I recently had the opportunity to ask Christian Mickelson about how he got interviewed by none-other-than Forbes Magazine. What I discovered was the answers are simpler and more accessible to EVERYONE including you, than you might think.
That said, Christian tells how he almost missed this opportunity, and also extends an invitation to an Open House TeleSeminar where he goes deeper into how he's become successful. Click here to go directly to the TeleSeminar registration page - it's no fee.
Andrea: So Christian, congratulations on your Forbes exposure! That's a wonderful win. Will you share how it all happened?
Christian: Sure. I was having a bad day and the phone rang, so I let it go to voice mail. I immediately checked the message and it was Forbes. At first I thought they were going to try to sell me advertising on their website. They had attempted to do so about 9 months earlier. But I kept listening and he explained that he was writing an article on “surprising 6 figure careers” and was wondering if coaching would qualify. He actually left me all of the things he was wanting to know and his contact number.
Like I said, I was having a bad day and I considered waiting until I was in a better mood to call him back. But after I thought about it for a few minutes, I realized he might start calling other people and I might miss my chance. So I gathered all of the information he wanted to know and then I called him back.
AL: Do you know how he came to call you in particular?
CM: I asked him that question and he just said he found my website on the internet. I asked a little more, but he didn’t have a lot of answers for me. I’m guessing he may have looked up a number of sites and wasn’t too sure how he got there.
AL: Interesting. So, what impact did being in Forbes have on your business?
CM: It was astonishing. The article was linked from the home page of their website and it mentioned my website in the article so a directed a lot of trafic to my site.
In fact, I didn’t know for sure that the article was a go until I received an email late at night from someone who said she saw the article and she was asking for my help getting started as a coach.
Then the next morning the number of new subscribers went through the roof. After a few days the new sign-ups died down. Then a few days later it picked back up and one of my former clients from years ago emailed be and said he saw the article on yahoo. So I searched yahoo and there it was in their finance section. It died down again, and then a over the weekend there was another surge and I noticed that many of the email addresses ended in .CA which usually means Canada, so I searched for Yahoo Canada and the article was on their home page.
After it died down I thought for sure it was over and then all of sudden the biggest surge of all… it was on the home page of MSN with a BIG fat image. It stayed on their home page for 24 hours. That was the biggest spike in subscribers. Partly because by then I had changed my home page to reflect “getting started” in coaching instead of “how to get more clients” since that’s what people were most interested in.
AL: Did the article have any negative impact on your business?
CM: Yes, actually it did. I had to put a lot of projects on hold because I was getting phone calls and emails like crazy with people wanting to know how to get started in coaching.
I was trying to recommend a book or a resource that I trusted and believed in. I used to recommend a certain resource, but now that they are under new ownership, I honestly didn’t have someone to send them to, so I created “The Professional Coaching Quick Start Kit” and wrote the book “How to Quickly Get Started In Professional Coaching: The Hidden Truth About What It Really Takes”.
AL: Gotcha.
CM: I wasn’t actually planning on focusing on any of the start up stuff. I already had products to help coaches that were struggling to quickly turn it around and I was planning another product and a live event, but I had to push the live event out 6 months and the new product is finally being released 10 months later.
AL: Sometimes you have to seize the moment though, right? Cool. So overall, what were some of the highlights about the whole experience? Did you jump up and down with delight? Did you frame the article? Send it to your mom? :)
CM: My girlfriend and I were both very excited. And everytime a new wave of subscribers came in it was so fun. My inbox was jammed full of “new subscriber” notifications. I announced the article to my email list and told everyone I knew that “I was interviewed by Forbes”. My email list tripled in size! My overall income has doubled partly do to the exposure.
AL: That is truly awesome Christian. Congratulations again. So as a last question, what advice would you give to other coaches that want to experience the same success?
CM: There were a few important keys to the success of the interview. First, I set an intention to “become the foremost authority on coaching” a few weeks before I got the call. Bold, I know, but I figured someone has to be, why not me?
