Do you have what it takes?

Do you have what it takes to become a freelance trainer?

Here's an article submitted by Sharon Gaskin of The Trainers Training Company.

One of the consequences of the current economic downturn is that many companies are making staff redundant. When times are tough, training is often one of the first things that organisations cut back on (even though we know this is misguided). However, this may be a blessing in disguise for corporate trainers who have been toying with the idea of going freelance for years, but have never quite got round to it. Being made redundant and forced to step out of your comfort zone could be the kick-start needed to take your first serious steps towards self employment.

As a freelance trainer of 5 years I can testify to the many advantages of this way of life.

- Better work/life balance. You can choose the hours you want to work, making your work life revolve around the family rather than the other way round. I set up as a freelance trainer to enable me to work around my family commitments, particularly school holidays.
- You can work from home. No daily commute saving both time and money.
- You can choose the work you want to do. Work that you really enjoy.
- You are in control. If you have a great idea, there’s no-one stopping you from making it happen. The only ‘stopper’ in your life is you
- No office politics. No need to get dragged in to office bickering
- Freedom and independence. You choose when you work and where you work
- Variety. Every day is different
- Huge satisfaction in your own personal achievements
- It’s great fun!!

Running your own training business can be truly fantastic, for all the reasons outlined above and more. A lot of training consultants never go back into a ‘regular’ job again.

There are also many that do go back to the corporate world for a variety of reasons. Being a freelancer can be tough. It’s not for everyone. So, before you take the plunge with your precious redundancy money, it’s important to think about the downsides too.

- Lack of a ‘regular’ income. There’s no monthly standing order in to your bank account and you may have to juggle your cash flow from month to month
- Feast and famine syndrome. The balance of work is never even, you will have weeks when there are not enough hours in the day and others where you have no work at all
- Constant pressure to fill your pipeline. You have to balance delivery against sales time – you are under constant pressure to create your own future
- Feeling you have to do everything yourself. Marketing, selling, finance, admin, web design, IT, as well as research, programme design and delivery
- Money needed to set up as well as sustain the business. Balancing cash flow, marketing, paying out for all those things you used to take for granted in corporate life like self-development and professional subscriptions
Poorer work life balance. If you’re not careful, you end up working more hours not less
- Distractions of working from home. The friendly neighbour stopping by for a cup of tea through to the dishwasher or those soulful eyes of the dog asking you to take him out for a walk
- Slow payers. Not all clients will pay you according to your terms – just have a think how your old company may have paid their invoices
- Undervaluing yourself. Not charging what you are worth
- Loneliness and isolation. No team colleagues to share ideas with or just have a chat to
- Lack of self-motivation. Without a boss giving you deadlines to meet, you have to be disciplined to make those goals yourself

It’s not my intention to put you off completely, just to give you a realistic perspective on what your new life could be like.

Try working through this exercise to help you decide:

First write a list of your strengths. (If you find this difficult to do, ask your partner, friend or colleague for some feedback). Once you have made a list, think through how each of the strengths you have listed will specifically help you to run your business.


Now consider your weaknesses and challenges. What are the things that could, potentially, hold you back? What can you do to overcome them? Make a positive commitment to change.

Write down any conclusions you have reached about yourself. Make a proper business plan, look at the financial, social and further implications. Then, ask yourself this simple question: Do you have what it takes to be a freelance trainer?

Sharon Gaskin is Co-Founder – The Trainers Training Company
www.thetrainerstrainingcompany.co.uk
For more information about their 30 day home study programme "How to Launch a Training Business in Just 30 Days" please visit

Affiliate Marketing

I've been looking in to how to improve my Google Adwords results, and finding pay per click gurus everywhere!

There seems to be this incredible amount of software programmes for improving your results, for making '$30,000 a month using this incredible system' and the like. My favourite so far has been the site that has the following client endorsement:

'just two words for this programme: simple and incredibly powerful'.

Darn, I hope he can market better than he can count! I have now looked at quite a few of these 'get rich quick' programmes and their promises of instant top ranking on Google, of improved click through (but what about conversion?) and the fortune to be had by letting that left mouse button take decisive action over that attractive and much repeated 'Buy Now!' graphic.

I think I have worked out how it does make money. You sign up, and realise that the main product you can actually sell and make money on is the one you just bought. 'Hell, I just paid $40 dollars for this heap of... if I bought it, there must be lots of others out there just the same.'

Now that isn't to say there aren't some really powerful and helpful tools out there, but how do you choose the right one?

I don't trust the testimonials, nine times out of ten you click through and find they are an affiliate marketer too - it's not as if you end up on an ecommerce site which sells consumer goods or business services. Hence my extreme suspicion.

I've looked at affiliate marketing for other programmes too - not just internet based tools. One that I have actually signed up to sells a range of self-help and self-improvement tools and, having purchased some myself, I have to say they are pretty good.

