Writing On The Web by Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad

Content Marketing Strategies for Smart Professionals

How to Write a Bio

By Patsi Krakoff in Writing Better Ezines

What should you put into your bio when you are writing an article or your ezine?

Traditionally, writers include their education and experience, establishing credibility for themselves as experts in their field. The bio blurb is all about them.

Those writers who are doing online articles and ezines and who are more marketing-savvy, however, know that even their bio should keep the reader in mind. Even this part should address the question readers ask themselves when they read: “What’s in this for me?”

So instead of leading with statements about yourself, why not lead with a question that addresses the concerns of your readers?

Most writers are from the old school. When a client signs up for my newsletter services, they submit their graphic logos, professional photos and marketing message or bio for the front page of their custom-designed newsletter.

I get these 150-word bios that are all about the writer. For two paragraphs, they try to put as much of their accomplishments into a small space. However impressive these accomplishments may be, they are missing the boat.

One new client sent me this question about writing a bio in the new internet marketing-savvy style:

Patsi, can you send me a couple of sample bios that address a reader’s needs (as you’re recommending that I do) or send me to a few websites that incorporate this style bio so I can get a better feel for how it’s written. Thanks, Linda Yaffe, Working Matters

You know, I don’t have any really good examples to show you. Wish we did, but most of our subscribers are traditional and don’t reflect new marketing styles. I should write an article about this. Here are the basics:

Establish in your mind what you can do for your ideal client/readers.

What will they get out of reading your ezine, or signing up for your services?

What problem will you solve for them?

How will you make their life/work more comfortable? More efficient? More profitable?

Appeal to their emotions, their feelings, their humanity, their values more than to their knowledge or expertise.

Establish some credibility for yourself, who you are, what you’ve done.

Establish yourself as an expert.

Create trust by being mindful of the readers’ needs and wants

Write clearly, simply, and concisely.

Share something personal if you can, such as where you live, a hobby, family members and/or pets.

And, always be honest and real. People are attracted to authenticity whatever that may be. No hype, show your humanity.

I hope this helps when you go to write your bio.

Patsi

P.S. I wouldn’t be worth my salt if I didn’t practice what I preach, would I!

Here is my own sample bio:

Do you struggle with your ezine?

Which of these tasks do you find most time-consuming and painful:
Writing?
Formatting?
Sending?

Patsi Krakoff is a recovering psychologist/ coach/ writer/ ezine evangelist who can save you time, energy and money by doing some of these tasks for you. Her company, Customized Newsletter Services, provides quality articles, formatting and distribution services for professional services such as business, executive and life coaches, therapists, other health care professionals, trainers and consultants.

She is author of the ebook, Secrets of Successful Ezines, and of many articles available for use in your ezines and newsletters. Visit www.customizednewsletters.com and www.coachezines.com, a blog about better ezines.

She lives in San Diego where she plays tennis, coaches her two cats Huey and Dewey, and partners with husband Rob in creating a fun life.

My Predictions for 2005

By Patsi Krakoff in Article Ideas

My predictions for 2005

More and more businesses and professionals will be
writing and sending out ezines.

Marketing for professionals will be centered around
creating valuable information for readers through
ezines.

Readers will become more adept at deleting
uninteresting emails.

HTML formatting will become the most popular design for
ezines.

Blogs will gain popularity as a means of posting ezines.

Simplicity will have more success than the complex and
fancy.

Short, concise, and personable will prevail for writing
styles.

Quality, information-rich content rather than
promotional materials and ads will guarantee subscriber
growth.

Professionals will need to turn to formatting
specialists and distribution services to handle the
technological issues of ezines.

Continued growth of technology in marketing and
delivering informational products and services for
professionals, necessitating support from specialists.

Of course, I could be wrong! This is the view from
where I sit. But I really believe that those
professionals who are able to stay ahead of the game
through using the Internet, web sites, ezines,
autoresponders and systems that can automate their
marketing will have the edge.

Professionals such as coaches, consultants, therapists,
and any other service provider will have to turn their
information into products that can be delivered through
the Internet: ezines, ebooks, autoresponders,
minicourses, teleclasses and workshops, if they are to
stay foremost in the minds of consumers.

