Better Bolder Braver

Taking a scattergun approach to reaching your market is a strategy that rarely works well. After all, if you’re aiming at nothing specific, then ‘nothing’ is likely what you’ll hit. If you’re a coach, better to have a specific target in mind and aim accordingly. Which brings us to the question, how to niche your coaching business? However, trying to niche your coaching business, or any business for that matter, can feel daunting. Often, the assumption is that you’re narrowing your market, limiting your business. But in fact, niching isn’t about restriction, it’s about focus. To use an analogy: when Ford (or VW, or Seat, or whoever) design a car, do they try to create a vehicle for everyone? No, it’ll be an SUV or a runaround hatchback or a pickup truck, etc. depending on who they hope to sell it to. Each of those vehicles addresses a specific set of needs. It’s the same with establishing yourself as a coach with a specialism: you’re focusing on a specific group of people and their particular goals. Why bother? Because then you can focus all of your attention, services and marketing on this individual group of people. Which will save you time, money, and a lot of energy. Learn more and join the community at: betterbolderbraver.com

Joe Portsmouth has 51.3K Followers on X (formerly Twitter), 15K email subscribers and 26K followers on Linkedin. The headline for his newsletter - Write-On - is, "Hulk Smash Your Revenue Goals With Mouth-Watering Copy (Even if you think your writing sucks). In this conversation, Frances and Joe talk about Joe's course, The Storywriting Playbook - Joe's 5-step approach for writing compelling stories in copywriting that has helped him generate over $50,000,000 in revenue. The also talk about The Journey of Consciousness, ethical marketing, how learning how to tell stories can boost your confidence more widely, and how business use stories for good. If you'd like to sign up for Joe's course, you can DM him via Linkedin.

On this podcast episode, I dive deeply with a very dear friend of mine and fellow people-helper, Matt Matheson. Matt is known as The Speaking Coach. He helps people communicate, present and facilitate better. He is a co-creational events and retreat designer and the creator of The Church of Fail - "a cultural totem to instil reflective learning". We talk about: Coaching in the Workplace Your Personal Brand Harnessing corporate stories to improve culture and sales Johann Hari's Nine Causes of Depression Summercamp Would You Rather CBT Improv and Comedy Matt Matheson on Linkedin

Leslie Mello is a brand consultant, designer and nutritionist who loves to help natural health practitioners thrive. She is also a member of the Better Bolder Braver community. Check out her gorgeous website: https://www.mellobranding.com/ She is dedicated to supporting natural health professionals with everything they need to launch a successful practice and keep growing and - like us, Leslie is on a mission to help people-helpers to grow their business in a healthy and sustainable way. She says, "Marketing your business works best when you have a healthy brand built on a solid foundation." She cares about all of the BBB things and herself describes on her website how, Many people get overwhelmed by things like how to choose a business name, create a logo, make a website, content creation, marketing and more. It can seem like the market is flooded with competitors who are already super successful. I promise you are unique and have a lot to offer! In this live podcast recording session, we talk to a fellow member of what we call our Better Bolder Braver "marketing family" about what beautiful brand assets are and what good, ethical marketing looks like.

In this first episode of our mini series to celebrate the new Better Bolder Braver offering for Businesses, I speak to an old friend, inspirational coach and consultant in Innovation, Warren Minde. We discuss Personal Brand at work and how important it is to get clear on one's limits, needs, skills and values. We talk about how being a leader is like parenting, but also how important it is for employees to establish their own, independent sense of self. If you are a business owner, an employer, or person working in an organisation with other people, then conversation is definitely for you. To find out more about how Better Bolder Braver can help YOU at work, visit our website: www.betterbolderbraver/corporate And you can find out more about Warren and his work via https://www.linkedin.com/in/warrenminde/

Are you a coach trying to help change the world one client at a time and to support people you love and care about?However, is the sea of coach product platforms out there like the wild west to you??Are you excited to expand your coaching from 121 to group, workshop, programme, cohort, community work?Would you like to help your clients be more productive and to enjoy accountability but are overwhelmed with the tech available to do so?We want to make your life easier so that you can do the work you love.Please join us for this live masterclass to hear from one of our members, David Henzel, the CEO of upcoach, an exciting platform built for coaches by coaches as a place to host coaching courses, worksheets, communities and other services.

