marketing

Small Business Owners: Do This, Don’t Do That

29 August 2014 in Guest Post tagged business / business owners / coaching business / genius work / marketing / outsourcing / Peggy Champlin / selling / small business / solopreneurs

In today’s guest post Peggy Champlin offers advice about how to have a successful coaching business.

Small Business Owners: Do This, Don't Do That by Peggy Champlin

Small Business Owners: Do This, Don’t Do That

by Peggy Champlin

I feel strongly that business owners, especially solopreneurs, should spend their time on those things only they can do for their businesses – and only those things. It’s tempting for the coaches, consultants, healers, and others I work with to try to do everything themselves. Sometimes it’s an effort to save money. Sometimes it’s about not wanting to give up control. Sometimes they think it will take too much time to train someone else to help them.

Even though it might be challenging for any of the reasons I’ve listed for you to consider getting help in your business, I urge you to do just that. Below are the only tasks you should be doing personally.

Identify Your Genius

The most important thing you need to do as a business owner is to clarify what talents, skills, intuition, knowledge, and experience you have that others would benefit from and be willing to pay for. Some combination of these factors will make you unique and allow you to position yourself as ‘special’ in the marketplace.

In my case, I have a technical background along with business experience and coach training. Over the years I’ve been in business, I have learned I thrive when supporting other business owners in the strategic and technical aspects of their businesses. I enjoy not only coaching, but actually getting things done for my clients.

Define Your Target Market

Once you know your genius, you need to identify those people who will value it. These are the ones who will see what you offer and want it. A key point here is that they need to be able to pay for it. A high priced coaching program for the unemployed may be quite valuable to them, but many may not be able to pay for it.

I enjoy working with small businesses, usually solopreneurs. They are most in need of the services and experience I offer, and don’t generally have employees to help them.

Decide on Your Portfolio

How will you offer your genius to your target market? Will it be coaching or consulting? Will you create tools to sell? Will you create artistic works? Will you offer services or products, or both?

Right now, I serve all my clients one to one, on an hourly or custom project basis. I’m currently creating service packages that will still be one on one, and am looking ahead to creating programs to help small business owners in larger numbers.

Market Your Genius

Notice I didn’t say “market your services/products”. Your services and products are the way you package your genius. Your genius produces the benefits your customers will pay for.

Now that you know what to sell to whom, you need to focus on how to become visible to them and attract them to your business. Also known as marketing.

Sell Your Genius

Yes, you will need to sell. I know many of you cringe at the thought, and “sell” doesn’t mean you have to be pushy or hype-y or sales-y. But if you want people to pay you for something, you’re going to have to sell it to them, whether one on one, in a teleseminar or webinar, or via a sales letter on your website.

Deliver Your Genius

Once people have expressed interest by coming to your site, subscribing to your list, registering for your webinar, or paying you, you now must deliver. It’s up to you to create content that captures your genius and delivers its benefits to your audience. Some of this content will be free and some will be paid, but this is where the rubber hits the road. Delight your audience and some will become customers. You’ll also be able to attract a bigger audience.

OK, that’s it. Everything else can be outsourced – and should be. You shouldn’t be spending time on creating web pages or formatting ezines. Why? Because others can do that as well or better than you, and no one else can identify, package, market, and sell your genius better than you. So you do that bit and get help for all the other bits.

About Peggy Champlin

Peggy Champlin’s business, Success With Ease, has been providing a full suite of services and products to help small companies build their businesses online since 2002. Visit Success With Ease to receive a free report, “The Top 10 Mistakes Small Business Websites Make”.

Article Source: Small Business Owners: Do This, Don’t Do That

The benefits of connecting … 1

15 August 2014 in Guest Post tagged business / clients / coaches / coaching / connecting / Julie Crowley / marketing / networking

In today’s guest post Julie Crowley looks at one thing that many coaches consider for marketing but don’t often consider the other benefits

"The benefits of connecting ..." by Julie Crowley

The benefits of connecting …

By Julie Crowley

I am really keen to ‘connect’ the right people for mutual benefits, hence I love networking. I get a buzz from putting someone in touch who can help someone else and benefit themselves too.

One of the things I find surprising in my therapeutic business is the ‘fear’ of connecting with other people in the same or similar business. A fear, perhaps, of losing clientele to someone else, or someone taking your ideas – I understand. But really, in effect, getting together to network, collaborate or just connect on a regular basis can only bring benefits for all! Like what, you might wonder?

