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Chantal Cooke/
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Articles by Chantal Cooke

Browse published articles attributed to Chantal Cooke, with full-archive search.

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By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Why life coaching as a business is dead and why you need to change if you want to survive

Life coaching, as a money making business, is dead. That’s according to Nick Bolton, founder of the Smart School of Coaching. The day of the generic life coach has passed. The industry has matured; there’s a growing understanding of the role of a coach as a change maker not a be-all-things-to-all-people identikit. “Coaches who want to work in the personal coaching world, as opposed to the executive or corporate arenas where traditional coaching still functions effectively, are becoming change makers. Being just a life coach is not enough.” says Nick.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

2,797 views5/5 (1)

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Why most new coaching businesses fail

More and more people are choosing to retrain as coaches – but the vast majority of these new coaching businesses will fail. Why? Coaching is a huge growth area; both in terms of people wanting to become coaches and people wanting to buy the services of coaches. So, when there is plenty of opportunity, why are so many coaches failing to make their mark and build a sustainable business?

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,649 views5/5 (1)

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Seven easy ways to up-sell and increase your profits

Up-selling is an excellent way to grow your business. Encouraging your customer to buy more of the product, or an ancillary product, will increase the size of the transaction; you’ll get more profit from the same effort. If packaged and offered correctly 20-25% of your customers will take up the offer. Up-selling is generally defined as selling a higher/better version of the same product or cross-selling an item that is related to the main product.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,511 views5/5 (1)

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

How Your Intuition Can Help You Make This Year Your Best Year Yet

Do you want to move house, change careers or improve your love life? If so, learn how to use your intuition and let it guide you in all that you do. Your intuition works in parallel to the Reticular Activating System in your brain that draws your attention to those things that are in line with your goals and desires. Your intuition is quite literally free expertise and guidance that is available to us all, all of the time.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,072 views3.6/5 (5)

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Is your aerobics class making you fat?

Aerobics classes seem like hard work and make us feel out of breath – so we believe they must be burning calories and making us slimmer. But the science says this isn’t true. They could actually be making us fatter! Cardiovascular exercise, like aerobics, works the big muscles of the body, for example the legs. In turn the heart works harder to pump more oxygenated blood to the muscles. And this means the lungs have to take in more air to provide this oxygen. This is why you feel out of breath.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,358 views3.7/5 (3)

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Why Most Companies Fail to Grow

According to UK Government statistics and numerous studies by universities, less than 20% of all companies achieve sustainable growth. Why is the number so low? What stops the majority of companies achieving growth? I spoke to Roderic Michelson, a company growth expert from Aralex Consulting. In his experience, working with both large corporates and smaller SME’s, there are five key barriers to growth. By ignoring these key areas you can be sure you will be in the 80% that fail to grow; 1. Unclear Value Proposition.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,207 views5/5 (1)

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Why most companies look and sound the same

Everyone is saying the same thing – and no one is listening. That’s the reality in most industries. Everyone is copying best practices from everyone else until everyone looks, from the customers’ perspective, exactly the same. When this happens the only way to choose is on price. In this situation it’s tempting to throw money at marketing in the hopes of differentiating yourself. But if you’re not saying anything different – then no one will be listening.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,197 views5/5 (1)

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Why Attracting Money Is All About Rubbish

We are currently living in a time where you cannot turn on the news without hearing another sad tale of the “credit crunch”. Most of us know of someone, if not ourselves, who has been made redundant or has been asked to work fewer hours. Our high streets are littered with closed down shops and businesses. Our savings have diminished in value and lines of credit have simply dried up. And we’re all ready to blame someone else for the mess we’re in. We blame the banks, the greedy City traders or the Government.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,130 views3.7/5 (3)

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Dealing with superstition

Are you superstitious? Do you avoid making plans for Friday 13th? Or perhaps a black cat crossing your path makes you nervous with apprehension? So how do you deal with superstitions – especially if they are affecting your life? Chartered Psychologist Graham W. Price has helped many clients over their superstitions so I asked him fir some advice…

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,377 views4/5 (1)

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Stress Resilience and the Power of Positive Acceptance

Your boss is pressing you to meet a challenging deadline. You have a presentation to give that you haven’t had time to prepare. Your finances have taken a dive and you don’t have enough to pay the mortgage. Your partner is threatening to leave you because you spend too much time at work. In case these pressures aren’t enough, the one person you depend on for support at work has just gone off sick. If this was your situation, do you think you might feel stressed? Most would, some wouldn’t.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,401 views3/5 (2)

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Are you a leader or a manager? Do you need followers or policies?

Are you a leader or a manager? Many managers like to think they are leaders, but good management does not necessarily go hand in hand with good leadership. So what is the difference and which are you? Phil Birch is a business coach with over 20 years corporate experience. He is also business consultant for The3rdi – an online business resource. He believes that the one key difference, that influences all the other differences, is that leaders require followers whereas managers require policies.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,357 views1.8/5 (5)

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Why Being Grateful Can Be Bad For You

“I guess I'm just lucky to have a job at the moment.” This is the most common response I hear when I ask friends how things are going at work. With so many redundancies, people feel grateful to still be in gainful employment and relieved that it's their salary rather than savings that will feed the family and pay the school fees for another month.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,097 views3/5 (2)

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

HOW TO BE A SUCCESSFUL MUMPRENEUR COACH AND STAY SANE

WEEK ONE: Mums who train as coaches face all the usual challenges of establishing a coaching business as well as a whole heap of extras like guilt, frustration and all the moveable parts provided by child care. So is it possible to be a successful mumpreneur coach? I spoke to the man who knows … yes the MAN. You may wonder why a man, but Nick Bolton, founder of the Smart School of Coaching has trained many Mumpreneur coaches and helped them build successful coaching businesses, so he knows whats needed.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,711 views2/5 (1)

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Why you only have yourself to blame if your business is struggling

It’s really easy – and highly tempting - to blame poor performance on other people or circumstances– but are you yourself the problem? Are you really fit to lead? For instance, do you ever find yourself repeating behaviours such as; recruiting the wrong people; having key people leave unexpectedly; getting yourself overloaded?

