Coach: 3 Ways to Build Your Business
Mary Schiller went from being fired at 54 with little savings to building a six-figure coaching business. She shares three principles: reconnect with your own transformation, market through daily authentic storytelling, and keep your offer simple—start with one-to-one coaching and avoid over-engineering. Focus on one mentor voice and concrete milestones like $5K a month.
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Hello, bonjour, bonsoir. Welcome to this holiday coaching call. It is December 11th, 2024. Hard to believe that this year is almost over. I am happy that you are here with me if you are joining live. If you are watching this on the replay, thank you for taking the time to do that. I always appreciate it. So if you are with me live, feel free to say hello in the chat or wave if you're on camera, and we will get this rolling. Basically what I would like to do is I want to have some time for questions and answers from you if you're with me live, and I'm going to start with a few— hi, Mimi— I'm going to start with a few little things that are actually kind of big things, uh, to share with you. And again, if you have questions, feel free to type them in the chat. And if we want to bring you on camera at some point, we certainly can do that as well. So I have been thinking a lot about this next year and what I want for you and what I want for myself and all of those wonderful things. And this is really coming straight from my heart right now because— hi, Laura. Hi, Lindsay. Hi, Sati. Because I have been thinking about you a lot, and I feel like it's time for me to make some changes to what I am doing to make it even easier for you to reach your goals. For your coaching business in terms of both impact and the income that you can be earning. And so I've done a lot of reflecting on this, and I have really figured out a way to streamline things, to make things even simpler for you in terms of having a real plan to move forward with. And so I will share some of those things that I have coming up a bit later. But just so you know, this is really important to me that you are able to create what you want to create in terms of your coaching business in a way that is like so simple that it doesn't require anything. And I don't— I mean, it literally doesn't require anything complicated. And so that's where I'm coming from going forward. And that's what I'm going to emphasize even on this call. Hi, Laura. Thanks for joining. Hi, Susie. So I want to go over 3 quick things before I jump into some Q&A with you that have been on my mind. And one is that when I first started as a life coach, I don't know if how many of you are who are listening really realize where I was starting from at that point, but I was really starting from an interesting place. I had just been fired from my full-time job, which was unexpected and really horrible. And I had very little money in the bank. I had about 3 months of expenses in the bank because of some things that had happened about 2 months before that that had literally drained our savings. Um, my husband was not working at the time because he had wanted to change his job to telecommuting, but they wouldn't allow him to do that. So he went to, uh, California to be with his father who was terminally ill. So there I was in our Bronx apartment in New York City at age 54 going, okay, I just got fired. I've got almost no money. And I also had debt up to my eyeballs, credit card debt. It was, it was not great financially. And I just said, I don't want to go back to doing what I was doing before. I had been a professional writer for a very long time. Most of my career had been as a writer in various forms, and I just didn't want to do the kind of writing work that I'd been doing. I had gone through a major life transformation about 18 months before that, and I said, you know what, I want to be a coach. I want to help people change their lives like my life was changed by a coach. And I literally just made the decision that that's what I was going to do, and I was going to do whatever it took to make that happen. And not only was I going to do whatever it took to make that happen, I had so much conviction in myself that I, I just knew that I could do it. I didn't know how I was going to do it, but I knew that I had been through such a powerful transformation that I could not keep that to myself. I just couldn't keep that to myself. I had to share what I had learned with other people, and I had to do something to help them to have the same kind of transformation that I had if they were in pain, if they were struggling with something. It just kind of took over my whole life, this idea like, I can do something to help people, and so I'm going to do it. And it was literally because I had gone through a transformation after 30 years of searching for an answer and feeling like there was, you know, was there an answer for me? And when I found the answer finally after 30 years of searching— and I'm not exaggerating, it was literally 30 years from age 22 to age 52— I said to myself, okay, well, if I can have my life completely changed then there are other people who are probably searching for an answer too, and maybe I can provide it to them. Maybe I can help them to see that. So I went into this whole coaching thing from this perspective of not just, yes, I'm going to make the income because I needed to make the income. It wasn't just that. It was more, way more, this sense, if you will, that— or this truth, I guess— that I knew I could help people because I was going to show them what had helped me. And that was where I was going to operate from. So that was the first thing that I wanted to share with you, is that we have to come at this whole coaching business from this angle of I have