Prosperous Coach Podcast (Rhonda Hess, International Business Coach & Niche Strategist)

This is the last episode in the current season called Smart and Profitable Niches. Show notes and mentions from this episode are at https://prosperouscoach.com/18

Because I can tell everybody's really liking the On Air coaching sessions I've been doing with coaches to help them find their niche, I'll keep doing those. They're really fun, arent' they?

Unless you're in coach training you don't get to hear other coaches coach. It's a meta world, where you get layers of information. You get to hear how someone else coaches, which is always interesting. You get to hear how someone like you, a coach, is being coached. And it's inspiring to hear people go from confusion to illumination on a topic that you may be challenged by — choosing your niche.

Also to look for and interview other coaches who have chosen a unique and narrow niche and who are well into their business. So you can see what it's like, four years, six years, 10 years in or 20 years. As in my case. 

The Big Mindset Shift

Episode #7 was popular. I think I know why. It's about a critical mindset shift that I encourage all coaches to make.

And when you make the shift, your eyes are opened to how business and marketing works. 

It comes down to this ... that even though we as coaches love coaching with every fiber of our being ... most other people do not. They either don't know what it is or they have a preconceived notion about coaching — believing it's expensive or elitist or ridiculous because of how media spins the idea of coaching. 

So, if you are selling coaching, that's what your website is all about and that's what your posts are about, you're going to miss the mark most of the time.

Change your mind about what you're selling and about what coaching actually is. It's an amazing skillset but not an outcome people will buy.

Sell Outcomes Not Coaching

What coaches really sell is outcomes. You've heard this but somewhere deep in the heart of you, you may not have really gotten this on the level that you need to. People invest in programs and experiences when they believe that it is going to get them where they want to go. 

And that's why you need to target an audience and to build your niche around what they want instead of the type of coaching you offer. 

 There's a misunderstanding about what a coaching niche is and in Episode #8 I busted that myth. 

Your niche is NOT the over arching area that you want to coach about. That's a track.

When coaches hire me many have already chosen what I call their track. By itself, it is not enough to help you attract a steady flow of clients. 

Your Coaching Track is Not Your Niche

If you know that track, then it gives you an idea of how to narrow your target audience.

Some people try to

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode shares steps you should take BEFORE you create your coaching website. I’m talking before you pay a designer, before you decide to buy a Wix or Squarespace template and do it yourself ...or before you ask your well-meaning friend who has a bit of skill to do it for you.

Find the full transcript for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/165. 

I am not a web designer. But as an international business mentor for coaches with 20+ years experience in solopreneur business development, I know how websites work for coaches if done right and what doesn’t work to attract paying clients.

I'm the TEACHER Archetype. If you don’t yet know your archetype, listen to Episode 12.

I tend to learn from my mistakes by studying solutions then creating step-by-step guides for others. It’s the way I roll. So, after I launched a couple of dud coaching website when I started as a coach a couple of decades ago, I decided to study to understand what makes a coaching website client-winning. Learn more about that at prosperouscoach.com/42.

One thing became crystal clear in my study. Most coaches put up a website too fast and end up having to do them again.

I’m lucky that coaches— my target audience — find my website either because they’ve found my podcast, were referred by another coach or coach training organization, or they’ve Googled "coaching niche."

It’s satisfying to realize that I have done a good job driving traffic to my website because a steady stream of coaches who already know they want to hire me are showing up there. That’s what I want for you too.

On my website the coaches fill out the application on my Work with Rhonda. That’s called a conversion process.

Does your website have a conversion process that inspires your audience to have a Discovery Call with you?

In that application, most coaches share that they are feeling lost without a clear coaching niche or target audience. But then they say they are working on their website, creating ads, social posts and coaching programs.

And I think ... bummer, because the coach has done things out of order and if they want to be successful they will be starting from scratch not very far down the road from now. 

It's an honest mistake. When you finish coach training there's this emotional rush to get a website up, to start doing all the conventional things most coaches think are the way to attract coaching clients fast.

Here’s the truth, if you create your website before you know who you're serving and the problem you help them solve its like building a house on land you don't own or buying a car before you can see over the steering wheel.

Developmentally, it's better to wait to create your website until your business model has a solid foundation.

I made this mistake myself. In my first year as a coach I threw away a lot of money and effort

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

In a Discovery Call with a coach today, (who did hire me by the way) I asked what inspired her to reach out to me. She honored me with a list of things that made me feel good. They were also confirmations that my customer journey is working.

Helping YOU create that customer journey for your audience is what this podcast is about.

She told me that a quote on the Coach Training Accelerator, curriculum I co-wrote for Coach Training Alliance made an impression on her. It was something along the lines of “Fear lives in your head. Courage lives in your heart.”

I didn’t remember I said that, but when you write as much as I do over decades it’s a strange echo from another time to hear my own thought forms come back to me.

So yes, courage is where it’s at when it comes to launching, running and growing your coaching business. But fear will hover around. 

You see our big brains are designed to be wary of things and they get caught up in a loop of worry and fear. But your heart has the wisdom to realize that fear is usually just a flimsy emotion … like cardboard. Fear is not usually a true obstacle. It’s most often a mental block that has little substance.

Today’s episode is all about the F word. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/166

Fear is a powerful force. It can move you toward safety and it can keep you from your destiny.

The feeling is no fun. But, like all feelings, it holds the possibility of transformation.

On any given day, I feel some amount of fear. What about you? 

Fear could show up while I’m listening to the news. Or, if I’m in a car and I or someone else makes a mistake in judgment. It could be a deep concern that rises up about someone I love or about my body.

During my work, it could be a moment of uncertainty, like when I’m trying to learn something new or take a big step that I’ve rarely or never taken.

Fear is a fairly present emotion for human beings.

But most of the time fear doesn’t stop you. It might give you pause, but it doesn’t ultimately keep you from moving forward in your life.

Fear is not something we want to turn off or stop feeling. It’s not even about becoming numb to it. It’s more about having a healthy process with it.

All emotions deserve to be felt, acknowledged and then released, which is a key to good life, right? Fear is an ancient and primal emotion. It can be a vital response for survival.

A Habitual Response to Opportunity

But fear can also become a habitual response to opportunity and this is the big point I want to make to you today.

If you let it, fear will block your growth.

Go here to read the best cure for fear.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This is the first episode in a new series that I'm doing called Smart Mindsets, Habits, and Systems. There's a ton of juicy stuff that's going to be in this series. 

Now, in this session we're going to dig into something that I know is critical and also difficult for a lot of people — how to actually enroll clients.

How can do enroll clients in a way that doesn't feel like you're selling? How can you do it authentically standing in your power with ease and grace?

I'm going to explain how.

When I shifted to this method of enrolling, it changed my success rate at how easily I enrolled clients. I've taught this to every coach that I worked with. It takes a little bit of practice, but it's not hard.

It's much easier than giving a free sample coaching session!

We're going to get down into it in just a minute. This session is sponsored by my own free offer to you. 

DOWNLOAD your free copy of a cheat sheet that walks you through 10 Steps to Enroll More Clients.

You'll find this cheat sheet really helpful and it also includes some of the secrets I'll share with you in this episode.

Have you ever choked when it came time to tell a potential client your fees?

This is where discovery sessions often go astray because you're shifting a conversation that's more connective with your potential client to suddenly trying to tell them what you charge and why it's worth it. 

Have you spent hours delivering your best sample sessions only to hear "thanks, but I can't afford you"?

Those two problems are big for new coaches. You're not alone in that. I struggled mightily at this once upon a time. 

If you want to dramatically improve your enrollment into coaching programs, there's a different that inspires prospects to say YES and hire you. 

3 Shifts to Enroll More Clients

There are three shifts you can make right now that will ease the money conversation and the whole enrollment process in your discovery sessions.

Shift from:          Over delivering in introductory or sample session

Shift to:               Having more effective enrollment conversations

Shift from:          Stumbling into your pitch at the end of the session 

Shift to:               Being transparent from the get go that you're going to                             tell them about your program after a set of questions

Shift from:          Timidly asking for the sale

Shift to:               Confidently owning your worth

Something clicks internally when you believe in yourself. It seems hard to do, but it is something you can control. 

A Powerful Mindset Shift

I'm sure you've heard how important it is in life — in business with your clients, with your friends and family — to stand in your power. 

This is something I've been challenged with in my life. So I've made a study of it. That

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is about why you (and every new coach) get stuck and 4 ways to breakthrough to forward momentum again. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/167.

You've been learning a lot, cramming coaching techniques into your head and transforming yourself from the inside out. Coach training sets the pace and you keep on going until you graduate and stuff gets REAL!

It's time to shift from student coach mode to professional coach mode. They are very different states of mind and practice. Learning curves accelerate because the business side of coaching is more complex than the coaching skills side.

And suddenly you're stuck. The best thing to do is get back into strategic action as soon as you can. However, if you don't exactly know what to do you’re still stuck. I’ll address that in a minute.

All Coaches Feel the Imposter Syndrome

Also you may have a mental block and feel you’re not worthy. Imposter Syndrome is one of the main reasons new coaches get stuck.

So the first way to get unstuck is to acknowledge that this is a familiar place. You’ve felt this before and you're not alone here. There’s nothing wrong with you.

Consider your many skills and accomplishments that brought you here. You're an intelligent, talented and thoughtful human being. Now get into the habit of giving yourself a pat on the back for whatever you learn or take action on.

You'll feel instantly better.

Creating Your Coaching Business Alone is Discouraging

The second reason you get stuck is trying to do everything on your own. And this gets back to that issue of not knowing what to do.

Overwhelm is a courage and momentum killer. Chances are, you're literally drowning in information overload right now. You’re plucking bits of advice from here and there and none of it really fits together.

There's this mountain to climb and it looks like it's going to take years, so you are tempted to give up … just slide back into your old life.

But then shame creeps in because you feel like you've wasted a lot of time and money on coach training. You can’t let yourself and your family down!

So here's a rule ... take a bit of information in, and then take some sort of action to integrate what you've learned. Incremental learning is going to give you an ever-expanding comfort zone and that feels good. And, consider sourcing your advice all from ONE place.

To get unstuck fast ...

Read about more ways to get unstuck and surge forward successfully in your coaching business.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

I bet you think I’m going to talk about apps for tracking your clients here. No! You don’t need that. I’m talking about reasonably priced apps that help you run your business rather than give you more tasks to do.

Every couple of years I announce my favorite apps. But, you know what? My favorites don’t change much because these are the best I’ve found. Find the show notes at prosperouscoach.com/168.

I keep my systems and processes for my business ultra simple and think you should too. That means using some old fashioned methods like Excel spreadsheets instead of Trello and emailboxes for clients and more spreadsheets to keep track of clients. Why? Because they work, are free and don’t add a lot of labor.

When I do spend money on my business I’m strategic about it. Check out episode 111 called Smart and Not So Smart Coaching Business Expenses.

If you are just starting out as a coach you’re probably tempted by dozens of apps and systems that target coaches. Many are expensive in the long run and may not seem like it if it’s $10 – 20 month. It adds up. That means less profit for you. You want to guard your profit! Be strategic in all choices for your business.

Some of these apps I’m about to share with you have a free version, which is all you need. Some are paid monthly, some are paid yearly. I pay yearly whenever I can because it’s easier to budget and usually a savings.

Let’s start with a free service:

Canva

What a great app! I remember trying to create graphics in Photoshop. Forget-about-it! The free version helps you create great looking: 

·      social media memes and banners 

·      lead magnets

·      brochures

·      postcards

·      letterheads

·      info graphics

Among other things, I use it to create my podcast episode art. I have templates for the different sizes needed for different social channels stored in Canva that I just copy, replace the title of my episode and the image. In a few minutes I’m done. 

Yes, you can get the paid version but it’s an unnecessary cost. Rather than use the images offered in Canva, I upload my own which cost 1/10th of the monthly price of Canva Pro. I get my images from Deposit Photos.

Deposit Photo

I recommend that all coaches have a content strategy such as a blog, YouTube videos or a podcast (my personal favorite). You put out valuable bite-sized content like clockwork each week that is highly relevant to your target audience. It’s called generosity marketing.

Not sure how to do that yet? Listen to Episode 75 about how to produce content that gets engagement.

Your weekly content should also relate to your

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode might surprise you ... Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/169.

New coaches often ask me what does it really take to be good at this ... to earn a good living at coaching by running your own business? Great question!

Welcome to Your Coaching Business Journey

You want to make a good living at this, help people, and be the director of your own career and lifestyle. Your coaching business can bring you all of those things and more.

After 20+ years growing my own coaching business I've realized that it's been the territory of my greatest personal transformation. It’s been a spiritual journey because I’ve raised the courage to stay in it and ride all the waves. I’ve evolved and have more to do there.

So here's my invitation to you … if you're going to build your own coaching business — go for it without limits. Stay the course. Keep the faith. Believe in yourself even and especially through the down times when you're not meeting your goals or feeling stuck.

Let’s explore what it really takes from two angles:

First, mindset shifts you’ll need to make.

And two, actions you’ll need to take.

As you listen think in terms of your potential rather than what you have to have achieved already. Wherever you are on this journey, you’re in the right place to move forward. Forward is always the best direction.

Let’s start with the most crucial mindset …

Mindset #1 - Embrace Being a Beginner in Your Coaching Business

Learn to be okay with not knowing everything and with being bad at some things until you get better at them.

Explorers and scientists get the value of this mindset. They know that first you summon courage and that most mistakes made along the way are happy accidents.

I've never liked the phrase "fake it ‘til you make it" because you can be totally authentic while you're learning things. Be transparent.

• You can tell your clients you're new at this.
• You can flub up and just bounce back.
• You can apologize for mistakes and learn from them.

No one will mind. In fact we're living in times where vulnerability is appreciated. Don't perform. Connect. Don't judge yourself. Allow yourself to grow.

Mindset #2 - Let Your Coaching Business Be Your Teacher

Your clients will teach you how to be a better coach. Your marketing mistakes will teach you how to be a better marketer. Your peers will teach you how to be a better leader.

What circumstances or events feel like they repeatedly take YOU down a peg? Those are your Core Lessons in life. Make it part of your purpose to master those things.

For example, I seem to need to continually learn how to stand in my power and how to hold healthy boundaries. I've come a long way with this. My business has been my greatest teacher.

And, your client’s Core Lessons may very well be the challenges that also trip you up. Interesting, right? It’s all a big mirror.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Notes for this episode can be found here.

This episode is part 1 about how to selectively and wisely decide where and when to invest your time, energy and money in opportunities that come your way as a coach. Opportunities such as:

• more skills training
• how-to programs that teach a marketing tactic 
• offers to send you leads or promote you
• offers to partner with another coach or expert

Today, we'll dig into the bright shiny object syndrome. That's when you have a incredibly strong impulse to invest money in training, apps - all sorts of bells and whistles - for your coaching business.

Have you ever taken expensive training or a mastermind and, though you enjoyed the experience, you didn't forward in your business? You couldn't apply what you learned.

There's a simple reason for that ... you may not have been developmentally ready for that program yet.

Spending like can quickly eat up your profits! So I have tips and mindset mastery coming your way here.

Before we dive in, I want to thank you.

With your support, Prosperous Coach Podcast has surpassed 4000 downloads with just our 20th episode. A shout out to Kate in Basel, Switzerland. Kate said:

"I've really been enjoying your podcast and want to thank you for the really helpful, clear, and good vibes content that you are sharing. I always look forward to hearing your intro music!"

Thank you, Kate!

I put my heart into these episodes. And coaches need clear guidelines. Very soon I'm launching a Facebook group for subscribers of the podcast. All coaches are welcome. More on that next week.

Okay let's breakthrough the bright shiny object pattern ...

Why does this syndrome exist?

When your coaching business is new and you've not yet filled your time serving clients, you're in a vulnerable place.

You're vulnerable because you are yearning — for more coaching clients, for higher revenues, or simply for recognition that you're valuable — and you're looking outside yourself for answers.

So you go surfing and get on a bunch of lists or click a bunch of ads.

All manner of offers and opportunities are dangling like glittering diamonds in front of you.

And your credit card is in hand. Maybe you've even memorized it.

I've been there. Much less than I used to thanks to the tips I'm going to share, but it still snags me occasionally.

I'm Not Skilled Enough

As a coach, sometimes there's this voice saying "I'm not skilled enough yet" that has you reaching for more training to learn different types of coaching skills, get more certifications, to pile up credentials.

There's a learned belief under that, that what you know now isn't enough for where you are now developmentally. And that's where the deepest wisdom is -- where you are now.

Obviously, there are times when learning more skills will be right for your current situation. 

But I wonder ... how many purchases for more skills training are dr

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is inspired by all my VIP clients, who are far more intelligent and gifted than they give themselves credit for. You too are gifted and intelligent. Believe it! Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/170.

Being the CEO of your own coaching business is a great way to uncover and set loose your creativity. I’m not talking about poetry writing, painting and sculpting here. I’m talking about the vast reserves of your innate ability to create something from nothing. Out of thin air.

