Are you Needy for Clients? 1/5

Hello, I'm Katie McManus, business strategist and leadership coach. Happy Monday and happy November and happy first of the month. So many happies. So this month and next month, I've decided I'm gonna be going live pretty much every weekday. Unless there's a major holiday or I fall ill, gonna be going live every single day. Because there is so much, so much I want to bring you guys about how we play small, how we get to really be bought into being a weenie, and how we can really step into our power, step into our badass business owner pants and really take on the world and create real impact and real change and real income. Anyway, so tonight I want to talk about this week. The theme is every week is going to have a theme. So welcome to November. We're just doing it this way. Every week is going to have a theme. This week we are talking about being desperate and needy for clients, okay? And I know there has to be a couple hundred of you out there that are connected to me directly. And let me just out myself to begin. I've been there, okay? If you started a business, there has been a point where you have been desperate and needy for clients. And the conditions to be desperate and needy for clients are very simple. It's that you want clients and the money that comes along with them, and you don't have them and you don't know how to get them. And that's a really painful place to be because you know the service that you offer and you know how you can change lives. You know how you can offer an incredible transformation to your clients if they existed, but they don't. And so you're left just in this weird echo chamber of yourself, put posting to social media, doing all this bullshit work that isn't getting you any results. So later this week, we are going to be diving into some real tactical things that you can do to bring in clients if you're feeling that desperation and feeling super needy on sales calls. But first and foremost, I want you to make sure that you're not doing any of the things that are super counterproductive when you're trying to grow your business, okay? So tonight we're going to be talking about stupid purchases. And I was trying to think if I should use a more polite term for that. But let's just be real, okay? These purchases are just dumb ass shit that you're spending your money on, okay? And we're not going to dress it up. We're not going to come up with like some clever name for this, we're just going to go with it. It's. You're spending money on stupid things that aren't actually moving the needle for you, okay? And hi, whoever's watching, welcome. So, as always, I haven't gone live by myself in a little while. Just a, you know, what's the word symptom of moving or, you know, whatever. I just moved two weeks ago, so I do love this to be interactive. So if you have any questions, please do pop them in. Or if you agree with me or disagree with me, let's make this interactive, okay? And I am doing this to multiple platforms, okay? So I'm going to be on the Facebooks, LinkedIn and YouTube, okay? So sometimes not all the comments come through. So if you comment and I don't call you out, just know that I see you. I. I'm not seeing you. It's not you. I'm not mad at you. It's just the technology, okay? Unless you actually say something rude, then we'll have a whole little discussion anyway. But tonight we're talking about being needy and desperate for clients and the stupid ass you are spending your money on that you need to stop spending your money on right now because it's not moving the needle to get you clients, okay? Now, first and foremost, I speak from experience in this, okay? I have spent about between 20 and $30,000 on online courses, okay? I have not done the math on this. I know. My accountant has. I don't even want to know, okay? But here's the thing about online courses is you usually buy them when you are feeling particularly low in your business and you're thinking, okay, well, there's this one thing that I suck at. I suck at social media. I suck at Instagram. I suck at. I'm sorry, my dog is playing with the ball right underneath me. Super helpful. I suck at LinkedIn, whatever. And you usually go on, and maybe you got in someone's email list, I don't know, a decade ago, and they just try strike you at the right time, and you're like, you know what? I need to buy this course. Because I'm totally gonna do it, totally gonna do this course. And just buying it makes you feel better. Let's. Let's just own that, okay? So buying it gives you that little dopamine hit of, wow, I did something. I invested in myself, I invested in my business. Just a squeaky ball right underneath me. It's perfect anyway. But then you proceed to not do the course. You proceed. You invest in this online Course it's going to change your life and your business and make you super profitable. But you get like halfway through the first video and you're like, oh, my God, this person is so dull. Or they're talking about all this background stuff that I don't need to know. Or actually, this doesn't fit my business at all. This isn't how I want to be in my business. But here's this online course. It's a one size fits all for everyone. It's only going to tell me one way to be. And at that point, you've wasted 2, 3, 4, $7,000 on this online course, okay? So if you want to stop being desperate and needy for clients, the