That was where I first came across the 'affiliate format'. The letter-like layout, the little box that appears offering you a free sample or course and the use of mixed text sizes, unlikely graphics (such as one Google genius having a photo of himself which was a rather hunky young blond chap without his shirt on!) and customer voice overs and videos, letters of commendation and reporting 'fantastic results', 'I don't have to do a full time job any more'...

The internet is an incredible place. But I can't help but feel wary of the affiliate marketing world - it's almost like some weird cult that, once it has drawn you in, compels you to draw others in too. Yes yes... I know that's what 'affiliate marketing' is about - but I've yet to see any proof of the cash benefits that these Google-related* programmes promise.

The only person I know who does seem to have reaped the benefits of an effective affiliate marketing platform is Karl Moore. I will ask him for his comment on this post and see what he says.

Am I cynical? Perhaps, but there's only so many emails/websites/banner ads that you can read that promise you 'life changing results' before the natural caution gene converts to cynicism.


* None of the affiliate marketing programmes I have looked at are from Google themselves. Google and Adwords are Trademarks of Google.

The Danger of Forums

OK, perhaps the plural is fora, but for the sake of ease of use I am going to refer to them as forums. But what is the danger of forums? I am not going to write about problems with misrepresentation or real risk to individuals (that's a whole other topic) but about what makes a really good, worthwhile forum for business.

For example, I recently signed up to a training forum that was associated to a provider of training services and I am one of a whole 29 members! Today I received two emails with 'You have been greeted by VISISTOR' on your profile.

It was, I am sure, just a device by the forum owner to get me to revisit the forum. VISITOR was, I am guessing, a member of the company who owns the forum and went on as a visitor to create some activity on the site. The site is extremely quiet! The last two posts are mine, from last week.

So, the value of forums? Where they are associated to a provider I fear they run the risk of being seen as nothing more than a trap to capture your details and create a proprietary sales environment. It's certainly one reason why we haven't put a forum on the Complete Trainer website as yet.

Independent forums that are associated to an industry support body such as an institute or even a publication have far more validity, in my opinion. To get people active and participating in a meaningful way on a forum you need to ensure that what happens on the forum is relevant and interesting to the visitors, then they will convert to members.

I am highly active on some forums, for example:

ukbusinessforums.co.uk where I find lots of useful business advice, and:
www.mywriterscircle.com which has both a personal and business relevance to me. These forums both give me something, so in return I contribute and give back.

Forums take management, you can't just host one on your site and expect it to magically populate and become active and productive (whatever your goal for productive may be!). They require a lot of work, effort and dedication - most especially from select users (not just the site owners) who are prepared to be forum moderators.

The danger of forums? They seem like such a good idea - create a community of your clients and prospects! The danger of forums is that you run the risk of catching someone's interest and then disillusion them with inactivity or just being seen as a plain sales opportunity. Very, very few users I'm sure join a forum just so they can be sold to!

The success of talented women leaders

I read an article on McKinsey's site (you need to register to read their articles) about women leaders. It talks about a new leadership model, 'Centered Leadership' and about the importance of happiness and not about work-life balance, but:

"We’ve found that work–life balance is a myth—so the only hope women have is to balance their energy flows."


McKinsey getting all ethereal? Not exactly:

“flow”—a sense of being so engaged by activities that you don’t notice the passage of time—were more productive and derived greater satisfaction from their work than those who did not. Further, it energized rather than drained them.

The more I read the article, the more it made sense. They have developed their leadership model with an understanding that Women Are Different. It takes into account emotional and physical differences and applies the models of success from their research.

Why should leadership be different for women? In a thread on the UK Business Forum, they question Are women-specific business initiatives necessary?. At last look, the poll was 84% 'no'. But McKinsey pointed out that:

"Many women come home from work only to sign onto a second shift - 92% of them still manage all household tasks such as meal preparation and child care."

In my mind that puts a different perspective on things. No matter how fair we want the system to be, statistics prove that top level management has a significantly lower proportion of women than men. Maybe because doing two jobs really is a lot to ask of one person, be they male or female?

There are many leadership programmes and development schemes for women; this is the first time I've seen a leadership model specifically designed around women and developed in response to looking at why, and which, women are successful.

Irritating words!

I read an article on an AOL site called Lemondrop today - about words that irritate. I couldn't help but smile at the first phrase to appear under office jargon:

Office Jargon: team-building, value-added, grassroots, reach out, multitasking, no-brainer, low-hanging fruit, monetize, ping.

My additions would be: outside the box, pick a window, and 'strategically' (when it's used in totally the wrong context).

There were also top hated unnecessary conjunctions and transitions:

Unnecessary Conjunctions and Transitions: no offense but ..., all of the sudden, basically, ironically, actually, honestly, totally, hopefully, as to whether, I swear to God, you know.