Second, I asked Tom (the interviewer) to include the name of my website in the article… 3 times! First I asked him during the interview. Then I asked him for his email address so that I could forward him some supporting information. Then I emailed him 2 times over the next few days and each time asked him to mention the name of my site in the article… Then, lo and behold, he did! If he hadn’t the interview wouldn’t have had half the impact. He misspelled my last name, and misquoted me in the article, but he did spell www.CoachingBusinessRocketLauncher.com correctly!
AL: That is hilarious. Talk about the benefits of repeating your message, only in this case it was to a journalist. Bravo. Now, I understand you'd like to invite folks who read this to an Open TeleSeminar...where can they go to register?
CM: Yes, I'd love to do that - it'll give us a full hour to openly discuss success in coaching, and I'd like to give away a ticket to one of my upcoming live events. Here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/34zr2m
AL: Fantastic Christian, thank you. And I wish you luck with your live events - I'm glad to see someone is doing the 2-day intensive model again. Until next time...
I enjoyed this article from Marcia Bench over at CCI; it's pithy on the topic of great questions. What are some of your best coaching questions?
How to Amp Up Your Coaching Questions
by Marcia Bench, Founder/Director, Career Coach Institute
Asking coaching questions is distinctly different from asking for directions, asking permission, or asking how something works. Powerful coaching questions must have at least 4 key characteristics. Otherwise they won't further the coaching conversation, nor will they really 'hit the mark' with clients so that they have the breakthroughs they need.
So how do you know a powerful question? They must fit these 4 criteria.
1. Nonjudgmental vs. judgmental: 'Shouldn't you stay at your job instead of becoming a starving author?' is judgmental, and requires a yes/no answer. Instead ask 'Which option seems best to you? Why?'
2. Short vs. long: 'What do you really want?' is much more powerful for most people than 'In the ideal world, with all the money you want, and no concerns for kids or commuting or being by family, do you have an idea what you would choose then?'
3. Open- vs. closed-ended: Questions that require a yes or no answer stop the coaching session flat. So instead of 'Do you think you can do that?' ask 'What needs to happen so you can move forward?'
4. Match client's language and/or communication style: Clients process information differently - some use visual language, some focus on the auditory (hearing), others prefer to feel, experience and interact with it. Changing just a few words from 'see' to 'hear' or 'feel' can make a huge difference in the impact of the question.
'Master Certified Career Coach Marcia Bench, 'The Career Coach's Coach,' publishes the widely circulated 'Career Coach News' ezine weekly with over 7,000 subscribers. If you're ready to start or grow your own coaching business as an infopreneur so that you can have a huge positive impact on others' lives and the planet, make people's work matter™, and earn a great living working the way you want in the process, get your F_REE tips now at www.careercoachinstitute.com'
More on great coaching questions, how to ask them, and how to know if you're on the right track with them, in blog posts coming soon. How do you know when you've been asked a great coaching question?
In keeping with our theme of making meaningful, profitable businesses easier...
In our fervent hopes to give you the tools to be the Sun, rather than blow til you're blue like the Wind...
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Are you sick of trying so hard? May I ask, "Are You Being the Sun or the Wind?"
Question: "Andrea, when you’re trying to sell something to someone, I know it’s important to communicate with people more than once. I’ve already emailed my newsletter readers with four different offers this month, but they still aren’t buying. What should I write in my next email that will work? I’m tired of pounding them so many times."
Answer: There are many ways to answer this question, but with thanks to Aesop, I'd like to paraphrase a little story. It may give you a new perspective on this as well as other situations where you feel like you’re trying awfully hard. Play along for just a moment and see if you can find the energy of this little tale:
The Sun and the Wind decided to have a little game. They agreed to prove which one of them was more powerful.
When a man came traveling down the road, they seized their opportunity – they decided to see who could make the man remove his coat, thus proving whether the Sun or the Wind was the more powerful.
The Wind took the challenge and began to blow. He blew as hard as he could at the man, trying to get him to remove his coat.
But the more the wind blew, the more the man clung to his coat and hat, and the wind had to give up.
Next the sun gave it a try and turned up his rays so it began to warm up. As the day grew brighter and the man grew warmer, he naturally found it too hot to keep his coat on and was happy to take it off.
Coming up on a small stream, he even took his shoes and socks off and took a wade before he continued on his journey.
Now with this story as a backdrop, let’s get back to the questions that make this 'real.'
