Do you feel trapped by hourly coaching? Do you feel as if you’re spread too thin when it comes to the number of clients you have to help and the amount of revenue you’re actually bringing in? If so Episode 0030 is for you!

From the Podcast:

“Hello everybody! According to the latest Executive Coaches Earnings Report produced by Sherpa Coaching, per session rates for coaching have been declining over the past three years. Is this your experience in your marketplace? If so, what do you believe is causing it?”

Here’s my answer to this supposed “delima”…

…Rather than be worried about it – avoid it altogether:

Step #1: Don’t charge hourly so you’re not lumped into this category as a commodity.

Step #2: Be sure to position yourself as anything other than a generic title like “life coach.”

Step #3: Be niched and specific in who you’re helping and the problem you’re solving for them through your positioning – Example: The Midlife Crisis Women’s Coach.

Step #4: Have in place a system that attracts lots of pre-qualified prospects TO you, where YOU determine if they’re a good fit.

This is a surefire way to avoid having to be concerned about “hourly prices” at all.

None of my clients worry about it because they’re attracting clients who are already hungry for their solution, rather than running around trying to convince their prospects why they should eat.

Listen to the podcast for the rest!

Do you want to feel GOOD about the challenges in your coaching & consulting business and have it propel you forward in a healthy and efficient way? If so, I’ll share with you how I remain inspired in my coaching & consulting business.

Abbreviated Show Notes:

THE ONLY REASON I LOOK BACK…

…is to learn from my journey and measure how far I’ve come.

One way to ensure you make healthy progress is to measure how far you’ve come, as opposed to judging yourself on how much further you still have to go.

That worth repeating:

[ctt title=”measure how far you’ve come, as opposed to judging yourself on how much further you still have to go.” tweet=”measure how far you’ve come, as opposed to judging yourself on how much further you still have to go.” coverup=”f565s”]

My professional life was impacted many times by my personal life and it was generally from a lack of self-esteem.

You see, learning can only be gauged by behavior change, if no behavior has changed then NO real learning has occurred. Only the accumulation of knowledge.

So I’ve committed to only look back if in fact my intention is to learn from my behaviors rather than JUDGE my behavior.

It’s not what I did or didn’t do that matters but what I CHOOSE to do TODAY that matters most.

How I CHOOSE to perceive my

Believe me, I have a pretty dark past that I could completely lose myself in and be a victim of circumstances.

But I’ve committed to a core belief.

I AM NOT JUST WHO I WAS BUT WHO I CHOOSE TO BE RIGHT NOW.

That line from Batman Begins, where Katie says, “Bruce – It’s not who you are but what you do that defines you.” – has a lot of truth to it.

I consciously choose my BEHAVIOR today.

I choose to take RESPONSIBILITY for my current personal & professional circumstances.

I choose to take RESPONSIBILITY for my emotions…

…and in doing so I’m in a space to CHOOSE to RESPOND to people and my circumstances.

How can you apply this to your current business?

It’s time to take responsibility and look at that parts of your business that are or are not working.

Joe Polish from Genius Network approaches this in a brilliant fashion called Units…

Before Unit:

During Unit:

and the After Unit:

Let’s break these down:

1) BEFORE:

The before unit of your business is in charge of finding, identifying, educating and motivating prospects to come into your business for the first time.

If you haven’t built a sufficient understanding of your clients fears, frustrations, wants and desires then you won’t have a very articulate communication strategy that successfully attracts your ideal clients.

Most people just shout out into the market what they “do” but in this area you just want to simply whisper your song to stand out.

And it’s not just about getting anyone to come into your coaching & expertise business. It’s about getting the right people to raise their hand and say, “YES I want that result and I want to get it with you!”

2) DURING:

During represents the experience you’re delivering when your clients do business with you.

It’s the full experience from their very first purchase with you, the on-boarding process and until they’re no longer a paying client.

But the experience shouldn’t stop there…

3) AFTER:

This is about nurturing lifetime relationships and it’s about building a lifetime relationship with all of the people who already know you, like you and trust you so they do business with you and so you can orchestrate referrals.

Referrals has always been a BIG part of my business to this day. At least half of my clients come from referrals. But it’s because I don’t look at past clients, as past clients.

If you’re sick and tired of getting prospective clients on the phone and receiving sales objections you don’t know how to handle, this episode is for you. I’ll share with you how to eliminate 95% of objections before your prospects get on the line with you plus I’ll share an advanced objection handling perspective that works!

