In this episode, we dive into the power of storytelling for your coaching business. I’ll walk you through how to craft a story that not only connects with your ideal clients but also converts leads into paying clients. Sharing your personal journey can set you apart in a crowded market and build deeper trust with your audience.
Key Takeaways:
- Why storytelling is essential in your marketing strategy
- How to structure a story that resonates with your ideal clients
- The secret to using your story across platforms to attract clients
Drop me a line and share your thoughts!
Meet Your Host:
Hey there! I’m Michelle Kui—Visibility Marketing and Speaker Success Coach.
I’m the founder of Elevate LifeCoaching, where I help coaches like you build a stand-out brand, attract high-quality 5-6 figure clients, and land paid speaking gigs—all by leveraging the #1 most important asset in your business (hint: it’s not JUST social media!).
My Journey into Public Speaking & Visibility
My speaking journey started early—at 9 years old when my dad voluntold me to enter a speech contest (thanks, Dad!). Since then, I became the go-to speaker whenever someone needed a voice on short notice.
From leading corporate workshops to running training sessions, I thrived where most people froze—grabbing the mic while others sat back, hoping not to get called on.
After working with hundreds of coaches, I realized a HUGE missing piece that most entrepreneurs completely overlook—and it’s the #1 strategy top coaches use to grow their business, attract premium clients, and get booked on bigger stages.
Are you using it? If not, let’s change that. 🚀
🐦 SOCIAL STUFF:
Instagram ➔ / elevatelifecoach
Facebook ➔ / coachmichellekuei
Linkedin ➔ ...
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Michelle (00:00):
Hello, hello and welcome back to Make it Visible
podcast.
I'm your host, Michelle, andtoday we are going to talk about
one of the topic that I am verypassionate about.
It's how to create a compellingstory that actually resonate
with your ideal dream client andturn them into paying clients,
(00:20):
if this is a topic that you'reinterested to hear stay tuned
because I got a lot of detailsand secrets.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hey, you're listening to Make it.
Michelle (00:31):
Visible podcast.
I'm your host, Michelle Kui.
I am a visibility marketingcoach and soon to be your
business bestie in the coachingbusiness world Not knowing how
to connect with your audience,grab people's attention and get
them excited to buy from youshould never be the reason you
give up on your dream to becomea full-time coach.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I'm all about making marketing, the easiest part of
your coaching business, so thatyou can turn a passion for
coaching into a visible andprofitable reality.
Michelle (00:59):
So buckle up, ladies, let's get started.
Go up, ladies, let's getstarted.
When I first started out mycoaching business journey, many
of you, if you've been followingme for a while, you know that I
started off as a life coach andmy intention was I wanted to
help more people.
Like many of you, I was on apersonal journey of how to
(01:23):
overcome my self-doubt, mynegative self-talk, and during
that journey, I realized thatthere's so much more once you
start working on your mindset,with your body, and there are
just opportunities just open upand come flushing at you right,
and so that was my.
That inspired me to want tolook into okay, so now that I
(01:45):
know this is helpful, how can Icreate more impact?
How can I be out there andspread this message around?
And one of the things I wasalso experiencing in my work
life was I was, I was just.
I just got rejected from apromotion that I was trying to
apply at my work, at myfull-time job, and that was also
(02:08):
part of the reason why I wassearching elsewhere to find a
solution.
And, like many of you, you'reprobably working at another job
or maybe you'll retire.
No matter where you are,there's always that part of you
that wanted to do more right.
There's something else that'sout there that you feel the
(02:31):
calling, and so coaching wascalling me and I didn't know
what it was until I had aconversation with one of my
friends who was looking for alife coach for his nephew, who
has schizophrenia and justneeded someone to guide him
through that initial transitionperiod to get back on his feet
(02:56):
and actually have a job, asteady job, instead of going
from job to job.
So I got exposed to the termlife coach and I know a lot of
you don't like that term and Ido have a resource.
So if you want a copy of thatresource, it's 50 names that you
can call yourself withoutreferring yourself as a life
(03:17):
coach.
So if you do want to have acopy of that resource, simply
send me a message or reply to myemail or just reach out to me
and I'll send you a copy of thatresource.
Simply send me a message orreply to my email or just reach
out to me and I'll send you acopy of that.
I know Life Coach and, honestly,back then I was not resonating
with that term either, but I gotexposed to that term and so I
(03:38):
was looking into and I startedto do research, and many of you
who's starting out your businessjourney, you're probably also
doing a lot of research, right?
That research?
For me back then it was, oh,what is Life Coach?
And for you it might look likeyou're actually researching.
How do I do marketing?
How do I create that socialmedia online presence?
(03:59):
How do I bring my social mediaup to par?
Or how do I actually get ontosocial media?
How do I start my businesswithout social media?
So all these are things thatyou're probably heavily
researching on, and maybe youeven invested some of the
courses out there and teachingyou how to start the social
media marketing Now.
(04:19):
So when I look the like theterm life coach and I got a
whole lot of uh information,right, what is life coach?
Uh, why people need life coach,and my my reasoning was that I
was already in my, I wasreaching my mid mid year, my
midlife, uh, the midlife crisis.
(04:41):
Um, and there's another storyfor another time, I was reaching
to that midlife and and Ididn't want to go through in
another four years of schoolgetting a degree and going and
spending all the tuition andmoney and just you starting from
scratch.
That was not me.
I was very clear in terms of Iwant to do this, but I want to
(05:02):
do this, but I want to do itright and I want to do it with
something that's more creditable.
So I was looking foraccreditation school to get
certified, and, being someonewho came from the healthcare
background, I really believethat you know if you're dealing
with someone else's life, youbetter be certified.
That's just my belief.
(05:23):
That's just my personal belief.
Right, is it required?
You don't need to be acertified coach to be a coach,
but I do believe that it's anadded value if you do have the
accreditation or you do have thecertification right.
And plus, nowadays there's somany coaches around, how do you
(05:43):
differentiate yourself fromeverybody else?
