Tomorrow's Life Coach
Volume 5 Issue 3 – March / April 2006

In This Issue:

• Pat's Ponderings ~ Patrick Williams, EdD, MCC
• Announcements:
  • Introduction to Coaching as a Profession
  • Pat's Coaching Forum
• Upcoming Classes at ILCT
• Where in the World is Pat Williams
• Editor's Corner ~ Annette Miller, Life Coach, MBA
• New Advanced Course Offering:
  • Coaching Mastery Seminar
• Coaching Publications
• News Update: Coaching Book Accepted in China
• Journey of the Soul: Living From the Inside Out
• What If No One Signs Up? ~ C.J. Hayden, MCC

Tomorrow's Life Coach (TLC) is a professional monthly online journal of the Institute for Life Coach Training (ILCT) that nourishes the intellect, intuition and inspiration of the personal/business coaching community. TLC continues to gain in popularity among diverse coaches and is highly recommended by Peer Resources.

Pat's Ponderings: Reflections on Being Alive

You all know by now that I am passionate about life coaching because I am passionate about purposeful and joyful living. However, I am now recuperating from a skiing accident in my beautiful Rocky Mountains. My neck was broken in two places and I am very lucky to be alive with no major damage. So, I guess I still have much to live for!

As I reflect on my fortune, then I turn to my desires to play a bigger game. I don’t create, write and teach only to have a business. Instead, I do all of this to change people’s lives, to offer them an opportunity to wake up to living beyond mediocrity. My purpose in teaching and training others is to profoundly impact the lives of those I teach and train so they (YOU) can profoundly impact the lives of those they work with.

We are all lucky to be alive. How are you living your life today?

Living Fully,
Pat

Patrick Williams Ed.D., MCC
Chief Energizing Officer, ILCT
Member, ICF Board of Directors
Dean of UKCLC - North America
Department Chair, Professional Coaching 
International University of Professional Studies

P.S. We have two specialty courses I want to bring to your attention this month that are unique offerings: Coaching Mastery and Mythic Lives –Living Our Deeper Story . Please take the time to read about these and see if you or someone you know would be perfect for either.

Announcements:

Are you thinking about becoming a coach? Would you like to add coaching to the services you offer?

Pat Williams, MCC, Founder and CEO of the Institute for Life Coach Training, is now teaching a regularly scheduled four- week teleclass:

Introduction To Coaching As A Profession
This group will meet for 60 minutes a week for four weeks on a teleconference line. All you will need is your telephone and a quiet place to listen. Upon registration you will receive a special telephone number and access code.

Date: Wednesday, June 7th
Time: 1:00 p.m. Eastern
Fee: $99
Register

During this class the following topics will be discussed:

Week 1: What is coaching? Why now? Current trends and growth of the industry, a review of professional standards, ethics, and best practices.

Week 2: Coaching Skills: A six- step coaching model, TGROW coaching model, and key coaching skills with demonstrations.

Week 3: Your marketing engine and creating niche visibility.

Week 4: The future of coaching; training opportunities; your next steps.

Pat’s Coaching Forum
We are pleased to announce we are initiating monthly calls with the founder of the Institute for Life Coach Training, Patrick Williams, MCC, in which he will discuss coaching trends, interview other coaches, and have open discussions about the coaching profession. This call is open to all individuals and we invite you to share this invitation with others.

Next month Pat will have Carolyn Miller as his special guest. She is an author, educator and personal mythologist and has created a dynamic training called "Mythic Lives: Living Your Deeper Story". ILCT is sponsoring Carolyn for up to 20 people in Fort Collins, CO.

Date of Call: May 3rd
Time of Call: 6:00 p.m. Eastern (5:00 p.m. Central, 4:00 p.m. Mountain, 3:00 p.m. Pacific)

Register for the teleconference
For more information on the workshop. (Adobe PDF file).

Expand Your Business! Deepen Your Coaching Skills!
Register for Upcoming Classes at ILCT

Foundational Courses

• Foundational Coach Training - starts April 24th and April 25th
• Foundational Coach Training for Christian Counselors  in session, next class starts October 16th

Coaching Skills & Tools

• Advanced Skills Practicum
• Group Coaching
• Ethics, Risk Management and Professional Issues
• Coaching Mastery Seminar - **NEW** - see separate article
• The Foundational Competency Practicum & Assessment Process
• Overview: Using Assessments in Coaching
• Mythic Lives - Living Your Deeper Story

Practice Building Courses

• Creating a Referral Based Business
• Practice Made Perfect: Marketing Your Coaching Business For Maximum Success

• Specialty Training in Wellness Coaching
• Relationship Coaching with Couples
• The Seasons of Change: Bringing Hope to Clients in Transition
• Body-Mind Life Coaching: Using the Body to Deepen Awareness and Forward the Action

Additional classes, details and online registration at our course section. Some schedules may change; check listing or contact Edwina Adams, Administration/Registration, at edwina@lifecoachtraining.com.

Where In The World Is Pat Williams?