When I started as a coach I had no idea I would create so much. I figured that everyone else’s ideas were better than mine and that I would read books and apply those ideas to my coaching. Know what I mean?

Create From What’s Inside of You

Well, sure, I did some of that. But I will tell you … I feel much more engaged in my business when I create from my own ideas. I’ve created my own models for processes, my own terms and a lot more. I’ve shared those with you. Coaches tell me that they understand complex things that they didn’t before because of those unique models and words.

You can do this and more too. I’m here to tell you it’s both challenging and meaningful. All things that are meaningful have a large dose of challenge in them.

In 2001, I was 3 years into my coaching business and was the Treasurer for the Denver chapter of the International Coach Federation. The president of the board was Will Craig. 

Will has creativity coming out of his pores … all day long. I’ve never met a person who is more the director of their own life. He is unstoppable. If Will wants something he will make it happen! 

Creating a business for him was child’s play. And this is the potential for you. Your coaching business could feel like play. Can you imagine that? It’s a mindset.

Rise to the Occasion of Your Coaching Business

I was blessed in more ways than I can count when Will asked me to be a trainer for his new coach training company. That was the start of something hugely satisfying and profitable for me that has affected my whole coaching career. It became a point of credibility and a prosperous network for me. It grew my confidence.

They say if you teach a thing you become the master of that thing.

One year later, Will asked me to co-author new curriculum for his coach training school. His belief in me was stunning! I didn’t know how to write curriculum! But I rose to the occasion.

It’s time for you to do that if you haven’t already … rise to the occasion of your coaching business. Rise to each of the occasions that show up in that territory.

Will gave me some guidelines and encouraged me to think like a beginner. Over the next few months I dug deep inside myself to write something I’d only 3 years ago learned to do ­— coach!

I knew I had to create something original — to figure out my unique perspective and come up with a fresh coaching model. It was a birthing process.

I’m amazed my marriage survived this time. But you know

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is inspired by children who are born with a sense of wonder for the world and all the beings in it. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/171.

Recently, I asked the members of my Facebook Group called Prosperous Coach Club what topics they would like a podcast episode about. One person said: 

“How to be curious. Is it something that can be learned and trained and if yes, how?”

What a wonderful question! Thanks for asking for that O.G. This is for you.

And, by the way, if there’s a topic that YOU want me to coach about, let me know through my website.

First, I want to say that curiosity is an innate skill. It’s a survival strategy as well as a way to be delighted by the world. It’s a love of learning.

And as we get older, we tend to close off curiosity because we’re encouraged to KNOW.

Have you ever watched a person you admire admit they don’t know something? How did it make you feel? For me, there’s this sense of wisdom that the person knows what they don’t know and are willing to admit it.

Curiosity is a muscle that goes slack if you don’t use it for a while but it doesn’t take long to grow strength there again. Like so much, it's a matter of raising awareness until it becomes habitual. Coaching clients is a great way to build that muscle.

Being Curious is Good for Coaches

When a client comes to a session with their agenda, what’s the best way to serve them? 

·      Should you imagine the conversation before hand and plan your approach?

·      Should you take on their emotions and problems as your own?

·      Should you step into performance mode and be the one with the answers?

When I say it like that, it’s obviously a ‘no’, right? But when you’re new to being a coach what are you feeling before a session? Performance anxiety. You feel you should know … everything. 

It’s understandable and it’s counter to what’s really needed for an effective session. Shifting from performance mode into curiosity relieves the pressure. It opens the field to sensations — your own and your clients — and intuition kicks in.

Masterful coaches aim to stay present, open minded and curious. In fact, if you’re in a curious state you are simultaneously present, in the present moment and open-minded. How beautiful is that? 

Curiosity is an indication of genius. It awakens the observer self. The mind stays active instead of passive. It takes a flexible mind to come back again and again to curiosity. 

Yet, isn’t it interesting that children are the most curious among us? What does that tell you about the urgent need to know all?

Being Curious is Good for Coaching Clients

It’s taken me a long time to learn to be curious in coaching session. Sure, I learned that open-ended questions are the best tool for coac

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is about anxiety that some coaches feel caused by one specific action they take repeatedly. It can keep you from moving forward in your coaching business and enjoying the journey. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/172.

I once worked with a coach who kept backsliding between sessions. We’d have a dynamic conversation in session. Their passion would pour forth. Certainty would click into place and I’d set them onto a task to take their decision into action.

A day or two later all the certainty had dissolved and in its place was paralyzing overwhelm and doubt.

We’d meet again and the passion would come back full force. They would leave the session feeling sure of their direction and ready to take action. But then a few days later slide back into a deep internal struggle.

I have great compassion for all new coaches. These highly intelligent and personally powerful human beings can really going through it!

I’ve been there and specifically at that tender time of just beginning to build my coaching business. I remember the lost feeling. The belief that I didn’t have what it takes.

In both my case and I believe this coach’s case as well, we were getting in our own way. It’s not unusual to get stuck repeatedly when you’re doing many things for the first time and taking a big risk to build a business.

There was one thing this coach was doing repeatedly that stole away their fire and sense of purpose … Googling other coaches websites and social channels in their coaching niche.

You’ve done that, right? You wonder if it will give you a clue and maybe it will affirm your direction. But it does just the opposite. The comparison monster rears it’s ugly head and fills you with doubts. 

Am I good enough?

Can I do this?

Those other coaches have so much more going for themselves!

I don’t have enough credentials.

Maybe I should give up!

Shame rises up along with fears that spiral into a big story you tell yourself.

What can you do? Three things …

1. Invite the Emotional Part to Have a Rest

Sometimes drama is high and gets more accentuated over time when you’re not in action. These feelings don’t necessarily mean anything about your future. But they feel all consuming in the moment.

A while ago I did some Internal Family Systems parts work to help me through a difficult time. I highly recommend the workbook called Parts Work: An Illustrated Guide to Your Inner Life by Tom & Laurie Holmes. It’s something you can read and get value from on your own or work on it with a therapist who know the concept.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Rhonda Hess:

Hey coaches, I have something really different and exciting today. I'm doing an interview today with the awesome Shannon Kaiser. I'll introduce her in just a minute, but let me tell you how this came about.

I came across her website and on her website was an assessment to test what your intuition style is. And I could not resist taking it. Great questions on it, by the way. And as soon as I received the results, it told me that I was clairsentient. I had known that before, but I didn't know an assessment would be able to evaluate that about me. This was kind of fun. I want you to know a couple of the things that the results told me. It said that: 

• I feel drained being in a large group of people.
• I have awesome instincts about people, places, and situations.
• I find it difficult to watch the news.
• I am super sensitive to my environment.
• I can't shop at thrift antique stores. 

All true. This last one made me laugh because I can't touch other people's stuff a lot, you know, unless I have a relationship with them. So these are all really interesting to me. 

Over the years in my coaching business, I have developed my intuition and I think it's really important for coaches to do this. So I invite you to go to Shannon's website for the assessment. And while you're there, look around at all the wonderful things that Shannon has on there.

Let me tell you about her because you're going be amazed at this wonderful human being.

Shannon, first, let me just say “hi”.

Shannon Kaiser:

Hi. It's so great to be here with you. And I'm so glad you got to, uh, dive into that assessment and it related. That's pretty amazing.

Rhonda Hess:

I'm pretty amazed that you could write something that was so effectively nailing my style of intuition. Congratulations!

Shannon Kaiser:

That's part using my intuition to create it. We'll talk about that.

Rhonda Hess:

Shannon is a world renowned, spiritual and self love teacher, speaker and empowerment coach. She is the bestselling author of 5 books on psychology of happiness and fulfillment — I laugh because I can't even imagine writing one — including The Self-Love Experiment, Adventure for Your Soul, and Joy Seeker. She guides people to awaken and align to their true selves so that they can live their highest potential. She's been named among the top hundred women to watch in wellness by mindbodygreen. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her rescue dog, Chance. Anything else you want to tell us about what brought you to being an empowerment coach, speaking globally and writing all these books?

Shannon Kaiser:

It’s great to be here with you. Thank you. I truly feel we have these pivotal moments in our life and I haven't always done this work. In fact, in 2009 I was in a whole different career climbing the corporate ladder, working in advertising, working with celebrities, being an Art Director and Graphic Designer.

It looked like I had it all. I was dating a man who wanted to marry me and it was just wonderful checking all those

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is part 2 about how to selectively and wisely decide when to say 'yes' to coaching business opportunities. It's about teaching yourself to stand in your power and answer from your highest self.

Part 1 was about how to breakthrough the bright shiny object syndrome so that you're not wasting money on webinars, online programs or masterminds that you're not ready for yet. That's probably because your business foundation isn't solid yet. I know that's frustrating and it's a good time to stop and get that all nailed down before getting into advanced business programs.

Many of you have been letting me know that that episode hit the mark. Thank you for reaching out. I love hearing from you.

Ellen wrote to me: "I've taken many courses and been part of many mastermind groups and webinars but it's all come to naught because I haven't converted that learning into practical actions. That's because I've been struggling to figure out who I'm called to serve and what pain point or problem I'm trying to solve."

As it turned out, Ellen grabbed a strategy session with me and we quickly figured out her ideal target audience plus the problem she'll help them solve. At the end of the session she said: "Rhonda, that was amazing! I can't believe what we came up with. I came in confused about my niche and wanted a plan of what to do next. And I got all of that!"

Ellen, that makes me so happy!

So if you want to solidify any aspect of your business foundation — your audience, your niche, your business model — don't struggle and try to figure that out on your own. Grab a Strategy Session and let's nail that down for you. You can find that on today's show notes at prosperouscoach.com/21

Today we're digging into other types of offers you might be getting as a coach. For example, let's say someone emailed offering you a radio show program or a feature in a magazine. Or, someone is promising to get you leads. Or, maybe another coach wants to collaborate with you.

When offers like this come in, it's elating. There's this sense of "I'm not having to do everything myself!" Someone is saying they'll pave the road for you. And it's really tempting to say 'Yes'.

But are these opportunities right for you?  Especially for the stage of business you're in.

If you're in startup mode — that's the first 18 months or so of your business — it's all about solidifying your business foundation. You are:

·      Targeting an audience.

·      Finding out what makes them tick.

·      Figuring out your signature program to help them.

·      Developing your brand.

·      Building community.

·      Setting up your business model, a website and conversion process.

The learning curve is high and while you're doing all of this you're also figuring yourself out as a coach, as a business owner.

And for that reason it's a vulnerable time too.

The potential for distraction and getting pulled off course is high. Some diversions will m

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is part of the series called Smart Mindsets & Habits.

Mindset is a huge driver of success. When you have powerful mindsets motivating you AND you're taking strategic actions — that combo will get you anywhere you want to go in life.

This episode is about market research — an often skipped over strategic action that helps you attract clients who want what you offer.

I'm also going to cover 2 mindsets related to market research that will literally make the difference in whether you'll have a thriving coaching business or not.

So let's start with 2 mindset shifts that I encourage you to make, if you haven't already. These mindsets help you to embrace the idea of market research and other strategic actions.

Act Like the CEO of Your Coaching Business

When I finished coach training, I launched a coaching practice rather than a business. I hung my shingle as a coach and I was open for clients. 

That mindset kept me from what I really wanted for nearly 3 years — to be serving clients masterfully while earning well.

I spent all day every day chasing my next coaching client. My website was all about coaching. My marketing efforts sold coaching. I didn't target a specific audience, I had no niche, no strategy, no focus.

I had lots of practice clients. People who were more or less doing me a favor because they could see how enthusiastic I was about coaching and so they hired me for a month or two at low prices. We did some good work but it wasn't deep lasting work. They weren't wholly committed to the process because they didn't really buy into the idea of coaching — which is what I was selling.

Then, realizing that what I was doing wasn't working, I shifted to acting like the owner of a business. I started doing what all business owners do. 

That shift in the way I thought about my time, my energy and my actions changed the way others perceived me too.

When you step fully into the role of CEO in your own business you're no longer just floating and hoping. 

Instead, your day-to-day is all about building traction, leveraging your efforts, becoming a recognizable brand and offering something that's truly wanted.

You are attracting clients and profits, not just for today, but for your future too.

What can you do right now to take ownership of your coaching business? Here are 3 suggestions that fit the start up phase. Maybe you've done some or all of these.

1. Create a home office. You need a door, a desk, wifi, a computer.

When you make a physical place for your business, it signals to yourself and the world that you are in this for the long run and not just playing about.

Read about the other two ways to take ownership of your coaching business here.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is part of the Smart Mindsets & Habits series. 

If you're struggling with your mindset, there's help for you in this series. You can find the link to all the episodes in this series on today's show notes https://prosperouscoach.com/23  

And soon, I'll be focusing on the habits part because smart mindsets and habits are the dynamic duo for leaping forward in your coaching business.

A shout out to Mona, a listener, who said:

I have been enjoying listening to your podcast. I find it a very genuine-inspirational resource.  Thank you for offering such AMAZING content! I always look forward to the next episode!

Thank you, Mona! I appreciate you for your classy note to me.

And a quick request for everyone listening, please help other coaches find my podcast. It's easy to share any episode whether you're listening on my website or on a podcast app. I appreciate you for being a resource to other coaches! Let's help each other on this journey.

Elusive and Much Sought After

Confidence is kind of a squishy and sometimes elusive thing. Especially when you're a new coach, just starting to build your business. Or if new to any type of undertaking.

Building your coaching business from the ground up is a marathon not a sprint. It really take time and brain power and creativity. It can feel like a roller coaster and the Imposter Syndrome is in your face a lot. You're alternately elated then stuck then overwhelmed.

I totally get it.

I'll tell you, I've only been podcasting for 5 months. The learning curve is super steep. I'm still a bit green, learning how to improve audio quality, plan well, get it all done, content upgrades, getting more people to my show... on and on.

So my confidence level is like the tides, ebbing and flowing. And sometimes it ebbs so far out so that I cannot hardly feel it at all! And then I get a high tide where I'm feeling pretty good, you know I think I'm doing pretty well.

I'm really lucky to be a part of a support group that keeps me going. And by the way I just launched Prosperous Coach Club, which is a support group for new coaches. Find it by going to https://prosperouscoach.com/fb. We'd love to have you join into the excellent conversations there about how to get clients, accomplish weekly goals, technology recommendations — all sorts of topics. It's a place that you can be vulnerable and gain confidence!

So confidence comes and goes.

Do you know what comes before confidence? The pre-cursor if you will?

Courage Is the Precursor to Confidence

... Read more about raising confidence through courage here.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Recently, I asked my Facebook group of new coaches what topics they would like me to cover in my upcoming podcast episodes. By the way, I LOVE it when coaches like you ask me burning questions, so don’t hesitate to reach out and ask me something specific. I’ll answer in a solo episode or find an expert to interview.

DeShawn, this episode is for you. And, it’s dedicated to all coaches who want to build an online community of potential coaching clients called a leads list! Find the full transcript with links to related resources at prosperouscoach.com/174.

I’ll cover the goal of marketing emails, do’s and don’ts, plus the top 5 quick tips for more effective emails.

First …

Don’t Sell Coaching By Email

Being sold to by email feels skeevy. You don’t like this and neither will your audience. So, resist the temptation to sell to people who do not already know, like and trust you well. That causes unsubscribes.

By the way, unsubscribes aren’t all bad. Part of what’s happening with unsubscribes is natural selection. Your IDEAL clients are staying and those who don’t connect to your message are moving on.

Building trust is the #1 reason to email your target audience. Your goal is to relate, inspire, entertain and educate. By the way, that’s what you also do in a blog, podcast, videos and social posts. It’s called generosity marketing and it works!

If you inspire some sort of action you’ve succeeded. The long-term goal with email marketing is to inspire successive actions that bring your prospect closer to hiring you. Potential actions your reader might take include clicking through: 

·      to download your lead magnet

·      to experience your content on your website — a blog, podcast or video

Later in an email series called a campaign you might also inspire them to sign up for an enrollment opportunity such as: 

·      a Discovery Call

·      to register for free webinar or another event

But those things aren’t something you want to offer out of the blue in a one-off email. It takes a strategy. That’s why it’s called a campaign.

Selling your services isn’t at all like selling a gadget or makeup — the kinds of ads you see on social media. Coaching is a co-creative relationship and the service has a relatively high price point. Your prospects deserve a chance to talk to you or have a more personal connection before they enroll. But even then, never hard sell.

Show That You Know Who You’re Emailing

You can imagine that to relate, inspire, entertain and educate, first you have to understand your audience well. What makes them tick? What are the BIG problems you help them solve on the way to big goals they are struggling to achieve:

Are YOU solving a big enough problem? That’s a key to success. Check out episode 65 for help with that.

If you haven’t yet chosen a viable target audience to serve and discovered why they would

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is an eye opener. Find the full transcript for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/175. 

I don’t think there’s a new coach anywhere who hasn’t wondered … should I know more than my clients? Won’t they expect that I have expertise to guide them? Otherwise, why would they pay me … right?

I’ve heard coaches from all walks of life question their fitness to be a professional coach — whether the coach is younger or older, highly credentialed or not at all, has vast work experience or none. It’s what I call a garden variety doubt. It comes with the territory of offering services in exchange for fees. 

