Behind the Scenes of a Successful Coaching Business, Part 3: Support

Behind the scenes of a successful coaching business, there are so many things happening that contribute to the results that you see on the outside.

I support coaches who want to grow their businesses with ease and joy, and my sweet spot is those who come from the corporate world and are working in the business space — either with leaders, organizations or small business owners.?

In order for you to be really successful in your coaching business, you’re going to need background support — whether it’s technology or people. You really can’t go it alone.?

What happens when you don’t have support: you’re going to get tired. You’re going to be doing everything yourself.?Believe me, I know this — it happened to me. You’re going to feel isolated and alone, sitting in your office all day. You know, even though I love my clients, I also need some other type of interaction.?

And you’re going to spend time doing work that drains you — and then you’re too exhausted to do the work that counts.?I have been there.?But when you do have the background support, and the right support, you’re going to feel happy. You’re going to get your rest. And you’re going to do the work that only you can do — your genius work — and it’s going to energize you. You can spend more time working on your coaching and doing your own self-development.?

So, what’s the support you really need??

The first type of support is Technical Support

There are so many great, free, resources out there that can help you do things in a short amount of time, streamline what you’re doing and save you time.?When you don’t know what the right technology is, you can end up spending enormous amounts of money on tech that you don’t need. I’ve done this! I’ve been there, and I’ve seen many coaches who have done the same.?

Having tech support that is not necessary eats away at the profit of your business and it causes a weight on your shoulders. You’ve got to make more money in order to pay for all this tech.?When you do know the right tech to use, you can create a strong foundation in your business, save time and it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money.

Here are a few examples, some of my favorites.?If you want to do postings on social media, and you want to schedule that out. For instance, every Monday night, you’re sitting in front of the TV scheduling your posts.?Instead of using something like MeetEdgar, which is an expensive option, you could use the version of Hootsuite, which is completely free.?And then, when you start generating more money, you can up-level.?

Instead of Infusionsoft, for your autoresponder, you can start with MailChimp. Infusionsoft is very expensive and MailChimp is free, so you can send out your free report. You can start your mailing list with MailChimp and then, as you grow, you can import these into another autoresponder.?

Instead of a credit card processor, you can use PayPal subscription payments, so you don’t have to set up invoices every month. I had a really tough experience with credit card processing.?In credit card processing, there’s a processor, and there’s also a gateway, and there’s a bank. There are three different companies to work with and pay.

My business started really taking off. I started taking in larger amounts than I was used to taking.?The gateway actually held the money, made me refund it to my people, out of my own pocket, and then we could try again.?It was a cash flow nightmare, and it was very expensive.?It’s very confusing and convoluted, and complicated.

I went right back to PayPal.?And PayPal subscription payments that you can just send out a link, in an email.?And it will automatically deduct the payment every 30 days. Takes minutes to set up and I don’t have to send an invoice every month, so it makes everything so much easier.?These are the kinds of things that are very important to know when you’re growing your business. What kind of tech support do you need??And is it going to be a return on investment, for you?

Let’s look at the second kind of support that you would need — and that is virtual and web assistance.?

Unless websites are your genius work, you’re going to need help with your website. When you hire assistance too soon, and you’re not exactly clear on your ideal client, their challenge and desired result, you can really waste a lot of money on things that are not revenue producing.?

You may find yourself frustrated that you’re paying so much for these services — month, after month, after month.?Believe me, I’ve been there, done that.?I’ve wanted to invest in myself and yet, I really needed to look at this.

When you are crystal clear on your business focus, it is going to be investment — and not an expense.?You’re going to know what you need.?You’re going to be thrilled at how it’s paying off.?You’re going to be so happy to pay those fees every month.

What’s the right time to hire help??It’s after you’ve done some these things yourself — unless you have a huge capitalization into your business — do some of these yourself.?See how long it takes you.?I did this one time.?I had hired an assistant to do some email marketing and I prepared the emails, I sent them to her, and asked her to cue them up.?

