WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:03.480 --> 00:00:07.190 Mark Butler: My name is Mark Butler and this is a podcast for coaches. 00:00:09.570 --> 00:00:12.620 Today, I want to talk to you about what I'm calling a marketing plan. 00:00:13.990 --> 00:00:20.870 I'm proposing what I think, as of this moment anyway, is one of the simplest 00:00:20.940 --> 00:00:25.890 possible marketing plans a coach could follow to fill their practice. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:28.900 So I have three chapters for you today. 00:00:29.870 --> 00:00:34.400 There's a fourth chapter, but I think it deserves its own episode. 00:00:34.540 --> 00:00:35.050 We'll get there. 00:00:35.060 --> 00:00:35.560 We'll see. 00:00:35.930 --> 00:00:38.805 Maybe I'll Maybe I'll do chapter three today and then decide I 00:00:38.805 --> 00:00:39.825 want to roll right into four. 00:00:39.825 --> 00:00:42.395 But I think chapter four deserves its own episode. 00:00:42.395 --> 00:00:45.355 So chapter one is called goals. 00:00:45.825 --> 00:00:48.005 Chapter two is called a thought experiment. 00:00:48.045 --> 00:00:51.375 And chapter three is called the list of maybes. 00:00:53.705 --> 00:00:54.845 So let's talk about goals. 00:00:55.735 --> 00:00:58.705 I want to tell you the goals up front because you might hear these goals 00:00:58.705 --> 00:00:59.965 and say, those are not my goals. 00:00:59.965 --> 00:01:02.675 In which case, great, this is not the marketing plan for you. 00:01:02.695 --> 00:01:05.875 And you're onto other things, bigger, better things, whatever you want to do. 00:01:05.945 --> 00:01:12.905 Um, but this entire marketing plan is built around a set of goals that 00:01:12.915 --> 00:01:16.425 if you buy into these, then I think you'll find that this marketing plan 00:01:16.435 --> 00:01:19.595 represents a best case scenario for you. 00:01:21.575 --> 00:01:24.985 So the first goal here is a full coaching practice. 00:01:25.045 --> 00:01:28.955 Now for me, a full coaching practice means somewhere between. 00:01:30.205 --> 00:01:33.365 On the low end, 12 and on the high end, maybe 18 clients. 00:01:33.905 --> 00:01:41.235 And in a given week, what that represents is around 12 to 14 sessions, probably 00:01:41.235 --> 00:01:45.805 closer to 10 to 12 sessions, if I'm being honest at this point in my practice. 00:01:45.815 --> 00:01:46.895 So for me, that's full. 00:01:47.155 --> 00:01:49.305 I know of coaches who are, who are working as many as 25 and 00:01:49.305 --> 00:01:53.595 30 hours a week with clients. 00:01:53.605 --> 00:01:55.695 I think those coaches are superhuman. 00:01:55.715 --> 00:01:57.465 I think that's amazing for me. 00:01:57.475 --> 00:01:58.385 Full means. 00:01:58.455 --> 00:02:00.805 10 to 12 sessions a week. 00:02:01.525 --> 00:02:05.025 You get to define full for yourself, but that's the first goal is a 00:02:05.035 --> 00:02:06.795 full one on one coaching practice. 00:02:06.835 --> 00:02:09.445 Now let's be clear. 00:02:10.385 --> 00:02:13.765 Inherent to that goal is the idea that one on one coaching 00:02:13.785 --> 00:02:15.205 is the thing that you're doing. 00:02:15.205 --> 00:02:17.385 So you make everything harder. 00:02:17.395 --> 00:02:22.865 You make everything more complex when you decide to sell one on one coaching. 00:02:23.225 --> 00:02:27.380 And Fill in the blank, whatever else you're selling. 00:02:27.390 --> 00:02:30.820 In addition to one on one coaching, it just introduces complexity. 00:02:30.830 --> 00:02:33.390 And if you want to hear more about the complexity, you can go to 00:02:33.390 --> 00:02:35.060 earlier episodes of this podcast. 00:02:36.850 --> 00:02:40.950 But this whole plan is built around the idea that you would fill a one on 00:02:40.950 --> 00:02:45.880 one practice and that the marketing you're doing is in service of that 00:02:45.880 --> 00:02:50.650 one on one practice, not one on one coaching and some other thing. 00:02:52.150 --> 00:02:54.220 The some other thing really does muddy the water. 00:02:54.220 --> 00:02:58.970 And you'll, you'll see more clearly why when I get into chapters two and three. 00:02:59.790 --> 00:03:06.530 So a full coaching practice, a sub goal on the full coaching practices. 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:12.770 I want a full coaching practice with minimal traditional marketing activity 00:03:12.880 --> 00:03:14.600 and very little sales activity. 00:03:15.040 --> 00:03:19.810 In other words, if I'm coaching 10 or 12 hours a week or 25 00:03:19.830 --> 00:03:21.965 plus for those Superheroes. 00:03:22.915 --> 00:03:27.695 If I'm coaching that much, and that's how I want to be spending my time, I 00:03:27.705 --> 00:03:33.815 don't want to be spending another two, three, five, eight hours per week in 00:03:33.885 --> 00:03:35.935 traditional marketing and sales activity. 00:03:37.145 --> 00:03:39.155 So it's not just that I want a full coaching practice. 00:03:39.165 --> 00:03:43.025 It's that I want a full coaching practice without having to spend 00:03:43.025 --> 00:03:47.295 a bunch of time on content and a bunch of time on consultations. 00:03:49.025 --> 00:03:50.745 The best case scenario here. 00:03:50.760 --> 00:03:57.620 Um, is I have a full coaching practice in which new clients tend to reach 00:03:57.620 --> 00:04:01.250 out to me and request coaching rather than me having to feel like I 00:04:01.250 --> 00:04:02.770 have to go hunt for my next client. 00:04:03.410 --> 00:04:05.640 I mean, we're, we're, we're being blue sky here, right? 00:04:05.980 --> 00:04:06.650 Why not? 00:04:06.810 --> 00:04:09.340 The goal is not for me to be out there hunting for clients. 00:04:09.340 --> 00:04:15.730 The goal is to receive emails, DMs, texts that say, do you have availability? 