number one thing that you need to stop making stupid purchases on are online courses that you're not going to take, okay? And you got to be real with yourself, okay? Because no one else, no one else is going to catch up with you at one o' clock in the morning when you have your credit card out and you're about to make that purchase. You have to catch yourself, okay? Gabby, Hi, welcome. Gabby, where are you from? Why do you have tornadoes around your name? That's so exciting. Oh, my gosh. Hi, Jason. Oh, my gosh, you're up so late. Welcome. Okay, so that is number one of stupid that you need to stop buying and investing your money in if you want to grow your business and you're desperate for growth clients. Okay? So number two is kind of the same. It's the band aid fixes. The band aid fixes, okay. And when I say band aid fixes is. I know we have all seen those advertisements. They're so well worded on Facebook about how, or here's my template for, I don't know, 30 Instagram posts that you can do, or my template to make a lead magnet or whatever. And some beautiful person out there has taken the time to put all this stuff together into a template. They've put it on Etsy, through Canva, whatever, and it's really a band aid fix because this person has put something together that is their branding, not yours. Okay? They've put it together for their needs, not yours. And so you'll buy shit like that thinking, oh, yeah, I'll use this. This will be great. It'll make me look so good when actually just doesn't fit you. And most of the time, I'm gonna hazard a guess, it's around like 86.2%. You're not gonna use it. Let's see. Gabby, how are you Doing this evening, Katie McManus. I'm doing great, Gabby. I have a little mug of wine because I don't have any wine glasses in the stupid apartment, but I'm doing great. And we're talking about stopping this whole process of being desperate and needy for clients. And Jason, I'm heading into the mountains of the group soon, so. Can't sleep. Oh, my God, I'd be so excited to slash terrified Jason. Be safe out there. And Gabby, of course, I love sharing my thoughts. Thanks for joining. Okay, so the band aid fixes. Back to the point. Sorry, number two. So the band aid fixes the things that you're. You're buying for your business that feel like you're saving time in some ways, but they're not actually geared to what you're doing. They don't actually fit and you're not going to use them. Stop spending your money on them. Okay? It is just. You're throwing money away. You're. You're investing in the local economy. I applaud you for that. You know, we all need to be buying from small businesses right now. But please just stop. It's not going to move the needle. It's not going to get you paying clients. It's just going to make you feel more and more lost because you're going to buy all this shit and think, wow, I still can't do everything with all of these things that I have. There must be something wrong with me and babes. There's nothing wrong with you. We've all been there. You just need a better strategy and we're going to be talking about that later in the week because this is a five part series. So, okay, so that's one and two. So number one is stop spending money on online courses that you're not going to use. Two is stopping. Stop buying those band aid fixes. Three is the make me look legit purchases and let me just share what I did when I first started out, when I was desperate for clients. Okay, So I rented a whole office in San Francisco. And granted, I found an office that was only like $550 a month, but I didn't have any clients to like have in this office. It was just kind of like an outside space where I could work from my apartment. I also ordered God knows how many boxes of random business cards. Like every single time I change my niche, I bought new business cards. You know, it is the fancy websites as well. Before you know your niche and before you have like real feedback that your niche wants you to work with them. Do not spend money. Do not spend big money on a website, okay? Do it on the cheap. Do it for free if you can, okay? Do not spend thousands of dollars to have someone develop a website that's basically a glorified resume for you that doesn't speak to your ideal client, okay? And it's so tempting to spend money on this stuff because you think, oh, well, maybe the reason I'm not getting clients is because people don't think I'm legit. And sure, sure, to a certain degree, maybe that is going on, but there are many other ways that saves you thousands upon thousands of dollars that you can show how legit you are without doing this stuff, okay? Do not sign any long leases. Do not. Do not just stop spending money here. Because here's the thing. Picking a niche is a dance of the universe, okay? I started off as a dating coach for men. You want to know how many guys signed up for dating coaching with me? 1. One dude signed up, the rest for women. I'd be at a party and women would be like, well, I want a dating coach, but you only work with what men like. What's that about? And I'd be like, well, sure, I'll coach you, too. If I had spent all that money on a website about being a dating coach for men before realizing that that wasn't going to happen would have been a really bad investment, okay? So I didn't do all of the things on this list, but I did do a lot of them. So do not do what I did. Be