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Show Notes
Stories. So we all know a story. It’s how we remember things. But quite often we forget to use them. We forget to use them in our coaching sessions and we forget to use them in our marketing.
The Power of Stories
So let me tell you a story.
There was a family, and I knew that they had been a buried treasure in their back, that’s been buried by their grandfather.
And the stories had come down through the family members for years and years. And whenever they got together, they all had a little go at it. They dug over here and they dug over there. They dug near the old fence and then the fence was gone. They dug the the tree and then the tree was gone. And they dug in all sorts of bits and pieces.
And did they find their treasure? No, because they just dug on the surface level. So they all dug in different spots and only very shallow.
How Coaches Approach Marketing
Now, why am I telling you this story?
Because stories are how we remember things, and it’s quite often how coaches treat marketing.
They start off and they have a bright idea. They’re looking for that shiny treasure, and they think, maybe if I put out some Facebook post, that will work, and after a little while it doesn’t.
So then somebody says, oh, I’m killing on Instagram, Instagram. It’s incredible.
So they jump over to Instagram and then somebody else says, oh, you got business clients looking for business clients. That must be LinkedIn. And I feel like I and then there’s a new social media. So they jump on that as well.
Then they hit up social media. It doesn’t work. So they get off social media and they try something else.
Sound familiar?
Yes. Spreading yourself so thin you’re not really getting a strategy for anything, and you’re not sticking at it to see what works.
Quite often, as we know when we’re building foundations, it takes a while and it takes a consistent amount of effort and time.
Stop Chasing Shiny Objects
So digging here and digging there and trying all the different platforms and spreading yourself too thin is never going to create the marketing result you want. And clients get confused.
They might have seen you on something, but now you are not. They might be like your email list. You might have been sending out some emails and then somebody heard that they needed a coach and you think, who was that person? And it’s been so long since you sent out an email that you are not top of mind anymore.
So just pick one thing and stick to it and really start to get to learn and know it and see if that’s kind of work for you before you try picking something else. Yes, there is a time to pivot. But that is not every five minutes.
So make sure that you do have that strategy. You do have that plan and you actually follow it through because we know what the shiny object trap is like, isn’t it? Remember, it might be working for somebody but it might not work for us.
Your Journey Is Different
Your chapter one is not going to be the same as somebody chapter 20. And quite often it can also be that their chapter one won’t relate to your chapter one.
They especially with things like Instagram, because the people that got in on Instagram early did really well.
If you use those same tactics and same chops of ideas now, it doesn’t work as well because Instagram has evolved and the way that they look at their algorithms, the way the content is, the way they want engagement is quite different now than what it was when it started.
So sometimes it’s a case of not following what they did, even when it was what they did to start with. So see what works for you and tweak it and remember, use your gut and stick to it and be consistent.
Consistency Creates Momentum
When there’s a challenge, well, sometimes you can repurpose some of the stuff that you had. Other times you do need to start again, but don’t get in the habit of chopping and changing.
If you messaging is chopping and changing, then people get confused and it can be very difficult to follow and it also can be very difficult to get referral partners because they want to refer you for your executive coaching.
And then the next week they find out you are doing weight loss and then next week they find out you are doing something else. So making sure that you are consistent.
And that’s where the momentum comes in on that consistency. And sometimes you find that a lot of coaches quit just before something happens.
People Are Watching
People are watching, especially with social media, they are watching. They are rating your stuff, but they quite often won’t tell you.
Have you ever been to a party or something in person where somebody said, hi, that was a great post. Oh well done for doing that. And you think, how did they know it was on your socials? But they didn’t comment on it.
You didn’t even know that they were watching you. And that happens so many times. People are following you and think about your behavior.
To have you read an article or a post or a comment or anything like that and not commented on it. Sometimes why we think clients come out of the blog, because they’ve been in that orbit, they’ve been around us, and we just haven’t realized.
So making sure that you are putting in those good foundations so that you will have plenty of spring bulbs and plenty of flowers when it comes to that.
Measure, Test and Improve
Make sure that you are measuring it as well, checking what’s working and what’s not and whether it is just a slight tweak. Quite often it can be pumping up the tires and that’s all you need.
So look at what you are doing and measuring it. Particularly when you think you are going to change something, go and have a look at it first.
I was talking to a coach just recently and they said, oh, I don’t want to do this particular section of my business anymore. I think I’m going to close it. And when we looked at their website, that’s where all their traffic was coming from. So yes, they don’t want to do it and they need to pivot, but they need to do it in a way where they don’t lose all their traffic in one go.
So it is a case of measuring, tweaking and then making an informed decision about what it is. So there’s so many things that you need to look at making sure that you are measuring, testing and going from there being strategic because then you can improve it.
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Contacts
Stories Sell. Are You using Them?
So if it’s not working, don’t keep doing it constantly, over and over. Dig deeper, not wider. Think about what it is that you can ask and what you can do.
What is a better conversation? As coaches, we love to have conversations, so what is a better conversation? Who can you talk to? Who can you help? What is it? The one thing that you can help with? The role of one. What is the problems that you’re solving? How is a different way that you can say that?
And you might be getting bored with your content because you are saying it over and over, but you just tweak that slightly and the message really lands.
Listen to the full episode of Small Business Talk episode 352.
You can also find the video versions of the Small Business Talk Episodes on YouTube.