00:04:16.530 --> 00:04:19.190 I'm looking for a coach or I know someone who's looking for a coach. 00:04:19.785 --> 00:04:20.945 That's our best case. 00:04:21.985 --> 00:04:26.085 Another sub goal on the goal of a full practice is 00:04:26.125 --> 00:04:31.725 I want my fee to increase naturally and organically over time such that 00:04:32.105 --> 00:04:34.845 I'm doing the amount of coaching I want to do and earning the 00:04:34.845 --> 00:04:36.315 amount of money I want to earn. 00:04:36.365 --> 00:04:37.785 So look at that whole picture. 00:04:38.475 --> 00:04:40.945 I am coaching the number of hours I want to coach. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:45.820 I'm making the money I want to make, and I'm not having to spend a bunch of 00:04:45.820 --> 00:04:49.670 time in traditional sales or marketing. 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:52.840 And I'm definitely not having to advertise. 00:04:52.850 --> 00:04:54.500 I'm not having to spend money on ads. 00:04:55.380 --> 00:04:57.080 That's my best case scenario. 00:04:58.560 --> 00:05:04.410 Now, as you hear those goals, if you think, Well, no, the problem is I'm 00:05:04.410 --> 00:05:06.920 seeking quote unquote unlimited income. 00:05:09.370 --> 00:05:14.870 And I'm actually excited about the work, the activity of traditional marketing and 00:05:14.870 --> 00:05:18.170 sales, as in, I want to be advertising. 00:05:18.420 --> 00:05:23.200 I want to be selling low ticket products inside of funnels, et cetera, et cetera. 00:05:24.610 --> 00:05:25.000 Okay. 00:05:25.020 --> 00:05:25.670 No problem. 00:05:26.130 --> 00:05:30.010 I mean, in my opinion, big problem, but, but that's my bias. 00:05:30.010 --> 00:05:32.370 That's the whole bias of this podcast. 00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:35.650 If that's who you want to be, and if that's what you want to do. 00:05:36.500 --> 00:05:39.730 Everything I'm about to say is not for you. 00:05:39.750 --> 00:05:40.910 Not that you're not welcome to it. 00:05:40.940 --> 00:05:47.930 You're welcome to it, but you will find it, I think, useless because everything 00:05:47.930 --> 00:05:55.060 I'm about to say is intended to fill somewhere between five and 10 and 25 00:05:55.060 --> 00:05:56.780 hours a week of one on one coaching. 00:05:59.060 --> 00:06:05.400 And in my opinion, my worldview is I want thousands and thousands more coaches. 00:06:06.210 --> 00:06:10.900 Who are doing somewhere between five and 15 sessions a week and 00:06:10.900 --> 00:06:11.990 being paid very well to do it. 00:06:12.950 --> 00:06:15.830 So that worldview, that philosophy and that bias, that's what's 00:06:15.830 --> 00:06:17.560 driving what you're about to hear. 00:06:18.230 --> 00:06:19.310 Let's go to chapter two. 00:06:20.250 --> 00:06:21.700 Chapter two is a thought experiment. 00:06:24.570 --> 00:06:27.080 I want you to make a list. 00:06:28.670 --> 00:06:31.500 No, I'm not telling you to pull your car over or stop right now. 00:06:31.860 --> 00:06:34.630 It really annoys me by the way, when people in books at the end of 00:06:34.630 --> 00:06:39.685 a chapter, they say, Before you read the next chapter do this exercise. 00:06:39.935 --> 00:06:45.655 I always think you're not the boss of me Your mediocre book has not persuaded me 00:06:45.655 --> 00:06:51.495 that I should stop what I want to do to do what you want me to do So relax, I'm gonna 00:06:51.495 --> 00:06:56.720 keep reading and if I decide to I will implement Maybe some percentage of what 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:00.725 you're telling me to do I do get, I get a little bit, uh, I get a little bit feisty 00:07:00.725 --> 00:07:04.345 when I read these books because you're not in charge of how I consume your content. 00:07:04.425 --> 00:07:06.475 Don't tell me to stop anyway. 00:07:06.895 --> 00:07:11.505 You can do this whenever you want or never make a list of five people 00:07:12.385 --> 00:07:14.475 who might accept coaching from you. 00:07:14.665 --> 00:07:15.525 A coaching offer. 00:07:16.905 --> 00:07:17.855 Take some time. 00:07:19.405 --> 00:07:22.285 Just let the names flow into your head. 00:07:24.410 --> 00:07:29.030 Five people who might accept a coaching offer to reduce the friction 00:07:29.030 --> 00:07:33.630 of the exercise, set the price of your coaching at zero in your head. 00:07:34.220 --> 00:07:39.350 So now you're saying, who are the five people who would be most likely to 00:07:39.350 --> 00:07:42.290 accept an offer of free coaching from me? 00:07:45.670 --> 00:07:50.460 Some of you might discover that you can't get three names on that list. 00:07:50.780 --> 00:07:51.620 No problem. 00:07:52.250 --> 00:07:54.510 This is not a test. 00:07:55.195 --> 00:07:58.325 It's not an evaluation, it's a thought experiment. 00:07:59.085 --> 00:08:02.475 If you find you can't even get three names on the list, no problem, we'll 00:08:02.475 --> 00:08:03.775 address it, we'll talk about that. 00:08:05.415 --> 00:08:08.145 Here's what would usually happen, I think, if I take someone 00:08:08.145 --> 00:08:09.315 through this thought experiment. 00:08:10.095 --> 00:08:14.395 I think they will make the list of five names and then they'll 00:08:14.505 --> 00:08:16.315 immediately go into evaluation. 00:08:17.080 --> 00:08:18.550 Oh, would she say yes? 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:19.220 I don't know. 00:08:19.220 --> 00:08:22.000 We've talked about it the one time and she seemed kind of 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:24.880 interested, but then I didn't want to be awkward and make an offer. 00:08:24.880 --> 00:08:27.990 So I just said nothing and oh, he might, well, he's really 00:08:27.990 --> 00:08:29.020 having a hard time right now. 00:08:29.020 --> 00:08:30.400 He really needs coaching. 