Kat Millar

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7 Reasons Why Coaches Struggle To Sign Up Clients

The restrictions might be starting to lift, however, the financial crisis could keep going for some time.

I believe that in this time in history, it is more crucial than ever to be able to sell our services.

Selling is the #1 way that we keep our businesses afloat.

Selling helps people to improve their lives. It enables people to get more of what they want.

It’s an incredible feeling if you are offering something to someone who is going to benefit and get a result that transforms their life.

Yet so many business owners avoid learning sales skills.

I believe that more than ever, it’s a time for us to serve people and make offers to people who need help.

Selling is not about convincing someone or changing someone’s mind. It’s about having good conversations and seeing if you’re the right match to work together.

Sales is the #1 way to increase the numbers in your bank account, which is going to give you more freedom and more choice in your life.

And the best part is that we get to do it while doing what we love and helping people!

Here are seven reasons most coaches struggle to sell their services…

Number 1 – Asking too few questions

Effective sales conversations come from asking effective questions. Unfortunately people have negative associations with sales. Effective selling is about asking effective questions. I call them power questions.

These questions open up your potential clients’ minds ways to overcome their limiting beliefs about themselves, about you and about what you’re offering.

Effective questions, help the person to come to the realisation themselves that they actually need, what it is that you’re offering.

We need to spend at least 70% of the conversation asking questions. This is not interrogating, but asking elegant questions.

Some examples of effective sale questions are:

  • Tell me what your life would be like if you solved this problem?
  • Tell me what it’s costing you to not have this problem solved?
  • How is it affecting you?
  • Why is it important to you to solve this?
  • How is this affecting your family, relationships and health?
  • If you could change, what would be your ultimate result?
  • What have you tried in the past, and what has worked for you?
  • What hasn’t worked for you?

By asking these questions, you’re really digging in and getting to know the person to find out if they’re a match for you and to see if that person really wants to buy what you have to offer.

Number 2 – Talking Too Much or Too Little

If people who are selling to me talk too much, it makes me want to get out of the conversation. Talking too much can kill a sale for you.

No matter how good your product and offer is, talking too much doesn’t give the person you are talking to time to evaluate their own needs.

I understand that we often talk too much because we are nervous and to fill the air. There is value in allowing breathing space for people to contemplate their needs.

Now talking too little can also kill a sale. If a salesperson is not talking much, it makes me question what they are not telling me and why!

Both talking too much and too little lead back to the base of using a sales call as an opportunity to build a relationship with a potential client.

Remember that relationships go two ways. Asking the right questions and listening to needs helps you both work out if you are a match to work together.

Number 3 – Coming Across Too Strong

There’s a concept that I teach called strength and warmth. Strength and warmth is the spectrum of how we need both sides to be compelling and influential.

There’s a great book called Compelling People. In this book, they studied influential people and found they had a really good balance between strength and warmth.

There’s a sweet spot in the middle of being both strong and warm. By strong I mean you are quite direct and confident. You’re telling the person that you can absolutely help them, you’re giving them lots of assurance. People respect it and feel safe.

You tip over too much to one end of the spectrum and it can come across very forceful and almost rude. Most of us are actually scared of coming across like that. And so, for most of you, I imagine that you’re not strong enough.

Number 4 – Coming Across Too Soft

The fourth reason that coaches don’t sign up clients is coming across too soft. If you go too much on the warm end of the spectrum you can come across quite fluffy and apologetic. As soon as there’s any sign that a person might throw an objection out at you, you accept it, because you’re scared of rejection.

So instead of having an open authentic conversation, you end up just being really fluffy and avoiding it. We need to be strong and we need to kind to help people through their limiting beliefs and rejections.

Building good rapport with the person is crucial. You can say something like, ‘I can feel that this really seems like a problem for you.’ ‘What other options do you have if you don’t go here?’ Help people solve their problem rather than just running as soon as there’s any sign of any doubt.

So don’t be too strong, and forceful and blunt and direct and don’t be too soft. Find that nice sweet spot in the middle where you’re having a genuine human conversation with another person to see if you’re a match.

Number 5 – You’re Too Expensive

Many people try and go quite high in their charging before actually testing the market. They put their price too high before they’ve actually got the experience.

Make sure that if you’re not signing up any paid clients, you might need to drop your price to get some results and some great runs on the board. If you’ve not got testimonials to back your service, then you’re going to struggle to sell yourself at a higher price.

