Starting a coaching business can feel like an uphill battle, right? It's even tougher when you're still waiting to sign your first coaching client. Trust me, I've been there, and I want you to know you're not alone, darling. To show you, let me share some of my own tough moments that made me feel a bit crap and disheartened as I was trying to get my coaching business off the ground. From the highs of potential clients sliding into my DMs to the lows of unsolicited advice and salesy tactics, I'm laying it all out there!

I'll share how I turned disappointments into resilience and why those tough moments actually turned into golden opportunities for my business and personal growth. If you've ever been disheartened or just need a hype woman to get you back on track, this is the episode for you! Tune in, and let's turn those setbacks into comebacks together.

Topics covered on Starting a Coaching Business: Situations That Left a Sour Taste in My Mouth:

1. How to handle unsolicited sales messages from other coaches in your DMs?
2. Experiencing "catfishing" in the coaching industry.
3. I was asked to be a case study for another coach's program, was it an honor or just a sales tactic?
4. Is writing affirmations like "I am a six-figure business owner" really effective?
5. Dealing with negative comments on social media when starting your coaching business.
6. How can you build resilience and maintain a positive mindset when starting your coaching business?

Connect with Leanne Sia:

• Website: www.leannesia.com
• Instagram: @_leannesia_

Resources from this episode:

• Manychat

Quote:

“Anything that happens, you can choose to let it ruin you or let it raise you up.” - Leanne Sia

[00:00:19] that you know you're meant to have. Let's do this. Hello, my darling. Welcome to episode six of the Zero to Rockstar coaching business podcast. In this episode, I'm going to be sharing with you the things that have happened to me that have made me feel a bit crap and disheartened when I was trying to get my coaching business off the ground.

[00:01:00] So that's why I'm just putting these out there. When you're building a coaching business, online or any kind of business, and you've got an online presence, you're You are very, very vulnerable. Not only have you got your inner critic in your ear, you've got other people's opinions in your ear, and you can feel like you don't know the rules of the game.

[00:01:49] So the first thing I'm going to talk about is, Something that I, has clearly affected me because I still think about it. And what happened was I had gotten qualified. I was putting myself out there as a coach for mums. I think at the time I was leading with, do you want to stop feeling guilty? And I hadn't had my first paying client.

[00:02:38] I was so excited. Like literally my face lit up. I got like this rush of excitement going through my whole body. And then I was like, right, should I reply now? Like, I don't want to seem too keen or should I respond tomorrow? So I replied like then and there and I said, yes, I'm taking on one to one clients.

[00:03:27] And that was my first time that I had had a message like that. Now I get them all the bloody time and I can see them straight away. And I normally block and delete, or sometimes I have a little game with them and see how many questions they'll ask before they get straight to the point. But that was my first ever time.

[00:04:05] I hate sleazy sales tactics. I hate people getting into my DMs. Probably mainly because I've been the victim of that disappointment that you get when it turns out it's just another coach trying to sell to you. I really wish that there was a button on Instagram where you could like say no sales DMs, or if you could have like a little slider saying, I'm not looking for a coach right now, I would definitely have mine.

[00:04:45] Don't respond.

[00:05:28] I'm not comfortable at all with people pretending that they are in their DMs with you. When it's actually someone that they employ to pretend that they're them. I'm really not cool with that. And I know a lot of people do it. Like if you're at a certain level in your business, then you might have people pretending to be you.

[00:06:10] It wasn't until later on and I was chatting with someone who also got into her program that I realized that it was not her. It was her team. And I just think it's not cool to pretend. That you're someone you're not on Instagram. And I might get a lot of hate for this because I'd say, Oh my God, Leanne, when you're like seven figures, you can't DM everyone.

[00:06:51] I'm a human on the other end of the phone and I don't want you to ever feel like I'm not going to treat you like a human just because I'm a coach and you could be a potential client. I don't like being catfished. I don't like being hoodwinked. If it is a member of your team, that's fine. Tell me, tell me that it's a member of your team. Drop me a DM. Don't pretend to be the coach that you're actually working for.

