5 Tips For Becoming A Life Coach

Writen by Sue Bond

More people are now looking for a career that provides a sense of personal and professional fulfillment. They want a career where they can make a difference in the lives of others. Life coaching seems to meet both of those criteria.

Before investing time and money into becoming a coach, research the profession. Make sure you're not overlooking the realities of what is involved in starting a coaching business.

There are 5 keys areas in understanding the truth of what it takes to become a coach:

1. Understand what life coaching is.

The International Coach Federation (ICF) definition of coaching is: "Coaching is an ongoing relationship which focuses on clients taking action toward the realization of their visions, goals or desires."

Clients hire coaches to resolve a challenge or to get support to attain a desired result. Your job as a coach is to support the client to be successful, usually by asking questions and listening.

Coaching usually occurs over the phone, although it can also occur in person for a higher fee. Many coaches offer additional free email access and/or laser telephone coaching of 5-10 minutes in length between sessions on an as-needed basis.

2. Is life coaching the right career for you?

You may be thinking that becoming a coach is an easy way to make $200+ an hour.

Making a career change, training, and starting a new business can be scary. It takes time, money and effort. Research the profession thoroughly. Compare your skills with the competencies needed to be an effective coach. The more information you have, the more confident you will be about your decision.

3. Choosing a coach training and certification program.

To enhance your effectiveness, confidence and credibility with potential clients you'll need to add specific coaching skills to your toolbox. Clients invest in your coaching services because they want to get results. Imagine hiring a personal trainer with no specialized training in weight training! Injuries can result.

I found over 120 coaching training organizations, as of April 2006. A quarter of these organizations offer an accredited coach training programs. Tuition fees range from range from $1,995 to $10,000+ US. Before committing the time and money to a training program you want to make sure you pick the best training program for you.

4. Learn how to create a thriving coaching business.

Coaching is a business. It could take 3-18+ months to create a full coaching practice.

Marketing is the key to getting the word out about your coaching business. If you're serious about being financially successful, learn about marketing and about building a business.

5. Take Action

Ask yourself: "What do I need to know in order to decide if becoming a coach is the right career move for me?" Do your research before becoming a coach. It may seem overwhelming at first, so schedule small blocks of time. Talk to coaches. Find out what it's really like to be a coach.

A career in coaching can be very rewarding personally, professionally and financially. Do yourself a favour and do the research before jumping.

Interested in learning more about the coaching profession? Receive the expanded ecourse version of this article plus the "Tips from Coaches for Choosing a Coach Training Program" report by visiting: Become a Life Coach

Sue Bond is the authour of the 'How to Become a Coach' ebook.

Dealing With Truth In The Interviewing Process

Writen by Andrew Rowe

If you're a sales professional and have had at least on career misstep, how do you deal with that when you're interviewing for your next great job? This is an important question because we interview top sales candidates all the time and while there are many people who have had a smooth career without any bad decisions or failed startups, inevitably, most people have probably encountered some difficulty in their career along the way, particularly if they're risk takers. Those of you who have worked in startups for most of your life in particular can appreciate this. As we know, 8 out of 10 start-ups fail, so the probability that you've been involved along the way with a business that has not gotten off the ground is pretty high if you've had the kind of risk profile.

How you deal with this on your résumé and through the interviewing process is very important. First of all, its important that even if you had a mishap with a particular company that you still listed on your résumé, there are ways to de-emphasize your participation in a startup, particularly if it was shorter than one year, by listing all your sales accomplishment at the top of your résumé and only having a brief chronological history of your actual employment relationships.

Probably more important, when people ask you about a particular job where you can't point to any particular successes, its very important through the interviewing process that you be up-front with the interviewer. Don't provide too much information at the outset, but if you are asked to provide the details of what happened in a particular situation, how it happened, why it happened, and what you learned, then you should focus on making sure you give clear, explicit answers.

Interviewers want honesty above all. They want to see evidence that a person is willing to take ownership and responsibility for any mishaps that they've had in their career, particularly as it relates to startups.

One thing that you'll want to avoid is blaming only the external factors related to a job situation that was negative. Employers want to know that a candidate has actually learned from a particular situation and takes some level of ownership for what did or did not happen in a business failure. So if you are about to go out on a great interview and you've got a few chinks in your career armor, make sure to not hide from or avoid the truth, as you go into the interview process. You'll find that you'll commend a lot more respect and receive more opportunities if you deal with those kinds of situations in an honest and up-front way.