The good news is there are experts available who for a
low fee can help you set up these systems and automate
your marketing.

Here is a highly recommended professional who can help
with your marketing and tech challenges; she is especially
adept at helping with blogs! Denise Wakeman, of Next
Level Partnerships.

Are You Ready for the Future?

While no one can predict the future, especially in
these uncertain times, our January article takes a look
at what you and your organization need to prepare for
possible business environments.

You can read a synopsis here:

If you haven’t already confirmed your order for
January, do so now.

I hesitate to send out anything else other than my warm
wishes for you, your families and your businesses, but
in case you missed previous announcements, there is a
deadline coming up soon for the low introductory price
on my new ebook on ezines. Please take advantage of the
low price and bonus offers.

Secrets of Successful Ezines, the ebook, is now ready!

A gentle reminder that there are only 10 days left to
buy the Secrets of Successful Ezines for $47. The price
goes up Jan. 31 to $87. To buy, click HERE.

Here is what one marketing expert says about this book:

"Secrets of Successful Ezines is something of a
classic, if an ebook can be called a classic! Thorough
and pragmatic, Patsi Krakoff’s long experience creating
results for coaches through ezines is evident on every
page. Ezines are the lifeblood in the sometimes Alice
in Wonderland world of the Internet…if you only have
time to make one thing happen…make it an ezine. If
Patsi and Elge’s passion for making it happen for you
doesn’t get you moving, I’m seriously concerned for
you…"

Andrea Lee
Author, Multiple Streams of Coaching Income

If you are an affiliate, you can earn $25 on each copy
of the ebook you sell to your colleagues and
associates. To become an affiliate go sign up here.

To learn more, sign up to receive the 7-part minicourse
based on the ebook for free, click here.

To participate in a 4-session teleclass and workshop on
creating an ezine that gets results, Feb. 15- March 15,
sign up at www.teledevelop.com.

My sincere warm wishes for your success in 2005,

Patsi

Back in the USA!

By Patsi Krakoff in Coaching/Personal Development

Yes, we did it. We moved from our lake-side paradise in Ajijic, Mexico back to the good ‘ol USA to San Diego and are still smiling… I won’t bore you with the gory details and hiccups- you know how icky moving is.

The worst was being offline and disconnected for what seemed like forever. Our computers were transported in a large van which broke down on the way. Then waiting for DSL to get connected was another challenge. Then getting the two computers networked and our Packet 8 phone system that runs through DSL was another mystery.

Anybody have a solution to cord and cable chaos?

It all works now, somehow! I guess my husband Rob Krakoff is a minor genius in some ways afterall. I often wonder what just average people do when it comes to moving and getting computers and all working again… it seems to me to be beyond normal IQ capacities.

But then so did blogging and ezine publishing before I realized that there are systems set up for techno-weenies like myself.

Being disconnected for over a week presented a void in my life. I realized how dependent I’ve become on the cyber world. I’m not saying I need a recovery program, just that it sure makes business easier.

My teleclasses on ezines continues into the 3rd week tonight. Stay tuned for January’s class on blogging where Denise Wakeman of NextLevel Partnership.com will take you through the actual steps to set up your own blog with Typepad.com.

Update on the Secrets to Successful Ezines e-book:

Good news, we are just about done correcting the formatting and Elge Premeau and I will be delivering your books this week!

In the meantime, keep writing, keep sharing, and let me know if I can review your articles and ezines: no cost or obligation involved. It’s what I do.

Patsi

Get to the Point (with Style)!

By Patsi Krakoff in Writing Better Ezines

Everybody says to forget blogging over the US Thanksgiving Holidays, but I have a feeling this is a great time to catch people at their computer! Maybe not, but then some people I know like to catch up on researching how to write better, more effective ezines.

I am a BIG fan of Michael J. Katz of Blue Penguin Development; he always writes with so much personality. I feel like I know his little boy and his Aunt Esther. He brings his family into his ezines, yet there’s always a point to it- and it’s always good stuff about writing better ezines. So while he’s teaching, he is also sharing himself and creating a feeling of humor and familiarity with his readers.

