"Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle." Thus wrote Napoleon "Think and Grow Rich" Hill, one of the first self-help gurus of the last century. Those of you that have kept up to date with the ongoing travails of Geoffrey Wadhurst Coaching Limited via my fortnightly blog will be all too aware of my continuing struggles.
Like any start-up, I've been growing my business - or attempting to - by embracing the new forces of social media and networking. I've managed to combine both activities by joining the exciting new breakfast group HashtagConnect! which combines face-to-face networking with coaching in how to get the best out platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter (@gwadhurst - follow me; I'll follow you straight back!).
At the first meeting I met Nigel, a start-up business growth consultant who talked snappily during his 60-second profile of his "proven profit-building master-plan" which would generate more leads, drive up my revenues and so on. After he approached me for a chat over coffee, a one-to-one followed at which he suggested a "growth audit" - he would examine my business and recommend new growth strategies. It seemed like a good idea so I dedicated another chunk of my rapidly declining redundancy nest-egg to the cause of business growth.
"You need to get yourself out there more," Nigel concluded. "It's all very well doing your blog and tweeting but you should get on the speaking circuit."
He had a point and I've been trying to get myself on the circuit ever since. The "circuit" sounds a bit exclusive and I've no idea how to get on it. Nigel suggested speaking at some of the networking groups as a starting point. "They won't pay you a fee," he said. "But it's a good way to get yourself noticed. And if you do a good job, you'll pick up some clients."
I started the search for networking groups that have slots for speakers - it so happens that I'm well networked among the networkers so I bashed out some emails, kicked off some questions on LinkedIn groups and so on. Sadly, so abundant are freebie speakers like myself trying to break into the "circuit" that all these groups are booked up until well into 2014.
So it was back to the drawing board until I stumbled across a speaker request on a Herts coaching discussion group on LinkedIn. "Help!" the discussion opened. "Our speaker for the next meeting of the Welwyn Women's Network just cancelled. Can anyone step in?" There was a phone number in the message so quick as a flash, I got myself a slot. Naturally, I devoted much of the this week to preparing my talk (entitled 'Coaching for Success - in Work and Life.') scheduled for 7.30am on Friday.
In one corner of the Welwyn Travelodge's breakfast area, the dozen or so members of the WWN went around the table offering a 60-second introduction. An interesting range of professions, my audience included a NLP master practitioner, a voice coach, a hypnotist specializing in regression therapy and the inevitable social media coach and domestic utility network marketer. To my right was Shirley, a sliver-haired aromatherapist. Before I started, she confidentially passed me a small folded slip of paper. "I can see you're nervous," she whispered. "Take a sniff of these lavender crystals. That'll soon settle you down. They're perfect for anxiety."
My talk seemed to go down well, competing as it was with the noise of the floor polisher in the foyer and the clatter of cutlery as the audience tucked into its cooked breakfast.
After what I hope was an inspirational close, there was a polite ripple of applause and I sat down, awaiting the rush of prospective coaching clients.
One of the ladies did indeed make a rush to speak to me. She shook my hand and thanked me for the talk. "Really interesting," she said. "I think you could be a really successful speaker."
"You do?"
She nodded. "All you need is to work on that voice - it's ever so nasal." She handed me a card. "I'm doing a special offer right now on my 'Speak Up!' basic voice coaching package. You're perfect for it."