One of the questions I get asked a lot, including on my recent survey, is “When should I choose a coaching niche?”

You may resist choosing a niche because you want to help different people with different things, and you know that your coaching skills can be applied to virtually any type of person or situation.

But there will come a time when you decide that you are really serious about building a successful coaching business. At that time, I think it will become clear that choosing a coaching niche is a powerful thing to do. Not only will it lead to more referrals, ideal clients and valuable strategic alliances, it will actually lead to more clients!

I will be sharing more about why we resist choosing a niche, how to overcome that and how to choose the right niche for you on January 24 in a free webinar:

The Fastest Path to Ideal Clients and a Targeted List 

Reserve your spot here!

Technorati Tags: coaching niche

As promised, I’m going to continue to address the questions raised during my recent survey .

I will be addressing many of your top burning challenges on an upcoming free webinar on January 24. If you haven’t signed up yet, you can do so here:

www.FastestPathtoIdealClients.com

One of the questions I was asked by a number of people was “How do I get started”. Click on the arrow below to listen to my response, and please leave your comments and questions below. Thank you!

I did a survey recently to learn more about what you need help with and am so grateful to everyone who participated. The results spoke loud and clear.  I’m going to do a free webinar on January 24 to address all the main challenges  you said you’re facing with your business and answer your questions. To learn more and register, click here.

Here is what you identified as some of the biggest challenges you said you’re facing with your business:

-  Attracting your ideal clients

-  Building your list

- Nailing your niche

- Identifying your USP

- Crafting your Magical Marketing Message

- Creating a valuable giveaway to inspire people to join your list

- Managing your time, getting focused

There were other challenges as well, such as creating marketing plans, managing social media, identifying joint venture partners, and product development. The vast majority don’t have a signature system and there was interest in learning more about that – stay tuned for more on that very soon.

Only 19% of you feel that you know your ideal client inside and out, and only 16% feel you can clearly explain how you outshine the competition. 70% of you either don’t have a giveaway at all (51%), or only have an ezine (19%) as an incentive for people to opt in to your list.

In terms of how you like to best learn, the biggest preference is for video training (71%), followed by teleseminar or webinar (61%),  action guide (55) and audio training (40%).

When I asked you what questions you had for me, I got hundreds of responses.  Here are some of the things you told me you want help with:

“Having the confidence to be specific when it comes to identifying my niche”

“Connecting with people that would benefit from my expertise”

“Wanting the process of building the foundation to be faster than it is”

“Finding my target audience online – been a continual struggle from day one”

“Differentiating myself from competitors”

“How do I use my experience to do something different”

“How do I get started”

“What if I want more than one niche”

“How do I build a bigger and more responsive list”

Click here for all the details.

You definitely don’t want to miss this call. Not only am I going to share a ton of valuable information, I’m also going to answer your questions AND give away hundreds of dollars in prizes!

I look forward to seeing you there!

In the meantime, please share your comments and questions about the survey results. What do you think? Does this reflect what you’re struggling with right now?

I just did a survey of the people on my mailing list and the results were outstanding. I can’t tell you how much I learned and how much I appreciate everyone who shared their feedback with me.

I’ll be sharing more about the survey results very soon, as well as some valuable free information to help you solve the challenges you told me you are facing with your business. So keep an eye out!

One of the questions I asked was, “If you could have a private conversation with me about your business, what would you want to ask me?”.  I got hundreds of responses!  Over the coming months, I will be answering these questions for you. I may post the response on my blog, do a quick video or audio, or post on my Facebook wall.

To get the ball rolling, I have selected a question and created a quick audio reply for you. I would love to hear your feedback and suggestions on what I share.  Please leave your comments below. Thanks!

Question: “How do you stay consistent, yet fresh?”

Do you know what differentiates you from the competition? Can you clearly explain what does?  If not, you’re not alone.

In a recent survey I did, only 10% of people said they could clearly explain what differentiates them from the competition. Two-thirds of people said they kind of know what differentiates them and 22% don’t even know who their competitors are.

It’s essential to know and understand your competition. After all, we don’t operate our businesses in a vacuum. You can bet that your ideal clients know who your competitors are. Shouldn’t you?

Remember also that there are three pieces to solving the Niche Puzzle: WHO (target market), WHAT (solution you provide) and WHY (why should people work with you).  You have to be able to clearly explain all three pieces when you choose your niche and craft your Magical Marketing Message.

