Ep #27: How to Emerge Successfully from this Crisis

You are listening to The Life Coach Business Podcast, Episode number 27.

Welcome to The Life Coach Business Podcast, a show for coaches who are ready to up-level their business and take their impact, leadership, and results to a whole new level. If you’re ready to start taking powerful action and become the leader your business needs in order to grow and thrive, this show is for you. I’m your host, Amanda Karlstad, certified life and business coach, and entrepreneurial leadership expert. Now, let’s get down to business.

Hello and welcome, everyone. I hope you’re staying healthy and well. I’m glad to have you here today. I’m sure the past few weeks have felt a little bit crazy for you and probably have been a little crazy for you. So, I am glad you’re tuning in today.

Today is the third episode in a special series I’m doing on how to navigate and grow your business during these uncertain times. And the reason that I am focusing my content on what we’re all dealing with is because I know we’re all facing new and different challenges and we’re all adjusting to our new circumstances. And I want to be able to help you all navigate this more successfully, both from an emotional and also from a business standpoint.

So, over the past couple of weeks, I have been talking about how despite what is happening, despite the coronavirus, despite what is going on in the world, right now is an amazing opportunity to be building an online business.

And I know a lot of you listening are building coaching businesses and some others of you are growing other types of businesses. And today, I really want to discuss exactly why we do in fact have such an amazing opportunity in front of us and I want to talk about some specifics for what this means to you right now for not only the current state of your business, but also the future state of your business.

And so, I want to talk to you today about the types of things you should be thinking about and considering so you can not only thrive during this time, but ultimately position yourself for success once we are through this. Because the fact is, this too shall pass. We will get through this.

And today, I want to have a conversation with you about how you want to emerge from this. So, if you’ve listened to the past few episodes of the podcast or you’ve been following my social media, you know that I have been talking about the huge opportunity that we have in front of us as coaches and leaders to rise up during this time, especially giving everything that we’re all navigating.

So, just from the perspective of humanity, I really believe that now more than ever, the world needs the tools that we offer, the perspectives that we have, the knowhow in how to navigate all of this. This is really important. But let’s talk for a moment about why, in terms of your business, right now in this moment it’s really important to look at the decisions that you’re making and what you’re choosing to focus on and what you’re doing to essentially weather this recession that we’ve suddenly found ourselves in.

And I want to share some facts and also some tactical strategies for you today on some of the most important things you can do to use this time wisely and to be able to really position yourself and your business to come out of this time successfully. Because the truth is, what you do right now over the next 30, 60, 90, 120 days will determine how you come out of this. And it will impact the future growth of your business.

So, I want to start out by sharing with you some statistics that I think are really important for you to understand. And it’s also why I’ve been saying, over the past couple of weeks, why it’s so important to be conscious of what you’re doing and ensuring that you’re focusing on the right things that are actually going to help you weather this successfully.

And I want to be clear that when I say weather this successfully, want to be clear that I’m coming at this from a place of what history has already taught us about recessions, what we are all currently experiencing as it relates to what’s going on.

So, I’m going to give you some more facts today regarding all of this and exactly how this does in fact relate to your business because, let’s be honest, there’s even more noise out there right now. And I want to take a bit of time and give you the facts so that we can glean some of that intelligence and apply it to our business today.

So, I want to start this conversation by going back to what I shared in last week’s podcast. So, last week, I shared with you why now, more than ever, your creativity and the level of creativity that you are applying to your business right now will be a determining factor to the health of your business. And I talked about how creativity is one of the most important currencies that you have, not only right now, but it’s also going to be one of the most important currencies for you in the future.

And the reason for this is because creativity opens up new possibilities. And the fact is that for all of us, our world has gone digital overnight. And so, because of that, we are all really being forced to enter a new paradigm. And it’s a paradigm in which we will all be required to think and to do differently than we ever have before.

And so, for example, if you look at any traditional system within our society, every single one is currently being challenged. We’re literally having to apply creativity to almost every system in our society in order to navigate this time. And in last week’s episode, I gave the example of our school system.

