Coaches on a Mission

My guest today is Corinne Gavlinksi and while this is the part of the intro where I would normally tell you who Corinne serves and how… I’m not going to because that’s the very thing she and I coached around during the episode.

What I can tell you is that Corinne has years of experience as a corporate coach and she just needed some outside eyes on what, inside The Hive, we call your Dream Client Power Statement (DCPS), which is a succinct and super clear way to describe your dream clients and how you help them.

And while Corinne had done her homework and landed on a DCPS that ticked all the boxes, it didn’t light her up and make her feel excited.

The good news is that we totally got there toward the end of the episode and her Dream Client Power Statement is really, really, good. 

We ran Corinne’s new and improved DCPS through what I call the Lyft Ride Litmus Test.

Imagine that your signature system or DCPS is written out on a sheet of paper that you left on the seat of your Uber or Lyft.

If the next person to hop in the car can read the page and totally understand what the heck you're talking about, you pass the litmus test.

So, listen to the episode and follow along to craft your own Dream Client Power Statement.  From there, be sure to run it through the Lyft Ride Litmus test.

I hope you enjoy!

TIMESTAMPS

04:13 Dallas and Corinne agree on their goals for the conversation: nail her Dream Client Power Statement and name her signature system.

05:07 Corinne describes the current process she uses with her clients.

07:18 Corinne describes her Dream Clients in detail.

11:18 Dallas begins to take Corinne through a DCPS discovery process.

Step One: Discuss the needs of your clients with someone else who will note themes or words that come up more than once.

15:08 Dallas and Corinne hop into a discussion about Corinne’s signature system and focus on clarity instead of cleverness.

16:00 Now, back to Corinne’s DCPS.

Step Two: Organize the steps so they can pass the Lyft Ride Litmus Test

16:30 Step Three: List steps of process with simple and obvious words

17:00 The two discuss possible names for Corinne’s signature system

18:50 Dallas explains The Awareness Ladder using Corinne’s audience as an example.

22:55 Dallas summarizes the steps to naming a signature system:

1:Think through what are the unconscious tools that you as a coach use OR the natural progression of steps clients go through.

2: Organize those steps in a way that can pass the Lyft Ride Litmus Test.

3: Give yourself permission to be simple and obvious.

4: Let it percolate.

Always ask yourself: Are these my words or are these my client’s words?

25:21 Dallas and Corinne explore her Dream Client Power Statement for the last time.

31:55 The two discuss the importance of having 3-4 case studies ready to help explain her work when folks ask “how do you do that?”.

33:45 Dallas and Corinne wrap up by addressing a few lingering questions.

CONNECT WITH CORINNE:

LINKEDIN: https://linkedin.com/in/corinnegavlinski/ 

LINKEDIN: https://linkedin.com/company/thegavgroup/ 

CONNECT WITH ME:

INSTAGRAM: https://.instagram.com/dallastraversbizmentor/ 

FREE QUIZ: https://dallastravers.com/quiz 

One thing I say often is that you cannot build a business with free stuff you find on the internet. 

That includes this podcast - even though every episode is rich with insight and tangible actions… it’s not the same as following a structured, proven, values-aligned path that leaves out all the guesswork. 

Which is why I’d love to invite you to apply to join The Hive. This is a year long mentorship program designed to give you the step by step tools and actions you need to really do this coaching thing. You can apply to join the hive and book a 1:1 call with me directly at dallastravers.com/apply.

Now… let me introduce you to today’s guest.  Her name is Trudi Remer and the work she is up to is so very important.  Trudi helps folks feel their big feelings so they can finally answer the question, “what’s next for me?”.

Trudi is so skilled at holding space for people in grief. Yet, she’s also seen that most folks… they don't want to talk about grief.  Grief is taboo in American culture, so Trudi has struggled to find the right marketing message to draw people in.

Yet Trudi knows that a huge part of her mission is to normalize grief… to bring it into the light.

And I think Trudi gave herself permission to do just that by the end of our conversation today.

Now, put your coaching ears on as you listen because you’re going to notice how resistance came up for Trudi and worked to distract her from her mission.  We had a real breakthrough moment during this recording and I hope it inspires you to be a little more brave about your niche and how you share your mission.