• Learning about other options available in your community – for you, your clients, your family and friends. There are so many different options now that can meet various needs e.g. holistic events, Christmas markets, social events and business support options are just a few.

• I need to find someone to meet people’s needs where I can’t – for example:

* I don’t offer hypnotherapy, EFT, mindfulness per se, or other relevant services
*Although Person centred trained, I work more integratively using my counselling coaching skills to benefit each individual client and meet their unique needs
* Other practitioners don’t have my set of services or skills to meet an enquiry needs
* We all have resources others could use but may not have, and could share
* Sharing marketing maybe – advertising, forums, share service provisions
Cover for breaks or absences that could help keep your business and income running
* Ongoing personal and professional development and support through sharing, listening, hearing each other

• Understanding where you fit in the health & well-being/development service community

• You can be the connection and the solution for clients in need – that can only be good for marketing!

• Stimulating your ideas and creative business management – motivation, inspiration

• Encouragement and support to get through hard times, celebrate good times – and just connect!

• PD groups – learning, growing, sharing experience and perspectives

• Market research – share ideas but make sure it has boundaries, confidentiality and use restrictions to protect you and your business/creativity

• Sharing clients! Believe it or not – you could! I know I can’t be all things to all clients, so sometimes enquiries don’t move on – they don’t ‘like’ me or my practice, I’m not local to them, they need something but don’t know what

• Mutual support, inspiration and motivation

The threats

• Someone takes a client who could have been yours – unlikely or they would have chosen you!

• Someone steals your ideas – agree mutually beneficial, safe and respectful boundaries for working together and networking

• Competition is healthy – it keeps us on our toes (not direct challenges maybe, but options)

• Someone judges you (you think) – it’s good to be challenged, it helps you develop!

• Missing out and harder work – maybe but motivating too.

So try it and see! What do you have to lose? And to gain?

Feel free to link with me on social media below. I love the stimulation and insights, the comments and perspectives I find from other therapists and new ideas I can use to help my clients, from those further away who won’t feel threatened by my practice.

Think about how you benefit or could do, and how it could hinder your business – and take action by connecting, commenting, explaining to others how you feel and how you might be challenged by them.

About Julie Crowley

Julie Crowley, Personal Counsellor and Career Coach based in Lees, Oldham – Clear Mind Life Coaching & Counselling. May aim is for people to explore their potential, achieve it if they wish to and develop their Personal Power to create the life they want to live – informed choices, effective decisions and working to strengths whilst managing areas for development!

Further information: www.clearmindco.co.uk is about personal development and relationships ‘For a better personal future’ Facebook – Twitter – Linked in CLEAR Connections on my website and on Facebook and Twitter

How Narrowing Your Focus Can Make You More Successful 1

8 August 2014 in Guest Post tagged business / business building / coach / coaching / focus / marketing / Michele Christensen / overwhelmed / stretched / success

In this weeks guest post business coach and mentor Michele Christensen focuses on how you can run a successful coaching business.

How Narrowing Your Focus Can Make You More Successful

By Michele Christensen

"How Narrowing Your Focus Can Make You More Successful" by Michele Christensen

Many coaches work as solopreneurs, or one-person businesses. If you are drawn to this model, it’s a great way to work. However, it does mean that you wear all the hats in your business. There’s a lot to do to keep a business running, and it can feel like you are pulled in a million different directions. If you are spread too thin, you may not be putting enough time in on any one thing to make it effective.

For example, if you are spending hours every day marketing yourself through dozens of channels you may not have time to do any actual income-producing or referral-generating work. You may not even have time to properly implement any single one of those channels. Or, you may have too many projects in the process of being created. In reality, most of us can only juggle a few in-depth projects at a time so it’s better to get one done before adding another.

Here is an example of a mistake of this type I made in my own business. I spent one year early in my business doing a lot of networking. I went to several events per week and even went to two events per night sometimes. However, I made the mistake of going to a bunch of different events and meeting hundreds of people one time each instead of finding just a few networking events and maybe a few dozen people that I could stay connected with and build active relationships with.

The main point is that if you run a solopreneur coaching business, there’s an upper limit to how much you can do well. Avoid the temptation to keep adding new business-building tactics that you can’t fully implement or having too many projects going at once. Narrow your focus to just the number of things you can do well and feel on top of. You’ll feel less stretched thin and get more done, and these two things can make you more successful.

