#170 - How to choose your next coach or mastermind!

Hello. Hello guys, it is Kate here from hellofunnels and welcome to the Doing it online podcast. Now today I want to talk about something that to be honest, took me way too long to figure out. And I know that usually sort of this time of year where it was just sort of past mid year, people are looking for, you know, maybe you haven't hit the goals that you've wanted, maybe you've realized there's a bit of a gap in your knowledge or in something new business. And I think it's really common this time of year. People are going, all right, well I want to still grow, I still want to hit my goals. So I'm going to need some help. So I'm going to need a, you know, and this is where some people are going. I need a, need a mentor or a mastermind or a coach or just to join a program to sort of like get me to that next level, to help me to upskill, to give me the feedback or advice that I need. And I know that it's a really tricky thing to try and figure out which one is the right one for you. So I wanted to talk you through my process because I've got it very, very wrong over the years and I have spent literally hundreds of thousands of dollars on coaching programs, courses, mentors, from all that I've done the gamut. And you know, I'm not here to say one is better than the other, but more to help you ask a couple of really key questions of yourself to help you to figure out actually what is it that I need right now? What's going to be most useful to me right now, what's going to help me to get the best results right now and then to be able that as your filter when you're looking at the different programs and things out there. So let's dive right on in.

This is the Doing it online podcast with your host, serial entrepreneur, 6 and 7 figure funnel strategist and super nerd Kate McKibben. Where every week we're here talking nerdy and sharing the things that actually work to help you do what you do online. But better, easier and with a ton more profit too. Are you ready? Let's do it it.

Alrighty guys, as mentioned, if you're listening to this episode, I'm assuming that you are at the moment considering or you have previously or maybe it's at the back your mind that you know, towards later in the year you're going to be looking for someone to come in and help you in your Business. And I don't think I need to explain how important it is at certain stages of your business to have that sort of extra help, to have that sounding board. It's. I know my own personal story, you know, multiple times. The, you know, I've, and particularly whenever I've sort of like felt like I've hit a level and I've gotten stuck. That's when I'm always like, okay, I need a fresh set of eyes or I need a new, different brain, a different strategy, different way of looking at things, someone to reflect stuff back to me. I need some, I need some outside help. I, you know, I've, you know, managed to get myself to a certain point and I need some help. And I'm not the kind of person who needs to be in a program all the time. Even though I am a pretty constant learner. I'm always doing online programs. But as far as like that higher level coaching and stuff, I tend to go through phases where I'm like, all right, I'm good on my own. I just want to get to work and get stuff done. And then other times where I really crave either having that mentor or even just having a community. And there's been so many different seasons in my own business where I've needed very different things. And this is where I kind of came up with this list of questions to. After I said, after getting it wrong a few times and being distracted by perhaps some things I shouldn't have been distracted by, you know, now I have this list that before I make any kind of big investment that, you know, like anything that's over like a thousand dollars, basically, then I have to kind of run it through these filters and make sure like, this is the right choice. Because it's not just about choosing something and it being the right investment for your money and not wasting your money. It's also about your time and your focus. Because if you choose something and it's just not the right strategy for you, or it's not the right group for you, then you've kind of, you know, you generally don't have the capacity to then go, okay, well go do something else. So what you're then doing is having to wait to the end of that program or till you have the revenue or resources to invest in something else, and then, you know, that's just a waste of your time. So I don't want you wasting time. I don't want you wasting money. I don't want to be wasting time on money either. And so I'M going to take you through these questions now. So very first thing, and I think this is super important because I don't believe that people should be overextending themselves getting. I know other people have different sort of views on this kind of things, but I think that the first thing you need to do is you need to check in with your budget. So everyone should have a budget. It doesn't have to be anything crazy complicated. But within that budget you need to have as a business owner, you need to have a line item and a percentage of for your own development, growth, support, coaching, like every single business does. You cannot. It's very, very hard to grow. It takes a lot longer. And so usually, and it does depend on your stage of business, but it's between 5 to 15% is what is recommended. Usually as your sort of revenue grows, that percentage will come down. But particularly in the beginning stages or in the sort of like, you know, mid six figure kind of stages between like 5, 10%, 15%, it kind of is one of those things that you also have to look at you obviously what other expenses you have, maybe whether it's team and marketing and things like that. But you always need to have a line item for, you know, for coaching, for your own personal development and growth and learning. So check in. Does it fit within your budget? If not, go find someone that does. Because there's a thousand different programs out here, you know, and new ones being, you know, of all different ranges from one to one support down to, or group support down to diy. So you just need to find something that fits in with what you can afford. You do not want to be putting extra financial pressure on yourself, particularly at the start because when you're in that headspace, it's very hard to be productive and stuff as well. Get. Some people thrive on that, but I do not. So that's always number one, does it fit the budget? Number two is to really sit back. And it can be difficult. When you've just read about a program, go, oh my gosh, this sounds amazing. This sounds like the thing. And often maybe there's a little bit of a celebrity factor going on with maybe this is someone you've always idolized or you get major FOMO when they're posting about their stuff. And so you're kind of letting that cloud your judgment a little bit. Again, I've fallen for that myself. So it's really important to sit back and go, okay, what do I actually need right now? And usually it's not just one thing, but It'll be a couple of things, but you need to figure out and usually it comes down to four things. So of these four, I'll tell you what they are now and I want you to think about like maybe rank them in order of what is the most important thing for me right now? What's the thing that's gonna be the most useful, most valuable that I need to be able to solve the problems I currently have to get to that next level. So number one, community and connections. And this is a really real and important thing. Sometimes just being in the room, even if it's a virtual room with, as you know, with a certain group of people at a certain level, it opens up opportunities, opens up chances to do joint ventures, chances to get introduced to different people, just to sort of see that and have be inspired by what other people are doing, hear what's working in the real world. Like that, you know, can be a super valuable thing. So.