So, for most of us, kids are now at home. They are learning in a completely digital environment. Teachers are working on developing new ways to teach them and we’re all communicating in new digital forums and formats. And we’re working on finding new ways to connect. And that is really the same for every other traditional system within our society.

So, how does this relate to your business? Let’s talk about that. In terms of a coaching business, especially if you are running an online coaching business, the good news is that you’ve likely already had some of these digital systems in place. You’re likely already used to using platforms like Zoom and using online tools to help communicate with clients and manage your business.

So, in terms of actual systems, we’re actually ahead of the game there. But where we need to be thinking creatively is not necessarily within our business, but it’s on our business. And here’s what I mean by that.

When you’re working within your business in a general sense, that means coaching and serving your clients, so coaching during your coaching sessions, working with your clients. It’s the time that you’re actually spending on coaching.

And some of you might be shifting that slightly depending on your niche and how you coach. So, when I say working on your business, what I’m talking about is all of the things that require you as the business owner, as the CEO, to think about your business. And so, what I mean by that are things like your vision, your outcomes, your delivery, your marketing, your messaging, et cetera.

And where I believe you really need to be spending some quality time right now is on your business and considering what you truly want to build, considering who you most want to serve in your practice. And I would encourage you all to consider what you’re really an expert at delivering. And I really encourage you all to ensure that that’s coming through in your practice. And here’s why; this goes back to your hard why that I’ve talked about in various episodes.

And what I mean by that is your compelling reason to do this work. It’s the movement that you want to create. It’s the impact you want to make. And here’s why this is so important. In this moment and right now, we are all being called to step up and to evolve into new levels of ourselves, whether that be personally or professionally.

And so, in order to sustain that work, the work that we need to do, that we’re being called to do, in order to build our businesses and take care of our health, or family’s health, homeschooling, loved ones, et cetera, now more than ever you must be hooked into your hard why.

This has to come from a true place of service. And here’s the reason; I believe that as we move through these next several months and potential a year or more, there’s going to be a massive shakeup. And we’re already experiencing this on a global scale.

But there will also be a massive shakeup within the coaching industry. And what I mean by that is it will be those coaches, those entrepreneurs who come from a place of service and have a true deep passion for the work that they’re doing, for serving others, for helping others navigate both in the short term but also transform on a larger scale in the long-term.

Those are the coaches and the entrepreneurs that are going to have the most success. So, because of that, now more than ever, I really encourage you to consider these deeper questions and reflect on these for yourself and for your business.

Because the truth is that as we move through this, we’re going to have new challenges and as a society we’re going to continue to be challenged in new ways. And it’s only by having that deep conviction to your work and to your service that will help you sustain this. And so, let’s talk about what that tangibly looks like.

What I mean by working on your business and thinking creatively about your business is taking a look at your program taking a look at your offers and ensuring that it’s meeting the needs of your clients today and it’s not only helping your clients navigate what’s going on in their lives, but also supports them in true transformation.

And I’ve talked about this in several other episodes as well, the importance of building transformation in your work. And so, another important piece to be looking at is your messaging and how you’re communicating with your clients, with your community, with your people right now. All of this is very, very important, and let me explain why.

There was a study done recently and it was a study of over 4000 businesses over the course of the last three recessions. And this was published in the Harvard Business Review. And what they found is that only 9% of companies were able to thrive and flourish after a recession.

Now, as I’m sharing this with you, I want to challenge you to not get discouraged by that fact. In fact, I encourage you to listen to last week’s podcast as I talked about why we all have such an opportunity in front of us. So, stay with me here on this because what I’m about to share with you is really important for you to understand.

Of those 9% of companies that were able to thrive and flourish, there were a few things in particular that those companies did that others didn’t, which led them to their ability to successfully weather the storm. And one of the most important things they did was marketing their business.

Now, if you know my work, if you are a regular listener to this show or you’re one of my clients, you know that my programs are essentially built around marketing, around how to implement what I call a holistic growth strategy in your business. And this includes implementing proven marketing strategies across the board in your business.

