Surrey Coaching Professionals

Hampshire Coaching Circle invites you...

2007-11-06T08:06:00.001Z

The Hampshire Coaching Circle exclusively invites you to...

COACHING, CONSCIOUSNESS and CHANGE

Masterclass with

Caroline Shola Arewa

Why has coaching emerged at this time? What level of consciousness is required of professional coaches? How can we best facilitate change in ourselves and the people whom we work? This masterclass invites you to explore personal evolution, spiritual intelligence and your contribution to a changing world.. During the evening Shola will introduce tools and techniques for:-

Developing spiritual intelligence
Enhancing the coaching relationship
Creating greater success as a Coach

Please bring an open heart, passion and beginners mind.

Wednesday 14th November
At the Lysses House Hotel, High Street Fareham
7-9pm
tickets £15.00 on the door

Shola’s blend of Coaching and Spiritual wisdom inspires others to achieve ‘Success without Stress.' Shola works with individuals, groups and organisations empowering people to unleash their greatness. Her calm, inspirational style developed over twenty years of helping people make important changes. Her background is in humanistic psychology, yoga and holistic healthcare. Shola is the Author of three books and offers the popular Energy 4 Life Coach Training. She is also a spiritual coach trainer at the coaching Academy.

www.shola.co.uk
www.energy-4life.com
www.successwithoutstress.co.uk

For further details about this event please contact Allison Marlowe 023 92 644 598

Hope to see you there,

Charlotte
www.charlottehunter.co.uk

Get your own dream team...

2007-10-30T15:11:00.001Z

Are you a great coach? Do you love coaching? Are you passionate about what you do? If you're reading this blog then I'm guessing you answered yes to all of these questions. However if you want to build a successful coaching practice you need to be more than just a great coach who is passionate about coaching. You need to think big and that sometimes involves getting other people on board to help you.

I've just been chatting to my VA, the magnificent Alex Greer who some of you met at our April Meeting, and as I put the phone down I realised that I've been lucky enough to surround myself with people who can help me with the different areas of my business. Here are some of them...

Personal Performance Coach, Trainer & NLP guru - Rachael Clow
VA- Just Too Busy
Business Coach - Diana Penny
Marketing Coach - Hannah McNamara
Web Design - BSP Design
Graphic Designer
Accountant
and many more...

I wouldn't be where I am without their support or help so my advice to you is get yourself a dream team of your very own!

Charlotte
www.charlottehunter.co.uk

PS I'm selling a new e-book on my website and I'll be donating money from each sale to Children in Need. Click here for more details

Ask the expert...accountant!

2007-10-27T08:57:00.001Z

Due to popular demand, you know who you are... next month’s topic will be 'Ask the expert…accountant!' We’ll be joined by Robert Watkins from Bessler Hendrie, a local accountancy practice, who will do his very best to answer all your accountancy questions, queries and concerns. Robert specialises in advising small owner managed businesses across a wide range of business sectors.

If you think this doesn’t apply to you, think again… If you’re a self employed coach, or if you plan to supplement your current income with coaching, you will at some point need a good accountant and the more prepared you are the better. Believe me, when you start charging for coaching your accountant will become your best friend!

If you have a burning question it would be really useful if you could email it to info@charlottehunter.co.uk so Rob can help us as much as he can and we use the time constructively.

As usual please let us know if you can (or can’t) make it – it makes our jobs so much easier as we’re both very busy.

Monday 12th November
7:30pm

See you there,

Charlotte
www.charlottehunter.co.uk

Are you just too busy?

2007-09-25T15:02:00.000Z

Do you remember Alex Greer from Just Too Busy who came to talk to us a few months ago? Well here's a reminder of how her magnificent services can help your business. As some of you know I'm in the process of rebranding my business from Charlotte hunter: Life Coaching for Health & Happiness to Feel Good Food: Experts in Healthy Eating & Motivational Weight Loss. Alex has been part of the dream team who are helping me do this and hand on heart I don't think I could have done it without her (if you're reading this, thanks Alex!)

Just Too Busy are experts in helping small business owners market, promote and run their businesses. We work with clients who feel as passionate about their business as we feel about working with them, offering a comprehensive range of marketing, business and secretarial services.

