Transcripts
Hey, everybody, welcome to the course building
Tara Bryan:secrets podcast. I am so thrilled to introduce Sherry
Tara Bryan:Coffelt it today. And welcome to the show, I am so happy to have
Tara Bryan:you here. Just to get us started. Tell us a little bit
Tara Bryan:about who you are, what your experience is, and what brings
Tara Bryan:you here today.
Sherri Coffelt:I would love to do that. And first of all, thank
Sherri Coffelt:you for having me be here. I'm excited about the conversation.
Sherri Coffelt:So I have been in this crazy topsy turvy world of coaching
Sherri Coffelt:consulting for over 20 years, it's hard to say that out loud.
Sherri Coffelt:And I absolutely love it. I love supporting women to share their
Sherri Coffelt:gift to do it in a way that it gives them that freedom and
Sherri Coffelt:flexibility. It's why most of us started our business, right? And
Sherri Coffelt:gives them that that freedom and flexibility to live their bucket
Sherri Coffelt:list now and take your business with you. That's That's my big
Sherri Coffelt:thing is that we get to avoid waiting until Sunday and
Sherri Coffelt:instead, get clear on what our vision is for our business. And
Sherri Coffelt:then or excuse me for our life, and then build our business to
Sherri Coffelt:fit into that vision. So that's what I do all the time. I love
Sherri Coffelt:supporting my clients to build a virtual business because then of
Sherri Coffelt:course, it gives you more flexibility, right? And do it in
Sherri Coffelt:a way that that generates the income that they want to live
Sherri Coffelt:the lifestyle that they want to live.
Tara Bryan:Yeah, very cool. So tell us a little bit about you
Tara Bryan:personally, like how did you get into this work? And and what was
Tara Bryan:your journey to sort of go, I assume that you are in maybe
Tara Bryan:some sort of traditional brick and mortar kind of scenario, and
Tara Bryan:then moved into, you know, really being able to step into
Tara Bryan:more of a virtual lifestyle? What does that look like for
Tara Bryan:you?
Sherri Coffelt:Absolutely. Well, I started started my
Sherri Coffelt:career out of college and corporate world, which so many
Sherri Coffelt:of us did. And you know, corporate was really pretty good
Sherri Coffelt:to me. But after about 13 years there, I really wanted to make a
Sherri Coffelt:bigger, bigger difference. And, you know, ended up starting
Sherri Coffelt:three businesses in my first year out of corporate, you know,
Sherri Coffelt:from the frying pan into the fire as the saying goes. And
Sherri Coffelt:over over the years, I was able to turn them all into multi six
Sherri Coffelt:figures in one seven figures, business sold that the seven
Sherri Coffelt:figure business and have been concentrating on my coaching
Sherri Coffelt:exclusively for the last 12 years, I guess it is and had
Sherri Coffelt:been coaching that entire 22 years, believe it or not. And
Sherri Coffelt:you know, in that that time period, I had a lot of different
Sherri Coffelt:variations of my business, I think that we have to be nimble
Sherri Coffelt:as a business owner. And that as trends change, our businesses
Sherri Coffelt:need to change, I have to remember I started my coaching
Sherri Coffelt:business in 2002 1000. And virtual businesses didn't barely
Sherri Coffelt:existed at that point. So I've seen a lot in in the two decades
Sherri Coffelt:plus that I've been in business. Getting to where I am now, quite
Sherri Coffelt:honestly was a bit of a knock upside the head moment. It was
Sherri Coffelt:about six years ago now pre pandemic. And I was updating my
Sherri Coffelt:vision letter, which is part of my process for my annual
Sherri Coffelt:planning. And I had that that proverbial knock upside the head
Sherri Coffelt:moment where I was looking at the vision letter I had done the
Sherri Coffelt:year before. And the one I did was doing for this year, and
Sherri Coffelt:realized that I wasn't living my bucket list. What I really
Sherri Coffelt:wanted to do was travel full time. And yet I unconsciously
Sherri Coffelt:grown my business very successfully, but was relying
Sherri Coffelt:mostly on live speaking. So I was you know running around
Sherri Coffelt:doing speaking from stage and getting client getting leads
Sherri Coffelt:that I turned into clients. But it kind of kept me at least
Sherri Coffelt:fixed to the US if not California at the time. And so I
Sherri Coffelt:realized that I you know, I felt pretty out of integrity, I have
Sherri Coffelt:to be honest, because I teach this whole process of getting
Sherri Coffelt:clear on your envision and then having your business fit into
Sherri Coffelt:that business, your business fit into that vision. And here I had
Sherri Coffelt:unconsciously got me into a place where I wasn't doing that.
