MONEY FIRST, THEN PASSION. NO, WAIT, PASSION FIRST, THEN MONEY.
The problem with so many life coaches (I used to be like this) is that they feel bad about selling their services. They think they’re betraying what life coaching stands for: helping people.
Um…
Does your doctor think that way?
Does your masseuse think that way?
Does the lady who does your eyelashes think that way?
Until I flipped the switch on the way I was thinking about money and selling, I continued to buy into the (very limiting) belief that “life coaches shouldn’t be focused on money.”
Where did I get this idea? From listening to coaches who weren’t making money!
I didn’t think this way as a lawyer, but for some reason I thought “coaching was different.”
I finally figured out where the disconnect was: there’s a big difference between having a coaching practice and building a coaching business. Each requires a different hat: our coaching hat (when we’re coaching) and our business woman hat (when we’re running a business!). Knowing the difference between these two hats is crucial!
Once you understand this important distinction, expecting to make money as a coach makes sense.
But it’s one thing for it to make sense in your head, and quite another for your heart to agree. This is when you know it’s time to hire your own coach because unpacking our own limiting beliefs is really hard, if not downright impossible. After all, we cannot see what we cannot see until someone with belief-busting skills points it out to us.
Because coaches are notorious for finding ways to not make offers (“I don’t want to sound like a slime-ball”) and therefore not make money.
They get caught up in choosing their niche. (A truly perfect distraction.)
They can’t decide what to call their coaching program.
They try to design and build a website all by themselves, despite having no marketing message, no branding, and no copywriting experience.
And they like to say things like this: “I’m not ready yet.”
Then they change their niche again.
Then they re-do their freebie.
And in between they hang out on social media trying to get noticed.
All the while they’re not making money.
AND THEN they come to the conclusion that there must be something wrong with them.
(To be clear, I used to do all of the above.)
We are so incredibly hard on ourselves.
When I work with coaches, I teach them the VERY FIRST STEPS in building an online business.
The reason so many coaches, experts, consultants and other brilliant fledgling entrepreneurs don’t make money is because they start with advanced steps and skip over all the all-important first steps that lay the foundation of a profitable business.
So it’s no wonder that they find themselves drowning in a sea of overwhelm, frustration, procrastination and, on the worst days, feeling like they want to quit.
If that’s you, pause right now and focus on answering these 3 fundamental questions:
The first question you must answer is this:
What is the lifestyle I desire to create for myself with my coaching business?
Once that question is answered (and not before), ask yourself this:
How much money do I need to make in order to support the lifestyle I want to cultivate?
Only then can you ask yourself:
What are the money-making steps I need to take in order to build a profitable and fulfilling coaching business?
I always say, when a woman owns a business (that’s both profitable and fulfilling), she OWNS HER LIFE.
This is how we woman UP.
