What do I do next in my life coaching business?
I have developed an incredible world class product. Now the problem is that it is too good. Nobody believes it. What should I do next in my life coaching business? What I am currently doing is to just expand my client base, having current clients refer people. I am also putting video testimonials on my website to go with the written ones. Continuing to network as I do.
Expert Answers
Sort by Date
Sort by Votes
Apr 22, 2014
When anyone tells me that they can help everyone; I start listening to their reasons that it's possible. Generally, I don't hear them. Also, I'm not the type of person that you persuade with emotions.- I want to hear facts that are backing up their claims.
Apr 19, 2014
I love all the support that mosaichub has via this forum. Great to see so many people willing to help. Thank you everyone.
Apr 18, 2014
Develop more literature, and try introducing more creativity or secondary projects. Perhaps work with more "sidekicks".
Oct 28, 2014
Why would you prioritize more literature over video or marketing development?
Dec 10, 2014
In my insular, not-so-corporate view, literature is the key to developing logic, that is, having ideas. If ideas are key for corporate development / product development, then literature may be one of the major under-used tools. But not if it is done shoddily or for short-term advantages. See my books, The Dimensional Philosopher's Toolkit (2013,2014), How to Write Aphorisms, and The Book of Ideas for ideas on how to use literature to generate ideas. See also The Perpetual Motion Genius' Guide to Interface Design for ideas about specifically information-related products.
Apr 17, 2014
Toby, You have gotten some great advice from the people on here. I reviewed and went through everything so I wont repeat the discussions. I have a life coach and when I searched for one prior to interviewing them I went through every detail of there sights and any videos to see if there was a fit. There is too much verbiage on your sight. It I have to read that much I skip to the next. You are a service what is in it for us. The testimonials were interviewed by you. This took away their credibility. They need to come from the heart in the satisfied person.
Confidence is one thing over confidence is another.
Oct 28, 2014
Thanks for the feedback. In the testimonials those that I interviewed asked me to do it. Should I say they asked me or spend more time coaching them to do it on their own? Just wanted to be real and I put in there what they wanted to do.
Apr 17, 2014
I think you need to find out why nobody believes it and try and package it in a way that meets your target customers' needs. If nobody believes it then nobody will buy it
Apr 16, 2014
Toby, it appears as if you are doing the "right" things to enhance your website. What are you doing to draw traffic to the site? What method(s) are you using to expand your client base? And what is the next step in your plan?
Oct 28, 2014
Looking to reword my website> then develop better marketing. Any specific suggestions?
Apr 16, 2014
You might want to stop believing your problem is that your product is too good...what would you say to a client coming for coaching who believed that?
Oct 28, 2014
I get it quite frequently and ask them to explain themselves and they usually can't. Then I do explain it, how it works, why it works, and how it was developed. Then they love me because I deliver or they hate me because they are jealous.
Apr 16, 2014
I work with brands (and the people that run them) and my suggestion to them is never over promise and offer one thing that you do uniquely well. You mention that people don't believe your product, this can come from a sense that you are (maybe) too confident about it's success. People tend to shy away from superlatives. If it is great and all that you say, your customers will tell others of its values (in great terms).
Think about your brand as a person you've never met at a party. If they come across right away as overly confident and sure of themselves, one tends to not believe them. It is just human nature. The trick is to be humble about your brand and let them find out how awesome it is. My two cents!
Oct 28, 2014
I only do change. I deliver every single time on my promise or I make it right. The testimonials show that, don’t they? Or how would you say this? It is like saying I invented fire and describing that to people for the first time. They all think I am nuts. Then when I pull out fire they go ballistic and burn me at the stake.
If I am humble about my brand then I am basically saying it should sell itself and that just does not work. I am humble if I could say that in any way that does not make me look egotistical but I also have to find a way to share this with people that brings in more clients. Any ideas on specifically how I would do that?
Apr 15, 2014
Hi Toby,
I would recommend positioning your self as the Authority/Expert by getting cited in the national media, this will give more credibility to you and your product.
Being cited in the media gives your visitors and future clients a reason to believe your product is legit.
