5 Confidence-Boosting Strategies for Health Coaches

5 Confidence-Boosting Strategies for Health Coaches

5 Confidence-Boosting Strategies for Health Coaches

Do you ever wish you felt more confident in your role as a health coach? If so, you are not alone.  It’s easy to feel a lack of confidence when you’re starting something new, and it’s quite normal, so today we’re sharing 5 strategies you can use to boost your confidence as you work on building your coaching business. 

Let’s kick things off with our first strategy. 

1. Realize you’re going to start out as a beginner and that’s where we all begin with something new, so don’t compare yourself to others who are further ahead than you are right now. This is one of the top mistakes we hear from coachesthey feel like they should be much further along, but it’s mostly based on what they see other coaches doing, not realizing those coaches also started where you are right now. You will make mistakes and have bumps along the way and each step you take will lead you to the next one and it’s all about making progress. Setting goals right from the start can help push you past your comfort zone, so you’re continuing to get in front of new people, expand your reach and get the word out about what you do. When we think back to the mistakes we’ve made and failures we’ve had, we know they each led us to the next step which helped move us forward.  Not everything you do is going to be a home run, and it’s all part of the process.  Embrace being a beginner and give yourself grace each step of the way. 

2. Practice is your best friend. Whether it’s doing discovery calls, hosting workshops, recording videos or doing livestreams – you won’t be great at them in the beginning, but each time you do it, you will get better and better.  This is the most important thing you can do if you want to feel more confident – keep doing it even when you feel like you’re not good at it. No one is at first. When I think back to how awful I was at doing video a few short years ago, I laugh about it, but at the time it just felt really hard and very uncomfortable, and I was bad at it.  Last month, someone paid me a very nice compliment by saying I was very natural on video.  That ‘looking natural’ on video took me about 2 years to get to, and that means a lot of practice was involved.  It’s a good reminder that even when you’re doing something that feels awkward and you wonder if you’ll ever get better at it, all it really takes is practice and a desire to improve. 

3. Networking and connecting with peers. It can sometimes feel a bit lonely as a wellness business owner, so being surrounded with people who have similar goals is helpful for boosting your confidence.  This can mean having an accountability partner with a colleague where you schedule regular calls to check in or it could be joining a Facebook group full of your peers. Karen Pattock and I each have a Facebook group for health coaches where you can connect, share ideas and ask question. My group is Health Coach Biz Support and Karen’s group is Health Coach Client Attraction, so come on over and join us. Karen and I connected online, years ago through an IIN (Institute for Integrative Nutrition) Facebook group, so you never know what connections you can make. When you feel like you’re alone on an island, trying to build your business, it’s a little isolating, so be sure to tap into the power of others who understand what you’re doing and want to see you succeed.   

4. Keep a running list of client success stories as a reminder of the positive changes you’ve helped people make, so you can revisit them from time to time.  Once you start working with clients and you either have them complete a survey at the end of their program, or they email you with something positive they have to say, keep some of those comments visible, so you can refer to them as a reminder of your WHY and the difference you’re making in people’s lives. These can also be great for testimonials for your website (be sure to get permission from people first of course). Sometimes if we’re having one of those weeks, we need a reminder that what we’re doing is making a difference. 

5. Boosting your confidence takes having a mindset of constant growth and learning – whether it’s the tech part of your business, the marketing, or anything else, continuing to learn is what will help you grow. Confidence comes from having a plan of action and knowing where to focus your time and energy, rather than feeling like you’re just spinning your wheels, not sure what to do. We both know how much investing in the right mentors and programs can save you time and money in the long run.  Whether it’s attending conferences, enrolling in online courses or working with a business coach, learning is always a good thing – as long as you are also implementing.  Speaking of growth and learning, we will be opening the doors to the Wellness Business Accelerator program on April 23rd. This is our signature program that teaches wellness business owners how to reach their ideal clients online and consistently enroll new clients within 60 days.  You can join the WBA VIP wait list via the link above, so you’ll be notified as soon as the doors open. We would love to welcome you!

Every time we start something new, it takes us outside our comfort zone, but that’s where amazing growth can happen. Embrace the journey, stay focused on your goals, and celebrate every win along the way!