Build up your client base and build your testimonials. Testimonials of your clients’ transformations are essential for your business. This may mean doing some free coaching sessions in return for a testimonial and to build up your experience.

Number 6 – You’re Too Cheap

You’ve got to be in the middle- not too expensive and not too cheap. If you haven’t had any paid clients yet, you might give a discount for the first three clients in return for a testimonial.

If you’ve been coaching for ages and you’ve got clients already, then this is different, but when you’re starting out, it’s really important that you get results and transformations.  Then you can do things like webinars because you can only to webinars if you’ve had results for people.

If you feel that you’re a bit resentful when you tell people your price and if you feel like you’ve dropped the price because you are desperate for sales, then you may well need to increase your price.

People won’t value you if you’ve priced your service too cheaply.  The biggest investment I’ve made into my business was a $17,000 business course.  Because I had invested, I turned up and did the work.

If you are too cheap, people will just think that you’re not good, so please don’t undersell yourself!

Number 7 – Having Too Little Confidence

When we gain confidence to charge what we’re worth, we can have great conversations with people and we can confidently communicate our value.

When we truly know that we’re providing great value to someone and getting them results, it helps build our confidence. I’m working with clients, every single day. Last week I had 18 clients and this week I’ve worked with 27 clients and I’m getting them results.

I’m giving people value and helping them and this gives me a lot of confidence. So you’ve got to be good at what you do and you’ve got to be able to communicate what you do well and with confidence.

To gain confidence you need to do lots of practice sessions. I’ve literally given hundreds of free coaching sessions to people and it built up my practice and it also built my confidence in selling and making offers.

The next thing with confidence is making sure that you’re speaking to the right person. It’s very hard to sell to someone who genuinely doesn’t need what you’ve got. I try and prequalify people beforehand through a questionnaire.

Only work with committed people because your reputation is valuable. Your reputation and brand is more important than money.

Make sure that you’re only having sales conversations with people who you know you can definitely get a transformation and results for. That is going to build your confidence.

If you want to know the best way to sell during these current times, I recently ran a FREE 90-minute masterclass called ‘Selling Equals Service’

It was a powerful session and I received lots of great feedback afterwards.

I talked through 5 keys to effective selling and shared a 6-step VALUES based selling framework that I personally use and share with my clients.

In case you missed it, I’ve created a replay which is now available for the next 48 hours. ?

? Grab Your Free Access Here

P.S. The content is a game-changer if you want to sign up your ideal paying clients, so don’t procrastinate – take action and watch it today before it comes down!

Enjoy!

Kat

 

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How To Overcome Your Own Objections To Selling

This week I’ve been having lots of conversations with people about sales and the beliefs people have about selling.

With the current economic climate, the topic of whether people should be selling, discounting or holding back and retreating is in a lot of people’s minds.

People are wondering “Is it appropriate to sell during these times?”

There are a host of limiting beliefs coming to the surface during this coronavirus season.

This is highlighting the difference between people who truly believe they have something valuable to offer

I don’t know your unique business situation, but I wanted to offer some ways of thinking about it to help you out.

If you’re a business owner and your service genuinely helps and serves people and improves their life, sales is key.

Sales is the ONE THING that will improve your financial position and give you more of what you love.

Sales are the key to bringing you freedom in your business and in your life.

Marketing, copywriting and presenting are all things we need to do well, but ultimately if we can’t get people to put money into our bank accounts, we will never be truly free. We will always be working for someone else.

I’m talking to all leaders, coaches, consultants, educators, thought leaders and subject matter experts. If you are a heart-based business owner, this is for you.

I want to ask you a question: what comes to your mind when I say the words ‘selling is…’? What’s literally the first things that come to mind?

If you hold the belief that selling is in any way negative, such as scary of difficult, that’s going to affect your ability to sell. If you feel like sales is hard, why would you do it?  You’ll avoid it at all costs. And then your business will suffer.

Your very first reaction to the words ‘selling is’ and the definition you give the word ‘sales’ is going to determine your success in business.

The number one asset that you have when you’re selling is confidence. If you’re not confident in how your product or service will help someone, no one will buy from you.

There IS a way of selling, that is enjoyable for BOTH parties; it’s authentic and exciting. It gives both parties more of what they want. But first, you need to sell YOURSELF on selling.

