By Cheri Alguire

When I first decided to become a coach, the only experience I had with the coaching industry is something I had heard almost on accident. I was doing some spring-cleaning and I came across a box of audio CDs someone in my household had ordered from a life coach a couple years ago, but no one had ever listened to. I put them on while I was doing my spring cleaning and the words that entered my ears through the sound waves coming from my portable CD player, this was before iPods, changed my life forever.

I started journaling again. I started really thinking about my life’s purpose. I started writing in my journal about everything I was destined to do and be and feel and live. During one of my journaling sessions, I figured out that it was my calling to be a coach. I did not know exactly what that was in the professional sense, but I did know that “coaching” was something I had been doing in my life for a long time and I was determined to explore the profession further.

I began some research on the computer and for weeks I researched the coaching industry, coaching schools, and other coach’s websites and ordered coaching books in droves. I found out there was life coaching and business coaching. The concept of business coaching really excited me. Because of my background in business as an entrepreneur and my background in Real Estate, I naturally thought of becoming a business coach for Realtors. I had been in the industry since college. I had been a successful Realtor and was currently an office manager for a top team in the area. I felt I knew the common ups and downs of the business as well as the kind of person in this industry. Coaching was a rather new concept at the time, yet one that seemed to be embraced already by this profession. People saw the benefits and there were already people coaching and creating businesses coaching Real Estate Agents. What could be better?

That’s when I started to experience doubt. “But, there are already people doing this, how am I supposed to break in and compete?” One of my first thoughts after having narrowed down my niche was to expand it to not only include Real Estate Professionals, but to also include small business owners and entrepreneurs. After all, I had owned a couple small businesses over the years as well. I knew that audience and could talk to the challenges they experienced as well.

As I began to expand my focus, I soon realized I no longer appealed to anyone because now my focus was too broad and my coaching practice was too general. When I was in the Real Estate industry I had learned that mass appeal equals no appeal. You can’t be everything to everyone. I began thinking about why I was looking for a niche anyway. Specialization gives people a reason to choose you. Specialization builds perceived value.

Sometimes it is hard to understand this when you are thinking about yourself and your profession so when I am working with my clients helping them figure out their niche I ask them to think about other professions such as the medical or legal fields. If you look in the yellow pages or on the Internet for an attorney in your area, you are going to look for one that specializes in the area you are looking for such as tax law or family law. When you are looking for a doctor you are going to look for a Cardiologist or a Dermatologist or someone who specializes in the field you need help in. Not only do these specialties attract you to them in the first place, you are willing to pay more for a Heart Surgeon than you are for a General Practitioner.

Besides being able to charge more, being a specialist is also easier. You know your clients and you can create systems so you can be more effective. My clients that specialize in certain neighborhoods in their real estate business have an easier time when someone calls them to sell their property if they specialize in that area. They know the prices of the houses in the neighborhood, they know the builders and floor plans of the houses in the area, they know the schools and infrastructure close by, they know other owners and people looking to buy in the area. They know who to market the house to. They know the profile of an ideal buyer for the house before even stepping into the house to meet the sellers.

As a coach who specializes with Real Estate Professionals, I have my coaching systems streamlined to that industry. My intake forms and session update forms talk their language. I have a business planning process I have created and offer to every one of my clients that walks them through the process not in a general business sense, but very industry specific to Realtors and Real Estate Managers. My plans have evolved and improved over the years with input from clients who are all very similar to each other and therefore all of my client’s benefit. Coaches who specialize are able to streamline their procedures. Group coaches who always coach groups for 90 day periods have set procedures that they are able to perfect over time. Coaches who coach around certain areas such as divorce are able to have a tool box of resources and materials that will benefit all of their clients.

Being a specialist sometimes starts with self-proclamation. However, if you are going to call yourself a specialist, you are going to do the needed research to accurately display that title. For my real estate clients this means researching neighborhoods or types of property. For coaches it may mean reading information, attending Teleclasses, keeping up with trade publications or conferences. Virtual Assistants who want to specialize with coaches attend the same conferences coaches do; they read the same magazines coaches do. They keep up on what is happening in the coaching industry.

If a Realtor calls herself a lakeshore specialist, but does not know anything about the laws and conditions that effect lakeshore property sales, her marketing efforts will fall flat as those who respond to her advertising discover she does not possess the required skills needed to sell lakeshore property and accurately call herself a “Lakeshore Specialist.” If on the other hand, you provide potential clients with information on the lakes in the area and links on your website to provide them with valuable information, long before they become clients, you will earn their trust and you will soon be able to charge higher fees as a specialist instead of a generalist.

How about you, what is your niche? Taking the time to really discover what it is could prove to be a very valuable to your business.

