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#1 Best Seller 2003-07
Published April 2008
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Out Now!
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Volume 2612/007
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ACHIEVEMENT!
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July 2008 |
YOUR FREE MONTHLY JOURNAL OF DISCOVERY INTO THE WONDERFUL
WORLD OF COACHING
The August course FULL - Standby at Early Bird Prices
July course has 1 space left - book now!
News Flash
- Investment fee increase coming in the Autumn
Hello from your top coach
- Game, set and match
Ponder on this for a moment
- Never mention it
What makes us special
- In the words of others
Marketing Moments
- Value to your clients
Fun Work - Colour, taste and texture
Absolute Beginners
- Grasp that nettle
Colin's Coffee Break
- An annoying little 'but'
New from Achievement Specialists -
Personal Success Handbook
Event Calendar -
August is Full - book now for July (one space only!).
Coaches Corner PR Coaching & Dodge the Downturn
Contact Curly - How
to get in touch today
We wanted to give you plenty of warning about the Investment fee increases, which will be coming in to effect during the Autumn. This advance warning is announced to provide you with the opportunity to book your place on any of our future courses by simply forwarding your deposit. You will secure a place on the course of your choice at the current prices and so protect yourself from the increases.
We have struggled over the last 4 years –Yes we have held our prices for that long! - to keep the prices of our courses well below their market value. We have strived to achieve this price capping to enable talented, passionate people with limited budgets to be able to train to high standards without going into huge amounts of debt. So, if you fit into this category you can take action now and book your place in the future at today's rate. Call the office on our free phone 0800 191 0200 now to secure a place on our highly acclaimed and prestigious diploma course at the 2004 prices.
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HELLO FROM YOUR TOP COACH - CURLY MARTIN |
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Greetings
Even if you have no interest in sport, the media is very good at reminding us that the last week of June and the first week of July feature the annual tennis tournament at Wimbledon.
It sometimes seems that this is also a signal for a couple of weeks of wet weather. The weather is probably just as fickle at other times of the year. It is only because Wimbledon happens so regularly that we remember the images of rain drenched spectators waiting patiently for play to resume.
Thanks to modern television coverage, we can share the emotions of joy and pain as the players win or lose. After watching a few matches we can become adept at reading body language and the way that it reveals determination or surrender.
Psychologists suggest that, as with many other sports, although a game of tennis involves skill, technique and physical fitness, matches are often won or lost by that invisible muscle between the ears. Champions know that mental attitude is as least as important as stamina and talent. Many of the star players deliver their best when the run of play seems to be against them and then a refusal to accept defeat motivates them to ever greater heights.
You will surely be expecting me to make a link between tennis players and their coaches, so I shall not disappoint you. There is a well documented history of players who have moved from lower rankings into the elite 'top ten' by employing a new coach.
At Achievement Specialists we share the ethos of sports coaches. Their aim is to inspire their players exceed their previous best performances and thus enjoy the greater rewards that life has to offer. Our aims and results are similar.
Our coach training embraces the psychology of success, the science of motivation and the development of positive attitudes. These are revealed along with practical techniques that you can use for yourself and your clients. Contact us now and as each year of Wimbledon rolls by, you will remember with pleasure that this is your anniversary of exploring something new. It can be an enjoyable pastime to be a spectator. It is a far more rewarding experience to be a player.
Love and life
Curly
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PONDER ON THIS FOR A MOMENT |
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I have never met a multi-millionaire in my life who has not lost everything before. Never. The secret is to never mention it.
[Jeffrey Archer]
How you would describe the taste and texture of a strawberry to someone who had never seen or eaten one? How could you describe the colour red to someone who had been blind from birth or, the sound of a blackbird's full song to a profoundly deaf person?
Your answers will enable you to expand your vocabulary and improve your communication skills. Now think about how you would describe coaching to someone who had never ever heard of it before and compare this with the present 'mental script' that you use when people ask what you do.
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WHAT MAKES US SPECIAL |
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All the testimonials we receive from our coaches are given to us spontaneously, freely, joyously and without any prompting. We do not give gifts or incentives for delegates to write testimonials for our courses because we do not have to, they send them because they valued the course. Unfortunately we have heard that one of the larger coach training providers was doing just that - giving a gift for the best written testimonial! Therefore how can a visitor to their website believe the many quotes on display. This upsets me because it not only devalues their training, it also reflects badly on the integrity of our profession as a whole. Here are testimonials we did not have to bribe to receive!
Hi Lexie, Wow, what a journey, from 0-60 in 5 ½ months!! Things are taking off and I have now signed up my first 3 paying clients last week.
