Join Jo Lott, business mentor and ICF accredited coach, as she shares valuable insights on maximizing slow business months to boost your marketing efforts and client acquisition strategies. Learn how to shift your mindset from survival mode to growth mode during these quieter periods.

Show Notes:

00:00 - Introduction to the episode

00:58 - Understanding business seasons and the importance of consistency

02:00 - Auditing your marketing funnel

03:00 - Quick and easy sales strategies for immediate results

05:00 - Nurturing and converting prospects

06:00 - Ramping up content creation during slow periods

08:00 - Engaging with others and building relationships on social media

09:00 - Long-term marketing projects and becoming an authority in your niche

10:00 - Boosting networking and outreach efforts

11:00 - Reflecting on the big picture during slow seasons

12:00 - Introduction to the 30-day Offer to Market Sprint program

13:00 - Details about the Offer to Market Sprint and its benefits

14:00 - Closing remarks and call to action

Visit joannalottcoaching.com for free resources and more information about Jo's coaching services.

Remember to share this episode with a friend and leave a review if you found it helpful!

Useful Links

Offer to Market in 30 Days - starts 16 September

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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Learn more and sign up to Offer to Market in 30 Days prior to 16 September. Here's the link https://go.joannalottcoaching.com/OfferToMarketIn30Days

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 78 episode

of women in the coaching arena.

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I'm so glad you're here.

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Today I want to talk about how you can use

slow business mumps to your advantage when

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it comes to marketing and gaining clients.

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As any self-employed person will know.

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There will always be seasons in

entrepreneurship and months that go

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really well and months that go less well.

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Half of the game is getting used

to this inconsistency, but also

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building your pipeline so this

becomes a less regular occurrence.

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I've managed to now get to the

point, through building really

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consistent, deep marketing that this

is less and less of a challenge.

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Today, I'm going to talk about some

proven marketing techniques and

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client getting tactics that you can

implement during those slower seasons.

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The aim is to shift your mindset

from just trying to survive the

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slow mums, and wasting that energy

by panicking to actively using that

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time to set yourself up for growth.

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So the first thing I would do

if I was having a slow month is

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to audit your marketing funnel.

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You might be thinking, I don't

know if I have a marketing funnel.

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But let's talk this through.

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One of the best ways is to really

think about what's worked in the past.

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Assess what's working.

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What's not.

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Where might there be leaks or bottlenecks?

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Depending on where you are

in your business journey.

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First, you might want to think

about lead generation strategies.

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Are you spending at least two hours

a day on sales generating activities.

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These are not always putting

a social media post out.

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Social media is a long game.

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What I mean by a lead generation

activity that is going to generate a

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quick result is by thinking what's a

quick, easy thing that you could sell.

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That people actively want.

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So what I often hear from my clients is.

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Yeah, I could do that, but really I

want to sell this or I want to do this.

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And that's absolutely fine.

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Obviously we go into our

business to fulfill our passions.

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But sometimes you might just

have to think what is it that the

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market wants and sell that now?

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If, for example, you're a career coach.

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And you don't particularly like

doing CVS and interviews, but you

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know, they are really popular.

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Maybe it's about thinking, do you

know what, this month I'm just going

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to offer five interview packages or

I'm going to do five CVS, even if

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it's not your absolute preference.

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I would think where is the market

telling me that they want something

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and what is a quick, easy thing I can

sell right now to fulfill that need.

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We will move further into those

lead generation things, but in

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terms of auditing your marketing

funnel, there might be bigger picture

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things that you want to work on

depending on your priority right now.

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So for example If you have a website

lead magnet or social media channel.

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really audit them and

think, would you follow you?

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Would you buy from you?

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Find someone that is doing well, even

if they're not within your niche,

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and really trying to analyze, like,

what's the difference between what

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they're doing and what I'm doing.

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I often do this on our group calls.

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And pull up someone that is doing super

well right now and literally audit their

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stuff right there and then, and really

notice that, for example, in every

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single social media post, this person

really called out their ideal clients.

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So they may have started every single

caption with "when working with small

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business owners" there's no hesitation

as to who this person works with.

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Whereas you can look at others

and they're all very general.

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Would you like to set some goals?

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It's really important to

take time for yourself.

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It doesn't really say you

work with people like me.

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So really do find someone within your

niche, ideally or outside of your

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niche, either way, you will start to

notice the patterns of what people who

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are succeeding are doing really well.

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Next up in terms of your marketing

funnel, I would think about how are

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you nurturing and converting prospects?

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So if for example, you are currently

just posting on social media.

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Have a think, what could the next step be?

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We want to move them towards maybe

a booking, a call with you, but

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that's not always the first step.

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Maybe you need to go live.

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Maybe you need to have some sort

of event that they can take a

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less risky step towards you.

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It could be a webinar.

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It could be a free event

in your local area.

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What can you do to get in front

of your absolute ideal client

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in a much closer, more deep way?

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Finally, I would look at where your client

onboarding and retention efforts are.

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Have you asked previous clients,

if they need any more help or ask

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previous clients, if they have any

referrals or people that they know

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who are needing similar help to them.

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Those who know, like, and

trust you will massively help

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you fast track this dry spell.

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The next thing I would probably do

is ramp up your content creation.

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If it were me, for example,

I would really double down on

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learning a particular skill.

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So for example, in September, I've

decided to really up my copywriting

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game for that one month and go

big on improving my content.

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The downside to having a social media

manager is not always taking the time

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to share those stories and learnings

that I get on a day to day basis.

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So I'm really excited to make

that my focus for September

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in improving that skill.