smart with your money. And whenever you are buying something or spending money on something to feel more legitimate, there should be an alarm bell that goes off, okay? Because it is not something out there that's going to make you feel legitimate. It's something in here that needs to shift. And for that, my friends, you need a mindset coach or a business coach who's trained in that stuff anyway, okay? So that is number three. Okay? So so far, you're not spending money on online courses anymore. You're not doing band aid fixes, and you're not spending money on the stuff that makes you look legit. Next. Now, this is a big one. This is a big one. And I say this because it is so critical to work with someone who gets. You do not spend money on a coach who is not the perfect fit fit for you, okay? I don't care if it takes two or three phone calls for you to figure out if this is the right person or not, okay? You need to find Someone who can be there for you in exactly the way that you need them to be. To. Sorry, I'm getting distracted. Jason, what's the wine of choice? Oh, I have a nice little coach of roan this evening, and I forget the producer, but I'm a big fan of the Rhone varietals especially. Especially Syrah Northern. Northern Rhone Corona Cornot is my absolute favorite, but it's kind of expensive. I'm. I'm drinking the cheap tonight. Anyway, back to do not spend money on coaches who aren't the right fit for you or who do not get your business model. Okay? Now, you may really like the person, but if they are a restaurant launch coach and you want to start, I don't know, doing bespoke bicycles for people, it's just a mismatch. It's a mismatch. Okay. There are some ways where, you know, they may have a. A skill set that applies to most of your business, and maybe there's, like, one part that doesn't fit and you can get outside help from that, that is fine. But if some. If you really like the person, but they have no idea about your industry and they're just not stretching that way, don't go for it. It's going to be super frustrating, and it's just not going to work out. Likewise, someone might work in your exact space. They may work on business models. They may, you know, talk the talk of exactly what you want in your life, and yet there may be a complete personality mismatch. Okay? And so here's. Here's how I guide this, because I'm a. I'm a codependent. I'm very proud of it. Working with a therapist actively on. On fixing this. But here's my red flag. And I just share this with you in case I have other codependents out there in the audience. If you are stressed out about this person liking you, they are not the right coach for you. Okay? If you guys jive, if you like each other, you know, it's mutual, great. But if I'm concerned that I have to make this person like me or respect me or anything, nope, can't work with them. I've tried it in the past. It does not work. Jason. Love it. Oh, yeah. I take you for a round varietal man. And yeah, so, but you do have to find the coach that is the perfect fit for you. And I want to just be honest. Like, half the time when I'm on a sales call with someone and they're inquiring about my Little my one on one coaching, I do not ask them to be a client because I can tell it's not a fit. And I want them to go and find the coach that's going to be the perfect fit for them. And so if you're working, if you have coaches in your world who have integrity like that, they will actually tell you, no, I'm not sure this is going to be the right fit for you. Can I make some recommendations for other people? And that's exactly what you want. You want to find that right person who is going to support you, hold your hand, do what you need them to do, and don't be ashamed if you need more attention or not and has that expertise. Okay? So hold out for the right coach. Okay? Do not waste your money on the wrong coach. I can tell you it's super fucking painful, this one. Oh, okay. So we've covered online courses, bandaid fixes, make me look legit purchases and coaches that don't fit your needs. Finally. This is just some stuff that really gets to me and I hate it and I don't want anyone spending money on it at any point, anytime. Okay. Referral groups. Okay, I know, I know you're gonna tell me like, oh, but I'm in a BNI and I really like it. And it's like, okay, BNIs are great if you're a house painter, if you're a real estate agent, if you are, you know, the local mortgage person in your town. But if you're offering a service, everyone in that group is supposed to refer you people. But are the people they're referring to your ideal client? I doubt it. It just, it's one of the things that they have to cross off their list. They have to refer someone to you. And nothing is more frustrating than getting referral after referral after referral from well meaning people who these referrals are just not the right client for you and you're desperate for clients so you kind of, you know, bend what you do and maybe offer like too much for too little money. All the things. Hi, Jim, Welcome. Oh, it's so good to see you. I'm so bummed I didn't get to see when I was in California. Anyway, don't spend money on the referral groups. I just, I've never seen it go well and there's just so many other things you could be spending your money on. Okay. And your time and your energy and. Do you really want to be referring to a bunch of