The First Rule of Giving Great Little Talks

Get Help Focusing Your Topic

Here's the first rule of giving great little talks
to fill your practice with the right clients.

Pick the right topic.

More specifically, your talk must solve a specific
problem for a specific group of people.

You don't have to solve the problem in the talk,
but you must provide insight, valuable information
and a new perspective about the problem.

And even more specifically, it can not be a
generic topic.

Why? Let me explain:

When you go generic, or try to cover it all in
your talks (I've done it!), here's what happens:

- not many people show up to your talks because
the title just doesn't relate to people's real
life and the real problems they want to solve

- the people who do show up, find your information
"nice and helpful" but it lands in the "would be
nice" category of expenses. It just feels
optional. Your work, your services must never land
in the "optional to solve" category if you want
regular paying clients.

- the people who do show up are there for
"edu-tainment". They love to learn (and tell you
how much they know! I call these the "co-teachers"
in the room, and you gotta know how to handle
them) but no one hires you because, they're just
there for an interesting talk.

- you find yourself going anywhere/everywhere that has a
group of people to speak too (which in one way, is
fantastic of you!) but it tends to make you doubt
your ability to create clients in this way because
you think it's you or your modality that's not
working. It's not, it your topic and chosen
audience.

- As a result of this you usually try harder, to
do more talks, or give up on talks and try something
else (repeating the same pattern) but that's not
the answer.

Doing more isn't usually the answer.

Focusing is the answer.

So how do you pick the right topic?

Don't change your strategy of speaking to create
clients, just tweak your approach. (Which is a
golden rule of marketing: change your strategy
slowly, tweak your approach swiftly).

The short answer: One way to go about this is just
pick one of your top 3-5 best ideas and test it.
Get out there and start giving talks. See what
resonates. It takes a bit longer this way but it's
better than staying in your head.

If you stay in your head, your business is dead.

The long answer: Take your big topic (say Life
coaching, or writing, or health, or psychology,
etc), and chunk down that topic into specific
problems your ideal clients talk with you about.

Imagine your big topic like a delicious pie.

You want one of your talks to be a serving of one
slice of that pie.

For example, a family member of mine is starting
an essential oil business.

Instead of trying to be all things to all people,
I would suggest she pick a group of people that
she knows really well to speak to.

She's well connected in her community with other
local moms, so let's just say she went for that
group.

She's also passionate about family health and staying
out of the doctor's office with natural solutions.

Some problems moms like her might face (and she
would know better than me) are:

- family sleep issues that are affecting school
work, nighttime peace and mom's ability to
function well and not yell at her kids

- preventing cold and flus with essential oils
that make kids miss school and make mom's life
miserable

- how to use essential oils to help your kids feel
more confident at school

That's way better than "learn more about oils 101."

Now, if I were starting an essential oil business,
I might focus on women with a business and family
life (the people I know best, almost inside and
out) and perhaps choose one of these this topic
that I know comes up for my ideal clients:

- Courage for Coaches: how essential oils can help
you (and your clients!) bust through a crisis of
confidence (which is something that regularly
happens to me, my clients and their own clients)

Are these topics perfectly catchy and clever
sounding?

No, they don't need to be. They just need to
relate to a specific group of people's real life
problems or big juicy desires.

It's better than another generic topic that most
people won't want to attend or if they do, won't
do anything with the information like book a
session with you.

I hope this helps you begin to think differently
about giving talks, whether or not you're ready to
do so.

Here's where you can learn more and join us if you
like: https://www.greatlittletalks.com

If you're not ready for talks yet, but you do need
to refocus your practice and choose a focused
message that helps you stand out and create
more clients, get in touch here.

Happy Autumn!

Karin

Integrating Everything You Do Under ONE Message

How to Integrate What You Do Under ONE Message

One thing that can stop you from focusing your message is that it
feels like you have to leave most of what you do behind and just
choose ONE thing.

For example, it's typical for a coach to say she's into essential
oils, nutrition, mindset, meditation and so much more.

Or for a practitioner, to have several modalities like energy healing,
spiritual counseling, channeling and more.

