6 Things you MUST KNOW if you want to rock a 6-Figure Coaching Business WITHOUT becoming a slave to your clients

Hi Team!

Bianca Aiono here for those of you who haven’t met me yet. I’m one of Kylie’s first graduates of her NLP Certification and my life and business has exploded into new realms of awesomeness I never thought possible. My relationships improved, my anxiety became almost non-existent, and I successfully overcame some personal fertility struggles and a 2-year journey to birth my first child Maverick!

My career was completely revolutionised as well – after I finished my certification, I increased my business to consumer coaching rate from $200 to $330 per hour and my business coaching rate doubled to reach 4 figures!  I quickly packaged up a brand new leveraged coaching program that added $30,000 to my bottom line which only required an extra 4 hours a month to deliver!

My passion for leveraged business and living on purpose has lead me to my next journey: helping other conscious coaches awaken their impact and create wealth in all areas of their life as a part of My Mind Coach.

“Build a 6-figure business” seems to be the catch cry benchmark these days, so I wanted to give you a little insight into my experience.

I know first hand what it takes to hit the (multiple) 6-figure mark because I have achieved this from scratch 3 times over:

– as a young and passionate Personal Trainer in Brisbane and Bootcamp instructor.
– an ambitious award winning Personal Training Studio Owner on the Sunshine Coast.
– and as a pioneer of fitness when I launched my Weight Loss Coaching business online in 2012.

Since my PT Studio days when I had 5 staff, 100 clients, worked 80 hours a week and had crippling overheads, I have always really focused on not outgrowing my resources at the expense of my freedom.

Part of this dedication means I really paid attention to the quality of the information I shared and focused on the quality of my relationships with my clients and prospective ones. It has paid off as my signature online program “Love your Body Lean Re-School” was voted as a finalists in the Global Weight Management Conference as the People’s Choice for “Best Weight Management Program of the Year”.

This commitment to an excellent client experience has been the foundations for the work I’ve been doing with some awesome spiritual coaches and healers in a beta version of our Leaders & Lightworkers Business Academy that Kylie and I are currently preparing for.

My role within the L&L Academy is to help passionate coaches own their power and rock their presence by creating a container for their work that increases their profitability and the number of people they can help.

One of my main prerogatives is to help creative spirits make a greater impact by unpacking their wisdom into online programs without falling victim to tech overwhelm or over analysis paralysis.

Kylie’s role within the L&L Academy is to help coaches break through the fears that fog up your vision and impair your implementation of sales, marketing and systems. For instance, a large part of the work Kylie and I have been doing lately has been helping these coaches move through things like

– fear of being seen
– fear of repeating past mistakes
– fear of standing out / success
– fear of failing / rejection
– fear of not being enough

These fears are just some of the hurdles that stop coaches from understanding where their true talents lie and who they TRULY are meant to help. They also play out in some destructive things like

– over delivering and adding WAY too much content (which actually confuses clients and undervalues your system)
– not charging enough (being a martyr doesn’t mean you’re a better coach!)
– exhausted and feeling pressured because they’re being over responsible for their client’s results
– stressed and out of flow due to unhealthy boundaries
– missing out on time being present with the ones they love the most
– resistance / procrastination / inertia (costing time, money AND you’re not helping the people you’re meant to be)
– missing out on sales opportunities because they’re not truly owning their value

I am really compelled to give a few tips that help overcome the sticking points I keep seeing happening again and again.

1. In order to know your ideal client you must know yourself.

“Target Market” or “Niche” is a really common sticking point for many business owners however really it’s about understanding who you are and who you love to serve. This isn’t always an instant recognition but rather a journey of discovery within answering all the questions such as “Who do you love to work with?” “What kind of results did they get?” – and most importantly “What would they tell their friends about you and what you did for them?”

>>> Activity: Make a list of your 3 top clients, practising writing that addresses their pain. Imagine writing a “hero’s journey” about them, where they were before, what made them take action, where they are now, and the reasons for their success. When you write your marketing material, use this format for sharing testimonials and communicating the value that you offer.

Remember to use your clients words – not yours, entering into the conversation that is going on inside your ideal client’s head is the key to success.

