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What if we Stopped Marketing?
I am trying to be as real with you as I can – honesty is my strong suit. A lot of marketers and coaches have been lying to you. Now, I do believe that most of them have not done it intentionally. They forgot or are so focused on their position they have ignored their own facts.
So, I ask the question, what if we stopped marketing?
If we stopped marketing we might all be surprised. All the hype about passive income, sitting on the beach while you get rich, do less to make more, or this is the ONE system that solves everything is just hype – it truly is. There is only one thing that will grow, propel, and sustain a 6, 7, or 20 figure business. A movement! So, all the drama of marketing is just that – drama. To make a difference and make mone y stop marketing and start a movement.
OK, now let’s cover some basic questions:
Stop marketing? Well, of course marketing serves a role in your business and you need to market on some level, but marketing alone and first is not going to solve your problems. It is just a spoke in the wheel. Creating a movement is the lynchpin… that is where you start.
What is a movement?
\’müv-ment\ An ongoing, informal group action that is inspired by a passionately shared idea and directed toward positive change
Friends, it is not in the emails, autoresponders, or strategy that attract people to you. What is your passionately shared idea directed towards for positive change? Building a business is not rocket science like many would like to scare you into believing – it is heart science. But, there are a few major pitfalls to avoid~
- A confusing message/movement
- Keeping your movement a secret – not sharing your message and leaving the house to spread the idea
- Thinking you do not have to ask people to join
- Giving up
Just look in our industry and outside of our industry for huge success … it was all about movements and not marketing that launched these folks:
- Ali Brown created a new wave of communication – the email newsletter to reach more people
- Dr Oz transformed scary Dr talk into table talk and got a nation healthy
- David Neagle took complicated universal laws and simplified them for inspiration and optimum wealth
- Rosa Parks simply had enough and in an hour created the Civil Rights Movement
- Lisa Sasevich turned ugly sales into the invisible close
- Lance Armstrong turned cancer into courage
Folks, marketing helped these ideas get out, but it did not form them. Your movement is the single most important element in your business. Is yours clear? Are you ready? What will you change? Stop marketing and start a movement.
(c) 2010 Suzanne Evans
About the author: Suzanne Evans is best known as the ‘action expert’ and has coached hundreds of solopreneurs to model her multiple six figure business. Learn how you can help more people, make more money and have more fun doing what you love by signing up for your free copy of the 5-Part Mini-Course ‘Awakening Your Authentic Entrepreneur’ at http://www.helpmorepeople.com
Networking and Joint Ventures: Why You Should Ignore Your Competition
www.HelpMorePeople.com/minicourse.htm
Something that many coaches, healers and other helping professionals have a hard time wrapping their mind around is the fact that there really is no competition. There just isn’t. I don’t have any and I don’t think about it.
Let me explain what I mean…
I’m not a horse race person, but I’ve seen one or two. All the horses wear blinders. They are little flaps that go beside their eyes. They do that because the minute a horse looks at the horse beside them, it slows down.
In this same way you must run your own race in business. There are a lot of people who are overwhelmed, under-performing, under-implementing, and not doing what they need to do to grow their business because they are so engrossed in all of the newsletters and ezines and emails that are coming through their inbox making them feel “less than” magnificent.
Stop basing your value and your success on what’s coming into your inbox. Shut it down, put it in a filter, and go build your business. Go run your own race. Go tell people about your story, share your message, and share your movement.
The minute you begin to compare yourself to others, or you look to others for validation, it will slow you down and the phone will stop ringing.
People always want to know how to start with nothing and go to a booming business with multiple programs and affiliates. People want to know how to get traffic to their site and more people in the door.
The answer that no one wants to hear is that there is no magic pill! The way to build a successful, sustainable business is to start talking to one person, and then you talk to two people, and then you talk to those people about how they can talk to someone.
It’s the same basic process whether your focus is online or offline. About 90% of the work I do is virtual, but when you’re getting started, consider using what you have in your immediate vicinity. Look to your town or your community. Regardless of where your business is or whether it is primarily online or offline, your approach must be based around connecting with more and more people.
I had a private client once who asked, “How do you get joint ventures and affiliate partners?” I said to her, “The same way you make friends.”
Approach affiliate opportunities and joint ventures the same way you live your life. Just reach out to people. When you find yourself saying, “Gosh, there’s something about that person that resonates for me,” connect with them.
