Something New to Benefit You

Hey there. If you’re a writer, I’ve invested in something that will benefit you.

If you’re not a writer but are someone who reads my books. This post might interest you, too. After all, you wonder what goes on behind the scenes in your favorite authors’ lives, right?

If you’re someone who follows this blog for some other reason, I sure wish you would comment what the reason is. And if you keep reading it, I’d love to know why. Seriously. Stop reading right now. Push the comment button and let me know.

What’s new in the world of Sharon Hughson, author?

I’m enrolled in a writer’s certification course. Part of the deal with this organization is that I can’t really disclose who they are until I pass their requirements. They don’t want unqualified people bandying their name around the Internet.

Okay, they didn’t say that in so many words. But they did say I couldn’t use their logo on my site until I had passed their course. So I extrapolated that to mean they might like me to keep my participation on the down low.

Except, I really excited to let you know that I’m pursing certification. My passion for helping writers hasn’t produced much of an income stream in the year I’ve been actively doing it, but if you know me at all, things are never about the money for me.

Wait. I should rephrase that. Things might be about how much it COSTS me to do something (and I can tell you this course wasn’t cheap) but never about how much I’ll EARN from something.

I want to live a passion-fueled life. Most of the time that means I’m not going to make a landslide of money.

Not because I believe in the fallacy of the starving artist. Nope. It’s because I’m more concerned about how I can help other people than how much they can pay me to do it.

I have had more than one business coach tell me this isn’t the right mindset if I want to have a profitable business.

Okay. Thanks coach. But in my world, there are plenty of things more important than wealth. Relationship tops that list.

Coaching Certification

Now, since I’ve been coaching writers for nearly a year already, you’re probably wondering why I’ve decided to get certification NOW. Why not keep going without making an investment in certification?

That’s a great question.

I chose this coaching certification for a number of reasons:

1. It’s sponsored by a writing community I’ve been interested in joining for more than a year.
2. Once I’m certified, the organization will promote me to their audience of nearly 4,000 writers. That’s a ready-made audience waiting to be reached. At the rate I’ve been building my little coaching group, that’s about 80 years of work for me.
3. They will handle the scheduling, collection of fees (for a cut of course), platform for meeting and provide a legal agreement to be used. That’s almost like being employed by them and removes a lot of the headaches I’ve faced as a freelancer.
4. It will give me a more concrete framework for running my sessions and organizing my coaching packages. Regardless of the success I’ve had with my coaching client, I still would like to have a better outline to follow.
5. They follow the International Coaching Federation guidelines for coursework and ethics.
6. I’ll be connected with my cohort of other writing coaches through a private community from now on. This is an invaluable resource. It means I’ll have a place to go to ask questions I might have or seek advice if I run into a difficult situation.

As you can see, my initial investment is going to address several of my problem areas. I could continue to struggle to build a platform and find writers who need my help, or I could invest wisely in a ready-made platform.

So, I’m curious. If you were going to hire a writing coach (or any type of coach) would it matter to you that they be certified? Or would their experience speak for itself?