About Michele Christensen

Michele Christensen is a business coach and mentor for solopreneurs. She teaches people how to have a profitable, sustainable one-person business they can run from home without overwhelm or working 24/7. For more information and free resources, find her online at michelechristensen.com, or on the social sites.

What do you want to get known for?

4 July 2014 in Guest Post tagged brand / business / clients / coach / expert / expertise / identity / Karen Williams / marketing / niche

In today’s guest post Karen Williams asks an insightful question to help you and your coaching business.

What do you want to get known for?

By Karen Williams

"What do you want to get known for?" By Karen Williams

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:

Can understand how someone must be feeling and emphasise with their situation
Have the resources and information that may help and know where else you can direct your client
Have credibility in that area and build your business from that topic of expertise

Want a profitable and fulfilling business?

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.

Your message and brand are aligned to the clients you want to attract
Your website will generate leads rather than be a static page that people may come across by accident
You can stand out from everyone else in your profession as you know what makes you different
You can market yourself in a way that allows you to easily attract clients as people get what you do and the results that clients get from working with you
You can create a signature talk/book/information product that automatically leads people to the next step in your marketing funnel and ultimately allows you to build your business easily

.

What do you want to get known for?

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.

About Karen Williams

Karen Williams 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.

Want More Clients? Are Random Acts of Marketing Holding You Back? 1

6 June 2014 in Guest Post tagged clients / coaching / Joan Bell / marketing / marketing plan / strategy

In today’s guest post Joan Bell shares some of her expertise and knowledge as she asks:

Want More Clients? Are Random Acts of Marketing Holding You Back?

by Joan Bell

"Want More Clients? Are Random Acts of Marketing Holding You Back?" by Joan Bell

Say NO to random acts of marketing! (RAOM)

What’s falling through the cracks in your marketing?

It’s so easy to get bogged down with all the bright shiny objects out there that we often end up confused, overwhelmed and simply frustrated with what we should be doing to get more clients.

In fact it has become such an issue for many independent professionals that they are seriously thinking of going back to old jobs or beginning something else that doesn’t require the effort and intensity that seems to be needed to be successful as an entrepreneur.

I worked with one client recently who said she had done “everything” to get more clients and nothing had worked so I was her last chance before she just ‘gave up’ and did what others had been telling her to do for months… “get a proper job”

Uggghhhhhhhhhh! That really got my heckles up! (It’s like saying women belong in the kitchen!)

Through coaching and asking her some very simple but powerful questions my client came to realize what her idea of “everything” had consisted of; this is what her idea of marketing was:

A few random Facebook comments
Random invitations to her programmes or classes,
A monthly newsletter that went out spasmodically
Random conversations with anyone who would listen
Writing an occasional special report or random content

I asked about her marketing plan? She didn’t have one. She didn’t have a content calendar or any specific marketing strategies or daily actions that she did consistently. In fact 80% of her marketing efforts were totally random based on how she was feeling on the day and what she was currently interested in or that she heard was the latest and greatest marketing fad.

Actually, it was luck rather than judgement that she had clients at all. Things had to change or this fabulous woman would be doing a disservice to those people she was meant to serve and she would be joining the queue of entrepreneurs who have given up on their dream.

The term RAOM (Random Acts of Marketing) came to mind, not sure if I had heard it before or whether I came up with it but whatever the case, this had been her way of marketing and she wondered why it wasn’t working.

The first thing I asked of her was to acknowledge where she was and realize that what she was doing wasn’t working. Only then could she breathe a sigh of relief knowing that there was nothing ‘wrong’ with her and it was simply a matter of learning, knowing and instigating a more structured plan of action to help her attract and sign up more clients.

The best part was I could offer her exactly what she needed to get the results she wanted and we could move very quickly to give her an understanding of how it all ‘works’ and how simple it actually is when you understand a few basic steps or keys of marketing.

They are:

Know what you are offering – specifically and passionately
Know who you are, what you stand for and what you can deliver
Have a way or ways of delivering this that makes sense for your clients
Have a solid, tangible result that they can expect from working with you
Create a no excuses, reliable marketing plan that is easy to implement
Take monthly, weekly, daily actions that work and give results
Take a birds-eye view to see what’s working and what isn’t
Make any adjustments that are needed
Take it to the bank! Ching ching!