Certification, gettingcertified, is one of the way
that you can differentiateyourself among all these other
coaches, and that, hopefully,that's something that you do
highlight, because that'ssomething that you're actually
putting the work into.
And so I started to look and Iwas doing a lot of research, so
(06:04):
that got me started in lifecoaching business.
I started and there I wastrying to know exactly where you
are now pretty much trying toget my business off the ground
inside a community whereFacebook, where life coaches
(06:25):
hang out, and someone was askingis there a life coaching
program that also teach youabout business development and
marketing?
Now, based on my research andyou can prove me wrong if you do
know a accreditation or schoolor certification program that
(06:45):
actually has a comprehensive,that teach you how to be a coach
and also teach you how to be amarketer, please do let me know,
because I think that would be avery important resource for my
clients and for my listeners andfollowers to know, because,
when I look, there's not asingle program that's out there
that actually combined the two.
(07:06):
And it makes perfect sense,right?
Because you're going into acertification program to become
a certified coach.
You didn't go into acertification program to become
a marketer.
So, a lot of these coachingprogram and certification
program they teach you how to bea great coach, but they don't
necessarily teach you how to bea good marketer for your
(07:28):
coaching business.
Yes, they do give you some kindof business development and
marketing classes, but it's notenough.
They don't go into details ofhow do you grow and how do you
scale your coaching business.
Every single program that's outthere.
They probably combine a littlebit of here's how to be a good
(07:51):
coach and here is how to getyour business started.
But getting your businessstarted is really easy in my
opinion Well, I can say thatbecause I teach that right but
it is really easy and you don'tneed a whole lot of things in
order to get started.
You need a calendar, you need away to accept payment, and
(08:12):
nowadays people have PayPal,venmo, however, that you can
accept payment right.
So that's another thing thatyou need.
So that's the things thatnumber two that you're going to
need.
You're also probably going toneed to have a copy of the
contract which I had covered inprevious episodes, or many other
previous episodes way beforewhere, with that contract, icf
(08:35):
International Coach Federationgive you a really good template
that you can download and youcan bring it to your legal
advisor to have them doublecheck and take a look.
So there's a way that you canset up very easily.
So you need a contract, you needa calendar to allow your client
to book appointment, and youneed to have a way of accepting
(08:57):
the payment.
So those are the things thatyou're going to need to get
started, and that's what a lotof coaching certification
program would help you do.
They give you the foundation ofhow to get started, and that's
what a lot of coachingcertification program would help
you do.
They give you the foundation ofhow to get started, but they
don't go into details of how doyou market that business, which
is why a lot of newbie coaches,and even coaches who's looking
(09:17):
to scale, run into the problemof how do I make this business
scalable and sustainable?
Because they lack the knowledgeof how to do that.
And in order to do that, youneed to become a marketer or you
need someone who has themarketing knowledge to show you
(09:38):
the steps of how to get there.
And so we're talking about twodifferent, two different area of
specialty that your coachingcertification program.
It's not going to be able toapply because that's not their
thing, right?
So as coaches, we all talkabout a niche.
So that's their niche.
Their niche is to help you tocertify as a coach.
(10:00):
Their niche is not marketingcourse for coaches, right?
So that makes sense.
So when I got out of lifecoaching program, that's what I
was struggling with.
I was trying to get my businessoff the ground as soon as I
came out, I didn't wait.
I knew that the time isvaluable and the fact that I
went into coach certificationand knowing that I don't want to
(10:24):
spend another four years goingthrough the schooling and
getting myself a degree or goingthrough that whole tuition
process and all that admissionprocess I knew very well that by
the time I get out, I want tohave this business going as soon
as possible, as fast as I can,and so one of the things that I
(10:44):
did right off the back is I wentand hired a mentor coach who
can show me how to put mybusiness and get my business off
the ground.
So a lot of you are out theredoing the research on your own
You're like looking for how do Iget more?
How do I market my coachingbusiness?
Maybe there are social mediamarketing courses I need to take
.
Maybe there's a nichedevelopment course I need to
(11:06):
take, or maybe you're doing thisfor free.
You're paying someone, nomatter what it is.
The longer you wait, the longerit's going to take for your
business to get off the ground.
So if you're sitting there andwondering if you should hire
somebody, please do and go andget yourself a coach right,
because if you're really seriousabout having a coaching
business, then that should bethe number one on your list that
(11:29):
you need to do.
Now, speaking of number onething to do on your list, I
recently put together a coachstartup checklist, because a lot
of my clients and new coacheswho are starting out the number
one question that they alwaysask me is, or they always tell
(11:49):
me, is that, michelle, I wishthere's a checklist that I can
put together and I can just gothrough them and one by one.
I know that by hitting these, Iam on track, I am hitting my
goal.
I know that these are thethings I'm not missed.
So I recently put together acoach startup checklist and all
you have to do is there's a linkdown below this episode.
(12:12):
You can click that and you canget a copy for yourself.
And if you're looking forsomething to like really to
track for yourself and to beable to know like am I missing a
step?
Am I on the right track?
This checklist is super helpfuland I put a lot of energy in
creating it, and these are thesteps that you're going to need
(12:33):
to get your business off theground.
Okay, so I quickly realized thatin order to have a viable,
sustainable business, I need tostart market my business, and
one of the things I came acrossreally early on this journey is
I realized that there's really aneed for having that ability to
(12:58):
connect emotionally with youraudience, and I know a lot of
coaches out there who's onsocial media.
They're posting, they'reposting every single day and a
lot of when you look at theirposts, right?
I have this habit of goingaround and checking out
everybody's posts.
When you look at their posts,the post is great.
(13:19):
Some of them actuallyincorporate AI and you could
tell, because there's AIelements that's in their post
that just normally we wouldn'tsay on a daily basis.
And I know that that's not theway that they usually talk,
right, because you look at theirother posts, that's not the way
that they're speaking or that'snot the way that they're
writing.
