Randy Pausch is dying of pancreatic cancer. He gave a famous last lecture at Carnegie-Mellon, where he teaches, about living your childhood dreams. Here’s his update and background page. And here’s the link to his time management lecture. Randy knows the value of time.

Many new coaches are not aware that coaching and running a coaching business are separate pursuits, requiring separate sets of skills. You were probably drawn to coaching because of a desire to help people help themselves, and you have probably focused on gaining and honing skills to help you do just that. That’s just what a good aspiring coach should do.

At the same time, if coaching is your chosen profession, and you want to get all or part of your income from it, you’ll need to master a separate set of skills. That’s what this blog is devoted to discussing.

The coaching business is about coaching – and also about marketing, bookkeeping, timekeeping, appointments, planning, and more. To make best use of your time – and free up more time for the activities you most want to focus on – there is a wide range of powerful technologies upon which you can call. This list is a snapshot – a reflection of my current thinking. I invite you to come to my wiki for my current opinions – and add your own comments and ideas: http://joelorrcoaching.pbwiki.com.

General Principles
“Everything should be as simple as possible–and no simpler”
–Albert Einstein

If the technology is so complicated it takes you away from your coaching, it is too complicated. You must find your own level of comfort, and work within that; otherwise technology will be a drain instead of a productivity amplifier.

• Integrated is usually better than separate pieces.
• Web-based is often better than computer-based–but not always.
• Electronic is often better than paper–but not always.
• If it’s not backed up, it doesn’t exist.
• Only switch systems if you have really good reason to do so.
• When evaluating systems of any kind, speak with several users–preferably users not selected by the vendor.

People, Appointments, Conversations, Time
Systems that allow you to keep track of people, appointments, conversations, and time go by different names–CRM (customer relationship managers); PIM (personal information managers); contact management systems; address books; calendars; and more.

There are programs that deal with only one item–say, contacts or appointments. Others incorporate several in one integrated system, and allow links among the different parts.

I use a web-based system that supports various aspects of the coaching business. It has an appointment book that allows clients to set their own appointments; intake forms you can use, or to which you can add your own; billing, with credit-card acceptance; and a system for mailing electronic newsletters to your clients. (www.coachesconsole.com).
If you are on a Macintosh, you might consider the free programs that come with the Mac–iCal for calendar; Address Book for contacts; Mail for email, notes, and task management.

On a PC, you are probably best served by Microsoft Outlook, for calendar, contacts, notes, email, and tasks.

Money
If you are working with a bookkeeper or accountant, use whatever they tell you to use. If you are doing your own bookkeeping, the choices on the Mac are few: Intuit Quicken is by far the most popular; QuickBooks–more expensive, more features than Quicken–is also available. On the PC, you can choose among Quicken, QuickBooks, and Microsoft Money.

Agreements, Assessments, Other Forms
You may have some paperwork to manage–at the very least, customer agreements. It is convenient to have these on a website, so that the client can access them online, agree to them electronically or print them out as necessary.

You may find yourself using assessments with your clients. If you buy assessments, such as those iPec offers, you’ll get them in a predetermined format–paper, electronic, or both. If you want to create your own, take a look at www.assessmentgenerator.com. For $10/month, you can create assessments that your clients can access online; the results are then sent directly to you electronically.

Marketing
You’ll need a website, and you can create your own, if you have some computer experience. But despite appearances to the contrary, I believe it will cost you less to go with a service for coaches, such as www.hostingforcoaching.com or www.coachingsitesthatwork.com. You need a “squeeze page,” to capture names and email addresses, and perhaps other pages that describe your services. But more than anything, you need advice on what’s right for your business plans. Without that, you can spend lots of money without getting the desired effect.

You’ll want an autoresponder system to collect leads and send out newsletters. Best around is AWeber.com, about $20/month.

You may want to produce and distribute audio or video podcasts. Setting those up and creating them is not difficult, but there is learning involved, and a small investment in equipment.

Products
If you want to sell books, DVDs, CDs, and other products–your own or those of others–you’ll need a shopping cart. Most popular: www.1shoppingcart.com. Their $59/month package includes autoresponders, so you won’t need AWeber.com. Slightly more features: www.goldbar.net. It includes autoresponders and facilities for setting up membership sites.

You’ll probably want to pay a web designer to match the cart’s graphics to your main site.

Telephones
In your office, you need a good phone, to which you can attach a headset. Good-quality speakerphones can work, if you are in a quiet environment. But a headset leaves your hands free, while keeping the call quiet and personal.

If you must use a cell phone to keep an appointment, get a good quality headset for it–wired or Bluetooth. Test it with a friend to make sure the sound quality is good.

PDA (personal digital assistant)
If you are on the go a lot, you should have an electronic PDA that syncs seamlessly with your computer-based systems. I use an iPhone; it syncs with iCal and Address Book on my Mac. Many phones sync with Outlook.

If you conduct many coaching sessions on your cell phone, you may want a separate PDA–unless your phone allows you to consult your calendar in the middle of conversation.

More Help
Sign up for the RSS feed to this blog. Or email me–joel@joelorrcoaching.com–to explore my technology coaching services.

I’m a coach, and I am interested in systems to support the coaching business. By that I mean software, web-based systems, methodologies, and concepts. How about you? Let’s discuss.