Coaching Biz Tips

The Finer Points of Drive-By Marketing

We’ve been having a lively discussion lately over at the New Coach Connection discussion forum about self-promotion on the discussion list – what’s appropriate and/or effective, why people like or don’t like self promotion in a discussion group, etc. It’s a conversation that seems to pop up every couple of months.

Most discussion forums have guidelines about how and when to post promotional offers. This particular forum restricts promotion to Friday – Sunday. It’s almost half the week, which seems like it should be plenty of time, but every so often, someone forgets (or maybe doesn’t realize there are guidelines) and posts something on a Tuesday or whatever. When a couple of people happen to post on the wrong day all in the same week, it gets everybody stirred up.

I don’t really mind it when people post on the wrong day; I’m always interested to see what my friends at NCC are up to. I do, however, have a problem with  “drive-by marketing”.

Drive-by marketing is lazy

Drive-by marketing is when you show up out of the blue on a social network, throw out an offer and then disappear again. Marketers who use this approach are lazy; they’re not taking the trouble to really connect with their market or earn trust or cultivate relationship.

And the thing is, drive-by marketing simply doesn’t work – it’s a waste of everyone’s time, both the market’s and the marketer’s. The only thing it does is make the marketer feel like they’re “doing” marketing. They’re not. They’re just annoying people.

Don’t be that crazy guy on the corner, shouting

In the social network universe, it’s all about exchange, contribution and sharing for mutual benefit. Whether you’re on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, a discussion forum or even a blog comment thread, the reason it works is because of mutuality. Win-win, or no deal.

Unfortunately, some marketers join a discussion forum just so they can post their promotional offers. They’re not there to share, they’re there to get.

The problem is, if you’re not actively participating in the discussion, you’re not really “in” the group. Your self-promotional posts are going to stick out like a sore thumb, for all the wrong reasons. You look like the crazy guy on the corner shouting at people walking by.

I’m sure you’ve heard this a million times, but it bears repeating: People buy from those that they know, like and trust. We don’t trust the crazy guy shouting on the corner.

Trust and credibility develop through interaction and exchange, not simply through visibility. Just showing up with an offer once in a while doesn’t foster trust and relationship, no matter how good your offer is or how well-intentioned you are.

Mind your manners

A discussion forum is a social network. Most folks are there for discussion, connection and networking. Over time, people interact, they check each other out, trust grows, relationships deepen, sometimes a little business gets done (sometimes a lot of business gets done!).

Most grown ups tend to follow a certain etiquette at social functions like meetings and parties: Be polite; follow the conversation for a while before jumping in with help or opinions; don’t be pushy, etc.

The same approach works with online discussion forums: Listen in and deepen the conversation first, before expanding it in a new direction. Having good social manners shows respect, builds trust and relationship, and is far more likely to deliver the results you’re hoping for.

Are you stepping over piles of gold to grab a few pennies?

Here’s another way that drive-by marketers fail: If your prospective customers are active on a certain discussion forum, and you’re not paying any attention to the conversation, then you’re missing out on a priceless opportunity to learn about your customers.

The conversation is where the GOLD is! If you listen carefully, they will tell you exactly what’s bugging them, what they really want, and how you can help. And then when you do post something self-promotional, it will feel more like a helpful resource in the context of a real conversation, rather than a rude interruption.

And if the forum you’re blasting offers at isn’t where your specific target market hangs out? Well then, why the heck are you bothering those poor people?!? It’s like driving through a nice neighborhood and throwing fliers out the window.

Bottom line: Drive by marketing may keep you busy, but it won’t keep you in business.

Ten Clues That You Picked the Wrong Niche

Technorati Tags: Coaching,coaching niche,wrong niche,niche toolkit

I’m up to my eyeballs working on the Biz Model Toolkit launch, but I don’t want to neglect my blog readers! So here’s a quickie post to help you figure out whether you’re on the right track with your chosen market niche:

10 Clues That You Picked the Wrong Niche

1) You don’t feel excited or challenged by your niche.

2) You can’t easily describe your niche in a simple sentence.

3) Your target market is so large and diverse that it’s hard to get focused or write marketing copy that doesn’t sound fuzzy and generic.

