As I write on pages 61 and 62 of Coaching Business Builder, “Consistency doesn’t mean that you can’t do different things and that you have to do the same thing all the time. It is important that people see how things tie together. Consider what you’ve created when products can be developed into other projects or purposes. Part of this may be to consider how you can reduce, reuse and recycle.”
 
I remember vividly being in grade 1 and the 3Rs – Reduce, reuse, recycle mantra was coming into play in public education. I continue to think about this as I move my own work forward, focusing on:
​
#1 – Reduce – “Less is more”. In addition to the 80/20 rule being known as the Pareto Principle, distilling things down in group programs is also very important. In fact, for years I’ve practiced a design rule also known as the 80/20 rule, which I’m pretty sure I picked up years ago from a program with Bob Pike. In the 80/20 rule, to design we want to pull out at least 20% of our original design ideas to create more space for discussion, dialogue and reflection. In content creation, reducing may mean having shorter posts, or doing a series over the course of a week or month. What are the elements you want to distill downwards?

#2 – Reuse – What can you do to reuse or REPURPOSE content? Perhaps two blog posts become an article, or an article becomes a short video. What can you do to repurpose your content? Take a look at what you have created, perhaps by looking back at your Content Trackers in Section 5 of your Coaching Business Builder Workbook and Planner. What do you notice about content which can be reused?

#3 – Recycle – How can things be recombined to create a WHOLE NEW entity? As a program designer, I built most things in discrete modules. Like building blocks, when put together these can create a whole new spectrum depending on the combination.
What is useful for you to take action on this week around content creation and the 3 R’s?

All the best,
​Jennifer

Content creation can be an important part of business development, marketing and visibility. Content can signal to others the areas we focus on, are passionate about, or work with clients on.

Content creation can involve focusing on several different areas, including:

• Videos
• Blog posts
• Articles
• Social Media Graphics – i.e. Instagram quotes, Facebook graphics

What type of content do you want to be creating?
Ongoing content creation starts to build a body of work overtime, in step by step basis. As we write, shoot or create, our voice and message become clearer to us, and to those we serve. Note that with many of the channels you may choose to become active on, you can syndicate or share content from one channel to another.

How to get started:
Take 15 minutes this week making a list, or creating a MindMap, or using post-its and index cards to map out all your ideas for content. Don’t self-censure. Just make a list! From there, create a list of possible post titles for videos, or articles, and schedule in blocks to write it out.

Remember, what doesn’t get scheduled, often doesn’t get done!

Where to go: If you have a copy of Coaching Business Builder, take a look at section 3 – Marketing Essentials, and work through the exercises associated with the areas you are interested in. Also be sure to use the Content Planning Tools available to you in the Planner Section. You might want to use the Content Planner to lay out your Annual list of themes, and then start capturing ideas or tracking posts/items with the Monthly Content Tracker and Monthly Content Journal – One Line a Day.

Let us know how you are using the Coaching Business Builder – Send a photo or two of the planner in action!

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

This summer marks the two year anniversary since the release of the Coaching Business Builder. Part workbook, part planner, the CBB as I affectionately call it, grew out of more than a decades worth of coaching conversations with coaches growing their businesses.  
With us stepping into the month of September this week, it's an optimum time to start a new planner. Pick up a digital copy or $29 US you'll get an immediate download of right now.​

Over the last two years since the release of the book, some of the key highlights have been:

Hearing from readers and coaches about how they are using the Coaching Business Builder in clarifying their vision, building out their strategies, and tracking it with the planner. Over the last year I've heard from coaches in all continents (except Antarctica), who are using the book as a resource in growing their businesses.

Seeing my own clients get clarity and traction in their business development efforts. I am always amazed how the different planning resources connect in for different clients. Some love the Annual Planning, others the monthly planning, and others the content development tools. Just the other day my co-host at the Remote Pathways podcast was showing how she converted the daily planner into a dry-erasable resource! 

Connecting with groups of coaches through many presentations about coaching business development, and the importance of planning, doing and tracking while growing a business. I've enjoyed speaking to many ICF chapters, coaching conferences, and coach training schools. Please email me if you'd like to book me for a presentation virtually this fall or winter to your coaching group. 