Rinse and repeat for your next stage.

Yes, it takes effort and the time to learn but surely that has to be better than flailing aimlessly through a marketing mine-field of the latest, greatest strategies that have yet to be proven.

This is one time when the tried and true actually works, you can jazz it up, colour it, add music to it or dance with it but when it comes down to it, it’s the strategies and planning, the passion and purpose and the daily actions done with love and enthusiasm that work best every time.

You know how I know this? Yep, you guessed it, I’ve tried all the rest myself and it took me a long time to get on track and when I did, life, business, marketing and my bank balance became so much more expansive.

Don’t waste another day on Random Acts of Marketing, take the time to learn how to do it in a way that works, a way that aligns with your passion and a way that can give you the results you deserve. I promise you, you won’t regret it.

About Joan Bell

Joan Bell is a Solo Biz & Marketing Coach and Certified NLP Practitioner.

Joan is also a facilitator of the GET CLIENTS NOW! 28 day marketing programme and loves to work with Coaches and Service Professionals who want more clients, more cash and more fun in their biz and their life. This programme can be done with a small group or on a 1 to 1 basis..

She’s a no-nonsense, ‘tell it like it is’ coach with a sense of fun and likes nothing better than sharing her wit and wisdom in ways that puts her clients at ease and provides them the space they need to confidently showcase their brilliance in a judgement free playground.

As a result of working with Joan clients create marketing plans that work, signature systems they can take to the bank and lifestyles they’ve only dreamed of. If you’d like to find out more, pop on over to http://www.bizcoach101.com or http://tiny.cc/gcn where you can read an article, get a Free report and check out Joan’s Services.

Article Source: Want More Clients? Are Random Acts of Marketing Holding You Back?

5 Google+ Features That Are Useful For Coaches

7 February 2014 in Guest Post tagged Chris Chaves / clients / coaches / connection / features / google+ / marketing / network / social media / technology

In today’s guest post Chris Chaves shares practical information and advice for coaches on using one of the fastest growing social media platforms:

5 Google+ Features That Are Useful For Coaches

By Chris Chaves

There are dozens of social media sites you can use to market yourself as a coach but few have as many features as Google+.

I’ve recently been spending quite a bit of time familiarizing myself with Google + and while I don’t claim to be an expert just yet, I did want to share with you an overview of it’s tools and features.

Here are some reasons why you should add Google + to your coach marketing plan:

Google + is one of the fastest growing social media sites out there. It surpassed LinkedIn and has more active users than any other social media site except Facebook.
Google + is integrated in Google’s search engine system so having a high number of followers in Google+ can greatly increase your search engine rankings.
Google + is also integrated into YouTube (which is also owned by Google). This makes it really easy to create and share videos (more on that in a minute)

Before I get into the various features within Google+, lets start with a quick lesson on how to access the menu bar (which is where you’ll find all these features)

Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.

Just hover over the home icon in the upper left side of the screen to open the navigation bar.

Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.

Here are 5 great features within Google + that you can use as a coach to market and deliver your coaching services.

1. Circles – A Great Way To Listen To Your Potential Coaching Clients

Google + is a great tool for listening to your ideal customers and you can use a feature called “Circles” to categorize people that you want to follow. Unlike Facebook, you don’t need to send a request to someone in order to add him/her to your circles. You can create as many circles as you like and you can add people to one, or many circles.

Once you add someone to your circles, you’ll be able to see the things they post publicly.

Here are some examples of Circles you may want to create:

Potential Partners
Other Coaches In Your Niche
Influential people in your niche that you want to keep an eye on
People who are in groups or communities within your niche (potential coaching clients)
Existing Clients
People you meet
Hangouts (anyone who’s attended your hangouts) – more on this later

People can’t see what circle you’ve added them to so if you add someone to a circle you labeled as “Potential Clients” or “Competition”, they won’t see the circle name. They will just get a notification that says you have added them to your circles.

2. Communities – Great For Listening, and Positioning Yourself As An Expert

Communities in Google+ are a lot like groups you find in LinkedIn or Facebook. They’re groups of people who are all interested in a particular topic. Joining communities that are focused on topics in your coaching niche can be a great way of listening to the needs of your ideal clients.

Communities also provide you with a great way to engage with other people in your niche whether they be potential clients, potential partners and/or other people who serve your ideal clients.

