This is the Solo Coach podcast, where it's all about everything

you need to build your business solo.

Look, building a business alone can feel almost impossible.

There's just so much to get done.

That's just your DAO talking.

I'm Michelle Sara, and I'm here to talk you through building a one-woman

coaching business from the ground up.

I'm talking marketing, time-saving systems, AI shortcuts,

client attraction, energy, and belief, all to help you find your way no matter

your age, stage, or starting point. Ready?

Ready? Let's get going.

This week, I want to talk about 11 ways to ditch busy work and start actually

growing your coaching business.

Now, busy work is something I have been

really adept at for a very long time.

When you're just starting out in your coaching business in the first one

to three years, it can be really hard to know what's not busy work because you're

just trying to work towards getting clients and growing your business.

And oftentimes you don't know what that thing is that is going

to make the difference. So you're just doing a lot of everything.

It can be so, so easy to get lost down the rabbit hole

of creating stuff instead of clients.

And I know, because this is certainly the case for me, that you didn't start

your coaching business to feel stuck in a cycle of endless to-dos, right?

You actually want to feel like the time and effort you're putting

into your business is actually creating results and worth the time

and effort that you're putting into.

You started because you wanted to make a real difference to share your gifts

and insights and experience in a way that truly helps people.

That's the reason that we're here.

However, I know that it can feel like you're working nonstop on stuff

you're not even sure is making a difference and you may not

have anything to show for it yet.

You might even be feeling a little scattered and find yourself

tweaking your website yet again.

Can't tell you how much time I've mental net, and brainstorming

offers that never even launch.

Now, I will say that if you're someone who

has a ton of ideas, just tons and tons of ideas,

create a a spreadsheet and just dump all of your ideas in there

and know that you'll come back to them when and if it is appropriate,

meaning it's an actual thing that's going to help to grow your business.

Because especially for highly creative I mean,

we're all highly creative, but in regards to creating digital

products, ideas, whether it's design, whether it's templates, whether it's

content like podcast, or whatever it is, if you're someone who's highly creative

and has tons and tons and tons of this stuff popping in your head all day,

every day, that's a wonderful thing.

You can leverage that, but just don't let it send you off down the rabbit hole

of creating stuff instead of clients.

The busy work list seems to grow out of nowhere, but

your client list isn't, and the thought keeps creeping in, What am I missing?

Why do I feel so scattered?

Does this even matter?

Is this even making a difference?

Just know that you're not doing it all wrong.

You just may not be focused on the right things.

We're going to go through an actual list that will help you

to focus on the right thing.

I've narrowed it down, and here's the thing.

I'm all about simplifying.

I am all for creating systems.

Some of those systems may include include the support of AI.

Some may not.

But when you are building a coaching business solo, you are going

to need to create systems to do what you need to do in the most efficient way

possible in order to do this on your own.

It can absolutely be done.

That's why I'm here to guide you through the process.

I've narrowed it down to 11 core areas every coach

should focus on to grow their business.

It's a simple checklist that will help you focus your energy where it counts.

Focus your energy where it counts so you can finally build the coaching business

you've been working so hard for.

Now, I love to use this checklist over and over again.

I circle back around to the beginning, check in, and make sure I'm keeping

every point on this in a growth state.

If I can't get to it yet, that's okay.

It's on my radar.

You You can use this checklist in two ways.

You can start at the very beginning and work your way through each one

if you're brand new and you haven't done these things yet.

If you've been at it a while, still circle back around and go

through each one and just do a check-in.

Am I good here?

Do I need to put some attention here?

Am I good at this next one?

Use it either way and both ways.

Like I said, I use this checklist all the time, and I can remember spending

hours working on emails and social media posts, making tiny changes on my website.

Yet again, I've made thousands of changes on my website.

It is also the creativity aspect, right?

I have to always balance that and ask myself, is this just serving

as a creative outlet right now or is this actually moving my business forward?

Bounce from one brilliant idea to the next, only to end the day

totally drained and no closer to actually getting clients.

Seriously, if brainstorming brainstorming ideas was a paid skill,

I'd be so wealthy by now.

I can recall a very specific moment that I looked at everything

I had created one day and thought, Why don't I have any clients?

It didn't make any sense.

It was because I was missing some of the foundational pieces.

Now, I still create a ton.

I still create a ton.

However, I do that with foundational pieces in place and clarity

in terms of if I create this, if I flesh out this idea and bring it

to fruition, what purpose does it serve?