People like to do business with someone they trust and using the phrase "As Seen On" on your website and marketing materials will help you make more sales of your product.
I call this Authority Marketing and it is a program that helps in conversion of visitors into paid clients.
I know this because that is what I do for my clients.
Oct 28, 2014
Media doesn’t seem to be interested in me. They say people don’t want to hear me. I am bland and boring. Any way to sell that to the media? A cure doesn’t seem to be enough. Take forgiveness for example. It cures anger every single time but nobody wants to hear about it.
Apr 15, 2014
Such excellent responses! Thank you everybody for taking the time to reply with such intelligent rational replies that also include detail and specific advice relating directly to problems with examples from my work. I have learned a few valuable things to begin this process of obtaining more growth and development of my life coaching business.
The first thing is I will do is create a better question about what direction to go in my business. As everyone here probably already knows – the better the question, the better the response. This was my first serious question I put out and the response has been fantastic. Seriously, I loved every single one of these responses. I was really surprised at how many and the quality of the response. It was a risk on my part to ask for help and it paid off immensely. So I will now begin to expand this. Even if the response had been negative I would have just done it differently then to learn. Thank you again.
The next thing I will do is clarify a bit more about what I am already doing. For example, one of the replies was about, “physician heal thyself”. A seemingly rational reply? I would now want in my addendum to sincere advice like this to include – “we can’t do everything all the time” or we can’t be all things to all people all the time. Or something like that. I would want to express that I am doing my part, responsible 100%, and how to obtain more help. No one in the world is a master of – best product, best marketing, and best money management all at once BUT when starting out you don’t have to be a master of all three – you just have to be decent enough to get it going on all thress until you can delegate it out. Just that is a lot to say in just a first question. I think I will put that in an immediate follow up response to clarify with people the exact help that I would need. I can’t do everything myself, all I really need to do is what is needed next. The more I help myself (physician heal thyself) the more help I can receive well.
I am now writing this more detailed clarification so people can know where I am at and what this work needs. I am especially looking forward to clarifying my work for Dave. As you can tell, this claim is highly controversial, if not simply just seen as impossible. This is only one problem I have to deal with (but, I think? the biggest). Just wanted everyone to know I am still here and reviewing the responses.
Clarify the reality of the problems, rank in priority, begin to resolve them.
Thanks, again.
Apr 14, 2014
If no one is buying and no one cares, then the product some how isn't meeting the needs of a niche... or maybe you're not niching or the copy isn't reaching the targeted niche.
Oct 28, 2014
The copy is not reaching the niche. Who is my niche and how do I reach them? I just saw so many people working to be better and figured out the exact process to achieving core level change of any false belief. It has never been done before even though so many claim it. Those who claim it will not even dare to explain EXACTLY how change happens. ----- Yeah, I am probably not niching well. How would I say who my niche is better?
Apr 14, 2014
Hello, Toby. I faced a similar problem with my own company: I offered an executive service that was too different and innovative to believe, it had it's own name because there was nothing similar in the market worldwide.
Without other alternative and against my will, I simplified the name to something that already exist in the market, then I found clients and left they build their own mind about my exclusive service. It begun to spread through word-of-mouth on a very little scale, until my clients finally understood how unique my service really is.
I have to make a few questions to help you figure out all possibilities:
1. Is the word-of-mouth bringing good business in quality and quantity?
2. Your real goal is to have more clients or to have the differential of your work recognized by the market?
Regards
Oct 28, 2014
1. Is the word-of-mouth bringing good business in quality and quantity? Not enough, want more
Oct 28, 2014
2. Your real goal is to have more clients or to have the differential of your work recognized by the market? Can I do both? I mean, if I just go with getting more clients and the advice is to tone down my claim so I can appear familiar to people then how else will I stand apart from the masses of life coaches?
Apr 14, 2014
Nothing is ever too good, the problem is
1 - you have underestimated the desires, needs and wants of your target market
2 - no body believes it because you are not marketing it properly and the sales pitch or business model is all wrong for your target market, or no one has the time to check if your statements are true so saying no is easier this way
3 - whats wrong with growing your business as you have stated it is the most sound way after all
Apr 14, 2014
I would put some of your best results on YouTube. Unfortunately "Life Coaching" is swamped with competitors. If your solution is so good then those who need it will find you on YouTube.
