Ask The Experts: The Top Do’s and Don’ts For New Coach- Ep.121

Hey welcome to she coaches, coaches, I'm your host, Candy Motzek. And I'm going to help you find the clarity, confidence and courage to become the coach that you were meant to be. If you're a new coach, or if you've always wanted to be a life coach, then this is the place for you. We're going to talk all about mindset and strategies and how to, because step by step only works when you have the clarity, courage and confidence to take action. Let's get started. Hi, there, and welcome to this episode of she coaches coaches, I am so glad you're here. I've got a special roundtable episode for you. I have gathered together a group of experts, each with a lifetime of experience. And I've asked them one question. If you were going to give advice to a new coach starting their business, what is the one top tip that you would share to help them and one thing you would tell them to avoid? So I really enjoy these conversations. These people are so interesting, and they have such diverse perspectives, you're gonna want to listen carefully to all their responses. So again, this question, if you are going to give advice to a brand new coach, what one tip would you share to help them? And what one thing would you tell them to avoid? Now, I started with this question, because there are so many tips and myths circulating around the internet about becoming a coach. Some of those tips work well, and others work only in theory. Now you're gonna hear from eight experts. They know what works from their own experience. So you're getting real valuable information. Now, my top tip, this is one that I always share with new coaches is that the place to start and the place to focus is always to begin coaching. Yeah, Coach as many people as you can coaching as a profession. And the only way to be a powerful coach is to get experience. Some clients, you're only going to coach for one session, others will be with you for weeks or even months at a time. Theory, reading books practicing will help you fine tune, but get your hours in help real people learn where you can improve, and then apply what you learn with that next client. Next, the one thing that I always recommend new coaches avoid is this, don't build a website. Or rather, don't build a website right at the start. As a new coach, your time is best spent coaching people and inviting them to be your client, not choosing the right photos and domain name and writing website copy. Websites are a valuable tool, and they are a must for any coach. And they can be costly, and they can take a chunk of time and energy. So instead of spending your time and money on a website, at the beginning of your business, spend that same energy on clients and coaching and building your clientele. Then once you've been coaching for a while, you're gonna be so much clearer about who you are as a coach, and how you help your clients and what specific results you help them get, then creating a website will be so much easier. All right. So now let's hear it from all the other experts. I have a question for you. If you were going to give advice to a brand new coach, and they were starting out starting their business, what is the one top tip that you would share with them to make it easier? And what is the one thing that you would tell them to avoid?

Oh, I would say from my own experience of becoming an intrapreneur. My top tip is find out more make sure to learn about the business side of coaching and what kind of numbers to track or how to make it work as a business. That was the part that I underestimated most and needed most in terms of wanting to avoid, I would say shiny object syndrome. That is especially in my line of technology. I'd like to say that when you pick a tool to use, think of it as if you're marrying it There are wedding costs, you know, getting getting it, getting to learn to use it, everything that comes with starting up and learning to live with the best and the worst of it. Because at first you see all the good stuff, and then you find out what doesn't work the way you stopped when you got into this. And then potentially, there might be a divorce down the road. And you have to be prepared for that as well. Because if you get into a tool that doesn't let you get your data out later, or that makes it difficult to interact, you know, socially with other tools, you're in trouble. So there's a whole lot more to tool than just its features. And I would say beware of jumping in.

Beware of jumping in. So don't jump in too fast. But when you do go in with that long range approach.

Yeah. Excellent.

I love it. So Catherine, I have a question for you. If you are going to give advice to a new coach who was just starting out, what is one tip that you would share to help them and one thing you would tell them to avoid?

So they might this kind of the flip side of a coin. But first of all, yeah, and I know that a lot of coaches want to help the world and help, you know, impact as many people as possible. But a coach that serves everyone actually serves no one. So you've got to you as difficult as it might be, you've got to get it down to a target audience and really get clear on who you're talking to. So that you can really understand your messaging and how that will all work. Because everything comes from understanding your target audience. And I guess the one thing that you shouldn't do is be so broad that you're trying to serve serve everyone, because you just can't and you're not going to, it's going to be very difficult to actually build up any kind of expertise. And know like and trust factor. If you're too broad. You're just trying to serve too many masters and it's not going to work.

Yeah, yeah, I hear you. So that's so definitely like a great tip. You know, find your niche, and the specific group of people that you can serve. And then what one thing would you tell them to avoid?

Is that broad sweep that, that, yeah, that you know, going after everyone. Pick a lane, you really, you've just got to pick a lane and get and then build the expertise and then get really well known get niche famous, like be like, you know, be niche famous be that person, that's gonna be a lot easier for you.

I love that. You know, like, when we go to university, nobody says that, well, I guess you can just do a general studies degree, but you never expecting to actually create a career out of it. You know, you got to choose your major, right, got to choose. And then within your major, what happens when you go and want to do your masters, you've got to narrow it down to an area of study, right?

