Are you focusing on short term or long term in your coaching business?
This may help…
coachesconsole.com/new/business-blueprint/
I will never forget the most embarrassing, even mortifying days of my business career.
I was at a Summit with some colleagues and potential referral partners and standing there in front of them, for my “Hot Seat Coaching,” I revealed that I didn’t have a clue what I was doing when it came to messaging… I had made it this far into my business career and I did not know how to talk about the results I helped people get. I did not know how to create marketing copy!
For them, it came easy. Most of the folks in the room were masters of marketing!
I’m a systems gal, not a “copy” gal… I love making things organized and efficient behind the scenes… not writing copy or marketing messages… I geek out over features and how the work… not over describing the end-result impact…
So, when it came to marketing in my business, I only knew how to talk about the features – my services and all about coaching… I assumed the prospect I was talking to would make the correlation about how coaching (and later in my case for software) would benefit their lives. I didn’t know I had to spell it out for them, much less how to actually articulate it or write about it in my messaging.
Sitting in front of that room at that Summit, it felt like I was “found out.” It felt like they knew I was the fraud I felt like inside…
They were all so gracious and provided such great insight, coaching support and ultimately showed me so much love that I couldn’t help but to transform this moment for myself!
I mean some of these folks could potentially get me in front of hundreds and thousands of potential ideal clients. So, I got super busy teaching myself everything I needed to know about copywriting. I knew marketing. I knew networking. Now I needed to know messaging and copywriting.
I couldn’t afford to hire an agency at the time to just do it for me… boy that would have been nice and don’t think I didn’t try. It was up to me. I had to learn this. I had to overcome this obstacle so when I created my marketing content people would understand the message I was conveying and they’d be interested in what I was offering. I could, however, afford to hire a coach who taught me how to write copy. It took 2 ½ grueling years of disciplined effort, consistent action and accountability from a writing coach to transform this feature-focused gal into a value-driven and result-based copywriter. I began to create compelling copy that generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in promotions and clients… And eventually I knew our market, our ideal client and our messaging so well that when I could afford to hire an agency I was equipped to hire the RIGHT fit for my message, passion and calling. I wasn’t blindly just dumping this necessary task into someone else’s lap without fully understanding it myself first.
As a result, I intimately know my ideal client. I deeply know their challenges and desires and because of that, I can create endless streams of resources, content, material and programs that generate revenue and serve my prospects and clients beyond their wildest dreams. And because I have the infrastructure in place behind the scenes, I can scale as big and as quickly as I desire.
In fact, that is why I’ve created The Coaching Business Content Creation Template to save you years of grueling struggle and embarrassment! In this Content-Creation Template I share with you the core foundation of creating compelling copy!
Click below to grab your copy and create compelling copy that easily attracts those you wish to serve! I walk you through it all in an interactive fill-in-the-blank template to make it Easy Breezy!
All I ask, is that you pay it forward, share it forward. Think of someone in your life who you know needs this resource, someone whose life or business needs these tools. Click the button below and share it with them. You’ll be amazed what manifests in your life and business when you share and build each other up!
My 16 months of HELL!
Between September 2015 and December 2016, my life was filled with seemingly never-ending, unexpected tragic, devastating events that took me away from my business for extended periods of time… my mother passed away unexpectedly, close friends had a total-loss house fire and I lost my 5-year old Godson in that fire, family members got sick, surgeries… it just wouldn’t stop. And these weren’t just little things that I could ignore because I “had a business to run.” These were life-altering, life-threatening situations that required my full, undivided presence and attention. And that meant that I had to stop working IN my business and ON my business; sometimes for several weeks and in one case two months at a time. My mother was one of my best friends and shaped me into the woman I’ve become today. She was one of my true-believers for my business! She was a bright light that impacted the lives of many! And my Godson, Logan, his zest for life reminded me all the time to stop and smell the roses (or in our case, eat some macaroons and drink some lemonade) every chance you get! There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think of these two beautiful souls.
