Why Hire A Coach?

Below is an excerpt from an article I wrote and thought it was worth sharing with my readers. I write these to help build links back to my website and create traffic.

This article is about coaching. I listed some of the benefits to hiring a coach, professional or personal. There are many reasons why you would but being a business coach I am thinking about it from my perspective. These are just some that came to mind. If you read on, you will find that even though our techniques of appliation may be different, our ultimate goal is the same.

Why Hire A Business Coach

When you think of a coach what comes to mind? Is it a sports coach? There is soccer, football, softball, baseball, basketball, to name a few. Professional sports people are very familiar with the benefits of coaching. Most today have one on staff or seek out guidance on various occasions.
What are some benefits of hiring a coach?

1. Coaches through encouragement and accountability get their players or clients to work harder for peak performance.


2. Coaches enhance performance through more effective methods or skills they learned or figured out for themselves.


3. Coaches offer realistic assessment of where you are and how to improve.


4. Coaches help to identify personal strengths and weaknesses and help you focus on what you do best.


5. Coaches help you brainstorm for ideas for needed changes and help you plan how to make the change.

There are a variety of coaches for all areas of your life. There are life coaches, organizational coaches, business coaches, sport coaches, executive coaches, career coaches; you name it and you can probably find a coach to suit your needs. The greatest commonality with all of these types is their ultimate goal to help you reach the greatest potential in the area of focus.

To read the full article, click this link Why Hire A Business Coach. If you are reading this and in the coaching profession or have had experiences with a good coach, please share your additional opinions of some of the benefits.

Carole DeJarnatt
Alliance Advisors, Inc.

Sites Worth Noting (in my opinion)

I have been doing a lot of research of late deciding what type of pages to offer on my website. Some of the websites I enjoy the most always had a resources page, sharing information with others for the benefit of others.

In particular I was searching for free sites to share with my visitors. In my search of free sites I found some noteworthy sites to share. Listed below are just a few that I ran across:

Startupphase.com is a FREE interactive business resource site filled with information and help for entrepreneurs no matter what stage your business is at. This site contains all the help and information you need to get your business off to a great start and help it grow successfully.

Selfseo.com This website combines various SEO tools, internet tools, and webmaster tools in one place and helps webmasters to build a successful website. In addition to that, you will find some webmaster articles with great internet related tips and tricks. I utilize this website alot when working on my website.

HTML Color Codes Great location to find html color codes for your website.

Kijiji.com Just found this website this morning. Another free site with the same concept as Craigslist. I actually like the look and feel of the website better than Craigslist.

Visit these websites if you have a need. Many small businesses and entrepreneurs are do-it-yourselfers and these sites could be of benefit to you. If you have any suggestions for other great resources, please share.

Carole DeJarnatt
Alliance Advisors, Inc.

Start Planning your Market Strategy Now

How many of us are either doing our "Stunt of the week" or "of the month" without a plan in place? You thought of a great idea and so now you are initiating it. Have you thought about how much more successful you would be if you actually planned different strategies throughout the weeks or months?

Just as when you are firing a weapon, you are much more effective when sending out multiple rounds then just one. I'm not saying that one round will not hit the target, but if you are to send out multiple messages you are more than likely to hit more targets. Take one day, sit down, and put your thoughts in writing to come up with an effective plan for your weeks, months, and year ahead.

Last evening I gave a presentation to a group of small business owners on marketing preparedness and guidelines to start the plan. Below is a recap of some of what was shared.

1. Narrow Your Market Focus--Examine who your best customers are and what it is about them that is unique. In most cases, 80% of your business comes from these customers. Identify who they are and strive to reach more. When the other 20% call, refer them to someone else.
2. Know Your Business (positioning)--What is it that your customers want? Figure out what that is and do it better than anyone else. One of the best ways to find this out is to do a customer satisfaction survey. Your customers will let you know why they buy from you.
3. Share the Message--What do your customers get from what you sell? What is the benefit of your product/service/etc.? Write down what the benefits of doing business with you and create ways to share them in every conversation you have about your business.
4. Presentation--Now that you have determined who your target market is, know why they buy from you, and the benefits of your business, create all your marketing materials around this. Everything about your business from website, brochures, business cards, etc., need to share this information.
5. Create section-plans in each areas of your marketing--Determine how you want to spread your message and break it down into smaller plans. Examples are: internet marketing plan, networking plan, promotional events, and the list goes on.
6. Get a calendar and set dates for completion. If you do all this planning and no follow through you have just wasted a large amount of time.

Start today to plan your marketing year. Be sure to keep track of what works best and start planning for the next year in the fall of this year. If you consistently roll out different areas of your marketing, you will reap rewards with a steady flow of customers as long as your message is clear and accurate and is portrayed correctly in your materials.

Small business owners are doers, but one thing I suggest is to hire a professional if you are not a marketing person. The expertise they offer will help you to reap greater rewards.

Carole DeJarnatt
Alliance Advisors, Inc.

Starting an Email Marketing Campaign-Top Tips

Recently I have started my own ezine. I've always had a newsletter that I sent out in PDF format but I wanted an ezine for email purposes to share information about upcoming seminars, the latest service offerings, and any news I felt would be beneficial to my clients and potential clients.

Previously I had an entry on my blog about different campaign providers and now I would like to share this article I found about some tips for effective email marketing campaigns.

I hope this information helps you as much as it helps me as I try to grow my list and share quality content.