4) You can’t easily find or connect with prospects.

5) You can’t find a single other service provider who’s targeting the same market.

6) You can’t find any books written about your target market’s agenda or problem.

7) Your prospects take the freebies but don’t want to pay for your products and services.

8) You don’t have the interest or the inclination to stay on top of new developments and information about this market.

9) You don’t see yourself becoming an expert or being a prominent player in this niche any time soon.

10) You picked this niche because:

• You think you should.
• Someone else thinks you should.
• It’s not your first choice, but it seems like it might be where the money is.
• This niche was the least unappealing idea that you could come up with.
• Well, that’s where the dart landed on the dart board…

Hopefully, none of the above apply to you!

If you’re satisfied that you’re on the right track, there’s only one thing left to do: Say YES to your niche! You’ve done your due diligence; don’t sabotage your success by second guessing yourself or holding out for a ‘better’ niche to come along.

Once you’ve chosen a niche, stay focused on it for the next six months, minimum. If you’ve truly done your best to make an informed choice and you fully commit to your niche for the long haul, the payback will be far greater than anything you might have gotten by ‘playing the field’ so far.

Want some help with your niche? Check out the Niche Toolkit for Coaches – it includes a really cool workbook that takes you through a simple targeting process, step-by-step.

You Are Not Your Own Customer

Hi, my name is Kathy and I’m a marketer.

I am not "just" a marketer -- I'm a joyful, liberated, delighted-to-do-it marketer. That may sound strange to you, especially if you are one of the many coaches who complain bitterly about marketing.

I’ve been self-employed since 1997, but I must confess that I haven’t always been a joyful, liberated, delighted to-do-it marketer. It took me about seven years to settle into a happy committed relationship with marketing.

So what was I doing between 1997 and 2004? Well, I kept myself quite busy…

• Annoying some people with too many emails, and other people with too few.
• Confusing people with either the wrong information, too little information or too much information.
• Struggling with my Gremlin of Self Worth in a very public way, by alternately raising, lowering, then raising again, and revealing, hiding, then revealing again -- my pricing.
• Changing my website copy every time I read some new fangled theory or “fact” about what to do or what NEVER to do with your website copy.
• Re-writing and re-launching my freebie over and over – with no appreciable result other than an uncanny ability to maintain a perfect balance between the number of new subscribers and the number of unsubscribers each month (i.e., a net gain of exactly zero).
• Doing countless free teleclasses, which got rave reviews from people who were into free stuff, but which made very little impression on people who were actually likely to purchase anything.

And I admit, I complained bitterly about how much I hated to be marketed to. Which left me in the weird position of needing to do to my own customers that which I hated others to do unto me (or so I thought at the time).

Just Not That Into It

All that stuff I was doing? It was all for me. I wasn’t necessarily doing any of it because it was the right thing to do. If I looked too closely at whether it was right or not, I might have had to make some uncomfortable changes. And to be honest, I wasn’t really that into doing anything that took me farther out of my comfort zone. I was already in over my head, just trying to tolerate the idea of marketing, never mind whether it was actually working for my customers.

In spite of all that, I must have been doing some marketing right, because clients managed to find me; not exactly a flood of them, but still. And when my marketing worked, it felt really good. So it wasn’t all bad…

It’s hard to pinpoint where things started to shift, but if I had to pick I’d say it was reading Martha Barletta’s book, Marketing to Women. That book validated what my gut was telling me to do (as opposed to my head, which was a very dark and stormy place where marketing was concerned). I feel I learned just as much about myself as a marketer as I did about the women (and men) I’m marketing to.

Good Marketing is Simply Good Service

More importantly, it helped me make an important mental shift, from self-centered marketing to Customer-centered marketing. We are all children of the age of advertising; we have earned the right to have our personal biases and preferences about how we like or hate to be marketed to. But from a marketing standpoint, it doesn’t matter what WE like. What matters is what works for the Customer.

Good marketing is simply good service. This should be an easy thing for coaches to get – it’s not about you, and it’s not even about all those other people like you. It’s only -- and always -- about the Customer.