But, having said that…..

I’m going to challenge you to shift your perspective about your competition in three important ways.

1. Find your voice

Even if you and your competitors do very similar things, you will have your own twist on things. You might have a different approach, formula, message or perspective. Or you might just explain things differently. It’s amazing how two people can say the same thing and the message resonates with different people in different ways.

So part of what you need to do to differentiate yourself is to create your own voice or “language”. This is part of building your brand. Find your own words to describe what you do and the process you use. Don’t just imitate, innovate!

2. Learn from your competitors

It’s important to follow your competitors because there is a lot you can learn from them. Take a look at their approach, offerings and marketing. What do you like? What don’t you like? What can you do differently or better?

At the same time, don’t allow yourself to get overwhelmed or bogged down by what your competitors are doing. You can sign up for their lists using a different email address so you don’t get distracted. Keep a folder called “good marketing” for subject lines or emails that pique your interest. Create a swipe file for sales pages, articles, landing pages, etc. that you like. You won’t copy their work, but use it for ideas and inspiration.

Stay on top of what they’re doing but don’t get distracted by them.

3. Partner with them

You will be amazed how many of your “competitors” can actually be joint venture partners for you. It has happened to me more than once that I met one of my competitors and they ended up becoming joint venture partners. It’s just a matter of being confident about what you do and shifting your perspective from scarcity to abundance.

There is one caveat to this. You must have a clearly defined niche. When you have a clear niche, e.g. you understand your target market and solution you provide, then the competitive landscape is much smaller. If you’re a jack of all trades, then everyone becomes a competitor. You’ll see how much easier it is to partner with people when you have a clear niche because you serve the same target market but with complementary solutions. And joint ventures are by far the fastest way to build your list!

What are your biggest questions and concerns about your competition? Please share your questions and feedback below.

Guest Post by Kathryn McKinnon

Time Management Expert,

Best Selling Author, Triple Your Time Today!

Founder, McKinnon & Company

Knowing how to use Leverage to manage your time is a key Time Management Strategy you can use today to improve your productivity and accomplish more with the time you have. We all have too much to do and too little time to do it.  If you don’t know how to leverage your time, you’ll always be wondering where the time went and why you can’t find the time to do more of what you want.

Leverage means doing more with less, so when you use leverage to manage your time, you work Smarter, not harder with your time. In essence, you replace yourself, or what YOU spend your time doing.

1. If you want to use leverage to manage your time, the first thing you need to do is to calculate what your time is worth. When you do this, you’ll consciously begin to spend time on only those activities that are equal to or worth more than the value of your time.
2. When you delegate jobs or tasks, you’re leveraging your time and giving others an opportunity to learn, be mentored and to take over some of your tasks.
3. When you put Processes and Systems in place to handle activities, you’re leveraging your time.
4. When you use Tools to Automate the things on your list, you’re leveraging your time.

If you want to learn more about how you can leverage your time, I share extensive details of this proven Time Management Strategy in a recent interview I did with Cindy Schulson.

You can listen to the recording here (no opt-in required):

http://InstantTeleseminar.com/?eventid=24290877

You’ll learn how to leverage your time so that you’ll be able to do the things you need to accomplish and still have time to engage in activities that really matter to you!

The first year after I founded Attract Your Niche, I was working hard and was fueled by the assumption that I was going to make it. There were definitely ups and downs, but I never stopped believing that I could succeed with my business. Then year two came along and the ride got bumpier. There were great highs and some definite lows. Why? Because the reality set in that it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be, and I started playing a bigger game. I pushed myself out of my comfort zone and continue to do so on a continuous basis.

As my friend, Adela Rubio, said during our recent interview, if you don’t have moments of self doubt then you’re not playing a big enough game. Truer words couldn’t be said.

Last week I found myself in a huge high and a big low all at the same time. I won’t go into the details but suffice it to say that I was in a major slump. Part of it was exhaustion after my friend, Milana Leshinsky’s live event at which I was a speaker. The bottom line is that I felt stripped of all enthusiasm.

So what did I do, and what do I suggest you do, to get out of a slump? Three things:

1. Tell yourself to snap out of it. I know it’s not as easy as it sounds, but you have to simply tell yourself that you are doing amazing things and having slumps is part of the natural cycle of business and life. Shift your perspective and realize that this too shall pass.

