Listen in for five lessons Jo wishes she'd known five years ago when she quit her job and trained as a coach. These lessons are valuable insights for both new and experienced coaches who want to grow their businesses and move forward.

Show Notes with Time Stamps:

[00:00:00] - Introduction to the podcast and Jo Lott.

Lesson 1: Get Clear on Your Niche and Ideal Client [00:01:00]

• The mistake of being a generalist and working with anyone.
• The importance of niching down and being specific about your target market.
• Examples of niching down (e.g., coaches already earning £10K per month)

Lesson 2: Learn to Become Comfortable with Being Visible [00:04:00]

• The necessity of being visible, whether through social media or other methods.
• Finding a consistent approach that works for you.
• Having a mission and goal beyond just financial success.

Lesson 3: Focus on Delivering Great Results [00:06:00]

• The importance of case studies and testimonials for business success.
• Continuously reflecting on how to improve and support clients.
• The balance between pure coaching and mentoring/sharing experience.

Lesson 4: Don't Undervalue Yourself [00:08:00]

• The tendency for coaches to undercharge their services.
• The importance of researching and charging professional rates.
• The relationship between price and perceived value.
• Gradually increasing prices as you gain experience and credibility.

Lesson 5: Find Your Community [00:11:00]

• The difficulty of doing this alone and the importance of community.
• Surrounding yourself with like-minded individuals and positive environments.
• Jo Lott's program, "The Business of Coaching," as a potential community.

Final Thoughts [00:13:00]

• Having faith and believing in the possibility of success.
• Taking consistent action to build faith.
• Success may not always look like the initial vision.

[00:15:00] - Closing remarks, free resources, and call to action.

Useful Links

How to secure more coaching clients' free training

Download the 12 ways to get clients now

Learn about The Business of Coaching programme

Connect with Jo on LinkedIn

Rate and Review the Podcast

If you found this episode of Women in the Coaching Arena helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

If you’re kind enough to leave a review, please do let Jo know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: joanna@joannalottcoaching.com

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Hello and welcome to Women in

the Coaching Arena podcast.

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I'm so glad you are here.

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I'm Jo Lott, a business mentor

and ICF accredited coach

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

and I help coaches to

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build brilliant businesses.

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I know that when you prepare to enter

the arena, there is fear, self doubt,

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comparison, anxiety, uncertainty.

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You can tend to armor up and

protect yourself from vulnerability.

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In this podcast, I'll be sharing

honest, not hype, practical and

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emotional tools to support you to make

the difference that you are here for.

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Dare greatly.

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You belong in this arena.

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Hey, welcome to episode 65 of

women in the coaching arena.

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I am so glad you are here.

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Today, I'm going to share some

key lessons that I've learned over

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the five years since I quit my HR

role and began my coach training.

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So, whether you are just getting

started in your business or have

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been doing this for a while, I hope

my insights will help you to grow

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your business and move forward today.

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So lesson one, no surprise.

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Get clear on your niche and ideal client.

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One of the biggest mistakes I

made and I see new coaches make

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all the time is trying to be a

generalist and work with anyone.

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That might work for a short time to gain

a couple of clients that are really low

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rates, but it's really tricky to build a

long-term sustainable business that way.

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It's tricky because you can't charge

enough for generalist coaching.

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You need to learn how to talk to the

results so people can see the return

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on investment of that coaching session.

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I think you also need to do it with love.

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Like you are going to have to

immerse yourself in this world.

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The niche you pick needs to

be something you are happy to

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talk about day in, day out.

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So really hone in on exactly

who you want to serve.

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It's really nuanced.

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And I think that's often missed

when you start your own business.

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That say mums, for example

is not a clear niche.

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You need to be super specific.

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Like for example, people who have

a similar niche to me, We'll niche

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down in coaches already earning 10 K

per month and wanting to earn more.

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So it's not just, I'm

going to choose coaches.

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It's exactly who are you aiming for?

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And what are you helping them to achieve?

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Don't be afraid to niche down.

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I held a workshop a couple of weeks ago,

and one of my previous male clients had

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niched down into midlife males, I think.

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And he shared on the workshop

that actually he's had loads, more

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female clients since doing that.

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Because it's created the intrigue of like,

oh, well you work with me or is only men.

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So he shared from his experience

niching down, even though he wasn't

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only working within his niche, target

market has really helped him to grow.

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The more specialized and tailored

your services are the more you will

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be able to stand out, talk with

radical empathy to your ideal client.

