A question I often get asked is What are the foundational pieces that you need to put in place when you are setting up a training business? What are the absolute essentials that you need to think about before you do anything else?

The main thing that you need to think about is what you are about. What are you going to be offering and who are you going to be offering it to? It’s so important to do this as once you know the answers to these questions your whole marketing strategy becomes a lot clearer and a lot simpler.

I completely understand why a lot of people don’t do this. I certainly didn’t when I first started out. Working through this process and answering these questions can be long, painful, even boring. Most freelance trainers – like me – just want to get out and DO, go to networking events, talk and interact with people. When you are just sitting at home in front of your laptop and trying to work through these questions you feel like you are not doing anything, you are not earning any money and not getting in front of clients. But make the time to do this. Make it your number one priority and don’t leave the house until you’ve done it. It will save you time in the long run as well as getting you better results.