LevelUp Your Coaching Business

Finding your niche in the coaching world can be a real pain point. How do you know what’s right for you? How do you push past the doubt and see your superpowers? Everyone has a strength but it isn’t always easy to identify your own. To you, it comes easily and naturally so it’s no big deal. But to others? It might just be the wow they need to experience a significant breakthrough in their life.In this episode, Kacey and I (Suzanne) talk with Veronique Vaillancourt, who is a Niche Life Coach and psychotherapist. She helps other life coaches recognize their unique gifts and abilities, and then hone those into a specific coaching niche. If you’ve struggled even a little bit to settle into your place, your niche in the coaching world, you won’t want to miss a moment!What You’ll LearnRecognizing your superpowersYour past, your presentYour strengths, your passions, your experienceWhat can you talk about for 15 hours?Why to specialize / choose a nicheSupports clearer marketing messagingPeople desire customization and specializationIdentifying pain pointsWhat are yours?What do you see around you?Building a course within your nicheTracking trends and commonalitiesReceiving input from othersDon’t make assumptionsWhen to choose a nicheScaling with purpose and more easeAvoiding business spin and niche dramaExamples from Kacey and SuzanneThe 5, 5, 55 minutes, 5 people, 5 adjectivesReflected back to you Bring the energy of abundance, positivity, and belief. That’s how you LevelUp! Contact Info and Recommended ResourcesConnect with Veronique VaillancourtVeronique Vaillancourt, whose name happens to rhyme with Very-Neat, has been a psychotherapist for 25 years, and a TWICE certified Life Coach. After 17 years as a psychotherapist, she decided to become a life coach, but couldn't decide on her niche. So she kept on as a psychotherapist and used her coaching tools with psychotherapy clients. Finally, in 2019, she decided to get certified as a Life Coach (for a second time) through a different Life Coach School Program. But the difference that time was she made a promise to herself that she’d figure out how to end her Niche Drama and solidly commit to her PERFECT NICHE. After some hard work, she did it. Her experience is why she knows your struggle. She’s been there. And she has the tools to help. She’s worked at getting people's brains unstuck for a quarter of a decade, and helped many coaches find their PERFECT NICHE. Dial Your Niche in 5 Hours:veronique.mykajabi.com/dial-your-niche-in-5-hours myperfectniche.com veroniquevaillancourt.com Facebook.com/MyPerfectNicheCoaching Instagram.com/my_perfect_nicheConnect with Suzanne Dayton and Kacey HayesSuzanne: Levelupco.netKacey: Kaceyhayes.comFacebook.com/levelupcoveaInstagram.com/suzannebdaytonFacebook.com/kaceyhhayesInstagram.com/kaceyhhayes suzanne@levelupco.netkaceyhayeswrites@gmail.com

I’m joined again today by Kacey Hayes, content creation expert at LevelUp Co., and we’re pulling back the curtain on the business behind the show. Or at least, the people running the business behind the show. We’re challenging all the things we’ve been told we’re “supposed to” be doing to create success in our businesses. For example, showing up all over social media every single day, working long hours to be worthy of your success, or maintaining a huge email list in order to be a good business owner - big fat nope. It’s so easy to blame external factors about how we think we should be showing up in our business. But we think a lot of it has to do with the conversations we have with ourselves internally and the energies we hold in our bodies.Ultimately, YOU have the ability and power to choose what to believe about yourself and your business, and let that inform the actions you take.If you:Started your coaching business to make an impact, but you feel drained instead;Don’t realize you have the freedom to opt out of hustle culture and mainstream biz advice, orFeel unfulfilled in your business but don’t know why, then this episode is for you! Join us for this important conversation, and consider how to apply these concepts in your own life and business. 

There’s a flow and a process to how each of us makes decisions in our business. Pros and cons lists, asking other business owners what they’ve done, or just determining what you think you ‘should’ do and deciding from that place. But what is your natural, innate decision-making process? You may have never considered that before - and with good reason.We’re taught to rely on our brain’s conditioning to make decisions, instead of the way we’re born and designed to. You know that awful feeling when you make a decision with a crappy outcome? That was your brain deciding. But your brain is not how you make the best, most reliable decisions for you and your business. Your brain shouldn’t be making the decisions at all. Wild, right? By now, you’re probably wondering how in the world anyone can make decisions independent of their brain. That’s fair. And this episode will clue you in.As you listen, I want you to imagine this: If we know how to make decisions that will get us closer to where we want to go, we will be able to go through life with more flow and less resistance. If you’re ready to stop throwing sh*t at the wall trying to figure out what’s going to work for you and what isn’t, then let’s put your natural design and your marketing strategy together to help you create successful decisions every time. 

