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When you encounter a complicated or challenging situation, whom do you go to first? Do you call a friend? An experienced colleague? Someone you trust and look up to?

Whomever it is, asking for help is the right thing to do.

If you're running a business, you know how important it is to seek help from external professionals like consultants, mentors, and coaches. They have the experience and expertise that can save people time and money.

Now if you consider yourself an expert in a chosen field or someone with years of industry experience, you might think of ways to take your career or business to the next level.

You have two options: being a consultant or mentor.

How do they differ from each other? Which option is best for you?  What are the steps to becoming a consultant or mentor? In this blog, I'm going to give you the answers you're looking for.

What is a Consultant?

As a consultant, you must be an industry expert who does certain tasks in a business. You proactively provide advice or suggestions to professionals and business owners.

When working with a client, you understand and analyze the context of the situation or problem before you advise the best course of action. But you don't involve yourself to work out the solution itself.

Types of Consultants

• Business Consultant: This refers to an advisor who finds lapses and bottlenecks in a business's operation. An entrepreneur might seek your help to improve their performance, efficiency, or whatever.
• Sales Consultant: A sales consultant is responsible for developing better sales processes, and identifying ways to boost sales performance. Sometimes, they also offer sales training to a sales team.
• Marketing Consultant: If a business needs help to attract more prospects and get more customers, they have to hire a marketing consultant.
• Accounting Consultant: This is someone who analyzes an organization's financials and provides guidance for better financial decision-making.
• Technology Consultant: Businesses need an expert like a technology consultant who improves their efficiency through technical advice and solutions.
• Legal Consultant: This is typically a legal professional who guides and assists a company on a specific legal matter.
• Public Relations Consultant: If a business needs to improve their public image and gain more publicity, they hire a PR consultant.

What are the qualifications for a consultant?

The qualifications for consultants are quite subjective and flexible. But if you're interested in pursuing a consulting business, you must possess the following:

• A bachelor's degree (often paired with an advanced degree)
• Certification from an industry organization
• Years of experience in the niche you're working in

Aside from the basics, you must also consider what your prospects and clients value from a consultant.

How can you become a consultant?

Choose an area of expertise.

Take some time to assess yourself. What are your strengths? Skills you can further develop?

Now if you have a few ideas in mind, answer these questions:

• Can I provide valuable advice and knowledge in this certain niche?
• ‍Do I have the experience to be considered an authority figure in this field?
• Is there a demand for this industry?

Overall, think about all the areas you excel in or projects where you get the most positive feedback. Most importantly, consider the things you're most passionate about.

Set your goals.

Consulting is business. You can't just dive in and start looking for prospects. Set your goals and create a clear path you want to follow. Do you want to make it a part-time or full-time business? Do you see yourself working with your own team?

Become certified.

It's true that certifications have their own perks. They prove that you've met a certain standard of competence, which gives you an edge over other consultants. And you can get one depending on your niche. For instance, if you're aiming to be a marketing coach, you can get a 1-Page Marketing Plan Certification from Lean Marketing.

Pick your target market.

Aside from choosing your niche, you should also pick your target market. And make sure that you know them very well by answering these questions.

• Where do they live?
• What are their pain points?
• Who are you targeting? Businesses or professionals?
• What motivates your target market?
• Who are your competitors?

Expand your network.

One of the most effective ways to get clients is through networking. Meaning, you need to engage with your target market—even if all of them won't seek your services. Also, it's great to connect with other consultants.

Create a system for attracting and getting clients.

You can't just sit and wait for a miracle to happen. You need a strategy for finding, attracting, and closing clients.

What is a mentor?

A mentor focuses on helping a person (mentee) and not on helping to solve a certain issue or situation. It's generally a leadership role.

They act as trusted guides and advisors. They've usually worked in a management or leadership position and have faced the same challenges as their mentees, which makes them qualified to share knowledge and experience with their mentees.

Basically, if you're the type of person who always shares "Been there, done that" solutions and have achieved success, you're probably fit to become a mentor.

As a mentor, you have to inspire and build your client's trust. This makes it easier for them to share their concerns and goals with you.

Types of Mentors

• Traditional Mentors: This refers to general mentoring. It can be a senior and a seasoned professional, who earned more years of experience than you do in a certain field.
• Reverse Mentors: As the name suggests, it's the complete opposite of a traditional mentor when it comes to age. This refers to a young professional who has gained more experience and has proven expertise in a specific industry. If you want to be one, you must be open to working with senior professionals.
• Peer Mentors: If you're still working in a corporate environment, you can present yourself as a peer mentor to a colleague. Just make sure both of you have the same level of responsibility, and often encounter the same types of issues and situations.
• Aspirational Mentors: Can you mentor someone in one sitting and genuinely inspire them to make a change? Then you must be an aspirational mentor. This focuses on inspiring someone to do what works effectively for them.
• Practical Mentors: If you can provide pragmatic, tangible advice that someone can apply immediately, then consider being a practical mentor.
• Coping Mentors: This refers to a mentor who finds ways to help a person cope with stressful situations. In this specialization, you have to be a great listener.
• Identity Mentors: If you want to mentor someone on how to adapt or understand a certain group, this is the right specialization for you.

What are the qualifications for a mentor?

Just like in consulting, the qualifications vary. But the bare minimum for mentoring still stands to be a degree holder, certified by a recognized organization, and years of experience in a leadership or management position.

How can you become a mentor?

Create a plan.

Before you become a certified mentor, you should know what value you can provide through mentoring. Think of your objectives once you enter this field. Then, make a list of resources and other investments you need. How much time and money are you willing to invest?

Choose a specific area you want to mentor in.

So how do you set mentorship areas you want to focus on? You can simply list all the areas you're good at and consider the knowledge and skills you want to share.

Choose a mentee.

When becoming a professional mentor, it's important to choose the right mentee. Make sure they'll find value in your service and they can benefit from your guidance.

Start mentoring.

Once you've picked your mentee, start working together. It's important to discuss and set rules, schedules, goals, and everything you need to make the mentorship effective.

Hold your mentee accountable.

As you guide and support your mentee, watch for improvement and follow up for changes or updates. This strengthens your relationship with your client and makes the program effective.

Make changes and improvements.

Mentorship is a continuous learning experience. As your mentee learns from you, you also learn from them. It's give-and-take. Remember, you can only get better at it through experience and practice.

What's the difference between a consultant and a mentor?

Consultants and mentors differ in five general areas. Understanding these differences will determine how you approach training, developing new projects, building relationships, and establishing your process.

1. Scope

Consulting requires less time because it's straightforward. For example, a client has a certain problem in the workplace and the consultant will be brought in to fix it. When it’s done, it's done. There's no constant communication between the two parties unless there's repeat business.

On the other hand, mentoring requires more time to build a strong mentor-mentee relationship because it’s built on mutual trust and respect. Unlike consulting, this covers a mentee’s different aspects of life, whether about their business or career.

2. Goal/Purpose

Consultants solve specific and tangible goals. They also help their clients develop specific skills to achieve the goals on their own. Their job is done once they've accomplished this.

Meanwhile, instead of aiming to achieve a certain goal, mentors are there to guide the mentee until they change for the better. They’re focused on improving a mentee’s skills, attitude and mindset.

3. Area of Focus

A consultant looks at the big picture. For example, business consultants help to come up with solutions in the workplace.

On the other hand, mentors simply focus on one person at a time. They spend time and effort to hone their mentee’s skills through personal development.

4. Approach

Let's say consultants prefer keeping things systemized. They utilize certain agendas when meeting a client. For example, an established business hires a marketing consultant. They want to know how to set up a sales funnel and rework their campaigns. In short, the approach is formal and mostly involves professional or work-related concerns.

Mentoring involves a strong mentor-mentee relationship. Mentors work with mentees on a personal level. At times, a mentee’s personal issues come into play and are worked through. The relationship is comparable to a close family member or a colleague who offers some help and expert advice.

5. Experience

Consultants simply focus on solving the problem or doing a certain task, then that's it. They don't have to further involve themselves in someone's business. And they can have clients from different industries. A prospect can seek consulting services unless it requires specific skills.

This is quite the opposite of mentorship. As I said, mentors are personally involved with their mentees. Mentors need to be more experienced and qualified than their client in the same field. This gives mentors an edge to guide and support their mentee.

Where does a coach stand?

Now that you know the difference between mentorship and consulting, where does coaching stand?

Let's define coaching first.

ICF's default definition of coaching is "partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential."

Now what makes it different? Here are the top characteristics of a coach.

• A coach works equally with a professional or a business owner. They partner with people to help find answers and solutions. Coaching doesn't tolerate spoon feeding; coaches offer extra support and advice to help people discover goals.
• A coach provides accountability. In a coaching program, they usually create a plan or strategy that both parties must implement and follow. Coaches also provide a solid support system to help individuals improve and move forward.
• Coaches don't involve themselves in the past. If you're a business owner seeking help from a coach, you stay in the present and future. Coaches focus on the current situation you're in and where you’re heading.

Do they overlap?

Yes, they do. This is one of the reasons why the terms coaching, mentorship, and consulting are often used interchangeably.

They all have a common denominator: to offer individuals, companies, and organizations help.

‍So sometimes, you'll see a business coach who also offers a bit of mentoring. And a mentor will say that they also offer life coaching services. A consultant may focus on one-off projects but they can also become a coach if a business owner needs their help in the long term.The thing is, help can be offered and manifested in a lot of ways. This is largely what makes them different from one another. If you're still undecided on which road you want to take, consider answering these questions:

• Whom do you want to work with? Are you open to working with everyone or do you prefer working with people in the same field as yours?
• What projects do you want to work on? One-off, short-term, or long-term projects?
• Do you want to provide the answers and solutions? Or do you only want to support your clients in finding the answers and solutions on their own?
• Do you want to focus on a problem or a person?

