Suzanne Evans » Business Growth

Are You In a Practice Or a Business?

Suzanne Evans — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 18:10:48 +0000

As a coach, when you talk about “your practice”, it has a definition and an insinuation of one-on-one coaching. It is important to build coaching businesses that aren’t solely based on one-on-one coaching. Certainly one-on-one coaching is a component – and for some people a very large component – of their coaching business, but you cannot build a successful business when only offering one-on-one coaching.

Here’s the challenge with businesses that are only one-on-one coaching: when you only build a coaching practice, it means that the only money you can earn is when you are present. It means that for every dollar you make, you must spend a certain amount of your own time.

That’s a recipe for serious trouble for a few reasons.

Building a business like this can easily lead to burnout.
You are your business. If you are your business and something unexpected happens – a family emergency or an illness – you lose income if you aren’t present to deliver your service.
The one-on-one model heavily limits your ability to reach and help more people. I really come from a marketing mindset, which is to build a coaching business as apposed to just a practice. A real coaching business has multiple streams of income. It means one-on-one coaching, groups, or you may have an associate coach that’s leading some programs for you. Also, this includes products like books and ezines, audio programs and DVDs. This means programs you lead once live and then you record those to be sold at a later time.

Building a coaching business can also include workshops, seminars, and having all different types of clients from VIP platinum level clients at higher rates to lower level packages. I always use the term “coaching business” as apposed to “practice.” It’s important to make this distinction as you build you business.

When you hear the word marketing, what‘s the first words that pop in your mind? Pushy? Selling? Advertising? Networking?

It’s not at all uncommon that a lot of negative words pop up. That’s because people have associated marketing with sales, pushing or manipulation. I want to share with you my approach to marketing. Hopefully it will be a relief to some of you who are worried that marketing is salesy and pushy or ugly in some way.

I wake up every day and love marketing. I really do. I wake up and think, “What can I sell today?” I love the sales process. I love the sales process because the way I look at it is it‘s a sharing process. I always trade the word sales with the word share.

If I can get up today and share what I know is really helpful, wonderful information – for me that’s marketing information and marketing coaching; for you it might be something completely different, but whatever it is – if you can share your gift today and someone purchases, you can help more people transform their lives. That’s what I was put on this earth to do, so I love the sales process.

I love marketing, because marketing means I reach more people and I make a bigger difference.

My definition of marketing is that marketing is a way to authentically share my experiences and my gifts with those who can use it to shape their lives, empower their work, and shorten their paths to success.

When you come from an authentic place in marketing, it’s so much less work. You don’t have to make anything up. You simply insert yourself into a business. That doesn’t mean you don’t use some very good marketing tools and skills. It doesn’t mean there aren’t strategies and tactics out there to market that work better than others, but the foundation is the authentic approach to marketing.

Developing a healthy marketing mindset is the first step. It is not the tool that makes the most difference – it is how you use the tool that is important. That’s what authentic marketing is – if you approach the business building, marketing and selling processes authentically, you can make all kinds of mistakes and still help more people and achieve great success.

Launch a Coaching Business: 4 Secrets for Authenticity and Success

Suzanne Evans — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:48:52 +0000

Something that generates a great amount of curiosity is the fact that I built my coaching business to a relatively large level of success while working a day job.

People wonder how I did it so quickly and if there is a step-by-step roadmap that they can use. I’ll share my four secrets to my success when launching or growing a business. They aren’t complicated marketing formulas. In fact, their sheer simplicity may shock you.

1.) Be willing to make a fool of yourself every day.

I remember riding the train from New Jersey to New York to my day job. I was journaling in a notebook and I thought, “Gosh, how am I going to do this?” I had bought into the mantra, “Build it and they will come,” but when I first started my business, I was struggling to get clients.

And as I was writing in my notebook, this came to me:

“If I am willing to make a fool of myself every day, this is all going to work out.”

If you are willing to be the change that you want to see in the world, you are going to look a little out of the ordinary. You’re going to seem a little off-center. You may even be called crazy.

Think of all the people in the history of the world who have been seen as, “Oh my gosh, that person’s a nut job,” from Jesus Christ to Gandhi to Rosa Parks to historians to political figures.

The realization I had today was that I have a message and I am determined to share that message. So, I can’t worry about what friends or family members think. I can’t worry about failing in front of my colleagues. I needed to be willing to be the fool.

2.) Do what you love.

People often ask me, “How do you stay motivated to market?”

This question scares me. If you have to motivate yourself to market your business, you may be in the wrong business.

