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In this week's edition of the CoachVille Member News:

• 101 Life Situations for Coaches -The Trojan Horse Approach To Marketing Your Coaching Practice
• New! Free Coach Training School Introductory Classes
• 3rd Annual CoachVille Conference Speaker Highlight-Deborah Brown-Volkman
• Member Services Feature - Dovid Grossman
• Richard Reardon's "Seven Steps To Success" Mentoring Program
• Beyond Proficient: Evolving As a Coach - coming to Boston March 19 and 20, 2004  

 Enjoy!  

Let us know what you think! Contact us at letters@coachville.com! 

101 Life Situations Where Coaching Can Help

You already know that at CoachVille our primary focus for 2004 is the business of coaching. We are looking for any way possible to help coaches transform the desire to be of service as a coach into a thriving and sustainable business. We believe that the most important concept in the world of coaching today is situational marketing. So to that end we created this article to explain the idea and offer 101 examples of "situations" that you can use.

Introducing the "Trojan Horse" approach to marketing your coaching services.

Also known as "situational marketing," this is by far the most effective way to market your coaching services. If you have tried to market your practice by talking about coaching, or trying to explain the benefits of coaching, then you already know that it's pretty much impossible to get clients that way. 

At this point, there isn't a widely held cultural understanding about what coaching is really all about. We will get there for sure, but we are not there now. So, in the mean time, you must learn to describe what you do in terms of situations that people can relate to. The keys to a compelling situation are:

a) it has an emotional hook 
b) it uses conversational language 
c) it is immediately recognizable as real aspect of life.

We recently did an R&D project to find the most frequently used situations in the coaching business. Many of you provided excellent examples. We added some ourselves, based on our own clients, and those of other coaches that we know. You are free to use them if they resonate with you and the kind of coaching you do. Even better, if you see one that someone submitted that you really like, find a way to tweak it a little bit so that it is original to you.

No matter what, find a way to start using situations like these in your work.

Why do we call it the "Trojan Horse" approach?

Remember that Greek myth where the Trojans hid their soldiers in a big horse statue so they could get inside the fortress? Sneaky for sure, but in modern usage it simply means offering something that looks one way on the outside, but is something different on the inside. It's a surreptitious way to open people up to new ideas...in this case the concept of coaching. 

"Sell them what they want and then give them what they need". 

This handy phrase from the selling schools offers the perfect explanation. Quite frankly, few people buy coaching for the sake of having a coach. So we need to package our coaching services into something that people DO WANT to buy - namely the solution to a difficult situation. 

All coaching is life coaching by the third session.

My experience has been that no matter what the original situation was that compelled someone to hire me, by the third session is was all about their life in a very personal manner. That being the case, make a clear offering to help people in specific situations, and KNOW that it will transform into personal coaching in very short order.

Here are the 101 life situations (actually its 111-- LOL, for once it's more than we promised)...

