I am sure that when you started putting together your goals for the year, there is one that you especially dedicated to "being a successful professional."
What are we talking about when we talk about success? It is one of the most questioned questions in the world and, although the answers can go in different ranges and consider hundreds of variables (because it has to do with what is important to you) I am sure that if you cannot freely develop your profession, If you have to obtain your livelihood through another route and if your forced focus is more on paying the bills than on performing professionally, you can hardly feel completely successful.
Does what I say make sense? Unfortunately, being recognized, deeply loving what you do and even being very talented are not enough for you to have a profitable professional practice and be able to live from it.
So this becomes a very natural question: How can I live from my profession? Especially if we talk about coaching, consulting or some more modern types of therapies, this destabilizing doubt arises that leaves many without daring to undertake and others justifying (with excuses) their poor results in business.
Are you wondering the same thing? It does not matter if you are a coach, consultant, therapist or if you have any other unconventional profession of services, the answer is YES you can live from it, but to achieve it, you have to take into account certain keys that I will now tell you about and they will help you live from your profession.
5 key strategies to live from coaching, consulting or therapy (or any other profession of service to others you have)
Strategy # 1 - Forget about coaching, consulting, therapy, or whatever you do
It is so and although there are still some who have a hard time assimilating it, your business may cost you so I will be very clear: your clients do not buy coaching, consulting, therapy or whatever you offer. Your clients are not interested in the tools you have to implement, the certifications and masters you have completed or even how you combine your talents. All that of course matters to you, because it is what helps you to be a professional of excellence. But not your clients.
Your clients buy results, benefits, transformations. Your clients will hire you to help them achieve what they alone cannot. It doesn't matter which vehicle you do it through.
Some clients are likely to show curiosity, but curiosity will not put money in your pocket or solutions in your client's pocket. The commitment yes, on both sides. And this commitment will be with the results.
Now, before you feel that I have thrown a bucket of cold water at you and you do not know how to solve it, make it that simple: ask yourself what transformation in your life, business, career, partner, etc., you will help your client to achieve, what results or benefits it will have working with you, how you are going to help you go from point A to point B, and focus there. That will give you success in your profession (or your coaching business, consulting or whatever you do), not the titles you show.
Strategy # 2 - Don't demand from your business what you wouldn't demand from your 9-month-old son.
Many people start their business and want them to have frequent customers, very good and stable incomes in the short term, and be on the ladder to the top. It is the same as asking your 9-month-old son, who has just started to eat, who is beginning to "take off" a little from you and become more autonomous, who is starting to crawl or at best stop and take a little step like all a great feat, to get on the skateboard or start running. You wouldn't, would you?
Your business also has to grow, establish itself, gain security, stabilize, test and learn. A number that I share with my private clients is that, from the moment your business sees the light (with everything and its strategies well implemented) it usually takes between 6 months to a year to stabilize. Any other case you know of is an exception and not the rule.
It is also an exception to start a business in less than 3 months. There are people who achieve it in 30 days (with a lot of dedication, perseverance and effort) and a large part of the entrepreneurial universe takes between 3 and 6 months. It is a super important process of forming the foundations and the cornerstone of your business, the business model and the most important strategies that you will implement.
Strategy # 3 - The wheel should never stop spinning
In my opinion, this is one of the reasons why some businesses fail before they start, or they start well and then go down. The work of attracting potential clients is continuous, it is never finished. You have to be constant and consistent in the strategies that help you position your business, to be always updated as to what your market needs, to have services that are attractive to your audience, clear and effective communication, to use networking as a way to leverage your business, to talk with potential customers to always be aware of what they need, etc.
Many entrepreneurs and freelancers make the mistake of dedicating themselves to these strategies during the first months, and as soon as they get 3 or 4 clients they focus on them and forget to turn the wheel that will potentially help them have new clients when they are finished.
Don't you have the time? Well, get the time. I know it seems easy to say, but it is too expensive not to. It is hard but you cannot believe that because you have got 3 or 4 clients quickly (or sometimes not so fast) everything will come easily and without doing anything for it. You have to keep working, consistently and constantly.
Strategy # 4 - Stop wasting time on colored mirrors and focus!
Another reason why many professionals are totally overwhelmed with their businesses and do not achieve results is because they do not focus on what is most important: attracting potential clients. Innovating yes, but dispersing your attention and resources on several fronts, will only make you lose energy and effectiveness.
This "colored mirrors" as I call it, or in English is called "shiny object syndrome" does not refer to something of little value, but refers (in this case) to the dispersion that causes all time you find something new to do and you blur.
Let's admit it, in the market there are hundreds of very interesting and valuable strategies that you can implement to achieve your goals. But you can't go after all of them. Nor is it a good idea to start with one and without actually implementing it, move on to another. Nor is it very efficient that you implement it, and then migrate to another without giving consistency to the previous one.
My advice? Choose 5 strategies a year. The ones that best fit your personality and style (and that of your business) that are closer to the results you hope to obtain and that you are willing to do constantly and consistently. And there focus.
Strategy # 5 - Don't want to help everyone
I probably should have put this secret first J for you to really pay attention to it. If you follow me long ago you know that I always focus here (to the point where sometimes I feel a bit repetitive) but when I have to talk to some people who are just starting out or who have been in their business for a long time and do not get results, I realize why it is important that I keep talking about this topic.
For your business to work and your services to be really attractive to your audience, you have to be very close to your ideal client: know their needs, what worries them, what things they have tried and not worked for, what are their biggest pains, their best dreams and your fears. And this will not be possible if you work with very different clients.
In addition, as you have also read in some other article, clients today more than ever look for the expert, the specialist, who has experience in the problem they have and can help them achieve what they want. More and more generalists are suffering from this trend. But it may be an opportunity for you, if you specialize.
Bonus track! Stop charging for hours !!
Whenever I explain this strategy to my clients I earn a surprised face at the beginning and then it makes complete sense to them. Let's go with a simple and tangible example: if my goal is to lose weight, let's say about 5kg… how many kilos will I have lost after a session with my nutritionist? How? None? Then it will be that this plan to lose weight does not work?
I think you understand me. Results are achieved through a process, not one or two or three sessions or meetings. Your customer engagement will also be affected. In the same way, your promise will change because you will know that your client can achieve X or Y results throughout a process of so many months, and not necessarily after N number of sessions.
As you can see, implementing the correct model is the difference between income instability and a committed and successful business.
I hope you enjoyed these 5 strategies and the bonustrack, and that I was able to answer the question of "how to live from your profession". But now, I hope you tell me: Which of these secrets has surprised you the most? What changes are you going to implement in your business to include these tips? I hope your comments below!
