Tomorrow's
Life Coach
Volume 2 Issue 7 : July 2003
In This Issue: Passive Revenue
Upcoming Classes at ILCT
Pat's Ponderings/New Affiliate Program ~
Pat Williams
Editor's Pen ~ Annette Miller
Power of Residual Income-How to Double your
Income & Double your Time Off ~ Ken Keis
The Top 10 Reasons to Self-Publish Your Own Written
Material ~ Dr. James S. Vuocolo
5 Steps to Passive Income with E-books ~ Alexandria
Brown
Announcement ~ Register Now for CRG's 3-day "Train-the-Coach/Trainer
Workshop"
Powerful Passive Prosperity From Your Very First
E-Course ~ Alan Fuller
The 24/7 Employee ~ Darren Miller
Upcoming
Classes at ILCT
Foundational Coach Training for Therapists
starts July 15
starts August 12
Foundational Coach Training for Christian
Counselors
starts October 6
Coaching Skills Practicum - starts July
2
Focus-Skills-Attitudes & Habits - starts
July 8
Business Wheel - starts July 8
Practice Made Perfect - starts July 10
Group Coaching - starts October 8
Computer Savvy/Computer Skills - starts
September 4
Using the DISC and the PIAV in Coaching
- starts September 3
Simply Coaching - starts September 3
Executive Coaching and Development - starts
September 8
Click
here for additional classes, details and online registration.
Some schedules may change; check listing or contact Edwina
Adams, Administration/Registration, at edwina@lifecoachtraining.com or
Diane Menendez, Director of Faculty and Curriculum, at diane@lifecoachtraining.com.
Newsletter Receives Praise
"One of the best free newsletters, Tomorrow's
Life Coach consists of well-researched, informative articles
on a variety of key topics for coaches. While a publication
of the Institute for Life Coach Training, many of the articles
are written by other well-known coaches. Highly recommended
by Peer Resources (www.peer.ca/coaching.html)."
Pat's
Ponderings
Dear Coaching Colleagues:
This issue of TLC is focusing on creating passive revenue streams.
As you grow your coaching business, it is really powerful to begin
to leverage your self and other services and products that you believe
in to generate passive income. But remember, passive income, does
not mean passive marketing or effort. There is much "action" to make
income "passive."
Read this month's newsletter for ideas that fit within your integrity
and business purpose.
And here is one idea for you that helps both of us. I have initiated
a new affiliate program on our website. If you sign up to
be an affiliate (free) you will get a private link code to send to
people you know who you think would benefit from our classes and products
at ILCT. I will pay you a 10% referral fee for every class or product
we offer. As an example that would be a $199.50 commission if someone
you refer who signs up for our Foundational Course.
To sign up as an affiliate, go to www.lifecoachtraining.com.
Follow the directions on the form. It's that easy!
So, help great candidates for our coach training program find us,
and I will help you have passive income! I hope you will consider
the ease of this possibility!
Happy coaching!
Pat
Patrick Williams Ed.D., MCC
Chief Energizing Officer, ILCT
Department Chair, Professional Coaching
International University of Professional Studies
(www.iups.edu)
Editor's
Pen ~ Focus: Passive Revenue
Passive revenue is a hot topic in the coaching
world! The term is used for products that generate revenue for you
without you being personally active at the time of delivery, such
as books, e-courses, audio recordings, etc. With advantages in technology
and creative marketing, there will always be something more to learn
about passive revenue. Our articles presented in this issue will
stimulate and support you in this important income stream.
Next month's focus is "adding speaking to your services" and
we need 2-3 more contributors (please contact me right away; deadline
is July 30).
September's issue will be on affiliations/partnerships. We are soliciting
success stories from coaches who have benefited from business affiliations
with health clubs, massage therapists, financial planners, business
consultants, etc. And, we are interested in articles about partnerships
between coaches that have complimentary niches/skills. Please send
your suggestions and/or articles!
