Ling Wong

3 Mistakes Coaches Make When Designing Their Signature Programs

 in Guest Post  tagged clients / coaching / coaching business / Ling Wong / signature program

Many coaches will have started 2016 with a goal of designing (or redesigning) their own signature coaching program. In this week’s guest post Ling Wong shares:

3 Mistakes Coaches Make When Designing Their Signature Programs

By Ling Wong

"3 Mistakes Coaches Make When Designing Their Signature Programs" By Ling Wong

You have brain full of knowledge. You have a life full of experience. You have a toolbox full of training and expertise.

Yet, you are stumped when answering “what you do and how you do it” question.

Your confidence goes down the drain when you fumble and babble about your coaching program because you have an offer that doesn’t resonate with your value, conviction and superpowers.

If you’ve been struggling to design your signature program, you may be making these mistakes:

1. Using Generic, “Off the Shelf” Program

Many coach-training programs provide students with a 3- or 6-month program they can use right away to get clients.

Or you might have purchased some other pre-written programs that claim to solve all your pain and suffering.

It may work for a little while to help you get your feet wet, but often times regurgitation is not a long-term solution.

When you take an “off the shelf” program, stick it into your business and call it a day, you are stuffing yourself into a box made by others.

These programs are generic. The flip side of “yeah I can probably sell this to anyone” is that they make you sound like everyone else.

They often don’t give you the space to express your value, conviction and opinion. And there is little opportunity for individual expression of your superpowers.

It’s one thing to use these programs as a stopgap move to get things going, but another to be married to it and treat it as a be-all-end-all solution.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but you gotta be in the driver’s seat before the wheel can take you anywhere.

2. YOU are not in the program

I’ve worked with many go-getter clients. They take action. They follow directions they’ve learned in trainings and programs. They do the work. They didn’t write one program, they wrote three.

But still, nothing clicked.

Their motivation died when they realized the program they spent so much time and effort to develop didn’t resonate with them.

The reason? They’ve forgotten about the most important thing – themselves! They neglected the WHY that drives the program.

Most people focus on the “what” and the “how” of a program: the information, modality, delivery and execution.

They jump hastily into busywork before they uncover what really, truly motivates them.

They were missing the driving force that goes beyond a target market, a set of tools, or a topic of expertise.

Jumping both feet into the nitty-gritty has caused them to bypass the foundation – the PERSON behind the program.

The PERSON who puts her name and reputation on the program. The PERSON delivering the program. The PERSON who has to live and breathe that program. (YOU!)

The most successful program stems from a set of core value and conviction that transcends modality, delivery format and pieces of information.

There is a golden thread behind the content that ties everything together and give it a unique positioning that makes the “same information” different.

It embodies your WHY so you can stand by it with the utmost conviction.

It takes into account your superpowers so you can deliver it in the most effective way possible.

3. It’s an Exercise in Navel-Gazing

On the other hand, your signature system is not all about you.

You can’t be of service if you’re not relevant to the people you serve.

I’ve seen many practitioners who make their signature programs all about them, their skills, modality and whatever tools du jour.

The disconnect happens when a program becomes a list of stuff you do, and you fail to relate it to your niche.

Niche is how you anchor yourself in the community you serve. It’s not a bunch of demographic data. It’s about being relevant.

You’re going to hear crickets when your signature program fails to connect your skills, expertise and tools with the needs of those you’re marketing to.

When you can articular why you’re relevant to the people that matter to you (your market), you’ll feel excited about what you do.

 When you can articulate how your expertise applies to your peeps, you gain the confidence to actually get out there and talk about it.

It’s not just about selling stuff. It’s about you anchoring into a community that matters to you. It’s about creating an identity of you being valuable and confident.

You know, the stuff that makes you excited to get up every morning 😉

***

This content is part of the “Design Your Signature System Series,” if it resonates, get on the Business Soulwork email list so you can get the upcoming installments in your inbox.

About Ling Wong

Ling is an Intuitive Brainiac. Through her unique blend of Business + Marketing coaching with a Mindset + Psychic Twist, she helps the multi-talented and multi-passionate coaches, consultants and change agents distill ALL their big ideas into ONE cohesive Message, nail the WORDS that sell and design a Plan to cut the busywork and do what matters, through her intuitive yet rigorous iterative process born out of her Harvard Design School training and 10 years of experience in the online marketing industry.

