Life Coach Gets More Clients by Being the Leader
Take control and be the leader
You've probably heard the phrase "Its better to work ON your business than IN your Life Coach business" but you probably just heard it and kept on regardless. The thing is, principle, you won't have a business, you'll have a job, and be an 84 hour a week job too!
You want a personal satisfaction machine - a Life Coach duty that works for you, not you working all the hours God sends for it. And the only way to do this is to be the business owner and lead/direct the practice, not wash the plates, answer the calls, make the appointments and see the clients as well. Yet that's likely what you're doing right now, yes?
Your role is to be the visionary, the innovator, the marketer, the leader. Every hour you spend just dealing with clients is actually costing you financially, emotionally and mentally. If you keep doing the everyday "administrivia", then you'll never be able to take time out.
So many Therapists and Coaches struggle with this. So they continually struggle to get where they vaguely imagine they'll get to. And that's OK if you want to have your sleeves rolled up being very busy doing everything on your ever expanding 'to do' list.
The hope you had was the freedom and pride of owning your own Life Coach Practice and being an entrepreneur.. Yet how much harder do you actually work now compared to before? Watching TV but dwelling on your business. Reading a book but going back over that same paragraph cos you're still putting off marketing yourself
What you've created is a 12 - 16 hour day job laden with grunt work and admin, for probably not much more fulfillment than a "normal job".
Action Step Make a list of every task and action you take this week. Note which ONE takes up most of your time in a day. The sooner you can delegate, systematise and automate as many daily Life Coach functions as you possibly can the better. Look at what you do in a day - who could do that for you, with minimal training? What technology or software could streamline certain tasks? Make the effort to break free from that one biggest time-consuming task, freeing you up to work on the bigger picture of growing your Practice.
Hire a PA or a apprentice for 10 an hour. Sure that might cost you 50 a week, but how many new Life Coach clients would you get if you spent 5 hours a week on marketing, and how many hours would that free up as a result? Do some sums.
Have a read at the Systems department in http://www.fullpractices.com which contains a plethora of tips on how to find easier ways to achieve what needs to be done.
Your biggest responsibility is to be the business owner. You own the Life Coach garage, you're not the mechanic. Your job is to lead, innovate and promote. Do that and you're on a gradually improving route to greater efficiency, deeper fulfillment and a bustling practice.
Jonathan teaches a complete step by step marketing strategy to help new and veteran Life Coaches & Therapists build a full practice of paying clients. For more see http://www.fullpractices.com
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/
Added: July 19, 2008