About Cube Management Cube Management provides sales acceleration services to emerging growth and mid-market companies in the technology, manufacturing, healthcare and business service sectors. The experts at Cube Management work across the entire spectrum of marketing, sales and business development to provide customized solutions that drive revenue and profit growth. Cube Management combines Strategy, Process & People to produce winning results. Download the Cube Management Recruiting Guide and the Cube Management Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Guide.

Career As A Paralegal

Writen by John Daye

The paralegal profession is currently experiencing a great deal of growth and prosperity. With the average USA annual salary averaging around $34,000 for local and state work, nearly double that for Federal Government work, and much more in the private sector, it's no wonder this career field is growing. Let's take a look at a few reasons why a career as a paralegal is so rewarding.

Challenging Work

Attorneys pass much of their workload along to paralegals, also known as legal assistants. Note that paralegals may not perform all attorney tasks, including setting legal fees, giving out legal advice, and presenting court cases.

Case preparation is part of the workload. Paralegals help lawyers with background information and research, legal history, case studies, fact-finding investigations, document preparation and analysis, plea documents, folder, record and file handling. The work they perform is often involved with hearings, trials, closing comments, and also corporate functions.

Jobs are available for paralegals in many types of companies and organizations. They work with employee benefits, labor law, criminal law, corporate law, government (at all levels), real estate and bankruptcy. And you'll find them working in personal injury law and litigation as well.

Career Tidbits

The following list includes some interesting information about this career field according to the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook.

- Paralegals most often work year round, although some temporary work is available. Although 40 hours is average, heavy workloads are a possibility. Work isn't always at the office; paralegals need to work in libraries and often travel in order to gather relevant information.

- In 2004, there were 224,000 paralegal jobs, with private practices employing roughly 7 out of 10 of them.

- Job opportunities for paralegals are projected to increase at a faster than average rate through 2014.

There's no better time to check into being a paralegal than now!

Visit Paralegal Secrets to learn more about a career as a paralegal.

How Well Does Your School Know You

Writen by Kathryn Marion

Opportunities can pop up just about anywhere. You need to have people in your network who know you, your abilities, and your interests—so your name will immediately come to mind when an opportunity, lead, or interesting tidbit comes on the scene.

Your network should not be limited to corporate professionals—it should include your own school, including career center and alumni association staff, professors, and others who work in departments or offices in your area of interest (like finance, marketing, public relations, fundraising, etc.).

They may not have ideas or contacts for you immediately, but if our company were to call your school looking for a student or recent graduate to interview for an upcoming issue of our Dose of RealityTM newsletter, would they think of you?

And we're not the only company looking for interesting people to talk to. "Why should I care about magazines calling my school," you ask? The exposure you get in a national publication, a local newspaper, or on TV, is simply invaluable. It gives you an impressive bullet to put on your resume and may lead to important network contacts that otherwise would never have been discovered. But they can't recommend you if your name doesn't come to mind.

Of course, 'press coverage' is far from the best or only reason to make yourself known on your campus. Opportunities for job leads, customers for your business, and other career contacts can come from your alma mater as well as from any other source. Everyone you meet has a different circle of friends and contacts...and they have friends and contacts...and they have friends and contacts...

So don't overlook a potentially powerful source of contacts and opportunites…get out there and introduce yourself!

Kathryn Marion is the President of Education for RealityTM, a company dedicated to helping young people Sidestep the School of Hard KnocksSM by providing unique resources that are jam-packed with savvy advice on every facet of life on their own. Their bestselling ebook, Success in the 'Real World', covers everything from careers and money to legal matters and cooking, all in an easy-to-read and -reference bulleted format which makes finding what you need fast and easy. The book also includes live links to over 100 additional online resources, making this the most thorough and useful resource available for students and graduates. Sign up for Education for RealityTM's free, monthly newsletter, Dose of RealityTM, on their website: http://www.EducationForReality.com Profitable fundraising and affiliate opportunities are also available for groups and individuals.

Real Estate Career Not Just About Sales

Writen by Mark Nash

Easy money, flexible schedules, and being your boss seem to be the buzzwords with those considering a career in residential real estate. Sales was intentionally left off the job title. Real estate is moving away from being a sales career to being a resource for consumers that are buying or selling a home.

Mark Nash author of Starting & Succeeding in Real Estate and three other real estate books and a regular columnist for RealtyTimes.com shares the inside story on how begin and prosper in today's transitioning real estate market.

-Pre-license education will provide you with knowledge about the applicable real estate laws in your state, but will not prepare you to be successful in residential real estate.