So many people try to put more mystery into this than there needs to be. Although it isn’t complicated, you do have to put the connection time in. Nothing gets built offline or online unless you take the time, the energy, and the commitment to make connection after connection after connection.
The wonderful quote, “Be more interested than interesting” is relevant to this. The worst thing in the world is to do when making connections or partaking in any kind of marketing activities like social media is to say something like, “Hi, I’m Suzanne! Buy my stuff!” Nobody cares!
You must walk into a business networking, marketing, or social media situation the same way you walk into a real party. Introduce yourself, talk with people, ask people about commonalities.
Walk into every room (or virtual event, or social media) like it’s your party. What would you do if it were your party? You would thank people for coming. You would ask them how they are. You would see what you could do for them. You would be more interested than interesting.
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
Networking and Joint Ventures: Why You Should Ignore Your Competition [4:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Networking and Joint Ventures: Why You Should Ignore Your Competition [4:17m]: DownloadAuthentic Business: Why Old Marketing Tactics Don’t Work Any More
www.HelpMorePeople.com/minicourse.htm
We are in a new era of business. Things are shifting very fast. A lot of the old marketing techniques simply do not work any more.
I was recently on the phone with a friend who works in the online business management world. She is one of the leaders in that industry and has been doing it for many years.
We were talking about the fact that many business and marketing techniques are just not working anymore and that a lot of marketers are still out there selling them to people. They’re saying, “Yes, do this. Do this. Do this,” but the climate has changed. What worked at one time doesn’t work any more. This new era of business is much more hands-on.
Gary Vaynerchuk talks about this a lot. He puts it well when he says, “It is legacy over currency”. In this new era, the focus is on how to work with people to get the results they need and they want, not simply advocating the tactic of the month. It is about becoming a vessel for change in the world.
The dominant approach used to be very marketing-tactic-centric, and money-centric. It was all about emails and copy. I’m not saying that particular tactics or strategies are bad. I absolutely use many of them and they do work.
However, there is a difference between using a teleclass to “fill your funnel” and because teleclasses are a hot tactic, and using a teleclass to share truly valuable information. Years ago the prevailing model would have been to give no content up front and instead focus completely on selling. Now it’s the exact opposite. The focus now is being of service and providing as much value upfront. It is about being completely transparent and honest, and as generous as time allows.
Another example is the concept of a “niche”; it just doesn’t serve people anymore. A better way to look at it is discovering who needs you most. It used to be all about “positioning”. I now say it’s about forwarding your fingerprint.
In regards to delegation, over the last several years, the paradigm was, “How little can I work and how much I can make?” I think we are finally shifting back from being focused on delegation to being centered on service.
The tide is shifting fast. Some businesses and people don’t yet understand that there is a new dominant paradigm. It’s no longer enough to understand marketing. You have to be the change you want to see in the world to make the marketing actually work. The businesses who fail to take this into account are being left behind.
Unfortunately, many people would rather hide behind their marketing strategies or tactics and be able to blame them for their lack of success, than to get real about themselves and their authentic voice and stories and go out and share them with the world. It can be easier to blame the marketing strategies and systems than to embrace your vulnerability, and to go out willing to share your authentic voice and story every day.
For a while, you could market just about anything and make money relatively easily. Customers caught on and more and more business owners wanted something real behind the marketing. So people who are still marketing without a coherent message, real value, a movement, or “being the change” will ultimately not succeed.
This is a hard truth for a many people because it’s difficult for them to step into their movement. It’s difficult for them to realize that the only thing they really have to sell is who they are. But it can be done. And when it is, it brings a much higher level of intimacy and meaning to building and growing a business.
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
Authentic Business: Why Old Marketing Tactics Don’t Work [4:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Authentic Business: Why Old Marketing Tactics Don’t Work [4:30m]: DownloadYou Gotta Leave the House
(c) Copyright 2010, Suzanne Evans
http://www.helpmorepeople.com
——————————-
The single fastest way to get clients and grow your business is to get in front of people and get in front of them IN PERSON! There is nothing like a one-on-one connection to build the know, like, and trust factor, as well as hold someone’s captive attention. I am amazed how many entrepreneurs I speak with who have been trying to build their businesses from home. I know it is part of the appeal of an online/virtual business lifestyle, but starting with in person connections builds faster and more financially fruitful relationships. So, here are my top tips for making more money and impact by leaving the house!