achieved something. I have transformed something in my life, and I really want to help other people do the same thing. Now that I'm doing more business coaching than life coaching, it's the same. I have already been to the six-figure mark. I know how to get there. I know how to get to a $60,000 year, $5,000 a month. I know how to do that. I've done that multiple times. And it's something that I absolutely am convicted in, that that is something that I can show people how to do. And it's influencing everything that I offer in the next year. And so if you are feeling at all stuck from, you know, in, in regards to anything related to your coaching business, I want you to go back to that place that I just described. No matter how long you've been trying to become a coach or if you're just starting, I want you to reactivate that feeling of conviction in yourself that you absolutely 100% know that you are going to be able to help people because your life has been changed in some profound way. So let me pause there and see if there are any comments that are coming in. About that. Does anyone have anything they'd like to say about what I just mentioned about starting from this place of absolutely knowing? Because what I find oftentimes is that coaches get very caught up in the, the side of things that, yes, business is important, but they're not always connecting to that place within them, that place within them, that conviction that they can help people. And so their focus gets kind of diffused into all of these businessy things, and they forget why they actually wanted to become a coach in the first place. And I'm excited right now because I feel like I have really reignited that spark that I had at the beginning when I was a life coach. And then when I started business coaching and was like, oh my gosh, I actually can help people do this. So wherever you are right now, do whatever you need to do to connect to that conviction within yourself. So that's the first thing I wanted to talk about. The second thing I wanted to talk about is that the piece that people seem to overcomplicate the most in this whole coaching business setup is that there's really only 2 things basically that we need to be doing. That's it. And that is creating things that help us connect with people. Some people call this content. That word has never really resonated with me, but it's what it is. Let me check on Lindsay's comment. I completely agree. I know I can, can and do help people because I've had enough clients to know that now. But somehow marketing still seems to be difficult in some way. Okay, I'm glad you said that, Lindsay. I mean, I'm not glad that you feel that's difficult, but it's kind of relating to what I'm saying where there's really only two things on the business side that we really need to be thinking about at all. And one is connecting with people. I like to think of marketing as connecting with people. And I, you know, I said a moment ago that, you know, we can think of it as creating content that connects with people. And really, the, the whole game, if you will, of marketing is just connecting with people. That's all it is. It doesn't have anything to do with being a fancy-schmancy copywriter or anything like that. It only— it just means communicating with people and, you know, letting them know that you understand what they're going through and that you have something that can help them. It's one reason why I encourage people who are, especially who are just starting out, to coach people in the thing that has been transformational to you because you can talk about that forever. That isn't something that you need to hire a copywriter for. You can speak from the heart on a daily basis. You can be sharing something that has changed in your life since you discovered whatever it is, and that's the thing that you help people with. So when I look back on when I started and I think about how I was connecting with people, that's where I— that's where it was coming from. It was literally me telling people how my life had been changed by something that I discovered, and also sharing what I had discovered in different ways so that people were like, oh, She is the real deal. She's been through a pretty big change in her life that she was able to, you know, have happen through this process. And I'm going to listen because she's a living, breathing example of someone who was successful with it. And so if it seems like marketing is difficult, Lindsay, you may want to just go back to the beginning. And start sharing your own story of transformation. That's the easiest way to connect with people, is to tell them what happened for you. That is how I got my first clients, because until I made that decision to become a coach, I really hadn't thought about coaching people in that way. I had had a lot of conversations with people. I had been interviewed by a few people who had YouTube programs. We— back then, people weren't really doing that many podcasts, but there were some. And all I did all of that time was just repeat my story over and over and over again. Yes, I would vary it and talk about it in different ways depending on who the audience was and stuff and stuff. But you can just start there. I think where people see marketing, quote unquote, as difficult is they think that it has to be something fancy, but it doesn't. And so the other part of it was that I was very visible back then. I was doing a lot of free talks. I was emailing the tiny list that I had at the time. I don't know how many people it was, but it was small. And I was, you know, sharing my story again that way. I wasn't shy about doing that. And that is where you can start. It just, it just has to do with being consistent about connecting with people. That is a major piece. And I would say if there's