Here are 5 ways to overcome your own objections to selling:

1 – Write Down all the Beliefs you Have About Selling

Be honest about your current beliefs around sales and write them down. Do you hold beliefs that sales are difficult? Do sales equate to fear of rejection for you?

Two of the most important needs that we have as human beings is to belong and the other need is to be accepted and not rejected. The truth is that in doing business, you will meet people who don’t like you or what your business stands for.

If you’re not willing to be hated by at least one person, then you’re not cut-out for business.

If you are trying to be all things to all people and avoid rejection, you won’t take risks and being in business takes being willing to take risks. I challenge you, be honest with yourself about your core beliefs around sales. The first step to change is being honest about where you are truly at.

2 – Identify Limiting Beliefs and Objections to Sales

Number 2 is to write down any limiting beliefs or objections you have about sales. Some of these would have come into your list in Number 1.

Do you believe selling is hard or awkward? Or do you have definitions of sales that are positive and empowering? What objections to selling and limiting beliefs around sales do you have?

Now circle all the beliefs that are empowering and cross out any beliefs that disempower and limit you.

Consider reframing these beliefs. Where you feel selling is scary, write down what you want to believe that is empowering, like selling is exciting. Write down what the opposite is of the negative and limiting belief.

If you want to start seeing sales as enjoyable, write down all the reasons why selling is fun and exciting. It means you are helping people and you are also making money from helping people.

3 – Sell Yourself on Selling

Sell yourself on all the reasons that selling is a positive and not a negative. Selling is caring for others and helping people which brings meaning to sales.

The number one thing that you can do to increase your financial position is to get brilliant at sales. Where you’re at right now is directly in proportion to your ability to sell.

There’s many other skills we need in business such as copywriting, marketing and presenting skills, but selling is the one thing that directly brings money into your bank account.

If you don’t have money in your bank account it’s because of your mindset around selling and it’s because of your mindset around your worth and your value. If you truly value yourself and what you do then why wouldn’t you sell it?

This is why I love selling because I genuinely help people improve their lives every single day. I coach and encourage people and they improve their lives. This is the power of what I offer, so I will never stop selling because it helps people change their lives completely. It’s a win-win.

We’ve been programmed to believe that selling is a bad thing and we need to break that conditioning, People assume selling is about greed and money-grabbing.  If you’re offering something to someone who doesn’t need it, then you’re not really selling, you’re manipulating.

When you overcome your fear of rejection in sales, it can become fun. Reframe your beliefs around selling to understand that you are enhancing people’s lives. The money follows when you really want to help people.

4 – Write Down Why Selling Will Give You More of What You Want

You’re improving someone’s life by selling them your product or service. You’re helping others and in return, you are also helped. You are going to get so much satisfaction and joy if you can sell during a difficult period.

The financial crisis has not peaked yet. In fact, maybe in five or six months time, the government will take away its help and banks will stop putting pauses on loans. This is the time when there is government and bank assistance so it’s a great time to sell.

Think of all the people that you can help through the lows. There is so much opportunity for freedom at this time. And sales gives you the freedom to enjoy in life what you want to enjoy.

If I didn’t know how to sell I wouldn’t have freedom.  I wouldn’t be able to work full time in my business and be an entrepreneur.

Without sales, I’d be stuck in a job that I didn’t enjoy. I’ve been there and I hated life. I was miserable, depressed, moody and tired all the time. I don’t want to go back there.

I made friends with sales and I’m so glad I did as it keeps me living my purpose.

One of the best things you can do for yourself and for your business is to make selling your friend.

 5 – Give Your Brain Evidence That Sales is Enjoyable

Prove to your brain that selling is enjoyable. Rather than just saying affirmations and trying to believe them, prove it by taking action.

People are always asking me how to find clients. I tell them that their clients are already out there, on their  laptop or on the phone. You need to reach out and tell them that you can help them. You need to risk rejection and risk someone saying no.

Just ask questions.

For example “Are you still looking for help with growing your business or with improving your home or losing weight?”

Ask people how they are going during this time and if they need help with whatever it is you do.

You can offer a free session, and just use it to give back to people.  About 90% of the sales conversations I have with people is them talking to me and me listening, coaching and helping them.

I don’t even think of these conversations as sales conversations, as I genuinely know I can help people.

It’s amazing the number of business owners that I talked to who are struggling to make money and they can’t afford to pay for Facebook ads. This is most likely because they are not having enough sales conversations.

