This is a must-read for all you future and current bloggers! In the blog I’d Rather Be Writing, Tom Johnson gives the top 20 usability tips for your blog.

Here’s the short list:
1. Pick a topic for your blog. Makes Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve recently talked to a couple of coaches that I recommended not build a website. (Yes, it’s true that we do turn business away if it’s not a good fit!) This is a bit of a contriversial subject, but I believe not every coach needs website. Before you spit your coffee all over yourself, let me explain. Coaches that are:

1. Already successful and ready to retire: perhaps you are a coach that left a company and then started your coaching business, which related to what you were doing before. You already have the right connections and have more than enough business right from the get-go, and when the business runs out you plan to retire.
2. Coaching is a Hobby: perhaps you are a coach that isn’t looking to have a business, but just wants to be called ‘a coach’. I don’t recommend this as it hurts the coaching industry as a whole, and thus I would recommend not having an online presence. For more on coach credentials, code of ethics for coaches, or coach training, please visit the International Coach Federation website.
3. You don’t think you need one: perhaps you think it’s a waste of time, energy or money. If this is true, you probably will never read this post anyway because you don’t go on the web.

If, however, you’re new to coaching and you’re just launching your company – it might be best to spend your time connecting with individuals, companies and other potential clients than to spend several weeks trying to put a website together. I recommend, however, at least setting-up a little WordPress.com site that at least explains what you do as a coach, some basic contact information and a blog. This will help you to build credibility to your prospects, and start building a presence on the web.

But, you might feel like one – but, don’t worry, it’s really not that difficult. In fact, I would say it’s as easy as baking sugar cookies! It just takes a little attention, following a recipe, and some readers to ‘eat it up’.

This past Friday I walked our class through the marketing and optimization of a WordPress blog. This included:

- Pingbacks and Trackbacks
- Finding keywords and keyphrases
- Utilizing Social Media Marketing, including Ping.fm and BudURL.com
- Using YouTube to drive traffic to your blog
- Directories – such as Technorati and others

I also gave each of our participants a free editorial calender for their blog to help us organize our thoughts while publishing our blog on a regular basis. But, remember, it’s fun to blog (and eat cookies)!

We went over the basic steps to working with a blog, such as:

1. Understanding what a blog is: an informative, opinionated, ‘human’ look at a company/business or person. As a coach, this will be the way that your potential clients will get to know the ‘real’ you – not just the one you show for your sales copy. Why do we want to show this human side of a life or business coach? Well, what is the first rule of sales: we buy from people that we know, like and trust – and a blog allows us to build that!

2. Blog styles: we discussed Blogger, Typepad, WordPress.com and WordPress.org

3. Get involved: before you start your blog, however, you should read and participate in some that are interesting to you, or are in your industry. Make sure to choose ones that are active and popular. In order to find a few blogs that you like, search Technorati. Oh – and the answer between Authority and Ranking is that they’re basically the same: to build authority or ranking within Technorati you need to build links from other blogs to yours. Be aware that links will ‘clear out’ from Technorati if they’re older than 6 months.

4. Have a plan and get started! Your blog should be part of your over-all marketing plan – so before you get started with designing or adding content to your blog, it’s a good idea to have a clear idea of where it’s going.

This week, we’ll be reviewing how to update your blog – design wise and adding multi-media. If you would like to learn how-to customize your WordPress.com website / blog, click here to be sure to sign-up for our May 1st class!

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Hi Coaches! A little bird told me that some of my videos are hard to download for those of you on dial-up! I want everyone to have access to my classes, so I’m going to be creating them in audio format too! Below is the audio recording on how to create your own audio recording, publish it for a website and then replace already published audios using Audio Acrobat. Have fun!

[flashvideo filename=http://helpinghandsforcoaches.com/videos/rssfeedandstats.flv /]

So, you’ve thought-up your niche that will go well with your blog that relates back to your life or business coaching services, and you’ve started a blog. Perhaps you’ve even added some posts with interesting, keyword rich content, and now you’re ready to let your visitors subscribe to your blog using RSS Feeds! Not only that, but you want to know who is visiting your life or business blog. This kind of information and functionality will help you know when it’s best to add new content, and how your efforts Internet Marketing efforts are producing. This video will teach Blogger account users how to use www.feedburner.com to add RSS Feeds, Stat Counter code, and Email Subscription code.

I will be holding a class with Michelle Schubnel of Coach & Grow R.I.C.H. tomorrow! This is the 2nd class in a series on Blogger. Information below:

FREE for C&GR Virtual University Members

So, once your blog is up, how do you get people to it?

Good question! In this class you learn:

• How to add affiliate links to earn advertising income.
• How to add the ability to track visitors and subscribers.
• How to promote your blog so that you get known.

Don’t worry about ‘Geek Speak’
We use language you can understand and offer simple, easy to follow instructions.

To be ready for the class:
You need a Blogger Account. You can get one for free at blogger.com.

What You Get:

• Enrollment in the 60 minute teleclass.
• MP3 recording of the teleclass, that is yours to keep.
• Written notes (delivered electronically).

Date: Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm Eastern Standard Time (New York) To Register, click HERE!

[flashvideo filename=http://helpinghandsforcoaches.com/videos/settingupyourblog.flv /]

If you’re a life or business coach and you really want to become active in the Internet Marketing world, then you need a blog. A blog (like the one you’re reading now) can help you with search engine optimization, provide a personal touch to your company, and it’s flexible: add video, audio, articles, photos, press releases, and so much more! This video will explain how to get started – simply creating your first blog through www.blogger.com. Why www.blogger.com – well, I think it’s easier to use than WordPress or Typepad or any other blogging software that I’ve found so far – and if your a coach that doesn’t feel too tech savy – than Blogger is for you. So, get out their coaches – and start marketing your business with a blog!

Rachel has FREE teleclasses. Be sure to sign-up by clicking HERE to be notified of when they are.