October 21, 2024 • 26 mins
Welcome back to Deep Dive Dialogues with Dan Woerheide!
In today’s episode, we’re discussing the #1 mistake coaches make when starting an online coaching business. But before we dive in, I have a question for you:
What’s your biggest challenge when it comes to growing your coaching business online?
I’d love to hear about your struggles so I can create content that addresses your exact needs and helps you build a successful coaching business. You can easily send me a message, leave a voice note, or sign up for email updates by visiting podcast.danw.us.
Let’s work together to make sure your business thrives online. I look forward to hearing from you! Now, let’s dive into today’s topic.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dan Woerheide (00:00):
Welcome back to Deep Dive Dialogues with yours
truly, Dan Woerheide.
I am excited to share episodetwo with you.
This is a brand new podcast andif you haven't listened to the
intro episode, I give a bitabout my background and the
premise of this podcast and sortof how it came about.
It's really a personal missionto improve the writer's block
(00:26):
syndrome, I guess you'd call itI still don't know what to call
it when it's recording a podcast.
I wanted to do a solo podcastand here I am.
We'll see.
I probably will include someinterviews coming up, but for
now I want to share some thingsthat I think are extremely
important in building an onlinebusiness.
So today's episode, I want totalk to you about one of the key
(00:49):
things maybe several of the keythings that I think many
coaches and consultants buildingan online business tend to
overlook when they first getstarted.
So before I jump in withtoday's content, today's episode
I want to ask you one questionNow.
I asked this at the beginningof my introductory episode, but
(01:11):
I want to ask it again.
I would love to hear from youwhat is the single greatest
frustration that you have whenit comes to building your
coaching business?
I want to learn from you and,in return, I want to be able to
provide you with the contentthat you're going to find
relevant to your situation andyour business.
You can easily send me a noteor leave me a voice message, or
(01:36):
sign up to receive updates andreply to that email about the
podcast by visitingpodcastdanwus.
I look forward to hearing youranswers Now.
If you listened to my introepisode, like I said, you
already know a bit about myjourney, kind of where I started
, how I got where I am today,and I shared that I've built
(01:58):
several iterations of mybusiness.
I wouldn't say I've builtdifferent businesses, but I've
shifted gears a few times.
So different iterations,including in my coaching
business, and, honestly, I madesome of these mistakes I want to
talk to you about today.
I've invested a lot of time, alot of energy and a lot of money
on the things that I originallythought were most important to
(02:21):
creating my business, by lookingat what others were doing and
listening to the differentpeople that are out there.
But what I learned often thehard way was that those things
don't matter nearly as much as Ithought, and I want to help you
avoid all of that frustration,all of that time and money spent
by focusing on the wrong thingsfirst and getting to the right
(02:43):
things.
So let's get into it NowWhen you think of building an
online business as a coach or aconsultant, you probably are
thinking, like I did, that youneed to have your online
presence established, right?
You look around.
You say, okay, what's the firststep to building an online
business?
Well, set up a website.
That's the normal response andthere's nothing wrong with that.
You do need to invest in yourwebsite, but I don't think it's
(03:07):
the first thing you should befocused on.
You think you need to invest inyour website, your logo, your
branding, maybe even somebusiness cards if you're going
to go do some in-person eventsor networking, and to some
extent, those things, like Isaid, really might seem
reasonable.
But are they necessary?
Is the question I would ask,and the answer at this stage is
(03:32):
not really.
Now, there's some exceptionsand you know, depending on your
relationships that you'vealready built, maybe you can
spend a little time and energyon those things without letting
them become a distraction.
The problem is that most peoplewho've decided to build this
business or coaching, theyattend a training, they get a
(03:54):
certification, and I don't wantto mislead you.
There's nothing wrong withpursuing those things.
I firmly believe in lifelonglearning and continuing your
education and coaching, butthat's it.
I haven't really seen anycoaching programs or training
programs yet that go into beyondthat.
Right, they go to the how-tosand the education around
(04:17):
coaching, but they don't everextend into the actual how-tos
of starting, running and growingyour business as a coach.
So that's what I'm hoping tocommunicate here today.
Again, I want to help you avoidas many mistakes as possible so
you don't have to spend the samekind of time and experience the
same things and the samelessons and frustrations that I
(04:38):
have.
I want to save you some ofthose hassles.
I also want to address somecritical elements, like I said,
that are often overlooked.
So most people look at thisworld of online business and
it's easy to believe that thefirst steps to success is to
have all of those shiny objectsyour website, the online
presence and, again, there'ssome value in that.
(05:00):
But as far as platforms areconcerned, I'd encourage you to
start, if anything, startbuilding an email list now,
versus later.
You'll want to get an emaillist started pretty much as soon
as you start working.
But, even more important thanthat.
The first step in building yourbusiness is crucial to
addressing roadblocks thathaven't yet happened.
(05:21):
When you focus on the wrongelements first, like the things
I've just discussed, in too manyinstances it can quickly lead
down a path of adding confusionand adding more and more
frustration, burnout, and a lotof people tend to get so
frustrated that they quit.
They think it's not for them.
All they really did was putthings a little out of order.