Ling helps her clients optimize the space between individuality + originality vs. “tried-and-true” marketing so they can express their WHY unapologetically and profitably without reinventing the wheel.

Find Ling and grab her free “How to Find YOUR Winning Formula” Training Series here.

A Challenge Every Coach Faces… and what to do about it

 in Guest Post  tagged awareness / clients / coaches / coaching / experience / Ling Wong / message / tools / training

In today’s guest post Ling Wong shares some of her experience and knowledge as a business and marketing coach:

A Challenge Every Coach Faces… and what to do about it

By Ling Wong

"A Challenge Every Coach Faces… and what to do about it" by Ling Wong

 

As ‪coaches and mentors, how much are we “diagnosing” our clients’ problems through the lens of the tools/skills we possess?

And by doing so, while we are offering a solution, are we in a way limiting our clients’ possibilities?

When I was working on my Sacred Money Archetype Coach Training, I interpreted many things that came up for my clients through the lens of money mindset. When I was getting my Fear Releasing Method certification, seemingly every problem’s root cause was fear.

While my clients were getting great results, I felt we might not have seen the problem in its entirety if I were to stick with just one particular tool or method.

We are all human. Having a point of view is inevitable, and probably desirable (especially if you are looking to position yourself uniquely in the marketplace.)

The challenge comes in when the nature of a coaching or mentoring relationship somewhat puts us in a position of being an “authority” (again, it’s not a bad thing. From a marketing perspective, we want to be seen as an expert or an authority. From a coaching perspective, clients DO want to be lead to a certain extant.)

Which means OUR point of view is going to impact the clients’ decisions and actions, therefore, the outcome.

(We don’t have to look far… I have worked with many clients who had hired business coaches or taken those $1,997 or $3,997 programs only to find themselves being squeezed through an “agenda”, and spat out of the “guru factory line.”  They got themselves into the “niche pickle,” building out business structure and going down a rabbit hole they have no business to be in.)

We can probably guide our clients to achieve an outcome that is “desirable” from an objective point of view. The question I want to pose is whether that is an outcome that serves THAT particular client best? Is it most aligned with his/her core value, identity, beliefs etc.?

Here are a few thoughts on how we can mitigate this challenge:

  1. Cultivate Awareness

Let’s start with the assumption that there is no way around the fact that we have our own point of view.

The first step is to cultivate the awareness that we do bring our own filters into a coaching/mentoring relationship.

Our clients probably hire us because they resonate with our point of view and that’s why they want our guidance.

However, I believe when we are expressing our own opinions we can make it clear that it is our point of view and thus just one way to approach their challenges.

Our role is to expand our clients’ thinking and help them see their challenges from different perspectives, instead of (unintentionally) steering them into one particular decision or action that stems from our perspective.

  1. You Are Not Your Trainings and Certifications

A lot of times the way we approach a problem is determined by our skills and the tools we have at our disposal.

“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

It is important to not to let the “tools du jour” drive our coaching conversations. (More on It’s OK to Say Thank You and Now F*** Off To Your Trainings and Certifications)

Instead, what is the bigger message that drives your work? What is the identity you want to inspire your clients to take on? What beliefs you want to instill in your clients so they can achieve their goals in alignment with what’s true for them?

From there, what tools and methods can you apply, for your clients’ greatest good instead of a self-gratuitous way of using a tool just because you paid money to learn it?

  1. Lead with a Deeper, Bigger Message

Maybe it is about exploring a deeper message, so when we approach a challenge with a client, it’s not about finding a tool-driven solution but a identity/belief-driven solution that can encompasses multiple approaches and perspectives.

This may mean, for many of my multi-passionate and multi-talented peeps, is to gather all their skills, experience, talents, superpowers and ideas, tap into their beliefs and conviction, to device a cohesive message that transcends individual skills and tools.

By doing so, it gives you the framework and allows you the freedom to choose what new skills you want to learn, and what tools you want to add to your toolbox, without having to “redefine” what you do every time, or look like a Jack-of-all-trades.

This framework also acts as a filter so you can avoid the Bright Shiny Object Syndrome, and invest your time, money and effort on what truly matters to YOU.

By having this ONE cohesive message, you will not only be able to give your clients a more inclusive and expansive container to grow and explore, but you will also create more powerful marketing communication because of the clarity, conviction and confidence you achieve in your business.

>> Grab this free training to see how to turn ALL your big ideas into ONE cohesive message that sells.