Your editor,
Annette
Annette A. Miller, MBA, Life Coach
annette@lifesync.com
Editor, Tomorrow's Life Coach
Graduate, ILCT
President, LifeSync Coaching (www.lifesync.com)
Authorized Affiliate, Extended DISC of North America--The world's
fastest growing assessment system!--NOW OFFERING VIRTUAL CERTIFICATION!
The
Power of Residual Income - How to Double your Income and Double
your Time Off
If, as you are reading this article, it was determined you are unable
to work for the next six months, would that result in financial
catastrophe? Only you can answer that question. The research is
clear, however; the majority of people would not have enough money
to sustain themselves without income for a half-year.
A couple of years ago, I attended a conference. The speaker, a friend
of mine, had just turned 75. Still traveling 100 days a year, the
man looked weary and worn out. I asked him why, after three decades
in the profession, he was still traveling so much. He said he was
his whole business; without his presence, alive and in person, he
had no business. He had no choice; he had to work.
There are positive alternatives to that scenario. If you make the
right choices and select the right strategies today, you may not
be obligated to work beyond the time you wish to do so.
I have been in business-part of the consulting, training, and coaching
industry, for over 20 years-watching, being mentored, and learning
the key strategies to long-term practice and organizational success.
The most successful and, in many cases, the most fulfilled individuals,
know their practice and business can not rely solely on their personal
presence. Creating residual income is a sound and critical business
strategy. That means you earn money while you sleep or go on vacation.
I learned my lesson the hard way; I conducted over 1200 presentations
and consulting/coaching days in a 6-year period, traveling more
than 250 days a year. The day I stopped traveling is the day my
income ended.
Not much of a legacy or residual income.
That is why in my current company, I am so passionate about our
residual or passive income model that coaches can tap into; I know
what it's like not to have residual income and I want others to
be able to choose that option.
What is residual or passive income? Simply put, it is income/revenue
earned that does not require your presence to continue to earn it
. . . revenue that would still arrive if you didn't go to work today.
Every coach, consultant, professional, and even organization needs
to consider this as an essential practice or investment strategy.
Why? Think of the alternative-my 75-year-old friend who still has
to work. He created himself no other choices. Don't let that happen
to you.
In the business investment world, rental real estate would qualify
as residual income. Interest from a bond or GIC is passive income.
To clarify, most passive income sources still require a certain
amount of management. Although the income is earned without additional
effort from you, somebody still has to collect the rent checks.
Mind Set
A coaching practice should not just be about "coaching." Rather,
it should focus on how well the business/practice model serves its
owners to fulfill their purpose, as well as the results (not activities)
the practice produces for its clients. Residual income is there
to serve you, and at the same time, serve your clients. How? It
gives you choices you did not have before.
- Have you ever known a coach who took on a client because s/he
needed the money?
- When you were short on business, did you wonder how you would
pay your bills at the end of the month?
- Have you wanted to fire a client but kept him because you "had
to"?
- Did you need a two-week break but could not take it because
you "had to work"?
If any of the above are true for you, it's time to retool your business
model. It does not matter whether you are a sole practitioner, building
a business, or are part of a non-profit organization; the principles
equally apply.
Residual Income: Some Options
You have two choices-create your own residual income or link with
someone else who already has a residual income model. During a conference
with a Master Marketer for professional speakers/coaches/consultants,
I learned that at least 50 percent-he felt 80 percent was very achievable,
and he personally was close to 90 percent-of your gross revenue
should come from products or residual income and not from the "time
for money" (your personal coaching services) model.
I agree with his numbers.
So where do you start? You can start by considering creating your
own residual income sources. Authorship or product royalties are
the most common residual income basis for coaching/educational professionals.
You can write a book, newsletter, assessment tools (the founder
of our company has collected residual authorship royalties for our
assessment tools for 18+ years), curricula, and audio and video
tapes. Today online items such as e-books, special reports, online
tips, online audio, ezines, and other items; once produced, they
can be delivered over and over without your direct involvement.
First, determine what you can offer to the market that has value
and that adds value. Many coaches might limit themselves to personal
coaching and believe that other offerings do not add value.
Get rid of those thoughts right now!