Take it to the next level.

Give yourself a moment to assess what you want to do and whom you want to be. Are you ready for some action?

Learn how to become a coach, consultant or mentor through my 12-week certification training and:

• Get access to private weekly live training
• Read and use my team’s library of SOPs
• Earn an official certification after finishing the program
• Be part of our reseller program (Course and Recruitment Service)
• And more!

I've worked with a lot of business owners throughout the years and helped them get the results they want to achieve.  I’d love to help you fulfill your personal, business and career goals too. Let’s see if my coaching certification program is the right fit for you. Learn more here.

There’s a ton of confusion as to what branding is? I like to simplify.

A brand is the personality of a company. It's the first thing consumers think of, or feel, when they see a company's logo or product or hear their name. In fact, you can use the word “personality” as a direct substitute for “brand” to instantly clarify its meaning.

So let's unpack everything you need to know about branding.

Brand Definition

A quick Google search gives the following diverse range of answers for the term brand:

1. “It is the emotional and psychological relationship you have with your customers.”
2. “A type of product manufactured by a particular company under a particular name.”
3. “The name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s product distinct from those of other sellers.”
4. “It is the idea or image of a specific product or service that consumers connect with by identifying the name, logo, slogan, or design of the company who owns the idea or image.”
5. Advertising guru, David Ogilvy, defined the term brand as the "intangible sum of a products attributes."

If you think of your company or brand as a person. What attributes make up its personality?

• What’s its name?
• What does it wear? (i.e., this is the brand's visual identity, so the design. What images do you use, what are your brand colours)
• How does it communicate? (i.e., brand positioning—the benefits you want your target market to think of when they think of your brand)
• What are its core values and what does it stand for? (i.e., brand promise, value proposition)
• With whom does it associate? (i.e., target market)
• Is it well-known? (i.e., brand awareness—the extent to which consumers are familiar with the qualities or image of a particular brand of goods or services.)

Brand personality varies dramatically between businesses. For example Toyota's target audience isn't the same as Rolls Royce which is a luxury brand. So your brand experience is very different.

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Unpacking Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is consumers ability to recognize your brand or brand elements in different environments. For example, if your logo includes your brand name and an icon, could you remove the company name.

If consumers are able to identify an ad as representative of your brand without you having to state it, that's good brand awareness.

Some small businesses look at the flashy advertising campaigns of well-known brands like Apple and Coca-Cola, and get caught up thinking they also need to spend time, money, and effort building brand awareness.

That’s putting the cart before the horse.

Do You Want to Grow Your Business Rapidly?

Then you need to market it. But not just any marketing will do. In my new 1-Page Marketing Plan Course I show you the exact techniques I've used to start, grow, and exit several multi-million dollar businesses, so you can too.

Tell Me More

How To Build A Brand

What came first, the sales or the brand awareness?

The sales, of course.

It’s true that as a company gets bigger, brand awareness feeds sales. However, don’t look at what they do now as big companies. Look at what these businesses did to get big in the first place.

When they were small, they certainly didn’t put huge amounts of money into their marketing with flashy ads on social media and brand-awareness campaigns. They hustled, they closed deals and they sold their products. If Apple, Dove, and Nike didn’t concentrate on sales to begin with, they wouldn’t exist today and, certainly, there would be no awareness of them.

So that’s why I tell small business owners, “The best form of brand building is selling.”

What better way for someone to understand your brand personality than by buying from you.

Branding is something you do after someone has bought from you rather than something you do to induce them to buy from you.

Trying to emulate the advertising practices of large businesses is a major mistake. (And I’ll go into this more, shortly)

If you’re in the startup phase, you’ll want to focus on direct response to build sales momentum, but I digress.

The Difference Between A Brand And Brand Name

There’s a lot of jargon around branding and it can seem more complicated than it actually is. And, you know, it’s even trickier because the definition of “a brand” has changed over time.

So let’s take a moment to head back to the slaughterhouses in the early 1900s to trace its roots. I know. Not pleasant. I’ll be quick.

Back then, cattle ranchers in the US started “branding” their animals with hot or branding irons so it would be easier to recognize the ranch each animal was from. And just like that, the word “brand” was born.

But over 100 years later, the meaning has changed, and now the mark burned onto the hide of a cow would fall into the “brand name” category. Why?  

Because you can actually see it and identify it as a product deriving from a specific company, whether it’s on a website, packaging, information in a newsletter or blog, a cow, etc.

And now, “brand” is used to refer to the perception customers have about a product or service; it only exists in someone’s mind. So yeah, a brand’s name plays a part in this, but there’s a lot more.

You can also use PR to build your brand name. See for yourself.

Remember my definition of a brand? I see it as the personality of a business. It's the first thing you think of, or how you feel, when you see a logo or hear its name.

For example:

• Tiffany’s packaging—the little, robin-egg blue box (romance? special moments? wealth?)
• YouTube (entertainment? entrepreneurship? stardom?)
• Nike (speed? fashion? controversy?)
• Coca-cola (nostalgia? celebration? pleasure?)

So brand and brand names are totally different. Now let’s move on.

What is Brand Equity?  

I once heard it described as customers crossing the road to buy from you even though there’s a supplier of an equivalent product on their side of the road.

Brand equity can manifest itself in the form of

• customer loyalty,
• repeat business, or
• even a price premium you can charge for your product or service.

For me, nothing illustrates this better than seeing droves of people lining up for the latest Apple gadget or limited edition Nike shoes while their competitors with plentiful stock and no lines get much lower demand.

This kind of equity is born out of amazing previous customer experiences, which turn customers into raving fans. This is something that simply can’t be bought with hype-filled awareness campaigns.

The advice I’d give to any small-to-medium business wanting to work on branding is, focus on sales and create raving-fan customers after the sale.

Brand Identity vs. Brand Image

So in a nutshell:

• Brand identity (you can control this): It’s the voice you give your product or service.
• Brand image (you can’t control this): It’s what your customers hear.

What Is Brand Strategy?

And you know what I’m going to say in the end. It all boils down to making sales and creating raving-fan customers for small- to medium-sized businesses, so you don’t have to sweat it.

But it’s always good to be able to identify what not to sweat.

Ok, so large-company marketing is also sometimes known as mass marketing. It's used by major brands such as Coca-Cola, Google, and Apple who have massive advertising budget and a strategy about how to use that money.  

The goal of this type of advertising is to remind customers and prospects about your brand as well as the products and services you offer.

The idea is that the more times you run ads from your brand, the more likely people are to have it at the top of their consciousness when they go to make a purchasing decision.

It's an effective brand strategy; however, it's very expensive to successfully pull off and takes a lot of time. You have to saturate various types of advertising media—TV, print, radio, and internet—on a very regular basis and over an extended period of time.

However, a major problem arises when small businesses try to imitate Coca-Cola, Samsung or Apple. The few times they run their ads is like a drop in the ocean.

It’s nowhere near enough to reach the consciousness of their target audience, which is bombarded with thousands of brand messages each day. They get drowned out and see little or no return for their investment.

Following the path of other successful businesses is smart, but it’s vital that you understand the full strategy you’re investing in and that you’re able to execute it.

Brand strategy from an outside observer’s perspective can be very different from the reality. If you’re following a strategy that has different priorities than yours, or has a vastly different budget, then it’s highly unlikely it'll generate the results you need.

Why Is Branding Important?

Now, diving in a bit deeper, I want to address a couple other topics—assets and value propositions—and how they relate to building your brand:

How do tangible and intangible assets differ

What kind of asset is a company’s brand? So assets are basically everything a company owns, and they fall into two categories:

• Tangible assets: are physical and include cash, inventory, purchased items like equipment, buildings, and investments.
• Intangible assets: non-physical including accounts receivable, patents, intellectual property, copyrights, trademarks, your company’s name.

To break it down, intangible assets are seen as having more long-term value than tangible assets because tangible assets are expendable. For example, the brand name Apple Inc. is of greater long-term value than thousands of warehouses full of the latest iPhone.

So yes, building your brand name will be a valuable intangible asset to your company.

What are the elements of an effective value proposition

Will it help build brand loyalty? So simply put, a value proposition is a statement about the value a business offers its customers through its products or services. You can usually find this in the “About Us” page or a mission statement.

You create a value proposition when you answer the following:

• What are your company’s core values and what does it stand for? (i.e., brand promise, value proposition)

Simple, right?

And to flesh it out more, you could read for hours about creating an effective value proposition for your company, but I’ll sum up the key elements:

• Understand your target market (what brings them both joy and pain)
• Connect with them (by being real)
• Add massive value to their lives (this will create raving-fan customers and brand loyalty)

Why Invest In Branding?

Unless you’re Nike, Google, Microsoft or another big-name company with a massive advertising budget, don’t invest in branding. Your customer base don't care about this.

For small- to medium-sized businesses, the best form of brand building is selling.

Because like I mentioned earlier, it's something you do after someone has bought from you. Rather than something you do to persuade them to buy from you.

In the same way you can get a sense of someone’s personality after you’ve dealt with them, the same thing goes for your company and it's brand.

As a small business owner your focus should be around creating raving-fan customers. If you do this correctly, your brand will build itself.

If you enjoyed this article, you may also enjoy our article on How to Create a Lead Magnet that Converts in 6 Steps. As a small business owner, it’s the smarter way to acquire leads for your business and build your authority.

Have you ever worked with a marketing coach? Or are you planning to work with one?

I know there's always skepticism amongst business owners when it comes to this. I'm a marketing coach myself, and I'm used to hearing misconceptions about what I do.