How do you know what serves your Customer? First, you have to be able to distinguish between a Customer and all those other people who are NOT your Customer, and then you have to be very tuned in, very attentive. Pay attention to what works, even if it wouldn’t work for you.

You are someone else’s Customer.

10 Tips for Growing a Mailing List from Scratch

Just getting started building your mailing list?

Here are ten tips to help you get off to a great start:

1. Do set a goal. Get a particular target in mind (ex.: “500 subscribers by June 1, 2010”) and keep your eye on that target.
2. Don’t make the goal too small or too big. It should be big enough to stretch your creativity, yet not be so big that it shocks you into paralysis. Ask your coach or a colleague to help you find your sweet spot when it comes to setting goals.
3. Do track your results on a regular basis. Your total number of subscribers and rate of increase from the previous month(s) are key performance indicators.
4. Don’t let unsubs distract or dismay you. And don’t take them personally! If your mailing list management system automatically sends you a notice every time someone unsubscribes, turn OFF the notification. Seriously. Turn it off. Stay focused on growing your list; don’t worry about reducing unsubs.
5. Do use a mailing list management system. The most popular online services are AWeber, Constant Contact, and iContact. If you want to integrate a shopping cart with your mailing system, check out 1shoppingcart or WAHMcart .
6. Don’t use a personal email system (like Gmail, Outlook or Outlook Express) to manage your list. You need to manage a business mailing list, not a personal address book. It may be tempting to try and save money by using your personal email system, but in the long run, it’s actually going to save both time and money to get yourself properly set up on a business system ASAP.
7. Do get clear about who your ideal subscribers are. You’re going to be creating content for them, so it’s really important that you have a specific audience in mind. You need to know who they are and be able to describe them so THEY know who they are, too.
8. Don’t automatically add friends and family to your business list. If they want to add themselves, fine – but don’t just import your whole personal address book into your mailing list. For one thing, once they’re on your  list, they’re trapped – because they know YOU’LL know if they unsubscribe! And you really only want qualified prospects on your list anyway – people who are most likely to want to do business with you. Your Aunt Susie is probably more likely to buy stuff FOR you than to buy stuff FROM you.
9. Do learn how to use the basic features of your mailing list system. Even if you’re going to hire a VA to set it up and/or manage the list for you – you should know how the thing works! Your list is a critical tool for building your business; you can’t really use it properly if you’re afraid to even touch it.
10. Don’t forget who you’re talking to. While your list may grow to have hundreds or even thousands of subscribers, you’re the only one who sees them as a group of people. Remember to write your emails as if you’re addressing just one person. Don’t say stuff like “Dear Subscribers” or “Some of you might be interested to know that…”

Email Best Practices: Double vs. Single Opt-in

 I saw something in an article this morning in Mequoda Daily that caught my attention:

Research indicates that the email subscribers who double opt-in have a 17 percent greater lifetime value simply because they double opt-in. The act of getting them to open their email client to look for the confirming email and respond — before they can download your free report — causes those who double opt-in to be worth 17 percent more in customer lifetime value.

Additionally, by using the double opt-in process, you've managed to get many of them to whitelist you with their email provider — another good outcome.

Of 100 people who sign up for your free email newsletter, about 75 percent will double opt-in.

(Read the rest of the article here.)

I've always used single opt-in for my mailing list because it seemed like it would be simpler for my subscribers; less hassle for them.

But judging from the lists I've been joining lately, it seems like double opt-in has become the 'standard', so I've been wondering what benefits double opt-in might offer. Seventeen percent greater lifetime value is not insignificant when you're selling a premium service like coaching!

What are your thoughts/experience on double vs. single opt-in? Leave a comment below!

Web 2.0 and Social Networking for Coaches

I've been Twittering for about 9 months now, with surprisingly good results: lots of great connections, excellent response to questions I've posted, and actual NEW CLIENTS who came to me not through my regular marketing channels, but via Twitter. What's not to love?!

As I was sharing this good news with a friend a while back, it occurred to me that it might be time to give this whole Web 2.0 thing a closer look from a marketing strategy perspective.

5 More Coaching Business Deathtraps

This is the second in a series of two posts on coaching business death traps. Read the first post here.