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Real Estate and Life Coach Cheri Alguire has partnered with hundreds of real estate professionals including agents, owners, brokers, managers, and real estate moms to help them become more successful in business and in life. Learn more about Cheri Alguire or her book: Branding and Marketing Mastery at www.CheriAlguire.com or www.RealEstateMoms.com

• How do you really choose a niche?
• How do you know the right one?
• Will you really like it?
• Will it prove profitable? 
  

For me, in the beginning it seemed to boil down to one critical question: How was I going to attract clients?

Knowledge Really is Power

While training for my half-marathon, I needed some knowledge of running fundamentals. In deciding to become a student of the game of running, I immediately headed to the nearest bookstore. Let me tell you, there are a LOT of books on running and I looked through every single one. In fact, I spent so much time at the bookstore browsing through running books; I got more than one weird look from the sales clerk!

Ultimately, I selected five books to begin my education on running a half-marathon. Out of those five, my favorite two were:

1. Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Half-Marathon Training, written by Heather Hedrick, and
   

2. The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer, written by David A. Whitsett.

Once I read these books, and the other three that I’d purchased, I also spent some time on the Internet. I took a lot of notes and, along with my trainer, eventually developed a training program I could stick to. Beyond that, the information I learned gave me the ability to see the finish line clearly. Before this, both the half-marathon and the actual running of it were nothing more than a fuzzy goal in my mind.

When you take the time to educate yourself, these fuzzy goals become clearer, make more sense, and you can finally begin to truly visualize yourself meeting them.

What I want you to do – RIGHT NOW – is make a list regarding your goals. I want you to answer these questions:

1. What is the category my goals fall in?

2. What information do I currently have on this category?

3. What else do I need to know?

4. Where can I go for this information? Think about the Internet, bookstores, libraries, coaches and/or trainers, and possible mentors that already have this information.

5. What do I hope to learn?

6. How will this make a difference in my meeting my goals?

As you answer these questions and seek the knowledge, you will gain power. Your goal will become more defined and you will be even more anxious to get started! Education is a strong motivator for success. Educate yourself first and success will follow!

Knowledge is power! Learning has never been easier. You can research practically anything on the Internet. Books have been written on virtually every subject known to man. Don’t worry if you don’t know how to do something – the information is out there to teach you.

Cheri Alguire is a real estate, business and life coach who partners with you to help you take your business and your life to the next level of success. For more information on Cheri Alguire's book 13 Lessons Learned in 13.1 Miles, visit www.13lessons.com For more information on Cheri Alguire can partner with you to take your real estate business to the next level, please visit http://www.CoachCheri.com

Learning the Game

I can honestly say that – WHATEVER YOUR GOAL – learning the game, becoming a student of the game, will help you get you the results you want. Why? Because you will take the time to inform yourself of the path ahead, and by doing so, you will increase your chances of success by a very large margin.

Regardless of the event, the industry, or the focus of your goal – it is critical to learn about the game, the rules of the game, and the best way to meet the objective of the game. The only way to do this is to become a student of the game.

What does all this mean? Honestly, it’s a lot simpler than it sounds! Delving in a little deeper, let’s use an example of publishing a book along with an example of running. Say your goal is to publish a book you have written. You will want to follow these steps:

1. Learn About the Game: Determine the category your goal falls in. In the example of publishing, is your book fiction or non-fiction? In the example of running, are you interested mainly in getting fit or, do you need to know more about endurance for, say, a half-marathon?

Once you know the category your goal falls in, you will know where to begin gleaning information to educate yourself. If you have written a non-fiction book on Chinese Wedding Traditions, for example, learning about publishers that focus on fiction isn’t going to help you much. Taking that a bit further, you will need to focus on the type of non-fiction book you are wanting to market.

Likewise, if you are mostly interested in endurance training, learning the ins and outs of strengthening your body for a half-marathon are most important on your list. While you could certainly receive worthwhile information by looking at fitness as a whole, you needed to focus more in order to truly “get it.”

Know your goal. Know the goal’s industry. Know the category.

2. Learn the Rules of the Game. Okay, so you know the category your goal falls into. Now, it’s time to learn the rules for that category. Again, using publishing as an example, you want to find the best publisher for your book on Chinese Wedding Traditions. Where do you start? What about the example of learning how to gain endurance for running a half-marathon? Where would you start?

Regardless of the industry, regardless of the category, there are people who have gone before you. Many of those people have written books, articles, created Web sites, and train or teach others how to be successful. These are the resources you want to tap! I recommend starting on the Internet because it’s a free resource that can give you a ton of information very quickly.