What goal is it going to help me to reach?

I learned, for example, that I needed to build an audience

before building all the offers.

Nice, pretty things and fun stuff that felt productive.

There's a difference.

If I build all of this incredible stuff and have all these wonderful ideas

and spend a whole much time doing all of that, but I don't have anyone to offer it

to, then that's really no point, right?

You need to build your list first before all the offers, nice pretty things

and fun stuff that feels productive.

Sure, emails and social posts matter.

That is a part of building a coaching business, but without a clear focus

or goal, it's just consuming time.

It's busy work disguised as productivity.

100% It's frustrating because how do I know?

It's not a matter of...

Because if you're like me, you're not afraid of hard work, not at all.

But you may be very tired of working so hard on the wrong things

or things that don't move the needle.

So once I finally focused on what actually moves the needle, like building my list,

dialing in my message, creating offers for my audience and that my audience

actually wanted, things started shifting.

I wasn't spinning in circles anymore.

I was actually gaining traction, and that's key.

You don't need to do more.

You just need to focus on what matters most right now.

Trust me, it will feel a whole lot better.

It was a hard lesson to learn for me, but thankfully, I did that part already,

so maybe you don't have to, seriously, really hear what I'm saying, okay?

Imagine waking up each day knowing exactly what to focus on, knowing what you need

to get done today that's actually going to move your business forward.

No more guessing, no more endless to-do list that lead nowhere.

Just clear, intentional action that actually grows your business.

It is possible.

It may take a little time and effort, the effort part we are not a stranger

to, but you already know.

See yourself building an email full of people who enjoy hearing from you.

Your messaging is dialed in so well that your ideal clients feel

like you're speaking directly to them.

Again, that part takes a little time, but you will get there if you have your focus

and intention in the right place.

That's what we're all striving for, that level of mastery.

And your offers, well, they're exactly what your audience needs.

Imagine that being in that place.

Now that's purposeful.

It's a good use of your time and oh, so fulfilling.

That's what we want, is to know that the work we're doing in our business

is purposeful and a good use of our time and fulfilling.

At that point, you're no longer chasing clients.

They're finding you and you are finally experiencing meaningful growth.

Hallelujah.

You've got breathing room, space to be creative.

If you want to be, space to rest, and space to actually

enjoy running your business.

Whoa. Enjoy running your business?

Really?

Yes, please. I would like more of that.

This is what happens when you stop spreading yourself thin with busy work

and focus on what grows a coaching business and you're no longer wasting

mental energy or things that move you away from your goal, just distracting you from

what's actually needed to reach your goal.

How do you move from busy work to meaningful growth?

Well, it comes down to focusing on the core areas that build relationships

and create natural client attraction, which equals business growth.

I've narrowed it down to 11 essential areas every coach needs to prioritize.

Here they are. Ready?

Okay. Number one is client clarity.

Get crystal clear on who you're here to help.

I know this isn't new to you, but hear me out.

This is a living, breathing part of your business.

Your person, your ideal client, client persona, avatar,

whatever you want to call that, is always evolving into more, meaning

your understanding of who they are.

Your job is to create an incredibly detailed description of

your ideal client based on what you learn from interactions with your audience.

That could be conversations that you have at a networking event.

It It could be posts that you've read in groups.

It could be working with clients that you do have right now.

It's all of that that helps you to further define that one client persona.

That's what I want you to get super, super clear on.

Let's have a little fun.

Just for the sake of example, we're going to call your person, your ideal client,

we're going to call her Michelle.

Now, You want to understand Michelle in every possible way.

The typical things are her struggles, desired outcome,

and where she hangs out online.

But there's also her self-taught.

What are those thoughts going through her head?

The literal words.

What are her biggest fears and the language she uses when

she talks about her struggles?

Does she have a family?

What does she do in her free time?

Knowing your ideal client, a. K, A.

A.

Michelle, in this detailed way, lets you go from speaking generically

to speaking specifically to her.

That's powerful.

Really.

Number two on the list, micro solutions.

Now, I've talked about micro problems before.

You solve small, specific problems before launching big offers.

A lot of coaches are to create their coaching program right out of the gate.

If you already have the expertise and knowledge that allows you

to do that, then go for it.

But most of us don't, not in the very beginning.

If you don't have experience with clients yet, you may not

know what your program needs to be.

Instead, try creating microsolutions first and figure out what Michelle

wants and needs.

