top 10 mistakes - amazon s3 · 2016-09-26 · the top 10 mistakes coaches & healers make in...

Top 10 Mistakes Coaches & Healers Make in Business &

How to Fix Them!

wanderlustentrepreneur.com

http://www.wanderlustentrepreneur.com

Our hearts are certainly in the right place…As heart-based entrepreneurs, healers and coaches, we adore making an impact on the world, supporting our clients’ healing and transformation, and earning a living doing what we love by sharing our unique gifts and talents. (So satisfying, right!?!)

Yet our feet are often not rooted firmly on the ground.

Many of us can’t quickly and clearly explain what we do when talking to potential new clients, dislike marketing or selling ourselves, shy away from technology, or don’t have a lot of experience running a business.

I certainly was guilty of all these mistakes in the early days of starting my shamanic healing and coaching practice! Quite frankly purpose-driven entrepreneurs need to be focusing on what we are good at – teaching, coaching, healing and transforming lives, NOT struggling to attract clients or figure out how to piece together a mobile, online or profitable business that makes a difference on the planet.

I’m sure you’ve felt the call - it’s time for each of us to step up, play bigger and REALLY contribute to the world.

So let me share a bit of my story…

After being on a spiritual path for years, my husband and I built a 7-figure business in 4 years. Since we started out in debt, we did everything by ourselves – marketing, branding, systems, website, you name it.

Meanwhile, I had a local healing practice on the side. I did a very good job of appearing to be a cute suburban mom who hid my true talents and abilities. Sure, clients always found me but I struggled a steady stream of ones who would pay for what I was worth.

Meghan GilroyBusiness Coach, Shamanic Healer & Retreat Strategist

The Top 10 Mistakes Coaches & Healers Make in Business and How to Fix Them!





Over time, my husband and I realized that our business wasn’t feeding our souls. As my son grew older, I knew I had a message to share. Yet we felt trapped on the daily treadmill with big expenses and a big lifestyle in a big city. We wanted to have the freedom to travel and live anywhere in the world.

He wanted out and it was time for me to focus on growing my business, but I wasn’t making enough money to support our family. And quite frankly, I secretly believed that I couldn’t make the same kind of income that my husband’s more traditional business did.

Well, we decided to take a leap of faith and move to the mountains. With few other options, I started applying

the business principles that created so much success for my husband and I into my own healing and coaching practice. And wow, I was amazed at the results.

Within a few years, I was working 10 steps from my beautiful home, surrounded by nature in my healing space, traveling around the world to teach and making a 6-figure income while still having a flexible ¾ time schedule so I could also spend time with my kids.

Now I love being able to teach other healers and coaches how to be strategic in your business so you can spend time doing what you love, not struggling to figure out how to create a business.

So what mistakes was I making during all those early years as a heart-based entrepreneur?

Well, I would introduce myself by my many professional titles and speak in vague spiritual speak while resulted in a lot of head scratching. I resisted finding my niche, marketing or selling myself or sharing my personal human struggles. I constantly was searching for clients and usually only worked with each one for a session or two. I never wanted to market or sell myself – I thought clients should line up at my door.

Our sweet home in the mountains!




Boy was I wrong!

Not surprisingly, I never felt like I was gaining any traction in my business. And I constantly let life constantly intervene - kids, parents, home, moves, my own internal development… all of which prevented me from focusing on feeding what lights up my soul.

I was unconsciously sabotaging my business. Then I discovered that when you combine:• a pressing problem that you can solve• specific language that your ideal client can relate to • the story of your personal struggles that you’ve overcome• your years of training and expertise, and• an organized series of programs or productsthen your business will grow, your income will increase, and you’ll have a steady stream of grateful clients!

Wow, what a difference.

Now I support heart-based entrepreneurs, coaches and healers to identify who you serve, what problems you solve, and how to implement the business tools you need to build a vital practice - while letting go of any internal personal issues that cripple your business’ success.

1. We hide behind our modality, instead of solving problems.Most coaches and healers hide behind our modality. When introducing ourselves to new people or writing copy on our websites, we lead with a long list of our titles and trainings instead explaining how we can solve a compelling problem for our clients.

It’s the difference between saying, “I’m a Reiki Master and massage therapist with cranial-sacral and Polarity training!” vs. “I help busy professionals relieve stress and pain through bodywork.”

The Top 10 Mistakes Coaches & Healers Make in Business? More importantly, how to fix them!




After an introduction based on our modality, most people are somewhat baffled, often unfamiliar with these terms and wondering what we really do – or if we can help them.

So start communicating what you do in terms of how you can solve a problem for your clients and notice the difference in your interactions and the growth in your sales!

2. We hate being put in a box so we try to help everyone.Raise your hand if you have multiple trainings and certifications and could offer programs, sessions or teachings on a wide variety of topics. Yep, thought so. Many of us could teach many subjects to most anyone.

