174. Make this the year your business stands out

Register for the Coaching-as-Marketing Blueprint training. (It's FREE)
https://awesomevideomakers.com/blueprint/

Can you make this be the year that your business stands out?

Picture this: you're leading a group on an adventurous Outward Bound sailing program in the Pacific Northwest.

Two teams face the same rough weather, yet their experiences couldn't be more different.

One finds joy in rowing together, singing, and laughing, while the other confronts discomfort and frustration.

Now imagine that this could make all the difference between you & your competitors.

This week's episode is your invitation to discover how creating a positive and engaging experience, even in challenging times, can transform not only your business but the lives of your clients.

For the past 3 years, I've been talking with many mentors and coaches about various strategies and techniques to make your work and your business stand out - but what it really all boils down to is that it's all about the experience that you create for your people.

As a coach you're work is all about how to guide clients through their struggles with a touch of joy and transformation and lasting impact, that sets your work apart.

How do they feel while they're on the path? While they're working with you? While they're meeting and overcoming their various challenges?

What is that experience like? This is the arena where you can really set yourself apart, where you can be completely unique and distinctive from anyone else in the marketplace.

That's what we're talking about in this episode. Stay tuned...

Resources:
Register for the Coaching-as-Marketing Blueprint training.
https://awesomevideomakers.com/blueprint/

If you're the best-kept secret in your industry, it's time to change that.

Because when you start showing up with clarity, confidence, and the right content—your ideal clients won't just notice you. They'll choose you.

Don’t miss your chance to get a free video brand assessment to start creating videos that actually work for your business.

Schedule your video brand assessment here >

Thanks for tuning in. If you found this episode helpful, share it with another expert entrepreneur who’s ready to stop blending in.

And I’ll see you next time—on The Standout Business Show.

Episode Transcript

Brad Powell (00:03):
What I want to talk about in this episode is how
can you make this year, thisyear, be the year that your
business stands out?
Once again, welcome to theStandout Business Show.
I'm Brad Powell.
There are a lot of things thatI could talk about in terms of
strategies and techniques andways to make your work and your

(00:27):
business stand out, but what Ithink it really all boils down
to is that it's all about theexperience that you create for
your people.
They're all on a journey to getto the result that they want,
and you want to be thinkingabout how do they feel while

(00:49):
they're on the path, whilethey're working with you, while
they're meeting and overcomingtheir various challenges that
they're facing.
What is that experience like?
And if you can focus on thatpart, this is the arena where
you can really set yourselfapart, where you can be
completely unique anddistinctive from anyone else in

(01:10):
the marketplace.
So that's what we're talkingabout today.
Stay tuned.
Here we go.
I want to start with this littlestory about back when I was the
leader of an outward boundsailing program in the Pacific
Northwest.
You know we would go out inthese open wooden boats, had a

(01:33):
two masted sailing rig.
They had 10 oars, so there'd belike 10 people on board.
Each person would get a long,12 foot long oar and be pulling.
There was no engine, and sowhen there was wind, we could
sail.
When there wasn't any wind, weall got to row.
Not only did we do this withyoung people, we also did it for

(01:56):
what we called a professionaldevelopment program, where we'd
have teams of managers orcertainly people in some
particular business would allcome together and have an
experience together on theseboats, and so on this one
program I was working with afairly large group it was about
20 people that all worked forthe same company and we split

(02:18):
them into two crews on twoseparate boats.
And on this particular day, ontwo separate boats, and on this
particular day, we were headingto an island off in the distance
, sailing across this reallylarge open bay and we were going
against the wind.
And it was one of those perfectNorthwest days where the clouds

(02:40):
are low and they're kind ofspitting a little bit of rain
not a downpour, but just enoughto keep us moist and the wind is
blowing in our face, there'swaves and all that kind of thing
, and so it's a challengingenvironment.
It's like, okay, we have to gofrom here to there and the wind
and the weather is against us.

(03:00):
How are we going to do this?
It's against us.
How are we going to do this?
And, as it turns out, the groupin the boat that I wasn't in
they put up their sails and theystarted tacking back and forth.
But the distance across the baywasn't actually that far, and I

(03:25):
knew that if we got across thebay and got into the shelter of
an island that was on the otherside, we'd be out of the wind
and the going would be very easy, and so then we could just row
along the side of the island andultimately get to our
destination, and that could bethe easier route.
So me and my crew, me and mystudents, the professional
development team, we all decidedto row, and so here we are
rowing along.
We all decided to row, and sohere we are rowing along.