(05:44):
So I don't want you to bediscouraged, and if that's where
you're at right now, one, I'dlove to have a conversation with
you, but two, I hope that thisepisode will help you.
What most people want whenbuilding an online business, of
course, is really clients.
Now, from that perspective, itmay seem logical to establish
that online presence so you canget clients, but if you fail to
(06:07):
address the foundations of yourbusiness, you'll end up falling
flat.
So what is the first step tobuilding your online business?
I believe the first step is todesign your dream and to create
the vision for what you reallywant for your life and for your
business.
First, it's all about definingyour vision.
(06:27):
I, early on in my journey, Ididn't do this either, and it's
one of the biggest mistakes thatI've made.
I got so focused on theday-to-day tasks, creating the
website and all the other things.
I didn't have a clear pictureof what I actually wanted my
life to look like in three, five, 10 years from now, and I think
(06:47):
that this is key, because it'syour vision that keeps you on
track.
It keeps you focused whenthings get tough, when
distractions come up or whenthat frustration sets in.
So I really want to encourageyou to do this.
I want to encourage you to taketime to dream.
I want you to forget about howfor a minute.
(07:08):
I want you to just focus onwhat is it that you want?
I was recently given an exerciserecently relative, I guess, but
not long ago I was given anexercise that I think really
helped me find value in thisapproach, and it was.
They're fairly simple in theory, and it's creating a list of
(07:32):
the 50 things that I want Now.
This includes everything fromfinancial goals to lifestyle
dreams living a debt-free life,having the freedom to travel,
hosting my own retreats, or evensomething as simple as buying a
Jeep for my daughter.
These dreams help to bring meand you clarity and consistent
(07:53):
motivation.
Now the next step is to divine.
Let me back up.
I don't want to get into thenext step yet, and it's not
divine, it's define.
So but just I want to urge youto take the time to sit down to
write out that list of 50 thingsI want.
Now I will also say thatinitially, when I sat down to do
(08:13):
this exercise, I struggled withit.
I was like I came up with like33 things and I went to my coach
and I said I'm struggling withthis, this is hard, and he
stopped me and reminded me thatit's hard because I've told
myself it's hard If it were easy.
That were the words he gave me.
So try that If you findyourself getting stuck, not
(08:35):
being able to come up with 50things.
Some of you are going toexperience this and it's going
to be super simple for you and Iapplaud you.
I have a tendency to think aboutthings, more often than not,
that lead me down a path of whatsome might identify as
overthinking.
I prefer to choose differentwords because I used to be an
(08:57):
overthinker and suffered fromthat mindset as well, and
sometimes I recognize that mythinking leads me down a path
and keeps me from being able toachieve the thing that I'm
working on and by shifting mylanguage around, that it's
really helped me to simplifysome things and not spend as
(09:17):
much time in that overthinkingspace.
So I digress the 50 things listright?
If you find this is difficult,think about that phrase.
If it were easy, I would.
What would it be?
I came up with things at thatpoint like having lunch with
some people I really would liketo sit down with.
There's some people I've beenconnected with for a while in
(09:40):
the online business communitiesthat I've been a part of, and
I'd really love to sit down andbuy them lunch and pick their
brain for an hour or ask them toshare with me what were the
single biggest frustrations thatyou experienced in building
your business and what were someof the real challenges that you
might have labeled as mistakesthat have led you to being able
(10:04):
to share the lessons you'resharing now.
Those are things I'd reallylove to learn from some people
and help me avoid other mistakesin the future.
I think that'd be a wonderfulway to do business.
So include things like havinglunch with people over the next
year or two years or three yearsthat you would really like to
have lunch with and pick theirbrain.
You know it can be as simple, asextravagant, as unachievable as
(10:28):
it may seem.
I want you to keep your mindout of that space.
I don't want you to think abouthow selfish it is or how
unachievable or attainable itmay really be.
Just write down the list ofwhat it is that you want.
Now you've got these lists.
You've got this list of 50things you want.
You've defined, really, whereyou see yourself and your
business in the next two, three,three to five years and what
(10:53):
that looks like for you rightnow.
Don't worry, it can change,that's okay.
The idea is to help overcomethose questions that come up,
the frustration and the energyas it gets hard.
These things help you toremember why it is you're doing
(11:14):
what you're doing and what it isyou're trying to build, what it
is you're trying to achieve andmaintain some positive
motivation and influence in yourwork and your life.
You've got this list.
The next thing you're going towant to take time to do is to
define the value that you bringto your work, to your clients
(11:35):
and to your business.
Now this has come up a coupletimes.
I heard my coach speaking aboutthis recently in a podcast
episode I believe it may havebeen in a coaching session, but
he was sharing that the questionof value had come up who are
you to charge these prices?
(11:56):
Or the question to yourself whoam I to charge these prices?
Why do I think I'm able to dothis?
The imposter questions that mayarise.
This next step is superimportant.
I can't stress that when Iskipped this step early in my
journey, I found myself feelingall of those things, feeling the
(12:20):
imposter syndrome, questioningwhether I had what it took,
whether I was actually able toprovide value to people.
Could I raise my rates?
All of the things it's you know.
