Welcome to the last day of my mini 12 step daily series, where I’m going to share my 12 steps to building your fabulous coaching biz.

Step Twelve – PR & Income Streams

PR

With PR it’s all about what they call the ‘hook’.

Let’s say a client has achieved an amazing thing like a world record for some sport they’ve taken up as a result of your coaching you could use that as a PR story. Think about some of the things that you read and why you think you might want to read them further. Would you rather read, ‘I lost 4 stone’ or ‘My husband made me fat’? Which one grabs your attention more, instilling intrigue and making you curious as to how that story turned out?

Any coach can say they transform the lives of others or at least helped them to facilitate change but that’s not as interesting as someone that saved a dog single-handedly thanks to his life coach (How could coaching have helped there? The coach helped him to change his mindset, giving him the confidence to learn to swim) Oh yeah, by the way I’m not a PR headline expert as you can probably tell but hopefully you get the gist of how adding something a bit more intriguing can make a difference to whether you’d read or click through further to find out more. You need a catchy title to make it stand out – get help on that – I’m not your girl!

When you’re reading things online, a bit like the blog post titles, start to notice what captures your attention and makes you click through. It can be a really good way to start flexing your PR muscles

Income Streams

There are many ways in which you can leverage your time but the easiest way of thinking about it is in terms of one to many, so the more people you can get in front of at one time is a great way to work with many spreading your message but also means you only ‘turn up once’ if you like to deliver content that you might have to repeat over and over again.  The added bonus is that people that might not normally be able to to afford to work with you are able to, just at a group level.

I’m sure if you’re running your own business you will have heard of the new VAT laws coming in 2015 that will affect digital downloads, but that doesn’t have to stop you.  One to many is about working with more than one person at a time so lots of group work – it could be that you consider running live group coaching sessions, you could ask to speak at various events, you could set up local membership clubs around your topic area, you could perhaps run a networking event where you charge and talk about a particular topic. You might have a coaching programme that you pull together for your clients, a series of coaching sessions that you might take a 121 client through for example and you can run that as a live workshop for attendees with the same, similar or adapted content. You could perhaps run retreats even.

It’s uncertain currently how the law will stand but if you’re creative there are always ways in which you can work with people, it just may be less complicated working face to face with people going forward.

To bring in additional income streams you need to think about your current skills and how you might turn that into an income stream to add value to your business. It doesn’t mean you stop working with your 121 clients but it’s a way to build in additional cash flow to keep things ticking over

If you wanted to uplevel your business what PR could you do and/or what income streams might be a great addition for you?

I hope you’ve enjoyed my mini series and that it’s given you some different ideas that you can try out in your own business.  If you want some support come and join my Coaching Rocks Bootcamp.  

The live programme is starting on Monday 12 January.  Join up now and you will get immediate access to the group ready to get cracking in January.  If you prefer to study on your own and just want the programme to download then you need to grab the self-study version (due to VAT laws it’s only available until 31.12.14) so if it’s something on your Christmas wish list be quick!

If you’ve enjoyed my mini series then grab a copy of my freebie eBook, 7 Things They Didn’t Tell You At Coaching School (you could be losing money & clients as a result).  Just sign up using the mini form below.

Welcome to day 11 of my mini 12 step daily series, where I’m going to share my 12 steps to building your fabulous coaching biz.

Step Eleven – Marketing

Marketing is about getting your message out there to your ideal clients.  You might use lots of different strategies as marketing methods – When I talk about marketing I’m thinking of it more in the ‘content marketing’ way, rather than traditional marketing through the use of ads etc, so for my marketing I use newsletters, guest posts, blogging, social media, etc, where I provide valuable information (I hope!) that helps people to understand how I work and might help them.

They key to marketing is to be consistent. There is a direct correlation to the results you get in your business to the amount you market.  What you focus on is what you attract. So let’s say I’m focusing on promoting my Coaching Rocks Bootcamp I then get much less interest in my 121 Strategy Sessions and the same works across all of the different areas in my business.

Marketing seems a really scary thing when you start out. You don’t know where to market, what to say and what to do. Having a plan is a great way to get everything in place. When you’re starting out you don’t need high end marketing strategies that are going to cost lots of money. They may have a place in your business further down the line but throwing money at marketing isn’t going to help when you start out. There are lots of things you can do with your marketing that’s free or minimal cost, BUT keep in mind time = money so in the time you spend marketing you want to be productive. Be creative with your content – you don’t need to keep re-creating it. Repurpose your content whenever you can.

What’s your marketing like?  Are you hit and miss or consistent?  What will you do differently in 2015?

Can’t wait for the full mini series and just want to get started?  Join my Coaching Rocks Bootcamp.  Want to learn way more about marketing? Come and join us!

