How to sell coaching … or not
Today I was browsing through some discussion topics in an online group I belong to, and came across a request for input on a new product that a parent coach was creating for her clients. This coach is working on a home study product designed to help parents feel more confident about their parenting.
My radar always goes off when I see a coach who is trying to sell coaching. What I mean by “selling coaching” is that you’re trying to sell the things we coaches are best able to help our clients achieve, like “balance, happiness, fulfillment,” etc. In the words of my own coach and 
mentor, Rhonda Hess, “Coaching doesn’t sell.” This is very scary news to hear when you’re a life coach who has just spent a ton of money to get yourself certified and is out there looking for some clients to work with. But it doesn’t mean you can’t be successful as a coach. It’s all in how you position what you offer to your target audience.
Below is my response to the parent coach who was asking our group for our ideas and suggestions about her product. Read on to see my coaching to her for how to create a product her clients will want to buy.
—————————————————————————————————————–
So I’m glad you’re doing some “market research” by asking for some feedback here. Often times we create a product or service offering that we think is a good idea, but we don’t check it out with our audience before investing a lot of time, effort and energy into it.
I know that you see a lot of parents out there who are not confident in themselves as parents, and I’m sure that as a parent yourself and a coach, you know the unbelievable value of getting to the other side of that, and know how that confidence makes a huge positive impact on your child.
That said, it’s hard to sell “being more confident.” I’ve been a coach for five years now, and I spent the first two of them trying to sell “life coaching” and all of the things we help our clients achieve like “balance, happiness, fulfillment, etc.” While these are clearly important and valuable, I found it very hard to get people to put a price tag on them and pull out their wallets to pay me for them.
How connected are you with your target audience? Are you engaged with them, talking with them in person and online, coaching them already? What are their top problems and challenges? What are they telling you they need help with? And what are they willing to pay for? I.e. Are they willing to pay in order to be more confident in their lives?
My experience is that although they want this really badly, they can’t justify spending money on it.
Now, that said, you may still have a great product to create. My coaching to you would be to check in with your target audience. Ask them if they “need this” and what they would be willing to pay for it. By having some great conversations with your target audience about their problems, challenges and concerns, you will learn what they are most willing to pay for. As a mom and a coach, you have a wealth of resources you could provide to solve their problems. Make your offerings be solutions to your clients “pains” and they’ll sell.
It’s not a question whether you or your services are valuable–it’s all about how you market what you offer so that your target audience realizes they NEED it.
Let’s help her out: Are you a parent who needs help building your confidence about your parenting? What sort of things would help you with this? And would you be willing to pay for a home study guide to support you? Please leave your feedback below.
WAHMs: Is it time to give up on balance?
I’ve been having some great conversations with mompreneurs and work at home moms on the topic of “balance” lately, and specifically how it relates to the goal of work/life balance.
Seems like we’ve spent the last decade or so trying to achieve this balance thing, but it may be a concept whose time has past. Many think it’s unachievable, or at the very least, that it can be achieved but not sustained. Is balance what we really want? Do we want to spend equal time with work and equal time with family?
I know that certain words are “trigger words” or hot buttons for some people, but I think the idea of balance is basically a good one. I think that the more we’ve been working towards it, though, the more we are learning that there are other ways to define how we want our lives as moms and business owners to look.
When I think of words that capture how I want my life as a mom entrepreneur coach to look, these are some of the words that come to mind:
INTEGRATION
FLEXIBILITY
FULFILLMENT
RHYTHMS
SEASONS
I make my work a fully-integrated part of my life. That doesn’t mean I don’t set boundaries around it, just that I include it as part of who I am and what I love to do. How much and when I work varies from time to time, based on priorities, energy levels, moods, seasons… But my commitment to my work and my family stays the same.
What about you? Is there a phrase or concept you’re striving for that is more descriptive than “work/life balance”? How do you see your roles as mom and business owner? Are they one in the same or separate somehow? Please leave a comment below.
Mompreneurs Need Different Kinds of Support
Get the acknowledgement, support and understanding you need from the right people.
Are you always going to your partner/husband, your sister, your neighbor, or a client trying to share something that’s important to you, only to wind up feeling let down when they don’t say what you wanted them to say? It could be that you’re choosing the wrong person to share with at that moment.
In this Five Minute Coaching MOMent for mom entrepeneurs, I share some insight on how you can avoid feeling let down when you’re up to big things in your business and life!
