This is the LAST episode of season 6! I am ready to CELEBRATE with this week's episode where we dig into the questions I recommend asking yourself before you decide you are ready for coaching.
I have been a business coach for - coming up on - 20 years now. I helped thousands of people find their right way to making a profitable, sustainable business. In that time, I’ve learned the difference between coaching, consulting, and mentoring. I can be any or all of those things, depending on what my client needs.
I’ve also found that folks don’t always know what they need. They’ve hit a wall, they’re feeling stuck, and they’ve heard that somebody hired a so-called "business coach" and that seemed to help them. So, that’s what they look for.
Not so fast! Coaching - for Instagram or anywhere else - is not a magic pill that cures all ills. In fact, many of my clients will recount the times they’ve sat with me and cried or told me to eff-the-eff-off because they didn’t like the hard truth they were facing in the moment. Truths that they ultimately HAD to face if they wanted to move forward.
You’ve got to be ready for coaching. If you’re still standing around wanting someone to tell you what to do or be your boss, then that’s not what coaches do. In order to know whether or not a business coach is your right next step, these four things must be true:
Think about these four things. Listen to the episode. And then, reach out and let me know if you think a business coach is the right next step for your business.
Inside this episode, we're talking about:
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Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Our money stories shape our choices, which shape our money stories.
While it’s easy to look outside yourself at what other people are doing and make judgements about “good” or “bad”, “right” or “wrong”. I want to invite you to hold a mirror up and see if your own money choices or stories might be harboring a few blocks of your own. Because YOU are the only person you can do anything about them anyway.
Today, I’m sharing the biggest money blocks for each creative type. Because, while we’re all unique, we do carry a few patterns in our types that can put up BIG roadblocks to our business growth and success. While each type may have symptoms that look the same (feeling stuck, hitting a plateau), the thoughts that are at the root of these issues are often different, depending on your type.
If you haven’t already taken our free quiz to discover your creative type, you’ll want to do that in order to know your type. Head on over to LisaRobbinYoung.com/quiz to get your results.
There’s no opt-in required to get your results but if you DO opt in, you get a guide that unpacks all the different creative types so that you can learn about more than just your own creative type.
After you get your result, or before, tune in below to learn how to adjust your money choices.
Inside this episode, we're talking about:
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Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
There comes a time - or maybe even multiple times - in your business when you’re done with the income you’re currently making and it’s time for more. Most of the time, you don’t want to be DOING more to get there. That’s when you need to strategically consider how to increase your profits - your profitability, the money that stays inside the business - to achieve the freedom goals that you have.
That profitability begets sustainability. Because that means you can pay yourself more. You can pay your team more and still have money in the business for growth.
There are lots of potential ways to do that, but today I’m focusing on the 3 things that most directly impact your profitability and help you experience true creative freedom.
Inside this episode, we're talking about:
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Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
In 2007, Consumer Reports did a taste test with McDonald’s coffee and Starbucks. The Consumer Reports Coffee Taste Test showed that McDonald’s plain black coffee edged out Starbucks and other fast food chains and had the best tasting black coffee of them all.
Then in 2009, a more informal Starbuck’s taste test was held to look at some of the flavored coffees. This was a bit less scientific, but still a blind taste test. The result? McDonald’s wins again!
But here’s the point I thought was interesting: everyone still preferred the Starbucks environment, even though the McDonald’s coffee is better.
McDonald’s charges less for their comparably - and purportedly better - flavored coffees than the Seattle coffee giant, but people happily pay more because of the experience of shopping at Starbucks. This is a great illustration of how pricing is subjective and based, at least in part, on the story you’re trying to tell.
There are also a lot of “feels” that come up around pricing. Today, I want to tackle one of the most common concerns I hear from entrepreneurs with an existing book of business: How do I raise my rates so that I don’t lose my current clients or come off looking like I’m only in it for the money?
Listen in below!
Inside this episode, we're talking about:
Our Rising Tide Community has moved! If you're already a member, you can login and access your free downloads here.
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Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
I have an Incubator client right now that’s working on building their business, and they don’t have a large audience. Between fits of frustration around wanting to go faster and inspired ideas that need execution, we’ve been having conversations around who they serve and how to talk to them to stimulate sales without coming off as sleazy. As nice as it would be to just jump from a great business idea to loads of sales, it just very rarely works that way.
Could she walk up to every person she meets, introduce herself and offer her services? Sure. But she’d likely end up with more folks running screaming for the hills than she would new customers.
There’s probably nothing people hate more than to be sold to. And maybe you’re even thinking to yourself:
"I don’t want to be that slick, sleazy salesperson and have to push, push, push all the time just to keep my nose above water."
What can you do? Listen in below to find out!
Inside this episode, we're talking about:
Our Rising Tide Community has moved! If you're already a member, you can login and access your free downloads here.
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Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
In our last episode we talked about how to find folks and I intimated a little bit about the need to talk TO them, not AT them. But we didn’t get into specifics of how to do that - what to say, etc.