TIMESTAMPS

4:23 Trudi kicks things off by stating she got “stuck” on her first Client Surge experience and wants this time to be a successful Client Surge

5:00 Dallas shares details about Trudi’s first Client Surge experience

6:13 Dallas asks Trudi to identify 1-3 key elements that she needs in order to be set up for success

6:40 Trudi discusses the 2 key elements: Needs better definition of the messaging and better followthrough with potential Referral Ambassadors even if feels rejected

9:05 Trudi requests to work on messaging to herself not message to others

10:10 Dallas explains the three tracks the Client Surge process follows

10:58 Dallas asks Trudi what message she needs for herself in order to develop a message to attract potential clients

18:05 Dallas summarizes what Trudi needs to do this round of Client Surge even if it makes her uncomfortable

20:13 Trudi asks Dallas “How do I focus on people who are not in need of a counselor but in need of a coach?”

23:00 Dallas summarizes Trudi’s Dream Client Power Statement

23:42 Dallas suggests wording improvements for requests to Referral Ambassadors to avoid a rejection response

25:20 Dallas suggests sending verbiage to Referral Ambassadors to use when looking for referrals

26:32 Trudi summarizes the action steps from their discussion

29:55 Dallas and Trudi discuss other ways to ensure Trudi has a successful Client Surge

33:20 Dallas summarizes the follow-up steps she will have with Trudi during this Client Surge

CONNECT WITH TRUDI:

WEBSITE: www.adventureafter.com

CONNECT WITH ME:

INSTAGRAM: https://.instagram.com/dallastraversbizmentor/ 

FREE QUIZ: https://dallastravers.com/quiz 

Welcome to Coaches on a Mission - The place to be for values driven coaches who want to build a business you’re truly proud of.

Today, we’re going to talk about how to price your offers.

“What should I charge?” is one of the most common questions coaches ask me.  And if I’m being honest, I don’t see a lot of people bringing real intentionality to their pricing structure.

Instead, they just charge what they see other coaches charging.  Or they charge whatever number they can say without breaking into a sweat.

Neither approach is truly values-aligned, so today, I”m going to share a 6 step process to help you land on perfect match pricing that matches your goals and feels really aligned.

My guest today is Saisha Ma who helps leaders develop one of a kind leadership skills to shift their energy and nurture the growth of the organization plus the people within it.

Like a lot of coaches, Saisha used to price her offers based on each client’s budget. And what she wanted was an authentic and reliable system for pricing so she never again under-values her work or just pulls a price out of the sky.

If you’re nodding your head right now because you’ve done the exact thing before, this episode is for you.

Let’s get into it.

TIMESTAMPS

02:35 Saisha asks how to price her programs while holding to her values.

06:38 The two discuss Saisha’s current price points and offers.

07:58 Step One: Determine the fixed costs for delivering the programs.

13:35 Step Two: Consider the energetic costs and define what energetic costs are.

16:40 Step Three: Ask yourself  “What do I want to pay myself?”

22:50 Dallas discusses how a Price Accessibility Program might fit into Saisha’s pricing model and what things to consider before rolling such a program out. 

25:48 Dallas asks Saisha: What questions do you want to ask yourself around bringing a formal structure to price accessibility?

31:00 Dallas asks Saisha to summarize the process they developed together.

34:45 The two address a few lingering questions about operating costs and multiple offers.

CONNECT WITH SAISHA:

INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/saishamama/ 

WEBSITE: https://looking2leap.com/ 

CONNECT WITH ME:

INSTAGRAM: https://.instagram.com/dallastraversbizmentor/ 

FREE QUIZ: https://dallastravers.com/quiz 

Inside The Hive, we practice The Ripple Effect System which is all about building your business out in layers so you can gain true traction, make more money, and feel less stress.

The system starts with finding clients, then becoming more visible, and finally scaling with a course, membership, mastermind, or large group program.

My guest today is ready to scale.

Her name is Jolea Payne and she helps social impact leaders build thriving organizations that center community and deliver high-impact programming without burning themselves out.

Jolea finds that a lot of leaders in non-profit don’t really have the budget to invest in private coaching, plus they often feel isolated, so a membership is the perfect solution to both of those problems.

Here are the 7 Steps Jolea and I laid out to ensure that Jolea builds a membership that’s truly valuable rather than filled with a bunch of fluff.

1. Identify the core promise of the membership

2. Pinpoint each milestone members will hit as they progress toward that promise

3. Outline the core content inside the membership

4. Create a production schedule so nobody feels swamped at launch time

5. Design a launch plan… this is something we cover in great detail inside The Hive, so if a course or membership launch is in your future… make sure to apply to join us at https://dallastravers.com/apply

6. Clarify what, if any, additional support members will need in order to be successful and feel empowered inside the program.