ADVANCED SALES OBJECTION HANDLING TECHNIQUES:

The way we set up your business is to handle objections up front before people even get on the phone with you.

We do this in your webinar, in your launch letter, your content creation and most importantly with your belief & posture (i.e. your identity)

Conversations That Convert, a conversation process I teach, also helps to eliminate a lot of resistance that may be standing between your prospect and their results.

However, you’re still going to get objections when it comes to price. It’s important to realize people aren’t rejecting you – It always comes down to the fact they don’t trust THEMSELVES TO FOLLOW THROUGH.

I can’t afford it is going to be a common objection and it’s why I’ve had great success in asking people, “Well what DID you budget initially? You knew what I offer wasn’t free before we jumped on a call so what DID you budget?”

We then use that number to get people started and work out a payment plan for the difference. It USUALLY works in our favor and the clients.

However helping people get out of their way and trust themselves will still be part of your calls.

[ctt title=”The difference between manipulation and persuasion is your intent.” tweet=”The difference between manipulation and persuasion is your intent.” coverup=”aYS40″]

Clearly your intentions should be to HELP this person create an environment where they NO LONGER struggle day to day with their health, their finances, their relationships or their connection to source.

If they could totally afford you, they probably wouldn’t NEED you…

…so it SHOULD feel like a stretch to invest in their outcomes. If it wasn’t, then they wouldn’t be on the line with you in the first place.

I was speaking with one of my clients just before I wrote this and we created a response to “I can’t afford you right now.”

They typical sales response would be, “[Name], you really can’t afford NOT to do this wouldn’t you agree?”

Personally, that response feels yucky to me…and will more than likely push your prospect backwards. They’re already in resistance at that point…

…so consider providing this response:

============================================

“I hear you loud and clear saying you can’t afford it right now…and I actually AGREE with you. That’s why you reached out for help.”

…And on the same hand would you agree you’re in the situation you’re in BECAUSE you haven’t had the guidance and systems in place to help you PREDICTABLY get the results you want and be as successful as possible?

[listen for a yes]

[name] I can help you…

…but in order for me to do that I need you to have your intentions to be VERY clear. That means you being 100% DETERMINED to really getting out of this pickle and reaching your goals we’ve talked about today.

I realize it’s a stretch financially and it SHOULD be…because your financial investment demonstrates your energetic commitment to STRETCH beyond where you are and get what you say you want.

I can’t do it FOR you, but I CAN do it WITH you.

So, [name] what amount can you invest today that will match your commitment.

============================================

My intent is to acknowledge this person where they are yet, NOT comply with their inability to TRUST themselves and LEAN INTO the transformation.

In Episode 28 I’ll take you deep into the world of why I quit my business and even life at one point…an episode like none I’ve shared before.

If you’ve ever considered quitting your coaching business then episode is for you.

If it isn’t, share it with someone who you feel would stand to benefit

SHOW NOTES:

There’s no “logical” amount of information I can provide an illogical mind about what’s possible in their life.

Someone who wants positive changes in their life without actually shifting how they see themselves or their lives is due for a lot of suffering.

I KNOW.

I went through the same thing myself for nearly 4 years.

It required taking responsibility for EVERYTHING I had created in my life at that time in order to break the cycle.

After my divorce in 2005 I ended up…

Clinically depressed.

Overweight.

Broke.

…and hopeless.

Eventually, I got tired of creating hardship for myself but it was a long painful journey filled with anxiety attacks, 911 calls where I thought I was having a heart attack and many depressed days.

I saw where I had created attachments in my life to preserve my fragile ego.

These attachments were causing me to believe and behave in ways that created my own suffering.

I was addicted to unhealthy relationships. Sex. Food. And self-loathing.

I wasn’t doing drugs or alcohol…

…so I pretended I wasn’t that bad off really.

I was a MASTER at hiding from the reality of my situation…yet making it look like I was successful on the outside.

And if I DID happen to attract a good woman…I found a way to push her away.

I was POWERFUL. I created REALLY horrible circumstances for myself and those that were around me.

The good news was I could create NEW circumstances. It just wasn’t going to happen overnight.

The challenge was, and is, we want everything to change right now – but who you are today will create your circumstances

tomorrow.

It doesn’t work any other way.

Until you get that you’ll keep trying to hold on to relationships, animals, behaviors, habits or beliefs that make you feel good “right now.”

I had created my storm. A real SHIT storm if I’m to be blunt.

And I had to whether the natural consequences of my choices…

…while shifting my beliefs about who I REALLY was and what I was capable of in the world.

I chose responsibility.

