Prosperous Coach Podcast

This episode is an ON AIR Coaching Session with David Smith.

David Smith is a Washington DC - based career coach. He is a Fulbright scholar. After 30 years in law, as a University professor and  overseas working for a think tank, he came to realize that his collective experiences provide insight into inside DC careers.
 
 For two years he has coaching two different audiences: 

·      people 20 - 30 emerging into international or policy based careers inside the beltway

·      people 50+ looking for their encore career

Two Problems Related to Coaching Client Engagement

David said he was looking for some wisdom. Specifically he was having two challenges in his coaching business:

1.     Sometimes clients disappear without notice.

2.     Younger clientele are difficult to engage into a longer term coaching relationship.

These classic challenges are related. And both are things that David can fix with a shift in his approach to enrolling.

I asked David to describe what he tells prospects about his offer.

He offers a Discovery Session and admitted to a common problem coaches have ... over-delivering in the discovery call.

Shift #1: Stop Coaching in Discovery Sessions

Some coaches offer a sample coaching session to enroll clients. I used to do this myself and found that, much of the time, prospects would walk away from that experience feeling satisfied and uninterested in taking a next step.

I was so intent on showing my value that I over-delivered. And the prospect would say: "Thanks!" But she had no interest in taking a next step.

Can you relate to that challenge?

I remember feeling sort of demoralized by the lack of interest in coaching, something I felt so passionate about.

That's because coaching itself is a hard sell.

People don't wake up knowing that they want coaching. Instead they seek out solutions to specific problems.

So, unless you're offering a sample coaching session that focuses on a very specific coaching niche — a specific solution to a specific problem — then your sample coaching session is going to feel general and not highly relevant to people.

Even if you have a specific niche, a sample session isn't the most effective tool for enrolling a committed long term coaching client who pays you well. Because the tendency to perform and over-deliver is strong in that type of session.

When I shifted away from offering sample coaching sessions to offering discovery calls, I immediately started enrolling more ideal clients and earning more from coaching.

Here's the thing ... a Discovery Session isn't meant to be a coaching session.

You can absolutely use the coaching tools of asking powerful questions and listening in a Discovery Session. But you don't want to step into the Co-Creative Relationship with a prospect because they have not paid a fee for the coaching. That's part of the client's responsibility.

Instead, a Discovery Session is a ...

Learn more about a better way to consistently enroll coaching clients.

This episode is part of the Smart Mindsets & Habits series. 

And it was inspired by a segment in the last episode called 3 Power Packed Online Tools Every Coach Needs.

That episode has been super popular so I'll do a quick review to set up today's episode. I covered 3 critical tools all coaches need:

·      A client-winning website preferably on a WordPress theme.

·      An email campaign service — Aweber (affiliate link) is my favorite

·      And an online scheduler.
 
The main message I had for you was to invest wisely in your success. Not all expenses have the same long term value to your coaching business success. For example, it's worth it to invest highly up front in creating a client-winning website with a conversion process to help you enroll clients.

But, investing in a lot of apps with monthly fees is not the best investment unless those expenses directly supports you to earn more. For example, why spend $20 - $30 per month for an online scheduling system when you can spend 1/2 - 1/3 less using a great service like TimeTrade?

In that episode I warned about those all-in-one online services designed for coaches that include a website with a client portal and a scheduler all bundled into one high monthly payment.

Beware of this kind of investment because at best, the websites are clunky and don't allow for much customization. They're set up as online brochures only without a conversion process to help you attract and enroll clients who pay well.

I totally get the attraction of a single solution offer especially when you're new to running your own business and have so much to learn and do. It seems like the right thing to do. And I know that the idea of a client portal is tempting. Maybe you've never been paid for services directly from a client and there's a desire for something that seems more professional. 

But, in reality, client portals are a hassle for clients and there are free ways to serve your clients well.

So, over the next few episodes I'm going to share my client management systems with you. They are ultra simple and work beautifully. At the end of the day, they cost little or nothing and are easy to use.

No client portal or hundreds of dollars in monthly fees necessary!