Sherri Coffelt:So within six months, I completely changed my marketing
Sherri Coffelt:strategy when 100% virtual, sold my house, put my stuff in the in
Sherri Coffelt:storage and was traveling about nine months of the year
Sherri Coffelt:internationally, taking my business with me. And that's as
Sherri Coffelt:the intro I've not looked back. And even during the pandemic, I
Sherri Coffelt:was able to keep doing some travel in the US and spend a lot
Sherri Coffelt:of time with parents and family and friends and started
Sherri Coffelt:traveling again in beginning of this year and I can't do it. I
Sherri Coffelt:have no idea when I'm going to kind of get over the travel bug.
Sherri Coffelt:I don't know if it'll be forever or not.
Tara Bryan:Yeah, that's so cool. So So for our listeners, I
Tara Bryan:think just to break that down a little bit, which I think is
Tara Bryan:really powerful is is that you sort of you evolved right so as
Tara Bryan:you went from corporate to starting your own thing to doing
Tara Bryan:live speaking which I assumed sort of as the baby step to Oh,
Tara Bryan:I'm gonna I want to travel more so I'm going to do live speaking
Tara Bryan:in different cities. And then it was like Wait a minute, now I'm
Tara Bryan:traveling for other people still not for myself. My business
Tara Bryan:isn't serving me. It's it's sort of chaining me to travel Bakley
Tara Bryan:that isn't really travel I want to be doing right, right. It's
Tara Bryan:your Yeah. And so then just to sit and have that moment of, we
Tara Bryan:have to shift, we have to pivot and then actually move into
Tara Bryan:integrity. I love that I had a
Sherri Coffelt:cell what I do, whatever point now I decide
Sherri Coffelt:where I want to travel to. And then I reach into my community,
Sherri Coffelt:find out who lives there, and find out how I can do speaking
Sherri Coffelt:there. So then I can write off 100% of the trip.
Tara Bryan:Well, yes, See, there you go. It all comes full
Tara Bryan:circle. But yeah, you're so you're able to choose where you
Tara Bryan:want to go. And then you know, you can work there. Because
Tara Bryan:you've set up your life in order to work wherever you are,
Tara Bryan:instead of, you know, having to be dictated by where you're
Tara Bryan:going. So I love that. That's so cool. Okay, cool. So let's shift
Tara Bryan:into your business and talk about, you know, how do you
Tara Bryan:deliver to your deliver to your people, while you're able to do
Tara Bryan:all the things? What does that look like? So courses, programs,
Tara Bryan:one on one speaking, all those different things?
Sherri Coffelt:Yeah, most of those things will be part of it.
Sherri Coffelt:Yeah, I typically serve my clients in two ways. Excuse me,
Sherri Coffelt:I just still do one on one coaching. I actually love
Sherri Coffelt:working with people one on one. And I do believe that the
Sherri Coffelt:fastest path to success is typically one on one coaching,
Sherri Coffelt:when you could really go deep and have someone that's that's
Sherri Coffelt:kind of hooking arms with you and with you step by step during
Sherri Coffelt:the process. But I also believe in the power of small groups,
Sherri Coffelt:and what I call hybrid courses. So yeah, most of my pro in fact,
Sherri Coffelt:all of my programs, I've chosen not to sell Do It Yourself
Sherri Coffelt:courses for a long time, because people, people just don't
Sherri Coffelt:complete them. I mean, the statistics are less than 10% of
Sherri Coffelt:people make it through the second module of an of a do it
Sherri Coffelt:yourself online course. So what I do instead, is I use my
Sherri Coffelt:courses, and I have three major courses, I use my courses to
Sherri Coffelt:deliver information, that would be the same thing I'd say to
Sherri Coffelt:anybody, pretty much no matter who's watching it, and I use the
Sherri Coffelt:coaching part of it to really go deep answer questions, get
Sherri Coffelt:engagement, have people learn from each other in the group
Sherri Coffelt:programs that I do that are around a course, if you will.
