1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:05,000 A coach, a little bit like therapy, but not quite therapy. We 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,800 do our best work when we're out of our comfort zone. As a mentor, 3 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:12,320 I'm not going to waste your time suggesting that you 4 00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:16,080 explore or scope out something that I know from personal experience 5 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:17,520 does not work. 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:26,400 At the moment, I'm speaking to a lot of website designers who 7 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:30,380 are saying to me, I've recently had coaching, or I've had coaching 8 00:00:30,380 --> 00:00:34,060 in the last year. I know I needed to do something in my business and 9 00:00:34,060 --> 00:00:37,540 the coaching didn't work. And I feel like I'm burnt out. 10 00:00:37,940 --> 00:00:41,540 And I feel like I've kind of lost faith in 11 00:00:42,260 --> 00:00:46,100 how to run my business in a model where I can scale it, 12 00:00:46,100 --> 00:00:49,420 where I can take some more time out of it, and where I can actually 13 00:00:49,420 --> 00:00:53,060 really enjoy it again. And I really 14 00:00:53,060 --> 00:00:56,650 hear you. I really feel for you. And so, so 15 00:00:56,650 --> 00:01:00,410 many people have been there. And I wanted to record this 16 00:01:00,410 --> 00:01:04,090 podcast episode for you because I wanted to say, don't 17 00:01:04,090 --> 00:01:07,810 give up. Please don't give up, because there is the 18 00:01:07,810 --> 00:01:11,650 right solution for you out there. And I thought I would use this 19 00:01:11,650 --> 00:01:15,250 episode to walk through a few of the 20 00:01:15,250 --> 00:01:18,810 points in why this possibly hasn't worked for you 21 00:01:18,970 --> 00:01:21,210 and how we can turn that around. 22 00:01:26,570 --> 00:01:30,030 Hi, for anyone who doesn't know me, I am Holly Christie. I am the host 23 00:01:30,030 --> 00:01:33,670 of this podcast, Websites Made simple, and I am a 24 00:01:33,910 --> 00:01:37,390 website designer, a website designer's mentor, and 25 00:01:37,390 --> 00:01:41,070 developers. I mentor you too, and I am here to help 26 00:01:41,070 --> 00:01:44,790 you have the best career that you can 27 00:01:44,790 --> 00:01:48,510 have doing what you love. So let's get 28 00:01:48,510 --> 00:01:48,790 started. 29 00:01:53,110 --> 00:01:56,710 So the one thing that has come up is that people 30 00:01:56,710 --> 00:02:00,420 say about, you know, I went to work with a coach, and 31 00:02:00,580 --> 00:02:04,220 I get it. There are coaches everywhere. I build so 32 00:02:04,220 --> 00:02:07,700 many websites for coaches. I really do know, 33 00:02:07,860 --> 00:02:11,540 like, how that message is being put to us, particularly freelancers, 34 00:02:11,540 --> 00:02:15,180 all the time. You need coaching for this, you need coaching for that. And it's 35 00:02:15,180 --> 00:02:18,980 really easy to fall down the spiral of someone's content and think, oh, yeah, 36 00:02:18,980 --> 00:02:22,540 I really like them. I feel like I've got to know them. It's time to 37 00:02:22,540 --> 00:02:26,340 go and work with them. And one of the things that I would 38 00:02:26,340 --> 00:02:29,540 say people are probably in our industry making 39 00:02:30,220 --> 00:02:33,700 the first mistake with is that they're working with a coach instead of a 40 00:02:33,700 --> 00:02:36,900 mentor. And the difference between this is that 41 00:02:36,900 --> 00:02:40,100 coaching is very much you have your own 42 00:02:40,100 --> 00:02:43,340 answers and the coach is there to help you 43 00:02:43,420 --> 00:02:46,780 unlock them. And in doing that, they can help you 44 00:02:47,020 --> 00:02:50,780 overcome obstacles, they can help you do some brilliant 45 00:02:50,780 --> 00:02:54,420 things and increase your confidence and find these answers. And it's 46 00:02:54,420 --> 00:02:58,150 Fantastic. But when you're a website designer, the chances 47 00:02:58,150 --> 00:03:01,910 are that what you need is mentoring. Where someone says, 48 00:03:02,150 --> 00:03:05,910 I've been where you are, I know what the industry 49 00:03:05,990 --> 00:03:09,790 is like, I know the problems that you're facing and whether that's growing 50 00:03:09,790 --> 00:03:13,590 your business or whether that's with a really sticky layout that you just 51 00:03:13,590 --> 00:03:17,310 can't quite get right, or everything that comes in between with 52 00:03:17,310 --> 00:03:20,750 that. And that is what mentoring is. Coaching. They're not meant to give 53 00:03:20,750 --> 00:03:24,270 advice. They are meant to just listen and ask 54 00:03:24,270 --> 00:03:27,990 questions. And they sometimes will use work models and worksheets and stuff which 55 00:03:27,990 --> 00:03:31,150 will help to kind of challenge you and stretch you and help you to really 56 00:03:31,150 --> 00:03:34,670 explore those answers. But they can't give you advice. 57 00:03:35,070 --> 00:03:38,510 If you've been listening to this podcast for a while, you will 58 00:03:38,750 --> 00:03:42,350 know that I give a lot of advice. And one of those 59 00:03:42,350 --> 00:03:46,030 things is because I am a mentor, so I can and I've been you and 60 00:03:46,030 --> 00:03:49,790 I've lived you. And I don't want you to have to do 61 00:03:49,790 --> 00:03:53,510 that all by yourself and feel really at lost of it. Or I also 62 00:03:53,510 --> 00:03:57,070 don't want you to have the hideous experiences that I had along the way that 63 00:03:57,070 --> 00:04:00,790 kind of formulates that basis of this advice as 64 00:04:00,790 --> 00:04:01,070 well. 65 00:04:07,870 --> 00:04:11,630 What you won't know about me because it's from qualification 66 00:04:11,630 --> 00:04:15,310 from even before my website designing days is that I trained in 67 00:04:15,310 --> 00:04:19,069 counseling so skills as well. And so I also 68 00:04:19,149 --> 00:04:22,949 know how to really listen and use those guided questions as well to 69 00:04:22,949 --> 00:04:26,509 support you in being heard, 70 00:04:26,509 --> 00:04:30,309 in finding those answers and having the confidence that it's not 71 00:04:30,309 --> 00:04:33,949 just about saying this is what you need to do now go off and do 72 00:04:33,949 --> 00:04:37,749 it. It's about really supporting you in the best way that that works 73 00:04:37,749 --> 00:04:41,589 for you as well. I always say, like, no two websites. 