2. Talk to someone. Sometimes we just need to vent. Lucky for me, my husband is a great listener. He doesn’t talk much, but he’s a great listener. Love you honey:)  I also have a support group of other small business owners who can totally understand what I’m going through.  Many have been at it a lot longer than me and can help me see the path to the other side. I also have a mentor/coach I work with, but personally, I prefer to spend that precious time on forward action.

3. Help people.  This is huge for me and I know that it’s a major reason that you are likely building your business too. You have a strong desire to help people with your area of expertise. I made a decision that I was going to really help, I mean reallllllly help, 3 people in the next 3 days (3 is my lucky number:).  And I did, with a bang!

Here is what one of clients emailed to me in response to what I did for him.

“That inspiring pep-talk/critique you offered me on Thursday night was about the swiftest piece of coaching I’ve ever experienced.  That’s the kind of “right-to-the-heart” insight that turns careers around. Anyway, 1,000,000 thanks, coach.  As I mentioned when I called you Sunday morning, I signed up a couple of clients and a bunch of us Easterners even planned an event in October. All that just confirmed how attractive (needed) my message is.  You are making a huge difference in this world, young lady.  I just want you to know that!”

Holy cow! Did that ever make me feel better.

What do you think? Have you ever been in a slump? What did you do to get yourself out of it? Please leave your comments below. As I always say, we’re all in this together!

If you want to get bigger and better results without working harder, then you need to find ways to create more leverage in your business. Building a business is hard work, but that doesn’t mean you have to work non-stop. You want to spend quality time with your family and friends and you can do that when you find and implement strategies that create leverage.

Here are 6 of my favorite ways to create more leverage in your business:

1. Collaborate with Others

Although you’re a solo professional, you don’t have to build your business all by yourself. Joint ventures are the fastest and easiest way to build your list and earn more income. Joint ventures can take a number of forms, such as interviewing a special guest, having affiliate partners promote your program, doing a telesummit, or creating a product with someone else.

You see joint ventures happening all the time, but you might not be sure how to create one yourself. Here are some guidelines to help you.

• Find someone who serves the same target market as you but with a complementary solution
• Be clear as to what each party wants to get out of the joint venture
• Be clear about what each party will contribute in terms of time, resources, promotion, etc.
• Create a confidentiality agreement to protect proprietary information
• Craft a written agreement outlining each person’s responsibilities and how income will be shared

2. Build Your Team

You’ve heard a million times how you need to outsource if you want to grow your business. But it’s more than having a graphic artist, web designer or virtual assistant. You really want to build a team of people who are committed to helping you build you’re business.

Find the time to interview and choose the right candidates. Test them out on a small project to make sure it’s a good fit.  Then take the time to train them on how you do your business and how they should collaborate not just with you, but with other members of the team. There is nothing worse than thinking that Adam is doing something while Adam thinks that Jane is doing it, and nothing gets done!

Show appreciation for your team members and encourage them to contribute their own ideas on projects and on your overall business.

3. Create An Affiliate Program

When someone refers your programs to someone else, you can reward them by paying them an affiliate commission. The best way to do this is to set it up in your shopping cart system. This is the shopping cart I use, which includes an affiliate management system.

The best way to set up your system is to “cookie” your paid programs to your giveaway. Huh?  Here’s what this means. Say Amy refers Bob to your website and Bob opts in to your free giveaway (if you don’t have a giveaway yet to build your list, that is a must. Go here immediately).  Now Bob reads your free report and thinks you rock. He then buys one of your programs – either right away or even up to a year later. Well, Amy is going to get paid an affiliate commission for referring Bob to your website.

That’s how I have my affiliate program set up. It gives my affiliate partners the greatest rewards which incentivizes them even more to share my work with others. If you want to see how my affiliate program is set up, just go to www.JVwithCindy.com

4. Ask for Referrals

Referrals can be the easiest and least expensive way to grow your business, and yet few solopreneurs ask for referrals on a consistent basis. Many don’t think of it, are afraid that they are imposing on people, or are afraid of rejection. It’s time to get over these thoughts, because in reality, you’re doing your friend or colleague a favor by asking them for a referral. Why? Because they are going to share your fantastic services and programs with people who really need your help. It’s a win-win.

Make asking for referrals an ongoing part of your marketing strategy. And show appreciation for those who give you referrals by sending them a percentage of the fee you earn.  Think of it as your marketing expense and if you like, build it in to your pricing.