Let’s look into this powerful question a bit more because the answer is a paradox. And paradoxes are full of possibility. 

So, should you know more than your coaching clients? It completely depends on what you’re offering – what you’ll be doing with your coaching skills. And it’s also a matter of semantics – what is knowing anyway?

What Do You Want to Do with Your Coaching Skills?

After coach training I was like a convert. I clung tightly to every aspect of the doctrine and guidelines. I read, listened and watched anything I could find about coaching. I attended all the local ICF chapter meetings and conferences.

My coach training school taught me to create a Coaching Practice, not a business, so I had this vague vision of working with dozens of clients one on one in an office somewhere, much like a therapist does. I’d charge fees by the session. I’d hold professional distance.

I was tempted to apply coaching skills to every conversation. I annoyed my friends and family because I felt that I knew THE secrets to communication. And I do think the tenets of coaching are best communication practices but I hadn’t yet matured those skills with good timing and knowing when to stay silent.

I was, in those early years, what I would now call a pure coach – a traditional coach the way that the ICF and my coach training school intended.

But I was also a poor coach in the sense that I undercharged for years. I stayed in student mode and hoped for the best. I didn’t consider the marketing required to attract clients or any other aspect of running a business and so bumbled around feeling I hadn’t made it as a coach.

You’re probably much more savvy than I was because you know from the get go that you must build and run a financially strong business. How to do that is the next challenge and that’s where my passion is now.

I eventually realized there had to be a better way for me. Prosperous Coach Podcast is all about that better way.

By the way, over time, every coach finds their style and their place — or they drop their coaching business and go get a job.

I have become a non-traditional coach. I no longer feel that the pure coach model is for me. I still honor my coach training and use coaching skills but I’ve brought my full self into what I’m offering now, which includes expertise.

About a certain set of things that I’ve studied deeply, I know more

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Don't you just love having ready made questions you can ask your clients that are so powerful they will send your client into self reflection? Me too. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/176 .

The right question can really help anyone zoom past obstacles and into a power zone of awareness and action on their own behalf. 

That's why questions are so valuable to coaches and in coaching session.

So the first question that you can ask that of course really unlocks a lot for your clients:

What do you want?

Well, sometimes people have a hard time answering this question, but with probing questions beneath it, you might be able to get them to it. 

The second question is:

What's holding you back?

As human beings, we do generally have a sense of this. We might be in denial about it, but we generally do know what we're doing that's either sabotaging ourselves or what we're thinking, what we're feeling that is lingering too long for us to be able to transform.

So what's holding you back? 

That question will cause your coaching client to go inside and really look at the truth with a capital T. 

The third question is:

What is it costing you to continue holding back? 

I don't know if we normally as human beings think about what the costs are of our actions, of our thoughts, of our habits, but to ask someone that causes them to look at themselves from a place of self responsibility.

The fourth question is:

How could you show up differently? 

Presumably you're talking to them about a circumstance or a situation and this question allows them to wonder, Oh, I'm at choice here. How could I show up differently? 

I remember this one time where I was going to be speaking in public at a pretty big event for coaches and I was just so nervous. I called my husband for support and he has asked me: How do you want to show up, Rhonda?

I paused and I thought about it. Well, I want to show up standing in my power, believing in myself and being open and vulnerable to my audience as well as delivering something that is actually valuable to them.

Those four answers just grounded me. They made me feel good again, made me feel ready again. And I realized that it was okay to be vulnerable with my audience. It's okay that I was nervous and I didn't have to try to obliterate that nervousness before getting on stage.

The fifth question is:

What is a new perspective that you could adopt right now?

Oftentimes when our coaching clients are telling us how they feel or what they think about something, it might be a gripe. It might be the raw feeling and there's nothing wrong with that.

As a matter of fact, I invite my clients to share their raw feelings.

You can respond to that raw stuff with the question: What's a new perspective you could adopt right now about that?

You're inviting them to pick themselves up out of the situation and get a 30,000 foot view. Look

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

We're taking a pause from the Smart Mindsets & Habits Series. This episode is another On Air Coaching Session (there are 3 previous) where you get to listen in as I work with a coach to decide on a viable target audience for her coaching business.

I'm sorry, I no longer offer On Air Coaching Sessions but you can grab a Strategy Session if you want help choosing your target audience and coaching niche.  

Today, I have the pleasure of working with Deborah York. Deborah introduced herself this way ...

I am a divorced mother of two young men that are coming into their own. My younger son will be graduating soon and going off to med school. And my other son is working full time and taking classes and still trying to figure out what he wants to do.
 
 That kind of makes me think about my coaching and trying to wrangle it in to determine which direction I really want to go into. I tell people all the time that I'm a Jill of all trade and master of some because I have two master's degrees. 

I love working with people in helping them to uncover their purpose or their path in life. And that's, I guess what's caused me to struggle a little bit because I want to help everyone. And I understand as a coach, you can't help everyone.

One of my Masters is in industrial organizational psychology that has a specialization leadership coaching. So when I initially started coaching, and it's been almost 10 years ago now, I started off coaching people that were in management or are looking to get into management. And through that, it made me look even deeper. So I ended up getting another certification in health and nutrition. My approach is more of a holistic approach, uh, but still trying to find that right group of people that saw the value that I brought to the table who were willing to pay for it has been the struggle.

Don't Do This Alone

Deborah isn't alone in that struggle. Most coaches, including me, start out not knowing who is a viable and ideal target audience for their coaching business. Many simply do not choose and that often means their business doesn't get off the ground.
 
 And, it's not the easiest thing to figure out on your own.

I wanted to acknowledge Deborah and all women who are the primary or sole provider for their kids, plus getting advanced degrees while holding a full time job and then starting their own coaching business. Super women! You all have my deepest respect.

All Coaching Is Holistic In Nature

Deborah mentioned that she coaches her clients holistically. I pump my fist for that!

When I'm working with coaches to help them build their coaching businesses, there are some days I'll do somatic coaching to get them in touch with the wisdom of their bodies. Some days we'll talk about what's going on at home. Sometimes we're going to talk about mindset or spirituality.

But even though every coach can coach about any topic and we should work holistically with our clients, that does not mean that you s

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Now that you’ve taken the training, what you should call yourself? Should you be a life coach or something else? Should the word ‘coach’ even be in your personal title? That’s what this episode is all about. Find the full transcript and personal title examples at prosperouscoach.com/177.

So first, let me say that I don’t think your personal title is remotely the most important decision you need to make for your coaching business. In my mind, that decision is informed by WHO you serve and WHAT you help them accomplish. Those two things – your audience and their most desire outcome – are powerful concepts.

That first decision is the centerpiece of every other decision you’ll make for your business.

Still, just getting to be the one who decides what you call yourself can be fun. After all, how many jobs allow you to decide your title?

So first, let’s talk about something that might be hard for some coaches to hear.

Some People Poke Fun at Life Coaches

I’m not at all a fan of the personal title “Life Coach”. Here are 2 good reasons not to go with that moniker:

1.     Some people like to poke fun a life coaches. There are TV shows, films, articles out there that smirk at the concept. And I think … why set yourself up for that ridicule? Why climb the mountain to prove your value when just a shift in language could do that for you? Unfortunately, the phrase ‘life coach’ doesn’t inspire confidence.

2.     Life Coach is non-specific. If there is anything I’ve learned about success in business it’s that specificity grabs attention whereas generality does not. Life is everything. Calling yourself a life coach is like saying “I can’t decide how to specialize so for now I’m just an everything coach.” That will likely keep you from earning much. Specializing garners credibility so you can charge more.

It’s time to get more specific and creative than ‘life coach’ or other fill-in-the-blank coach titles.

You Are Not Limited to Your Certification Title

Just because the certification you received is a life coach or wellness coach or relationship coach certification does not mean you can get creative and stand out in the crowd with your title and all of your messaging.

Standing out in the crowd is important. If you’re on any social media channels regularly you’re going to see a lot of coaches trying to ply their trade. Most of them are selling coaching. That’s a hard sell. While some people know they want coaching, most do not. Coaching is not the top of mind benefits people look for.

If you haven’t already listen to Episode 51 – Why is Coaching a Hard Sell? I think it will open your eyes to a challenge you’ve already been trying overcome. In a nutshell use your coaching skills to serve paying clients but don’t push the idea of coaching because it’s not outcome people know they want. It’s part of your toolbox.

Professionals don’t always need to point at

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is inspired by an excellent question a coach asked me. And I love answering your questions so ask away. You can ask me easily from my website contact page. Start by finding the full transcript for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/178 and then enjoy all the resources waiting for you there.

The simplest, least expensive business model for coaches is to offer a high-ticket one-to-one VIP Signature Program geared towards helping your target audience solve the big problems that have been in the way of achieving their big goal.

Oh, how I wish I had started my coaching business this way in 1997 when I finished certification! It would have saved so much frustration. I would have earned more faster and not wasted so much money trying all sorts of other business models.

2 Big Mistakes Coaches Make That Are Easy to Fix

The two biggest mistakes I see new coaches make are:

1.     They aren’t serving a big enough problem, which keeps the coach from earning enough.

2.     They offer too many options to prospects, which keeps the coach from earning profits. They run themselves ragged trying to enroll clients and lose profits because their expenses are high.

There’s a difference between revenue – the total of all your sales – and profit, which is what’s left after expenses and taxes are subtracted from the revenue. You want to be focusing on profits so you can use that as you’d like to for you and your family. 

I would love to save you from making those 2 mistakes that I made in my coaching business.

If you haven’t heard them yet, I recommend you listen to 2 earlier episodes -- Episode 65 – Are You Solving A Big Enough Problem In Your Coaching Business? and Episode 66 – How to Describe Your Coaching Program Without Selling Coaching.

The business model I recommend to my clients is the model I have for my own business now. Profits are high, expenses are low and I work with clients only 3 days per week. That means I have a lot of discretionary time.

With this simple business model:

·      You don't need big coordinated marketing campaigns or to be an influencer on social media.

·      You don't need a Virtual Assistant to help you with all the tasks because admin is minimal. 

·      You don't need a bunch of software programs with monthly fees.

Your business can be simple, delightful, fun and relaxed.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that building a coaching business with this business model is easy. There are lots of things to learn. Lots of task

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

So there you are. You’re trying to choose your niche. You’re trying to write your web copy. Or maybe you’re trying to figure out exactly what you help your ideal clients accomplish in your Signature Program. And, I hope you are!

But you feel stuck. Fears and doubts are clouding your judgment. You are in danger of playing too small in your coaching business, which will cost you.

You are worried about promising too much. After all, who are you to take a client’s fees and make them believe you can help them achieve … anything!?

This 179th free episode of Prosperous Coach Podcast is about that worry that you might be promising too much. Get ready for a mindset shift! Find the full transcript of this episode at prosperouscoach.com/179

Experienced Coaches Don’t Worry About Promising Too Much

So first, all new coaches worry about over-promising. But experienced coaches don’t. What do you think is going on there? 

It’s certainly NOT because they soft pedaled the specific outcomes they help their clients achieve. Because coaches who stay safe in their messaging will not attract and enroll enough clients to survive in their business.

And it’s NOT because they are lying. You can’t stay in business long as a coach if you don’t operate from integrity.

So where is the line between what you can promise and what you shouldn’t promise?

Well, here’s the eye opener … don’t promise anything!

Both Coach and Client Have Responsibilities But They Aren’t the Same

I don’t promise my clients anything. I help them make smarter decisions and take more strategic actions.

You see, I can’t promise anything because ultimately my client’s success is not up to me. No matter how good my guidance is and how well I work with them, in the end, THEY have to make things happen. That’s why my motto and podcast sign off are: Stay inspired and make things happen! My motto is not: With my help you can achieve anything!

If they don’t make things happen that’s not on me. That doesn’t mean I don’t care and do all I can to support them to success.

This should be a relief, because your clients’ results are not on you either. Period. And that may be a bit humbling because you might have been under the impression that you will make THE difference between whether your coaching clients sink or swim with regard to their goals and your niche.

Nope.

What Exactly Can You Control, Coach?

Let’s think this through. This is a matter of survival and mastery for you.

Read about what you CAN control and CAN'T control and how that affects what you offer your clients.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This Episode is part of the Smart Mindsets & Habits series. Today we're exploring how to show up for Discovery Sessions and other enrollment moments in a way that inspires a person to sign up for your coaching programs.

I'm glad to report that I no longer worry about the enrollment moment, even when I'm sharing the price of my signature VIP mentoring program. There are a few reasons for that ...

First, I've been having Discovery Sessions nearly every week for the last 17 years. Experience does count.

If this is a scary thing for you, that's understandable.

Have as many Discovery Sessions as you can, because you'll get better and better at it. And, it is the best way to enroll clients.

Another reason I don't worry is that I've learned to detach from outcome. It's a critical mindset for anyone who is selling something — especially when you're selling you! 

And the amazing thing is that taking the expectation or desperation for 'yes' out of the moment actually relieves pressure for both you and your prospect.

They sense your ease and THAT is attractive in and of itself.

I've talked about Discovery Sessions in episode #19, which you'll find helpful if you missed it before. And in the show notes for that episode you can get a copy of my 10 step cheat sheet with enrollment questions and a Discovery Session process that works beautifully. Find it at: prosperouscoach.com/19

For this episode, I'm diving into more mindset pieces. And mindset truly is something you can control.

Don't Perform. Connect.

Thank goodness that we live in a time where realness is valued. Not very long ago stiff professionalism was revered. In blogs, presentations, speaking gigs, the style was to show up buttoned up and polished.

Can you imagine?

It's not like that anymore. In fact, most people in most circumstances prefer a more relaxed, accessible style.

So as a coach, whether you're writing web copy or social posts or giving a presentation, the rule of the day is be yourself. Connect.

Don't bother trying to be perfect.

That's doubly true for the enrollment moment whether that's in a Discovery Session or at the pitch point in a webinar.

Honor Them With Vulnerability

You know who taught me how to enroll? My clients. And also the prospects who walked away.

Over the years I noticed something that perhaps should have been obvious ... I noticed that when prospects showed up enthusiastic I wanted to work with them!

My favorite clients are authentically enthusiastic people. They are simultaneously enthusiastic and doubtful. Enthusiastic and fearful. Enthusiasm can carry through and stand out over other emotions.

And so I learned from them that enthusiasm is irresistible!

And there's something else that draws me to people who are a good fit f

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is about the un-mined gold in your coaching business. It’s also a Listener’s Choice episode, which means it’s popular with coaches. I’ve updated it because, you know … continuous improvement. Find the full transcript for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/180

Because I’ve studied the strategic art of niching and coaching niches for so long I’ve noticed something that no one is talking about.

There are niches within your niche that will serve you better than staying broad. There are layers. The surface is not the most exciting or lucrative layer. In fact, the most exciting and profitable niche is many layers deeper.

The Layers of Your Coaching Niche

When I work with my VIP clients we begin by discovering a niche ideal for them that’s a few layers down to something more strategic than where they started.

Let me give you an example … 

I had the pleasure of doing business mentoring with Maria Napatov, who helps stepparents transform family chaos into meaningful and harmonious co-parenting. Her brand is Synergistic Stepparenting and she has a valuable podcast of the same name. If you’re a stepparent or know a stepparent point them in her direction!

Let’s breakdown the layers of Maria’s niche:

·      First there’s the track — relationship coaching.

·      The layer beneath that is a more specific relationship — parenting.

·      Drilling that down further is the stepparenting relationship. You know those individuals have a whole set of challenges that other parents do not!

·      And then below that is the specific PROBLEM Maria helps stepparents solve — going from chaos to harmonious co-parenting. She’s created a dynamic Signature Program to help stepparents transform.

Do you see how SPECIFIC Maria’s niche is and can you imagine why that’s an advantage to attracting clients?

Doesn’t Niching Narrowly Mean You’ll Lose Opportunities?

Many coaches are afraid to niche more tightly at first. If you niche narrowly your friends and family might question your wisdom because they don’t get it. But their advice to broaden won’t help you.

You might be thinking … “But by narrowing in all those ways Maria is missing so many opportunities! She’s missing the chance to work with all types of relationships or all parents about any parenting topic.”

But actually specializing is a strategic thing to do.

The reality is this … in this competitive world coaches must grab attention from the larger service business pool not just from other coaches.

Broad Coaching Niches Mean Slow Business Growth

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is inspired by all the coaches out there heartfully doing things every day to attract ideal coaching clients and help them transform. Find the full transcript for this 181st free episode of Prosperous Coach podcast at prosperouscoach.com/181

Last week, a coach asked me to review the content she was putting out to attract paying clients — her podcast episodes, social posts and presentations. Her business hadn’t reliably taken off yet and she wondered if she was on the right track.

It’s smart to take a step back and look dispassionately at everything.

I was super impressed by her discipline. It was clear to me that she was DOING all the right things – daily social posting, building her network on LinkedIn, publishing an episode every week and getting in front of her audience with presentations.