About Ling Wong

Ling is an Intuitive Brainiac. Through her unique blend of Business + Marketing coaching with a Mindset + Psychic Twist, she helps the highly creative, intuitive, multi-talented and multi-passionate maverick solo-entrepreneurs distill ALL their big ideas into ONE cohesive Message, nail the WORDS that sell and design a Plan to cut the busywork and do what matters, through her intuitive yet rigorous iterative process born out of her Harvard Design School training and 10 years of experience in the online marketing industry.

Find Ling and grab her free “How to Find YOUR Winning Formula” Training Series at http://business-soulwork.com/ywf-free/

 

Mindset Secrets to Successfully Selling Premium Coaching Packages

 in Guest Post  tagged boundary / client attraction / clients / coaching / codependency / fear / high end / Ling Wong / marketing / mindset / package / preconception / program / self-worth / selling / value

In this week’s guest post Ling Wong uses her expertise and knowledge as she shares:

Mindset Secrets to Successfully Selling Premium Coaching Packages

By ling wong

"Mindset Secrets to Successfully Selling Premium Coaching Packages" by Ling Wong

A lot of business trainings tell us to sell coaching packages instead of single sessions, and raise our fees while we are at it so we can earn more, work less and have more energy to deliver our best services to our clients. Some of these trainings probably showed you how to design a program and price it.

Sounds good in theory, but… let me ask you – how much are your clients actually paying you? Do you consider the amount you are paid “premium”? (hmm, can you take just one or two new clients a month to pay the bills and more?)

Maybe you have a premium package sitting somewhere on your website, but you somehow have never been paid a “premium” fee; or you revert back to selling the “old” lower-cost packages when the rubber meets the road, i.e. during your sales conversation, because fears and doubts creep in and you chicken out.

If you (intellectually) know offering a premium package is better for your business, and you also have the knowledge to create the package – why aren’t you selling it? Where is the disconnect?

YOU, hold the answer. It’s all in your head.

Everything can sound good on paper, until it comes time to ask for the money.

There are a lot of fears, pre/misconceptions and judgments around “selling”, self-worth and value. Until you bust through these mindset hurdles, you will never feel completely comfortable during a sales conversation.

Your comfort level in asking to get paid is proportional to how much you ultimately get paid.

Preconception

Nobody likes being pushed into buying, and we may perceive people selling to be “bad” because some salesperson gave us bad experience. If you had bad experience with sales people, it is easy to equate selling as “dishonest,” and who wants to be perceived as such? Of course you don’t want to, so you hold back from selling.

Plus, there are many unfavorable images we associate with people doing selling – e.g. the used car salesman, the late-night infomercial dude, even that pushy MLM friend who won’t let you off the hook until you reluctantly sign up for stuff that you don’t want.

What if I tell you, selling = serving? What if you can serve your potential clients while you sell them your services? Educational marketing is a great example. You give people information and provide value to raise awareness about a problem. When they understand the problem they have actually has a solution and you, standing right there, provides that service – they will want to seek you out without you pushing your wares.

I sign a lot more clients after I changed my approach in my discovery sessions from constantly worrying about “what can I say or ask to get them to buy my stuff?” to “what questions can I ask to help this person see a solution to her challenges?” This change in attitude can give the energy behind sales conversations a major overhaul.

QuestionHow can you lead your potential clients into exploring working with you by serving them?

Fears

What kind of selling works? Genuine selling. The kind that you don’t hide behind scripts and templates. The kind that you put yourself forward and connect with your potential clients. But our fears are making us hide… instead of making the connection so critical to getting “yes” from potential clients.

The Fear of Not Being Good Enough can make you feel that you, being yourself, are not enough. It makes you feel there gotta be a script that holds the key to the perfect sales conversation. Maybe you fear that you don’t know enough so you keep babbling on about what you know and where you were trained… completely negating the potential client (who just wants to be heard and be given a damn solution!)

Don’t forget that little voice in your head that keeps saying “who are you to ask for that much money?”

The Fear of Not Being Worthy can cause you to confuse “self-worth” to what people are paying you for – i.e. our services that will give them results. When you don’t feel worthy of being paid, guess what… you don’t get paid!

