Here's a crucial topic for all new coaches: the common branding mistake that might be draining your resources. This episode is packed with wisdom on building a solid coaching business foundation without falling into the costly trap of prioritising aesthetics over substance.

Key Takeaways:

• [00:01:00] Jo shares her observations on the biggest mistake new coaches make: investing in a flashy website and logo before securing clients.
• [00:02:00] The importance of focusing on building a solid business foundation rather than getting caught up in the branding illusion.
• [00:04:00] Jo emphasises that your brand is more about your reputation and the transformation you bring to clients' lives than just your visual identity.
• [00:05:00] Clarifying your niche is highlighted as the first critical step in building a successful coaching business, far before considering website colors.
• [00:06:00] Validation of your niche and offer is crucial before investing in branding to ensure people are willing to pay for your coaching.
• [00:07:00] Jo advises on creating a simple, effective online presence without spending a fortune, using tools like Canva and affordable web solutions.
• [00:09:00] The power of storytelling in branding is discussed as a key strategy for connecting with your audience and building trust.
• [00:11:00] Investing in branding before having a clear business direction is likened to putting the cart before the horse, a common startup error.
• [00:13:00] Jo reflects on her own journey, emphasizing that a significant investment in branding and websites can wait until you've established your business's foundations.

Resources Mentioned:

• Episode 14 of Women in the Coaching Arena - 5 Steps to a Profitable Niche
• Episode 10 of Women in the Coaching Arena - How to create a signature coaching offer
• Brandority - Various Branding and Website options starting at just £20 for a one page Canva website.

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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Hello, welcome to the 53rd episode

of women in the coaching arena.

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I am so glad you are here.

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I have been in Brighton for four

nights, which was lovely creating my

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elevate course, which starts next week.

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And in the five day challenge I

held to launch that course there

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were a lot of people starting out.

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So I really wanted today to focus on

the biggest mistakes that I see now,

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working with lots of new coaches starting

their business and working with people

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throughout things like my challenges

and webinars and on discovery calls.

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Because it's really easy

to make this mistake.

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And I made this mistake.

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So I can't go back and tell myself

that it was a complete waste of time.

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But what I can do is share

my learnings with you in case

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it saves you time and money.

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So let's go into the most common

pitfall that most new coaches fall into.

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Which is thinking that a snazzy

website and slick logo are the

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golden ticket to establishing

a successful coaching business.

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I have lots of calls with people

that say, I haven't even got a

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website yet, and I need to get a

website and then I'm in business.

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And what I wanted to share was

sadly, you aren't in business

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if you haven't got clients.

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So even if you have zero logo, but

you have clients, I would consider you

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are more in business than someone with

a beautiful website and a beautiful

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logo and all the lovely colors.

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Who hasn't got a solid

business foundation.

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One of my coach friends Delphine

hello Delphine has been in

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business for five years now.

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And she still hasn't got a

website at all as far as I know.

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So you can genuinely build a business just

from a LinkedIn profile or from Instagram

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or whatever social media you wish to use.

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It really isn't required.

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And I know that you will think

yes, but I still want to do it.

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And that's absolutely fine because

it helps you to feel like a proper

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business and I really do get that.

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So today I will share some.

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Easy quick ways of you doing this and

getting started quickly so you get

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that feeling of being like a proper

business with a website and logo.

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But without having to shell

out loads of money for it.

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So let's talk about the branding illusion,

because many coaches spend months

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perfecting their brand's visual identity.

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Thinking about their colors,

paying someone to do a logo, paying

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a lot of money for a website.

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But what's often missing is actually

knowing who your ideal client is.

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So you actually can't build a website.

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You can't really build a brand without

knowing exactly what problem you're

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solving and who you're working with.

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So I think most of the coaches who

start my program are quite surprised

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that websites and profiles it's like

module nine because there's quite a

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lot to do before you get to that stage.

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Otherwise, you are just going

to have to do it all again

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and that's absolutely fine.

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You might be fine with that, but

if you want to get this right first

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time, and this is the episode for you.

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There's this great quote from,

I can't remember who said it.

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But it's something like your

brand is what people say about

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you when you're not in the room.

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So it's actually more than

just the logo and the pretty

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pictures and what it looks like.

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It's actually your reputation

and what people feel about you.

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It's about the value and transformation

that you bring to their lives, not

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just the fonts on your website.

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So if website and branding is not

the first thing you're meant to

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do, when you start out in business,

then what is, you may be asking.

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So it has talk about the real foundations

of a successful coaching business.

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So that number one, no surprise.

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Clarify your niche.

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This first step, isn't

picking your website color.

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It's about clarifying who you help.

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Your niche really is the foundation

of your message, your marketing,

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without clarity on who you help and

how no amount of pretty websites

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are going to fill that void.

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So I like to think of a

niche as four components.

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So firstly is the who, who you help.

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Secondly is the problem that you solve.

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Third up is the result that you deliver.

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And fourthly, it's how you're

going to get them there.

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If you are stuck on any of these items,

I go way more into detail in episode 14

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on five steps to find a profitable niche.

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And in episode 10, I cover how to

create a signature coaching program.

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So that is the how of your niche.

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So I hope those episodes

are helpful to you.

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And I will also mention

them in the show notes.

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The second foundation to

your coaching business is

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validating your niche and offer.

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Before you even think about

logos, make sure people are

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willing to pay for your coaching.

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Validation comes from the

market, from what real people are

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prepared to invest real money in.

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So you really do need to go out there and

find out if this is something that people

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want to pay for before spending a lot

of money on a brand and website and logo

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that sadly, no one may ever come across.

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So get out there and have real

conversations with real people and

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ask them what their biggest challenges

are with regards to your niche.