(13:40):
You could tell that what'sthere in their own words, versus
what's coming out from theartificial intelligence, what's
coming out from ChatGPT or Claw.
No matter which app you use,you can tell there's a certain
degree of variation from the waythat they usually talk to the
way that the AI is creatingtheir posts.
(14:00):
So when I first came out, Irealized that was the thing that
you're going to need.
You need to connect with youraudience and you need to connect
with them on an emotional levelso that people feel like, oh,
they feel inspired, they feelmotivated, they feel that you
actually understand them.
And the powerful thing that Ifound and this is something that
(14:22):
I actually went into when I gotcertified in this is the
storytelling.
And I know it sounds so easy,right, it sounds when you hear
storytelling.
There's a lot of marketernowadays also encourage creator
or coaches to use morestorytelling, but the struggle
(14:44):
with storytelling is a lot ofcoaches.
When they do the storytelling,first of all, they don't know
which story to share.
Right, let me know, if this istrue for you, that you have
overcome so much in the past andlife has brought you so much
and your journey has just beenincredibly rich, that you have
(15:06):
so many stories in your pocketand you have no idea which one
to tell.
And there's the other hand,where some of us, we don't
believe that our story isactually important and
significant enough to actuallybe shared in front of our
audience.
And, of course, there's thethird aspect of the hesitation.
Right, the hesitation would beoh, if I come out and being
(15:29):
vulnerable, I'm going to hurt alot of people and I don't want
that right.
So which of the three bestdescribe you?
Are you someone who has a lotof story to tell, but you don't
know which one describe you?
Are you someone who has a lotof story to tell, but you don't
know which one to tell?
Are you someone who doesn'tbelieve that you have anything
significant to tell?
Or are you the third personwhere, if you come out and tell
(15:54):
your story, it's going to hurt alot of people?
Which one of the three are you?
I would love to hear yourthoughts.
So storytelling it's not about,like, giving your audience all
the detail and give them alaundry list, right, and that's
a mistake.
A lot of coaches and contentcreators, or even anyone who's
(16:17):
on social media, when they dostorytelling, a lot of them
create this long post on theirFacebook thread or on their
Instagram, or when they talk,they give a whole detail of.
This is the experience I had A,b and C, and this is what
happened.
Nobody wants to hear thatlaundry list, right, because
(16:38):
people are busy and unless yourstory is actually relevant to
them, to their experience, whywould anybody care about your
story.
We're all too busy and in ourown journey, in our own story,
nobody wants to hear that longlaundry list of yours, and so
(16:58):
that's the biggest mistakes.
I see a lot of coaches makingthat when you go to their posts,
even some of the some of thelike the high ticket coaches
like that that I I've seen, Iknow of when they do
storytelling, I'm like I'mthinking in the back of my mind.
I'm thinking, oh, my gosh, thatsucks, that sucks, don't post
(17:19):
that.
Gosh, that sucks, that sucks,don't post that.
So it's in itself, it's an artof how to do storytelling.
So how do you exactly dostorytelling?
All right, so I hope you have apen because I am going to give
you the elements of what makes acompelling story.
(17:41):
So, element number one and thisis very important, okay, it's
about relatability.
Like, how is it relatable tothe audience that you are
serving?
So if you think about yourjourney, your struggle, your
challenges that you hadexperienced and faced, how does
(18:03):
your audience relate to thatexperience?
So you always want to, evenbefore you start writing or
before sharing, you always wantto think about how is this
relevant and how is thisrelatable to what my client or
what?
My prospect or anyone who'sgoing to read this post?
How is it relevant to them?
What are they going through?
(18:25):
So the key to storytelling isyou always want to think about,
right, not your own story, buthow is your story relatable to
the audience that you are goingto serve?
So in the past, I was serving asa negative self-talk expert.
Right, I call myself a negativeself-talk expert, and the story
(18:48):
that I was telling is relatableto everybody who experienced
that negative self-talk.
Now, that's very broad, butit's also very narrow, right,
but when you think about allthese negative thoughts but it's
also very narrow, right, butwhen you think about all these
negative thoughts, we all havethese negative thoughts, and so
(19:09):
that makes it relevant,relatable, and so, no matter
what I bring into that story,someone is going to resonate.
Somehow, that negativeself-talk created this body
shaming, it created this lack ofconfidence, it created a lot of
these unmotivation, right,things that I would completely
not do to others, but I would doit to myself.
And so it becomes so relevantthat people stop scrawling and
(19:33):
they start reading my story, butin their mind, they're reading
their own journey, they'rereading their story, and so the
first element of storytelling isyou want to start by thinking
about how is this story going tobe relatable for your audience,
for the people that you'reserving, and that is the key.
Okay, and so it's not a laundrylist so you can think about all
(19:56):
the stories that you have inyour pocket.
Take one, so you can thinkabout all the stories that you
have in your pocket, take one,take one and ask yourself what
is it about this story that canbe relatable to the people that
I'm serving?
And how can I help them byusing this as an analogy, as a
metaphor, how can I help them tosee this is what they're going
(20:18):
through?
And so that's number one.
Number two element that's mostimportantly inside a
storytelling is there's always achange, there's a turning point
, there's a point of no return.
Right, sometimes you'll hearpeople say this is the moment
that changes everything.
Or this is the moment that youhad a down to your knee, where
(20:43):
you had a major breakdown, oryou decided you put your foot
down, or you decided this is nomore.
And you might be thinking rightnow right, you're doing a lot
of marketing research.
What is that?
What will be that turning pointfor you where you said you know
what no more enough research.
What is that?
What would be that turningpoint for you where you said you
know what no more Enoughresearch.
(21:05):
I'm just going to start workingwith Michelle, right, so what
would be that point where youare going to say this is the
moment that changed everything?
So think back to that momentwhere you knew that that moment
you made a decision is a turningpoint and how your audience can
(21:28):
also see the hope andpossibility for themselves.
Okay, so, example right.
One day I realized that helpingothers was truly fulfilling for
me, and that's when I made theleap into coaching.