Who’s on your support team or “board of advisors”? Do you expect different kinds of support from the different people in your life? Please share your comments here. And if you like my “Five Minute Coaching MOMents for Mom Entrepreneurs” and want to see some more, you can subscribe to the mombizcoach channel on YouTube so you will be notified each time I add new ones.
How to Handle Breakdowns
Every mom entrepreneur I know experiences a breakdown of some sort from time to time. Maybe you lost your cool and spanked your kid. Or you didn’t get hired by that prospect you thought just loved your work. Or perhaps your husband forgot your birthday or said something that really hurt.
When things don’t go the way you want them to, that’s a breakdown. How do you handle them? What do you do to resolve them? Do you have a method to help you get unstuck, to get back on track, or do you avoid the person or the situation that caused the breakdown like the plague?
I have a simple method that helps me get unstuck and back in control after a breakdown. I share it in the five-minute video below.
Is this something you can use? Do you have another method? Please share your comments below.
Does Your Website Speak to Your Readers?
Many of us mompreneurs try to protect or hide the fact that we’re also solopreneurs, a company of one.
Why?
For most, we’re concerned that we won’t be seen as credible, professional, established, or simply “big enough” as compared to our competitors who have whole departments working for them.
But is this necessarily true? What if the thing that’s most appealing to your potential clients is your uniqueness? Are you trying to conceal that uniqueness in your marketing efforts?
If you’re using the “royal we” on your website rather than speaking straight from your heart and gut, chances are you’re not attracting your ideal clients and you’re spending a lot of time and energy trying to be something you’re not. I’m going to talk more about this on my BlogTalkRadio show in a few minutes. You can click here to listen live or on-demand (whenever it fits into your schedule) to learn how being real speaks a lot louder and sends a better message than believing that what you are isn’t enough.
Two great teleseminars for mompreneurs next week!
Is it just me, or is the crazy busy-ness of summer all ready full upon us?
There is so much going on for mom entrepreneurs right now. What an exciting time for us to be in business, 
and for us to be learning and growing!
I have not one, but TWO very special teleclasses scheduled for next week to tell you about. One is about my new, favorite, hot topic: publicity for mompreneurs. The other is about one of the most important, foundational requirements for a successful life: taking exquisite care of yourself.
On Monday night, June 8th, at 8pm ET, I will host a special episode of my BlogTalkRadio Show with special guest Helen Coronato of weekendpublicist.com. Helen is a publicity guru who has created a fabulous virtual workshop in which entrepreneurs can create their very own press kits in one weekend. If you’ve been wondering about how to get the media attention you deserve without spending several thousand dollars, Helen’s tools, templates, live feedback and coaching will help you do just that. Our show will tell you all about her upcoming virtual workshop (on June 13-14) so you’ll know exactly what to expect. And there’s a special deal for Mom Biz Coach show listeners–you can’t afford to miss this, moms!
*** If you’d like to be eligible for the special discount Helen is offering to our show guests, be sure to swing by www.whatmomentrepreneursneed.com and fill in the email form. ***
And then on Tuesday, June 9th, we welcome LaSara Firefox as our guest speaker in the WoMEN: What Mom Entrepreneurs Need Teleseminar Series. In the sixth installment of this series, LaSara will share with us some “Daily Rituals for Self-Care,” something most of us mom entrepreneurs don’t get enough of. LaSara, mother of two, is a successful author (Sexy Witch a non-fiction/self help book), a life coach and NLP practicioner, and founder the Ecstatic Presence Project and Global Family Awakening: an educational, peace and humanitarian family adventure club. With all she has going on in her own life, LaSara is focused on creating support systems that support your whole self!
I feel so fortunate to be able to surround myself with such wise, supportive and generous women as Helen and LaSara. Please mark your calendars and visit the Mom Biz Coach Show on BlogTalkRadio for call-in and listening options for both shows. You can even set up an email reminder so you don’t forget!
I look forward to hearing you on the call!
If you have questions or comments for either of my guests this week, you can leave them here and I’ll do my best to address each of them.
Four Common Places We Get Stuck
Where are you getting stuck? Chances are, it’s in one of these four common pitfalls: research gathering, procrastination, the “bright shiny objects” syndrome, and negative self-talk. If you can distinguish that you’re stuck in one of these areas, then you have the choice to do something different.
Where are you stuck? Do you identify with one of the pitfalls I described in this video, or are you doing something a little different? Please share your comments as well as tips for getting unstuck.
Women Define Success Differently
I have had many conversations about the definition of success over the last four years since I became a life coach. 