2. Look for a metric that you deal in (a tangible way to measure your client’s progress)

For instance, you might help the spiritual evolution of all mankind. But, seeing as this is difficult to define, it’s hard for your prospective client to measure why they would go to you rather than somebody else who says the same thing – how does your prospective client easily discern between you and cheap imitations?

Even though it feels awkward, if you can nail down a way to measure the returns your clients gets from investing in you – you’ll find that you’ll get more committed clients who are willing to pay a premium price. A good rule of thumb for a successful business is to ask yourself: What could I give that I know would create 10x the investment that my client gives me?

I noticed that even when I increased my online program price from $697 to $1500 my confidence in presenting my program never wavered, because I knew that my program would save my ideal client hundreds if not thousands of dollars on take away binges and fad diets. Whilst I resisted against saying, “You can lose 10 kilos in 10 weeks,” I was able to say, “I show women who are jaded by the weight loss roller coaster how to eat normally again.” and “They love being able to walk into a shop and know they’ll be able to pick anything off the rack and it would fit them.”

I supported all of my claims with lots of testimonials both written and video so I really understood the language of my ideal client (because she was also a past version of me too!)

Activity: Have a look at your client testimonials, make a note of all the side benefits that they talked about working with you that you could put a “tangible metric” on. Get creative and start celebrating both your client AND you as their coach.

3. Create an easy to understand “Doorway” program or “in a nutshell” message for your prospective clients to easily understand what you do.

A lot of spiritual mentors get confused trying to encapsulate all of what they do in their marketing material. That’s because you’re not meant to, all of the visionary esoteric language and transformation can happen behind the closed doors of your coaching sessions. I like to think of your message as just a doorway to your ultimate work. It’s a grounded, measurable way you can help solve a specific problem and allows you to grab your ideal client’s attention. On the other side of your business you can weave as much woo-woo magic as you like (and your clients will love you for it).

>>> Activity: Look at your ideal clients, and see part of their stories and some of the side benefits that they’ve also received.

i.e. They might happen to be all corporate employee who got a raise (that could be a doorway)

OR – they might be exhausted, haggard mum bosses who start to get more energy and so therefore take up more hobbies, and their husbands get more nookie with the lights on.

Here’s one of my doorways (otherwise known as a lead magnet to a low priced $250 program) for my Weightloss coaching business, it’s “How to get organised in the kitchen with healthy meal prep” and the program I position off the back of that is called “Back on the Healthy Eating Track in 30 Days”.

The last one we ran with Kylie and Sascha we ended up talking all things “Divine Feminine” and “Healing the Desire to be Desired” – subjects that would have been super difficult to advertise on the front end and difficult for our clients to even understand to make a buying decision. We had an amazing time though, and got incredible rave reviews and lots of those clients have gone on to buy coaching packages and buy tickets to our Weightless Woman Weekend! It’s been an incredible exercise in letting new people get to know, like and trust us as we continue to expand our reach.

>> Activity : Look at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Brainstorm the different areas that your clients spiritual ascension is costing them in their everyday life. It’s a great way to see one of the pain points that they (or you) may not realise is being compromised.

4. It’s okay, you don’t have to have a big “Stop Start” High Pressure Launch!

Kylie and I have both created a multi-six figure business in one of the most skeptical and jaded niches EVER. And neither of us have ever really successfully pulled off a big “launch” other than throw about $500 a month into Facebook advertising, give a lot of valuable content and be consistent with nurturing relationships.

In saying that a $40k and $60k 12-week program is nothing to be sneezed at – but really that was me just being consistent in “addressing the pain” of my ideal client.

If you continually focus on “If this is who you are, this is what I got, and do you want it” and you can nail your metric, you own your transformation enough so that you charge a premium price AND you can deliver amazing value, then you have all the fundamental ingredients to build a successful coaching business.

* The part to note here is that with my content I was able to attract the type of woman I really enjoyed working with, and with my “Art of Effortless Selling” sales system I was able to convert 90 – 100% of my enquiries via the phone (no pressure, no sleazy tactics, just a repeatable self-selecting system that weeds out the tyre-kickers).

5. DON’T make the “Curse of the Expert” mistake with your Online Program.

Do not underestimate the things you might think are simple, but actually took years for you to perfect, or other people really struggle with. Those parts of your process that you master effortlessly might be the very missing ingredient that your client has no concept about. It can be way simpler than you think! Certainly, a few years ago I would have never thought that “food prep” in the kitchen was going to be the doorway to my most etherial and feminist transformations!

