Note: This is the second article in a 5-part series designed to guide you in aligning your business mindset, actions, and goals, and therefore supercharging your productivity and success. If you missed Part 1, you can read it here: Part 1 (part 3, part 4, part 5)
No matter how you envision your “success” you can follow specific steps to climb the ladder rungs of the Evolution of the Entrepreneur.
As promised, this week I’m outlining the 4 rungs of this ladder, and how to move from one to the next, so you can run your business AND live your life with the success and freedom for which you work so hard! (There is a fifth rung, Shareholder, but we’re not covering that, here, since the vast majority of coaches work their way up to the fourth rung, CEO, and stop there – this allows them to still participate in their favorite activities while their team members take care of everything else. On the other hand, a Shareholder usually views their business as an investment, and doesn’t work in it or on it at all.)
For each rung—Technician, Hobbyist, Business Owner, and CEO—I’ll list mindset (outlook), self-identifiers (this is how you’d introduce yourself at a networking meeting), common thoughts, biggest commitments, biggest fears, and driving motivations.
As you read through them, you can begin to identify where you really are in your own evolution. (After all, you have to have absolute clarity as to where you are now, so you can identify your current mindset and actions and ensure they align with the mindset and action of the rung where you want to be.)
Here we go!
TECHNICIAN. The simplest way to define a technician is someone who is getting paid to do the work she loves. In Part 1, I defined a technician as someone who is inherently gifted at something, and who may even consider this a calling. When she is doing “that thing,” she dips into the ‘zone of genius.’
Most technicians stay in a job, working for someone else, getting paid as much as they can for what they do.
Mindset:“Just let me do what I love, what I’m really good at … so I don’t have to worry about anything else.”
Self-identifiers: “I’m a do-er and have extreme focus on the task at hand.” (In this case, that task is coaching.)
Common Thoughts:
“I just want to {coach} my clients.” (NOTE: “coach” can be replaced here with whatever service you provide.)
“I can’t believe people pay me to do this {coaching}! I love it so much, I’d do it for free!”
Biggest Commitments: Safety and steady cash flow.
Biggest Fear(s): Having to get a job doing work she hates just to make money and take care of responsibilities. At the core, we can further define this as sacrificing happiness to take care of responsibilities.
Driving Motivations and Desire(s):
To find a great job making great money doing “that thing,” while creating a decent lifestyle around it (again, safety is at the core).
Financial security.
HOBBYIST. A hobbyist is often exploring her talents in her off-time, working for fun beyond that 9-5 J-O- B. She almost can’t believe she’s getting paid to have so much fun! That’s pretty much where it stops – FUN!
Mindset: “It’s safe to explore my talents as a {coach} in my off hours, and people payme to do this! They pay ME! I don’t have to work for another company to do this!”
Self-identifiers: “Right now, I’m just dabbling in the world of coaching. I fit this gift or calling of mine into my existing world—which means my real job, my family, and other responsibilities take priority. Still, I love getting paid for doing work I love, and this brings me great joy.”
Common Thoughts:
“If I can help someone, great! If not, that’s okay too.”
“I have a job that makes me decent money, and I’m stable while I also get to
“I love helping people and making an impact.”
“I wonder if I could do this full time as my only job and sole source of income?”
“I hate marketing and don’t like sales; I just want to coach.” enjoy the fun of doing this work that I love and that lights me up.”
Biggest Commitment: Safety.
Biggest Fears: The hobbyist is afraid she won’t get to pursue her calling and greater purpose because of her job, her family, and other responsibilities – at the core, she is afraid that she has to sacrifice her professional happiness and fulfillment to take care of responsibilities. She loathes marketing and sales, and hates the thought of feeling like a pushy salesman. She’s afraid she’ll run out of time, energy, money, and/or passion before she realizes her dream, or of having to get a “real” job if she fails at her passion. As a result of these fears, she often ends up stuck between being a Technician and fully going for it as a Business Owner.
Driving Motivations/Desires:
Actually making money doing the work she loves while making – and witnessing – the difference and impact she has on people’s lives. (At the core: being of service to others.)
Financial survival: because it’s “safer” financially, she maintains “real” job so she’s sure to pay the bills, and coaches on the side.
BUSINESS OWNER. A business owner does the work of the technician while taking consistent action to overcome the fears of the hobbyist. In other words, she gets to work in her genius zone while finding ways to make great money AND a big impact, doing what she loves.
Mindset: “I’m creating a well-oiled business machine that generates consistent results in terms of clients and cash flow, so I can do the work I love while getting paid for it AND making a big impact.”
Self-identifiers: “I have a nice lifestyle business doing the work I love while making great money and working with amazing clients!”