1) Make certain you spend more time in front of people than in front of your computer! (Especially in the growth stages.) Making those decisions of best color for your website or researching what other people in your field are doing all have their place, but they do not directly bring you the opportunity to start a client conversation. Use the 80/20 rule80% of your time networking, meeting, and speaking and 20% of your time on strategy and research.
2) Don’t be so picky in the beginning. I hear people say they don’t like this group or they are not sure if that networking organization will do anything for them. Just GO! You have no idea who someone will know or who they might be able to introduce you to. You will soon learn which groups serve you and which groups don’t, but to start just go, meet, and share your movement.
3) Don’t have a drunk cowboy message. You know those people who you ask, “What do you do?” and 10 minutes later you are still trying to figure out what the heck they are talking about. Be clear and concise with a 2 or 3 sentence message. I call this your impact statement.
4) Act like it’s your party. Walk into every room as if you own it. Walk into every room as if these wonderful people have gathered here just to meet you. Greet them, be curious, ask questions, be gracious, and be in your power. People are attracted to confidence. Authority inspires.
5) Follow up and ask.
a) Follow up with everyone you meet within 48 hours, even if it is just a quick “nice to meet you” email. Be certain to ask how you can help them and offer them a session, a freebie, or an offer to move them closer to knowing your work.
b) Ask for what you wanta referral, an opportunity to share how you can work with them, or an alliance/partnership.
BONUS: Have fun! You are in a service business and one of the greatest joys of this industry is meeting people and building relationships.
(c) 2010 Suzanne Evans
Authentic Marketing: How to Set Yourself Apart from Others
www.HelpMorePeople.com/minicourse.htm
A common challenge for coaches, teachers, healers and other helping professionals is differentiating themselves from others in their fields.
The good news is you set yourself apart just by being born. People forget that. The nature of your unique life makes you different and makes you unique. I call this your intuitive intelligence.
You have not lived the same life that I have lived and neither has anyone else. Even if we have the same training and we sat down and decided to teach the exact same model to people, it would be different because we are different people.
Hold your hand up in front of you right now. No one shares those finger prints. Your marketing style, your business style, and your message all reflect that uniqueness.
Get off of the marketing hamster wheel for a while and ask yourself the question: “why did you get into this game to begin with?” There is a reason that you are reading this article. There is a reason that you’re doing the business you’re doing.
Someone reading this lost a significant amount of weight. Someone reading this made it through a serious illness. Someone reading this helped a child through a diagnosis. Someone reading this got divorced and they thrived through it. Someone reading this changed their lifestyle through health and wellness. Someone reading this built a business out of nothing.
Continually telling my story has been the most powerful business building strategy I have ever implemented, and it comes completely naturally because it’s my story. Framing it in a way that underlines my movement and the changes I want to see in the world helps me attract perfect clients.
Everyone has a story and any business must have a movement and a mission driving it. Don’t lose sight of the fact that it is your story that is going to heal people.
When I started my business, I finally got off my butt and decided to do something and change something. I came across coaching. I didn’t have a clue how to market. It was hard and it was painful, and there were some really difficult pieces.
Through that experience I healed a lot in myself, I healed a lot in other people, and I now have this really brilliant gift. I know that my purpose on this earth is to help people heal their shame around money and use marketing and business building as the tools to do that.
Keep it simple. Go back to the reason you got into your business or the field you’re in to begin with, whether you are an energy worker or a life coach or a marketing consultant. Why did you start this to begin with? Because that’s what you’ve lost sight of if you don’t have the energy to share your movement in a way that differentiates yourself from others.
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
Authentic Marketing: How to Set Yourself Apart from Others [3:42m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Authentic Marketing: How to Set Yourself Apart from Others [3:42m]: DownloadHate Selling? Start a Movement Instead.
www.HelpMorePeople.com/minicourse.htm
I recently hosted an event in New York and a woman signed up for one of my programs. We’ll call her Sally.
About a week after we met, I had a call with her and she said, “I thought it was just wonderful how you did that entire day and you didn’t sell anything.”
I said, “Sally, you’re in my program. You bought something.”
And she said, “Oh, yeah. I didn’t notice.”
So that’s the ultimate goal. You should be so fired up about what you do and you’re just sharing your services and saying, “Listen, you want to play with me? Great! Here’s how you can play with me,” and you move on.
People will actually pay you money and they won’t even notice that you sold them anything.
