So my car died yesterday. At least I think so… I have to get it towed to the shop to be sure, but it doesn’t look good – or cheap – either way.
I was waiting for Susan Johnstone‘s weekly Wisdom of Your Resistance call to start when I learned that said vehicle, driven by my son, had died on the freeway. He’s okay but the car is not, and I freaked out because I have no way to pay for what looks like a very expensive repair job.
In my panic, I completely forgot about the call. Too bad, I could have used Susan’s calming voice.
Now I’m trying to use this minor crisis [and I know it’s minor as crises go: no one is dead or in the hospital] as motivation to push through my resistance/fear and do whatever it takes to earn enough cash, fast, to get my wheels back. [If I was younger and healthier, I’d go back to riding the bus and my bike — did that for 7 years — but I’m just not up to it physically any more. Not to mention that I’m still on crutches after re-injuring my foot last week.]
Last night, I was all gung-ho.
I contacted a few people, tweeted, brainstormed, and came up with a plan. I felt confident that I can do this.
But this morning? Not so much. I’m back in panic mode and my mind is going off in all directions at once.
I need a road map of the exact steps required to solve this problem.
That would calm me down a lot and help me resist tempting distractions and going off on unproductive tangents. [Some resistance is a good thing!] So here are the next steps I need to take:
- Record a voice coaching video that includes everything I’ve been saying in my coaching sessions, minus the personalized stuff.
- Record half a dozen or more MP3’s of vocal exercises.
- Create a PDF tip sheet.
- Set up a voice coaching mailing list, and contact all previous clients to ask them to opt in.
- Rewrite my sales page to offer two tiers — the recordings and tip sheet for DIY’ers at a lower price, and the whole package including a session with me for a higher price.
This is what I’ve been procrastinating about for several weeks now, but I no longer have time for angst. Time to get moving. I’m setting a deadline for myself of this Monday, August 30.
After I finish all of that, I’ll need to promote it — hard.
Another opportunity for epic procrastination! But no time for angst now. Here’s the general plan for promotion:
- Ask everybody I know to help. Help!
- Contact bloggers with bigger lists than mine [um, that would be everybody] about doing a JV [joint venture], where they would offer my services to their lists in return for an affiliate cut.
- Promote my services in the Third Tribe forums [which, ironically, I was planning to cancel to save $ — good thing I haven’t done that yet!]
- And [gulp] start doing guest posts like crazy. I think this one scares me the most.
One really good thing about all of this?
Being forced to face these fears at last is kind of a relief. I’m even looking forward to it, almost. Sort of. I know I’ll regret saying that, but it’s true. Kind of.
Oh yes, I forgot to mention my target market, which my Group Mentorship forum buddies helped me finally figure out last night: coaches! Of course! Who else do I hang out with? And don’t coaches, um, use their VOICES for a living? Yup. Perfect.
So, what do you think of my plan? Any and all ideas, suggestions, criticisms and encouragement gratefully accepted.
Photo by Cindy Siegle
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What a wonderful plan, and yes, I believe sometimes these obstacles are thrown at us to kick us into action.
Even though I haven’t had my voice coaching session yet, I still think you could raise your rates, too. 🙂
As far as marketing to coaches, they are far and away the easiest market to reach because they are already hanging out in all the marketing venues and understand the value of coaching (more importantly, they’ve already heard of it, LOL). Check out New Coach Connection at http://www.groups.yahoo.com.
I can see a whole new angle on the voice coaching for us coaches. I had been thinking I was doing it to sound good on teleseminars, but it would also be helpful to be coached about my tone of voice, etc. during coaching sessions.
Sorry to hear you re-injured your foot. The Universe seems to be sending you a message about locomotion. 🙂
I think you already paid for your session, didn’t you? That was when I was offering it super-cheap just for people on my list? Yes, the price is going up. But not for you, my dear, because you already got your dibs in.
I hadn’t thought of tone of voice, etc., during coaching sessions. Yikes, something new to learn! Thanks for the link – I just joined.
I like the plan and hope it works! We got very motivated when life took a turn for the worse and it helped.
Your voice coaching has interested me but the class is even more enticing. Being able to scale your skills via the introductory course has the potential to be very profitable.
And as your base package brings in people it will give them the confidence to hire you as a voice coach. A win-win!
Hi Tom, thanks for visiting and commenting. Your point about finding the
class enticing surprised me — and I also hadn’t thought of it as a class,
but I like it, thanks for the idea. Maybe I could add a teleclass or webinar
to the mix. Exciting!
~LaVonne
Great plan! I totally understand when you say a part of you likes this frenzy because it will push your forward. You can do it! Even more than you think you can achieve. And we all will promote you like crazy. To our lists, on Twitter, on Facebook. Let me know if you need any help with proofreading or stuff like that. I can give a helping hand over the weekend. Good luck! 🙂
Those are great to-do lists, LaVonne! It looks like you’ve got that licked. The hard part, in my experience, is looking at the beliefs that make me want to procrastinate. 🙁
Wow, that is so kind of you! And it really motivates me to get moving. I
still don’t have everything I need to make the video, but there’s lots to be
done to prepare for it so I can be ready when I get the memory chip later
today. I have a bad habit of using delays as an excuse to sit and wait. Time
for new habits!
Really appreciate the offer, and I will take you up on it, thank you!
~LaVonne
So true, Susan, but there’s nothing like a good mini-crisis to kick
procrastination to the curb. I have this fear of making important phone
calls, for instance, but I find that when I don’t stop to think about my
fear and I just pick up the phone and start dialing, it’s just fine. Going
on that principle now. Though I’m REALLY glad I don’t have to make any
important phone calls to get it done, lol.
~LaVonne
Good luck again! You know my twitter id, but here it is again: @cakobu
Just send me a direct message if you need help!
Thank you!
~LaVonne
Sounds like a terrific, do-able plan LaVonne! I just read a post about when to reach your target audience (http://www.heartofbusiness.com/the-moment-of-truth/#comment-8325). Seems to me you could reach more than just coaches with either package. I had a few ideas, don’t know if they are helpful:
How about doing a twitter search for “public speaking” or “presentation” or “keynote” and seeing what others are worried about as they approach their big day giving a talk? You could also tweet out about the benefit of your courses using those keywords.
How about searching for Toastmasters clubs in your area (or anywhere, since you coach by phone) and seeing if they have a blog? You could comment on the articles you find about the importance of a strong vocal presence and some might follow your link.
Similarly, google “fear of public speaking” and comment on some of those blogs giving tips on vocal variety, choice of words, etc. You might widen your audience that way as well.
I don’t know if any of these ideas will help, but thought I’d share. It’s so easy to come up with ideas for how OTHER PEOPLE can market their services. LOL
Good luck, LaVonne! We’re behind you 150%!
Awesome ideas, thank you! I was going for coaches on the philosophy of
targeting one market at a time, then moving to the next, but this is a time
to ‘go wide,’ right?
~LaVonne