“What do you do?” Impact in 30 seconds or less
How to develop an elevator pitch
Recently I was invited to join a great coaching network on Yahoo called New Coach Connection. This morning I received an email from the group conversation that went as follows…at the bottom is my 2 cents to a great nugget of marketing instruction:
Re: Full Practice Wednesday: What Do You Do?
— In newcoachconnection@yahoogroups.com, Biana Babinsky wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> How do you answer this (sometimes) dreaded
> question, “What do you do?”It’s actually pretty interesting.
4 examples from 4 different people to your great question, and EVERY ONE said the same thing.
Yes, there was some indignation and chiding, but for every commenter that gave an example, (regardless of what fancy name they give it) what we all do is consistent:
You need a short (definitely less than 30 seconds – shorter is much better) statement which consists of the following parts:
- I
- (do what)
- (for whom)
- (in order to)
- (which results in) (also known as WIIFM- What’s in it for me)
The four examples (exact quotes with the above 5 points inserted):
I (do what) guide (for whom) people (in order to) to transform their negative states of perception,thinking, decision-making, behavior, and emotion into positive equivalents. (which results in) This raises their consciousness and vibrational frequency,
and thus their brain output and likelihood of success in all ways. With
this skill, they facilitate a renewal.I (do what) help (for whom) successful executives (in order to) improve their performance and wellness. (which results in) This can result in:
Improved Corporate Performance Improved Corporate Risk Management, and Better Executive LivesI (do what) help (for whom) solopreneurs (in order to) attract more clients (which results in) and make more money.I (do what) love to help (for whom) holistic entrepreneurs and helping professionals (in order to) move
their small business to an exponential level. I help them (which results in) realize their goals and bring their life joy!Have fun with your own statement!!
Best Regards,
Chuck Schroeder
All Things Coaching
I would add only one more thing to this
If you can put numbers or something specifically definitive of the result:
…30 days to your first client
…lose 10 lbs in the first 10 days
…increase net worth 300% in the first year
Often these specific results come out of the mouths of the people we have coached already. One new client recently told me that in just one hour of coaching I gave her 30 ways to monetize a live speaking event – many that she could easily implement immediately in her practice.
For my 30 second answer I would want to dissect this testimonial – maybe even more than one testimonial – so that I can use different compelling self introductions in different circumstances & to test to see which one provokes the most conversation after I’ve said what I do.
In September of last year I did an Internet radio show with Ann Convery who spoke with me about this very thing – It’s free to listen…
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What do Martha Beck, Michael Niell and James Ray all have in Common that Sealed their Success as a Coach?
…a Book!
Watch this video – there will be a different video daily and discover how a book and what you do with it will change your coaching career forever.
Alex Mandossian is the creme de la creme of Internet Marketing, no make that Electronic Marketing Strategists. (includes, iPods, Voice Messaging, Fax, any electronic communication tool that can be used to market). You may know of him, but did you know he is responsible for the success of many of big name authors success? including self published authors. There will be a total of 8 videos. I highly recommend that you come back and view them all.
If you are unfamiliar with Alex and his marketing genius – let me tell you that you have never, ever heard anything like this before. He’s not your average “Internet Marketer”. My words here would seriously be inadequate to convince you how important I believe this information could be to you. I hope I’ve earned your trust enough to say – “this is worth your time to watch.”
To Open Page with Video Player Click here
Developing a Stronger Coaching Message to Attract More Clients
The stronger your coaching message — the more focused your message is on the real live needs of your prospects – the more prospects you’ll convert to paying coaching clients.
I’ve said it myself, in the beginning when I first started coaching, “I can coach anyone about anything.” But you know what, that’s just not accurate. Because of my unique background and training there are clients that I am more suited for coaching.
I’ve discovered that the more I coach or deliver my coaching message in some fashion – such as writing blog posts, article marketing or interviewing brilliant guests on my Get More Business Radio Show – the stronger, more developed, and much more effective my coaching message is when it comes time to deliver during a coaching session.
Not only do all these strategies of blogging, writing articles and Internet radio help me to promote and broadcast my message, but refines and perfects my message; and my clients benefit from it.
Whenever I work with new coaches, I encourage them to just keep coaching – even if it is what I call “gratitude coaching”. Gratitude coaching is when the client does not pay for a session because the coach is “giving back” by assisting someone who is unable to pay them back. It’s a way of putting out good vibes into the Universe by giving thanks – sometimes in advance of ever having received anything. Besides sowing good vibes the new coach is also developing a more accurate picture of their own coaching message.
The important message to the new life coach is to develop a strong coaching message by coaching within their area of expertise – and keep coaching – keep delivering the coaching message often.
- Write articles daily or weekly
- Post regularly on a blog
- Start your own Internet radio or video broadcast with a regular schedule
Establish a perspective that delivering your coaching message as often as you can is your business – don’t wait until you have “coaching clients”. Even after you begin to build your coaching practice – create additional avenues where your coaching message continues to promote for you automatically and continuously – even while you sleep. Everything you publish on the Internet remains to carry your message to your ideal prospect for as long as it’s published. The more messages you create and publish, the more your coaching message will be promoted - and the stronger you delivery will become in the making of each post, or article.
