This week’s TED Talk clip is from an independent TEDx event:
The mouse that roars | Karen Williams | TEDxChichester
I suspect many coaches and those wanting to start out on the path to be a coach will relate to Karen’s story:
Clip length: 14 mins 19 secs
Prefer to watch via YouTube? In that case you’ll need to click here.
Karen has been a regular guest poster here on this blog several times. To read some of her previous guest posts click here
In this week’s guest post business coach and book mentor Karen Williams focuses upon:
When I qualified as a coach in 2006, I got caught up with the hype of the industry. I was hooked with how I could create a decent living, make a bigger difference in the world, and that this would be easy to run a successful business. But it never happened that way in the early days.
Although I was told about niching, and I knew it was important, it wasn’t drummed into me that I had to be an expert.
Even though as a coach you don’t need experience of a topic to do an effective job, many clients will be seeking someone with expertise in the area where they need support. It’s not enough to ask a few good questions as people don’t buy coaching, they buy the result and outcome that they are looking for.
Plus if you think about your niche – if you have one – there are plenty of people doing something similar to you, so you need to know what makes you stand out.
When I did research for my first book in 2009, I was horrified by the statistics that indicated how few coaches are successful. So what is the difference that makes the difference?
That’s why you need to do the same!
Of course if every coach wrote a book, then the market would be saturated with knowledge (and books!). Also it’s not just about writing any old book, it’s about writing the one that supports your business and showcases your expertise.
Many of my clients are writing their books, and I’ve had three published myself, so this is why you need to write and publish your book.
Finding the thing that you do well is notoriously difficult as it’s hard to see what others can see. The stuff that you find easy and what you are good at is often where you need to specialise. And working on this stuff – like doing the passions and talents exercise that you can find in my third book – will help you to discover where you shine.
When you write a book you lift your head above the parapet. Although scary, it makes it easier for others to find out what you stand for and reach the people who need you. There’s only so much networking, social media and speaking that you can do, so it allows you to maximise your time too.
A great book is a better marketing strategy than an email, business card or a tweet. When you have the systems in place to take people to the next steps in your product funnel, you can grow your business, have multiple streams of income, and get noticed by the people who need your help.
Many of my clients find that writing a book is incredibly empowering, as it allows them to get their stuff out of their head. They get clear on what they know that helps their clients and also do research if there are gaps in their knowledge. It can help you to develop your personal signature system, the thing you want to get known for, and also enhance the toolkit that you regularly use.
Writing a book will help you to demonstrate your credibility. It shows where you’re an expert, and allows you to display your wisdom. Not only will it increase your reach, you’ll be able to attract bigger players in your industry who are potential joint venture partners, affiliates, and willing to support you to create the change you wanted when you started.
I’d love your comments on this post as I know that writing my three books (with two more on the way) has certainly grown my business, and my clients are sought after speakers, are getting great PR, and are known for what they do.
To find out more about why your business needs a book, you can download your free eBook at www.yourbookisthehook.com/ebook.
If you’re ready to write your book, stand out and become more visible, contact Karen Williams for a free business strategy session.
You can also sign up for her next event Your Book is the Hook Live on Saturday 25 April where she’ll be showing you how to write the book that will get you more confidence, credibility and clients. She also runs an annual writing retreat in Spain and you can join her this year from 24-29 September 2015.
Karen is a Business Coach and Book Mentor and has been running Self Discovery Coaching since 2006. She predominantly works with coaches, consultants and therapists who want to write a book that is the hook to grow their business. She helps them to plan, write, publish and promote their book and use it as a strategic marketing tool to get more clients, make more money and do what they love.
She is known for helping her clients to succeed by standing out from the crowd, getting noticed and being an expert in their business. She is the author of Your Book is the Hook, How to Stand Out in your Business, and the Amazon no. 1 bestseller The Secrets of Successful Coaches.
In today’s guest post Karen Williams asks an insightful question to help you and your coaching business.
From my experience, many coaches (and other transformation experts) work with clients who have gone through something similar to themselves. This may be situations like redundancy, cancer, trauma, a chronic illness, or perhaps they have learnt something that they know will help others.
Going through a difficult situation may have been one of their motivators to retrain in this profession, and likely to be one of the reasons that they want to help people now.
