Archive for February, 2009
Getting The Twitter Widget To Work With Wordpress
If you, like me, use Wordpress, there’s a nice little widget that fits (just) into the standard Kubrick sidebar. You can see an example on the right there.
It’s an official Twitter-produced piece of code, and works via Flash.
I had (in fact, still have) the Wordpress TwitterTools plugin, but after a while I found all the short Twitter messages cluttering up my blog was a pain.
But this widget is rather good, as it keeps all your Tweets in a sidebar widget. So people can read them if they want, scroll down for more, or ignore them if they don’t.
You can get the code here: http://twitter.com/widgets . Or just click on the link in my widget on the right there.
The same site allows you to create specific widgets for Facebook, MySpace, Blogger and Typepad, or even a normal webpage.
If you’re using Wordpress, like me, you click on “Other“. Then follow the menu, ensuring you actually click on “Flash Widget” and then click again on “Interactive Widget“.
Once you copy the code, you’ll need to use the Wordpress Widget editor on your Wordpress blog (easy to use) that’s under the “Design” menu, and paste the code into a “Text” widget that you need to add. And I had to reduce the width parameters in the code to make it fit (196 pixels in my case).
But it works very well, I think. Have a look at my recent Tweets over on the right.
Is Your Chosen Niche Really Viable?
You want to know if your chosen coaching niche is viable?
Here are a few of the key indicators:
a) Are they a homogenous group (same type of issues, concerns, problems, outlook etc)
b) Are they reachable – do you know where exactly to go both online and offline to reach them?
c) Is there enough activity in the niche – (money being spent, newsletters, magazines, press coverage, books, seminars, trade shows etc)
d) Are they hungry - do they have a VERY small number of key problems that they really want help with – and do you know what these are?
Remember, to coach them, you do not have to be the world expert in their problems, at least initially! But if you pick your niche wisely, you’ll soon see patterns emerging about their needs, wants, desires and problems.
And the more you interact with them, the clearer these will become. You’ll get to the point where you can predict what their issues will be before you meet them. That’s when you gain a lot of credibility.
Then when you’re able to resolve their problems – or show them how to, you are REALLY adding value.
The key thing initlally is can you get to them – get in front of them – in person and online easily?
If you can, great. If not, or if it will take a great deal of research work just to find them, I’d select a narrower subset of your market, at least to start with.
Coaches – Earn An Additional $35,800 This Year By Discovering Your Niche – Part 2
In our last post, we looked at two common myths about nicheing that are widely held amongst coaches. We continue the discussion in this post.
Myth 3. If I’m niched, my income will go down, as I appeal to less people.
Look at Dentist Coach Chris Barrow, if you believe this. When he specialised in coaching Dentists, his income went up in significant hikes. Chris enjoys a 7-figure coaching income and reports that he has 12 weeks holidays a year.
I’ve just got hold of the 2009 Annual Sherpa Coaching Survey. Here’s a comparison with annual incomes of undifferentiated, un-niched life coaches and coaches with a niche, in this case Executive Coaches.
Life Coaches’ Income
In 2008-9, life coaches with less than 3 years, 3-5 years and more than five year’s experience, earned $ 28,200, $ 35,230 and $ 77,000 respectively.
Executive Coaches’ Income
In 2008-9, executive coaches with less than 3 years, 3-5 years and more than five year’s experience, earned $ 64,000, $ 88,300 and $ 134,800 respectively.
Which income would you prefer? So now would you like a niche?
So Why Should Coaches Niche?
It’s profitable, as we can see. It makes your marketing effort easier, as you get known more quickly in a narrow market. And the trouble is, if you don’t have a niche, you’re trying to appeal to everyone. In trying to appeal to everyone, you’ll risk appealing to no-one.
In the current economic climate, unless you’re appealing specifically to a narrow target market, supplying exactly what your prospects want, you’re less likely to get the business.
Coaches – Earn An Additional $35,800 This Year By Discovering Your Niche – Part 1
Many coaches hold back from specialising in a niche, and as a result, massively restrict their earnings.
This article explores common coaching niche myths and shows how much money you might be missing out on, due to not having a niche!
There are several myths about having a coaching niche. They come up again and again. Here are the most common.
Myth 1. You lose out on attracting business because you’re niched.
This is supposedly because you lose people who are not in your niche, either because you turn them down, or they are not attracted to you anymore.
Many coaches who have no niche believe this. No coaches who have a niche believe this, as they all have evidence to the contrary. When you’re active in a niche, you get known fast, through word of mouth and through other communication channels. People outside of your niche will get to hear about you, and ask if you can coach them.
Assuming your practice is not completely full, you can coach them, if you choose to!
Myth 2. It’s best to have a huge amount of coaching experience (100 people? 200 hours?) before you niche.
Being competent as a coach is essential, of course. But the difference between a dentist with an income of $40K and one of $400K is not in how they fill teeth. It’s in how they market themselves.
Coaching skill and marketing skill are not dependent on each other.
If you’re sure there’s a hungry market, and you know you can supply their needs, why wait?
This article will continue in the next post.