You create a microsolution that could

be a lead magnet, but it could also just

be a mini course that takes half an hour to get through and costs

$47, $27 $47, what have you.

But try that first.

When you see what's working, what Michelle

actually buys that she's interested in,

then you know what direction to go in.

You can begin to piece together your main offer.

It may also be like a microsolution, might also just be getting on a call with you.

One of the things that I will do is offer a call to map out your elevated offer,

a core program, the steps of it when people are a little bit further along.

Just a standalone session to get that done.

That can be your microsolution.

An example, as I said,

like the mini course or the call,

just getting on a one-off session.

One way you can look at it to try to figure out what these might be is,

what are three small problems Michelle encounters throughout her day

in relation to what you help her with?

What solution can you create to Michelle's micro problems?

Can you send her an email feel about it.

Again, these micro solutions can come in the form of an email.

It can be a digital product or a standalone coaching session.

It can be a lead magnet.

It can be a social media post.

Use micro problems and solutions to create content offers you can test

because it's so much easier to test that than a full program.

That's a lot of content and work to pull together and put the time

into without knowing yet whether the bits and pieces of it are actually

what your client wants and needs.

Number three, messaging and branding.

Create a message that speaks directly to Michelle, her struggles

and her biggest desires.

Help you and your work stick in Michelle's mind with consistent

colors, image styles, et cetera.

I'm not going to lean too heavily into actual branding, like image branding,

but I will say that you can just

start with choosing colors that become

your brand colors maybe a feel.

For example, when it comes to images I love minimalist and calming,

soothing, horizon type images or just very clean, simple images,

you can go ahead and choose.

You might like warm and inviting.

Choose a feel and a color and just start there.

Don't worry about the rest of it, like a logo or a full, what do we call that?

Like brand and bored, right?

That'll come, but don't worry about that right now because part of it

is you may not have the clarity necessary in order to create that.

That can definitely be busy work that doesn't move you

towards getting a client.

Just start so that there's some consistency and it helps

to help you stick in people's minds, some colors and that feel.

Go from there.

Your messaging is what will get Michelle to stop in her tracks

and lean in to hear more.

I'd rather that you put more attention on that

than the actual visual branding just yet.

List Growth.

This is number four.

Build an audience of people who love what you do.

You want to grow a list full of Michels, and you want to do this steadily every

single month, if not every single week, because here's the thing,

if you don't If you have a list to present your offers to,

then you're not going to go anywhere in terms of your business growing.

You can continue to post on social media and then increase your visibility, which

does play a part in this, absolutely.

But you are going to create a whole lot more traction, a whole lot faster

if you focus on growing your list and promoting to that list.

So five Five is email marketing, hence what we just talked about, list growth.

Nurture relationships and build trust through consistent emails.

Michelle needs to hear from you this week.

She needs some inspiration, education, and a solution.

Are you sending her at least one email this week?

Focus on your email marketing.

If you only have one person on your list, I don't care.

Get into the regular consistent act of emailing your list consistently.

Number 6 is visibility.

Again, we were just talking a little bit about this.

Show up in the right places so your audience can find you.

Where is Michelle hanging out?

Is she on LinkedIn or does she scroll endlessly on Instagram?

Are you showing up there so she sees you and how relevant your work is to her?

Use visibility to build your credibility.

My recommendation to you is to focus on one platform or channel, one client

persona, aka Michelle, and one offer.

That can be your core program, if that's something you've already

created and you feel confident in terms of converting or just a micro solution.

Number seven is content strategy. Keep it simple.

Focus on, as I said, one platform, show up consistently with relevant topics.

Again, micro problems, you hear me say micro solutions and micro problems, But

micro problems are great topic generator.

Again, if you just go through the day of Michelle and make note

of all the problems she encounters in relation to the work that you do.

Let's say that you help people get super organized.

Michelle needs to...

Maybe Michelle is in her early 30s, and she has young children,

and she's trying build a business, and maybe she has another family member

living with her, right?

So her house is full and chaotic all the time, and the clutter

and the mess is just a nonstop thing, and it's really getting in the way

of her personal productivity.

You You can look at the day in the life of her and say, Michelle

wakes up first thing in the morning, and immediately her thoughts go to,

Get the laundry started last night.

You can address the thoughts, organizing her thoughts as soon as she wakes up,

how to start her day off so that she can stay focused on the right things.

Then maybe a simple way to not forget getting something done at the end.

She forgot the laundry the day before, the night before.

What's a simple exercise or process for not forgetting those things?