One way to engage with people in circles is to comment on their posts. You can also +1 their posts (which is similar to a Facebook “like”) or you can share their post with your audience. Of course, you can also create your own posts.

Much like LinkedIn and Facebook Groups, you can post tips, quotes, ask a question, and even post a link to your blog post every once in a while.

3. Video Hangouts

Google+ allows you to setup a video chat, or “Hangout” with up to 10 people. This can be great for having an online coaching session with a client, or for staring an interactive webinar that you can broadcast on your YouTube channel or on your website.

With hangouts, you can choose how public or private they are and you can set them up so they post directly to your YouTube channel so you can use the recordings anyway you like (i.e. you can post them on your website or send them to your list).

Just be careful with this though… I’ve seen coaches accidentally post private coaching sessions to their YouTube channel so you’ll want to practice a few times and familiarize yourself with these features before scheduling a coaching session or big event.

4. Events

Events are a lot like hangouts except with events, you can schedule them and invite people in advance. You can invite the public, certain communities, circles or individuals and like hangouts, you can also link these to your YouTube account so you can get a recording of the event after.

Events allow you to track RSVP’s and also integrate with Google calendars, which also make Events a great option for online group coaching sessions, periodic webinars, and presentations. Events also allow you to have a forum where people can ask questions while you’re presenting (like many of the popular premium webinar platforms)

5. Google+ Pages

You can create a page specifically for your business or coaching profile (very much like having a Facebook company page). Most coaches probably won’t need a page because they can just use their profile, but if you wanted to have a completely separate page for your business, having a Google + page may be the perfect solution for you.

While this has just been a brief overview of each of the features, my hope is that you’ll be able to take this

Here are a Few Final Tips…

Post frequently. This is one of the best ways to increase your following.
Add pictures and videos to your posts.
Add hashtags to your posts to help make them more visible.
Share and comment on other peoples’ posts.
Thank other people when they comment/share/+1 your posts.
PRACTICE these features with a friend (especially events and hangouts) before using them with your audience.

While I’ve only scratched the surface of Google+, my hope is that this post will give you enough of an overview to get started using this rapidly growing social media tool.

About Chris Chaves

Chris Chaves is the former Director of Sales for the Tony Robbins Coach certification program and is currently focused on helping new coaches get over the obstacles associated with becoming a successful coach through his Coach’s First Year blog.

He recently started The Coaching Success Podcast, in which he interviews other successful coaches to talk about their secrets to success. PLEASE hop on over to iTunes and give the show a rating.

Connect with Chris via:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/coachbiztips

Twitter: twitter.com/CoachBizTips

Google+: plus.google.com/+ChrisChavesCPC/posts

Google and the Google logo are registered trademarks of Google Inc., used with permission.

Why You Aren’t Attracting The Right Coaching Clients? 1

6 December 2013 in Guest Post tagged attract coaching clients / clients / coaching / coaching brand / Holly Chantal / marketing / online brand / personal branding / spread your message

Holly Chantal specialises in working with coaches and solopreneurs – in today’s guest post she shares on a subject many coaches wonder about:

"Why You Aren't Attracting The Right Coaching Clients?" A guest post by Holly Chantal

Why You Aren’t Attracting The Right Coaching Clients?

By Holly Chantal

Have you ever had that feeling that no matter what you do, you keep attracting dud clients? No matter how many brilliant blog posts you write, tele seminars you deliver, or videos you create people just aren’t “getting” what you do?

Well there might be a fairly simple reason for that, you know too much.

Sometimes we get so caught up in sharing our knowledge of our area of expertise that we forget the bigger picture of why we started our coaching businesses, which was to change lives and possibly change the world. We each have an inner message that we want to spread, but it’s easy to get caught up in sharing what we think our prospects want, instead of what they really need.

So what do I mean by this?

Being a website designer I could write whole books on how to run your business online. What tools to use, how to set up a WordPress website, what your opt in offer should be and the list goes on.

But what I REALLY like to do is solve the puzzle of what makes one coach different from another. I like to talk with my clients and pull out the gems of what their core message and essences are and then show them how they can use these things to brand themselves in a unique way. Yes, we create a website that reflects all of this, but if you were to ask me my message or mission it certainly isn’t to build WordPress websites.

When I first started writing my blog it was all about the above topics that I thought people wanted to read how to set up this, or what tool to use for that etc. And I kept attracting people that just wanted a tweak done to their WordPress theme, or needed me to set up their auto responder… BORING! I wasn’t getting to do the stuff I really enjoyed, because I was attracting the wrong clients.