If you’re on my mailing list then as part of this series you’re going to be getting some extra tips and some freebie bonuses along the way.  Today my subscribers are getting a ‘Fear of Marketing’ pdf.  Not on my list? Just sign up using the mini form below.

Welcome to day 10 of my mini 12 step daily series, where I’m going to share my 12 steps to building your fabulous coaching biz.

Step Ten – Build Your Online Presence

Step 10 is about building your online presence.  Once you’ve set up your website and your social media platforms you need to take action – who knew! It’s all about consistency.  Decide what platforms you enjoy and work with those.  Ideally choose 2 to start with and write posts on a regular basis to start to build some kind of engagement.

Building an online presence is about slowly building up your reputation – it takes time. It will not happen overnight so take some pressure off yourself!  You became your own boss to run your business, not to have yet another job (and one with longer hours sometimes at that!)  Schedule posts – you don’t have to be online 24/7 – use something like Hootsuite to schedule your posts but still remember to reply to comments and be present from time to time otherwise you will lose engagement.  One tool I love is the Social Media Planner by Sophie Jewry.  It’s a complete package that provides you with all you need to schedule your posts**

There are lots of different ways you can build your online presence; through blogging, sharing others’ content, sharing your own blog posts & articles you’ve written, creating memes (the images with inspirational quotes/messages on) to name just a few.  Automate where you can.  I used to feel a slave to Twitter, until I heard about a fab WordPress (my website) plugin called Revive Old Post.  It picks up all of your old blog posts and shares them every few hours on Twitter – pressure off.   Now obviously you need some content on your blog in the first place or it might get a bit boring for your followers!! but it’s something to bear in mind for the future (if you don’t know – I didn’t – a plugin is a little magic tool on your website  that helps you do techie things with little or no effort!)

So where do you start with blogging if you have no idea?  Here’s a quick tip – sit with a block of post it notes and brainstorm all of the things that you know about  and then put them into groups and add a category name.  Once you’ve done that then start to think about what you could write about that topic.  So let’s say you work in the stress field.  One topic area might be managing your stress through exercise – so you could talk about the following topics – yoga, tai-chi, walking, aerobics etc.  More than likely if that’s your area you could go further into each of those topics too.  Once you start brainstorming you will find you know loads of things you can write about.  Now once you’ve done that sort them into a workable order and enter each of the topics into your diary on a set day each week/month – however often you decide to blog. Before you know it you’ll have a one year plan of blog posts – ta-da!

What are you doing to build your online presence?

Can’t wait for the full mini series and just want to get started?  Join my Coaching Rocks Bootcamp.  Want to learn way more about building your online presence? Come and join us!

If you’re on my mailing list then as part of this series you’re going to be getting some extra tips and some freebie bonuses along the way.  Not on my list? Just sign up using the mini form below.

** In the interest of transparency this is an affiliate link.  I only do affiliate links with products I think are fabulous and this is one of those!  Trust me, when I use this properly I feel like an organised goddess!

Welcome to day  9 of my mini 12 step daily series, where I’m going to share my 12 steps to building your fabulous coaching biz.

Step Nine – Selling

Step 9 of building your fabulous coaching biz is all about Selling, not in a sleazy way – but authentically.  This is SO important to me.  I don’t want to sell for the sake of making an income.  I want to sell my products and services to help people build their business, their confidence and skills – it’s an exchange for me, not a hard sell.

I’m working with my own Business Coach on selling because this isn’t one of my strength areas.  (Tip:  It’s important to play to your strengths and bring in help on your areas for development).   I was the coach that gave away free to everyone because I didn’t want to get into the ‘S’ word game (selling)!   For me selling was sleazy, uncomfortable and didn’t sit at all with my values of connection and authenticity.  I knew I needed help, because let’s me honest I’m running a business and selling is part of that, so I started working with Lyn Pornaro, aka Sales Signora, who’s helped me view selling in a completely different way.

It’s not about selling, it’s about building relationships.  It’s about knowing that what you offer is really good and being confident in your offering.  It’s about helping to identify what people want and filling that gap for them, not about coercing them into your package just so that you can earn a few pounds.  It’s about follow up – follow up – follow up and accepting that a ‘no’ doesn’t mean ‘never’, but it might just mean ‘not right now’.

So think about how you can view selling as an ‘exchange’ of your fabulous services for money.  Build relationships, help people and then the sales will come. Promise!  I know because my business is really growing now as a result of being brave and taking the next step in working with people.

What are your fears and challenges around selling?  Do you need to step up?  If so, when will you?!!

