skills and tools as well. Thanks for sharing so many of your secrets with our community.
– C.J.
January 17th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Hi, Milana,
Thanks for the call. I found it very interesting and useful. I also think the New Coaching Manifesto has many aspects not covered on the call. One is how you want to create a business, not a practice.
I have some links on the comments I made on the ca in a blog article. Here is the URL: http://newcoachconnection.com/blog/?p=65
Okay, appreciate what you have given to the coaching community.
Warmly,
Don
February 11th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Milana, I began my coaching practice less than 1 yr. ago and have been someone frustrated and overwhelmed with ALL the information on doing and growing this business. As you mentioned in the manifesto, I have read and signed-up for many ‘advise’ newsletters… So far your manifesto has been the best read I have had about building and growing my business, or maybe it just came at a time when I needed and was ready to read it. Whichever, I have much work to do. I thank you.
March 19th, 2008 at 9:07 am
Milana, I started as a coach several years ago, in 2003. Since then, like many new coaches, I have been overflowded with lots of information about how to run and develop a business. The 2 best things that I read in all these years about coaching were “The Portable Coach”, by Thomas Leonard, about the importance of developing very strong personal foundations (in particular as a coach!) and “Multiple Streams of Coaching Income”, by Andrea J. Lee, both respectively the founder and the former general manager of Coachville. In third chronological position, but at the same level of importance, I put now your New Coaching Manifesto and your first book, “Coaching Millions”.
This new book of yours and the New Coaching Manifesto are really a “must read” for every coach, either new or with some experience. In both the Manifesto and the book, you write things that everybody, coaches and clients alike, should know about the coaching profession / business. I also found many things that I had been feeling for some time, but you are the first one who has the courage to say it loudly - for example that the classical coaching model of 1o1 coaching can be draining and end up in burnout, because too much additional work is involved in running the business, or that the clients can be quite difficult. Thanks also for stressing the necessity of creating value for your clients in the form of tangible results in one, or several, specific niche(s) or area(s). There is still a lot of work to do in order to educate the potential clients on that one!
I live between France and Switzerland (almost on the border), in 2 countries where even coaches don’t know how to develop services and products apart from 1o1 coaching. Here, the words like teleclasses and group coaching are still unknown, and only a small handful of coaches have a blog. In France, many coaches still prevail themselves of representing the psychoanalytical tradition. In this context, proposing coaching not face to face, but through the phone and the Internet seems totally exotic. Coaches here consider themselves as being highly specialized if they do corporate coaching, as opposed to life coaching. The notion of niche is not even discussed, and all the coaches I have tried to discuss with about that say that they would be afraid of narrowing their choice of clients if they would get specialized in a specific niche. Needless to say, the vast majority of coaches here are just struggling for survival, and many of the coaches that I have encountered in the last years have already left the arena after 2 or 3 years.
For my part, I have come to a point where I avoid mentioning that I am a coach, as I don’t want to be identified to all the unsuccessful coaches that you meet nowadays at every corner in France or Switzerland. I say that I am an “infopreneur, coach & tele-trainer”, which is an exact description of what I am really doing. I am currently developing my business more or less according to the product funnel that you and Andrea Lee describe, and this will certainly benefit also from all the valuable insights in your Manifesto and in your book “Coaching Millions”.
There is just one point in your “New Coaching Manifesto” that I don’t agree with. It is true that many people who were never trained as coaches are highly successful with integrated systems incorporating several kings of info-products and what they call coaching. It is also true that they are successful because their clients know that they will get tangible and specific results in a well-defined area or niche. But I don’t consider that these people are really coaches. I think that what they provide under the label “coaching” belongs more to the areas of counselling, mentoring, consulting or individual training - and that it is not “real” coaching.
But what is “real” coaching ? ? ?
And why are so many trained coaches still afraid of applying just the same business development strategies ? ? ?
Pascale Cotton
http://expat-coaching.blogspot.com