Where does that kind of sit on Your ranking of 1 to 4? Next is inspiration, I think kind of sort of it said it out. But community connections is actually meeting the people. Feeling inspired, I would say is a separate one. So you might get some of that from the community connection, but just from being in that space, being around that particular coach. Do you need that like inspiration motivation, you know, do you need that? Is that. How important is that to you? Number three is just straight teachings training. Like do you need to learn? Are you like, okay, I can't get here because I kind of don't know what I should be doing. Like I need to go and upskill in some areas. Like do you need to actually go and learn some stuff? And then number four is, do you need personalized advice and feedback? So do you need someone to actually, whether it's one on one all the time, or maybe they have like not every 90 days they have some kind of one on one contact. Or maybe they just have like we've got really great hot seat style calls where people get one on one feedback a couple of times a week. But, but do you need that? Like do you need someone to be able to look at your stuff and go, no, you need to do this and not. Or do you just need to be able to go, I need to learn the next thing and then people and then maybe be able to ask some questions about how I implement it. So those four things, rank them in order and then use that as your filter when you're looking at the programs, go, all right, is if, if your number one thing is you need to like up level your skills. And maybe it's up level your skills in marketing or up level your skills in sales, or up level your skills in creating content or whatever it is. And this person is very good at creating amazing community and having lovely fun retreats and stuff like that. But there's no actual course content, then that's not gonna be the right choice for you. Or vice versa. If you're like, I kind of know all this stuff, I just need someone to kick my ass and make me do it, then, you know, you need someone who has that inspiration, that accountability, that motivation as a big part of their program. So you can see how, as I mentioned, like at different times of business we need different things and we value different things. Me personally, like, particularly early on, I was like, I just want to learn all the things. Teach me all the things. And I still love, like I'm, I think I mentioned this already. I'm constantly doing and learning something from a whole gamut. Any problem I have or any kind of, you know, like, we got a puppy. I did like three online puppy training courses. Like, I just love learning. But you know, at certain points, you know, particularly, you know, more beginner stuff, I was like, I just want to learn all the things. And then later on I'm like, I'm kind of good with that. What I want is to be, you know, I want to kind of have my eyes opened up a bit more to what's possible. I want to be in rooms with people at next levels and like hear what they're doing and see some of that real world. And other times I've been like, you know what? I don't have the time. Particularly when I had a newborn, like, I can't be going to events, I can't be that. I just want to speak to someone once every couple of months, get, tell them what I'm doing, get them to give me their, you know, their feedback on that and be able to ask questions when I need it and then I'm just going to get on with it. So like, you need very different things at different points. So that's why it's so important to know what is available to you. As I said, those four things, community and connection. Inspiration and motivation. Teaching, as in actually learning stuff and personalized advice and feedback and then order those things. What in your order of most to least important right now and just use that as your filter when you are choosing any kind of online program.