Thomas Kolster's 'Zone of Genius' is where marketing, business and sustainability meet.He continuously challenges the status-quo with his vocal, and often provocative, views on values, purpose, and leadership."In an over-crowded do-good market," he says, "people don’t buy your values or your “why”, but rather who you can help them become... Change begins with you!"We are looking forward to talking to Thomas, a dear member of our ‘Marketing Family’, about how the pressure of being a global citizen can be both exciting and inspiring, and can also feel overwhelming.We want to inspire coaches to get over their fear of putting themselves out there in favour of focusing on the bigger picture system change they might affect, one client at a time.And at the same time, we recognise that feeling that you need a "value", a "purpose" and a "why" can be tricky in itself... Learn more about Thomas: https://thomaskolster.com/masterclass

Helen Isacke is the founder of the Trusted Coach Directory, established in 2016. She has a varied background, having worked in hospitality, IT, HR, recruitment and marketing. Helen changed direction again when she trained as a coach in 2003. She was an Accredited Coach with Association for Coaching, trained in a range of profiling tools including Type Dynamic Indicator, Talent Dynamics, Team Dynamics & FIRO B.Helen’s coaching experiences and opportunities led to her finding her niche; working with newly-appointed managers. This experience inspired her to write ‘Soft Skills for Strong Leaders’, published in 2013. Helen has two grown up daughters, and lives in Marlow where she is most at peace walking along the Thames.Helen has been on her own coaching journey, which led her to founding the directory, which - as a platform and service - is shaping the future of the coaching industry. In this Marketing Masterclass, Helen will talk with us openly and honestly "about the mistakes I made when setting up, and some tips around each mistake/topic, to help coaches build their business with confidence in an ever increasingly crowded market."Come with your listening ears and also any practical questions that you think Helen - or we - might be able to help answer.www.trustedcoachdirectory.com

What connects Property Law to the BBC, Freud to Modern Dance, Classical Music to Swimming in Swiss Lakes, Film Production to Music Festivals and the National Garden Scheme to Venice Biennale. My Dad... I talk a lot about what I call a "work/work" balance (as opposed to the well known concept of the work/life balance).  Coaches - in particular - are very likely to have chosen to move into the coaching space as a way not only to help others flourish, but  because the attraction of a more independent, entrepreneurial, creative and joyful work life are very attractive to them.  They may class themselves as having reached their "midlife", see themselves on a "Second Mountain", be disillusioned by the corporate world, by being beholden to the 9-5 structure of time, or just bored of the rat race... Covid and Working From Home have  helped us all reconsider our options.  But bills need to be paid. And when you are just starting out as a coach, getting clients can be tough. So sometimes we need to do other work to supplement our income. AND, when we have a unique blend of work practices going on, it can really help to make us stand out... as long as we are able to speak to why the various hats we wear make us an Authority, have Empathy, and have an interesting Story enough that people want to work with us, employ us, appoint us or ask us for our help. My father is Steven Fogel. I am going to be interviewing him on Thursday 20th October about his life. He has had "a lucky discovery that left him feeling happier and more fulfilled." Here's what happened...

We are so happy to have one of our coaching industry besties - Lucy Mullins - to talk to us all about diversity in the future of the coaching industry, and to join us in discussing how to have fun with marketing your coaching business. Lucy is also a wonderful advocate for how coaching not only helps create personal change, but can impact big picture system change in the world too. She's also a fantastic example of a healthy "work/work" balance as we call it. We've invited Lucy to write here a dedication to the Future of Coaching - to share with you all ahead of the discussion... "We set up #RideTheWave to bring more diversity to the world of coaching and to make positive waves in the world through the power of coaching. #SocialImpact, #CelebratingDiversity, #Community, and #Laughter are our core values at #RideTheWave and guide everything we do. We also believe these values are the key to the future of coaching. We believe that the Future of Coaching is about more people being equipped with coaching skills, more people being able to access coaching, and more positive impact in the world. Here at #RideTheWave we are committed to contributing to the future of coaching by… 1. Educating and empowering a diverse range of coaches around the world so that there is a coach for everyone 2. Training and inspiring a new wave of leaders to use coaching skills within their organisations 3. Demystifying coaching so that it becomes a universal set of skills and tools used by people around the world, in both their personal and professional lives 4. Sharing coaching tools and skills from our community with people and organisations who wouldn’t normally be able to access professional coaching Here’s a bright future for coaching." ....Join us for what will no doubt be a heart-warming and heart-felt discussion about how you as a coach can build something just right for you, great for others and wonderful for the world.

As a follow on from our recent podcast episode, "Why you want fast results from marketing but won't get them", this episode is all about establishing good, sustainable marketing habits that will help you build a long-lasting, healthy coaching business. Drawing on the parallels between physical fitness, self-awareness and Marketing-as-another-self-growth-opportunity, Frances and Gemma discuss the concepts of; aspirations, being prepared, being The Victim, The Pursuit of Happiness, Living in the Moment, nourishment, motivation, being in control, goals vs the bigger picture, figuring out your "Why?", energy, stamina, confidence, self-worth, systemic thinking, habits, patience, perfection, punishment, momentum, small wins and taking action. Gemma is a weight-loss management and physical fitness consultant. And - Frances would say - a Buddhist philosopher. Listen to this honest conversation about both of their body stories and business strategies for a deep dive into how it really feels to be in control...