A few weeks into me being away from my business with my mother while she was sick, it dawned on me “wait a minute, my business is still running and I’m not even there!” Because I had my business organized and systems and processes in place in the back end, much of my business was automated and running itself… and because it was organized, automated and streamlined, it was easy for team members to quickly step in and run it for me… my business continued, even in my absence. I didn’t have to choose between business and family. My business was running, revenue was being generated, clients were being supported, programs were being launched and at the same time I was able to put my attention on my family and my own self-care.
This continued off and on over several months and as it turned out, when we reached the end of 2016 we discovered we’d had our best year ever! Because we had the back-end infrastructure in place that allowed my team members to step in and basically do my job, the business continued to thrive. (Thank God for organization and for team members)
I never wanted to be in a place where I had to choose between my business or my family. Both are equally as important to me. Heck, when you launch your own business, it’s like giving birth and it’s your baby.
I was and still am deeply…profoundly grateful for my sense of organization, efficiency, infrastructure, systems and to my team for keeping the business thriving.
Sadly, for most entrepreneurs their business is 100% dependent on them. If they have to stop working, their business ceases to exist! It doesn’t have to be that way… with a little bit of time and attention on the back-end of your business your system can run the business and you can manage the system (or a team member).
When you know the pieces and the best practices and what to put in place in the back end so your business is running like a well-oiled machine… that’s the power of a leveraged and optimized back end. You never know what is going to happen in your life… there is never a time like the present to get prepared so your business can thrive no matter what life brings your way!
In fact, I’ve created The Ultimate Coaching Business Blueprint so you know EXACTLY what you need to have set up in the back end so your business is organized, streamlined and automated. I’ve also created an accompanying video training, “The Fastest & Funnest Way to Scale a Coaching Business,” where I take you on a deep dive of understanding these pieces and how the work together in the back end of your business!
So, click the link below and grab your copy of this FREE resource today!��All I ask, is that you pay it forward. Think of someone in your life who you know needs this resource, someone whose life or business needs these tools. Click the button below and share it with them. You’ll be amazed what manifests in your life and business when you share and build each other up!
Nobody Can Do It for You: What Whitewater Rafting Can Teach You About Success in Your Coaching Business
Last month when I was in Durango with my mastermind group, we went whitewater rafting. It was an absolute blast! Not only that, but it also provided me with an epiphany about business (bonus!).
When you go whitewater rafting, there’s always a safety briefing beforehand.
Let me tell you about ours:
There we were, standing on the edge of the river, all suited up in our life vests and helmets. Our guide started giving us an overview of what the trip was going to be like, and of course, she went over the fact that there’s always the potential of someone falling out of the raft.
She explained that there’s a lot of danger underwater … danger we can’t see from the surface: rocks, fallen trees, and branches.
If you fall out of the river raft, our guide said, there is a certain procedure to follow to help ensure your safety.
And if you didn’t follow it, you could very well end up floating down the river, getting snagged on branches and stuck, or even getting caught in the rocks, face down, which could of course cause drowning.
But if you follow the procedure, then survival is very likely.
Our guide then went on to outline the procedure (and there’s one element that really stood out to me—more on that in a minute).
She said that once you make sure you’re not in immediate danger, you should swim toward the raft, grab onto the rope, and wait for another member of your party to grab your life vest. Your “helper” will then dip you down into the water just slightly, and then pull you into the raft.
Meanwhile, you will kick as hard as you can to get yourself out of the water.
Here’s what she said that really hit me:
“You’ve got to participate in your own rescue.”
And that’s when it hit me: it’s exactly the same in business. In business, when you fall out of the raft (when you encounter obstacles and challenges, when you hit pitfalls), you’ve GOT to participate in rescuing yourself. Nobody can do it for you.
When you’re on a rafting trip, you have the tools and the guide and the team and the supplies you need, but even so, when things get rough, you must participate in your own rescue.
I’ve seen real-life examples of this time and time again: coaches in the process of building their dream businesses have everything they need to succeed: they have the tools, the support, the coaching, the community, and the structure.
Inevitably, life happens! These coaches experience setbacks, or personal challenges, that threaten to slow or halt their progress.