It’s not about the sale, it’s about the message. The people who are lined up for your message are a natural fit, and it doesn’t even feel like a sale. They understand your message and they are ready to say yes.
Your goal should be to share your movement so frequently, and so effectively that the selling just becomes a natural part of your message. You’re not really selling anything; you’re just sharing your movement.
The bottom line is that marketing and sales strategies and tactics absolutely can work. But you can’t follow anyone’s marketing advice it if you’re not solid in your movement and your authentic message and self. People are taking all of these programs and courses on marketing. They’re looking for the next sexy thing: social media, micro continuity programs, teleclasses, everything you can imagine. The bottom line is, if you don’t know what your movement is, you will not have long term success and you will not attract the ideal clients.
Many people approach building a business completely backwards. They learn how to market their business, but they don’t really know why they are marketing.
Many people have a calling, they have an understanding of what they want to do in the world, but it’s not in a model that can monetize.
You may be getting all this marketing information – it’s all being thrown at you – but you don’t have anything to attach it to. It’s like one side of the sticky paper is missing.
You’ve got to be able to attach it to a movement. Your movement is more important than the marketing tactics you will employ – and it absolutely must precede any marketing you do. You must be the change you want to see in the world.
What changes do you want to see?
Once you are clear on the answer to that question, then you can develop a business model that will make you millions. You can learn exactly how to market that message and movement and do it with joy and fun and light and love.
If you don’t know what it is you are offering, you must return to:
“What do you want to change?”
“What is your movement?”
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
Hate Selling? Start a Movement Instead. [3:32m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Hate Selling? Start a Movement Instead. [3:32m]: DownloadAuthentic Marketing: How to Respond to, “What do you do?”
www.HelpMorePeople.com/minicourse.htm
Stop multi-tasking for one moment and grab a paper and a pen. Don’t over process. Think from the gut.
Now, answer this question:
What is it that you would like to see changed in the world?
Write down your answer. Only give yourself 10-15 seconds.
If you had a difficult time answering the question, that is the reason your business is struggling. You have to be the change you wish to see in the world. How can you grow a business around that change if you don’t even know what your mission is?
When someone asks, “What do you do?” do you respond with, “Oh, I’m a life coach Reiki healer energy worker underwater basket weaver…”?
If this sounds familiar, no one knows what it is you really do. They don’t care what your title is.
When you respond with your title (e.g. life coach, business coach, a Reiki master, etc.) you aren’t explaining the pain you solve for people. What solution do you offer?
When someone asks me, “What is it you do?” here’s what I tell people:
“I work with service professionals to make more money, help more people, and have massive impact.”
I don’t talk about the fact that I’m coach. I don’t talk about how I was trained. Most people talk about the process of their work as opposed to the progress and results they offer. People really don’t care what your title or your training is.
Occasionally some people will ask for your credentials or why you’re able to do what you do, but for the most part, they just want to know, “Here’s my problem, here’s my pain, and how can you help me solve it?”
The second piece of this is, it’s got to be you. How often are you putting yourself out there and how often are you telling your story?
When I first started my business, I was sharing my movement. I was talking to people about how I could remove, heal, and help them through their pain on a daily basis. My goal was always to talk to 100 people a week.
You may be saying, “I don’t know who to talk to.” That’s an excuse. You do know how to reach people. You do know how to talk to people.
One of the first things that I suggest you do – I call it my one-mile radius rule, unless you live deep in the country and then you might need to do a ten-mile radius. Get in your car, put on a CD, and drive all over within a one-mile radius of your house. Look at everything through the lens of, “How could I share my message?” Not, “How can I get a client?” There is a difference. Focus on sharing your movement.
All of the sudden, the high school becomes an opportunity to do an expo or to teach at their adult education school. The diner with the Rotary Club sign becomes a place to speak. Businesses in your community become places to contact. The church, the community center, I could go on and on.
Everything you need to build a multiple six-figure business is within a one-mile radius of your home. You can have all the websites in the world, you can have the marketing materials, you can have all of that, but if you are not talking to at least 100 people a week, then you are not reaching enough people.
Once you are talking to people or reaching them in other ways, there is a possibility that you don’t know how to convert, which means you have a selling problem. You may be too salesy or you’re not selling at all.
The process for converting people into clients is called my “I CARE” system. It’s a five-step process.
“I CARE” stands for:
- Inspire
- Clarify
- Ask
- Receive
- Embrace
If you are talking to enough people and still not making sales, you have an authenticity problem. This means you’re not bringing enough of you into it. When you don’t bring enough of you into it, you either are scared to death to sell at all, or you’re overselling and not being your authentic self.