My story is similar to that extent. When I started out as a coach, I struggled to get clients and turn my passion into a business that was sustainable. Then I spent time with very successful coaches, discovered their secrets, implemented them into my own business, and then wrote a book about it! That’s why I help my clients to create their own successful business, get more clients, make more money and do what they love.
Even though coaching is traditionally non-directive, and technically you can work with people on any topic, clients will often look for a coach who has credibility in a certain area.
When you’ve been through a situation yourself, you:
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To create a profitable and fulfilling business, it’s about finding that area where you have knowledge, passion and experience, and building your niche from this place. However, I also know that it can be hard to define what to do, and niching may feel counterintuitive when you start out.
But these days you don’t need to have one of those ‘traditional’ niches such as a career coach, health coach, etc. The narrower you specialise, and the more unique you are, the easier it will be – trust me!
When you know your ideal client and what you do well, the advantage is that everything you do is aimed towards that person. You’ll have the systems in place that allows you to establish your expertise – and everything will stem from this framework.
If you’re struggling to niche, one of my favourite questions to ask is this: “What do you want to get known for?” I’ll be honest; it’s not enough to say “A great coach”, or “making a difference”, etc…
What do you really want to get known for?
Where is your expertise?
What are you good at?
Who would you love to work with and why?
What is your story and how does this relate to your clients?
You could, of course, do one of my favourite exercises, which you’ll find in my second book, How to Stand Out in your Business. Take your passions and talents and explore these areas unique to you. Take time to get clear what you are good at and where you excel, as well as understanding what you feel passionate about and why you love this. You can also look at your story and where you have come from and how you can might be able to help others in areas where you have your own experience.
But ultimately I suggest you ask yourself the question: What do you want to get known for? I’d love your comments below.
If you’re ready to stand out and become more visible, or want support to discover what you want to get known for, contact Karen for a free discovery call. You can also join her at the Star Biz conference on 11/12 July and on her Writing Retreat in Spain from 25-30 September 2014.
Karen Williams is the founder of Self Discovery Coaching and is a Business Coach and Mentor, Author, Speaker and Fire Walk Instructor. She predominantly works with solopreneurs (coaches, consultants and therapists) who want to make a difference, but know that to do this, they need to learn the skills to create and grow a successful business. She helps them to get more clients, make more money and do what they love.
She is known for helping her clients to succeed by standing out from the crowd, getting noticed and being an expert in their business. She is the author of The Secrets of Successful Coaches, which reached #1 in the Business charts on Amazon. Her second book, How to Stand Out in your Business, was published in 2012. In the second book she shares the 7 Step Success System that she uses to help her clients to become more visible and create a successful business. She is half way through writing her third book.
Long term readers may already be familiar with one of our regular guest posters, Karen Williams who is really passionate about helping coaches get more clients, make more money and do what you love – coaching.
Last week she ran a free webinar “From Petrified to Powerful – How to Harnish the Speaking Secrets to Business Success.”
Sharing her own and some of her clients real life stories and experiences she covered:
In this hour webinar Karen authentically shared some practical pieces of information, guidance and responded to participants questions and fears.
If you want access to the free recording of “From Petrified to Powerfull – How to Harnish the Speaking Secrets to Business Success.” visit www.starbizconference.co.uk/petrified-to-powerful now.
In today’s guest post business coach and mentor Karen Williams shares her personal experience and some advice:
Have you got a secret desire to write a book?
You know you’ve got something to say; if only you had the guts to do something about it. You know you want to write, but perhaps you don’t know what people want you to say or how to share your message.
I tell you this. Writing a book is something that will change the direction of your business. Although very few people make millions from writing a book – it won’t be your retirement plan or the thing that allows you to give up working – but a well written book will help you to stand out in your business.
Your book is the hook that allows you to:
Writing a book certainly changed the direction of my business. It was a little over 3 years ago that I published my first book, so let me share with you some of my story.
Why I decided to become a writer
When I started out in business, I didn’t have a clue where to start. Although I’d studied business at College, putting the theory into practice was very different. Making the transition from a pretty secure corporate job to the uncertainty of working for myself was tough. I had to put myself out there, develop the courage to do new things and I had to stand out to get noticed. And it was my first book that allowed me to do that.
However, I never set out to write a book. I did research for a project where I was modelling the mindset behind a coaching business. I contacted and spent time with some of the best coaches in the industry – including Michael Neill and Dawn Breslin – and learnt strategies that changed my life.