Can’t wait for the full mini series and just want to get started?  Join my Coaching Rocks Bootcamp.  Yesterday I had a fabulous VIP day with Lyn and I’m now armed with even more strategies to grow my business and yes, I’m going to be using the ‘S’ word!  Want to learn how to sell authentically?  Join my Coaching Rocks Bootcamp where Lyn teaches you all about it.  Come and join us!

Also need some 121 help on the selling side?  Grab your own VIP day with Lyn here, while she still has spaces. 

If you’re on my mailing list then as part of this series you’re going to be getting some extra tips and some freebie bonuses along the way.  Today’s freebie is a Finding Paying Clients webinar.  Not on my list? Just sign up using the mini form below.

Welcome to day 8 of my mini 12 step daily series, where I’m going to share my 12 steps to building your fabulous coaching biz.

Step Eight – Welcome Packs

Step 8 of building your fabulous coaching biz is all about Welcome Packs.

A Welcome Pack is basically a document or collection of documents that you give to your client. Some coaches send physical printed documents, but it’s the norm to send everything electronically. Documents usually include a welcome letter, intro to coaching, info about you, testimonials, inspirational quotes, terms and conditions, questionnaire and perhaps a coaching exercise and/or personality test etc. You get to choose what goes in it.

So why have a Welcome Pack? After a client says that they want to work with you in the discovery session you can tell them you’ll send over an info pack. Being organised shows professionalism, it helps you to set boundaries and your Terms and Conditions (T’s and C’s)  in place.  This saves you going into the same detail over and over again, which may seem exciting in the early days but over time you’ll probably change your mind!! On the T’s and C’s side of things it keeps things clear from day one, everybody knows where they stand. It can be really helpful.

By getting the client to work through a Welcome Pack it shows a level of commitment from them, they are investing in the coaching relationship with you. It also gets them thinking and it’s giving them a taster of what it might be like to be coached if they haven’t been before. I love pre-work and homework with coaching – When you’re in the immediacy of a call other things can come up that you explore and there isn’t that time to reflect necessarily, so pre-work and homework can often be where the magic happens.

You can use the Welcome Pack to include things like your boundaries as a coach, for finding out the best way to coach them and payment methods amongst many things – please start from day one by getting people to pay up front. It’s so much easier having that as as one of your terms, especially if you’re uncomfortable about asking for money because you can say ‘in my terms and conditions I ask for payment up front’. You wouldn’t go into WHS or the dentist and not expect to pay, you’re being given something in exchange for payment. This is no different, so set it up from day one and save the awkwardness and more importantly the hassle.

What do you / will you include in your welcome pack?

Can’t wait for the full mini series and just want to get started?  Join my Coaching Rocks Bootcamp.  In the Bootcamp we spend time working through specifically what to include in your Welcome Packs.  Come and join us!

If you’re on my mailing list then as part of this series you’re going to be getting some extra tips and some freebie bonuses along the way.  Not on my list? Just sign up using the mini form below.

Welcome to day 7 of my mini 12 step daily series, where I’m going to share my 12 steps to building your fabulous coaching biz.

Step Seven – Discovery Sessions

Do you have Discovery Sessions with prospective clients?  (you may call them something else like Strategy Calls, Complimentary Sessions etc.) Some Discovery Sessions are a way to get to know each other, and some where the person is about to make their mind up to work with you and need you to help them understand why they should. The main reason for Discovery Sessions is to find out where the person is, what challenges they are facing and how you can help them.  There is varying opinion but mostly they are not a coaching session but a way to do some fact finding where both parties make a choice whether to take it to the next stage. Bear in mind that it’s your business, you get to choose who you do and don’t work with.  If you don’t want to work with someone you don’t have to.

As with the networking sessions starting conversations and building relationships is a great way to build and grow your business.  Discovery Sessions give you the opportunity for that initial conversation.

An effective way to hold a Discovery Session is to use the Past-Present-Future method (see my Speed Coaching post here). You find out what’s brought them to where they are, what’s going on for them currently and where they want to be.  Then you can start to identify how you can help them.  They aren’t meant to be a hard sell but a way in which you can offer an invitation to them to share how you can work with them if they choose to take the next step.

What will you include in your Discovery Sessions?  

Can’t wait for the full mini series and just want to get started?  Join my Coaching Rocks Bootcamp.  In the Bootcamp we spend time working through what to include in Discovery Sessions, how to prepare for them before, during and after, how to deal with objections plus loads more. Come and join us!

If you’re on my mailing list then as part of this series you’re going to be getting some extra tips and some freebie bonuses along the way.  Not on my list? Just sign up using the mini form below.

Welcome to day 6 of my mini 12 step daily series, where I’m going to share my 12 steps to building your fabulous coaching biz.

