Choosing the ONE thing to Grow Quickly [Ep #166]

Hey guys! Welcome to another episode of the profitable practice podcast. I’m of course your host, Andrea Maxim. And today’s episode was inspired by a Facebook post that I saw pop-up in my feed a couple of weeks ago. And then on the back end of a game plan called that I had with a potential new member in the maximized practitioner program. And when we connected, this individual and I. He said ‘Oh I think I found you on so and so’s website and I just thought that I would book a call.’ But when I further probed, he said ‘well, I knew I needed coaching. I started looking at a Porter Field’s website and then I kind of fell down the rabbit hole of coaches which opened up these other people that I need to look into and somehow I landed on your website.’ And I thought that was kind of an interesting journey and it kind of piggy-backed on this post I saw in our naturopathic Facebook group about which coach should I choose? And why are they so expensive? Then how do you know which one you should work with without wasting a ton of time and money? So I thought I would record my take on this journey. And yes, I do coaching. I don’t do one on one coaching anymore and I’ll explain why. But I will talk about my journey with coaches that I have used. And kind of the key things that I look for now before I join a program. 

So when we’re first starting out in our business, we want to do all of the things, we want to learn all of the things. We haven’t built out that foundational experience yet which is the first pillar of the maximized practitioner method. Where you build up your confidence and you kind of get an idea of how you stand in the industry. And what kind of practitioner you want to be. And so therefore, because you don’t have any sense of grounding and you just kind of grasp bad straws and say ‘well, this person said I need to do blogging. Or this person said that I should be doing seminars. Or this person said this, that or the other.’ And so this where I think a lot of the times you’re going to get burned by coaches. Is because you wanted that dopamine hit to purchase something that you thought was going to be the answer to all of your overwhelm, and anxiety, and inability to figure out your business structure. And so when you purchased that program, you didn’t implement anything. Or you realize that you bought it because it was in a live launch and you didn’t really understand what it was that you’re purchasing. And I’ve been there. I have definitely purchased programs that I have yet to even log in to, or watch the first couple of videos and then do anything else with it. Because that dopamine hit is real. That is what us as entrepreneurs are looking for is ‘I’m going to buy something because that just purchase means that my troubles are over and just don’t have the time to do the work and follow all the methods which are learned and so on. So, I have purchased BBD.

(3:42- 4:25 Overlapping voice.)

Oh yes! And I purchased some other ones too. So I even did like a speakers program with Pete Vargas last year and I’m now in Caitlyn Batcher’s scale of success. So just to say that I have certainly purchased my number of course. Now, where people feel that they got burned. I think it is because as I’ve said, you either didn’t make the time to implement the material therefore you didn’t think it worked for you or you weren’t really connecting with the coach creator. Excuse me, the course creator or the coach. And these are all the things that you need to be making sure that you are doing. 

Now, how I approach courses and coaches is I am very careful and I’m not afraid to ask the questions that I want to have answered. Then depending on their answers will determine whether or not I actually sign up with them. What I’m also doing when I’m strategically picking out courses or coaches is I know exactly where in my business I want to go. I know exactly what the missing piece is to that journey and I seek out people that offer me the solution to that piece of the puzzle. So if my struggle is I want to learn to message my businesses better and have better messaging on video. Well, that’s why I wanted to sign up with the video for X program because that is what they deliver on. How to set up your video funnels. How to create and write your scripts, how to edit those videos and then there’s continuous support there. When we set out a goal to get on more stages, I went through a bunch of programs where I wanted to learn to be better on stage. And I wanted to learn how I can reach out to the planners that you know, book these people to get on stages. And while I haven’t done anything with that program, and of course 2020 happened. I at least have it in my back pocket. A lot of times I buy this program so that I always have a resource of material to tap into whenever I need it. When I signed up with business by design, I was actually one of their founding members. So we were in the coaching process before BBD even came to be. And that program taught me how to do webinars. And now, I want to learn how to automate and evergreen in my webinars, so that’s where Caitlyn Batcher’s program comes in. 

However, I will never purchase more than one program in any given year now. Because I want to make sure that I get through it, that it’s my only focus, that I’m showing up to all of the coaching calls, that I’m getting my questions answered. And if I don’t show up to those things, if I don’t get through the modules, if I don’t do the material. That is on me. It has nothing to do with the program, it has nothing to do with their strategy. Their strategy works and that’s why they’re coaching you or that’s why they’re selling you a program. But I have to be willing to step up to the plate, ask for help and implement. So there’s a few key things that I think you need to be looking out for when it comes to purchasing these programs or working with coaches. Number 1, do they understand your industry? Because I will not tolerate any coaches that tell me that they can help me with a Brick and Mortar practice for instance, and all they’ve known is online programming. I also won’t tolerate coaches that are single; they don’t have any children and they have no other responsibilities in life. Because they won’t connect with me as a mother of two who has a husband and who has other responsibilities outside of my business. I need to be connecting with people that are in the same life place than I am so that they understand when something happens. Or if I’m frustrated, then why I’m frustrated. 

