Here's how a small practice is an ASSET

People sometimes think it's a problem if they have less than full-time hours to work on their business and deliver their services.

Especially when your kids (or other lifestyle factors like a health condition) need your daily care and attention.

I know I used to!

In fact, this belief used to drive me to squeeze what felt like 12 hours of work in a 5 hour work day.

That's when I realized I was going about it all wrong.

A small boutique practice is only an asset when you do small, the right way and think bigger then your perceived limitations.

Let me explain...

One way of thinking about how much time, energy you have for your business (marketing, client care, all of it) has you feeling like a victim and at the effect of your life.

I don't have as much time!

I can't/don't want to travel as much!

I don't have as much energy as I used to!

I can't stay up late anymore!

My kids kept me up for 3 days straight! (This literally happened last week! Not good.)

And if you pause long enough to recognize how these thoughts are influencing how you feel, it can dampen your resolve to thrive in business.

Even if you don't have a family life, or your kids are grown, you can also feel reluctant to give up that precious work-life balance that you envisioned would come with a coaching business.

But I've come to see this quite differently and it's become an integral part of the Happy Little Practice Method.

The #1 way a small, but mighty practice is an asset for your focus and business (and family life!) is this:

You develop little toleration for B.S.

Your own B.S.

And in the B.S. of your potential clients.

Here are examples of your own B.S. that you rise above when you go small, and think big...

If I only have 25 hours to make it all happen, then...

You create some wicked good boundaries to make sure you know exactly how to use your time, because you don't have the wiggle room to goof off on Facebook or endless hours to recover from bouts of on and off again marketing sprints that require lots recovery time...

You make sure your marketing is simple for you to see through because you don't have the patience (or time!) for a bunch of half baked marketing strategies that dilute your focus...

You make sure your message is on point and solves a real problem, because you don't have the luxury at waiting for a niche to magically land in your lap...

You basically get over your self really fast, and start making decisions.

Why? Because you don't have the time to waste.

At least if you have to earn a serious income.

Here are some examples of the potential client BS you force yourself to get over as well...

No convincing. When a potential client starts to tell you why they can't hire you, before they've even spoken to you, you say okay, but I work with people who want to do this work and solve the problem I solve, and move on.

No people pleasing. When a potential client compares what you do to what others offer (pricing, structure, coaching style), you're not interested nor are you defensive nor do you engage in convincing. Offering a service based solution is not about people pleasing. You understand that client engagement is a lot like dating. If they need to think about it or go date other people first, they're not ready for you.

No red flags. You do not ignore potential clients who show up late for their first call with you or call from "on the go", or seem to be chronically disappointed in others, or can't remember why they're calling you, or didn't do their homework before they get on the phone with you and other situations that feels like a "red flag" to you. You understand that how a client is from the get-go is how they always will be with you throughout the coaching relationship.

No excuses. Potential clients who tell you they can't afford it before even speaking to you... (okay then, why are you calling me?) When I didn't have any money, I just went to the library and used what I have. Or signed up for stuff that was within my budget and did the work. You understand that there will always be folks who can't afford what you offer, and that's okay, because there are other ways for people to help themselves.

Essentially, you develop standards.

Standards of who you work with.

Standards of how you work.

And you uphold them.

It's not about being inflexible, it's just about having standards that allow you to be YOUR best and do YOUR best work.

Your 25 hour work week must be worthy of your time and attention.

And it must be a positive influence in your personal life.

Or else why bother putting in the sweat, time, energy and personal growth on steroids that a thriving practice requires.

Here's to remembering a small practice, is plenty big enough, when done right,

Karin

P.S. Want help with this? If you haven't already, grab a cup of tea, pen and paper and watch my webinar that explains my Happy Little Practice Method and see if it's for you. Then if it makes sense, apply for a time to talk with me and let's see if we might do some great work together.

Where's Karin?

June - I'll be leading a virtual business development training for Wellcoaches.com grads in June. More details to come!

Would you love to bring me to speak at your alma mater? Just shoot me an email or send my speaker info page to the powers that be.

Taking spring break off without losing pay

Borrow this idea!

One of my clients just shared with me that, for the first time in her practice, she felt comfortable taking time off for spring break.