other people who you have no idea if they provide a good service or not? I don't think so. That's a great way to, like, poison the pool of your. Of your group. Jason. I joined BNI at the start of COVID More for companionship. I soon dished it and called it a loss. Yeah, totally. If you want to join one of those groups for companionship, I get it. I was lonely. AF and Covid, I did a lot of the same things. But, yeah, it's not a great place to grow your business. But I'm glad. I'm glad you've come to that conclusion. And, you know, we're finding new ways, finally. Okay, so we've covered a lot tonight, finally. The last thing I do not want you spending, wasting your money doing, you know, stupid purchases on to get more business is engagement pods, okay? And you know what I'm talking about. You know, it's like those. Those people who post on LinkedIn and they have like 300 comments and 500 likes, and then you go and look and it's. Great post. Great post. Great post. This is awesome. Great post. Great post. Great post. That person is an engagement podcast, okay? They're not getting actual engagement. They are paying to be part of a group where everyone has to go and comment on their stuff. I know the philosophy here. The. The approach is, well, if a lot of people comment, your stuff is going to be far more visible to people around you. Sure. But if you need to pay for engagement, then your post is probably crap. Okay? Let's just be real. Your post is probably crap. This is a hard. This might be a hard pill to swallow for some people. And I just know that I say this with compassion and love, okay? Compassion and love. It's okay for your post to be crap. It's okay to write a few things that are shitty and that no one wants to comment on. That's fine. We've all been through it. I'm sure. Stephen King. I know for a fact Stephen King wrote some garbage in his day, okay? He writes about it in his book on writing. But do not waste your money and your time and your energy in engagement pods, okay? Because everyone can see through it. And do you really want a crappy post that no one resonates that doesn't actually get you clients? Do you really want that to be the thing that everyone sees as their first impression of you? I don't think so. I wouldn't. I want. I want my bad post to, like, like, I don't know, rot and die on social media so no one sees them. Kevin. Stewart. I love posting crap. I'm with you, Kevin. Well, the beautiful thing about posting crap is that you have to post crap to, to get to the good stuff sometimes, you know, and also, you know, maybe the crap, like does have a little nugget of something that like one person sees and it really resonates with them and they want to reach out. Anna Maria Sometimes they need to flop. Let them die peacefully. Yes. Yes. Oh, I just, I love that, like, you know, we don't want our pets to suffer. We really don't. We don't want them to suffer. So let them die peacefully. And the same for your post. If it's a bad post, just let it die peacefully, you know, with no pain. Jason Shite to one is gold to another. Right on. Exactly. But I also. Yeah, so just don't spend money on engagement pots. I love where this conversation is going. Anyway, that is my list. That is my list of things that I do not want you spending money on if you're desperate and needy for clients. None of these things, none of the things that I've listed are going to move the needle for you to get more clients. Okay, I know that's hard to hear when, like, you see it and you're like, oh, this is going to be the fix and this is going to change my life and all the stuff it's not. And there are some things that will be. I'm going to be talking about that later this week, so you'll want to stay tuned. I haven't decided the times I'm going to be doing this. I usually do it a little impromptu, but I will be saving things. Okay. And if you follow along, if you're not connected with me, please do. It's all going to be on the Facebooks, on LinkedIn and on YouTube and we are going to be going deep into what it takes to step into your brave ass pants to stop being a weenie and stop that whole cycle where you're needy and desperate for paying clients because no one deserves to be there. Anyway, thank you all. Jason and Maria, Kevin, Jim, Gabby and Gabby. I didn't, I didn't check with you. I hope I was pronouncing your name correctly. Anyway, thank you all for joining. It is Monday night. I finally put away all of my laundry and, and unpacked after being here for two weeks. It does take me a little while, but it's finally feeling like a little temporary home while I look from my long term apartment. So I'm gonna be on with my night. Thanks for joining everyone. I hope this is helpful, and if there's anything on this list that really hit home for you, I would love to hear about it in the DMS or in the comments. Anna Maria Stop being weenie. Love this. Awesome. Yes, we all need to stop being weenies. And let me just be totally honest here. There are parts of my life where I'm a complete weenie. There's no shame in being a weenie, but just know that we all have that bravery in us and we can get out of it. Anyway, I love you all so much. Thank you for joining. I'm Katie McManus, business strategist and leadership coach. Luna is off in the corner squeaking her toys somewhere else. Thank goodness. I hope you have a great night and I'll talk to you soon.