 

If you want to know the best way to sell during these current times, I recently ran a FREE 90-minute masterclass called ‘Selling Equals Service’

It was a powerful session and I received lots of great feedback afterwards.

I talked through 5 keys to effective selling and shared a 6-step VALUES based selling framework that I personally use and share with my clients.

In case you missed it, I’ve created a replay which is now available for the next 48 hours. ?

? Grab Your Free Access Here

P.S. The content is a game-changer if you want to sign up your ideal paying clients, so don’t procrastinate – take action and watch it today before it comes down!

Enjoy!

Kat

 

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Crush It In Crisis

You might be thinking “Crush it in crisis? I’m still dealing with the uncertainty, let alone crushing it!”

I hear ya. So let me define what I mean by crush it.

Firstly, what ‘crushing it’ is NOT:

* Being insensitive about people’s current situation

* Profiteering from people’s struggles

* Focusing on your goals at all costs

What ‘crushing it’ IS:

* Thinking like a successful business owner and being brave as a leader in these uncertain times

* Making necessary pivots in your business methods, delivery, packaging and messaging

* Crushing your fears so you can grow in this challenging season (IF you want to!)

Journeying through a crisis time, especially one that’s completely new can create a range reactions.

Some of you want to stay in bed, pull a blanket over our heads and try to avoid what’s going on.

Many people have told me they are wondering at the moment…

“Should I be retreating back or pausing my business goals until all of this is over?”

This is fair to consider, since there is so much uncertainty at the moment.

Let’s acknowledge the fact that the way we need to do business now in this current economic climate is different.

Things have changed and for most of us, our business needs to change as well.

But if you want to crush it, I encourage you to step up, pivot your business where you need to – and jump into all the opportunities that are available you.

I believe that the world NEEDS us as authentic, heart-centred business owners to continue to operate our businesses…

…IF our products and services genuinely provide a REAL solution to a REAL problem.

The only way to do this is to keep offering our help to people who want and need what we offer.

Many people still WANT to buy what you’re offering.

People are not going out and spending money on entertainment, dining out, travel etc. And they’re at home online.

Many people still need your help. And people often don’t value what they don’t invest in.

People pay for what they truly want and need.

Despite the uncertain times we are living in, we can be absolutely certain about ONE thing at the moment…

…ONLINE is THE way.

We have NO choice BUT to be effective online if we want to survive in business.

Here are 5 skills you need to utilise in this time to make consistent money online:

Number 1: The Skill of Providing Value

Providing value is the Number 1 skill you need to have in business.

Value is not necessarily monetary value. It is not always about money changing hands, but it’s still an exchange.

It’s the value you are giving to those who invest in you, whether that is someone paying for your time or if it’s someone opt-in to an email.

What is it costing your ideal clients in their time, money, energy and attention? Are you giving value by being helpful and relevant?

Are you speaking directly to your ideal client, not just to the masses? Are you speaking to the people who you can really help with your level of mastery?

If you can show up and be genuine and give quality information, then you’re adding value. Remember quality, not quantity.  This includes your free offers, and also your paid clients and those who are a part of your paid community.

Number 2: The Skill of Copywriting

The Number 2 skill you need at this time to make consistent money is the skill of copywriting and now is a really good time to learn this skill.

Copywriting is a very underrated skill and it affects your ability to influence people positively through your writing online.

All your Facebook ads, your blogs and captions need to be influencing, engaging and providing value. These are what help people take the next step towards you.

A good investment in the next 30 days is to consume copywriting education and focus on increasing your copywriting skills.

Number 3: The Skill of Presenting

The third skill you need is the ability to present. This could be presenting an offer to a one-on-one client on a phone call. It could be presenting on video, which is what we all need to be doing at the moment in this socially distanced world we are currently living in.

How good are you at your presentation skills and your ability to craft words, videos and webinars?

Number 4: The Skill of Marketing

The Number 4 skill we need to boost our business presence online is marketing. Marketing is your ability to attract clients through social media, blogs, emails and other platforms and channels.

At the moment we don’t have a lot of offline options, so online is where we need to shine.

Number 5: The Skill of Sales

Sales is your ability to get money into your bank account and to get people to pay you.

It doesn’t matter how amazing you are at providing value, at marketing and doing pretty posts or creating amazing pieces of content. If you can’t get someone to actually part with their money, then your business is going to fail.

Think about the above skills and give yourself a score from zero (meaning you’re really bad at these skills) or a 10 -which means you know you can’t get any better.