Example like that, in just asingle line, is demonstrating a
(21:48):
turning point, a point ofpossibility, right, for your
audience to see, and so that notonly is it relatable, but
you're also giving them anopportunity, a hint.
This is something possible forthem too, all right, so
hopefully by now you can see howyou can use storytelling in
marketing, and I hope that ifyou're listening and you have
(22:11):
not subscribed to my podcast yet, this is the moment that
changes everything.
Okay, so go ahead and hit thatsubscribe button and subscribe
to the podcast, because this isthe moment that changes
everything.
All right.
So, moving on to element numberthree, element number three is
the after moment.
(22:32):
I have a worksheet thatactually walk you through this
whole format, okay.
So again, if you want that copy, just go ahead and either reach
out to me or send me an emailand just say hey, I heard you on
the podcast.
You know there's a resourceabout the storytelling.
Can I get a copy of it?
Just send me an email and I'llbe happy to send that over to
you.
(22:52):
So, basically, the third elementis you want to describe an
after moment.
So we talked about the point ofno return, the turning point,
which is the moment that changeseverything.
And so, once you changeeverything, you got to tell your
audience what changed andwhat's that outcome and what's
that possibility.
Look like, right, you can'tjust leave your story hanging.
(23:13):
You got to give people like,what changed for you?
And so, if you're sharing yourstory, you want to describe what
were you able to accomplish,what was the result of working
with you, or how is life goingto be different.
That is the after moment.
So, if you think about it, thebefore, the point, the turning
point, and then the after, whichalmost sounds very familiar and
(23:38):
you probably have seen it onsocial, on Instagram, right?
A lot of fitness coaches usethis method really well when
they do a before and after ofthe picture of their clients,
right, and that's a great visualstorytelling the before and the
after of someone'stransformation.
(23:59):
So these are the three keyelements.
Number one you start with thebefore moment, right, that
moment of all the struggle, allthe challenges, all the
frustration you have, and thenyou have the turning point, the
moment that changes everything,and then, after that, you want
it to be able to describe whatthe life can be, or the after
(24:20):
moment, what that looks like,what is the result that look
like, what is the solution looklike.
So all three are your keyelements to a great, compelling
storytelling.
Now, the key to the storytellingis not just tell inspiration,
right, it's great leavingsomeone, giving someone a lot of
(24:43):
inspiration, education, but youhave to remember you have a
business to run and so at theend of that post, you always
want to leave some room for whatdo you want your audience to do
?
Now, if you want this, if youwant this to be happening in
your life, if you want this tobe the reality of your life,
(25:06):
then here's how we can worktogether.
So you always have a fourthelement right?
The fourth element is you wantto invite your audience to take
an action step with you.
Now, that action step could behey, just follow me on social.
Or it could be book a call withme.
So that call to action can varydepending on what your
(25:28):
intention and what yourmarketing goal is, so that you
can get your audience to take astep further with you.
So let's summarize real quickwhat are the elements of
compelling storytelling?
Number one is you want todescribe a before moment.
There's also a turning point,right, the moment that changes
everything.
And then you want to end itwith the after moment.
(25:51):
What are the result, thesolution, the goal and what were
you able to achieve?
And if you wanted to take it astep further as a business owner
, as an entrepreneur, then youwouldn't leave it just with
inspiration.
You would close it up byinviting your audience to take
an action with you.
Okay, so when you integrate allthis that I have just talked
(26:15):
about and this is how I was able, right to within that first
year, to get paying clientclients who's reaching out to me
, clients who's looking up oninternet to find me and clients
who just found me out of nowherebecause I was doing this.
(26:35):
I was using this method to putmyself out there and it makes it
attractive, it makes itrelatable, it makes people want
what you have.
So don't just tell your story.
You want to make sure that allthese elements are together and
you definitely want to make surethat your story is relatable,
(26:58):
that's relevant to the audiencethat you're serving.
And if you're not clear and Iknow this is where a lot of
coaches are struggling with, isthat they're not clear exactly
what is that solution look like?
What does that outcome looklike?
And so if you're not clearabout the journey that you're
taking your audience on, then weneed to talk about your niche,
(27:21):
we need to talk about yourmessaging and we also need to
talk about that call to actionwhat are you actually offering
them as your marketing goal?
Right, marketing can be socomplex, but it can also be
simplified.
As long as you have thatroadmap in front of you and
knowing exactly what is it thatI want my audience to do, and
(27:44):
your audience will go where youwant them to go.
Okay, recap today.
Okay, so we talked about howstorytelling can actually
transform and turn yourfollowers into paying clients by
using these three right, veryimportant elements in
storytelling.
(28:04):
And remember, the key tocompelling story is you want to
make it relatable, you want tomake it relevant to their
experience and not your own, andyou want to show and
demonstrate that transformationhow your audience would be able
(28:25):
to accomplish by following youor by working with you.
And that is the most importantthing, which is the fourth step
right Inviting your audience tojoin you on your journey.
On that journey, whether it'sto follow you so that they
become follower or actually justbooking a call with you.
I mean, ultimately, that's allwe want, right?
(28:45):
We want to have the payingclients.
So ultimately, it's abouteverything that you do on social
.
Everything about thestorytelling is ultimately
walking your clients, walkingyour potential clients to
actually sign up with you sothat they can become your paying
client.
Okay, so next week we're goingto talk about how to create a
(29:09):
marketing plan.
So I talked about the marketinggoals that you have.
How do you actually create amarketing plan that works for
you and your coaching business?
So we'll talk more about thaton the next episode and, again,
if you want any of the resourcesthat I have mentioned.
Just simply shoot me an emailor just let me know.
(29:29):
Hey, I listened to your podcastand it was on the podcast.
I need a copy of that.
I'll be happy to share the linkwith you so that you can go and
grab a copy, and next weekwe'll talk about how to create a
marketing plan so that it willbe easier for you going into
2020, the end of 2024 and thebeginning of 2025.
