Back in the day (aka the first few years of my biz), I engaged in a lot of activities that made me feel like I was making progress...
but did nothing to actually move me forward.
And I've seen a lot of new and struggling coaches make the same mistakes I did.
So I thought it would be a good time to address some of them, in case you're making some of them yourself.
Here's what I've seen (and done)...
Futzing with your website to make it perfect.
You may think that this is uber important, but all you need is a website that doesn't embarrass you from a design standpoint. Most importantly, you need a website that has messaging that targets your ideal client.
I can't tell you the number of hours I spent moving around pixels on my website as a way to hide from putting myself out there.
Putting in systems before you know what you're doing.
This is where you think you need to have the perfect systems before you go out and attract clients. Automations, templates, checklists, etc.
As a systems geek myself, I thought this was incredibly important. And it is. At a certain point in your business, you SHOULD have a lot of systems in place. However, in the beginning, you just don't know what you don't know.
What you want to do instead, is build the systems as you go.
For example, let's say that you've decided that blogging is going to be a part of your marketing approach. Then as you start blogging, you can put together a simple checklist to keep you on track.
As you get more and more familiar with your blogging process, you can optimize the checklist.
Or, let's say you write a follow up email to a potential client. You can use that email as a starting point for an email template to future potential clients.
I really look at this approach as "build as you go" systems.
No need to create every template for your business in the beginning. Just create systems as you go.
Thinking you can have a business without putting yourself out there
This is the idea that if you put up your website "shingle," they will come.
I don't know the exact number, but I'm guessing that the number of websites out on the internets now is in the gazillion. No one is going to find your website magically without some effort on your part.
Unfortunate, but true.
Thinking you can market your business sporadically
This is similar to the previous example. You've got to put yourself out there and you have to do it consistently.
When I was a general business coach, I had an email list of 1500 people. Not bad, right?
Unfortunately, I emailed them about every 3 months or so.
And every time I emailed them, many would unsubscribe. Because they completely forgot who I was.
So, consistency, consistency, consistency.
Let me know in the comments if you found this article helpful.
With love & joy,
P.S. Is there someone in your life who could benefit from reading this post? Why not share this with them?