7. Set a launch date to make the plan feel real.

On top of setting her members up for success, we made sure Jolea would be successful with her launch as well. And I think we accomplished both goals by the end of the episode.

I hope you’ve got a pen and fresh paper to take some notes because this episode is super juicy.

Enjoy it!

TIMESTAMPS

03:38 Jolea kicks things off by asking how to build out her membership program.

07:50  Dallas shares the lessons she learned from the mistakes she made with her former membership program.

10:40:  Dallas and Jolea outline the core milestones that members need to hit so Jolea can design her membership around those milestones.

12:15: Step One: Identify the core promise of the membership.

15:15: Step Two: Determine the milestones members will hit as they move toward the membership promise. 

19:20 : Step Three: Outline the core content inside the membership.

31:25 Step Four: Create a loose production schedule to create the core content.

35:05: Step Five: Design a membership launch plan.

37:25  Step Six: Clarify any additional support members might need to be successful.

50:40 Step Seven: Set a launch date to make the plan feel real.

CONNECT WITH JOLEA:

INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/inspiritforchange/ 

FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/inspiritconsultingllc/ 

CONNECT WITH ME:

INSTAGRAM: https://.instagram.com/dallastraversbizmentor/ 

FREE QUIZ: https://dallastravers.com/quiz 

I have to confess that I came into recording this episode feeling really confident about the direction the conversation would take.  And I was completely wrong.

My guest is Amanda Meri who helps two very different groups of people.

Inside her Gut Healing Academy, Amanda helps folks reverse their chronic illness by healing their guts.

The second group Amanda serves doesn’t struggle with chronic illness.  But they want to boost their energy and eat the food they love without gaining weight, getting bloated, or having any pain. 

So, the question  Amanda had for me was “How do I market two businesses at one time?” 

My answer before our conversation was, “Well, you don’t.  It’s twice the work for you and too confusing for your audience.

Yet… as Amanda shared her motivation to serve both audiences and strong stance that merging them just wouldn’t work, I came around.

The result kinda sorta blew my mind because the two of us were actually able to find a simple way for Amanda to attract, nurture, and convert both dream clients without a ton of extra work on her part and without confusing folks.

If, like Amanda, you serve two very distinct audiences in two very different ways, this episode will be a game changer for you.

I hope you enjoy it.

TIMESTAMPS

00:03:10  Amanda shares her two different offers designed to serve two different audiences.

00:08:10  Dallas challenges Amanda’s assumption that the two audiences really are different and discovers that Amanda is right.

00:09:40  Dallas brainstorms her vision for how Amanda can rely on the same process to speak to two different audiences.

00:15:10  The two discuss why it’s essential that every piece of content used applies to both audiences.

00:18:35  Dallas talks about how the framework with Content Confidence can be applied to Amanda’s two audiences.

00:26:25  Dallas shares the original goal and summarizes the approach they defined to accomplish talking to two different audiences using one signature system.

00:34:25  Dallas discusses Amanda’s dream client power statement for both audiences.

CONNECT WITH AMANDA:

INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/thegutnurse/ 

WEBSITE: https://.thegutnurse.com/ 

CONNECT WITH ME:

INSTAGRAM: https://instagram.com/dallastraversbizmentor/ 

FREE QUIZ: https://dallastravers.com/quiz 

Hey all my life coaches, authenticity coaches, health coaches, confidence coaches, everybody out there who’s really good at listening to your client and offering up custom tools or insight that completely transforms their lives… this episode is for you. 

Because I’m willing to bet that you haven’t given much thought to your signature process because no two clients are the same and no two coaching sessions look alike.  That's probably what you love so much about the work you do. 

Yet… those of us in the moment, meet the client where they’re at and help them move forward kinda coaches can sometimes struggle to find the words to accurately represent the work we do. 

Nothing can really come close, yet if the only way to truly understand the power of our work is through experiencing it… self promotion and marketing can be a struggle. 

This struggle is such an important hurdle to address that I decided to bring back a special episode featuring Leigh Cambre. 

He helps optimistic overachievers find balance and room to breathe without losing their edge.

And Leigh is truly an excellent coach with a lot of training under his belt and tools in his pocket.  

Which made it difficult for Leigh to find a catchy slogan or marketing jargon to describe his work.  Which, in turn, can make it difficult to bring in more clients. 