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Ask Us Anything: Karen and Kathleen Answer Your Questions

Ask Us Anything: Karen and Kathleen Answer Your Questions

Ask Us Anything: Karen and Kathleen Answer Your Questions​

We haven’t done an Ask Us Anything episode in a while, so we thought this would be a good time to bring it back. This is where we answer questions health coaches either asked in our Facebook groups, posted on social media or emailed us about. 

We have 3 questions we’re answering today including how much content to share without giving away everything for free, how we work as business partners when it comes to sharing income and expenses, and lastly, is it better to offer a free or paid in-person workshop. 

Our first question is from Patty:

“I struggle with how much content to share without giving away the farm so to speak.

Do you have any tips on how much to share so I don’t feel like I’m giving away all the content from my paid program for free?”

This is a great question because you want to share helpful and valuable information, but you also don’t want to feel like you’re giving away your whole system – which honestly, is kind of hard to do when you’re sharing small nuggets of information.  We have an entire lesson about this inside our Wellness Business Accelerator program, and we’ll be opening the doors with a very special announcement in a couple of weeks. 

The best approach for not giving away the farm is to share content that teaches about the “what & why” about your area of expertise and not so much of the “how”. For example, if your niche includes women in menopause, you could discuss why women get menopausal symptoms, what they are, how one symptom can trigger another, etc. but save the info about how to fix it for your paid program. OR you can share an occasional “how” but just one step of it and not the whole process.

Another example would be that if your niche is helping women balance their blood sugar through whole foods and lifestyle, you can focus much of your content on the types of foods that elevate blood sugar, why managing blood sugar is so important, stats and data about how different type of exercise can help, general tips on types of food that slow sugar absorption when you eat. You can even do occasional healthy food swaps where you showcase a healthier option for a common food that is high in sugar. People love food swaps. You’re not giving them a plan to follow but it’s more like leaving breadcrumbs of tips to follow and then in your paid program, you give them the complete “how to”.

Also remember to sprinkle in client success stories and testimonials in your content, because that helps your audience imagine what’s possible for them if they work with you. 

Question #2 is from Michelle.

She’s teaming up with another wellness coach to provide online programs and eventually retreats. She wants to know how we divvy up income that is generated from our joint ventures.  Is it split 50/50 or do you track the clients we bring in separately? 

I love this question, and this is something we just figured out on our own in a way that works really well for the both of us for the past 7 years since starting this podcast and then eventually the Wellness Business Accelerator.

Karen has an accounting degree, so I really lucked out with that because I am not a numbers person by nature.  We keep track of all income and expenses for our joint ventures –we track them for the podcast, and then separately for the Wellness Business Accelerator (WBA), so we know what expenses we have, where it’s coming from and where it’s going out.  We have a Google sheet for the podcast and one for the WBA where we list everything by date. You can decide how often you want to settle expenses, distributions, but we do it every 2 months, and everything is split 50/50 which keeps it simple. 

Our 3rd and final question is from Julie:

“I want to host a workshop at a local restaurant that offers a room free of charge for the community. My goal is to educate, gain email subscribers, customers and health coaching clients. Should I offer it free or charge a small fee? If I charge, what do you think is a fair amount?”

This can be tricky to decide and there isn’t one right way to do it, so it may involve some testing to see what gets the best results.  Generally, if your main goal is to grow your email list and get clients, a free workshop works well.  Karen did many free workshops at local gyms and it was a great way to get clients.  A free workshop is typically covering the WHAT and the WHY of the topic and you’re laying the groundwork for how your program is the solution to the problem they have or the goal they want to achieve.

A paid workshop would include more of the HOW because people are paying to get information they can leave with and implement.  That doesn’t mean you’re giving the whole solution in 45- 60 minutes, but the content of a paid workshop will be more robust than a free workshop, so keep that in mind too – expectations are going to be higher when people pay.

So, either way can work, but if you’re starting out, testing it by offering it for free can be the way to go.  When you get clients from a free workshop, you’re earning income to also help pay for any expenses you incur. If the restaurant location is free, that’s amazing and one less thing you have to pay for.