Client Management Begins Before a Coaching Client Hires You

Before I dig in to the actual moving parts of my system, consider this ...

Connection, not selling, is what attracts and enrolls coaching clients.

And so, client management actually begins the moment you have a first connection with a potential client. That might be through social media or a networking event. It might be through your blog or podcast.

Your care and attention comes across in absolutely everything you do when:

1. Your website speaks the language of your target audience and names their specific challenges and desires.
2. You deliver unique value and invite a Discovery Session in your free offer and follow up emails .
3. You hit the mark about what's important to your target audience in your blogs, podcast episodes and social posts.

Before you can do those things, you'll need to ...

Learn more about client management here.

This episode is about the minimum online tools you'll need to effectively run your coaching business. It's part of my Mindsets & Habits series.

I'm going to share my 3 all time favorite online tools. The kind of apps that save brain cells, time and money.

We'll also talk about pitfalls new coaches fall into when they grab up lots of tools with monthly costs.

For every tool I mention I'll share the link on my Show Notes for today, which you can find at prosperouscoach.com/33

If you're totally tech savvy, this might be remedial for you.

But most coaches I meet are a little tech shy. They don't love learning how to use online tools. They just want to coach so every additional thing they need to use to find, attract and enroll their clients feels heavy.

I've heard many a sigh and fear in the voices of my clients who worry about how tech will impact their time.

If that's you, I get it. When I started as a coach I was a total luddite — the last to know anything tech related. Now, on the tech savvy scale I'm somewhere in the middle. I know how to use a few things extremely well and most things at a small percentage of their capabilities and that's okay.

This may be a relief to you ... you don't have to be a techno geek to leverage a few choice tools well and have them help you attract and enroll clients.
 
I like tools that I can wade slowly into. I want to learn what I need to know now, then learn more later once I've mastered the basics.

So let's get this rolling ...

First, I'll cover a set of applications that all coaches need to run a smart business.

1. An Email Marketing Service

2. A Client-Winning Website

3. An Online Scheduler

Let's talk about each of these and I'll share my favorite tools for each.

1. Email Marketing Service 

Sometimes called an Email Blast Company or Email Campaign Company, this service is all about getting your messages out to people who have trusted you by opting in on your website for a free offer. It's also called a leads list but what I like to call your community.

This type of service helps you:

·      manage email addresses of people who have opted in for your free offer

·      get your emails delivered in a way that meets regulations

·      automates everything so you save time

·      build trusting relationships with followers 

No doubt you've heard of Mail Chimp and Constant Contact, there are dozens more that get more and more technical and costly up the scale. 

For a startup coach I suggest a relatively inexpensive and easy to use service. my hands down favorite is Aweber (affiliate link). 

It's been around a lot longer than most Email Marketing Services. Here's why I LOVE them:

·      Customer Service

·      Customer Service

·      Customer Service

I'm the kind of person who wants a person I can talk to in real time if I need help. Most tech companies don't share their phone number or at best only have an online chat. If they do let you speak with someone you reach an overseas call center. And your problem takes 3x longer to fix than it should.

Whenever you call Aweber you get to a highly trained person within a minute ...

Find the list of critical online tools for coaches here.

This episode is part of the Smart Mindsets & Habits series. I hope it inspires you to make a shift in the way you're thinking about coaching that will help you attract more clients. The kind of clients who will invest more to work with you. 

I'm all for less selling and more connecting authentically to attract clients.

Let me ask you this ...

·      Have you ever felt weird trying to convince someone about the value of coaching?

·      Have you ever told someone about your coaching business and you can see their eyes glaze over?

·      Have you ever had an incredible sample coaching session with a prospect and they loved it but they didn't enroll in your ongoing coaching program?

·      And what about this ... have you ever gotten a single client from your coaching website?

Well, that was me for the first 3 years of my coaching business. I know, that's crazy, right?

When I came out of coach training school I was what I call a Pure Coach. Episode #12 is called What Coach Archetype Fits You? and it has a description of the Pure Coach archetype. You can find that at prosperouscoach.com/12.