But the truth is I had years ofexperience and I had real
results.
I wasn't fully acknowledgingthe value that I bring to the
(12:42):
table and it wasn't untilrecently that I did this
exercise myself.
And it is game changing.
If you don't understand yourvalue, then it becomes super
easy to start doubting yourselfat any point.
So the one thing that reallyhelped me was asking myself key
questions like what are myunique qualities?
(13:02):
What do I bring to the tablethat others might not?
I had nearly two decades ofexperience in the military, in
the intelligence corps.
I have years of coaching undermy belt.
I have a track record ofsolving complex problems for
people and breaking down complexideas into simple language
(13:22):
that's easy for others tounderstand and grasp as a
trainer, as an instructor, but Iwasn't sharing those things
boldly enough before and when Istarted to embrace these, that's
when I started to really seesome changes and again, it
(13:44):
wasn't until recently that Ihave doubled down on that, I
guess you might say and reallydone this exercise to identify
and clearly articulate to me thedifferent levels of value that
I really do bring to the table.
But I did have some coachingalong the way that really helped
me to start bringing thosethings up and I did start seeing
those changes and the impactthat it made.
(14:05):
So take the time to sit down andcreate a self-inventory.
There's no set length, no settime limit.
If writing is not your strength, lock yourself in a room with a
light and commit to one hour.
I'm going to sit down for onehour at the start and I want to
(14:25):
write down all of these thingsso that I can have this
inventory for myself.
What are your strengthspersonally and professionally?
How do you already add value topeople's lives?
Again, once you know thesethings, it is a game changer.
Be sure to include things likeyour professional experiences,
your education, both formal andinformal they definitely count.
(14:48):
What other unique experiencesdo you have that you bring to
the table that others may nothave experienced?
Once you've created this list,I think you'll see the
importance and the value and theimpact that it will have on
your confidence in your coaching, in your home, in your work,
(15:09):
especially in the early stagesof building your online business
.
Now the one thing you'veprobably been asking all along
is okay, what about clients?
So let's talk about clients fora minute, because the next
thing I want you to think aboutis also extremely critical, and
it's something that many peoplestruggle with.
It's defining your idealcustomer.
(15:32):
Now, notice, I didn't say nicheor niche, however you choose.
It's a French word.
The proper pronunciation I havelearned is niche, so it doesn't
matter what you call it, andthere's really a couple of
schools on the thought ofdefining your niche, so I'll
probably will share more aboutthat in another episode in the
near future, but I digress Earlyon.
(15:55):
I made the mistake of thinking,like many, I can help everyone,
and, while that may be true,it's not realistic.
You want to spend some timegetting crystal clear, or as
clear as you can, about who itis that you desire to help, the
kind of person that they are.
(16:17):
Are they a coach?
It can be as simple as that.
Are they working to build anonline business?
So you have to get crystalclear on who it is that you want
to help.
It's not about defining yourtarget audience.
It's also about knowing who itis that actually has the money
(16:38):
to pay for the problem that theyhave to get help with
overcoming it or addressing itright.
That you're passionate abouthelping them solve, that's key
right.
Being passionate about helpingthem solve, that's key right.
Being passionate about helpingthem solve the problem is really
going to help you grow yourbusiness and connect with the
(17:00):
people who have that challenge.
But I think the key in this isthey also have to have the money
and the desire to solve theproblem.
The pain has to be bad enoughfor them to want to pay someone
to help them solve thatchallenge.
So for me, I realized that myideal clients were new and or
(17:24):
transitioning coaches, peoplethat want to leave their
full-time jobs.
They want to transition andbuild a successful coaching
business, and they either didn'tknow where to start, or they
were wondering what the nextsteps were, or they were stuck
overwhelmed.
They lacked confidence, andonce I got clear on these things
who it is that I wanted to help, the other pieces started
(17:47):
falling into place, much likebuilding blocks.
So I recommend you sit down andask yourself some questions who
is it I'm trying to serve?
What are their biggestfrustrations?
This will keep you from wastingtime creating content and
offers and products, or whateverit may be, that don't resonate
(18:08):
with anyone or, worse, theyresonate with people who don't
have the means to pay you tohelp them solve the problem.
So then, once you understandthat, then you really want to be
able to dig into that idealcustomer's problems.
And I'll tell you early on again, I didn't spend enough time
(18:31):
understanding how this related.
I didn't take time to actuallyget to know the real pain points
that my clients were facing.
I fell into the trap of thecurse of knowledge.
I was a story brand guide.
I knew the language.
I knew the language of theonline business world, the
online marketing world, but notthe actual language and the real
(18:55):
pain points of my clients.
Specifically, I didn't listenwell enough and I certainly
didn't ask the right questions.
I assumed that I knew what theyneeded, and it's not that I
wasn't asking the questionsnecessarily.
It's more that I didn't evenknow where to ask.
If you don't know who you'reasking, it's harder to find
where to ask them.
(19:15):
Hence the reason you want to doyour best to define who they
are.
Now, one thing that helped mehere was having real
conversations with real peopleby asking the questions, like I
started out this show with, whatis the single biggest
frustration you have when itcomes to starting your business,
and the answers will berevealing.