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Charge good prices and help your

clients achieve outstanding results

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as you practice your craft again and

again, and again, and start realizing

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what are the obstacles at this target

market are generally experiencing,

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and then you can get really good at

helping them to solve that problem.

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Lesson two is that you will need to learn,

to become comfortable with being visible.

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That doesn't have to mean social

media, although that is a quick and

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easy way to start and especially

to reach your previous network,

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which are always your first port of

call, when you start your business.

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But there are loads of other ways and the

best way will be the best way for you.

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So it really needs to be

something that you are happy

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to consistently show up and do.

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I was listening to a YouTube video

this morning and the person was sharing

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that when he started his business,

he was looking for the magic pill

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and the one system that would help

him to scale and grow his business.

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And actually what he realized

when he did find his magic pill,

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which was using SEO and blogging.

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And he ran a course on that to

help people to grow their business.

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And he soon realized that

though the course was good.

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The people were not consistently blogging,

therefore it was never going to work.

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So it's about thinking what is

going to work for you and what

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are you prepared to go all in on.

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I really don't think you can

succeed with a half-baked approach.

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You need to commit to your business.

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If you want this to work.

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And I have a lot of calls who

say, I don't need the money.

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And that's absolutely fine, but then

tune into why you do want to do this.

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Like have a mission.

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I have a mission to help

make a million lives better.

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And the best way I can do that is

by using my obsession and love of

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marketing and helping coaches to grow

their business, to help me help them.

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And then help them help as

many people as possible.

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So that is the way I'm

going to reach my goal.

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So it's not a financial goal that I have.

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It's a goal to share my mission,

to help people live better lives.

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Lesson three is focused on

delivering great results.

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At the end of the day, your business

will succeed on the case studies

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and testimonials you receive.

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I continuously reflect on

how I can improve things.

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I have another coach in my program

now who is direct messaging people.

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We are analyzing regularly how

everyone is doing, considering

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who may need some more support.

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But it's also at the stage that I

can't do that on my own anymore.

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I can no longer carry in my

head what's going on for each

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individual client at any one point.

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So I have created systems,

including Google forms.

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Including my coach.

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Including getting people to share

every single call so I can understand

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a rough picture of where people are at

but also systemize where people are at.

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Now if you are not delivering

a scaled model, like I am, that

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will be quite different for you.

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And obviously you will probably

have one-on-one really intimate,

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connected access to your clients

to know how they are doing.

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In this one comes the quandary, that

many coaches I work with experience,

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which is, are you only ever doing

pure coaching or are you ever having

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a blend of coaching and mentoring?

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And most coaches that I work

with soon, find that most people

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have come to them because they

have the same sort of experience.

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So usually they want to gain some of

that experience from you otherwise

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they could just work with anyone.

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So I have a great client Louise who

works with communications professionals.

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And, you know, she's attracting

communications professionals

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because they want her director

level communications experience.

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And she was obviously trying to do pure

coaching and finding that sometimes people

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were frustrated and wanting to get her

view on what was going on occasionally.

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So I think now she is trialing and

growing as she gets into her own business.

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And realizing that life isn't always as

clean and textbook as we want it to be.

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So learn to experiment.

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Find your own style.

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And realize that life is nuanced.

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Just like coaching is an, every

single thing we do in life.

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And there is no one right answer for

exactly how you should deal with things.

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Lesson four is don't undervalue yourself.

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Most coaches that I start working with are

seriously undercharging their services.

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And it may seem like an individual issue,

but sadly it's actually impacting the

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entire industry and you don't see lawyers

or accountants going around saying,

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I don't mind doing it for 20 quid.

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So in other words, how can we all

raise the bar in this industry

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and have it like a professional

industry, like lawyers, accountants,

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counselors, all of these other fields.

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But I completely get that while

you are doing, for example,

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your ICF accreditation.

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And while you're doing your coach

training, you may wish to do that.

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And that's completely fine.

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I do realize there's a

lot of work to do on this.

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And I had to do a lot of work

personally to raise my prices.

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And still do a lot of work personally,

to become comfortable with earning a good

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salary for my good professional service.

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So do your research on what

other successful coaches

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in your niche are charging.

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Whilst you might believe that

the cheaper your prices are,

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the more clients you will get.

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Sometimes that's not always the case.

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I remember when I started

out and there was this coach

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who I thought was brilliant.

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And as soon as I saw her prices,

which were, I think 70 pounds per

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session, if I'm remembering rightly.