Hosting the Coaching Biz Growth Lab twice a month on Friday afternoons. This bi-weekly group serves as a place to connect, pause and get coaching around your business. A monthly article and template, along with Quarterly Get Things Done afternoons make it a budget friendly coaching group. Join us for the next 6 months (to the end of January 2021) at a special rate of $695 US. Payable in 1 or 2 installments. Contact me to see if this program is a good fit for you.

Incorporating it into  Business Design VIP Days where I get to work one-on-one with a coach to help them build out their business plan or program plans. Whether it's a half day or a full day I've been enjoying these a lot in recent months as coaches have realized it's so important to dedicate chunks of time to their planning with another thinking partner. Contact me to see how this could benefit you in your work.

The spin-off of the CBB to PlanDoTrack for Virtual and Remote Professionals at the end of 2018. With the publication of this workbook and analog planner at the end of 2018/early 2019, little did I know what 2020 would bring!  IF you work with virtual and remote professionals, do pick up a copy of PlanDoTrack and gift it to them. You can get hardcopies via Amazon and PDF copies via our Potentials Realized store.

Over the last year I've also trained up a number of Certified Facilitators who lead PlanDoTRack and/or Coaching Business Builder in their businesses as well. If you need to scale programming to a larger intersection of coaches or remote professionals, please let me know. We've got large groups covered.

I'd love to hear your stories. How has the Coaching Business Builder or PlanDoTrack supported you with your business growth?

This month, in honor of the 2nd anniversary I'll be returning to Instagram for daily posts. If you don't follow the CBB feed, connect here.

Stay tuned as I resume regular blog posts around business development and building a coaching business! They'll be coming to you weekly.

Let's talk about what's possible in your business? Book a 15 minute call to explore what's going to move your business forward -- there's four months left in the year. What's possible for you?

Have a great week,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton, PCC, CPCC, CHRL
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon.

Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore what's next for your coaching business, or group and team programming.

​

Stand Out Virtually! I hope that you will join me next week, each day for the Stand Out Virtually! Challenge. This live 5-day challenge will run each day from 9 - 10 am ET in the new Facebook Group I am hosting – the Virtual and Remote Visionaries Hub. I hope that you will join us.

A little about the challenge - It’s geared to get you into action around your own virtual elements. Whether you are leading a virtual group coaching program, a virtual team meeting, or a virtual retreat, great virtual events are all about MEMORABILITY, ENGAGEMENT, and ACTION.

Join me as I share resources and tips to amplify your programming.

The 5 Day Challenge (which is free to join), will be hosted in the Virtual and Remote Visionaries Hub. Join us here – SIGN UP…

Each day I will be going live at 9 am ET for 30-45 minutes in a resource rich call. Each day will also have a daily prompt and assignment, geared to get YOU in to ACTION on your own programming.

Take a minute to sign up for the challenge here.

Also be sure to join the Facebook group here.

Daily prizes (of things you will find useful and can use in your own program) round out the challenge.

Can’t wait to have you join us!

Can’t make the live calls? The reply will be available each day for a 24-hour period, and you can also pick up a copy of the recordings for $47 US. These will be sent out at the end of program. 

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

I often get asked “Why would I need to create content as a coach? I thought I’m not supposed to be a content expert”. So true, AND, a business owner who is likely to be creating a podcast or blog posts, or also offering other services than coaching, it’s likely that making space and time to focus on content creation can be useful.

As someone who has sustained blogs for many years, I have learned how important it is to have a plan to go to, especially when writer’s block happens – and it does happen to all of us!

Today’s post gets you to think about your content planning for the rest of the year. I hope that you will take a few minutes to work through these questions, and short activities. They don’t all need to happen at once.

Step #1 - Take 10-15 minutes to get your ideas out of your head – what are possible post ideas? Think about what your clients have been asking for? What have been the themes you have been coaching around?

Step #2 – Go back and review any past posts you have done. What hasn’t been covered yet? What ideas does this spark for you? What’s a deeper dive into topics you might have touched on? What’s a synthesis of other topics?