After you’ve spent some time researching on the net, you may find books, audio-books, DVDs, or even organizations devoted to what you’re trying to learn about. It’s completely up to you how you choose to educate yourself at this point. You can join some of these organizations, hire a trainer or a coach, purchase a book or five, or any combination of the resources available to you that you want.

Educate yourself. Study the rules. Learn the rules.

3. Learn the best way to meet the Objective of the Game. You’ve spent some time educating yourself on the ins and outs of the industry and the category of your goal. You have a lot more information about this than you previously did – CONGRATULATIONS! Now, take this information and you apply it to your personal goal.

Back to our example of publishing a non-fiction book on Chinese Wedding Traditions, the research conducted should give a clear idea of the correct publishers that would be interested in this type of book. Along with this, the knowledge of how to approach these publishers should also have been learned. Now, you know the proper way to begin meeting your objective.

In the goal of running a half-marathon, you should learn about running in particular. How you need to train and what to do each step of the way, such as the best way to increase your endurance, stretching exercises for before and after you run, and additional tips that will help you plan your attack. All of this knowledge will allow you to better plan so you will be ready to run a half-marathon when the time comes.

Research the rules. Understand the rules. Plan your attack.

4. Becoming a Student of the Game. By following the above three steps, you can become a student of any game! This is the best way to achieve the goal in front of you, regardless of what your goal is.

You absolutely need to acclimate yourself as much as possible. This will allow you to SUCCEED, which is the point of making a goal, isn’t it?

When you take the time to educate yourself and plan accordingly, even the seemingly most difficult objectives become easier to manage.

ü Learn About YOUR Game.

ü Learn the Rules of YOUR Game.

ü Meet YOUR objective.

People all over the world are learning new things every day. Education is an important facet in life, in all professions, and in almost every single thing we do.

Running is like business.  You can do it by yourself.  You can do it with a group.  You can do it anywhere.  Other than a good pair of running shoes or possible a telephone, you don’t need any special equipment.  With these facts in mind, I figured learning to run or running a business wouldn’t be that difficult.  After all, running is one of the most popular forms of fitness and there are so many small businesses out there.  It couldn’t be that difficult with so many people involved in the sport, right?

Wrong!  When I decided to get out there and just do it, I found it far more difficult than I’d anticipated.  Who knew running (the sport or running a business) would be so hard?  I realized, quickly, that I’d not only underestimated the sport itself, but my own ability to acclimate by just doing it.

You may find yourself in a similar situation, depending on what your overall goals are.  It’s not fun feeling like we’re in over our head and goals are ripe for this.  What do you do if this happens to you?  Basically, you have three choices:

1.  Give up.  Wow, this is so much harder than I thought!  I was completely deluding myself into believing this is something I could do.  No way can I accomplish this goal at this time in my life, so I’m going to set it aside and focus on something I feel more comfortable with.

2. Blindly forge ahead.  Okay, so this is harder than I thought, but that’s alright.  This is my goal and I’m determined to reach it, so I’ll just forge ahead.  Eventually, everything will sink in and I’ll be more comfortable and everything will be fine.

3. Learn the game.  Maybe you’re feeling a little discouraged, but you’re not ready to give up.  You’re also not ready to forge ahead without more information.  So you decide to learn the game, inform yourself, and then plan your strategy.

What are you learning to “run?”  You might not be learning to run long distance, but you might be learning to run your business in slower economic times.  Or you may be learning to run your Real Estate Business in a Real Estate market that is so very different than when you first learned it. 

What are you going to do?  Give up?  Blindly forge ahead?  Or learn the game?  The choice is yours to make.

 Cheri Alguire is a real estate, business and life coach who partners with you to help you take your business and your life to the next level of success. For more information on Cheri Alguire's book 13 Lessons Learned in 13.1 Miles, visit www.13lessons.com For more information on Cheri Alguire  can partner with you to take your real estate business to the next level, please visit www.ProRealEstateCoach.com

We have all heard the word "Accountability" used around goal setting, but why? Is it really that big of a deal? Can't we just do it on our own?

Think back to all the goals you've ever made - from the simple ones to the large ones. Which goals were achieved and which weren't? Make a list of at least ten goals you can think of, writing "MET" or "NOT MET" next to each one. This visual exercise may help you understand at least one of the reasons why the NOT MET goals were - well, not met.

My guess is your MET goals were accomplished with the help of at least one other person. A friend, spouse, parent, or colleague who was in on your goal, perhaps because it was a goal they shared with you, or perhaps only because they were interested in you and how you were handling it. Regardless, every time you bring another person into a goal, you have a better chance at realizing that goal.

Without accountability, most people are likely to forget why it was so important to them, quit progressing toward it, or simply decide it's not worth the hassle. However, with accountability - meaning you know exactly what you want, when you want it, and there is at least ONE other person who has the same knowledge - guess what, you will more than likely continue toward the finish line.