And so, the work that I do with my clients includes teaching them and guiding them and implementing a very robust marketing strategy in their business. And it’s one that has been proven time and time again to yield the highest returns in every business that uses it.

And so, it includes a combination of things. It includes running Facebook ads, using videos, webinars, content strategies, et cetera. But essentially, it’s extremely important to me that I help my clients implement a holistic growth strategy in their business that encompasses everything they need in order to not only grow in the short-term but sustain in the long-term.

And the truth is, there are a lot of moving parts to this. And there’s a lot that we could go into on all of that. But what I want you to really take away today from this conversation is the importance of your marketing. Because a huge piece to this is your marketing. And the reason for this is because your marketing is your lifeblood to your business.

So, if you don’t have a solid marketing system in place, it’s typically extremely difficult to get to the level of results you want. And it’s because when you’re not marketing successfully, clients can’t know that you can even help them, that you even have a solution to their problem.

And it’s likely that if you’re in business and you don’t have the results that you want, you probably already know, if you’ve been in business for any length of time, it’s because of your ability to market and sell your programs and your services. And for those of you that might be in that situation, you probably know that you need to have a strategy. But you might not know where to start or you might be confused with all of the advice out there.

And if that’s the case, I would invite you to reach out and have a conversation with me to gain some clarity in your business. So, let’s talk about what this means for you today. I want to talk about the next 30, 60, 90 says, as I mentioned before because, when it comes to your marketing, I typically see coaches fall into a couple of different categories.

So, typically, when coaches are new to the industry, they tend to not have a strong awareness to and not fully understand the level of importance there is to actually marketing their business. And instead what happens is the tend to spend a lot of time on low-cost activities that are also low-cost return.

And so, what I mean by that is things like social media. And what happens is, as a result, they tend to have very few sales in their business and they are typically doing what I call throwing spaghetti at the wall without having a real strategy or a real direction in what they’re doing.

And so, in almost every case that I see, what tends to happen is that after several months and usually about at the year mark or more, they start to get really frustrated. And it’s because they’re not where they want to be, and they’ve also been trying so many different things and consuming so much information that now, in addition to that frustration, they’re also overwhelmed.

And what happens from there is that they then start to get shiny object syndrome. And this tends to manifest as trying to create all sorts of things and never really having a clear direction or a clear path on what they’re actually implementing and where it’s leading them in their business.

And so, what happens is they try and implement all of this in their business and because they try to do all of these things, they tend to start feeling burnt out. And generally, this is where self-doubt takes over even more.

And the reason this happens is because they don’t have that ability to really be grounded in a roadmap, in having really the blueprint on where they’re going. And so, they don’t have the confidence in knowing that they’re having a proven strategy that they’re implementing.

And so, when they haven’t had results and they feel like they’re trying everything and they’re not getting results, it’s so easy and I see it happen within seconds, where they start to doubt and they start questioning everything they’re doing, including whether or not they should continue building their business.

So, if you’re currently in this situation, I want you to hear me that all of this is normal, truly. And I want to give you some advice on this. So, it’s the coaches that are able to move beyond this, that are able to move into this next phase of business building where they actually get the importance of having a real marketing strategy in their business.

And that’s usually when coaches get to that point where they understand this. But then the next hurdle, that next challenge is they don’t know what that looks like. They don’t know how to implement it. And that’s typically where I tend to begin working with my clients. It’s after they’ve worked one on one, they’ve made some money in their business, where they have the awareness that, hey I need to actually have a marketing strategy in place in my business in order for me to grow to the level that I want to grow to. I really need to get a strategy in place.

And the great thing is that we can usually get things implemented very quickly in their business and start getting them momentum and traction and get them marketing properly in a fairly short amount of time. But what I think is really important to understand, especially right now, is that if you’re a coach and you have a coaching business, in order to position yourself to thrive and flourish once we’re out of this recession, you have to be marketing your business.

Even if you haven’t yet moved into that second phase that I just described, I need you to understand the importance of this for the health of your business, but also for your wellbeing. Because the truth is, when you’re fumbling around in your business, when you don’t have a clear pathway, when you don’t have a real roadmap to what you’re doing, it starts to get very difficult to manage on an emotional level.