(19:36):
You know they'll talk about thefeeling of overwhelm, the
lacking in clarity, the feelingof being stuck in a miserable
job that you know they only lookforward to going home on Friday
afternoon because they get abreak and away from that space,
but they have no idea how tomove forward.
So those conversations willgive you the insights you need
(20:01):
to create offers that actuallyhelp people solve their problems
.
So talk to them, ask them whatthey're struggling with, listen
to their language and payattention to what really, really
frustrates them.
Then it's time to validate yourbusiness.
Now, notice we haven't saidanything about building your
(20:23):
website or launching a podcastor any of these things you want
to validate your business.
Now, this is where I see a lotof people, including myself,
getting caught up.
It's tempting to jump intothose things, to building the
website, designing the logos,because really it feels
productive, but it's risky Ifyou skip the foundational steps.
(20:45):
You end up spending a lot oftime, energy and money without
ever seeing the results that youwant to see, or no results at
all.
I made that mistake early on.
I thought if I had this websiteor the perfect logo, clients
could more easily find me, andwhile there may be some truth in
that, it's absolutely the wrongplace to start.
(21:07):
What really matters is beingable to build relationships,
especially as a coach.
You've got to get really good,get granular with building
relationships and getting yourfirst paying clients first.
That's how you validate yourbusiness.
Everything else will fall intoplace and everything else can
come later.
I suggest, if you're going to doanything, like I said, an email
(21:30):
list start there and startbuilding relationships.
So here's my advice Before youspend a dime on building a
platform, building anythingonline, validate your business,
get your first paying clientsthrough one-on-one coaching or
by offering a simple workshop.
That's where you should focusyour time and your energy.
(21:50):
And maybe now you're saying,okay, great, dan, I know I need
paying clients.
That's the challenge.
So you're telling me to skipall these other steps that
everybody's telling me I need todo, telling me to skip all
these other steps thateverybody's telling me I need to
do.
Where do I get clients?
So think about this who do youknow?
Who do you know already rightnow?
Who are you connected with?
(22:16):
What groups are you pluggedinto?
Where do you go to network inperson?
Where do you go to networkonline?
The likelihood of findingsomeone who has a problem that
you can help them solve ispretty high when you start
looking around at who's aroundyou.
Now.
Show up, build therelationships, contribute a high
level of value and serve people.
Then, when and if theopportunity arises to invite
(22:36):
people to experience yourcoaching and how it can help
them, invite them.
I will share more about myapproach to creating clients
that I have been working on,learning and growing in and
continuing to build on in futureepisodes as well.
But that is the essenceBuilding relationships,
(22:57):
connecting with people, is thefirst step to creating clients.
Now, I've already said a fewtimes, I've learned these
lessons the hard way.
In many cases, I've spent a lotof time and money on courses,
on programs, thinking thatthey're going to help me get
clients, only to realize that Ihad skipped the most important
steps.
(23:18):
I wasn't doing the real work tocreate the relationships and to
understanding my value.
I let the distractions get inmy way too, whether it was
perfecting my website, which isa never-ending process, or
trying to master some newmarketing tactic, and what I
really needed to focus on wasbuilding that solid foundation,
(23:38):
defining my dreams, definingwhat I want.
In the military, we always had aclear mission and a plan.
We didn't jump ahead withoutlaying the groundwork first, and
business shouldn't be anydifferent.
You need to have that solidfoundation your vision, your
value, your ideal client beforeyou build all the external stuff
.
It's why skipping these stepscan be so risky for you, for me,
(24:02):
for anyone that's working tobuild their business.
They're extremely risky.
It may feel like you're makingprogress, but if you don't have
that footing, that foundation,you'll end up frustrated, you'll
end up burnout, and too often Isee people quitting because
they just feel like they weremissing something, like it's not
(24:23):
for them, like they didn't havethe value to bring to people,
like they didn't know what wasnext.
There's so many reasons, and Idon't want to see that for you,
so I know again.
It's tempting to skip thesefoundational steps and jump to
building the online platform sothat you can market, so you can
do all the other things.
It feels like progress, but,trust me, it's more important to
(24:45):
build that foundation.
Otherwise, you're just spinningyour wheels Really quickly.
We covered some basic steps thatare critical for your long-term
success Dreaming, dreaming big,creating that vision for your
life and for your business,understanding your value and
what you bring to the table,defining your ideal customer and
(25:07):
understanding their problemsand their language.
And then validating yourbusiness before focusing on the
external things like thewebsites, the logos, the
marketing platforms, whatever itmay be.
Here's my challenge to you Pickone of these action steps and
start right now, today.
Whether it's writing the 50things you want, doing the self
(25:30):
inventory of your strengths andwhat you bring to the table, or
speaking to your ideal customers, pick one of those and take
action today.
In the next episode, I'm goingto dive into what I think is the
next step, and that's gettingmore into the online platform
and creating those clients andthat process of what that looks
like, but first make sure youhave this solid foundation.
(25:54):
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
I'm excited for this podcastAgain.
This is episode two.
I would love to hear from youwhat is your single greatest
frustration with building yourcoaching business.
