Productivity

The Struggle About What To Charge

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In this moment, I can’t actually think of any client I’ve ever worked with that hasn’t at some point wondered or (most likely) agonized over what to charge. And I confess, I certainly have grappled with this many times in the past as well.

The question about where to set your rates brings up a whole slew of internal questions and judgments:

How valuable is my work?

What will people think when they hear my rates?

What are other people in my industry charging?

Will anyone buy from me at all?

Am I undercharging?

Am I overcharging?

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Leading your clients when your personal life takes over

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Joanna and her kids

Last week, while I was leading a group call with nearly 30 women, my parents telephoned me on both my home phone and my cellphone 4 times within about 2 minutes.

I could feel my heart start beating faster as I was coaching. My mother has had MS for 30 years, and there have been many emergencies, hospital visits, and even life-support situations over the years.

A version of me 3 years ago would have tried to ignore her calls until I was done teaching — yet be scared & un-present to my teaching the entire time — because I wouldn’t want to come off as unprofessional.

An even older version of myself would have freaked out completely, told the folks on the call that I needed to reschedule, and then go on to deal with whatever was happening.

Last week, instead, at an appropriate pause in between spotlight coaching moments, I let the women on the call know that my parents had called 4 times and that I was concerned enough to feel I should call back, but that it would only take a moment. I asked everyone on the call to hold for just a minute and quickly called my mom. There was a slight emergency situation, but nothing very serious. I was able to get off the phone in under 90 seconds, return to my clients with full presence, and then take care of the situation at an appropriate time.

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Why I work on some evenings these days…

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Last week was Autumn Equinox which — among other things — is all about the energy of Balance.

During the time of the Equinox, the daytime hours are exactly as long as the night-time hours. The Earth is in a beautiful moment of balance between light and dark, Winter and Summer, inner and outer energy.

So this is a wonderful moment to reflect upon how you are creating balance in your life and in your business.

Balance is one of the most important elements of any successful and happy business. And when things aren’t in balance, you feel off, resentful and most likely are not creating what you want. For example:

–Working so much that you don’t have enough time for rest, self-care, family or the other priorities in your life
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Some vulnerability about my business…

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I recently posted this on Facebook, and it received such an overwhelming response that it felt important to share with you as well. It’s a short article, but a VERY important one!

The last 15 months with a baby and a 1st grader and a business and a sick mom who lives far away and…well, just life and all that comes with it…has been really hard at times.

In terms of business, there has been massive, massive growth on some levels, and on other levels I’m moving way slower than ever before. I thought my re-brand would be done and ready to go by last January. Ha! I’m hoping now for end of September. I thought my Sacred Archetype Assessment would have been ready by last December. I released it in July. I had plans for writing my book and creating some really, really huge marketing moments this last Spring. That hasn’t fully happened yet.

I’m sharing this for a couple of reasons:

1) I could have easily beaten myself up through all of this, judged myself for being lazy or too slow, compared myself to others, etc. But instead I chose to honor my pace, to honor that my business is NOT my first priority in life, to honor that I choose to make time for my children FIRST, and for my business to fit in with my life and not the other way around.

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An Ode To Coaching (& To You)

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Being a coach, teacher, artist, speaker, healer or trainer is challenging.

It asks you to be fully vulnerable while YOU become your product.

It asks you to market yourself and all of your brilliance, talents, skills, experiences, knowledge.

It asks you to take the risk of guiding others when you don’t have a crystal ball and don’t for sure know any outcomes.

It asks you to show up in your expertise, relying mostly on yourself, because even though you can get certified as a coach, you can’t get a PhD in it.

It asks you to trust your expertise, even when you know you aren’t perfect.

It asks you to be seen.

It asks you to keep on going, even when there are the inevitable folks who don’t resonate with you or even like you.

It asks you to create boundaries so that you don’t over-give or take over-responsibility.

It asks you to continue loving yourself even when not every client achieves the goals they want.

And yet, for all these challenges, I love this profession.

I love it with my heart and soul, because it’s enabled me to activate my brilliances and use them to support others.

I love this profession, because it’s helped me be part of healing the world.

I love this profession, because it’s enabled me to trust myself and my intuition.

I love this profession, because it’s showed me how to break free of limited thinking.

I love this profession, because it’s forced me to learn to love myself more and more every day.