Step Six – Networking

Do you enjoy networking or are you one of those people that hears the word and runs off into a corner to avoid them?  I remember hating networking, I’d be standing in the room having palpitations – I was a bit like one of those cartoon characters with the pounding heart.  With each person that talked I would be psyching myself up more and more for it to be the dreaded time when it was my turn to speak.  Scary stuff.

It doesn’t have to be like that though.  The thing is I think we have this whole thing that we need to make a good impression – to sell ourselves, our products and our services.  We need to present ourselves well, but without losing ourselves in the process and actually it’s not about selling anything.  What we actually need to do is connect, to build relationships, to listen, to be interested and help people.

If you are building a friendship you take things slowly. Over time you may get asked to meet for a coffee, go out for dinner etc.  The same applies to networking, take your time to build relationships with people.

As coaches we expect our clients to face their fears.  If networking is one of your fears how will you overcome it?

How will you behave differently in your next networking meeting?  You are going to one now, right?!

Can’t wait for the full mini series and just want to get started?  Join my Coaching Rocks Bootcamp.  In the Bootcamp we spend time putting together some strategies for networking, exploring things such as the outcomes we want, what needs to be done to make them successful and Come and join us!

If you’re on my mailing list then as part of this series you’re going to be getting some extra tips and some freebie bonuses along the way.  Not on my list? Just sign up using the mini form below.

Welcome to day 5 of my mini 12 step daily series, where I’m going to share my 12 steps to building your fabulous coaching biz.

Step Five – Digital Setup

I went to a business conference many years ago and they said that if you have no website you have no business.  Well you could argue that it’s what people do search for – How many times have you Googled a company to find out more?  There is a counter argument too though, as I personally know a few coaches that haven’t got a website but have got very good businesses – however their website ‘replacement’ is very high levels of networking so they market themselves that way.  So let’s assume you go with the website option what are you going to put on it?

Website

• You need your website to be focused on your ideal client and know what you’re offering, which is why we talked about step 3 as niching and step 4 as pricing & packaging so that you have the info on what you’re offering will be.  You can then use this info on your website.
• Think about the kind of pages you want to include – About You?  Testimonials?  Working With You? Connect With You? Blog?
• Will your website be formal or informal?  Playful or more serious?  Corporate or more personal?

Social Media

What platforms will you use?  Do you think you’d like spending time on Twitter or would you prefer LinkedIn?  Hate both? What about Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram? They are all ways in which you can spread your message and there are many more but as my very good friend Rebekah Harriman (Social Media Strategist) would say, ‘Choose 2 and do them well’.

Blogging 

Blogging is a great way to build your online presence and drive traffic to your site.  It also positions you as an expert.  What if you hate writing though?  Just because you’re a coach doesn’t mean you’re the next J K Rowling!  Do what you love.  This is your business, your way.  You get to decide – how fab is that?! There are dozens of ways you can build your online presence if you hate blogging.  You could also outsource it of course.

So then – what action will you take?  Website? Social Media?  Blogging?  Let me know in the comments below.

Can’t wait for the full mini series and just want to get started?  Join my Coaching Rocks Bootcamp.

If you’re on my mailing list then as part of this series you’re going to be getting some extra tips and some freebie bonuses along the way.  Not on my list? Just sign up using the mini form below.

Welcome to day 4 of my mini 12 step daily series, where I’m going to share my 12 steps to building your fabulous coaching biz.

Step Four – Pricing & Packaging

Where do you start with pricing?  Well firstly you need to remove any relation to your worth with the amount you charge because they aren’t related!  Don’t charge what you’re worth, charge what your services are worth.  They are two different things.

You need to find out what people in similar fields of work to you are doing, but don’t just compare, use that information as a guide to help you with positioning.  Start to think about where and how you can add value to what you offer.  It’s the added value that makes all the difference.

Pricing is as much about confidence as it is about charging for your services.  If you have limiting beliefs around what you can or think you ‘should’ earn then do more work around beliefs.  It might be worth buddying up with someone or working with a coach to help boost your confidence in charging at the right price point. It could be the difference of make or break for your business.

When you think about your pricing you need to think about what you want to portray overall – value or premium? Either is fine, but needs to be relevant to your ideal clients. Do not price based on your feelings of self-worth, think about the value you bring, the transformation.

What added value could you give to clients?  An extra pep talk, some accountability, a written report after your coaching session, access for a set period of time in one of your groups?  There are many ways in which you can add value, get creative with it.

So then – what will you charge and how will you add value for your clients?

Can’t wait for the full mini series and just want to get started?  Join my Coaching Rocks Bootcamp.

If you’re on my mailing list then as part of this series you’re going to be getting some extra tips and some freebie bonuses along the way.  Today’s freebie is a mini eBook called Pricing With Confidence.   Not on my list? Just sign up using the mini form below.