00:08:30.770 --> 00:08:34.060 And then we start to evaluate the people on our list of five. 00:08:34.765 --> 00:08:40.105 I think many of us are walking around with a list of some number of people. 00:08:40.115 --> 00:08:44.945 There are actual faces in our heads and we're thinking to ourselves, either I 00:08:44.945 --> 00:08:49.135 would love to coach that person or that person really needs coaching or how 00:08:49.135 --> 00:08:50.925 might I offer coaching to that person? 00:08:51.255 --> 00:08:52.005 No problem. 00:08:52.215 --> 00:08:56.085 I don't think this is a bad thing, but I think it cuts you off from the 00:08:56.085 --> 00:08:58.005 insight that would actually benefit you. 00:08:58.095 --> 00:08:59.575 And here's how you get to that insight. 00:08:59.935 --> 00:09:01.345 Take that list of five. 00:09:02.415 --> 00:09:07.285 Maybe it's only three, maybe it's zero, but take whatever list you've made and set 00:09:07.285 --> 00:09:10.265 it aside and make another list of five. 00:09:13.595 --> 00:09:19.435 Let the names flow into your head, scroll through your phone, look at wherever you 00:09:19.435 --> 00:09:24.965 maintain a list of contacts and just let names jump off the screen or the page. 00:09:25.915 --> 00:09:30.805 Would this person, might this person accept an offer of free coaching for me? 00:09:32.565 --> 00:09:40.825 Repeat this process until the next name feels really hard to add to the list where 00:09:40.825 --> 00:09:46.355 you really feel like you're reaching when you get to the point where you're saying, 00:09:46.445 --> 00:09:51.545 Oh, Oh, you know what, there's that girl who's the receptionist at the daycare. 00:09:51.545 --> 00:09:51.585 Yeah. 00:09:52.785 --> 00:09:57.295 You know, maybe, maybe, and the more, when you're having to really 00:09:57.295 --> 00:10:01.785 persuade yourself that that name should be on the list, it's okay. 00:10:01.935 --> 00:10:03.175 The exercise is complete. 00:10:04.505 --> 00:10:09.115 This is not a challenge for you to stretch your thinking. 00:10:09.515 --> 00:10:12.505 Think of this as a low hanging fruit exercise. 00:10:13.435 --> 00:10:17.455 If a name pops into my head or is on my screen and I think, yeah. 00:10:18.485 --> 00:10:21.965 That person might accept an offer of free coaching for me. 00:10:23.015 --> 00:10:24.535 Maybe it's only a 10 percent chance. 00:10:24.545 --> 00:10:26.035 Maybe it's a 70 percent chancE. 00:10:26.035 --> 00:10:33.905 what we're testing for is do I think this person is a maybe and if I don't have 00:10:33.905 --> 00:10:37.945 to convince myself, if I don't have to work very hard to persuade myself that 00:10:37.945 --> 00:10:42.865 the person is a maybe they are a valid maybe and their name goes on the list. 00:10:43.890 --> 00:10:46.830 Now, I have no idea how many people are on your list. 00:10:46.850 --> 00:10:49.320 I frankly have no idea how many people are on mine. 00:10:49.740 --> 00:10:56.040 As I thought about taking myself through this exercise, I thought, well, my 00:10:56.040 --> 00:11:03.270 inbox probably has somewhere between 15 and 20 messages in it going over 00:11:03.270 --> 00:11:07.710 the last several months of people asking if I have coaching availability. 00:11:08.400 --> 00:11:08.920 Okay. 00:11:09.390 --> 00:11:11.580 All of those people are on the maybe list. 00:11:12.175 --> 00:11:19.155 And then I have past clients and I have current clients and I have 00:11:19.855 --> 00:11:25.585 bookkeeping clients who, yeah, some of them belong on my maybe list. 00:11:26.460 --> 00:11:29.800 Frankly, the reason I didn't really take myself through this exercise is out of 00:11:29.800 --> 00:11:33.540 laziness because I thought I have to block out some time and I actually have 00:11:33.540 --> 00:11:39.860 to go through inbox and contacts and maybe through my Stripe and PayPal history. 00:11:40.520 --> 00:11:45.700 And just I have to think about friends and family and I gotta build my maybe list. 00:11:45.910 --> 00:11:50.030 I do think it's a worthwhile exercise, but here's where it yields the most insight. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:51.140 First. 00:11:54.090 --> 00:11:59.620 The issue is not whether you can make a perfect offer to one of the first five 00:11:59.650 --> 00:12:04.260 people that went onto your list, because that tends to be where you hang out. 00:12:04.810 --> 00:12:07.690 I wonder if she would, I wonder if she wouldn't, how would I say it? 00:12:07.700 --> 00:12:08.650 What would I say? 00:12:09.690 --> 00:12:10.930 It's not that that's bad. 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:16.450 The issue is if you were to make coaching offers to the first five people, 00:12:16.450 --> 00:12:17.800 whose names popped into your head. 00:12:18.660 --> 00:12:23.770 Somewhere between optimistically, somewhere between one and five of them are 00:12:23.770 --> 00:12:28.250 going to accept that offer, but then what? 00:12:28.250 --> 00:12:34.840 Then you might have a couple of clients. 00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:38.950 You might not, but you still have this looming lingering question 00:12:39.020 --> 00:12:43.860 of what about after these people are finished coaching with me. 00:12:44.530 --> 00:12:48.260 Now, we know that some of them will renew and some of them may 00:12:48.260 --> 00:12:50.910 renew for years in the long run. 00:12:50.910 --> 00:12:55.900 I think our coaching practices will be mostly filled by longterm clients 00:12:56.170 --> 00:13:01.030 with whom we have great rapport who just keep signing up, renewing and 00:13:01.030 --> 00:13:04.430 maintaining the relationship and being in that position with a few clients. 