Have You Just Become A Life Coach?

Here's a lesson of how to leverage the power of the Internet

Here's how it went for me...

...Another hour's worth of someone speaking on a tele-conference.

I realized that I had lost track of the conversation long ago.

This little voice in my head kept on telling me that it was about time I got off my butt and actually start doing something about my website.

There was one little problem, that had spiraled in my mind into a big ol' menacing wall.

I didn't know where to start. I didn't even know what the first step was.

My coaching instructors kept telling me to start a blog. That seemed sensible enough, so I did.

A month later, I was still at square one, I kept on writing and writing but I didn't feel it was going anywhere.

I came to the conclusion that it wasn't and that I had to change something, soon.

Not that I have anything against having a blog, it's a great way to get your feet wet and write your ideas to the world. There are lots of people that have turned blogging into an art form and a few are making tons of money from it.

At the time though, I had another idea in mind. I wanted to have a website, not just a blog.

Even though, I'd still encourage you to create your own blog. It's free, it's pretty easy and you may end up loving it. Plus, it makes sense that you start developing and practicing your writing skills. You're going to need them.

What I'm saying is, if you've become a life coach and you're still thinking about having a website, there's no better moment to start than now.

Here's why:

Why?

10 reasons why you need a website

1. There are 1,802,330,457 people using the Internet today, this number just grew from the moment you finished reading this sentence.
2. How many of those people can visit your website?
3. How else can you build a following of thousands of like minded people?
4. You can promote your ideas, and sell them
5. You can play with the big boys, no need for gigantic budgets
6. You can get paid from following your passion
7. You can save costs and keep more of your money
8. Leverage, think about it
9. Reach a local market, reach a regional market, reach a national market, reach a global market...
10. Change communication from one-to-one into one-to-many

Your first steps

I've noticed that many coaches are frozen still, fearful of making a mistake. Let me quell that fear: you will make mistakes; but you'll also learn from them, so accept that as a part of the process and get on with it.

I stumbled like a baby at first, every step I took, I fell flat on my ass. Every step was my first. Even to this day, most of the things I do, I've never done before and a lot of them have been mistakes.

I just course corrected, trusted my intuition and kept on going.

Now, I can say that I can walk without quite so much hand holding. And from then on my efforts began to pay off.

First, a warning!

Did you go after everything? If you did, you probably found yourself stuck in a quagmire where pretty soon you thought of giving up.

Or, you could have focused on a few things that were tested and that happened to work. In which case you're probably more successful today for it.

In other words, your decision was made knowing fully well what the consequences were if you followed a wild goose chase to easy riches.

You may also think to yourself, "Why bother, shouldn't I just hire a web designer and let him or her, do all of this for me?"

You could, but eventually you'll realize that the design of your website is just a part of a process.

Another, more important part of it, is the content.

It's the one thing you should control and be responsible for, even if you don't end up writing most of it.

It's like having become a life coach and then expecting someone else to do the coaching.

Why content is king...

And, it's true...

You're content is how you communicate with your audience. In case you don't realize it yet, your audience are those people that are willing to give you their time to visit your website.

This is especially important if you're building a "niche" website, which is the case if you're a life coach, business or executive coach.

I hope you're beginning to understand how important they are; if not, lets take it from the beginning.

What did you do the last time you were on the web?

Did you:

• Order a book
• Read the latest news
• Read a blog
• Looked for information about coaching

We go to websites for the content that we believe is there. We seek information to solve a problem, come up with a solution or answers our questions.

If you don't grasp this, if you don't understand the basics of how the business model works, you're liable to end up with a really expensive presentation card. One that nobody will see.

I've seen this happen many times and when I've asked, " -How many clients are you getting through your site?" The grand majority, with a saddened face, answered "None."

And that's really not cool. Because you're entitled to get much more out of your website.

The underlying principle

Content = Communication

While this article isn't about recommending any particular system, I'll share with you that I use Site Build It for this website

I'll tell you why later on.

First, lets look at the mechanics of how your website will attract visitors – that lead to inquiries, sales and customers.

The aim of your system is simple,

To attract visitors who are looking for information about coaching and which you will provide through quality website content.

After you become a life coach, this is the starting point for everything you'll do online after. And it serves two purposes:

• Attract visitors
• Position you as the expert and to get people to trust you

Most people will start with the misconception that somebody is actually looking for them. They're not.

There are millions of websites and unless you're a celebrity already, people don't know who you are.

They're looking for what you know. And you're going to give it to them by turning your knowledge into quality content.

This will attract visitors to your site, who will then start trusting and liking you and will be open to make that final decision to hire you, or buy your products, or whatever you choose to do to monetize the traffic.

As you can see, the system is simple. Not easy. You still have to do the work, nurture the relationships, communicate. But the process is straightforward and it works.

So why did I choose Site Build It?

Because it didn't promise me fast riches, and believe me I've thrown away a lot of money on those, it sold me on its system. Which is exactly the model I've discussed. No fancy bells and whistles, just a proven strategy to build a successful life coaching business online.

This made everything easier, because I could focus on developing my coaching business instead of bumbling around and possibly getting fleeced for my ignorance.

Even if you don't end up building your site using their program, you'll still get access to something that is massively more important:

• A community of people that are in just the same boat as you are, and that are willing to share their collective knowledge.
• Learning resources, case studies, forums and a step-by-step guide that practically walks you through building your site.

In my book, this alone is worth its weight in gold.

Becoming a life coach is the first step. The next step is building your website, that's entirely up to you.

Any links to your own products or services, need to be done separate from the article itself, so that your audience can clearly tell it's your own link.

And include this at the end of the article.
©2001-2009 What-IS-Coaching. All Rights Reserved.
Article written by Jean Paul Cortes.
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