If you do decide you want to charge and provide more in-depth workshop content, you can start out as low as $15 and you can even do a promotion where if you bring a friend, the friend can come for free. This is free marketing for you if people bring a guest, so that’s a win-win too!

Either way you decide to go, you will be getting in front of new people with the opportunity to get new clients.

We hope one of these questions were on your mind too or maybe it will help you in the future with some of your plans as you create content to share, run workshops or possibly from some sort of collaboration or partnership down the road.   

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Our Top Tips for Conquering Overwhelm in Your Coaching Business

Our Top Tips for Conquering Overwhelm in Your Coaching Business

Our Top Tips for Conquering Overwhelm in Your Coaching Business

It’s common to feel overwhelmed at times when it comes to your health coaching business, so if you’re feeling like there’s a lot to juggle right now, you’re in good company. You wear many hats as a health coach and business owner, so there are going to be times when you feel like it’s a LOT!  We’ve been there too and there are still times we feel overwhelmed, but we’re much better at managing it and dealing with it now. So today we’re sharing Our Top Tips for Conquering Overwhelm in Your Coaching Business

Sometimes, feeling overwhelmed can prevent you from taking action or making decisions which keeps you stuck, so by implementing our 4 tips, you’ll feel less stressed and be more productive.   

Let’s start with tip #1 for conquering overwhelm in your coaching business. 

1. Prioritize tasks and projects

This is the one that helps me the most and I use it all the time. Make a list of what needs to be done and include the due date or deadline.  I like Trello for this but I also use pen and paper, so use what you like. For bigger projects that have multiple steps, I use Trello, but for my general to-do list that I refer to a couple of times a day, it’s old school pen and paper in my spiral bound notebook from Target.   Each week, determine what tasks and projects are a priority for the week or for the month. Sometimes, a priority is based on a deadline you want to meet such as your weekly email or blog post and sometimes, it’s a deadline for content for social media or something else. Map out a timeline and what can be done each day or each week, so you have a plan to help stay on track.  Even putting things in writing can help, so you have a visual on it.

I did this recently with a promotion I was doing.  I felt like there were several things I needed to do in addition to preparing for the promotion, including outlining podcast episodes, writing copy for Facebook ads and more, so I prioritized based on the deadlines, and that’s always helpful for me. I also looked at my list of promotional ideas for my 3-day sale and looked at what was a must and what was optional, so I could decide what I was going to include.  Not everything made the cut based on my timeline and other things I had going on and that’s okay.  When I’m pressed for time or feeling overwhelmed, I ask myself what the top priority is right now and what is optional. 

2. What can you simplify or streamline?

It’s easy to get caught up in complicating things or going too elaborate sometimes.  An example of this would be that you’re going to be hosting a webinar and you want to have a workbook to go along with it for the registrants to download. While a workbook would be nice, it’s not a must, so if you’re feeling overwhelmed, perhaps this is something you can do next time.  Another example would be instead of hosting your online challenge or group program in a platform like Kajabi, how about hosting it in a FB group for now? Instead of focusing on everything being perfect or having all the bells and whistles, focus on how you can help clients in the easiest way possible.

Our Top Tips for Conquering Overwhelm in Your Coaching Business

3. What can you outsource?

There is a lot to do as a wellness business owner and that means it’s very easy to get lost in the details of the behind-the-scenes tasks. Entering and formatting blog posts, creating and scheduling social media posts, writing emails, creating graphics and/or slide decks, setting up landing pages and sales pages, the list goes on and on.  Write down everything you do and see if there are tasks you can have a virtual assistant do for you.  Even if you take one or two things off your plate, it will free up some of your time to work with clients or reduce your overwhelm.   We did a detailed episode about finding and working with virtual assistants on episode 308 – it was called: Getting Help Sooner Rather than Later – 5 Steps to Take When Hiring a Virtual Assistant. We highly recommend listening to that one if you’re thinking about hiring someone.  I still have my very first VA on my team from 7 or 8 years ago. I remember feeling elated and relieved to delegate some things to her and I’ve never looked back. I was doing it all on my own for too long, so I know how that is. I’ve added more people to my virtual team over the years, and I’d be lost with out them.  Adding even one assistant for a couple of hours a week can make you feel like you can come up for air and get a break from your long to-do list.

