78 | How to use slow months to build your pipeline

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Hello and welcome to Women in

the Coaching Arena podcast.

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I'm so glad you are here.

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I'm Jo Lott, a business mentor

and ICF accredited coach

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

and I help coaches to

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build brilliant businesses.

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I know that when you prepare to enter

the arena, there is fear, self doubt,

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comparison, anxiety, uncertainty.

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You can tend to armor up and

protect yourself from vulnerability.

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In this podcast, I'll be sharing

honest, not hype, practical and

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emotional tools to support you to make

the difference that you are here for.

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Dare greatly.

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You belong in this arena.

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Hello, welcome to the 78 episode

of women in the coaching arena.

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I'm so glad you're here.

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Today I want to talk about how you can use

slow business mumps to your advantage when

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it comes to marketing and gaining clients.

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As any self-employed person will know.

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There will always be seasons in

entrepreneurship and months that go

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really well and months that go less well.

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Half of the game is getting used

to this inconsistency, but also

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building your pipeline so this

becomes a less regular occurrence.

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I've managed to now get to the

point, through building really

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consistent, deep marketing that this

is less and less of a challenge.

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Today, I'm going to talk about some

proven marketing techniques and

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client getting tactics that you can

implement during those slower seasons.

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The aim is to shift your mindset

from just trying to survive the

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slow mums, and wasting that energy

by panicking to actively using that

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time to set yourself up for growth.

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So the first thing I would do

if I was having a slow month is

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to audit your marketing funnel.

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You might be thinking, I don't

know if I have a marketing funnel.

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But let's talk this through.

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One of the best ways is to really

think about what's worked in the past.

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Assess what's working.

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What's not.

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Where might there be leaks or bottlenecks?

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Depending on where you are

in your business journey.

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First, you might want to think

about lead generation strategies.

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Are you spending at least two hours

a day on sales generating activities.

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These are not always putting

a social media post out.

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Social media is a long game.

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What I mean by a lead generation

activity that is going to generate a

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quick result is by thinking what's a

quick, easy thing that you could sell.

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That people actively want.

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So what I often hear from my clients is.

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Yeah, I could do that, but really I

want to sell this or I want to do this.

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And that's absolutely fine.

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Obviously we go into our

business to fulfill our passions.

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But sometimes you might just

have to think what is it that the

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market wants and sell that now?

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If, for example, you're a career coach.

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And you don't particularly like

doing CVS and interviews, but you

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know, they are really popular.

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Maybe it's about thinking, do you

know what, this month I'm just going

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to offer five interview packages or

I'm going to do five CVS, even if

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it's not your absolute preference.

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I would think where is the market

telling me that they want something

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and what is a quick, easy thing I can

sell right now to fulfill that need.

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We will move further into those

lead generation things, but in

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terms of auditing your marketing

funnel, there might be bigger picture

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things that you want to work on

depending on your priority right now.

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So for example If you have a website

lead magnet or social media channel.

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really audit them and

think, would you follow you?

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Would you buy from you?

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Find someone that is doing well, even

if they're not within your niche,

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and really trying to analyze, like,

what's the difference between what

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they're doing and what I'm doing.

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I often do this on our group calls.

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And pull up someone that is doing super

well right now and literally audit their

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stuff right there and then, and really

notice that, for example, in every

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single social media post, this person

really called out their ideal clients.

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So they may have started every single

caption with "when working with small

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business owners" there's no hesitation

as to who this person works with.

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Whereas you can look at others

and they're all very general.

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Would you like to set some goals?

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It's really important to

take time for yourself.

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It doesn't really say you

work with people like me.

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So really do find someone within your

niche, ideally or outside of your

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niche, either way, you will start to

notice the patterns of what people who

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are succeeding are doing really well.

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Next up in terms of your marketing

funnel, I would think about how are

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you nurturing and converting prospects?

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So if for example, you are currently

just posting on social media.

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Have a think, what could the next step be?

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We want to move them towards maybe

a booking, a call with you, but

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that's not always the first step.

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Maybe you need to go live.

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Maybe you need to have some sort

of event that they can take a

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less risky step towards you.

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It could be a webinar.

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It could be a free event

in your local area.

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What can you do to get in front

of your absolute ideal client

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in a much closer, more deep way?

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Finally, I would look at where your client

onboarding and retention efforts are.

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Have you asked previous clients,

if they need any more help or ask

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previous clients, if they have any

referrals or people that they know

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who are needing similar help to them.

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Those who know, like, and

trust you will massively help

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you fast track this dry spell.

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The next thing I would probably do

is ramp up your content creation.

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If it were me, for example,

I would really double down on

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learning a particular skill.

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So for example, in September, I've

decided to really up my copywriting

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game for that one month and go

big on improving my content.

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The downside to having a social media

manager is not always taking the time

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to share those stories and learnings

that I get on a day to day basis.

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So I'm really excited to make

that my focus for September

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in improving that skill.

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It's such an opportunity if you

are having a dry month of thinking.

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Do you know what I'm going to really

hone in on how to improve my LinkedIn

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profile and figure out what those who

are doing well on LinkedIn are doing.

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For example.

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Those who are doing well are probably

posting twice a day on LinkedIn.

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So if you're posting once a week

on LinkedIn, There's the perfect

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clue for you to improve that.

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Same if you're using Instagram or any

other channel, look at what they're doing.

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And often what you'll

notice straight away.

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It's the volume of what you're doing

is nowhere near the volume required.