5 Actions You Can Take To Crush it in Business

Number 1: Cut Back on News and Social Media

I recommend you cut back on the news and social media that you are consuming.

Please stay informed, be healthy and know what’s going on and don’t put your head in the sand.

But check-in with yourself and be honest with yourself with how much time are you spending consuming media.

We need to be bringing inspiring, helpful and positive messages to our eyes and ears during this period.

If you’re digesting things that cause you to worry, drop your confidence or cause your mood to drop, then that’s a sign that you need to cut back and protect yourself.

Your confidence and emotional wellbeing is so important in business. It will make you or break you.

Number 2: Create Daily

Spend your time and energy on daily creation. Just show up and write, show up and practice your videos everyday.

When we create and produce during this crisis, we will crush it, because we’ll feel good about ourselves. We will feel purposeful as humans because we were designed to create.

Focus on quality, not quantity. It doesn’t mean going live on Facebook every day. It doesn’t mean writing a blog post every day either. It just means writing or speaking every day and focussing on improving your skills.

I recommend that you focus on video during this crisis season, because people are craving connection even though it’s through a screen.

Number 3:  Get your Marketing Funnels Live

The Number 3 way to crush it in this crisis is to get your marketing funnels going live as soon as possible, even if they’re not perfect.

You might need to create a freebie like a downloadable guide or a cheat sheet.

Focus on making it relevant, helpful and VALUABLE – and get it up there and start building your email database.

This is one of the best ways for you to leverage your time and help more people.

Start running online events for people if you haven’t been doing that already. You know enough about your topic to help people right now.

Number 4:  Focus on Getting ONE Thing Finished

I’ve talked to quite a few people this week who have started a lot of things and not finished them.

We need to develop blinkers and get the thing we started completed before we move on to the next challenge.

People don’t pay for a half built bridge. They pay for a FULLY built bridge.

Please don’t be tempted to start a book and then move on to starting a podcast, and then move on to a five-day challenge then a webinar. Finish one thing.

Focus and finish!

Number 5:  Choose ONE skill to develop

Developing your online skills is one of the most valuable things you can do at the moment.

I recommend that for the next 30 days, focus on ONE of the 5 skills.

Or maybe you want to dive deep on one of the skills for 7 days. Consume all the books, articles and podcasts on that one skill.

Pick the skill that is your weakest link or the skill that’s most holding you back.

Remember, if your service is helping someone improve their life, then there’s no reason why you shouldn’t show up and offer it. And in fact, if you don’t, you can’t help anyone.

You’re improving people’s lives and it’s a value exchange, so do not feel guilty about offering what you offer – IF it’s ethical, authentic and genuinely helps people get a real result.

Remember, we don’t have a lot of certainty about a lot of things at the moment, but we do have certainty that business is now ONLINE.

If you haven’t got marketing funnels in place, then that is one of the most important things that I strongly recommend you focus on during this time, is creating a funnel.

Having a good marketing funnel gives you an ability to capture people and continue to nurture them and provide value and help them.

Due to the amount of people online during this time, we need  to make sure that we stand out.

We also need to make sure that we get people away from our social media pages and onto our email lists. This gives us control of sending marketing material, nurturing and providing great value to people.

A marketing funnel is a series of steps that takes someone from being a stranger into a client. A marketing funnel is the number 1 asset you need to make money online.

If social media suddenly crashed and you didn’t have access to your friends and followers, how are you going to market yourself?

Your email database is one of THE most important assets in your business.

A funnel will help bring people into your email list and from there you can continue to market to them for weeks, months even years to come.

Building a marketing funnel and getting it live is one of the essentials for your business to survive and thrive in this crisis.

Want help creating your own funnel to attract more clients?

‪You can book a free 30-minute strategy session here

*First-time sessions

I’ll help you clarity your next steps to building your own, profit-producing marketing funnel, fast.

Looking forward to helping you get more clients online!

Kat

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3 Powerful Ways To Make Your Content More Influential

Do you want to help people improve their quality of life, take more action and have a more amazing experience on this planet?

This requires the skill of influence, which is about getting under the surface to the deep layers to help people take action.

Why is influence so important?  There are lots of areas in business where influence is key.

The four main areas I help people increase their influence in are sales, marketing, presenting and copywriting.

What is influence?

According to Oxford dictionary it is:

‘The capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behaviour of someone or something’

Influence is not manipulating, it’s not convincing. It’s not trying to persuade or twist someone’s arm. It’s helping someone to get more of what they want.