At the risk of making a sexist generalization, I truly believe that women, especially moms, define success differently from men.
My definition of success completely changed once I became a mother. Prior to that, I defined success like this:
- by working hard
- making a lot of money
- travelling constantly for business and pleasure
- being able to make purchases simply because I wanted them, when I wanted them
- having a nice car
- owning a nice house
- dating and then eventually marrying a super guy
- the completion/delivery of a big project
- being “needed” by my coworkers and clients
- receiving rewards, promotions and acknowledgement from my coworkers, bosses and clients that I was doing a fantastic job
Now that I’m a mom, that list looks a lot different. It took me a long time to realize that my old definition of success simply didn’t work when I applied it to my new role of mother (and later to my role as mom entrepreneur). I was frustrated, sad, angry and resentful because I no longer received constant praise and acknowledgement for “my work” (mothering my three children). My Mondays looked just like my Sundays, and there wasn’t any way for me to judge my “progress” as a mother, other than how far I’d managed to get through the mountain of dirty laundry. And I certainly didn’t make any money at this new “job” as a mom–in fact, I felt a huge loss of power when I no longer earned an income myself, something I had done consistently since I was 12 years old.
With the help of my husband and my life coach, I learned that the definition I was using to measure my success (and to feel satisfied with the life I was creating) fit me about as well as a size five shoe (I wear a 10). I learned how to redefine success on my own terms by starting with a clear understanding of my core values and priorities.
Here’s how I now define success for myself:
- I am healthy and take care of myself.
- I am a mother of three well-adjusted, confident, friendly and compassionate children (well, almost–the two-year-old is working on the compassionate part when she’s not stealing her brothers’ favorite toys and beating them over the head with them).
- I am a wife who is committed to her husband and a strong, satsifying marriage.
- I am loved and supported by my extended family and many dear friends.
- I do work that fuels my passion and totally satisfies my creativity, ambition, and natural talents.
- My work makes a difference in the lives of others.
- My clients inspire me.
- I recognize that I have choices, and that it’s up to me to make life happen the way I want it to.
I just interviewed Nicola Ries Taggart, The Executive Moms Coach and founder of True Insights Coaching on Tuesday as part of my WoMEN: What Mom Entrepreneurs Need teleseminar series about the need for mom entrepreneurs to redefine success for themselves. We discussed this topic in detail. You can listen to the call by clicking here.
Looking for some inspiration? Check out this list by Michael Dunlop of incomediary.com.
Top 30 Female Internet Entrepreneurs
Posted on 12. May, 2009 by Michael in Entrepreneurship
Hello Everyone,
Women more so than men I find do not measure success by money alone but by a lot of things such as happiness, love, friendships, family and the list goes on. So in recognition of the great numbers of female entrepreneurs out there and in particular those who are active online I have decided not to rank the 30 women listed below by wealth alone but simply as my list of the “30 Top Female Internet Entrepreneurs”.
30 Female Entrepreneurs Making Money Online
| Name | Company | Founded | Why She Matters |
Amanda Marcotte  |
Pandagon | 26-Nov-01 | Amanda runs one of the most talked about feminism and politics blogs. Marcotte shot to fame when John Edwards asked her to run the presedential blog. |
Ariana Huffington  |
Huffington Post | 09-May-05 |
Is perhaps one of the most successful female Internet entrepreneurs ever and is the founder of the top blog in the world according to Technorati!
|
Ashley Qualls  |
What Ever Life | 2004 | Attracting millions of monthly visitors earning the 18 year old 7 figures a year. |
Barbara Feldman  |
Surfnetkids.com | 29-Jun-05 |
Founder of Surfnetkids, the website attracts more than 600,000 visitors a month, her newsletter lists are over 80,000 strong, and her self-published e-books are sold on dozens of sites.
|
Carrie Wilkerson  |
The Bare foot Executive | 2007 |
In 2 years Carrie has gone from in debt to 7 figure Internet entrepreneur with over 100,000 followers!
|
Caterina Fake  |
Flickr | 26-Jun-05 |
Caterina co-founded Flickr with Stewart Butterfield which was later acquired by Yahoo! for a high 8 figure deal.
|
Catherine Cook  |
MyYearBook.com | 27-Jun-05 |
Start 4 years ago when she was 15, MyYearBook has grown to 3 million members worldwide and rakes in annual sales in the seven figures!