The price tag is another big thing, and price will always come up as a potential objection. And I know a lot of people are getting frustrated with the coaching industry where you have to pay a certain amount every single month to lock in that coaching. That is just part of the online industry that’s how mentorship is working. And while it may seem like a lot of money to you. In my perspective, when I’m paying someone a thousand dollars a month or two thousand dollars a month for either straight up coaching or some sort of a coaching course hybrid. I also know that I’m investing in their footsteps. That these people have done all of the work, that they have spent way more than a thousand dollars a month learning the tools and strategies that they have, getting coached by their coaches. Setting up the deck, figuring out what works and doesn’t work. And when you think of it that way, I think you’ll see that price tag is well worth the price of enrollment. Because now you have skipped all of those years of troubleshooting and you get the direct answer for A to B. 

And so sometimes, while the price tag may seem high we also have to understand the value that that coach is providing. Now, to do a little bit of background research, I also think it is important where are they showing up? What does their content look like? When you listen to them speak on a podcast, or a live event, or on YouTube video, or on their live Instagram stories are you connecting with that person? Do you like the way they talk? Do you like their belief system? Do you like what it is that they’re trying to message? Because honestly I was a page, and on a webinar and then in email, it’s all about the pitch, it’s all about selling. And using that selling marketing strategy to get you to buy. But outside of those things, how is it that they’re showing up organically on social media, or as I said on other people’s stages? That is where you want to be leaning in and listening and seeing if those people resonate with you. Because what happens in a live launch, is fairly orchestrated and it has a purpose. And that person is trying to make sales. So they’re going to step up differently. They’re going to try to do everything they can to persuade you to buy. But in the off season of that launch, that’s when their true authentic self will show. And that’s what you need to be doing some background research for.  And this is also one of the strategies that we talk about with our modernized marketing pillar in the maximized practitioner program. Is putting out more honest content before the pitch. So that people can get to know you better and understand you better. And connect with your personality and connect with who you are as an individual and your beliefs and all of those things. So that when you put an offer in front of them, they are much more informed about what it is that they’re buying. 

Now here’s the other thing that can sometimes happen as you are searching for a coach or program is you will fall into the coaching wormhole. Where one coach will say ‘absolutely do webinars, absolutely you have to do an email funnel.’ And other people say ‘email is so old, you never do email. It’s all about the DM’s, or webinars, or out. No one buys off a webinar.’ And you start getting all of this conflicting information. Again, try to lean in to the people that are offering the solution that you want. So while some people may say webinars are totally out. I have tested webinars in my business, I have tested webinars online, I have done live seminars I know that they convert. It’s totally in alignment with what I want in my business, and so I don’t care what the other people are saying ‘I know that I want webinars to be a part of my business, I know automated webinars, I want it to be a huge part of my business. So I sought out someone who I have been paying attention to for about a year or two. And actually purchased her program.’ So sometimes there’s a ton of touch points that also need to happen before you feel comfortable to sign up with that coach. Before you’ve heard enough from other people who have done the program, whether it works or not and all of that is valid in your search. You don’t want to be making some sort of rash decision just because again, it was like a deadline or it was just like a live launch. That was all up in your face and then you make this purchase and it completely bombs on you. 

