New Year's Resolutions are great, but they tend to fizzle out after a while.

What you need is to think about an Action Plan for 2009 - a plan which sets out exactly what you're going to do to get more clients, increase your income and make a difference to more people.

Why now is the right time to do it

We're now in one of the busiest periods of the year for coaching. Yes, really. Even though the newspapers are filled with stories of doom and gloom, this is one of the best times of the year to be promoting your services. Why? Because January is the month when people think "2009's going to be the year that I do.../get ...sorted out". A recent article showed that 'counselling' was one of the best professions to be working in during a recession. If only they'd written 'coaching' eh?! I think that coaching is going to take off in a big way this year for same reasons that counselling will do well - people who are stressed and uncertain need support.

Where do I start with my Action Plan?

Step 1: DON'T think about coaching or your services just yet. Think about what people are actively searching for right now. Start with what people put on their list of New Year's Resolutions, examples are "This year I'm going to..."

• lose weight
• find a new job
• put more into my savings account
• enrol on a course
• start dating and find 'the one'
• have a happier relationship with my kids
• stand up for myself and stop letting people push me around
• be debt-free by the end of the year

Add some more to this list.

Step 2: Pick just one New Year's Resolution from the list. Choose one which resonates with you - either because you've got direct experience of it yourself or you've helped other people with it. The New Year's Resolution is usually around achieving a certain outcome - for example, "Start dating and find 'the one'". That's the outcome the person is looking for.

Step 3: Think about all the ways that you could help people to achieve that outcome. For example, as a dating expert or specialist, you could offer them one-to-one coaching, but you could also write articles, record a CD, run tele-seminars, write books and e-books, run workshops, give talks, hey, you could even run speed dating sessions for your clients so they can meet each other! Remember, not everybody is suited to one-to-one coaching or can afford it, but by offering a range of services on a particular theme, you can increase your reach and help more people. By focusing on the outcome and not the technique you use, you are talking their language - you'll probably get more clients this way than if you market yourself as a relationship coach.

© Copyright Hannah McNamara