(29:50):
2020, the end of 2024 and thebeginning of 2025.
All right, thanks for joiningme on Make it Visible podcast.
If you found today's episodehelpful, please do subscribe and
send me a review and share itwith a fellow coach.
Until next time, keep shiningand make your coaching business
visible.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Thank you for listening to Make it Visible
podcast.
If you love this episode andwant deeper support for your
coaching business, head over toelevatelifecoachingorg and see
how we can partner together toturn your passion into a
profitable business.
I help female coaches launchand scale their coaching
business faster than ever,without wasted time and money,
(30:31):
filling the gaps in yourmarketing strategies, creating a
simple and easy to followsystem so you can accelerate on
the path of coaching businessthat you love to wake up to.
Head over toelevatelifecoachingorg and grab
a free strategy audit today.
Hello, hello and welcome back to Make it Visible
podcast.
I'm your host, Michelle, andtoday we are going to talk about
one of the topic that I am verypassionate about.
It's how to create a compellingstory that actually resonate
with your ideal dream client andturn them into paying clients,
(00:20):
if this is a topic that you'reinterested to hear stay tuned
because I got a lot of detailsand secrets.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hey, you're listening to Make it.
Michelle (00:31):
Visible podcast.
I'm your host, Michelle Kui.
I am a visibility marketingcoach and soon to be your
business bestie in the coachingbusiness world Not knowing how
to connect with your audience,grab people's attention and get
them excited to buy from youshould never be the reason you
give up on your dream to becomea full-time coach.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I'm all about making marketing, the easiest part of
your coaching business, so thatyou can turn a passion for
coaching into a visible andprofitable reality.
Michelle (00:59):
So buckle up, ladies, let's get started.
Go up, ladies, let's getstarted.
When I first started out mycoaching business journey, many
of you, if you've been followingme for a while, you know that I
started off as a life coach andmy intention was I wanted to
help more people.
Like many of you, I was on apersonal journey of how to
(01:23):
overcome my self-doubt, mynegative self-talk, and during
that journey, I realized thatthere's so much more once you
start working on your mindset,with your body, and there are
just opportunities just open upand come flushing at you right,
and so that was my.
That inspired me to want tolook into okay, so now that I
(01:45):
know this is helpful, how can Icreate more impact?
How can I be out there andspread this message around?
And one of the things I wasalso experiencing in my work
life was I was, I was just.
I just got rejected from apromotion that I was trying to
apply at my work, at myfull-time job, and that was also
(02:08):
part of the reason why I wassearching elsewhere to find a
solution.
And, like many of you, you'reprobably working at another job
or maybe you'll retire.
No matter where you are,there's always that part of you
that wanted to do more right.
There's something else that'sout there that you feel the
(02:31):
calling, and so coaching wascalling me and I didn't know
what it was until I had aconversation with one of my
friends who was looking for alife coach for his nephew, who
has schizophrenia and justneeded someone to guide him
through that initial transitionperiod to get back on his feet
(02:56):
and actually have a job, asteady job, instead of going
from job to job.
So I got exposed to the termlife coach and I know a lot of
you don't like that term and Ido have a resource.
So if you want a copy of thatresource, it's 50 names that you
can call yourself withoutreferring yourself as a life
(03:17):
coach.
So if you do want to have acopy of that resource, simply
send me a message or reply to myemail or just reach out to me
and I'll send you a copy of thatresource.
Simply send me a message orreply to my email or just reach
out to me and I'll send you acopy of that.
I know Life Coach and, honestly,back then I was not resonating
with that term either, but I gotexposed to that term and so I
(03:38):
was looking into and I startedto do research, and many of you
who's starting out your businessjourney, you're probably also
doing a lot of research, right?
That research?
For me back then it was, oh,what is Life Coach?
And for you it might look likeyou're actually researching.
How do I do marketing?
How do I create that socialmedia online presence?
(03:59):
How do I bring my social mediaup to par?
Or how do I actually get ontosocial media?
How do I start my businesswithout social media?
So all these are things thatyou're probably heavily
researching on, and maybe youeven invested some of the
courses out there and teachingyou how to start the social
media marketing Now.
(04:19):
So when I look the like theterm life coach and I got a
whole lot of uh information,right, what is life coach?
Uh, why people need life coach,and my my reasoning was that I
was already in my, I wasreaching my mid mid year, my
midlife, uh, the midlife crisis.
(04:41):
Um, and there's another storyfor another time, I was reaching
to that midlife and and Ididn't want to go through in
another four years of schoolgetting a degree and going and
spending all the tuition andmoney and just you starting from
scratch.
That was not me.
I was very clear in terms of Iwant to do this, but I want to
(05:02):
do this, but I want to do itright and I want to do it with
something that's more creditable.
So I was looking foraccreditation school to get
certified, and, being someonewho came from the healthcare
background, I really believethat you know if you're dealing
with someone else's life, youbetter be certified.
That's just my belief.
(05:23):
That's just my personal belief.
Right, is it required?
You don't need to be acertified coach to be a coach,
but I do believe that it's anadded value if you do have the
accreditation or you do have thecertification right.
And plus, nowadays there's somany coaches around, how do you
(05:43):
differentiate yourself fromeverybody else?
Certification, gettingcertified, is one of the way
that you can differentiateyourself among all these other
coaches, and that, hopefully,that's something that you do
highlight, because that'ssomething that you're actually
putting the work into.
And so I started to look and Iwas doing a lot of research, so
(06:04):
that got me started in lifecoaching business.
I started and there I wastrying to know exactly where you
are now pretty much trying toget my business off the ground
inside a community whereFacebook, where life coaches
(06:25):
hang out, and someone was askingis there a life coaching
program that also teach youabout business development and
marketing?
Now, based on my research andyou can prove me wrong if you do
know a accreditation or schoolor certification program that
(06:45):
actually has a comprehensive,that teach you how to be a coach
and also teach you how to be amarketer, please do let me know,
because I think that would be avery important resource for my
clients and for my listeners andfollowers to know, because,
when I look, there's not asingle program that's out there
that actually combined the two.