Influence that is positive, ethical and authentic is helping someone improve their quality of life, helping them have a better experience in their day-to-day and helping them solve problems and get the solutions they want.

I love researching influence and practising my influencing skills so I can help more people.

Like all skills, they are learnable and improve the more you practice them. You can learn to turn up your influence like a volume switch – to amplify your ability to help people.

When you know how to influence people, you become free. You don’t ever have to rely on anyone ever again to make money, because when you understand the power of influence and apply it, you will always have plenty of money in your bank account.

When you’re effectively using the skill of influence, you will be impacting people’s lives, really making a difference and doing what you’re here on the planet to do.

You will be making a difference, contributing, serving, having the joy and fun and ultimately having a life of freedom and flexibility.

In this training, I share how to become more influential when creating your content.

Influential content includes webinars, live events like workshops, videos and marketing copy.

Sales includes one-to-one and one-to-many. It could be selling on a video, selling live or it could be a face-to-face sales conversation with someone.

Our ability to influence (or not influence) comes through in our language patterns, our tonality, the way we say things and our body language.

When you learn the art of true influence, your improved communication skills can result in more success in your sales, marketing, communication, and presenting.

So here are 3 powerful ways to make your content more influential…

1) Paint a Clear, Specific, Vivid Experience for Your Client

Number One is to paint – Paint a clear, specific, vivid experience of what the person (your client or future client) is currently going through and what they are experiencing.

For example, you might start talking about what they’re currently seeing in their life as a result of this problem, that you can help them solve.

You need to be descriptive. What are they seeing? What are they hearing? What are they hearing their partner saying?  What are they telling themselves internally?

Now describe what they are feeling. Are they feeling fear? Is their heart racing? Do they have a knot in the pit of their stomach? Do they feel they have the world on their shoulders?

When you paint a clear experience for your client, you are bringing their experience to life. You are painting them a visual picture through their senses. You are helping them hear, see, smell, taste and feel the experience you are describing.

Becoming descriptive in your content brings your content to life. Rather than saying, ‘Are you struggling with fear?’ or ‘Are you struggling with anxiety?’ You are painting a clear, sharp picture of how this feels.

You would say, ‘Do you find your heart starts racing and your palms start sweating when thinking about how you are going to pay your bills?’ You are describing their experience. You are putting your client inside that experience.

First of all, paint the experience of what they are currently going through. This is what is going to stop them from scrolling right past you. It’s going to engage them, attract them, get their attention and hook them in.

Remember to use your ultimate client’s language when describing their pain-point.

Next, start painting a word picture of where they want to be. Start painting a word picture for your future client that describes the experience of what life would be like if they were where they wanted to be.

You don’t have to say, ‘Do you want to be slim?’ or ‘Do you want to be happy?’ Use nouns that bring your content to life.

Bring the future experience of your client’s breakthrough to life through your words. What will they see, hear, feel, when they have your specific solution? Describe visually, audibly and kinaesthetically what your client will feel when they implement your solution.

People learn and receive differently.  Some people are visual, some are analytical, some are feelers.

We need to harness all of our senses and receptors if we want to create influential content. Describe your future client’s problem and then describe their solution by tapping into their sensed experience.

2) Pepper Your Content with Personal Stories

Number Two is pepper. If you go to a restaurant, you will find they have large pepper grinders. What is pepper used for? It’s used for seasoning food!

In a similar way, we need to add seasoning to our content also, to enhance our customer’s experience with our content.

To pepper your content, use relevant stories and examples from your own life. Currently, everyone is posting ‘How To’ content. I do this also. It’s because this appeals to our brain.

But people connect also through the power of personal story on a heart level. Connection on a heart level can supersede the brain connection. Peppering your content with personal stories brings your content to life.  It actually helps activate the right side of the brain.

We have a left side of our brain that takes in logic and data, so it’s more analytical and methodical. Some people are more predominantly left-brained. The right side of our brain deals with intuition, perception, emotions and feelings. Right-sided brain dominant people are usually classified as creative.

Bring your content to life through stories and examples. Pepper your content with personal stories to back up your point and increase the heart connection with your clients.

I use a technique called window wiping. I create content that triggers the left side of the brain and then the right side, and back and forth.

3) Position Yourself as an Expert Authority

Number Three is positioning. Position yourself as an expert in your area and an authority to be taken seriously.

