Coaching Biz Tips

The Myth of the Balanced Life

I realized something rather shocking the other day. I'm pretty sure I don't want a "balanced life."

At least not the kind of balanced life I imagine from all the tweeting, talking and marketing I see on the Internet.

Life balance is really big in the coaching world and in the media; it's a buzz phrase. There's a ton of info out there on work-life balance, time management, stress management and productivity -- all in the name of "life balance".

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking the folks who want to help with these topics. I actually find much of this stuff really, really helpful to think about and experiment with.

I'm just wondering what the heck "life balance" really means. And is anyone ever able to sustain a balanced life? I don't know anyone like that -- moments of balance, perhaps, but sustainable over time? Not so much.

What is Life Balance?

I think of balance as being a sort of neutral state -- two or more forces in equal proportion or harmony; no one thing taking over another. When I extend that definition to "life," it seems kind of...well, boring and flat! 

I certainly appreciate having moments of quiet neutrality (aka "peace"), perhaps even whole weekends of it (especially if they take place at the beach). I also like the idea of being able to command my own life--to have this thing called "balance" at my beck and call. But frankly, it makes me tired just thinking about how much effort it would take to maintain a consistent state of balance throughout my life. I know, because I've tried. It's a full time job and then some.

The thing is, life is not naturally "balanced". Life just is what it is, sometimes spilling over with action, noise, color and even pain; other times stretching to the horizon with stillness, emptiness and the numbing echo of silence. 

Life has it's way with you; it sneaks up and grabs you rudely, whether you're ready or not. And then sometimes life gently sets you down in a better place -- whether you know it or not.

Having any sense of control over life is delusional. Whether you like it or not.

Maybe "Balance" is Not the Right Idea

I think what I'm longing for is presence; to be here, now. It's not balance, exactly; it's more like "now-ance."

Life is always (and ONLY) happening in the "now". Don't you wear yourself out and burn out your circuits, living in anticipation (future-focused) or in retrospect (past-focused)? When your attention is elsewhere, it stands to reason that it requires energy and effort to bring it back to the present -- just like it takes fuel to commute from home to work (well, for most of us).

Maybe it's not about saying "Well, I was busy with work all week long, so now I need to balance that with equal time and focus on my family, myself, my art, my friends, my yard, etc." How exhausting!

What if it's really about asking "Where am I right now? What is calling me now? What am I creating through my life in this moment?"

Stop Trying to Impose Balance Where None Exists

Instead of reacting, respond. Rather than telling life to get into balance, answer life's call.

In my humbler moments, I am painfully aware that my only point of power is here, in the present moment. I have no power in the past or future, only Here and Now. Life only happens right now.

Instead of striving for a balanced life, I can have faith that I am in the right place at the right time, doing the best I can with whatever level of awareness is available to me at the moment.

Remembering that helps me keep my feet on the ground and my mind focused on what's most important. Which might indeed be my family, myself, my art, my friends, my yard, etc.

A "now-anced" life.

What are you thinking and experiencing, right now? Leave a comment to see how our "nows" intersect.

What results do you promise your coaching clients?

Back in "the day" (when I was training coaches), one of the key principles that we taught was that the coach is not responsible for the client's results; the client is responsible for their own results.

When you're in training, remembering that helps you keep your ego out of the coaching process and out of the client's way. That's the 'up' side.

The 'down' side is that coaches sometimes carry the principle too far and assume that they shouldn't talk about results, ever. I think that's why you see some folks focusing so much on the process of coaching in their marketing--when you can't talk about results, all that's left is process!

But the truth is, people don't really care about the process unless and until they believe you can help them get the results they want. Not just any results, but specific results, like making more money, saving time or improving their relationships.

Some coaches claim that it's not possible to promise results because every client wants something different. But this is often simply a symptom either of a target market that's too generic, or of inadequate market research.

A viable coaching target market is defined by a shared coachable issue; in other words, it's not just a "happy accident" when more than one client gets the same results from working with you!

Here's what I'm wondering today: What results do you promise your clients?

P.S. To see a list of ten potential coachable issues (and 3 that are not), read this.

We don't need no stinkin' rules

(This is an excerpt from The Biz Model Toolkit for Coaches, an info product I'm writing which will be available soon. Impatient? You can get a sneak peek here.)