I thought that coaching was amazing and that everyone else would think so too.

After struggling for too long to earn enough as a coach I began to realize something kind of shocking ... most people don't readily buy coaching. They don't know what it is. They mistake it for therapy. They assume they can't afford it.

For me, it was a sort of loss of innocence about coaching. I just couldn't understand how something I loved so much could be the topic of such indifference to other people.

It felt like my friends and family and potential clients were humoring me whenever I would talk about it. They didn't really GET the value of coaching.

But then I realized that what's really going on is they haven't connected the dots between coaching and something they want or a problem they want to overcome.

I had not connected the dots for them.

And I see the same on most coaching websites, that they are brochures about coaching.

I think we, as coaches, are unwittingly confusing people that we'd like to enroll as clients.

If you haven't heard my episode called Why is Coaching a Hard Sell? I highly recommend it.

It's an eye-opener. And if you can make the mindset shift I believe it will dramatically change your results -- how many clients hire you and at higher prices. They stay longer and refer more people to you.

And it all comes down to one paradoxical thing.

Do Coaching But Don't Sell It

Here's what happens when you stop selling coaching and start offering a program that helps a unique target audience reach a specific outcome that audience truly wants: 

·      You become crystal clear about the value of your services.

·      That means you can easily articulate what you offer in a far more compelling and non-salesy way.

·      So it's far easier to enroll clients into longer programs at higher prices.

It's really true. Shifting your mindset and actions away from selling coaching will boost your confidence way up.

You may be thinking ... Well Rhonda ...

If I Don't Sell Coaching What Am I Doing?

... Learn more about that here.

This episode (show notes here) is an ON AIR Coaching Session where I coach a coach to help them click on the certainty button for a unique target audience and then we formulate their coaching niche.

It's clear from reviews that you really like these coach the coach sessions, so it's my goal to do one every month.

Ellen Fowler has worked in the field of training, organizational and leadership development for over 25 years. Her experience includes work in the public and private sectors as well as academia.

She lived and worked in Ireland for 12 years, so she has firsthand understanding of the challenges of cultural diversity and radical life change. 

She is also an ordained Christian minister. Ellen's career has always involved working with individuals whether as a counselor, teacher, consultant or coach.

When I help coaches choose a profitable coaching niche, I always start by asking about their background so I can guide them to pull in experience, expertise, interests, gifts and passions into their niche.

Ellen's background includes:

·     Itinerant minister

·     Training and organizational & leadership development

·     Change & diversity management

·     Teaching adults returning to the workplace on how to make their companies more efficient

Want to Be An Entrepreneurial Coach?

Then, I asked Ellen if she was interested in being an entrepreneur because it's a certain type of person who does.

Ellen wants to run her own business because she wants it to be portable so she can travel. However, she feels a bit intimidated by the marketing side of things.

I get that. In my own business, I was intimidated by marketing at first but when I learned to put the spotlight on exactly what my target audience wants, it became fun.

Two Potential Audiences That Seem Equal

Ellen had 2 main ideas for her target audience:

·     Mid-career professional women

·     Church leaders

I asked Ellen if it was okay with her if we focused on Church Leaders as a possible target audience first.
 
 I made this choice for 4 reasons:

·     Ellen is an ordained minister and much of her career has been as a church leader. I felt that gave her credibility and gravitas with this audience.

·     Her faith is very important to her.

·     She's currently coaching 10 clergy and staff from a church group in Pennsylvania and getting more referrals from that group. So she already has a toehold there.

·     She loves the work she's doing with this audience.

Ellen shared that the work she's doing with the Church Leaders is based on an instrument called Human Synergistics that she's certified to use. It helps people identify effective and not so effective behaviors in the workplace and to develop action plans for changing those.

Is The Target Audience Viable for You? 

I also felt that the audience — Mid-career professional women — is not the most viable audience for Ellen because:

Learn more about how to succeed with a narrow target audience and niche here.

This episode is part of the Start Smart series. It's worth the listen because this topic is eye-opening. And, if you're planning to transition from your job to full-time coaching, I've given you a 5-step plan near the end of this episode. 