When I put these strategies into place in my business, it turned it around. I realised that I had cutting edge information that I had to share, so I decided to write a book. . The Secrets of Successful Coaches came out in 2011, which was followed 18 months later by How to Stand Out in your Business, which shared my own step by step guide to get noticed.
Is your business book ready?
Writing a book, however, is not the start of your journey; there are certain things that you need to do initially. You’ll struggle to achieve success if you just put pen to paper or hand to keyboard without nailing some of the fundamentals first. Your business needs to be book ready.
Without a clear target audience or a message that resonates with them, any book you write is more likely to fail. Without having a specific focus for your book or knowing what you want your reader to do next, you will struggle to make a difference.
Also, as I said earlier, your book is unlikely to make you millions, but when you develop a strategy to use the book to raise your profile, and have a process that allows your readers to work with you on a more intimate level, it will make a huge difference to your business success.
Want to write a book?
If you want to write a book, here are some questions to get you started:
Then writing it is actually the easy part as you’ve got to get published, promote it, and then you might choose to do it all over again!
Take the next steps
If you know that writing a book will set you aside from other people in your profession, contact me to find out how I can help you.
To find out more about why writing a book will help you to stand out, you can download a copy of my brand new report ‘Your Book is the Hook’ here, where you can also find out more about the writing retreat I am running in Spain later this year.
Karen Williams is the founder of Self Discovery Coaching and is a Business Coach and Mentor, Author, Speaker and Fire Walk Instructor. She predominantly works with solopreneurs (coaches, consultants and therapists) who want to make a difference, but know that to do this, they need to learn the skills to create and grow a successful business. She helps them to get more clients, make more money and do what they love. She is known for helping her clients to succeed by standing out from the crowd, getting noticed and being an expert in their business.
She is the author of The Secrets of Successful Coaches, which reached #1 in the Business charts on Amazon. Her second book, How to Stand Out in your Business, was published in 2012. In the second book she shares the 7 Step Success System that she uses to help her clients to become more visible and create a successful business. She is half way through writing her third book.
A variation of “How to get more coaching clients?” or “How do I run a successful coaching business?” is one of the many questions I get from readers. So I wanted to share the following event happening this weekend:
The Star Biz conference is a fabulous live event being run by last week’s returning guest poster Karen Williams. This one day event with a difference will be showing you simple and powerful techniques to get extraordinary results in your business.
Talking place on Saturday 6 July in Dorking, Surrey, Karen promises an action packed, inspirational and business shifting day. You will get to the root of what you could do differently in your business. Those things that can help you to make more money, get more clients, whilst making a difference and doing what you love.
Get your ticket here
If you are serious about standing out in your business, join Karen and:
There is no better time to step up, stand out and be a star in your business!
You can find out more about the event here and save money when you bring a friend here. This is going to be a great event, so don’t wait to book.
One last thing, this is a conference with a difference – last year Karen put on a firewalk and I know that she has something else up her sleeve this year too!
So go ahead and join the fun, book your place at this fantastic event and I’d love to hear your experiences and the difference it makes for you and your coaching business.
In today’s guest post Karen Williams shares some her expertise and knowledge around the business of running a coaching practice.
It’s not easy being visible in business.
You’ve got to fight through the noise of everyone else out there who does something similar to you.
You’ve got to understand what makes you shine.
And you have to find a way to clearly and succinctly tell people what you do, that enables you to stand out with ease.
Many solopreneurs, especially coaches, start their business because they want to make a difference. You want to give back and help others, so becoming visible may not be the first ‘to do’ item on your list.
It may not be in your nature to “big yourself up”, celebrate your uniqueness, or shout your successes from the rooftops. Yet unless you tell people you exist, you won’t be creating the successful business that you dreamt of, or reaching those who need you.
You have a choice whether to become visible in your business or remain invisible. You can stay the world’s best kept secret or make the decision to step up, stand out and do something different.
It isn’t always easy to stand out in your business, which is why I teach this to my clients. As a Business Coach and Mentor, I use my own 7 Step Success System to help them to put the foundations in place to become more visible and create a successful business. And I get great results! Just like Steve who contacted me last week and said “I had my highest paying client on Saturday, and it was all down to the business strategies that I have learnt from working with you!” and Alex who told me “When I started your 90 day programme I was at the stage of getting a ‘proper’ job and now I’m very busy meeting prospective clients, working with other organisations and most importantly signing up new ones”.