We all know the research-it takes repeated exposure to a concept,
strategy, or behavioral modification before it will take hold. You
have no right to say "NO" on behalf of your clients-let them choose.
Most will want support materials and information that they are more
than willing to purchase; please don't deny them your best information.
Note: There is only one caveat in these statements-I am assuming
that what you bring to the marketplace adds value and is of a high
quality. No residual offering will work long term if it has little
value.
Today's technology allows us to do things not possible just a few
years ago. I suggest you record your live presentations or the public
phone teleconferences where you are the leader. This can be done
on any computer, right from your phone or sound system. You are
now building your library of potential offerings. We personally
use a program called Sound Forge Studio http://www.soundforge.com;
it costs about $70 and it's all you need.
Patrick Williams uses Audio Podium, a third party service to record
teleseminars. If you are uncomfortable with this technology, go
to any high school or college; you will find many individuals able
to assist you.
The kind of information that can be turned into residual income
is amazing. Here is a personal example. I had created a PowerPoint
slide show for a one-day program. Before long many of our clients
were asking for it. They felt using it would make them appear more
professional; it also was much cheaper for them to buy it than create
it on their own. Now we plan to create several more versions to
support all the curricula we offer.
The quickest way to get started on the residual income path is to
link with someone else's offering while you are developing your
own. Look for services, products, and offerings that complement
your practice or organization and that add value to the process.
Don't add something just because it makes money; add it because
it adds value and makes sense to your clients.
If you decide to access other resources for your clients' benefit,
make sure some sort of tracking system is in place to permanently
acknowledge you as the lead-generator. Ensure that your agreement
includes that safeguard. In the past, I have seen coaches' clients
go directly to the primary resource-cutting the coach out of the
deal and out of the residual income.
If you source the right solution, with the right agreements you
can add a significant percentage to your revenues in a relatively
short period of time.
Don't be fooled that success in this arena comes without effort.
You will need to promote your offers and give it energy. We know
of one non-profit group that now earns thousands of dollars annually
through a residual income partnership now being offer to their constituents.
There is much more we could say about the details of residual income
offerings, such as margins, inventory, selection criteria, continuance
programs, etc., but this will at least get you acquainted with the
concept and perhaps motivate you to improve your future.
Don't overwhelm yourself with all the possibilities. Simply make
a decision to include the residual income strategy in your business/organizational
model. If there is another strategy to double your income and double
your time off please let us know about it.
But don't wait (as I did) for 10 years for perfect timing or the perfect
product. Just get started, now! You'll be glad you did!
Ken Keis, MBA. is President and CEO of
Consulting Resource Group, a global publishing company offering
transformational print and online assessments and learning solutions
for coaching and consulting professionals to use with their
clients. CRG has also created a proprietary residual income
model and software that assists coaches and organizations to
establish or enhance their residual income revenue.
The Top 10 Reasons
to Self-Publish Your Own Written Material
You can become a "self-publisher" by taking your material (book, manual,
report, newsletter, etc.) and by-passing all the "middlemen" by going
directly to a printer and handling all the marketing and distribution
of the product yourself. As a self-publisher you invest your talent,
time, energy and money. The benefits you receive are entire control
over your product and all the profits! Here is a condensed version
of 10 good reasons why you should self-publish.
1. Self publishing may be the only way to get published. You may not
be able to get anyone to professionally look at your idea. Self-publishing
may be your only realistic solution at a given point in time.
2. As a self-publisher you get to keep all of the profits from your
sales. It's not a matter of greed; but ask yourself why you might
settle for 4%-6% in royalties from a publishing company when you can
have it all!
3. You have absolute marketing and editing control when you self-publish.
According to a Writer's Digest poll, 60% of the largest publishing
firms do the final editing; 23% select the final title; 20% will not
even consult an author on the cover design, and 37% do not involve
authors in promoting their own material.
4. Major publishers may receive up to several hundred manuscripts
a week. Unless the have already published your work, the odds they
will even look at your material aren't very high. There are thousands
upon thousands of manuscripts, etc. being sent to publishers continually.
