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Business Planning
Courses for cohorts or evergreen? Choosing the right format for your virtual training
If you’re providing more virtual training these days (or thinking about it), the chances are that you’ll offer courses in one of two ways – as open-close programmes with a new cohort at every launch or as evergreen programmes that people can jump on to any time. Which...
Is virtual training here to stay?
Is virtual training here to stay? That's one of the big questions of the moment. When the first UK lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020, many trainers struggled. Most of us are “people” people so the thought of losing face-to-face contact with...
Different Ways To Attract New Training Clients
As a freelance trainer, your clients really are the key to your success and simply put, you need clients to book training sessions with you in order for your training business to be profitable. Whilst lots of trainers are good at retaining their existing clients and...
Useful Tips For First-Time Freelance Trainers
Taking the plunge and becoming a freelance trainer can be incredibly exciting, and many relish the opportunity to be in the training room doing what they love. However, it goes without saying that working as a freelancer is very different from working as a contractual...
The One Thing All Freelance Trainers Must Learn
What's the one thing all freelance trainers must learn? I'll give you a clue... it has nothing to do with training (well, not the training you deliver anyway!). Yes, to succeed long-term as a freelance trainer, you need to know the stuff you teach. I'm sure that goes...
Freelance Trainers: Your Biggest Challenge In Your First Year?
Being a freelance trainer can be challenging at the best of times but if you're in your first year, it can seem doubly daunting. While revisiting and updating my old blogs recently, I realised that it was way back in 2009 (where did that decade go?!) that I asked this...
Five common business challenges for freelance trainers (and how to beat them)
Whether you are starting out as a freelance trainer for the first time or you’re looking at how you can grow your existing training business, the chances are that you face one or more of five common business challenges that could be standing in the way of moving your...
Launching a training business: Do you just want to get on and DO?
Are you thinking about launching a training business but just want to get out there and do it? Do you feel like you need to jump in at the deep end and then figure things out? Hang on for a moment! While I completely understand the need to get on and do (it was what I...
Can you set up a training business all by yourself?
Updated: April 2020: Can you set up a training business all by yourself? I first wrote this blog way back in 2008 but this question remains so current that this article still attracts about 100 views a month. For this reason, I think it's time for an update. If you're...
15 essentials for setting up a training company
Setting up a training company as a freelancer or the head of a small team is a step that many trainers decide to take at some point in their career. Sometimes, it’s as a result of redundancy. Other times, it’s to pursue a passion or in search of variety or more...
How to become a freelance trainer
Are you wondering how to become a freelance trainer? It’s a question that many trainers wrestle with at some stage in their careers. It could be that you’ve recently been made redundant or you want to strike out on your own. Perhaps you want more variety or to step...
The business planning guide: Your blueprint for a successful training business
My ultimate business planning guide will walk you through some of the issues, questions and challenges you will want to consider if you're thinking of becoming a freelance trainer or want to grow your existing training business. Throughout this guide, you’ll find...
What common thing can you do uncommonly well?
Business giants Henry J Heinz and John D Rockefeller both famously said that the secret of success is doing common things uncommonly well. What could this be for your business? What is the common thing that you know you can do uncommonly well? Being able to identify...
How to gather useful data about your training business (and what to do with it) – Part Two
In last week’s blog, we began looking at some of the data that you can collect about your business and how you can use it rather than letting it gather virtual dust. Today, in Part Two, I’ll be walking you through some of the valuable insights available through Google...
How to gather useful data about your training business (and what to do with it) – Part One
Do you collect meaningful information about your training business, your contracts and clients? Or do you sometimes feel like you’re shooting in the dark when it comes to marketing or pitching for new clients? Perhaps you have a collection of data – metrics from...
How to find your niche
In my last blog, I talked about how to overcome the fear of niching and why choosing to niche can be one of the best ways to grow a training business. If you are convinced that niching is the way forward for you, the next challenge is how to identify and move into the...
How to overcome the fear of niching
To niche or not to niche? I can’t tell you how often this topic comes up in the Trainer Talk community! Should you focus your services on meeting the needs of a smaller specialised audience or is it more advisable to avoid niching and market yourself as something of a...
9 Essential Ingredients of a Successful Training Business
Over my career, first as a freelance trainer and then through The Trainers Training Company, I’ve come to the conclusion that there are nine essential ingredients of a successful training business. They are: 1. Goals What do you want your training business to achieve?...
Want to grow your established training business? Write a one-page business plan
In our last blog, we looked at how a one-page business plan can help start-up freelance trainers focus their energies. But what if you’ve been training for years and run an established business? Do you still need a business plan at this stage in your career? In my...
Starting out as a freelance trainer? How to write a business plan
If you’re just starting out as a freelance trainer, you might be wrestling with whether or not to write a business plan. Are they effective or even really necessary? There are definite pros and cons to having a business plan. Many business experts argue that every...
Define your service offering: Six simple questions to help your training business stand out from the crowd
How clear is your service offering? Like any business, one of the biggest challenges you may face as a freelance trainer is standing out in a competitive marketplace. What is it that sets your brand apart? How do you differentiate your services from your competitors?...
How to compete with bigger training companies as a freelance trainer
If you’re a freelance trainer, you may feel like a tiny minnow in a pond full of hungry trout. How can you compete against the bigger training companies? Will your size go against you? Will businesses still want to hire you when they realise you’re working solo? A...