|
Cyan Ta’eed  |
Eden Creative | 2006 | Ta’eed is the co-founder of Eden Creative Communities which attracts over 10 million visitors to their blog network every month earning her 7 figures a year. |
Eileen Gittins  |
Blurb | 26-Jun-05 |
Elieen is the co-founder and CEO of Blurb, a print on demand publishing service. The company’s revenue grew from $1 million to $30 million in two years.
|
Elaine Wherry  |
Meebo | 01-Sep-05 | Elaine co-founded Meebo, a instant messaging service you use in your browser. Meebo attracts 40,000,000 monthly users. |
Erin Jansen  |
NetLingo.com | 21-Jun-05 |
Founder of an Award-Winning Web Site since 1994, Erin is a Internet entrepreneur veteran.
|
Gina Bianchini  |
Ning | 01-Oct-05 |
Gina is the Co-founder and CEO of Ning. There are 1,000,000 social networks on the Ning Platform, growing at a rate of almost 4,000 new social networks each day.
|
Gina Trapani  |
Lifehacker | 01-Jan-05 | Gina Trapani is a technology blogger, book author, and programmer. The founding editor of Lifehacker.com, a daily weblog on software and personal productivity, Gina authored a book based on the web site which is in its second edition: Upgrade Your Life: The Lifehacker Guide to Working Smarter, Faster, Better! |
Heather Armstrong  |
Dooce | 01-Feb-01 |
One of the biggest mommy blogger’s out there attracting millions of readers to her blog and has recently passed 500,000 Twitter followers.
|
Juliette Brindak  |
Miss O and Friends | 22-Jun-05 |
Juliette came up with the idea for Miss O and Friends at just 10 years old, now 19 her business is worth over $15 Million and is visited by millions of girls every month.
|
Justine Ezarik  |
iJustine | 27-Jun-05 |
It all started with a 300 page iPhone bill, now she is a social media rock star with millions of YouTube views and over 500,000 twitter followers!
|
Kim Polese  |
SpikeSource | 25-Jun-05 | Kim Karin Polese is CEO of SpikeSource, and was one of the most prominent Silicon Valley executives during the dot-com era. In 1997, she made Time Magazine’s list of “The 25 Most Influential Americans”. |
Lisa Stone |
Blog Her | 01-Feb-05 |
Lisa is the founder of BlogHer which reaches more than 14 million women monthly through its conferences, Internet site and publishing networks.
|
Lisa Sugar  |
Pop Sugar | April 2006 | Lisa’s blog network is funded by Sequoia – the guys who funded Google and Youtube. Now one of the biggest celeb blogs on the net, Lisa sure is a top female blogger! |
Louise Wannier  |
MyShape | 26-Jun-05 |
Louise runs an online women’s apparel retailer that finds clothing for women based on their physical measurements and style and fit preferences
|
Maria Andros  |
Social Media Traffic Blueprint |
Maria helps people create a buzz with social media. Recently she took 100 people into her mentoring program for $2500 each.
|
|
Meg Frost  |
Cute Overload | 2005 | Although she hasn’t got a pet herself, attracts 100,000s of visitors daily to her cute animal blog. |
Meg Hourihan  |
Blogger.com | 21-Jun-05 |
Meg Hourihan is the cofounder of Pyra Labs, the company that launched the Blogger personal blogging software that was acquired by Google for for a 8 figure deal.
|
Mena Trott  |
Six Apart | 23-Jun-05 |
Mena is a co-founder of Six Apart, creator of Movable Type and TypePad.
|
Michelle Malkin  |
Michelle Malkin | June 2004 | Michelle blogs about news and politics which attracts nearly 200,000 visitors a day to her site. |
Penelope Trunk  |
Brazen Careerist | March 2006 | With multiple start-ups and over 30,000 RSS readers on her personal blog, Penelope is one female to follow. |
Nancy J Price  |
she knows | 1999 |
Nancy co-founded SheKnows which attracts 7.5 Million Monthly Unique Visitors and 76 Million Monthly Page Views!
|
Natalie Massenet  |
Net-A-Porter | 22-Jun-05 |
Eight years ago she’d never even been on the internet. This year Natalie Massenet turned over £37 million with Net-a-Porter, the fashion website that has become a global phenomenon.
|
Rachna Kingston  |
Entheos | 30-May-08 |
Is a pregnant work at home mum who runs a web design resource website that attracts over a million visitors a month!
|
Xeni Jardin  |
Boing Boing | 22-Jun-05 | Xeni is the editor of one of the top 5 blogs in the world, Boing Boing. |
So how do you define success for yourself? Have you outgrown your old definition? Did your definition change once you became a mom? If so, how? Please leave a comment below, and share this on twitter and facebook with your friends who might be trying to figure this out for themselves.