Technically, everything was on track. She had all the processes down. She was taking all the right steps with admirable dedication.

What’s Missing in Your Coaching Content?

But there was something missing from most of her content … connection.

You know … not just words but words that land. Not just topics but topics that are top-of-mind for her audience. And not just words and topics but relating to the audience.

I want you to know this is a mistake a lot of coaches made. And, it took me a long time to figure out that just putting out content wouldn’t help me have a financially successful business.

It’s time to develop yourself as a savvy and authentic marketer. 

I know, I know you don’t want to market. Who does? But marketing effectively is simply about connecting on a level that your audience responds to.

Marketing Connects Your Ideal Coaching Client to You

Marketing is not an evil thing. You don’t have to lie or manipulate to attract clients. 

It’s about connecting the dots between you and your ideal audience. Create a beautiful customer journey for the right people to find you and the right people to connect with you. Your ideal clients. Your people. What Seth Godin calls your tribe. Check out episode 69 to learn about creating a customer journey.

The way that most coaches market is dry, soulless and lacks insight into their audience. And that’s only because the coach hasn’t put a focus on their audience.

Let’s talk about the first 3 developmental stages of a successful coach for a minute …

1.     First, there’s learning the skills and model of coaching. Some coaches stop here.

2.     Then, there’s learning how to develop a solid foundation for your coaching business. This isn’t trivial. It’s what I do with my VIP clients in my 5 month mentoring p

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Today’s episode is about earning more through a high-ticket coaching program that inspires enrollment. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/182.

I’m going to say something that may shock you … selling coaching by the session may keep you from earning more than few thousand dollars each year.

That was my sad story. So excited about coaching, after training I did what most coaches do, I started offering sample coaching sessions to anyone who would take one and enrolled a few short -erm clients at low fees.

My first full year of being a professional coach I earned $3000. I kid you not. The second year was not much better. People said they appreciated the sessions and got value but they weren’t excited enough about having a coach long term.

What was I doing wrong? I figured that out … later.

1.     I called myself a life coach and was trying to coach everyone about anything. The lack of specialty was not confidence inspiring.

2.     I was charging fees that were far too low, which conveyed a lack of credibility.

3.     And most importantly, the idea of coaching itself was not inspiring to prospects.

You see, most people don’t wake up and say to themselves “I need a coach!” And this is a big problem for coaches. It means that coaches have to convince people they want something they don’t already know they want.

Coaching feels like a hard sell and it’s not a strong position to be in. If you’ve been listening to me for a while, you’ve heard me say this before. 

You know it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be a coach, doing coaching and have it be your main skillset for your business. It just means don’t sell coaching.

 There’s a better way.

I made some changes to my approach, which made everything click into place:

1.     I narrowed to a viable target audience and did research to find out what BIG problems were in the way of their big goals.

2.     I created a Signature Program customized to exactly what my audience knows they want.

3.     I raised my fees significantly because the Signature Program was worth it.

Changing the perception is what made the difference. Perception is a powerful thing.

No longer was I giving sample coaching sessions and trying to convince a person that coaching was what they want. Suddenly, I and my program were perceived as credible and I could command higher fees.

Create a Customized Signature Program

This is why I help coaches create a VIP Signature Program that’s long term and customized to their chosen target audience. It’s a process that makes everything in your business congruent and powerful.

Coaches feel confident because they have something of value to offer that’s perceived as valuable to prospects. They learn to articulate what they do in meaningful terms and without the agony of trying to convince people to buy coaching.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is about how to focus your mind and prioritize your time in your coaching business so you can attract a constant stream of new clients and earn well. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/183 plus get my free download to help you ace your enrollment conversations.

When you’re in your first few years of your coaching business you are learning so many things. There’s the coaching process with clients, basics of running a business and all the marketing pieces plus client management.

It is challenging to keep your focus on the most effective things to bring the results you want. That’s often why results come slowly for anyone in startup.

Once you begin to get comfortable with most tasks – creating content, social posts, finding your audience and connecting in a more high-touch way – it’s time to turn your attention to the most strategic things you can do to earn well as a coach. 

Do Everything in Your Coaching Business with the Desired End in Mind

For too many years in my own business, I simply focused on crossing tasks off the list – doing what I thought I should be doing day to day and week to week. I was just hoping I would get some traction! 

Then, a more experienced coach and business owner told me to do everything with the end in mind.

That was a big AHA and I felt a bit foolish that I hadn’t been thinking that way all along. The desired end goal for me was attracting a steady stream of ideal clients that would pay me well. Isn’t that a goal for you as well?

So, I thought … what’s the metric that I should be paying attention to now that will help me most? 

When you’re in a service business every enrolled client requires an enrollment opportunity. So, getting prospects into Discovery Calls is the metric to focus the most on. And not just a Discovery Call with anyone but someone who is ready for it.

2 Mistakes Related to Discovery Calls That Coaches Make

There’s an ineffective and a much more effective way to have a free call with prospects. Most coaches I meet are doing what I did – the wrong approach and way too soon. These are the 2 mistakes:

1.     Putting a button or link on your website for visitors to sign up for a Discovery Session or Call with you.

Have you done this? Look, I get the impulse. You think “Time with me is my valuable free offer!”

That’s too much too soon! Timing your offers is important. And who besides coaches will know what a Discovery Call is or that they want it? So it’s not a good idea to wave that phrase around at this point.

A strategic lead magnet is a better free offer. Check out episode 124 called Does a Coach Need a Lead Magnet?

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

If you’ve never run a business before it can feel scary to charge enough to sustain you and also open yourself up to bigger opportunities. There are 4 mindset shifts to make. You can do this! Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/184.

Fear of charging enough is one of the reasons why so many coaches close up their businesses before they gain traction. In other words … even as a new coach it’s critical that you learn to charge well for your services. 

Mindset Shift #1 — Investing is Empowering

After 23 years of working with clients, I believe with all my heart that when you charge well for your services, everyone wins.

It comes down to this … when people invest in themselves they get more out of the experience. When you charge prices that feel like an investment to your clients they will invest energetically into their own growth. It’s a win - win.

Whereas charging low fees is a lose - lose.

Don’t get me wrong … there is never a need to gouge people or be a mercenary. Simply honor yourself. Do what is right for you. Then you will embody your own vision of success. Realize that if your business doesn’t make it, you won’t be able to help others through coaching.

Think of times when you’ve invested in yourself from your own pocket. You were, in that moment, at the cause of your life rather than the effect.

And the more you focused on receiving the benefits from your investment, the more you evolved. It’s empowering in a life changing way. 

The reverse is also true. When you pay for something that isn’t at least a bit of a stretch there’s less intention behind the action and less attention to squeezing all the value out of that thing.

You also become empowered by earning. And I’m not talking about driving yourself towards a business that steals life away from you. I’m talking about feeling fulfilled while you ensure that you can stay in business. 

When you realize that you can earn well you step more fully into your personal power — it is part of self-actualization.

Hear this …  earning your livelihood as a coach takes nothing away from someone else, especially if you make sure that you and your offer stands out in the crowd. Niche down. Target a unique audience. Offer a Signature Program.  Things I teach my clients and more.

There is plenty for everyone. Your ideal clients will hire YOU because it feels right. And isn't that what we want?

Mindset Shift #2 – Own Your Right

I’ve met new coaches who question their right to have a business. If you haven’t already, start owning that right to:

·      Be in business for yourself

·      Earn well

·      Create, innovate and lead

Take your place in the world! Being a business owner gives you a unique opportunity to do things your way, work with the best clients, do what you really want to do. Yes, YOU can have this thriving business serving people.

Mindset Shift #3 – Factor In the Costs

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Today’s episode is about the intersection of 3 things that could raise your coaching business above the competition for clients. When you know what that intersection is and organize your business around it everything gets easier.

Find the full transcript for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/185.

Have you ever heard of the sweet spot? In your coaching business, your sweet spot is that place where you are reliably earning well for a unique service you provide that’s in high demand.

You are THE BEST at this specific thing and it is highly prized by your ideal clients, who look for, find you and hire you with enthusiasm.

You get a lot of satisfaction from helping others through your sweet spot. It makes your heart sing!

Now, your sweet spot is not coaching. It’s a lot more specific than that. It’s not your target audience or coaching niche either, although knowing and targeting those will help you get closer to your sweet spot so figure those out first.

Your sweet spot is the overlap between 3 things:

1.     What you are best at that makes you STAND OUT in the crowd

2.     That you also enjoy doing repetitively and can grow expertise in

3.     And that your audience highly desires and will readily invest in

All businesses, from solo businesses all the way up to big corporations, are trying to find their sweet spot in this crowded marketplace and make that part of their brand. You’ll see companies rebrand, change in dramatic ways and often narrow their focus to their sweet spot when they’ve found it.

This is niching at its best.

The Treasure Hunt for Greatness

Your sweet spot is generally not obvious from the start. It’s something you grow into.

In the early 2000’s I was struggling to attract enough coaching clients to sustain my business. Most coaches are intimately familiar with that struggle at some point. I think that’s because most coaches start too broad and try to sell coaching as if that in itself is something people want.

I was searching for answers in all the wrong places – purchasing training programs and enrolling in masterminds hoping to find what one of my clients calls his True North. 

I remember attending a seminar for coaches that was about finding that sweet spot. I left as frustrated as I started. The presenter kept pushing the idea of passion.

What’s your passion? What do you feel passionate about? What’s your purpose?

I didn’t KNOW! I felt so lost and ashamed that I couldn’t answer that question.

Years later I realized that was the wrong question for me. For some that language isn’t a good fit. Remember that when you’re coaching. Your client may need a different question or approach altogether than your previous clients. Not everyone identifies with purpose and passion. But it might be

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is about strategizing ways to help your clients feel safe in their professional relationship with you. Safe feelings will help your clients have a better experience in your coaching program. That in turn translates into longer term and return clients, more referrals and great testimonials. 

This episode is also a Listener’s Choice episode, which means it’s a favorite of coaches who have listened before you. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/186.

Do you ever feel nervous with your clients or have performance anxiety during sessions? If you’re a new coach, that’s totally normal. And you want to be sure that feeling diminishes with each client you serve. 

In my early days, I was so anxious about delivering value that I lost my personal power by inflating my role by over-delivering and people pleasing. And I ended up feeling drained instead of energized by sessions. Do you know what I mean? I’ll talk all about this challenge in another episode soon.

You might not realize that your new clients also will have some anxiety about coaching too, so it’s important to help them feel safe. Clients who feel safe will be more candid and get more from your coaching. Here are 4 ways to help them feel safe:

Cultivate Happy Coaching Clients Before During and After
First, know that cultivating happy clients starts by creating happy prospects. You want people in your target audience to already have a strong sense of your integrity, personality and exactly how you can help them BEFORE they hire you.

You don’t have to hard sell. You don’t have to convince anyone. Make your marketing process a natural selection process. And don’t worry about the people who don’t hire you.

If your social media posts, blogs, podcasts, videos, website – everything – show that you are fully informed about what’s important to your audience they can feel that.

You want your audience to feel seen, heard and understood by you. If they do, they’ll follow you and share your content with others in your audience. They’ll also get curious about what you offer because you’re speaking about what they desire and what’s in the way of that. 

Once they do hire you, you’ll be able to help them feel safe in other ways.

Set Boundaries and Provide Structure to Coaching Clients
In a desire to be ALL things to your clients do you forget to set boundaries and provide structure in your programs?

If so, it’s understandable because coaching skills themselves are so open. Open-ended questions, deep levels of listening, open-mindedness about differences – all of those things will be enhanced when you put boundaries and structures in place for your clients.

People THRIVE with a sense of structure and will respect boundaries if you set them up thoughtfully and communicate them well.

Before your first session:

1.     Provide clear terms and agreements about your coaching program in your intake packet.

2.     Clearly describe your policies about showing up for ses

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is inspired by conversations with two of my VIP clients – both are coaches working with a professional audience. I will share details about why it’s smart to create an Avatar for your target coaching audience, how to do it and use it effectively for everything in your coaching business.

By the way … I’m not talking about those cute little characters that represent YOU on social media. This is about your ideal client. Find the full transcript with the list of questions to develop your Avatar at prosperouscoach.com/187.

So here is what was going on with my two VIP clients that inspired me to create an episode for you about this. Both, independently, were having trouble with their messaging.

Connect Don’t Perform with Your Coaching Prospects

One was not getting engagements from her posts or enough downloads of her podcast. As a result, not enough people in her audience were going to her website and taking actions to get on her list, fill out her application and grab a Discovery Call. So, she didn’t have enough enrollment opportunities and didn’t have enough clients.

The other hadn’t launched yet but was struggling to write blog articles. Though he had excellent writing skills and tremendous expertise his blogs were coming off stiff. They were full of cliché topics and thoughts that could easily be found with a Google search. He was writing to a generic audience even though he had targeted a narrower group.

Neither of these coaches were relating enough to their audience and that’s essential in today’s marketplace.

I realized that both of these coaches were not enough in touch with their specific target audience. They were talking like a coach, which was coming off bland. It’s really important not to be coachey with your messaging. Connect don’t perform. It’s the best lesson I ever learned.

Your Avatar Helps You Attract Your ideal Coaching Client

So, I showed them how to create an Avatar and develop their blogs and podcast episodes, their social posts and presentations, by stepping into the shoes and mindset of their unique target audience. I’ll explain how in a moment.

Remember the blockbuster film Avatar from 2009? If you haven’t seen it, grab some friends and delicious snacks and settle in for a fantastic journey into a beautiful planet called Pandora, that is overrun by humans wanting to mine the native’s resources no matter the cost. Yes, it’s an age-old story but uniquely told.

In the movie, scientists from Earth manufacture a few bodies that look and respond like the bodies of the Na’vi, the indigenous, highly evolved planet-centered people of Pandora. The consciousness of the scientists could then be downloaded into those bodies so they can move about in the culture, interacting with the Na’vi in the most relational wa

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

If you want to thrive in your coaching business, it’s time to change your perception about marketing. Let’s bust some myths about marketing and look at it from a different point of view. Find the show notes for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/188.

First, I wanted to share a win with you because YOU helped to make it possible and I’m grateful ... 

Prosperous Coach Podcast recently hit 150,000 downloads. That’s momentous. My latest 5 start review said: “A well appreciated podcast! Rhonda tackles issues that any coach could face and provides useful tips on how to deal with them in a profitable way.”  Sweet!

I wanted to share that news with you because I market through my podcast. That’s called generosity marketing, which is about giving away value to attract ideal clients. It’s one of the non-salesy approaches.

So … when you think of marketing, do you cringe? Are you thinking:

·      Marketing is going to feel sleazy no matter how I do it.

·      I have to become good at selling myself.

·      I don’t know how to market effectively!

Only that last is true. You don’t know how to market effectively … YET. And there’s a natural fear of the unknown.

I cringed about marketing too until I learned a more conscious and transparent way of attracting clients. Up until then I thought of marketing as this necessary evil. That’s a reaction to high-pressure marketing tactics, which are old fashioned and a low integrity approach that ruins marketing for everyone.

So, toss out that approach completely. You do NOT have to barrage people with marketing that tries to fool or shame people into buying what you’re selling.

And forget the idea that you have to sell yourself too. You don’t have to sell your soul to market effectively.

But here’s the truth … if you want to earn well as a coach and stay in business you do have to find a way to attract your ideal clients.

The reality is, unless you already have a network of people who know, like and trust you and would love to work with you, you will need to create a community of potential clients and build relationships with those people. Otherwise, you’ll be another coach who is a best kept secret. And there are lots of coaches who are.

Becoming known by your audience is half way to becoming a coach in high demand. Being known doesn’t mean you have to talk about yourself all the time and toot your own horn. There’s a better way.

I started building my community from scratch. That’s not a heartbreaking task. It’s a heart-warming task if you do it in a conscious way.

And you don’t have to be known by tens of thousands of people either if you target a narrow and unique audience and craft a niche that’s meaningful to them. There are a multitude of reasons why choosing a viable

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is special because my closest friend, Susan DeGenring, is with me today. We're going to talk about the Enneagram in coaching. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/189. 

Before I introduce her, let me explain two things that inspired this episode. First, some of my recent clients learned as part of their coach training, how to use a scientifically rigorous assessment tool with their clients.

And I noticed that those coaches felt more confident about coaching and charging higher prices, and they have thrived in their businesses.

The other thing that inspired this episode is that I recently had a chance to be on the receiving side of coaching with the Enneagram.

I was going through a tough time. Yeah. Even coaches with 20 years of experience of those. And I had lost my joy for life and went into a bit of a depression. So I reached out to my closest friend, Susan, who is a brilliant coach, and she studied the Enneagram deeply in a few sessions with her.

I felt lifted out of my funk with a much more positive outlook.

So let me tell you about Susan. Susan DeGenring is the founder of Still Mind Coaching Solutions and is a leadership development coach and strategist. She delivers goal-based yet transformative coaching using the latest neuroscience and mindfulness approaches.

And Susan's mission is to create better workplaces by guiding leaders to exercise the privilege of power responsibly with more clarity, humanity, and strategic intent. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?