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,547 views2/5 (1)

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

The Aquatic Ape Hypothesis of Human Evolution

There is something strange about us human beings, the naked apes. Ever wondered why we are generally so hairless, compared to our closest ape relatives? Not only that, we are distinguished from our cousins by being large brained and bipedal. We cry salty tears, have sweat glands, and a layer of subcutaneous fat from birth. We require relatively large amounts of water to remain hydrated. What’s more, we swim, speak and have aquiline noses. Why?

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

2,369 views

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

The 7 mistakes people make that kill their business

As a business starts to grow, it’s crucial that your actions don’t strangle it in its infancy. By avoiding the mistakes that so many business owners make you have a far greater chance of succeeding beyond the first 2 years.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

2,097 views

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Why team building doesn’t work in a recession

In tough economic times lower sales trigger the need for cost reductions and a slimmed down workforce. The consequences are usually redundancies and the associated pains of uncertainty, low morale and disenchanted staff that are over-worked and stressed. When we are confronted with these discomforting and negative feelings, perhaps mixed with some guilt, it commonly leads to a knee-jerk reaction to “do something” to fix it.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,708 views

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Why it pays to be old – and how to get old before your years!

The value of experience can be hard to judge. You only know for sure when you find yourself in a situation that demands it, and you perform – or not. So I spoke to Profitable Business Growth expert Hilary Briggs from R2PLtd for her advice… I’ve recently been reminded of the value of experience whilst working on a project for an SME client that’s involving a significant rollout of product across the UK. Unsurprisingly, there have been some challenges and I’ve been able to draw on experience from my days in the Auto industry, in particular about how to handle supplier quality issues.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,669 views

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

5 top tips to start selling your product or service abroad

Domestic demand, in most industries, is falling. So now is a good time to look outside your home country for growth opportunities. It’s easier than ever to sell abroad as regulations are being streamlined and borders are opening. Selling beyond your own borders is not just for big corporates, smaller companies can tap into these lucrative markets too - if you know where to start.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,528 views

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Why every business is in the business of change management – and how to deal with change

Why every business is in the business of change management – and how to deal with change. Change. If you’re running a business of any size, you’re also in the business of change management. That’s according to productivity specialist Hilary Briggs from R2P Ltd. The following advice from Hilary is based on her 30+ years working in large corporates and helping smaller SME’s cope with change…

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,312 views

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Stress Resilience and the Power of Positive Acceptance

Your boss is pressing you to meet a challenging deadline. You have a presentation to give that you haven’t had time to prepare. Your finances have taken a dive and you don’t have enough to pay the mortgage. Your partner is threatening to leave you because you spend too much time at work. In case these pressures aren’t enough, the one person you depend on for support at work has just gone off sick. If this was your situation, do you think you might feel stressed? Most would, some wouldn’t.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,075 views

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

The five barriers to company growth – and what to do about them

According to UK Government statistics less than 20% of all companies achieve sustainable growth. Why is the number so low? What stops the majority of companies achieving growth? Roderic Michelson from Aralex Consulting, says, that in his experience working with companies, there are five key barriers to growth. By ignoring these key areas you can be sure you will be in the 80% that fail to grow; Here are Roderic’s top five: 1. Unclear Value Proposition.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,073 views

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

5 steps to build your concentration and focus in long meetings

Do you find your mind wandering in long meetings? Could you do with a little more concentration and focus? In my experience most people could, and they’d benefit from a boost in this area, so I spoke to profitable growth expert Hilary Briggs from R2P Ltd and asked for her top tips to help build our concentration and focus in long meetings; 1) Prepare in advance. No secret here – but how often do you actually take the time to prepare a detailed agenda for the meeting – and think through all the points you want to raise?

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,067 views

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Eight Ways to Generate New Product Ideas

Would you like to be able to quickly come up with new product ideas? Or train your brain to constantly scan for opportunities? According to company growth expert Roderic Michelson, from Aralex Consulting, it is easy to do this – if you ask the right questions and give yourself the space the time to answer them.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,067 views

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

How to deal with setbacks in your business and your life

You’ve just lost a major customer. An investment you’ve made has collapsed. You’ve failed an exam essential to the qualification you need. How do you deal with such set-backs? Are you immobilised by regret, disappointment, stress or worry? Or are you the resilient type who can quickly shrug off disappointments and refocus on action to build the future? I spoke to Chartered Psychologist, development trainer and executive coach Graham W Price, who teaches his clients how to become more resilient so they can focus on action rather than dwelling on past or present losses.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,045 views

By Chantal CookeRecently published1 topic

Why a USP is essential – and how to create one

We all know a USP (Unique Selling Proposition) is essential for any business – but how do we go about creating one? A USP is important whether you’re spending £40 a month on promoting yourself at a networking meeting, or £4million a month on cross media marketing campaigns. Unless you have a distinctive voice you won’t be remembered and your customers will have no reason to choose you over the competition. It sounds simple – and obvious. But very companies do it properly.

Primary topic: Communication Skills and Training

Communication Skills and Training

1,039 views

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