Hear of 7 powerful strategies to help coaches differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive industry. This episode provides practical advice to build a unique, memorable brand and transform your coaching business into a profitable venture.

Episode Highlights

[00:00:00] - Introduction and podcast overview

[00:01:00] - The importance of standing out in the coaching industry in 2024

[00:02:00] - Strategy 1: Be authentically you

[00:03:00] - Strategy 2: Solve real, specific problems for your ideal client

[00:05:00] - Strategy 3: Build a memorable personal brand

[00:06:00] - Strategy 4: Provide excellent, innovative service

[00:08:00] - Strategy 5: Leverage customer case studies and testimonials

[00:09:00] - Strategy 6: Build a tight-knit community

[00:10:00] - Strategy 7: Show up and be seen (aim for "omnipresence")

[00:12:00] - Episode summary and key takeaways

[00:13:00] - Closing thoughts and call to action

7 Ways to Stand Out from Your Competitors:

1. Be authentically you: Share your unique journey and stories
2. Solve real, specific problems for your ideal client
3. Build a memorable personal brand through authenticity
4. Provide excellent, innovative service (e.g., unlimited laser coaching)
5. Leverage customer case studies and testimonials
6. Build a tight-knit community around your brand
7. Show up and be seen - aim for "omnipresence" across platforms

Resources Mentioned

• 30-day "Offer to Market" sprint starting September 16th Offer to Market (joannalottcoaching.com)

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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Mentioned in this episode:

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 79th episode

of women in the coaching arena.

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I am so glad you're here.

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Today I'm covering how to stand

out from your competitors.

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Since COVID many people have gone into the

coaching industry, wanting more meaning.

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Wanting a better work life balance.

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So I'm excited today to share how

to stand out from your competitors

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and what I've noticed about those

who do succeed in this industry.

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So, this is not an optional

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This is base level now.

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You need to really prioritize

building a unique, memorable

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brand to transform your coaching

business into a profitable business.

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You may be thinking.

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I don't think I'm up for

rising above the competition.

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Everyone's doing amazing, but

I promise you, you can do this.

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And you don't have to do it by

being the loudest one in the room.

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You are here listening today because

you are up for the challenge.

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I am here to help you solve this problem.

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By the end of this episode, You

will have a clear roadmap of

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how to differentiate yourself.

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And stands out in this busy marketplace.

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So the first one, which I talk about

often is stand out by being you.

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As much as you can share

your journey, your stories.

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No one else can share those

exact same stories as you.

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This really is your

biggest differentiator.

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It's easily misunderstood.

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People think that no, one's

interested in what they're up to.

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But it's just not true.

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I am so intrigued about

people's backstories.

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About their life today.

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And I always encourage clients to bring

that into everything that they do.

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Usually when they've quit

their job to do this business.

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They want to forget all about

their previous experience

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the ones I've seen succeed.

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Are those who really bring in

everything that they've done to date.

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One of my clients was

a very young director.

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She was suddenly having to manage a large

team and found that really stressful.

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So now that's exactly what

she helps her clients with.

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Handle a large team when

you're a young new manager.

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There will always be clues of the

journey you've been on to date that

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you can take into your business and

do share those personal stories.

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That's what people want.

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Let's cover some quick ways that you

can stand out from the competition.

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Firstly help your ideal

client solve real problems.

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Yes, they will want to know who you are.

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They also want to know

what you can do for them.

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What's in it for them is a great

thing to always have in mind.

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How can you add value?

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If you are sharing story, how can

you make them the star of that

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story or resonate with your journey?

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You can also educate your audience

by really understanding their pain

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points and exactly how your unique

solution can solve that problem.

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I think the problem with training

to become a coach and translating it

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into a business is that we can end up

prioritizing things that are at the

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top of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

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Self-actualization.

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Reflection, vision, listening, all of

these amazing things that yes, we all

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ultimately want, but most of us are

down the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy

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of needs just trying to get money,

to pay the bills and time to do the

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most basic essential tasks in our day.

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So, yes whilst, we want to bring in

some of that amazingness into our offer.

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Often, we also need to think about real

world problems that your ideal client

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is struggling with from day to day.

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The more micro your solution the better.

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So instead of leadership,

you might want to be.

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Speak up as an introvert in a meeting.

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Really think about how you can

solve a very specific problem.

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And then people will understand

what you do enough to think.

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Yes, that's my problem right now.

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And I want to pay to solve that problem.

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Next up is build a

memorable personal brand.

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I believe you do this through authenticity

because that fosters loyalty, people

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will want to know you, trust you and

they need to know like, and trust

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you to be able to buy from you.

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So really dive in, which

is easy for you as a coach.

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What you stand for?

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Why are you passionate about.

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What is your mission really think

about these things to bring them into

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everything you do in your business.

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Next up is to provide excellent service.

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Think about how you can gain case studies.

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As you may see on my website, I have a

lot of case studies and I work really

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hard to provide the best customer

service to get those case studies.