The Fear of Lack can make you discount or settle for the client purchasing a smaller package even though you know she needs something more extensive because you don’t want to end up with nothing! By settling for less, at least you get the client to pay you something… (note how this makes you come from a place of lack, and not one of service)

The Fear of Being Vulnerable can get you to puff up as a protective mechanism, setting up a wall that prevents you from deeply connecting with your potential clients (people buy high-ticket items with emotions, you need to make that connection). Or, maybe you are afraid of being criticized so you hide from having conversations with potential clients or JV partners. If you hide, they can’t find you!

The Fear of Rejection can make you not ask for more money under the misconception that you will get more “no’s” if your price is higher. If you have this fear, the problem is not the price, the problem is you not having figured out how to communicate the value you deliver.

Question

Can you recognize when you fears kick in during your sales conversations?

Boundary and Codependency

In this article, I explored money boundary and codependency extensively. Here is the highlight:

  • If you are undercharging and not asking for a “premium price,” you may feel that you need to give everyone access to your service and you have the limiting belief or misconception that you can “help more people” by charging less. (You are trying to give everyone your stuff whether they want it or not – and this, is a violation of the other person’s boundary.)
  • If you are over-delivering (e.g. going overtime during your sessions, writing pages after pages of support emails, “throwing in” extras), essentially giving “premium” services without being compensated for it, you may be feeling responsible for your clients’ results even though they need to do the work to succeed. Because you feel responsible, you would bend over backwards – compromising your own boundaries in order to “help” that person with the misconception that somehow, you can do the work for your client (By the way, the client may or may not want to be helped, so in a way, you are violating that her personal choice.)
  • If you have been constantly discounting, you may be buying into the client’s money stories and somehow made felt responsible that your fee will turn into the cause of her distress so you discount to make yourself feel better. (By the way, you have no rights to decided for the other person what she can or cannot afford… it’s her priority and her decisions to make.)
  • If you have been giving away services for free – STOP! This is martyr mentality stemming from a fear of not being worthy (you are trying to prove to yourself that you are) and can turn into victimhood that kicks you off the driver’s seat altogether.

When your boundary is overstepped, it is you who allows that to happen.

QuestionIf it’s your boundary crime to commit, can you recognize your triggers and “rehearse” what you can do or say in those situations?

Self-Worth vs the Value of Your Program

I have a bone with the phrase “charge what you are worth” – I explained it in this post.

If you can separate your self-worth from the value you deliver through your program, then the question “how can my time be worth that much” will not even enter the equation.

Focus on the value your clients get out of your program or service package, not how much time you spend on the phone with them.

If they get a more out of your service than what they pay you, then offering them your package is doing them a service. The key, again, is to communicate effectively so they understand the value of your program, and the impact it has on their lives.

ExerciseWrite down how your work impacts your clients in the areas of health, career, finance, relationship and personal growth. Then put a monetary value (wherever possible) against each item. Now, add it all up and see for yourself how much value you deliver. Can you charge more?

***

Selling, and selling high-ticket items, is not scary. You can sell more with integrity by having the right mindset and perspective, overcoming your fears, strengthening your boundaries, and properly communicating the value of your offer.

About Ling Wong

Ling offers “Business Soulwork + Marketing Activation” to help coaches nail their Messages, claim their Superpowers and muster up the Guts to monetize their Truth so they can build a purposeful and profitable Personality-Driven business that is a full expression of their individuality and creativity.

Through her “left brain meets right brain” approach, Ling helps her clients tap into their intuition and ground those light bulb moments with practical strategies and marketing tactics to build a profitable and sustainable business.

Ready to Nail Your Message, Claim Your Superpowers and Monetize Your Truth for a Personality-Driven business? Get your FREE “Monetize Your Truth Mindset + Marketing Training” here.

How To Get Paid What You Ask For

 in Guest Post  tagged business / clients / coaching / Ling Wong / money / money beliefs / paid / payment / price / worth

In today’s guest post Ling Wong shares her expertise and knowledge as she focusess on the topic of being paid for your coaching:

How To Get Paid What You Ask For

by Ling Wong

"How To Get Paid What You Ask For" by Ling Wong

We have been told to raise our fees. We have been told to create high-end coaching programs instead of taking clients on a monthly basis. We might even been shown how to structure and price these programs.

All good – the question is, after all the pricing and program designing, are you actually asking for the money and getting PAID what you ask for? If not, all those trainings, pricing and program design are just intellectual exercises… and you may still be constantly discounting, undercharging, over-delivering or even giving away services for free (ever done “I am just going to throw this in”?)

