Many new coaches operate on the idea that until their coaching business brings in a significant income they don't really have a job. They sabotage their success by saying yes to opportunities without weighing the potential pay off against the costs (time, energy and stress). The result is less clients and less income. It's a circular problem.

Forgetting to Be a Business Owner

Be honest with yourself. Have you recently procrastinated on your marketing? For instance, have you received a call from a friend or family member to do something and you've dropped everything to do that during the business day? I know. It's difficult to turn them down when you're not making much income yet.

Or, let's say someone asks you to speak or collaborate on a workshop that has nothing to do with your target market, or even if it does, since it's their gig, you have little opportunity to build your credibility. You'll be building theirs instead. These false opportunities are like bright shiny objects - diversions that have the look of something good, but upon close inspection, they cost too much for too little return.

Michelle's Story

Michelle started her coaching business six months ago and has just a few clients. Frustrated, she asked her mentor coach for help. He suggested they start by taking a look at how Michelle dedicates time each month to attracting clients. It boiled down to this:

• 4 hours networking at two chamber meetings
  
  
• 6 hours writing a biweekly ezine
  
  
• 6 hours teaching a course at a community college (In her first year of teaching, with design, prep and driving time, she's actually spending over 60 hours each month on this activity!)

The bottom line: only 10 of the 70 hours she puts into marketing activities each month are spent in direct contact with prospects. And, with the exception of her ezine, which goes out to three subscribers each month, all of whom are already her clients, none of her marketing time is actually spent with her target market - stay-at-home moms.

Another revelation: Nearly half of all her business hours are spent either in distraction with friends or family members when they call to chat, or volunteering in various committees at her church. She has met some moms through the committee work, but it hasn't given her a platform to sell her services.

Michelle was shocked by all of this because it seemed like she was working so hard. And she was. Her efforts were not focused in the right place.

The Right Idea Rather than a Good Idea

Professionals become successful by having strict criteria for how they focus their time. What are your success criteria? When the next opportunity comes along, ask yourself:

• Does it put me directly in front of many prosperct in my niche market?
  
  
• Does it give me a leadership role in design and implementation?
  
  
• Does it showcase my abilities and intellectual property?
  
  
• Will it funnel ideal clients into my coaching business?
  
  
• Can this experience be leveraged into future fee-based events and experiences with prospective clients?
  
  
• Will this fit into my ideal schedule and preferences for when I work?
  
  
• Does it stretch my skills and expand my comfort zone?

To qualify as a high pay off activity, your answer to each of these questions is YES! Opportunities that meet these criteria will result in more clients and higher income.

Michelle could now clearly see why her previous marketing efforts produced poor results. To correct that, she:

1. Set firm boundaries with her friends and family that she is not available during business hours (except for emergencies). And she set firm boundaries with herself to spend business time on business activities.
   
   
2. Volunteers for church activities only during evenings and weekends.
   
   
3. Opted out of a second semester at the community college and looked for less labor intensive ways to network with her target market.
   
   
4. Disciplined her ezine writing time to one hour total per ezine and put together a plan to build her subscriber list.
   
   
5. Runs every opportunity through her success criteria, choosing only high pay off opportunities.

Within just a few months, Michelle has attracted several more ideal clients, had more time to market effectively, and feels like a successful business owner.

Value Your Time

Choosing high pay off activities starts with the belief that your time is highly valuable. Budget your time as if each hour were at a high premium. Allocate your limited resources of time, energy and money, only to clients and pursuits that support your ideal.

And remember, if you want to have a successful coaching business, manage it like a professional.

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Rhonda Hess is Founder of Prosperous Coach™ and a business success coach for professional coaches. She is co-author of the Coach Training accelerator, a comprehensive coach training manual, and senior trainer for Coach Training Alliance. She also wrote Working Websites for Coaches, an ebook available in Resources for Coaches. For more information about Rhonda, see: Contributors. For more information about Prosperous Coach, see: About Us.

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