And I love this profession, because I feel so alive when I am serving and supporting my beloved clients.

Coaching, teaching and healing are not for the meek or the faint-hearted. There is risk, especially for those of us that are breaking boundaries and leading our clients to deep, sacred places.

But it is oh, so worth it.

I honor every person who dares to step into this beautiful, exalting, messy, risky life’s work.

You are inspiring.

You are brave.

Don’t ever give up your Sacred Work — not because of criticism, not because of rejection, not because of fear.

The more you own it, the more you grow your business, the more you will grow your Sacred Self.

(And of course it would be my honor to help you attract more clients for your Sacred Work – just let me know and we’ll set a time to speak). You can apply here.

With love,
Joanna

The First Thing I Always Do To Fill An Offering

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There are lots of awesome marketing avenues out there, and I put a number of them to practice in my business regularly.

But the truth is that before I employ any of the fancy marketing strategies — everything from Facebook ads to Joint Venture partnerships to even newsletter campaigns and launches — there is one thing I ALWAYS do FIRST.

And this one thing is absolute gold, because it is often, by far, much more powerful than all of the other marketing avenues combined.

In fact, this one little marketing strategy has helped me fill entire group coaching programs and masterminds with 25 women and more in it. (And it has helped my clients do amazing things, too!).

One thing that’s super important to me is that I keep my marketing and my marketing plans as simple as possible — my theory is that if I can spend less time and energy, that’s the route I want.

So what’s my simple, super-effective marketing avenue?

Individual Outreach.

Yes, it really is that simple. If you want to fill your offerings, the first place you want to start is by getting in touch with the people you know to see if they would like to step into your offering.

Why is this so effective?

Because the people that know you and love your work will always be quickest to invest in your services.

Now, you want to make sure you do individual outreach correctly (because if you do it the wrong way, it can backfire on you, and you’ll miss out on a chance to bring a highly aligned client in), and here are some of my tried and true tips for effective and easy Individual Outreach:

  1. Reach out to folks who you sense would be a really great fit for your offering.

    Doing individual outreach doesn’t mean reaching out to everyone, but it does mean having the courage to reach out to those folks you know — past clients, current clients ready to step into something new, prospects that have been hanging around, and anyone you met networking — and letting them know you’ve got a special opportunity you think they might be interested in. Don’t be scared to do this – if you reach out correctly, you won’t come off as pushy or aggressive. You’ll be thanked for being so thoughtful and likely end up with a new client.

  2. Keep the outreach individual and personalized (but use a template).

    The secret sauce that makes individual outreach so effective is that it’s personalized — and when your prospect receives the note you send them or your phone call, they know they aren’t “just another prospect”, but that you’ve really considered what would be best for them. Being thoughtful in this way goes a very long way.

    Don’t be tempted to send out a group email — as best you can, keep these outreaches on a 1-on-1 basis.

    Just because they are individualized doesn’t mean you can’t use an overarching template, and I highly recommend you do. Or else you’ll get tired pretty quickly!

  3. Throw out any market-y language and be personable, warm, and real.

    Along the same lines as keeping your outreach note personalized, you also want to keep your languaging real. Steer clear of anything that sounds market-y and instead, speak from your heart as you share your opportunity with your prospect.

  4. Just because you’re being personable doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stand in your brilliance (including speaking about results and who the offering is for).

    Speaking from your heart can (& should!) absolutely include standing in your brilliance, sharing why your offering is going to be incredibly powerful and valuable, and deeply speaking to all that you’re offering. Don’t hold back on sharing the magnitude of the work out of fear.

  5. Tell your prospect why you specifically think she would be a great fit.

    This is so important and one of the reasons individual outreach is so powerful: you get to share with your prospect why you’re reaching out to him or her specifically, and you want to be very clear on why you sense your offering can really help them create the results they want. Use your knowledge of this person, where they struggle and what they really want for themselves, to articulate why they would be a great fit.

  6. Invite your prospect into a conversation with you.

    Don’t skip this part — it makes all the difference. After you describe your opportunity and share why you sense it would be a great fit for your prospect, don’t just leave it hanging. The next step is to connect for a conversation to explore more deeply how you can serve them. Don’t assume that your prospect will suggest this. It’s your responsibility to make this invitation to them.

So, if you haven’t been doing individual outreach to fill your offerings, I HIGHLY recommend that you start right away.