If you’ve got time- (Come on, who doesn’t over the weekend?)- then click over to his piece called Break On Through To The Other Side, published Nov. 19. It’s got a few chuckles about his Aunt Esther.

But if you’re in a hurry, just read this excerpt. It’s about how important it is to get to the point, so here is the excerpt:

From Michael J. Katz:

I’m here to tell you that when it comes to effective communication with an audience, my Aunt Esther had it right — essence matters more than facts.

Many newsletters suffer from the same "good information; poor delivery" syndrome. The facts are there, but the reader is not able to — or not interested in — finding them. With that in mind, I offer some suggestions for being heard and appreciated:

Pick one idea. I always find it kind of funny that the biggest worry people have about producing a newsletter is "running out of content," and yet the biggest problem I see is "too much content in each issue." You don’t need to explain your entire field of expertise in each issue any more than you need to review everything you know each time you eat lunch with a client. Break it up into little pieces. You’ll have more content to choose from next time and your readers will find it easier to hear your message.
Boil it down. An E-Newsletter is really just a glorified email, and mixed in with all the jokes, appointment confirmations and pieces of information that fly into our respective in-boxes every day, this is not a medium that lends itself well to lots of detail. Be prepared to edit, simplify and throw out information on your way to getting to the heart of the matter.
Speak like a human being. I don’t know who started the rumor that business communication must be formal to be valuable, but it seems to have caught on nonetheless — that’s an opportunity for you and me. Your readers will find it a breath of fresh air to "hear" the people behind the newsletter. Nobody is interested in reading one more "critical communication" from a company that claims to be, "the leading provider of cross platform broadband solutions" (or whatever). If you can’t read your newsletter out loud to your spouse without bursting out laughing, you’ve got too much marketing-speak in there.

Bottom Line: You’ve got 800 words of opportunity each month to get your message across. Sure you’ve got to have something useful to give your audience, but remember that these people are busy, tired and often just plain bored. Make your publication the one they wait for and you’ll never again live in fear of the delete key.

All the best,

Michael J. Katz
Founder and Chief Penguin

Blue Penguin Development helps professional service firms and sole proprietors get clients, by showing them how to communicate effectively with the people they already know. We specialize in the development of electronic newsletters.

Click here for an overview of our services

Call us: 508-478-6258
Email us: ContactUs@BluePenguinDevelopment.com
Web us: www.BluePenguinDevelopment.com
Climb the tree house:

28 West Elm Street, Hopkinton MA 01748

USA

Leading With Values: Walking the Talk

By Patsi Krakoff in Executive Coach Ezine Article Topics

Need an article for your coach ezine? Here is a synopsis of a Leadership article on Values, available at www.customizednewsletters.com.

Leading with Values:
Walking the Talk
(c) 2004 Patsi Krakoff

All organizations have a mission statement and a set of values or guiding principles. They include such items as Integrity, Customer Service, Quality, Respect, High Performance, Teamwork, Leadership, and Innovation. Often these words are prominently displayed on plaques, posters, laminated cards, and even screen savers.

But when values are ignored and people don’t live by them, the culture becomes hypocritical. Employees lose respect for the organization’s leaders. It is one more reason people disengage from their work.

When values are put into action, however, people feel energy, enthusiasm, and the drive to go beyond the mediocre. When people connect to company values that resonate with their own personal beliefs, they have even more commitment, higher productivity, and better engagement with customers. The end results show up on the bottom line.

Leaders have to take personal responsibility for their organization’s values and for making sure their people share a common set of principles. This is not easy. It is one thing to agree with lofty words and ideals; it is quite another to translate ideals into action. A leader is accountable for ensuring that people not only know the values, but also put them into practice.