1. Self-employed professionals who are working for a lunatic., Dave Buck, www.davebuck.com
2. Creative people with too many ideas and not enough income, Dave Buck, www.davebuck.com
3. I love my work but I hate to market myself, Dave Buck, www.davebuck.com
4. Older moms who jumped off the (successful) career track and onto the (challenging) mommy track, Ann McGregor, www.radiantlifeproductions.com
5. Gay men seeking committed relationships without bars, chat rooms or personal ads , David Stocum, www.greatlivescoaching.com
6. Activists who want to change lives while having one (a life that is), David Stocum, www.greatlivescoaching.com
7. Highly Sensitive people who want to enjoy their sensitivity, Deborah Martin, www.portagecoach.com
8. Wilderness lovers ready to integrate adventure in their daily lives, Deborah Martin, www.portagecoach.com
9. Coaches who want to build a practice on their terms, Deborah Martin, www.portagecoach.com
10. Perfectionists who want to let go and lighten up, Deborah Martin, www.portagecoach.com
11. Business owners ready to ask for and get what they're worth, Deborah Martin, www.portagecoach.com
12. Frustrated women who don't believe in their own power to achieve success, Diana McCray
13. People who know they are digging themselves into a hole in their relationships but just can't put the shovel down., Diane Dagostino, ddagost@earthlink.net
14. Career employees who "know" the axe is going to fall in the next round of layoffs., Diane Dagostino, ddagost@earthlink.net 
15. International transferee spouses who are overwhelmed but excited by everything familiar changing in their day to day life., Diane Hewat, diane@dianehewat.com
16. Executives who are frustrated with how to develop their staff into confident, accountable, and effective leaders , Dorrier Underwood, www.dorrierunderwood.com
17. Successful businessmen that want to become great DAD's so their family will really understand their love., Dovid Grossman, www.dovidgrossman.com
18. Teachers who want to enjoy term time, not just dream of the holidays, Gillian Duff 
19. Working single moms, sharing custody with a jerk., Heidi Costas, www.heidicostas.com
20. Financially successful individuals whose happiness account is bankrupt, Donna Steinhorn, www.coachingtosuccess.com
21. Mystic artists who are stuck in a rut of commercial demands who want to transition to creating financially viable works from their deepest creative source , James Wagner, www.integralinstitute.org
22. Cancer patients who want to become a member of their medical team - not the object., Janet Fennimore, cancerconnection@msn.com
23. Borderline pessimists who desperately crave happiness, Jim Smith, www.1LeaderCoach.com
24. Health professionals (such as therapists) who spend so much time dealing with insurance claims that they're not doing what they enjoy -- practicing their profession, Judy Murdoch, http://www.judymurdoch.com
25. Successful YUPPIES who are deciding on a major geographical move, Kara Williams, www.LifeCoachKara.com
26. First-time parents who need help tackling big stuff like wills, college funds & retirement accounts, Kara Williams, www.LifeCoachKara.com
27. People who feel they have to compromise their faith in their secular jobs, Karen Frank, www.karenfrank.com
28. CEO's who successfully manage a staff of 500, but can't get their family of 5 to agree on anything., Karen Rawson
29. Small business owners who are afraid they will be the next storefront on the street to close., Kathy Richardson, coachkathleenr@yahoo.com
30. Successful business women who feel they're a fraud., Marion Ryan, marion@marionryan.com
31. People with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) who want a happy, successful life because of their ADD, not just despite of it., Michael Hinckley, snowleopard@batnet.com 
32. New graduates who want to accelerate their job search , Michelle Cubas, www.positivepotentials.com 
33. Over-stimulated technology people who need to re-ground their interpersonal relationships , Michelle Cubas, www.positivepotentials.com
34. People who always seem to have more month than money! (and want to know what to do about it!), Nicola Cairncross, www.nicolacairncross.com
35. Aspiring property investors who don't have a deposit (but who like the sound of "no money down"), Nicola Cairncross, www.nicolacairncross.com
36. Luddites who know that the internet is a fantastic wealth creation opportunity (and want to get started!), Nicola Cairncross, www.nicolacairncross.com
37. White-knuckled speakers with a big presentation coming up, Ruth Ann Harnisch, Coach@pobox.com
38. Library professionals who are feeling stuck, up to their eyeballs., Sally Angus, www.sallyangus.co.nz
39. Small business owners that are stressed with their cash flow especially when their line of credit is going up, Samy Chong , www.CorporatePhilosopher.com
40. Women who'll just die if they have to stay in the same job for the next 20 years., Sara Yao, theyaos@comcast.net
41. Single men who can't get dates and single women who can't get 2nd dates., Terri Benincasa, www.ipmgroup.org 
42. Solo Entrepreneurs and small business owners who want to design businesses that get them up in the morning, but don't keep them up at night!, Terri Zwierzynski, www.Solo-E.com 
43. Small business owners who are tired of allowing their businesses to dictate their lifestyle, Tom Volkar , www.NewBusinessBlastoff.com 
44. Creative geniuses who have big ideas and need help focusing., Thomas
45. People who are significantly turning around their lives, one step at a time., Thomas 
46. Entrepreneurs with a new business idea they want developed in a hurry., Thomas 
47. Big thinkers who want to think even bigger in terms of vision., Thomas 
48. Highly sensitive persons who are ready to live happily in a stressful world., Thomas 
49. Teenagers who have very big plans and who are already adults., Thomas
50. Hosts of virtual networks who want to learn how to host a network/community, Thomas 
51. Coaches earning $100,000 a year who want to be earning $250,000 a year, Thomas 