It was when I started weaving in my message of using your personality to create your unique brand, that people started to really “get” what my business was all about. And while just about anyone can build a WordPress theme these days, no one else can capture your personality and make you SO different from everyone else like we can.

You’ll find that I still write about the same topics, but my core message is always underlying. Whenever I think of a topic to write I always ask how it could relate to differentiating yourself in the market place, or how can it express your personality.

I call this your Brand Promise and it needs to be woven into everything you do. You use it in your sales conversations to really clarify with prospects what they will be getting out of working with you, you use it to create your products (if you’re creating a product that doesn’t satisfy your brand promise, then ditch it or turn it into something that does), and you use it in your marketing.

When you incorporate your Brand Promise into all of these things you’ll start attracting the right audience and doing more of what you love.

So what is your Brand Promise? How do you think you could incorporate it more into your marketing?

About Holly Chantal

Holly Chantal is the founder of The Land of Brand, a website design and branding company for coaches and solopreneurs. Go to http://www.thelandofbrand.com and download a free video training on how to use your personality to create a unique brand – because your mom was right when she said you were special.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Holly_Chantal
http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-You-Arent-Attracting-The-Right-Coaching-Clients&id=8150000

It’s About Progress, Not Perfection 1

13 September 2013 in Guest Post tagged action / business / coach / marketing / online business development strategist / overwhelm / perfection / progress / success / Tracey Lawton

In today’s guest post Tracey Lawton shares her experience and knowledge in:

"It's About Progress, Not Perfection" A guest post by Tracey Lawton

It’s About Progress, Not Perfection

by Tracey Lawton

“Strive for progress, not perfection!” That’s a quote I’ve heard several times over the past couple of weeks, and I think it’s a brilliant summary of what we, as business owners, need to do. (I really don’t know who said this, by the way.)

We get so caught up in a lot of the hype that’s out there, and judge our success against what other’s are doing, rather than what we are doing ourselves. And as a result we become overwhelmed with so much to do; frustrated that we’re not achieving the same results as everyone else (so-and-so’s just had a $10k month, why can’t I do the same??); and just plain exhausted by the busyness of each and every day.

However, if we were to just take a pause… breathe… and focus on our own progress and what we’re doing each day to take our businesses forward, a lot of the problems currently being experienced would simple fade away.

For example:

How many people have you shared your business with this week? It could be through an in-person networking event; a one-on-one conversation with a potential client; hosting your own teleclass, or being a guest on someone elses’; or some other way that you’ve connected with people.

Jot down all that you’ve done this week to share your business… that’s progress.

What marketing activities have you done this week? Building regular marketing activities into your business, however small, will see your subscriber base grow week after week. Have you posted to your blog? Updated social media? Shared an article with your clients/colleagues? All of these small, quick marketing activities, when done regularly, lead to more subscribers.

I’ll give you a little sneak peek into my marketing activities… I have a weekly Monday Marketing appointment with myself that happens every Monday morning from 12-1pm Eastern. This is when I update my blog, schedule social media posts, record my podcast audio etc. It happens every week… it’s on my calendar!

What project have you moved forward with this week? We all have projects that we’re diligently working on behind-the-scenes. Some of them are huge projects that are ongoing over several weeks (such as a new program launch), and others are much smaller and can be accomplished quickly.

Jot down those projects that you’ve taken action on this week, however small and imperfect that action has been. You’re still making progress.

Next time you’re in overwhelm mode, just take a minute to acknowledge the progress that you’re making in your business… and don’t worry about it being perfect. If you waited for everything to be perfect, there never would be a right time!

Apply This To Your Business:

1. Write down the above quote on a post-it note or card, and keep it visible on your desk.

2. Refer to it during those moments of overwhelm, and acknowledge that you are making progress, even on days when it doesn’t feel like it!

About the author

Online Business Development Strategist, Tracey Lawton, teaches life coaches, business coaches, and virtual assistants how to become more organized, streamlined, and automated so that they don’t constantly bottleneck projects and processes. Having the right systems in place leads to consistent revenues, more clients, and less stress and overwhelm. Find out if you have the right systems in place for your business with the free quiz, “Is Your Business Set Up To Fail?” at http://bizsuccessquiz.com

Connect with Tracey on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/officeorganizationsuccess

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