My additions would be: actually (yes, I know they mentioned it already, I feel that strongly about it!), one (as in one should, or one must ... it's you or me mate, not this amorphous 'one'!) and, of course, the word that my kids seem to use as the most prolific transition - like. Well, like, you know, like, what, like, yeah? Of course! I understand perfectly.

And, bearing in mind this is from a US site:

Misused/Mispronounced Phrases: irregardless (for "regardless"), aggravate (for "irritate"), anyways/towards (anyway, toward), for all intensive purposes (for "for all intents and purposes"), suppose to (for "supposed to"), could of (for "could have"), analyzing/analyzation (for "analysis"), literally (when meant figuratively).

Isn't language fun? I can't help but notice wrong uses of words in conversation or writing and sometimes it's amazing where you find them. The internet seems to proliferate misuse even further. You have to get creative with search engine terms and think of not just UK/US spellings, but also mis-spellings and mis-typing.

My pet hate of all, however, is:

TXT SPK.

I have noticed an increase in its use not just in texting, but in emails, on forums and even on websites. George Orwell may have been a bit out with his date for 'Newspeak' (1984), but he's been scarily right about so many things...

Work / Life Balance

On a training programme some months ago I met a life coach called Amanda Joseph. She kindly wrote me a short article on work life balance:

Be a Better Professional by Finding the Right Work/Life Balance

Creating a successful work/life balance can be difficult, but most people would agree—today's global economy has increased the pressure to succeed! Thanks to the internet and the global market, clients can be located anywhere on the planet, and therefore in many time zones too. This lure of potentially untapped profits can cause many professionals to let their personal lives slide under the guise of "earn now, spend later." Unfortunately, this only creates more stress which can lead to burn out- both at home and at work.

The pressure to be perfect in the roles you have at home is another reason so many people have trouble establishing a successful work/life balance. Many people feel guilty about the number of hours they work. Most people have been taught that home life should come first and that work should come second. In today's economy however, with the financial pressures on everyone increasing almost daily, this cannot always be the case. This might be understood intellectually - but not emotionally.

Many articles talk about the need to find a good work/life balance so that personal relationships (family, friends, etc) don't suffer. What these articles often fail to mention is that finding a proper work/life balance is also important for their professional life as well. When work and home life are unbalanced, people tend to burn out more quickly which damages their careers. When the career suffers, home life suffers and this self perpetuating spiral can quickly get out of control.

So how do you, the average Joe/Joanne, create the perfect work/life balance? One of the first ways is to reduce stress.

Here are a few tips to help you reduce your stress so that you can be a productive member of your professional team:

1. Figuring out which aspects of your life are the most important as well as which things are the most enjoyable will help ease the guilt you might feel when you take time away from one activity to complete another. Be honest with yourself and devote the majority of your time to the things that are most important to you.

2. "You time" is not the same as "Down time." It is important that everyone takes some time for themselves each day, whether it be going for a walk or scheduling a meeting later in the afternoon so that you can relax at lunch. Taking care of yourself will reduce stress, which makes it easier to focus on your work.

3. Asking for help is a sign of strength, not of weakness. Asking for help shows that you are willing to learn and to work as part of a team. This will build esteem with your colleagues as well as with
your friends and family.

In addition to reducing stress, it’s a good idea to ‘take stock’ and see where you are spending your time and energy.

Write a list of things you like to do, a list of things you have to do, and then see how you can balance them.

Maintaining the perfect work/life balance is difficult, but should not be neglected. In short, good balance between home and work will actually make you more productive, successful and happy in all areas of your life.

Ends

You can visit Amanda's website at: www.AJCoaching.com. Amanda works mostly in London and the South East.

Second life?

In Training Zone today they talk about how the virtual world experience is being used for training and development. It's an interesting article and shows how using what was developed as a gaming concept has been turned to effective use.

Imagine! You could turn up to a virtual training session as an avatar and be the loud, noisy one who questions and challenges and joins in all the activities - even if in live situations you are the type to sit quietly at the back and hope you are not noticed.

But would you feel just as self-conscious in a virtual world as a real one, if your colleagues could identify you? And if they couldn't, well, how would they know you actually came to the training and derived the espoused benefit? Only time will tell.

TZ mention the use of these virtual worlds in Japan for mentoring and how IBM are investing a lot in the technology and creating a valid application for it in the workplace. It will be very interesting over the next few decades to see how technology continues to influence our behaviour.

And finally... I heard a little anecdote the other day: an old man and a young man were talking. The young man said 'You can't connect with our generation, how could you? We have the internet, jet planes, HD TV, mobile phones, none of that stuff was around when you were young...' and as the younger man pauses to catch his breath the older one says 'No, we never had those things when we were young - so we invented them.'

ROI - what we want is proof!

