In a recent look around a well known time management guru’s discussion forums I saw a question that comes up frequently: “Can I use your stuff in my coaching business?”
The question is usually posed by someone who read the guru’s book or took his/her program, and sees how they could use it as an offering for their own clients.
The answer is usually the same: “Yes, if all you are doing is sharing information, as long as you keep our name on the stuff you use and don’t change anything. No, if you want to make any money.”
It’s a familiar song to anyone who is on the receiving end. Some do go ahead and use the stuff anyway, and hope that no-one finds out. They usually do it on a small scale, and never do more than dabble here or there. They definitely don’t accept a call from a Fortune 500 company to lead a seminar series to 5,000 people. Well, maybe some do, but most don’t: their conscience can only be stretched so far before it snaps them back like a rubber band.
Most just give up, and walk away.
For a few years, I have been looking for a decent source of training in this area without luck, making me think that most coaches are stuck delivering what I call “Time Management 0.0.”: disjointed tips, shortcuts, tricks, etc. This approach is not a rigorous one, and hardly stands up to the quality of other consulting offerings that include standardized processes, and refined techniques.
Here at 2Time Labs we have been engaged in publishing our ideas for 6+ years, and never quite intended to provide a solution for time management professions. Yet, the question we are asking ourselves is how much information and instruction should be provide to fellow coaches, and under what circumstances.
We understand fully that ideas are not copyrightable, and in our minds 2Time Labs is merely a conduit. However, when those ideas turn into language, forms, processes and training of different kinds… well, that’s another story. At some point, there will be a charge, but the question is… what’s that point?
I don’t have an answer to that question yet, and the fact is, we are better at figuring out great ideas related to time management and sharing them with the world than taking care of the commercial side of things. What we do know we have lots of stuff that can be converted into solid tools for time management coaches and that this kind of specific information is unfortunately very rare.
So stay tuned… we’ll continue to answer these questions in the next year or so.