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My immediate thought was, oh my gosh.

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I thought she was a really good coach.

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So even though she probably was a

really good coach we automatically

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think about price as value.

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So, if you are shopping, for example,

we know if we pay a hundred pounds for

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a pair of jeans, they're going to feel

nicer than a five pound pair of jeans.

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Even if it is just in our

imagination, that is generally

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how we've all been raised.

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So it's something to really consider when

you grow your business and strangely my

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signup rate as I've continued to increase,

my prices has gone up and up and up.

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So I'm always busting my own limiting

beliefs about what is my own ceiling.

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That's not to say you can

always go in at premium prices.

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And I think people look at my prices and

say, oh, well, it's all right for you.

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I'd love to be charging that.

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But just know that I started my

business of coaching program at

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less than a thousand pounds, then

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£1750 2500, and now it's at £2997.

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So just know I have earned my

stripes as I've gained more

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case studies, more experience.

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and, more credibility in the market.

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So don't compare yourself to people

years in and think you should be charging

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these prices because sometimes you do

need to get that back up, that material,

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that expertise, those case studies,

to be able to command higher prices.

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And just know that this is a journey and

one price does not mean one price forever.

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You can continuously raise it as

you raise your own energetic level

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money, mindset, and experience.

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And lesson five is find your community.

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People greatly underestimate how

difficult it is to do this alone.

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You will win the race when you can stay

in the race longer than anyone else.

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And that is the key to being

a successful entrepreneur.

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It's also a lonely time as a coach.

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I do have lots of communities, but I

still feel loneliness when something

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happens and you just want to quickly

share with someone or say something.

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So it really does matter.

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So find as many people as you

can to be able to share your

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wins, share your challenges.

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Move forward quickly.

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Be inspired to take action.

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See what's possible.

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I heard a quote the other day,

which was be in a room where the

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results you want a normalized.

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So that's why I love starting my calls

with what's going well right now.

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What wins are there?

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So you start to see what

is possible for you.

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It's also worth thinking on

the flip side of that, that

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negativity breeds negativity.

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It's really easy to get into that boat.

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And start to complain as well.

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It's a bit like when you are unhappy

at work, which I was, And we just

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used to go in a moan all day long.

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That was so contagious that you really

struggle to be a high performer in a

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negative team or negative environment.

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So really do think about your environment

and gain access to a room where the

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results you want are normalized.

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If you would like access to my room,

I run a program called the business of

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coaching, where we have a community,

the training, the support, the

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love, the care to make this happen.

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I would love to hear from you.

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You will find the link in the show notes

to all the details and how to sign up.

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These are just a few of the lessons

I have learned over the years.

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I really hope they resonate with you

and provide you with some inspiration

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and value as you continue to grow

your own successful coaching business.

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I think my final nugget for

today is to also have faith.

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This again is greatly underestimated.

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You need to believe that

this is possible for you.

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And if you don't believe that you

need to work damn hard to ensure you

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do believe it, whether that means

affirmations in the morning, meditation,

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visualizations, whatever you need to

do to really start stepping into it.

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Also actually taking action

will build that faith.

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Just start doing stuff and you

will begin to grow that faith.

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I know that I certainly

didn't have that faith.

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When I started my business.

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I think it was actually a really, really

small, tiny flame inside and then through

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consistent action over several years, I

now have the faith that I can do this.

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I can pivot.

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Should anything go wrong?

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I can make decisions and that

doesn't always need to be

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staying in entrepreneurship.

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I had a lovely.

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message from a previous client last week

who is now relocating from London across.

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the world, which was her absolute

dream when she signed up to my

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program, the business of coaching

and it wasn't through coaching.

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She realized that she wanted the stability

of a job because she was a single person.

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She had no one else to rely on.

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It was too unstable for her.

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But she still messaged me saying joining

your program has helped me learn how to

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negotiate, bring coaching into my role,

sell coaching, that she wasn't expecting.

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And now also come back to that vision she

created on day one of my course, which

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was moving to this country where her

parents live and living a fulfilling life.

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So sometimes success isn't always what

you might picture when you start out.

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So hold it lightly.

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And like I say, at the end of every

episode, trust yourself, believe

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in yourself and be the wise Gardner

who keeps on watering the seed.

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

Thank you so much for listening to this

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episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

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joannalottcoaching.com.

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And I'll also put links in the show notes.

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Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

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Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

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personally thank you for that.

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Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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who keeps on watering the seed.

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Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.