Common Thoughts:
“I feel like I have a ‘real’ business.”
“It’ll take too much time to delegate tasks. Besides, I can do it more quickly … I’ll just do it myself.”
“If it’s got to be, it’s up to me.”
“There’s not enough time in the day to do everything that needs to be done.”
“I can’t believe I get paid this much to do work I love doing!”
Biggest Commitments: Steady cashflow and scaling the business.
Biggest Fears: The business owner is afraid that in order to grow her business, she’ll have to work long hours, which will take away from her family and other important things in her life. She fears burnout as a result of doing everything herself, and wonders whether she’ll overcome her fear of marketing and sales. She doesn’t know whether she has what it takes to “do this” consistently, and isn’t sure whether she’ll be able to pay herself what she wants to make.
Driving Motivations/desires:
Accomplishing more while doing less.
Working smarter, not harder.
Creating a “lifestyle” business that keeps her in the lifestyle she’s become accustomed to or desires.
Consistent cash flow and financial stability.
CEO. The CEO is all about scaling her business so she can work less, earn more, and make a huge impact in the lives of her clients and her team members.
Mindset: “I will inspire my team so it becomes their passion to fulfill my passion.”
Self-identifiers: “As a visionary leader, I’m a source of inspiration.”
Common Thoughts:
“What people, resources and technologies do we need in place in order to reach our goals?”
“Is this the right direction for the business?”
“In what other ways can we scale?”
“I can’t believe that other people’s passion is to help me fulfill my vision!”
Biggest Commitment: Creating a well-oiled machine that runs better without her.
Biggest Fears: The CEO worries about whether she and her team members have what it takes to implement the goals she has for her business while providing exquisite support and delivery in effortless, fun ways … or, whether they’ll kill themselves trying to implement everything! She wonders if the decisions she’s made, the risks she’s taking, and the direction she’s going will turn out to be wrong, and cause the business to close down. She worries about being able to pay her team members and herself.
Driving Motivations/Desires:
Scalability.
Wealth.
Creating an inspiring culture that helps people be their best.
The tantalizing questions: Can I really do this? Can I create a team that handles everything and that runs better without me?
SHAREHOLDER. As we mentioned earlier, a Shareholder usually views her business as an investment, and steps away from the running of it. The vast majority of coaches don’t become Shareholders; they still want to be involved, especially with the activities they enjoy.
Whew!
So … now that you know more about each rung of the ladder of the Evolution of the Entrepreneur, which rung are you actually on?
So often when I talk to start up coaches, their goals are in alignment of that with a Business Owner.
However, their actions and mindset are in alignment with that of a Technician or a Hobbyist. This disconnect keeps them stuck. It’s like a vicious tug of war!
On the one hand, they still desire the financial safety of being a technician where someone else pays them to do a job, or that of a hobbyist where they have the freedom of maintaining a full-time job while enjoying coaching.
On the other hand, at the heart-and- soul level, they know the only work they want to do is that which fulfills their higher purpose.
They have just enough courage to step out of the safety zone to go for it—pursue their calling—because their heart is speaking so loudly. Yet they move forward into business ownership while keeping the mindset of the hobbyist.
As a coach, you simply have to do the work that comes naturally to you—your zone of genius. As a business owner, you have to not only do the work of the technician, but you also have to think about and plan for all those pesky (but necessary!) business details. You have to attract, engage, convert, and serve clients, get paid by them AND get referrals from them.
Being a business owner is no joke! But when you adopt the mindset of a business owner and have that outlook, things become much easier.
Alignment of your mindset, words, actions and goals creates an internal shift, and you become more committed than ever to doing whatever it takes to succeed.
Stay tuned to your inbox for next week’s article, in which I dive deeper into the Hobbyist vs. Business owner discussion, to help you understand the distinction and identify where you are (and, if it’s not where you want to be, how to reach your goals).
The Evolutionary Scale of an Entrepreneur: Where You Think You Are Versus Where You Really Are
Note: This is the first article in a 5-part series designed to guide you in aligning your business mindset, actions, and goals, and therefore supercharging your productivity and success.
Note: This is the first article in a 5-part series designed to guide you in aligning your business mindset, actions, and goals, and therefore supercharging your productivity and success. (episode 2, episode 3, episode 4, episode 5)
Do you remember the first time someone referred to you as an entrepreneur?
I’ll never forget the first time someone called me that. It was like a badge of honor—one I didn’t deserve.
I didn’t consider myself an entrepreneur; I was a coach. I thought: An entrepreneur is someone who takes big risks, does their own thing and is SUPER smart and savvy. I don’t know anything about business! I’m not business savvy. Sure, I’m a good manager and great at the work I do, but to own my own business? No way!
