Cathy Liska 
The idea of building the field and they will come is lovely. How real and effective is that philosophy? In terms of being a coach it seems to hold true for some and not for others. What is the difference? Chances are that newly certified coaches who have clients right away have a number of things in place before their coach training:
- A positive reputation
- A great network
- A willingness to talk about what they do
At the same time chances are that coaches who are unsuccessful neither had these things in place nor did the work to put them in place effectively after their coaching certification.
The bottom line is that coaching is the second fastest growing profession in the world. There is ample opportunity for coaching work. Securing a job, corporate clients, or individual clients takes work and along with that takes an effective approach.
To support your success as a coach, ask yourself these questions and write out your answers:
- What is your reputation? What kind of reputation lends itself to people wanting you as their coach? How will you bridge the gaps?
- What is your network? Who do you want in your network to build your coaching business? How can you be of benefit to them? What do you want to ask of them? How will you approach them in a way that works?
- How comfortable are you describing your coaching work? How are you perceived when you describe your coaching work? What opportunities do you create for talking about your coaching work?
Now use what you wrote to develop your strategies and action plans!