One common concern is money going down the drain without a high return. Others say they don't need coaching because their businesses aren't failing, and a quick fix isn't what they're looking for.

These are false assumptions.

• First, you can’t simplify coaching as a tool.
• Second, coaching is not only for failing businesses; it helps the good become the best.
• And third, coaching doesn’t provide band-aid solutions.

So I'm going to simplify it for you. As a coach, I help entrepreneurs achieve the success they envision for their businesses.

Do you need help to get off the ground? Are you trying to upscale your business? No matter what your definition of success is, a marketing coach will help you make that happen.

But let's start by explaining what a marketing coach does before getting into why you need to hire one.

What is a marketing coach?

A marketing coach is an expert consultant who works closely with business owners to help you build your own marketing capabilities. With their help you can more easily identify challenges and build a fully systemized approach to marketing.

This coach has years of experience generally marketing high-growth businesses. Their job is to understand your business values, mission, and goals, and to advise strategies for success.

What do marketing coaches do?

Much like any other coach, a marketing coach works with you to refine your skills, advise your decision-making, and help you achieve your business goals. Each coach is different. They follow a specific process in coaching sessions with business owners.

But everything starts with a series of questions you have to answer. They have to learn everything they can about your brand—from your target market to your current marketing assets and marketing efforts.

And just as every business is unique, a coach will ask you about your goals.

• Do you need help identifying your niche? Follow my 8-step process to finding your niche.
• Do you need help developing a marketing plan?
• Do you want to grow your team further?
• Do you want to increase sales and business revenue?
• What matters to you?

Once your goals are set, the coach will step in, help you focus your efforts, iron out your marketing plan, and give you a clear path to future success.

You'll have a reliable source of information and advice from a professional with a good track record who knows the ins and outs of marketing products and service-based businesses.

If you're considering coaching but aren't sure whether group or 1:1 coaching is best for you, check out this article.

What Services Does A Marketing Coach Offer?

Marketing coaches are versatile and flexible in the services they offer. They can help small, local businesses, startups, large corporations, and international companies. Many of them only focus on certain niches, which means that not all coaches take on any client or company.

And like I said, marketing coaches don't simply exist to help entrepreneurs with businesses falling apart.

Aside from helping them overcome the dreaded growth plateau, a coach can also help you create new marketing strategies to attract high-value clients. This includes:

• crafting your marketing plan
• building a business system or your website
• identifying a lead magnet and building marketing assets
• choosing tools for your remote team (if you have one)
• defining goals
• and implementing business strategies.

What's a Small Business Marketing Coach?

The goals and challenges of a small business can differ from a consultant for a big business.

For example, a local bakery would definitely have a different set of goals than a fast-food chain that caters to a global client base.

A small business marketing coach specializes in developing marketing strategies and marketing plans for small businesses. A huge part of their role is to learn everything about the business and develop a marketing strategy that helps them reach their goals.

Here are three ways a marketing coach can benefit your small business?

1. Helping you get the right marketing tools in place. Don't kid yourself. Tools are essential to your business success. They automate mundane processes and help to improve your customer experience.
2. The right marketing processes and team. Your people are key to building a profitable business, but you also need the right processes. Without these, your team will be butting their heads up against the same problems day in and day out.
3. Helping you build the right assets. An asset is anything that helps you connect with your audience and build that all-important relationship.

5 Reasons Why You Need to Hire a Good Marketing Coach

1. You need more support.

It's true. You know your business better than anyone else. But really, is this enough of a reason to do everything on your own?

I get it that some business owners think they don't need any help with marketing. But the reality is, your strategy always has room for improvement.

‍Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, hired a coach even when the business was growing exponentially. And it was one of the best decisions he made.

So simply put, you don't have to be a one-person show forever. Being a solopreneur isn't sustainable in the long run.

Or, you don't have to push yourself to make all the decisions impulsively. When in doubt or skepticism, a marketing coach can be your trusted confidante. They can be someone who provides that reliable support to help you face the problems and challenges of your business.

2. Your business isn't growing.

Perhaps you've been running your business for years, but it isn't growing as fast as you’d hoped.

The number one reason why businesses fail to scale is that things don’t get done. And this happens because you either don’t have time to do it or don’t want to do it.

If this currently happens to you right now, you need to change your mindset.

There are different types of people you need on your team. And a marketing coach can help you hire the right people to upscale your business.

3. You're doing random acts of marketing.

So let's say you're using Facebook Ads, cold calling, digital marketing, and all of that. If it's working for you, then great. But think about it. Implementing tactics without a solid strategy leads to the “bright shiny object syndrome,” which keeps you chasing the wrong things.

‍You need a strategy, which is the big-picture planning you do prior to the tactics.

So instead of doing random acts of marketing, a coach will help you build and manage a solid marketing plan that fulfills your goals and objectives.

4. Your business has gaps you can't see.

Sometimes, when you're way too focused on running your business, you miss spotting areas that need outside help. You might be able to build a sales funnel, send monthly newsletters, or post on social media. But again, these don't constitute a marketing strategy.

A marketing coach will review current gaps in your business, identify low-hanging fruit opportunities, and recommend the best course of action to take.

5. You need freedom and autonomy.

When was the last time you went out with your family without thinking about your business? Do you sleep eight hours a night? Can you still maintain a work-life balance?

If you answer "no" to all or most of these questions, it's time to consider hiring a marketing coach.

Again, you might know everything about your business, but a coach is an expert. They understand the ins and outs of marketing, which means that they can deliver results faster and more efficiently.

You can hire a marketing coach, and you'll get the freedom to do other things that you value—both in your business and your personal life.

How much does coaching cost?

Really it depends on the coach and the type of service they provide their customers. In general, you're looking at anywhere between $100 to $1,000 per session. Having said that, most professional coaches will offer the business owner a package deal.

‍Before you sign on to become a client, do a little research to be sure you're the right fit.

1. What's their track record like? Ask to see a few client testimonials. Check for Google reviews. The more 5-star reviews, the better.
2. Request to speak to existing customers/clients to discover what strategies were advised and agreed on, what kind of knowledge was shared, and how successful they were in achieving key goals.
3. Review the consultant's coaching process and be sure that you can free up your team to focus your marketing efforts on strategies that get results (for example, building a business system, choosing the right tools for your team, and updating your website and social media accounts).
4. Most importantly, if you can't make time to implement you won't increase your clients, sales, and market share.

Knowing this can give you the confidence you need to invest your time and money in a marketing consultant

Who is the best business coach in the world?

The best coach is a marketing consultant that's three or four steps ahead of you. Many business owners make the mistake of hiring a consultant who's at the top of their game, for example Gary Vaynerchuk.

‍He's incredibly successful, and yes, he'd be a great coach, if you've built a multi-million dollar business. But, if you're bringing in just under a million dollars in profit, he's probably not the right consultant for you.

Gary invests a small fortune in marketing, but he's already built a massive raving customer base. So basically, many of his strategies will be costly and would require a team of professionals to help get the job done.

He's not going to help you to build a system, create a contact form, or tinker on your website. He'd focus on high-level strategy.

So if you want to create wealth and achieve realistic goals, you're better off hiring online consultants that are already where you want to be businesswise.

So, Do You Need a Marketing Coach or Agency Help?

If you don't want to bring your marketing in-house I'd say hire an agency. There are pros and cons. For example, hiring an advertising agency is more costly than bringing your marketing internally. You're also not building your intellectual property.

But if you'd like to take charge of marketing your small business, and build an internal marketing team, you need marketing coaching.

Now that you know the benefits of investing in marketing consultants, where do you stand?

There's so much hype out there. There are many bright, shiny objects that people tell you to follow when it comes to your marketing—Facebook ads, SEO, digital marketing, social media, cold calling, you name it.

But what you really need is marketing clarity. You need to know what to do from a marketing perspective. And instead of doing random acts of marketing and simply throwing stuff on the wall, you can follow and implement a marketing strategy that grows your revenue and makes your business more successful than you could ever have imagined.

And this is what a good marketing coach can offer you. To recap, with business coaching you get:

• Extra help, guidance, and support
• More time and freedom to do what you want
• A solid marketing plan that fills gaps and ensures business growth

If you think this is what your business needs right now, sign up on my 1:1 coaching program.

If you want to start a coaching business, get the low down on everything you need by now. We'll be sharing our top tips for building a world-class coaching business.

Are you thinking about launching a coaching business or investing in coaching to further your career or improve your personal life?

While this article focuses on coaches, it can still be helpful to someone looking to hire a coach. You'll learn what is the difference between group coaching and one-on-one coaching, what to expect from coaching sessions, and the benefits.

For coaches, I'll show you how to choose the right program for your coaching business and make it a success.

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‍

But first, let's look at the impact successful coaching has. According to the Institute of Coaching:

• 80% of people who went on a coaching program boosted their self-confidence
• Over 70% improved their work performance, communication skills, and relationships
• 86% of companies were encouraged to invest again in coaching.

Coaching changed my life. I've paid for both group programs and private one-on-one sessions.

I owe my success to the many life and business coaches who helped me focus my attention on my goals, rewire my mindset and save me time and money. Their guidance and knowledge are the reason I was able to build several multi-million-dollar businesses.

So if you have the goal of becoming a successful business coach, here's what you need to know.

What is One-on-One Coaching?

Also known as individual coaching, it's designed to help people create change in their lives. This can mean a lot of things, but it’s typically improving a skill, building a system, or achieving personal goals.

Individual coaching is popular and common practice among businesses and organizations, especially in executive and management roles.

What are the Benefits of One-on-One or Individual Coaching?

