OUR BLOG

The Jones sisters, BBQ Pitmasters of Kansas City, have to be some of the hardest working folks this business coach has ever seen! I LOVE these ladies.

They start work at 2 am, smoking meat and prepping for the day ahead. They’re on their feet for 12-14 solid hours a day, working hard to maintain rigorous standards of quality, as they uphold the legacy passed down from their father.

And they’ve been doing it for 39 years … since they were little girls just tall enough to stand on a milk crate!

People start lining up at Jones BBQ at 9 am, and the sisters typically sell out of food every single day as lunchtime winds down!

They’re great people with a great little business. So, why would they need a Netflix Queer Eye makeover in the spring of 2019? And, how will what they learned help you in your business?

As a life coach and someone who writes a couple of newsletters a month, I stay open to receiving insights and revelations from every imaginable source … insights and revelations I hope will help guide and inspire.

I came to a revelation recently as the result of pondering the lyrics of the song, On My Way To You.

It’s a romantic song about finding love through it all … all the ups and downs … the pain and suffering … the wrong turns … the “mistakes.” But the message relates to life itself … your life … my life.

It can be done! Yes, you’re at home and no, you can’t connect with people in person. But, as a Speaker Coach and Business Coach with a lot of experience presenting online, I want you to know you can connect with your clients and prospects virtually and get it to work.

It can be effective. It’s just a bit more challenging.

The biggest challenge? You aren’t able to interact with people in the same kind of up-close and personal way. You can’t play off the energy of a live audience. And that makes it harder to truly connect.

To make the change-over from “live and in person” to presenting via the magic of streaming video a little easier, I’ve partnered with another virtual expert, Lyn Karnstedt, to present the keys to thriving in the world of online presentations.

You Need to Reach Out. Don’t Withdraw!

Things are so uncertain right now. You may need to “stay home,” but that doesn’t mean you have to stop marketing your business.

I understand the tendency to pull back or slip into neutral when crises occur … to wait and see how things shake out before moving forward or at least looking forward.

It’s a good thing for all of us GE wasn’t thinking that way back during the panic of 1873 when they launched their business, or I might be writing this by candlelight.

HP got its start in 1939, during the Great Depression. Microsoft was founded in 1975, a year when the economy was deeply in the tank!

Don’t let worries about the pandemic and the economy stop you from marketing your services. Just adapt to the changing times and do it differently.

An insight from advertising man, Dave Chase:

“Those companies that not only survived but thrived during the Great Depression were those that continued to act as though there were nothing wrong and the public had money to spend.”

As a business coach, I see it all the time.

Business owners make a decision … and then they second guess themselves.

Years ago, I took a lesson from my chiropractor about how to manage … or should I say not “over-manage” … my calendar. And it’s something I wanted to pass along to you, even if it might not seem to be very conventional business coaching.

I’m a business coach, and I can’t help but observe business owners and how they operate.

I’m always looking at what works and what doesn’t, so I can pass best practices on to you! And recently, I got slapped upside my head with yet another example of how business owners can be shortsighted in how they treat their customers and clients.

If you’ve been reading my newsletter, you know we got married in the Cayman Islands recently.

We hired a wedding planner to help with the legalities and facilitate the details for us, since we live 1,100 miles away.

There’s something she did … or rather didn’t do … that can provide a major learning for you and your business.

As a life and business coach, I don’t talk about myself and what’s going on in my world in my coaching sessions … unless somebody asks. And they often do.

At the beginning of our recent call, my client asked me, “What are you up to this week?”

“I’m leaving Friday for a speaking engagement.”

“You must be so excited! I know how much you like speaking!”

“Uh, no … I’m not excited at all.”

You got that new client. She looks like a great fit. You send off your welcome package and make the initial charge to her credit card as you agreed. Yea!

Later that day, she replies, “I’m not totally comfortable with that 6-month commitment to coaching we discussed. I’d be willing to contract for three months and then reevaluate.”

You know it doesn’t actually serve most clients to expect to see full results in less than six months, but you want to accommodate her needs, so you reply …

“I want you to feel comfortable with me and confident in the process. So, I’ve changed the paperwork to reflect a three-month commitment. We can reevaluate where you are then. I want you to feel delighted with our work together!”

A few hours later, you’re totally surprised to hear: “I’ve changed my mind and have decided not to pursue coaching. I’m not ready at this time. Please refund my fee.”

Wait! … What?

You’re in business to make a profit. So, as a business coach, I always look at what your numbers are telling you about how you’re doing and, more specifically, where you’re getting the most return on the time, money, and effort you’re investing.

Numbers?

Yeah, like …