When putting your program together remember: YOUR CLIENT DOES NOT NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE SUBJECT AS MUCH AS YOU DO!

When I take my car to the mechanic, I do not need him to tell me how my engine works. I just want my car fixed in the shortest possible amount of time for a fair price.

When I go to the Myotherapist, I want him to treat my urgent painful shoulder! 

And I do NOT want to hear him preaching about the importance of stretching the origin and insertion of the bicep and the role of the levator scap as it cuts into my precious massage time!

All I want is for him to TAKE AWAY the pain and give me a solution in the shortest possible TIME!   (Lol – Can you sense just a little bit of my frustrations here!)

Just think about the milestones your 1 to 1 clients must conquer and overcome as they work through your process. Outline some of the things that you find yourself repeating every single time and put some videos or presentations or downloads around it, and educate your client and alleviate the repetition on yourself within your 1 to 1 clients.

A great online program will give your clients support, without overwhelming them and allow them to work through some of their “stuck points” before you get on the call with them. You’ll find a real ease and flow with your coaching sessions and your clients will feel like the value you’ve shown them is tenfold, because they’ll be able to revisit the work if they ever need to, like they’ve taken out an “insurance policy” on their results.

And now, just as a word of warning for anyone engaging mentors and coaches in the business world from somebody who really had to learn the hard way.

6. Look for mentors in business who have replicated what you want to achieve and ACTUALLY embody their work

Just as there are many people who become “health coaches” instantly with little more than an Instagram account, a bikini and a before and after photo, there are many people out there in the online world who claim to be able to help you create a successful business, but it is very difficult to judge the authenticity of their skills.

Like Kylie says, “Are you a professional coach with the SKILLS to truly facilitate lasting, sustainable change…
Or a marketer of an inspiring life telling people, “Hey I did did this, you can too”? There’s a difference.”

There are inconsistencies and incongruencies that stand out in these types of businesses that are obvious, if you take the time to do your due diligence and don’t make any rash decisions.

However, on the flip side, what I’ve also realised is that without the help of an expert who’s more advanced than me, I discover “safe problems” that can create a holding pattern that stop me from fully expressing my potential. I’ve recently decided to take a calculated risk by engaging with a mentor again – somebody who truly inspires me – and I realised the crucial role that the “right” mentor has always played in catapulting me to the next level of success.

In the last two weeks, I’ve already taken so much rapid and aligned action, it’s made me remember how much more empowered, strategic and focused I am when I’m being guided towards my fullest expressed potential.

Actually, not having a quality mentor has cost me far more in opportunities than when I’ve decided to “go at it alone”. To be fair, even the “not so good” ones taught me a lot about “what not to do”. But most of all, I recognise that the most successful mentorships are the ones where you remember there is no “magic bullet” and they aren’t there to rescue you – your mentor’s most important role is to mirror back to you where you are accepting less than your most aligned self and allowing your own unique brilliance to shine through.

If you feel you could benefit from some of your own guidance and you’d like to see how we could help you, I’ve put some time aside this week for a 20-minute strategic “power chat” about your business and goals for the future.

It’s been fun tweaking different business models and brainstorming “doorways” for some masterful coaches lately. I love their surprise and excited anticipation when I show them exactly how their business could look if they just took a bit of time “off the tools” and spent it on some strategic leveraging.

The other day I helped a metaphysical healer (who is WAY more than just a massage therapist) create a plan for $140,000 in recurring revenue for next year! We hadn’t even started discussing an online course yet – that was just about adding more value and creating more structure to the regular loyal clients she already had!

Of course, together we’ve got a bit of work to do around clearing her fear and resistance about receiving wealth and those vows of poverty many of us women unknowingly let affect us. Fortunately, the process of implementing our Leaders & Lightworkers Client Attraction pieces is super effective at highlighting your own worth, and of course Kylie’s incredible Jedi Mindset skills have this uncanny way of getting to the root cause of a bunch of stumbling blocks and collapsing them all at once.

If you’re confident about your desire to make BIG things happen but you are just a little unsure about what the next right step is for you, please email bianca@mymindcoach.com.au with POWER CHAT in the heading and I’ll send you some questions and go from there!