It can be difficult to acknowledge what makes you different. We’ve all got blind spots, hidden areas, and characteristics that we don’t recognise or know about ourselves. The key is to strengthen your own self-awareness to discover what makes you stand out. Here are 8 tips to help you to do so:
1. Ask your current clients for their feedback – what do they see as your strengths and areas of expertise?
2. Review your client testimonials. What have your past clients said about your skills or the way you work with them?
3. Carry out a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) to delve into that hidden area and create greater self-awareness.
4. Listen to your client’s language. What do they want? How do you help them? What do you do that makes you stand out?
5. Work with business mentor, as they will point out the things you make you different – (it’s more than your Unique Selling Proposition!) and help you to develop your uniqueness and expertise further.
6. Remember that what makes you unique is you, so how can you express this clearly and concisely in your message?
7. Don’t follow the crowd when it comes to your online presence or elevator pitch, think benefits, outcomes and solutions rather than the method in which it is delivered.
8. Know why you are running your business. When you know why it is important to you, it makes the how so much easier.
“There are 5 frogs are sitting on a log. 4 decide to jump off. How many are left? 5. Why? Because there is a difference between deciding and doing.”
What decisions and choices are you making today to become visible?
What are you going to do to make it happen?
Karen is running the Star Biz conference on Saturday 6 July, which is a conference with a difference. Last year she had a firewalk and she has something else up her sleeve this year too. Karen promises an action packed, inspirational and business shifting day. You will get to the root of what you could do differently in your business. Those things that can help you to make more money, get more clients, whilst making a difference and doing what you love.
As a business coach and mentor, author, speaker, and firewalk instructor, Karen Williams, from Self Discovery Coaching, works with coaches and solopreneurs who are ready to step up in their business. She helps them to develop the foundations for a successful business, stand out from the crowd and enjoy every step of the way.
Karen is the author of The Secrets of Successful Coaches, which reached #1 in the Business charts on Amazon. Her second book, How to Stand Out in your Business, was published in 2012. In the second book she shares the 7 Step Success System that she uses to help her clients to become more visible and create a successful business. She is half way through writing her third book.
You can sign up for Karen’s free EBook ’30 Ways to Stand Out in your Business in 30 Minutes or Less’ on her website here.
In today’s guest post coach and author Karen Williams shares her knowledge and experience in:
I believe that to stand out in your business and be different from everyone else, a great place to start is by writing a book. They say we all have a book or two within us, but why is it so hard to get started or know how to finish?
Sounds easy?
Writing a (good) book will be great for business. But you may see it as an expensive business card, or you’re not sure where to start and what to do first. You may wonder whether you are ready to share your message with the world and what people may think.
So let me help. In chapter 11 in my second book, How to Stand Out in your Business, I shared my strategies for writing a book.
Like many people I learnt the hard way when I wrote my first book. In 2009, I didn’t have a clue where to start, how to structure the book, let alone get published. So it’s not surprising that it took me eighteen months to get The Secrets of Successful Coaches out into the world. At that stage, I vowed that if I ever wrote another book it would be so much easier. I had the chance to model what I’d done, take the things that worked and ditch the stuff that didn’t get results.
Now there’s more to it than this I assure you, but having a blueprint that worked made the second book easier to write. From conception to publication, my second book took just 6 months and it reached #1 in the book’s categories on Amazon earlier this year.
To be successful, you do need to get the building blocks in place in your business first, and then you will be crystal clear that you are sharing the right message with your reader, and get noticed by your prospective clients!
This year, Karen Williams is collaborating with Book Publicist, Helen McCusker from Booked PR, and they are running Author Workshops to get your book off the starting blocks. If you are ready to write your book, join them for their pilot event on Sunday 21 April 2013 in Hampshire. Find out more and book your place here.
A business coach, author, speaker, and fire walk instructor, Karen Williams, from Self Discovery Coaching, works with coaches and solopreneurs. She helps them to develop the foundations for a successful business, stand out from the crowd and enjoy every step of the way (including writing a book).
Karen is the author of The Secrets of Successful Coaches, which reached #1 in the Business charts on Amazon and released her second book, How to Stand Out in your Business, in January 2013. She has just started her third!
You can sign up for her free EBook’30 Ways to Stand Out in your Business in 30 Minutes or Less’ here.