Where are you getting stuck?
Shoot me an email, send me avoice message one of those
options or and I absolutelywould appreciate it if you'll
(26:17):
sign up for the email list toget updates from me about the
podcast and maybe any otherthings that I'm working on.
Again, you can do all of thatat podcastdanwus and until next
week, I hope it's a great one.
Welcome back to Deep Dive Dialogues with yours
truly, Dan Woerheide.
I am excited to share episodetwo with you.
This is a brand new podcast andif you haven't listened to the
intro episode, I give a bitabout my background and the
premise of this podcast and sortof how it came about.
It's really a personal missionto improve the writer's block
(00:26):
syndrome, I guess you'd call itI still don't know what to call
it when it's recording a podcast.
I wanted to do a solo podcastand here I am.
We'll see.
I probably will include someinterviews coming up, but for
now I want to share some thingsthat I think are extremely
important in building an onlinebusiness.
So today's episode, I want totalk to you about one of the key
(00:49):
things maybe several of the keythings that I think many
coaches and consultants buildingan online business tend to
overlook when they first getstarted.
So before I jump in withtoday's content, today's episode
I want to ask you one questionNow.
I asked this at the beginningof my introductory episode, but
(01:11):
I want to ask it again.
I would love to hear from youwhat is the single greatest
frustration that you have whenit comes to building your
coaching business?
I want to learn from you and,in return, I want to be able to
provide you with the contentthat you're going to find
relevant to your situation andyour business.
You can easily send me a noteor leave me a voice message, or
(01:36):
sign up to receive updates andreply to that email about the
podcast by visitingpodcastdanwus.
I look forward to hearing youranswers Now.
If you listened to my introepisode, like I said, you
already know a bit about myjourney, kind of where I started
, how I got where I am today,and I shared that I've built
(01:58):
several iterations of mybusiness.
I wouldn't say I've builtdifferent businesses, but I've
shifted gears a few times.
So different iterations,including in my coaching
business, and, honestly, I madesome of these mistakes I want to
talk to you about today.
I've invested a lot of time, alot of energy and a lot of money
on the things that I originallythought were most important to
(02:21):
creating my business, by lookingat what others were doing and
listening to the differentpeople that are out there.
But what I learned often thehard way was that those things
don't matter nearly as much as Ithought, and I want to help you
avoid all of that frustration,all of that time and money spent
by focusing on the wrong thingsfirst and getting to the right
(02:43):
things.
So let's get into it NowWhen you think of building an
online business as a coach or aconsultant, you probably are
thinking, like I did, that youneed to have your online
presence established, right?
You look around.
You say, okay, what's the firststep to building an online
business?
Well, set up a website.
That's the normal response andthere's nothing wrong with that.
You do need to invest in yourwebsite, but I don't think it's
(03:07):
the first thing you should befocused on.
You think you need to invest inyour website, your logo, your
branding, maybe even somebusiness cards if you're going
to go do some in-person eventsor networking, and to some
extent, those things, like Isaid, really might seem
reasonable.
But are they necessary?
Is the question I would ask,and the answer at this stage is
(03:32):
not really.
Now, there's some exceptionsand you know, depending on your
relationships that you'vealready built, maybe you can
spend a little time and energyon those things without letting
them become a distraction.
The problem is that most peoplewho've decided to build this
business or coaching, theyattend a training, they get a
(03:54):
certification, and I don't wantto mislead you.
There's nothing wrong withpursuing those things.
I firmly believe in lifelonglearning and continuing your
education and coaching, butthat's it.
I haven't really seen anycoaching programs or training
programs yet that go into beyondthat.
Right, they go to the how-tosand the education around
(04:17):
coaching, but they don't everextend into the actual how-tos
of starting, running and growingyour business as a coach.
So that's what I'm hoping tocommunicate here today.
Again, I want to help you avoidas many mistakes as possible so
you don't have to spend the samekind of time and experience the
same things and the samelessons and frustrations that I
(04:38):
have.
I want to save you some ofthose hassles.
I also want to address somecritical elements, like I said,
that are often overlooked.
So most people look at thisworld of online business and
it's easy to believe that thefirst steps to success is to
have all of those shiny objectsyour website, the online
presence and, again, there'ssome value in that.
(05:00):
But as far as platforms areconcerned, I'd encourage you to
start, if anything, startbuilding an email list now,
versus later.
You'll want to get an emaillist started pretty much as soon
as you start working.
But, even more important thanthat.
The first step in building yourbusiness is crucial to
addressing roadblocks thathaven't yet happened.
(05:21):
When you focus on the wrongelements first, like the things
I've just discussed, in too manyinstances it can quickly lead
down a path of adding confusionand adding more and more
frustration, burnout, and a lotof people tend to get so
frustrated that they quit.
They think it's not for them.
All they really did was putthings a little out of order.
(05:44):
So I don't want you to bediscouraged, and if that's where
you're at right now, one, I'dlove to have a conversation with
you, but two, I hope that thisepisode will help you.
What most people want whenbuilding an online business, of
course, is really clients.
Now, from that perspective, itmay seem logical to establish
that online presence so you canget clients, but if you fail to
(06:07):
address the foundations of yourbusiness, you'll end up falling
flat.