6. Over-optimism -- Expecting your business to do better than reasonably possible given the available resources (time, capitalization & materials). There's a certain naivete among first-time business owners – some might also call it denial – that usually ends in a rather harsh wake-up call. Most successful businesses take more time, money and effort than expected, not less. Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.

7. Failing to make the connection to the customer's bottom line  --  If your product or program can save your customer time, money or effort, make sure that these savings are clearly stated. In fact, do the math for your customers; be as specific as possible. Too many coaches focus only on the process of coaching, and not enough on the results that coaching produces.

8. Not giving the customer a compelling reason to buy – The most successful coaches know the major factors that their customers are going to consider when buying coaching services or products, and they also know how they compare to their competitors.

This awareness is important for two reasons: 1) You can't make your offer compelling if you don't know what your customer's priorities are; and 2) If you want to stand out and be noticed, you obviously need to know what you're standing out from.

If you fail to show that any fully informed buyer would be crazy not to seriously consider purchasing your service or product, the buyer has no reason to choose you – so they probably won't.   

9. Trying to sell without marketing -- I know you're passionate about coaching; you've probably invested hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars learning how to be a great coach.

You've reinvented yourself as the best thing since sliced bread; you just need some clients so you can get to work. So how come the world isn't beating a path to your door?

This should not be a surprise - very few coaches are experienced marketers. Doing marketing well is every bit as difficult and specialized as mastering the art of coaching itself. It is absolutely critical that you develop this talent as quickly as possible.

So for example, don't make the mistake of bombarding your mailing list (or social network, or the NCC YahooGroup listserv, etc.) with nothing but promotions. Marketing is about building trust and credibility; it's about cultivating an on-going relationship that's mutually beneficial. The sale cannot happen until AFTER the customer knows and trusts you.

10. Throwing good money after bad -- "I'm in too far to walk away" - in other words, failing to admit that you made a mistake with your marketing strategy. Ask yourself, "Would I invest the time and money in this strategy today if it was presented to me as a fresh opportunity?"

Another way to tell if you've made a mistake is to ask yourself if any of the following statements are true:

• Overall, this project has been a major disappointment.
• At some point, the expense (in time and/or money) could drain the healthy parts of my business.
• Most importantly, the resources invested so far are gone - my cost basis is zero!

If you answered yes to any of the above, it's probably time to cut your losses and move on to the next opportunity.

Have I missed a particularly nasty deathtrap? Leave me a message below if you've got a story to share!

5 Coaching Business Deathtraps

What are the most common (and avoidable) fatal business mistakes that coaches tend to make?

1.  Lack of focus -- Your most precious resource is your attention. Doing one thing well is an enormous challenge; tackling three or four things at once is a recipe for mediocrity.

Carefully sort through your marketing options before you choose which one to focus on (one target market/one problem/one solution). Commit to which ever option is most likely to be successful, and stick to it!

2. Inadequate market research -- Failure to do adequate market research, including getting out into the marketplace and talking to as many high-potential customers as possible before committing to a marketing strategy, is asking for trouble. Google is a great place to start.

3. Perfectionism – Lots of coaches have great ideas for coaching products and programs. Some just can't seem to stop fiddling with it until it's perfect.

This is an unrealistic goal. There's always an improvement that can be made, a bell or a whistle than can be added. When you've developed your product or program to the point where it represents a clearly superior choice, stick a fork in it and call it done.

4. Getting swallowed by a whale – Executive coaches are particularly vulnerable to "whale" clients. Imagine that you have the opportunity to get a contract that could cover all your expenses and then some. That's the good news. The bad news is that this one contract is going to consume ALL your time and attention for the foreseeable future.

And the worst part is that when the whale spits you out (trust me, it will happen, usually at the worst possible time), you'll be stuck with a whole lotta nothing. No clients, no cash flow and no prospects in the pipeline.

Now, I'm not necessarily suggesting that you should turn down a juicy opportunity. I'm just saying you still need to keep working on the rest of your business so that you're not dependent on any particular customer.

5. Living large before you're earning large -- Show me a start-up coaching business with a swanky leased office space, shiny new furniture and equipment, and a virtual "staff" spread across the globe (virtual assistant, webmaster, bookkeeper, etc.), and I will show you a prescription for failure. In most cases, it's all paid for by credit card. And the coach is sitting by themselves in the swanky office, wondering where all the clients are.