Again, that can be the topic of an email, social media post.

It can be an article.

It can be a lead magnet.

It could become a three-part mini-course.

It could become a one-on-one session.

The possibilities are endless.

The thing is, when you look at it that way, you're speaking directly

to Michelle and her struggles, and that's really going to stand out to her

when she sees it, because she's going to be able to relate to it very quickly.

What topic will you put out on Michelle's most frequently visited platform today?

Does this topic interest her?

When you've got this running really smoothly, you can expand

to yet another platform.

But for now, keep it simple and get one thing working really well.

Number eight is lead to sales.

This is that path from somebody coming into your community for the first time

and then being able to work with you?

How easy and clear is that path?

Create a clear and easy path for your audience to work with you.

Is it easy for Michelle to sign up or purchase anytime she sees your work?

If she sees your post on social media, is it easy

for her to go from seeing that post to making a purchase and working with you?

If she sees an email from you, is it easy for her to go

from that email to working with you?

If she sees your free offer in a bundle giveaway or a freebie swap,

or she listens to you on a podcast, is it easy for her to go from that point

of contact to making a purchase and working with you?

Look at all your different avenues, your pathways to sales and make sure

that it is very clear and easy.

It's very often missed, honestly.

I'll be very transparent.

I don't have all of mine clearly mapped out.

As I'm thinking about it right now, I need to go back and look at them.

I think that they're all pretty okay, but I know that there are a few

that I do need to go make some small changes on just to make it

a little bit more clear and easy.

Really, really important.

Number nine, we have two more to go after this, is your core offer.

Now, as I said at the very beginning, if you don't have a core offer yet,

if you're in the first one to three years of your coaching business,

you may need to experiment a little and work with micro-solutions,

micro-problems and micro-solutions, creating smaller offers before

you get to your core offer.

Because when you have a handful of smaller offers that are working

really well, or for that matter, it might even be free offers, right?

You know what your people want and you know what direction

to go in and you can pull together this core program that's going

to be exactly what your people want.

I call this an elevated offer.

You can develop an elevated offer that delivers real results,

and you can also accept that that may take you a little bit of time.

It may not be your best first step.

Just keep that in mind.

Your small offers or micro solutions are a great way, as I said, to test what

can become segments of your core offer.

Take your time creating it.

Spend a little time on it this week based on what you've learned so far.

Just make sure as you're focusing your effort and your

work on these 11 things, when I say core offer,

it might just mean I need to take a little bit of time this week, 30 minutes,

and reflect on how everything's been working so far, the free offers I've put

out there, conversations I've had, emails, etc.

Is there anything I can extract from that that I know needs to be in my core offer?

Number 10, elevated offer flow.

So Plan bigger quarterly promotions to keep income steady.

It might be a different frequency.

I'm using quarterly as an example.

What this means is either you have a core offer and you are

promoting it in some way every quarter, and you've created a promotion flow

that is easy for you to essentially just click the button and start.

It doesn't have to be a full scale launch.

It can be a small simple launch that you have set up so that you

can literally just click send to start the first email of a series

of emails to promote this every quarter.

You might have smaller offers.

You may not have a core offer yet, but you have some smaller offers,

like one-to-one sessions here and there, but they're highly specific,

that you can promote every single month.

And again, you have it set up, you have a low set up so that you

can just hit send, and you know that that's being promoted no matter what.

It's important that it be done in a way that you can just rinse and repeat.

It may mean that you have to create a sales page, It may not.

It's probably going to need some emails or some posts or both.

Whatever it is, make it easy for you to rinse and repeat

and easy for people to sign up.

Set it on a regular rotation If

you don't have your core offer ready yet,

you can bundle together other smaller offers, even one-to-one sessions

or smaller digital products and a one-to-one session.

Just make sure that it doesn't require you to build a lot in order to offer it.

Building a little bit is okay.

I just don't want you to get lost in the busy work again.

That may not be absolutely necessary right now to get some traction.

Again, this ensures quick wins and it helps you to begin

to predict clients and sales.

Number 11, energy practices.

Manage your mind and energy to stay aligned and motivated.

I saved this for last because when

you know what to focus on to preserve your

mental energy and also move towards actual growth in your

business, you get discouraged less and you create a vibration

that attracts more of what you want.

But you need a plan to handle the fears, doubts, and worries

so you don't get derailed.

I mean, how many days... I don't know about you.

How many days have you, for example, you wrote a really great social media post

and you put it out there just sure that you were going to get engagement, and a

week it goes by and it's total crickets.