52. Highly aware individuals who are confused because they have intellectualized their knowledge into dogma, Thomas 
53. Young professionals who are struggling because their referral network is ineffective or missing. 
54. Talented artists who are discouraged because they can't find a market for their work. 
55. Overworked mothers who are exhausted because they can't find time for themselves. 
56. Business managers who are frustrated because their staff ignores them.
57. Solo-professionals who can't make it because they hate to market their services. 
58. Successful leaders who are too stressed to have a personal/family life. 
59. Early retirees who are afraid that their nest egg won't last long enough. 
60. Corporate employees who are held back by workplace politics. 
61. Individuals who are enthralled about personal evolution and evolving and want guidance. 
62. Single moms who are running on empty because they don't know how to get their own needs met. 
63. Step mothers who are consumed by the many roles they have to play. 
64. Young entrepreneurs who are getting flattened by their ignorance about the basics of profitability. 
65. Newly married couples who are stressed by their personality differences but are totally committed to learning how to handle these gaps. 
66. Self-directed people who, for the first time, are getting a clue about themselves and need direction. 
67. Avid learners who have exhausted self-development alternatives and want to develop an inclusive life vision. 
68. Talented writers who want a structured support system to help them get their work done. 
69. Managers who are on the fast track in their Fortune 500 company and who need someone who's been there to help them negotiate the political potholes that could trip them up. 
70. Brilliant creative geniuses who have barely scratched the surface of their productive capacity and who are held back by their less than supportive environments. 
71. Corporate employees who are leaving with a nice severance package and who have 6 months to figure out what to do next without running through their savings account. 
72. Couples who have been living - and totally enjoying - a high-end lifestyle, but for a number of reasons are ready to simplify their lives significantly. 
73. The 60-year old successful professional who wasn't able to turn his knowledge into passive revenue streams. 
74. Self-employed CPA's who can't seem to maintain clients and suffer from high churn factors. 
75. Newly appointed CEO's who are out of their league, but know it, and want to come up to speed in a hurry. 
76. Successful IT professionals who have just learned about the difference between acquiring new information and actual learning, and want to leverage their new skill. 
77. The forward thinking woman who has realized that she is ready for a perfect life, even if this is disruptive from those who have come to count on her for her generosity and willingness. 
78. The 25 year old with big dreams, lots of talent, a bundle of energy with absolutely no discipline. 
79. The retired couples who want to live and work full time in an RV. 
80. Key managers of teams who have difficulty understanding and leveraging team dynamics. 
81. Seasoned teachers who are afraid to teach with modern technology 
82. Young entrepreneurs with a great idea who consistently miss the window of opportunity. 
83. Self-employed travel agents who are worried about their declining profitability.
84. Over-worked nurses who want to quit their job and need help to negotiate a severance package. 
85. Parents wanting to minimize the potentially painful impact of their imminent divorce on their children. 
86. Parents of special needs children who want to develop sustainable coping skills. 
87. Busy executives who need to relocate but don't have the time or desire to plan for a smooth trip. 
88. Full-time students who need help with streamlining their activities. 
89. Cultural creatives who want to leverage their eclectic knowledge and skills into a profitable source of revenue. 
90. Technophobes who want to get comfortable with computer skills. 
91. Financial wizards who manage to juggle a million-dollar budget at work, but can't seem to get their family's finances in order. 
92. Gutsy entrepreneurs who want to start a business while their family wants them to get a 'real job'. 
93. Marketing executives who want to develop a competitive edge in the market and need a sounding board. 
94. Employees who are challenged because they work in a foreign country and can't adjust fast enough. 
95. Business owners who have a great product but no idea how to package it.
96. Quick thinkers who need an equally quick sounding board. 
97. Creative people who feel burnt out by their creativity and need a more sustainable work structure. 
98. Inventors who just want to spend their day tinkering and want to work out their finances. 
99. Parents of high achieving athletes who need help balancing their busy schedules. 
100. Tactical thinkers who want to tap into their intuition and creativity. 
101. Law firms with interpersonal challenges amongst partners. 
102. Sales professionals who want to over-achieve quota. 
103. Teens longing to be heard, understood and taken seriously. 
104. Students grappling with career decisions who want to gain clarity and direction in life after school. 
105. Baby boomers who want to understand Gen Xers. 
106. Businesses facing bankruptcy but know they can benefit from a drastic turnover. 
107. City counsel personnel who are frustrated because they can't agree and keep their deadlines. 
108. Not-for-profit organizations who want to get organized in a hurry.
109. Organizational leaders who work with under-performing teams and want to enhance their team facilitation skills. 
110. Marketing professionals who want to design an ethical marketing strategy but lack the support of their superiors. 
111. CEO's who lack credibility because they are too busy solving problems and want a strategy to enroll their team to buy into the company's vision. 