When you have multiple interests and training in your practice, it's
common to find yourself promoting a bunch of different things, each
one with a different focus.

One day you're hosting a cooking class.

Another you're promoting a cleanse.

The next time you're doing a food and mood program.

And then your audience doesn't ever really know what it is you do.

This isn't good for referrals, marketing effectiveness or your own
sanity.

So naturally, when I say you have to pick ONE message in your work,
you might feel a whole lot of resistance.

This resistance is so rampant, I'd say at least 80% of coaches and
practitioners will not succeed because they don't want to focus in
this way.

However, if you're one of the 20% who is willing to focus, here's a
way to think about this differently that will help melt this
resistance.

Integrate, don't eliminate.

You don't have to eliminate all the different things you do.

You can integrate them under one problem that you solve (your ONE
message), and into one amazing program (the solution to that
problem).

For example, one of my clients came to me as a holistic health coach.

She not only has a grasp of foods that heal the body, she also is a
make-up artist, an esthetician with over 15 years in the spa
industry, she also LOVES to organize stuff too (she thought about
becoming a professional organizer), she LOVES to cook (here come the
cooking classes and recipes), and more.

No wonder she wasn't sure how to put all these things together! They
are ALL so interesting and engaging to her.

Here's how we integrated everything under one message (and eliminated
nothing).

After some coaching, I found out that she had spent years care-taking
an aging parent.

And like many women, who give and give and give, it takes a big
change before they realize they need to care for themselves.

So when her parent passed away, it was a wake up call.

She was a bit surprised to realize her health had declined, she felt
older than her years, and she almost didn't even know who she was
after focusing so intently on someone else. (Moms, we can relate,
right?)

When I coached her a bit more, I discovered she regularly came into
contact with women just like her, who because of some wake up call in
their life - a divorce, death in the family, empty nest - found
themselves facing that dreaded "OMG! I look like my mother!" moment
after years of ignoring their own needs and self-care.

So we created a message and a program that integrates all of her
skills and solves that "now what!?" problem that many women face
after a big transition in their life.

Now she has become a rebirth your beautiful life coach for women in
their 50s and 60s (who happen to come in droves to the very spa she
works at).

In her beauty rejuvenation program she'll help these ladies update
their hair and make-up, reorganize parts of their home to feel more
at ease and in control after so much external focus, show them how to
eat for the next phase of their life, coach them on their purpose
and... you see where I'm going, right?

She'll get to do all the things she loves to do, but under ONE clear
message for ONE very specific group of people.

Now she's no longer feeling unclear about what she does, for whom and
what she offers them.

Imagine having that level of clarity and what it could do for your
confidence and marketing.

You can do this too.

Integrate, don't eliminate.

Would you like help focusing your message, choosing your ideal
audience and restructuring your services into a boutique business?

If so, then you'll want to watch my webinar and apply for a free
coaching session on what it would be like to do this with me by your
side:

Here's the webinar.

Here's where you can apply for the free session:

http://happylittlepractice.com/session

Hope this helps!

Karin
 

Is Marketing Really About Courage?

is marketing really About courage? by karin rozell of KarinRozell.com 

Last Tuesday I essentially gave a way the first
lesson of my coaching program, How to Fill Your
Practice by Giving Great Little Local Talks.

You can watch the replay here.

As I waited for the webinar to start, I chatted
with the program director of continuing education
for the school that brought me in to talk to their
graduates.

She was curious as to why I thought most coaches
and practitioners don't invest in figuring out
their marketing.

Here's my very "let's get real" response...

Listen, all of us, including myself, that work
with others in such a deep, transformational way,
rarely get into this field because we love
business. We just love what we do!

But eventually there are skills sets that we have
to learn, skills that stretch us and can feel a
bit confronting, at least if you want to go beyond
30-40K in your business.

Things like creating healthy boundaries,
recreating your relationship to money, learning
how to communicate what you do so others see the
value of it, and yes, all the marketing stuff.

And that's where most people stop.

And that's when going back to school for another
degree starts to look good, or starting a newer,
seemingly easier marketing strategy looks really
good, or employment starts to look good, or
praying for clients feels like a good enough
strategy (after all, it works sometimes, doesn't
it?), or just kind of settling and thinking "well,
if I don't earn more, that could be okay" and
getting by no longer feels like settling and more
of a choice.