Oct 28, 2014
Yes, “Life Coaching” is swamped with competitors which means there is a lot of business. Oprah rose to greatness in this area of personal development. Enjoyable work, doing good for people, making money – what else could I ask for?
Apr 14, 2014
Hmm... isn't this a case of "physician, heal thyself"?
If you had a client come to you as a life coach and ask this, what questions would you be asking him/her?
I'm not sure if your question is "How do I get people to believe in my product?" or "How do I get more clients?"
What are your short-term and long-term goals? What can you do now to link where you are now with your goals?
Oct 28, 2014
If you had a client come to you as a life coach and ask this, what questions would you be asking him/her? I would say I don’t teach skills (which is what I am asking for). Gutap is about healing. I don’t need to be healed on this I need help in marketing this skill.
Oct 28, 2014
My question is do I need to get people to believe in my product in order to get more clients? Many have said credibility is important in this. Bob, how would you help me?
Apr 13, 2014
Toby, you have some really great advise here.
The more you try to "Sell" the more you will push your prospects away.
Understate and over deliver, it the way to keep customers happy, because you exceed their expectations.
If you over state and under deliver, It you do not live up to your claims, as a professional, and as a person who is not showing any disclaimers, you are leaving your self wide open for litigation.
You need to be very careful with what you say, and what that can be interpenetrated as.
False claims, misleading advertising, deception, carry very heavy fines and penalties, plus public retractions can destroy a reputation.
I know it may sound absurd, but ask your self, why does McDonald's put "caution contents may be hot" on the coffee cup lids?
Answer, someone took them to court and won, because McDonald's failed to notify that the contents of a hot cup of coffee way hot. and the person spilled it and was injured, because the coffee was hotter than expected.
Oct 28, 2014
Was just stating what Gutap actually does. No over promise at all. They get exactly what is stated when they do it. Forgiveness cures anger every single time. No more, no less. But I guess the problem is really about that Gutap looks too farfetched. What would I say to show that it does exactly what is promised – no more, no less?
Apr 13, 2014
Your potential clients favorite topic is themselves. You have to find their dream and build the bridge to it. It's not about you and what you've been able to accomplish. Be customer centric.
Oct 28, 2014
Which customer niche would you say Gutap would work for? And how would you answer their needs?
Apr 13, 2014
Don't tell them about the product, tell them about the results and back it up. You are not selling a product, your are selling services to better their lives. Make your approach all about how you can help them and not so much about what your product does. You got a good thing going but results should be your focus.
Apr 13, 2014
Hi Toby.
Congratulations on developing a world class product. How exciting.
Here are some of my insights.
- Set yourself up as the expert in your field. Blogs, articles etc on social media.
- Have a webinar series that includes the fantastic benefits of your product
- Utilise even more the clients you already have & sell them the value of your product.
- Get any free media in your community by writing articles of value
- Free seminars are still hot. Organise free seminars & sell your product & services at those events.
- Go to any local stores (newsagents, bookstores) for them to stock it. (that's if it is a tangible product, not an online resource)
Well done again for creating a product that will add value to peoples lives.
Love it.
Cheers
Janelle
Oct 28, 2014
What effective ways have you seen to garner better client referrals in a society that ridicules those that seek personal emotional help? There is a stigma that comes with doing personal inner work. People like business because they don’t have to engage emotionally. They just rush to quickly do something so they can go away and have fun.
Oct 28, 2014
I think it is in how my clients share their experience. If they ask questions to those around them then they can lead them into coaching better. What do you think?
Oct 28, 2014
On my home page it says how everyone is promising the way to change but not consistently delivering. I solve the problem of explaining this difficult and elusive problem by developing the system to achieving core level change of any false belief. I spell out core level change step by step. It has never been done before even though people do achieve change from time to time.
This is emotionally based works. It sounds like you are far outside my target niche. Debate may be more of an interest for you if I understand you correctly.