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
Authentic Marketing: How to Respond to, “What do you do?” [5:17m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Authentic Marketing: How to Respond to, “What do you do?” [5:17m]: DownloadClient Retention Tips: How to Show You Care By Staying in Touch
www.HelpMorePeople.com/minicourse.htm
In order to retain clients and build a sustainable business, you must stay in touch with people in a meaningful way. This includes people you have done business with, people you have met in person at events and your email subscriber list.
Your client base has a sacred contract with you. They have connected, spent money, and spent time with you. You must care enough to keep in touch with them.
Advertising experts have proven time and time again, that ads that run continuously, at least three times, always outperform one-shot ad runs. The same is true with your client base. Find a way to reach them, share your message, and consistently stay connected.
For coaches, consultants, healers, and other helping professionals, newsletters are one of the best ways to stay in touch. It is important to shift your mindset and action from not wanting to bother your client base, which is a common mistake that new business owners make.
Just as most new business owners commonly do, I used to say, “People have just given me their name, I don’t want to bother them and send them things all the time.” I had to recognize that touching their lives in a meaningful way allows the cream to rise to the top. Those who are truly interested in what you have to say and the solutions you offer will make themselves known to you. The rest may unsubscribe or walk away from you, but that means they really weren’t engaged or dedicated to your message anyway.
Approaching marketing this way saves you time, effort, and money. Instead of chasing people who may or may not be interested or ready for your offerings, let the people who need you most identify themselves to you. Don’t worry about the others. They will let you know when they are ready or simply opt-out if they are not interested.
My newsletter continually gets better readership when I write more often and when I provide a more personal touch about my family, my dog, or my travels. When I first started doing my newsletter, I did it once a month and about 35% of the people opened it and read it. Now I do my newsletter weekly, and I have sometimes up to 85% open it up and read it. It just proves that if you’re consistent and really share meaningful content, people will want more of it. They will want more of you!
Newsletters are only one way to stay in touch with your clients, prospects or business contacts, but they are a great place to start. Depending on your business and the people you serve, there are dozens of other ways to touch the lives of your clients in a meaningful way.
Once you’ve started regularly sending out an email newsletter, consider mailing out occasional physical newsletters, cards or small gifts to show your appreciation to your clients and contacts. It done authentically and thoughtfully, investments like this will always pay off in spades.
Although there may be specific tactics and media that will work best for your business, niche, and message, the important thing is that you are consistently reaching out to your client base and prospect list in ways that show your dedication to them. Communicating how much you care through an electronic newsletter or any other method of follow up is one of the easiest and most effective ways to grow your business and increase your visibility.
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
Is This Just A Hobby?
Helpingpreneurs want to help. Imagine that. You have a giving heart and a spirit of support, healing, and love. Often times that beauty stops you from being business first. And business first is really important. Gina Ratliffe uses wonderful terms about service professionals asking
Are you a hobbyist?
or
Are you wealth conscious?
The wealth conscious entrepreneur understands that values, standards, and efficiency not only serve your business model, but serve your clients and customers. Is your business running organically and a little on the fly? Do you have policies, guidelines, and procedures in place? You cannot imagine how it will improve your effectiveness and your clarity.
Here are five must haves to make sure you are a wealth conscious entrepreneur and not just a hobbyist.
1. Honor your Commitments
In business your commitment is your word. Be on time, be ready, and over deliver. I have actually had a coach who did not show up for calls. Now, we all make a mistake, but follow through, show up, and deliver. If you have a product going out, be certain it goes out on time. If you are delivering a service, make certain it is as promised. You may glass these over as obvious, but stop and think. Am I honoring every commitment at the absolute highest level?
2. Set an Example
I read a great quote the other day… “Your sermon is best told by your life and not your lips”. Make certain you are modeling the positive image for your business and services. Your appearance, presence, energy, and language all represent YOU. It is easy to get busy in the day to day and forget what we are sharing. Sometimes it can be the smallest thing that someone picks up on and that is the image they carry forever. Preach through your actions and your words.
3. Run it Like a Business
When you are in the service indsutry, the same best practices business rules apply. You do not avoid policies, efficiencies, and procedures because your business is helping and supporting others. To truly help and support, you run your business clean and clear. Have policies, have your team and your clients understand them, and have them in writing. Keep all conversations and communication on a business level and remind yourself why you are running this business. If you are here to serve, then make sure your business is serving everyone’s highest interest by being clear and being well informed.