While humans are really good at admitting defeat to themselves, they are far less able to admit defeat to another person. It's actually (in most cases) easier for them to keep working toward their goal just so they DON'T have to admit they "gave up" to another person.

Accountability works for the following reasons:

• Shared Intention - When you share your intention with others, it becomes more real to you, which raises the stakes.
• Responsibility - By confiding in another person, you're claiming responsibility to the goal you want to pursue. This creates a more focused outlook as you pursue your goal.
• Ownership - Own your goals by bringing another person or persons into the loop. When you take control by placing ownership on your goal - success is far easier reached.
• Commitment - Simply by communicating your plan with others forces you, like little else does, to commit. You know they'll be asking about your progress, checking in to see how things are going, and they'll be very interested in the entire process. You almost have no choice but to commit at this stage!

So who can help you keep accountable to your goals so you can move them from the UNMET to the MET category? Do you need an accountability partner? Do you really own your goals by bringing another person into the loop? Who is that person going to be? Just make sure it is someone who will really stretch you, and won't hold you back to their level. It can be a friend, colleague or professional coach. Whoever it is, make sure they will REALLY hold you accountability to setting and moving those goals to the "MET" category!

Accountability is a critical element in the goal setting and goal achieving process. Many people brush it off under the belief that it doesn’t really make that much of a difference. This belief is not only incorrect, but the lack of accountability is completely detrimental to the overall success of achieving a goal.

Accountability is serious! In the world of small business, more and more information is necessary to keep things running smoothly. This increased amount of information is a form of accountability, as is communication, and while company will have different levels of accountability, I guarantee you that none exist without it.

In our families and personal lives, accountability is just as essential as in the real estate world. What we want, how we go about getting it, and the overall success can be related back to – yep, you got it, accountability. Think about how successful your kids would be in completing their chores if there were no accountability.

I remember speaking with a friend shortly after agreeing to run a half-marathon. This friend of mine is an avid runner, so she was immediately interested in the event and, wonders of wonders, even wanted to do it with me. If, by any stretch of the imagination, I wasn’t fully committed before this moment, agreeing to run this marathon with my friend Jennifer sealed the deal.

With Jennifer holding me accountable, I had no choice but to follow through – after all, I couldn’t rely on anyone “forgetting” about my commitment now! My friend didn’t live near me, which meant we couldn’t physically train together, but every time we spoke – she asked about MY training. Between you and me, I hadn’t even started to train at this point, but I certainly didn’t want to fess up to that! So, I’d lie through my teeth and say, “Great!” every time she asked.

Well, let’s be honest here – I could lie all I wanted to, but the proof would be right there in front of my friend’s eyes on the day of the marathon. By her continually bringing it up and reminding me, I was forced to keep it in mind. This propelled me to (eventually) get moving so I’d be able to answer her honestly!

As I said before, accountability is one of the essential elements in your succeeding at any goal you set. So, who are you accountable to?

You hold people accountable all the time, your buyers, your sellers, your kids, your husband. But who holds you accountable to doing what you need to do every day to be successful in business (following upon leads, creating the marketing plan) and in life (taking “ME” time, balancing time off?) Maybe it is time you found someone to help hold you accountable.

Maybe it is time to enlist an accountability partner or hire a coach. Maybe it is time to really do what it takes to get to the next level.
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Small Business Coach Cheri Alguire partners with Working Moms, Small Business Owner Moms, and Real Estate Moms to hold them accountable to creating and following the plan that will take their businesses and their lives to the next level. Find out more at www.CoachCheri.com and www.RealEstateMoms.com

1. What do you want? Be specific.
2. Is the goal stated in positive terms?
3. What are the logical and chronological steps you'll need to take in order to achieve this goal?
4. Is the goal within your control?
5. What stops you from having this goal right this instant?
6. What kind of person (behavior, attitude, etc.) do you need to be to attain this goal?
7. How will you handle potential obstacles?
8. Is the outcome harmful to anyone?
   

• WHO - Who is involved in the goal?
• WHAT - What results do you want?
• WHERE - Where is this goal in your life? Is it a career goal? Where in your career does it fall? For example, if your goal is to increase awareness of your business, it falls within the marketing aspect of your career.
• WHEN - What is your time frame for this goal? When do you want to see the results?
• WHICH - Which steps are needed to achieve the results you want? Are there obstacles? Name them.
• WHY - What are your reasons for accomplishing this goal? Be specific.

Are your goals for 2008 SMART goals? If not, it may be time to rework them.

• Increasing sales.
• Enhanced employee relations.
• Better time management.
• Advance a new marketing plan.