00:13:04.660 --> 00:13:06.850 I got to say, I'm so grateful for it. 00:13:06.870 --> 00:13:07.590 It's amazing. 00:13:08.060 --> 00:13:09.050 You've heard me talk about it. 00:13:09.050 --> 00:13:10.340 The relationships are great. 00:13:10.470 --> 00:13:13.840 The insights, the report, it's all fantastic, but getting from 00:13:13.840 --> 00:13:15.660 here to there can be tough. 00:13:16.140 --> 00:13:22.100 When I hear people say, I have one client, I have two clients. 00:13:22.600 --> 00:13:25.950 I have no idea where the next client will come from. 00:13:26.330 --> 00:13:32.715 My hypothesis, what I'm, what I'm suggesting today is that we would all be 00:13:32.715 --> 00:13:36.199 wise to maintain a growing list of maybes. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:38.999 And actually that's chapter three. 00:13:39.029 --> 00:13:39.929 Let's go to chapter three. 00:13:41.389 --> 00:13:42.709 Here's the hypothesis. 00:13:44.549 --> 00:13:51.279 If at any given moment there are, let's say 100 people walking around 00:13:51.319 --> 00:14:00.549 earth who would maybe accept an offer of coaching from me, then my practice 00:14:00.549 --> 00:14:04.249 will get full and stay full forever. 00:14:06.169 --> 00:14:06.879 Now, yes. 00:14:08.369 --> 00:14:10.859 100 is a totally arbitrary number. 00:14:11.009 --> 00:14:16.039 I have no idea what the actual number is, but I'm anchoring you to that number to 00:14:16.039 --> 00:14:22.159 give you the idea that the point is not to have at any given moment, one or two or 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:24.779 three people who would absolutely say yes. 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:30.369 It's to have a bunch of people who might say yes. 00:14:31.369 --> 00:14:31.699 Now. 00:14:32.379 --> 00:14:36.299 Maybe I'm just dressing up and reframing the idea of having an email list or a 00:14:36.299 --> 00:14:42.379 social media following, but it's not quite that an email list, a social media, 00:14:42.379 --> 00:14:47.779 following a podcast audience, , all of these things probably contribute to and 00:14:47.779 --> 00:14:54.159 support the list of maybes, but it is not the list of maybes the list of maybes. 00:14:55.464 --> 00:15:01.524 Are actual names that I can look at individually and feel confident in myself 00:15:01.544 --> 00:15:07.114 and say, I bet that person would seriously consider an offer of coaching from me. 00:15:10.224 --> 00:15:15.104 What it does is it indicates to you how many relationships you've 00:15:15.104 --> 00:15:20.024 done the work of creating and nurturing such that that offer would 00:15:20.024 --> 00:15:23.114 not be shocking or off putting. 00:15:23.724 --> 00:15:29.884 Or even offensive to the person that the offer would be welcome. 00:15:30.774 --> 00:15:34.434 Now, it doesn't mean it's a yes, but it means that the offer would be welcome. 00:15:34.834 --> 00:15:39.274 And if I have enough people walking around who would be happy to receive 00:15:39.304 --> 00:15:44.314 an offer of coaching from me, then it's inevitable that some of them will say yes. 00:15:46.224 --> 00:15:50.724 So the limiting factor is not how many clients do I have today? 00:15:50.954 --> 00:15:52.614 It's not how big my email list. 00:15:53.119 --> 00:15:56.439 Because by the way, many of you have already experienced having an email list 00:15:56.449 --> 00:16:01.109 in the hundreds, maybe some, maybe in the thousands where you send , a coaching 00:16:01.109 --> 00:16:04.499 offer to that list and you get no yeses. 00:16:06.649 --> 00:16:11.119 , Because that list doesn't necessarily represent or make 00:16:11.169 --> 00:16:15.469 obvious the group of people who would welcome an offer from you. 00:16:17.139 --> 00:16:20.999 The only thing we know that they would welcome is the next newsletter 00:16:21.479 --> 00:16:25.009 or maybe the next post on social or maybe the next podcast episode. 00:16:25.549 --> 00:16:27.509 So they haven't escalated themselves. 00:16:27.529 --> 00:16:34.059 They haven't raised their hands and said, I am a maybe, and 00:16:34.059 --> 00:16:35.709 it's the maybes that matter. 00:16:37.939 --> 00:16:39.089 Let me tell you a story real quick. 00:16:39.089 --> 00:16:41.119 Actually, this is, this is very recent. 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:42.739 This kind of drives the point home. 00:16:44.249 --> 00:16:49.779 I received an email from a coach coaches are who I have around me. 00:16:50.379 --> 00:16:51.739 I received an email from a coach. 00:16:51.739 --> 00:16:56.009 The coach said, I'm curious about the possibility of coaching with you here. 00:16:56.009 --> 00:16:58.209 A couple of the issues that I'm thinking about working on. 00:16:58.549 --> 00:17:01.719 And I will admit to you that when I get that kind of message, I 00:17:01.719 --> 00:17:03.509 usually consider it a done deal. 00:17:03.954 --> 00:17:06.344 And I say, Oh, well, I'm going to coach this person. 00:17:07.784 --> 00:17:10.154 So I replied with a video side note. 00:17:10.214 --> 00:17:12.224 It's really a hack to reply with video. 00:17:12.354 --> 00:17:13.274 It's very personal. 00:17:14.304 --> 00:17:19.304 It's just, it's a way of saying you matter so much that I'm going to send 00:17:19.304 --> 00:17:23.084 you a video and use your name and talk to you about your, your message. 00:17:23.514 --> 00:17:24.864 I think it's quite powerful anyway. 00:17:25.244 --> 00:17:29.294 So I reply with a video and I say, love to talk to you about those things. 00:17:29.664 --> 00:17:34.034 By the way, I'm full enough right now that it's really only Wednesday at 10 a. 00:17:34.034 --> 00:17:34.224 m. 00:17:34.224 --> 00:17:35.274 That I could work with you. 00:17:35.274 --> 00:17:37.644 So if Wednesday at 10 a. 00:17:37.644 --> 00:17:37.794 m. 00:17:37.794 --> 00:17:39.444 Works, fantastic. 