I have so enjoyed taking The life coaching Handbook Diploma, with the Achievement Specialists and feeling very blessed to have had you as my mentor. I have been able to share my heart and soul with you and have worked through some painful emotional 'stuff in the process'. My clients are also benefiting from the valuable lessons that I have learnt from The Achievers, yourself and also Clive Levy my pre- coaching coach who Curly organised for me.' With Sincere warm Wishes,
Wendy Fry LCH Dip www.bepositivelifecoaching.co.uk
'I attended the Achievement Specialists' Diploma course with Curly Martin. Within three weeks of posting my profile on their 'Our Coaches' directory, to my delight I received a website enquiry. Using Achievement Specialists' tried-and-tested RABIT approach, I successfully convert prospects like this into paying clients. I would like to thank Curly and her brilliant team for their continued contribution to my success as I grow my practice.'
Paulette Boniface, Life Coach, My Fantastic Life, visit www.myfantasticlife.co.uk or call 01252 782752
'Hi there Curly, just wanted to send you a greeting to thank you for the wonderful course. I was unsure when I attended as to whether I was going to become a life coach per se, or if I was going to use the new skills in a current business and workplace, either way was win win! I have to say, I am now feeling very inspired and clever and motivated, and this does wonders for ones self esteem! I have totally taken the bull by the horns, and after listening to one of your teleclasses regarding niche marketing, I brainstormed some ideas I had been having and have chosen the police as my niche, due to my previous experience in this field. I have registered a ltd company, Ric has registered a domain name for me and we have briefly discussed my web site I have my 0845 no...(which ends in 999 which has had me chuckling all week!) have reserved a quarter page advert to run from 23rd April in 'the job' newspaper which has 21k circulation of met police and civil staff employees.(if I get 1 paying client it will pay for the advert each month so again, win win scenario) I have a po box no I am having a pr photo taken Monday and have ordered some stationary. I have begun a couple of coaching hours. I have been offered a paid talk to do in march I have learned that....people who call me about life coaching, already are half way there and so I don't need a big hard cold sell.. think I am going to go and lie down now.! hehe.. anyway, thought you love to hear about how life coaching has already worked for me in only one week! "when we jump into the unknown, that is when we learn how to fly" I hope you and the team have an outstanding weekend. love and light'
Karen Clayton
Two business coaches were discussing their practices. The first, with a background in middle management, revealed that she had a client base of around 30 clients and charged each of them £40 for their weekly hour of telephone coaching. This gave a pre-tax gross income of £1200 each week and left her totally exhausted to the extent where she was considering a new career.
The second coach, with a background in top end management consultancy, announced that he spent half a day each week with his three clients. Because he charged his time out at £400 an hour plus expenses, he grossed around £5000 a week. It took both coaches a similar amount of time, cost and effort to create their clients and yet one earned four times more than the other, for almost identical services and, instead of becoming worn and weary, had ample time and money to follow his leisure interests.
Your price or fee structure is a vital part of your marketing mix. The trick is to think in terms of your value to potential clients rather than your own experience based expectations of what you think you're worth. Some of you might have heard the story of the washing machine engineer who kicked the side of a defective machine which burst into life and resulted in a £100 bill for the client. This was made up of £10 for call out and £90 for knowing just where to kick the machine.
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NEW FROM ACHIEVEMENT SPECIALISTS |
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NEW - EXCITING - NEW - EXCITING - NEW - EXCITING
- NEW
New Book now released
THE PERSONAL SUCCESS HANDBOOK
Each chapter has a story to illustrate the chapter contents,
self-diagnostic boxes to enable you to question yourself honestly
and an action box to get you started. The book covers the many
varied aspect of building a successful life and the chapter headings
will be revealed in next months newsletter. Send an email to team@achievementspecialists.co.uk for Curly Martin to show you how — if you change just one thing, and continue with the change you can build a gorgeous office life for yourself. Visit her articles here nationalofficeweek.com/change-one-thing/
Curly has identified the top 12 areas that people would like to change, and since your professional life reflects your personal life (and vice versa), we will be working on all of them during this year. You can have a gorgeous office life if you are prepared to focus on just one change each month, and we will support each month with tips and hints that will make the journey a gorgeous one.
NEW - EXCITING - NEW - EXCITING - NENEW - EXCITING - NEW - EXCITING
Testimonial for the Personal Success Handbook
Curly Martin tops off a terrific trilogy in her `handbook' series with an intensive examination of the multi-faceted & elusive gem we know as personal success.
ced to a whole host of subjects that can enhance our lives, but are treated to Curly's very own RAWPOWER model, borne from over two decades of her own personal success. I found this to be a highly useful tool that I could apply instantly to my life to help expedite success.
The Personal Success Handbook is written in Curly's warm & absorbing style once again, which makes the subject matter breathe with her fresh perspective & delightful humour. It offers the reader plenty of opportunity to reflect on what is being presented, as well as encouragement to take action to move us forward on our journey to success - something not always present in books of this nature.
Quite simply put, this book would be outstanding addition to the library of anyone who is serious about personal development; whatever your current level of achievement, the Personal Success Handbook will help propel you off the starting blocks down the track to YOUR personal success with a renewed perspective & inspired confidence
Grant Willcox - Success Coach - 2excelcoaching.co.uk
There comes a time in every life, every business and every practice where it is necessary to do something unpleasant that you don't want to do.