Sherri Coffelt:And really add the value that keeps people engaged, keeps
Sherri Coffelt:people moving forward, and actually creating the
Sherri Coffelt:transformation that they bought the course in the first place
Sherri Coffelt:for?
Tara Bryan:Yep, that's so powerful. One of the things that
Tara Bryan:we focus on too, is exactly what you're saying is like, how do
Tara Bryan:you how do you, you know, package as much as you can? And
Tara Bryan:we are we even like talking about like, creating a virtual
Tara Bryan:version of yourself, right. So it's not just information, but
Tara Bryan:it's also the experience that you're creating for people that
Tara Bryan:they can become successful, and have that transformation. And
Tara Bryan:then you're enhancing it by being there, you know, to help
Tara Bryan:coach them along the way. Have you found like, in your
Tara Bryan:experience, those typically the that, like it's helpful for
Tara Bryan:people, because my statistic is actually 97% of people don't
Tara Bryan:finish courses. So giving them the benefit of the doubt. Yeah,
Tara Bryan:you're Yeah, you're like, Yeah, though, you know, maybe some
Tara Bryan:more people will, but most people don't. And the reason is
Tara Bryan:that they need that guide, they need somebody to guide them down
Tara Bryan:the journey. And if you can do that virtually, that more power
Tara Bryan:to you, right, like, we specialize in helping people
Tara Bryan:actually build a journey online that helps them progress, not
Tara Bryan:just like giving them a bunch of stuff. But one of the things
Tara Bryan:that I find so fascinating, and I'm interested to hear your
Tara Bryan:opinion on this is it, it's it's beneficial for the learners, but
Tara Bryan:it's also beneficial for the for the coach for the person who's
Tara Bryan:teaching because more often than not, if you haven't, uh,
Tara Bryan:something that's just all automatic, all automated, right,
Tara Bryan:we're not serving your people in the way that you want to show up
Tara Bryan:and serve your people. And so you tend to just like, then make
Tara Bryan:more stuff, and then go, Well, I don't feel connected, I don't
Tara Bryan:feel like I'm making a difference. And so it's actually
Tara Bryan:for both it's for the for the person who's doing the coaching
Tara Bryan:and training, and it's for the learner to have that hybrid
Tara Bryan:model.
Sherri Coffelt:I agree. 100%. And when I first started
Sherri Coffelt:coaching courses, and I've had close courses for, I know, 15
Sherri Coffelt:years or so at least more than that, anyway, for a lot of
Sherri Coffelt:years. And and they were doing it yourself when I first
Sherri Coffelt:started. And that's exactly why I switched to more the hybrid
Sherri Coffelt:model because I didn't feel connected with the people that
Sherri Coffelt:were buying my product. And then you know, I would look at what
Sherri Coffelt:they were consuming. It's like wait a minute, you know, you're
Sherri Coffelt:not opening the videos, you're not using the worksheets, and so
Sherri Coffelt:I knew they weren't creating the transformation that they had
Sherri Coffelt:spent their hard earned money to buy this course. And the reality
Sherri Coffelt:is when people don't get results. We know human nature,
Sherri Coffelt:right? Who do they blame? When they look in the mirror? They
Sherri Coffelt:don't look in the mirror and say, I didn't take action. So
Sherri Coffelt:I'm the one that is to blame. Too often they actually blame.
Sherri Coffelt:Who they? Who sold them? The course?