-The first office you choose to hang your real estate license in will greatly influence your success or failure in the business. Visit at least three offices and meet with the managing broker before making a decision.

-Technology skills are a must. Over seventy-percent of all home buyers start their search on the Internet before contacting a real estate agent. Web site development, text messaging, virtual tours are the bread and butter of real estate today.

-Savvy consumers search out full-time agents. Real estate is not a part-time business, no matter what you have heard.

-Understand that successful real estate agents work fifty to sixty hours a week, many times at odd hours and holidays. You have to be available when clients want to see properties or list their home, which is after normal business hours.

-People oriented personalities thrive and succeed in residential real estate. Patience, level-headed, and pleasing agents are the top producers.

-You're an independent contractor. Many new agents think their broker will build their business, you are a business within that brokerage business. Think like a sole-proprietor and develop a business plan.

-Look and act like a professional. Many new agents are too casual in their demeanor and dress and this spells failure. Consider that home buyers and sellers are dealing with their largest asset when dealing with you, is their accountant or doctor showing up at appointments with them in flip-flops or tennis shorts?

-Real estate is not about sales, it's about being a resource and developing relationships. In the go-go days of the real estate market, many new agents were order-takers. Now with a transitioning market, you need to provide clients with information and strategies. With less motivation and energy in markets, building relationships over the long-haul positions you as a real estate resource.

-Join clubs, organizations and non-profits. Networking is how your grow your relationships. Meeting new people who know other people with a real estate purchase or sale need will grow your business. You won't meet new people holed up in your real estate office or your living room.

-In takes money to make money in real estate. Many new agents are tapped out financially by the time they pay for pre-license education. Factor in start-up costs such as errors and omission insurance, Board of Realtors(R) and Multiple Listing Service dues, and business marketing costs. Health insurance is available through national real estate association. Plan on no income for 6-9 months.

-Find a coach or mentor. Beginning in real estate can be lonely as you'll soon realize that you have a minimal support system. Find a mentor within the business and a coach outside it to help organize and plan your business.

Mark Nash's fourth real estate book, "1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home" (2005), and working as a real estate broker in Chicago are the foundation for his consumer-centric real estate perspective which has been featured on ABC-TV, Associated Press,CBS The Early Show, Bloomberg TV, Bottom Line Magazine.CNN-TV, Chicago Sun Times & Tribune, Fidelity Investor's Weekly, MarketWatch, HGTVpro.com, MSNBC.com, Smart Money Magazine,The New York Times, Realty Times, Universal Press Syndicate and USA Today.

The Top Ten Worst Work At Home Scams Part 2

Writen by Marsha James

6. Make Lots of Money Taking Surveys

You probably get one of these in your email a week. Sign up for free or for a few of them a fee, and you will soon earn a steady income just filling out surveys. It is true that people used to make money doing this. Not enough to quit there jobs and pay there bills but $30-$100 or more a month. With the influx of people surfing the internet trying to get a buck anywhere they can, this is no longer the case. If it were that easy to make money everyone would quit there jobs and do it and companies wouldn't be making much money. The sites are still there, but now most of them put you in a raffle to earn "cool stuff" not money. Other's will put you in a raffle to some money. But what are the chances of you winning. And what are the chances of you winning more than once a year? That is not steady income. The ones that do say they will pay you, up up $30 or more for a survey, leave something out. You will sit and wait for that email telling you that you have a survey, but you more than likely will never get one. Or even better you get one, and after filling out 3 or 4 questions such as age, sex, location, and yearly salary, you will quickly find out your not what there looking for. Other's will slam your email with surveys that pay 10 cents if your lucky. At the end if you can get even $20 a month on surveys then your still stuck, because many will only mail out checks of $25-$100 dollars, so it would be months before you get the money, IF you get it at all.

7.Customer Service

There are companies out there who you will apply free to work for them as a customer service rep, from your home. It seems legitimate because you didn't have to pay a fee, the website looks professional, which it usually is and you'll be earning an income and you don't have to sell anything. The fine print is, you have just applied to be a telemarketer. I myself just last year read over the entire site and in the end all the information and FAQ informed me that I would be making no cold calls, or outgoing calls. I would be taking incoming calls from people who are customers. That much was true. However the last phone call between me and my representative/manager I am informed that I will need to pay $29.99 a month for the phone fees and but I'll make it back with my commissions. Fee and commissions all in the same sentence about a job that wasn't telemarketing. Yes I would be receiving calls from customers, and I would be getting a salary but what you don't find out til you apply and are accepted is that you will be making maybe $2.00/hr if your lucky and you will be trying to get a bigger income by pushing extra products on there customers who are calling for help. You also don't know that when the customer calls and goes down the line of being transferred to you, they are already inundated with so many product ads from other phones workers and automated wait commercials that they will be cursing a blue streak at you, and good luck making an income. There are actually a handful of companies online who are hiring customer service reps. But just like the true typist jobs, many want someone with experience. They don't want someone who can't take care of their customer. And there are others who will train you if you have no experience but are someone they are looking for. There are a few, but it's hard finding them amid all the telephone job scams out there.