I put both feet on the floor in the morning, and the first thing I think about is, “Who can I help? Who can I serve? “I actually say that to myself every morning. “Who can I help? Who can I serve? “I know that I can’t help or serve people without marketing, so doing what I love is paramount.”

Many people stay in businesses that they aren’t passionate about because they’ve worked at them for years, or months, but it’s really not their calling. They feel an uncomfortable commitment to follow through on it, because, “they started the business.” It doesn’t matter how much time you’ve put into something, you must be sure to do what you love.

3.) Time melts away when you are in a movement.

People always ask me, “How did you find the time to build your business?”

I was working a 50-60 hour weekday job in New York City while I built my business. Of course, I am no longer in that day job, but I did work that day job up until early 2009.

Time melts away when you are in a movement. Time will not melt away when you are working, but it will melt away if you are being the change that you want to see in the world.

Yes, marketing is important, but instead of thinking about it as solely marketing, focus on starting and perpetuating a movement.

I remember sitting at dinner one night and friend looked at me and said, “Gosh, you’re working a lot,” because I was working all day as well as building my business.

I looked at her and said, “I didn’t notice.” The truth of the matter is, I didn’t notice. When you are in love with what you‘re doing and it is a movement, time melts away.

4.) Whatever you do, make sure it‘s 100% YOU!

There is no magic formula for success. Everyone is different and you need to make sure that the business you build is authentically yours.

Yes, you will need to learn strategies, techniques, and build strengths when marketing and growing your business. Some will work better than others for different people. The key is that you learn what works best for you and always infuse a bit of yourself in every strategy or tactic that you employ.

Get clear about the movement you want to start and the change you want to see in the world before you start marketing. After that, put yourself out there in a way that is extraordinary. If you really care about your movement and what you’re doing, you will talk about it anywhere.

As you launch a new business or continue growing an existing business, keep my four secrets in mind. Like I mentioned before, there is no magic formula that will work for everyone. The vital piece is that you are focused on a mission that is important to you and promoting it with full force in the most authentic ways possible.

The Reviews Are In!

Suzanne Evans — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:00:45 +0000

After working in the Broadway theatre industry for over 10 years, you get access to some of the greatest business lessons ever shared. Every launch, every product, every service, every ad, every campaign, every innovation better contain some razzle dazzle. But, all business growth and leverage comes back to the same question every producer asks before they book a theatre to take their show to The Great White Way….

WHY?

And the BIG question to answer that question: What’s the movement?

We are each born with a movement to make a difference and have an impact and the way we share that becomes our medium. For some they will teach, others coach, some support, or volunteer. I think the greatest tragedy in life is not sharing your movement or your unique ability with others and the world. It’s like a great musical with no music. It simply does not work.

From that movement is your deep seated WHY or what I call “so that…”

So, you must get clear on:

WHY your business?

WHAT does your business change? and…

FOR WHOM?

Take it all back to the city that never sleeps… for the what, why, and for whom of business just look at these lessons from the stage:

1. WHY

You don’t want folks leaving the theatre humming the tunes. You want them entering the theatre humming the tunes. People are motivated to be apart of something bigger and quite frankly no one wants to be left out. Create an innovative WHY, MOVEMENT, or IDEA big enough to take grass roots shape and you can maintain a tiny advertising budget. Take our production of GREASE in the 90′s for example. There were rotating star turns…unheard of in theatre at that time, but that innovation got buzz. It got buzz to the point you wanted to see people you didn’t even like.

2. WHAT

You can get as innovative as you like (and above I say go for it) but you better still deliver the solution. In theatre people come to be entertained. They seek escape. If you deliver creativity but NOT entertainment Ben Brantley from The Times might applaud your genius, but word on the street will be clear… “Tell people you saw it. Don’t actually go. Ben loved it in The Times. But, it’s a real drag to sit through” Word of mouth always travels faster than media… even in this technology age.

3. FOR WHOM

For the people. Not for the money. For the fans. Not the fame. In the words of P Diddy, “Don’t chase the paper. Chase the dream”. Two things could have happened the night we opened, Suessical, one of the most expensive musicals to ever hit Broadway (this was pre Spiderman, folks). We would get rave reviews or we would get slaughtered. And if you are a really strong strategy forward production company you have a strategy for each of these outcomes:

Rave reviews: Don’t believe your own press. Work like hell to fill the seats.

Slaughtered: Don’t believe the press. Work like hell to fill the seats.