So what is the first step tobuilding your online business?
I believe the first step is todesign your dream and to create
the vision for what you reallywant for your life and for your
business.
First, it's all about definingyour vision.
(06:27):
I, early on in my journey, Ididn't do this either, and it's
one of the biggest mistakes thatI've made.
I got so focused on theday-to-day tasks, creating the
website and all the other things.
I didn't have a clear pictureof what I actually wanted my
life to look like in three, five, 10 years from now, and I think
(06:47):
that this is key, because it'syour vision that keeps you on
track.
It keeps you focused whenthings get tough, when
distractions come up or whenthat frustration sets in.
So I really want to encourageyou to do this.
I want to encourage you to taketime to dream.
I want you to forget about howfor a minute.
(07:08):
I want you to just focus onwhat is it that you want?
I was recently given an exerciserecently relative, I guess, but
not long ago I was given anexercise that I think really
helped me find value in thisapproach, and it was.
They're fairly simple in theory, and it's creating a list of
(07:32):
the 50 things that I want Now.
This includes everything fromfinancial goals to lifestyle
dreams living a debt-free life,having the freedom to travel,
hosting my own retreats, or evensomething as simple as buying a
Jeep for my daughter.
These dreams help to bring meand you clarity and consistent
(07:53):
motivation.
Now the next step is to divine.
Let me back up.
I don't want to get into thenext step yet, and it's not
divine, it's define.
So but just I want to urge youto take the time to sit down to
write out that list of 50 thingsI want.
Now I will also say thatinitially, when I sat down to do
(08:13):
this exercise, I struggled withit.
I was like I came up with like33 things and I went to my coach
and I said I'm struggling withthis, this is hard, and he
stopped me and reminded me thatit's hard because I've told
myself it's hard If it were easy.
That were the words he gave me.
So try that If you findyourself getting stuck, not
(08:35):
being able to come up with 50things.
Some of you are going toexperience this and it's going
to be super simple for you and Iapplaud you.
I have a tendency to think aboutthings, more often than not,
that lead me down a path of whatsome might identify as
overthinking.
I prefer to choose differentwords because I used to be an
(08:57):
overthinker and suffered fromthat mindset as well, and
sometimes I recognize that mythinking leads me down a path
and keeps me from being able toachieve the thing that I'm
working on and by shifting mylanguage around, that it's
really helped me to simplifysome things and not spend as
(09:17):
much time in that overthinkingspace.
So I digress the 50 things listright?
If you find this is difficult,think about that phrase.
If it were easy, I would.
What would it be?
I came up with things at thatpoint like having lunch with
some people I really would liketo sit down with.
There's some people I've beenconnected with for a while in
(09:40):
the online business communitiesthat I've been a part of, and
I'd really love to sit down andbuy them lunch and pick their
brain for an hour or ask them toshare with me what were the
single biggest frustrations thatyou experienced in building
your business and what were someof the real challenges that you
might have labeled as mistakesthat have led you to being able
(10:04):
to share the lessons you'resharing now.
Those are things I'd reallylove to learn from some people
and help me avoid other mistakesin the future.
I think that'd be a wonderfulway to do business.
So include things like havinglunch with people over the next
year or two years or three yearsthat you would really like to
have lunch with and pick theirbrain.
You know it can be as simple, asextravagant, as unachievable as
(10:28):
it may seem.
I want you to keep your mindout of that space.
I don't want you to think abouthow selfish it is or how
unachievable or attainable itmay really be.
Just write down the list ofwhat it is that you want.
Now you've got these lists.
You've got this list of 50things you want.
You've defined, really, whereyou see yourself and your
business in the next two, three,three to five years and what
(10:53):
that looks like for you rightnow.
Don't worry, it can change,that's okay.
The idea is to help overcomethose questions that come up,
the frustration and the energyas it gets hard.
These things help you toremember why it is you're doing
(11:14):
what you're doing and what it isyou're trying to build, what it
is you're trying to achieve andmaintain some positive
motivation and influence in yourwork and your life.
You've got this list.
The next thing you're going towant to take time to do is to
define the value that you bringto your work, to your clients
(11:35):
and to your business.
Now this has come up a coupletimes.
I heard my coach speaking aboutthis recently in a podcast
episode I believe it may havebeen in a coaching session, but
he was sharing that the questionof value had come up who are
you to charge these prices?
(11:56):
Or the question to yourself whoam I to charge these prices?
Why do I think I'm able to dothis?
The imposter questions that mayarise.
This next step is superimportant.
I can't stress that when Iskipped this step early in my
journey, I found myself feelingall of those things, feeling the
(12:20):
imposter syndrome, questioningwhether I had what it took,
whether I was actually able toprovide value to people.
Could I raise my rates?
All of the things it's you know.
But the truth is I had years ofexperience and I had real
results.
I wasn't fully acknowledgingthe value that I bring to the
(12:42):
table and it wasn't untilrecently that I did this
exercise myself.
And it is game changing.
If you don't understand yourvalue, then it becomes super
easy to start doubting yourselfat any point.
So the one thing that reallyhelped me was asking myself key
questions like what are myunique qualities?