4. Have a Mentor
When you have a seasoned person to ask for guidance and support, everything is easier. One of my mentors always says, “Business is messy” and it can be, so to have someone to sound board, ask, and advise is leveraging your best interests in business growth. I am telling you… MENTORS… I don’t leave home without them.
5. Be Uncomfortable
Change is good. Not always easy. Not always comfortable, but it means something is shifting and we are moving. Being uncomfortable in your business and stretching yourself beyond the comfort zone means you are NOT in hobby mode. Begin to worry if everything is perfect and you are care free! It is in the discomfort that we risk, journey, and leap!
Your gifts are unique and only you can share the blessing of you. Make sure you are in wealth conscious business mode. It will serve you, serve your clients, serve your success, and serve your income growth.
(c) 2009 Suzanne Evans
About the author: Suzanne Evans is best known as the ‘action expert’ and has coached hundreds of solopreneurs to model her multiple six figure business. Learn how you can help more people, make more money and have more fun doing what you love by signing up for your free copy of the 5-Part Mini-Course ‘Awakening Your Authentic Entrepreneur’ at http://www.helpmorepeople.com
How to Be a Better Coach: Learn to Talk to Prospects with End Results Language
www.HelpMorePeople.com/minicourse.htm
People buy solutions, not services and not a process. People are running a race because they want to make it to the finish line. They do the same thing in the marketplace for coaching. People seek solutions to their problems. That’s the finish line for them. They seek answers to their dilemmas. If you package and offer solutions, you can relay a message that people understand and want.
This fact that people buy solutions not services and a process also really ties into your target market. I know for me when I shifted my message to what solutions I have for people’s problems, it totally shifted my business.
It’s easier to attract clients – and I’ll tell you this, it’s a heck of a lot more fun – because instead of being caught in your own process and trying to explain what coaching is and what you do in a coaching call, you’re focused on the benefits and on the finish line. That really motivates people when you’re speaking to them and it’s really important.
Some people in the marketing world call it your unique selling proposition – your USP is another way of saying that.
You need to establish who needs you most. They’re a group who can afford you, they’re accessible, they’re already grouping together, you’re clear about what their problem is, and you’re clear about what solutions they are looking for. You can speak to them about what benefits and solutions you have to offer.
When I first started coaching I would tell people who asked about what I did that, “Coaching is a process in which you ask engaging questions and powerful questions to get somebody to come to their own answers about the problems.”
People’s eyes were glazing over. They were like, “What?”
I did this a couple of times and I kept thinking, “Nobody gets it. Nobody’s excited. Nobody’s going, ‘Tell me more. Can I have a complementary session?’” Then it just hit me that I was talking about the process and nobody really cares about the process.
So I went back and created a stress test. I decided to ask people if they want to take a stress test to see where some of the stressors are in their life. Then I was going to talk about the benefits of coaching and not what coaching is.
I had people take the test, and then they would ask, “Well, tell me what coaching is.”
I would say, “Do you see where you scored low on your job and you’re not really satisfied in your job? Coaching would take you from a place of dissatisfaction in your job to finding out what your real passion is and help you get excited about going to work every day. It would be creating a strategic plan to move from where you are now, unhappy in your job, to bliss in a new career.”
What do you think people did? Their faces lit up and they were like, “Tell me more and where do I get this bliss? Where do I get this new excitement in my new job?” So it’s really important that we talk about the benefits.
When you go into a networking event, try using end result benefits in describing what you do. For instance, if you work with ADHD and families you could say something like –
“You know how there are some families who have children with ADHD and the entire family always seem overwhelmed and stressed out? They’re not able to focus and really enjoy all the things in their life because all of this is so consuming?
What I do is I step in and work with those families, and I take them from chaos to calm. I show them strategies, techniques, and tips so that they can all work together through the children and maybe their own ADHD. We systematize their entire lives and family process so they can really enjoy each other and they can all be successful.”
It’s all about what you can help achieve for someone in pain, and not about the process or about you. Keep this in mind for much more powerful results when talking to people who need what you offer.
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
How to Be a Better Coach: Learn to Talk to Prospects with End Results Language [3:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
How to Be a Better Coach: Learn to Talk to Prospects with End Results Language [3:56m]: Download