00:17:39.964 --> 00:17:41.954 If it doesn't work, I don't know. 00:17:41.954 --> 00:17:46.354 We might have to delay and work together in the future or I might, I might 00:17:46.354 --> 00:17:49.634 sincerely need to open up another spot in my calendar, which I could be open to. 00:17:51.654 --> 00:17:55.014 The person replies and says, Oh, actually, I'm just curious about the potential 00:17:55.014 --> 00:17:56.474 for working together in the future. 00:17:57.754 --> 00:17:59.144 I'm just kind of putting out a feeler. 00:17:59.214 --> 00:17:59.904 Oh, okay. 00:17:59.964 --> 00:18:00.724 No problem. 00:18:02.194 --> 00:18:05.254 And I can't remember if it was in that exact moment or maybe a day later when 00:18:05.254 --> 00:18:08.834 the person replied and said, there's a member of my family who's actually 00:18:08.834 --> 00:18:12.214 looking for a coach and Wednesday at 10 AM might work for that person. 00:18:13.674 --> 00:18:15.054 And I thought, Oh, okay. 00:18:16.374 --> 00:18:21.404 Fast forward two or three emails later exchanged with the person and the person 00:18:21.404 --> 00:18:22.754 has signed up and paid for coaching. 00:18:22.754 --> 00:18:24.734 And I've still never had a conversation with the person. 00:18:26.404 --> 00:18:33.394 So this to me is an example of the maybes that are floating around 00:18:33.394 --> 00:18:36.594 in my universe producing yeses. 00:18:37.914 --> 00:18:43.154 That's why I believe in this hypothesis that I don't have to look at that list 00:18:43.154 --> 00:18:49.414 of people, the 100 people, hypothetically speaking, and assume that they will 00:18:49.424 --> 00:18:53.304 be the person who signs up for coaching, who requests the support. 00:18:55.059 --> 00:19:00.279 the way that list is benefiting me is it's indicating to me that I have 00:19:00.299 --> 00:19:05.339 confidence about the number and quality of relationships that I've, that 00:19:05.339 --> 00:19:07.109 I've created and that I'm nurturing. 00:19:09.459 --> 00:19:12.989 Because in that whole scenario that I just described, I didn't 00:19:13.019 --> 00:19:14.509 even know that the person. 00:19:14.909 --> 00:19:17.019 Who ended up making the successful referral. 00:19:17.189 --> 00:19:22.839 I didn't even know that that person was a maybe on my list, but they 00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:25.479 were referred by one of my clients. 00:19:27.029 --> 00:19:29.599 So that client is definitely on my list. 00:19:29.639 --> 00:19:31.849 That's a person who's already signed up for coaching and may 00:19:31.849 --> 00:19:33.319 continue to sign up for coaching. 00:19:34.304 --> 00:19:38.564 They introduce me without me being present to the second person. 00:19:38.784 --> 00:19:41.454 And the second person refers the third person and the third 00:19:41.454 --> 00:19:42.754 person signs up for coaching. 00:19:43.144 --> 00:19:45.274 That's how this happens. 00:19:47.744 --> 00:19:52.514 And in order for me to stay in the right mindset and to direct my daily activity 00:19:52.514 --> 00:19:56.684 and my weekly activity toward the creation and nurturing of these relationships, 00:19:56.974 --> 00:20:01.144 I want to look at this list of a hundred or three or five or whatever. 00:20:02.084 --> 00:20:06.934 And I want to say, The more of these maybes there are, 00:20:10.104 --> 00:20:14.064 the easier it is for me to fill and keep full my coaching practice. 00:20:14.194 --> 00:20:15.054 Here's another story. 00:20:15.464 --> 00:20:20.004 I recently was talking with a client who has amazing coaching and training offers. 00:20:20.154 --> 00:20:23.074 She does some training in addition to her coaching. 00:20:25.234 --> 00:20:28.174 And she was actually talking, we weren't using this terminology, but she 00:20:28.174 --> 00:20:30.464 was talking about her list of maybes. 00:20:30.814 --> 00:20:35.364 And she said, I'm a little bit frustrated because there will be people who ask 00:20:35.364 --> 00:20:37.224 me about a specific training that I do. 00:20:37.604 --> 00:20:39.384 And they'll say, I'm so excited to do it. 00:20:39.394 --> 00:20:41.634 Just let me know when the next one is. 00:20:42.244 --> 00:20:46.594 And then when she lets them know the next one is coming, all of a sudden 00:20:46.594 --> 00:20:48.034 they have reasons for not doing it. 00:20:49.504 --> 00:20:50.754 It's very frustrating to her. 00:20:50.934 --> 00:20:53.254 And I understand, and I don't blame her for her frustration. 00:20:53.859 --> 00:20:55.329 But we need a reframe here. 00:20:55.659 --> 00:20:59.579 The reframe is not that her offer actually isn't that good. 00:20:59.939 --> 00:21:03.249 And it's not that these people are flakes and it's not that no one 00:21:03.249 --> 00:21:04.389 follows through on their commitments. 00:21:04.429 --> 00:21:05.639 None of those things are true. 00:21:06.169 --> 00:21:13.249 What is true is that those people's enthusiasm is a strong signal. 00:21:13.269 --> 00:21:18.629 It's a valid and valuable signal of the quality of her offers 00:21:18.649 --> 00:21:20.069 and of their confidence in her. 00:21:21.204 --> 00:21:25.094 The only issue here is that there are not more of those people. 00:21:25.784 --> 00:21:29.384 What I said to her was, maybe you have five or six or seven people 00:21:29.384 --> 00:21:32.094 right now who have said to you, I can't wait to do your training. 