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Yes, it's not always perfect,

but I will always be thinking,

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what can I do differently in

order to go above and beyond?

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For example, I've had my busiest two

months ever, which is crazy considering

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I haven't worked for the last six weeks.

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But what I've done to ensure that I

still get to really know my clients

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and provide excellent service is

to provide a really small group

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accelerator for the first four weeks.

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So no more than five people.

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In a small group with me to really

maximize that initial part of the

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journey together to really help them

to get to know people within the group.

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To get my support on that initial

phase, which you really need to

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build into the longer term journey.

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So how can you think

about customer service?

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Another thing I did early

on was unlimited coaching.

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So it was something, what did I call it?

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Oh, I called it laser coaching

and it was unlimited 15 minute

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coaching sessions, which I never

managed to stick to 15 minutes.

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I think I always overran to 30.

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But anyway, it was unlimited

15 minute sessions.

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It was £997 for three months.

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And the person could only book

a session if they had done the

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actions from the last session.

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So this person got amazing results because

they want to get their money's worth.

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So they're like, I can only talk to

her if I do whatever I was meant to do.

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And then they could book another session.

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So really think about how you can be

innovative and offer things like voice

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note coaching, or laser coaching.

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Think about how people

can fit it in their day.

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So it doesn't feel like a challenge and

they can get the answers right away.

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I remember when I did my

first business training course

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with a guy called Alan Wick.

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He used to work at the Savoy

hotel and he told me that they

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often used to deliberately leave

something small out of a room.

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Maybe.

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A bottle of water or a

hairdryer or something.

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And why they did it was so

they could over deliver.

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So then they would come up with the

hairdryer and they would say, I'm so

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sorry this has been missed from your room.

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In order to make it up for you.

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I am going to gift you a free meal

in our restaurant tonight, or I'm

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going to book a car for you wherever

you want to go for the evening.

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So it enabled them to really go

above and beyond in what they did.

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So really think about

delighting your ideal client.

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Next up, which I also covered last

week is to really showcase your

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customer case studies and testimonials.

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Their words will carry far more weight

than yours in terms of your marketing.

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So don't obsess about your marketing.

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Obsess about client results

and client testimonials.

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Make sure you are leveraging everything

like this, as much as possible to

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let them do the talking for you.

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If you want to go deeper on that,

listen to last week's episode,

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which is on proof over promise.

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Next up is building a

tight knit community.

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I've managed to make this

the heart of my brand.

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I know it may feel different if you are

doing one-to-one coaching but I have

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genuinely seen people build a movement.

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Even if they are only

offering one-to-one coaching.

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Think about how you can make, a live

show that people show up at there's

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this guy I know he has, I think it's

like the 5:00 AM club type thing.

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So he basically goes live on his

Facebook group at five in the morning.

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And honestly, 70 plus people

will actually join him live.

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And loads more like me would watch

the replay because clearly I am not

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as avid as he is at the five AM club.

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But he managed to build a community of

people because it was worth showing up

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for, so really think about how you can

make connection, the heart of your brand.

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how you can make people

want to support you.

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Lots of people do things like a private

Facebook group to build a community.

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There's a new app at the

moment called Skool which lots

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of people are raving about.

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There are lots more ways like

email marketing that you can

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bring people into your world and

invite them into your community.

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Even if they are not particularly

engaging with others in the community.

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What works really well is something that

LinkedIn creators do a lot, which is

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join 1032 people in my email community.

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So you feel like, oh wow, there's

already loads of people interested.

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This must be good.

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And you join their email list, but

they have positioned as a community.

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So you feel like you're

part of their world.

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And I will leave you

with show up and be seen.

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That may be online.

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It may be on podcasts, some

way of being discoverable.

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That is what you need to build an amazing

business and to stay ahead of the curve.

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what you're aiming for eventually

is to become omnipresent.

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So that is someone saying

to you everywhere I look

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there, you are, showing up.

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In that email box in their podcast,

on YouTube, on their Instagram.

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And yes, that sounds really hard

when you're starting but eventually

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you will learn how to leverage

the assets you are creating.

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And repurpose them into real big

discoverability online and offline.

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So, let me summarize today's episode.

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Say first, we talked about

how to stand out by being you.

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Next we talked about standing out by

helping your audience solve real problems.

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Next was building an

amazing personal brand.

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Finally providing amazing client service.

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Next up was showcasing case

studies and testimonials.

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We talked about building

a brilliant community, and

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finally I left you with be seen.

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So whether that's on or offline, what

we're aiming for is for you to be as

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visible as possible, and that will help

you stay ahead of your competition.

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I hope today's episode was helpful.

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If you want to work on that visibility,

I'm starting a 30 day offer to market

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sprint on the 16th of September.

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It will help you to create an

amazing offer and then show up and

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be seen with the aim of booking

sales calls within those 30 days.

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If it sounds like what you need

right now, you will find the link to

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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 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.