“We judge ourselves by our intentions. The rest of the world judges us by our actions.” – Eric Harvey

Strategies for Leading with Values in Action

How does a leader put values into action? What questions does a leader need to ask himself or herself to clarify what is needed to lead by, with, and through values? Here are six common sense leadership strategies to consider, adapted from the book Leading with Values by Bud Bilanich (2004):

Know your values

Walk your talk

Teach values to your people

Remove obstacles to working with values

5. Reward and recognize those who live the values

Redirect those who aren’t working with values

Focus, Attention, and Persistence

As a leader, you must never lose focus on values. There is always a value present whatever the situation, even when it is buried under detail work, financial data, or other seemingly ordinary tasks. Look for the value. Point it out and remind people how their work is an important expression of values in action. It is your job as a leader to constantly teach, recognize, reward, and help course corrections where necessary.

Every member of your workforce is responsible for values-driven business practices, but they look to you, the leader, for living examples of how the values translate into action. You set the tone. When you take a cavalier approach to values or lose sight of them—even if temporarily—you give your team members permission to do the same. When you refuse to give in to pressures and obstacles and remind everyone of the important values at stake, your people will have an excellent model to follow.

The greatest challenges leaders in top positions face are ethical dilemmas—for example, questions of choosing between long-term and short-term gains. It is often a problem of choosing between right and right. There are no easy answers to some business problems. Using values will help you with clarity and decisiveness.

Are You Looking for Articles?

By Patsi Krakoff in Article Ideas

Here is a synopses of a new article posted over at http://www.customizednewsletters.com/featured/index.html.

Here are some brief points covered in the full article:

The Global Empathy Deficit: Two Lessons
© 2004 Patsi Krakoff, Psy. D.
Customized Newsletter Services

"…We’ve got a budget deficit that’s important, we’ve got a trade deficit that’s critical, but what I worry most is our empathy deficit.” – Interview in O Magazine with Barack Obama.

Perhaps this is not only a US national concern but a global crisis: people are dividing into camps and fighting one another with no mention of sitting down to dialogue.

We, as global human beings living on a shrinking planet, have to stop the insanity, start talking, and stop the fighting.

The fighting is not only among warring nations. It goes on in corporations, small businesses, between entrepreneurs, in schools, in neighborhoods, and in families. There is a lack of talking, listening, and empathizing between people. This is especially true when they are different from us in some way.

We lose patience with others not like us or not of the same viewpoint. We stop listening. And consequently, we lose our ability to understand and find solutions.

We are missing opportunities for talking and dialoguing about what really matters. Dialoguing of course means listening and hearing what the other person is saying. It is not a monologue. It requires more than listening—it requires empathy.

Lesson # 1 in Empathy

Empathy has several ingredients. Most people understand empathy to be “walking in someone else’s shoes.” It is more than that. Information when communicated to us by another human being is processed through the limbic system in the brain, the center for emotions and memory.

The trick here is not to get lost in our own memories and emotions. This requires self-management so quick that it is out of our awareness. We sense that the reason we feel sad that our neighbor is telling us that their dog died is that we have also experienced loss and know what it must be like for them.

Lesson #2 of Empathy

People usually have a tendency to jump in and want to do something to help too soon. They want to get out of their own discomfort by solving the problem. Often they don’t take the time to really understand what the real problem is before offering solutions. This is how many people come across as NOT being empathetic, when they actually are. They respond too quickly with the wrong solutions.

So, the next important step after lesson #1 (feel the feelings and just listen), is to communicate back to the person that you are hearing them on a deep and personal level.

Simply state back to the person some of what you’ve heard, without interpretation or distortion. This communication requires a deep and honest caring about how other people feel, avoiding judgments and any attempts to minimize the importance of feelings or offering advice.

Like so much, empathy begins with developing ourselves individually, permeates our families and is taught to our children, and then must be communicated with the leaders we entrust to deal with other countries. A continued lack of empathy will result in global degradation.

————————————

Please note: This article and a list of others are available for your use for a small fee, with full reprint rights. You can use the purchased full article as your own, either as is, or modify and blend it with your own materials. Let me know if you need editing or formatting help. You may not use the synopsis without giving credit to the author, myself, including web site url!

Last Chance: Two Seats Available

By Patsi Krakoff in Ezine & Blog Classes

Do you want to learn how to create a good coach ezine that gets results?

