Offering a free teleclass to your potential (and existing) clients is the easiest way to gain exposure and show the world what you have to offer. By introducing people to your coaching style and the high quality of the material you teach at no cost to them, they will be able to experience, first hand, the benefit of working with a coach and, more importantly, the results they’ll achieve by working with you, specifically.

1. Create the curriculum

Outline the topics of a course that you can teach in 6 or 12 weeks. Note all of the key points in each section so you have something to refer to as you deliver your content. Create any handouts you’ll need for each class and get them set up to deliver.

2. Practice

Practice delivering each section to be sure the curriculum portion lasts about 40 minutes. If you need to add more content to make the delivery last for 40 minutes, be sure to update your outline so you don’t miss anything during the class. Also practice introducing yourself and the topic, and try to keep this under 5 minutes.

3. Set up your sales process

Write a sales letter for the course, focusing on benefits, benefits, benefits. Give each section a powerful title to make potential clients desperate to find out more. If you don’t have a merchant account, you can use PayPal to accept payments. Create a registration page where they can register their purchase. This will actually add them to your autoresponder campaign for people who order the course (see #5 below). Create a thank you page that gives them the details for calling in for the classes. This is also where you will post any handouts for the class (and call recordings, if you’ve promised to deliver them).

4. Set up your teleconferencing line

Sign up for a teleconferencing service like thebasementventures.com or instantteleseminar.com. Test your bridge line to make sure both moderator and participant can interact (use your land line to call in as moderator and your cell phone to call in as participant). Check all of the different features so you’ll know how to manage the call when you go live. Also test the recording functions to be sure you’ll have a good product at the end of your call.

5. Set up your autoresponder

If you don’t already have one, sign up for an autoresponder service at getresponse.com or aweber.com. This will allow you to automate contact with your clients and subscribers. Create a campaign for all of your subscribers if you don’t already have one. Then set up two campaigns for this course:

• People who purchase the course. Set up 1 message to be delivered immediately after their purchase, thanking them for the purchase and reminding them of how to get to the page with the call details. Then set up reminder messages to be mailed out the day before each call and the morning of each call.

• People who sign up for the free session. Set up 1 message to be delivered immediately after they sign up, thanking them for signing up and reminding them of the call details. Then set up reminder messages to be mailed out the day before the free session and the morning of the free session. Also set up 2 or 3 follow-up messages to remind them to purchase the rest of the course before the next class. When they purchase the course, you can remove them from this campaign.

6. Set up your sign-up form

Create a squeeze page to allow prospective clients to sign up for the first session. Keep in mind this needs to be heavily benefits-focused. Your goal is to show them how much this session will help them solve a problem. Don’t explain the other sessions on this page – you’ll do that during your teleclass and on the sales pages for the course.

7. Deliver the first session

Five minutes before the published start time, call in to your bridge line. If you’d like, you can allow people to introduce themselves. Introduce yourself and teach your curriculum, and then educate the listeners about the rest of the course. Allow 15 minutes for Q&A at the end of the call, and close with a call to action sending them to your sales page for the course.

8. Follow up

Your autoresponder will follow up with participants who did not sign up for the remaining calls. At some point, you might consider surveying that list and simply ask them if there was something you could have done differently to make them sign up for your course. This is extremely powerful in developing future products and improving your sales process.

9. Deliver the rest of your calls

Teach each class using basically the same format: introduce the topic, teach the curriculum, allow the participants to ask questions.

10. Follow up

Use your autoresponder to contact the clients who purchased the course and ask them for testimonials, referrals, feedback, or anything else you want to know. During the first few weeks after the end of the course, send out several messages that reinforce how they can implement what you’ve taught them. You can also use this opportunity to tell them about additional products that complement the course they just completed.

Free teleclasses will give you two benefits that are invaluable: they will get your name in front of your target audience as a go-to resource and they will force you to test your material so that you know it inside out.

•    In-Person

Live, in-person training is most often used for boot camps and corporate events.

If you offer boot camp style workshops to your clients, you’ll need to provide a workspace so that hands-on training can occur – be sure any technology needs, work tables, etc. are available for your students.  Your fee needs to cover the cost of the workspace – including any extra fees charged by the venue – and also cover the cost of any training materials you need to provide for the class.

In a corporate setting, whether you’re delivering a key note speech or training a group of sales people, the company should provide the workspace and your fee should cover the cost of any training materials you provide.

Two rules you must follow:  always record your live events and always be sure attendees are aware of other products and services you offer.

•    Chat

Using on-line chat to deliver coaching is an excellent method to deliver short coaching messages.

Chat-based coaching works very well in small doses because most of us speak much faster than we can type, and that is extremely important in a group setting.  However, short-duration interactions with a group of students to explain some tidbit are effective training tools and also are a great way to emphasize to your clients that you’re available to help them.