After all, at that point in my life, I had been fired from my job and had decided to turn what was then a fun hobby—coaching—into something that could support me financially. And that was exactly how I thought of it: coaching was something I was really good at and loved doing; I consider it my higher purpose, even – and I also got paid for it. (Which of course, is just awesome, right?)
The thing is, I was a “technician” (or as some would call it, a “practitioner”), getting paid to do something I was good at – and something I loved.
That’s a FAR cry from being an entrepreneur.
For me, the technician mindset was all well and good, until someone else saw me as an entrepreneur… and that was the spark that allowed me to begin to see myself as one, as well. That’s when things really changed for me. In fact, that’s when I was able to achieve rapid growth and success with my coaching.
What does this mean for you?
If you’re in the “I’m a coach,” mindset, you may set goals and intentions as a business owner, but you still take action as a coach – as a technician.
Therefore, you don’t grow your business as effectively as you could.
If you can get into the business owner mindset, your actions will align with it, and you’ll supercharge your productivity and success.
That said, let’s talk now about the evolution of the entrepreneur.
Imagine, for a moment, a ladder.
The Evolution of the Entrepreneur starts at the Technician Rung.
The next rungs are Hobbyist, Business Owner, CEO, and Shareholder.
I want to ask you to take a moment right now to decide which of those rungs you are currently on, in your business.
Don’t think about your answer too long—just throw it out there.
Now, I’d like to invite you to answer a few questions to help you determine which rung you’re really on. 🙂
Then, in my next article, I’ll outline the specific characteristics of each rung, and how to move from one to the next, so you can run your business AND live your life with the success and freedom for which you work so hard.
The Quiz:
When someone asks you “what do you do?” how do you respond?
“I’m a coach”
“I help people” (or some extended variation of this)
“I own my own business where I coach people”
“Through my products and services I help people accomplish XYZ”
“I’m invested in businesses”
When it comes to being an entrepreneur, what are your biggest fears?
“Will I have to get a j-o-b so I can make enough money?”
“Will I hire the right people?”
“Will I be able to scale my business and leverage my full team?”
“Can my team members and Directors really do as well as me, and take care of this business as if it were their own?”
“Will this bring me my expected return on investment?”
When it comes to being an entrepreneur, what are your greatest desires?
getting paid to do something I love
helping clients, making money, and having a big impact
working smarter, not harder
leveraging a team to scale the business so it runs without me
creating consistent passive income
When it comes to marketing, which is the most accurate?
You get furious when someone tells you to pick a niche.
You dabble in different approaches, rather than having a consistent strategy for bringing in a steady stream of clients.
Your marketing is effective and you see a steady stream of clients and cash flow as a result of your efforts.
You have multiple marketing strategies in place, and they’re all generating steady streams of clients.
You’re researching vertical markets you can serve.
The Analysis:
If your answers are mostly A’s: you’re operating from the mindset of a Technician.
If your answers are mostly B’s: you’re operating from the mindset of a Hobbyist.
If your answers are mostly C’s: you’re operating from the mindset of a Business Owner.
If your answers are mostly D’s: you’re in the mindset of a CEO.
If your answers are mostly E’s: you’re in the mindset of a Shareholder (if this is you, congratulations!).
Why congratulations?
You’ll have to wait for next week’s article … 😉
Stay tuned to your inbox for Part 2 of this article series, in which I outline the characteristics of each Rung, and provide you with specific steps for moving right on UP the ladder … from Technician to Shareholder.
When someone—a potential client or referral partner—asks you what you do, are you selling the boat?
We know … right now, you may be thinking, “I’m a coach. I’m not in boat sales. What the heck are you talking about, Melinda?”
Stick with us, here.
You may remember our Pain Island/Pleasure Island diagram, which shows your ideal client’s Pain Island—his or her top 3 challenges, and his or her Pleasure Island—the top 3 desired results.
Your boat—the packages, programs, and services you provide—is what gets your ideal clients from their Pain Island to their Pleasure Island.
So here’s the thing:
If you’re at an event or on a call, and someone asks you what you do, you may be making a big mistake with your answer.
That is, you may be explaining your packages, programs, and services (the boat), rather than showcasing the transformation you provide.
So why is that a mistake?
They buy a transformation.
And that’s exactly why we’re writing this today: we want you to stop selling the boat!
When you’re asked “What do you do?”
DON’T (for the love of Pete, DON’T) say: “I’m a coach and I offer several different packages.”
DO: Sell the journey.
Sell the transformation you provide. Sell the trip from Pain Island to Pleasure Island.
That way, you’re inviting people to step into your boat, by focusing on the results your clients will experience when they do.