I had to turn those new PARADIGMS into behaviors that created a whole new experience of life.

Thank god I did…

…whatever you’re going through, keep going.

[ctt title=”The light is always brightest in the darkest places. ” tweet=”The light is always brightest in the darkest places. [why you shouldn’t quit]” coverup=”euT9z”]

Don’t be scared.

Trust.

Open your eyes…

…and move towards the light.

In Episode 27 I talk with Travis Sago on Paid for Performance marketing, Email marketing strategies and self-growth hacks that work. Travis Sago runs the Mojo Mastermind and is the CEO of Big Mojo Promotions, a paid for performance marketing agency.

Things we cover in this Episode:

* The state of marketing & consulting and some of the problems we see currently.

* How we both got started with the “Pay For Performance” model for clients

* How Travis helped someone go from $120k to $800k in 2 years and the big “ah ha” moment he had.

* Why the whole industry of online marketing needs to change

* The one word that Travis feels is the greatest asset to growing and deepening his relationship with his audience.

* The “different’ question that made one of the biggest leaps in his business career: [13:11]

* The biggest difference between a mediocre chess player and an advanced checkers player and how it relates to the longevity of your business [13:50]

* The “types” of stories he uses in his email marketing and what he wants to give his reader that moves the sale faster and farther than anything else [16:09]

* The “myth” about email copywriting and the one thing no one tells you about email marketing courses [18:27]

* The meat and potatoes strategy he uses that everyone can understand (and leads to more trust & sales) [18:47]

* The Heaven and Hell Island Concept that he uses to bridge the gap for readers…

* Step 1 of writing any email or Facebook status update that leads to greater affinity with prospects [19:50]

* Step 2 and 3 are revealed right after…

* …and this is all just in the first 20 minutes!

There’s a TON of more empowering topics we cover in the 30 minutes that follow like:

* The “moral of the story” strategy that creates massive trust and sales

* The one thing ALL of your prospects want you to give to them and how to do it so that it forever changes the relationship

* 70% of your approach to selling stuff to your market is based on making the right ________ to the right _____. If you can do this right you can get a lot of your words wrong and still make sales.

* How he made $100k from a single Facebook post

* The ONE high-level strategy he suggests to REALLY get to know your ideal client (and the one tool you can use to do it)

* And MUCH more…

Give Episode 27 a listen and share this episode with someone you know would appreciate it.

Resources:

Learn more about Travis at Big Mojo Promotions

In Episode 26 of Turn Your Problems Into Profits, you’ll discover why you shouldn’t try to work with everyone and how to only attract ideal prospects who are willing and able to invest with you.

In my experience when it comes to high ticket sales & coaching you want to work with people who ALREADY believe in themselves.

So if that’s the case your marketing needs to speak TO those individuals therefore, you weed out the types of personalities who DON’T believe in themselves.

This is less of a script and more of an overall approach. But at the end of this podcast I’ll provide you with a process of which you can “script out” a way of vetting who your offer is for and who it isn’t for:

But what does this overall approach look like first?

Well there are two areas you want to look at:

A conceptual or a more philosophical approach. and secondly a more tangible and strategic approach.

1) First on a conceptual level – It begins with you, your level of confidence in your competence, which is then reflected in the tone of your voice (via the voice of your writing AND your voice reflection in your webinars & audio)

This is more of the who you are, what you believe, and how deeply you believe it. – this goes for your skills, your talents, your convictions.

2) Secondly on a more tangible and strategic level – Within your communication strategy you want to be initially inspiring your ideal client to stand up and say YES. That’s ME.

Example: from one of my clients in the IBS niche…

“Do You Want To Be Free From The Pain Of IBS?”

or

“Ready To Be Free Of IBS?”

If you’re driving people from say a Facebook ad, you would create what we call an indoctrination video that you put in front of them or before the webinar you’re delivering…

…you want your ideal client to feel and sincerely believe you understand their problem…BUT more importantly, once that’s the case you want to set the conditions for the TYPE of person you’ll accept working with. [this is where a lot of people miss the boat]

This is the difference between selling a $495 digital program and a $5000 to $10,000 program.

You’ll sell a $495 digital program to nearly anybody or any personality – however if they don’t do anything with it that’s on them. It’s a digital non-coaching program & holding them accountable is a lot more difficult. (although not impossible)

The $5k price tag alone can weed the wrong people out, but even then you get people who think by giving you the $5k, YOU suddenly are “100%” responsible for their success…

…NOT TRUE. They have to be committed to DOING the work. Our coaching is ONLY as good as their willingness to implement it.