00:21:32.094 --> 00:21:33.334 Just let me know when it is. 00:21:34.614 --> 00:21:40.134 But because of whatever fear or life circumstances or timing, when 00:21:40.134 --> 00:21:44.164 you reach back out, they don't say, Oh yeah, I'm ready to go. 00:21:44.274 --> 00:21:45.844 Maybe one of them is ready to go. 00:21:46.374 --> 00:21:47.954 The issue then is not. 00:21:48.674 --> 00:21:51.144 That seven out of seven didn't say yes. 00:21:51.214 --> 00:21:53.204 The issue is that there weren't a hundred of them. 00:21:54.004 --> 00:21:57.024 If there were a hundred people who have expressed enthusiasm about 00:21:57.024 --> 00:22:01.974 your training and said, just let me know when the next one is. 00:22:02.974 --> 00:22:09.154 I only need at any given moment, 10 or 15 percent of those supposed 00:22:09.154 --> 00:22:15.059 yeses, which I'm calling maybes, I only need 10 or 15 percent of those 00:22:15.079 --> 00:22:21.229 to receive my offer in a moment when they're ready and willing to say yes. 00:22:22.649 --> 00:22:26.519 If I need a hundred percent of my maybes to convert, I will always be 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:28.129 failing and always be frustrated. 00:22:28.609 --> 00:22:34.329 But if I only need a small fraction of my potentials, a small 00:22:34.339 --> 00:22:37.339 fraction of my maybes to convert. 00:22:38.239 --> 00:22:43.279 Then I'll always be full, I'll always be happy and the magic, well, I'll always 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:45.629 be happy as a good news, everybody. 00:22:45.629 --> 00:22:48.169 I just revealed the secret to happiness in life. 00:22:48.409 --> 00:22:48.949 This is it. 00:22:48.959 --> 00:22:49.489 Just kidding. 00:22:49.629 --> 00:22:54.849 What I mean is I will find it easier to maintain my confidence in my coaching 00:22:54.849 --> 00:23:00.899 practice because I will have enough people who might say yes, such that only 00:23:00.899 --> 00:23:04.419 a portion of them need to say yes in any given moment for me to stay full. 00:23:06.714 --> 00:23:13.574 I know how basic it sounds, and it is simple, but the hard part is, is 00:23:13.574 --> 00:23:17.254 managing our own thinking and managing our emotional states while we're 00:23:17.254 --> 00:23:19.934 letting this process work itself out. 00:23:23.334 --> 00:23:26.224 I also understand that in the world that we live in, especially in the 00:23:26.224 --> 00:23:30.754 coaching community that many of us live in, maybe is considered a bad word. 00:23:31.094 --> 00:23:34.784 The people who have such a high percentage of our attention, they 00:23:34.784 --> 00:23:36.694 tend to be very transactional people. 00:23:37.344 --> 00:23:40.974 And transactional people tend to deal exclusively in yes and no. 00:23:41.744 --> 00:23:44.494 And in fact, they make that part of their dogma. 00:23:44.734 --> 00:23:48.814 I can live with yes, I can live with no, but I can't live with maybe I'm coming at 00:23:48.814 --> 00:23:50.554 this from a completely opposite direction. 00:23:50.914 --> 00:23:55.564 I live in maybe, and I love maybe, Oh, you're a maybe perfect. 00:23:57.464 --> 00:24:00.694 Because I know that at some point in the future, if I maintain the 00:24:00.694 --> 00:24:04.884 relationship with you, And I keep giving you love in whatever form. 00:24:04.894 --> 00:24:06.114 Maybe it's my podcast. 00:24:06.134 --> 00:24:07.204 Maybe it's my newsletter. 00:24:07.204 --> 00:24:08.914 That's where those things factor into this plan. 00:24:08.914 --> 00:24:16.024 By the way, if I stay present and positive in your life, the day may 00:24:16.024 --> 00:24:20.564 come where you have a change of circumstances, a surge in life pain, 00:24:21.954 --> 00:24:23.854 something goes on in a relationship. 00:24:24.914 --> 00:24:28.794 Something happens where you say, I got to get some help. 00:24:30.249 --> 00:24:35.069 And then the maybe reaches back out and becomes a yes, or many of those 00:24:35.069 --> 00:24:41.639 people , who do live in, maybe they will never become yes, but they will be 00:24:41.639 --> 00:24:43.399 having a conversation with a loved one. 00:24:43.829 --> 00:24:47.039 They'll be talking to a sister in law and they'll say to their 00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:50.539 sister in law, Hey, how are things going in the, uh, relationship? 00:24:51.059 --> 00:24:52.189 Oh, it's getting worse. 00:24:53.399 --> 00:24:56.849 To be honest, I'm really frustrated and I'm a little bit scared because of 00:24:56.849 --> 00:25:01.319 the, for the first time ever, divorce feels like an option and it's, it's 00:25:01.319 --> 00:25:04.339 kind of scaring me and I kind of don't know what to even think about this. 00:25:05.809 --> 00:25:10.919 And then the person who is on your quote unquote maybe list, the person 00:25:10.919 --> 00:25:15.689 with whom you have a present positive relationship says to the sister 00:25:15.689 --> 00:25:17.849 in law, I'm so sorry to hear that. 00:25:18.419 --> 00:25:18.859 You know. 00:25:19.189 --> 00:25:19.949 There's this coach. 00:25:19.949 --> 00:25:21.309 I, I, I follow. 00:25:21.309 --> 00:25:25.999 And then I, I've talked to once and maybe you should talk to her. 00:25:27.069 --> 00:25:28.019 Maybe you should talk to him. 00:25:29.869 --> 00:25:34.409 And then the sister in law says, I have thought about looking for a coach or for 00:25:34.409 --> 00:25:36.909 a therapist, but it's just intimidating. 00:25:36.939 --> 00:25:41.229 I don't even know how to find one that they can be really expensive. 00:25:41.979 --> 00:25:45.259 And then the person who knows you says, yeah, agree with all of that. 00:25:46.209 --> 00:25:49.649 It is really hard to find a coach or a therapist sometimes. 00:25:50.889 --> 00:25:52.199 I know this person pretty well. 00:25:52.229 --> 00:25:55.469 I mean, I don't know them personally that well, but I really love what they say. 00:25:55.469 --> 00:25:58.909 I love how they think I did talk to them once and they just had 00:25:58.909 --> 00:26:00.349 a really nice way about them. 00:26:00.889 --> 00:26:01.669 You should reach out. 00:26:03.219 --> 00:26:08.109 , and then the coach gets an email asking about availability and price. 