How to create a profitable and repeatable business model as a freelance trainer
Whether you’re just starting a training business or you’ve been a freelance trainer for a while, it’s helpful to spend some time thinking about your business model. In its simplest terms, a business model is a rationale for how you plan to create, deliver and capture...
A start-up checklist for freelance trainers: Part two – Once your business is up and running
In case you missed it, last week’s blog featured Part One of our start-up checklist for freelance trainers and was packed full of pointers about things to consider and put in place before you start up as a freelance trainer. In Part Two this week, we’re looking at a...
A start-up checklist for freelance trainers: Part one – Before you start
If you’re thinking about becoming a freelance trainer or taking your first tentative steps into self-employment, it can feel overwhelming. Where do you begin? What do you need to know? What must you do now and what can wait until your business is more established?...
Three things that could be sabotaging your training business – and how to stop them
Have you ever wondered whether something you're doing (or not doing) could be sabotaging your training business from reaching its potential? When I first made the move into self-employment, I was excited by the prospect of being able to run a training business...
Five business resolutions to make at the start of a new financial year
I always feel that the new financial year is the ideal time to review what’s been happening in The Trainers Training Company and make some business resolutions for the next twelve months. I thought it might be helpful to share five business resolutions I make each new...
How to feed your sales pipeline
As a freelance trainer, the feast and famine rollercoaster of a packed training diary followed by an extended quiet period may be something you grapple with regularly. How can you feed your sales pipeline by lining up prospective clients? How do you find work for the...
How to choose the right training venue
When it comes to choosing a training venue (if you’re not working at a client’s site) or online, I imagine most trainers will tell you that they’ve found some hidden gems over the years as well as making every mistake in the book. It’s important that the venue fits...
Why you need a ‘thinking’ day and how to make it work
If your thoughts are turning to how you can grow your training business over the next 12 months, then one strategy I’d personally recommend is to make time for a regular ‘Thinking Day’. A Thinking Day is a reoccurring day built into your schedule to think about the...
Eight legal issues every freelance trainer needs to address
If you’re just starting out as a freelance trainer or setting up your own training business, you may be wondering where to start. What do you have to do and what are nice-to-haves but not essential? In this week’s blog, I’ve put together a list of eight legal issues I...
Part-time training business: Is this a risk-free way to become a freelance trainer?
Is there a risk-free way to become a freelance trainer? If you’re setting up a freelance training business, you may be trying to decide whether to go ‘all in’ and leave your current job or whether it would be feasible to run your freelance training business part-time...
10 training business start-up essentials
If you’ve come to this blog because you’re considering setting up as a freelance trainer but have yet to take the leap into self-employment, then this week’s blog is for you. I’m looking at ten training business start-up essentials that should help you start as you...
What freelance trainers need to know about goal setting
When was the last time you thought about goal setting for your training business? Something I realised quite early on in my freelance training career (although I sometimes wish it had been sooner!) is that it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day running of your...
Trainers: How to get off the feast and famine rollercoaster
Do you feel like you've hitched a ride to the feast and famine rollercoaster of freelance life and you want to get off?! One of the big challenges you may face as a freelance trainer is finding the time to market your training business. When you have work, it's...
What Freelance Trainers Ought To Know About Getting Started
Two of the biggest mistakes new freelance trainers make are thinking too small and not thinking long term. Lots of trainers hit the ground running by getting some work from the employer they have just left behind or picking up an associate contract which keeps them...
Do You Have What It Takes To Be A Freelance Trainer? Try This Quick Exercise
Over the last few weeks I've been working with a lot of people who have either been made redundant and have now decided to set up as a freelance trainer and speaking to some who are just thinking about it! Being a freelance trainer has many advantages and many people...
Is There A Safe Way To Start As A Freelance Trainer?
One of the questions that was asked last night on my Fast Track To Successful Freelance Training Programme was 'Would you recommend trying to actively market yourself as a freelance trainer whilst you are still in employment?' Or put another way: 'How can I create a...
How To Choose A Training Venue
Here are some things you need to consider when choosing a venue for your workshop or event: 1. Congruence Your venue has to be congruent with the type of event you are running and the impression you want to create. When people come to Trainer Talk Live for example I...
Do You Have What It Takes To Become A Freelance Trainer?
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...
What Training Is In Demand Right Now?
At the Trainer Talk Live Event last week I was interviewed by Jon Kennard, the Editor of Training Zone and one of the questions he asked me was around current training trends in the marketplace and what my thoughts were about what's in demand. The current hot topic...
Here’s What People Had To Say About How To Create A Successful And Profitable Training Business – The Easy Way!
Here's what some of delegates had to say about my workshop How To Create A Successful And Profitable Training Business - The Easy Way - which ran in London on 3 September 2010.
Are You Afraid Of Specialising?
In the last 2 weeks I've been out and about, firstly speaking at the Learning Professionals Gymn, http://lpgym.wordpress.com, then running my own Trainer Talk Live Event http://trainertalklive.wordpress.com and finally presenting a workshop at Training Zone Live 2010...
Are You In Love With Your Business?
As a new freelance trainer what is the most important factor to consider when deciding what type of training to offer?
Business Plans are bad for training businesses
Most training businesses have business plans that are just not doing them any favours. In fact I would go as far as saying that most freelance trainers have business plans that are only holding them back. Their business plans are actually bad for them. Now, don't...
Starting a Training Business – Taking the Plunge
Taking the decision to leave the relative safety of the corporate world and striking out into the world of freelance training can be very very scary. I should know - I was thinking about the idea for quite a few years before I actually did it. It seemed such a big...