Great programs and service providers will tell you this truth up front: their service and program works, IF you own it and commit to it. If you still show up.  When clients sign on with us to help take a lot of the admin and social media marketing off their plate, I am very honest about their results. Their results on social media are still completely dependent on how much they show up, stay engaged, and interact. Hiring out your social media isn’t a magic wand you wave and someone else can create reach, engagement, and ultimately sales for you. Selling via social media still requires you as the heart of your business to show up. Write only the way you can to attract and convert your ideal clients. Engage in only the way you can, answering questions with real, valuable answers. Go all in and commit. That’s where you will see your sales come from. That's how you'll get exactly what you want.

I used to think company value statements were just words - until I had my own business and started growing with a team. That's when I realized how in-touch with my values I needed to be in order to make sound business decisions. In this podcast episode, I'm joined by my first LevelUp Co. team member, Kacey Hayes.  Our values have been closely aligned since day one, and it makes for a great conversation I'm excited to share with you. As you'll hear, Kacey and I discuss a number of topics under the umbrella of values in business, like how to define your values, how to consider what they really mean for your business, and how values become more than words. We go into lessons learned about ourselves, intuitive guidance, and how starting a business has proven to be one of life's greatest teachers. It's a good one!_______Kacey is an entrepreneur in content and virtual support. She offers content strategy and creation to coaches and creative business owners looking to connect authentically while scaling their businesses. Visit her website at KaceyHayes.com or follow along on Instagram at @kaceyhhayes.

All throughout school, college, and the business world, we're taught that we can’t be successful without strict processes and procedures that we repeat like robots. Now, don’t get me wrong. Consistency is good and helps us all gain traction in our businesses. It helps us show up and connect with our ideal clients. Processes and procedures help us scale and bring on new team members. But it doesn’t have to be done perfectly.In this episode, I explain why the best thing for your business is to ditch the deadlines and procedure and instead embrace what YOU think is the best way to do things.People will be attracted to you when you are in an energy of love and service, not in an energy of  “I'm doing this because I have to.” 

Today, I'm talking about the one thing that no matter how slow you grow, or how many new skills you need to learn, or how many times you doubt yourself, if you keep this one thing in mind and going you won’t fail. It’s staying focused on providing your clients with the best experience possible. I call it client-focused scaling, and it's the number one thing that will make or break you. When companies experience fast growth, they often shift focus on handling the growth (i.e., processes and procedures) and not their customers. The client experience tends to fall by the wayside, and if not addressed, people begin to leave in droves. Even worse, they spread negative word of mouth. So it’s important to properly manage your growth. Make sure you're not overpromising  or selling a service or outcome that your growth doesn’t really support any longer. Make sure you check in with yourself and your business often. Analyze as many client relationships and experiences as possible. Ask for consistent feedback. If you approach scaling this way, then you guarantee your success. 

The other I was debating with myself about my own social media accounts. It’s kind of ironic, because at this point in my business, I run successful social media accounts for multiple online clients, yet I don’t really put any content on my business feed. I share this podcast, and that’s about it. Are you at the same point? So many of the clients we serve at LevelUp Co. are looking to move into scaling their businesses and know they need social media to do it. Their business model is build on social selling, which is a newer marketing technique that's really effective and low to no cost. In today's episode, I share my professional recommendations for where your social media content should be to optimize the value you offer to potential clients. Whether you're just launching or ready to scale, these tips will help you reach and land more of your ideal clients.

When it comes to network marketing on social platforms, it can feel like it's a jungle out there. One post from a potential client gets hundreds of comments from other online service providers, so how are you and your business going to stand out? Well, spoiler alert: not by dropping your scheduling link and peacing out.One thing I've learned in my time as an online business owner is that people buy from people. Potential clients learn a lot about you in how you choose to respond to their inquiries. That's why communication with no value, no insight, and no empathy will sign you no clients. Today's episode is about how to: show up as a human for your potential clients, tell them exactly what you can do to solve their specific problem, and connect with them in a way that feels meaningful and makes a positive impact. 