Headed up by Alex Greer, a former newspaper editor, journalist and marketing consultant, Just Too Busy is able to help you take your business to the next level in a number of ways, including:

All types of creative writing from tightening up your web copy to revamping your marketing material content AND with a fantastic designer on the team Alex and Just Too Busy can also give your business, branding and material a whole new look.
Press release, article, feature writing as part of your publicity activities - as a former journo Alex not only knows how to find the best angle for your business or story but also how to present it to the reporter or publication at the other end. Coverage cannot be guaranteed but with a 90-95% success rate for current clients - you have a good chance!
Increasing your online profile so that you grow traffic to your website, get your business name “out there”, improve your Google page ranking and your position in the search engine listings. Alex and the Just Too Busy team have lots of experience in helping businesses to promote themselves on the Internet.
A wide range of admin and business support services that will help you run your business more efficiently and give you the time to work “ON” your business and not “IN” it.
With our team of experts in online marketing, business & admin systems, writing, marketing and pr and, of course, Alex’s years of experience in running her own successful business, we can support our clients in a positive and effective way, always delivering our service with the highest levels of professionalism, expertise and dedication.

Our business ethics mean that we work in partnership with you, whether it be for just one hour or long-term, and we will always treat your business like our own.

Go straight to the Just To Busy website by clicking here and remember to sign up for their newsletter

See you on 1st October for Hannah McNamara's session,

Charlotte x

Marketing Help for Coaches

2007-09-20T14:14:00.000Z

Hi everyone,

It was great to see so many of you at the meeting hosted by The Coaching Academy's Kris Robertson last month. I don't know about you but I found it incredibly interesting and useful. To see notes from the meeting and PDF of the compentency sheet please click here It was good to review the GROW model and I've also added some of Mr Robertson's killer questions to my coaching sessions. Let's hope my clients are ready...

We've got a great meeting lined up for October and it's one I've been looking forward to for ages. We're pleased to announce that Hannah McNamara will be presenting at the Surrey Coaching Professionals at 7:30pm on Monday 1st October. So, what can we expect? Well, Hannah will be covering the key things we all should know about the world of marketing our coaching businesses including:-

The Marketing methods that actually work for coaches
What people are really buying from you - and it's not coaching
The importance of establishing trust before promoting your services
How to network effectively and some dos and don'ts when networking
Making an impact with other powerful marketing methods such as Workshops, PR and Internet Marketing

Jo and I have both had one to one coaching from Hannah and as a result have fast tracked our businesses from vague ideas to rip roaring successes! If you're new to coaching or your business is already up and running, you'd be crazy to miss this month's meeting.

As a bonus Hannah will also be signing copies of her book Niche Marketing for Coaches, which will be sold at a special Coaching Circle rate of £10 on the day (RRP £14.99).

We need to prepare the room so remember to RSVP or there might not be enough space for everyone! We are also asking £4.50 from every one to cover expenses. As usual and of course time permitting, we'll be heading down the pub for a swift one afterwards. You know I still can't remember the name of that pub...the pigeon and parrot...or something like that!

Love Charlotte
http://www.charlottehunter.co.uk/

How hard does your business stationery work?

2007-05-29T14:17:00.000Z

On Monday 4th June Fiona Humberstone will be joining us for a lively presentation on how you can improve your business stationery.

"Eight simple ways to make your business stationery work harder for you"

In twenty minutes you can learn how to align your business image with your values, what makes a business card look professional and a couple of tips to really make your stationery stand out from your competitors.

Fiona runs award winning graphic design and print company, printing.com based in Guildford and works with small businesses to help them project the image their business deserves.

Look forward to seeing you all there,

Charlotte
www.charlottehunter.co.uk

Bargain Hunt!

2007-04-26T16:29:00.000Z

Have you got loads of books or coaching resources gathering dust on your shelves?

Due to several retail therapy trips to Amazon I've got loads of books, Cd's and DVDs that I'll probably never read, listen to or watch again. I thought it would be a great idea to do a book and resource sale at our next meeting on Monday 14Th May (pleas note: our meeting is the second Monday of the moth due to the bank holiday).

Just bring along anything you'd like to sell and we'll set up a display table. It's probably a good idea to write your initials and the price you'd like in pencil on the inside cover of your books.

We don't have a speaker this month so the meeting will be an informal discussion. Afterwards me and Jo will be heading down to the local boozer for a swift one and a bit more networking. Please feel free to join us after you have haggled with your fellow coaches and parted with some of your hard earned cash!

I look forward to seeing you all there,

Charlotte
www.charlottehunter.co.uk

PS Don't forget your cheque books!

