It's the lazy, hazy days of summer. I don't know about you, but this year it felt as though we went straight from winter to summer! And now that we're in the 90s every day, our thoughts may run more to time at the beach than to time at the computer. Much as we may be feeling the effects of summer, as you'll see in this newsletter, the Greater Sarasota Coaches Alliance continues to offer plenty of opportunities to learn, grow, and connect with others in the field.

Coaching From a Systems Perspective Program to be Offered In Sarasota   

The GSCA will be serving as local hosts for the first major coaching professional development program to come to Sarasota, Florida.

The Coaching from a Systems Perspective training November 1 - 3, 2010 is a three- day comprehensive course developed by members of the Coaching Community of Practice of the SoL (the Society for Organizational Learning). The program is designed for experienced coaches who are interested in developing their capacity to coach from a systems perspective and is approved for 29 ICF Continuing Coach Education Units (CCEUs). The course is being offered in Boston, Budapest, New York, Washington, DC, India, Seattle, San Francisco, Tokyo and Hong Kong prior to coming to us in Sarasota.

Thanks to GSCA Member Elena Pell (who is also a member of SoL's Coaching Community of Practice) for suggesting that they bring the training to Sarasota and for negotiating a 20% discount off of the $1,098 course fee for GSCA members. A welcoming reception with the faculty and course participants will be held during the program and will be open to all GSCA Members. The exact location of the training and the reception will be announced soon. In the meantime you can find more information on the course by linking to the program website http://systemsperspectivesllc.com.  

  Looking ahead to our July 19th Program:

Enrichment Through Creativity 

Presenter:  Meridian Kristi

Being Creative is at the core of who we all are. Explore some creativity tools that exercise the right side of the brain (where creativity and emotions dwell) to give your creativity a "boost" which leads to an enriched life. Learn how creativity can enhance your personal life AND your business life.

 July 12 Professional Development: Growing Your Business Using Database Management

Each month, the GSCA holds a professional development meeting, open to members. In July, GSCA Board Member Deb Mazzaferro will help us improve our business and marketing practices.

The first fundamental in any successful marketing campaign is to know your audience. By managing your contacts using a Contact Relationship Management system (some familiar examples are MS Outlook, Constant Contact, ACT!), you will always have your contacts' information in a tidy space for keeping in touch, ie., providing updated contact information on yourself, sending press releases, blogging, making special offers, asking for referrals, tooting your own horn, targeting specific niches for new products or programs you offer, growing your facebook and linkedin networks, inviting people to workshops, etc. Anyone who knows Deb Mazzaferro, knows she is one of the most organized people possible. She'll share her secrets on why and how to manage contact information.

And mark your calendar for these upcoming professional development programs:

• August 2 - Art Emrich, Networking
• September 13 - Elena Pell, Peter Senge's Approach
• October 4 - Kari Lowrey, Increasing Your Client Base

Welcome New Member!

We welcome Affiliate Member Beverly B. Arias.

With over 20 years in the financial services industry, Beverly works closely with clients, offering professional guidance to affluent investors with a focus on women who wish to pursue and protect their long-term financial security. She recently joined Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in downtown Sarasota. Previously, she served in executive roles including VP National Sales-Business Development/Advisory Consultant, VP Sales & Marketing and elected officer, and has extensive experience in financial sales and management.

She is committed to being a trusted and available resource for her clients, providing the highest level of service and communication, and offering a broad choice of wealth management and protection strategies. Beverly's background also includes coaching financial professionals for improved practice management.

 37 Good Reasons to Have a Coach

1.     to help you resolve a family or business conflict

2.     to help you to improve your interpersonal relationships

3.     to help you learn how to run more efficient meetings

4.     to help you address your developmental needs

5.     to act as a sounding board before you take an idea public

6.     to help you to improve your time management skills

7.     to help you to improve your delegation skills

8.     to help you get past being stuck about something

9.     to help you to improve your communications skills

10.  to help you to better organize and articulate your thinking

11.  to help you to prepare for better performance reviews

12.  to help you to facilitate inter-group communications/cooperation

13.  to help you to relax more and reduce stress

14.  to help you to prepare for major presentations

15.  to help you to become more comfortable with ambiguity

16.  to help you to learn how to create S.M.A.R.T. goals

17.  to help you to increase your value in the eyes of others

18.  to help you to identify opportunities that you may be missing

19.  to role play, or rehearse important upcoming interactions

20.  to help you to ask more powerful questions

21.  to help you to learn more subtle distinctions

22.  to help you to update your self-development plan

23.  to help you to look at situations from other perspectives

24.  to help you to let go of unreasonable demands of self / others

25.  to help you to work smarter without jeopardizing quality

26.  to help you to establish objectives

27.  to help you to move from being the expert to coaching

28.  to help you to deal effectively with a crisis

29.  to help you to get past negative states

30.  to help you to learn how to become more effective and efficient

31.  to help you to improve your self-confidence

32.  to help you to improve your competence

33.  to help you to earn more money

34.  to help you to figure out what to do next

35.  to help you to solve a problem

36.  to help you make a decision

37.  to help you to be more successful

Top mistakes small businesses make:

Deb Mazzaferro polled her clients, people in the specialty foods arena, to learn their experiences of small business challenges. Here is an edited list that, while written for those in the foods industry, may also apply to coaches. Ask yourself if you have fallen into any of these traps:

• Not pricing correctly right out of the gate. Not enough room to pay costs of doing business, or enough room to market and promote.
• Not having a business plan. Components include:
• Defining your target market
• Recognizing, comparing and defining your offerings and rates to your competitors.
• A launch strategy and marketing plan.
• A cash flow analysis realistically defining income projections and the expenses associated with them.
• Not having a good accountant, financial partner, bookkeeper: not keeping good records · Not changing your prices when needed.
• Not using a coach, mentor or other business pro as a sounding board.
• Not forming a network with others in the field...Knowledge is everything!
• Don't grow so fast that you can't keep up with the consumer demand and thus ends a business that could have been triumphant rather than bankrupt.

Copyright: Deb Mazzaferro 3/2010