It’s Tailored to Individual Needs

This is the biggest benefit of one-on-one coaching. You meet your clients’ individual needs. For example, in a private session, professionals are more comfortable sharing their challenges, problems, concerns, and questions. The more they open up, the easier it is to help them find the right answers and solutions.

As a coach, you can follow a specific agenda or strategy depending on the nature of your coaching business, but you can adapt your content and solutions to meet specific needs. This strategy provides the greatest value to your clients. Trust me, they'll love it.

It Builds Stronger Relationships with Your Clients

Coaching is much more effective with a solid working relationship. And since you only have to work with one person at a time, you get to know your clients better. This means you have more time to listen and understand what they're going through, empathize with them, and deliver the best service possible.

In return, a client will slowly learn to trust you, feel more comfortable working with you, and be willing to collaborate to achieve their goals.

In short, one-on-one coaching is more personal and creates stronger working relationships.

It’s Easy to Hold People Accountable

With one-on-one coaching, it's easier to hold your clients accountable. While you can do the same training with a group, it's more challenging. You'll find there are those who rarely participate in group discussions or simply don't attend sessions.

Focusing on one client lets you put more energy into their training, address their setbacks more quickly, and hold them accountable.

What are the Disadvantages of One-on-One or Individual Coaching?

It Consumes More Time

A coaching session can take anywhere from five minutes to three hours. I like to cap mine at one hour. But you do spend more time sharing knowledge, troubleshooting, and helping to drive that business forward. Group training is certainly a less time-consuming process.

You Have to Charge Higher Fees

Because individual coaching is more time-consuming, you have to charge more. This is the only way to make it cost-effective.

Sure, you may attract high-value prospects, but it can also limit your target market to businesses and organizations that can afford your services. On the other hand, other business people will prefer group coaching since it's more affordable. In an industry full of popular and competent coaches, you need to strategize and beat the competition.

It Takes Longer to Upscale

Coaching is business. So if you're looking for a business model that's faster and easier to upscale, individual coaching is not practical. It takes time to get more people to sign up for your coaching program. And this can affect your profit unless you can raise your pricing in a short period of time.

What is Group Coaching?

Group coaching is about gathering a group of individuals within an organization or from different companies and helping them work towards a shared goal.

In my case, I help entrepreneurs and business owners to make better marketing decisions and scale their companies.

You, as the coach, serve as the facilitator of a session while participants in a group work together to gain insights, support one another, and take action toward specific goals.

In group coaching, you can coach different individuals working from various parts of a company. They don't need to be connected or related in any way.

This allows you to coach them in a variety of areas, whether it's about managing conflicts, communicating with other people, or honing interpersonal skills.

What are the Benefits of Group Coaching?

You Meet and Learn from Other People

For other people, working in groups is much more fun and effective. You get to meet other people who you resonate with, and this can be very powerful. Maybe you have similar backgrounds or you’re currently going through relatable life challenges.

In my case, I help entrepreneurs and businesses achieve the success they want for themselves. And as someone who has built a business from the ground up, it feels more rewarding to work with a group who has had the same challenges as I’ve had.

Since this requires you to work with business people and professionals from different backgrounds, you can create a group coaching community where everyone can support one another.

On a different note, this can expand your network too.

You Spend Less Time and Earn More

Coaching groups allows you to maximize your time wisely. For example, you can coach twenty to a hundred business people in less than two hours. That's just two to ten times higher than what you get from one-on-one coaching.

Remember, time is money. Group coaching allows more room for more clients in a specific timeframe. And this results in a higher profit.

It’s More Scalable

A group coaching program is a one-to-many business model. Meaning, you can schedule multiple coaching sessions at a time, and track the number of participants in every coaching group.

Do this constantly, make sure you have a steady stream of clients, and your coaching business will skyrocket sooner than you know. Simply put, group coaching is easier to scale than individual coaching.

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What are the Disadvantages of Group Coaching?

It Feels Less Personal

There's one thing that lacks in a group coaching program: personalization (more on why one-to-one personal experiences are important here).

Considering that you have to coach between twenty to a hundred professionals in every session, you don't have much time to talk to each of them. In return, you won’t always be able to get the full picture.

Other coaches tend to deliver generic solutions that don't really solve specific business problems. And you have to be more careful about this.

It's Challenging to Work with a Group

Working with a group is a challenging process. Just think about coaching a bunch of people with different goals, perspectives, and personalities at the same time.

It requires extra effort, patience, and a higher level of understanding. You might even ask for help from other coaches to make your program more valuable.

You'll meet some people who will try to take over the room, actively participate in the discussion, and outshine others who may be more reserved.

Simply put, a group coaching client may get more value while others fade into the background without meeting their goals.

So when coaching a group of people, it boils down to finding their common ground and making sure you help them overcome specific challenges.

You Need to Target More Clients

Whether you like it or not, you need to have better numbers in a group coaching program.

People are sheep. They tend to join coaching programs that have the highest number of participants. If you can't sign up people, you'll have a hard time filling an empty room.

So just like what other coaches do, you need to create and implement a solid marketing strategy that will attract and win over more coaching clients

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How do you build a successful group coaching program?

Whether you intend to launch a life coaching business or, like me, a marketing coaching business, these principles apply.

1. Keep your numbers small

You want everyone to engage equally in the group. Anything over 20, and there will be people whose voices go unheard. They won't get the results they need to make meaningful changes in their business or life.

So keep your numbers small. Because if you don't deliver results, you're likely to generate bad reviews, and that won't help your program.

2. Find the common goal

You want to create groups with common interests. If they're from vastly different industries, this can create friction and increase your churn rate.

But if you've built a group of like-minded individuals, you'll be covering topics they find relatable and valuable.

3. Get their feedback

Don't be afraid to ask group members what they like about your service and where there is room for improvement. Listening and acting on those lacks helps you deliver a world class coaching service.

4. Hold people accountable

Group coaching is about more than just sharing knowledge. Your job is to help move someone from point A to point B, and you can only do that if you identify goals and hold them accountable.

Check-in with them regularly to see if they're acting upon your advice and making tangible changes. If they're stuck, ask what's holding them back and how you can help them to move forward.

5. Celebrate individual wins

Remember, this isn't about you, it's about helping others to achieve. Whether that's a happier marriage, financial stability, or a healthy and fitter body doesn't matter.

When we celebrate our group wins, we acknowledge their hard work and encourage them to keep going.

I like to ask my group what is one thing they've achieved in the past week or month that they'd like to celebrate. What can you ask yours?

6. Tell someone when they're ready to graduate

I've got clients who have achieved amazing things while working with me as a coach, but there comes a time when I can't teach them anything else.

A good coach recognizes when there's still work to be done and when someone is ready to fly the nest. That's when you give them their wings.

7. Promote it

If you want your coaching program to be a success you need to promote it. Launch it to your email list, talk about it on your social channels, mention it on podcasts and share it with affiliates.

If someone has done coaching before they're more inclined to try it again, and using affiliates to promote your group on your behalf is a great way to attract high-value clients.

8. Go Digital

If you can offer group coaching sessions virtually, that's massively powerful. You can access a wider audience and avoid travel.

Successful digital web services require the right tools. You'll need a Zoom account, Google Workspace, Asana, or some other project management tool.

Group vs 1:1 - Are you ready to choose, coach?

To recap, group and individual coaching have their own perks and disadvantages. Both can be done over the phone, online, or in person. And you might find that it pays to offer group and private 1:1 training sessions.

No matter which service you choose, make sure you're committed to greatly impacting other people's lives.

Are you ready to make this commitment to yourself and change your life?

Let's work together to achieve the success you’ve always dreamt of. Become a business coach, build your lifestyle business, and get the big ticket to financial freedom.

Click here to learn more on how to start and build a coaching business from scratch.

Or get our coaching toolbox and start implementing my proven coaching system. At $97 you get access to my:

• Pipedrive template for incoming leads
• Onboarding questionnaire
• 7-step coaching framework
• Asana coaching board
• Lead email sequences
• Coaching notes template
• Shock and awe worksheet

And so much more...

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Have you ever shared your email address with a brand in exchange for, say, free shipping or access to an exclusive video? Tell you what — you’ve just fallen for the irresistible charm of a lead magnet.

Also known as an ethical bribe, lead magnets are one of the best lead generation strategies to help grow your email list, gain authority, and attract potential customers.

If you're looking to draw more people to your product or service — just like what happened to you — make sure to follow these tips on how to use lead magnets to attract leads.

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Create a Lead Magnet Through Useful Data

Data-driven lead magnets are a favorite among business owners because they help you build authority while driving qualified leads to your website.

Presenting basic information unfortunately won't do the trick. You need to deliver something compelling to your prospects for them to push through. But if you don't have the time or money to generate this kind of data, you can use your specialization as a lead magnet.

For example, if you run a real estate company, you could attract more visitors by providing free appraisals or a helpful report. It’s valuable to prospective home sellers, because this information can help them decide on the price, necessary upgrades, their ideal buyer, and whatnot.

You'll need a landing page. Use LeadPages to get yours up and running.

Use Books to Boost Email Lists

Another great way to get more leads and establish your credibility and reputation simultaneously is by using books as lead magnets. It’s perfect for those in the coaching and consultancy industries, as books instantly cement your trustworthiness.

Whether you offer an ebook, audiobook, or paperback, think of it as a sort of business card. It’s the perfect introduction to who you are as a business, what you do, and how you can help. Basically, you’re saying "I have this content you could use for your personal or business growth.”

And while most people think of this lead magnet as giving away money, it's not. It's an investment that can spur sales. I’ve built my 45,000 strong email list of prospects using my book, so I know it works.

But here’s a little insider tip, include various calls to action throughout your book for readers to connect. I mention resources they can download through my website, but they have to opt-in to access them.