This goes back to what we talked about with regard to your niche in a previous blog post: that is, you must identify the group of people you’re passionate about helping, and then identify the challenge they most want to overcome.
Then, you present yourself as the solution.
Here are some examples:
A tennis coach who works with tennis players who want to serve better and win games might say, “I help tennis players improve their serves so they can stop losing games.”
A specialty dog trainer might say, “I help dog owners train their dogs effectively so they can live in harmony with their furry friends.”
Here at TCC, we say, “We help start-up coaches systemize their businesses so they can get more clients and make more money.”
Bonus Tip:
Don’t guess!
Great marketing, great enrollment conversations never come from guessing.
It’s important to remember to interview your ideal prospects (or people like them) to uncover the specific words and phrases they use to describe their challenges and the results for which they’re striving, and use those same words or phrases when you sell the journey. If you’re guessing, you won’t get conversions. So, don’t guess. Ask.
As always, we’ll leave you with a few action steps you can take to practice selling the journey rather than the boat.
Action Steps
Identify your ideal client.
Narrow in on 3 specific Pain Island points—3 specific challenges your ideal client is facing and wants to solve … in their own words!
Identify the top 3 Pleasure Island points: that is, specific results your ideal client would like to achieve or experience… in their own words! (Are you seeing a theme here?)
Now, fill in this template: “I help [MY IDEAL CLIENT] achieve [PLEASURE ISLAND POINTS] by stopping [PAIN ISLAND POINTS].”
Voila! You can now answer the “What do you do?” question with confidence, focusing on the outcome and transformation someone will achieve when working with you … rather than focusing on your services. Therefore, you immediately draw prospects in, making them want to know more!
Next steps:
Sign up toreceive our complimentary 3-part video training series, “Your Coaching Business Blueprint: Everything You Need To Know To Get Your Business On Track.”
You’ll learn the pattern you may be stuck in, which can sabotage your own efforts to reach your full potential and accomplish your goals, the 3 S’s to your success and why it’s critical to master all 3 (most coaches only master 2), and where your business is leaking money.
As we mentioned, just 2-10 percent of prospects become paying clients after the first 4—yes, four!—”touches,” but that number jumps to 80 percent after the fifth contact.
Meanwhile, almost half of entrepreneurs never follow up, and 90 percent give up after the fourth follow-up (which means 90 percent of entrepreneurs are leaving conversions and therefore money on the table).
What should you actually say in each of those follow-up contacts, or “touches”?
We thought you might ask. So, today, we’re telling you. J
Here we go:
The First Touch: Deliver What You Promised
The first time you follow up with people who sign up to receive your free gift, you should deliver your free gift. Pretty simple, right?
Make this email short and sweet. Congratulate the prospect on taking a step toward reaching her goals or making her transformation, and let her know you’ll check in within a few days, after she’s had the chance to go through the information.
The Second Touch: Questions and Answers
In the second follow-up email, share your answers to questions you hear frequently regarding a tip/strategy you offered in your free gift. Give additional information to answer the questions.
Let your prospect know you’ll be checking in again in a few days.
The Third Touch: A Heads Up
Think about the common challenges and pitfalls your prospects might face when they start their journey.
Offer this third message as a “heads-up” about some of the more common pitfalls, or the most devastating, or the ones that derail them the fastest … and more importantly, offer specific suggestions for avoiding them.
The Fourth Touch: A Powerful Testimonial
Introduce your prospects to your most powerful testimonial. Give real-life evidence of someone who has implemented the information you shared in the free gift … and the transformation he or she experienced as a result.
The Fifth Touch: Present the Gap
This is it: remind people of the gap between where they are now and where they want to be.
Outline the path they’re about to follow—where, as a result of them integrating what they learn in your free gift, they experience the results they desire (those points from Pleasure Island on your Pain Island-Pleasure Island Diagram).
Also, outline the alternative path: the one where they choose not to integrate what you share in your free gift, and where they experience the very real costs and disappointments associated with lack of action.
It’s like saying, “You’re not there, yet—don’t get comfortable. You have more to accomplish.”
Then, close it out with a strong Call to Action, asking them to join you for a strategy session. Yes, you have to spell it out—tell them exactly what you want them to do.
That’s It!
The best thing about all of this is that you can automate the entire sequence through a program like The Coaches Console. It’s as close to “set it and forget it” as you can get!
Sounds pretty good, right?
We think so.
Your next steps: sign up toreceive our complimentary 3-part video training series, “Your Coaching Business Blueprint: Everything You Need To Know To Get Your Business On Track.”
You’ll learn the pattern you may be stuck in, which can sabotage your own efforts to reach your full potential and accomplish your goals, the 3 S’s to your success and why it’s critical to master all 3 (most coaches only master 2), and where your business is leaking money.