(07:06):
And it makes perfect sense,right?
Because you're going into acertification program to become
a certified coach.
You didn't go into acertification program to become
a marketer.
So, a lot of these coachingprogram and certification
program they teach you how to bea great coach, but they don't
necessarily teach you how to bea good marketer for your
(07:28):
coaching business.
Yes, they do give you some kindof business development and
marketing classes, but it's notenough.
They don't go into details ofhow do you grow and how do you
scale your coaching business.
Every single program that's outthere.
They probably combine a littlebit of here's how to be a good
(07:51):
coach and here is how to getyour business started.
But getting your businessstarted is really easy in my
opinion Well, I can say thatbecause I teach that right but
it is really easy and you don'tneed a whole lot of things in
order to get started.
You need a calendar, you need away to accept payment, and
(08:12):
nowadays people have PayPal,venmo, however, that you can
accept payment right.
So that's another thing thatyou need.
So that's the things thatnumber two that you're going to
need.
You're also probably going toneed to have a copy of the
contract which I had covered inprevious episodes, or many other
previous episodes way beforewhere, with that contract, icf
(08:35):
International Coach Federationgive you a really good template
that you can download and youcan bring it to your legal
advisor to have them doublecheck and take a look.
So there's a way that you canset up very easily.
So you need a contract, you needa calendar to allow your client
to book appointment, and youneed to have a way of accepting
(08:57):
the payment.
So those are the things thatyou're going to need to get
started, and that's what a lotof coaching certification
program would help you do.
They give you the foundation ofhow to get started, and that's
what a lot of coachingcertification program would help
you do.
They give you the foundation ofhow to get started, but they
don't go into details of how doyou market that business, which
is why a lot of newbie coaches,and even coaches who's looking
(09:17):
to scale, run into the problemof how do I make this business
scalable and sustainable?
Because they lack the knowledgeof how to do that.
And in order to do that, youneed to become a marketer or you
need someone who has themarketing knowledge to show you
(09:38):
the steps of how to get there.
And so we're talking about twodifferent, two different area of
specialty that your coachingcertification program.
It's not going to be able toapply because that's not their
thing, right?
So as coaches, we all talkabout a niche.
So that's their niche.
Their niche is to help you tocertify as a coach.
(10:00):
Their niche is not marketingcourse for coaches, right?
So that makes sense.
So when I got out of lifecoaching program, that's what I
was struggling with.
I was trying to get my businessoff the ground as soon as I
came out, I didn't wait.
I knew that the time isvaluable and the fact that I
went into coach certificationand knowing that I don't want to
(10:24):
spend another four years goingthrough the schooling and
getting myself a degree or goingthrough that whole tuition
process and all that admissionprocess I knew very well that by
the time I get out, I want tohave this business going as soon
as possible, as fast as I can,and so one of the things that I
(10:44):
did right off the back is I wentand hired a mentor coach who
can show me how to put mybusiness and get my business off
the ground.
So a lot of you are out theredoing the research on your own
You're like looking for how do Iget more?
How do I market my coachingbusiness?
Maybe there are social mediamarketing courses I need to take
.
Maybe there's a nichedevelopment course I need to
(11:06):
take, or maybe you're doing thisfor free.
You're paying someone, nomatter what it is.
The longer you wait, the longerit's going to take for your
business to get off the ground.
So if you're sitting there andwondering if you should hire
somebody, please do and go andget yourself a coach right,
because if you're really seriousabout having a coaching
business, then that should bethe number one on your list that
(11:29):
you need to do.
Now, speaking of number onething to do on your list, I
recently put together a coachstartup checklist, because a lot
of my clients and new coacheswho are starting out the number
one question that they alwaysask me is, or they always tell
(11:49):
me, is that, michelle, I wishthere's a checklist that I can
put together and I can just gothrough them and one by one.
I know that by hitting these, Iam on track, I am hitting my
goal.
I know that these are thethings I'm not missed.
So I recently put together acoach startup checklist and all
you have to do is there's a linkdown below this episode.
(12:12):
You can click that and you canget a copy for yourself.
And if you're looking forsomething to like really to
track for yourself and to beable to know like am I missing a
step?
Am I on the right track?
This checklist is super helpfuland I put a lot of energy in
creating it, and these are thesteps that you're going to need
(12:33):
to get your business off theground.
Okay, so I quickly realized thatin order to have a viable,
sustainable business, I need tostart market my business, and
one of the things I came acrossreally early on this journey is
I realized that there's really aneed for having that ability to
(12:58):
connect emotionally with youraudience, and I know a lot of
coaches out there who's onsocial media.
They're posting, they'reposting every single day and a
lot of when you look at theirposts, right?
I have this habit of goingaround and checking out
everybody's posts.
When you look at their posts,the post is great.
(13:19):
Some of them actuallyincorporate AI and you could
tell, because there's AIelements that's in their post
that just normally we wouldn'tsay on a daily basis.
And I know that that's not theway that they usually talk,
right, because you look at theirother posts, that's not the way
that they're speaking or that'snot the way that they're
writing.
(13:40):
You could tell that what'sthere in their own words, versus
what's coming out from theartificial intelligence, what's
coming out from ChatGPT or Claw.
No matter which app you use,you can tell there's a certain
degree of variation from the waythat they usually talk to the
way that the AI is creatingtheir posts.
(14:00):
So when I first came out, Irealized that was the thing that
you're going to need.
You need to connect with youraudience and you need to connect
with them on an emotional levelso that people feel like, oh,
they feel inspired, they feelmotivated, they feel that you
actually understand them.
And the powerful thing that Ifound and this is something that
(14:22):
I actually went into when I gotcertified in this is the
storytelling.
And I know it sounds so easy,right, it sounds when you hear
storytelling.
There's a lot of marketernowadays also encourage creator
or coaches to use morestorytelling, but the struggle
(14:44):
with storytelling is a lot ofcoaches.