When it comes time to talk coaching fees, many coaches get sucked into their potential clients’ money stories. Coaches, who generally are quite sensitive to other people’s feelings (aka, empathic), have the tendency to short-change themselves in an attempt to make everyone happy.

If you want to get paid what you ask for, you have to be mindful not to get sucked into your potential clients’ money stories, and not to let you own preconception and judgement give charge to the conversation. (Remember, money is neutral – it’s just paper in your wallet or numbers in your bank account – until you give it meaning!)

Regardless of your area of expertise, your clients come to you to make improvements, to get to a better version of themselves through your services. You are there to hold that space, that higher vision, for them so they can step into it.

If you are buying into their stories, you are encouraging them to stay stuck in where they are. If you let them wallow in their stories, you are encouraging a victim mindset that is not conducive to them taking charge and making changes to their lives.

All the coaches I know do want to get paid what they ask for (of course!) The problem happens during the money talk moment of the sales conversation… the subconscious mind kicks in with its fears and doubts, its needs to be accepted and its misguided urge to “make everyone happy.” Without thinking, these coaches would shortchange themselves and then after it’s all said and done, bang their heads on the wall and beat themselves up wondering why the heck were they doing it again.

If you have given in to these stories in the past, I highly recommend you write down a guideline for yourself on what is acceptable, and stick with it. You may even want to explore some scenarios and script out your response.

Having an empowered voice and a healthy boundary around money are also essential in helping you get what you ask for.

When we give away our power around money, it usually reflects something deeper. Most commonly, it reflects Fears of rejection, not being approved of, losing love, not being liked, being judged, or ending up with nothing.

We have a tendency to tie all these to whether people agree to work with us by giving us money. In a way, having people to pay us money, even if it’s not what we ask for, is better than getting nothing because in a way, it is some sort of validation or approval.

First of all, we need to undo these ties, associations and incorrect causality between our sense of self-worth and whether people are paying us for our products or services. In fact, I challenge the often used, almost-cliché phrase “charge what you are worth” because it really makes us believe what we charge is a direct reflection of our worth – which, of course, is not true. (Read this post for more on this.)

After you have figured out what the underlying fear you have behind giving away your power in your money conversation, ask yourself – what if being afraid of X is no longer important to you? How would you feel, what would you say and what action would you take? How would doing these change your business and your life?

What is more important, being afraid of X, or being empowered to get what you really want in life?

Last, but not least, pay attention to your boundaries. Having healthy and firm money boundary can help you sell with integrity. In my opinion, giving in to the money story of one client is not only a disservice to you, but also unfair to your other clients who are actually paying you for what your products and services are worth.

Most often than not, leaky money boundaries can be traced back to negative beliefs about money. Look back at all the circumstances in which you held a poor boundary, and ask yourself what negative belief about money do you have to release in order to make a positive impact with that situation? And, if money were sacred to you in that situation, how would you treat and value it?

About Ling Wong

Ling offers “Business Soulwork + Marketing Activation For Coaches” that embodies her “Heart & Guts” approach. She helps coaches supercharge their actions not only through smart strategies and practical tools, but also through their personal growth and development – so they not only grow their business, but also LET THEIR BUSINESS GROW THEM. Through her “left brain meets right brain” approach, she helps her clients uncover their truth and tap into their intuition, then ground those light bulb moments with practical strategies and marketing tactics to build a profitable and sustainable business that is a full expression of themselves. She firmly believes that all of us can fully express ourselves and our full potential through our businesses.

You can find Ling and download her free “Reignite Your Fire” Soul-Bomb session at http://business-soulwork.com/ or contact her at ling [at] business-soulwork [dot] com.

Did “Marketing” Kill Your Fire For Your Business?

 in Guest Post  tagged business / clients / coaching / fire / Ling Wong / marketing / motivation / process / spark

In today’s guest post Ling B Wong shares on the subject of marketing.

"Did "Marketing" Kill Your Fire For Your Business? (Aka, Death By Marketing)" by Ling B Wong

Did “Marketing” Kill Your Fire For Your Business?

 (Aka, Death By Marketing)

by Ling B Wong

Have you had this experience… you started out doing something in your business with passion, with fire. You tried to do it justice by learning all the business and marketing stuff on how to make it work, make it better, make it reach more people, make it make you a living… etc. (Whatever that training program sales page tried to convince you… ) A few months later, you find yourself in a rut, chasing your tail on the hamster wheel but no longer know why the hack you are doing that for.

