As you plan the coaching, training, and mentoring programs that you will implement in your Information Marketing business, one the major considerations is how to deliver your training and interact with your students.  There are basically four ways to deliver an interactive training program:

•    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.