It is all too easy to prolong the agony and angst by putting it off for a variety of alleged reasons. If you delay until the time is right, you could find that the right time never comes. If you delay in the hopes that the situation will go away, it probably won't. It may even get worse.
Once you have considered the full implications of acting or not acting, steel yourself to do what you have to do. If you need to pull a sticking plaster from a hairy part of your body it is better to do it with one almighty tug than to attempt a gradual removal. Maybe you have been told to 'grasp the nettle' this is because a nettle that is firmly grasped should not sting whilst one that is timidly touched will render a painful rash. Most country folk know that broad shaped Dock Leaves usually grow near nettles and that they can be crushed to release sap that will relieve your irritation. Although there is rarely a similar antidote to life's irritations, their influence will be minimised when you act with swift confidence.
PR coaching
Here is a special offer for all readers of Special Achievement, PR coaching. This will involve coaching sessions, which will enable me to guide people towards different types of PR activity to get their new business ventures off the ground or give their existing business increased exposure. Get a clear understanding of PR, how it works and the potential benefits. There are also huge cost implications associated with the industry with freelancers charging between £400 - £500 a day or a PR agency but again, that would run into several thousands which many people do not have.
Free initial consultation
Option 1 - 1 hour coaching session + follow up email - £70
Option 2 - 2 x 35 minute sessions + 4 email follow ups - £100
Option 3 - 6 x 45 minutes coaching sessions + 3 follow up emails - £360
Option 4 - 6 x 1 hour coaching sessions + unlimited email contact - £485
As an introductory offer, you will recieve a 20% discount on option three until the end of July.
Tracy North email: north.tracy@googlemail.com
How To Dodge The Downturn
- Work Smart nurture your own cashflow, use it to the maximum benefit. Avoid rushing into expensive advertising. Market your service inexpensively and actively. Ask your current clients for referrals, utilise the power of the internet, develop strategic partnerships with businesses that serve your niche in other areas.
- Solve Their Problem make sure that in every marketing opportunity you are spelling out the benefits of your service, the solution to your market's greatest challenge. Make it easy for your market to choose you. Your clients are not interested in how you achieve this, only their results.
- Offer Choice offer a range of products and services at different price points to draw in new business and keep it.
- Comfort Your Clients at times like these, people do start to feel a bit nervous. You can comfort your clients by keeping in regular contact with them so they know that you're still around and that you'll be there when they need you. It also keeps your service in the forefront of their mind when they are networking and able to pass on referrals to you.
- Lose/Win To Succeed offer a lose-win guarantee* to increase buyer-confidence. If your clients and prospects see that you are so confident in your service that you are willing to take a hit if they are in any way dissatisfied then there is no risk to them hiring you.
* A lose-win guarantee is one that not only removes the risk for the consumer, it actually puts the company at financial risk. Eg Dominos Pizza famously offered a lose-win guarantee that if your pizza is not delivered within 30mins, it is free. Others include 110% refund if products do not deliver. The lose-win guarantee literally reverses the risk from consumer to provider.
Lorraine Hamilton BSc, LCH Dip, MAC, PMANLP
Client Attraction Coach www.servicebusinessboost.com
T: 0845 050 8158
Our columnist at large is taken to task by a client who defines a shortcoming that he never knew he had.
My letterheads once carried the tagline, 'words are my passion and my business'. This later morphed into the altogether more dynamic, 'words that create positive results'. Even so, I was bemused when a client complained about my butt. Well, that's what it sounded like.
I figured that she couldn't be complaining about my posterior because, although we were friends, we weren't that friendly. There was nothing in the context for her to be referring to the green barrels in the garden that collect rainwater. As it was three months since I had quit smoking she surely couldn't mean cigarette butts and, she was far too dainty and demure to even think of a phrase like 'butt out'.
As our conversation continued, it became apparent that her reference was to a 'but' with one 't'. It seems that I used the word too much during an editorial assignment. She also had a personal agenda that involved its almost total exclusion.
I used it extensively because it was quicker to type than 'however' and a need to meet deadlines without making my brain itch too much. I checked a few recent articles and she did indeed have a point.
My client saw the word as an excuse for procrastination or, for rejecting opposing views gently, as in, 'I would do it, but …' or, 'I agree, but …'. For the next week or three I became conscious of how frequently the word is used in everyday conversation. Until then, I had only considered it as one of those little words that should always be preceded or followed by a comma.
There is an even shorter word that has to be used with similar care. A pedantic academic might refer to it as 'the first person singular' which, to you and me, is the word 'I'. Use it too much and you could come across as an ego tripper or, worse, a bad listener. Some books on advertising copywriting suggest that a sales text should contain three incidences of 'you' or, 'yours' for every instance of 'I' or, 'my'. Have a good look at your marketing and note the number 'I' to 'You' ratio you are using. And at the same time if you spot any 'but' words you can replace them with 'and'. Have fun.
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