Most of us get into what we do because of our passion for the “craft” – regardless of what results you deliver, whom you serve, and how you do it. We started a business so we can do what we do best and do it the way we see best without others telling us what to do and how to do it.

We did not start our businesses (along with the stress, the “uncertainty” and the foregoing of health insurance) just so we can market our businesses.

We started our businesses because we are passionate about what we do (e.g. a specific process of coaching, an expertise topic, the tools, and knowledge… the “geek” stuff.) We started our businesses because we want to express ourselves and share our gifts through something that we can (theoretically, at least!) have complete control over so we don’t have to compromise our message, our integrity, our truth.

We want to make our lives about something we stand for… We want our lives to be more than punching the clock.

Yet, after a while, probably a few trainings and programs later, taken with the intention of furthering our business so we can spread our message and help more people, we realize slowly but surely how our expression, interaction and decisions has become more and more driven by what we were “told” to be “marketing best practice” than by our individual vision and expertise (as in, our superpower, secret sauce and unique process that actually help our clients achieve results.)

We made ourselves follow some canned processes that require us to cut off our limbs so we can fit into a “tried-and-true” box. We become stifled by “blueprints”, and if we don’t yield the “results as advertised” we conclude that there is something wrong with us, or we are just not good enough. (So we went onto purchasing more of these trainings, further stifling our originality, draw us down the comparison trap and somehow, make us feel even more inadequate!)

We were told, training after training and program after program to SHUT THE HELL UP about your process and just talk about the “results”, the “benefits.” We were told that nobody cares about our “process”, our “tools” – essentially, our passion for our “crafts” – our superpower, our secret sauce. In fact, this is said over and over again so frequently that it is accepted as “truth” – hey, when was the last time it was being questioned and challenged?

Have we ever thought that being told over and over again to shut up about our process, tools and “how we create results” because “people will just glaze over” is sending our subconscious a message that our passion for our “craft” is not important? That nobody cares? That we should leave it at the door so we can create canned marketing messages that “people will understand” – because you are aiming for the lowest common denominator?

How is this different from being told to leave your dream at the office door and get settled in the cubicle? (At least, you get health insurance, appear to be “gainfully employed” and don’t have to fumble when explaining what you do at the cocktail party!)

What if we can MAKE OUR PROCESS OUR MESSAGE?

Humor me, just ask… What if?

What if we can geek out about what we do, how we do it, AND make it magnetic to our ideal clients? What if, we can have our cake and eat it too?

Here is what I know: It is much easier to find your passion and then wrap some marketing content around it, than to find something hopefully marketable and then make yourself get truly passionate about it. You are not a used car salesman. Picking a “niche” because others tell you that it will work, is not going to work for the long-run.

What if, you can lead with your “craft”, then package and position your passions and superpowers in their fullest glory into marketable and profitable offerings without leaving any part of YOU behind?

What if you don’t have to cut off an arm and a leg so you can stuff yourself into the “marketing box”?

Imagine your passion for your “craft” – the process, the tools, the knowledge – is a beach ball. By nature, a fully-inflated happily-filled beach ball floats. Many marketing trainings tell you to push the beach ball down and keep it underwater because “most stuff sink”! Hmm, let’s make the beach ball “sink” so it can “fit in”. If it’s happily inflated, you will have to keep pushing it and keep pushing it so it stays down. The moment you stop fighting it pops up and you feel you have failed the task. Eventually you get tired of pushing it down 24/7 so you DEFLATE the beach ball by letting your passion go. The sadly deflated beach ball sinks, and fits in.

Have you lost the fire by denying certain aspects of your passion? To get out of the rut, you look for more programs and trainings – getting sucked into quick fixes with big promises. You keep banging your head at it and think that somehow you can find that spark from outside of you. Like, someone is going to hand it to you on a silver platter for $297.

Yet those trainings keep telling you to shut up about your passion for your “craft”… and slowly but surely, you drink the kool-aid and instead of questioning what’s going on and what is true for you, you follow the instruction, do the homework, and water down your voice.

I know an awesome spiritual mentor who was once told to “put her anger and rage away” by a “marketing guru” because “it won’t sell.” She struggled for a long time with some watered-down messages. Luckily, she found another mentor who encouraged her to put it all out there. She launched a program called “Rage To Riches” – yes, she is SELLING the raging and angry part of her – and now she is raking in 5-figures per month.

