Growing a Coaching Business tips: weekly edition?#2

When I first started my coaching business three years ago, I thought that all I had to do, was to be a great coach. And whenever I heard crickets after opening up a program or asked if potential clients wanted to work together, I blamed it on my lack of coaching skills.

If only I was a better coach, I thought.

While this was partly true, I had no idea that there was another part that would make business either thrive or die — and that was the business part. 

The business side of coaching is often the part that beginner coaches find difficult, and the part that certifications often times don’t address.

Because the selling and marketing are just as important as the coaching. 

When clients come to me, their number one questions tend to be: How do I find my ideal client? What offerings should I make? How do I stand out and be seen as an expert? 

And this is exactly why when I work with clients, I incorporate a holistic view of coaching: by helping them uplevel not just their coaching skills but also simultaneously their client creation skills, so that they have a sustainable and growing business after they’re done working with me. 

What I often see, is that coaches who don’t make it past their first year are the ones who didn’t take the business part into consideration. 

So, much of these newsletters will focus not only on coaching, but the biz aspects as well so that you can thrive in your business as an incredible coach :) 

Here’s the top 3 things I learned from last week:

1. Feeling like running out of time? Do the dance.

As a new coach, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with everything that you think you have to do. In fact, I’ll still feel overwhelmed these days and feel like I’m racing against time. 

Which is why I bought this up with my coach last week, and he proposed a thought-provoking question: If you were in a relationship with time, how would you describe your behavior? 

I had to stifle an “uh-oh” when I answered with: clingy, desperate, dependent….and even creepy.

I felt like I really had to control time because it was running out of my grasp. So I started experimenting different ways in which I could have a healthier relationship with time aka dance with it and be more flowy with it. And found these strategies to be helpful — feel free take any and try out for yourself: 

• Narrowing down my to do list every day to just three, aka the Big 3. And these have to be the ones that I choose to do, instead of ones that I think I should do. 
• Allowing more spontaneity in my day by setting intentional blocks of time to work on things but not specifying exactly which. This may seem counterintuitive, and I’ve found that when I don’t map out things in 30 minute increments, my mind actually rebels less with finding distractions because it’s less bored ??
• Taking a breath and checking in with myself on what I want to do in this moment. This is definitely very different from the uber-productivity focused me in the past, and I’ve found that the more I give self-trust to myself, the more fun I have finishing the tasks. (Would only recommend this though if you have a history with following through with tasks and are currently prioritizing to have more joy in your life).

2. Let go of your ego in scheduling conversations. 

I’m a stickler with time. And used to get very personally offended when people showed up late on time, because I would have these made-up stories like “They don’t care about me. They don’t value my time.”

Ultimately, I was making assumptions and transferring my sense of insecurity on to them and their behaviors.

Since then, I’ve learned that security comes from within, and this has served me quite well when people arrive late or need to reschedule consultation calls, because life happens. 

For example, just last week, a potential client had asked to move her call last minute, and because I had time later during the day, I said yes. 

In the past, I would’ve made up all sorts of things and entered the call with resentment. But this time, I was excited to talk to her and was very present, and still self-confident in myself. 

That conversation turned to be one of the most powerful ones I’ve had that week, and right afterwards, she booked her first session with me and became my client! 

Of course, as time goes by, my schedule will be less flexible and I may not be as accommodating. But when you’re first starting out, it’s so important to get on as many consultation calls as possible, and not let your ego get in the way. And you can also balance it, by offering reschedules with the people you’re truly excited to talk to. 

3. Throw away that script in consultation calls. 

My consultation calls are very flowy now, thanks to doing so many in the last couple of months. However, when I first started out, I was so nervous and anxious. To help calm me down and gain a little bit of control, I used to follow a series of questions. 

And that’s when I made the biggest mistake — by lining up questions, it was taking attention away from talking to the potential client. I was waiting to ask the next question instead of being present with them, which is one of the biggest gifts you can give as a coach. 

This week, I also shared more of myself and really let it be a conversation. For example, my potential clients found it really resonating that I dropped out of being a biology major in college and volunteered at a prison as a business mentor. In hindsight, it makes sense because my clients tend to have been pushed into traditional careers (like doctor, engineer, etc.) so they understand what it’s like to be on the pre-med path. And they also really care about social impact so when they heard that I do the same, we connected on a much deeper level. 

I didn’t think sharing these details were a) that important before and b) they probably read it somewhere but again, these are assumptions. Like I mentioned in last week’s tips, clients buy because they like you as a person, and they can see themselves in you. 

So show up fully, be present and authentic. And see how your calls are transformed ?

?? What do you plan to implement yourself this week?

See you next week, friends.

P.S. I have new coaching spots open! Taking on new clients until end of January to work together for the next three months. Next time doors open will most likely in June after I get back from Asia. If you’re looking to launch your creative business in 2020, schedule a consultation call here to see if coaching is the next best step for you :)