3 Common Mistakes New Life Coaches Make Using Internet Marketing to Build an Online Presence
When I first became a “licensed LifeSuccess Coach” I just couldn’t wait to tell everyone all about my new career, except nobody really understood what I did. They’d say “What do you mean a “life coach”? What do you do?” By the time I got done explaining all the wonderful things about life coaching, I could see their eyes glaze over because they had tuned me out. It was a real struggle in the beginning to find clients.
One day I sat down and finally decided that based on my previous business experience in promotional products, that I needed to identify and understand the following
- exactly who I wanted to be coaching
- what, specifically that they might need coaching for
- where to find them so that I could present my message and attract prospects that were ready to hire me.
Once I figured that out I had no problem whatsoever finding clients, in fact, my clients usually found me – I just chose the ones I wanted to coach and referred the rest. This was exactly the opposite of how most coaches are currently building their business.
Mistake #1 – Most new life coaches have not yet identified their coaching message
Your level of expertise in your topic will attract customers that have a need for what you know. The more generalized you are the least likely you will attract your ideal client – you probably won’t even know who your ideal client is until you identify you message.
Solution – How to discover your message
What do you bring to the table in the coaching experience?
- Take a look at your own business or work experience.
- What are you passionate about? What do you get a lot of enjoyment from?
- What life experience do you have?
- What people are naturally drawn to you?
The answers to these questions will get you started in discovering your coaching message.
Mistake #2 – Most new life coaches have not identified their ideal client
If you’re saying to yourself, “I can coach any body.” Just stop right now. No, you can’t – not every client would be ideal for you, even though your coaching skills may be unrivaled.
Mistake #3 – Inadequate training in developing their coaching business
I have looked at coaching certification courses that spend very little time, if at all, training coaches on building their business. One of the most important investments you can make as a new life coach, to properly complete your training is to hire a business mentor coach to teach you how to not only build a practice, but how to create a full menu of products and services that will provide you with multiple streams of income.
In my opinion, Internet marketing is the least expensive, most precise way to attract your idea client and provides the most opportunities to broadcast your message in a variety of ways to an International marketplace. This marketing tool – Internet marketing – will out do any thing else you’re currently doing to build your business.
Solution – Spend time studying how to properly apply the principles of Internet marketing to target your ideal client and broadcast your message. Learn to understand testing and tracking so that once you begin to attract new clients you’ll know how to keep a steady stream of prospects looking for you, and buying your products & services. Hire a good mentor coach to show you step by step how to implement simple strategies to build your business.
Let me invite you to begin educating yourself with my 6-week e-course of only two emails a week that lays out a simple, yet powerful action plan to harness the power of Internet Marketing to build a lucrative coaching business, and create passive streams of income.
How do you use Internet Marketing to build your coaching practice? Tell me how it’s working for you.
7 Tips to Building a Lucrative Coaching Business – What They Don’t Teach You at Life Coach Training
- Educate yourself in the business building of your coaching practice Don’t reinvent the wheel. Know & constantly learn from the reliable experts & mentors. Be prepared with the tools for the job know how to use them.
- Focus Your message
- Understand your ideal prospect.
- Do something every day
- Keep doing something every day
- In all your efforts – C.E.O.
- Don’t stop coachingThe more you coach, the more you will master the application of the solution you offer. Many new coaches will start out by coaching for free or for a very low fee; this can be very effective if your goal is mastery. As your mastery develops you can raise your fee to reflect the value you bring to the coaching relationship.
The mistake I often observe with many coaches is they promote themselves too broadly. The more specific a solution you offer, the more people who have the matching problem will look for you and hire you.
Is your ideal client a man or woman, or is there a unique problem, or challenge that you provide a solution for – focus on those ideal characteristics or needs.
An easy trap to fall into is to not fully understand the power of daily efforts. Activities such as writing and publishing to your blog or article directories might not seem like they are directly tied to your cash flow but if you will continue to invest time into spreading your message with these tools you will be amazed at the benefits.
Especially when you begin to attract paying clients you still need to continue your marketing efforts. I recommend creating and sticking to a schedule for blogging, article marketing, product creation and promotion. Before you know it you will have created an Information Empire that expresses your life changing message – and people will be paying you for that message.
Connect, Engage and Offer – once you’ve mastered the blogging, article marketing, producing your own Internet Radio Show and all of the social networking activities to connect and engage be sure to make the offer! Develop the skill of knowing how and when to make the coaching offer. Create many attractive opportunities for your prospects to become clients.
Let me invite you to begin educating yourself with my 6-week e-course of only two emails a week that lays out a simple, yet powerful action plan to harness the power of Internet Marketing to build a lucrative coaching business, and create passive streams of income
What is your biggest challenge in building your coaching business?
