WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:01.249 --> 00:00:05.430 Hey, this is Mark Butler, and you are listening to a podcast for coaches. 00:00:06.840 --> 00:00:09.119 Today is a travel day for me. 00:00:09.670 --> 00:00:12.550 I don't travel much for work anymore, but I am traveling today. 00:00:13.099 --> 00:00:16.099 So, I need a little thing, a little piece of, you know, like a little plastic 00:00:16.099 --> 00:00:22.169 container, because very often when I travel, I use this pomade stuff for 00:00:22.169 --> 00:00:26.069 my hair, and the container is just big enough that sometimes they confiscate 00:00:26.069 --> 00:00:27.509 it, and it's kind of expensive. 00:00:27.974 --> 00:00:31.854 So I wanted to get a little plastic tub thing that I could put it in. 00:00:33.364 --> 00:00:40.134 So, I grabbed my digital recorder off my desk, said goodbye to my wife. 00:00:41.179 --> 00:00:45.369 Noted the look she gave me as she saw me walk out with this recorder. 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:51.159 . And I came to Target looking for that and they didn't really have one, but 00:00:51.169 --> 00:00:57.629 on my way out, I passed this little 1 rack that had, hold on, don't worry. 00:00:57.629 --> 00:00:58.349 I'm being safe. 00:01:00.469 --> 00:01:02.609 Silly sense dough for children. 00:01:02.609 --> 00:01:03.443 It's like Play Doh. 00:01:03.443 --> 00:01:05.403 The little tubs are the perfect size. 00:01:06.272 --> 00:01:10.576 So I'm going to take one of these little tubs, throw away the Play Doh. 00:01:11.286 --> 00:01:13.426 And then use it for hair product. 00:01:13.526 --> 00:01:16.186 Now, yeah, that's dumb. 00:01:16.366 --> 00:01:17.166 It's ridiculous. 00:01:17.336 --> 00:01:18.556 Par for the course for me. 00:01:18.566 --> 00:01:25.076 And if I really wanted to do this episode right, I would go home and I would record 00:01:25.076 --> 00:01:27.046 Kate's reaction to what I've just done. 00:01:28.036 --> 00:01:32.870 The thing is, I would have to narrate it because you can't hear an eye roll. 00:01:33.070 --> 00:01:36.372 You can only see it and feel it deep down in your soul, which is what I'm about to 00:01:36.372 --> 00:01:37.872 experience when I tell her this story. 00:01:38.807 --> 00:01:41.277 And so, mission accomplished. 00:01:41.357 --> 00:01:48.787 Uh, my hair product may smell like green apple, peach, or pineapple when all is 00:01:48.797 --> 00:01:51.147 said and done, but we got the job done. 00:01:51.197 --> 00:01:55.317 . Now, this episode's gonna be short because it needs to be done 00:01:55.317 --> 00:01:56.647 before I get back to my house. 00:01:57.322 --> 00:02:02.451 Last week we talked about gritty, determined people who show up and 00:02:02.451 --> 00:02:08.281 publish and engage and they do this over the course of years and how 00:02:08.281 --> 00:02:10.511 sometimes that doesn't pay off in the way that they hope it will. 00:02:10.561 --> 00:02:14.111 And I talked about a specific person on that episode and I said, and I have 00:02:14.111 --> 00:02:19.251 every confidence that she's going to succeed and to thrive in her practice. 00:02:19.401 --> 00:02:23.241 This week it's about , the people who are more like me, frankly. 00:02:23.971 --> 00:02:27.821 Who get excited, and show up for a while, and then disappear for a while. 00:02:28.371 --> 00:02:30.421 Maybe for a long time, maybe forever. 00:02:30.731 --> 00:02:35.041 What brought this to my mind is that I'm in the process of reengaging 00:02:35.761 --> 00:02:39.241 with the marketing of my bookkeeping business over at Let's Do The Books. 00:02:39.631 --> 00:02:43.941 A few months ago, I closed it for new signups for a while because my 00:02:43.941 --> 00:02:47.581 systems were not strong enough to handle the support of existing clients 00:02:47.611 --> 00:02:49.691 and the welcoming of new clients. 00:02:50.441 --> 00:02:52.841 And then I had to send an embarrassing email and say, I'm 00:02:52.841 --> 00:02:56.611 sorry I can't onboard you right now and I'll be back in a few months. 00:02:56.691 --> 00:02:58.001 Now I feel quite ready actually. 00:02:58.001 --> 00:02:59.021 My systems are much better. 00:02:59.021 --> 00:03:02.121 My confidence is high and I'm ready to sign people up for the service. 