Interview with Kim Wood

Kim Wood is an amazing woman. We met at a local tweetup and bonded over our love of buying information products. She has a lot of fabulous stuff up her sleeve and I encourage you to interact with her on twitter.

You've bought a lot of internet marketing products. Are there any particular ones you'd recommend to new bloggers?

These products are great for new bloggers - excellent value, entertaining and informative:

Make the internet your bitch - Johnny B Truant
Fantastic, easy to follow guide that covers domain registration, hosting, setting up and customising a WordPress blog, mailing lists, autoresponders, selling online and affiliate links.

31 days to build a better blog - Darren Rowse (Problogger)
31 important aspects of blogging and how to put them into practice. Learn from the legendary Problogger.

Marketing for nice people- Sonia Simone & Naomi Dunford
Truckloads of valuable information from Sonia and Naomi - amazing value.

30 Hours a Day - Dave Navarro
Will help you manage your time so you actually get stuff done!

Do you think buying information products is an important part of the learning process for new online businesses?

Absolutely. There is so much excellent, reasonably priced information available - take advantage of it! It's the quickest way to move forward with your online business.

You travelled a fair distance to attend tweetupmellers. Do you recommend others travel hat far to network?

I travel from Traralgon because there's nothing in my part of the world like tweetupmellers! I think connecting with people in the real world is important (and I love doing it), so I'll travel as far as I need to for that to happen. Do I recommend it? Meeting up with people at tweetupmellers is fun and a great way to make connections with interesting people, so I thoroughly recommend it! I think how far you go is a personal decision - just make sure you have some contact with real live people on a regular basis.

Do you have an ideal client in mind for your coaching?

For the last few years, I have been coaching leaders and managers primarily in the health sector. I am about to launch my new business, Unconventionalist Business Management. My ideal clients are alternative lifestylers, unconventional thinkers, idealists and counterculturalists who have successfully got through the start up phase with their business and are dealing with the realities of sustaining a business, such as planning, budgeting, reporting, employing people and managing their performance, delegating, running meetings and dealing with conflict. This can get overwhelming - what I do is help them manage their business without losing their soul. I'm really excited about this - using my skills and knowledge and working with my favorite group of people!

You have a lot of qualifications behind you, including ones at tertiary level. Do you think they are important for those looking at a career in coaching?

I think the most important thing if you want to be a coach is a genuine interest in other people. As a coach, you have to be a great listener, communicator, and be able to help people develop a better way of thinking about their life and/or work. Coaching is not the same as just giving advice. Formal coach training is beneficial, as is a thorough knowledge of your specific coaching niche.

I know I lot of people think that not having university qualifications means you can't ever have an interesting, fulfilling career - not true. The university environment didn't work for me - since finishing school in 1978 I have attempted six university degrees and not completed any of them! I have had an interesting and varied work history, including unpaid work, and eventually ended up as CEO of a not-for-profit organisation - a position I held for 7 years before leaving to start my coaching business. In my last year as CEO I completed an Advanced Diploma of Business Management - my only university level qualification. For years I felt like a fraud because I had this important job and no qualifications - turns out, most people feel like that at some stage anyway, even if they have qualifications. (Just ask them!) In the end, I think practical, real world skills are more important than qualifications.

Why did you start using twitter?

I love the way Twitter lets me connect with people anywhere - it reinforces my belief that the world is full of awesome, interesting, wild and wonderful people. And it's so much fun. I resisted Twitter for a long time - I thought it would be dangerous as I am already an expert procrastinator. I was right. To quote Sonia Simone, "Twitter is a seductive wench." You have been warned. Beware.

Do you have any tips for coaches looking to use twitter?

The usual playground rules apply: Be nice. Share interesting stuff. Be interested in what other people are doing. Talk about the great things other people are doing. Talk a bit about interesting things you are doing. Specifically for coaches: Share useful coaching tips. Ask great coaching questions, like 'How much time do you spend on the things that are most important to you?' (Not that one, though. I just tweeted it.) Generally, let people get to know who you are, what you know and how you can help them.

To stop Twitter taking over your life, set yourself time limits and stick to them. Don't try to read everything. Start out with an 'intro to Twitter' guide - Michael Martine has a great free guide on his blog, Remarkablogger.

Do you plan to release information products?

Yes. I have a few ideas in various stages of planning. They will be 'how to' guides for the business management issues that cause huge headaches for business owners and managers. The Unconventionalist.com site is under development at the moment - planning to have things up and running in September.