4. Take it one step at a time and one day at a time.

Remind yourself that you can only do one thing at a time and you’re doing the best you can and remember to take breaks. Taking breaks during the day and time off each week is critical because if you burn out, it’s so much worse.   Sometimes, just changing your environment or physiology can help.  Get outside for 5 minutes, take a walk, do some deep breathing, get a change of scenery by getting some work done at a local coffee shop, chat with a friend – whatever makes you happy.

Which one of these tips do you think will help you the most? Or maybe you have  a tip that helps you with overwhelm. Come on over to Instagram to let us know.  You can find me at @kathleenlegrys and Karen at @karenpattock.

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Why Marketing Yourself Makes You Feel Vulnerable & How to Build Your Confidence

Why Marketing Yourself Makes You Feel Vulnerable & How to Build Your Confidence

Why Marketing Yourself Makes You Feel Vulnerable & How to Build Your Confidence

If you feel vulnerable or uncomfortable marketing your business, you are not alone.  For some coaches, the feelings extend beyond mere discomfort and ventures into the realm of physical reactions such as nausea, sweating, and, in some instances, even tears. Today, we’re exploring this topic and offering a few strategies we think will help if this is something you are facing right now.

A few months ago, we touched upon a related topic in an episode titled “Crushing Self-Doubt – How to Tackle & Overcome Imposter Syndrome.” If your apprehension about marketing your coaching business and programs is rooted in imposter syndrome, we highly recommend checking out episode 333 for helpful tips and insights.

As a quick refresher, Imposter syndrome, loosely defined, is the nagging doubt that undermines one’s abilities, making one feel like a fraud. While imposter syndrome is one condition that can hold you back from marketing your coaching business full on, what we’re discussing today is something completely different. It’s more of a physical reaction brought about by the feeling of vulnerability. What we’re doing today is exploring what’s causing that vulnerability, so you can turn it around.

For many coaches, marketing their program offer isn’t just business, it’s personal. Of course, it feels personal because ultimately you are your brand. Your business is built around you and what you have to offer. Often, being a health coach is part of your identity. We totally get that and understand how all of those things can feel intertwined and connected.

Vulnerability often stems from a core fear. There are multiple fears that arise when you are inviting someone to work with you…

  • Fear that they won’t see the value in your coaching program
  • Fear that they won’t believe that you have what it takes to help them reach their goals
  • Fear that they’ll say it’s too much money
  • Fear that your program won’t get the client your promised results

In researching this episode, we Googled, “Why do people fear selling”?

The answer that came back was…

“This innate anxiety—about social rejection drives most people’s fear of selling. The fear of the customer rejecting you as an individual, instead of merely rejecting your offer, is at the core of most people’s aversion for this kind of interaction.”

So, at the core of the vulnerability lies a fear of rejection. Ouch! None of us want to feel rejected so that’s why it’s important to embrace certain strategies that will help you separate our personal connection to the outcome of any sales conversation.

Here are 5 strategies you can start using this week:

1. Take on pro-bono clients.

One way to build your confidence when it comes to marketing your program, and something that we always recommend, is to take on 3 clients for free and coach them each for a 30-day period. Be up front with them that goal is for you to practice your coaching skills and in return will be anxious to receive their feedback in the form of a testimonial. We both took on pro-bono clients when we first started out and it really does build confidence. The best part of this practice run is that you’ll get to discuss your program with them, marketing it, without the pressure of asking for the sale. This is a perfect time to ask friends and colleagues for referrals. And more often than not, at least one of those clients will turn into a paying customer after the 30-day period is up.

2. Stop making assumptions.

One of the mistakes coaches make when marketing their program is to assume that their would-be client is going to have certain beliefs about the program, particularly as it relates to the investment. It’s easy to put our limiting beliefs off on our potential clients without even realizing it. When that happens, you are basically sabotaging the relationship right from the beginning. 