So once your ideal prospect stands up in their mind and says, “Yes that’s me”, now you have to screen for the types who are willing to do the work to get the result – by sharing that there is in fact WORK to be done.

You see certain marketers do this all the time by stating this consulting model actually takes WORK and it’s not push button. They’ll say something like…

“If you’re looking for a “push button business” then this is NOT for you…

…however if you’re not afraid to do the work and creating a $22,452.65 a month business is something you find attractive …then you and I could probably work together.”

You want your non-ideal prospect to say, “Holy crap, no way I’d work with this guy. I’m not doing THAT much work” or what they’re really saying is, “there’s no way I’m willing to take on THAT much risk and responsibility and possibly fail!”

[ctt title=”Here is the thing, you cannot convince the right person to do business with you because…THE RIGHT ONE WILL ALREADY WANT TO.” tweet=”Here’s the thing R...

Kavit Haria started his first online business in 2005 selling marketing education to musicians.

After mistake after mistake, failure after failure, he finally learned to build a thriving online business using intricate and automated sales and marketing funnels that built an email list of over 100,000 musicians and generated over a million dollars in sales per year.

In 2008, he founded Insider Internet Success; his company through which he helps people discover winning, profitable business ideas and sets up automated marketing and sales funnels.

In Episode 25 of Turn Your Problems Into Profit we’ll take a deep dive into how someone with a solid idea can create a profitable 7 figure online business.

Kavit blogs regularly at InsiderInternetSuccess.com, writes an inspiring e-mail to 15,000 business owners daily, and has taught at seminars and conferences in the UK, America and Australia over the last 6 years. You can also Download the book of free $100,000 case studies there as well.

Kavit has a very simple philosophy: Have fun, do exceptional, meaningful work, pay attention to the details, treat people right, tell the truth, have a positive impact on the world around us, give back, and keep learning.

How would you handle it if a business coach you hired to help grow your business, failed you miserably? I can tell you how I handled it in this episode of TPIP.

A few years ago I Invested in a VERY well known business mentor I had found on Facebook to help me accelerate the growth of my coaching business.

To say I was stoked would be an understatement.

This was how I was going to make a greater impact and increase my monthly coaching income to $20k a month.

I was SO excited I had my best friend invest as well and HE brought along two other guys too.

We all jumped in.

I remember my conversation with the mentor like it was yesterday…

…He had ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY I was going to hit my goal.

“In 30 days you’re going to hit $20k for the month…”

His TONE was DEAD SERIOUS…

…AND I BELIEVED HIM…(More on that in a moment…)

And guess what happened in 30 days…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…nothing.

I didn’t hit my goal.

Or ANY financial goal for that matter.

Matter of fact I was lighter in the wallet afterwards than when I started.

We had one strategy call right after I came on board determining what was going to happen next…

…we left off with the fact that he was going to write an email for me that would go out to my email list and it would attract the few people who were ready to get started with me.

I’d take the money from those sales to scale up my business with paid advertising.

The plan was set…

…a few days went by.

…then a week went by.

…then almost 2 weeks went buy.

…I was on his weekly conference call where they were talking about a 9 word email you can send out to your list and get a response from those most interested.

I was running out of time. We were already a few weeks into the 30 days and I had nothing happening.

So I popped up on the call and said I had a question…

…”[guru’s name], we talked about you doing an email to go out to my list…should I do this instead?”

His response: “YES. Do that!”

So I did…

…and the response from my email list was…

…NOTHING.

…CRICKETS.

…SHIT.

I wasn’t sure what to do next…I was anxious.

I shared with him my results and his response was:

“So what do you do to go out and make a sale normally?”

My response was that I was generally just doing business off of referrals from happy clients.

But that wasn’t as predictable as what I was hoping to learn from him.

He just suggested I go out and get a sale…and get back with him.

…and I did get back with him.

It was just a day or two before I was to pay him $4k for the next month.

I told him the day before it was due that I just didn’t pull through and that I had screwed myself by not having a pipeline in place at the time. I had just thought we’d get results in a different manner.

…he pretty much just agreed that I had screwed myself and that was that.

…

…

…

Here’s the thing. The other 3 guys all had similar experiences…

…where the guru didn’t follow through on things he said he’d do.

DISAPPOINTING TO SAY THE LEAST…

…BUT…

…Here’s the part you probably didn’t see coming…

…THIS WAS THE BEST THING THAT COULD HAVE EVER HAPPENED TO ME PERSONALLY AND PROFESSIONALLY.