If you would like to learn about other ways you can fill your private practice, mastermind or group programs, get in touch right away. We’ll do a complimentary assessment of your business along with personalized strategies that will help you build your business and reach your goals. You can apply here for this 1-on-1 conversation.

With love,
Joanna

I Took A Look At Something Important This Week

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This last Monday, Penina had the day off school, and I strategically set up a playdate for her during Yael’s nap so that I could get some work done. Normally, I wouldn’t necessarily do this, but my babysitter was off most of last week, and I had stuff on my list to do.

As soon as I got Yael to sleep, I went to the computer to get through some emails.

About 5 minutes into it, Penina and her friend came downstairs, all dressed up — they wanted me to watch their play.

My first thought was "I don’t have time for this!"
My second thought was self-judgment that I would even think my first thought, because my kids are more important than anything to me.
My third thought was to chill out on myself.
I went upstairs.

While I was waiting for them to start, my mind was on the email I had left unwritten.

I didn’t even sit down, because I was thinking I’d watch them for a minute or two and then be able to get back to work.

They were dilly-dallying getting started, and I noticed some inner tension, because I wanted to send that email and write a newsletter article before Yael woke up.

And then Penina came "on the stage" and started singing. And as she sang, she looked at me to make sure I was listening closely. So I sat down.

And I decided to forget about the email and be fully present to my daughter and her friend. I started swaying to their singing and allowed myself to get fully caught up in the moment.

I pretty much ended up hanging out with them through Yael’s nap, deciding that this week’s newsletter could be a re-print of an older one I wrote, and that nothing would fall apart if emails went out a day later.

(This week’s newsletter article would have been a re-print, but I posted this originally on Facebook, and then I realized it was the newsletter article that I hadn’t written!)

I am clear on my priorities in my heart and soul, and most of the time in how I act. But I have to admit that every now and again my actions betray me. Sometimes I get caught between home and business. Or forget that one of the reasons I chose to be an entrepreneur in the first place was because I wanted more FREEDOM in my life to do what I want to do.

Today was a powerful reminder for me on how important it is to be vigilante when I slip into "work, work, work" — to realize it as quickly as possible and move out of it, so that I can have the life I want and a business that supports it.

Whether you have kids or not, living and being present to your LIFE is crucial. If you’re part of my community, you’re like me, and I know that while your business is important to you, it can’t be the end all, be all.

Where can you pay more attention to your life, starting TODAY?

What are the “little things” you do for your business that actually are big things and take you away from your life and freedom?

I would love to help you attract more aligned clients and visibility while also making choices that are right for you and your life. Fill out this 2-minute application, and we’ll set up a time to speak and see what you’re needing right now.

With love,
Joanna

Outstanding Client Care (Part 1)

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I take pride in the fact that my business has what I think is the best Client Care and Customer Service in the coaching industry.

Outstanding Client Care is one of the reasons I have so many long-term return clients and also a huge inpouring of referrals from clients (Client Care is only second to the biggest reason for all this: the amazing results I help my clients achieve).

One thing I learned early on in my business is that Client Care can make or break you.

You want to be OUTSTANDING all of the time. Here’s why: when clients feel taken care of and seen, they feel more connected to you. And when they feel more connected to you, they manifest better results and also want to continue to connect and work with you.

Here is Part 1 of some of the most important keys to creating a High-Level Client Care Experience for everyone who walks through your doors:

1. Be Crystal Clear on all Expectations at the Start

The absolute best start to a client relationship is for you to be 100% clear on what the deliverables are, as well as what you expect from your clients.

If expectations are clear then everyone knows what they’re stepping into, and with that clarity there is no confusion and the best possible work can be done.

Practitioner deliverables include things such as:

-how many sessions are included in their program
-how they can schedule sessions with you
-your rates and payment process
-your refund policy
-your email turnaround time
-what you’re able to help them with, or not
and more

If you’re someone who works on a schedule (like a graphic designer), deliverables should also include a specific timeline of a project.

Client deliverables can include anything from how many hours you expect them to put into their work with you to how you expect them to handle assignments to how they should connect with you if they are feeling stuck.

I HIGHLY recommend that deliverables and expectations be incorporated into a contract that both you and your clients sign and keep copies of.

2. Give Everything You Promised and More

I see way too many entrepreneurs neglect to follow through on what they promised they’d give their clients.