Keep Playing,

Dave Buck
President, CoachVille
dave@coachville.com
 

Every Coach Has a Home At CoachVille

Beginning next week, you'll see some new types of classes appearing in the free CoachVille teleclass listings. We'll be featuring introductory classes to some of the top coach training schools internationally, where you'll be able to learn their philosophies, ask questions about their programs, and gain valuable knowledge about coaching in general. First up... An Inside Look at iPEC Training on Feb. 19th. Click here to register!

Now, you may wonder why we're featuring other schools training programs. But it's really quite in line with one of our guiding values...that Every coach has a home at CoachVille. And equally in line with what I know to be true about every masterful coach I know...great coaches keep learning. Whether it's reading books, attending conferences and workshops, or graduating from one training school and enrolling in another, it's part of what makes coaching the juicy experience it is for us. And we're also creating community areas for students and graduates (and the just curious) for the various coach training schools...so watch for those as well.

Wondering where to find the free classes at CoachVille? You can access them in several ways. The newest way is to go to our new "landing" page at http://www.CoachVille.com (and if you haven't been there to see our new look yet...you're in for a treat). If you scroll down to the bottom, you'll see "free telephone events" listed at the right. Here's the place to find the latest free classes, plus R&D and volunteer calls. You can also access them via www.CoachVillecourses.com and via the "view all CoachVille classes" link at the member resources page.

We'll be adding lots more new free classes too...so check back often.

Warmly,

Donna Steinhorn

donna@coachville.com
Director of Content Development and Innovation, CoachVille | Schools of CoachVille
Dean, Thomas Leonard Coaching School | Director, Schools of CoachVille 

3rd Annual CoachVille Conference Speaker Highlight
Deborah Brown-Volkman
Surpass Your Dreams Coaching, www.surpassyourdreams.com 

Deborah is the President of Surpass Your Dreams, Inc., a successful career and mentor coaching company, that has been delivering a message of motivation, success, and personal fulfillment since 1998. She works with Senior Executives, Vice Presidents, and Managers who are out of work or overworked. She also works with Coaches who want to start and build their own successful coaching practices.

She is a published writer and her articles on how to be successful in your career can be found on more than 100 web-sites over the Internet. She is the author of two books, Coach Yourself to A New Career (A Guide for Discovering Your Ultimate Profession) and Four Steps to Building a Profitable Coaching Practice (A Complete Marketing Resource Book For Coaches.)

She has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Smart Money Magazine, The Chicago Tribune, and New York Newsday, as well as interviewed by Entrepreneur Magazine and Business 2.0. She was also a featured guest on BBC, Radio Scotland when they came to New York City to find out how people were coping in their careers since the September 11th attacks.

Topic:
Get Your Name In Print! Build Your Coaching Practice And Gain Worldwide Exposure
-Would you like to gain more exposure for your coaching practice?
-Would you like to get your name in print?
It's easy once you know the secrets to getting your practice and your opinions in top newspapers and magazines. As a fellow coach who has been quoted numerous times in The Wall Street Journal, The New Your Times, The Chicago Tribune, Smart Money Magazine, and Newsday, I can show you how to do the same.

In this informative seminar, you will learn: 

• How to develop a press release that creates a buzz about your coaching practice 
• How to build strong relationships with the press 
• What editors and reporters look for when selecting experts for their stories
• How to build a database of editors and reporters to contact 
• Newspapers and magazines are always looking for new things to write about.
• Have one of their stories written about you. 

Don't miss the interview, "Growing Your Practice Using the Media" with Deborah Brown in next week's Today's Coach! Don't get Today's Coach? Subscribe at www.todayscoach.com.  