(03:49):
So we're having these twodifferent experiences.
There's the boat over theregoing sailing, and the boat that
I'm in that's rowing.
We got involved in chanting andsinging and telling jokes and
pulling on the oars against thewind, and at one point during
this travel across the bay, wecrossed paths with the other
boat.
Like we came really close toone another and we could see

(04:12):
over in the other boat you had agroup of people that were all
sort of huddled up and sitting,mostly still, and they all
looked miserable.
I mean the scene like here wewere singing and laughing and
doing stuff in our boat andhaving a relatively good time,

(04:33):
whereas in this other boat itwas clear like you could just
clear as day as they cruised onby.
They just didn't look like theywere having any fun at all.
Two totally differentexperiences, given that they
were in the same kind of boat inthe same kind of conditions,
identical day.
The whole thing is like here weare doing this thing together.

(04:55):
Why are we having a differentkind of time?
Why are we actually able totranscend the discomfort of the
challenge that we're facing anddo this in a way that we're
enjoying the process?
Then, in fact, we're feelingreally good about the process
and ourselves while we're doingit.

(05:18):
When you think about this kindof thing in your work, these are
the kinds of things that youwant to bear in mind in terms of
making you and your work andyour thing distinctive.
What we were doing in our boatwas totally removed and separate
and when we got to ourdestination finally we talked

(05:38):
about this later that eveningthe other boat was looking over
at us going.
What in the world were you guysdoing where it looked like you
were having so much fun?
We weren't having fun at alland they really wanted to know

(06:00):
over and around the difficultyof being outdoors in the
Northwest environment andsludging through, you know,
pulling and rowing all day longagainst the strong wind and
getting to where we wanted to goand actually feeling good about
it while we did it.
So you are going to be workingwith clients and they are going

(06:21):
to be wanting to get it to adestination and on their way
they are going to havechallenges and they are going to
have struggles and they'regoing to have parts that are
really uncomfortable for themand as a coach, as a mentor, you
are going to be in the role offacilitating that discomfort and
, honestly, the work of OutwardBound, that was entirely our

(06:44):
work, like we would createsituations that were
uncomfortable and then we wouldfacilitate the group overcoming
that discomfort and I thinkactually, especially for the
world of coaching andconsultants a big part of your
job and a big part of yourdistinction is the way in which

(07:08):
you facilitate discomfort.
Think about that for just aminute, let that sink in.
Here's where you can go to tryand solve this puzzle, a focus
that you want to have to zero inon, and you can think about
this right away.
What is the Venn diagrambetween what your client's

(07:30):
biggest challenges are and thethings that you are really
passionate about and the thingsthat really light you up?
What are the roles that you canplay?
That you know.
When you're in that role, youare in your zone of genius, and
when these two things overlap,that's where you want to live.

(07:51):
That is where you're bringingyour zone of genius into the
most challenging moment thatyour client or your customers
are facing and helping themthrough that moment of challenge
where it's easy for you, whereyou can do it with enthusiasm.
I mean, one of the other thingswe did with Hourbound is we

(08:13):
would get up early in themorning and we would go jump in
the ocean, and the ocean wascold.
It was like 50 degrees whichwater temperature.
That's actually quite cold.
And we would do it withenthusiasm and a smile on our
face every single day and wewould get the group together so
that during the time of ourcourse together, they would come

(08:34):
up to that same place wherethey started believing that this
was actually a really good ideato get up and jump in the ocean
, and they would start doing itwith enthusiasm too.
You want to be facilitatingthese moments.
It's very simple.
Step one find your zone ofgenius.
Find the places where you arein your zone of genius when

(08:56):
you're working with clients, andthen document that process.
By that I mean literally recordit, and these days that could
be really simple.
A lot of our work is happeningover Zoom, or if you're out in
the field or you're doingsomething in person, you can
pull out a phone, stick it up ona tripod, start recording

(09:17):
yourself right in that moment.
Or even if you're a guest onsomebody's podcast and you're
being interviewed, or you'rebeing interviewed as a presenter
somewhere, in addition towhatever is going on between you
and that audience, put a phoneup on a tripod and record
yourself while you're beinginterviewed, while you're doing

(09:38):
this on your own, and you willbe able to come up with a whole
bunch of long form recordings ofyou in your zone of genius
which then you can take and usein a whole variety of ways to be
showing and showcasing the wayin which you work and the way in
which you work.
That is absolutely distinctive.