So, Leigh and I walked through a pretty cool exercise that revealed his signature process.  We even gave it a name - The Cambre Method.  Now, does Leigh’s bright, shiny signature process cover everything he does for his clients? Nope. Does it come close… you better believe it. 

If you’re a coach whose work covers a broad range of results and your biggest strength is your ability to simply serve your clients, grab a pen and extra paper because I hope you’ll follow along with my conversation with Leigh to create your signature process too. 

Let’s have some fun!

CONNECT WITH LEIGH:

WEBSITE: https://www.leighcambre.com/ 

CONNECT WITH ME:

INSTAGRAM:  http://instagram.com/dallastraversbizmentor 

FREE QUIZ: https://dallastravers.com/quiz 

My guest today is Jennie Nash who is the founder and CEO of Author Accelerator, a company that trains, certifies, and supports book coaches so they can help writers do their best work. 

I invited Jennie to the show for many reasons. 

First, she has really mastered the art of delivering as a coach and course creator.  Her Author accelerator program truly is unmatched. We are lucky enough to have a little cohort of AA coaches inside The Hive and they all sing Jennie’s praises.  So, I knew she was someone I wanted to know. 

Secondly, Jennie is super smart and really committed to helping us all raise our voices and tell our stories through book writing.  

Her own coaching clients have landed top New York agents and six-figure book deals with traditional publishing houses such as Penguin, Scribner, Simon & Schuster, and Hachette.

They’ve also won dozens of national indie book awards. And her Client KJ Dell’Antonia’s novel, The Chicken Sisters, was an instant New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. 

Jennie and I had a really enlivening conversation about why every coach should write a book, what it really takes to write a GOOD book, and of course we dish about the books on our nightstands right now. 

You should know that Jennie herself is the author of 11 books in 3 genres, including Blueprint for a Nonfiction Book: Plan and Pitch Your Idea and Blueprint for a Book: Build Your Novel from the Inside Out. Visit her at authoraccelerator.com and jennienash.com

And if you are a coach on a mission, which I know you are or you wouldn’t be listening, get ready to get inspired to raise your own voice.  I even had a breakthrough during this interview and Jennie’s got my wheels turning on my next book. 

She’s just that good. 

Here’s Jennie Nash!

BOOKS WE MENTIONED:

This Is Not A Book About Benedict Cumberbatch by Tabitha Carvan

Your Invisible Network by Michael Urtuzuástegu Melcher (one of Jennie's clients)

A Taste of Opportunity by Renee Guilbault (another client of Jennies!)

I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

CONNECT WITH JENNIE:

6 - PART TEST TO DETERMINE IF YOUR BOOK IS VIABLE: https://jennienash.com/viable 

FIND THE BOOK COACH FOR YOU: https://www.authoraccelerator.com/

CONNECT WITH ME:

INSTAGRAM:  http://instagram.com/dallastraversbizmentor 

FREE QUIZ: https://dallastravers.com/quiz 

Grab your tissues folks, because today’s episode is a bit of a tear jerker! ​​​​​​​

I’m in a bit of a crying mood these days, so we’re rebroadcasting one of my all time favorite episodes. ​​​​​​​

I am so impressed with Angela Vorpahl, today’s guest. She brought so much clarity and vulnerability to the episode, I know her struggle is something that most of us wrestle with. So, it was just an honor to coach her during this session. ​​​​​​​

Angela helps law students get good grades, plain and simple. ​​​​​​​

Yet, not so simple because Angela knows that good grades aren’t the true benefit her clients get. It’s the stuff that comes with good grades like opportunities, confidence, choices, and freedom.  ​​​​​​​

So, Angela felt some friction around how to talk about her work.  She’s also been wrestling with the same fears and inner critic stuff we all deal with.  ​​​​​​​

Inside the episode, Angela and I uncover the parts of her that have felt undeserving or less than. And we worked to give those parts a voice so she can let them go. ​​​​​​​

Our conversation was very moving for me. And yes, I still found time to talk strategy given the insights we gained when Angela went deep. ​​​​​​​

If you ever feel like an outsider or worry that you and your work doesn’t matter, please listen to this incredible conversation.​​​​​​​

I hope you enjoy it.

CONNECT WITH ANGELA:

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/angelavorpahl/

WEBSITE: https://www.angelavorpahl.com/ 

CONNECT WITH ME:

INSTAGRAM:  http://instagram.com/dallastraversbizmentor 

FREE QUIZ: https://dallastravers.com/quiz 

I am so proud and excited to introduce you to this week’s guest. She’s Alli Ball, a course creator, coach, consultant and mentor who I have had the pleasure of talking to nearly every Monday morning for the last 3 years. 