Tara Bryan:Yep, yep. And there's a little less visibility
Tara Bryan:there. Right? Like, there's
Tara Bryan:a responsibility there from us to say, how do we help help
Tara Bryan:somebody get there? But yes, your your 100%? Right. And then
Tara Bryan:do you find that like, when you first were doing it that way,
Tara Bryan:then you would just like, poke in and like, check in and like,
Tara Bryan:do all these little things anyway? Because
Sherri Coffelt:even more of your energy because it's from a
Sherri Coffelt:frustrated, almost anxious is checking in,
Tara Bryan:how's it going? Exactly. Like, yeah,
Sherri Coffelt:the other thing that I would say to that was a
Sherri Coffelt:big shift for me, and there's so much technology out there now,
Sherri Coffelt:that helps us around this is adding things into our courses
Sherri Coffelt:that encourage engagement and encourage forward progress. You
Sherri Coffelt:know, I have my courses on a platform that allows me to do
Sherri Coffelt:reward points. And I have something I call Rapid Rewards.
Sherri Coffelt:And so when people take action, that can collect points, and
Sherri Coffelt:then they can turn those points into an extra call with me, or
Sherri Coffelt:an invitation to a live event or whatever different different
Sherri Coffelt:things they can use the reward points for, and people love to
Sherri Coffelt:get those badges or reward points, right. So whatever you
Sherri Coffelt:can do, to encourage people to, to acknowledge them for taking
Sherri Coffelt:action, first of all, and then have some kind of a way that
Sherri Coffelt:they can see their progress makes a huge difference.
Sherri Coffelt:Checklists help with that, too. I have a checklist I need to my
Sherri Coffelt:modules. So when they check off the different things that
Sherri Coffelt:they're completing, they feel that sense of accomplishment,
Sherri Coffelt:because that's what stops people is they get into the course, and
Sherri Coffelt:they get stuck in some way. And there's not something there
Sherri Coffelt:that's helping them through that obstacle. So they give up. And
Sherri Coffelt:that's where we'll start. As course creators. That's our
Sherri Coffelt:responsibility.
Tara Bryan:100% Well, and and just like all of us, right,
Tara Bryan:there's, you know, this going on and this going on, and they may
Tara Bryan:have great intentions. But if you don't have anything that's
Tara Bryan:helping them progress, like exactly what you're talking
Tara Bryan:about, then, yeah, then they're like, oh, yeah, I really need to
Tara Bryan:get to that. I mean, I have courses like that, that I've
Tara Bryan:bought, right? I really need to get to that. Yeah. And that he
Tara Bryan:stays on the to do list forever, because I don't have time, time
Tara Bryan:to get into it. And and if you're, you know, meeting with
Tara Bryan:somebody and you know that you have to be prepared, then you
Tara Bryan:tend to take a little bit more responsibility to get there
Tara Bryan:because you don't want to let that other person down. Right.
Tara Bryan:It's that accountability. We all need to yep, yep. Very cool.
Tara Bryan:Awesome. Okay, cool. So what would be? So I have two
Tara Bryan:questions for you what would be the first one is like, give us a
Tara Bryan:tip, something that you see all the time that if only people
Tara Bryan:would do that, then their course or their program would be so
Tara Bryan:much better?
Sherri Coffelt:Wow, if only people would do that, the
Sherri Coffelt:rewards reward system that I talked about would probably be
Sherri Coffelt:one of them, making sure that they have some way to
Sherri Coffelt:acknowledge people for making forward progress. And I think
Sherri Coffelt:the second one we haven't talked about would be creating a sense
Sherri Coffelt:of community. One of the things people like about group programs
Sherri Coffelt:is that they don't feel like they're alone. And creating
Sherri Coffelt:that, that group dynamic people can learn so much from the
Sherri Coffelt:questions other people ask, giving them that, that, that
Sherri Coffelt:space to feel comfortable and confident that it's a safe space
Sherri Coffelt:that they can ask any question, and that they can learn from
Sherri Coffelt:each other. It's just, it's just invaluable in terms of creating
Sherri Coffelt:that forward momentum.