It was taking her about twenty minutes to cue-up these emails.?I was paying by the hour — so, she cue-up three emails which was great.?And I was thinking, “Boy, there might be an easier way.”?Well, I went right into my autoresponder and I created the email there — and it took me ten minutes.?Now, is it a good use of my time??Probably not.?But it only took me ten minutes to create the email and it wasn’t even my genius work. I was paying somebody else for twenty minutes and I could do it in half the time.?That was a disconnect. I understood that I needed to find somebody who could do this as quickly as I could.?

If something seems off to you, do it yourself and see what it takes.?You don’t have to do everything but find out what it is and what it takes.?

The right time to get support is after your business is bringing in money.?I started out doing a lot of things on my own and then, once I was bringing in the income, I was able to invest in other people doing these. I do have a great support with my website, my social media and other marketing and sales.?I worked up to it, as my business grew and brought in income. Look at what kind of money is your business bringing in and then, reinvest some of that in the support.?

After you’ve coached a lot of paying clients, and you know what they need and want, it makes a lot of sense to get this support.?One of things I see that is not working is coaches creating really beautiful websites, but their niche is not specific and clear. The websites are gorgeous, but no clients are coming in. The website is too vague.?

And they’ll come to me and say, “I have this great website, but I have no clients — and I’ve spent thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours on this.”?Yes, this is exactly right, because you really want to get a very clear niche and put content on your website that is going to draw in your ideal clients.?Work with a coach before you do your website — before you do any of your social media — make sure that your niche is really strong, and you understand your ideal client well.?

When I first started, I would do everything I loved to do — and then I would also do some of the things that I didn’t love because I had time.?And then there came a week where I was in a coaching session with my coach, and I said, “Oh my gosh, I have so many things on my plate.?I am really tired, and I don’t know what I need to take off.”?And she said, “Well, is it time to hire an assistant?”?

I knew someone that I had worked with in a different capacity, and I called her up and I said, “Would you like to do some work for me??I have a certain amount that I could pay out of my business.”?I can’t remember what it was, but I offered her that amount, and she said yes — which I was kind of surprised about — but she said yes.?And then she said, “Give me your to-do list,” and I had thirty-two items on that to-do list. They were weighting down on my shoulders.?And within forty-eight hours, she had spent eight hours and she cleared off all thirty-two of those items.?It was amazing.?So, when it’s the right time and you get the right support — it can really be a big, big help.

The third type of support that you need for your successful coaching business is a coach.

Every coach needs a coach.?You’ll always hear me say this.?I really, truly, believe this — and I’ve always lived by this idea.?

When you don’t have a coach, you’re not doing what you’re asking your clients to do — you’re not investing in yourself and your own self-development.?And you don’t have access of your most creative answers — because your coach will help you with that. And you’re not humbling yourself, every week, to admit your fears and move past them.?That’s what I do every week with my coach.?

When you do have a coach, you’re going to find ways to make it an investment, rather than an expense.?Your potential clients are going to sense that alignment within you, and they’re going to know, and feel very confident in hiring you.?It’s an energetic thing.?

If you’re not investing in yourself, and in a coach, to the highest level that you can — and I’m not saying to invest money that you can’t afford – your clients won’t move forward investing in coaching with you. You don’t want to invest too much, but you want to invest just the right amount — you want it to be a bit of a stretch, but not something that you’re panicked about.?When you have that coaching session every week, it really helps you to do your best and to move forward in your business.?

I’ve had at least one coaching session per week, and sometimes even more, every week, since I’ve been a coach — except holidays and vacations, I will say.?I believe in coaching — and that’s why it’s easier for me to invite people into coaching — because I know the value from being a client.

Behind the scenes of a successful coaching business, there really are so many things happening that contribute to the results that you see on the outside.?

The first is making Mindset shifts that empower you to move forward. The second is Tracking actions that will get you to your goals. And the third is having the proper background Support that helps you do your best but doesn’t eat into your profitability.?

Thank you for being part of my community! Thanks for being you, and being willing to share your time, your treasure and your talents with the world, as a coach.?You help people grow to their highest potential — and that is such a sacred trust — and I really cherish my relationship with you, as my colleagues in coaching.?Your presence is really needed in the world!

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