The power of visual reminders
I had a great coaching session with one of my mom entrepreneur clients last week. One of the issues she’s facing is getting paid appropriately for her services by a client who continues to ignore her boundaries. This client has become quite demanding, expecting my client to be on call for her most of the time. This is challenging and frustrating since my client, like most of us, has a family who needs her outside of her office hours.
As solopreneurs and moms who run start-up companies, we are often fearful of setting boundaries (e.g. “I only work Tuesday through Thursday from 9am-3pm;” or “Payment for services rendered is due immediately upon completion of the project;” or “My fee is $75/hour,” etc.). We’re scared that we might be turning away the business, clients and money we need to be successful. We’re coming from a fearful, desperate place that says we have to take what we can get, or else be doomed.
Whenever I notice this kind of crappy belief popping up in the minds of the women I coach, I do four things:
1. Teach the client to notice these thoughts inside their heads. Where did they come from? Where did you learn to believe that you aren’t worth your fee?
2. Once they start noticing the negative, self-limiting thoughts, it’s time to shift to a better mindset. We create a declaration or a mantra that is powerful and positive.
3. Experts say it takes about 28 days to create a new habit, and that’s exactly what we’re trying to do here: create a new, healthy habit of having a powerful mindset and displacing the old, crappy one that keeps us down. One of the best ways to remember to practice a new mindset is to create visual reminders and post them around the huose and office. Thus, I’m always suggesting my clients “Print and Post” a special reminder like a declaration or a mantra.
I was delighted to receive an email from my client last week with the attached photo in it. She shared with me that she had posted her declaration “I deserve to be happy, fulfilled and powerful!” in her bathroom. And then shortly thereafter, her six-year-old daughter posted her own note: “I deserve to be happy fun hlthy The End.”
How cool is it that one mompreneur’s powerful belief in herself (and her willingness to practice a new, healthy habit that supports her) inspired such a great response from her daughter?
* The photo was shared with permission.
Do you use visual reminders? Do you have a vision board or other visual cue that keeps you focused on what you’re trying to achieve? Please share what works for you and how you use it.
Up Next in the WoMEN teleseminar series: Alisa Bowman
This is gonna be so much fun.
As you know by now, I’ve put together a fabulous and FREE teleseminar series for working moms called: “WoMEN: What Mom Entrepreneurs Need.” Our next topic in the series is something every mompreneur I know needs–some advice, tips, and clever ways to get the support we need from our partner or spouse. Running a business and raising a family is not easy, and it’s near impossible if you’ve got a struggle with your partner going on.
I’ve found just the gal to help us figure out how to make this better.
On Tuesday, April 14th at Noon ET, I’m pleased to welcome Alisa Bowman from “Project Happily Ever After” as my guest expert for the teleseminar entitled: “How to Make Your Marriage Work With Your Business.” 
Her approach to marriage, parenthood, career and friendships has been described as “disarmingly honest.” Her fresh take on life includes mentioning what others deem unmentionable. From bikini waxes to second honeymoons, the silent treatment to power struggles (both with 2 year olds and 42 year olds), she is able to masterfully blend the helpful with the hilarious. Alisa speaks at college events and conferences. She has appeared in Better Homes and Gardens, Women’s Health and American Baby. She has also been interviewed on large websites such as Glamour.com, various newspapers and a guest on regional radio and television news shows. Alisa has authored and co-authored or ghosted more than 20 books, including 5 New York Times Best sellers. Alisa currently lives happily ever after (most of the time) with her husband, daughter and dog in Emmaus, PA.
I hope you’ll join us for this fun, wise and honest look at how we mom entrepreneurs can get the support we need from our relationships. Here are the details:
What: “Make Your Marriage Work With Your Business” teleseminar, the second teleseminar in the “WoMEN: What Mom Entrepreneurs Need” series, hosted by Lara Galloway, The Mom Biz Coach with Guest Expert Alisa Bowman
When: Tuesday, April 14th, from Noon – 1pm ET
Where: On your computer or your phone via www.blogtalkradio.com/MomBizCoach (click on the link to listen via webcast) or call (347) 838-9199 to listen and ask questions during the live show!
Tell your girlfriends to join you! I promise you’ll find some great nuggets of wisdom, some funny things to laugh about, and a few actions you can take immediately to improve your relationship.
Do you have a question or topic you’d like to hear addressed during the teleseminar by Lara or Alisa? Just leave a comment below.
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