Your coaching colleagues will be in Orlando June 2-6th, will you? Register at www.coachvilleannualconference.com.  

Member Services Feature - Dovid Grossman
In his own words . . .

Background

• 15 years classroom teacher and Chassidic Rabbi
• 20 years youth director specializing in Experiential education
• Opened private childcare center
• Sales manager for educational toy company
• Sold not-for-profit contact management software
• Worked as coach and client services for financial planning office

Personal

• Married twenty plus years
• Nine children from two and half to nineteen years old (six to three, girls favor) including one set of twins (boy/girl)

Passionate about

• Coaching business men becoming great DAD's
• Focus on father and son relationship

Quirks

Due to my observance of Jewish Law, I do not have physical contact with women and girls outside my immediate family. So there is often this awkward moment at conferences and networking meetings when a woman comes up to greet me with an outstretched hand. My canned response is "Out of religious modesty, I don't have physical contact with the opposite sex." But people are so unfamiliar with the very idea that they often times don't even get what I'm talking about. Then either they just "pretend they get it" and move on to start a bit of a conversation or they will actually be curious and ask more. I prefer that they ask more so that I can know for sure they are not taking things personally. My personal believe is that husband/wife relationships are a very holy thing and this is another way to sanctify marriage vows. "Quirky is a good thing" right? Well this is clearly where I stand out in the crowd. L'Chaim to Quirky.

What I love most about my Member Services position

Figuring out what the member is really looking for. Email requests can often times be ambiguous at best. I enjoy zeroing in on what CoachVille members really want: making their CoachVille experience really Perfect. I really enjoy adding value that is totally unexpected--like sometimes calling a member about some simple issue but letting them know we really care.

Funny story

I called a member a few Sundays ago. He sounded upset that I had called in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. When he said, "Ok, just go on, what did you call about?" 

I stopped and clarified, "You sound upset with my call. If this is not a good time, I can call back when it is more convenient. Do you really want to speak now?" I didn't want to intrude even if he was willing to talk then. I wanted what was most comfortable for him. 

That broke the tension and he said, "The truth is that I'm overwhelmed with deadlines I have to meet this evening. It's really not at all about you. In fact, I've absolutely amazed that someone from CoachVille Member Services actually called me on the phone. I mean, can you imagine someone from Microsoft's Service Department calling you back? It would never happen! I'm actually thrilled."

His mood changed completely and his excitement about CoachVille was now radically different. Now that, to me, is FUN.

A few thoughts on volunteering

• I love to volunteer for projects. 
• I came into CoachVille volunteering for the R&D Team during CoachVille's inception. 
• I ran to play a bigger volunteer role at the first CoachVille conferences (Vegas, Phoenix). I have volunteered as the Local Events Manager for every Chicago event CoachVille has done. 
• I find that the more responsibility I take on as a volunteer, the more I gain from the experience. It's kind of like getting to be on the inside of what is happening. I learn so much more this way. 

It also provided the opportunity for me to meet and learn more personally from all the CoachVille instructors. That personal relationship has blossomed into numerous other opportunities to learn and share with the best coaches in the industry - and on a personal level. This makes the whole experience so much richer.

Richard L. Reardon and CoachVille are pleased to announce: The Seven Steps to Business Succe$$ - Mentoring program

... a remarkably effective program from Richard L. Reardon, Dean of the School of Small Business Coaching. 

You will receive personal and group guidance as you:

• Fully develop and expand your product and services
• Build a selling system that is natural to you and that works
• Learn a simplified method to manage your practice, stay competitive and have some time off

Whether you are a seasoned coach or just moving into the business arena, this program will help you become a highly successful coach and build a successful, long-term practice.