You can even use accompanying workbooks as tripwire offers to ascend your customers to the next stage of their buyer’s journey. So a book is a very powerful way to acquire high-value prospects.

Earn More Leads with an Informative Course

Thing is, no client is the same. While some love to read a book, others prefer to learn through a formal experience that only courses can bring.

Although this lead magnet may seem labor intensive — you need to create lectures, videos, and worksheets, after all — it's actually easier than you think. If you already have existing e-books, presentations, and videos, you can always compile and repurpose them as an actionable course.

Courses are excellent lead magnets as they can drive clients to sign up for another class. It's like an addiction.

As long as your clients enjoy your content, they’ll pay for it.

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Magnet a Lead with a Free Guide

People love free things, especially when it comes to great content. That said, you can draw customers to your website by offering a free guide.

Since guides are shorter than e-books, a free guide can offer comprehensive yet compact information. Customers love guides because they’re quick reads, and you can implement what you learned right away.

But if you want your free guide to be a success, it needs to be specific and solves a problem. You need to target the pain.

So instead of creating content for how to set up a landing page, it's better to make it more specific, like, "How to set up a landing page with Program X in under 10 minutes."

Offer a Free Trial as a Form of Lead Generation

When people get things for free, they’re more open to giving something of value in return, like their email address.

What makes the free trial a good lead generation tool is the low cost that comes with it. It can greatly help clients in the consideration part of the buying process.

By giving your leads a bird's eye view of how your products work, you'll get more than just their contact information. They might even sign up for your basic package right away!

To make your free trial irresistible, add a bit of scarcity. If the client doesn't proceed with the offer right away, he/she will lose access to this content upgrade.

And when you know you're about to lose something that has a lot of value, you'll do everything to hold onto it, even if you have to pay a certain amount.

Give a Framework or Template in Exchange of Email Addresses​

Just like a free guide, a framework or template can make people's lives so much easier as it simplifies what they need to do. Frameworks also work great as  your new leads and get them to become your customers right away.

The best example for this is the one-page digital marketing plan, which is a sort of one-stop-shop for businesses in need. This lead magnet helps writers gather specific ideas for their marketing plan, like:

• The target market
• The message to the target market
• The necessary channels that will be used to reach the audience
• Lead capture systems - Hubspot, Ontraport, ClickFunnel
• Lead nurturing tactics
• Sales conversion strategies
• Methods on delivering world-class services
• Tactics to increase the customer lifetime value
• Strategies to facilitate referrals (here's how referral marketing benefits your business)

Know That Cheat Sheets Can't Be Beat

If finding a spare moment in your day to put together a lead magnet is virtually impossible, go for cheat sheets.

Whether it's a checklist for building out a business plan or using social media, you can readily offer it as an easy download. Promoting it is effortless, too, as you can always append this lead magnet to your website or blog posts.

Lead magnets are tried-and-tested ways to grow your customer base. By investing in any of these methods, you're guaranteed to attract more quality leads more often.

Ever thought, Could I do business coaching?‍

So what's holding you back?

If you've built a successful business, you've got a wealth of knowledge, skills, and advice to share. You may need to hone your leadership skills, but there are plenty of struggling business owners who'd happily pay for a professional to coach them on their journey to profitability and freedom.

Business coaching has been around for decades. Even the most popular entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs work with coaches to level up their services and businesses.

And as a coach, it's rewarding to see so many talented business owners transition to coaching.

So if you have the personal goal of becoming a business coach, this guide will help you on your journey.

If you're wondering, why business coaching? Click the link to read up on the benefits.

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What qualifications do you need to be a coach?

The business coaching industry is unregulated. You can search for coaches on the web, and you'll see endless options. Likewise, anyone can pretty much call themselves a coach.

This is when you start assessing yourself. Do you have what it takes to be a business coach? Here are three questions to ask yourself:

1. Do I really want to help other people reach their goals? When you think about it, qualifications are more than your skill set or expertise. Start with your personal attributes. You need to be emotionally and mentally prepared to help others. In a nutshell, you have to: Explore, clarify, and align with what someone wants to pursue, promote self-discovery, support in implementing tailored solutions and strategies, and hold a client responsible and accountable.‍
2. Do I possess coaching skills and knowledge? If you've built a business you can transition to coaching. But if you want to be successful you need to know how to set up your coaching business, identify your niche, market yourself, develop relationships, create successful programs, and implement strategies to grow a potential client’s business.‍
3. Is there anything else I can do aside from coaching? Sure, you might see yourself spending one to two hours a day coaching a small business owner, but this business is more than that. According to ICF, coaching is just a single revenue stream that produces 13% of your profit. So whether you like it or not, your business growth and profitability will rely on these areas:
   1. Consulting
   2. Training
   3. Mentoring
   4. Teaching
   5. Counseling
   6. Webinars
   7. Workshops
   8. Public Speaking
   9. Media Mentions

Business Coach Certifications - Do you need a degree to be a business coach?

This is probably one of the most common questions I get when it comes to business coaching.

Frankly, no. You don't need a degree to become a business coach.

But, if you want to boost your credibility, earning coaching credentials from an accredited organization like the International Coaching Federation is a huge help. Based on ICF's study, 83% of clients agree that accredited credentials are vital. And this drives 77% of coaches to get certified.

So, you can get ICF-certified, but many successful coaches chose a different path and still became very successful. You can work with a certified coach for coach training and mentoring. Also, you can take up leadership courses and programs to develop your skills and build a world-class coaching career.

How do I become a life and business coach?

As I said, coaching is business. It's not a nine-to-five job or a corporate profession. So aside from your passion and skill set for coaching, it's important that you also know how to start, run, and manage your coaching business (click to learn more). Here are my tips on how to become a successful business coach.

1. Set Up Your Coaching Business

Before anything else, you have to choose an entity type for your business coaching practice. Here are your two options:

• Sole proprietorship: This allows you to own an unincorporated business.
• Limited liability company (LLC): This requires you to register your business with limited liability for all members.

Now what should you choose between the two? Here are a few things that you should consider:

• Costs: An LLC will need you to spend higher upfront costs because you have to register your business. You'll also have to pay for initial registration and annual maintenance fees. On the other hand, a sole proprietorship has low initial costs.
• Regulations: An LLC is more regulated than a sole proprietorship. If you're choosing the former, you may also need an operating agreement depending on where you live.
• Taxes: As a sole proprietor, you're taxed as self-employed, while an LLC will have you follow corporate tax structures.
• Liability: As a sole proprietor, you own all the responsibility for the debts and liabilities of your coaching business. Meanwhile, an LLC holds the responsibility for the business's debts and liabilities. If you also combine your personal funds with LLC funds, you can lose your limited liability protection.

Keep in mind your business goals and where you want to go. Don’t be scared of asking for advice or help from seasoned professionals. As a business coach, choosing the right type of business entity is important. Where sole proprietorship offers freedom and low costs, an LLC provides benefits and protection that are worth considering. The decision is up to you.

2. Work with a Small Business Coach

Let me give you a quick background on how I started. I was a college dropout who tried to pursue a career in IT. It worked well for a year. Then, I left my corporate job and plunged into starting my very first company.

I soon realized that I’d traded an 8-hour workday for a 16-hour workday with less money and hours of sleep. It was frustrating, and this drove me to work with a business coach.

So for you to become a business coach, you also need to get a business coach of your own. You need someone who already knows the ins and outs of the industry. Otherwise, you're shooting from the hip.

3. Build Your Business Coaching Plan and Set Your Prices

Just like most certified business coaches, you can charge your clients in three ways:

• Per session (every hour)
• Per month
• Per coaching package (The calculation can vary: e.g. $x/3 months or $x/6 months)

There are business coaches who offer hourly and monthly sessions. Rates range from $75-$1,000. They're the right fit for businesses that only seek initial and one-time coaching.

But if you've just started becoming a business coach, it's highly advisable to charge per package. This helps you calculate the number of months that your clients signed up for, so you can also identify your income and manage your expenses.

The catch is, you can attract more committed and high-paying clients. These are businesses that want to take coaching to the next level and seek your help in the long haul. Coaching packages also generate more sessions, which means you can have a bigger impact on their lives, and you can charge higher.

Here are some factors to help you settle on the right price:

• Your credentials
• Your experience
• Your coaching-skill level
• Your target market
• Your profitability goals

Your competitors' business coaching rates

4. Create and Follow a Marketing Plan

In my first business, a business coach advised me to become a really good marketer if I wanted to win more customers and upscale my business.

I've learned this the hard way, spending a lot of money on ads without getting returns. I don't want this to happen to you, so here's what you need to remember. You can't hack marketing. You can't simply do a little marketing and expect a massive return.

You need a marketing plan if you want to become a successful business coach. It doesn't matter how amazing you are at coaching people if you can't get clients in the first place.

Your marketing plan can help you target the right people and do whatever it takes to entice them to sign up for your coaching program.

5. Build Your Online Business Coaching Presence

Now that you have a marketing plan, let's focus on how you can be visible to your target market. Business coaches have an online presence, so you should build one for yourself too.

The truth is, you don't have to spend a fortune doing this. You can come up with an effective business coaching strategy that’s cost-efficient, produces tangible results, and doesn’t take over your life!

As a starting business coach, you can focus first on:

• Building your own website
• Getting on social media

For your website, you need:

• Information about your coaching program, pricing, and other services you offer
• Your story: How did you begin? What pushed you into business coaching?
• Your credentials and qualifications
• Visuals: Include photos of yourself, promotional videos, and even podcast snippets that introduce what you do as a business coach
• A landing page, contact form, or online scheduling tool (like Calendly)
• Testimonials (if you have any)

For social media, take time to answer these questions:

• What social media platforms would you like to use?
• What platforms do most business coaches use?
• What platforms does your target market use?