When they do the storytelling,first of all, they don't know
which story to share.
Right, let me know, if this istrue for you, that you have
overcome so much in the past andlife has brought you so much
and your journey has just beenincredibly rich, that you have
(15:06):
so many stories in your pocketand you have no idea which one
to tell.
And there's the other hand,where some of us, we don't
believe that our story isactually important and
significant enough to actuallybe shared in front of our
audience.
And, of course, there's thethird aspect of the hesitation.
Right, the hesitation would beoh, if I come out and being
(15:29):
vulnerable, I'm going to hurt alot of people and I don't want
that right.
So which of the three bestdescribe you?
Are you someone who has a lotof story to tell, but you don't
know which one describe you?
Are you someone who has a lotof story to tell, but you don't
know which one to tell?
Are you someone who doesn'tbelieve that you have anything
significant to tell?
Or are you the third personwhere, if you come out and tell
(15:54):
your story, it's going to hurt alot of people?
Which one of the three are you?
I would love to hear yourthoughts.
So storytelling it's not about,like, giving your audience all
the detail and give them alaundry list, right, and that's
a mistake.
A lot of coaches and contentcreators, or even anyone who's
(16:17):
on social media, when they dostorytelling, a lot of them
create this long post on theirFacebook thread or on their
Instagram, or when they talk,they give a whole detail of.
This is the experience I had A,b and C, and this is what
happened.
Nobody wants to hear thatlaundry list, right, because
(16:38):
people are busy and unless yourstory is actually relevant to
them, to their experience, whywould anybody care about your
story.
We're all too busy and in ourown journey, in our own story,
nobody wants to hear that longlaundry list of yours, and so
(16:58):
that's the biggest mistakes.
I see a lot of coaches makingthat when you go to their posts,
even some of the some of thelike the high ticket coaches
like that that I I've seen, Iknow of when they do
storytelling, I'm like I'mthinking in the back of my mind.
I'm thinking, oh, my gosh, thatsucks, that sucks, don't post
(17:19):
that.
Gosh, that sucks, that sucks,don't post that.
So it's in itself, it's an artof how to do storytelling.
So how do you exactly dostorytelling?
All right, so I hope you have apen because I am going to give
you the elements of what makes acompelling story.
(17:41):
So, element number one and thisis very important, okay, it's
about relatability.
Like, how is it relatable tothe audience that you are
serving?
So if you think about yourjourney, your struggle, your
challenges that you hadexperienced and faced, how does
(18:03):
your audience relate to thatexperience?
So you always want to, evenbefore you start writing or
before sharing, you always wantto think about how is this
relevant and how is thisrelatable to what my client or
what?
My prospect or anyone who'sgoing to read this post?
How is it relevant to them?
What are they going through?
(18:25):
So the key to storytelling isyou always want to think about,
right, not your own story, buthow is your story relatable to
the audience that you are goingto serve?
So in the past, I was serving asa negative self-talk expert.
Right, I call myself a negativeself-talk expert, and the story
(18:48):
that I was telling is relatableto everybody who experienced
that negative self-talk.
Now, that's very broad, butit's also very narrow, right,
but when you think about allthese negative thoughts but it's
also very narrow, right, butwhen you think about all these
negative thoughts, we all havethese negative thoughts, and so
(19:09):
that makes it relevant,relatable, and so, no matter
what I bring into that story,someone is going to resonate.
Somehow, that negativeself-talk created this body
shaming, it created this lack ofconfidence, it created a lot of
these unmotivation, right,things that I would completely
not do to others, but I would doit to myself.
And so it becomes so relevantthat people stop scrawling and
(19:33):
they start reading my story, butin their mind, they're reading
their own journey, they'rereading their story, and so the
first element of storytelling isyou want to start by thinking
about how is this story going tobe relatable for your audience,
for the people that you'reserving, and that is the key.
Okay, and so it's not a laundrylist so you can think about all
(19:56):
the stories that you have inyour pocket.
Take one, so you can thinkabout all the stories that you
have in your pocket, take one,take one and ask yourself what
is it about this story that canbe relatable to the people that
I'm serving?
And how can I help them byusing this as an analogy, as a
metaphor, how can I help them tosee this is what they're going
(20:18):
through?
And so that's number one.
Number two element that's mostimportantly inside a
storytelling is there's always achange, there's a turning point
, there's a point of no return.
Right, sometimes you'll hearpeople say this is the moment
that changes everything.
Or this is the moment that youhad a down to your knee, where
(20:43):
you had a major breakdown, oryou decided you put your foot
down, or you decided this is nomore.
And you might be thinking rightnow right, you're doing a lot
of marketing research.
What is that?
What will be that turning pointfor you where you said you know
what no more enough research.
What is that?
What would be that turningpoint for you where you said you
know what no more Enoughresearch.
(21:05):
I'm just going to start workingwith Michelle, right, so what
would be that point where youare going to say this is the
moment that changed everything?
So think back to that momentwhere you knew that that moment
you made a decision is a turningpoint and how your audience can
(21:28):
also see the hope andpossibility for themselves.
Okay, so, example right.
One day I realized that helpingothers was truly fulfilling for
me, and that's when I made theleap into coaching.
Example like that, in just asingle line, is demonstrating a
(21:48):
turning point, a point ofpossibility, right, for your
audience to see, and so that notonly is it relatable, but
you're also giving them anopportunity, a hint.
This is something possible forthem too, all right, so
hopefully by now you can see howyou can use storytelling in
marketing, and I hope that ifyou're listening and you have
(22:11):
not subscribed to my podcast yet, this is the moment that
changes everything.
Okay, so go ahead and hit thatsubscribe button and subscribe
to the podcast, because this isthe moment that changes
everything.
All right.
So, moving on to element numberthree, element number three is
the after moment.
(22:32):
I have a worksheet thatactually walk you through this
whole format, okay.
So again, if you want that copy, just go ahead and either reach
out to me or send me an emailand just say hey, I heard you on
the podcast.