Alli is also my accountability partner.  

We were both a part of the same mastermind back at the end of 2019.  

Even before we met in person, Alli agreed to weekly accountability check-ins and the rest is history, as they say. 

I invited Alli to the show so we could take you behind the scenes of an accountability partnership that really works. 

You’ll hear Alli and I talk about how we structure our weekly check-ins, what tools we use to build accountability with our team, and our surprisingly different approach to accountability and planning.  

Be sure to stick around until the end because Alli took over the interviewer’s mic to interview me.  She asked me 5 surprise questions I did not expect and my answers… they might surprise you. 

Before we dive in, let me tell you about my friend.  Alli Ball is the founder and CEO of Retail Ready - this incredibly smart online course that helps packaged food founders get on retail shelves and increase their sales once they’re there. 

Alli has consulted with retail stores across the US to train grocery buying teams on category review practices, increasing sales, launching private label brands, and fine-tuning operations for multimillion-dollar departments. 

Alli is just one of those rare people who has a genuine interest in others.  She’s generous with her time, her ideas, and her incredible listening skills.  I just think the world of her and feel really grateful to call her my friend.  

Now, let’s talk accountability partnerships, shall we?

TIMESTAMPS:

00:03:00 - How and why Alli and Dallas became accountability partners

00:05:00 - Why they have continued as accountability partners for three years

00:11:00 - The biggest thing that has surprised them

00:13:00 - How Dallas put the invitation out when she was looking for accountability

00:15:00 - The format of and how they prepare for their accountability meetings 

00:25:00 - Tools that Alli uses with her team so she doesn’t feel like she’s micromanaging

00:32:00 - Alli takes the interview seat and asks Dallas a round of speed questions

00:40:00 - Dallas and Alli each share one thing they want everyone looking for an accountability to know

CONNECT WITH ALLI:

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/itsalliball/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/AllisonBallConsulting/

PODCAST: https://www.alliball.com/foodbizwiz

CONNECT WITH ME:

INSTAGRAM:  http://instagram.com/dallastraversbizmentor 

FREE QUIZ: https://dallastravers.com/quiz 

 Do You Ever worry that your email list hates getting emails?

 It’s a valid question, I suppose. Yet, everywhere we turn, we hear how important list building is if you ever want to expand beyond 1:1 coaching. In fact, our last episode was about this very thing.

 But what if your target audience just doesn’t dig email? Maybe they're the texting kind or just too darn busy to pay much attention to their inbox. 

 That’s kinda the case for Valerie Recore who was on the show back on episode #112 

 Valerie helps overwhelmed and overcommitted moms stop feeling pulled in too many directions and start spending quality time with their families and on themselves. And in our previous episode we designed a lead magnet for Valerie. 

 And now that Valerie has started building her list, she wants to make sure that she’s able to nurture her new subscribers in a way that they’ll appreciate. 

 So, Valerie and I had to think outside the inbox. Yes, you’re correct… that was an honest attempt at the first and definitely the last pun I’ll ever say on this podcast.

 Okay… back to Valerie. Today, you’re going to hear us solve Valerie’s email engagement problem by layering in Text messaging so that the busy moms on her list can more easily engage with her incredible content. 

 I have a feeling that our conversation just might spark some fresh ideas for you, so let’s get going…  Here’s Valerie! 

 RESOURCES: 

 https://marisacorcoran.com/

 https://coschedule.com/email-subject-line-tester

 TIMESTAMPS 

 00:03:00 - Valerie shares an idea she has to replace her email list

 00:06:00 - Dallas fills Valerie in on a few helpful tech and infrastructure tips

 00:10:00 - Valerie asks Dallas to review some of her content to help it consolidate and pull out headlines

 00:19:00 - Dallas breaks down the workflow that Valerie will follow to outline her text messages

 00:22:00 - Where the call to action fits into the text series

 00:26:00 - How this connects to Valerie’s lead magnet

 00:30:00 - Dallas and Valerie tie up a few loose ends

CONNECT WITH VALERIE:

WEBSITE: https://strideproductivity.com/

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/strideproductivity/

CONNECT WITH ME:

INSTAGRAM:  http://instagram.com/dallastraversbizmentor

FREE QUIZ: https://dallastravers.com/quiz