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And I know that feels a lot, and I'm

not saying you need to post twice a

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day, but I am saying if you're having

a dry spell, You need to really ramp

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things up and put huge effort in

to at least post every single day.

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I'm not just posting.

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How about engaging and using this

time to support others, and then

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they will support you in return.

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That is something I miss a lot, actually,

because as I've got busier, I haven't

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spent as much time on social media

and I really used to have good, deep

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connections with people on LinkedIn.

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I have still got quite a few,

but lots of them are, a few

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years old relationships now.

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So you can, if you're having a quiet

month invest t your time there.

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Think about.

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who you want to support and

how you want to contribute.

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For example, put leadership in the

LinkedIn search bar and comment

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on some of the posts you see, the

more you contribute, the better you

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start to feel, and the more visible

you'll get as well so it doesn't

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need to be just you creating content.

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Commenting and engaging is also

in a really effective strategy.

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It might also be a time to think

about longer term marketing that

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you've been wanting to start.

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Perhaps you've been wanting

to do a podcast, contribute

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to magazines, do some PR.

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Do video tutorials.

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Plan a webinar.

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A quiet time.

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It's the perfect time for a really

big project that is going to make a

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long term impact in your business.

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The key is to ensure that everything you

create educates inspires and positions

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you as a trusted authority in your niche.

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If you don't feel like you've

got the solid niche yet.

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I would pick one at this point

and then go big on that thing.

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So you can gain clients and people will

understand exactly who you help and how.

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This paying into the value bank will

pay dividends when your business picks

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up, but it also makes you more visible

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so it's a win-win for both short-term and

long-term engagement in your business.

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Also be grateful for that slower pace

so you can be more thoughtful and

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strategic about your content and planning.

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I mean, I would adore a day

of just planning my content.

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Maybe think about a whole new strategy.

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So for example, video marketing or going

big in reels, or what do you want to do?

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And what haven't you had the time

to really learn before, choose

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just one thing and decide to

become an expert in that thing.

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Finally let's think about boosting

your networking and outreach.

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So I've mentioned a few

bits on this already.

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But there's nothing more powerful than

building those new relationships and

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strengthening previous relationships.

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Download your LinkedIn contacts, for

example, or your Facebook contacts.

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List them, make it a project to think.

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When did I last speak to this person?

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How can I add value to their life?

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What's a really thoughtful

thing I could say or do.

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It doesn't need to be, I need work.

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How about thinking about what you

can do for them in order for them

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to eventually do something for

you without you having to ask.

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Referral partners is another great thing.

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For example, I could hook up with

branding photographers and say, I

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help coach's build their business.

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Do you work with coaches?

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If they say yes, I could say great.

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If you send them away, I'll give you

10% of anyone that comes forward.

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Really think about who else

your ideal client knows.

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And who else your ideal

client is working with?

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To build those referral partnerships.

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If you have built up an email

list in the past, are you

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still emailing them regularly?

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If not this is the perfect opportunity

to ramp up that engagement and

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the marketing you may have let

fall by the wayside previously.

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Finally, how about connecting with

other people in your industry or

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your friends, your family, yourself.

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It's perfect time to reflect

and think about the big picture.

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That's exactly what I was intending

to do this month of August.

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And strangely enough, I've signed

more clients this month than I've

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ever signed in my entire business.

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Despite the fact I haven't

actually really worked this month.

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So I was intending to completely

redo my business of coaching

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portal and do all sorts of things.

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I did manage to do some bits in

that the last couple of days.

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But wasn't quite as slow as I expected.

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If you are in a slow season think about

how you can make the most of that season.

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It won't last.

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So there are my top tips for using

slower seasons in your business

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to your advantage as a coach.

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We aren't meant to be go, go, go

all of the times, if you are having

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a slow season, think about how you

can really pay into that value bank.

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It will pay you back in

dividends in the future.

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If you are ready to go big from September,

I am running a 30 day offer to market

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sprint, starting on the 16th of September.

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I will link to offer to

market in the show notes.

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It's a 30 day lead generation program.

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So it's fast paced.

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This is more for you if you are

prepared to choose a niche and

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create an offer within a week.

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And then we will work for three

full weeks on generating leads

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for that offer with day by day

instructions of exactly what to do.

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A community.

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My help and feedback

every step of the way.

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Prizes and different things to help

you keep engaged because it is hard

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doing lead generation activities.

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On your own, which is why I really

believe in the power of community.

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So if you would like to join us,

it's £997 for the 30 day sprint.

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Our aim if you have a good social media

following and an offer that sells is

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to make your money back within 30 days.

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if you are just starting out, you

will learn masses as long as you are

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emotionally and practically ready to

take action because it is a 30 day thing.

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So we don't have the sort of time I

allow in the business of coaching.

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It's not a long-term marketing plan.

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We're not seeing your email list.

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we're not building longterm things.

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We are quickly creating an offer

and we are selling that offer as

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quickly as we can in this sprint.

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So, if it sounds like the sort of

thing you need from September to

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make the next quarter, your most

profitable, then you will find the link

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to offer to market in the show notes.

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And like I say, at the end of every

episode, trust yourself, believe

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in yourself and be the wise Gardner

who keeps on watering the seeds.

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

Thank you so much for listening to this

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episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

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joannalottcoaching.com.

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And I'll also put links in the show notes.

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Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

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Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

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personally thank you for that.

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Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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who keeps on watering the seed.

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Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.