5. When you self-publish you are in control every step of the way.
By depending on another publisher to make things happen for you, you
take the chance of never getting anywhere.
6. By self-publishing you gain a different perspective. You will be
able to see the complete marketing picture from a publisher's point
of view, and gain the credibility of "walking the talk" regarding
something creative that you believe in.
7. Self-publishing will save you valuable time. Even if a publisher
did accept your work, it takes an average of 18 months before the
first copy reached the market place. This can become a toleration,
especially if you can't afford to miss a market that may quickly pass
by.
8. Self-publishing eliminates the waiting and wondering. Waiting for
a letter from a publisher that may never come can be a frustrating
and embarrassing experience. Self-publishing is a proactive process!
9. You get more directly involved in the entire process. When you
self-publish and get more directly involved in marketing you will
obtain a more total business picture, and develop greater skills than
you otherwise would have.
10. As a self-publisher you will receive greater business tax advantages.
This can be important - especially if it means off-setting some of
the income received from the sale of your work; something royalties
alone cannot provide!
© 1997 by James S. Vuocolo. All rights reserved. This list may
be reproduced and distributed without change, and with proper attribution.
You may email the author at: jim@LifeCoachConsulting.com
Dr. James S. Vuocolo, Master Certified Coach, Certified Mentor Coach
and Certified Executive Coach, is a core faculty member and Director
of Practice Development at ILCT. Jim enjoys an international coaching
practice as President of Life Coach Consulting, and is an ordained
minister in the United Church of Christ. He is the author of numerous
articles, books, e-courses and booklets about coaching and related
topics, and has designed a 12-week advanced course and forthcoming
book called, "Practice Made Perfect (tm): Marketing Your Coaching
Business for Maximum Success!"
5
Steps to Passive Income with E-books
Is there passive income in your future? There will be if you write
and sell an informational e-book (or manual, special report, or
workbook).
E-books are great to sell because:
- they're easy and free to create
- they're easy to sell (no shipping involved)
- they're free to update anytime. Information that sells especially
well helps the reader solve a problem, or shows her how to accomplish
something (e.g. how to increase sales, ace an interview, lose weight).
But think about how your e-book can complement your current offerings.
For example, a workbook or journal could walk your clients or prospects
through your success program themselves.
Steps to E-Publishing Success:
1. Write Your E-book
Write your manuscript first using a simple word processing software
(e.g. Microsoft Word). Once your content is done, play around with
the formatting until the document looks attractive and professional.
2. Create the PDF File
Use Adobe Acrobat to easily create a PDF (portable document format)
from your word file. Avoid "e-book compiler" programs: These may look
cool but they're not a good choice since you can't print them out,
they require the reader to clicking around a lot, and anyone on a
Macintosh will NOT be able to read your book.
3. Set Up Your Site to Sell It
Many people call this page a "landing page," since you'll be sending
prospective book buyers to this page directly. When you write your
sales copy, imagine you're taking your prospect by the hand and walking
her through WHY she should buy your book. List your table of contents,
or have a free chapter available to download or via e-mail autoresponder.
End with a compelling call to action that makes your reader feel as
if she'd be crazy not to buy your e-book right now. Also be sure to
include a guarantee and list several customer testimonials.
If you don't already have a merchant account or shopping cart that
can accept orders online, get one ASAP. People will want to be able
to purchase and download your e-book immediately and easily.
4. Choose a Winning Price
Most popular how-to e-books are selling between $27 and $97, with
the more popular range being $27 - $47. The biggest problem I see
is people underestimating the value of their work, so pick what you
think it's worth, and then raise that price!
5. Promote the Heck Out of It!
Even though they are considered passive income, e-books do not sell
themselves. Promote your new creation on your Web site, in your e-zine,
in other e-zines, via articles and excerpts, in your e-mail signature,
on your business cards, in e-mail discussion lists. Submit copies
of your e-book to appropriate online publishers for a review. For
best results, offer an affiliate program that pays your referrers
a percentage of each sale. For more information on successful e-book
promotion, see my article "Sell More Books With an E-mail Newsletter" at http://www.ezine-queen.com/sellmore.htm.
Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," is author of the
award-winning tutorial package, "Boost Business With Your Own
E-zine" (1,000+ sold already!) She is a student in the School
of Coaching and advises personal coaches on their online marketing
strategies. To learn more and sign up for her FREE tips and
teleclasses, visit her site at http://www.ezinequeen.com/.
Register
Now for CRG's 3-day "Train-the-Coach/Trainer Workshop"
When: September 4, 5 & 6
Where: Denver, Colorado
• Do you want to improve your credibility and impact with your
clients?
• Would you like a competitive edge while adding value to your
practice?
• Are you interested in developing additional residual income
from a proven business model?
If the answer is yes to any of these questions, then CRG's 3-day "Train-the-Trainer" workshop
is for you. Click
here for more details or here to
register.
"I have attended a lot of programs, and the "CRG 3-day Train-the-Trainer
Workshop" has been the best program I have ever attended or
invested in. If I only had dollars for one training event this
year, this would be it." - Kathy Anderson B.A., C.E.C.,
Personal Best Consulting & Coaching Services
Powerful
Passive Prosperity - From Your Very First E-Course
As
coaches, we sometimes forget how easy it is to generate
passive revenue. It's not a huge problem; it just takes
some creativity. Once your creativity is stirred, it jumps
an extra level. Once the juices flow, you can't stop. Some
techniques are common, but not overused. What you bring
to it is fresh. You are a unique being with unique ideas
and unique experiences.
I started by rambling off general thoughts about life, and revising
them until they sounded like principles. Later, with fresh eyes,
I took phrasing from each principle, turned them into actions, and
ended up with a list of 21 principles. Then I titled the list. Few
people know what the title means, but that alone is good marketing
strategy - playing on the curiosity of i-don't-get-it-ers. Once
I'd created the list, I elaborated on each point. I put the course
in HTML format, dividing the principles into three sections, and
ended up with seven weeks of material.
I started talking with friends about the program, about a system
I'd innovated, and that I believed worked. E-groups I participated
in at the time included people from coaching, spiritual focus, and
specifically men with a spiritual focus. I casually mentioned the
program, geared to specific issues some of them were having. Suddenly,
I started getting massive replies.
I received numerous questions, and replied with a very casual attitude.
Then I posted a message in the e-group saying I'd like to beta test
with people from the group. I promised to email participants a teaching
license for free so they could use the program for their clients.
I had several takers from each group, and my R & D Team was
born.
Then I had another idea: conduct a tele-class on the finer points.
When it's ready, I'll plug one-to-one coaching at the end, just
like any other coach. I'll throw in a few "coaching moments" so
participants can see my coaching style.
You can also record tele-classes. Let participants know you're recording
when you invite them. That way you don't have to get anything signed.
They're calling in gives you permission to use the recording. You
can sell these as CDs, cassettes, or RealAudio for your website.
You can also record yourself without participants. You can sell
your product individually, or do several cassettes as a series.
You can also sell it as an eBook off your site, with the proper
software. This is valuable since the Client doesn't pay shipping,
and the product is instantly accessible.
These are valid marketing strategies you may not be using. It's
fine to use them; no other coach can bring to the table the same
flavor as you.
One final point: get yourself in front of as many people as possible
who are in the community you're serving, and coach. As Thomas Leonard
often said, work is for joy and adding value for the joy of it can
make almost anything happen. Let your work sell itself for you,
effortlessly.
Reverend Alan Fuller assists Christians in increasing
their prayer power and finding and fulfilling the ministry
God has for them. He received and currently continues Coach
training at CoachVille.com, and is building a massive free
resource site for Ministers and those interested in Ministry.
For more info, please visit http://destined.to/outpouring.
The 24/7 Employee
My website has become the hardest working, most devoted employee
I have. It works when I am sleeping, on vacation, in session, and
even when I am golfing. It rarely takes a break, never asks for
a raise, is rather quiet, and always does what I ask of it. The
website is vital to my practice.
Websites are essential in achieving a passive income as a Coach
today. By taking the time to understand how they work and what they
can offer your practice, you could stumble across a gold mine.