Most recently she has certified to become a mindfulness-based stress reduction teacher, employing mindfulness practices paired with two decades of leadership development experience to help clients recover from burnout and build resilience as organizational leaders.

Contact Susan DeGenring at susan@stillmindcoaching.com or at https://www.stillmindcoaching.com/

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Perception is a huge factor in early coaching business success. The way that your target audience perceives you makes all the difference in how easily you attract clients, how many clients you enroll and how well you earn. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/190.

So where does that leave you if you’re a new coach? Isn’t this a Catch 22? Well, no, because a new coach can show expertise from day one.

Look I’m not talking about being an expert coach … although if you already have years of coaching under your belt and have coached hundreds of clients – that’s a certain kind of expertise that’s marketable. But a new coach wouldn’t have that yet.

Your Experience Could Be a Primer for Expertise

Let’s get a more fluid definition of expertise here.:

What do you bring to the table
to help your target audience solve their BIG PROBLEM and reach their ultimate goal
based on your life and work experience?

Sure, you might be new to coaching and/or new to running a business but you’re not new to life, are you?

If you’re willing to go there and have amassed experience in a field, industry, role, a topic or even a certain stage of life it’s possible to leverage that when you choose a target audience and niche.

So this is a big part of how I help coaches choose a profitable niche. I’m looking for what — in their personal story, life or work experience — is a clue to a great niche for them because I know how powerful preceived credibility is for people that are considering hiring you. Check out episode 85 – How Can New Coaches Be Perceived as Credible?

Sometimes new coaches tell me they want to focus on a specific target audience and niche because they think that’s where the money is. For example, one coach, who had never worked a corporate job, wanted to become a corporate coach. Another who never had any business experience wanted to be a business coach.

Well, that’s not going to fly, right? I mean what possible reason would those audiences have to work with those coaches? No reason I can think of. That will make enrolling clients nearly impossible.

So, when you choose a target audience and niche it’s rarely a good idea to choose completely arbitrarily.

By the way, while it may be true that there can be increased income potential in corporate or business coaching, the competition is fierce there. Every coach needs to find a way to STAND OUT!

Before you decide to put a stake in the ground for a specific target audience and niche ask yourself: Why would they listen to me? Now I know that coaches can coach around any topic and they can coach any audience. But I’m not talking about who you could coach. I’m talking about who would HIRE YOU!

When I help coaches choose their target audience and develop their coaching niche I encourage them to

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

In this episode I’m going to give some tough love to those of you that are charging low prices because you figure you’re a relatively new coach and that’s what you should do until you have more experience. Find the full transcript of this episode at prosperouscoach.com/191

The reality about charging low prices at the start of your business is that it could stop your business from getting off the ground. It can even be a form of self-sabotage.

I get it. There’s fear of rejection. There’s not believing that you’re worth it. Usually that’s an unconscious belief that’s driving your actions. I’ve been there too.

But I’ve learned a strange secret and that’s this … the sooner you ask for higher prices the sooner you’ll get them. And you must earn well to survive in your business.

Think of it this way you’ve already done your apprenticeship in your coach training program. It’s time to graduate to being a business owner and pricing for profit.

Profit isn’t a bad word. It’s net income. It’s the wages you give yourself minus expenses. If you aren’t profitable, your business can’t survive much less thrive.

Sounds ridiculously simple doesn’t it? It’s true. And what’s more is that the sooner you charge more for your coaching services and get it the quicker those worries about rejection and not being worthy will melt away. So you help yourself to cross that threshold sooner.

Look … you KNOW what’s too low. You know when you’re shorting yourself.

It’s a smart strategy to have an introductory rate for your first 5 clients. But don’t make it too low or you start to build expectation within yourself and the marketplace that you’re not up to the task.

And women coaches … hear this … I rarely see men charging low prices as a new coach. You have the control to boost your earning power in your own coaching business.

And let me assure you … you charging prices that will sustain you will not hurt anyone. In fact, when your clients invest in themselves with your coaching they win too because they have given a big YES to themselves.

So, let’s look at one dynamic and smart action you could take to immediately shift your approach and stop sabotaging your success with too low pricing.

Stop Charging By the Coaching Session

Raise your hand if you’ve ever priced your coaching by the session or by the hour.

You’re not alone in that. I raised my hand too. I used to only sell coaching by the session in packages. That kept me spending more than I earned.

Now the only time I charge by the session is for my one off 90-minute Strategy Session. It’s where a coach can hire my expertise to help them choose a smart target audience and coaching niche that leverages their experience and talents.

Let me demonstrate why this is strategic on my part …

Read the better way to pricing here.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

When it comes to what you delegate and what you do yourself, it’s a question of workstyle preferences. But that’s not the whole story. I’ll share 4 criteria to help you make strategic decisions about delegating. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/192.

When I first started my coaching business, my motto was don’t be cheap with your coaching business. This meant that I hired out a lot. I spent money on experts of all sorts and hired a full time VA to do all the little things I couldn’t be bothered with.

I believe my time is highly valuable — good mindset there — so I didn’t want to do anything except what I started this business for … to coach. That was a bit short sighted.

I went too far to the delegating side of the continuum, which cost me in 3 ways:

1.     Low profits because my expenses were high

2.     Not learning things that I should have learned

3.     Time because managing others wasn’t my forte (and it took far more time to manage their work product than if I had done those things myself.)

I made rash decisions because I didn’t really know my business model, what I bring to the table and the holes in my competencies. I didn’t think through what energizes and drains me. I clearly needed a business coach!

Mostly, I was blindly following what other coaches were doing. I fell in with a crowd of high rollers. It wasn’t as seedy as it sounds but it wasn’t good for me either.

Sure, business by trial and error is a time-honored tradition. Making lots of mistakes and learning from them has its upsides! Still, wouldn’t it have been smarter for me to strategize as much as I could from day one in my business?

So, I offer you that better way ... strategize as much as you can from the get go then also be willing to make mistakes and learn from them.

What are Your Long-Term Goals for Your Coaching Business?

This is the first of 4 criteria for knowing when to delegate.

20 years into my business I’m delegating far less and that’s strategic because my goal now is to:

·      work a 35-hour week

·      earn high profits for the time I do work

·      deliver high value and work with fewer people because that means less enrolling effort

·      keep a simple business model

·      do marketing that’s pinpointed, authentic and showcases my genius

For me, offering a 1:1 Signature Program is working far better than other business models I tried and it’s why I teach this to other coaches.

What about you? 

1.     How many hours would you like to work each week?

Read here for more questions and the other 3 criteria for easily making decisions about delegating or not.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Rhonda Hess: Hey coaches, I've got something special for you today. Find the full transcript plus helpful links and specific words to say in coaching sessions at prosperouscoach.com/193. Also, there’s a link to a free downloadable infographic that you’ll want to click to on that page.

I don't know if you got to listen to the previous session that I did with my good friend and amazing coach, Laurie Cameron, where we talked about Powerful Questions (Episode 139 – The Art of Crafting Powerful Coaching Questions.) If you have not heard that one, go get it because it's really, really good. And this one's also going to be really, really good. We are going to talk about something different having to do with coaching skills today. So let me first introduce you to Laurie. 

The world that Laurie Cameron wants to leave our children is one where we feel safe, valued, and connected because that's when we can accomplish meaningful work together. Her part in creating that world is to help people communicate with kindness, respect, and compassion. Laurie's been coaching and training since 1998 and her company WAKE UP! Enterprises helps leaders integrate the coaching mindset and heart into their everyday communications in order to build a sustainable coaching culture from the inside out. She's also a senior faculty member of one of the oldest coach training organizations in the world — that's Coach Training Alliance, and she has trained over 1200 coaches through CTA. Laurie also works with coaches applying for their ACC credential with the ICF to get their 10 hours of mentor coaching. Visit her at wakeupenterprises.com or ACCmentorcoach.com. 

Laurie, thank you so much for doing this again, and it's always so fun to collaborate with you on anything.

Laurie Cameron: Oh, I feel exactly the same. I'm really thrilled. Thank you so much for inviting me.

Rhonda Hess: My absolute pleasure.

And so, we are going to talk today about aimless coaching sessions. Everybody's had one, probably everybody's experienced one. We are going to take a look at it from all angles and uncover the best way to recover from <laugh> an aimless coaching session as a coach. So first let's just start with this. I thought about this: bWhat do you think, Laurie, is a single word that describes the best coaching sessions with clients?

Laurie Cameron: I think FOCUSED is a good word — because you know … there's purpose, there's meaning, there's safety — all of that. And yet, if I were to pick one, it would be focused — not just focused on what the client wants to take away, but really focused on the client. Fully focused on the client for the entire session because coaching is client-driven.

Rhonda Hess: It also means that it has an aim. So I really like that one. I think that's really good. What does an aimless coach

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

I think every coach knows that before they work with a client there are two crucial things to do. One is to receive the client’s payment and the other is to help the onboarding process with a smart intake packet. That’s when the co-creative relationship becomes official and professional. Find the full transcript for this episode with helpful links at prosperouscoach.com/194

When I first started as a coach, I didn’t have a smart intake packet. I had copied another coach’s documents with their permission, and honestly, with so many other things to learn, I didn’t give it a lot of thought.

That way until I was asked to develop certification curriculum for Coach Training Alliance and I buttoned up a lot of my practices. CTA still uses my finessed intake packet and the curriculum 21+ years later and I’m honored.

By the way, that’s one of the benefits of stepping into a leadership role — you rise to the occasion. Think of your coaching business as a leadership role and you’ll be inspired to higher degrees of professionalism. It’s for you as much as it is for your clients.

So why is an intake packet important? 

I’ve never been more certain of an intake packet’s value for the client than after hiring a social media coach who had a minimal onboarding process. She asked me to set up our first session and that was all the due diligence there was — no questions about me, my background or anything more than getting my payment.

I ended up asking for a prorated refund after one session because we weren’t a good fit and she wasn’t modeling good coaching practices in her services. I did not feel seen or safe, which are critical in coaching. 

Onboard Your Coaching Client with Care

A critical benefit of a good intake packet is to help your client onboard smoothly into your services. Show them you care about them and want to understand who they are. It helps them feel seen and safe. Episode 186 is called 4 Ways to Help Your Coaching Clients Feel Safe. It’s a good listen, if you haven’t heard it already.

People feel safe when you take time to understand them. But that’s not the only value of a smart intake packet. Here are 4 other reasons to show you care with your intake packet:

·      Gather important data about the client

·      Convey policies and procedures

·      Make clear your role and their role

·      Learn what makes them tick

Let’s go through each of these …

Get a Profile of Your Coaching Client

One of the 3 documents in my intake packet is a simple Word document with fillable spaces to capture their:

·      Name

·      Email address

·      Phone number

·      Time zone

·      Physical address

·      Website

·      When they finished coach training (which is germane to my niche)

·      Their partner’s and and kids names & ages

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is an ON AIR Coaching session where I get to work with with a real human being instead of just speaking out in the air by myself. It's so much fun for me to do these Coach the Coach sessions and I hope you find value in them.

Today, I'm working with Je'von Ikner to help him finesse his target audience and niche.

Je'Von's background includes 4 years in Wallstreet and a stint with Club Med working as a personal trainer, which he segued into owning a gym with a partner.

Je'Von explained that he wants to take a more holistic approach to wellness with his clients. He let go of the gym recently to focus in on developing his coaching business.

He is also a new husband and father. His son, Maxwell, is just 10 months old.

Why Not Coach People Like You?

I had an instant idea after meeting Je'Von in a Discovery Session that young men with new families could be a great audience for him. He agreed but he was a bit hesitant, thinking that he needed to have everything figured out before he could help someone else with that.

Do you worry about that too?

If you've had an impulse to work with people that are essentially in the same boat as you, it's a good impulse! As long as the target audience is well defined and narrow enough that you can create compelling messaging and offers that strike a resonant chord, it can work beautifully.

1. You only need to be one small step ahead of your coaching clients.

2. Did you know that most subject matter experts became experts by making a study of how to help themselves through a challenge? You can do that too.

3. Few people have the time or inclination to self reflect enough on how to breakthrough a specific challenge. As a coach, you can do some advanced thinking about your audiences common challenges and goals. Look at your own experience dispassionately for a while. Then create a model to help yourself. Test it out. Finesse that to help others in the same boat.

Don't worry, you'll still be able to meet your clients where they are and coach them in the moment. But, if they're going to enroll you, they only want to know that you've thought it through. 

A little structure goes a long way!

I reminded Je'Von what coaching is really about. Je'Von laughed because he realized while we were talking that I would ask him that. He said: 

"Coaching isn't necessarily a how-to.

You're not giving someone the answers so much as

helping them evoke their own answers, gain different perspectives,

then have a choice of answers that allows them to

make the decisions that are in line with where they want to go."

Elegantly put.

What Are the Top Challenges of Your Target Audience?

Next, I asked Je'Von what are the real challenges he's experiencing as a young man with a new family.

What he shared was poignant:

1. The biggest challenge is lack of personal time that can bring up feelings of guilt

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

When coaches reach out to work with me, they almost always say that their biggest fear is marketing. They say: “I’m not good at selling myself.” Then I say, “Well, that’s okay because you don’t have to sell yourself to be a prosperous coach.” And I mean it. 

This episode will be a huge relief. Find the full transcript for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/195.

Selling is Not the Same as Marketing

So, first, let’s distinguish between marketing and selling because they often get lumped in together.

Marketing is a part of your service. You relate to your ideal clients and let them know that you are here for them. You create a customer journey to attract the people you most want to work with.

It’s an ongoing process for anyone who has a business. And it’s not at all unsavory. In fact, it’s an authentic act of caring because you are a genuine human being with real value to offer.

Whereas, selling is transactional. It happens at a moment in time where you invite an interested prospect to become your client in exchange for fees.

It’s a professional necessity to enroll clients this way but you don’t have to be blatantly self-promotional to complete this transaction. 

Blatant Self Promotion Isn’t Fun or Attractive

What does blatant self-promotion sound like coming from a new coach? I see this kind of thing on new coaches’ websites …

“I’ve trained and certified as a life coach and I’m ready to help you create the life of your dreams. I listen closely to you and without judgment. Then, through powerful questions I help you make mindset shifts and take powerful actions.”

It’s as if the coach is trying to write a resume and they aren’t really sure what to say yet because they are new to coaching. I did this on my first coaching website too because I didn’t know any better and it wasn’t at all effective.

What’s missing in promotional statements like these? Any relevance to the person who reads it.

Think about this. Did anyone wake up today wanting to hire a life coach to help them create the life of their dreams? Highly unlikely.

People are truly not that impractical. They don’t think in terms of abstract concepts like permanent utter happiness. They want to solve a specific big problem that has been dogging them. They want something very specific and if they want it urgently enough, they seek that solution.

A Better Way for Coaches to Attract Clients

Read about how to market without selling yourself and feeling like you're selling your soul.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Hey Coach,

If you are connecting with the strategies I share in Prosperous Coach Podcast, let's work together to get everything for your business foundation done for you with VIP 1:1 support. Fill out the application here and I'll be in touch to set up a Discovery Call with you.

I work with just 20 coaches each year in this Coaching Business Breakthrough program. Let's get started now so you can be a coach in high demand much sooner!


This episode may surprise you. And I think that you will want to see the full transcript for this episode so you can make shifts in your mindset and business approach. Find that at prosperouscoach.com/196 

A coach once asked me a shocking question in a Strategy Session. She said: “When will I know that I’ve failed at this and should just go get a job?”

All sorts of thoughts and feelings went through my mind – mostly sadness because it felt like she’d given up on herself before she had even launched her coaching business. But I understood where she was coming from.

We went on to have an excellent coaching conversation. And her takeaway is really important for all coaches in the first 3 years of their coaching business …

Success is not an all or nothing proposition.

No one reaches their full potential and ultimate success in one step or even 10 steps or even 100 steps. If we did, we’d all be miserable, arrogant louts who would spend the rest of our days doing nothing because … what’s the point? 

Everyone, including the most famous successful people in the world found the success you know about by:

1.    Trying something

2.    Making mistakes

3.    Getting frustrated

4.    Trying something with a better mindset or approach

5.    Having incremental wins and failures.

Success is staying the course, marshaling your mindset and finetuning your approach.

And here’s something else you might know deep down but have forgotten. A business owner doesn’t reach the pinnacle and stay there. You reach a pinnacle and might be able to coast for a while, and then you are asked to innovate and make new shifts to find your growth cycle.

By telling you this, what I’m hoping is that you’ll stop comparing yourself to others, raise awareness of where you are appropriately on the developmental path and be patient with the process while also having unstoppable determination.

And that’s the first of the eight smart moves to become a coach in high demand:

#1 Ask Yourself Repeatedly for Patience and Determination

Anything worth doing takes time. Look, this is YOUR time, your gig. You are privileged to be able to launch your own business and to help other people do their hard but worthwhile thing.

Prove to yourself that you can stay the course even during times when there’s no proof that anything is happening.

Be honest …

·      You are DONE with working for someone else!