3. Don’t take ‘no’ personally.

We know that’s easier said than done but here’s a reframe that should help you overcome taking it personally. When someone says no to working with you it really has nothing to do with you and everything to do with them. In essence, they are saying no to their desired outcome and/or reaching their health goal. It truly has nothing to do with you or your program.

4. Shift your perspective.

How would it feel to think of yourself as “sharing information” about what you do? Or “showing benefits” or “sharing your passion?” If you feel uncomfortable or anxious about “selling”- find a way to shift your perspective to one of sharing information rather than “convincing someone to buy.” If you reframe your perspective to one that feels like you’re sharing information and giving your potential client the opportunity to make the desired changes in their life that can be the mindset shift that makes the conversation feel uplifting rather than salesy.

5. Keep practicing!

To overcome the physical symptoms you feel right now when you’re inviting someone to join your coaching program, just know it gets easier the more you do it. Make a point of making at least one offer every single week. That could be in your Facebook group, through email, on a discovery call, or on your social media accounts. Let your audience know that you have an open spot in your coaching program, or invite them to book a discovery call.  You can do this at the end of some of your posts to make it easy.  On average it’ll take someone 10-12 times of hearing your offer before taking action.

If getting better at discovery calls is one of the skills you want to work on this year we also have an amazing episode called: How to Lead a 1 on 1 Discovery Call that Results in the Client Saying Yes. It’s episode # 24 which we will link up in our show notes. This episode will give you a proven framework for running successful discovery calls which will lead to building your confidence when marketing your coaching program.

Let’s recap our 5 confidence boosting strategies:

  1. Take on pro-bono clients
  2. Stop making assumptions
  3. Don’t take ‘no’ personally
  4. Shift your perspective
  5. Keep practicing
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Best Of: How to Find Out What Your Ideal Clients Want

Best Of: How to Find Out What Your Ideal Clients Want

Best Of: How to Find Out What Your Ideal Clients Want

It’s easy to think we know what our ideal clients want but oftentimes we use words and phrases that they aren’t using, so there is a big disconnect in the messaging to attract the people you want to help.  One common example of this we see quite often is thinking something along the lines that our clients want “a more vibrant and healthy life” when that’s not what they’re thinking at all because that’s very broad and pretty general. They’re thinking about something much more tangible, measurable and/or specific, and that’s why understanding what they truly want can make all the difference in how many clients enroll in your programs.  People want something concrete if they are going to make an investment. 

We’re bringing back an episode we did a while back that shares 3 simple ways to find out what your ideal clients truly want, so you can – A. Attract more of your ideal clients and B.  Have more paying clients. 

You’ll use the information you gather in places such as your website, sales pages, landing pages for your free offers. You can also use it for some of your free content such as blog posts, podcast episodes, and social media content, including videos.

The good news is that this is actually really easy to do, and we’ll kick things off with #1: 

1. Your Facebook group.  If you have a Facebook group or any other online community, you can find out a ton of information about your ideal clients there.  The first way to utilize your group to find out what your ideal clients want is to use the membership questions feature to screen people before you approve them to join.  When you go to your admin tools section of your Facebook group, you’ll see the option for ‘membership questions’.  You can ask up to 3 questions, and one of them should give prospective members the opportunity to share their top struggles and challenges with you.  A simple question to ask would be “What is your biggest struggle with ______________.”  So, if your niche is helping women balance menopausal symptoms naturally, it could read something like this: “What is your biggest struggle with your menopausal symptoms.”   This should be a one very short, concise question, so people know how to answer it.  You want to keep track of the answers and look for common words and phrases they’re using to describe the problem.  One way to keep track of these answers is to use Google sheets, and you can just copy and paste the answers. When you use the same words that your audience is using, they are going to feel like you really understand them, and that helps them see you as a possible solution.   

Another way to use your Facebook group to find out what your ideal clients want is to use occasional polls, direct question posts and paying close attention to questions that are posted and conversations that are going on.  Polls aren’t the best because they aren’t open-ended questions, but if you’re narrowing down some options, it can be helpful to get some input.   For example, if your niche is related to gluten-free living, a poll question could be: What would you say is your biggest frustration when it comes to eating a gluten-free diet?  Poll answer #1.  Finding affordable food options. 2. Preparing meals.  3. Eating out.  Then allow people to add their own answer if there is something else that is a top struggle for them that’s different than the choices you list.   