I don’t want to leave you hanging. So, that’s what this episode is all about. This episode will be useful regardless of how well connected you are with this audience. Whether you’re just getting started with them or you’ve got clients, or the start of an audience but not many Raving Fans, I’m going to save you the two by four to the head.
Because it’s not enough to know who they are, you’ve also got to reach and connect with - engage with - them. Listen to the show below to become "coffee worthy".
Inside this episode, we're talking about:
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Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
A moment of truth telling: Finding your audience is actually more about them finding you. Being a lighthouse, in many respects, for your right people who need a safe harbor from the storms of their world.
What kind of a light are you shining out there? Where does that light come from?
There was a time in the big bad world of business, where you could pretty much sell anything and people would buy it. You didn’t need to persuade people about the benefits of choosing you because you were the only game in town. They either bought what you were selling or they went without. Period.
But buyers are smarter, do more research, and have a LOT more options at their fingertips. It takes more than just “buy my stuff, it’s great” to encourage a buyer to say yes.
But even in a world where a whole lot of people MIGHT say yes to your offer, you need to practice a little discernment.
Today, I want you to understand the principles behind finding your target audience - how to determine if you’re talking to the right people in the first place, and if not, what may need to shift so that you can actually FIND these folks.
Inside this episode, we're talking about:
Our Rising Tide Community has moved! If you're already a member, you can login and access your free downloads here.
Not a member yet? It's free! When you register for the Rising Tide, you also get email updates, the FREE learning library, and access to episode transcripts, worksheets, and more!
Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
We have gotten such great feedback on the new season of Creative Freedom! Thank you! If you haven't seen the first episode yet, what are you waiting for?
Close your eyes for a minute and think about Katy Perry - you know, the strong-willed, powerhouse vocalist behind Roar and Firework. See her in all her glory.
Okay, now that you've got that image in your head, try to imagine her singing her edgy songs about... Jesus.
Yeah. I know. That was weird, right?
Well, Katy Perry started her singing career as a Christian artist. SERIOUSLY! She signed a record deal and released her first album in 2001 as "Katy Hudson" - her real name, btw.
It flopped. It took 7 years of trial and error before her second album made it to the airwaves and made Katy the candy-coated pop star we know today.
Whether you love her or hate her, she's got an amazing brand that's immediately recognizable in a niche that's unlike anyone else in the industry.
Wanna know how you can do the same thing?
This week, the podcast takes a deep-dive look at Katy and Shania Twain to show you how to carve out your own profitable niche in your industry. BOTH of them came from a musical world that was different than the one they ended up in. It required a little patience and courage to make the jump... and it made all the difference.
Check out the show to learn more.
Inside this episode, we're talking about:
Our Rising Tide Community has moved! If you're already a member, you can login and access your free downloads here.
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Special thanks to our Patrons for your continued support.
"Worse Things" is a parody of "There are worse things I could do", originally recorded by Stockard Channing for the motion picture "Grease". Parody lyrics by Lisa Robbin Young.
Theme music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
You've probably heard the phrase "riches in niches" more times than you care to count. As a creative entrepreneur, finding a niche can feel challenging if you don't solve a "problem" or "pain" with your Great Work.
That's why I don't support the idea of looking for a pain to solve, but instead, looking at core values - which are a clearer indicator of why clients buy from you (and keep buying from you for years to come). In this episode, I'm stealin' a process from the manufacturing world to help you hone in on why clients buy from you and how to find more clients just like 'em.
Our Rising Tide Community has moved! If you're already a member, you can login and access your free downloads here.
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Music: “Welcome to the Show” by Kevin MacLeod, incompetech.com. Music licensed under creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
I am a sucker for procedural dramas. Criminal Minds and NCIS are staples in my late-night viewing. My husband and I have sort of a "silent bet" running on each episode. The first one of us to figure out "whodunnit" gets bragging rights for the night.
Usually, it's me. Sometimes I get it wrong, which is usually when my husband beats me to the punch.
I've spent years getting to know people: watching them, learning from them, and paying attention to behaviors, body language, and contexts. And I have two kids - who are walking laboratories of human behavior. Paying attention to all kinds of people gives me an insight into how they think and how they'll behave in a variety of circumstances.
You can't expect to consistently sell your Great Work if you don't know who will buy it (or why). You need to do something to get into your client's head and understand where they're coming from, where they're going, and why they'd choose you.
There are lots of ways to get into your customer's head, but a question I get asked a lot is "do I really need a customer avatar?"
Yes and no. It really depends on the kind of market you're trying to reach. This week's episode of Creative Freedom gives you some clarity on when an avatar is right for you - with a little help from Lionel Richie.
Ultimately, it's less about an avatar, and more about understanding your clients. Whatever method works for you is fine, just make sure you do the work.
You don't need a customer avatar. You just need to understand your customer. (Tweet this)
Need some suggestions on where to start? Here's another resource for getting to know your customers. I also teach more about this in the Creative Freedom Apprenticeship, which re-opens this fall.
Share your thoughts and ideas in the comments . Who knows? Someone reading this may need exactly what you have to offer!