Then suddenly you're just flung into

this downward tailspin of, Why bother?

What am I doing here?

Or you create an offer and send a couple of emails

out and you don't get anybody buying it.

That's normal, especially in the beginning.

We've all experienced that.

However, when it derails you, it takes hours, days, maybe even a week

or longer out of your productivity.

That means hours, days, or even a week or more away from you

creating growth in your business.

Having a plan and a way to handle the fear, doubt, and worry

that pops up, which is inevitable in building your coaching business,

especially when you're building it solo, is really, really crucial.

Really, really crucial.

You want to be able to show up for Michelle and help her experience

the transformation she desperately needs.

In order to do that?

Your energy, your mental energy, your energy to intentionally create

what you desire, must be protected and managed, your state of mind, everything.

These 11 areas are your points on a path.

Matter of fact, I call it the 11 point.

Focus here and you'll finally start to see real progress.

One more thing.

As I said at the beginning, there's an alternative to actually just

going through this list one by one.

You can use this as a regular checklist each week to say, to do a check-in

and say, Where am I at here?

Is this area of my business solid?

Do I need to do anything?

Do I need to fix anything?

Do I need to get it started, get it going, do some planning, etc.

It can be a really simple exercise to help you focus on what matters right now.

Another way, yet again, this is the third way that you can look at this,

is you can just pick one area from the list above that feels

the most out of alignment for you.

Don't overthink it.

Trust your gut.

Write down one specific action you can take this week to improve that area.

No huge overhauls.

Don't get lost in the busy work.

It's a siren that lures you in.

Keep it simple and doable.

Then schedule it.

Actually put it on your calendar.

If it's not scheduled, it will take up way too much mental energy hanging out in

the back of your mind all a day long.

So get it out on paper.

An example, if list growth for you feels off, if you know you're not

doing enough to grow your list, and I'm not talking about one

or two people a month here and there. I'm talking about more than that.

Then your action might be to reach out to three people for potential

collaborations, like a freebie.

Simple, right?

But it can be really, really powerful powerful and productive.

Okay, so why these 11 things?

Well, when you focus on these 11 points, here's what begins to change.

You stop feeling like you're spinning your wheels.

You finally start connecting with the right people,

those who need what you offer.

Your offers feel aligned, and sharing them feels natural, not forced.

You have a clear plan instead of guessing what your next step is.

Your business becomes easier to run and growth feels, again, more natural.

You reclaim your time and energy, focusing on what matters most right now.

Now, I know that you may be thinking, but it's just a list.

I don't need another list or I don't need another strategy.

Well, you're right.

I mean, it is a list, and you're right that you

shouldn't go after another strategy.

You don't need another strategy strategy.

I actually see this as a tool to narrow

your focus to what actually matters.

It's like the blinders that you need to put on so that you don't get distracted.

These 11 areas aren't trends or shortcuts either.

They're actually the foundational pieces that every coaching business needs.

I don't have time to overhaul everything right now.

You shouldn't overhaul everything or anything.

Instead, I want you to make small intentional shifts.

Start with just one area, one small action, or even just the action

of going through the list once a week.

That's how momentum builds.

What if I'm not cut out for this?

Listen, I've been there.

I have I've definitely had those thoughts, and I'm sure that I will have them again

on a not-so-good day in the near future.

It's normal.

But feeling stuck doesn't mean you're not meant for this.

It just means you need a clear path forward, and that's exactly

what this checklist is.

You've come this far, just look at the list and move forward.

The coaches who have figured it out are following a plan and doing

the work with goal in mind.

Look around.

Successful coaches are focusing on the exact things we've talked about here.

They're not chasing every shiny strategy.

They're dialing in on the foundational stuff,

what works and trusting the process.

Just by being here and reading this or listening and reflecting and

taking action, you're stepping out of the busy work loop.

Seriously, gold star for you Now you can ditch the busy work and start

growing your coaching business, finally.

So what's next?

Pick one area, take one action, and start building that momentum.

Because the coaching business you want, considering all of

the infinite potential outcomes in the universe, it's already here, and

it's just waiting for you to catch up.

Hey, thanks so much for joining me for the Solo Coach podcast, it means so much to

me that someone out there is listening.

Now, if you know it's time to do something different about

your business, and you know if it is, consider joining me for my happy

and Successful Business Mastermind, where you can get clarity, support, and a plan.

I'll leave details in the notes below.

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