So many of the services LevelUp Co. offers are not the conventional virtual assistant business offerings. My brain naturally tends to think about big picture goals and strategy when it comes to providing value for my clients. I love nothing more than sitting down with each of the clients in my business and offering thought partnership to them as we create plans for their timeline.But it took me a little while to get comfortable with what I offer. Traditionally, the virtual assistant industry runs on a core concept of task lists and checking boxes, and nothing is wrong with that. I just wanted a different approach. My team and I genuinely care about every one of the clients we work with and do everything we can to ensure their success.I'm willing to bet you already know what you need to do in your business.  I knew it - I just needed to listen to my intuition. In today's episode, I encourage you to think about how your business might look if you listened to what you already know, and took action from that place.

Many of us got the message that as female entrepreneurs we were expected to be strong, independent, and 100% self-sufficient at all times. In order to be taken seriously, we could only afford to rely on ourselves. If we needed help from anyone else, it meant that we were doing it wrong and that our business wouldn't find the same level of success.I used to believe that if I needed help from anyone or couldn't "figure things out on my own" that it meant something negative about me and my business. I needed to be able to control all the outcomes, and the only way to do that was by doing everything myself. Now that I've created my own success, I know these were just thoughts, and that they're simply untrue.In today's episode, I'm asking you to consider the ways that you may be trying to feel independent in your business - at the expense of your freedom. You don't have to do it alone, and you were never meant to. Once you understand that we are better together, you can step into the business success you've always wanted. 

If you've been through business school (and even if you haven't), you've heard the overarching message from society and the business world at large: if you don't want to miss out or get left behind, you have to compete with others in your industry. I don't see it that way. Business is like a community - particularly the female entrepreneurship  industry.Getting on calls with potential clients, I don't think about competition. I consider the client's needs. First I use a lens of service. My purpose is to help clients solve their problems. Am I the right person for that role? Then I use a lens of matching. Is the potential client a match for my business and are my skills a match for their requirements? I answer these questions honestly, because I know that if we're not a fit - it's not a problem! There's plenty of opportunity out there for us both.Today, I'm sharing what I believe about competition. Namely that I don't believe in it.  Surprising coming from a woman in business? It shouldn't be. I value an abundance mindset that attunes to the truth: there is enough for everyone, and we are better together. When you leave behind the scarcity mindset of competition, it becomes effortless for clients to find you and the options in your business expand naturally.

Do you ever wonder why you are not landing clients? It might be because, to quote my business coach, you've been acting weird. Like sending emails that sound salesy and phony because you're copying someone else's strategies instead of creating your own. Sharing content that doesn't resonate because you didn't write it from a place of authenticity. Hosting Facebook groups that don't foster connection because you aren't willing to show up fully as you. When we're trying to be someone we're not, we have no choice but to seem weird. And yet we've all been there - particularly when we're new to business ownership. We desperately crave certainty. We want someone else to give us the one magic solution or strategy that we think will unlock the floodgates and let the clients come pouring in.In today's episode, I'm sharing the key thing each of my successful clients does consistently. It's not a magic template, but it is what keeps them fully booked and in-demand with people who want their unique experience and expertise. If you are not landing clients and want that to change, you can put this one thing to use in your own business and watch the results unfold.

Here's a truth bomb for you: there's no wrong way to run your business. In fact, to think there's only one right way to do anything in your business is just mind drama.Recently, I caught my thoughts starting some mind drama of their own by shoulding all over me: judging me about how I should be growing,  how I should lead my team, and how I should serve my clients. These shoulding thoughts and the energy they created really started to hold me back from confidently running my company.  Then I was reminded of the gray area we live within as entrepreneurs. Instead of beating myself up for everything I thought I should be doing, I remembered how beautiful it is that different methods work for different people, and that I was free to do what I wanted to do.Today, I'm sharing the one key question that reminded me to follow my instincts, and how you can do the same to take your business to the next level.