·      Tell yourself you WILL

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Okay, so this episode might seem like a good one to skip. But DON’T! You’ll be thanking me someday if you listen and pick up the 4 coaching business logistical tips I have for you. Find the full transcript for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/197.

Here’s the new coach scenario … you get out of coach training and set up your potential client times on your calendar. If you’ve quit a job to start your coaching business you might think, well my clients have jobs and won’t be able to meet until evening and I should also offer a weekend day too.

Or maybe you still have a full-time job and you’re trying to build your coaching business as a side hustle and, in that case, nights and weekends may be all you have to offer.

Or, when you enrolled your first client, you just asked your new client what time is best for them and rearranged your life to make that work.

With any of these scenarios, you might regret the decision to do what’s convenient for your client.

Scheduling Tip #1: Don’t Pander to Your Coaching Client’s Preferences

I understand the impulse. You want to get clients so you’ll bend over backwards to make things easy for your prospects. Strangely, this is not a good practice if you want to stay in your coaching business for more than a few months.

I’m guessing that part of the reason you want to be a coach is to work for yourself. To make your own decisions and do things your way. So do that from day one and make it your practice even if you haven’t enrolled a single client yet!

Here’s a secret … when people hire professionals, they expect to fit into the openings that are left. But more importantly, if you don’t set boundaries on your business from the beginning when you don’t have any clients, you won’t like your life when you do have clients

I’m embarrassed to say it took me years to figure this out for myself.

There’s a smart mindset here … ACT AS IF you are a coach in high demand right now. Make decisions for your business from that personally powerful place and not from the newbie mindset.

Think about it this way, if you are a coach in high demand and a new client comes along you will only have maybe one or two potential time slots available on your calendar. And guess what … the new client will happily take what they can get!

I know this hard to imagine this at the start because you are so eager to please. But if you’re eager to please what does that signal to prospects? That you are inexperienced, lack confidence and maybe even that you are desperate. That might sound harsh. It’s just something I’ve realized over time.

Successful entrepreneurs value their time in every way. And isn’t it better to model the behavior you want to grow into?

By the way, this is the same savvy mindset that will guide you to charge fees for a sustainable business AND life!

So, set up your availability to suit your lifestyle. Do you go to Pilates on Tuesday and Thursday mornings? Great, don’t work until noon that day. Do you want to pick up your kids from school every day. Block out afte

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is a mindset shift and hack for that moment when your coaching prospect starts to question you or object about your program as you are trying to enroll them. Find the full transcript with notes you’ll want to refer back to at prosperouscoach.com/198.

There you are in a Discovery Call to enroll a new coaching client into your Signature Program. You are connecting, enjoying each other, engaging with curiosity. You’ve learned some things about them and they have about you too because of the way you are showing up.

Then, the moment comes for you to invite them to enroll. Suddenly your energy, your pace, and maybe even your tone of voice, shifts. You go shaky inside. Imposter Syndrome jumps in. Fear takes over.

And, you’ve stopped using coaching skills in the conversation.

·      Now you’re performing when before you were connecting.

·      Now you feel attached to outcome when before you were present and detached.

·      Now it feels like it’s all about you when before it was all about them. 

But in fact, nothing had to change.

The conversation is still about them even if you are sharing the details of your program and inviting them to enroll. And, you still have all those powerful skills at the ready – messaging, reframing, asking powerful questions, listening, intuiting, using perspective to help the person see things a new way.

It helps to remember that marketing, enrolling and selling are ALL in service to your prospective clients. You do those things as part of your service because without those things your coaching clients won’t get the value of your support.

The Big Scary Objection Questions

When you enroll clients use all the same skills that you do for coaching. Move into your invitation seamlessly. Connect rather than perform. Stay detached. Listen closely even if they ask you “big scary” questions like these …

·      What makes you qualified to do this?

·      How do I know you can help me?

·      Do you have references?

·      Are you certified?

·      What results have your other clients had?

·      What experience do you have in helping people like me?

·      Why do you charge so much?

·      How will I afford this?

If you need help acing the enrollment process, it’s one my superpowers so grab a Strategy Session with me at prosperouscoach.com/strategy.

And to learn the secret about answering prospect's objections read more here.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

I thought long and hard about what, over the years, clients have told me tipped them over from 'maybe' to 'YES'. It's powerful!

This episode gives you 6 simple things plus 1 strategic action that you can do now to help your coaching prospects shift from just considering your services to clicking onto the certainty button and committing. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/199.

Are you  a new coach who is ready for step-by-step hand-holding to create everything for your business with expert support and then launch with confidence? I have 2 openings now for the VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough -private program with me - Rhonda Hess of Prosperous Coach.

Together we will land your niche, craft messaging & web copy, develop your Signature Program, handle pricing, packaging and positioning, marketing strategy, content and everything in between.

IT'S TIME FOR YOUR SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH
If you're serious about getting your coaching business launched with expert support, fill out the application on this page and we will set up a Discovery Call to learn about each other.

Other Episodes Mentioned

- Episode 137 is a good one to listen to after this episode. It’s called Your Future Coaching Clients Might Be Turned Off By Automation.

- Episode 141 has 5 Questions to Test Your Coaching Business Integrity.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Today we’re digging into something that’s rarely talked about by marketing experts. It is about why you only want to attract people who do have the motivation and the financial ability to hire you. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/200

Woohoo, this is the 200th episode of Prosperous Coach Podcast! Thank you for listening and sharing this podcast with other coaches!

Links mentioned in this episode:

1. Coaching Business Checkup series - If you find yourself working hard but not getting traction, this episode series addresses what’s usually missing.

2. Grab a single Strategy Session with Rhonda Hess, International Business Coach for Coaches to strategize something specific about your coaching business solved such as choosing a viable audience of seekers and a smart coaching niche! 

3. The simplest coaching business model. Low labor, high profit!

4. Create a high ticket Signature Program.

5. Be sure that your program solves your audience's BIG problem on the way to a BIG goal. 

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

New coaches reach out to me every week with the same set of 7 challenges related to getting traction in their coaching business.

All of these challenges have root causes in perspective and the solutions have a similar thread. Read about the root causes and solutions here.

Listen to other episodes related to this episode:
7 - Why is Coaching a Hard Sell?
20 - How to Stop Saying Yes to Bright Shiny Objects
22 - Why Should a Coach Do Market Research?
108 - How to Develop Your Signature Coaching Program

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Coaching is really a collection of tools and techniques that you take out and employ when the moment is right. The more you coach, the more savvy you become about when and how to use those tools and techniques. It helps you create a style.

Today, I will share with you my absolute favorite coaching tool to help clients release drama. Find the full transcript with the details of this tool at prosperouscoach.com/202.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is part of the Smart Mindsets & Habits series.

It's got to be said because it's breaking my heart to see so many coaches bogged down and unable to move forward with clarity.

You know how they say that multi-tasking isn't good for your brain? The best case scenario is that you do a lot but nothing well. It actually lowers your IQ!

Well, the same is true for your brain when you overload it with unnecessary ideas and future tasks for your coaching business.

I've talked about overwhelm before in Ep #20 - How to Stop Saying 'Yes" to Bright Shiny Objects

In that episode the focus was mostly about wasting money, time and brain power on programs that you're not developmentally ready for yet as a business owner. Advanced strategies and tactics that won't work well for you until you have the business foundation in place.

In this episode, I'm going to dig in deeper to what's actually happening in your mind and your emotional body when you heap more and more information on yourself.

When new coaches reach out to work with me, they fill out a questionnaire on my website. I ask them to give me a snapshot of what they're doing day to day to build their business.

Nearly every person tells me their head is spinning with all the research they're doing.

• They are looking at other coach's websites. Oh no! That really won't be helpful because it's hard to discern coaching website that work from those that are duds. It takes experience to know that.
• They also read everything they can about coaching and coaching business tips. They're on loads of lists. And every day are force feeding themselves with information.
• They're surfing for answers to BIG questions that really can't be answered in a free blog or webinar ... things like how do I choose my niche or where can I find paying clients or what do I need to do to earn well as a coach? There's so much complexity in those questions.
• And, they're signing up for every free webinar and download they can get. And sometimes investing in programs they aren't ready for.

Here's the truth. You can't possibly consume a firehose of information and stay sane. It leaves you breathless with overwhelm and unable to move forward.

This is what I call the new coach swirl and spin. And those are the words that I hear coaches use. They say: 

"My mind is swirling! My head is spinning! And I'm so confused that I'm paralyzed."

I so know that place!

Thousands of bits of disconnected information have literally shut down your executive function, your creativity, and intuition.

And that's when fear and doubt surges up within you.

• Doubts about whether you can succeed in coaching.
• Doubts that anyone would pay you.
• Doubts about everything you've been working on.
• Fears that you've made the wrong decision, that you

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

 You are more business savvy by far than I was! And still, you might not have thought much about this aspect of your business that I’m about to share. It’s an eye opener. Find the full transcript for this episode plus resources for new coaches at prosperouscoach.com/203.

All businesses, including coaching businesses, need a business model. It defines exactly how you will earn profits, what you will offer that is highly desired by a unique target audience and how you’ll attract that audience. Pretty essential stuff.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

I think it's really helpful for coaches to hear other coaches’ experiences of niching as an example and also about the ways they've decided to market their coaching effectively.

I am so excited to share with you a human being who I had the privilege of working with in my 5-month VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough program earlier this year, and I'm so excited to introduce her. ...

Her name is Elana Israel. She has a business called — and also a podcast called the same thing — Partnership Aligned.  She is a relationship and intimacy coach, helping moms with little kids reach greater happiness with their life partner through self-empowerment, better communication, and deeper intimacy.

Find the full transcript for this episode and other resources mentioned at prosperouscoach.com/204.

Also mentioned in this episode is Elana's 2nd podcast episode called The Secret to Ending Conflict in Your Relationship

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Hey Coaches!

A favorite question I like to ask coaches is: Would you buy what you’re selling? And, if so, what amount would you be willing invest? Your answer is telling and it might have you re-evaluate your offer, your pricing, your messaging, website and more.

This episode is short and has 10 powerful questions to ask yourself that will help you know if you’re on the right track. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/205.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Have you ever wanted to teach your clients what you know to help them take leaps in mindset and action?

This episode covers concerns related to that idea and smart ways to include training in your coaching business so you can earn more. It’s also a follow up to Episode 175 called Should Coaches Know More Than Their Clients? That episode is a different angle about this topic.

Find the full transcript for episode 206 at prosperouscoach.com/206

Other resources related to this episode:
Episode 170 - Get Into the Habit of Drawing Out Your Own Genius
Episode 73 - Do You Fit One of These Archetypes?

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is short and sweet. And it's part of the Smart Mindsets & Habits series. 

In these early days of your coaching business, before you are booked with clients it may be tempting to fit your coaching business into whatever time you have left in the day. 

The truth is that you can't build a business on fumes. And you certainly can't grow a business that way.

There's a mindset that goes with that fit-it-into-the-downtime approach. And it's usually not a conscious one.

It's the hobbyist mindset. Or the perpetual student mindset. 

Please know that I get it ... if you're a stay-at-home parent, adding in a new business to your day is totally disruptive. You have a rhythm of what you do day to day. You know your priorities. Now, you have to re-make that rhythm to a new beat.

It's also super challenging to add a new business in when you've got a full-time job.

And, if you're adding a business to a full-time job plus caring for children, it's downright heroic, if you ask me.

Even so, if you want a thing to thrive, it needs regular care and feeding. It needs a rhythm. Find one that works for you now and build up from there as you can.

Coaching Business Office Hours

When I decided to become a coach, I negotiated my job into a part-time consulting position to have time to build my coaching business.

But, I'm embarrassed to say, even with the clear boundaries on my job and more at-home time, I didn't use my "free" time well on behalf of my business.

And I didn't make much progress for that first year.

I realized that I needed office hours. That I needed to think of myself going to work for my business. That made an immediate difference in my earnings and satisfaction as a coach.

Setting office hours was my first step into the CEO role of my coaching business.

It signaled to my friends and family that I was no longer in student mode. And it motivated me to get creative and productive on a higher level than I was before.

Now, you may only have one hour each day for your coaching business. If that's the case, that is your office hour.

Tell your family, your friends and colleagues that you're not available to them during that hour unless it's a true emergency.

Then do the power hour.

Know before you sit down to your desk what you're going to do with that hour. Make the most of it. Turn off your phone, close out your email and get focused.

Block Your Time

Obviously, the more time you find for your business day to day, the faster you'll grow so that you can replace your job with coaching.

You'll need time for serving clients, client management and in the first few years, you'll need significant for marketing and getting the word out to your target audience that you have something valuable for them.

Having a rhythm for your coaching business means you're hi

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

If you incrementally charge higher fees you’ll become more confident and also become a much better coach. It worked for me and I’ve seen it work for my clients as well. 

Setting fees that pay you well is one of the 3 big thresholds that holds coaches back. And it’s always about limiting beliefs.

This episode is part of the Money Mastery series and it’s a Listener’s Choice episode, which means a lot of other coaches have already listened to this and found value in it. Find the full transcript for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/207.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Doesn’t it seem lately like everyone is feeling overwhelm these days in higher proportions than before? I’ve been feeling it myself and I know some of it is not mine but rather the collective. And, I think overwhelm can become a habitual state that needs an intervention before it becomes anxiety and depression.

What can you do to help your clients release overwhelm, get unstuck and move forward again on their big goals?

This 208th episode of Prosperous Coach Podcast has an approach that might work for you and your coaching clients. Find the full transcript here.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

After choosing a niche, the #1 problem coaches face is attracting enough clients who are able and ready to hire them. Some days you feel like you’re working so hard and there’s this sense that no one is out there noticing. It’s de-motivating to say the least.

I thought you might need a pep talk because there are so many surprising and wonderful ways that clients can find you IF you are strategic, consistent and speak the language of your audience.

And it’s important to know that when you market or create content you are not just building relationships with potential clients for today but also with people who will hire you later. With every smart action you are securing your future in your coaching business. Find the full transcript for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/209

Related episodes:
Episode 19 about how to enroll clients
Episode 160 about how to be credible as a coach
Episode 51 about why coaching is a hard sell

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is on a challenging topic that's critical for all coaches. And it's part of the Smart Mindsets & Habits series. 

I've been a life long student of boundaries. That is to say, boundaries have been a core issue for me in the past and now it's much less of an issue. When I sense myself leaning in too far, trying to do too much, to people please or over-deliver, I rein myself in.

Still, I occasionally fall into old patterns, even in coaching relationships.

I'm a 2 on the Enneagram. That's "The Helper." More than anything I want to be of service to others, to help them better their circumstances. It's a good fit for being a coach. And a strength overused becomes a weakness. 

In the past, it's often meant that I gave too much in all of my roles and relationships. And, I allowed some people to step on me ... repeatedly.

Powerful Questions to Uncover Boundary Challenges

What about you? Do you like to fill in the holes and make sure everyone is taken care of? Are you a natural helper or a people pleaser? A lot of coaches are.

Here are more specific questions to ask yourself:

With coaching prospects ...

     Do you bend over backward to prove your worth in Discovery Sessions? 

     Do you reduce your fees habitually to suit prospects?

With coaching clients ...

     Do you habitually go over time in sessions?

     Are you charging enough to cover your investment of time outside of sessions?

Repetitive Over-Delivery Hurts You and Your Coaching Clients

Early on in my business I attended an International Coach Federation conference and met Cheryl Richardson

She was asking a group of coaches ... Do you want more for your clients than they want for themselves?

Bam! That was an aha moment for me. The answer was 'YES' ... always. 

I learned from Cheryl that ultimately your client must choose transformation for it to happen. They must want it with all of their heart, mind and be willing to take action outside their comfort zone. 

If you want something for them more than they do for themselves, it creates an imbalance in the co-creative relationship and the reality is, you're going to be pushing them and they won't appreciate it.

Later on, a friend of mine created a training based on years of research called Right Use of Power and I attended one of her first workshops. 

Another huge aha. Let me explain ...

When you are in a practitioner or authoritative or helper role, that role carries a certain amount of power. Hopefully, as coaches, we believe we are our clients' equals, but even so they may hold some deference for us.

It's up to coaches to do our best to equalize the power in the coach-client relationship. And this requires a lot of self-reflection an

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

What’s a unique and innate talent that only you possess that’s also a glowing clue to your coaching niche?  Something that's effortless for you but difficult for others.

It's not coaching. It's more specific than that. Be on the lookout for what emerges as your zone of genius then make it known to everyone in your target audience that you have this special talent.

Be patient! It will find you!

Find the full transcript here along with other resources for new coaches: https://prosperouscoachblog.com/ep-210-whats-your-zone-of-genius-as-a-coach-replay/

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Branding may be the first thing people will see on your website. Is your brand/company name relevant to your coaching audience? After all if your website is (your name) Coaching, how will a client know they have come to a place where they will feel served and understood?

This episode is 2 best approaches for coaches to choose their coaching business brand and 1 to avoid unless ...

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

I made 4 big mistakes during the start-up of my coaching business and lived to tell the tale. But I've also experienced multiple magical turning points in my business as well. Wonderful things will come to your coaching business if you don’t let mistakes stop you.

