Fast forward to January 2002. Keep in mind that this was just a few months after 9/11, when we all were thrown for a huge loop. As well, Drew and I had crises in our own family that had required the full attentions of us both. We needed something good to happen.
In 2002, I had been a psychotherapist for 25 years. I had started three private practices (Maine, Florida, and Mississippi), and while I love being a therapist, it was grueling, kept me tied to one location, and was frankly depressing. I had heard about life coaching and was intrigued: I liked that it was positive, future oriented, and best of all, could be done anywhere via the Internet and phone.
I got a brochure in the mail advertizing a workshop by MentorCoach on coaching aimed at mental health professionals. I could tell that it was a promo for an intensive—and expensive – training program.
I was feeling poor (remember that 9/11 had a negative financial impact for many people) and also questioning the quality of the program being offered. I was very skeptical. To help me decide, I asked Drew to come with me – the workshop was being held in Birmingham, Alabama, four hours away.
Ben Dean, the MentorCoach founder, presented, and that guy is GOOD. Drew checked him out at lunch and was also impressed. By the end of the day, all that stood in the way for me signing up for the training program was the fee, a hefty $2,000+.
But…fate stepped in. At each of the workshops that Ben Dean presented, he drew a name from the attendees and gave away the tuition for the course.
I won.
I couldn’t believe it.
I had no reason at all NOT to go ahead with the training.
Most of you know that I met my Sweetheart Drew on Match.com in 1998. If you don’t know that story, you can read a little of it here. What you probably don’t know is how my story evolved into Find-a-Sweetheart.com and YOUR story.
Not too long after I met Drew, which was hugely successfully and quickly apparent to my friends and family, I got a request for help. My long-time friend Christine, happily married for many years, had been recently widowed. A still energetic woman in her late 50’s, Christine asked if I would help her get online and start looking for a guy friend. She knew that she wasn’t ready to jump in yet (her husband had been gone less than a year), but she was thinking about the future. I was more than happy to help. Online dating, I knew, was such a great resource, and with a little perseverance, could really pay off for ready singles.
I suggested to Christine that we get online on her computer and look around, and we did.
I don’t remember much of what we actually talked about and did, but I found that helping Christine was fun! I loved it. How great it felt to be able to offer someone a tool that could change their life!
Unfortunately, Christine was not having as much fun as I was. Super enthusiastic and wanting my good experience to work as well for Christine as it had for me, I was not sensitive to the fact that I was scaring the bejesus out of her. Even after a decent length of time, I didn’t hear any more interest from Christine as far as online dating was concerned. I blew it.
However…it really had been fun.
Well, of course that is a nutty question to ask a Romance Coach, isn’t it? Maybe that’s why I seldom hear it. And here’s the short answer: Hiring a Romance Coach will help you have better results – increase your chances of finding the best partner possible. Who wouldn’t want the very best results they could get? You are looking for a person with whom to spend the rest of your life.
Let’s say you want to learn a new skill like playing tennis, or the piano. While we all know that you can go out and buy a piano or tennis racquet and even learn how to plunk out a few tunes or have a fun game or two, we also accept that the better you want to be at something, the more likely it is that you are going to need help to get there. That’s why people hire piano teachers and tennis coaches. They help you get better results.
Since finding love has seemed a private venture, unless family or friends took charge, professional help finding love is a relatively new consideration. But as more and more adults have found themselves single and Internet dating sites have opened up a world of opportunity (and risk), going unaided into the fray seems less and less like a good idea.
I can help you present yourself more attractively, get ready to date so that you will feel confident and relaxed, learn the ropes of Internet dating and dating sites so that you can pick the best one for you and use it to your best advantage, screen potential dates as well as prospect for the hidden gems you might have missed. I can help you write the best first emails, get more emails back, and then build to your first meetings. Clients well into courtship and even marriage keep in touch and occasionally ask to talk on the phone, because they know of my expertise in relationships as well as meetings and courtship.
Now, you tell me: why would you NOT hire a Romance Coach? Me, for instance. Doesn’t it seem sort of nutty not to?
Years ago, when I was a newer Romance Coach, a prospective client with a fine-tuned sense of business asked me about my success rate in helping singles find love. I said that was hard to establish, because people hired me for various reasons and jobs, plus I had no control over what they did with the help I gave. And that is still true.
Most folks that I help, truthfully, I never talk to. Thousands of people get my enewsletter *eMAIL to eMATE*, visit my blog and website, buy and read my books, and I never hear from them otherwise. Some people talk to me once only, and that is enough for them. More people hire me to do a specific job, like helping them build a quality profile package, and then I never hear from them again either.
But the clients I truly love working with hire me to get the job done – to help them find a mate – and stick with me until the job IS done, sometimes even longer. With those folks, I can confidently say that my success rate is 100%. Yes, that is right: 100% of the people who hire me, stick with me, take my advice, no matter how long it takes, eventually find the love they are looking for. Here’s why: I am good at what I do.
But…though I’d like to take full responsibility, a huge factor in mate-finding success is persistence. These folks stick to it. They may get discouraged or scared. They may get angry at me or the whole darned process. They may take a break now and then. But they are persistent, do not waver from their overall goal of finding love, and eventually, by God and with help from me, they do.
Now, many people who I help but never hear the results from also find love, because they too persevere. They keep at it. You only have to get lucky once at this game, and you make your own luck.
I know that some people give up. But the people who are successful do NOT give up. And those who stick with me never give up. I never give up on them either.
So want a 100% guarantee that you will find love? Hire me to help and stick with me. We’ll figure it out. I promise.
|