Step #3 – Review the metrics you have around blogs. What have people enjoyed? What do the numbers say?

Step #4 – Once everything is down on paper in a Mindmap or list, now think about creating a consistent schedule for posting or creating. Are you committed to posting every week? Twice a week?

What about when you will schedule creating it? Most of my blog writing happens in an hour block I have on Tuesday morning, or sometimes in an hour block first thing on the weekend.

Step #5 – Consider whether you want to get some help on this. Having a VA create some graphics for you and/or schedule the drafts can be of benefit, and some accountability, for getting things done.

Step #6 – List it out, schedule it in, and start to execute!

BONUS – Consider what you can do to repurpose

A couple of the forms you may want to use from the Coaching Business Builder:

• One Line a Day – Use this to capture new content ideas on a daily basis
• 31 Day Challenge

Be sure to write out your content needs as part of your Monthly To Dos. Once you have a monthly content plan in place this is easy. It also means that you have that month’s content at the forefront of your mind at all times.

What tips do you have for others? Looking forward to your suggestions!
​
Jennifer

Over the last few weeks I've been hosting a number of calls to support coaches in getting up to speed with, or accelerating their virtual work. Rather than create any new content this week, I wanted to direct you to what's available to tap into. I hope that you'll take a few minutes to check out these recordings of live calls I hosted a few weeks ago:

Monday March 16 – Trust and Connection in the Virtual and Remote Space. 
Tuesday – Resources to tap into with remote work
Wednesday – "Keep it simple" When working Virtually and In Complexity
Thursday – Visual Anchors
Friday – Remote Enablers - What helps remote work, work

Monday March 23 -Monday – Virtual Facilitation
Tuesday March 24 – Connection in the Virtual Space
Wednesday - no call as I was leading the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program
Thursday  - Virtual and Small Business/Coaching Business focus
Friday - Walk through and Effective Virtual Conversations

These calls were anywhere from 20-30 minutes in length. In some you'll notice community members who joined me and in others it's just me.

Enjoy and please pass on the link to my YouTube Channel so other coaches can also benefit from the series. 

I'll be continuing to offer complimentary support through the twice a month community calls which are open to anyone who would like to drop in. Save the dates (all calls are on Mondays from 11 - 1130 am ET):
Today - April 6 - In Focus: Strengths (for you, your team, your business)
April 13 - Design Hack - Join me for a 45 minute hands on session to breathe life into your next program
April 20 - Myths around Virtual and Remote Work and Teams

I look forward to continuing to serve you,
Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton - Potentials Realized
Author of PlanDoTrack (2019), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Pick up a copy of any of her books at Amazon.

Book Jennifer for a coaching session to explore productivity, teamwork and business issues.
​Contact her by phone at (416)996-8326

Instagram : @coachingbizbuilder & @remotepathways
Check out upcoming programs on our calendar - Virtual Facilitation, Group Coaching Training
Working remote? Listen into the Remote Pathways Podcast on your favorite podcast player!

My hope is that for all of you reading this, that you and your loved ones are remaining healthy. As we step into the end of Q1, I think many of us have been struck that the new decade has been full of surprises and pivots for business.

Over the last few weeks as COVID-19 has impacted North America after sweeping the rest of the world, I've been hosting regular virtual lunchtime calls, bringing together coaches from all backgrounds for some connection, discussion around what it means to go virtual, support for clients as they go virtual, virtual facilitation skills, and also business pivot topics.

If you weren't able to join me for those calls, I hope you will take a look at some of the recordings here at the Virtual Lunchtime Playlist, including Thursday March 26ths  call geared to virtual small business.

It's an unprecedented time, which is encouraging all of us to step up and lead in our own way.