Lack of cash flow is death to any business. Spend your resources only when it makes a true difference, when it stands to directly impact your objectives.

Stay tuned for more traps to watch out for. Until then, leave a comment to let me know what you think.

Myth: My Subscribers Will Get Pissed if I Promote Myself

Imagine it: Your list is finally starting to gain momentum. You're pouring your heart into your newsletter or blog. You're going out of your way to give 5-star value to your list. You've been working night and day to make sure your sales funnel is positively stuffed with goodies…

But nobody's buying.

What's going on? Why aren't you getting clients and making sales?

There are a number of possible reasons, but the most likely is that you're not getting business because you're not promoting your coaching products and services. And you're not promoting because you're afraid of pissing off your subscribers.

See, there's this wackadoodle idea floating around that you're supposed to get coaching customers without… well, without marketing, promoting or selling. There, I said it.

MARKETING. PROMOTING. SELLING.

How rude! You're hoping people will take the hint and buy something without having to be asked in a direct way. 'Cuz if you're direct about it, they might get pissed and unsubscribe.

Warning: Radical Idea Alert

To that, I say, "I WANT them to unsubscribe."

Huh?!? Why on earth would I want people to unsubscribe from my list?

Simple: My list is part of my prospecting system, and the whole point of the prospecting system is to convert qualified prospects to customers. Key word: QUALIFIED. And if someone doesn't want to receive promotional offers from me, that's a pretty good indication that they are not qualified to be a customer.

Qualified prospects:

• Are seeking a solution to a need
• Are motivated to make a purchase
• Have the financial resources to make the purchase
• Have the authority to make the buying decision

I want my list to be 100% qualified, so when an unqualified prospect unsubscribes, it's a GOOD THING. It means the system is working!

Qualified prospects WANT what you're offering

If you let the fear of losing subscribers keep you from serving your customers, you won't be in business very long.

Of course, you want to make sure to give subscribers whatever free information or value you promised when they joined your list; you don't want to bombard them with nothing but offers – just don't be afraid to promote your products and services when it's appropriate.

Qualified prospects will thank you by saying yes or asking questions; unqualified prospects will either ignore the offer or leave the list. And if they're not a qualified prospect for you, they probably belong on someone else's list, right?

Bottom line: Don't be afraid to promote to your list; it's an essential step in the customer qualification process.

7 Ways to Wreck Your Sales Funnel

Recently, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Simon Allard on one of my favorite subjects: Marketing a coaching business (specifically, sales funnels and multiple streams of income). Listen to the interview for free here.

I thought I'd outline some of the tips we discussed here on the blog, only instead of doing the predictable thing and listing what TO do, I figured it might be interesting to look at this from the "what NOT to do" perspective.

First: "Tell me again, what's a sales funnel and why do I need one?"

A sales funnel is simply a way to describe how you get, keep and grow the lifetime value of customers. It defines the stages that people move through in your business and the strategies you use to help them move from one stage to the next.

Without a well-planned sales funnel, you're much more likely to have gaps in your marketing system -- and gaps can be fatal.

So if your business is not what you want it to be – if your list isn't growing; if getting clients seems harder than necessary; if your marketing is landing on deaf ears – check to see if any of these techniques for wrecking your sales funnel sounds familiar.

7 ways to wreck your sales funnel

#1: Just say no to a target market.

What do you say when someone asks, "Who do you work with?" If your answer begins with "Anyone" or "Everyone," or if you can't outline the problem that your business helps them with in a simple sentence, your market is probably too broad. And the broader your market, the less relevant you'll seem to individual prospects.

Unfortunately, a broad market is something few self-employed coaches can afford. It eats into your profitability, because proving that you're relevant to a variety of people with widely different goals and needs takes more time and effort.

It's far more profitable (and easier!) to focus on a well-defined target market – a group of consumers who share certain key characteristics, including a common problem or goal. You'll find that it's easier to connect with potential customers and help them get the results they're looking for.

Bottom line: Make sure you have a clear understanding of your target market and the problem that your business solves.