8. The Instant Online Business

You pay a sometimes huge fee and you can be making money in minutes. Or so they claim. Many of these sites are just selling you an ebook "telling" you how to start your own no fail work at home business. The website is filled with pictures of people on the beach, and yacht's having fun. There are the testimonials from people who they say already bought the book and made so much money in a short time. All you need to do is press the x on your browser and get off that site. The only person who is going to make money is the one selling that expensive ebook. There are books out there with real information that will help you. But people have to remember that the internet is big and most of these sites are selling what you can find for free other places. Plus starting an internet business is not easy and it's not quick. For some it took years before they really started earning an income that allowed them to live comfortably. For others they had to quit after losing hundred's of thousands of dollars. Online business creation companies will make you a website and tell you your good to go. You only have one problem, it's not hard to create a website, there are billions of them. The biggest problem of any internet business is getting traffic and sales. Neither happen overnight even with the best website and product.

9. Medical Transcriptionist/Medical Billing

There are ads all over from the hundred's that come up in search engines to the dozens that are emailed to you on any given month.

10. Craft Assembly

Even as I was doing research for this article I came across a message board where many people were responding to an ad that went like this:

"Work from home, no experience necessary. Make over $3000 a month." Medical transcription is actually a legitmate business but it takes a lot of hard work to get it going. The ads will tell you how easy it is. You pay them and mostly get a floppy disk or papers and that's it. All you find out is that you need to call doctor's offices to see if any of them will hire you. The fees are usually outrageous as well anywhere from $300 to well over $1000 for there "software" and just like the data entry, it's the only thing you can use. There are real places hiring transcriptionists online, however the no experience rule you see some advertise is a good indicator that they are a scam. You need experience, you need to know all of the coding and medical language. Would you want someone typing up your file who doesn't understand what there typing, and make key mistakes that could endanger your life? It should also be noted that the scammers have also extended the scam by creating "schools", for you to pay them and get a degree by doing a home course which is actually not a real certificate. To become a real certified Medical Transcriptionist you need to go to American Association for Medical Transcription and read all about the Medical Transcription Certification Program (MTCP).Work At Home! Make Crafts For cash! Are you looking to work from home doing assembly, crafts, sewing or making jewelry, and getting paid for it? Start earning money from home today!" I was so very disturbed to see over 50 people giving out there emails while begging for more information on this. Stay away from it unless you have done the work of really checking a company out and even then I would pass, because there are simply only a handful that are legitimate and I have NEVER even stumbled across them as of yet.

Craft Assemly, I saved the worst for last because the ones who run these ads online and offline, are right at the bottom of the scum bucket. There are 3 types of scammers for this one.

Crappy Materials – With all 3 types of companies it is usually the same.

Type1 sends out an ad. You respond to the ad and they want money from you, but don't worry it's "refundable". The amount of money is many times over a $1000, and they will tell you it's to weed out the people who aren't serious as well as to cover the cost of the materials. You will need to get expensive equipment such as a sewing machine or a machine to make signs. You of course have to get everything from their company because they need to make sure that you are using only the finest materials and equipment. You get the package and the materials are crap to say the least, the instructions are hardly understandable and you are left struggling to up together the dolls, aprons, crafts and other items. Your only problem is many of these so called "companies" are a P.O. Box which the owners have closed up and moved on. You are left with products that you will probably toss or have to sell yourself. End result all they were selling were the machines, that's where these people make there money from, not the "crafts" they want you to build.

Type 2 is the same except you send them in the products and they tell you that the product is not up to there standards. They are right, after all with the shoddy materials they sent who can make a quality item? Congradulations, they have your money and that's about it. End result, they too have your money from the products you "had" to buy only from them.