When she didn't work, she didn't earn.

This made for a business that serves clients at the cost of your own mental, spiritual, emotional and family well-being.

This makes things unsustainable for the long-term.

So what changed?

All of her clients are in start-to-finish programs instead of hourly packages or sessions.

All of them!

This means, when she wants to take time off, her pay isn't affected.

Her clients have either paid in full for the duration of their work together, or committed to a convenient monthly payment plan that is set up once at the beginning of their work together, and automated to process without her management.

I'm taking next week off too, to hang out with my little kids during their school break.

I can only do this because all of my clients are in programs too.

If you're finding yourself in a "can't take time off" type of situation, here are a few things that may help.

First, you're not alone.

Many of my clients fall in one of two camps:

Camp 1: you may have a program that you created but don't have enough people to offer it to and/or not enough are saying yes.

Camp 2: you are offering hourly sessions, or small packages of sessions, and it's exhausting you.

Both situations require you to change and evolve.

No matter what camp you're in, here are two tips and a free training that may help.

TIP #1 - Make sure your program solves a specific problem.

ONE problem, not ten of them.

Otherwise people simply won't believe you.

You may have to chunk down what you do into phases to make your work seem doable and believable.

For example, phase 1 of my work is integrating everything you do under ONE message and phase 2 is getting your work out into the world simply and effectively, usually by speaking your message.

I offer both of them, or they can do just one, no problem. But each one solves two very specific problems my ideal clients have.

Tip #2 - When you tell a potential client about your program, show them HOW your program will solve their problem.

Here's a real-life example.

Yesterday I talked with a client about tweaking the flow of her first appointments with potential
clients.

People were loving the session until she talked price and then they bailed.

Turns out, there was a missing piece in her conversation.

The conversation was too heavily focused on creating rapport and talking about the power of coaching.

I suggested she try adding the following two pieces into her first appointments and make the shift into a leadership role in the second half of her session:

1) Okay, would you like me to share what I see is going on for you? (This is after you've got all the info you need to assess their situation)

Here's what I see you're doing that is not working and how it's creating the results/symptoms you do not want.

Make no bones about this.

Wake. Them. Up.

Say it nicely, calmly and clearly.

For example, "as it turns out, the way you're eating is the perfect recipe for depression, anxiety and stress. The foods you eat actually cause the feelings you're feeling, as I suspect you may have a food sensitivity and allergic addiction to these foods, otherwise it wouldn't be a problem for you."

For example, "You don't have enough clients, because you're not marketing consistently and your message is unclear so it doesn't land with anyone beyond the low-commitment, low pricing type of clients who don't want to risk more then a few hundred dollars and don't really do much of the work."

Gently point out what's not working and what needs to be fixed. Then move on to step 2.

2) So here's my approach to resolving this, once and for all.

Describe how each step of your program will solve the problem(s)/symptoms she or he is experiencing.

This is where you essentially show them the way out and how you would handle the situation.

Most clients are "lost" in the land of their problem in some way (totally normal), no matter how brilliant and accomplished they are.

So if they're lost, you need to act like the smart, capable guide you are and LEAD them the way out.

You will need to act like a leader, not a counselor/coach in this part of the conversation.

They'll either want to go on this journey with you or not.

In fact, I rarely have talks about objections with clients. It's either a fit or not. No convincing.

I might, occasionally go into convincing mode when I see a potential client I REALLY want to work with about to do something silly like (spend all their money on branding and web design instead of figuring out their message and marketing first).

Okay, I promised a free training on this as well.

Here it is: I gave a presentation on how to create your own start-to-finish, signature program for Hawthorn University that you can watch for free here.

Hope this helps!

If you think you might want me on your side as you make all of these decisions around your offers and your practice, I'd be glad to talk and see if it's a fit.

Apply for a free time to talk here.

I'm going on Spring Break next week but I'd love to see you in my schedule for when I return. :)

Happy Spring and may you enjoy some "paid" time off as well! ;)

Karin

P.S. Maybe you can't take the time off this year. No problem, this time next year can be totally different for you. Book a time to chat and let's map out a plan for creating a Happy Little Practice that does what it's supposed to do for you, your clients and your family.