[00:08:00] I was in between coaches at the time and a coach slid into my DMs and I was chatting to her and I had no intention of working with her, to be honest, because I just came out of a high ticket coaching program and she wasn't on my radar. And then she said something which on her part, It was brilliant, but on my part, I still feel ick about it.

[00:08:46] Is this something that you're going to be interested in? And I was like, holy fuck, this expert has asked me to be a case study inside of her program. Like, this must mean that I am [00:09:00] something special because she wants to have me in her program. So I was in my bedroom again, ran downstairs and was like to my hubby, Chris, Christoph, you're never going to guess this, but this woman has just been messaging me in the DMs.

[00:09:36] She sees something in me that maybe I don't see or feel in myself. And guess what? I signed up. And now I know that she asked everyone inside of her group to be a case study. And that really triggers me because I've got stuff going on, stories that I've been telling myself from my past. Of course I do. We all do.

[00:10:22] And I signed up on the back of that. So to find out that she said that to everyone, it was like a kick in the teeth. It really was and I feel really stupid that I fell for that. I feel ashamed that I fell for that and that is just not a way that I would ever. invite people to work with me. So if anyone ever uses that kind of language or questioning with you, I really hope that they are genuine, that they do want you to be a case study.

[00:11:10] If you're ever in a similar situation where someone says that to you, I want you to just have a moment to think, would you still want to sign up to this if you knew they were saying that to everyone? If someone had told me to have that thought, I would not have signed up to that program. And I wish that I hadn't because I didn't actually learn anything that I hadn't learned already.

[00:12:07] especially men because I only work with women, right? So unless I know of the man, if I know of him personally or professionally, then I will allow him to follow me. But on the whole, if you're a man and I don't know who you are, you're getting blocked straight away. And that's how I've dealt with my social media accounts from the get go.

[00:12:51] This man, he looked about, he had a beard. He was gray haired. He was in his fifties, sixties. Posted under my reel and said what the hell is she wittering on about and that really got my goat and all of a sudden my inner critic was like cha ching this is something that I can go to town on with Leanne.

[00:13:33] Like, what the hell? I had to like, catch myself and talk to my brain and see, Babes, you don't need to give this any more air time than you already are. This is just some loser who is so sad that he gets a kick out of writing unsolicited comments under people's reels and making them feel shit about it.

[00:14:19] They just don't. And you get to block and delete. That's how you use your power. You block and you delete. And you also choose to not dwell on it anymore. Okay? Don't give it any more air time. The fifth one that I'm going to share with you that made me feel disheartened, um, is that another coach told me to write out over and over and over again, I am a six figure business owner.

[00:15:10] And I feel like I was so naive and to think that that would happen if you've done these things and they've happened for you. That's amazing. But I would guess that for the majority of people, not everyone's strategy is going to work for everyone else. So please take them with a pinch of salt and ask yourself, like, when you're looking for these strategies, are you just hoping for the quick fix and you're actually putting off?

[00:15:58] Go inward and ask yourself, what do you really need to do? Because you have the answers. I know you do. So I look back at these things that have happened over the past few years and I can laugh about them now, but at the time they made me feel sad. They made me feel angry. They made me feel upset. And that wasn't the energy that I want to be in to try and build my business.

[00:16:49] Because that means that it's not a bad thing. It's not a bad thing that it happened. It's a good thing because having a pretty decent resilience muscle is going to stand you in good stead for having a business that's sustainable. Another thing that I want you to think about doing when things happen that are challenging.

[00:17:24] This is a sign that you're not meant to do this. No one wants to work with you, blah, blah, blah. Your brain will literally want to take you there straight away. But I want you to actively choose thoughts that will make you feel better. There is so much power in that. You can turn anything around in your business.

[00:18:07] But if they have, then darling, you're not alone. Building any business is like a roller coaster, darling. We're clinging on for dear life. Oh, you've got your hands up and you're screaming. And some of these things that happen, Can send you on a downer, even if at face value, they aren't a big deal to anyone else, but don't let these things get in the way of you building your rockstar coaching business.

[00:18:51] Come and say hello to me on Instagram at underscore LeanneSia underscore head to leanneSia. com if you want the show notes. And if you are ready to build your rockstar coaching business sooner rather than later, come and buy one, darling. Just drop me a DM and we will rendezvous.