6. Expand Your Network

Networking is a surefire way to extend your opportunities and resources. You can't always rely on marketing tactics to win new clients. As you move forward, extend your reach and people will come to you.

There are a lot of platforms that can upscale your coaching business, but again, I highly recommend for you to sign up on social media. For a start, you can set up business accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

You can use LinkedIn to connect with CEOs and other executive clients. But if you'd prefer to work with small businesses rather than large corporations, be more active on Facebook and Instagram.

Here are a few business coaching tips to expand your network:

• Whatever platform you're using, optimize your business coach profile. Add your photo, credentials, and information about your coaching program.
• Participate in conversations. Share your knowledge and expertise. You need to build your image as an expert and authority.
• Join relevant groups on LinkedIn and Facebook. Engage with entrepreneurs, professionals, and everyone in the coaching community.
• Connect with other business coaches too! You might just get clients from referrals and by word-of-mouth. And asking for a referral doesn't have to be scary. Try these referral top tips.
• Build a content strategy. The key here is to post content that's attractive and valuable to your target audience. If possible, you can also share content from other business coaches.

Entering the Business Coaching Industry

So that's how to become a business coach. While it might sound exciting, I need to warn you that it takes work, time, and effort to establish yourself as an accredited authority in your industry.

You need to be willing to go through coach training and you have to develop a business plan for your company. Identify how you will find new business and what methods you'll use to develop and nurture coaching relationships? What knowledge, skills, and tools will bring a positive impact on their lives.

More importantly, you must want to help business owners overcome challenges, devise strategies for success, build a team, and achieve their goals.

If this all sounds good to you, I’d say to dive in.

Take the Next Step & Join The World Of Business Coaches

Considering everything you've read, do you have what it takes to be a coach?

Are you up for the challenge?

Forget about qualifications. I've been mentoring business owners around the world for the past six years. I don't have an MBA. I never completed my degree. I simply identified a gap in the market and used my knowledge and skills to fill it.

And I learned early on that a client only wants results, so I deliver. So let me ask you this:

• Do you want to develop your coaching practice?
• Have you always wanted coach training?
• Would you like access to my 7-step coaching process, the tools my team uses to market Lean Marketing and acquire new business?
• Do you need help identifying your niche, overcoming common business challenges, and building a business plan you can depend on to advance your coaching career?

Then let's kickstart your online business coaching journey. Click here and complete the coaching certification form. Or get your hands on my coaching toolbox. This handy little toolbox contains every document, guide, and resource I use to get my coaching clients world-class results.

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Do you want to become a 1PMP Certified Business Coach?

What if you could change the trajectory of your career? I recently launched the Certification Program for agency owners, consultants and marketers who'd like to become a 1-Page Marketing Plan certified business coach.

It's a 12-week intensive CERTIFICATION program that will shortcut your path to business success. How does this program differ from other business coaching programs?

• I share everything you need to structure, price, market, sell, and manage a six or 7-figure consultancy. How do I know it works? Because I used this same methodology to build and scale Lean Marketing.
• You’ll walk away with a framework for teaching your clients The 1-Page Marketing Plan and showing them how to implement each section.
• You can look forward to personalized help and support every step of the way. We’ll explain how to get past the most common roadblocks clients face and the mistakes you need to look out for. This isn’t information you’ll find online or on YouTube.
• You’ll get access to all of my templates and strategies for marketing, sales, onboarding, client management, and maximizing client retention.
• You’ll have exclusive licensing to use all of my teaching materials in your business, including The 1-Page Marketing Plan book in your company’s branding.

Upon graduation from the certification program:

• You’ll gain exclusive rights to use the 1PMP coaching materials in your business. That's all of my templates, frameworks, and standard operating procedures.
• You can choose to reprint The 1-Page Marketing Plan book with your company's branding, which is great for gifting clients.
• You’ll get a frameable certificate and badge, which you can proudly display on your website, social media, and marketing materials.
• You’ll be listed in the certified consultants' marketplace.

And you’ll have formed a network of elite like-minded peers to engage with over the years to come. All my graduates have gone on to become successful business coaches and you can too.

Check out testimonials from Certified 1PMP coaches here.

Do you ever wonder whether you need a little help from a business coach? You might be surprised by the benefits of business coaching.

Entrepreneurship can be a lonely journey. Initially, you spend every waking hour working on your business. And it can feel like you're stuck on a desert island.

Who do you turn to for guidance?

Sure, there are millions of online articles, videos, and other resources on how to build and grow a business. But what if your business is unique and a one-size-fits-all solution won't work?

This is where business coaching comes in. (Check out my definitive guide to building your coaching business)

Business coaching has become a common and essential practice for entrepreneurs and CEOs wanting to level up their companies. But so many entrepreneurs don't understand the benefits or how it works.

I'm going to cover the benefits of business coaching for you, and how a coach can help you reach your entrepreneurial dreams.‍

Is Coaching For You: Free Template

This checklist will help you determine whether coaching would be beneficial to your business.

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‍

What is a business coach?

A business coach is an expert entrepreneur or executive who knows how to start and grow successful businesses and is willing to train and mentor you.

For example, you've been running your business for roughly three years now, but you've seen little to no growth in your profitability. Instead of rambling or making impulsive decisions on your own, you can work with a business coach to teach you what to do and how to upscale your business.

Why you need a business coach?

You need to hire a coach because growing a business is tough. You're going to make a ton of costly mistakes and coaching can help you to shortcut your path to success. They'll give advice specifically tailored to your industry.

So a good coach will focus on your strengths, hone your skills, deliver a few business truths you might not want to hear, and guide your company to financial success.

Let's unpack the eight ways a business coach can help you to level up your company.

8 Benefits of executive coaching for business

1. Fulfills vision and goals

What are your visions and goals? A lot of my clients will throw out airy-fairy goals. Now I like a challenge, but I'm also a realist. It's important to look at historical data and set realistic goals.

A business coach can help you achieve them. More importantly, they make sure your goals are realistic and on point.

And here's a quick tip: Create long-term goals that won't only benefit your business, but your entrepreneurial life too.

So aside from reaching your target ROI or revenue in a year, coaching can help you to achieve the life you want.

You can freely tell your coach about your other goals. Do you want more free time? Travel? The opportunity to pursue other passions? Try a different line of business?

A business coach will come up with a plan to make these things possible without compromising your business' success.

2. Helps you gain perspective

As a coach, I don't make the decisions or produce the results.

I'm here to learn the ins and outs of your business so I can provide insights and guidance on every step or move you make. A good coach will help you to identify key challenges, make smarter decisions, focus on money-making projects, and develop strategies that take your business to the next level.

So, coaches create an impact by redirecting your perspective on the right path. They change the way you think and act for the better, and this usually provides great results.

3. Outlines a clear roadmap

Having a coach is not the same as asking a friend for guidance. While friends and family mean well, unless they've built a successful and profitable business, they don't understand what you're going through. And they never will.

So, they might suggest you try a bunch of random tactics, but they can't guarantee results.

On the other hand, business coaching comes with a plan—a clear roadmap—that you can follow and implement to grow your organization. Remember, your coach has probably built several companies in your industry. They've been where you are. They've made mistakes and learned vital lessons.

You're reaping the benefits of this knowledge, so make the most of it.

4. Improves skills

No matter how long you've been in business, you're always learning. It's vital to your development and your company’s success.

Good business coaches don't spoon-feed. We're here to help you improve your skills.

So first, a business coach will identify how you work, learn, and relate to others. Then here’s where your work comes in. You need to identify:

• What areas do you have to improve?
• Do you have problems with communication?
• Project management?
• Handling a team?

A coach will be there to guide, instruct, and offer encouragement and direction as needed, but you'll get the freedom and autonomy to make progress and meet your goals.

5. Boosts confidence

As an entrepreneur, you've probably gone through a lot in your personal and business life. And your confidence can take a knock. But no matter what happens, don't let these negativities and fears get the best of you.

Business coaching offers an invaluable space for personal development and support.

Whether you're just starting your business or you’re a seasoned business owner, coaching provides support and encourages you to work things out on your own. With time, you'll learn to trust yourself to lead with confidence and tackle challenges.

6. Improves performance and profitability

Leadership affects employee performance. And unfortunately, a demotivated team is more likely to produce substandard work which can affect client retention and eventually profitability.

So if you're struggling to manage and communicate effectively with your managers and employees this could impact their performance and output.

To be an effective leader you must understand your strengths, weaknesses, and what motivates you. Coaching is pivotal to self-development.

Business coaches offer insights for management and leadership advice. They can help you find the leadership style that works for you.

Employees who work under great leaders tend to be more satisfied, productive, and connected to their organization. In return, this has a ripple effect that reaches your business's end goal.

7. Improves leadership

Some of today's most successful business owners once worked with a business coach. For example, Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google hired a coach recommended by a board member despite his company growing. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates also invested in coaching.

Why? Because they recognized that the best investment you can make is investing in yourself. One-on-one or group coaching will help you clarify your goals, build a winning strategy, and implement an action plan that will likely increase your revenue.

8. Holds you accountable

Accountability is massively vital to the success of your small business. The objective of business coaching is to take you from point A to point B.

Having worked with clients as a coach, and been mentored by other coaches, I know you'll only benefit from coaching if you pay for it. The thing about investing money is you want to get a return.

And you're wasting your dollars if you're not implementing the growth strategies your coach advises. So not only will a good coach challenge you to think broader, try new ideas, and take risks, but they'll also hold you accountable.

Work with a Business Coach

To be clear, this is a two-way street. You'll reap the benefits of business coaching when you invest time and effort in the relationship.