I get it, it's not easy.

At times it can feel like personal growth on
steroids. For me too!

That said, we as coaches, holistic consultants and
practitioners are actually built, trained and more
capable to deal with the inner game stuff than
most.

We have inner tools, wellness tools, friends and
colleagues with life transformational tools, even
basic nutrition tools can help with focus, courage
and stamina.

We have to leverage these tools to help us rise in
order to make our greatest contribution.

And she said something that hit the nail on the
head:

"It seems to me Karin, that all of this is about
courage."

And that's it.

More than anything, even more than focusing your
message, services and audience, or the perfect
website or the perfect thing to say, is
cultivating courage in the face of the habit of
second guessing, doubting and fear.

I will be the first to admit I do not rely on
myself to do this.

I don't have an office full of "going for it
mates" to bounce things off of, so I invest in a
coach or training pretty regularly.

I even design my entire environment to pull me
forward when marketing, money and client stuff is
challenging me. Which is pretty regularly!

I use flower essences to help with the emotional
stuff; I listen to healing music when I work to
help with focusing my distractible mind; I
meditate to help tame my emotional reactions; I
sit in nature for grounding and restoration of my
entrepreneurial spirit; I make sure to eat what
works for my body (or else I seem to fall apart
rather quickly); I drink herbal infusions that
literally give me stamina, focus and courage (yes!
herbs can do that!); and I'm always working to
make sure I sleep well or everything else is for
naught. Truly.

Hey, maybe it's because I'm 45 and I'm entering
perimenopause.

But I know that's not really true.

I had to do this stuff when I started my practice
nearly 17 years ago.

And I still do this.

Just the other day, I saw how my dear first
mentor, someone who now has a multi-million dollar
empire, share a quick video about what she does
when she feels herself slide into doubt.

I was struck that she still uses note cards to
remind herself of the mindset and vision she is
working towards.

Just like me and my clients do, who may not
necessarily need or want to create an empire, but
must earn a good living or they're going to have
to pack it in.

Now if someone like me and someone like her work
pretty darn hard at our inner game around our
marketing, and money and fears, it's safe to say
you will too.

So if you absolutely have to make your practice
work and go beyond 30-40K, or else you have to get
a job...

If you like the idea of giving little, local talks
and eventually leveraging it to national
webinars...

If you give occasional talks, class series,
workshops, but you haven't figured out how to make
this a real, reliable source of private clients...

If you want help with breaking free of your
marketing inertia and simplify and declutter your
marketing tasks...

If you want coaching and support on the inner game
stuff that holds all of this together...

I can help.

I can absolutely help.

I'm not in the game of convincing people to do
this.

You're either in the crowd of "I'm going pro and
I'm going to figure this out" or not.

Yes, I'm a big fan of Doing It Yourself.

But you definitely don't have to do it By Your
Self.

I've reopened my GreatLittleTalks program for a
maximum of 8 more people.

There's a $300 savings that lasts through the
Halloween.

At a bare minimum, it takes only one client to see
a return on your investment.

Come learn more at http://GreatLittleTalks.com

I'd love to be your marketing coach and inner game
mentor.

Imagine wrapping up 2017 with focus in your
marketing and a regular practice of cultivating of
courage.

Imagine attending Thanksgiving and Winter Holiday
festivities and finally feeling good about having
a plan in your marketing and working your plan
with me by your side.

Here's to ending the year feeling focused and
clear,

Karin

PS - Not ready to work on giving great little
talks but definitely could use help on
restructuring your message, services and audience?
Then please don't hesitate to apply for a free
session here and let's see if I'm the right guide
for you.

The life changing magic of tidying up your business.

You've probably heard about the hugely popular book by Marie Kondo on the Japanese art of decluttering and organizing.

I haven't read it, but I whole heartedly subscribe to the power of tidying up any area of your life, especially your coaching business or private practice.

In fact, I'm utterly fascinated by the power of taking care of your environment in this way.