Yeah. And if you want to be an expert, then you've got, there's an you're an expert in something but like, you know, it's it's like you got to narrow it down, you got to, and you got to be able to communicate it in a way that people understand whether it's for them or not. Because you know what, I've seen a lot of coaches and what I did myself for a long time was talk to everyone, and then you end up wasting all your time, money and energy talking to unqualified leads, and the qualified one slipped through your fingers.

So let me ask you this question to Denise. If you are going to give advice to a brand new coach, one who is just starting out in their business, what is one top tip you would share to help them and one thing you would tell them to avoid.

So I put some thought into that. And when the one thing that I feel give you great success as a coach is to give more than what is expected. Like if you say to your clients, I'm gonna do this for you do this and that. And then they'll feel like wow, I get so much value, I was happy to pay for this. And now I get that. And they'll love you to death, they will they will think of you that you're so generous and they will praise you and they will recommend you and so always do more than what is expected from your client. I

love that. And not only will they think more highly of you, but I think you'll think more highly of yourself like you're a field generous

human being and this sort of giving and sharing it for sure makes a huge difference in my heart as opposed and also to my clients heart.

Yeah, that feeling of abundance and generosity. So they're so important to our lives. And so what was the thing Be that you tell them to avoid.

I'm sorry to break it to you, whomever is listening here as a coach, but you cannot help everyone. I know I've heard it even today, I really know I can help the whole planet. Congratulation, you know, gonna have one client. Because when you when it might be true that we can help everyone. But when you speak about your business, when you promote your business, when you advertise yourself, when you talk on your website, Be as specific and tiny niche as possible. Because guess what, when people are going to read it, if they are your clients, they will recognize themselves and say, No one talks to me like she does. She does exactly what I need, as opposed to oh, yeah, that will be nice. All right, whatever. And that's not for me, the more specific you are, the more specific your clients will recognize themselves. And then you won't waste time doing free interview and talking to people in reality that they're not your they're not your people. So you could change after six months who are in a year or two years, okay, now we'd like to work more with men, for example, then you change your wording on your website, you change your marketing, and you mentioned men that are 35 years old, that are engineer and are working on the in the mind gold, you know, tell me that guy is going to recognize himself?

Yes, for sure. And then the other thing is, as you were describing this, this is interesting. You know, the person with the huge heart that wants to help the entire world, but then is very resistant to narrowing it down. Because they are so general. And they don't actually sign clients. They don't actually help any part of the world. Right. Yeah. Like that is, you know, that is something that I don't think that we we think we don't often think through that, that. Well, if I don't sign as many clients as as would make me full, you know, my calendar full. Those are all the people that could use my help. And I have refused them. Yeah, so I love that. I love it. So let me ask you this question. If you were going to give advice to a brand new coach, they were starting their business from scratch, what is the one tip that you would share to help them? And what one thing would you share with them to help them avoid? I hope that's clear that last part of the question. Yeah,

that's a great question. I would say one of the biggest learnings that I came from when I wasn't new coach, right, was to see the fear and do it anyway. You know, fears going to be something that is going to come up no matter what level you're at, no matter what area of anything. I mean, it's just in it's, it's an I kind of take fear as excitement now it's kind of that same emotion that same like inner inner feelings, so but see the fear and do it anyway. And the other thing for avoiding, I would say is, you're going to have a lot of opportunities, aka noise out there. And there's a lot of stuff we are so blessed with the internet and all of the, the instant gratification of things we can learn and see and, but ultimately, through all of that, you want to bring it back to you take what you like and leave the rest, you're gonna learn a lot, you're gonna read a lot, you're gonna see a lot, you're gonna get coached a lot. I've had amazing coaches. But in the end, I still had to pull what was aligned with me and make my own journey in this coaching world and make it mine, you know, I were just there's so much noise and you could lose the connection with yourself, if you're not careful, which I've done a couple times. And then I started doubting myself, you know what I mean?

Yeah, and I think we've all kind of done that, like, that's part of that entrepreneurial journey. And so often this is we're used to this life of the employee, you know, like maybe a stellar employee, but still an employee. And then employee is used to sort of following the guidance of the people that are more senior. But as an entrepreneur, we've got we've got such a different way of looking at it, right, like to lean on your own inner self and your own inner wisdom first, and to trust that instead of following the rules or following the, you know, somebody else's recommendation system. Yeah. And I love how you reframed fear so that the feeling of fear and the feeling of excitement in your body is a very similar vibration. And I think that that is I use the same kind of analogy but I you know, my relationship with fear comes and goes but in my Good days, I say that fear it means go doesn't mean stop, like we've just mistaken the signal, right. And so. So I love what you're saying. That's amazing. So I have a question. If you are going to give advice to a new coach, somebody who is just starting out, what is one tip that you would share to help them, and one thing you would suggest they avoid?