For example, you mention you have bonus recordings but you never send them out. Or you say you will answer all emails within 24 hours, but you don’t.

For lack of a better way of saying it, this is a bad practice, and even if your clients don’t mention it, they will without a doubt note it to themselves.

Once you promise something, unless there is an emergency, it is your obligation to deliver it.

Now, my philosophy is to actually go above and beyond what I originally promised my clients and surprise them with extra goodies of value to them throughout our time together.

For example, I’ve gifted my clients with:

-extra bonus retreats
-unexpected check-in calls from me
-additional trainings
-gifts in the mail

Going above and beyond shows your clients that they are important to you, and when done correctly (& not out of over-responsibility), it also helps them achieve even greater results.

3. Acknowledge When You’ve Made a Mistake…and Fix it Quickly!

We are all human, and in our very human ways, mistakes can sometimes happen. For example, a client gets double-charged or you are running five minutes late for a scheduled meeting or access gets denied to a membership site.

When this happens and you find out about it, there should be no hemming and hawing and no delay on taking responsibility, apologizing and getting the problem solved as soon as possible.

And if you cannot get the problem solved immediately, let your client know that you are working on it, what you are doing to resolve it, and the timeframe you expect for everything to be solved.

A little bit can go a long way here towards goodwill and letting your client know that they are important to you.

Recently, I signed up for an online program where you needed a username and password to access the trainings. After the first week, my username and password stopped working. I must have sent five or six emails to their customer care about it over the course of three weeks. Never got a response. Even though this company is known for their stellar content, they won’t be getting my business ever again.

4. Ditch the Guru Mask

I see this happening a lot: you are a coach, teacher or healer and, as such, believe that your clients and community need to always think that you are all-knowing and perfect.

Yes, there are some folks out there who are looking for a perfect guru and will only feel safe if they falsely believe they are in the hands of one.

But honestly, most people out there are looking for a teacher, coach, mentor, healer or practitioner who is real, above all else. Someone who makes mistakes and learns from them, someone who has bad hair days like the rest of us, someone who has not put themselves on such a high pedestal that they are remote and isolated from those they serve.

One of the best ways to form a deep connection with your clients and community is to be real and down to earth.

So there is Part 1 of Outstanding Client Care. Hope you enjoyed and can’t wait to send you Part 2 soon.

For now, I highly recommend you do a 360-degree assessment of your own client care and see where things can be upleveled and improved.

And if you’d like to explore how we can help you Bring in More Business for 2015, get in touch and we’ll set up a call right away!

I am looking for amazing women who are ready to stop running around in circles and instead, take ACTION to become more visible and profitable in 2015.

If you know in your heart you are truly ready to earn more while loving yourself more deeply, this complimentary conversation is for you.

Yes? Then let’s talk! We only have 5 calls available right now and will only schedule with women we feel we can really help. Fill out this application, and we’ll be in touch to let you know if we can help.

With love,
Joanna

My Wish For You

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It’s the second day of the new year, and I’m thinking a lot about you and about every woman I am blessed to serve in this amazing community.

And this is my New Year’s wish for you:

I wish you to know how valuable you are.
To know your brilliance.
To know you were put on this earth to do amazing things.

I wish you to know, deep to your core, that you matter.
To see your own beauty.
To move beyond your self-judgment and into total self-love.

I wish that 2015 is the year that you commit to taking yourself seriously…while also laughing all the time.

I wish this to be the year you experience your own definition of happiness.
And your own definition of success.

I wish for you that, no matter what comes your way, you remember how sacred you are and you remember your true self.

I wish for you to connect deeply with your passion and to connect deeply with the message you want to share with others.

I wish for you to thoroughly enjoy your business, your clients, and your activities so that each day feels like a blessing.

And I wish that this is the year you create more time freedom for yourself, giving yourself space to relax, and simply BE.

I am in deep gratitude for each and every woman who reads this newsletter. Thank you for all of your notes & emails throughout the year. Thank you for inspiring me to continue to write and share my message, and thank you for being part of the light that will heal this world.

From my heart, straight to yours, I am wishing that all your dreams come true this year.

With love,
Joanna

Your Year In Review

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At the end of every year, one of my favorite things to do is an assessment of the year that has passed.