(09:59):
It can only be done by you,right.
So when you're coaching, orright after you coach someone
like right after you get off acoaching call, play out your
phone and while you have thatenergy in, you say, oh yeah, I
was just on this call, here's mytakeaway, here's what I did
with the client, here's whatthey were going through and here

(10:21):
is what I had to say and sharethat right in that moment, while
it's fresh in your mind.
And you can also formalize this.
You can have a monthly sessionwhere a group of people come,
you put someone in the hot seatand you coach them.
Or you just simply have them doa Ask Me Anything session where

(10:43):
they ask you questions and youanswer those questions Again.
Anytime people are asking youquestions who are clients of
yours or anyone who's in youraudience, you're going to find
these moments of your zone ofgenius that's just going to come
out naturally and you will beenergetic, you will be
completely authentic, you'll becompletely like in your wisdom

(11:05):
and the things that you knowreally well and you're going to
be able to share that easily andsuccinctly with your group.
And then, of course, now you'vegot great content that you've
documented and you can share ina whole variety of ways.
If you're wanting to see me dothis kind of thing, I've

(11:28):
actually got a previous episode.
There's actually more than one,but one I'll point to you to is
episode number 171.
It's under the title the NewHealth Coach Marketing Strategy,
just for Coaches, and I wascoaching my guest during that
episode.
And go find it, download it,listen to it and you'll see a

(11:49):
perfect example of exactly whatI'm talking about.
And this is the kind of thingthat you can do and you can
recreate.
The beauty of this is that youdon't have to try and think up
something in order to do this.
You don't have to go out and bea content creator.
You don't have to come up witha long list of, oh, what am I

(12:10):
going to do next week.
This is stuff that you arealready doing and you just want
to be able to look for thosemoments and take advantage of
the fact that you're in thosemoments and then record them and
then repurpose the recordings.
And even if you don't want tobe on video, that's okay.

(12:31):
And even if you don't want tobe on video, that's okay.
I would suggest that it'sprobably to your advantage to
show yourself on video.
But if you don't want to, youcan always transcribe it and
share the text in a variety ofways.
That's totally cool.
You can totally do that andit's a great easy way to come up
with all of that content thatis written content easy way to

(12:55):
come up with all of that contentthat is written content.
So if you are interested ingoing even deeper on this, this
year is, in fact, the year thatwe can all be standing up and we
can all make our work and ourbusiness thrive, because people
are seeing it in this uniquelight and we are showing up in
our strength, in our absolutezone of genius, and that is the

(13:18):
beacon that makes us totallyunique.
And if you want to go evendeeper on that with me, I've
created a masterclass that I'mpresenting in January, on the
23rd and 24th.
It's called the Coaching asMarketing Blueprint.
I'm going to present thefull-on model on how you can

(13:39):
create your experiential offerso that when people come in
contact with you, what theyactually get is this experience
of working with you whichactually takes them one or two
or three steps closer to thedestination that they want to go
.
They see you in your zone ofgenius and they see you as

(14:00):
possibly the only and bestsolution for them, and they
believe in the solution becausethey go.
Wow, I've just had theexperience of doing this.
Now I know it's possible for meand I want more, and this makes
you super attractive.
So if you're interested in that, the link to the Blueprint

(14:23):
Masterclass is in the show notesor you can go to
awesomevideomakerscom slashblueprint.
I'll say that one more timeit's awesome video makerscom
slash blueprint, and that iswhat I have for you today.
I hope that this year is notjust going to be the best year

(14:45):
yet.
It's going to be the year whenyour business stands out and
with that, I will see you nexttime.

Song (15:04):
So long I wish I didn't have to give in to the pressure.
I'm posting pictures, trying tobe someone I'm not.
It feels just like I'm lying toyou.
I'm faking, staging, trying tolive some perfect life.

(15:28):
I know I'm wasting time, causeI just wanna call my friends and
see what they're doing tonight.
It doesn't have to be sospecial.
I try to be myself.
You do the same and we'll bealright, cause this pressure's

(15:51):
really bringing me down.
Cause this pressure's reallybringing me down, I wish I had
the guts to start a conversationwith someone.
Just be who.
I am not care so much aboutfirst impressions, cause I got a

(16:15):
feeling that it could be great.
Skip all the acts, not playinggames.
Maybe we're feeling it.
They're in me.
I'll tell you my name.
Yeah, I got a feeling that itcould be great.
Skip all the acts, not playinggames, no more consent.
If they're in me, I won't beashamed, cause I just wanna call
my friends and see what they'redoing tonight.
It doesn't have to be sospecial.

(16:39):
I try to be myself.
If you do the same, it will bealright, cause this pressure's
really bringing me down, down,down, down.
The pressure's really bringingme down.

(17:06):
I wish I was above the centerof attention, but I'm not.
I wish I didn't have to give into the pressure, cause I just

(17:28):
wanna call my friends and seewhat they're doing tonight.
It doesn't have to be sospecial.
I try to be myself.
If I do the same, I will bealright, cause this pressure's

(17:48):
really bringing me down, down.