We are honoured to have Robbie Swale - a seasoned coach, author, blogger and podcaster - as the first guest on our new "Future of Coaching..." series. There couldn't be a better person to help us kick things off for 2023...   Robbie is the host of the super popular podcast, 'The Coach's Journey'. His third book – written using his 12-Minute Method – is all about how to create habits, mindsets and relationships that will help you thrive. It is full of lessons that Robbie has learned in his own quest to fulfill his potential and make the contribution he thinks he is capable of.   "We can’t know for sure what will help us do our best work", Robbie says. And so he is going to help us set the scene for a year of uncertainty - that's right!... Let's celebrate that we can put our best foot forward when we accept that nothing will be perfect, we don't know what will come, we can only control ourselves and that working alongside others with shared hope makes it a lot easier.   Join us live for this conversation to manifest some great intentions for the year.   In the lead up, check out Robbie's blog, in which he employs the 12-Minute Method to write for twelve minutes, proof-read once with tiny edits and then post online… Marketing mastery right there!   https://www.robbieswale.com  https://www.robbieswale.com/about-the-12-minute-method  https://www.thecoachsjourney.com/podcast/episode-45-doing-the-right-thing-even-when-its-hard-raquel-ark-interviews-robbie

Whether you already host a podcast or want to start your own, there are a lot of questions that come up for coaches. We're lucky enough to have two podcasting powerhouses as members of this community Mark Steadman and Rob Lawrence. Mark hosts Ear Brain Heart and was there at the dawn of podcasting. Many of you will recognise Rob's voice from the Association for Coaching podcast as well as his own show, Inspirational Creatives. In this live show, we'll be discussing, and answering, some of the most common questions that we get asked about podcasting and inviting questions from the audience. There will also be an opportunity to share your favourite podcast and a shameless plug section where we'll give a shout-out to shows from the audience. It's time to get curious, inspired and energised to hit that record button and get podcasting.

Does the thought of creating content and fiddling with Canva for hours on end fill you with utter dread? Want to get ahead and be confident your content is taken care of so you can take a week off without worrying about posting on social media? Kate Clarke wants to take away the pain, and do the hard work for you. But how do we know what marketing is important for us to do ourselves? How does retaining control of it makes us feel more in control of our businesses and our lives?? At Better Bolder Braver, we encourage coaches to - on the whole - not “outsource” their marketing. We see marketing as Another Self Growth Opportunity - by thinking about what you want to say to the world, you have an opportunity to hold a mirror up to yourself and Coach Out Loud… show your approach to how you come from a place of Empathy, Authority and with a personal Story that makes you stand out and be qualified to help your ideal client. AND creating and repurposing content can feel like being on a “hamster wheel” as Kate calls it. Once you have decided what to say, who says asking for some help to get it out there isn’t a very intelligent business decision? Kate Clarke helps people get their messages onto social media. Find out more about Kate on her website: https://www.kateclarkemarketing.com   Follow us on LinkedIn to get notifications about upcoming conversations: https://www.linkedin.com/company/better-bolder-braver

Abe is co-founder and CEO of Ruzuku, an easy-to-use online course platform for entrepreneurs, authors, coaches, and small businesses.  He helps authors, coaches, speakers and other independent experts create their own online courses and learning communities. His mission in life is to make it ridiculously easy for bloggers, authors, coaches, speakers and other passionate experts to create engaging online courses and learning communities.   Ruzuku has hosted more than 75,000 courses serving over half a million students around the world. Abe specializes in learning design and user experience research, and earned his Ph.D. in human-computer interaction at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is an adjunct professor in the School of Education at UNC-Chapel Hill, where he teaches seminars on educational innovation.  Abe says, "Ruzuku was built from the ground up with a focus on streamlining the course creation process. Experts want to share their passion and expertise, but technical hurdles and cumbersome tools can make this difficult."  In the Better Bolder Braver community, we are on a mission to help coaches create products and services that stand out and support their own mission to help their ideal clients, whilst not burning out or over-extending themselves... to help them streamline their marketing and share their expertise so that people understand quickly what the value of working with them is.   A coaching programme is a great way to engage potential clients and create meaningful experiences for them. They can also be a great way of disseminating information and conducting group coaching. But are they all they are cut out to be? Are we at risk - when creating course material - of reinventing a wheel that has been engineered many times by others? How can we make our lives easier, help as many people as we can, be true to our values, mindful of our limits, still be really creative and keep up with the Joneses?  Free workshop: https://mirasee.com/2022/ic-replay?redirect=false Free course: https://courses.ruzuku.com/courses/2dc0af1e-baea-409a-91f9-3185253fc1fd/checkout/price-3w2Q6Y80_IfeIwE4ZFf0fA