A direct question post would be where you ask a question which can give you more information than a poll.  You can ask the same question I just mentioned about “What is your biggest frustration when it comes to eating a gluten-free diet?” but leave it as a regular post and people can add their answer in the comments. 

Facebook groups are great because most of the members already have a level of trust with you, so they will feel comfortable being open to sharing their answers.

2. Discovery Calls: Yes, these calls are designed to enroll clients, but they are also meant to find out what your clients really want and see if you are a good fit to help them.  Discovery calls are going to give you the most detailed an in-depth information. This is why really listening during these calls and taking notes is critical.  When you ask the right questions, you are going to get invaluable market research about where they are struggling the most, how they are feeling about it, what they actually want and why they want it.  Most people will open up to you during this call and you’ll get a lot more detailed information, you’ll hear their tone of voice and emotions, and you’ll have the chance to ask follow-up questions if you need clarification. 

Asking questions such as: What is your biggest struggle with this right now?  What has been the biggest roadblock for you?  How would it feel if you reached your goal or had this problem solved?  can give you a ton of great insights into what they really want and why.

If you want a complete step-by-step discovery call script, so you have more great questions to ask, you can download my free Ultimate Health Coach Toolkit which also includes a Food Diary, Meal Planning Worksheet, Exercise Log, Coaching Session Template and more. 

3. Surveys to your email list.

Surveys are another great option for gathering information about your target audience.  You’ll get a lot more responses when you offer an incentive. We’ve done this several times with great success and we like to offer Amazon gift cards because everyone likes them.  You can offer two $25 gift cards and let people know you will be choosing two winners at random – include the deadline of when they need to complete the survey and pick a date then you’ll announce the winners. 

You can use surveymonkey.com for this if you want, and make sure one of the questions you ask is for their email address, so you can notify them and send the eGift card. Even though survey monkey is a paid service, it’s the easiest way we’ve found to use surveys. 

You don’t have to limit this to just your email subscribers since you can also share the survey link on social media and in your Facebook group.

Your survey doesn’t have to be super involved.  You can ask 3-5 questions to find out what their biggest struggle is that relates to your niche, what they have already tried, how is it impacting their life and what are their top 1-2 goals.   

Start with whichever of the 3 options we shared seems easiest to you right now and you add more later if you want.    

Let’s recap the 3 ways to find out what your ideal clients want:

  1. Your Facebook group – screening questions, polls, direct questions
  2. Discovery Calls
  3. Surveys to your email list

These are all great ways to do market research.

Take the information you gather and compare it to your current messaging and see where you can make some changes and/or additions to make it really grab the attention of the people you are trying to reach. Remember, you aren’t trying to attract everyone – you only want to get the attention of your dream clients. This will take a little time to figure out, but it will be so worth it because you’ll be enrolling more clients. 

Be sure to download my FREE Ultimate Health Coach Toolkit with 7 essential health coaching resources, including a detailed outline/script for your discovery calls.

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Takeaway Tuesday – Defining Boundaries When it Comes to Client Success

Takeaway Tuesday – Defining Boundaries When it Comes to Client Success

Takeaway Tuesday – Defining Boundaries When it Comes to Client Success

As a way of switching things up here on the podcast, every few weeks we’ll have a real-time conversation between the two of us as friends and business partners. We’ll chat a bit about what’s going on behind the scenes, and then we’ll cover one or two trending topics going on in the health coaching space that we think will be beneficial for you. Lastly, we’ll wrap up by answering one or two questions from coaches that we’ve received recently.

Think of it like we’re all hanging out for a chat over coffee.

Here’s what we’re covering on this episode:

  • Identifying areas of your life where you are courageous and what areas are you not (and how you can balance both). We share what this is for the both of us. 
  • How to define boundaries as a coach when it comes to your client success and results.
  • Using “Professional Mode” on your personal Facebook profile to build a public presence and following. We share the pros and cons to help you make the decision that’s best for you.

We hope you enjoy this format and the information we share!

If we’re not already connected on Instagram, you can find me here. 

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