This makes entrepreneurs nervous. To position yourself as an authority puts a responsibility on your shoulders.

We suffer from tall poppy syndrome. We don’t want to big-note ourselves. So to place ourselves as an expert in an area is daunting.

Placing ourself an authority over a particular solution or niche is necessary, however! I train people to identify their niche and become an authority in that specific field.

You want to show people that you are credible in your area, so talk about your experience, your knowledge and your skills.

You can do this in a humble,  grounded way that doesn’t come across as big-noting yourself. Present yourself as humble, genuine and authentic.  And that’s when you will influence people and cause them to actually listen to you.

I talk openly about the experiences that I’ve had in business for the last 17 years. I’ve had various businesses and have had to attract my own clients.

I’ve had to really learn the art of influence. I’ve invested over $100,000 to develop my skills from some of the best teachers in the world. This is my lived experience.

My lived experience makes me an authority in the area of influence because I’ve made it my business to learn about influence. I’ve done this firstly for myself and now, I can impart my learnings to others.

I include what I’ve learned into my content, into my sales process, into my marketing and communications.

Ben Harvey is one of my favourite teachers in the world. He states that when you talk about yourself, go low with humble energy. Then raise your energy to say, ‘I’ve been so blessed to have done this and learned this…’ You start speaking louder with excitement when talking about what you’ve learned.

When you think about your next piece of content, consider how you can paint it with clear, specific, visual, kinaesthetic and auditory experiences.

Think about how you can pepper your content with relevant stories and examples that make your content more compelling and relatable. Then incorporate this with your learned authority as an expert in your niche and solution.

Ultimately, it’s going to help your future clients take the next step towards you. It might be something free, that will then lead the reader or listener further through your funnel towards being a paid client.

So, there are 3 powerful ways to make your content more influential.

How will you apply these to your next piece of content?

Do you need help creating more influential content to get more clients?

THIS weekend, the 14th and 15th of March, I’m running a two-day content creation workshop ‘How to Create Content that Connects’.

In this workshop, we create your content together, I provide you templates and formulas and you’ll walk away with a whole heap of content DONE!

There are only a few spaces left so get in fast!

To learn more about the ‘Create Content That Connects’ workshop this weekend, click here.

If you would like help being more influential in business, so you can attract more clients, I offer a free 30-minute strategy session, to help you gain clarity on how to grow your business. 

You can book a 30-min clarity session with me here

(This is first-time sessions only and I don’t give you a sales pitch, only guidance and support).

 

Remember, the world is waiting for your brilliance!

Kat.

 

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3 Things You Need To Know To Stop Being Stuck In Your Business

Are you feeling stuck in your business?

Do you find you’re not moving forward in terms of your growth, revenue or profit?

Perhaps you’re struggling to get more clients.

Or you find yourself procrastinating on those things you’re meant to be doing.

Maybe you’re doing what I call ‘building bridges’…

this is where we start doing something, it gets too hard, so we stop and then start working on something else?

Have you started writing a book, blog, creating a podcast or social media schedule, but hit roadblocks and not finish the tasks you started?

This week, I’ve been working with my client Hilary on her business, in a marathon strategy coaching session of 16 hours over 2.5 days.

We locked ourselves away in a boardroom with no distractions, put the blinkers on and got stuck in and progressing in her business.

We did loads of visioning, planning, strategising, and getting clarity on her identity, goals, ideal week, brand, systems, and marketing.

We got SO MUCH done. In her words “We moved mountains”.

This is the power of focus and having expert eyes on your business to get clarity and direction can lead to transformation and breakthroughs SUPER fast.

It was incredibly powerful, and I’m so looking forward to offering more of these VIP 1-on-1 sessions with more people.

It made me realise… the things she didn’t know clearly – the things that were keeping her stuck are the 3 things that most entrepreneurs need to know.

Here are the 3 things that most entrepreneurs need to know, to become move forward in their business:

1) Know Your Identity

The first key is you need to know your identity.

You may think, ‘But Kat, I know who I am!’

I know you probably have worked on yourself and have a pretty good awareness about who you are.

But you can be in business for many years and still not have crystal clarity on your identity.  This is what was happening with Hilary.

The reason she came to see me and booked out a solid period of time is that she had been running different Facebook groups and Facebook pages. She had a number of different websites, created different kinds of freebies including e-books.

