The Business of Agile Coaching
Instigator/Facilitator: Dennis Britton
Attending: Ellen Grove, Glenn Waters, Dan Puckett, Ken Pugh, Mike Cottmeyer, Jose Solera
Marketing Tips
* keep a blog up to date
* do free offers to local agile associations
* scan the job requisitions for early agile team builders
* retweet each other
* give to strangers , sell to friends
* cross-link your blogs
* during sales calls
* - don't talk about yourself , period.
* ask them about their situation and listen
* return later with a powerpoint showing awareness and possible solutions to resolve challenges
* publish books
o PragProg has most favorable terms for authors
o Lulu can self publish and sell on Amazon
o Specialty Houses like Rosenberg Press onyl does Ux books
o It will become your callling card
* Conference Speaking
o choose conferences where there will be decision makers
o don't undercut your worth or charge less than you need. It will need to be 2x-3x your salary.
* Liability Insurance :
o get a waiver since they are the ones making the decisions
o ACM has it for $1000
* Be a Thought leader
o familiarity still breeds contempt 80 miles is the magic distance of experts vs. local yokels
o in blogs, volume of traffic is not all there is. Execs don't read your blog.
o write a book, it gets the execs attention. They still won't read it , but it will give you some authority.
o Create and offer online courses
o do PodCasts
o Do Video, it boosts SEO
+ 3 min vlog
+ 20 minute interview
+ 60 min recorded lecture
o do SEO
* Touch
o do free brown bag lunches at their site
o do webinars, script them if you are the only one in the room live
o attend professional associations and provide teaser seminars
o give hiring-exec-targeted freebies for attendance at public seminars
o make it fun! Choose an exciting place to do your training and seminars, like a Yacht Harbor or spa!
* Partner Prolifically
o PMI
+ give PDU's
* Contracts
o shoot for a 1 page contract
o 6mos to 1 year non-compete aggreement with partners
o exclude mega corps, include only same department
* Referrals
o help each other out whenever you can
o honor non-compete agreements no matter what
o hold your own copyright to self created works
o if you deliver another's course, pay fee sometimes $100/day
o if shared authorship do % fee
o Look at ICCA for templates
* Misc
o beware: do you have the freedom to represent yourself as yourself?, Walk away if not.
o Expense Restrictions in the contract can make life tough
o do a graduated fee scale based on duration of contract , short is <20 days
o dillemma - with longer engagements, when do you market?
+ so get associates to market for you and pay them 25-30% for a closed sale, 10% for a referral that results in a sale.
o use 1099 to hire a subcontractor to fill in or do a special service and use a separate tax id then.
Instigator/Facilitator: Dennis Britton
Attending: Ellen Grove, Glenn Waters, Dan Puckett, Ken Pugh, Mike Cottmeyer, Jose Solera
Marketing Tips
* keep a blog up to date
* do free offers to local agile associations
* scan the job requisitions for early agile team builders
* retweet each other
* give to strangers , sell to friends
* cross-link your blogs
* during sales calls
* - don't talk about yourself , period.
* ask them about their situation and listen
* return later with a powerpoint showing awareness and possible solutions to resolve challenges
* publish books
o PragProg has most favorable terms for authors
o Lulu can self publish and sell on Amazon
o Specialty Houses like Rosenberg Press onyl does Ux books
o It will become your callling card
* Conference Speaking
o choose conferences where there will be decision makers
o don't undercut your worth or charge less than you need. It will need to be 2x-3x your salary.
* Liability Insurance :
o get a waiver since they are the ones making the decisions
o ACM has it for $1000
* Be a Thought leader
o familiarity still breeds contempt 80 miles is the magic distance of experts vs. local yokels
o in blogs, volume of traffic is not all there is. Execs don't read your blog.
o write a book, it gets the execs attention. They still won't read it , but it will give you some authority.
o Create and offer online courses
o do PodCasts
o Do Video, it boosts SEO
+ 3 min vlog
+ 20 minute interview
+ 60 min recorded lecture
o do SEO
* Touch
o do free brown bag lunches at their site
o do webinars, script them if you are the only one in the room live
o attend professional associations and provide teaser seminars
o give hiring-exec-targeted freebies for attendance at public seminars
o make it fun! Choose an exciting place to do your training and seminars, like a Yacht Harbor or spa!
* Partner Prolifically
o PMI
+ give PDU's
* Contracts
o shoot for a 1 page contract
o 6mos to 1 year non-compete aggreement with partners
o exclude mega corps, include only same department
* Referrals
o help each other out whenever you can
o honor non-compete agreements no matter what
o hold your own copyright to self created works
o if you deliver another's course, pay fee sometimes $100/day
o if shared authorship do % fee
o Look at ICCA for templates
* Misc
o beware: do you have the freedom to represent yourself as yourself?, Walk away if not.
o Expense Restrictions in the contract can make life tough
o do a graduated fee scale based on duration of contract , short is <20 days
o dillemma - with longer engagements, when do you market?
+ so get associates to market for you and pay them 25-30% for a closed sale, 10% for a referral that results in a sale.
o use 1099 to hire a subcontractor to fill in or do a special service and use a separate tax id then.