Instead of stifling our unique blend of process, tools, knowledge and experience, what if we can MAKE OUR PROCESS OUR MESSAGE and use “marketing” to make it work for our business?

Yes, we may still be “opening the door” with some “results and benefits”, but what about the next layer? Are people really going to pay you the big bucks if you sound just like your competition? What makes YOU special? What makes your potential clients choose you instead of someone who makes the same “lose 10 pounds and feel energized” promise?

Everyone is having a variation of the same “elevator speech” – same “talk about the benefits, the frustration and hey don’t forget about the fears!” What makes you different is not replacing a few words and call it a day.

What differentiates YOU is your process, what you actually do to create results for your clients – YOUR way. Your unique process is not some “x-month program” handed to you by your coaching school or other training programs.

You cannot buy some outline and handouts off the shelve and squish yourself into the box because you think you are not good enough or you don’t know enough to create your very own process. (Those materials do have a place in helping you get up and running faster and easier, but the foundation of your business should not be built on mindlessly regurgitating these materials.)

Your process is a gem that is a crystallization of all your passions, knowledge, tools, life experience, value, gifts and superpower. It is YOU as the whole package.

I have read enough sales pages to tell you that I don’t give a hoot about the “benefits” anymore because they say pretty much the same thing… “x clients in 30 days!” “6-figure business in x months!”… I buy because of the person behind the copy. I want to know what she stands for, what tools she has at her disposal, how she approaches the subject matter, how she delivers her materials – because during the process is where results and magic happens. I want to know that this person I am working with is not regurgitating something I have heard before, some cookie-cutter system others are also regurgitating.

When I land on a coaching/training program sales page, sometimes I know within 10 seconds that I have to join that program without finish reading the first paragraph. Why? I can sense the energy of the author and know instantly if it’s something original, something with GUTS, something that is a good fit for me.

Your potential clients can sense your energy, passion and enthusiasm through your communication – even if it’s only written words. If you don’t write about something you are completely passionate about, if you dole out some canned, watered-down stuff, how can you expect your readers to “feel you” – to get inspired enough to work with you?

Broad stroke promises on just the results and benefits do not communicate a truthfulness and establish the trust you need to make meaningful connections.

Here is the irony. I have seen quite a few “certification programs” that train coaches to deliver business and marketing coaching. Guess what they are selling – yes, the PROCESS! They are selling the process (what some later turned into a signature system) that turns around and tell us, hey stop talking about your process! No one cares about the process… but apparently droves of people care enough to shell out thousands of dollars to get certified. Hmmm… let’s just think about that for a moment, OK?

A lot of business coaches also advocate creating a signature system. So it’s about the process, right? In my opinion, signature system is a great marketing communication tool because when done right, it succinctly tells people what you do and how you do it – tying the process to the benefits/desired outcomes. HOW YOU DO IT. Yep – the process.

Don’t get me wrong, I love marketing and I approach it as an art form – a form of self-expression. Not the canned version that plays “Simon Says.” Marketing communication is about understanding who you want to serve, and how you serve them then communicate it so your ideal clients understand the value you deliver (simple, right?)

Who is to say that your process – which is a crystallization of all your passions, knowledge, tools, life experiences, value, gifts and superpower – is not an important part of your message? I would want to know these things before I decide to pay a load of money and hire someone!

If you can’t fully accept all of you and put all your uniqueness out there; if you hide behind canned, watered down “results” that you *think* people want to hear – how can you expect others to fully accept and embrace your genius?

About Ling Wong

Ling Wong, Business Artist and Chief Freedom Fighter at Slideberry, provides Business Soulwork + Marketing Activation for Coaches and Done-For-You Content for Health & Wellness Practitioners.

Ling helps her clients supercharge their actions not only through practical strategies and marketing tools, but also through their growth and development – so they not only grow their business, but also LET THEIR BUSINESS GROW THEM. Through her “left brain meets right brain” approach, she helps her clients uncover their truth and tap into their intuition, then ground those light bulb moments with practical strategies and marketing tactics so they can build a profitable and sustainable business that is a full expression of themselves.

Download Ling’s “4 Keys To Enrolling High-Paying Clients” training here:  http://slideberry.com/more-clients-please-free-training/

 

 

 

 

Article Source: Did “Marketing” Kill Your Fire For Your Business? (Aka, Death By Marketing)