Zig where they Zag + the antidote to market saturation

Here's a different way of looking at competition in your field

Do you know what I mean by "market saturation"?

And is it something you should be concerned about?

"Saturation" in business is simply when a product or service has been very well distributed in a marketplace or region, and therefore creates stiff competition and/or little new demand for the product or service. (Unless someone does things rather differently!)

Said even more simply for professional coaches like you and I: there are a lot of other professionals offering similar services to your business in your area or industry.

Here's how it shows up for the experienced coaching pros:

- you were the only game in town until all of a sudden you weren't (happened to me!)

- you see new people enter your field, with far less experience and seem to be doing much better then you (Hot dang! This happened to me too!)

- you find yourself keeping your prices "affordable" so you can stay competitive and keep the clients you have (Not fun!)

- something has changed in your field that is forcing YOU to change (Uh, hello Facebook ads! Oh, hi 500+ new coaches graduating my alma mater EACH MONTH.)

- web design styles swiftly change, and inexperienced coaches entering your field are getting beautiful pictures taken, investing in expensive and successful looking branding and their web presence slams your website into the dark ages. (Yeah, I've experienced this one as well.)

- a marketing strategy loses it's effectiveness, or what was once good enough before many other professionals set up shop, isn't cutting it anymore.

- or seeing colleagues create multi-million dollar empires while you chug along with one part-assistant and makes you question everything you thought you wanted. (Yep! Experienced this as
well. This was a doozy!)

For new coaches, it's looking around at the playing field and thinking "I don't even stand a chance!" or, "do I have to invest 10K in a website before having one client just so I look the part?!"

Now here's some good news (and what that I wish I had known about 7 years ago!)

Listen, you may not be able to win the game of "who has the most clients" and who can "out market or out work" the other.

In fact, it can be disconcerting if you're like me and my clients whose days of "out working people" are long gone with mornings, evenings and weekends dedicated to family life.

So, if you know you can't out market the big coaching companies or your colleagues that seem to
have more reach, a larger volume of clients and deeper pockets...

Then you are going to have to ZIG where they ZAG.

Market saturation is simply forcing you, me and all of us, to evolve and step into the changes you likely have been putting off for some time.

1)  Instead of following what everyone else is doing, focus on what others in your field can't do
(or is afraid of doing!) and specialize in solving one very important problem for one group of people that you can become masterful in serving. This puts you in your own league.

For me, it was realizing, "okay, I can't win the game of saying I have hundreds of people in my programs." But I could win the game of saying the opposite: I have less clients, but for the right
clients, they are better and more deeply served. That I can do. So I showcase that in my work. You can do the same.

2) Instead of lowering your prices and trying to keep pace with other struggling, charge-by-the-hour professionals, be the boutique coaching business in your field that cherry picks her clients and has people apply to work with you because you're so specialized and you actually have standards of care.

I knew I couldn't afford to lower my rates. I was not going back to that!

So then, I had to validate my rates.

I do this by showcasing my experience and the experience my clients receive that is one-of-a-kind (they feel seen, they get coached by me, they can connect with me each day, etc).

For some people, it's a game changer to have that kind of personalized attention.

Most of my clients are already doing this but not showcasing this in way that highlights this as the gem it is. You can do this too!

3) Instead of trying to nail your brand, showcase your MASTERY of your craft.

Learn how to create, collect and display outstanding testimonials from the work that you do.

I find web design to eat up a lot of expenses for small practices, especially if you want to get it
right.

And the really good people charge upwards of 7K and up for a custom website.

Which means, the "average" personalized web work is $2500 to $3500 and I'm so over that level of work. It ain't that great!

So, I zig where others zag.

I have a super simple, clean, modern website with no fancy branding.

I've gone minimalist in a sea of gorgeously branded websites.

I find this so radically simplifying, like finally deciding on your signature outfit, that you'll
wear at all of your signature talks instead of spending hours each morning tossing through all your outfits and turning your closet inside out.

Instead, I let my work, copywriting, testimonials, a few high quality images (that are the opposite
of the glamour shots I see everywhere... it's me, the beautiful countryside in my pictures, and no perfect hair and make-up).