She had so much going on that she felt confused and lacking clarity. What we isolated is that she wasn’t clear on her identity.

She was trying to position herself alongside her partner’s business and she is also a mum. She is a great partner, mother and friend, but she hadn’t found her business persona.

After spending some quality time together, we discovered she had promoted herself with a corporate, professional look, but her personality is all about fun! She was actually sending mixed messages out to the market place.

Knowing your identity and where you fit in the marketplace is essential for your brand positioning. Your identity includes your branding, colours and tonality.

Not knowing your marketplace positioning and identity can leave you chasing in many different directions.

You have to know who your ideal clients are so that you can speak directly to them. Who is your ideal target market? What is your micro-niche? Who do you want to be known as?

When you have specified these things, you then put out content and create videos that target your ideal client.

A lot of business owners are very self-aware. They’ve done a lot of personal development and work on themselves. But they have not done the same development to discover their business identity.

I am very targeted and specific in reaching my target market. I speak primarily on the topic of influence in business.

Under the umbrella of influence, I speak on topics that include sales, marketing, copywriting + content creation, presenting and mindset.

If your business is having an identity crisis (or just needs a refresh) and does not have a clear identity that you are sending out to the marketplace, then your first step to getting unstuck is to determine your business identity.

2) Know Your Values

Knowing your values is incredibly important.

You most likely have done work on these in the past, but have you refreshed them recently? Have you sat down and asked yourself, ‘What is most important to me?’

Our values change over time. What you saw as a top value 5 years ago, may not be your top value or priority now.  For example:  If you are a first-time mum now, then you weren’t a mum 5 years ago.

Therefore, the values that you hold now being a mother are different. Prior to having a child, you may have valued successful corporate achievement, but now you are a new mum, you’ve got a new value that takes precedent over the old value.

Another example is:  5 years ago you may have been focussed on fun and partying. Naturally, as humans, we evolve. You may have had a values shift and now you prioritise your health and diet over fun and partying.

Ask yourself the question like:

‘What is most important to me in life?’

The write a list. It could include things like health, spirituality, faith, exercise, love, connection, achievement, creativity, freedom, adventure etc.

Then rank your list in the order of importance to you.

One of my values is freedom. I have freedom because I don’t have a job, I’m not tied down or committed to anything except what I choose to prioritise. The value of freedom is outworked in my lifestyle, in my diary, in my calendar and in my home.

How much time do you spend on the things you value in the top 5 of your values list?

If you only spend a little bit of time, then perhaps your value for that element is lower than you thought.

Another value that I hold is the value of achievement. If you’ve got certificates and accolades, then maybe achievements and successes are highly valued by you.

Getting clear your values can be a game-changer.

This week with my client, we got out large pieces of paper and we got creative. We started strategising and writing out her vision and values.

One of her primary values was fun and bringing happiness.  We spent time working on how to make her business give her more of her highest values. This way I know that she’ll follow-through.

3) Know Your Strategy

 

Knowing your strategy is key to being successful in business.

You’ve got to have a strategy because otherwise, you’re going to be caught up in distractions and what I call, ‘the shiny object syndrome’.

Defining your strategy helps you be intentional.

You need an overarching strategy for what you’re doing in your business this quarter. Then this overarching strategy is broken down into milestones and clear action steps that you can take.

Using your discipline and willpower helps you overcome shiny distractions. Using a clear strategy helps you remain focussed and intentional.

If you and I were to set a strategy for March, I would ask you, ‘What are your three action steps for this week?’ ‘What are your action steps for tomorrow?’

Having a strategy is like utilising a roadmap. You have your steps clearly defined and know exactly where you are going.

For Hilary, we spent time building a month-by-month strategy for this year. Now she knows precisely the action steps she needs to obtain her goals.

You do the same strategy steps to determine your lead generation strategy, your marketing strategy and your sales process strategy.

Every part of your business needs a strategy. Clearly defined strategies help clear your brain, opening space in your brain to be creative and solution-focused.

Do you need more personalised help getting unstuck in your business?

I’ve opened up some space in my calendar to talk to those of you who need help to get unstuck in their business.

Want help with your biggest business challenge? Like some fresh clarity and direction?

I’d like to invite you to book a free, strategy call with me. Business is too hard to do alone! I’ll help you get moving again.

You can book your free 30-minute strategy session here*

* First-time sessions only

Chat soon,
Kat

P.S. Spaces are limited so grab yours now before they fill up!

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