Tools like www.aim.com, messenger.yahoo.com, and messenger.msn.com are free to join and use, but you should have a separate account for your coaching clients.

•    E-mail

Coaching by e-mail is very effective in Personal and Executive Coaching because it allows both the client and the coach to really delve in to whatever issues are being addressed.  It is also great as a supplemental coaching tool for your training and mentoring programs.

It’s difficult to deliver a full training program solely by e-mail, but it is possible if you take the time to structure it so that your client feels you are taking a personal interest in their situation.  Notice I didn’t say “if you take a personal interest in their situation” – your client must FEEL you’re paying close attention to them, and sometimes that’s difficult to convey in e-mail.

However, if you conduct telephone sessions with your clients in a group setting and then allow them to ask questions via e-mail, that becomes a very powerful tool because it gives you flexibility in your schedule.  Spend some time planning how you’ll use e-mail, and be willing to adjust as you get feedback from your clients.

•    Teleconferencing

Teleconferencing is by far the most common way to deliver coaching and training.

Personal and Executive Coaching usually involves a weekly telephone session where the coach and client work on the client’s goals.  In training and mentoring programs, the weekly teleconference is normally about an hour long and covers topics identified in the curriculum.

In order to hold teleconferences, you’ll need a conferencing service.  There are some free options, like freeconferencecalling.com, that do a great job.  If you find that you’re having difficulty using a free service – whether you exceed their limits or have trouble getting through (sometimes their lines get bogged down because they’re so popular), try a service like InstantTeleseminar.

As your programs become more mature, you may find that you use all of these delivery methods to achieve the best results.

Here are 5 types of coaching programs you might want to consider as you expand your Information Products business.

• 6 Week Group Coaching Program

6-week programs typically come in two different flavors.

At one end is an introduction to your expertise in a mid-range coaching package. In this type of program, you lead your clients through the basics of the topic so that they will have a good working knowledge of the material. You can look at this type of training as “Introduction to…,” and price it accordingly.

At the other end, you can use 6-week programs to deliver highly- specialized knowledge for a premium price. This is where you would deliver very in-depth training and help your clients to implement advanced techniques. Often, advanced tactics training includes access to secret resources, training tailored to the audience, and very specific, detailed blueprints for implementation.

• 3 Day Bootcamp

Bootcamps are very powerful relationship-building programs because your clients have access to you and your expertise, in person, for 3 days. 3-day workshops should be hands-on, nose to the grindstone, “git ‘r done” experiences. In this type of setting, you should share insider secrets and really focus on helping all of the attendees with their specific situation.

Your clients should leave at the end of the 3 days with their most pressing issues completely resolved and a solid plan of attack for the future. They should also leave at the end of the workshop hungry for even more time with you.

• 12 Week “How To” Training Programs

Each of your product lines should have a core multimedia training package that provides your client with a solid foundation in the curriculum. A 12-week program is a great format to coach your clients on truly implementing the strategies and tactics taught in your multimedia training system.

The format is typically 12 weekly calls, in group format, where you cover, in depth, one section of your training package at a time. It’s a fantastic way to teach your clients new tips and tricks, and in doing so, keep your multimedia system up-to-date.

• 1 Year Mentoring Program

The purpose of a mentoring program is to give your clients such an in-depth knowledge of your topic that they can teach it to others. This type of program is sometimes referred to as a Protégé Program because you are, in essence, creating another version of you (at least as far as the curriculum is concerned).

In establishing a year-long mentoring program, it’s essential to only allow clients to join if you’re confident you’ll be comfortable working closely with them for such a long period of time. Take the time to interview potential protégés, ensure their goals are in line with what you can teach them, and be absolutely certain your personalities mesh.

Your curriculum will come from your product line, but the interaction you have with your client will determine the level of success.

• Subscription-based 1-on-1 Coaching

Many experts in the field teach that individual coaching is not the most effective use of your time because, with group coaching you can have 10 people all paying you and you complete your coaching session in 1 hour, but with 1-on-1 coaching, if you have 10 clients, you complete your coaching sessions in 10 hours.

While it is true that group coaching is highly effective and individual coaching can be more time-consuming, it can also be more lucrative because people will typically pay more for your undivided attention, and you can build a solid relationship based on mutual trust and respect.

In offering 1-on-1 coaching, it’s important to offer your services as a subscription-based package with a minimum of about 3 months. That demonstrates your level of commitment to your client and prevents you from wasting your time with people who sign up expecting you to solve all of their problems for them – and do it in 1 hour.

As an Information Marketer, you know the importance of providing high-quality information that genuinely helps people. As your clients and prospects demand more of you, it’s your responsibility to give them the coaching, training, and mentoring that they need in order to meet their goals and solve their problems.