And then I bring it home by nurturing the relationships I create through my emails I send a few times per month, instead of a few times per week.

I could go on in the ways that I zig where others zag.

I teach my clients to do this too, because it's what they CAN do well, and do so consistently.

You can do this too. 

So if you're worried about any aspect of market saturation in your field, just remember.

It's just an opportunity for you to zig where they zag.

Fine tune your message and get specific so competition becomes irrelevant.

Create a league of your own.

Then let everything else you do... how you work with clients, how you present your work, how you
do your pricing... everything!... mirror that focus and watch yourself no longer have to play the game that others play.

Want me to help you do this?

Get in touch and let's see if we're a match. 

Here's to small truly being the new big, when done right!

Karin

#happylittlepractice where moms in coaching rock
out a simple business with simple marketing and
powerful messaging.

When marketing feels anything but fun, fast and easy

A quick scroll through your Facebook feed and the ads seem to promise you fun, fast and easy
marketing results.

And yet, it doesn't really feel like that every day, does it?

At least not for me and the people I know.

This is something I talk to clients quite a lot about.

When you take yourself and your practice seriously, and begin marketing consistently, you're going to feel something like this...

50% of the time you will feel like:

"I can't believe I'm being paid to be myself and share what I know! Amazing!"

And the other 50% or so of the time, you'll feel like this:

"I don't think this is working! I don't know what I'm doing! Ahhh!"

I created a 3 minute "driveway" video (the bottom of my driveway being the bus stop) about how this shows up and what to do about it here. 

What you definitely don't want to do is...

a) stop your marketing and take a long reflective break that results in a starting and stopping pattern in your business

b) change your mind and try a new marketing strategy or change your message

c) think something is wrong with you

Instead you want to expect that more or less, you'll find some things challenging.

That's totally normal.

Think about it...

You are learning brand new things...

And practicing what you're learning IN PUBLIC...

And, learning and growing is naturally uncomfortable. Not everyday, but sometimes.

So I want you to welcome the discomfort.

Plan for it.

Lean into it.

Don't turn away from it by stopping what you're doing, changing your mind or fantasizing about an easier gig.

Because running your own show is so dang worth it.

So keep going.

Here's how I do this.

Most every single day, I sit down and tidy up my mind.

Just like I tidy up my home after the chaos of getting kids out the door, and before I sit down to work.

I sit with the thoughts that I feel "are happening to me."

The ones that make me feel like I'm quietly suffering in some way.

And then once I understand them and see if they're serving me or not, then I spend a few more minutes deciding what I'll think for the day.

Just for today.

And then I repeat this nearly each day.

Game changer.

I don't wait until I'm stuck.

I don't wait until I'm deep in the muck of self-doubt or second guessing. (I used to!)

I get in there, and see what's doing before it messes with me and my ability to support my family in a powerful way.

The best resource I can recommend for this is Brooke Castillo's Self-Coaching 101 book and her
free podcast too.

Both are fantastic.

Maybe you'll find it useful too, like many of my clients.

And if it's not a match, look at your own expertise or healing work that you do with clients.

Is there something that you do, that helps them with their mindset, that you can use in your own business?

One of my clients, a therapist and sports psychology coach for dressage riders, uses the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) with her clients to help them break free of beliefs that hold them back.

So she started using EFT as her own mental warm up before she sits down at her desk to work.

She says it clears her mind and energizes her for the day and allows her to get her marketing DONE.

I hope this inner game tip is useful to you.

The mindset stuff is the ONE thing that seems to mess with my client's ability to market consistently, beyond making sure their business structure is simplified.

If you want help with this, I've got an entire step-by-step process for updating and simplifying
the structure of your business so that it's consistently doable (your message, audience, services and marketing) and how to navigate the inner stuff that naturally comes up.

Simple, but not easy-peasy.

Simple, but doable.

And doable you can do, right?

Get in touch here if you're ready for a marketing and mindset coach and let's see if I can help.

Karin

P.S. Have you watched my free training on how the Happy Little Practice Method works to simplify everything in your business yet? It was created out of necessity for people like me: working moms who have a full family life and yearn for a simple way to make a serious dent in the family bills, while doing meaningful, impactful work on less than full-time hours.

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.