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Another good question one of my clients

asked recently was how prepared are

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you to pay, to fix this problem on

a scale of zero to 10, for example,

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and what she found through doing

that was no one was above a five.

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So.

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It could be an uphill battle

trying to create a business.

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Where people aren't really prioritizing,

fixing that problem in their lives.

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Our third real foundations of a

coaching business is to create a

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simple, effective online presence.

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Yes, you will want to be found online,

but it doesn't need to cost a fortune or

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cost you months and months of your time.

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A simple, clear LinkedIn profile or other

social media profile is perfect start.

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And if you do want a website, because

I know that people often say, well,

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the first thing I do is Google them and

check that they have an online presence.

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So if that is you and you do feel like

this is a really important step for

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you to feel valid and for people that

you know, to look you up and know that

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you are a real business, then there

are extremely cheap ways of doing this.

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So if you haven't heard of canva.com.

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You can create yourself

a free logo in Canva.

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And the cheapest website I know which I

have discovered recently after building

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a more extensive website myself.

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Which four and a half years into business.

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Yes, I did finally invest

in branding and a logo.

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But I did build a really solid

business with real good income

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before I needed to take that step.

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So that's all I'm saying here.

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It's not your first port call.

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A website and a logo does

not mean you have a business.

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So I will link to a 20 pounds

Canva website in the show notes.

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I cannot actually believe you can get a

real functioning website for 20 pounds.

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It's a one page website, which is

like your home page, but further

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down the page, you can have things

like your services and your about

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section, and it can link to that.

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So I am so, so impressed when I

came across this one recently.

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And it's a perfect starter while you

figure out your niche, figure out all

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of the stuff that you need to figure

out as in what you're offering and what

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your niche is and what your wording is.

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It's a great way of feeling

established just to get started.

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And then, yes, fine.

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You might want a more extensive

website with a blog and different

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pages further down the line.

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But please, please, please.

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Don't lose a year of your life.

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Like so many people have that I

have had discovery calls with.

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Building this website and brand

prior to really getting out

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there and selling their service.

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One final tip that I will share with you

that I have seen work super well for my

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clients is the power of storytelling.

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If there's one area of branding

to focus on, then this is it.

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Putting a post out saying,

here's my services just sadly

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doesn't get anyone on board.

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People want to know why

this is important to you.

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They want to support you.

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They want you to ask for their support.

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So I would really,

really craft your story.

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Bring people along with

you on that journey.

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Craft your mission.

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Really know why this is

important to you and others will

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want to support that mission.

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Stories build trust and

help people get to know you.

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And that is what really is

required for a successful business

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is know like, and trust factor.

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So people need to know you, which is

how stories really help, because you

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get to share a bit about yourself.

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They need to like you and yes,

not everyone will like you.

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But you have to try and be

yourself as much as you can

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so you call your people in.

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And they have to trust you

and how they trust you is

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knowing that you are reliable.

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You are consistent.

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You have empathy.

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You really get where they are.

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You showcase client case studies.

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So that is what it really takes

to build a solid business.

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And that is what I would start

prioritizing right from the start.

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And telling as many people as

you can, what you are doing now.

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Back to the validating.

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One step, which you would really want to

do is inviting people to have a free call

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with you on your particular niche topic.

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And if you are struggling to gain

clients to even come on a free one

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hour coaching call for example.

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Then you may struggle

to actually sell that.

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So that is a great way of validating.

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So in summary, investing time

and money in your brand before

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you have validated your business.

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Clarified your niche or secured

your first few clients is like

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putting the cart before the horse.

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It is a real common startup mistake.

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I definitely went down that

route and spent hours and hours

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creating a very bland website.

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Where I had no idea who I was talking to.

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This doesn't just cost you money,

but it also costs you your business

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a lot of the time, because all of

those months that you may have wasted

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on this area have been months when

you could have been networking.

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Putting posts out on LinkedIn.

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Telling people really clearly what you do.

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So before you go down the rabbit

hole of investing a fortune in

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website and branding before knowing

who you are helping and how.

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Ask yourself, are you

focusing on the right things?

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Are you investing in areas that will truly

move the needle for you in your business?

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If your goal is to have a coaching

business, that makes a real difference.

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Do you start with focusing

on what truly matters.

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Finding clients and making that difference

to them in their lives and telling as

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many people as possible what you do.

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Thank you for joining

me in today's episode.

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If you do want to go deeper on any

of these topics, do you scroll back

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to episode 14, five steps to find a

profitable niche and episode 10, how

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to create a signature coaching offer.

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I hope this was useful.

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And I will also put links in the

show notes to my sister's company.

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And yes, she does proper websites and

branding and all the other things,

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but she also does really low-cost

as in, I think it's 20 pounds.

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One page Canva website

templates, which look beautiful.

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And also branding kits, which

are perfect for starting out.

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So if that is you right now, and you are

wondering where to go next and wondering

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whether to spend thousands on a website.

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Despite not really having any

understanding of your business

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foundations, your solid niche,

exactly who you're talking to.

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Exactly what you're selling.

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Then I would really recommend just

getting that quick, easy presence,

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and then yes, maybe investing

once you have that clarity.

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I invested in my brand six months or

so ago and had a new website recently.

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But bear in mind this is the

first time that I have done that,

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four plus years into business.

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And up until now, I have just

created a very quick website.

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And used a Canva free logo

and built a solid business.

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So, yes, you will want to upgrade in the

future, but it really isn't required.

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What is required is sharing your

message loud and clear with as many

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people as you possibly can so you

can go out there and change lives.

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And if you want more help in building

that solid business that is what I do.

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And you will find details of my

business of coaching program.

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In the show notes.

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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 seeds.

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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.