00:03:02.121 --> 00:03:05.266 Let's And so I'm looking for people to sign up for the service. 00:03:05.266 --> 00:03:10.266 So, to get my mind thinking about how do I find coaches to support with 00:03:10.266 --> 00:03:15.936 bookkeeping, I went to the life coach school coach directory, because although 00:03:15.936 --> 00:03:19.266 I haven't been on that website in years, I knew that that directory existed. 00:03:19.266 --> 00:03:21.986 And I imagined that there'd be a couple of thousand coaches there. 00:03:22.681 --> 00:03:29.341 So I went there, and using some nerd magic, I got all the listings from the 00:03:29.341 --> 00:03:30.825 directory and put them in a spreadsheet. 00:03:31.910 --> 00:03:34.780 Now don't worry, I'm not going to spam , I'm not going to send 00:03:34.780 --> 00:03:36.280 all those people a bulk email. 00:03:36.810 --> 00:03:40.830 Not only because that's gross, but also because it wouldn't work anyway. 00:03:40.970 --> 00:03:46.320 What it gave me an opportunity to do is to go through lots and lots of coaches, 00:03:46.540 --> 00:03:48.880 websites, and social media profiles. 00:03:49.740 --> 00:03:53.000 Now don't worry, there's not going to be any criticism or judgment from me 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:55.550 because these are my kind of people. 00:03:55.880 --> 00:04:00.270 What I found was lots and lots of stuff that clearly 00:04:00.270 --> 00:04:02.380 had not been updated in years. 00:04:03.790 --> 00:04:05.100 I completely relate. 00:04:05.920 --> 00:04:10.035 Between about 2020 and 2024, for my website at markbutler. 00:04:10.035 --> 00:04:12.945 com did not really reflect what I was doing. 00:04:13.645 --> 00:04:16.855 And a person who landed on that website would have every reason to believe that 00:04:16.855 --> 00:04:19.505 I was no longer doing anything online. 00:04:21.445 --> 00:04:24.035 And for all they knew, I might not even be alive anymore. 00:04:24.725 --> 00:04:26.375 Same with my social media profile. 00:04:27.225 --> 00:04:30.295 Now I'm very accustomed to being on this side of that equation. 00:04:30.405 --> 00:04:33.415 I can sit over here and say, well, it doesn't matter 00:04:33.415 --> 00:04:34.825 that my website is outdated. 00:04:34.825 --> 00:04:38.925 It doesn't matter that my social media profiles haven't been updated. 00:04:39.330 --> 00:04:40.940 My practice is thriving. 00:04:40.950 --> 00:04:41.940 Things are going great. 00:04:41.990 --> 00:04:44.660 I've got happy clients, etc, etc. 00:04:45.520 --> 00:04:51.090 But yesterday I had the chance to get on the viewer's side of the equation. 00:04:52.510 --> 00:04:56.740 And I had to admit to myself that when you find stuff that is 00:04:56.760 --> 00:05:00.810 completely outdated, it hurts trust. 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:05.765 And when I say it hurts trust, I don't mean, oh, I think 00:05:05.765 --> 00:05:07.040 this person's untrustworthy. 00:05:07.770 --> 00:05:13.520 What it means is I now have to do heavier lifting to decide that you're trustworthy 00:05:13.540 --> 00:05:14.780 and that I should reach out to you. 00:05:15.410 --> 00:05:17.650 I have to say to myself, Oh, well, they're probably like me. 00:05:17.650 --> 00:05:21.070 They don't update their stuff, but I'm sure their practice is thriving. 00:05:22.020 --> 00:05:22.470 Etc. 00:05:24.030 --> 00:05:25.280 That hurts trust. 00:05:25.520 --> 00:05:29.710 What helps trust is landing on a website or on a social media profile. 00:05:30.350 --> 00:05:35.324 And whatever it looks like, it can signal that the person is alive 00:05:35.324 --> 00:05:38.162 and well and still in business and happily serving clients. 00:05:39.322 --> 00:05:42.632 So having looked at all these profiles and realizing, yeah, these people and me, 00:05:42.632 --> 00:05:45.042 we're all the same, it gave me resolve. 00:05:45.432 --> 00:05:52.532 To adjust my approach to my online presences such that I'm not asking people 00:05:52.532 --> 00:06:00.332 to do so much work to know that I am Still in the game now There is a little 00:06:00.352 --> 00:06:06.062 caveat on this because I have weirdly over the years had a few clients hire me 00:06:06.382 --> 00:06:13.172 And admit to me later That my outdated web presences contributed to a sort of 00:06:13.222 --> 00:06:21.642 intrigue and appeal almost made me seem aloof and interesting and compelling. 