10 Steps to Growing Your Coaching Practice

1. YourTango’sExpert Network! 10 Steps To Improve Your Coaching Or Counseling Business Hosted by: Melanie Gorman, MA YourTango’s Director of Marketing & Business Development & Corey Quinn, founder of MyTherapistMatch.com and MyCoachMatch.com

3. What needs a little help?

4. Which ones haven’t even made your radar yet? Then make a commitment to yourself to get started. If you want help, we’re here and info on how to connect with us is at the end of the presentation.

6. What kind of clients do you enjoy—couples, singles, divorcees?

7. Who is your IDEAL client?

8. What clients leave you energized when the session is over?Try to work on defining your niche based on these parameters and this will help to drive the “best” clients to your door.

9. Step #2. Get online: Every business needs to arm itself with a few smart tools that work for you when you’re sleeping. The top 3 are: Your website –it serves as your online business card. Your blog– it serves as your online megaphone. Your store– it serves as your online storefront.

10. Step #3. Write: A few quick facts about who is online…

11. Step #3. Write: A few quick facts about who is online…

12. Step #3. Write:

13. Step #3. Write:

14. Step #4. Transform: Once you’ve started writing, step away from your writing to see what can be built from your work.

15. Step #5. Get social: Join power sites like Twitter and Facebook to start conversations with fans and likeminded people about your area of expertise.

16. Step #6. Make new friends: Now that you’re on social sites, talk to people and develop new relationships. On sites like Twitter you can find countless people who share your main interests and can help show you the way to growing your following and engaging with other members. Don’t be afraid to reach out to strangers with your opinion, questions or advice—it’s encouraged and part of everyday "social media" culture.

17. Step #7. Sell: Now that you’ve crafted a message and transformed it into a product you’re proud of, it’s time to sell it.

18. Step #8. Get help: No one can do it all alone… There does come a time when a little help from a virtual assistant, cleaning lady, organizational coach or intern can help. When all of the little duties are preventing you from growing your business, the smartest thing you can do to improve your practice is to get some help. www.virtualassistant.org www.internqueen.com www.internships.com www.virtualgalfriday.com www.mycoachmatch.com www.mytherapistmatch.com www.yourtango.com/experts

19. Step #9. Manage your time: One member told me that the breaking point for many coaching practices is when they hit the miracle 100K mark and that more businesses close whose revenue is between 100K and 2 million—WHY? Poor time management and being overly focused on projects that don’t affect the bottom line. As the CEO of your business you must focus on the things that ONLY you can do… and find help for the rest.

20. Step #10. Measure: Know what works. Don’t rely on opinions or comments from those who admire you. Seek out your competition, know how they make money & how they are successful. When you receive negative feedback, seek to understand it. If you want to improve your coaching business you have to know what’s working, what’s broken and what’s neglected. Fix what can be fixed, get help for the rest & never be afraid to evaluate your business.

21. The bottom line… When you really think about how to improve your coaching business, the answer isn’t magical, it’s practical. Just like every other great business, you have to take smart steps to grow or else your business will stagnate. Partnerships with sites like YourTango Experts & My Therapist/My Coach Match are economical tools that help you to take your business from good to EXTRAORDINARY!

22. Who is YourTango? It all started in 2004 with a print magazine that finally gave women what they were craving…. Insightful, intelligent content about relationships, all in one place. Over the years the brand evolved into an online resource for women, devoted entirely to love, life & relationships. Today YourTango is a dynamic community of users, experts and writers, all actively seeking to enhance their lives as they learn and share on matters that affect us the most. How are we helping experts? We connect helping professionals of all kinds with our nearly 2 million monthly readers; readers who are all looking for advice on how to live their best lives and create exceptional relationships. Experts write, promote, share, engage and connect with readers looking for help. It’s an organic experience for everyone and wonderfully successful. You can read more here… www.yourtango.com/experts/about

23. Who are we influencing? Of our nearly 2 million readers, here are a few facts we know for certain: Quick Facts 83% female 33.5 average age 73$K average household income 73% professional 63% homeowners 89% attended college 61% graduated college 29% have done post graduate work 46% are single 54% are married 7.5 minutes: the average amount of time each reader spends on YourTango exploring content.

24. Who are our friends? Shouldn’t you be here too?

25. A little bit about your hosts… Melanie Gorman is a counselor, relationship coach, author & Director of Business Development & Marketing for YourTango.com & the Director of YourTango Experts. Melanie is a trained therapist and spent 8 years working with Dr. John Gray, author of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, where she acted as the Director of Operations for the Mars Venus sites. During her tenure, she developed his telephone-based coaching program & helped bring coaching support to thousands across the globe. Her work with YourTango continues this journey with a personal mission to connect people with professionals who can deliver expert results both quickly and intelligently. To reach Melanie, please email her at: melanie@yourtango.comor call 410-923-6905. Corey Quinn is the founder of MyTherapistMatch.com, MyCoachMatch.com and Interpersonal Intelligence, LLC. His passion is combining technology and psychology, thereby helping individuals dramatically improve their health and well being by intelligently connecting them with the highest quality resources available anywhere. He holds a MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship from USC. His role at MyTherapistMatch.com and MyCoachMatch.com includes overall strategic direction, marketing and customer acquisition. Read his YourTango Expert profile here: http://www.yourtango.com/find-a-therapist