And just like every relationship, it's a matter of compatibility. Unlike other marketers or coaches, I don't teach businesses to run a major marketing campaign that could earn millions.You’ll find a lot of coaches out there are just to-do list nannies.

I take a different approach. I help build your internal marketing capabilities and scale your small business rapidly. If there are gaps in your strategy, or if you're struggling to build a high-performance marketing team alone, my one-on-one coaching program will identify and provide solutions to these challenges. The rest is up to you.

When I coach, I lead the conversation. And this conversation is based on a structured program that takes you through a defined process.

Build the lifestyle business you've been dreaming about. Sign up for business growth, greater freedom, and profitability. Learn more about my 1:1 coaching program here. Are you thinking about starting a coaching business? Wouldn't it be cool if you had a roadmap you could follow instead of making it up as you go?

So, to help you get started I've written a handy guide on how to start your coaching business and scale revenue. Check it out now, just click the link.

Become A Certified Business Coach

Do you want to become a business coach?Here’s a recap of why my 12-week intensive CERTIFICATION program is the rocket fuel to your business.

• I share everything you need to structure, price, market, sell, and manage a six or 7-figure consultancy. How do I know it works? Because I used this same methodology to build and scale Lean Marketing.
• You’ll walk away with a framework for teaching your clients The 1-Page Marketing Plan and showing them how to implement each section.
• You can look forward to personalized help and support every step of the way. We’ll explain how to get past the most common roadblocks clients face and the mistakes you need to look out for. This isn’t information you’ll find online or on YouTube.
• You’ll get access to all of my templates and strategies for marketing, sales, onboarding, client management, and maximizing client retention.
• You’ll have exclusive licensing to use all of my teaching materials in your business, including The 1-Page Marketing Plan book in your company’s branding.

If you'd like to become a certified business coach, join my Certification program now.

Conversational sales is the process of talking to qualified leads on their terms, for example online with a chatbot, a phone call, or using forms on a landing page, whatever.

The focus is to use conversation to provide support, answer your prospective customers' questions, and move them through the buying process.

Every sales team, every rep, every company needs to be trained in conversational sales (low-pressure ways of converting leads to sales).

Unfortunately, most sales reps tend to forget the human element. Customers expect companies to connect with them, give a damn, and offer a solution to their problems. They're not just new leads for a rep to call and sell benefits.

So whether you're selling to other businesses—B2B marketing—or you're selling to consumers—B2C marketing—you won't see growth if there's no human impact.

This is why you need to master the art of conversational selling because conversations lead to customers.

But first, you need to know why conversational selling is highly dependent on human-to-human marketing.

Why Human-to-Human Marketing Matters In Conversational Sales

Human-to-human marketing, or simply H2H, is the best thread that unifies both B2B and B2C business models. It's the understanding that all of us want sales conversations with real people, not automated bots.

Customers want personalized buyer experiences. They want to feel like they matter—not like they’re a nameless, faceless purchaser.

You need to show them you care about their hopes, dreams, struggles, and pain points. And here's where the challenge lies. You need to figure out how to make conversational selling work. You need answers to these questions:

• How can you get your customers' attention?
• How can you make them happy?
• How can you touch their lives?

Remember, conversations lead to conversions.  

CX plays a vital role in the growth of your business. But what does CX mean, and why is it important? In short, CX are initials for Customer Experience, and this boils down to how your customers perceive their interaction with your brand.  

As your potential customers reach out to you, their experience and the relationships they build with your brand really matters. Giving this a truly human touch and delivering a world-class experience can transform a once-off purchase into life-long engagement.

3 Tips To Help You Master Conversational Sales

Here are three conversational selling tips you can use to your advantage.

1. Ask questions.

When meeting someone for the first time, how do you start the conversation? You introduce yourself, ask questions, and naturally build rapport. This is how you get to know someone from your lead list too.

In conversational selling, you need to ask questions to see if your prospects are a good fit for your business. If you're out of ideas, you can start asking them:

• What they love?
• What makes them happy?
• What they’re feeling—what emotion led them to reach out to you for help
• What are their needs?
• What are their challenges or pain points?
• Where is their business now, and where do they want to be in six months to year? Knowing this gap is vital
• What are their goals?

Asking questions validates a person. And being validated delivers a unique customer experience—something that's very important for business growth.

2. Be real.

Since this is all about human-to-human marketing, you need to show the human element in your brand. So when you're selling, tell your story. Share your ups and downs in sales conversations.

This is a great way to bridge the trust gap in the sales process and build authentic relationships with your customers. In H2H marketing, people engage and buy from businesses and brands that genuinely show who they are.

3. Deliver value.

There are a lot of ways to deliver value to your prospects and customers through conversational selling. But the bottom line is, you must be open to helping them without expecting anything in return.

For example, a prospect asks for help on a problem they can't fix. Someone from your sales team offers free advice, which they implement immediately. Later on, they see fruitful results. This situation can prove that your service is worth investing in. And in the end, they'll buy from you and hopefully recommend you to others.

For me, this is how you deliver value through conversational selling. Instead of slogging through the doldrums of cold calling, listing your products and services, then waiting until someone bites, target the right people, and offer the value they need.

Now you might be wondering, is conversational sales the same as conversational marketing? Well, let's just say they use a similar methodology.

Do You Want to Grow Your Business Rapidly?

Then you need to market it. But not just any marketing will do. In my new 1-Page Marketing Plan Course, I show you the exact techniques I've used to start, grow, and exit several multi-million dollar businesses, so you can too.

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What is conversational marketing?

Conversational marketing happens when you personally engage with prospects and customers in real-time through multiple channels. This happens online and in person, and these channels include:

• live chat,
• chatbots on websites,
• video,
• email support, and
• messaging apps.

Any form of one-on-one communication, like phone and email, are considered part of conversational marketing.

Today, messaging is the most effective conversational marketing strategy to reach out to prospects and customers online. According to a recent survey from Twilio, 90% of consumers love to use it to communicate with brands and businesses.

So you want to consider using messaging apps like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and Viber to reach out to your potential and existing customers.

And even if you're worried you can't always reach out to people face-to-face or in real-time, conversational marketing tools like chatbots can really help. You can program them to automatically respond to messages and engage with prospects. Rather than sending an unwelcome form, you can start a conversation with an automated but warm greeting.

What are the benefits of conversational marketing?

When done strategically, conversational marketing can do wonders for your brand. These include:

• Helping you convert more qualified leads faster
• Creating personalized, authentic experiences with prospects and buyers
• Building and fostering relationships with happy customers

How can I be more conversational in sales?

So now I want to talk about sales language. You really want to get this right, because the language you use can make or break your ability to sell.

Think about how you'd engage with a trusted friend. You're relaxed, easy-going, and the conversation flows naturally. This is how I want you to approach selling. You want to put your prospect at ease. So how can you do this.

Well, let’s start with what NOT to say.

Bad Sales and Marketing Language

It’s unfortunate, but lots of sales trainings teach bad language. These are some common phrases that have been overused by sales teams over the years:

• “Follow up”
• “Next step”
• “Moving forward”
• “Would you be interested?”
• “Would you like to explore?”

I wouldn’t be surprised if you've used some of these in a sales conversation before. But I want you to know that this is outdated sales lingo. These phrases immediately trigger an internal alarm in prospects that says, "I'm being sold to." And they will slowly start backing away from you.

If you want to win customers and build long-lasting relationships with them, don't use these in conversational selling.

So now that you know what not to say, let's look at the kind of sales language which works well.

Effective Sales and Marketing Language

Remember, I spoke about keeping your conversations relaxed and positioning yourself as a trusted friend. If you use some of these phrases, you’ll see your sales numbers increase:

• “Tell me a little bit more about that.”
• “How long has that been going on?”
• “Is it a priority to fix it?”
• “Any feedback on our previous conversation/meeting?”
• “That’s not a problem.”
• “You’re absolutely right. It can be perceived as high. No doubt about that.”
• “Where do you think we should go from here?”

As you can see, using these statements in a conversation is not complicated. Most of them are probing questions, and you'll eventually receive a lot of different responses from qualified leads.

It puts the power back in the hands of your prospect, without causing pressure. By asking probing or leading questions, you're actually saying to your potential customer, I care. I want to know more about what you're struggling with.

That creates trust, which is essential to selling.

You can read our list of key sale tips here.

Top Insights into our Team's Conversational Sales Strategy

We asked our lead sales rep to share her best insights when it comes to conversational sales. Here's what she had to say:

What is the difference between conversational sales and traditional sales?

I liken conversational sales to playing doctor. You get on the call with the patient. You listen to their symptoms. Give them space to talk about their problems, and by the end of the call, you can diagnose a solution.

Traditional sales, on the other hand, is pushy. You’re not allowing the other person to uncover what the real issue is. You're focused entirely on yourself, and that creates friction which will turn off a lot of prospects.

Why is conversation vital to sales?

Conversations are vital because the more your prospect talks about their problem, the more it creates a sense of urgency within them to get it fixed. It's almost like they're convincing themselves that they need to take action and solve their problem.

What improves sales conversion?

Speed, really. The faster you can respond to a hot lead, the greater your chance of closing them. Don't give them time to reconsider.

What affects sales conversion?

1. Time: Are you selling a course, program, or software? If your product requires the prospect to invest the time they don't have, that will reduce the number of sales you get. It's really important that you don't encourage your prospect to purchase if you know they won't be able to use the product effectively. That will only lead to unhappiness.
2. Budget or finances: If you sell a high-ticket item, your market is much smaller than an entry-level product. So you will get many more unqualified leads. I'd still encourage you to speak with them. I use these conversations to improve my sales process. I take note of the phrases and ideas that connect with the prospect.
3. Multiple decision-makers: Often, the leads I speak to need to touch base with their partners. It could be a spouse or a business partner. This can make getting the sale more difficult as I need to convince both parties.