Tara Bryan:Yep, for sure. Awesome. Okay. And then, so if
Tara Bryan:somebody is first starting out, okay, this is a two parter. So
Tara Bryan:if somebody's first starting out, like a cloud, or you help
Tara Bryan:them figure out like, what to teach and what they should be
Tara Bryan:doing in their course, that's the first part of the question.
Tara Bryan:The second part of the question is, when should somebody start a
Tara Bryan:course?
Sherri Coffelt:Great questions. So what the approach I take in
Sherri Coffelt:my business is I use what I call creating your genius roadmap.
Sherri Coffelt:And your genius roadmap is simply a way for you to take out
Sherri Coffelt:of your head onto a least virtual piece of paper, how you
Sherri Coffelt:support your clients in solving the problem and creating
Sherri Coffelt:transformation that you promised them. So whatever your promises,
Sherri Coffelt:think of that as the end of the roadmap, if you will, the end of
Sherri Coffelt:the road, and you getting clarity on what are the literal
Sherri Coffelt:steps if it's more of a sequential process. What are the
Sherri Coffelt:pillars of success? If it's if it's not necessarily sequential,
Sherri Coffelt:that make you unique in how you help people get to a specific
Sherri Coffelt:end result? And the reality is we all have a process, whether
Sherri Coffelt:or not we realize it. And I typically go through a process
Sherri Coffelt:with clients where you're asking a lot of questions. It's like,
Sherri Coffelt:think about your favorite client, what did you do with
Sherri Coffelt:them first, and this having them be get out of their head? How
Sherri Coffelt:they did work with that client to create that, that
Sherri Coffelt:transformation. And when you do that for two or three, one on
Sherri Coffelt:one clients, or even in a group, how you work with them, you can
Sherri Coffelt:get pretty clear on that. So that's the first thing, then, in
Sherri Coffelt:terms of where you start, once you have that genius roadmap
Sherri Coffelt:laid out, the approach I take is now where along that genius
Sherri Coffelt:roadmap, do you want to focus first, on helping your clients
Sherri Coffelt:create success? Are you wanting to create a course or a program?
Sherri Coffelt:Let's say? Because we've kind of talked about the hybrid hybrid
Sherri Coffelt:approach? Do you want to create a program where you help people
Sherri Coffelt:get from A to Z on that entire genius roadmap? Or do you want
Sherri Coffelt:to focus in first on a particular stop or pillar if
Sherri Coffelt:you're not an adequate sequential approach on that
Sherri Coffelt:genius roadmap, my genius roadmap is five steps AI is
Sherri Coffelt:fairly sequential. Most of my work focuses on the first three
Sherri Coffelt:steps. And I do have some, you know, some go into the fourth
Sherri Coffelt:and fifth step. But I really love to focus more on the first
Sherri Coffelt:three steps, which are kind of pretty much from startup to
Sherri Coffelt:multi six figures in your business. I have VIP clients I
Sherri Coffelt:work with on on leveraging scale, which are my fourth and
Sherri Coffelt:fifth steps. But for the most part, I focus on those first
Sherri Coffelt:three steps, either is perfectly fine. But when you get clarity
Sherri Coffelt:on that, then you know where to go with your program. And what
Sherri Coffelt:you want to include in the course. In order to deliver on
Sherri Coffelt:that problem that promise, excuse me, because the big
Sherri Coffelt:promise you have for your entire zone of your work, if you will,
Sherri Coffelt:can be bigger than the promise that you that you solve in a
Sherri Coffelt:particular online course. That makes sense.
Tara Bryan:Yep, yep. Yep. That's great. Yes, I love I love
Tara Bryan:the roadmap, we talked about that all the time is, you know,
Tara Bryan:what, what is the step from point A to point B, you don't
Tara Bryan:just like get into a car and drive?
Sherri Coffelt:Exactly right. You've got routes from LA to New
Sherri Coffelt:York?
Tara Bryan:Yeah, yep. Exactly. Awesome. Okay, so then, like,
Tara Bryan:when should somebody get started? When they're trying to
Tara Bryan:package their expertise, I think that there's a perception out
Tara Bryan:there that you can just go from, you know, having an idea to
Tara Bryan:packaging your expertise. But tell me a little bit about your
Tara Bryan:philosophy around that. And when is the right time to do that?