74 00:04:41,589 --> 00:04:44,149 If I went and built a website and you went and built a website and 75 00:04:44,149 --> 00:04:47,840 we were using all the same materials, we would not build 76 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:51,560 the same website. And that's the case with mentoring 77 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:54,840 and coaching as well, is that you won't be getting the same advice. So when 78 00:04:54,840 --> 00:04:58,560 you work with me, you'd be getting the advice that really works for 79 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:02,040 you and helps support you in getting to the next level. 80 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:06,320 Doing it, I would say within your comfort zone. But we do our best 81 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,640 work when we're out of our comfort zone. What I will say is that I 82 00:05:09,640 --> 00:05:13,280 can absolutely support you every step of the way with that as 83 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:16,880 well. So a coach also doesn't 84 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:20,480 have an industry specific experience, so they're 85 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,880 not able to really take some of the issues that we face 86 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,720 within the industry and really advise you on how to deal with that 87 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:31,440 as well. And that's quite a big one because when you get a client, come 88 00:05:31,440 --> 00:05:34,760 back and say, I don't like the draft of this website, 89 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:38,600 sorry, or, you know, I don't want to stick to your terms of service, 90 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:41,960 or I date this, that or the other. What you need is on the ground 91 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,160 help then and there. You don't need someone saying, well, 92 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:49,120 what do you feel your answer should be for that? Or how did that make 93 00:05:49,120 --> 00:05:52,640 you feel? You need someone who can say, right, okay, what would you like the 94 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:55,920 outcome of this to be? And for us to be able to go through and 95 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:59,720 work on that outcome and get that outcome, achieve it together. As 96 00:05:59,720 --> 00:06:03,120 a mentor, I will support you to working to best 97 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:06,440 practices all of the time. I am absolutely known 98 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:10,600 for not cutting corners. And that doesn't mean that we do 99 00:06:10,600 --> 00:06:14,360 everything longhand all of the way. There are lots of tips 100 00:06:14,360 --> 00:06:18,080 and tricks that I can teach you and, you know, whether that's 101 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:21,920 kind of cloning pages and saving containers and sending stuff up 102 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:25,280 to the cloud and drawing it back down from the cloud and really kind of 103 00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:29,040 honing those practices. But it means that when you are 104 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:32,880 working to best practices all of the time, you know that 105 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:36,470 you can be confident in, in not only what you are delivering to your 106 00:06:36,470 --> 00:06:40,310 clients, but to the skills that you're learning and you're 107 00:06:40,310 --> 00:06:43,990 embedding as well. You know, once you start doing something really well one way, you 108 00:06:43,990 --> 00:06:47,710 will continue to do that really well all the way 109 00:06:47,710 --> 00:06:50,670 through. So I will support you in doing that as well. 110 00:06:55,470 --> 00:06:59,230 And going back to that point where I said about we all do things differently, 111 00:06:59,720 --> 00:07:03,520 we all run our businesses slightly differently as well. And as a mentor, I'm 112 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:06,800 not here to say to you, you've got to do this like the way I 113 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:09,640 do it, or you've got to use the tools I use, or you've got to 114 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:13,480 do this, that, and the other, I can, of course, make recommendations as 115 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,200 to what tools I use. I think there's a podcast episode back in 116 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:20,880 the backlogs which talk to you about what tools I use, what the essential 117 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:24,640 ones I feel are. But what I'm looking to do when I'm working 118 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:28,470 with you is, is look at building on the stuff 119 00:07:28,470 --> 00:07:32,230 that's really worked for you. So