More Information

May 5-7 — Loveland, CO
Sunrise Ranch, Rebecca McClain, Circle of Life Training
Pat will be in attendance as a trainee with Rebecca McLean

May 10-12 — Toronto, Canada
Presenting on Living Well, Working Well

May 18-20 — Brussels, Belgium
ICF European Coaching Conference. Pat is presenting on Coaching the Global Village, a concept similar to Coaches without Borders, to bring coaching to third world countries. He is co-presenting with members of Coaches for Social Action.

Editor's Corner

In this issue, we offer many opportunities to expand your coaching skills! Be sure to read about ILCT’s new Coaching Mastery Seminar, created for coaches with a minimum of 100 client hours. This will be of interest to many of our readers.

Congratulations to one of our alumni, Danna Murray, for receiving the ICF Prism Award recently – there is an announcement in this issue.

This is Spring – how are you re-energizing? Get your energy from a deep, renewable energy source! Write me and share what you are doing!

Be renewed,
Annette

Annette A. Miller, MBA
Editor, Tomorrow's Life Coach
Life Coach, ILCT
Member, ICF, IAC, CCN
President & Executive Coach, LifeSync Coaching®
Board Member 2006, ICF-North Texas Chapter
Certified Birkman® Consultant, Certified Lifespace© Facilitator, AiA Facilitator
amiller@lifesync.com
www.lifesync.com

New Advanced Course Offering

Coaching Mastery Seminar

ILCT announces the formulation of a super class for coaches who have reached a level of certification and some practical experience of at least 100 hours of coaching to be part of a new Mastery Class. This is a unique opportunity for eight experienced coaches to learn from each other and from Dr. Francine Campone's elegant style of facilitating learning...the Coaching Mastery Seminar for Experienced Coach Practitioners.

Go beyond the basics...stretch yourself in this class to go for mastery!!!!!!

Ten 90-minute telephonic sessions (15 hours of credit)
Group size: max. 8
Meets weekly starting May 3rd at 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. EASTERN
Fee: $600
Facilitator: Francine Campone, Ed.D. PCC

This facilitated group is designed to help experienced coaches (with an ACC minimum or its equivalent and 100 hours of coaching experience) more deeply develop and integrate their coaching skills and competencies. ILCT students who have attained their CLC and have 100 hours of coaching will qualify! Participants can expect to expand their repertoire of coaching strategies; reformulate the mental models they bring to coaching; and develop a reflective practice to support on-going skills development.

Course details and registration. For more information, please contact Francine Campone at 605-390-5308 or francine@fcampone.bizland.com.

Coaching Publications

Law and Ethics in Coaching: how to solve and avoid difficult problems in your practice by Dr. Patrick Williams & Sharon Anderson

Law and Ethics in Coaching is co-edited by Patrick Williams and Sharon Anderson. With contributions from a dozen academic, legal, and coaching professionals, this book is a must for anyone in the field of coaching or whose organization uses coaching as a service. Sure to be a classic!

Total Life Coaching: 50+Life Lessons, Skills, and Techniques to Enhance Your Practice...and Your Life by Dr. Patrick Williams MCC, Dr. Lloyd J. Thomas

Total Life Coaching is more than just a book. It is an interactive experience in which you will find recipes for living your life more authentically, as well as master time-honored lessons that you can bring to your coaching clients [or can incorporate in your own life]. Regardless of the personal coaching techniques or skills you may have learned, you may still not be the most effective coach you can become. This book will help you move closer to that goal.

Therapist as Life Coach: Transforming Your Practice
by Dr. Patrick Williams MCC, Deborah C. Davis

At last, a book for mental health professionals considering a transition into the new and dynamic field of life coaching! Therapist as Life Coach explores life coaching as a profession, examines the relationship between life coaching and therapy, and details the variety of options for professionals considering either a transition into coaching or expanding their practices to include coaching.

News Update: Coaching Book Accepted in China

Kim Ngai lives in Shanghai. He is a Ph.D. candidate for the International University of Professional Studies. As his mentor, I have asked him to read "Total Life Coaching" [written by Dr. Patrick Williams, MCC and Dr. Lloyd J. Thomas.] About a month ago, Kim’s copy of Total Life Coaching was confiscated by customs officials as he was carrying it from Shanghai to Hong Kong. Ten days ago, the book was mailed back to him. He wrote me the following e-mail on April 4th:

Congratulations!!! You have your first batch of Chinese readers now. I have got back TLC from the customs when I return to Shanghai from Hong Kong. There is a note inside stating, "Content verified. No traces of violation of Chinese communist party's and People’s Republic of china's propaganda and advocation laws, rules and policies." Cheers!!!

Contributed by Lloyd J. Thomas, Ph.D.

A Seminar at Sea for Coaches, Consultants, Therapists and Aligned Professionals with Patrick Williams and Lynn Meinke

Plan now to join Patrick Williams and Lynn Meinke for an educational cruise experience in 2007. February is the perfect month to escape the dark and cold months of February and come to have fun in the sun of the Caribbean, and take the trip as educational expense. Come learn and relax at the same time… Our class time will only be while at sea and will not interfere with opportunities to visit the beautiful ports of call.

(CEU’s for mental health professionals and certified coaches pending)

Read more!