Sherri Coffelt:My philosophy is that as a newer coach or
Sherri Coffelt:consultant, the best place to start is almost always not
Sherri Coffelt:always, but almost always, with one on one clients. And the
Sherri Coffelt:reason for that is multifold. The key reasons are number one,
Sherri Coffelt:it's the fastest path to cash. Because when you're first
Sherri Coffelt:starting out, you don't maybe don't have a list, you don't
Sherri Coffelt:have a lot of people to draw from. So a lot easier to have
Sherri Coffelt:people say yes, on a one on one basis, where you just talk to
Sherri Coffelt:one person, ask them to work with you. And they say yes or
Sherri Coffelt:no, than it is to get even a half dozen or a dozen people
Sherri Coffelt:into a group program. So start with one on one, because it's
Sherri Coffelt:easier to get some cash in that foundation going for you. It's
Sherri Coffelt:also the greatest market research incubator that you can
Sherri Coffelt:ask for. Because when you start working with those one on one
Sherri Coffelt:clients, you in essence, are implementing whatever section if
Sherri Coffelt:you will, of your genius roadmap that you promised them, either
Sherri Coffelt:all of it or part of it. You're taking them through your process
Sherri Coffelt:on a one on one basis. And you're going to learn from that,
Sherri Coffelt:what works really well. What maybe doesn't work as well, and
Sherri Coffelt:what's missing. And so many people that that jump into
Sherri Coffelt:creating online courses, they literally go and they create the
Sherri Coffelt:entire course before they even try to sell it, let alone
Sherri Coffelt:deliver it. And what ends up happening is that when they do
Sherri Coffelt:start delivering it, they realize oh my gosh, I've missed
Sherri Coffelt:this and Oh, this isn't working at all, and the end up redoing
Sherri Coffelt:it all. And that's a that's just breaks my heart because I have
Sherri Coffelt:met people I'm sure you have to that have spent a year
Sherri Coffelt:developing their online course never made a penny from it. And
Sherri Coffelt:then it either does it sell or when they sell it for you to a
Sherri Coffelt:few people. It doesn't deliver. Yep. And that's just oh my gosh,
Sherri Coffelt:that just breaks my heart.
Tara Bryan:It's like It's like this, this you know,
Tara Bryan:masterpiece, and unfortunately, it's too early to make a
Tara Bryan:mistake. As a minimum viable option, so Exactly, yeah.
Tara Bryan:Awesome. Okay, cool. Well, we could talk all day like, I am so
Tara Bryan:happy to have you on the show. And we'll have to have a second
Tara Bryan:episode later where we can just dive into some more detail
Tara Bryan:because it is, you know, what we talk about is all of the action,
Tara Bryan:the tips, the tricks, the nitty gritty, in this podcast, and so
Tara Bryan:I am just so thankful that you're able to share some of
Tara Bryan:your expertise with us. It is fabulous. Yeah. And so if people
Tara Bryan:want to learn more about you and and, and your stuff around the
Tara Bryan:bucket list and building, they're building their
Tara Bryan:businesses, where should they go to find you?
Sherri Coffelt:Well, they can always reach out to me on my
Sherri Coffelt:website at results partner.com That's results with an S partner
Sherri Coffelt:70 singular, and there's a free gift there that they can opt in
Sherri Coffelt:for it's called the Freedom finder checklist, great way for
Sherri Coffelt:them to get started to see where they are on their journey to
Sherri Coffelt:building their bucket lists life and maybe some steps along the
Sherri Coffelt:way they might have missed. And I also connect with a lot of
Sherri Coffelt:people on LinkedIn, it's my handles my just my name Sherri
Sherri Coffelt:Coffelt.
Tara Bryan:Perfect, awesome and those will be in the show notes
Tara Bryan:so you can grab them. Thank you so much for being on with us
Tara Bryan:today. And we will see you later.