(13:02):
What do I bring to the tablethat others might not?
I had nearly two decades ofexperience in the military, in
the intelligence corps.
I have years of coaching undermy belt.
I have a track record ofsolving complex problems for
people and breaking down complexideas into simple language
(13:22):
that's easy for others tounderstand and grasp as a
trainer, as an instructor, but Iwasn't sharing those things
boldly enough before and when Istarted to embrace these, that's
when I started to really seesome changes and again, it
(13:44):
wasn't until recently that Ihave doubled down on that, I
guess you might say and reallydone this exercise to identify
and clearly articulate to me thedifferent levels of value that
I really do bring to the table.
But I did have some coachingalong the way that really helped
me to start bringing thosethings up and I did start seeing
those changes and the impactthat it made.
(14:05):
So take the time to sit down andcreate a self-inventory.
There's no set length, no settime limit.
If writing is not your strength, lock yourself in a room with a
light and commit to one hour.
I'm going to sit down for onehour at the start and I want to
(14:25):
write down all of these thingsso that I can have this
inventory for myself.
What are your strengthspersonally and professionally?
How do you already add value topeople's lives?
Again, once you know thesethings, it is a game changer.
Be sure to include things likeyour professional experiences,
your education, both formal andinformal they definitely count.
(14:48):
What other unique experiencesdo you have that you bring to
the table that others may nothave experienced?
Once you've created this list,I think you'll see the
importance and the value and theimpact that it will have on
your confidence in your coaching, in your home, in your work,
(15:09):
especially in the early stagesof building your online business
.
Now the one thing you'veprobably been asking all along
is okay, what about clients?
So let's talk about clients fora minute, because the next
thing I want you to think aboutis also extremely critical, and
it's something that many peoplestruggle with.
It's defining your idealcustomer.
(15:32):
Now, notice, I didn't say nicheor niche, however you choose.
It's a French word.
The proper pronunciation I havelearned is niche, so it doesn't
matter what you call it, andthere's really a couple of
schools on the thought ofdefining your niche, so I'll
probably will share more aboutthat in another episode in the
near future, but I digress Earlyon.
(15:55):
I made the mistake of thinking,like many, I can help everyone,
and, while that may be true,it's not realistic.
You want to spend some timegetting crystal clear, or as
clear as you can, about who itis that you desire to help, the
kind of person that they are.
(16:17):
Are they a coach?
It can be as simple as that.
Are they working to build anonline business?
So you have to get crystalclear on who it is that you want
to help.
It's not about defining yourtarget audience.
It's also about knowing who itis that actually has the money
(16:38):
to pay for the problem that theyhave to get help with
overcoming it or addressing itright.
That you're passionate abouthelping them solve, that's key
right.
Being passionate about helpingthem solve, that's key right.
Being passionate about helpingthem solve the problem is really
going to help you grow yourbusiness and connect with the
(17:00):
people who have that challenge.
But I think the key in this isthey also have to have the money
and the desire to solve theproblem.
The pain has to be bad enoughfor them to want to pay someone
to help them solve thatchallenge.
So for me, I realized that myideal clients were new and or
(17:24):
transitioning coaches, peoplethat want to leave their
full-time jobs.
They want to transition andbuild a successful coaching
business, and they either didn'tknow where to start, or they
were wondering what the nextsteps were, or they were stuck
overwhelmed.
They lacked confidence, andonce I got clear on these things
who it is that I wanted to help, the other pieces started
(17:47):
falling into place, much likebuilding blocks.
So I recommend you sit down andask yourself some questions who
is it I'm trying to serve?
What are their biggestfrustrations?
This will keep you from wastingtime creating content and
offers and products, or whateverit may be, that don't resonate
(18:08):
with anyone or, worse, theyresonate with people who don't
have the means to pay you tohelp them solve the problem.
So then, once you understandthat, then you really want to be
able to dig into that idealcustomer's problems.
And I'll tell you early on again, I didn't spend enough time
(18:31):
understanding how this related.
I didn't take time to actuallyget to know the real pain points
that my clients were facing.
I fell into the trap of thecurse of knowledge.
I was a story brand guide.
I knew the language.
I knew the language of theonline business world, the
online marketing world, but notthe actual language and the real
(18:55):
pain points of my clients.
Specifically, I didn't listenwell enough and I certainly
didn't ask the right questions.
I assumed that I knew what theyneeded, and it's not that I
wasn't asking the questionsnecessarily.
It's more that I didn't evenknow where to ask.
If you don't know who you'reasking, it's harder to find
where to ask them.
(19:15):
Hence the reason you want to doyour best to define who they
are.
Now, one thing that helped mehere was having real
conversations with real peopleby asking the questions, like I
started out this show with, whatis the single biggest
frustration you have when itcomes to starting your business,
and the answers will berevealing.
(19:36):
You know they'll talk about thefeeling of overwhelm, the
lacking in clarity, the feelingof being stuck in a miserable
job that you know they only lookforward to going home on Friday
afternoon because they get abreak and away from that space,
but they have no idea how tomove forward.
So those conversations willgive you the insights you need
(20:01):
to create offers that actuallyhelp people solve their problems
.