What If No One Signs Up? ~ C.J. Hayden, MCC

It's the nightmare of every professional who offers group programs. You design a powerful workshop, schedule a date, broadcast your marketing message… and no one registers. Then what?

Let's assume you have the basics down. You've chosen a compelling topic, identified a likely audience, and clearly described the benefits of participating in your program. Even the price is right. You've already sent information about your program to a list of strong prospects. What else can you do?

~ Preventive Measures ~

First, let's back up a step. There are several measures you can take early on in your promotion that will improve your chances of full enrollment:

1. Offer your program in house instead of to the general public. Selling your program to a company, association, or learning center with an established base of employees, members, or students can be much easier than trying to sell each seat yourself. You could also partner with an existing organization with a track record of filling programs, and share the profits in return for a full house.

2. Build your prospect list to equal 20-100 times the number of people you want to attend. A typical response rate from a postal mailing is 1-2%. Response to opt-in email is often even lower. (Don't even consider using unsolicited email.) In general, expect no more than 1% to respond if they don't know your work and rarely more than 5% even when they know you well. Make it a habit to capture the name and address of every prospect and get their permission to mail or email.

3. Plan to promote on multiple channels. Your promotion plan should include announcements in your ezine or newsletter, a description on your web site, postal mail, a brochure or flyer to distribute, calendar listings, and personal invitations. Don't rely on just one or two avenues — students are much more likely to enroll when they see your program mentioned in many different places.

~ Emergency Enrollment ~

If your program has low or no registrations as the date approaches, here's what you can do to increase enrollment:

1. Call everyone on your prospect list and invite them personally. Don't count on mail and email to do the job. Place a phone call to each person you have a phone number for, give a brief description of the program, and invite them to attend. You'll be amazed how many people will say, "Thank you for calling — I've been meaning to sign up."

2. Ask clients and colleagues to make referrals. Just mailing an announcement to potential referral sources isn't the same as asking for their help. Call or email people who respect your work, and ask them to suggest two or three others who could benefit. If they have suggestions for you, ask if they will also contact those people themselves to endorse your program.

3. Make a special offer. Tell the people who are already registered they can bring a friend for half-price. You're not losing any revenue that way if the space would otherwise be standing empty. Offer a bonus gift with minimal cost to those who enroll — 30 minutes of your professional time, or an ebook, audio, or report you've produced. To encourage people to spread the word, offer the same gift to people who refer students to you.

~ If All Else Fails ~

In the last few days before your program, if you still have only a handful pre-registered:

1. Hold your program anyway. Invite people to attend for free if necessary to have good participation. Your clients will enjoy the chance to spend more quality time with you; colleagues will benefit from the opportunity to see you work and meet other attendees. Ask people who attend at no charge to write you glowing testimonials and refer paying participants for the next time.

2. If you can't fix it, feature it. The meaning of this classic sales maxim is that if your product has an obvious flaw, make it a positive selling point. When only six people enroll in your big seminar, convert it to an intimate group experience. If you have only two people for a group, turn it into a success team. Your participants will be thrilled to have more individual attention. Never apologize for a smaller-than-expected turnout.

3. Plan ahead to do better next time. Analyze what went wrong with your marketing and strategize how to do it differently the next time around. Should you have allowed more lead time? Does your mailing list need to be larger? Do you need to factor in more promotion channels instead of relying on mailings or email alone? Make a list of all the key elements you think are necessary to successfully promote your next program.

Filling group programs becomes easier when you offer them regularly. When students see the same program advertised two or three times, they are much more likely to enroll. Think of all your marketing efforts as part of a long-term plan to make more people aware of your business. If the outreach for your workshop introduces your business to many new people, you may ultimately find that much more valuable than just filling one program.

C.J. Hayden is the author of "Get Clients NOW!" Thousands of business owners and salespeople have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Get a free copy of Five Secrets to Finding All the Clients You'll Ever Need.

ICF Prism Award for ILCT Alumnus

ILCT is pleased to announce the ICF Prism Award has been awarded to the MINERVA Helping Women Work Program, which is under the direction of Danna Murray, an ILCT alumnus. The MINERVA Foundation is a non-profit organization in Vancouver BC and is dedicated to "helping women work" by providing career mentoring programs to women entering or returning to the workforce. The International Coach Federation honored Danna and the Minerva Program for the innovative integration and commitment of coaching into Helping Women Work programs.

Danna graduated from the 2004 ILCT Employee Assistance & Workplace Coaching Program, which inspired her to add the coaching component to the Minerva program. Danna will lead a discussion with her fellow ILCT-EACS alumni in an upcoming Workplace Coaching TeleForum and share her insights about developing and implementing similar coaching programs.

Look for an interview with Danna telling us more about the Minerva Program in a future edition of TLC.

Contributed by Candia Dye, MA. RCC, Director EA & Workplace Coaching, Graduate of The Institute for Life Coach Training.

Tomorrow's Life Coach™

Patrick Williams, Ed.D., Publisher
Annette Miller, Editor, amiller@lifesync.com
© 2006 Institute for Life Coach Training
www.lifecoachtraining.com
Phone: 888-267-1206
info@lifecoachtraining.com