If you ask a group of coaches about having a successful coaching business, you’d probably get a whole bunch of opinions and advice; some good, some not so good. But that’s all it is—opinions and advice. There is no official “right way” to build a coaching business.

And yet there seems to be this sheep-like mentality about what’s okay and what’s not.

I wish I had a nickle for every time I’ve heard someone say “But isn’t that against the rules?” Rules?!? Where are these rules written, and who enforces them? Are the Coach Police going to write you a ticket?

I strongly encourage you to challenge anything that sounds like a rule when it comes to how you design and market your coaching business. The only rule worth following is “Get, keep and grow the value of customers.”

In fact, I hereby declare the following “rules” officially busted:

• BUSTED: Thou shalt offer a minimum of two hours of coaching per client per month.
• BUSTED: One call per client per week.
• BUSTED: One client per call.
• BUSTED: Do not bother your customers too much with emails and offers.
• BUSTED: You must explain what coaching is and how it works. You must use the phrase “live the life of your dreams” at least once while doing so.
• BUSTED: You should only use marketing strategies that you personally like used on you.
• BUSTED: People who buy services don’t want products.
• BUSTED: People who buy products don’t want services.
• BUSTED: If another coach is already successfully established in a niche, you should find another niche.
• BUSTED: You may only work with people in your target market; therefore, you must be careful to avoid excluding anyone you might conceivably want to work with.

What 'rules' have you bought into that get in the way of growing a healthy coaching business? Leave them here in the comment section -- I'll sweep them up and dispose of them for you!

Stop Gathering. Start Making.

oh. crap.

I read this on Christine Kane's blog. Yes, while I was gathering instead of making. If you must know.

At some point, you’ve gathered enough information.

You’ve taken in enough advice. You’ve listened to enough audiobooks. You’ve read enough books. You’ve gotten all the inspiration you can get. You know the instructions by heart.

At some point – preferably NOW – it’s time to sit your ass down.

And make.

via christinekane.com

Oh man, I SO get this~! Making a mental note to set a time limit on "Gather" mode so I don't forget to "Make". And I'm sitting my ass down to MAKE.

P.S. I *heart* Christine Kane. Seriously.

3 Ways to Get Coaching Clients When You Have No Products or Programs

Signature coaching programs and products are terrific revenue generators, but what if you're a new coach just getting started--or an established coach who (for whatever reason) doesn't have any products or programs created? Are there any other ways to get clients?

You bet! Here are three strategies for getting clients aside from coaching products or programs:

• Focus on gaining really high visibility/credibility within a specific target market, perhaps through public speaking or by blogging/publishing content online focused on the issues that the target market most wants to resolve. Build a very targeted mailing list (probably at least a couple thousand people), and be sure to keep in touch with them, consistently delivering helpful, relevant content focused on the solution. As you build trust and credibility with your list, leave a trail of 'breadcrumbs' back to your coaching services.

• Get really, really good at nurturing leads and closing sales. Without products and programs, your prospects are faced with a huge gap between the free stuff (public speaking/publishing/whatever you do to keep in touch) and the high-end premium coaching. You’re going to need to become a master at facilitating the sales process so you can help them over that gap.

• Look for a position as an ‘in-house’ coach (perhaps within a larger organization that offers coaching it it’s employees) or align yourself with a coaching organization (such as Compass Coaching) that in effect does the marketing for you. Another option is to approach a successful competitor (someone working in your niche) and become an associate coach for their business.

Do you have an innovative way to get coaching clients without products or programs? Share in the comment section below!

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Wish you had someone who knows all the tricks and shortcuts to help you with that signature coaching product or program? That would be me!

Best Advice for Coaches Starting Out

Someone asked me recently what advice I'd offer to coaches who are just starting out.

Here's something I wish I'd appreciated MUCH sooner: The importance of a viable business model. By business model, I mean 1) the problem your business solves and 2) how it solves the issue profitably.

Many of us get stuck on #1 and never even get to #2, but both are critical. If you hear yourself saying "My coaching is for anyone with pretty much any issue or problem" or if you only offer coaching based on an hourly rate, you haven't given your business model enough consideration. Getting clients will be much more labor-intensive and time-consuming, and even if you manage to fill your calendar with client sessions, there's only so many hours in the week. Your profits will be limited by two factors: the maximum # of available client appointments and the hourly price your clients are willing to pay.