Entrepreneurs typically respond in one of two ways:
They just stop trying. They bob along in the water, hoping for rescue. They’re wet and cold and definitely NOT having fun. Yet they don’t do anything to participate in their own rescue.
They ask for help. They get advice from their coaches, they take action, and they use the resources we provide.
They hold true to their intentions. Their actions say, “I want to have a great ride and enjoy this!”
They participate in their own rescues, and they thrive.
When you have a coach and a community and the tools and materials you need, it’s up to you to participate—to create your own success. You can’t sit back and just hope for things to work out … for your business to magically emerge intact and shining on the other side of a rough patch.
So I’d like to ask you: what are YOU doing, every day, to participate in your own rescue … in your own success? How are you using the resources that are available to you to stay in the raft (or get back into it), and to enjoy the rapids—the best parts of the business-building experience?
I’ve created an important (and complimentary) resource designed to help you determine which specific actions you can take, based on your precise situation, to move your business forward and create your own success. It’s called 12 Proven Strategies for Launching & Scaling a Coaching Business Now and you can download it here, now.
A must add bucket list item for the traveling entrepreneur … have you been here yet???
Are You Working Against Yourself? What Biking Can Teach Us About Building Business
Remember that story I told you about skiing?
I told you how much I love it, and how, after I discovered the power of getting a great mentor and following a proven path, I was flying down bigger mountains than ever, seeing sights I’d never seen, and having the time of my life.
Well, this story is nothing like that one.
I’m relatively new to biking. (And biking hills.)
Recently, my husband Dave and I went for a ride. I have an awesome SCOTT road bike, and typically, we love biking together. On this particular day, we decided to ride a beautiful greenway along a river near our house.
It should have been fun. (You know I’m ALL about the FUN.)
But on this trip, it felt like I was working way harder than normal. It was hard to keep up with Dave, my heart was pounding, and I felt the beginnings of heat exhaustion.
The entire ride, I was behind Dave, and all these negative thoughts were running through my mind:
- “I just can’t keep up—but I should be able to!”
- “No, Melinda, you shouldn’t. He’s been biking longer than you, and he’s stronger than you.”
- “I shouldn’t ride with Dave. He just makes it too hard for me.”
- “I’ll just go at my own pace. No, I can’t let him out-ride me.”
- “This is a flat greenway, for goodness sake! What in the heck??”
All I could focus on was the feeling that I wasn’t good enough. My inner arch-nemesis, Perfect Portia, was screaming that my bike-riding skills were way short of her expectations.
And all the negative chatter and self-criticism kept me from enjoying the beautiful scenery.
Then we discovered that something wasn’t right about my gears. They were shifting properly, but they were making a funny sound, and were not consistent. Next, we realized my front brakes weren’t functioning like they should be.
At the end of the trip, we dropped the bike off at a local shop. After they inspected it, they called to give us an update: my chain and gears needed an adjustment, my front brake was rubbing the tire, and I had a slow leak in my front tire.
All of these issues contributed to making my ride much harder than it needed to be.
And, despite all the criticism, the lack of enjoyment, and the self-blame—it wasn’t my “fault.” It was my equipment’s fault.
Last weekend, we picked up my bike after a full tune-up, and BAM! We had a super-fun, enjoyable, easier ride. In fact, we went the fastest I’ve ever gone.
So what does this have to do with business?
Because my equipment was faulty, I was working way harder than normal—and I wasn’t keeping up. I was frustrated and disheartened. Yet, a simple solution—a quick tune-up—solved my problem and allowed me to enjoy the next ride and make greater progress!
In business, the most enjoyable path is often found with the right equipment.
In this case, that’s an integrated back end, rather than a bunch of systems and technology piecemealed together.
When you’re incorporating multiple technologies, you’re working harder than you have to—and you’re inefficient. Frustration ensues, because you don’t get the results you want, in terms of generating leads, converting clients, coaching those clients, and of course, making money!
The good news is that you CAN give your business a tune-up and enjoy the ride as it functions at optimal levels!