We got slaughtered, but we worked like hell to fill the seats…. so often in business we wait for the reviews and they don’t matter. Either way we are looking for people to fill the seats.

When you know your WHY – you can ask anyone to work with you. No fear.

When you understand your what – money follows. No fear.

When you are clear about what you want to change none of this feels like work. No fear.

Business doesn’t give you the opportunity for a dress rehearsal. Everything is a first run. A test. So, know your movement, do the work for the right reasons and hum the whole time.

Suzanne is hiring!

Suzanne Evans — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 14:28:26 +0000

When you get bigger.
You better get better.

Suzanne Evans Coaching is on the verge of launching and announcing some f*ck*ng amazing new stuff. We are thrilled to be in a place where we now need — YOU!

Our amazing team is ready to expand and I fully believe that everything we need is always present (thank you, David.) And that is why I know you are what we need next (or someone you know.) A big expansion is taking place and we are looking to fill four new positions… yes you heard me correctly!

So, here are the positions:

Executive/Personal Assistant

Director of Communications and Outreach

Technical Wizard

Associate Coach/Director of Enrollment

If you think you might be right — please note:

1) THESE ARE NOT CONSULTANT ROLES — these are full time salaried positions.

2) EVERYONE ON OUR TEAM — is required to travel.

3) WE ARE LOOKING FOR — folks with a spirit of entrepreneurship and creativity.

4) WE ROCK — to work for, but we also rock our work. The lazy need not apply (I am dead serious when I say that). What we do is hard work.

5) YOU BETTER — have a life. We work hard, but nobody knows how to party like Team Suzanne.

Want more information about applying?

Call (843) 603-1202.

And yes — please pass this on! We will not have these positions open for long because we believe that the fast action takers change the world.

Note: Our team will be taking NO questions via email… For next step call (843) 603-1202.

The ONE revenue channel that consistently outperforms EVERYTHING … and you can still jump on board!

Suzanne Evans — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:52:33 +0000

I’m talking about simple 15-minute conversations.

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Over the course of four years I have developed a system that has enabled me to bring in well over 7-FIGURES WORTH from these short, but powerful discussions.

This isn’t magic. (Although sometimes it sure feels like it!) You don’t have to be a rock star to make it work because I mastered it after having absolutely no business experience.

When you sign up now at:

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You will discover:

Keys to structure your conversations with prospects so they go crazy about how much you will make them – not how much you will cost them.

Simple secrets to finding yourself absolutely at ease and confident before and during each conversation. Really!

Powerful mindset shifts that help you focus on your amazing gifts. And confidently charge full value for delivering those gifts to your clients.

Ways to talk about the results you deliver, so your prospects are as excited as you are to get started.

And most importantly – a simple system that allows you to be TOTALLY in sync with your values while you are doing it.

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Enjoying VIP Week

Suzanne Evans — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:03:12 +0000

I had a great week with friends in Charleston. Brunch at one of the new top restaurants in the country – Husk; historic carriage ride; shopping; and back home for oysters – LOTS of them!

Then a week of VIP Days – which I just love and adore – really! The ability to create a strategy in a short amount of time is the entrepreneurial dream. It allows you to run not walk. Go further faster.

And, of course, there has been some added work this week taking the boat out of the water, making some small preparations for Hurricane Irene. It looks like as of today we are going to just get a side brush (hopefully). But it is enough to batten down the hatches. ;-)

Between the earthquake Tuesday and now Irene, I truly feel connected to all Mother Nature has to offer. LOL. For those of you in areas more affected I send good thoughts and love.

On to this week’s article… What if we Stopped Marketing?

Do You Like Me?

Suzanne Evans — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:14:01 +0000

Remember when Sally Field won the Oscar and squealed, “You like me. You really like me?”

Truth: Many of you are doing that in your business. Maybe it happens when you get a client; maybe at networking groups; in your Master Minds; or even in your marketing copy.

You want to be liked.
You need to be liked.

And it is keeping you broke.

I have long said I do what I do to make a difference, not to make friends and it has allowed me to be unattached to the outcomes. Martha Beck (the very wise life coach for O) says, “I love you, but I don’t care what you do.”

Brilliant!

The moment I care what you do, or I care if you like me, growth ends. You see to truly make a difference and be of service you have to be clear that the work is more important than the attention. Here is a fast track to focusing on what matters so you can make more money.

1) Get out of high school. I know it sucked for lots of people, but it is over. This is business and no one is running for prom queen. We are running for profits. The need to be the most popular might get you invited to parties, but it won’t get you rich. Time and energy in this area forces you to make bad decisions because you are in protection mode and not progress mode.

