I was blog surfing today with an eye out for articles that might be of interest to all you and came across this post, which I thought was very apt considering our recent Coaching Trends conversations on-list.
I’m sure that Hal from CoachBlog is on to something as far as this niche is concerned. But, isn’t it also a great example of feeling out and creating your very own niche specialty?
[grid::brand] The Project Guys
My friend and fellow coach Michael Port and I have begun working with micro businesses. I’ve mentioned our first endeavor in the CoachBlog newsletter. We have combined a teleclass with follow-up coaching-by-email. The reaction from the first group has been quite positive. We’re exploring how far we can go with the concept. Can we write emails that we distribute through an autoresponder that have the effect on the reader as having been coached? If we can, then we can bring our style of working with clients to a far greater audience. Our target: all those 1 – 10 person companies we call micro-businesses.
Micro-businesses are an under served market. In general, people in this market don’t have the cash to invest in good project management, coaching, or a host of services that a bigger company can afford. It’s not that the services aren’t seen as valuable. Micro-business owners tell us all the time that what we offer is valuable. It’s that services aren’t even offered to this market…
And for a total change of topic and mood, I found this post on Barry Zweibel’s very well done GottaGettaBlog (go visit it, he’s a great example of how to blog well) and couldn’t resist sharing:
[W + (D-d)] x TQM x NA, or not
This in from client, Mary:
Apparently, yesterday (January 22, 2007) was the most depressing day of the year. This is not based on superstition but a formula, by a professor (Cliff Arnall) in Wales. This professor’s so-called formula looks like this: [W + (D-d)] x TQM x NA:
W: How bad the weather is at this time of year.
D: Amount of debt accumulated over the holidays minus how much is paid off.
T: The time since the holidays.
Q: Amount of time passed since New Year’s resolutions have gone south.
M: Our general motivation levels.
NA: The need to take action.
Thanks, Mary. And two quick addenda from me about this :
Thing One: I’m glad it’s no longer yesterday – it actually was kind of a lousy day, now that I think about it.
Thing Two: It seems that Dr. Arnall also has a formula for predicting the happiest day of the year: O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He:
O: Being outdoors and outdoor activity.
N: Nature.
S: Social interaction.
Cpm: Childhood summers and positive memories.
T: Temperature.
He: Holidays and looking forward to time off.
This year, it will be on Friday, June 22nd so you may want to note that on your calendar so you can remember to make it so!
(If you liked it be sure you stop by Barry’s blog to comment and read more of his stuff.)