Recently, I started offering free email courses to the visitors
of my site. They ranged in content from running a pay-per-click
campaign to understanding page rankings on search engines. Needless
to say, they have been tremendously popular and have brought in
referrals.
To do this, I simply created the content for the emails once and
saved them to my web server. Next, I installed the script that would
automatically call up the content in each lesson as needed. Once
the script is installed, it was extremely easy to manage the lesson
content, frequency of delivery, and the student's information.
Here are some examples of what the script can do for you and your
coaching practice:
Sales Tool
Write multiple automated E-mail follow-ups to sell your products
and services automatically, 24hrs a day, 365 days a year!
Educational Program
Your auto responder can send a series of tutorials or reports to
your subscribers on a frequent basis, determined by you. A great
way to increase sales and traffic!
E-Zine and newsletter delivery
The auto responder's instant send feature enables you to send periodic
E-Zines and newsletters while automatically accepting and removing
registrations.
Motivational Messages
Send a series of motivational messages to clients and potential
clients with the auto responder.
There really are no limitations to the uses of an auto responder
script. It can do wonderful work for your coaching practice. Only
the most basic of web hosting packages will not have the resources
to run the script. Please check with your host or search for a hosted
version.
If you want a follow up mailing list processor such as one provided
by www.sellwide.com, your
server will need to meet these requirements:
o A web server running UNIX, Linux or Windows NT/2000
o MySQL (at least 3.23)
o Perl 5.005 or greater with your own CGI-BIN
o FTP access for installing and configuring the script
o Sendmail, Qmail, or SMTP
Visitors come to my site now and sign up for email courses, and the
script takes over. I can simply watch the referrals come in. At the
end of each day, the script sends me an email telling me who signed
up for which course. It truly is that easy! If you are looking for
a hard working, dedicated employee, I would suggest an auto responder.
Darren Miller ( Ph.D. Candidate - Counselor Education) is
the CEO of The Coaching Depot, a web design and hosting company
geared towards coaches, based in Plano, Texas. If you would
be interested in having this script installed on your server
or having the script hosted, call Darren at 866.888.1919 or
stop by http://www.coachingdepot.com for
more details.
2003 Themes (tentative)
Guidelines
for Tomorrow's Life Coach
1. Subscriptions: Please
use the form at our website, www.LifeCoachTraining.com.
2. Requests
for reprints: Share this journal freely with friends
or your community. Please respect our copyright, however.
If you wish to use any of our content in a newsletter,
magazine or other media (whether public or internal),
request permission from the editor. Authors
may purchase a reprint of their article prepared in
PDF format suitable for distribution or posting on their
website.
3. Submissions:
- Deadline is the 30th of each
month for publication the following or subsequent months.
- Articles, book/product reviews, recognition
of significant events of alumni and announcements of coaching
events (organizational or free) may be submitted for review.
Preferred length of articles is 500 words, in Word or text
format submitted by e-mail. Please include a 2-3 sentence
summary of the article.
- Topics must be of interest to the personal/professional
coaching profession and are not restricted to alumni of
the Institute for Life Coach Training.
- Advertising and listing of services and
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bio of 50 words that includes such information. Please include
any affiliation with ILCT (graduate, faculty, representative,
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- Suggestions for topics or improvements,
and recommendations of names of contributors are encouraged;
please send to the editor.
January-Personal
evolution |
May-Update
on coaching in other countries |
September-Partnerships/affiliates
with other professionals |
February-International
Coaching Week |
June-Unusual
coaching niches |
October-Developing
packages/programs |
March-Assessments |
July-Passive
revenue |
November-Therapy
and coaching |
April-Coaching
in religious institutions |
August-Adding
speaking to your services |
December-open |
Rev. 6/4/2003
Tomorrow's Life CoachTM
Patrick Williams, Ed.D., Publisher
Annette Miller, Editor, annette@lifesync.com
© 2003 Institute for Life Coach Training
www.lifecoachtraining.com
Phone: 888-267-1206
info@lifecoachtraining.com
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