You know there's a resourceabout the storytelling.
Can I get a copy of it?
Just send me an email and I'llbe happy to send that over to
you.
(22:52):
So, basically, the third elementis you want to describe an
after moment.
So we talked about the point ofno return, the turning point,
which is the moment that changeseverything.
And so, once you changeeverything, you got to tell your
audience what changed andwhat's that outcome and what's
that possibility.
Look like, right, you can'tjust leave your story hanging.
(23:13):
You got to give people like,what changed for you?
And so, if you're sharing yourstory, you want to describe what
were you able to accomplish,what was the result of working
with you, or how is life goingto be different.
That is the after moment.
So, if you think about it, thebefore, the point, the turning
point, and then the after, whichalmost sounds very familiar and
(23:38):
you probably have seen it onsocial, on Instagram, right?
A lot of fitness coaches usethis method really well when
they do a before and after ofthe picture of their clients,
right, and that's a great visualstorytelling the before and the
after of someone'stransformation.
(23:59):
So these are the three keyelements.
Number one you start with thebefore moment, right, that
moment of all the struggle, allthe challenges, all the
frustration you have, and thenyou have the turning point, the
moment that changes everything,and then, after that, you want
it to be able to describe whatthe life can be, or the after
(24:20):
moment, what that looks like,what is the result that look
like, what is the solution looklike.
So all three are your keyelements to a great, compelling
storytelling.
Now, the key to the storytellingis not just tell inspiration,
right, it's great leavingsomeone, giving someone a lot of
(24:43):
inspiration, education, but youhave to remember you have a
business to run and so at theend of that post, you always
want to leave some room for whatdo you want your audience to do
?
Now, if you want this, if youwant this to be happening in
your life, if you want this tobe the reality of your life,
(25:06):
then here's how we can worktogether.
So you always have a fourthelement right?
The fourth element is you wantto invite your audience to take
an action step with you.
Now, that action step could behey, just follow me on social.
Or it could be book a call withme.
So that call to action can varydepending on what your
(25:28):
intention and what yourmarketing goal is, so that you
can get your audience to take astep further with you.
So let's summarize real quickwhat are the elements of
compelling storytelling?
Number one is you want todescribe a before moment.
There's also a turning point,right, the moment that changes
everything.
And then you want to end itwith the after moment.
(25:51):
What are the result, thesolution, the goal and what were
you able to achieve?
And if you wanted to take it astep further as a business owner
, as an entrepreneur, then youwouldn't leave it just with
inspiration.
You would close it up byinviting your audience to take
an action with you.
Okay, so when you integrate allthis that I have just talked
(26:15):
about and this is how I was able, right to within that first
year, to get paying clientclients who's reaching out to me
, clients who's looking up oninternet to find me and clients
who just found me out of nowherebecause I was doing this.
(26:35):
I was using this method to putmyself out there and it makes it
attractive, it makes itrelatable, it makes people want
what you have.
So don't just tell your story.
You want to make sure that allthese elements are together and
you definitely want to make surethat your story is relatable,
(26:58):
that's relevant to the audiencethat you're serving.
And if you're not clear and Iknow this is where a lot of
coaches are struggling with, isthat they're not clear exactly
what is that solution look like?
What does that outcome looklike?
And so if you're not clearabout the journey that you're
taking your audience on, then weneed to talk about your niche,
(27:21):
we need to talk about yourmessaging and we also need to
talk about that call to actionwhat are you actually offering
them as your marketing goal?
Right, marketing can be socomplex, but it can also be
simplified.
As long as you have thatroadmap in front of you and
knowing exactly what is it thatI want my audience to do, and
(27:44):
your audience will go where youwant them to go.
Okay, recap today.
Okay, so we talked about howstorytelling can actually
transform and turn yourfollowers into paying clients by
using these three right, veryimportant elements in
storytelling.
(28:04):
And remember, the key tocompelling story is you want to
make it relatable, you want tomake it relevant to their
experience and not your own, andyou want to show and
demonstrate that transformationhow your audience would be able
(28:25):
to accomplish by following youor by working with you.
And that is the most importantthing, which is the fourth step
right Inviting your audience tojoin you on your journey.
On that journey, whether it'sto follow you so that they
become follower or actually justbooking a call with you.
I mean, ultimately, that's allwe want, right?
(28:45):
We want to have the payingclients.
So ultimately, it's abouteverything that you do on social
.
Everything about thestorytelling is ultimately
walking your clients, walkingyour potential clients to
actually sign up with you sothat they can become your paying
client.
Okay, so next week we're goingto talk about how to create a
(29:09):
marketing plan.
So I talked about the marketinggoals that you have.
How do you actually create amarketing plan that works for
you and your coaching business?
So we'll talk more about thaton the next episode and, again,
if you want any of the resourcesthat I have mentioned.
Just simply shoot me an emailor just let me know.
(29:29):
Hey, I listened to your podcastand it was on the podcast.
I need a copy of that.
I'll be happy to share the linkwith you so that you can go and
grab a copy, and next weekwe'll talk about how to create a
marketing plan so that it willbe easier for you going into
2020, the end of 2024 and thebeginning of 2025.
(29:50):
2020, the end of 2024 and thebeginning of 2025.
All right, thanks for joiningme on Make it Visible podcast.
If you found today's episodehelpful, please do subscribe and
send me a review and share itwith a fellow coach.
Until next time, keep shiningand make your coaching business
visible.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
Thank you for listening to Make it Visible
podcast.
If you love this episode andwant deeper support for your
coaching business, head over toelevatelifecoachingorg and see
how we can partner together toturn your passion into a
profitable business.
I help female coaches launchand scale their coaching
business faster than ever,without wasted time and money,
(30:31):
filling the gaps in yourmarketing strategies, creating a
simple and easy to followsystem so you can accelerate on
the path of coaching businessthat you love to wake up to.
Head over toelevatelifecoachingorg and grab
a free strategy audit today.
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