Creating a smart transition plan to move into full-time coaching is an important step. If you're serious about making your dream happen, this is something you'll want to do with the help of someone who has transitioned.

Sometimes coaches hire me when they don't have a current job. They've been raising kids or were laid off or they quit a job to create their coaching business. They have plenty of time to work on building their business foundation and launch in a systematic, organized way.

Obviously, there are some huge advantages to that scenario. But there are also some hidden challenges. If you're not currently in the rhythm of working for a living, you might have trouble finding that rhythm and dedicating time to your business.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the person who currently has a full-time job, kids, and a busy life who wants to become a coach and shift to full-time coaching "someday."

If you're this person, you've put time into training as a coach and into business development but haven't made the shift.

Maybe you're dabbling at coaching and have a low fee client or two.

But leaving your regular paycheck and benefits, especially when you have a family, is a risky step to take. It requires a big dose of courage and chutzpah.

Some coaches never get off the bench and into the game. That's not you! That was the apt metaphor used by a coach I spoke with recently.

The truth is that entrepreneurship — and that's what becoming a coach is — is risky business.

No doubt you've heard the odds. They say 1 in 5 make a sustainable livelihood and that goes down over time.

Entrepreneurship has a bunch of rewards that frankly I wouldn't want to live without. 

• Freedom (I truly set my own schedule and work a lot less than I did in corporate.)
• Being your own boss
• Getting to bring your whole self to what you do
• Innovating and creating
• The huge feeling of accomplishment

A Common Myth About Coaching Business Startup Busted

The beauty of a coaching business is that there's no real barrier to entry except having the grit and focus to take the risk. The truth is you don't even have to have training or certification, although I think it's a good idea to be a trained coach.

There's a common misconception that I run across and it's what inspired me to do an episode on this topic.

Recently, I was having an On Air Coaching session —which hasn't aired yet — with a smart, confident man who has been coaching on and off (more off), while raising a family and engaged in a successful mid-management career.

Odell was encouraged to become a coach by his pastor and friends. That's what motivated him to start Googling for help and he found me through Prosperous Coach Podcast.

Odell said that he expected to replace his current income by working coaching as a side gig for two years.

I wince when I hear people say that they'll transition from their full-time job to full-time coaching when they replace their income from their current job.

Why? Because ...

... Learn more about transitioning from your job to coaching here.

This episode is on a challenging topic that's critical for all coaches. And it's part of the Smart Mindsets & Habits series. 

I've been a life long student of boundaries. That is to say, boundaries have been a core issue for me in the past and now it's much less of an issue. When I sense myself leaning in too far, trying to do too much, to people please or over-deliver, I rein myself in.

Still, I occasionally fall into old patterns, even in coaching relationships.

I'm a 2 on the Enneagram. That's "The Helper." More than anything I want to be of service to others, to help them better their circumstances. It's a good fit for being a coach. And a strength overused becomes a weakness. 

In the past, it's often meant that I gave too much in all of my roles and relationships. And, I allowed some people to step on me ... repeatedly.

Powerful Questions to Uncover Boundary Challenges

What about you? Do you like to fill in the holes and make sure everyone is taken care of? Are you a natural helper or a people pleaser? A lot of coaches are.

Here are more specific questions to ask yourself:

With coaching prospects ...

     Do you bend over backward to prove your worth in Discovery Sessions? 

     Do you reduce your fees habitually to suit prospects?

With coaching clients ...

     Do you habitually go over time in sessions?

     Are you charging enough to cover your investment of time outside of sessions?

Repetitive Over-Delivery Hurts You and Your Coaching Clients

Early on in my business I attended an International Coach Federation conference and met Cheryl Richardson

She was asking a group of coaches ... Do you want more for your clients than they want for themselves?

Bam! That was an aha moment for me. The answer was 'YES' ... always. 

I learned from Cheryl that ultimately your client must choose transformation for it to happen. They must want it with all of their heart, mind and be willing to take action outside their comfort zone. 