Type 3 well, they are simply the worst of this little trinity. Everything goes the same as type 1 except that they might actually send good materials. You send back the finished product and you get a response saying that the product isn't up to there standards. Unlike Type 2, the product is usually good and they sell it, while they make you think they tossed it in the garbage because it was just so awful. They have the money from the machines and your crafts and you get the unpleasant experience of being scammed.

There they are for now. Unfortunately there are so many scams out there that was only the tip of the iceberg. The best advice I can give is to use common sense. If someone is telling you that you will make $10,000 a month, shut the door in there face, close the webpage, or hang up on them. Also be very wary of an ad that promises a lot but gives you virtually no information on what you are supposed to be doing.

Written by Marsha James

http://allabouttraffic.blogspot.com/

http://homeincometalk.seo-blog.org/

Please feel free to add my article to your website, forum, blog, newsletters and other ventures if you leave it in full format. If used in a newsletter please send it to me that I may view where my work is going. Thank You.

So Much More Than Quotjust A Secretaryquot

Writen by Vicky Bach

Years ago, while working as a Branch Secretary for a cemetery services company, I had a phrase uttered to me that would be repeated many times, in different contexts, throughout my career.

In the staff lunchroom one of the salesmen, James, was boldly rating the importance of everyone's roles in the office and placing individuals on his imaginary rating scale. Management was, of course, the top of the food-chain. This was followed by the sales force who, according to James, was single-handedly responsible for bringing in clients and, in turn, money. Administration was relegated to the lowest level of the pyramid. "You don't make any money for the company," he said to me. "Your role is a liability on the books. You're just a secretary."

Now, even though James was somewhat of a pompous person in most things he said and did, this wasn't the only time I heard or even felt the sting of these words. It is just the incident that I remember most clearly. This mantra has been repeated in different ways by better people in varying industries throughout my administrative career. It has been revealed in ways other than as a verbal phrase. It shows in my compensation, in my job evaluations and in the way I am treated in the office environment.

The thought process, throughout companies large and small, seems to be: "Administration doesn't directly make any money for the company, therefore administration is less valuable."

I think they're wrong. You, the Administrative Assistant, are the backbone of the company for which you work. You are the person that keeps everything running smoothly while juggling ten tasks at once. The value you add to a company is demonstrated in the many roles you take on in your job. It's impossible to think that you're "just a Secretary" when you consider the expertise you have in the following areas:

Customer Service

You are the biggest part of customer service because you're usually the first contact a customer has when communicating with your company. You make a good first impression on that customer and make him decide it's worth doing business with you.

Often you, the Administrative Assistant, know the customer better than the rest of the company, especially if this client is a frequent purchaser or visitor. You recognize his voice on the telephone and call him by name. You know where the client likes to be seated in the boardroom and that she prefers a glass of water over coffee. You often know about the client's personal life, because you are the one they feel comfortable chatting with when they call the office or when they are stopping in for an appointment. Heck, you might even know their kids names!

This is what makes you such an important part of a company's customer service practice. You take the time to put that smile in your voice with every phone call you answer and you get to know the customers. A company can't put a price on the value you bring to customer service. It's too high!

Sales

You probably know your company's product or service as well as the CEO. You've typed the reports, you've answered the client's enquiries and you know the lingo. Customers know you can answer general questions about the product. They also trust you to put them through to the right person when they have enquiries you can't assist them with (remember, you're a customer service expert!).

Just because you never see a commission cheque, it doesn't mean you're not one of the company's top salespeople.

Marketing

How many merge letters have you typed? How many envelopes have you stuffed? How many business cards and forms have you designed and ordered? Do you promote your company's brand when you answer the phone? ("Good morning, XYZ Company.") Of course you do and these are all aspects of good marketing.

You are a huge part of Marketing for the company you represent.

Accounting

Whether or not you handle the payables and receivables in your office, you probably have to stick to a budget within your department. Maybe you handle the billing in a lawyer's office or are responsible for costing the office supplies to the appropriate department. You could be the person who prints and mails the invoices or maybe you receive the cheques and prepare the deposit for the bank.

We all have a part in accounting, in some way or another, when working in an office. You, the Administrative Assistant, get to add Accounting to your giant list of abilities.

Administration

This one is a no-brainer! You type, you file, you answer the phone, you greet the customers, you investigate and problem solve. In fact, you can probably do all of these tasks at the same time.

To the company you work for, you're worth your weight in gold. You're so much more than "just a Secretary." You're an Administrative Genius!

Vicky Bach is the owner of Administrative Avenue - - articles, advice, tips and tricks for all Administrative Assistants. Administrative Avenue guides you on the road to success in your administrative career!