Well, this is one of my favorite kinds of questions, because I end up helping people at the very beginning and even at rebranding stages, and we're advanced stages, because we all are kind of reinventing ourselves as we move along. And so the first thing that popped into my mind when you ask this was to create a simple package of sessions, this is specifically you know, for coaches, because you coach coaches, and that describes in detail where someone is going and what they get at the end of a three or a five package, I often recommend a smaller group of time for beginning practitioners, because that is sometimes easier to have a very clear goal, and give someone a sense of accomplishment very quickly. And it's also quite frankly, kind of easier to sell when we're beginning you know, to kind of go, oh, look, it's only this much. And it everybody feels accomplished, then you as a coach and the person receiving so that's one of the things that I find really helps it also helps engage the person and keeps them motivated and really easy to say yes, like, Yes, that's what I need. You know, that's one of the big, easy, simple things. And to avoid. Now, this is kind of tied to a little bit of what I do. But what I love about it is that it's timeless. And so I would say, Look up, when the eclipses are each year, there's only four to six of them every year, and just put it on your calendar and just know, you don't want to send an email, you don't want to like try and create a course, you don't want to like make a big splash, or have a big event on an eclipse day. Because according to Vedic Astrology, these are great for our spiritual practices and reversing habits. But they're not great for making impact in the world. So that right there super easy to avoid four to six days a year. And that's a super easy to put on your calendar every year.

And it's just a matter of planning in advance. Right? Correct. Yeah. Which we always recommend anyway. So just adding that layer. So let me ask you this question. If you are going to give advice to a brand new coach, one who is just starting out their business, what is one top tip that you would share to help them and one thing you would tell them to avoid?

Well, I think the top tip would be is get comfortable feeling on comfortable. Because everything you're going to be doing for a while will be new and different and and comfortable. And the sooner you get comfortable with that feeling, the more effective and efficient you can be in building and moving your business forward.

I love that. Yeah, the willingness to be uncomfortable. And I like how you use that word uncomfortable is kind of a euphemism for scared, and anxious and panic and all of those things do.

All of those things.

Yeah. And so what's the thing you would suggest that they avoid?

I think that thing I'd suggest that you avoid is trying to borrow your way out of a cash flow problem. That only leads you into a more dire debt position. So do what ever you need to do to start bringing money into your business and make self support.

Yeah. And so I think that this is really important for new coaches is that there are so many coaches, who are, you know, they're really motivated to do this. And they're probably top performers in their field. And they may not have the experience of being an entrepreneur. So it's really easy to take a loan out and think that you're going to finance your business and then it's going to grow fast, like the plan that you have for that Business Growth isn't necessarily what happens. Right. And so I think that, you know, your I think that your recommendation is really sound and kind of a leading question. But what, what do you think is the impact on having less debt? In your business? Like, what does that do for

them? I think there's several things. One, there's less weight of the world on your shoulder and less tension with, Oh, I gotta make this offer work, oh, I've got to make this, you know, sale. And that creates a tension, which is counterproductive. And having a debt can also rob you of sleep, which makes you less efficient. So there are a lot of different causes of that. And those are just a couple of the, you know, side effects of having to pay back money.

Sherri, I have a question for you. If you were to give advice to a brand new coach, somebody who's just starting out, what is the one top tip that you would share to help them and the one thing you would tell them to avoid?

Well, first, I would tell them, congratulations, because this journey as an entrepreneur is amazing. And the first tip I would give them would be to start with creating your vision for your life. And this fits in with what I do with all of my clients and how I support them and living their bucket list now and taking their business with them. It all starts with your vision, what is it that you really want your life and your lifestyle to look like? And then you can build your business to fit into that lifestyle. Too many entrepreneurs aren't clear on that when they start their business. And they end up building a business model that doesn't allow them to live the life that they want. So let's avoid that. Right? Yeah, in terms of what I would tell him to avoid, it would have to be what I call throwing marketing spaghetti against the wall. And we all know, as entrepreneurs, we have to market our business, that's kind of a given, right. However, we also know that there are a ton of messages coming at us every day. And there's one guru, if you will, after another telling us that we have to do this. And we have to do that. And you have to do social media, and you have to do a webinar, and you have to do a challenge. And all these have to choose. And what happens too often, as an early entrepreneur in particular, is that we get into this, well, I have to do that. So we've run off when we tried to implement that strategy. And pretty soon we've got all these strategies that we've tried to implement none of them that we've really carried fully through, and we're not consistent with them. So by throwing that marketing spaghetti against the wall, all we do is create overwhelm, which is one of the what I think are the two biggest enemies of an entrepreneur, overwhelm, and inconsistency. So avoid that trap, and really settle in on no more than three marketing strategies that you're going to use and consistently implement to grow your business.

I love that. And, you know, in both of your the top tip and the and the thing to avoid, it's reminds me of how often new entrepreneurs were really high performers in their career. And so they're, you know, what you've talked about is so much of that shift from that employee mindset to the entrepreneur mindset. I think that's really key. So thank you for sharing this

is and I know it well, when I've been in business for 22 years. My first year in business, I started three businesses. So there's that overachiever for you right.