Get a Coach & Kick Start Your Business!

2007-04-07T11:27:00.000Z

Want to know how I got my business up and running so quickly? I got a coach, simple as that!

The Monday morning after my very first encounter with the Coaching Academy I sat at my work desk and googled 'life coach.' I found someone I liked the look of and booked 6 coaching sessions. Believe it or not over the last 12 months I've had 4 different coaches. Call me greedy but I was, and still am, absolutely determined to create and run a successful business.

So how has coaching helped me?

Motivated me to complete my diploma
Helped me to understand the nuts and bolts of setting up a business
Helped me to identify a niche and understand my client
Gave me a crash course in marketing
Boosted my confidence
Keeps me focused and organised
Helps me to deal with personal stuff that can get in the way
Helps me to juggle my very busy life

So who have I been working with?

Hannah McNamara - Hannah runs Marketing Help for Coaches which is an amazing online resource and support site. I did her one to one 3 Month Marketing Mentor package this time last year and it helped me to turn a fuzzy idea into a strong business plan. She helped me to identify and understand my client so I was abe to produce a strong brand and communicate my marketing message effectively. I really loved working with Hannah and still have the occasional top up session to keep me focussed.

Karen Skidmore - Karen runs Can Do Can Be and works with women who want to create successful home businesses. I did Karen's kick start programme last September when I was feeling a bit disillusioned with my business. I'm sure you know what I mean; I'd spent a load of cash on a really expensive course, I'd just moved out of London and things just weren't going my way. Karen's coaching really helped me realise my business was doing great but I was being far too hard on myself.

Rachael Clow - Rachael is a performance coach who usually works in the corporate world with high profile entrepreneurs. I had the pleasure of meeting Rachael through the Coaching Academy and I had my very first session with her last month. Rachael helped me tackle some personal issues that were having a huge impact on how I was running my business. Really powerful stuff!

Diana Penny - I've been working with Diana for the last 6 weeks. She's been instrumental in helping me to get my website designed, written and launched. It's been a whirl wind but she's certainly kept me on track. If you'd like to check it out my website is www.charlottehunter.co.uk and you can also pick up a FREE copy of my latest e-book '21 ways to Look Good & Feel Great'

I hope you've found this useful and I'd love to hear how coaching has helped your business.

Charlotte
www.charlottehunter.co.uk

Why Using a VA Can Help You Grow Your Business

2007-03-26T17:09:00.000Z

I thought Rosie Hatton, who presented to the Surrey Coaching Professionals last month, would be a hard act to follow but I think I've found someone for our April meeting who's really going to knock your socks off!

Alex Greer is a virtual assistant and runs a company called Just Too Busy. Alex has an extensive skill set, gained through running her own newspaper business, as editor, for the last five years, previous marketing and communications roles and now with running Just Too Busy.

Alex earned her Media & Communications Honours degree in 1996 and supplemented her time at college and university by taking on a variety of secretarial, administration and personal assistant temporary contracts. This formed the basis of her application knowledge, such as the Microsoft Office suite and other administration and office skills.

An accomplished PC and Mac user, Alex's IT interest goes beyond just using the applications, into providing software training as well as basic PC, peripheral and network support. Alex is also an organisational whiz, with expert prioritisation, efficient practices & processes and time management skills. This experience was gained in the most part by running her own local newspaper and having to juggle adverts, stories, news and contributors on a daily basis. "My skill set has been developed over the years and is constantly being added to, owing to my fundamental interest in learning new things and also from the point of view of being able to offer my clients a comprehensive service."

On a personal level, Alex has a strong interest in Spain and Latin America, including the culture, people and language; plays, umpires and coaches women's netball; and enjoys spending her free time with her two year old daughter.

So, now I've introduced Alex to you, let me tell you what she's going to talk to us about...

How delegating tasks that take up valuable time can enable you to focus on what you do best
Case studies on how Alex has helped clients in a variety of ways
How to see the actual monetary savings you can make through using a VA
Benefits of using a VA versus employment agency or PAYE employee
A summary about Alex and her services

Here are the details of our next meeting...

Date: Monday 2nd April
Venue: The friends Meeting House, Ward Street, Guildford. (For further details on the venue please visit the SCP website).
Time: 7:30pm

Look forward to seeing you all there,

Charlotte
www.charlottehunter.co.uk

Looking for a designer?