Carole DeJarnatt, Alliance Advisors

Starting An Email Marketing Campaign - Top Tips
By Matt Hick

Email marketing is a fast, easy, and relatively cheap way to promote any business in today’s high-tech world. Whether you are selling a specific service, or an entire product line, email marketing allows virtually any business to reach literally thousands of potential customers with ease.

Today’s online business has the option of three major types of email marketing plans to choose from:

Newsletter Marketing:

It’s true. Just about everyone has their own newsletter these days. From chiropractors, dentists and dog groomers, to hospitals, senior advocates and toy makers, there’s a newsletter to meet anyone (and everyone’s) needs and interests.

E-newsletter marketing is an excellent way to promote your business or service online by providing valuable resources to consumers in an easy-to-read informative format, which also manages to highlight your business. While some other email marketing methods tend to be deleted by recipients before really being looked at, newsletters have the tendency to be read, thus giving you a chance – over and over again – to showcase yourself and your business in a unique non-advertising-like style.

Bulk E-Mail Marketing:

One of the least favorite (and less successful), methods of online advertising/marketing is the bulk email. Although an extremely cheap way to reach thousands of potential customers, it can so closely resemble SPAM, which many recipients may opt to delete the message without ever giving it a second glance.

There’s nothing wrong with sending bulk messages to a solidly researched emailing list that you have obtained recipient permission to use. But bulk-mailing uses purchased email lists to blindly contact recipients with little more than messages featuring more “advertising” than information. Be wary of using this tactic. It can destroy your credibility among recipients who may otherwise be interested in learning more about your business offerings.

Opt-In E-Mail Marketing:

Similar to bulk emailing in the fact that messages are sent to a large grouping of recipients, opt-in marketing is different in one major way: it uses a carefully compiled business directory of email addresses that your company has painstakingly taken the time to ensure that each recipient is interested in your message and has pre-approved its delivery. Opt-in email marketing is an essential tool used by most e-commerce businesses to send important announcements, updates, discounts and specials.

Whether you are an online retail store sending weekly discount coupons to valued customers, or an organization trying to notify clients of an upcoming seminar deadline, opt-in email marketing can get the word out quickly and easily, at much lower cost than any other type of traditional marketing tool. The key here is having a solid client base in which to stay in touch with. Then, let them pass along valuable information to potential customers on their own through a more high-tech form of “word of mouth.”

E-mail marketing can be a valuable tool for any online business if used properly and carefully to ensure that your messages aren’t deleted as junk before they are ever read.


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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matt_Hick
http://EzineArticles.com/?Starting-An-Email-Marketing-Campaign---Top-Tips&id=588878

Positive Reinforcement

I have recently had several episodes where I have had to encourage and reinforce positive actions. This is not only in the area of business but at home and socially.

I find that with negative consequences people either want to go in the opposite direction or run from the responsibility or strike out in retaliation or even worse enable the situation of negative behavior.

If you are an enabler, you are the one who knows that the situation is not good but you in some way help to keep it going. I have several examples but this is at the top of my mind: a son is having marital problems so asks to move back in with his parents. The parents assuming they are doing the right thing allow him to move in. This enabling situation allows the son not to work on his marriage by allowing him to escape into someone else's environment and ignoring his own. It is time for the son to face up to his responsibilities and take care of his problems, whatever the outcome.

Retaliation. This is definitely not a great way to take care of a situation. I do not believe it is necessary to give an example here as probably all of us at one time or another have done this. I have learned through experience that this action solves nothing. Perhaps you say I felt better by doing so. Did you really? In my experiences, the after effects were not pleasant either.

Perhaps we have forgotten the golden rule. J.C. Penney used it and was the motto for his stores. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I believe if we looked at our situations or experiences in this way the outcome would be much more pleasant. If you treated someone in the same way you want to be treated would it not be a pleasant experience?

Try utilizing the golden rule in your life, business, and social situations. You may be the example someone else was needing to have positive reinforcement in their life.

Carole DeJarnatt
Alliance Advisors, Inc.
Alliance Success Group

Brainstorming for success

If you have read any of my entries of late you will note that I am working on setting up mastermind groups and also attending my own group. Yesterday I attended a coaches roundtable group. The discussion for the day was how to get your book written and published.

We were honored to have a regional director of the Florida's Writers Association among us and he answered and gave direction to many of the questions. There was several questions asked by both sides of the groups. We had editors and ghostwriters in attendance also.

It was a great meeting and very informational. Here is a list of a few of the items I walked away with:

1. Start your book one page at a time. Even if it takes a year it makes no difference as long as you have progress.
2. Done is spelled D-O-N. Meaning your first draft does not have to be perfect.
3. Self-publishing is a quick way to get your book in print.
4. Ebooks can be a source of income being offered on your website.
5. Some writers feel business coaches are beneficial partners in business. As a business coach I have a writer and editor friend who I turned to all the time for help and also to do work for me.
6. Presentations can be taped and then turn into an audio workshop for another source of income on your website.
7. When hiring a ghostwriter do not assume they will do all the work.
8. pow100.com a source to sell your book online.
9. For back of the room sales, ensure your material is something you didn't say at your speaking event to add value for your clients.
10. Floridawriters.net

I could probably write more but I am going to cut it off here. Do you see the benefit of joining a mastermind group yet? I came away with so many ideas.

On my way home I called my friend who is a ghostwriter and told her I want to start my ebook. I plan on initating at least one of the ideas I walked away with. It may take me six months but I have started.

Start your growth process today and find a group. Some are free and others are not; but no matter which you choose make the most of it.

Carole DeJarnatt
Alliance Advisors, Inc.