00:06:21.642 --> 00:06:25.052 And, and at that, I just had to laugh. 00:06:25.052 --> 00:06:29.552 I, I don't know that I would recommend that as a strategy. 00:06:29.562 --> 00:06:35.032 And I, I can't pretend that it's worked in any measurable way for my benefit. 00:06:35.062 --> 00:06:37.532 It's just something that clients acknowledge occasionally when 00:06:37.532 --> 00:06:38.622 they have come to work with me. 00:06:40.612 --> 00:06:41.402 How does that happen? 00:06:41.402 --> 00:06:44.422 Well, it probably happens because they heard me speak somewhere. 00:06:44.422 --> 00:06:48.142 So the speaking that they heard proved that I'm still in business. 00:06:48.562 --> 00:06:50.232 And then when they go to the web presences. 00:06:50.947 --> 00:06:56.277 They're able to weave a story that sounds like, Oh no, he's in business. 00:06:56.287 --> 00:07:00.517 He's just so successful and busy that he doesn't update his Instagram. 00:07:02.447 --> 00:07:04.397 I just don't want people to have to play that game. 00:07:04.477 --> 00:07:09.167 I would rather have them land on my website, land on my social media profiles. 00:07:09.942 --> 00:07:14.562 And pretty quickly realize, oh yeah, he's still doing this, 00:07:15.342 --> 00:07:17.632 or he's not still doing this. 00:07:18.062 --> 00:07:20.012 I just don't want it to look so dead. 00:07:20.402 --> 00:07:23.442 So, what am I going to do specifically? 00:07:23.442 --> 00:07:25.052 Well, I've already updated markbutler. 00:07:25.052 --> 00:07:31.422 com to, I think, give the reasonable appearance of aliveness. 00:07:31.622 --> 00:07:34.636 These days, I get between 8 and 10 email signups per week 00:07:34.770 --> 00:07:36.304 through my website, markbutler. 00:07:36.304 --> 00:07:36.594 com. 00:07:37.234 --> 00:07:41.894 So my assumption is that that's coming from this podcast and from other places 00:07:41.894 --> 00:07:45.474 that I hang out and that I speak, but the website is doing its job. 00:07:45.484 --> 00:07:48.684 It's making it relatively easy for people to engage with me. 00:07:48.964 --> 00:07:51.434 Now solving the actual sending of the newsletter. 00:07:52.184 --> 00:07:54.674 You all know me, you know that that's an ongoing battle. 00:07:55.054 --> 00:07:57.834 But, they can also find this podcast through the website, and if they go to 00:07:57.834 --> 00:08:01.244 the podcast feed, they will very quickly see, oh, clearly he's doing stuff. 00:08:01.334 --> 00:08:03.194 At least recently, he's doing stuff. 00:08:04.659 --> 00:08:09.199 But for all of you, my kindred spirits who abandon your websites and your social 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:14.359 media profiles for years at a time, like I said, no judgment, no judgment 00:08:14.359 --> 00:08:15.819 for me, what a hypocrite I would be. 00:08:16.459 --> 00:08:20.199 I think we can be of better service to the people who might want to engage 00:08:20.199 --> 00:08:23.229 with us by just keeping things current. 00:08:23.909 --> 00:08:26.769 That doesn't mean we have to go spend thousands of dollars on photography 00:08:26.769 --> 00:08:28.369 or websites, although we can. 00:08:28.949 --> 00:08:31.329 , I can recommend great people if you want to do that. 00:08:32.359 --> 00:08:38.279 But at this point, I'm probably more likely to go low tech, low cost, and 00:08:38.279 --> 00:08:43.079 just make sure that if you happen to bump into me on the internet, there's 00:08:43.079 --> 00:08:47.459 some reasonable signal that I exist, that I'm happy to be engaging with 00:08:47.459 --> 00:08:50.209 my work and with my clients, and here's how to get in touch with me. 00:08:51.689 --> 00:08:52.379 Perfect timing. 00:08:52.419 --> 00:08:53.589 I'm pulling into the garage. 00:08:54.959 --> 00:08:58.479 Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go throw away some children's Play Doh and 00:08:58.479 --> 00:09:01.569 replace it with men's hair products. 00:09:02.619 --> 00:09:06.189 And with that, have an amazing week, I'll talk to you next time.