There are so many people who are being innovative and profitable with non-traditional coaching businesses these days -- don't assume that the old generic coaching by-the-hour business model is the only option.

The sooner you figure out your business model, the sooner you'll be profitable, and in the long run you'll be helping more people, too.

Because if your business model is broken, you won't be around long enough to help many.

What advice would you offer a new coach?

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!

What Business Are You In? (Hint: It’s Not Coaching)

I've been a little obsessed with this question for a couple of weeks now (if it's possible to be "a little" obsessed):

What business am I in?

Like Goldilocks—a girl after my own heart, who knew what she wanted and wouldn't settle for anything less--I've explored and discarded several options:

• The obvious-easy-answer version: "Duh -- coaching, of course!" Yawn.
• The just-like-every-other-coach version: "I'm in the business of making a difference." Yep. Here's your t-shirt, go stand in line.
• The logical-Mr. Spock version: "I'm in the business of helping coaches get more clients." More yawning.
• The quirky-woo-woo-non-conformist version: "I'm not in a business, my business is in me." Muffled snickering.
• The impressively-marketingish-and-tongue-twisty version: "I'm in the business of making, monetizing & marketing a signature coaching system." Zzzzzzzzzzzz…
• etc.

I'm already IN this business, whatever it is. I've got clients, and they're loving what they're getting. It's not like I don't know my business! (I just don't know WHAT business...)

Like a fish that can't see the water it's swimming in, I'm having a hard time seeing the true essence of it. The "eau d'eau", if you don't mind a really bad french phrase.

The Mr. Spock version was technically correct, but energizing? Not so much.

I mean, I spend most of my waking hours immersed in this business. I've sunk a lot of time, money and sweat into it; I'm really, really committed to it. I'm in love with it, for Pete's sake! The mere thought NOT being in this business (whatever it is) makes me feel like my heart might just break into a gazillion pieces, you know?

Surely the answer to this question of what business I'm in will hit me like a lightening bolt when I finally figure it out!

So I tried sleeping on it, I wrote in my journal, I meditated--I did all the usual things a person does to try and force an epiphany. Thinking that maybe I was trying too hard, I then tried to forget it by remembering not to think about it. (You know what I mean!)

Nope. No lightening bolts. Not even a mild static electric shock from shuffling across the rug in my socks.

So I did what any good coach would do: I gave the question to some of my clients and sat back to see how they'd answer it.

Of course, they were brilliant. They knocked it out of the park like it was a tennis ball.

"I'm in the business of fulfillment."

"I'm in the business of empowered connection."

"I'm in the business of delight."

"I'm in the business of creating families."

Elegant, heartfelt, uniquely and unquestionably THEM, every single one. It took some discussion, of course; no one had it on the tip of their tongue. It just emerged as they talked about what they cared about, what they were most committed to in life. They thanked me for asking the question. The clearer they got, the more energized and animated they sounded.

Inspired by my clients, I stumbled onward, hopefully towards my own elegant, heartfelt, unique answer, but the lighting bolt of clarity stubbornly stonewalled me.

And then I happened across something Naomi Dunford wrote recently about her own business:

What if we turned our secret mission — getting people out of the crazy ass rat race of doom and death — into our not-so-secret mission.

Now, if you just look casually at her site, you might assume she's in the business of helping people create a home business. I mean, it sort of says that all over the place (her business is called "Ittybiz").

But that's just the store front. She's REALLY in the business of getting people out of the crazy ass rat race of doom and death. Every time she gets an email from a client saying "My own business is doing so great that I quit my crazy ass job!", Naomi gleefully rejoices.

And suddenly, the lightening bolt hit and my Spock ears burst into flames. I realized what the problem was: I needed to come out of the closet about my secret mission and start doing my gleeful rejoicing in public.

What if MY secret mission—getting people into high gear about stuff that matters to them—is the business I'm really in?

From the street, it might look like I'm in the business of helping coaches get more clients with signature products and programs, but in the back room, it's the morning after the long, dark night of the soul, and folks are waking up, jumping out of their comfort zone and going for it, Big Time.

I know this is it, because every time I hear from a client that THEIR clients are getting into high gear, I do a happy dance. Just thinking about it puts a grin on my face.

So let it be known: I'm officially in the business of getting people into high gear about stuff that matters to them!

Now - what business are YOU in?