I've seen a direct correlation between a tidy business life and making more money and feeling clear and happy about the direction of your life's work.

But to be honest, tidying up is not particularly easy for me.

I rather do about 100 different things like work with clients than run my business numbers, update my computer, or make the time to get rid of old stuff that's energetically weighing me down.

Yet I'm a natural organizer. In fact I do that for my client's businesses and ideas. But I have always felt that everything outside "doing for others" just could wait until "later."

Problem was, "later" never arrived or when it did, things were such a mess that it required eons of time to clean up.

I'm sure you can relate. You're good at what you do, and caring for others, but you tend to put off the care of your business tidying.

In one way, it worked for me. My business was organized, and so it thrived. But my life as a whole was somehow suffering.

It was hard to enjoy what I created and I yearned to feel at peace with my journey of entrepreneurship, instead dealing with a baseline of anxiety from wondering if my vague business practices would hold.

Deep down, I knew they wouldn't so energetically, it kept clients away.

We coaches and solo-practitioners are fantastic care-takers of others and pretty lousy at caring for ourselves.

Sure, we'll spend money on the best vitamins and body work, we easily value wellness.

But when it comes to decluttering and organizing our work life, we put that off.

I'd like to invite you to think about this differently.

The care and maintenance of your work life environment is an act of self-respect.

Making the time to tidy up your business says you are a professional, you care, and your work is worthy of your time and attention.

I know I feel that when I'm around someone who has their stuff together in this way.

They somehow seem to ooze a level of self-respect that is admirable and inspires confidence in them.

It makes me sit up straighter and makes me want to be my best.

I know you want that for your practice too.

Come, let's explore the art of tidying up your work life.

Your time, your office, your computer, your billing and more.

I can make this easy, peaceful and pleasurable to do so. (That's the only way I can stick with it!)

Then and only then, will your work become a work of art.

Only then will your life feel like like it is becoming your greatest creation.

So here's to tidying up AND rising up!

Join me on a magical journey of tidying up a few areas of your practice:

Details are here: http://wellpronet.com/rulestoliveby

We start Monday, July 20th.

Karin

PS - This is designed just for you - a personal development coach or solo-practitioner. No need to try to do this on your own or read a ton of books and take complicated organizing programs that may or may not apply to your style of work. I've got you covered in one short and sweet course.

PPS - You can read about the business transformations from tidying up on this page too: http://wellpronet.com/rulestoliveby

A Mindset Shift for Upgrading Business Boundaries

They are the things you didn't know you needed to know about when you started your practice. How you can manage around your time, friends and family, what you will or won't do for clients, around getting paid and more.

I recently spent 30 minutes talking with a client around why she let what happened with a client happen, and what new way of looking at herself and her work could prevent it from ever happening again.

I have to confess, every little policy and boundary I have in place is a direct result of some weird, "keep me up at night" situation in my practice.

Now if weirdness comes up, I either point to "the details of working together" hand out that they agreed to, or have a "we need to talk conversation" and offer some coaching around what I see.

Sure there are always clients who bail after they invest or never participate in their investment in your work, that's normal. And there's not much to be done about that besides making sure your business is not affected by other people's whims.

When you're beginning to consider upgrading how you do what you do, and how you are with clients, one of the first ways to ease into this is to look for evidence of what you want.

Could you look around with new eyes, and look for professionals doing their thing, caring, but not care-taking?

Could you look for examples (in and out of your field of expertise) that show you that you can be caring in business but still be firm around what's cool and what's not in your practice?

This is a lot like those rare, great teachers you had in your school days, that inspired you to be your best in class, but didn't bend the rules for you either.

First look around and look for evidence of professionals walking this line in simple, effective and elegant ways.

Be it from your past, a local service provider, someone you admire from afar or someone you personally know.

This will give you courage to establish healthy boundaries for yourself as well.

Heres to setting healthy boundaries that allows your business and clients to bloom,

P.S. Need a mentor for your coaching, consulting biz or private practice in the year ahead? Come check out my Biz YOUR Way Studio and see if my intimate and accessible program is right for you.