The next one that I think is really important is think about how do you like to engage. Like, some people don't engage at all. They're just like, I just want it. I'm going to go through the work, I'm going to get it done. If I need a question, I'll ask, but otherwise I'm over here. Other people, like, I need a community. I want to be in there, I want to be chatting, I want to be meeting other people. I was like, I need to be in person. I want to meet people up in person. Like, I recently joined a mastermind and I was looking for one in Australia and I couldn't find one because, like, I just want to be in a room with people again. And we've had Covid. We've been shut down for two years and I had a baby and I just want to be like, I want to touch some. That sounds creepy, but I want, you know, being around some humans. And so that was like very much part of my filter. I'm like, who is doing in person stuff that I can actually get to and attend? Because again, I have a small child and I'm in Australia and it's a bit harder. So that was a big part of my choice. And the same with like, how you getting your feedback? Like, if you are in a stage of business where you're like, I need someone who's going to give me one on one advice or, you know, I hate Facebook groups. I don't want to have to be asking questions in a Facebook group. I don't want to get those. Like, I think we've all kind of been in those programs where it's like a Facebook group, a few thousand people and then you ask. And then the coaches, coaches, coach kind of, you know, these kind of just ask you the how you feel about that question. They don't actually answer it. Like, you know, you need to make sure that, okay, how are you happy to get on group calls and you know, talk about things with other people? Do you need one on one? Do you need. In person, do you need a community? Do you need, like, so be real. You know, you. There's a thousand different combinations of everything out there. Usually the obviously, the more high touch, the more one to one, the higher the price point will be. So you may prefer one to one, but your price point is not quite there, but you want to go, all right, well, what's going to get me the. The closest to that? But they're all just considerations. They're all just filters to hopefully help you make a really good decision and get into the right program that's going to get you the best results and the final one, and this is optional but I kind of think it's important is with whoever is leading the program having a look at their business and how they do business and how like the kind of like bigger picture like you because you know you can tell a lot about what they're going to tell you to do and the types of strategies they're going to advise by looking at what they themselves do. So you know I once had a like a strategy call with a really high level coach who a friend of mine had worked with and loved and had amazing results. I'm like oh that sounds, you know like I would, the, the retreats, everything sound amazing. I'm like I would love to work with them. But then I spoke to them and they were like, oh you've got to do speak on stage, gotta do big events and sell from stage. And I'm like that I am extremely introverted person who hates speaking publicly, who would like it would be my worst nightmare. And that's your number one strategy. Okay, you would not gonna be for me. So and I probably, if I'd done my research prior would've been like okay, this is how she sells. So this is how she's gonna tell me to sell. So just doing again doing that sense check like looking go like if you're a person who loves doing big loud live launches, go look for the people who do the big loud live launches. If you're someone who's like I freaking hate launches then come and look at us or you know another person, you know like you know someone who's got who sells how you want to sell, who markets how you want to market. Particularly if it's a program around sales and marketing, it's a pretty easy to see this is how they do it. Do I like how they do it? Do I want to do it how they do it. And you know, then you're going to know that you're going to get the kind of advice to kind of build the kind of business that you want to have. So hopefully guys, just a little thought starters there. If you are out there currently looking for an online program, a mastermind, a next step, some whatever kind of help these have. Since adding these filters into my own decisions, I've definitely saved myself a ton of money and I'm now in a program that I'm loving and so I hope that these questions have helped you guys to make a great decision and to get some great results as well. So that's it for me this week guys. I hope you've loved it. If you have DM us, share it, leave us a review. We always love to hear from you guys. Otherwise I will see you next week. Bye.

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