I can look back and realize I WASN’T READY…

…remember when I said I BELIEVED HIM when he said I’d be making $20k in 30 days?

Yeah, I believed him, BUT I DIDN’T BELIEVE “IN” MYSELF.

I thought I did based on his absolute belief…

…but you know what?

I DIDN’T.

But today BECAUSE of that experience…I HAVE ended up doing $25k per month.

I HAVE helped clients generate hundreds of thousands of dollars just in the past year.

::WARNING:: this post has less to do with with “strategies and tactics” and more to do with the intangible & conceptual principles that dictate whether you show up powerfully in your business or not coaching & consulting business.

[ctt title=”The better stories you tell yourself, the more effective stories you will communicate into your market.” tweet=”The better stories you tell yourself, the more effective stories you’ll communicate into your market.” coverup=”MyObI”]

Leading yourself MINDFULLY is the greatest light you can shine in the world…

…and in order to do so you’ll need to give yourself some C.R.E.D.I.T.

If you expect to HAVE a certain outcome, such as a 6 or even 7 figure business

that’s run efficiently, there are going to be steps you’re going to need to DO.

And to DO those specific steps consistently you’re going to need to BE a certain

type of person who demonstrates certain qualities.

So no this isn’t the next sexy Twitter strategy or Periscope tactic…

…but these ARE fundamental qualities that dictate how quickly and efficiently you

navigate your journey ahead and reach your desired outcomes and goals.

1) CONGRUENCE:

The stories you’ll tell yourself ABOUT YOURSELF should be congruent with what

you’ve done, what you’re doing and what you know for a fact you can do for your

clients.

One of the leading reasons aspiring experts and coaches never get off the ground,

or take so long to do so, is because they feel incongruent in their offering and what

they’re capable of delivering.

They’ve been told, “Follow your passion and the money will follow…”

…hope is NOT an action plan and the uncertainty of precisely HOW that’s going to

happen allows room for fear to bread.

The gap created by incongruences allows for anxiety and distortion to grow within

the body…

…and you can’t escape the feeling no matter how subtle it is.

Why?

Because the thoughts and images of what will happen because you’re NOT congruent

trigger a chemical response in your body.

It creates complacency, excuses as to why you can’t do what’s necessary and

procrastination.

HOWEVER – Story, Strategy, and Systems are the answer…

And the number one thing is…

…to ensure the story you’ve lived that has lead to what you’ve done and supports

what you can do for clients are all congruent.

Build a strategy that puts that story in front of your ideal audience…

…and create systems for attracting, selling and serving your clients.

You’ll eliminate resistance before it ever happens.

Start first and foremost with taking responsibility for your congruence.

2) RESPONSIBILITY:

No one is going to come in and discover you OR save you from obscurity…

…it’s rare.

However, we’re indoctrinated by movies where a prodigy with spectacular skill is

miraculously discovered and then amasses money and fame.

It doesn’t happen like that at all.

If you DO want the possibility of this happening, you have to put yourself in a place

that it COULD happen.

However, it’s more appropriate to take responsibility for your story, your trajectory,

your marketing communication and ultimately for your success.

Your story DICTATES your trajectory.

If you haven’t crafted and articulated your story your communication will be

UNCLEAR and therefore, it will not be precise.

Take responsibility for your communication strategy INTO the market because

if all you’re doing is talking about what you DO for people, you’ll be speaking to

deaf ears.

People do NOT care about what you do until you can articulate that you understand

Tim Brownson is a Internationally published author, a Life Coach, NLP Master Practitioner and Certified hypnotherapist. He’s the founder of Coach The Life Coach where he certifies & trains new life coaches.

He also runs the A Daring Adventure Blog for his personal coaching clients where he has a tendency to use a loot of humor and not a little profanity to make a point.

In Episode 21 we’re going to cover:

* The similarities between coaching and sales.

* The lifestyle that’s available to you by understanding what true value really is.

* Why just wanting to help people is a bad reason NOT to charge higher prices.

* Why perfectionism as a coach is a huge biggest enemy.

* Why having a team is important to the growth of your business.

* And much more!

[ctt title=”We have a responsibility and a duty of care to help people understand the value we provide. ” tweet=”We have a responsibility & a duty of care to help people understand the value we provide. – @timbrownson” coverup=”H2URv”]

If you’re a coach or expert and you’ve been challenged by sales and lifestyle you’ll love this episode.

Resources:

CoachTheLifeCoach.com

ADaringAdventure.com

[Book] How to Be Rich & Happy