2007-03-20T17:24:00.000Z

Well, look no further...let me introduce you to Stuart Leak who runs a company called Sleak Design

Over the last couple of weeks a number of coaches have asked me if I could recommend a good designer so I've decided to share my best kept secret. Stuart has done a couple of projects for me and I've been really happy with the results. He's creative, a pleasure to work with and also excellent value for money, which is so important when you're setting up or running your own business. If you're looking for a designer you can contact him via his website www.sleakdesign.com

I've worked with some awful designers in the past who just haven't listened to what I've wanted and as a result I ended up wasting valuable time and money. Sleak Design have put my faith back in designers and I've recently asked them to do some personal work for me.

Check out their website because you never know when you might need them...

Charlotte
www.charlottehunter.co.uk

New Venue For the SCPs

2007-03-01T19:04:00.000Z

The new venue for our monthly meeting is:

The Friends Meeting House, 3 Ward Street, Guildford, GU1 4LH

Date: 5th March
Time: 7:30pm

This month we will be joined by Rosie Hatton who is the marketing mastermind behind www.timhatton.com Whether you're thinking about building a website or you're already up and running, Rosie will answer all your internet marketing questions.

Be prepared to be inspired and motivated!

Looking forward to seeing you all there,

Charlotte
www.charlottehunter.co.uk

Don't forget..

2007-02-28T15:26:00.000Z

...Hannah McNamara's Marketing Surgery at 7pm tonight. Hannah will be answering all your questions on internet marketing.

I've listened and taken part in most of Hannah's surgeries and found them extremely useful. For more details please click here

I can't make tonight so I look forward to catching up with you and hearing all about it.

Charlotte
www.charlottehunter.co.uk

What's so great about networking?

2007-02-21T17:30:00.000Z

On 14th March the CandoCanbe Women's Network will be meeting at The Guildford Institute on Ward Street in Guildford. Maja Pawinska Sims, director of Besparkle Ltd, will be telling us 'how your superhero can squash the gremlin in your head.'

For more details please click here. I've been to previous meetings and not only are they a good networking opportunity, they're also great fun!

The mastermind behind the Women's Network is Karen Skidmore who runs a company called CanDoCanBe. Karen helps women set up and grow home based businesses. I've had the pleasure of being coached by Karen and it certainly changed the perceptions I had of my own business!

Here's what Karen has to say about networking...

"How important is networking?When I first started out over 2 years ago, I was asked by my old work colleagues and friends and family "How are you going to get clients?" I merrily answered "Networking." I admit I had no idea what I meant by this but just "knew" it was the way forward.

Two and a half years later I am reaping the rewards of all my hard work. Networking, for me, has been integral to the brand awareness of CanDoCanBe in the local business community. Put in the time, commitment and give far more than you feel you "should" be giving and networking will give back to you ten fold.

Successful networking is being talked about when you are not in the room. Successful networking is being introduced to people who can help you at just the right time. Successful networking is feeling that you are part of a business community rather than stuck at home in front of your PC.

Networking is important. For me it is essential - yes for marketing and getting clients - but also for learning, for sharing experiences, for exchanging ideas, for help with my business vision, for meeting new people that I would never have met in my social network and, more importantly, for having fun. I wouldn't ever be without it."

I hope to see you all on 14th (well the girls that is..sorry chaps!)

Charlotte

www.charlottehunter.co.uk

What is it to be confident?

2007-02-21T11:23:00.000Z

(Name changed and permission granted to use quote)

“What would I do if I was more confident?” Catherine looked at me a little wide eyed.

“I’d be able to swan into my boss’ office and hand my notice in. I’d say blow the money, change my hair, hire a personal trainer, go shopping for an entirely new wardrobe. You know what?” She said with a huge smile, “I think I’d go speed dating! I’ve always thought that was a good idea! I’d go on holiday and wear a bikini and I wouldn’t care who was looking. I’d also stop in the park and have a chat to the rest of the mums when ever I felt like it”
“So what’s stopped you from doing all these wonderful things?” I ask.
“I haven’t got the confidence”
“What is confidence?”
“Confidence is me doing all the things I just told you”
“What does the word confidence mean to you?” (She thinks for a long time)
“Freedom”
“Freedom from…? (She thinks for an incredibly long time!)
“Worrying what other people think”

When I tell people I am a confidence coach one of the first things they often ask me is “How do you coach some one how to be confident?”