If you want something for them more than they do for themselves, it creates an imbalance in the co-creative relationship and the reality is, you're going to be pushing them and they won't appreciate it.

Later on, a friend of mine created a training based on years of research called Right Use of Power and I attended one of her first workshops. 

Another huge aha. Let me explain ...

When you are in a practitioner or authoritative or helper role, that role carries a certain amount of power. Hopefully, as coaches, we believe we are our clients' equals, but even so they may hold some deference for us.

It's up to coaches to do our best to equalize the power in the coach-client relationship. And this requires a lot of self-reflection and self-awareness.

Right Size Yourself

You might be kind of surprised that the answer to balance the power is not to give clients more, more of your time or make it easier for them by taking some of their responsibilities your own shoulders like giving them discounts. 

Those kinds of things actually increase the power differential. And they do something to you too. You're inflating your role and deflating your own power.

The answer is ...

Find more about how to right size yourself here.

This episode is short and sweet. And it's part of the Smart Mindsets & Habits series. 

In these early days of your coaching business, before you are booked with clients it may be tempting to fit your coaching business into whatever time you have left in the day. 

The truth is that you can't build a business on fumes. And you certainly can't grow a business that way.

There's a mindset that goes with that fit-it-into-the-downtime approach. And it's usually not a conscious one.

It's the hobbyist mindset. Or the perpetual student mindset. 

Please know that I get it ... if you're a stay-at-home parent, adding in a new business to your day is totally disruptive. You have a rhythm of what you do day to day. You know your priorities. Now, you have to re-make that rhythm to a new beat.

It's also super challenging to add a new business in when you've got a full-time job.

And, if you're adding a business to a full-time job plus caring for children, it's downright heroic, if you ask me.

Even so, if you want a thing to thrive, it needs regular care and feeding. It needs a rhythm. Find one that works for you now and build up from there as you can.

Coaching Business Office Hours

When I decided to become a coach, I negotiated my job into a part-time consulting position to have time to build my coaching business.

But, I'm embarrassed to say, even with the clear boundaries on my job and more at-home time, I didn't use my "free" time well on behalf of my business.

And I didn't make much progress for that first year.

I realized that I needed office hours. That I needed to think of myself going to work for my business. That made an immediate difference in my earnings and satisfaction as a coach.

Setting office hours was my first step into the CEO role of my coaching business.

It signaled to my friends and family that I was no longer in student mode. And it motivated me to get creative and productive on a higher level than I was before.

Now, you may only have one hour each day for your coaching business. If that's the case, that is your office hour.

Tell your family, your friends and colleagues that you're not available to them during that hour unless it's a true emergency.

Then do the power hour.

Know before you sit down to your desk what you're going to do with that hour. Make the most of it. Turn off your phone, close out your email and get focused.

Block Your Time

Obviously, the more time you find for your business day to day, the faster you'll grow so that you can replace your job with coaching.

You'll need time for serving clients, client management and in the first few years, you'll need significant for marketing and getting the word out to your target audience that you have something valuable for them.

Having a rhythm for your coaching business means you're highly productive and work less.

... Read more about how to block your time here.

This episode is part of the Smart Mindsets & Habits series.

It's got to be said because it's breaking my heart to see so many coaches bogged down and unable to move forward with clarity.

You know how they say that multi-tasking isn't good for your brain? The best case scenario is that you do a lot but nothing well. It actually lowers your IQ!

Well, the same is true for your brain when you overload it with unnecessary ideas and future tasks for your coaching business.

I've talked about overwhelm before in Ep #20 - How to Stop Saying 'Yes" to Bright Shiny Objects

In that episode the focus was mostly about wasting money, time and brain power on programs that you're not developmentally ready for yet as a business owner. Advanced strategies and tactics that won't work well for you until you have the business foundation in place.

In this episode, I'm going to dig in deeper to what's actually happening in your mind and your emotional body when you heap more and more information on yourself.

When new coaches reach out to work with me, they fill out a questionnaire on my website. I ask them to give me a snapshot of what they're doing day to day to build their business.

