Were the successful ones just lucky? If you are like me, you believe that we make our own luck in this world. Somewhere, somehow, the successful people took action and made a decision to do something different to what the other coaches did. What was it? What were the defining decisions that made the difference?

Generally speaking, here are 4 elements that make all the difference. They are: Passion, Marketing Knowledge, Marketing Skills, Action The rubber hits the road with knowledge, skills and action.

Let’s look at each one:

1. Passion

Really successful coaching entrepreneurs are consistently passionate and enthusiastic about achieving their dreams. They have such a clear vision of what they want to create that it fuels their dreams and gives them the energy to take consistent action.

Their passion drives them to be creative and open to new ideas and opportunities every day. Their vision is often much bigger than you’d expect and they have energy and an abundance mentality. They do not live in hope that this year might be the year they will find that great client and the cash will flow – they have the courage to step up and out and try different things and find the people who are already achieving what they want, and learn from them. They choose to play in the A grade. They choose to be actively in the game. The thing is…… if the core of what we do is to help our clients stretch, grow, be the best they can be, go to the edge of their comfort zone and fly onto the field of life, then what about us the business owners? Get passionate and make a choice that failure to achieve your coaching goals – whatever they may be, is simply not an option.

Action: If you want more in 2010, attach a sense of Urgency or Emergency to your business and decide right now to make this a year to revolutionise your marketing knowledge, skills and action for your coaching business.

2. Knowledge

The hugely successful ones have invested in their online marketing knowledge and have learnt how to market their coaching businesses using new technologies. The ideas I am about to share with you, I have learnt and adapted; remodeled and experimented with over the last few years. These strategies come from professional coaches in the UK, USA and Canada who ARE earning up to $1million/pa. They are self employed, often parents working school hours from their home offices and living the work life balance success story many of us seek. With their guidance I have totally changed my coaching model and am on track to triple my income in 2010.

Successful Coaching entrepreneurs are happy to share their knowledge.  Invest in learning from people who already have what you want about how to market yourself on the internet and have your web site fully optimized so that your coaching program can be considered by hundreds of your hungry potential niche clients each month.

• In 2009, 1.6 billion (1 in 5) used the internet to search for information.
• A ustralia has 14 million people on-line – that’s 70% of our population.
• $156 Billion dollars was spent on the internet last year.
• In December 20009, approx. 40,000 people used the words “Life Coaching” in their Google search terms. How many found your site?

Hugely successful coaches have changed their paradigm and accept that 1:1 coaching limits income and influence – why? Because there are only so many hours in the day. Instead they provide a range of 1: many income generating coaching products/workshops/courses. When one income stream slows down, the money can keep flowing from the others. See point 6 for ideas.

3. Marketing Skills

It’s a new game and there are new ,online marketing skills and tools to learn so if you are adamant that the traditional 1:1 face to face coaching model and the 4 Marketing P’s are all the skills your need, chances are you will not be tapping into the big money in the next decade.

Here are some important skills you will need to consider in 2010 and beyond for those of you who want to step up to the next income level.

1. Get skilled up to use free on-line tools such as googleeasysearch.com and investigate and choose a tightly targeted hungry coaching niche that you can find easily online so you can target your marketing. Being a life coach is not a niche. Being a life coach in the entertainment industry is more targeted. Being a life coach for parents of young entertainers is a niche. If they are searching on-line they are looking for support and you can attract them. You can research them. You can discover their real needs and address them. Then you become an expert coach in your field.
2. Get skilled on how to create on-line products by tapping onto the wide variety of free tele-seminars and free webinars coming out of the USA (Alex Mandossian, Milana Leshinsky, Perry Marshall), UK (Hannah McNamara, Bernadette Doyle, Nicola Bird) and Australia (Brett McFall) about on-line marketing. Here are just a handful of ideas at a variety of price points to help your brain get more creative.
   1. Create a coaching program for your niche that addresses their needs. at different levels. A line of educational products and coaching programs will allow you to leverage your time better and become a highly valuable resource in your niche. This could be a series of  
      
      1. e-books discussing the niche’s coaching issues
      2. live group coaching tele-seminars or webinars
      3. recorded CD’s made available as MP3 or disk
      4. Consider audio to deliver your messages
      5. Use YouTube video to talk to your prospects
      6. Create a variety of on-line articles posted to the top internet article directories and available free for your prospects to build trust and credibility
      7. Provide regular e-zines with coaching tips
      8. Consider recording interviews that you conduct with subject matter experts on the topics your niche values.
      9. Start a membership-based coaching program for your niche, also known as an online coaching club, which allows you to work with a lot more clients and significantly grow your continuity income every month.
      10. Consider Mastermind discussion groups with your clients to share their challenges and mastermind solutions
      11. Reserve 1:1 private coaching for your very high end customers.
   2. Become more skilled at strategic alliances and joint ventures which will help you network together to get to that next level much faster. It’s not about what others can do for you. It’s more about what value can you add to others. When you start creating synergy, it’s amazing what ideas can be generated. 1+1 really can = 5 and new products and services can be created which would have been impossible solo.
   3. Get skilled at automating as much of your marketing and administration as you can by using auto-responders such as www.aweber.com or www.icontact.com who automatically follow up prospects by e-mail, send them e-courses, coaching tips and cross selling e-mails while you are sleeping. This gives YOU more time to do what you do best.
   4. Get skilled at using the language of your prospects. People don’t buy coaching. They want the solution coaching can give them.
   5. Get skilled at finding and building a team of people to support you with skills that compliment your own so that you are NOT a solo operator but captain your ship - working ON the business not only IN the business.

4. Take action.

Decide to do something different this year with your coaching business. Get entrepreneurial.

• Google the names in point 2 in this article and subscribe to their free materials.
• E-mail me This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you would like to participate in our upcoming “Think Big Call” for Australasian Coaches on developing the web marketing ideas that interest you in this article - to be held in March 2010.

Juliette Robertson is an Executive Coach offering webinar based Coach Training for new managers in "How to Coach Your Staff. Her 7 module coach training is globally accessible on-line and perfect for busy new managers who want the benefits of e-learning and access to qualified coaching tutors to help fast track their coaching skills.

Register for 60 minutes of free webinar based Coach Training

Affiliate Partners are also sought to help spread these coaching skills to new managers. High commissions available for those with good business databases.