Yet the more targeted you become in your business, the easier it is for your tribe to find you – especially online. If you’re a yoga teacher who wants to help people relax and rejuvenate, then you’re a dime a dozen. But if you overcame debilitating anxiety or back pain and now teach yoga to women in their 50s who want to transition out of their corporate jobs like you did, now we’re talking.

Take your pressing problem that you can solve, then figure out your niche – who you serve. Hint: your ideal client is most likely a version of you.

3. We speak in vague, spiritual or therapeutic language.How many times have you read marketing materials that say, “I can help you speak your truth!” or “I can support you in connecting to your divinity and reclaim your authentic self!”?

Truth be told, most of our clients aren’t sitting around on their couch, about to dip into their Ben ‘n Jerry’s thinking that their most pressing problem in life is that they are not connected to divinity. Or that they have a fear of speaking up.

As healers and coaches, we know that tapping into your connection to Source might be a major issue in our client’s lives, yet we need to meet them where they are by using specific language that resonates with them.




So review your copy and get inside your client’s head. What are their worries? Fears? Problems? Be client- centric and write in language that addresses their situation and needs.

4. We want to uplift & empower potential clients – not highlight their pain.I was at a live event answering questions from the audience. I had a highly effective, needed program to sell that solved a pressing issue that the folks in front me were yearning for. Yet I was so used to genuinely cheerleading my clients to make them feel more confident about themselves that I shied away from also highlighting their pain – which my program solved.

Luckily my business coach pulled me aside and said, “Meghan, you are one of the most positive, empowering people I’ve ever met. But you have to also point out what people lack so that they will realize that they need your help and buy your services so that they can work with you over time and integrate your teachings into their life and business.”

Huh? It took me a few minutes to re-frame my thinking and feel okay about lasering in on people’s suffering. Wasn’t that mean? Then I realized that I wasn’t much help to anyone if I don’t have the opportunity to work with them!

While it may not feel natural, identify what pain and suffering your clients’ experience and how you can alienate this through your services. Then talk to them openly, honestly and directly about how you can help them.

5. We offer 1-time events with no follow-up.When you offer a class, workshop, retreat or event, do you collect email addresses? If you do, good for you!

Now what about offering a follow-up program so your participants can continue working with you and integrate your material into their lives – not to mention monetize your offerings?

For years, I was the queen of holding a 1-off event at the local health food store, then a completely unrelated event at the nearby retreat center, then an online class on a totally different topic with no sequential program.




6. We’re afraid, overwhelmed or intimidated by technology.I know healers who touch electronics and they go haywire. And I’ve heard many a client say, “Creating a website is too hard for me. I don’t get all that online stuff.”

Well, my friends, get over it! (Sorry to be so blunt.)

If you want to succeed online (or even have a thriving business locally), at the minimum you are going to need:• a website with an email sign-up form & valuable freebie opt-in gift, • an email subscription service with an autoresponder, • a blog or regular way to communicate, • a product or service to sell, • a way to process money online and• keep track of it with a bookkeeping program as it flows through your business. • And yes, you will need to get on a social media site like Facebook and even gasp! create a Facebook ad.

If all this makes your head spin – or sounds like gibberish, then get help!

Yeesch, was that a disaster!

I was on the perpetual gerbil-wheel in a hunt to find new clients. The ones I had didn’t know how to effectively apply my teachings to their lives or what the next step was. And I wasted tons of time and effort setting up events that had no follow-through.

Before you book any more events, please get clear on what problem you solve, who you serve, and create a step-by-step program that your clients can move through over the next 6-12 months. Commit! No more random one-time offerings. Please!




Most of us have spent years working on ourselves and taking trainings and courses galore. We’ve let go of limiting beliefs, stuck patterns, and old emotions surrounding our personal issues. We must do the same with technology. (Seriously, it’s a gift from God in this day and age.) You can do this!

7. We charge too little for our services & are stuck working at hourly rates.Whenever I ask a client how much they charge for their services, I often hear them mumble a reply – or worse, state a decent figure then quickly add that they of course also offer a sliding scale for those who need it. Please stop doing this! Here’s why.

Every interaction with a client is an exchange of energy. We provide goods or services that we’ve invested our expertise, time, money we’ve invested in being trained, creativity and yes, energy into. In return, our clients must compensate us with an equal amount of energy in the form of money for it to be an equal give and take.

I know that most of us healers and coaches have huge hearts and want to help everyone. Yet most often our reluctance to charge a decent rate and stand proudly behind it comes from a lack of self-worth and self-value.

On top of this, we typically only offer 1:1 sessions that are tied to an hourly rate, without considering how we might leverage our time by offering group coaching

programs, online classes, retreats, masterminds or other programs that are not based on being paid by the hour.

Take a good look at your rates. Factor in all your trainings and life experiences. Raise your price to the highest you think the market will bear and that makes you slightly uncomfortable. Keep nudging it up as your client base grows. And package your offerings.