I’ll dish the dirt about my 4 big mistakes in coaching business startup guessing that you'll recognize yourself in some or all of them. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/212.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Have you decided what format you’ll use for your coaching? It’s simple but important.

There are tradeoffs to all 3 real time methods — in person, on web cam, or simply by phone. (For the sake of this episode, I’m not going to talk about coaching online through writing. While I have coached some through writing it’s my belief that real coaching is done in real time, where you and your client can hear each other and respond.

There’s a whole mindset around that, which I’ll dig into first before I get into details about these different formats of coaching. Find the full transcript for episode #213 at prosperouscoach.com/213

 Also mentioned in this episode are:
Episode #160 about gaining credibility.
All my episodes on pricing your coaching.
Shawna Warner of Cultivating Resilient Teens

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

On too many new coach's websites, I’m seeing either:

1.     No lead magnet but instead an offer for a free call high up on the website. Truly, offering a free call as a first offer is like asking a first date to meet your parents. It’s too much too soon. There’s a better way.

2.     Or a lead magnet that with a Google search for the topic would turn up hundreds of thousands of articles on the same concept. So not unique enough.

And that’s what this episode is about – what I call coachey lead magnets that won’t build the kind of trust you need to attract ideal paying clients. Find the full transcript and other resources at prosperouscoach.com/214.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

The biggest downside to being a solopreneur coach is that you are ... SOLO! Unless you do something strategic about that to reduce isolation, which is a contracting force that could make you want to quit your coaching business.

Find the full transcript and other resources for new coaches at prosperouscoach.com/215

This 215th episode of Prosperous Coach Podcast has 4 practical ideas to help you put community in place.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

I can hear you thinking … “I’m not good at selling!” Not true. It’s all about mindset. Yes, mindset AGAIN! Coaches are masters at helping others shift their mindset – to get out of their own way. Guess who else needs mindset shifting?

Old stories about marketing, selling and rejection have crystallized in your mind. Let’s dissolve them now. There’s an authentic, caring and detached way to sell that I will teach you in this episode.

So first, in this episode we will distinguish selling from marketing then I'll talk about how to stop feeling rejected and ace selling with 5 smart moves. Find the full transcript and other resources for new coaches at prosperouscoach.com/216

Also mentioned in this episode:
Episode 108 -  How to Develop Your Signature Coaching Program

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

You’ve spent money and time to train as a coach. You’ve chosen a narrow and viable niche (at least I hope you have!) You’ve branded, put up a website and faithfully posted on social media … so MANY times!

And now you’ve got a Discovery Call scheduled. You want to enroll this client! You need to enroll this client!

But already, before the call, you can feel imposter syndrome creeping in. You don’t like to sell. You don’t want to have to sell yourself but YOU THINK that’s what this call is all about.

You must convince this person that you are their best resource right now so they can be more and accomplish more.

It’s too much pressure. Stop pressuring yourself! Instead prepare yourself for your call in a more peaceful and client-centered way. Take the spotlight off of you.

Find the full transcript and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/217.

Other resources mentioned:
Episode 216: 5 Secrets of Selling for Coaches

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

It’s not unusual when coaches first start their business to bend over backwards to enroll a client. But people pleasing can become a reliable method of self-sabotage.

This 218th episode covers 3 ways to know if you are people pleasing and 3 ways to set your coaching business up so you will quickly stop that habit.

Find the full transcript and other resources for new coaches here.

Also mentioned in this episode:
Episode #21 - How to Spot the Right Opportunities for You Coaching Business

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

It’s easy to get bogged down in the daily details of your coaching business especially when you’re not yet earning the way you want to. You are developing content, posting on social channels, speaking, networking — hustling in every way you can.

But have you ever tried doing nothing to build your business? I’m talking about scheduling at least a half day each quarter to just be with yourself, think and reflect. It will help you reach your full potential. 

This is not just a pretty idea. It’s achievable, but maybe not in the way you’ve been imagining.

This episode has 7 powerful questions to ask yourself during this half day break that will raise self-awareness so you can see yourself in a better light and then move forward grounded in your genius. We’re talking evolutionary power here, guys. Find the full transcript, the 7 QUESTIONS and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/219.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is part of the Start Smart series. It's worth the listen because this topic is eye-opening. And, if you're planning to transition from your job to full-time coaching, I've given you a 5-step plan near the end of this episode. 

Creating a smart transition plan to move into full-time coaching is an important step. If you're serious about making your dream happen, this is something you'll want to do with the help of someone who has transitioned.

Sometimes coaches hire me when they don't have a current job. They've been raising kids or were laid off or they quit a job to create their coaching business. They have plenty of time to work on building their business foundation and launch in a systematic, organized way.

Obviously, there are some huge advantages to that scenario. But there are also some hidden challenges. If you're not currently in the rhythm of working for a living, you might have trouble finding that rhythm and dedicating time to your business.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the person who currently has a full-time job, kids, and a busy life who wants to become a coach and shift to full-time coaching "someday."

If you're this person, you've put time into training as a coach and into business development but haven't made the shift.

Maybe you're dabbling at coaching and have a low fee client or two.

But leaving your regular paycheck and benefits, especially when you have a family, is a risky step to take. It requires a big dose of courage and chutzpah.

Some coaches never get off the bench and into the game. That's not you! That was the apt metaphor used by a coach I spoke with recently.

The truth is that entrepreneurship — and that's what becoming a coach is — is risky business.

No doubt you've heard the odds. They say 1 in 5 make a sustainable livelihood and that goes down over time.

Entrepreneurship has a bunch of rewards that frankly I wouldn't want to live without. 

• Freedom (I truly set my own schedule and work a lot less than I did in corporate.)
• Being your own boss
• Getting to bring your whole self to what you do
• Innovating and creating
• The huge feeling of accomplishment

A Common Myth About Coaching Business Startup Busted

The beauty of a coaching business is that there's no real barrier to entry except having the grit and focus to take the risk. The truth is you don't even have to have training or certification, although I think it's a good idea to be a trained coach.

There's a common misconception that I run across and it's what inspired me to do an episode on this topic.

Recently, I was having an On Air Coaching session —which hasn't aired yet — with a smart, confident man who has been coaching on and off (more off), while raising

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

How do people make buying decisions? Is it always about price? Well, it’s different for each person and each buying situation.

If you’re in the grocery store and your primary goal is to save on groceries then you will look at the price of each similar product and choose the least expensive. Someone else with different priorities will read the label to see what is in the product and choose that way. Still, others will be attracted by packaging or brand.

 The same will be true of your coaching prospects. Some are price conscious. Some take cues from how you show up in the world and make decisions based on their intuition or gut about whether they want to work with you. Some will compare all possible service providers and make their decision analytically.

The question is — WHO do you want to attract? The person who decides everything by price or the person who is guided by a more holistic decision?

Find the full transcript for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/220.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Aren’t coach training skills so juicy? You can’t wait to get out there and use them. For new coaches that’s where most of their investment of time, money and energy is spent – on coach training. Soaking in the techniques.

But the reality is that it’s tricks of the trade that will help you earn well and stay in business. Coaches need business training specialized to coaching businesses as much as coach training.

I did not give a thought to business skills until I floundered in my fledgling business and then I scrambled because I had already let go of my job.

Along the way I learned that it’s not only okay to be a beginner but it helps to get the most out of the beginner mindset. Learning incrementally is how you integrate what you’re learning.

So let’s start with that …

Find the full transcript for this episode and other resources for new coaches at prosperouscoach.com/221

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

I was chatting, recently, in a patch of sunshine, with one of my brothers about how some hard things from our past have made us who we are today. . We connected the dots about what drives us and how that repeatedly influences our behaviors, choices, failures and successes.

Thanks brother, if you’re listening!

That conversation brought home again something I’ve acknowledged before but sometimes forget … my wounds can help me transform in a way that most of my successes cannot. 

Know what I mean?

And surprisingly, as a coach, something challenging in your past could be a powerful clue to a smart and meaningful coaching niche.

I’ll explain how and all the benefits to this approach in this short episode. Find the full transcript and other resources for new coaches at prosperouscoach.com/222.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

You’ve invested in training … likely more training than you'll ever need. Hopefully, you’ve targeted a viable audience and unique niche to stand out in the crowd. And hopefully, your website and social profiles are customized for the outcomes that audience most wants.

Now, you are longing for paying clients to coach. Where are they?

You’ve spent endless hours creating social posts and admittedly developing content for an online training program that you’ll promote … someday.

You’ve worked so hard but at the end of the month there’s still not enough paying clients or income to show for it. 

I’ve been there. It’s disheartening. And it was my story until I created a system to take high payoff actions every day. You know, the strategic and powerful actions that make you squirm? Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for new coaches at prosperouscoach.com/223.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

A new VIP client of mine hired me because she wants to enroll more clients at higher prices than she’s been charging. She wants to end this year with significantly higher income. Can you relate?

Some of the clients that hire her through LinkedIn posts just aren’t ideal and many of her new clients are low hanging fruit— colleagues from her previous corporate career — that flow will taper off soon.

Also, she’s tired of rejection. It flags her confidence and she puts a lot of pressure on herself, which doesn’t help.

I think all of these things are related. The solution might surprise you. Find the full transcript at prosperouscoach.com/224.

Other episodes mentioned:
1.     Episode #57 is called Coach, Is It Time to Give Yourself a Raise and it explains a practical way to price your services with the right mindset behind it. Listen to that next.
2. Episode #187 has 25 powerful questions to ask yourself about your most ideal client. 

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Do you ever have FOMO about aspects of your coaching business?

For example, maybe you want to keep your audience and niche broad because you don’t want to exclude anyone. Or it could be that you bend over backwards to make something easy or more appealing for a potential client even though that doesn’t jive with your preferences. 

Or maybe it’s just not being able to say ‘no’ to opportunities. When someone wants you it doesn’t matter if it fits your niche or will help you attract ideal clients, you are there!

I learned that these things can land you with a chaotic business that doesn’t earn well.

Smart entrepreneurs know how to focus and make choices between this and that. They are decisive, and they are discerning about opportunities. They set boundaries on their time and so many other things.

The result is more financial success and more freedom in their life. So that’s what this short episode is about. Find the full transcript and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/225.

Check that out at prosperouscoach.com/21 about how to set success criteria to keep you out of FOMO.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Recently, one of my VIP clients read an article about SEO — search engine optimization — and quickly went down a rabbit hole trying to figure it out for her new coaching business. And it stressed her out.

I assured her that we had already addressed important aspects of SEO by doing market research on her chosen target audience. We’d applied what she heard from them to develop the language for her Signature Program, web copy — everything!

Beyond that, she could put off digging further into SEO … maybe forever. Her relief was palpable.

The reality is for a unique service business like coaching, especially in its early days, SEO is a hit and miss prospect at best.

You’ll be glad to know that this episode doesn’t get technical about how SEO works so you can let your left brain relax.

That said, if you are online to attract coaching clients you need to know a bit of intuitive SEO for your business. Find the full transcript and other resources for new coaches at prosperouscoach.com/226.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Coaches have similar origin stories.

I’m a 2 on the Enneagram – The Helper. In my last corporate job, it was difficult to get work done because people would stop by all day to tell me their problems. I joked that I needed a sign saying “The Doctor is Out”.
 
Observing that confidante talent in me, motivated a friend to ask “Have you ever thought about being a life coach?”
 
Within days I enrolled in coach training and negotiated an independent contractor role with my boss so I could work at home on select projects while I studied and built my business.
 
Are you an innate helper? Do you love to make it all better when someone is hurting? I bet you’re good at it.
 
Coaching attracts people who love to support and guide others. It’s a natural fit. And, that same energy, if not tempered, can cause problems in coaching relationships. Let’s talk about that.
 
Find the full episode and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/227.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Did you know I started as a spiritual coach? It was the seed of a coaching niche idea that I never fully formed.

I put up a vague website that sat there collecting cyber dust. I had a few short-term clients but no consistent income.

Is that happening in your coaching business?

Many coaches get attached to being what I call a fill-in-the-blank coach. A transition coach, a confidence coach, a leadership coach, a burnout coach – that last one at least has some specificity in it but is still missing some vital pieces.

With a vague niche comes a flimsy feeling for you and potential coaching clients too.

Enough of that! Let’s shift your coaching niche from flimsy idea into a certainty that your ideal clients can wrap their arms and investment around. Find the full transcript and more resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/228.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Because I know it will help I wanted to bring back one of my most popular episodes that is essential for all coaches. 

This might blow your mind. But I hope that it OPENS your mind instead.

And I think that you've probably suspected the truth of this already, but you haven't known what to do about it. Here’s what it boils down to …

Coaching is a hard sell.

Few people wake up knowing that they want coaching. It is a burden for coaches.

I’ve figured out a way to solve this challenge so you can more easily attract clients and coach to your heart’s content, without having to convince people they want coaching. It’s at the center of the way I help coaches build a profitable business.

And, there’s a super critical mindset shift so bear with me. I know that once you understand, you’ll not only be relieved you’ll be empowered. Find the full transcript and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/229.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Get Your Special Download of the 5 Rules

Get it. Print it out. Keep it next to your desk so that —whenever you write — you’ll apply and ultimately integrate these tools into your writing.

Writing smart copy is both an art and science. You’ll be amazed how using these rules will turn you into a significantly better writer. And, you will attract and enroll more coaching clients because your communication speaks to the heart of your ideal clients.

I wished I'd had a list of copywriting tips back in the day when I started my coaching business. These rules apply to your:

• benefit statements
• titles, subject lines, headings
• web copy
• emails
• freebies
• blogs
• show notes for your podcast episodes
• social posts

Copy that’s written with these 5 Rules will be evocative and action inspiring.!

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Two openings for my VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough program where we do everything to set your business up strategically. Apply on this page and we'll talk!

When I started coaching, I acted as if I didn’t deserve to earn well and have the life I want. Here is what that looked like:

1.     I over-complicated my business model by offering too many coaching packages. 
2.     I undervalued myself by charging too little to sustain my business. 
3.     I over-delivered in every single way. 
4.     I was too accommodating with my schedule.
5.     I allowed late payments.
6.     I didn’t think through what I wanted and plot a strategic course to get there.

Can you relate? I was operating unconsciously. Big mistake.

Find the full transcript and more resources for coaches here.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/232.

All of my clients are unique human beings who bring different skills and challenges to the table when we build every aspect of their coaching business.

As part of our work together we look at the best way for each coach to market.

It’s not a good idea to casually follow what other coaches are doing. If you market in a way that isn’t right for you, your audience and your business model then it will take longer to get traction. You will resist doing what you need to do because you may not naturally take to the approach.

Your target audience and niche are a big factor in the way you market. It won’t make sense for you to choose an audience where you’ll need to do a lot of live networking if you absolutely hate live networking.

Not every coach has to market the same way. It’s best to focus in on a small set of marketing approaches that fit rather than getting overwhelmed with too many options.

How are you marketing your coaching business? Is it right for you? And if not, what would be right for you?

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode (show notes here) is an ON AIR Coaching Session where I coach a coach to help them click on the certainty button for a unique target audience and then we formulate their coaching niche.

It's clear from reviews that you really like these coach the coach sessions, so it's my goal to do one every month.

Ellen Fowler has worked in the field of training, organizational and leadership development for over 25 years. Her experience includes work in the public and private sectors as well as academia.

She lived and worked in Ireland for 12 years, so she has firsthand understanding of the challenges of cultural diversity and radical life change. 

She is also an ordained Christian minister. Ellen's career has always involved working with individuals whether as a counselor, teacher, consultant or coach.

When I help coaches choose a profitable coaching niche, I always start by asking about their background so I can guide them to pull in experience, expertise, interests, gifts and passions into their niche.

Ellen's background includes:

·     Itinerant minister

·     Training and organizational & leadership development

·     Change & diversity management

·     Teaching adults returning to the workplace on how to make their companies more efficient

Want to Be An Entrepreneurial Coach?

Then, I asked Ellen if she was interested in being an entrepreneur because it's a certain type of person who does.

Ellen wants to run her own business because she wants it to be portable so she can travel. However, she feels a bit intimidated by the marketing side of things.

I get that. In my own business, I was intimidated by marketing at first but when I learned to put the spotlight on exactly what my target audience wants, it became fun.

Two Potential Audiences That Seem Equal

Ellen had 2 main ideas for her target audience:

·     Mid-career professional women

·     Church leaders

I asked Ellen if it was okay with her if we focused on Church Leaders as a possible target audience first.
 
 I made this choice for 4 reasons:

·     Ellen is an ordained minister and much of her career has been as a church leader. I felt that gave her credibility and gravitas with this audience.

·     Her faith is very important to her.

·     She's currently coaching 10 clergy and staff from a church group in Pennsylvania and getting more referrals from that group. So she already has a toehold there.

·     She loves the work she's doing with this audience.

Ellen shared that the work she's doing with the Church Leaders is based on an instrument called Human Synergistics that she's certified to use. It helps people identify effective and not so effective behaviors in the workplace and to develop action plans for changing those.

