How To Hire The Right Business Coach
August 7, 2008 by Michelle Waters · 6 Comments
Speak with successful business owners and one of the most important things they’ll tell you is that they couldn’t have made it without the wise advise of others.
Seeking advice from people who have been there, done that can cut your learning curve down significantly, increasing your chances of succeeding. Go it alone, and you’re doomed to make mistakes that can cripple your business in the long run.
Chances are though, if you’re reading this post, you already know this. And you’re seriously searching for the information you need to start your business on the right foot.
Often, the problem is finding the right business coach to hire. With so many people hanging their business coaching shingle on the internet, it’s hard to know who to hire to help you. And prices vary widely. I’ve seen non-guru coaches charge as much as $300 a month for four coaching sessions. And I’ve worked with coaches who only charged $120 for the same amount of time.
So, how do you know who to choose when you’re looking for a business coach?
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Top 10 Reasons To Hire A WAHM Business Coach
April 1, 2008 by Michelle Waters · 3 Comments
Chances are, you’re so wrapped up in figuring out what you’re going to name your business, who your vendors will be and what your website will look like, that you haven’t thought much about:
- How your name will be viewed by your customers
- Whether or not your target market will buy the products you offer, or
- How easy it will be for your site visitors to navigate through your new websites
Unfortunately, not thinking about these things — and dozens of others — can damage your business right from the beginning. This is why hiring a coach to help you start your business is not only a wise, but cost effective method of starting a successful product selling business.
Whoa!
I know. Like most of us new to home business, you’re not exactly rolling in venture capital. No one has deposited millions of dollars into your bank account to fund your perfect office chair and a shiny new business coach. I totally get that you’re operating on a shoestring.
But I also get that if you don’t seek expert advice, right from the beginning, you can spend hours, days, weeks, months, even years, struggling in your business… and not even knowing why.
And that’s where a business coach can save you time. (And as you know, time is money.) Here’s how:
1. A business coach can cut a huge chunk out of your learning curve. One of my new hosting clients learned the hard way that you need to make sure your domain name is registered in your name. Because she trusted another company to register the domain in their name, she may lose it. A business coach could have helped her avoid that mistake.
2. A business coach can see things in a different light. Sometimes you get so deep into the forest, that you can see the trees. Your coach can help reel you out and show you what your business looks like from a different perspective.
3. A business coach can help you maintain your perspective. I know, with children, a household and fifty different things you need to do to build your business, something is going to slide. A business coach can help you keep your perspective and prioritize. It’s easy sometimes to get so buried in work, that you think if you don’t answer that email right now, your customer is going to run from you screaming. But you also have to remember to take care of yourself and your family. Your coach can help you draw that line.
4. A business coach can help you focus. So many great ideas, so little time. That’s how we end up with our hosting accounts littered with half-built websites and notebooks full of ideas. A business coach can help you focus on those ideas that work well within your business and discard those that will just take up your time.
5. A business coach can help build you up after a failure. Even the most successful among us have failed once or twice. The only ones who remained failures are those who quit. A business coach can encourage you while you pick up the pieces and find a better path to success.
6. A business coach can brainstorm with you. Sometimes you reach a point where you feel like you’re fresh out of ideas. And nothing seems right. A business coach can be that sounding board you need to get the creativity flowing.
7. A business coach can provide feedback, objectively. If you’re in a situation where you need to know what to do, a business coach can offer you advice. Perhaps you’re not sure which color scheme to use, or how to respond to an unhappy customer. The coach can look at your situation with fresh eyes, and without emotional entanglements.
8. A business coach can help you look to the future. So many of us are stuck in the here and now — the day-to-day grind of answering emails, shipping products, updating the website, caring for kids, cooking meals… tomorrow? I don’t have time to think about tomorrow! Your business coach can help you take a few minutes to plan where your business is going and develop a map to get there. After all, you wouldn’t load up the car and head down the street on a vacation without knowing where you’re going, how you’re going to get there and what resources you have available.