Just tell me how bad you want it and I will give you free access to the four session teleclass on Effective Newsletters & Ezines! Why would I do this? Because I want to get more participants in order to make this a better class.

I have two spots left to fill this teleclass, and if you want to come for free, just email me. You can also nominate a worthy colleague. We start Wed. Nov. 17 at 8 pm. That’s tomorrow, so don’t wait.

This class is being audio recorded and transcribed. I will take you through these four classes and include important articles and work sheets so that you create or improve your ezine by the end of class Dec. 15.

Here is the class format:

Class one: Nov. 17: Overview, why you need an ezine
Work sheet for ezine decision points

Class two: Dec. 1: Content is king!
How to creat good content
Using OPC (Other People’s Content)

Class three: Dec. 8: Formatting, text, PDF & HTML
Distribution issues

Class four: Dec. 15: Calls to Action
                           Getting results
                           Building numbers, subscribers
                           Driving traffic
                           The wave of the future: Blogs

So, if you’ve ever wanted help with your ezine, this is the way to get it. These two last spots are scholarships open only to those who can’t afford or who don’t want to pay the fee, AND who are serious about creating a successful coach ezine.

If you can afford it and want to register, go here: http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=109267

This will take you to the Teledevelop.com web site. Scroll down to the class Effective Newsletters and Ezines and register for $97. (These class dates are listed incorrectly, the class goes until Dec. 15, skipping the week of US Thanksgiving.) The e-book, Secrets of Successful Ezines is included when you pay and register for the class.

Act quickly, because these two spots won’t be left after today: email me now!

Here’s to your success!

Patsi

Secrets of Successful Coach Ezines Revealed!

By Patsi Krakoff in Ezine & Blog Classes

Almost last chance to sign up for the teleclasses on creating Effective Coach Ezines! You get a free copy of my new e-book, Secrets of Successful Ezines, with pages on creating great content, good formatting and distribution resources.

And four classes will cover the good, the bad, and the terrific for creating or improving an ezine that gets clients to contact YOU!

There are templates and samples ezines, plus over 50 interviews with coaches who have created successful ezines with over 10,000 subscribers!

Here is what two reviewers are saying about the book Secrets of Successful Ezines:

"Relationship marketing is about creating visibility and offering exceptional value to current and potential clients. A professional website and e-newsletter are two of the most important components of an effective coaching practice business development strategy. Patsi Krakoff’s e-book can show you how to create a state of the art coach Ezine that your clients will love and that will help your business thrive.She has done a terrific job of creating a complete Ezine resource that will be invaluable to coaches.

Patsi Krakoff’s ezine e-book for coaches is a gem! She has put her heart and soul and boundless energy into doing your homework on Ezines for you. It is jam packed with great ideas, practical tips, helpful resources, and just about everything you will need to know to create and distribute an Ezine.

Creating an Ezine can be fun and can help your business grow exponentially. Patsi, warmly and with humor coaches you through changing your mindset about the work it takes to create a high content and personable online publication. She takes you through all of the steps to make the whole process easy and enjoyable. Patsi describes the process with great examples that will help you improve your existing Ezine or inspire you to get started creating one today.

Patsi provided me with a number of practical ideas that I am going to implement immediately. My business has dramatically increased distributing my Working Resources Newsletter that Patsi helped me create. She can do the same for you. Clients love the valuable information that helps them improve their personal and professional lives. Patsi’s Ezine e-book is a priceless resource!"

Dr. Maynard Brusman
Consulting Psychologist and Executive Coach
www.workingresources.com

"Secrets of Successful Ezines" is a resource you must have in your e-marketing toolbox. Patsi Krakoff and Elge Premeau have created an incredibly detailed workbook and resource for coaches, and really any solo professional, to use to create and publish an effective ezine. There are a lot of e-books out there about writing ezines, but this is the most comprehensive I’ve yet to come across in my 8 years marketing on the Internet. Not only do you get a detailed plan and workbook for creating your ezine, you also get interviews with successful ezine publishers and samples of "the good, the bad, and the terrific" ezines that are being published. To have this kind of access to successful coaches and samples of their work would cost you hundreds of hours of time to track down. The value of this information alone is worth far more than the cost of the ebook.