2) Be a bitch or bastard or blowhard or whatever. If you have something to say — dammit say it! Even if you think saying it will make you come off as one of those dreaded B words. Own your point of view and be willing to piss people off to have your message heard. AND you are smart — you know the difference. I don’t mean to wander around and be a bully; I mean stop caring whose feathers you might ruffle. Share you point of view!

3) Don’t get your love from your business. If you are doing what you are doing and wanting attention or fame. STOP. Just stop. You are going to be miserable or you already are miserable. Your business cannot fulfill your emptiness. It cannot give you enough attention to feel whole or special. It can bring you joy, light, or purpose, but not love.

I know for some of you this is going to feel harsh and it will feel how it feels. I don’t care what you think of me. I don’t need you to like me. I don’t need any new friends. If you do like me and we become friends — terrific. But I am not needing it or looking for it. I love you, but I do not care what you do. I will support you. I will help you. I will love you, but the moment I attach my needs of love or acceptance on you I have failed you.

Take a moment of truth — do you need people to like you? There is your money block. On the other side is freedom.

Why the coaching industry is embarrassing me

Suzanne Evans — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 15:32:29 +0000

When a good friend we truly care about, makes the same damaging mistake over and over, do we just smile at them and say, “Its OK! Go ahead and keep messing up your life?” NO! We confront them with their folly so they can change.

So why are we still tolerating a coaching industry where a majority of folks barely scrape by? Why is no one confronting the industry on its wretched record of failure?

Well … somebody FINALLY is! Watch the video. And leave your comments below. I simply can’t stand by as things continue. Can you?

Are you a H.O. or a B.O? The most crucial business question

Suzanne Evans — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 21:17:18 +0000

I know this always gets a big laugh.

But I am deadly serious: Are you a H.O. (Hobbyist Owner) or a B.O. (Business Owner)? Business is about one thing and one thing only: Profit. Yep, you also want to create massive change. But you can’t do that unless you can keep the doors open.

Because this question is at the very heart of so many business struggles, you should take 30 seconds and check out this powerful article just published on the She Knows Living website.

And you will find five on-target, dead honest secrets to insure you end up on the right side of this question.

Find a Business Coach: 3 Steps to Choosing the Right One for You

Suzanne Evans — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:54:30 +0000

www.HelpMorePeople.com/minicourse.htm

People ask me all the time, “How do I know if you’re the right coach for me, and if you’re not, how would I go about finding someone?” I have no difficulty answering this question honestly because I feel very strongly that there truly is no competition.

There are three important pieces when finding the right business coach, teacher, or mentor for you:

1.) You have to be in alignment with the person’s message. Does the way they market, the way they present themselves, and the way they speak feel right for you and feel right to you?

2.) Make sure they seem like they have a systematic approach. For instance, I have the Help More People system. They should have some kind of step-by-step process or series of criteria used to help their clients get from where they are to where they want to go.

3.) The third piece is – and this is the piece that makes some people a little squeamish, but I just want to be honest about it – you need to make sure that the person has made a significant amount of money beyond what your money goal is.

If your goal this year is to make six figures, you want to make sure that person has proven themselves to make at least $400,000, for example.

The numbers may be different in your situation, but my point is that there are a lot of wonderful people out there who have the best of intentions, who are calling themselves marketing and business coaches, but frankly they haven’t even filled their own practices.

So again, here are the three important elements to look for when choosing a business coach:

- Be sure that they’re in alignment with your heart and with your message.

- They should have a systematic approach to marketing and business.

- That they monetarily have gone past where you want to be.

If you’re wondering how to get this information before hiring someone… ask them! It sounds a little bit scary but it’s true.

You should also keep these three elements in mind when you’re considering whose advice to follow, even if you’re not working with them directly.

I always choose about three people to follow at any given time, and I let everything else go into a filter that when I have a chance or I have time then I will then catch up on it.

So instead of being subscribed to 20-30 different ezines (which can make your life very difficult), only subscribe to people who fit the three criteria I outline and unsubscribe or filter out everything else.

If you are a business or marketing coach, remember to evaluate your own approach from the perspective of your clients through these criteria as well. The people who need you most (your clients) should be able to see that you are a good fit for them based on these same three important pieces as well.

I’d like to invite you to learn how to help more people, make more money and enjoy more freedom with the free 5-day mini course, “Awakening Your Authentic Entrepreneur,” at http://www.helpmorepeople.com/minicourse.htm