[Update] Translator Tool

Thanks to our friends at Google, we now have a built-in site translator so that people connect internationally with the coaches that can help them best. Scroll down to the bottom of the site to select the language you want and translate content. Let's break through those language barriers!

Choice

Life doesn’t always let us choose our circumstances.

We must all experience things

that we may not want to face at the time.

Every child’s life is made real

by knowledge of death.

Everyone feels lonely,

or angry,

or ashamed,

sometimes.

All girls must face

their first menstrual cycle;

boys must face

wet dreams.

We all must travel

through this incomprehensible

thing we call life,

but we need not travel alone.

Therein lies choice

in a seemingly unchangeable

mesh of lives.

-A poem by Coachtastic.com Co-Founder, Daniel Farb

[Update] Coachtastic Search Optimization

We are excited to announce our new Search Optimization Feature on Coachtastic. This new feature allows you to enter in your main area of focus/expertise as a Coach, which will show up when people search for help in your field on Google and other search engines. There is also the option to add additional keywords, which work similar to "labels" on blog posts so that your profile shows up more frequently in searches.

Sample Search Optimization

It's simple and will take you about a minute to do:

1. Go to www.coachtastic.com

2. Login to your profile (click "Coach Login" in the top right corner).

3. Open your Edit Profile page (click "Edit" in the top right corner).

4. Scroll to the bottom of your page and fill out your search keywords.

5. Click "Save Changes."

Please note it will take a few days for these changes to be registered in Google and other search engines, but once they occur traffic to your profile on Coachtastic will be increased!

Thanks for being a part of Coachtastic and please let us know if there's anything we can do to be of service and assistance.

-Coachtastic Team

www.coachtastic.com

[Update] Global Location Listing Complete!

We're excited to announce that our Global Location Listing service is now complete! You can now list your location as any country in the world, with major cities in each country listed. If your location is not listed in our directory, just email us at info@coachtastic.com and we'll be glad to add it for you.

Yours in continually improved service,

-Coachtastic Team
www.coachtastic.com

The World Needs More Coaching

Anyone who's had the benefit of receiving good personal coaching in any area of their life knows the immense value of having a coach. Whether being given some tips on how to improve your jump-shot or getting help in deciphering what's going on in what seems to be a complicated intimate relationship, utilizing a coaching relationship is a powerful and effective way to deal with life's challenges.

Those who haven't had the privilege of having a coach in their lives, however, often don't know what they're missing. Many people in the world are attached to the idea that, for the most part, they need to go through life on their own. People are quick to celebrate their victories and successes publicly and share their joy, but tend to be much more reserved, secretive, and even ashamed at times when they struggle or are going through hardships.

The fact of the matter is this: facing one's problems alone in life is a choice. Not everyone has an understanding lover, a close friend who can listen and give great advice, or a confidant to whom they feel safe telling their secrets. The option of seeking out and hiring a coach, however, is now a viable reality in the world. We have the technology available to us to connect with people all over the globe who have expertise in the areas of life that we are dealing with. Nobody needs to go through life alone.

The question then is this: if this help is so abundant and readily available, why are so few people using the services of professional coaches? How many people even know what coaching is, let alone the benefits they could receive from it?

We think the main reason for this that there does not yet exist a sufficient social conversation about coaching to make the idea of hiring a coach normal enough for most people to consider it. The predominant context surrounding the idea of coaching is that it's weird. It's weird to talk openly about your problems with a stranger, it's weird to seek professional help for things in your life, and it's certainly weird to hire someone to listen to you and tell you how to live your life. It's so weird, in fact, so out of the left-field, that most people don't even have hiring a coach as an option on their radar. Up against that kind of backdrop, the possibility of a breakthrough explosion in the scope and effectiveness of the coaching industry's effect on the world remains limited.

One of our goals at Coachtastic is to transform the conversation around coaching. We want people to be open and receptive to the help that is readily available from various types of coaches, and to be willing to take the risk of actually hiring a coach to help them in their own lives. How do we plan on doing this? One answer: keep it simple. From our overall design and ease of navigation of the website, to the language and terminology used on the site, to the organization of categories/areas of life listed, Coachtastic keeps the business of finding a coach simple for everyone. In doing so, we're creating the space for a new conversation about coaching to emerge. What exactly the content of this new conversation is will depend mostly on what the actual wants and needs of people in the world are, and how coaches around the globe can best be of service to those they help.

www.coachtastic.com - What are you dealing with?

[Update] Global Location Listings

We have a commitment at Coachtastic that absolutely everyone in the world, regardless of their geographical location, has access to help with what they are dealing with. As such, we are in the process of expanding our location list to include every country in the world, and major cities within each country. This will take some time, as there are quite a few countries out there and even more cities! Once that's done, if you don't see you're city/region/location on the list, just email us and we'll be glad to add it for you. 

That's all for now. Smiley face.

What Are You Dealing With?

Coachtastic is centered around one fundamental question: What are you dealing with? Whether it's a break-up with a significant other, the search for a new career, the death of a loved one, or trying to find one's calling in life, the one thing that all human beings have in common is that we are always dealing with something. While some consider it a virtue to be independent and to deal with our problems on our own, the fact is that we all have areas of our lives where we could really use some extra help.

In an increasingly globalized world, help (with just about every aspect of one's life) is becoming more readily available than ever. There is less of a need for people to rely on themselves and the limited local resources and personal networks for assistance with what they are dealing with. The internet has given people the ability to make their personal talents, skills, and abilities available globally. The problem then becomes: how can I quickly, easily, and effectively find the people that can help me? Contrarily, for those wishing to provide their own services: how can I let people know what I have to offer?

Coachtastic exists to provide the bridge between those who need help in what they are dealing with and those who can provide it. Our vision is of a world in which help is readily available for all people, in absolutely any capacity and in any area of life. We all have our own lives and our own problems to deal with - we have the choice, however, of whether or not we want to go through our struggles on our own. We believe that for every problem one person has, there is someone out there who has mastery in dealing with that problem. We're here to connect those people together.

So go ahead and ask yourself now: What are you dealing with? We're sure that there's someone out there who can help you.

--
Daniel Farb and Ben Wachtel
Founders,
Coachtastic.com