6. Donate your coaching services.

Each year, many private and charitable organizations host events to attract contributions to their cause. To raise money, they usually auction off goods and services donated to them by local businesses. Donating a one- or two-month coaching package is a wonderful way to contribute to a cause you support. It’s also a wonderful way to showcase your business and services that you offer.

7. Volunteer to speak.

Contact your local chamber of commerce as well as other community clubs, like Rotary or Optimist Clubs, and volunteer to speak on an interesting topic. Create a short one- or two-page proposal that includes four or five titles and summaries of speeches you’re eager to present. Include a short, professional biography as well as detailed contact information.

8. Offer a complimentary coaching day.

One day per month, offer complimentary coaching to everyone! Send out flyers or postcards to local chamber directors, to local businesses, and to residents of community. Conduct 15, 20- or 30-minute coaching sessions. Be sure to coach something simple and tangible so that recipient can walk away with an experience to remember. Ask customer to take some action by end of next week. If you’re coaching in person, hand them your business card and ask them to call or email you in one week to report their progress. If you’re coaching on phone, ask them to call you to report their progress.

9. Contact your local television news station.

Send or email your professional biography as well as a few news story ideas about your coaching practice to lifestyle editor. If you have a local client who is willing to tout rewards of having you as a coach, work them into story. The key to gaining editor’s attention is presenting a compelling, human interest story about how coaching has changed your clients’ lives.

10. Teach a class.

Offer a free or fee class through your local community education program. If your class is accepted, it will be published in course catalog, usually with a short biography, which is then distributed throughout community. In some cases, this can translate to being publicized to tens of thousands of households – a great way to become well-known.

Copyright 2004 by Tara Kachaturoff.

7.Published? Have you written any articles, books, e-courses or e-books? Self-published or not, your works add to your level of professionalism and credibility. Showcase them in your biography and you might earn additional royalties in terms of new clients or other opportunities.

8.Did I mention media? Have you been a guest on talk radio or television? Were you or your business featured or even mentioned in a newspaper article? If so, readers want to know. Again, these types of “mentions” add to your credibility and presence.

9.Call me any time. People who want to know about you will read your biography for just that reason. And, if its compelling, rich, and includes information they’re interested, in, they’ll want to contact you. Include complete contact information like your title (if any), name, address, telephone, fax, email, and website address. Make it easy to find this information by including it in last paragraph of your professional overview.

10.Write, rewrite, and do it again. After you have written your biography, edit, edit, and edit again. You may need to do a dozen or so revisions before you get it just right. Eliminate extra words, use descriptive words, keep sentences short but varied in length, and write in third person. Ask some friends to provide input as well. Make sure to revise your biography regularly to keep it up-to-date and refreshed.

Copyright 2004 by Tara Kachaturoff.