"How do I stop chasing after customers and get them to try (or buy) my stuff?"
"How do I stop trying so hard to get results?"
As your e-coach for the moment, may I ask:
Between the wind and the sun, which would you rather be, as you pursue the natural, effortless, stress-free growth of your business?
In what way might you be stepping on the gas in your business, only to spin your wheels?
What seems to take an awfully LONG time to do in your business?
How often do you feel as if "I should" or "I must" in your business? When, exactly?
If you could make your own rules, what would you stop doing?
Hint: Whether you feel as though you 'get' the idea behind the Sun and the Wind, take your time with it. We're taking about a shift in the order of a sea change here and it doesn't usually happen overnight...
Remember: You can't get anything wrong and you'll never be completely finished with your work. Post your comments and questions on this topic at this link:
Andy Wibbels is back with the Write a Book in 45 Days workgroup.
Get that book out of your head and onto paper once and for all (virtual paper that is. ;)
Have your next book written and ready for publising in just 7 weeks. Classes start next week, so be sure to join now... http://andywibbels.com/book45d
And be sure to let us know when your book is done, will ya?
Brad Swift of The Life on Purpose Institute recently interviewed me as part of the 'Building Your Business on Purpose' Teleseries.
In it, I quoted from Lynne Twist's The Soul of Money, a must read for insight into how and where meaning and money intersect:
"Money is like an iron ring we put through our nose. It is now leading us around wherever it wants. We just forgot that we are the ones who designed it." -- Mark Kinney
Paraphrasing:
"It is in the act of resseing ourselves in relation to our money, and expressing our soul's integrity through the medium of money, that we experience joyful reward." [page 40, paragraph 2]
"There is an immense healing power of even the smallest amount of money when we use it to express our humanity..." [page xx, paragraph 1]
To which I suggest superimposing another layer could be useful, for the entrepreneurs in us:
There is an immense healing power in even the smallest amount of money EARNED when we do so by expressing our humanity and adding value to others...
The most important nugget to come from this call was the invitation to 'be obscenely obsessed by money' for awhile (say 30-90 days). It seemed to me in this setting of business owners that the terms purpose and meaning, etc., weren't yet being grounded enough into the conversation about money.
Because without the money piece we weren't going to be talking about businesses. And Brad asked me to address BUSINESSES with purpose, not purposes which once in a blue moon, had something to deposit in the bank. So I went to the other extreme to try and bring the energy in the other very important direction.
Here are two questions that came from participants afterwards, along with 6 Suggested Action Steps.
Question #1:
Hi Andrea,
Thanks for the information on the call today. You really got me thinking about Money vs Meaning in order to have a Business on Purpose. My question is this: What do you mean by focusing on the money? Could you give me some examples or methods?
Thanks,
Mariano
Answer:
Hi Mariano, sure. Here are just a few suggestions for you:
(1) Play the Money Game, a easy interesting little game I invented to help you start to pick up the money mindset.
If you don't already have a copy of Multiple Streams of Coaching Income or Money, Meaning and Beyond, you can begin the process by listening to the audio clip here.
Just the one exercise I outline there can give you lots to work with. Try to be thorough with it and play the game multiple times with different financial goals.
(2) Ask yourself this series of great money-focussed questions:
What money have I already earned, that I have not yet invoiced for or collected?
What's the fastest path to money for me right now? What money could I earn right now, if I MUST earn something? If I only pick up the phone or ask for the business today? (What's the Fastest Path to Money? Chapter 4, MMB.)
(3) Begin harnessing your business metrics.
Even if you're just starting out, understanding the measurements that your business generates is a great habit to cultivate. Business metrics are like an EKG for your business. From a money perspective, is your business heart beating?
There is a spreadsheet template and deeper coaching questions available here for your use in getting started.
Remember, you are the boss of money, not the other way around. By focussing, perhaps obscenely, on money for even just 30-90 days, you will increase your ability to make a difference in the world far more than if you focus on purpose, and assume the money will follow.