00:26:08.159 --> 00:26:12.089 Probably that's how and why. 00:26:12.399 --> 00:26:13.389 This works. 00:26:13.999 --> 00:26:19.309 And since we're not trying to put 12 million people in a membership or 400 00:26:19.309 --> 00:26:25.959 people in our quote unquote group program or mastermind, we're trying to keep full 00:26:26.019 --> 00:26:32.359 a practice with 10, 12, maybe 20 sessions a week where we're serving clients and 00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:34.189 building longterm relationships with them. 00:26:34.999 --> 00:26:38.209 The scenario that I just described is enough. 00:26:38.269 --> 00:26:46.919 It is sufficient to fill and keep full that practice and its entire focus 00:26:46.929 --> 00:26:52.239 is on the people who might say yes. 00:26:55.079 --> 00:26:55.459 Okay. 00:26:57.089 --> 00:26:58.699 I just looked at the clock on my recorder. 00:26:59.959 --> 00:27:01.099 Let's do chapter four. 00:27:01.099 --> 00:27:04.129 Now, hopefully I haven't lost your attention. 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:06.089 Chapter four is implementation. 00:27:06.999 --> 00:27:07.979 Chapter four is. 00:27:08.614 --> 00:27:13.384 Some very basic ideas you, if you all know me, you know, I don't, I have a 00:27:13.394 --> 00:27:15.324 tendency to overthink and overcomplicate. 00:27:16.124 --> 00:27:19.954 And so when it comes to implementation, I have to work very hard in the 00:27:19.994 --> 00:27:24.204 opposite direction to make this as simple as it can be for all of us. 00:27:25.294 --> 00:27:28.324 So here's how we might go about implementing this. 00:27:28.924 --> 00:27:31.514 Number one, we do the thought experiment that was in chapter 00:27:31.534 --> 00:27:34.644 two, make the list of people. 00:27:36.969 --> 00:27:38.739 In order to grow that list. 00:27:40.144 --> 00:27:45.534 Right now, today, we shift our framing of the list from people who might accept 00:27:45.534 --> 00:27:50.384 a coaching offer from me to people who would be happy to hear from me. 00:27:52.354 --> 00:27:59.594 Now, I, and I think, and hope all of you will find it pretty easy to 00:27:59.594 --> 00:28:02.594 make a list of 100 names of people. 00:28:02.909 --> 00:28:04.959 Who would be happy to hear from you. 00:28:05.259 --> 00:28:06.759 Now you might be thinking, what do you mean? 00:28:06.769 --> 00:28:10.019 Happy to hear about my coaching, happy to get my something. 00:28:10.059 --> 00:28:19.169 No happy to hear from you as in hi, just thinking of you hope you're well. 00:28:21.469 --> 00:28:23.999 That's the level at which we're approaching this, right? 00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:28.999 Simple, happy to hear from you from there. 00:28:28.999 --> 00:28:29.989 We can look at. 00:28:30.739 --> 00:28:32.149 Non transactional. 00:28:32.789 --> 00:28:33.109 Okay. 00:28:33.169 --> 00:28:39.709 Our focus here is to be relational, not transactional outreach and follow up. 00:28:40.349 --> 00:28:43.889 And that can set, by the way, we're now in a purely hypothetical territory 00:28:43.899 --> 00:28:49.619 for me because I haven't had to do this and it's not really a natural skillset 00:28:49.639 --> 00:28:51.419 for me, but it's one I want to develop. 00:28:51.689 --> 00:28:53.549 So now I'm not speaking to you as an authority. 00:28:53.549 --> 00:28:56.789 I'm speaking to you as a peer who's curious about the 00:28:56.789 --> 00:28:58.599 possibility of this working. 00:28:59.329 --> 00:29:03.559 And I do have a sense and an instinct that this would serve us well, but I'm going to 00:29:03.609 --> 00:29:08.089 be honest about the fact that I'm now in purely hypothetical territory for myself. 00:29:09.209 --> 00:29:09.549 Okay. 00:29:10.109 --> 00:29:11.059 So I make the list. 00:29:11.079 --> 00:29:12.349 It's got a hundred people on it. 00:29:12.449 --> 00:29:16.599 These are people who I think just like me, care about me and 00:29:16.599 --> 00:29:17.819 I like them and care about them. 00:29:17.819 --> 00:29:19.629 And we want to hear from each other. 00:29:20.939 --> 00:29:25.189 Now I'm looking at how do I stay in touch in such a way that. 00:29:27.104 --> 00:29:29.064 We just have good feelings between us. 00:29:29.164 --> 00:29:31.954 Maybe it's that I'm a YouTube fanatic. 00:29:31.954 --> 00:29:36.234 I watch way too much YouTube and occasionally, maybe I clip a 00:29:36.234 --> 00:29:40.164 video and text it to a friend and say, this made me think of you. 00:29:40.644 --> 00:29:41.794 It's 60 seconds. 00:29:42.074 --> 00:29:44.214 And it reminded me of something that we talked about. 00:29:45.004 --> 00:29:46.864 Maybe I'm a person who loves books. 00:29:47.914 --> 00:29:51.584 For example, once I was working in my yard, I was listening to an audio 00:29:51.584 --> 00:29:53.994 book, something in the audio book. 00:29:54.834 --> 00:29:57.254 Triggered a memory of a conversation I'd had with a client. 00:29:57.394 --> 00:30:00.654 I stopped, I went into the Kindle version of the book. 00:30:00.704 --> 00:30:05.864 I clipped, I sort of screenshotted that part of that book and I texted 00:30:05.864 --> 00:30:09.824 it to this client slash friend of mine immediately and said, this made 00:30:09.824 --> 00:30:11.324 me think of our last conversation. 00:30:13.334 --> 00:30:19.104 No ask, no offer, no get, like there's no take in this whole thing. 00:30:19.124 --> 00:30:22.234 It's just outreach and give. 00:30:24.239 --> 00:30:26.889 Now, eventually we, of course, we're looking for an opportunity to 00:30:26.889 --> 00:30:29.699 make the best possible invitation for the context and for the 00:30:29.699 --> 00:30:31.009 relationship and for the moment. 