And some of you, I know, are probably there right now. And what I want for you to take away from this conversation is how important this really is for your business and for your health. It’s always been one of the most important things, but now more than ever, it’s essential.

And it’s because this is what is going to help position you to emerge successfully from this crisis. It’s really, really critical. And this isn’t just an opinion. We can also look at history for this because there will be a point in time when we move through this. And as a smart business owner, you are going to want to have taken this time to put a solid strategy in place so that you can come out of the other side positioned much better and where you’ve built up an even larger audience, a larger pool of potential clients that are ready to work with you.

So, marketing is no longer optional. Marketing is essential. And within that marketing, I want to go back to what I mentioned earlier, and that is your messaging. So, messaging is something that I also really encourage all of you to be looking at because the truth is, what may have worked three or four weeks ago is not the same message that is going to work now. In fact, if you’re using the same type of messaging you were using three to four weeks ago, chances are it’s falling flat.

And so, the first step here is to really take pause and think about the conversation that is going on in your clients’ minds right now. So, for example, if you’re a life coach and you’re working with working moms, let’s say, the challenges that these clients were having pre-corona are likely amplified even more.

And there’s likely a whole new host of challenges and problems that these women are facing; things like working from home, juggling homeschooling, how to stay productive, how to parent through this. And so, there’s this whole new host of problems that they really need help in navigating.

And so, I encourage you to think about who your audience is and who your clients are and think about those problems that they’re having right now. And write those down. Write all of them down. Do a brainstorm and identify the top three problems you want to be addressing in your marketing. I think it’s really important to not underestimate the importance of this.

And lastly, one of the things that I think is going to be extremely important and really a differentiator for those that emerge even more powerfully from this time is ensuring that you’re fully supported through this process. So, here’s what I mean.

Now, more than ever, it’s even more important that you are finding new ways to protect your own energy, to ensure that you are being taken care of, to make sure that you are getting coached. And yes, self-care, things like proper nutrition, proper rest, proper exercise, yes, all of that is extremely important, but I’m also talking about your mind. And you getting coached is just as important.

In fact, I also see this as an essential for you because now more than ever, if you are not getting coached regularly, now is the time for that. Because the truth is, all of you, no matter what your situation is, you must be ensuring that you’re keeping your mindset in a powerful place, that you’re focusing on the right things, that you’re really utilizing this time to not only set yourself up for short-term growth but also long-term sustainability.

And so, getting coached at a high level, coaching that addresses both your mind and teaches you how to implement these business strategies that I’m teaching you is one of the smartest and one of the most important investments you can be making right now.

So, there you go; utilize these strategies, maximize this time, put those strategies in place not only for the short-term, but set yourself up for long-term success so that you can emerge even more powerfully and successfully. Now is absolutely the time. The next 30, 60, 90, 120 days and what you choose to do will define how you emerge from this.

And if you know you need help and you know you need to be supported at a high level and you are determined to emerge successfully form this, I highly encourage you to book a call with me. You can go to my website amandakarlstadcoaching.com. you’ll find the links there.

Remember that you choose what happens in these days and you have the opportunity to emerge from this even stronger and more powerfully. Have an amazing week, you all. Take care, bye-bye.

Hey, before you go, I have something amazing I want to share with you. To celebrate the launch of the show, I’m going to be giving away three free VIP Strategy Sessions where I’ll be diving deep into your business and helping you put a strategy in place for the next 90 days, so you have a real game plan on how to create results in your business, and finally gain momentum.

I’m going to be giving away one free VIP Strategy Session, the same VIP Strategy Session I offer to all of my highest-level clients, to three lucky listeners who subscribe, rate, and review this show on Apple Podcasts. Visit amandakarlstadcoaching.com/podcastlaunch to learn more about the contest and how to enter. I’ll be announcing the winners on the show in an upcoming episode. Thanks so much.

Thank you for listening to this episode of The Life Coach Business Podcast. If you want to learn more about how to build, grow and scale your business and accelerate your results, visit amandakarlstadcoaching.com.