I will continue to take a lead in our work here at Potentials Realized around support for coaches as well as the larger cross section of virtual and remote professionals which continues to focus on support for virtual teams and leaders.  My 2017 book, Effective Virtual Conversations, has been embraced by many organizations who are using it internally to guide their virtual meeting practices, virtual leadership, and also 
As some of you know, over the last year I've been training up a number of professionals who are also able to lead work around PlanDoTrack, which is a workbook and planner geared for virtual and remote professionals. I'll be doing another facilitator training for this whole body of work starting in a few weeks - it's a 24 hour course. Email me if you want to learn more.
Our focus at the Learning Lab and Design Studio in the last couple of months has been on virtual work and designing and leading programming that has the greatest impact. We meet on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month from 8 - 845 am ET or 845 - 930 am ET.
Another area of growth I've seen in recently months with programming has been attendance at the Virtual Facilitation Essentials program, which I call a virtual train-the-trainer. It's geared for those who want hands-on practice and learning about how to lead and design INTERACTIVE, VIRTUAL CONVERSATIONS, based on my 2017 book, Effective Virtual Conversations. Upcoming dates include a five week session starting on Monday March 30th, and one day offerings on Wednesday April 1 and 8, 2020. Click here to learn more and reserve your spot.
Business at the heart of any coaching business. With that in mind, I want to remind you of the regular community calls open to everyone and complimentary which  I will continue to hold on Mondays from 11 - 1130 am ET several times a month. Please drop in and see us. 
Join us tomorrow, Monday March 3oth, from 11-1130 am ET for a hands-on Quarterly Planning Hack, taking stock of where you want to go for Q2 and where you've been in Q1. Join us in my zoom room tomorrow.

I look forward to continuing to serve you.

Best
Jennifer

This year I’ve been having a lot of fun working with coaches on going a bit deeper into what they know about their clients. For several years, I’ve shared the Sweetspot Exercise of exploring what your strengths are, what your clients want and what you are great at. I first published this back in 2013 in From One to Many (download a copy of that marketing chapter here. (Use code 4411 and access the Marketing Chapter on Coaching Many).

This year I’ve been going deeper than this in the Coaching Biz Growth Lab and Learning Lab and Design Studio. We’ve turned to a number of tools from the Design Thinking Toolbox, including empathy maps, as well as thinking about how focus groups can help to broaden your understanding of what your clients want.

Having led focus groups in most of my roles over the last 3 decades – whether it was with government officials, community groups, leaders, HR teams, or executive committees – there can be a great cross section of generic questions you may want to tap into including questions along the lines of:

1. What’s important for you?
2. As you consider your industry/role/focus, what are the current trends?
3. What are the current opportunities you see in your role/focus/industry?
4. What do you see as some of the challenges in your role/focus/industry?
5. What do you need in order to do your best work (or thrive/excel etc)?
6. What supports are of greatest benefit to you – (explore things like on-demand vs. live, coaching vs learning)
7. How much time do you have to dedicate to learning?
8. What’s the most important goal you have for the next year

What else is important to explore within the time you have?

Enjoy the conversations!
​Jennifer

Here at the Coaching Business Builder, during the mid part of 2019 I did a series of marketing posts around the nine promotional vehicles I touch on in Section 3 of Coaching Business Builder. They include: Speaking, Blogging, Podcasting, Networking, Article Writing, Product Development, Lunch and Learns, Associations, Trade Shows and Conferences

Given that marketing is usually an ongoing effort for businesses of all ages (yes, even if you’ve been around for a while, marketing is still important – there’s always a next inflection point), it can be useful to build in time on a regular basis to be putting attention around marketing campaigns.

Just like the tagline of Daily Steps + Consistent Action = Momentum asserts, in marketing it often about the consistency which is important. A one-off email or one-off tweet may not capture the attention of who you want to connect with.

Some of the marketing approaches I’ve been experimenting with this year include my focus on podcasting, as well as my continued focus on Instagram, articles and also blogging.

What are the approaches you are experimenting with at the moment?

What are you noticing you are enjoying?

What’s feeling like it needs a boost?
 
Regardless of marketing vehicle, it can be useful to have a variety of ideas to pull from. Whether you are focusing on Instagram and need a list of post ideas, or you are focusing on podcasting and want to focus in on your exploration.