Here are some additional results you can expect:

1. Increase your income 
2. Achieve a high level of self expression through your business
3. Assurance that you will be successful 
4. Sharpen your vision, where you are going and why
5. Learn the seven invisible drivers that create your results
6. Develop a content-rich 90 -day Business Program 
7. Learn new, fresh, stress-free selling techniques and shorten the time for the prospect to get to "yes"
8. Learn how to gain access, connect with business owners and develop the skills to work with them and their top teams
9. Learn how to create a practical and do-able path to what you really want as a business coach

Areas of concentration:

The program format assures that everyone will have their specific needs and questions answered. We will also introduce several concepts and tools that you will need to grow your coaching practice:

1. The commitment to create your future success as a business coach

• You will choose and pinpoint the results you most want 
• We will surface and get past the barriers that are slowing your 
  progress

2. Expand your service

• You will design a comprehensive 90-day business program, 
  addressing the primary reasons business owners will hire you
• You will develop this results-oriented business program to get off 
  to a fast start on any assignment

3. How to sell coaching services

• We will explore why your current marketing may not be working, the excuses coaches make for not selling and the guidelines to address both the inner and outer games of selling. 
• The end goal is to shift the way you view selling so that you will obtain profitable, high-potential clients. 

4. How to coach any owner 

• You will learn seven key points and how to integrate them into your program
• Learn to coach the company and the owner personally, which is what most owners want from you.

5. Making the initial call or visit

• The initial visit is important. When done correctly, your prospect will relate to you, trust you and be more willing to explore solutions. 
• You will learn how to create value at the first meeting. 

6. Getting your message out 

• Create an 18-month client-acquisition process that is low cost, will build trust and position your services as different from and better than the competition.
• It is absolutely mandatory to connect your problem-solving coaching message with the prospect.

7. Keeping it all going - how to build your practice so that it doesn't run you.

• Eliminate internal blocks. We all have them, and they must be surfaced, assessed, understood and finally eliminate
• This is an enjoyable process of tapping what is most important to you, your higher talents, purpose and direction and how your business must be arranged to serve these superior ends.

8. There will be additional areas beyond these seven. They will be decided in response to the group and individual needs that surface throughout the program

Your presenter, session leader, mentor and continuing resource: 

Richard L. Reardon, MBA
Dean, School of Small Business Coaching

Richard L. Reardon has been working with small businesses as a self-employed professional mentor and executive coach since 1981. He has personally coached and consulted with hundreds of small companies, teaching the vital principles we will cover in this program.

In 1981, he formed his own company - R&R Business Development. His programs offer clients an integrated system of time-tested management tools, techniques and coaching that create a thriving environment for businesses to succeed. 

As the dean of the School of Business Coaching, Richard has developed learning modules, training methods and systems used by business coaches and business owners, nationally and internationally.

Next Steps

Click here to join a group!
Or, contact Richard directly if you have questions or need more information. Simply email Richard@Richardreardon.com and we can set up an appointment. Please put CV Mentoring in the subject line.

Led by Dave Buck Beyond Proficient: Evolving As a Coach Coming to Boston March 19 and 20, 2004... In this program we will delve deeply into the CoachVille coaching system through a series of coaching demonstrations and challenging dialogues. You will learn about the key distinctions of masterful coaching: Beginner coaches solve problems Intermediate coaches collaborate to solve problems Masterful coaches CAUSE problems and then respond to the occurring dynamics. We will explore the fine art of causing problems and delve into the intriguing field of "core dynamics coaching" As for the CoachVille Coaching system we will assume that you are familiar with the 15 proficiencies and with that groundwork in place we will explore how they are really used to provide extremely effective coaching. Some examples of the deeper concepts we will cover: Engages in provocative conversations - how does sharing thought systems and frameworks create a platform for provocative conversation Reveals the client to themselves - how can a coach easily reveal to the client inner conflicts that are holding them back Elicits greatness - we'll discuss how personal presence is the ultimate form of greatness - and how to get there. Recognizes perfection in every situation - this profound approach to life requires a BIG view of how life works. We'll share this BIG view with you. Hones in on what is most important - at the heart of every challenge or goal lies a core dynamic. We will teach you about the core dynamics and how to use them with clients. Communicates Cleanly - we will reveal the key elements of the 15 communication style points that are essential to effective coaching Shares what is there - we'll help you understand where your intuition is coming from and how to release it! (its all about body awareness and feelings) Relishes Truth - revealing the hidden truth is the most fundamental way to cause BIG problems for a client. It is the gateway to almost every transformation. Designs Supporting Environments - to be truly effective in affecting change you must coach the person AND the environment. We'll share with you the fundamentals of environmental design coaching. This co-created dialogue will provide an inspiring environment for your evolution as a person and a coach. Tuition is only $249 for the 2-day training. Click here to register!