Denise Wakeman, Chief Implementer
Next Level Partnership
http://www.biztipsblog.com

To sign up for the class starting Nov. 17, Wed. 8 p.m. ET, go here:

http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=109142

Class meets Nov. 17, skips week of US Thanksgiving, and continues on Wednesdays until Dec. 15. We guarantee you will have your ezine up and running and out the door by then! The class is $97 and includes the e-book for free.

Hope to "see" you on the class,

Patsi

P.S.

If you can’t attend, register and we will send you the e-book and audio recordings.

Get More Results from Your Ezine!

By Patsi Krakoff in E-Books

Greetings!

Just got back from cold Quebec City where I was thawed by the warm welcome of old friends and subscribers at the ICF conference and the Executive Summit Pre-conference. But wow, it’s great to be back in sunny Ajijic, Mexico!

I had some blogging withdrawals; funny how this blog thing grows on you and you feel like sharing every little thing…okay, okay I’ll get to the point!

Do you still struggle with your ezine? Is it the content, the formatting, or the distribution? Do you know how some coaches have grown their subscriber lists from 50 to over 10,000 in just 3-4 years? Many have, you know. I am going to share everything I’ve learned with you about ezines in a new e-book and telecourse.

Clue: A great coach ezine gets clients to call you, to email you, and to buy your products and services…without being promotional!

Let me take the struggle out of the ezine tasks and put the joy back into your coaching practice! I’ll show you how… if you’ll give me a little money and some of your time. I’ll give you solid value and SAVE you time, money AND energy!

Next Wednesday, Nov. 17 is the first teleclass on creating Effective Coach Ezines. We guarantee you will learn the Secrets of Successful Ezines and during our five week workshop you will have an ezine either greatly improved or ready for publishing. That’s right, the classes, the work book and the fr*e*e* e-book, will get your ezine up and out the door.

Here’s what one person says about this program (and he is a thought leader in coaching and a great teacher):

I recommend Patsi‘s Customized Newsletters and Keys to Effective Ezines course.

Patsi can help anyone, whether you are new to Ezines or someone who is more

experienced and needs to tune up your newsletters. Without exception, you’ll NEVER spend money on something as leveraging as Ezines. I’ve built a Ezine database of more than 9,000 subscribers using Ezines and YOU can too.— Mike Jay, Master Business Coach, founder www.b-coach.com

So, here’s what ya gotta do: this will cost ya, but it will be worth it. For $97, I want you to go register here and get the e-book, for free ($47 intro price until Nov. 20), coaching on your ezine, a $47 discount coupon for any services or article at Customized Newsletter Services. You will be glad you did, because you will have a great ezine to be proud of and you will start growing your database and get results! And we’ll even hold your hand cyber-connectively.

Go here: http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/adtrack.asp?AdID=108621 and you will see the telecourse on Effective Ezines listed half way down when you scroll.

(You missed our free intro class Nov. 9, sorry!) But further down on the list at www.teledevelop.com, you will find the description of the class which meets four Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET until Dec. 15…(we skip the week of Thanksgiving because of vacations- I will be in Acapulco and I’m sure you will be somewhere having fun too!)

This class will be audio recorded so if you can’t make it, register anyway, and you will get the audio recordings and the e-book including the discount coupons and over $500 in valuable bonus services and downloads. We will coach you personally to create your ezine.

Seems like a lot of dough? Well, if you can solve your ezine problems and save time and get more results from your ezine, would it be worth it? Is it worth it to avoid the 10 most common mistakes coaches make with their ezines? Is it worth it to be able to handle your ezine in less than 1/2 day per month instead of a whole day or more?

I say, get back to coaching and earning the money you deserve!

Let’s face it, in today’s interconnected Internet market you can’t afford to skip an ezine. You must publish quality content AND regularly. Don’t be seen as an inconsistent writer, or your readers will lose the trust and connection that an ezine can provide.