5. Repurpose and Repackage Your Content

Every article you write, speech you give, and program you create should be repackaged and repurposed to create more leverage in your business. If you’ve written an article, then submit it to various article marketing sites. If you gave a speech or interview, have it recorded. You can package it, along with a transcript and some other resource (such as a worksheet), and sell it on your website.

If you’ve created a program, in what other formats can you make the content available to appeal to different needs and learning styles? For instance, if you have a 3 month coaching program, take a portion of the content and repackage it as a home study program. In fact, you can create several home study programs from one bigger coaching program.

6. Create a Group Program or Bootcamp

Working one-on-one with clients can be very rewarding for both you and the client. But there is a lot to be said for the power of working with a group of people. First, it creates more leverage because you are helping more people (and earning more income) for the same investment of your time. Second, the synergy of the group creates greater accountability, learning and support.

You can run a live group program with training, Q&A calls, homework and accountability forms. You can also create a Bootcamp experience which is an intensive program to bring specific results. You can record the content and host it on a private website. Or use my favorite resource for creating and managing Bootcamps – it’s very cool and worth checking out for a free trial. In addition to the training, you can include other valuable additions such as Q&A calls, laser coaching, Action Guides, Resource Guides and a Member Forum.

What are your favorite ways to create leverage in your business? Please share your comments and feedback below. Thanks!

What is the consistent message you want to share that instantly communicates what you do, who you help and why they should work with you? This is what I call your Magical Marketing Message, and it’s the foundation for all of your marketing and communications.

Your Magical Marketing Message is what instantly attracts your ideal clients. It’s also what makes all your marketing and communications efforts consistent. So every time you leave a social media comment, or write an article, or leave a comment on someone’s blog, you have this clear message that is congruent with everything about you and your business.

In addition to your Magical Marketing Message, you want to create 3 core messages that you communicate consistently.  They should reflect the results you help people acheive and what’s unique about you and what you do. They let people understand what you’re all about and make you memorable.

For instance, here are my 3 core messages:

1. You need to have a strategic foundation for your business. Without that, you will spin your wheels and burn out. And at the heart of that strategic foundation is your niche.

2. Your niche is not just a slice of your target market, but who you help, what solution you provide and why people should work with you. It’s what I call the Niche Puzzle and it’s a much more comprehensive way of finding your niche so you can build a business that is sustainable, that you’re passionate about and that leverages your unique gift.

3. I have a gift for taking a lot of information and overwhelm and creating step-by-step systems that include training plus implementation. You need both training and action to get results, and I incorporate both in every program that I create.

Now it’s your turn. What are your core messages that you want people to know about you?  Leave your comments and questions below. Share your core messages so that people can get to know you.

Technorati Tags: marketing message, niche market

Many coaches, consultants and other solo professionals think they have a clearly defined marketing message, but the truth is that they don’t. It’s often the reason why they are not attracting as many ideal clients as they would like.

Imagine you’re at a networking event and you meet someone who fits the profile of someone in your target market.  What do you say?

Say you are a life coach. Are you going to say something like, “I’m a life coach and I help people get more out of life. Let me give you some information about my services and about life coaching so you can learn more”?

Do you think this will work?  Chances are it won’t, and here’s why. The focus of this approach is on services, titles, and processes. Your potential clients aren’t interested in these things. They don’t care about your industry or how you run your business. What they care about is how you’re going to help them.

People don’t buy services or products. They buy solutions. This means that even if you’re an amazing coach, people aren’t interested in buying your coaching. What they want to buy are solutions and results.

So if you’re going to help the people you’re meant to help and really make a difference, then you need to first be HEARD!  And the only way you’re going to be heard is if you can explain who you help, what solution you provide, the outcome you help your clients achieve and why they should work with you. And the hardest part is that you need to do that fast, almost instantly. Because we’re all bombarded with too much information and there’s a lot of “noise” that competes for our attention.

The key to doing that lies in creating a Magical Marketing Message (MMM).

A Magical Marketing Message is one that speaks powerfully to the needs and desires of your target market. It catches their attention, grabs their emotions and peaks their interest. It is what distinguishes you from all the other coaches and service providers vying for your prospects’ attention. It is the foundation for both your online and offline marketing.

Learn a simple 5 step system for creating your Magical Marketing Message that Instantly Attracts Your Ideal Clients.

What is your Magical Marketing Message? Leave it below for feedback or share your comments and questions about how to create a magical marketing message. Thanks!