So talk to them, ask them whatthey're struggling with, listen
to their language and payattention to what really, really
frustrates them.
Then it's time to validate yourbusiness.
Now, notice we haven't saidanything about building your
(20:23):
website or launching a podcastor any of these things you want
to validate your business.
Now, this is where I see a lotof people, including myself,
getting caught up.
It's tempting to jump intothose things, to building the
website, designing the logos,because really it feels
productive, but it's risky Ifyou skip the foundational steps.
(20:45):
You end up spending a lot oftime, energy and money without
ever seeing the results that youwant to see, or no results at
all.
I made that mistake early on.
I thought if I had this websiteor the perfect logo, clients
could more easily find me, andwhile there may be some truth in
that, it's absolutely the wrongplace to start.
(21:07):
What really matters is beingable to build relationships,
especially as a coach.
You've got to get really good,get granular with building
relationships and getting yourfirst paying clients first.
That's how you validate yourbusiness.
Everything else will fall intoplace and everything else can
come later.
I suggest, if you're going to doanything, like I said, an email
(21:30):
list start there and startbuilding relationships.
So here's my advice Before youspend a dime on building a
platform, building anythingonline, validate your business,
get your first paying clientsthrough one-on-one coaching or
by offering a simple workshop.
That's where you should focusyour time and your energy.
(21:50):
And maybe now you're saying,okay, great, dan, I know I need
paying clients.
That's the challenge.
So you're telling me to skipall these other steps that
everybody's telling me I need todo, telling me to skip all
these other steps thateverybody's telling me I need to
do.
Where do I get clients?
So think about this who do youknow?
Who do you know already rightnow?
Who are you connected with?
(22:16):
What groups are you pluggedinto?
Where do you go to network inperson?
Where do you go to networkonline?
The likelihood of findingsomeone who has a problem that
you can help them solve ispretty high when you start
looking around at who's aroundyou.
Now.
Show up, build therelationships, contribute a high
level of value and serve people.
Then, when and if theopportunity arises to invite
(22:36):
people to experience yourcoaching and how it can help
them, invite them.
I will share more about myapproach to creating clients
that I have been working on,learning and growing in and
continuing to build on in futureepisodes as well.
But that is the essenceBuilding relationships,
(22:57):
connecting with people, is thefirst step to creating clients.
Now, I've already said a fewtimes, I've learned these
lessons the hard way.
In many cases, I've spent a lotof time and money on courses,
on programs, thinking thatthey're going to help me get
clients, only to realize that Ihad skipped the most important
steps.
(23:18):
I wasn't doing the real work tocreate the relationships and to
understanding my value.
I let the distractions get inmy way too, whether it was
perfecting my website, which isa never-ending process, or
trying to master some newmarketing tactic, and what I
really needed to focus on wasbuilding that solid foundation,
(23:38):
defining my dreams, definingwhat I want.
In the military, we always had aclear mission and a plan.
We didn't jump ahead withoutlaying the groundwork first, and
business shouldn't be anydifferent.
You need to have that solidfoundation your vision, your
value, your ideal client beforeyou build all the external stuff
.
It's why skipping these stepscan be so risky for you, for me,
(24:02):
for anyone that's working tobuild their business.
They're extremely risky.
It may feel like you're makingprogress, but if you don't have
that footing, that foundation,you'll end up frustrated, you'll
end up burnout, and too often Isee people quitting because
they just feel like they weremissing something, like it's not
(24:23):
for them, like they didn't havethe value to bring to people,
like they didn't know what wasnext.
There's so many reasons, and Idon't want to see that for you,
so I know again.
It's tempting to skip thesefoundational steps and jump to
building the online platform sothat you can market, so you can
do all the other things.
It feels like progress, but,trust me, it's more important to
(24:45):
build that foundation.
Otherwise, you're just spinningyour wheels Really quickly.
We covered some basic steps thatare critical for your long-term
success Dreaming, dreaming big,creating that vision for your
life and for your business,understanding your value and
what you bring to the table,defining your ideal customer and
(25:07):
understanding their problemsand their language.
And then validating yourbusiness before focusing on the
external things like thewebsites, the logos, the
marketing platforms, whatever itmay be.
Here's my challenge to you Pickone of these action steps and
start right now, today.
Whether it's writing the 50things you want, doing the self
(25:30):
inventory of your strengths andwhat you bring to the table, or
speaking to your ideal customers, pick one of those and take
action today.
In the next episode, I'm goingto dive into what I think is the
next step, and that's gettingmore into the online platform
and creating those clients andthat process of what that looks
like, but first make sure youhave this solid foundation.
(25:54):
Thank you so much for joiningme today.
I'm excited for this podcastAgain.
This is episode two.
I would love to hear from youwhat is your single greatest
frustration with building yourcoaching business.
Where are you getting stuck?
Shoot me an email, send me avoice message one of those
options or and I absolutelywould appreciate it if you'll
(26:17):
sign up for the email list toget updates from me about the
podcast and maybe any otherthings that I'm working on.
Again, you can do all of thatat podcastdanwus and until next
week, I hope it's a great one.
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