The Thing About Me-Time (For Mombots Everywhere)

Ever notice how much "easier" it is to stay home each night, snuggling into the couch? Drew and I are mostly ready to drool by 6:30pm most nights. Between running our respective businesses and the kids (and everything else!), we give each other high fives for making it to 6:30pm each day. Seriously!

But when Alex turned 3 last year, it was a total and rude awakening. I kept feeling like "I just had a baby." (Well, I did get knocked up again and had baby #2 within that span of time, so I was either pregnant or nursing for 3.5 years. What can I say, I'm irresistible to my hubby. hehe). But the greater truth is this: Alex was no longer a baby and didn't need me for every little thing (but I kept acting like it) and another little girl was right behind him. There was never going to be the perfect "oh, go take some time for yourself" moment. In fact I had to schedule it or it just never happened. And so here's what came to my mind...

I thought: If I don't start carving out some personal time now, instead of waiting for someday, one day later, I'm going to crack and my hubby will leave me because I'm turning into one crazy psycho bitch from hell who is always grumpy and frumpy. Sigh. (Yes, in those exact words, more or less.)

But here's the thing about time "just for you." Be it just to get some breathing room, refresh your energy or focus on your dream biz and it's evolution (if you're like me, your biz IS your ART and it's your life's work that will grow and evolve with you even when the kids are grown).

The thing about me-time is it's in the category of "fun." And when you're not having any fun, you think you don't need fun. And then fun seems like hard work. And you get pissed at other people having fun (your hubby!) And when fun-loving folks suggest "go have some fun" you get even more pissed... at them!

Don't they know I have a business to run and shit to get DONE! Sheesh. And then you've become a Mombot. That's when you just handle one mom thing after another, become absorbed in being mom or biz maven and forget the joy, sexiness and hot, throbbing good time you can have when you prioritize fun and enjoying the ride.

What I've realized is that fun takes effort. To put on some nice clothing, perhaps a lip gloss and go have fun. And the first few times, it's not that fun so you wonder "why bother." But trust me, you're just thawing out. At some point, fun becomes fun.

FUN is deliciously rejuvenating like nothing else. So tonight, for no other reason than to have some fun, I'm making margarita's and something Mexican for dinner. (The mombot me says that's just a waste of time and just "make something easy." Mombot me is a real dud.)

I'm flexing a new habit of grabbing fun where ever I can.

I have cold hard evidence that when I'm not having fun in my life, my business suffers, my marriage suffers and even my health suffers. So heres to enjoying life and having fun (while you build your dream biz too!)

P.S. Need a mentor for your coaching or consulting biz? Come check out my Biz YOUR Way Studio and see if my intimate, and accessible program is right for you. Looking forward to hearing from you! Find out more here.

I Call B.S. On "Saving the World" with Your Business

I'm sorry if this makes you mad, but I gotta say it.

I call BS on "you are hoarding your medicine that can save the world, if you don't get out there and share what you know."

I call BS on it's your "sacred mission to help others".

I call BS on all the marketing stuff that says "you better help make the world a better place or else you're being selfish".

Here's what I think...

All of that is truly well intentioned but it totally trips up coaches, consultants and practitioners.

It makes you create a biz that "looks right" but often doesn't feel right, because you think what you truly want isn't socially acceptable.

So you dress up what you really want with a "saving the world" business.

You real desire of not really wanting to work that hard, or wanting to make a boat load of money while helping others for a living (gasp! can you really say that??); of wanting lots of people seeking you out, being kinda famous and hundreds attending your events (eeek! you can't say that, right? so you call it "I want to make a BIG impact"); or your real desire of just having a life full of wellness related activities that feel fun and relaxing, but you can't just do THAT, can you?

So it leads you to obsess about "contributing" and on earning your place in the world.

So you start a biz and it's always feast or famine because you're not THAT interested in running a biz, you just want to have fun.

But you can't just do THAT, right?

Or can you??

You "serve" others by being radiantly happy.

A happy woman creates such a ripple effect in the world, just by being who she is and dripping her happiness here and there.

It’s inspiring.

It’s life changing for everyone who comes into contact with her.

And that is enough.