you might think, right, I've got this 120 00:07:32,230 --> 00:07:35,470 set up nailed. This is what I want to work in. And then we're going 121 00:07:35,470 --> 00:07:39,230 to go and develop that and say, okay, that's brilliant. You know, how can 122 00:07:39,230 --> 00:07:42,590 we then bring that to the market in a way that's going to get you 123 00:07:42,590 --> 00:07:45,950 more business, that's going to keep your clients happy, that's going to feel very productive 124 00:07:45,950 --> 00:07:49,750 for you. And we all, especially because we work in 125 00:07:49,750 --> 00:07:53,560 such a creative industry, we have so many ideas and that 126 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:57,280 can be for running our businesses as well as projects 127 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:00,720 and things like that. And I'm going to 128 00:08:00,720 --> 00:08:04,560 encourage you to scope out those ideas as well. I work 129 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,400 with coaches. I had a coach a few years ago when I really wanted 130 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:12,040 to level up. She was absolutely amazing. Every time I came up with an 131 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:15,000 idea, she would say, go and scope it out. And I would go and scope 132 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:18,540 it out and I would know which ones were worth pursuing because 133 00:08:18,620 --> 00:08:22,300 I would action them, I would take action on them. So we 134 00:08:22,300 --> 00:08:25,900 will look at doing that as well and some of them will naturally 135 00:08:25,900 --> 00:08:29,540 fall by the wayside. So when you've had coaching in the 136 00:08:29,540 --> 00:08:33,100 past and you've said, I feel like I've been burned, I feel like it hasn't 137 00:08:33,100 --> 00:08:36,860 worked, all that sort of stuff, you're not going to get that when 138 00:08:36,860 --> 00:08:40,140 you're working with me because we're not going to get to a point where you 139 00:08:40,140 --> 00:08:43,420 feel like none of this is working and it is just hopeless. 140 00:08:44,110 --> 00:08:47,910 I'm going to really support you with some really industry specific stuff that's 141 00:08:47,910 --> 00:08:51,670 going to get you to the next level and it works. Not only have I 142 00:08:51,670 --> 00:08:55,390 done this for myself, but I mentor handfuls of 143 00:08:55,630 --> 00:08:59,390 website designers and developers every year and they've all 144 00:08:59,390 --> 00:09:02,430 gone on to grow their business, they've gone on to niche, they've gone on to 145 00:09:02,430 --> 00:09:06,270 get specific skill sets and they are all thriving. And you 146 00:09:06,270 --> 00:09:07,310 can thrive too. 147 00:09:13,230 --> 00:09:16,930 Finally with coaching, and you've probably had this, and it's just following 148 00:09:16,930 --> 00:09:20,650 on from the last point is that coaches can sometimes gloss over when there's been 149 00:09:20,650 --> 00:09:24,410 something that's not worked well because they don't know how to fix it. 150 00:09:24,970 --> 00:09:28,690 And again, with mentoring, we can fix it. Because we're 151 00:09:28,690 --> 00:09:32,210 not going to gloss over if something hasn't worked. We'll look at why it hasn't 152 00:09:32,210 --> 00:09:36,010 worked. If we're scoping something else and I'm telling you that's 153 00:09:36,010 --> 00:09:38,730 not going to work, I will also tell you why it's not going to work. 154 00:09:38,730 --> 00:09:41,330 And then of course, if you want to then push forward and say, no, I 155 00:09:41,330 --> 00:09:44,240 really want to try and develop this, then we will look at the most viable 156 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,960 and practical way of developing it together. So if you feel 157 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:51,840 that you would like to give it another go, you would like to get back 158 00:09:51,840 --> 00:09:55,680 in the saddle and really develop your website design 159 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:58,680 business, but you'd like to do it with some industry specific support. 160 00:09:59,240 --> 00:10:02,920 You could look at my Phoenix program. That is a nine month program 161 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:06,880 for websites, developers and designers. It is there to 162 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:10,680 support them in leveling up, growing their business, making a name for themselves 163 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:15,040 and loving what they do. It's also designed to help you to 164 00:10:15,040 --> 00:10:17,640 be able to step away from your business a little bit so that you can 165 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:21,480 make more money but also have some more free time. If you're a 166 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:25,200 little bit nervous of going into a nine month program right 167 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:29,040 now, I hear you. I totally understand why that would be the case 168 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:33,280 and you can book one to one mentoring with me through my websites as well. 169 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:37,100 And you just go to websitesmadesimple.co.uk you'll find 170 00:10:37,100 --> 00:10:40,820 everything you need there and I would love to hear from you. If 171 00:10:40,820 --> 00:10:44,500 you've liked what you've heard today and you would like to explore this more, 172 00:10:44,580 --> 00:10:47,860 come to the website or get in touch. You can find me at 173 00:10:48,020 --> 00:10:51,620 helloebsitesmadesimple.co.uk. i would 174 00:10:51,700 --> 00:10:55,500 love to hear from you. Until then, happy 175 00:10:55,500 --> 00:10:56,100 designing.