one thing you want to do literally on a daily basis, it's something related to connecting with people. Choose a platform, any platform, it doesn't matter, and put something on there every day. And you will be shocked at how quickly things develop for you. Hi, Mimi. The big change for me is transitioning to finally having my own coaching business. I also feel marketing will be the hardest thing to do. And the fact that I only just started my business and actually haven't actually made any money. I don't want to lie and deceive people, but I'm assuming I can just be honest. Well, it would be— thank you for that, Mimi. It would be different if you were teaching people how to make money, but you hadn't made any money. So if that's not what you're coaching people in, no. You know, I was coaching people in the life transformation process that worked for me. So it was very easy for me to be honest because I was literally just talking about what happened for me and what I discovered that led me to this major transformation out of someone who was— from someone who was experiencing daily horrific bouts of post-traumatic stress disorder to someone who wasn't having it at all. And, you know, freeing up my life to, you know, create a business and move over here and to Paris and all those kinds of things. So as long as you are talking honestly about your own transformation related to what you're sharing with people, and that's what you coach them in, it's easy. Literally, you could write a daily post on Instagram sharing something that changed in your life because of what you now coach people in because that's what happened for you and people can see you as the example. And it's great, it's great at any point in your business, but it's especially good in the beginning because then you don't need any client testimonials. You are the testimonial. You're the living, breathing, walking testimonial of what you are coaching people in. So let me go to Lindsay. I do wonder though, Mary, if part of your success is because you're a trained and gifted writer. Oh, that's nice. Thank you. I know it's not the whole picture, but I wonder how much impact It is hard that you write so well. I appreciate that compliment. Um, you know, a lot of what I did in the beginning was not written. It was, it was oral. I was, I did some YouTube videos. I hosted a lot of free calls. You may have been on some of them. I had a free group on Facebook and I would go live in there fairly often. I did obviously write some things and I wrote my first little book that I later put on Amazon called The Joy Formula that's still there and gets lots of downloads, which is cool. But I don't think it has anything to do with that. I, and also, you will get better as you practice on a daily, and I'm emphasizing daily, basis. You will get better at saying what you want to say and being more honest and sharing in a way that really does connect with people. So yes, I was a professional writer and still am. But I don't think that that's the secret. I think it has a lot more to do with being genuine and showing up in a way where you are sharing what has been helpful to you, and that's how you can help other people. So that's one piece that people overcomplicate is this marketing part when it's really not that complicated. And the other thing that people complicate so much is the offers. That they come up with. And I really feel strongly about this, that in the beginning, or if you are stuck or something, you've got to again go back to the basics and just start with something that is simple. That is one-to-one coaching. Just start there. Or I'm going to actually teach this in a new program I have coming up in January. That is not 180 with Mary, not the 6-month mentorship, although this will definitely be in there. But specifically, I'm going to be teaching the kinds of offers that I think really work well, especially if you haven't reached a $60,000 year yet and you're trying to figure this out. But the best advice I can give right here on this call is that that offer be something that is so simple to explain that you don't need a long sales page for it. Keep it so simple and keep it structured in such a way that you can offer it over and over and over again. You know, the first 18 months of my coaching business as a life coach, all I did was 1-to-1 coaching. That's what I had to offer. And that's what helped me get actually pretty far past the $60K mark my first year. Even though at the end of my first year, I think I maybe had 250 people on an email list, half of whom were not even interested in coaching. They were from a website business that I had. So you don't even need a big audience or anything. Keep your offers simple and make it so closely tied to what your transformation has been that it's just a no-brainer for you to talk about it. So in that case, if you have examples that support what your transformation is that you're helping people with, you can certainly talk about those. It doesn't mean that you have to coach people in them. For example, I was not at all interested and never have coached people related to post-traumatic stress disorder, and that was simply my life example that I would use to show people the power of this transformational process, that it could take someone who had had severe, I mean severe symptoms of that on a daily basis for decades and was able to come out of it in a matter of a few weeks. I would say, you know, if it can help me, I know that it can help you. Even though, like I said, I didn't work with people who had PTSD or anything like that. So you can still use those examples. And then the, the third thing that I wanted to mention on this call is something else that I see a lot of coaches doing that I think is holding them back. And that has to do with looking at what a