As top-performing female entrepreneurs with high standards, there’s one common behavior I see in my clients, my team, and myself: the urge to be perfect.Many of us have the thought that our past success came from producing perfect results. Once we have this thought, it starts a perfectionist cycle. We pressure ourselves to never make any mistakes. We spend too much time perfecting non-revenue generating tasks. We see any imperfection as evidence we’ve failed and spiral into analysis paralysis - then wonder why our business growth has flatlined. In today’s episode, I’m discussing how you can start to phase out your perfectionist thinking. Your past success was not based on an unattainable standard of perfection, but by providing meaningful results to your clients. Ditching perfectionist thoughts frees you from fear of failure and allows you to show up for your clients in a spirit of service, ready to deliver the value only you can deliver. 

Are you creating exactly what you want in your life and business? If you're not, you know it. You feel discouraged or inadequate, your confidence takes a nosedive, and you start to use all this evidence of your struggle as proof that you're 'doing it wrong.'But what if I told you that you're not doing it wrong? What if I told you that you have the ability, right now, to create anything? If you struggle with the 'how' of creating results, the idea of creating anything might seem impossible. But creating your ideal result is possible, and I'm explaining exactly how. Today, I'm outlining three action steps that will allow you to envision whatever it is you want and make it real in the world. And good news: once you've envisioned yourself exactly where you want to be, you've already taken the first step. All you need is a little practical guidance to make it happen.

I love data. It can tell us so much about where we're excelling and where we can improve in our businesses. But not all data is created equally. That’s why you've been studying marketing reports, trying to implement all the techniques, and still not seeing the results you want. I can explain.The key to using data to your benefit, ie: using it to create results, is knowing the specific data to use at specific points in your business. Listen to YOUR data. Most conversion statistics and marketing techniques you’ll come across reflect strategies for advanced brands and companies, not small or beginning-stage businesses. It’s important that you use business tactics that will work for you right here, right now - not five years from now. In this episode, I’ll share the strategies you can use in your small or early-stage business that align with your goals and generate the data-driven results you want to create.

Oftentimes, when marketing our businesses, we try to talk to too many people in one message. That's when our message gets lost - it doesn't resonate. And no one takes action.So what happens next? We get caught up trying to find the next shiny solution, forgetting that our written content and how we position it is how we guide our potential clients along their journey to working with us. When you carefully consider each step of your client's journey, you can begin strategically using your content to reach your goals. When you fully understand your client's frame of mind and motivation behind seeking you out, you can create content that speaks to them exactly where they are.Today, I'm sharing two examples of how targeted content can guide your clients to your services, plus three key action items you can take to better understand your client's journey and create offers that will solve their problems.

The major turning points in my business have always coincided with a phone call.As you think about where you’d like to take your business this quarter or this year, consider that we can never know what’s right around the corner. The next connection we create, the next decision we make, and the next call we take will lead us somewhere new. In this episode, I’m talking about how staying open to opportunity and in a mindset of abundance can bring about real change and give you real freedom.Learn how to consistently use small moments, like a phone call, to show up with empowered energy to consistently create progress and positivity in your life and business.

Your story is your voice. It uniquely sets you apart and it is why others WANT to work with you! But how to define your story and then use that in your content can be overwhelming and confusing. In this podcast episode, I talk with Monica Miller, a business coach and marketing expert, on how to develop your story and strategically use it to land clients. Monica helps mom entrepreneurs sell more high-end offers to reach 6-figures faster so they can live lives they love. She focuses on content and marketing coaching and strategies to get you there. She gives A LOT of great advice and examples of how you can implement this advice in the areas of:How to Turn Your Message to ContentCreating Your Unique Content Strategy PlanHow to Create Incredible Opt-Ins to Boost Your List and RevenueAre you ready to breakthrough to 6-Figures by having a customizable strategy uniquely for your business? Schedule your free Breakthrough to 6-Figures Strategy Session at www.speakwithmonica.comJoin The 6-Figure Momma Community and be with other high-level entrepreneurial mommas just like you who are wanting to grow their businesses to 6-Figures and collaborate along the way! Join the community here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/211275780732800Connect with me via Facebook by becoming my friend: https://www.facebook.com/monika.lynn17Website: www.monicawrites.comEmail: monica@monicawrites.com