9. A business coach can hold you accountable. Building a business is much like building a house. You start by preparing the soil, pouring the foundation and then building up the walls. A business coach can make sure you follow the proper order of business building, that you keep working even when it looks like rain, and that you don’t unknowingly take any shortcuts that could damage your business.
10. Unlike your spouse, online friends or other business owners, your business coach has no personal agenda. Your spouses and friends love you, but they may not think running a business is what you should be doing. They may see you gnashing our teeth over an unhappy customer, and think that perhaps a business isn’t good for you. Or maybe they see you spending hours at a time building the business and wish you would just sit in the living room with them and watch TV for once. They mean well, but if you’re wanting to build a successful business, you have to remain focused on the goal.
Other product selling business owners may be right in the middle of the problem you’re in and have no more of an idea how to get out of it than you do. Or they may know how to get past the problem — but who wants to help the competition?
A business coach has no such agendas. She wants to see you successful. After all, your success is her success, too.
How Being A Mentor To Someone Else Can Help Your Business
April 1, 2008 by Michelle Waters · Leave a Comment
When you started your home business, there may have been someone who inspired you, who guided and helped you learn business skills along the way.
This person may have told you about mistakes they had made to prevent you from doing the same, or suggested steps you could take to improve your business.
That person was your mentor. When I was in high school, my mentor was the newspaper advisor. When I was in college, my mentor was the journalism professor. At church, my mentors are older women, or women who have been Christians longer than I have.
In business, my mentors have been women such as Kelly McCausey, Lynette Chandler or Alice Seba, who have taken time to offer advice and answer my questions.
I think it is important, and I’m sure you do to, to pay those acts of kindness forward and grow your business at the same time by acting as a mentor to someone else.
1. Mentoring can renew your enthusiasm. Depending on how long you have been in your business, you may have a “been there, done that” attitude. By working with someone who is new to the home business world, you are gaining a fresh perspective on things. Remember the excitement you had for things when you first started? A new person will have that excitement, and their passion and excitement can help you get excited for things all over again.
I experienced this last semester when I taught a web design class as my local technology center. Teach students who were excited about learning to design sites was refreshing to me. This happens every time I talk to one of my coaching clients or to a potential Shop Kit Plus customer. Their excitement about starting a new home business is contagious.
2. Mentoring and help you grow. Working with someone can also help you gain new skills. They may have questions about things you are not familiar with. As you help them research and understand the topic, you will gain a new understanding of it. Or perhaps the person you are mentoring is fluent in a computer program that you have no experience with. They may help you learn it in exchange for all the help you are giving them.
3. Mentoring can help you evaluate where you are and make improvements. Being a mentor can also help you improve on the skills you have. For instance, if the person you are mentoring asks you how you manage to get everything done, you can go over some basic time management skills with her. This will reinforce things for you. Plus, it is hard to tell people to do something that you currently aren’t doing. Helping someone learn the art of time management may help you become a better organizer and planner.
4. Mentoring will help you learn. You will also have access to their feedback. If you are teaching them to do things similar to the way you are doing things, ask them if they feel if anything can be improved upon. They may have ideas on how to streamline certain activities or other ideas.
As you work with someone, you will notice the changes and progress they are making. This can help remind you of how far you have come in your own business. This can definitely help you feel more confident and ready to take on more tasks. The more you challenge yourself, the further you will grow.
Plus, helping someone out will simply make you feel good. Just knowing that you made a difference in someone’s life will help you be competent and worthwhile.
Services
March 7, 2007 by Michelle Waters · 3 Comments
Product Seller Approved Services
We offer or recommend several services that will meet your needs, whether you
are looking for a feature-rich website shopping cart, web hosting or Private
Label Rights content.
If you’re interested in working with someone who can help you start or grow your business, please take a look at our Coaching Programs.
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You expect top-notch customer support and all the bells and whistles. At Watersweb Hosting, you receive a full cPanel-based hosting account, backed up more than 30 technicians available via helpdesk around the clock.
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No more worries about how you’re going to provide content on your website with our fully customizable and brandable private label rights content. Our bundles include 10 articles that you can edit or rewrite and add to your website.
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