Enjoy!
​Jennifer

Jennifer Britton - GroupCoachingEssentials | Potentials Realized 
Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Join us for an upcoming ICF-CCE approved program including Group Coaching Essentials (8.75 CCEs), Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum (10 CCEs), or the PlanDoTrack Facilitator Training (24 CCEs). 
What's possible if you take daily steps on your business for 60 Days? Join our 60 Day Coaching Business Builder Accelerator program here!
Author of Effective Group Coaching (2010), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Check out my author page on Amazon for all publications.
Email: [email protected]
​

One of the terms that stands out for me in terms of last year’s focus in the business development world was that of the marketing funnel. The marketing funnel is a term that describes the ways you invite prospective clients and customers into your orbit.
The funnel simply looks like an inverted pyramid or a funnel. The top is wide, scaling down to the bottom. If you have a copy of the Coaching Business Builder you can work through your own funnel on page 8.  I've also included one here to the side bar.
 
We can explore the funnel on two levels –

1. What’s our mix of products and services at each layer of the funnel? 
2. What are we doing at every level to bring people into the different layers of the funnel – building deepening layers of awareness, relationship, purchase and advocacy?

We will look at each level from the perspective of what you are offering in terms of your products or services. Then we’ll look at it in terms of how you are building relationships.

At the top of the funnel we have those items which are free or no fee. This is the widest part of the funnel and it is geared to attract the most amount of people.  It’s also the place where we want to build brand awareness around our different products and services. The focus at this top end of the funnel is to ATTRACT new people and to share with them what you have to offer at a FREE or LOW FEE way. It’s an opportunity to spotlight snippets of what you offer.
​
At this level we might include things like:

• A downloadable checklist or template to support our clients
• Blog posts or Instagram feeds
• A daily challenge (5 days) to support clients in taking action towards their goals
• Facebook Live calls or Community Calls where we discuss some of the more common questions opportunities, challenges and resources for our focus of work
• Delivering a webinar for a larger association or group

The goal here is to start building a connection and conversation with people.

What do you have at the widest part of the funnel - FREE or VERY LOW FEE, focused on ATTRACT?

At the next level of the funnel, you will have low priced offerings. Again, the purpose is to continue the conversation, and strengthen relationships and start generating money. It is often to help people consider your services at a lower price point and start the conversation with you. They will get more than a taster and probably get an experience of what your services can provide for them.

At this second level, which is geared to get people to CONVERT to a higher level or next product, this might include:

• A book
• A short e-book bringing together some of your blog posts in a compendium
• A short video-based course highlighting some of the tips or latest research around the topics you coach around
• A longer challenge (7 days for example)

At this layer you are starting to share more about your business, the philosophies which underpin it and who you are and what you offer.

At the third layer, ENGAGE, we have mid-priced programming. This is perhaps where your live offerings of retreats or group coaching might reside. At this point, people are making an investment into your offerings, and they are likely to become a fan of what you offer. They are the ones who are likely to move to even higher priced items, now or later.

There may be a next layer where people work with you on an ongoing basis on mainstream offerings. For some coaches this is where your regular one-on-one coaching will reside, or retreat day with a team.

Finally, at the top end of the funnel (the smallest part), where it is likely at the highest rate, and most intensive (or highest touch) work – you have the CONNECT phase where these people are likely to become the ADVOCATES of your work. They are the “RAVING fans” or people who will buy everything you have to offer.  This might include a face-to-face piece of Intensive work with you through a Weekend Program OR a VIP Day.

Exercise:
As you consider your business mix for your work, what would you put in each of these layers? Which programs could benefit from some attention and/or need to be developed?

All the best,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton - GroupCoachingEssentials | Potentials Realized 
Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Join us for an upcoming ICF-CCE approved program including Group Coaching Essentials (8.75 CCEs), Advanced Group and Team Coaching Practicum (10 CCEs), or the PlanDoTrack Facilitator Training (24 CCEs). 
What's possible if you take daily steps on your business for 60 Days? Join our 60 Day Coaching Business Builder Accelerator program here!
Author of Effective Group Coaching (2010), Coaching Business Builder (2018), Effective Virtual Conversations (2017) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013). Check out my author page on Amazon for all publications.
Email: [email protected]