8. We think we need more training, degrees or certification before we can “put ourselves out there.”

Many coaches and healers I know are information junkies. We’re curious about so many modalities and health and healing systems that we are perpetually in training, yet never pause to combine all our knowledge and wisdom in a way that really puts us “out there.”

We think that before we start that class, we’d better complete our certificate. Or before we write that paper, we’d better survey all our colleagues and see what they think. Or before we put up our website, we better have it all figured out.

We need to seriously shift our thinking.

Yes, our clients want to know that we have adequate experience – whether through formal schooling or from life. Yet more importantly, our clients come to us based on our presence – that indescribable energy we carry, along with our deep caring, our empathy, and our ability to listen.

99.9% of our clients are not going to know or care if you have another set of letters after your name or the next number of hours to bump you up the totem pole within your tradition, or that one more fancy sounding title.

Get started. Now. You don’t have time to waste. There are people who need you. Start. At the beginning, middle or end. It doesn’t matter where. Go!

9. We don’t know how to run a business with a systematic, strategic plan in place.

Strategies

for Success




To really be successful in a profitable healing or coaching business, you are going to need to know how to write scintillating sales copy, have your legal ducks in order, track your clients through marketing funnels, be willing to use an accounting program, create systems and forms, lay out a marketing plan, create content… are you still breathing?

The vast majority of healers and coaches have spent tons of time and money on learning their healing or coaching skills. Yet how many of us have gone to business school, taken business courses online, or had a business coach? Not nearly as many.

And yet we judge ourselves for not being able to write good copy. We beat ourselves up for not understanding how to market. We get stuck planning our promotional practices for the year.

Heck, if you are a health coach and can get someone who’s eaten junk food all their life to eat raw, or an energy worker who can talk with angels, guides and helpers, or a therapist who can untangle marital discord like nobody’s business, then you can learn marketing, sales and accounting.

Really. Point is – if you can figure out how to conquer the crazy cool skillset that you’ve developed as a healer or coach, then you can certainly master basic business skills with mentoring and education.

10. We lack focus and determination when it comes to creating a grounded practical business.Let’s face it. As healers and coaches, most of us would rather dive deep into meditation, zoom around the universe, retreat into nature, or go to an empowering workshop, event or conference instead of the daily hard work of finding potential clients, developing our business plans and programs, and calculating our income vs. expenses.

For well over a decade, I was quite content to exist in an expanded state of consciousness with little focus or determination to be a successful entrepreneur. Then I recognized that I no longer have that luxury if I want to share my passion and purpose with each of you.




For those of us who spent years raising our awareness, it’s now time to come down to earth and serve others deeply. For those who are still in the muck of drama, pain and suffering, it’s time to be lifted up into a higher consciousness.

Make as deep a commitment to your business as you did to healing and transforming yourself and to all your years of training. It’s time. Your clients – and this planet, badly need your energy, expertise and solutions!

Your business is the next arena for your own personal growth.

That’s both exciting – and scary.

Most of us have spent years working on healing our relationships, health, and finances – not to mention our body, mind and spirit. All of which largely happened within the confines of our own homes or close circle of friends and family.

Running a healing or coaching business means that we have to put ourselves “out there.” No more hiding. We are stepping into our power even more fully – publicly.

As we step into the unknown, we have to master new skills. Our worth will be tested as our income grows. Can you sustain making a 5-figure income? Are you worthy of a million dollar business? What about a multi-million dollar one?

The places inside of us that still doubt, in fear or are playing small will have the opportunity to be healed as our business expands.

Hooray! And gulp!

If you are like me, then nothing intrigues me more than knowing myself better, challenging myself to grow and finding a way to blend my spiritual side with practical, everyday tools and techniques.

So if the idea of sharing it all makes you both squirm and light up – sharing your human struggles, your deeply transformative teachings and trainings, a grounded, specific offering, proven marketing strategies and technology to a niche-made-in-heaven for you, then welcome to the next stage of your evolution!



Your heart is in the right place. Your feet are firmly rooted in the ground.

And Yes! Let’s chat about how I can serve you.

Click here to grab your complimentary 20-minute session now! I’d love to connect and talk about how to amp up your business – with heart and soul!

Meghan’s Story

Meghan Gilroy launches healers and coaches into profitable online and mobile businesses so you can do what you love – and make a fantastic income changing lives.

She stumbled on her spiritual path over 15 years ago after heartbreak, betrayal, and an out of control classroom lead her to study and eventually teach with don Miguel Ruiz, bestselling author of “The Four Agreements.”

As a shamanic healer, life & business coach and (mostly) mindful mama, she delights in combining her intuitive, spiritually minded talents and hardcore business knowhow to support your personal evolution and growth, while making a huge difference in the world.



top 10 mistakes - amazon s3 · 2016-09-26 · the top 10 mistakes coaches & healers make in...

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