For me what they are actually asking is “What is confidence?” My simple answer is self esteem.

We humans love comparing ourselves to others. If we are feeling low about ourselves our attentions will usually gravitate to our nearest ideal. For instance the nearest ‘beautiful, talented, together person’ who personifies everything we think we would like to be. Then just to make ourselves feel that extra bit worse we formulate a painful check list comparing ourselves against them. Strange aren’t we? - Instead of looking inside ourselves for confirmation of our ‘brilliance’, we compare externally in order to confirm that we have every reason to feel this way and we are simply not good enough!

If you believe you have never done this, I would ask you to think again! Next time you feel intimidated, inadequate or self-conscious, take a moment and realise that this feeling is never only about you, it is always about how you see yourself in contrast to others.

The more I coach, the more I realise that most people have been focusing on external measures to shape their self worth. Physical benchmarks that they aspire to in order to be better, more confident or more like someone else.

As a coach, understanding and learning about the way that we think and compare in this way has brought me to a whole different pattern of questioning. Usually the questioning results in the client revealing their own version of what self esteem is and how it has affected them. Whether it is getting the job they want, looking for the right partner or social achievements, they begin to understand that their lack of confidence is due to their self image and what they need to do to change it. I believe it is important to question the client directly, asking them “What is it to be confident?”, “What does confidence mean?” I find a lot of my clients have never thought about what confidence actually is and where it should come from. It is vital that they understand what confidence means to them first before they can learn how to raise its level within them.

So what is it then? – To be confident. In my opinion one of the true internal measures of confidence is when we stop looking for admiration & applause. That is not to say that admiration and applause aren’t nice to receive, but a person with true confidence honestly doesn’t need it.

Anyway…a few of my thoughts today.

Jo Temple
www.thelivelifecompany.com (under construction until 15th March)

Marketing Matters!

2007-02-13T17:48:00.000Z

I was working for the Coaching Academy at Latimer House last weekend and had the pleasure of bumping into the lovely Hannah McNamara who was running a workshop on 'How to set up your coaching practice.' We got chatting, as you do, and on behalf of all you guys I decided to ask her why marketing is so important for us coaches; here's what she had to say...

"Want to know what makes the difference between the coaches who are (financially) successful and working with lots of clients, and those living a hand-to-mouth existence with very few clients? It's all in their ability to help people to understand how the coaching they offer will benefit them. Unless someone understands what you can do for them and why they should choose YOU, it's a tough call to ask them to put their hand in the pocket and commit their savings to coaching. Marketing, far from being a 'dark art', is actually about communication, plain and simple. Help people to 'get' what you do and what's in it for them, and you can build a practice with a steady stream of clients. And despite what you might think, it's not about hard-sell and being pushy. Many of the things that make you a good coach, will make you a good marketer - listening to your prospective clients, building rapport with them and reflecting their thoughts back to them. These are all crucial elements of Marketing."

Wise words eh? Well, here's a little story from my own experience. About 12 months ago I knew I wanted to work in the area of health and wellbeing so I bravely entered the big wide world of coaching with all my qualifications and ended up hitting a brick wall. Where were all my clients hiding? Why wasn't my phone ringing off the hook? Why was I skint? It was at that point I knew I needed some help because I just didn't know how to communicate to my clients and my experience of marketing was very limited. I contacted Hannah via her website and we worked together for about 3 months. It was certainly a steep learning curve but I wouldn't be where I am now without it. Above all else it has helped me to understand who my clients are and what I can do for them. As a result I now run a coaching business that is growing day by day. If you're reading, thanks Hannah!

If you'd like to find out all about Hannah McNamara and want to know more about marketing mentoring and coaching go to www.marketinghelpforcoaches.com In addition if you're ready for some practical no-nonsense advice click here to buy her new book 'Niche Marketing for Coaches' for only £14.99. Believe me it's money well spent and has, without doubt, been my bible for the last few weeks.

Charlotte

It was only a matter of time...

2007-02-13T16:43:00.000Z

Most of you know that I absolutely love blogging so it really was only a matter of time before I got my blogger's teeth into the Surrey Coaching Professionals! Jo and I are hoping that we can use this as a forum to share ideas and resources but also to keep in touch and up to date with all that's going on in the world of coaching. If you'd like to have your say all you need to do is click on the little comment icon at the bottom of this post...yes, it's really that easy so there's no excuses!

Looking forward to hearing from you soon,

Charlotte