00:30:31.729 --> 00:30:37.149 And what I mean by that is if a person who's on my list of people who might like 00:30:37.149 --> 00:30:43.419 to hear from me, if conversation sparks and they say, Oh, you know, I'm struggling 00:30:43.419 --> 00:30:48.909 with X or Y or I'm hoping for X or Y, then there's an invitation to be extended. 00:30:49.409 --> 00:30:51.779 Now that invitation could be an invitation. 00:30:52.289 --> 00:30:54.299 To a conversation I could say. 00:30:54.329 --> 00:30:56.339 Would you like to have a conversation about that? 00:30:56.849 --> 00:30:59.009 Or it could be an invitation to a newsletter. 00:30:59.969 --> 00:31:03.959 Not that the newsletter is the thing, but it's just a way to take the relationship 00:31:03.959 --> 00:31:07.829 from being one that exists completely outside the context of my coaching. 00:31:08.279 --> 00:31:12.239 To one that now can exist inside the context of my coaching and 00:31:12.239 --> 00:31:13.679 somewhere in there, a person. 00:31:14.099 --> 00:31:15.899 Becomes a, maybe. 00:31:16.259 --> 00:31:19.799 They become a person who would not find an offer of coaching. 00:31:20.009 --> 00:31:21.689 surprising or off-putting. 00:31:22.199 --> 00:31:27.749 They become a, maybe it's part of the relationships, natural progress. 00:31:29.622 --> 00:31:32.092 Mark Butler: You see how we're progressing here, but we're never 00:31:32.092 --> 00:31:33.652 doing it in a transactional way. 00:31:33.652 --> 00:31:35.502 We're always staying relational. 00:31:37.512 --> 00:31:42.092 And our business model never requires us to become transactional. 00:31:43.037 --> 00:31:48.217 Because in the natural course of being our best in that relationship, 00:31:50.287 --> 00:31:57.917 the relationship progresses naturally, and I never have to force or make 00:31:57.917 --> 00:32:05.557 it transactional . The hard part of this is patience and confidence. 00:32:05.557 --> 00:32:08.657 That's my hypothesis. 00:32:09.572 --> 00:32:13.582 And this is where I do have evidence for my own coaching practice is that 00:32:13.582 --> 00:32:16.392 progress will be slow and then quick. 00:32:17.252 --> 00:32:23.372 And what I mean by that is the journey from no clients to a few 00:32:23.382 --> 00:32:25.632 clients could take a long while. 00:32:26.852 --> 00:32:31.772 And then the journey from a few clients to a full practice could feel very sudden. 00:32:33.462 --> 00:32:36.872 It's because I believe there's compounding in relationships. 00:32:37.882 --> 00:32:42.052 To the point where eventually as you've invested in relationships 00:32:42.082 --> 00:32:47.042 and as you've nurtured and as you've stayed in touch and I'm evidence 00:32:47.042 --> 00:32:49.012 that you can do that really badly. 00:32:49.072 --> 00:32:56.032 We talked about this in the last episode, but if you do it at all, there's 00:32:56.032 --> 00:32:59.602 eventually a compounding effect where the success goes from feeling very, very 00:32:59.602 --> 00:33:05.562 slow to very, very quick and you find yourself suddenly having to deal with. 00:33:06.202 --> 00:33:07.572 I've run out of spaces. 00:33:07.662 --> 00:33:09.162 Do I need to raise my rates? 00:33:10.022 --> 00:33:11.582 Do I need to open more room? 00:33:11.692 --> 00:33:13.012 Is it time to go to groups? 00:33:13.152 --> 00:33:17.392 Is it that we'll do a whole episode on that anyway, the success I believe will 00:33:17.392 --> 00:33:22.902 come slowly and then quickly, but it will be built around and based on your 00:33:22.902 --> 00:33:28.842 focus on nurturing the relationships you already have, having those relationships 00:33:28.872 --> 00:33:32.462 naturally become a maybe as in. 00:33:33.122 --> 00:33:37.322 The number of people who might accept a coaching offer from you grows over time. 00:33:38.142 --> 00:33:41.392 And then they ask for coaching. 00:33:41.512 --> 00:33:45.292 Remember one of my main goals here, and for me, it's basically a non negotiable. 00:33:45.912 --> 00:33:48.622 I don't want to be chasing clients. 00:33:48.982 --> 00:33:52.482 I want them to be asking me about my availability. 00:33:54.502 --> 00:33:57.302 If that's not the way it's going to happen, I'm frankly, not that 00:33:57.302 --> 00:33:58.542 interested in being a coach. 00:33:59.912 --> 00:34:02.142 So I will give up speed. 00:34:02.917 --> 00:34:07.257 In exchange for that priority, that's where the patience 00:34:07.267 --> 00:34:08.387 and the confidence comes in. 00:34:09.747 --> 00:34:10.127 All right. 00:34:10.137 --> 00:34:14.917 So summing up the goal is I want a full coaching practice that 00:34:14.917 --> 00:34:17.437 requires very little traditional marketing and advertising, 00:34:17.687 --> 00:34:19.527 very little traditional sales. 00:34:20.007 --> 00:34:25.987 I want my fees to grow naturally over time along with the fullness of my practice. 00:34:26.247 --> 00:34:30.827 And then through referrals, and renewals, I want my practice to stay full. 00:34:30.887 --> 00:34:37.477 Um, and my suggestion is that the way to get there is to focus on 00:34:37.917 --> 00:34:43.167 the number of people with whom you have enough of a relationship that 00:34:43.167 --> 00:34:45.197 they might accept a coaching offer. 00:34:45.477 --> 00:34:50.807 And it is those maybes that will fill and keep full your practice. 00:34:52.327 --> 00:34:55.657 I know there's not a lot of detail in how I explained , the how of that. 00:34:56.852 --> 00:35:00.612 But hopefully I've persuaded you about the possibility that it's 00:35:00.622 --> 00:35:04.572 true, and then we can build on that. 00:35:06.482 --> 00:35:07.442 Have a great week. 00:35:07.822 --> 00:35:08.802 We'll talk to you in the next one.