Conversational Selling in a Nutshell

Sales and marketing have evolved, and your business should too.

I'm not against classifying business models, but it's right to say that the era of B2B and B2C marketing has ended. It's over. You need to stop thinking that you're either in B2B or B2C. This time, you're in H2H marketing. And, you need to do what it takes to humanize your brand.

The power of conversational marketing and sales lies in personal and real-time engagement. Conversation is the best way to deliver a world-class customer experience.

It branches off in different directions. So whether you want to use messaging apps or chatbots on your website to reach out, what's important is shortening the buying process, understanding your prospects, and boosting the empathic element of your brand.

Every business has one ultimate goal: to gain more customers and close more sales. You need marketing to do that consistently.

And though there are millions of strategies and tactics you can use, the starting point remains the same: have a well-crafted marketing plan.

After all, marketing is what drives your target audience to buy your product or service, bringing in the cash. But without a marketing strategy, it's like going to war without your weapons.

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The Marketing Plan Explained

A marketing plan is basically a blueprint that outlines the methods you're going to implement to make your customers buy your products and services. It acts as a roadmap that walks through your marketing strategies, tactics, marketing activities, costs, and expected results.

It has to be detailed enough to contain the actions that small businesses need to do to accomplish their goals.

A marketing plan ensures you don't get sidetracked and start chasing shiny objects (ooh, look, TikTok!)

You can create a marketing strategy good for a month, quarter, or the whole year.

Want to know what are the best marketing strategies for 2022? Click the link.

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Marketing Plan Vs. Marketing Strategy: What's the difference?

Marketing strategy is the overall big-picture. It answers what you hope to achieve with your marketing and why. Knowing this makes getting buy-in from stakeholders and business owners much easier.

The marketing plan lays out exactly how you'll achieve those strategic goals. It maps out the tactics you'll implement (inbound and outbound marketing), the assets you need, and the processes and systems you'll develop to help you level up your marketing game.

4 Purposes of a Marketing Plan

Every business needs a marketing plan because:

1. It coordinates company goals and objectives.
2. It defines the target market, allowing you to segment them according to your needs.
3. It defines the marketing mix.
4. It systematizes each activity for every marketing strategy.

Why Do Businesses Need Marketing Plans?

It doesn't matter whether you're running a small business or scaling a huge one — you still need to create a marketing plan.

After all, it comes with a whole bevy of benefits like the following:

1. It can help you create measurable business goals.

Clarity is super important when setting your business goals. It shouldn't be as simple as 'not going broke' or 'meeting annual sales KPIs.' Otherwise, you're just setting yourself up for marketing failure.

If you don't have a clear target, you can't implement marketing activities to help you reach what you want to achieve.

With a marketing plan, you can focus on tangible targets, improving your sales and business performance throughout the year.

2. A Plan provides consistency.

Whether you have a small team or a big one, a marketing plan makes sure you're all on the same page. Everyone is given the exact instructions on what to do to meet the company's business goals.

Without a marketing strategy, your plan will end up fractured and ineffective.

For example, some of your employees might work on social media, online content, or email marketing, while the other half uses print and radio ads.

3. It pushes you to stick with your budget.

Even a big business has to work on a set budget.

With a marketing plan, you can place importance on activities that yield the best results. It can save you from the headache of creating strategies that are not worth pursuing.

4. It helps you provide better service to your customers.

The importance of a marketing plan goes beyond the process. You can also use it as a guide in dealing with your clients.

When you understand what you need to do, you can address your audience better.

5. It gives your company the reality check it needs.

Businesses often have multiple objectives, and it can get confusing real fast if you don't have a marketing plan to guide you.

It serves as a benchmark that reminds you if you're hitting your marketing targets. You can make sure that your strategies are aligned and aren't veering away from the business goals you had from the start.

6. It can serve as an excellent motivator to your marketing team.

Say you want to start your business by marketing ten items per day.

When your employees know the exact marketing strategies to employ to achieve that goal, they waste less time in brainstorming sessions and follow-up meetings. All they need to do is follow your marketing plan, and everything will fall into place.

7. A plan is the key to getting more investors.

Let's face it: Building and running a business involves a sizable investment. If you want yours to grow in people, products, and income, you need to invest more capital.

One way to do so is to get different entities to invest in the product you're marketing. But you won't get the funding you need if you can't present a marketing strategy that outlines your business direction. It's massively important if you want to level up your company.

8. It can make you think and be proactive rather than reactive.

Planning lets you understand not just your target market and products but also the process of how you can bridge these two to achieve your business needs.

Teams with marketing plans are also more proactive. So you think about things in advance rather than just dealing with them when they occur. You're able to pre-empt and solve issues immediately.

Do You Want to Grow Your Business Rapidly?

Then you need to market it. But not just any marketing will do. In my new 1-Page Marketing Plan Course I show you the exact techniques I've used to start, grow, and exit several multi-million dollar businesses, so you can too.

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How to Create a Simple But Effective Plan in 5 Steps

Step 1: Prepare all the documents you need for your marketing plan.

‍You've probably heard of the saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." The same goes for creating a good marketing plan — you can't come up with many promising marketing ideas without much preparation.

For a seamless planning process, make sure to have the following marketing documents at hand:

• Latest financial reports, including operating budgets and profit and loss activity
• Sales figures by product and location for at least the last three years
• A list of new products or services, as well as their target customers
• Different marketplace documents, such as the list of competitors, regional boundaries, intended customers, current distribution channels, demographic data, and market trends

Step 2: Write about the market situation, as well as the threats and opportunities.

‍When you create your marketing plan, it's absolutely essential to consider the current trends in the marketplace, like your market's dollar size, selling and distribution setup, target audience, and even how much you've sold throughout the years.

Remember, you'll also need to take note of the threats and opportunities your business faces. These include the customers' demographics and the new trends that might be against you. And don't forget to focus on exploiting the ones that work in your favor.

‍Step 3: List down your marketing plan objectives.

‍The focus here should be the business goal you wish to achieve in a specific time frame.

Each objective needs to be clear. It must describe what you want to accomplish in, say, a week or a month, even six months. So be sure to jot down the numbers you want to get.

If you have a hard time creating different objectives for your marketing plan, you can always refer to your old records.

If your business has managed to keep an 80% in gross revenues from customers this year, gunning for a simple 20% to 25% increase in activity is a pretty achievable target, in my opinion.

Again, your marketing plan must also include the tactics and activities you're planning to do to achieve your targets.

For example:

Goal: Introduce the new X item to Roseville and sell 10,000 units for total revenue of $50,000.

‍Objectives:

• Promote the item and reach more customers online using email marketing or social media.
• Run marketing ads in the local newspaper.
• Get a radio ad in a local station.

Tactics:

• Obtain email addresses of Roseville residents by offering freebies on the website.
• Create Facebook marketing ads targeting the Roseville market.
• Contact newspaper people regarding ad rates and reserve an ad spot if you can.
• Contact the station manager and inquire about placing an ad.

Step 4: Set a marketing budget.

‍Now that you have your marketing strategy in place, it's time to talk numbers. I like to tell my clients that as long as you're making a return on investment, why wouldn't you keep plugging dollars back into your marketing activities?

But initially, you want to assign a specific budget so your team knows how much they can allocate for every promotion. The golden rule here is to add 25% more to your current estimate.

When establishing a budget, be sure to plan with the people who will be executing these activities. Their input will help you get a ballpark figure of the amount you want for each strategy. It also allows you to determine a point person who will keep a close eye on the budget and ensure it's put to good use.

‍Step 5: Create an executive business summary.

‍Although this should be placed at the top of your marketing plan, the executive summary should be the last thing you do in your marketing plan. It serves as an overview of the content you have inside.

For easier reading, make sure your plan is written in simple sentences. Bold the most critical points, and list them down in bullets as needed.

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Monitoring Your Plan's Performance

Successful marketing comes down to knowing your numbers.

• How are your marketing campaigns performing?
• Is your lead nurturing sequence converting?
• What messages work and which don't? Check out our messaging framework for refining your marketing message.
• Does your target audience engage with your social content?
• Is your advertising effective?
• Are you tracking Google Analytics, and what do your results reveal?
• What resources are most popular?

Marketing isn't just about putting a piece of content out there and hoping it sticks. You need to gather as much data and information as you can and analyze it to be sure you're getting results and not wasting your money.

So add KPIs to each and every marketing activity.

Types of Marketing Strategies

A clear marketing strategy identifies which tactics your company will use to get your customers to know, like, trust, and buy from you.

If you've built an in-house marketing team, they may wish to create separate plans for each tactic, for example:

• Content marketing plans outline the articles you'll write and post on your blog to rank in search engines. These can be built month to month or yearly in advance.  SEO is one of the best ways to attract organic traffic and grow your audience.
• Media marketing plans outline which media you'll use to reach your audience. This could be social media, PR, SEO, PPC, television, radio, podcasting, or Ted Talks, to name a few. In advertising agencies, you'll be given a media plan that lists dates go-live/publisher dates, costs, and timelines.
• Social media marketing plans or a social content calendar break down the types of posts you'll share across any given month.

A lot of big companies have annual marketing plans. That's why I wrote the 1-Page Marketing Plan. It's something you can review every six months and only update when necessary.

Business Success Starts With A Sound Marketing Plan Strategy

As mentioned, there are many good reasons why your business must have a marketing plan. As the business owner, you need to own your marketing strategy. So it's vital that you're involved in the writing of your marketing plan. Although it can be challenging to build out, it's essential to your business's success. So, make it a priority.

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