But the final thing that I will say, I said this on the game plan call with this individual. I said ‘our program is the maximized practitioner program and I would love for you to join. However, I don’t want anybody to purchase our program if they’re going to again, purchase just for that dopamine hit. Just because we’re having this call today and this chat today I need you to understand that when you join this program I am all in for you. I am in to support you, I am in to be there for you any time you tag me in the Facebook group. I do the live coaching calls so that you can get your questions answered live and in real time. But if you aren’t raising your hand, if you’re not asking questions, if you’re not getting that support to walk you through your limiting beliefs and your blockers. There’s not much that I can really do for you and I would hate to see that happen.’  We have a personal guarantee in our program that if you implement what we tell you, you will pay back that investment in the first month. And I firmly believe that, but again, you have to step up and do the work. So here’s the other part with any coaching program or course. When I buy mine, I intuitively look at ‘okey, what does my calendar show? When are the coaching calls? Can I show up to them? And I block them off immediately on my calendar and I show up to probably 75% of them even if I don’t have a question. So when I hear what the other people are asking and I make it sort of like part of my business meeting strategy. If there’s coaching calls, I’m there. How am I going to get through the course material? I lay that out into our 1, 90, 30, 7, 1 plan that we talk about inside our course. Where every single week we were tasked. What are we doing this week? What do we want to get done by the month and what do we want to get done by the quarter? And those courses go in there. And here’s the other thing, if you are hiring a coach and you’re spending thousands of dollars. And they’re giving you a home work and you don’t do it, you don’t find a way to make that happen. It is a huge slap in the face to that coach, and it is also reinforcing to you that you are not going to be achieving that fantastic quarter, or that amazing year in your business because you’re not stepping up. And doing what’s needed to get those things taken care of. So there’s a lot of inner checks that you also need to be making to say ‘how ready am I for a coach? How ready am I for this online program or course? And how am I going to show up for these people and for my business. And prove to myself that I want this to work.’ So it’s so easy to outwardly project ‘this doesn’t work, this person’s a waste of time, that’s too much money onto the coaches that are out there.’ But they have had success stories. And the best success stories that we have are the people that actually do the work, that fight through the fear. That leap and that appears for them. And if you’re not ready to do that, if you’re not ready to become coachable or be coached. If you’re not ready to be pushed outside of your comfort zone, then no. You will not get any benefit from that coach, or from that coaching program. 

Now the final thing that I want to say, and the reason why we don’t do one-on-one coaching anymore as a company is because of a lot of those reasons. I would have somebody pay me thousands of dollars to work with me for three months. I would set up all of the systems and have everything tracked, and everything was organized. And every call that we would have that would happen every week or every two weeks, there is no momentum. Nothing was moved forward. So I personally don’t believe in one on one coaching anymore. At least in our business I now offer our elite implementer level, where you get that hybrid of coaching plus you hire my team. And so my team will get your graphics done. We will set your email sequences up and your email funnels up. So the only decision you have to make is do you need to upgrade your CRM. We will help map out how your new program is going to roll out. We will map out how your online program is going to roll out. We will help you get those things done so you are left at that highest level of creation. And we’re doing all of the clicky work. So that by the end of our three months together or ongoing monthly strategy together, you are accomplishing so much more than you would have on your own. And so, oftentimes when I have ever signed up with a coach and they just keep giving me more and more homework. I never get it done because I don’t have the time to do more. Even if they’re telling me ‘you need to do this, sorry it’s not going to work with my schedule I’m already overloaded.’ And that’s why I personally just don’t do one on one coaching. And the elite implementer level was for that reason. I am all about momentum, I am all about getting things done, I’m all about implementing immediately while it’s dirty and yucky and not polished. You just put it out there and you start making money now. And I was tired of seeing my coaching clients not achieve success. Because they weren’t getting any of those things done. So that’s why we put together the implementer level. Which is like an upgrade to the maximized practitioner program to at least get people standing on solid ground and getting things done in their business. 

So if you’re still kind of on the fence about coaching or course. Or maybe you’re curious to know a little bit more about our program. You can absolutely check out more about how our three-step framework works with regards to merging online and the pillars that we follow with the maximized practitioner method in our free webinar training which the link is in the show notes. And if you want to have a more personal talk with me about what it is that I do and maybe I’m the right coach for you. Or what it is that you’re struggling with in your business. Please book a game plan call. Again it’s a dollar, it’s not free and that’s to avoid a lot of the tire kickers that just want to show up for a half an hour call and then chit chat and then walk away. I personally don’t entertain those people because they’re just taking my advice and then I never hear from them again. I think putting a little skin on the game, even if it’s a dollar just shows how much value you are going to appreciate from that 30 min. call and how dedicated you are to call in 30 min. with this person who charges hundreds of dollars for their time. And I want to get as much out of it as I can. So that’s why when you click on that link, it’s a dollar and that’s the whole reason why. Because we just don’t want people just booking in for free and getting free advice. We want people who kind of respect the process and respect all of the hard work that we have done as a team together to where we are. Those are two fabulous resources for you and then of course we have an entire vault of free resources on our website https://maximizedbusiness.ca/. So I hope that there’s a way to clarify a few things, give you a little bit more information and a little bit more things to think about before you start making any big investments. 

And I wish you the absolute best of luck, but the final thing that I will say is it’s never a good investment if you aren’t willing to show up and do the work and implement and follow the lead of whatever somebody is telling you to do. And it’s your job to follow it 100% because they set up that war for a reason, they know that it works that way. It’s been tried, tested and true and you need to honor that as well. So good luck in your coach finding mission, I think everybody needs to have a coach but certainly not all of the coaches out there are going to be the right one for you. And what your business needs at this moment so be very careful about your choices. I will see you on the podcast next week, I’m Andrea Maxim and I’m out.