Is The Target Audience Viable for

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/233.

I was having the last session with a favorite client the other day.  Last sessions are a bittersweet time for all. Your clients lose an accountability partner and the structure that helps them stay inspired and make things happen. From here on out they’ll have to hold themselves accountable.

You lose their unique presence in your life. You’ve been holding space for their growth and it’s time for closure. You’ve seen them transform and learned so much from this unique human being.

My last calls with coaches are often pick-my-brain sessions. They ask about client management, little business building details and insider tips that will help them avoid pitfalls or shorten learning curves.

The big question on every coach’s mind, that they are often afraid to ask until the last minute, is … "How long will it take me to be successful?  Is it 3 months, 6 months, 2 years?"  I’ll share what I told my client with you now.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode and other resources for new coaches at prosperouscoach.com/234.

When you are starting something new — learning how to coach and build your business — what’s the most natural way to feel?

Like an imposter. Everyone experiences that feeling. It’s human.

You won’t likely feel confident when you’re new at something so don’t try for confidence right away. Instead …

·      Begin with courage so you can learn and do all the new and difficult things. 

·      Follow courage with permission to be new and make mistakes. 

But what can you do to legitimize yourself WHILE you’re getting the word out, longing for results and before the money flows in reliably? Let's talk about that!

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

 Find the full transcript and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/235.
Other episodes related to this episode include: 62 and 63

With coaches' big hearts, the drive to help everyone and the desperation to get clients — they spread themselves too thin on offers and marketing efforts that don’t pay off. What about you?

• Are you feeling desperate for more clients and income?
• Have you invested in multiple training programs that you didn’t fully finish or implement?
• Are you following more than 2 mentors or on multiple email lists that make your head spin?
• Are you second guessing previous decisions?

These things keep you in scarcity mode and won’t help you succeed as a coach. Believe me, I’ve been there and paid the price.

Let’s talk about how to reverse these mindsets & replace these habits. It’s time to slow down and take mindful actions in your business, which will pay off.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/236

Also mentioned in this episode:
Episode 42 - What Exactly Makes a Coaching Website Client-Winning?
Episode 59 - How to Develop Your Signature Program
Episode 65 - Are You Solving a Big Enough Problem in Your Coaching Business?

Have you ever asked your new clients …

How did you find me?

What specifically attracted you to working with me?

When I ask those questions, I get a clear confirmation that I’m doing the right things to attract clients who are ideal for me. My customer journey is working! 

Early in my business I did not ask those questions and I didn’t have any kind of a customer journey. I wasn’t thinking strategically. I did anything I could to enroll any type of client at any price. And that’s where I was developmentally in my business. I’ve learned a lot since then.

Future clients become your current clients, so it’s important to think through what you can do today and every day to keep a pipeline of future clients flowing to you.

Develop a customer journey that nurtures people in your audience and gets the most ideal for you among all of them 100% ready to hire you.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/237 .

Have you ever gone through something truly arduous and come out stronger and wiser than you were before? I have — so many times.

It could have been a health crisis or relationship crisis. It could be a tragic loss of someone or something — some part of yourself that you’ll never get back.

I hear poignant stories from many coaches that hire me for a Nail Your Niche session. They share how they overcame something – by facing the truth, studying and learning to care for themselves.

So often those stories are a clue to the coaching niche they’ve been seeking. In many ways their personal transformation makes them far more credible than a pile of credentials.

Let’s talk about the coach archetype that emerges from personal healing journeys. You may have this archetype and it may shape your coaching business with meaning.

Other Episodes mentioned:
17
73

Coach's Companies mentioned:
Sofia von Celsing
Synergistic Stepparenting
Thriving Moms of Autistics
Live a Life After Loss
Fibromyalgia Coaching Institute

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode here.

Other episodes related to and mentioned in this episode:
187 to create your Avatar
225 for 5 ways to limit yourself for success

Coaches spend a lot of money, time and hard work developing their coaching skills, niche, offers and more. Then, over the next 18 months after launch, one of three things usually happens:

1.     Some stay true to their niche, leverage everything they’ve created and earn well.

2.     Some get distracted by opportunities that don’t align and lose momentum.

3.     And some give up because they don’t have the focus or drive to stay the course.

I feel compassion for all coaches. Focus and drive requires a lot from a human being and it is not easy. But it can be learned.

You’ve probably heard that only 1 in 5 entrepreneurs make it to year two. Well, I’m serious about improving the ratio of successes to failures among coaches and do everything I can to set my clients up for success.

How can YOU be sure that you are still in business 1, 2, 5 … 10 years from now? Let’s talk about how to stick and stay true.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode at prosperouscoach.com/239.
Also mentioned episode 229 Why is it Hard to Sell Coaching?

Ten years into my coaching business it dawned on me that selling coaching sessions was keeping me from earning well.

At the time, I was continually frustrated with:

1.     How I was chasing every client and every dollar.

2.     How I was working too hard for my income.

3.     That my clients were not ideal clients for me.

4.     How most clients would not stay with coaching long enough.

5.     How difficult it was to plan my time because I never knew how many clients I’d be serving.

Can you relate to those frustrations?

I worked on a solution that solved them all using strategic thinking. Honestly, I hadn’t done that much before then. Like many solopreneurs I was just scrambling day to day to scrape together a good income.

I want to share the solution I came up with that forever erased those 5 business problems. This will be eye opening! 

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Here is the full transcript for this episode and other resources for coaches.
Other episodes mentioned include:
Episode 41 - 5 Questions to Test Your Coaching Business Integrity
Episode 102 - No One Can Succeed in Their Coaching Business Without This
Episode 215 - 4 Ways to Stop Feeling Lonely in Your Coaching Business
24 episodes about money mastery

Early in coaching, I longed for someone who could step me through exactly how to succeed in my coaching business. It’s fun to geek-out on coaching skills, but that didn’t help me where the rubber meets the road.

Where was the guide who could take me step-by-step on the business side — help me zone in on what works? Online tactics training wasn’t personalized and was missing foundations of business success.

Nine years in, I launched Prosperous Coach because I was then surrounded by new coaches who had no business roadmap either. Step-by-step guidance is one of my zones of genius so I filled that hole with VIP mentoring.

There is a clear difference between the mindsets and actions that help you succeed in your coaching business and those that could end with you quitting and losing all your equity in this career. This episode is about 7 specific tipping points to land on the positive side. 

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is part of the Smart Mindsets & Habits series. I hope it inspires you to make a shift in the way you're thinking about coaching that will help you attract more clients. The kind of clients who will invest more to work with you. 

I'm all for less selling and more connecting authentically to attract clients.

Let me ask you this ...

·      Have you ever felt weird trying to convince someone about the value of coaching?

·      Have you ever told someone about your coaching business and you can see their eyes glaze over?

·      Have you ever had an incredible sample coaching session with a prospect and they loved it but they didn't enroll in your ongoing coaching program?

·      And what about this ... have you ever gotten a single client from your coaching website?

Well, that was me for the first 3 years of my coaching business. I know, that's crazy, right?

When I came out of coach training school I was what I call a Pure Coach. Episode #12 is called What Coach Archetype Fits You? and it has a description of the Pure Coach archetype. You can find that at prosperouscoach.com/12.

I thought that coaching was amazing and that everyone else would think so too.

After struggling for too long to earn enough as a coach I began to realize something kind of shocking ... most people don't readily buy coaching. They don't know what it is. They mistake it for therapy. They assume they can't afford it.

For me, it was a sort of loss of innocence about coaching. I just couldn't understand how something I loved so much could be the topic of such indifference to other people.

It felt like my friends and family and potential clients were humoring me whenever I would talk about it. They didn't really GET the value of coaching.

But then I realized that what's really going on is they haven't connected the dots between coaching and something they want or a problem they want to overcome.

I had not connected the dots for them.

And I see the same on most coaching websites, that they are brochures about coaching.

I think we, as coaches, are unwittingly confusing people that we'd like to enroll as clients.

If you haven't heard my episode called Why is Coaching a Hard Sell? I highly recommend it.

It's an eye-opener. And if you can make the mindset shift I believe it will dramatically change your results -- how many clients hire you and at higher prices. They stay longer and refer more people to you.

And it all comes down to one paradoxical thing.

Do Coaching But Don't Sell It

Here's what happens when you stop selling coaching and start offering a program that helps a unique target audience reach a specific outcome that audience truly wants: 

·      You become crystal clear about the value of your services.

·      That means you can easily articulate what you offer in a far more compelling and non-sal

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/241.

I never worry about the enrollment moment in Discovery Calls. I've been having Discovery Calls nearly every week for the last 17 years. Experience does count.

Another reason I don't worry is that I've learned to detach from outcome. It's a critical mindset for anyone who is selling something — especially when you are selling YOU! 

And the amazing thing is that taking the expectation and desperation for a 'yes' out of the enrollment moment actually relieves pressure for both you and your prospect.

They sense your ease and THAT is attractive in and of itself.

If enrollment calls are scary and uncomfortable for you, that's understandable. Do the things you need to do to have as many Discovery Calls as you can. You will get better at it and naturally enroll more coaching clients.

Let’s talk about other ways that you can simply show up that will inspire your ideal clients to hire you. 

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Get your free download of the step-by-step enrollment approach at prosperouscoach.com/242.

I used to suck at enrolling coaching clients. I felt I had to perform. Well, that was not a great approach, was it?

Is there a way to enroll coaching clients that doesn't require you to push, convince or perform? 

Yes, and it is a lot easier and more effective than giving a sample coaching session! Is anyone still doing that? Unless you’re just practicing coaching skills, I recommend that you stop giving sample coaching sessions.

Instead, seamlessly move through a set of powerful questions to inspire your prospect to hire you.

When I shifted to this approach, it dramatically improved my enrollment success rate. More importantly, I can be myself and attract clients who are the best fit for me. 

I've taught this approach to every coach in my VIP mentoring program. It takes practice and a few other critical pieces plugged into it. 

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode and other resources for coaches, including ways to work privately with me, at prosperouscoach.com/243.

Episodes mentioned in this episode about different angles for getting better results with Discovery Calls enrolling coaching clients:
162
198
217
241
242

A coach emailed me asking for an episode about refunds and money-back guarantees for coaching. The person didn’t share their name. A shout out to you!

I love requests for episode topics. Contact me through my website anytime. And before you do … search for topics there from my 8 years of blogging and 5 years of podcasting to find tips and insights quickly. There are few things I haven’t already covered before. Refunds is one of them.

Refunds are not a fun thing about running a coaching business but they don’t have to be painful either.

I’ll cover in this episode a set of things you can do right now, in advance of any request for a refund including all the ways to stop requests from ever happening. 

And I’ll cover in Episode 244 — the next one — when you need a refund policy or guarantee, how you can respond to a request for a refund in different circumstances and what to say.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/244.

Also mentioned:
Episode 243 about how to prevent refund requests 
Fill out the application to work with me in my VIP mentoring program for coaches.

In my first year of helping coaches to build their coaching business, one of my clients asked for a full refund after I spent 6 months of private work with her. I was floored and had not seen this coming!

I found out later that she had asked for a full refund from her coaching training school as well and I knew that this was really about her needing money.

I had a phone conversation with her and told her that I couldn’t in good conscience refund her because I had already given her my time and her post program results were her responsibility — something I could not control. 

But she threatened to complain to Visa, Better Business Bureau and PayPal, so I gave her a full refund to remove those threats. 

I thought it was just as well that she wouldn’t be a coach. And, I felt compassion that her financial straits were such that she was searching for money.

I will never again give a full refund for time that I already spent one on one with a client unless my integrity is clear that I should.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Interview with Nancy Fournier Ph.D. who has a powerful coaching niche serving women Executive Directors of nonprofits. Find the full transcript here.

Nancy shares her wisdom, challenges and joys one month after coaching business launch of  Relish Your Role for women executive directors of nonprofits — an excellent niche! Also, Nancy has a podcast of the same name Relish Your Role for women Executive Directors of nonprofits. So share that out!

She also shares how she found me, why she hired me and what specifically she got of value from my 5-month VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough program. I'd love to work with YOU!

It's worth the listen!

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode and more resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/246.

Also mentioned 5-month VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough mentoring program with Rhonda Hess, Business Mentor for Coaches.

My coaching business was my first foray into entrepreneurship after 20 years in corporate roles. Talk about an identity crisis! Okay, let’s reframe that to a chance to blossom and mature. ; )

Many of my clients are in the same place making that transition from employee to full time coaching.

It’s going to require some recalibration of your mindset and reorientation to your responsibilities.

Think of it like a makeover. 

You uncover parts of yourself that have been buried under a persona you felt was necessary for your corporate job. You can help those parts to find their voice. It is hugely empowering to bring more of your authentic self to your business. 

The good news is that your identity is more fluid and innate than you might think. Plus, all of your core values, talents and skills can come with you into your business. 

It will take courage and patience. You’ve got loads of that and you don’t have to make this identity transition alone.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/247.

Nail Your Niche - 90 minute strategy session with Rhonda Hess

Also mentioned, Sofia von Celsing, coach to high achieving women leaders.

Why do some coaching niches never pay off?

Coaches, with their big hearts, tend to focus on what their audience NEEDS. But I found out through trial and error that marketing a coaching niche that focuses around needs rarely results in enough clients or income. And I think coaching around needs can wander extremely close to therapy.

People buy support to get what they need from known resources like therapists or doctors.

Coaches that focus their niche, marketing and offers around what their specific audience WANTS —their BIG goals and the BIG problems in that way of achieving those goals — will get more traction, attract more clients and earn more. And by the way — those are things you want.

Another reason why certain coaching niches fail is that not all target audiences are viable — by that I mean the audience is easy to access, full of seekers and eager to evolve. Let’s dig into that and I’ll have lots of examples for you.

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

This episode is about the minimum online tools you'll need to effectively run your coaching business. It's part of my Mindsets & Habits series.

I'm going to share my 3 all time favorite online tools. The kind of apps that save brain cells, time and money.

We'll also talk about pitfalls new coaches fall into when they grab up lots of tools with monthly costs.

For every tool I mention I'll share the link on my Show Notes for today, which you can find at prosperouscoach.com/33

If you're totally tech savvy, this might be remedial for you.

But most coaches I meet are a little tech shy. They don't love learning how to use online tools. They just want to coach so every additional thing they need to use to find, attract and enroll their clients feels heavy.

I've heard many a sigh and fear in the voices of my clients who worry about how tech will impact their time.

If that's you, I get it. When I started as a coach I was a total luddite — the last to know anything tech related. Now, on the tech savvy scale I'm somewhere in the middle. I know how to use a few things extremely well and most things at a small percentage of their capabilities and that's okay.

This may be a relief to you ... you don't have to be a techno geek to leverage a few choice tools well and have them help you attract and enroll clients.
 
I like tools that I can wade slowly into. I want to learn what I need to know now, then learn more later once I've mastered the basics.

So let's get this rolling ...

First, I'll cover a set of applications that all coaches need to run a smart business.

1. An Email Marketing Service

2. A Client-Winning Website

3. An Online Scheduler

Let's talk about each of these and I'll share my favorite tools for each.

1. Email Marketing Service 

Sometimes called an Email Blast Company or Email Campaign Company, this service is all about getting your messages out to people who have trusted you by opting in on your website for a free offer. It's also called a leads list but what I like to call your community.

This type of service helps you:

·      manage email addresses of people who have opted in for your free offer

·      get your emails delivered in a way that meets regulations

·      automates everything so you save time

·      build trusting relationships with followers 

No doubt you've heard of Mail Chimp and Constant Contact, there are dozens more that get more and more technical and costly up the scale. 

For a startup coach I suggest a relatively inexpensive and easy to use service. my hands down favorite is Aweber (affiliate link). 

It's been around a lot longer than most Email Marketing Services. Here's why I LOVE them:

·      Customer Service

·      Customer Service

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.

Find the full transcript for this episode and other resources for coaches at prosperouscoach.com/248.

When you need it most, confidence is elusive. As a new coach, you are on a roller coaster of fear, excitement and overwhelm with imposter syndrome always in your face. I know that place!

One of my current clients is in the Market Research phase of developing her coaching business, which will assist every aspect of her business — from writing the most compelling web copy and determining the milestones of her signature program, to exactly how she'll market every day. 

I'm so proud of her for diving in to do the interviews even though I could tell she was initially afraid. I was totally confident in her abilities. Which is easy for me, right?

See, she had no basis yet for confidence on that project. 

And that’s what you need to know first … you cannot have confidence about something you’ve never done before, but you can have courage.

Courage is even better than confidence. It can take you anywhere you want to go!

I'd love to hear from you. Stay inspired and make things happen! - Rhonda Hess, Prosperous Coach

• Rhonda Hess helps new coaches leverage their zone of genius into a profitable coaching niche and launch with confidence.
• For VIP step-by-step support apply for Rhonda's VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough Program here and she'll be in touch to invite you a discovery call.
• Or if you're stuck on your coaching niche, grab a Nail Your Niche Strategy Session with Rhonda here.