Nearly every person tells me their head is spinning with all the research they're doing.

• They are looking at other coach's websites. Oh no! That really won't be helpful because it's hard to discern coaching website that work from those that are duds. It takes experience to know that.
• They also read everything they can about coaching and coaching business tips. They're on loads of lists. And every day are force feeding themselves with information.
• They're surfing for answers to BIG questions that really can't be answered in a free blog or webinar ... things like how do I choose my niche or where can I find paying clients or what do I need to do to earn well as a coach? There's so much complexity in those questions.
• And, they're signing up for every free webinar and download they can get. And sometimes investing in programs they aren't ready for.

Here's the truth. You can't possibly consume a firehose of information and stay sane. It leaves you breathless with overwhelm and unable to move forward.

This is what I call the new coach swirl and spin. And those are the words that I hear coaches use. They say: 

"My mind is swirling! My head is spinning! And I'm so confused that I'm paralyzed."

I so know that place!

Thousands of bits of disconnected information have literally shut down your executive function, your creativity, and intuition.

And that's when fear and doubt surges up within you.

• Doubts about whether you can succeed in coaching.
• Doubts that anyone would pay you.
• Doubts about everything you've been working on.
• Fears that you've made the wrong decision, that you've wasted time and money.

And then your brain starts pulling up all the "evidence" to support those doubts.

Pretty soon you're in a depression. Anxiety has you in its grips.

Everything slows to a dead stop. But it does not feel restful.

You start thinking about giving up. Part of you wants to give up. You think it would be so much easier.

... Learn how to stop yourself from swirling and spinning here.

This episode is an ON AIR Coaching session where I get to work with with a real human being instead of just speaking out in the air by myself. It's so much fun for me to do these Coach the Coach sessions and I hope you find value in them.

Today, I'm working with Je'von Ikner to help him finesse his target audience and niche.

Je'Von's background includes 4 years in Wallstreet and a stint with Club Med working as a personal trainer, which he segued into owning a gym with a partner.

Je'Von explained that he wants to take a more holistic approach to wellness with his clients. He let go of the gym recently to focus in on developing his coaching business.

He is also a new husband and father. His son, Maxwell, is just 10 months old.

Why Not Coach People Like You?

I had an instant idea after meeting Je'Von in a Discovery Session that young men with new families could be a great audience for him. He agreed but he was a bit hesitant, thinking that he needed to have everything figured out before he could help someone else with that.

Do you worry about that too?

If you've had an impulse to work with people that are essentially in the same boat as you, it's a good impulse! As long as the target audience is well defined and narrow enough that you can create compelling messaging and offers that strike a resonant chord, it can work beautifully.

1. You only need to be one small step ahead of your coaching clients.

2. Did you know that most subject matter experts became experts by making a study of how to help themselves through a challenge? You can do that too.

3. Few people have the time or inclination to self reflect enough on how to breakthrough a specific challenge. As a coach, you can do some advanced thinking about your audiences common challenges and goals. Look at your own experience dispassionately for a while. Then create a model to help yourself. Test it out. Finesse that to help others in the same boat.

Don't worry, you'll still be able to meet your clients where they are and coach them in the moment. But, if they're going to enroll you, they only want to know that you've thought it through. 

A little structure goes a long way!

I reminded Je'Von what coaching is really about. Je'Von laughed because he realized while we were talking that I would ask him that. He said: 

"Coaching isn't necessarily a how-to.

You're not giving someone the answers so much as

helping them evoke their own answers, gain different perspectives,

then have a choice of answers that allows them to

make the decisions that are in line with where they want to go."

Elegantly put.

What Are the Top Challenges of Your Target Audience?

Next, I asked Je'Von what are the real challenges he's experiencing as a young man with a new family.

What he shared was poignant:

1. The biggest challenge is lack of personal time that can bring up feelings of guilt and resentment. 

·      time to see friends

·      time to take care of your body

·      time to develop a new business or pursue a dream

2. The fear that he may have to give up his dream.

3. And knowing how to raise a human being is a daunting challenge for all new parents.

... Find more about this here.