It’s a phenomenal way to powerfully prepare yourself for the year that is ahead and to lay down the foundation for amazing things to come.

By assessing the year that is ending, you can get an important grasp on where you’ve been and use that as a resource for where you’re going. It will also help you be more effective and more efficient in the year to come.

Plus, it’s super fun to do assessments, right?!?

Each year I tweak and improve my Year in Review, and after doing it myself, I share it with my clients. We go deep as I lead them through this sacred process, and the learning and transformation is pretty amazing.

I want to share part of this year’s Year in Review with you so that you can end 2014 powerfully and start 2015 with all of the resources necessary to fulfill your heart’s desires.

I recommend giving yourself 45-60 minutes alone, with a cup of tea, a nice amount of time to dive deep into your review and assessment. Answer the questions below.

All of these are journaling questions, to be done in order:

  1. Review your year month by month, beginning with January 2014:

    Take yourself back to that month, to that moment in time. Really visualize it and what was happening for you and your business. For each month, write down the notable events, the really amazing celebrations and forward movement, the new things you did and experimented with, the frustrations and flops, and anything else noteworthy.

  2. Choose your top three celebrations for the year:

    Review your month-by-month analysis and choose your three favorite, most meaningful celebrations for the year. I highly recommend you choose celebrations that feel the best to you, without regard to which celebrations you “should” choose. The celebrations you choose can be inner (feelings or experience related) or outer (concrete results) celebrations.

  3. Why are each of your three top celebrations meaningful to you and vital to the upcoming year?

    For each of your top three celebrations, first write out why each one is meaningful to you. Take the time to really honor yourself and their meaning. Don’t skip this part (way too often we skip being happy & in gratitude for what we’ve accomplished). Really let it sink in.

    Then get clear on how each one has actually helped you set the foundation for your 2015 goals. In other words, how do each of your top three celebrations directly relate to what you want to create in 2015?

  4. Choose your “top flop” from the year:

    Your “top flop” is an experience that didn’t quite go as planned in your business. Examples: A launch that didn’t really sell much, an enrollment conversation that sucked, a team member who went AWOL, a joint venture partnership that left you in tears.

    I know, I know. It’s not always so much fun to look at what didn’t quite work well. But this is a vital part of the process. If you don’t do it, you’ll be stuck in feeling icky about the experience and you won’t have the opportunity to learn from it. So take a deep breath and give yourself permission to take an objective look at your top flop from 2014.

  5. Identify the learning from your “top flop”:

    No matter how much of a bomb the top flop was, there is a ton of gold in it. There’s lots of stuff to learn so that you can do much, much better next time.

    For example, if a prospect campaign went sideways, what exactly about it didn’t work? Was it the subject headings of your emails? Was it the timing? Did you learn that you need to write your copy at least two weeks in advance and then edit? Did you learn that you needed a pre-qualifier for people to fill out? Did you learn something about what doesn’t work when speaking to your community?

    Write down anything and everything you learned from your top flop, and then see how you can apply the learnings to whatever you want to create in 2015.

  6. Looking back, what was the growth theme of 2014?

    No matter what did or didn’t happen in 2014, no matter how many frustrations, it WAS a growth year. That’s because every year is a growth year. We’re always growing, developing, blossoming, and moving forward in some way or another.

    So, as you look at all that happened and unfolded in 2014, what was the theme of the year?

  7. Looking forward, what is your growth theme for 2015 going to be?

    You get to decide! Based on where you’ve been in 2014, and based on what you want to accomplish in the coming year, what is the theme of growth coming up?

  8. How did your 2014 growth theme set you up for 2015?

    Whatever happened in 2014, it is the EXACT, PERFECT setup for the year to come.

    My growth theme for 2014 was “Stripping Down.”  It was a year of stripping down to my authentic self and my authentic message, a year of stripping down my work hours, and a year of stripping down programs and types of clients that were no longer a match.

    And that is the perfect setup for my 2015 growth theme, which is “Expanding my Reach.” I wouldn’t be able to do this if I was still weighed down by all that I let go of this past year.

I am so exited to share this sacred business building process with you, and I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know what you come up with. I especially want to hear your celebrations and your themes!

And, please let me know if you’d like me to serve and support you even more deeply in 2015! Get in touch at http://www.soulfulcoach.com/contact.php, fill out the form, and we’ll connect.

With love,
Joanna