Heres to keeping things real,

P.S. Need a coach that can help you design your biz and life to fit YOU? Come and work with me and see if my program is right for you.

How to Deal with Conflicting Intentions in Your Biz and Personal Life

The stress of living with the energy of "either/or." IE I'm either a striving biz woman or at home present mama. I'm either successful and alone or happily married and playing down my ambition. I'm either rich and out of touch or poor and spiritual. It's all a big fat lie.

I know I'm most stressed when I feel pulled in by the "either/or" of motherhood vs work. And when I'm in this place, I always think the solution to everything lies in one or the other camp. "If only I had more work hours, then I'd really accomplish it all." Or ,"maybe if I didn't work, everything would feel better."

And naturally, when I'm in this place, not much progress happens. It's almost as if every intention I have - both as a mom, and as a business owner - gets cancelled out. And that's exactly what happens when you have conflicting intentions in your personal life and in your business life.

Ironically, I'm the most happiest when I occupy the in-between place. When am integrating all of my life into my everyday. My work hours reflect my "off-line" life desires. My work has healthy boundaries that leave space and time for life's pleasures such as a peaceful, relaxing lunch, true down-time and "after hours" time to just be.

Happiness in business, to me, must reflect all of me, not just the "business me." You know your biz is only reflecting your "biz self" when it feels like it's driving YOU into the wee hours of the morning or late into the night. Or when you just aren't having a lot of personal life fun.

But when you integrate your real life - your family, relationships that matter to you, exercise, being outdoors, the things that make you feel wealthy beyond any bank account number - into your daily business life, you will find, my friend, that your life and work will flourish much more easily and enjoyably.

Integrating all of you into your biz. That's where its at.

Here's to living and creating your way,

P.S. Ready for mentoring with someone who gets your entire life? Come check out the Studio.

Seek Advice that Encourages You to Go For It (And why I don't listen to just anyone about business.)

Where are you getting your advice from? I used to try to listen to my elders and family about my business, but then I realized, they had never work for themselves or created anything out of the ordinary. So naturally, what they shared with me about my business dreams was always tinged with fear and worry about security, being safe, and being responsible.

Get advice from people who have created something cool, who have gone for something that made them shake in their boots a bit. People who find it "normal" to go for it, rather than try to talk themselves out of their dreams. People who are deliberate about their career and life choices. That's who to ask for advice from.

Because when you're doing something new and different (for you!), you'll need to remind yourself that you're in good company. When I couldn't afford coaching, I read a lot of biographies to help me feel like I wasn't alone in this endeavor. (There's always a way to get support. Libraries are the best for this!)

Above is a picture of Robin Berg who wrote her book with us. A life long dream of hers! And it's a great resource for going within when making decisions for your business and life.

Here's to living and creating your way,

P.S. Ready for mentoring with someone who gets your entire life? Come check out the Studio.

"Everything Sucks, Some of the Time" (Even in Your Dream Business)

 

I read the book "Essentialism" by Greg McKeown and it's like seeing my own philosophy of coaching laid out for me.

Fun! In McKeown's book, I read the following story and it reminded me very much of what we're doing here:

He shared a story of a man who was asked to fix a failing organization in about 90 days. And there was just SO much to do, he couldn't see how to do it. Long story short, he realized by figuring out what was the biggest "constraint" to making progress, and by focusing on fixing THAT, he quickly would see momentum and improvement. Without fixing the constraint, no matter how much more work or new ideas they would try to implement, nothing would take root, nothing would work.

Nine out of 10 times, when new clients come for coaching, they think they need to do much, much more. But more often than not, we remove things, restructure things and focus on doing less in order to gain traction. It's so contrarian to how American culture thinks. Do more, be more, buy more, take massive action, etc...

Back to the story about that man asked to fix an ailing company in McKeown's book. He turned around that organization by addressing the biggest "energy leak" in the company.

So what about you? Could you make incredible progress, by first addressing a big "energy leak" in your own life? Be it in your work life or home life, sometimes, making one small, well-thought out change, can be like a little hinge that swings a big door.

Here's to doing less, but better (Thanks Greg!),

P.S. Ready for mentoring with someone who gets your entire life? Come check out the Studio.