lot of other people are doing. And this is difficult because we're online, we're on social media, most of us. And one thing that has helped me in this regard is I just don't look at what any other coaches are doing. Now I have a mentor, so I do look at what she does, but she's the only one that I look at and I don't look at what other coaches are doing. I just don't pay attention because I've learned over the years that we each have something very unique to bring to the table. And if we keep looking around at what everyone else is doing and if we keep saying, oh, so-and-so is selling this kind of thing or this product or whatever, I need to do that because they look really successful. We're just really hurting ourselves. You have a lane already. You have your zone. And from this moment forward, I want you to stay in your zone and don't let anything or anyone knock you out of it. So this takes discipline. It takes practice. I know my daughter and I were just exchanging some messages a little while ago about how much we have cut down on what we consume. I am not a huge consumer of things. I am more of a creator than a consumer. And I want you to start doing that too. This is crucial, absolutely crucial. If you want to have a simple and successful coaching business is to stop consuming so much stuff from so many other people and start to bring your focus down to what you are doing. I do recommend that you have a mentor, whether it's me or someone else, it doesn't matter. But I mean one, like one voice that you're listening to instead of 20 or 30 every day. It really helps. It it really helps make things so much simpler. So to just kind of reiterate those points that I was making, I was saying that wherever you are in this coaching business journey, find that conviction again, knowing that you can help people and reignite that passion in yourself, and that will take you a long way. Then stop overcomplicating things in terms of like quote unquote marketing. Where think of it as connecting with people, share your own story. And if you are making an offer, keep it simple. Don't make it so complicated and unwieldy that it's hard for you to talk about. Just make it simple and make it repeatable so that it's easy for you to talk about it over and over and over again. And then the third point was, you know, keeping the blinders on in a good way and finding a, a helpful mentor voice that is supportive is the same kind of energy that you want to be in. And then tune into yourself and what your strengths are and what your story is. Hi, Laura. Yes, I need to keep things super simple due to other obligations and be honest with myself about how much time I can dedicate to my work. Good point, Laura, about time, because when you start to streamline what you're doing and you're focusing on connecting with people, meaning putting out content on a daily basis, literally every day. This is, this is something people don't like to hear, but it's, it's just the truth. I need to be honest. If you are not consistent and consistently raising the game for yourself along the way in terms of your content and going, okay, You know, you might look at something that you shared the day before and you're like, you know, I could say that better. Let me try again. You know, that's part of what this is about. And that's what I happen to find very creative and exciting about it, is that there are always new things that I can learn and do better. So focus on the two things that actually matter, which is connecting with people and sharing a very simple offer. That's really what your focus needs to be. There's a million ways to do business, a million ways to do business. But if you're a coach and you are not at that $60K a year level yet, then those are the things that you need to be focused on, not on different all kinds of fancy schmancy tech stuff. I love technology. If you've known me at all, you know I love technology. I have a degree in online education. I know all about tech. I love it so much, it's not even funny. It's weird too, because considering I'm a writer and a musician and stuff like that, that I love technology, but I do. So I'm the first one to go down that rabbit hole, but I don't want you to go there. I want you to use the simplest thing possible. When I first started working with people, they just PayPal'd me the money, you know, that was how it worked. And, uh, I think that I had to add them to— I had an email list in Mailchimp or something, and I just added them in by hand. You know, I didn't have anything automated in the beginning. I didn't need it. It, it didn't become necessary until about a year and a half into my business when I, I started to enroll people in group programs. And even the first group program I did, I still added people in by hand. But after that, I was like, oh, maybe there's an automatic way that I can I do this. So then I found the technology to help me do that. But you don't need to go there. It just is going to eat up time because you have to figure all that out, unless you can hire someone to do it for you. But that's time that's being taken away from the things that actually matter to get you to the income level that you need to be at. The reason why I am so passionate about getting you to an income level like $5,000 a month or more, obviously, is because I want you to keep coaching people and giving them that beautiful gift that you want to give them through your coaching. And if you're not making any money, you're going to give up. And that's not what I want. I love the coaching profession so much. It changed my life as someone who benefited from a coach and who has been coached and now is coaching people. It just means the world to me because it literally changed everything about my life. And so that's why I am here to support you.