Here is just one more article that may get you thinking about money in a different way. It concerns knights in shining armour. ;-)
----
Question #2:
Hi Andrea
Thank you for today, as I said on the call, you have really bedded down an idea that I was totally resisting (and suddenly I see total sense in it!). My question is around bridging that gap between what I do with my clients and the ‘real world’ that they live in – how do I start to do that?
My coaching is really about starting to see yourself as the magnificent being you are (I now see how ‘out there’ that can look!) so how do I start meeting my clients where they currently are rather than where we will (most likely) get to?
Thanks a million. Love,
Answer:
Hi Donna, I'm smiling at your question because I sense you've already begun the shift you're seeking. So here are a few suggestions to help keep you going in this wonderful direction - just you wait until it gets affirmed by new clients, more income and more wonderful work for you!
(1) Meeting clients where they are at is at heart, a mindset shift. The bottom-line is customers don't give a hoot what WE think they need. They want what THEY want. If we persist in trying to sell what WE think they need - oof, we become guilty of forcefeeding. Not a pretty sight.
So at the most basic, I suggest you really start to do some processing - verbally or in writing - about why it is you've been so 'attached' to the idea of what you think is best for them. Make sense?
(2) Read a little about Desire Lines [Chapter 2] and especially 'Where Are You Coming From' [Chapter 20] in Money, Meaning and Beyond. If you are a reader.
I'll let you in on a little secret. One of the biggest reasons we wrote this little paperback is to address the mindset shift you are right in the middle of! :-)
(3) If you're not interested in the book for now, try this article on the 8 Steps to Building A Multiple Streams Product Funnel and pay special attention to step #2: Elicit the Problems. It's short and sweet but goes straight to the heart of your question Donna.
Does that help? I hope so. Feel free to post additional questions and I will do my best to answer here in a future post. That goes for everyone.
Let me leave you with one final quote, about profit, another lovely one.
“Profit is like oxygen, food and water for the body- These things are not the points of life, but without them, there is no life. In the same way, visionary companies see profit as a residual of doing things well, not the point of being in business”.
~ James Collins and Jerry Porras (Build to Last) ~
Will you be in or around Philadelphia on April 20? I will be presenting an advanced workshop for coaches there that day, and doing face-to-face consulting in New York City while in the area.
The workshop topic is: Advanced Collaboration for Coaches and it will be as billed - advanced.
If you're interested in attending the PACA workshop, visit here for more details.
If you're interested in meeting me while I'm there, I have one half day slot left. Send an email for the details. Offer expires April 10.
Oof, got tagged by Andy. It's okay, I got him with a retaliatory tagback.
What 5 things do I do nearly every day to be successful? Click here to see how this game of Memetag got started.
The most consistent thing I do daily is navigate with questions...whether they are funny questions or serious ones, I think holding the energy of certain questions each day really sets the 'tone' for a successful one. Although other success habits definitely matter, I like to remain open to the ebb and flow of habits, and not be artifically 'tied' to any one habit as the ultimate answer to success in all circumstances.
In one context, for a certain person, exercising everyday could be a fabulous contributor to success. In another situation, it could be exactly the wrong habit to cultivate. Kinda warped, but true, yes?
My strategy for figuring out which habits to embrace at any given time is asking the best questions I can think of. And navigating with those.
So to contrast little with the 'exercise, drink water, meditate, journal' type of answer, I've listed five questions I've asked lately, below. Maybe they'll get you thinking about what questions you hold each day...
(1) How much good can I do with my life today? [cf. Bucky Fuller]
(2) Am I fully committed yet completely detached (in this moment/ to this project/ with this person)? [cf. Thomas Leonard]
(3) I want to feel good. How can I feel good today? [cf. Wayne Dyer]
(4) How can I make the impossible, possible, the possible easy, and the easy elegant? In what way is this unfolding (for me/people around me)? [cf. Feldenkrais]
(5) There is no such thing as a body-mind connection. My body IS my unconscious mind. What is my body thinking and feeling and what does it want?
Side note: A lot of people hold other kinds of questions each day, such as "Am I good enough?" "Will I make enough money?" "Am I late?" "What else can I buy?" "When can I leave here?" "Why does s/he get all the breaks?" Think about what kinds of questions you hold...both good and bad. Hey, you can consider that my personal question to you, to get you started. ;-)
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