I gotta get off my soap box. Somebody stop me. I am worse than a preacher when it comes to ezines.

I have been called the ezine evangelist. But that sounds so righteous…not sure I like that. Need a nickname that’s a little bit more rebellious or renegade. Any suggestions?

Seriously, this class and the e-book Secrets to Successful Ezines fills a gap because it is specialized for coaches, consultants and professional services providers, even therapists and psychologists can use this course. Other classes and e-books have been published but most are for promoting small businesses. Coaching and professional services are different, and your ezines must have other elements in order to be effective and get results. You want to write it, publish it, get read and get clients!

End of promotional rant, just do it, come sign up and you won’t regret it. Money back guaranteed. We’ll even have some fun, too!

Sure, ezines can be fun! That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? Having a great job, great clients, and a great life.

Comments, feedback? Who’s game?

Patsi, the ezine evangelist looking for a new nick-name!

The Highest Goal for Your Ezine?

By Patsi Krakoff in Coaching/Personal Development

Does Your Ezine Connect with Your Highest Purpose?

If you are just starting an ezine, or if you’re not
satisfied with the results you’ve been getting, you may need
to go back to the basics.

Examine why you are publishing

If you are writing and publishing an ezine to get more
clients, you may wish to reconsider your true reasons. It
may be true: you are in business and to get more clients,
you must reach more people and let them know who you are and
what you have to offer. Getting your ezine published and
growing your readership base is the means to do this.

(If your reasons for publishing an ezine go not much further
than, “Well, everyone else is doing it and I was told that
to be a successful coach I must write and publish a regular
ezine,” you are in trouble. But you know that.)

For coaches, there are really two purposes to writing and
publishing an ezine: a higher purpose reason, and a business
objective reason. A lot has been written already about how
important ezines are to growing your business and getting
more clients.

But that’s not enough.

What are the real reasons, those deep ones—the driving
motivations that put you here today, into the position of
being a coach, of wanting to coach people, of wanting to
tell people things that can make their lives better?

If you have been through coach training (please, if you
haven’t, do so NOW, or stop calling yourself a coach!), you
have already done a lot of course work on finding true
purpose, both for yourself and for your coaching clients.

Make no mistake, finding true purpose is one of the hardest
tasks humans can undertake. We are complex individuals
living with contradictions and competing commitments (see
Kegan for more discussion on this subject). We are at
different developmental stages (see Graves, Beck, Vaillant,
Hudson and others on adult life stages). Human beings have
differing behavior styles and thought processing preferences
(see Jung, Spranger, Marsten for example). We are a mix of
motivations and drives (see Maslow, McClelland, Reise, Herzberg,
Lawrence & Nohria and others).

What Drives YOU?

What driving force wakes you up with an idea for your ezine,
and causes you to get up with enthusiasm and energy that
cannot be satisfied until your article is written? What
contribution are you striving to make?

What do you feel you MUST do in your lifetime? How can you
further those desires through writing your ezine?

This is work you should be involved in now, everyday and
for the rest of your life. After some clarification on what
your true purpose and higher goal in life is, there is
continual checking back with alignment to your work.

Gotta Read This

One of the best books on this
essential process is Michael Ray’s The Highest Goal: the
Secret that Sustains You in Every Moment (2004) published by
Berrett-Koehler (ISBN 1-57675-286-0).

Michael Ray has been called “the most creative man in Silicon
Valley,” by Fast Company magazine. His Personal Creativity
in Business course has been one of the most popular at
Stanford University for 25 years.

To read this HIGHLY RECOMMENDED book, click on the graphic
link under my “Good Books” column on the right.

In summary

I believe that your writing and all that concerns your work
will take giant leaps whenever you connect to your higher
purpose, your highest goal. Until that time, you may be
good, but just going along.

Sailing to the heights involves digging deep into your real
reasons for doing this in the first place and continually
checking back for alignment.

Sure you can do this on your own. And, yes, this is work
best done with a trusted coach.

Here’s to your continued success with your ezines, with your
coaching, with your life.

Patsi