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It's such an opportunity if you

are having a dry month of thinking.

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Do you know what I'm going to really

hone in on how to improve my LinkedIn

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profile and figure out what those who

are doing well on LinkedIn are doing.

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For example.

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Those who are doing well are probably

posting twice a day on LinkedIn.

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So if you're posting once a week

on LinkedIn, There's the perfect

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clue for you to improve that.

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Same if you're using Instagram or any

other channel, look at what they're doing.

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And often what you'll

notice straight away.

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It's the volume of what you're doing

is nowhere near the volume required.

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And I know that feels a lot, and I'm

not saying you need to post twice a

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day, but I am saying if you're having

a dry spell, You need to really ramp

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things up and put huge effort in

to at least post every single day.

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I'm not just posting.

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How about engaging and using this

time to support others, and then

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they will support you in return.

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That is something I miss a lot, actually,

because as I've got busier, I haven't

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spent as much time on social media

and I really used to have good, deep

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connections with people on LinkedIn.

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I have still got quite a few,

but lots of them are, a few

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years old relationships now.

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So you can, if you're having a quiet

month invest t your time there.

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Think about.

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who you want to support and

how you want to contribute.

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For example, put leadership in the

LinkedIn search bar and comment

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on some of the posts you see, the

more you contribute, the better you

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start to feel, and the more visible

you'll get as well so it doesn't

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need to be just you creating content.

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Commenting and engaging is also

in a really effective strategy.

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It might also be a time to think

about longer term marketing that

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you've been wanting to start.

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Perhaps you've been wanting

to do a podcast, contribute

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to magazines, do some PR.

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Do video tutorials.

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Plan a webinar.

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A quiet time.

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It's the perfect time for a really

big project that is going to make a

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long term impact in your business.

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The key is to ensure that everything you

create educates inspires and positions

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you as a trusted authority in your niche.

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If you don't feel like you've

got the solid niche yet.

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I would pick one at this point

and then go big on that thing.

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So you can gain clients and people will

understand exactly who you help and how.

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This paying into the value bank will

pay dividends when your business picks

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up, but it also makes you more visible

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so it's a win-win for both short-term and

long-term engagement in your business.

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Also be grateful for that slower pace

so you can be more thoughtful and

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strategic about your content and planning.

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I mean, I would adore a day

of just planning my content.

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Maybe think about a whole new strategy.

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So for example, video marketing or going

big in reels, or what do you want to do?

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And what haven't you had the time

to really learn before, choose

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just one thing and decide to

become an expert in that thing.

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Finally let's think about boosting

your networking and outreach.

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So I've mentioned a few

bits on this already.

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But there's nothing more powerful than

building those new relationships and

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strengthening previous relationships.

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Download your LinkedIn contacts, for

example, or your Facebook contacts.

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List them, make it a project to think.

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When did I last speak to this person?

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How can I add value to their life?

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What's a really thoughtful

thing I could say or do.

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It doesn't need to be, I need work.

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How about thinking about what you

can do for them in order for them

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to eventually do something for

you without you having to ask.

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Referral partners is another great thing.

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For example, I could hook up with

branding photographers and say, I

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help coach's build their business.

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Do you work with coaches?

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If they say yes, I could say great.

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If you send them away, I'll give you

10% of anyone that comes forward.

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Really think about who else

your ideal client knows.

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And who else your ideal

client is working with?

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To build those referral partnerships.

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If you have built up an email

list in the past, are you

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still emailing them regularly?

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If not this is the perfect opportunity

to ramp up that engagement and

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the marketing you may have let

fall by the wayside previously.

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Finally, how about connecting with

other people in your industry or

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your friends, your family, yourself.

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It's perfect time to reflect

and think about the big picture.

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That's exactly what I was intending

to do this month of August.

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And strangely enough, I've signed

more clients this month than I've

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ever signed in my entire business.

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Despite the fact I haven't

actually really worked this month.

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So I was intending to completely

redo my business of coaching

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portal and do all sorts of things.

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I did manage to do some bits in

that the last couple of days.

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But wasn't quite as slow as I expected.

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If you are in a slow season think about

how you can make the most of that season.

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It won't last.

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So there are my top tips for using

slower seasons in your business

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to your advantage as a coach.

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We aren't meant to be go, go, go

all of the times, if you are having

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a slow season, think about how you

can really pay into that value bank.

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It will pay you back in

dividends in the future.

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If you are ready to go big from September,

I am running a 30 day offer to market

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sprint, starting on the 16th of September.

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I will link to offer to

market in the show notes.

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It's a 30 day lead generation program.

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So it's fast paced.

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This is more for you if you are

prepared to choose a niche and

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create an offer within a week.

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And then we will work for three

full weeks on generating leads

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for that offer with day by day

instructions of exactly what to do.

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A community.

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My help and feedback

every step of the way.

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Prizes and different things to help

you keep engaged because it is hard

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doing lead generation activities.

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On your own, which is why I really

believe in the power of community.

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So if you would like to join us,

it's £997 for the 30 day sprint.

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Our aim if you have a good social media

following and an offer that sells is

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to make your money back within 30 days.

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if you are just starting out, you

will learn masses as long as you are

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emotionally and practically ready to

take action because it is a 30 day thing.

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So we don't have the sort of time I

allow in the business of coaching.

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It's not a long-term marketing plan.

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We're not seeing your email list.

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we're not building longterm things.

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We are quickly creating an offer

and we are selling that offer as

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quickly as we can in this sprint.

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So, if it sounds like the sort of

thing you need from September to

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make the next quarter, your most

profitable, then you will find the link

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to offer to market 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.