Coaches often want fast results and turn to marketing to get them. However, for fast results, marketing isn’t the right tool for the job.  There are a lot of people who will argue that it is. And the same people are often happy to take your money to help you get these fast results. The results they’re offering are traffic, clicks or ‘engagement’. But does this really translate to new clients? And if the ‘result’ (fast or otherwise) or your marketing isn’t a new client, is it really a result?  This episode will show you how to get the results you really want.

Every coach has been there – especially when you’re just starting out: you need clients, and the quicker the better. At least, that’s how it feels.  So, how do you attract people to work with you?   You could use Facebook or Google Ads to put your offer in front of a wide audience in the hope that they feel like signing up for some coaching. You could pay someone to send lots of LinkedIn messages on your behalf and hope that of the 1-2% of people who reply, at least some decide to click ‘buy’.   There’s no shortage of quick ways to advertise. Although it will cost you money before you make any money – catch-22.   So is there another way of attracting coaching clients without spending money on Ads? Yes there is and this episode will show you how.

When coaches ask “How do I advertise my coaching business?” the tried, trusted (and tired) answers are: SEO, Facebook Ads, Google Ads, Squeeze pages, set up a marketing funnel, or my favourite, a baffling combination of all of these presented as if it’s some kind of Secret Formula™ for success!   I’m going to go out on a limb here and say you don’t need any of this. In fact, I’ll go further and say, I can’t tell you what you “need” or “should be doing”.   What I can and will do in this episode is show you how you can start to put your coaching business out there without the need for what you might be thinking of as “advertising”.

Anya Pearse is like the mobile libraries of our childhood. You would look forward to it arriving and be welcomed in with open arms to a cave of wonders filled with exciting and nourishing resources to cosy up with. She is the first to have a reassuringly apt reference in any conversation - be it a book, an article, a podcast, a poem… she can contextualise our experience in any moment within a wide world of others' experiences, reflections and wisdom - which is hugely comforting, inspiring and humbling. If we “read to know we are not alone”, Anya compassionately shares what she’s discovered to help us feel this directly. As a child herself she was “baffled, yet intrigued” by the behaviour of those around her, and now combines a researcher’s curiosity, a poet’s turn of phrase, and a comedian’s sense of timing to help those she encounters gain insight and compassion into what they do. She is no stranger to tricky times, having lived with a disabling chronic illness for 16 years; reimagining it as her spiritual path helps her to bring a particular kind of hard-won grace, wisdom and empathy into her work. The Head of Positive Psychology at The Museum of Happiness, where she co-facilitates their Certified Happiness Facilitator Training, she is an intuitive adviser, and Fellow of the Positive Psychology Guild. She consolidates her interest in “the science of what makes life worth living” with an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology, focusing on the concept of “self-as-instrument” – how our own qualities of attention, openness and presence impact others and create our first intervention. Anya invites us to consider patterns, meaning and connection within ourselves and the universe to which we may previously have been blind: “Dots can be connected, allowing patterns to appear. Clarity and new ideas start to flow.” As a coach, you too are a treasure trove of magic for your clients. And you can show up with it through bringing resources, energy, compassion and inspiration into your marketing as well as into your coaching practice. We will be talking to Anya about what it is to bring our full selves to our interactions - and interventions - to creative moments between two people. On the surface, this Marketing Masterclass is about (repurposing) content, resources and showing that you are the best guide for your ideal client. Underneath, this time with Anya will be a mind-expanding dance with joy, a celebration of the self and about how to take things slowly...

Most marketing advice for coaches doesn’t work. Why? Because the Holy Grail of traditional marketing strategies is the conversion. And as a coach, conversions are not what you’re chasing. You’re not selling vacuum cleaners, or water bottles, or any other ‘disposable’ product or service. Conversions are not your focus. The heart of the coach’s marketing journey isn’t the ‘sale’ at the end of it, it’s the conversation that takes place between you and the prospective client. You’re not just chasing a sale, you’re looking for the right sale, to the right client… and that requires a conversation, an exchange with someone who resonates with what you do and sees the value in the outcome, feeling or insight that you’ll guide them to. So, how can you shift your marketing mindset? How do you wean yourself off the conversion drive and focus on creating opportunities for conversations instead? We have a few ideas…