Return on investment in training isn't as easy to measure as, say, an advertising campaign. A well managed ad campaign can show you how many enquiries, conversion to sales, and resulting revenue versus investment. But how do you do that with training?

We know, almost instinctively, that training has a payoff: we see improved motivation, productivity, higher retention rates and skills improvement, but how can you nail it down to what the folks at the very top really want to hear, how much money is it making/saving?

The guru of training evaluation is Donald Kirkpatrick, and there's a great interview with him on Training Zone this month. Kirkpatrick's model for evaluation is a five stage approach - and what struck me particularly about what he said was his comment:

"If your jury (those who hold the budget) is not asking for more evidence now, they will be and you better be ready with some evidence from levels three and four."

In other words, the good old 'happy sheets' are not enough - and nor should they be in times when training budgets are severely pressed! We have a couple of books on our site about evaluation - the Evaluation Pocketbook, a brief but thorough guide to basic evaluation, and the Return on Investment in Training and Performance Improvement Programs. That's quite a detailed look at HR and training evaluation - not just about what you do after the course, but also techniques for converting both hard and soft data to monetary values. And of course Donald has his own book too.

Now is probably a good time to really investigate how you can show Return on Investment in training - as Donald says, if they aren't asking the questions now - then the budget holders very soon will be. And, if like many, they are cutting the training budget, it's a great way of showing that it really does affect the bottom line.

Conflict!

The CIPD say:

"Poorly managed conflicts in the workplace are crippling British business. The average UK employee spends over two hours a week dealing with conflict, which means in total more than 370 million working days were lost last year at a cost to British employers of more than £24 billion.

The statistics are from a new global report Fight, Flight or Face It, jointly authored by business psychology firm OPP and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)." *

Now those are eye opening figures! But what do we mean by conflict management? Isn't managing conflict a "state too late"? Shouldn't it be conflict resolution we are all interested in?

Conflict management as a solution is destined for failure, because conflict resolution demands leadership, not management. Management provides compromises on issues under debate, but does not deal with the root causes of the conflicts. Leadership deals with the fundamental roots of conflict, not just the topic on the table, so what should leaders do?

For a start, leaders need to recognise that few conflicts are really about the issues people are disputing. Conflicts often arise from the different ways in which people view issues. We look to leaders not to get rid of conflict once and for all, but to channel the energies created by conflict into something constructive and creative. Not all conflict is necessarily bad; without conflict as the grit in the oyster, organisations can stagnate and die. When conflict presents a new view on a subject or a procedure, it can result in solutions not previously explored.

But can you teach people how to cope with conflict? The OPP/CIPD report says 'yes'!

"Where training does exist, it adds value: over 95% of people receiving training as part of leadership development or on formal external courses say that it helped them in some way. A quarter (27%) say it made them more comfortable and confident in managing disputes and 58% of those who have been trained say they now look for win–win outcomes from conflict."

But does that mean any old training will do? I would hesitate to say yes, you need to ensure that the training delivered has a real focus on the issues that face the organisation and aren't just 'off the shelf'. The Thomas-Killman conflict instrument (which is managed in the UK by OPP!) is perhaps the best known and, of course, highly successful conflict management tool, but what else is out there?

Using tools is one way of addressing a problem, whether it's a leadership model, communications model or conflict tool. Using them in the right context and with the right knowledge and understanding of the whole issue though is crucial to the learning having a real effect in the workplace.**

Keith Patching, previously a Director at Cranfield School of Management, says:

"In the area of conflict, for example, so many of the underlying assumptions have been that there is such as thing as a 'conflict' to manage. By objectifying (or 'reifying', as we philosophers say) 'conflict' it becomes in people's minds the thing that has to be dealt with. But, in reality, 'conflict' is not a thing to be managed or dealt with. The reality of conflict is the people, and their different views, attitudes, and perceptions."

Keith comments on the lack of tools out there for training leaders in good conflict resolution:

"There are many conflict management tools around these days, but the problem is as big today as it has ever been. Why don't the tools do their job? The answer is that most of them forget that conflicts do not exist on their own. Conflict resolution needs leadership, because conflicts are about people. You can't manage conflict if you can't lead the people involved in that conflict."

This is why Keith has partnered with the Complete Trainer to create a great one day leadreship programme that specifically addresses the areas that are lacking in many 'conflict management' training programmes. The LCS leadership and conflict programme helps leaders understand and deal with the causes of conflict, not just try and treat the symptoms.


* If you want to find out more about that report, either visit the OPP website or contact:

Gavin Collins / Orva Smith
Mandate Communications
E: gavin.collins@yourmandate.com or orva.smith@yourmandate.com

** For further information on the leadership and conflict training programme, developed using the Leadership, Character and Strategy model, then visit: http://www.completetrainer.co.uk/LCS_Leadership/Leadership_Conflict