094: Getting Started With 1PMP – A Real Life Example (Part 1 – The Audit)

Title: Getting Started With 1PMP – A Real Life Example (Part 1 – The Audit)

Guests: Anne Garing

Peter: Welcome to the Biz and Life Done Well podcast, where we explore what it means and what it takes to do business and life well. I’m your host, Peter Wilson. If you’re like me, you’re intrigued by stories of common people who have achieved uncommon success in business and life. Join me as I interview fascinating people about how they got started, their successes and failures, their habits and routines, and what inspires them. We are going to be taking Anne and her Anne Gearing Coaching business through the one page marketing plan.

We’ve talked about Alan Dib, the book that he created, the one page marketing plan. Anne has her book. I’ve got mine. And we were talking about a month or so ago and indicated that she wanted to get some help with the marketing. What was it that motivated you to lean in this direction?

Anne: Because I kind of feel at my wit’s end for what I can do that feels good and authentic, and I just want to double my clients.

Peter: Have you tried any other marketing frameworks or marketing strategies? No. Okay. Great. Of course, you’ve listened to every single one of our podcasts, so you’ve probably heard us talk about I’m just kidding.

The one page marketing plan. So what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna walk through the one page marketing plan with Anne, and it’s gonna be over the course of several weeks. When we do one page marketing plan coaching, the first thing we do is we do an audit on the business. And so today, we are going to audit Anne’s business, Angiering Coaching. So before we dive into that audit of your marketing, let’s just talk a little bit about your business, how long you’ve been in business, what you do, some high level things so our listeners can just know a little bit before we dive into the details.

Anne: Yeah. So I have my own coaching business. I’ve had it for about two and a half years. I come out of a background in learning and organizational development for a large health care company. And in that context, did a lot of leadership coaching.

And through a series of amazing events, had the opportunity to go to India where I got certified in coaching, where I’d had training before I was never certified. And so when we came back, I started my own business. It was at the height of COVID, and it’s been two and a half years. And I feel like in my first year that my clients were like like the number of clients I had at any one time was really variable. And over the last year, they I have a pretty steady like, I feel like it’s been pretty steady in part because I’ve had long term clients.

And so I’m happy about that. And most of my clients have come through word-of-mouth, either people who know me or people who know people I’ve coached.

Peter: So 100% full disclosure, I’ve received coaching from Anne, leadership coaching, and it’s amazing. She did a great job. And we have a podcast episode. I think I might have mentioned it earlier. So I’d highly encourage you, if you wanna find out more about Anne’s coaching and her approach to coaching in particular, highly recommend that you listen to that podcast.

It’s actually one of our most popular episodes of the podcast. We’ll have links to that in the show notes as well. For those of you that are not familiar with the one Page Marketing Plan, I do want to give you just a brief introduction to it. So what Alan did, his hypothesis is if you are able to put your marketing plan on a single page. All the details are not on a single page, but an overview of your marketing plan, including nine fundamental elements that every single marketing plan needs to include, that it will get used more.

It’s easier to share within an organization. It’s easier to get by in an organization, and it’s just easier to understand. That was the genesis of the idea for the one page marketing plan. What happened was Alan had a business that was doing, like, network installation in Australia, and he paid a company to make a marketing plan. And he ended up with this 100 page book.

And he got the thing and he said, now what do I do? Apparently, they had written a great plan, but they had just not shown it to him in a way that he could understand and get his arms around. So that began the one page marketing plan. One way I would characterize it, it is a framework. So the framework contains these nine boxes.

And I’m going to share my screen, and this is material that I received directly from Alan Dibs’ organization, Successwise. I’m a certified coach, and my team are certified coaches. So this is copyrighted material that we received to use for the purpose of coaching and applying the one page marketing plan to our clients. So I’m gonna go ahead and share my screen here. The one page includes the nine boxes, and you’ll notice the first row here says before.

And this is when people before they know who you are, so before a prospect knows who you are. So because they’re not a customer, we’re not calling them a customer. We’re calling them a prospect. So that’s very important of how we delineate. And there is three boxes here, your target market, your messaging to your target market, and then how you’re going to reach your target market.

And then the next row is during. So this is after they know who you are. Now this is the during phase. And in the during phase, they are a lead. So they’ve turned into a prospect.

And at some point, they raised their hand and said, yeah, I’m interested in learning more about you and what you do and how you could help me. So now they know who you are, but they’re not your customer yet. So this is really a very important step is how you’re capturing their interest, how you’re capturing the leads, how you’re nurturing the leads, and finally, you’re converting leads into sales. And then the final row is the customer. So they’ve gone from being a lead to a customer.

So this is after. So this is how you deliver a world class experience. Maybe it’s not so obvious, but one of the most important parts of marketing is how you provide your products and services to your customers. And are you actually delivering what they expected? So how do you deliver a world class experience?

And then how to increase customer lifetime value? So this is how you look at ways of selling additional products and services to existing customers, how you increase their purchase rate. And then the final step is how you orchestrate and stimulate referrals from your satisfied customers. So these are the nine steps in that one page marketing plan. So I did have Anne do a onboarding questionnaire, which she filled out for me, and I’m gonna be referring to that throughout our discussion.

One of the things that I wanna say that Allan Dib talks about is you can’t say who your target market, Everybody. That would be a miss if that was who your target market was. So what we need to do is we need to narrow it down. And so I asked the question, who is your current and who is your ideal client? And you said go ahead and tell me what you said there.

Anne: Oh, I have to find it then.

Peter: Oh, why? I’ll read it to you. Young people and organizational leaders.

Anne: Yes. K. And I love that. I actually love that part about because I did read that part, and I totally appreciate what he’s saying about getting narrow in your focus. And I think, like, when I just started my business, I, you know, probably, like many people, did not want to narrow it.

And yeah. And I

Peter: So let’s dive into this a little further. So when you say young people, what do you mean by that?

Anne: I would say, you know, people a lot of people making the transition out from college to work or, you know, early, like, under kind of that, you know, trying to figure out what you’re gonna do and yeah.

Peter: Okay. So could you define an actual age, or is that not do you think so if you were to say young people, it sounds like you said so post college or do

Anne: you I’ve need worked with college, so 20 to 30. I mean, it could be younger. I mean, it Yeah. Like, what’s important is that they are the ones seeking coaching, not their parents

Peter: Oh, got it.

Anne: For them.

Peter: K. Who are seeking coaching. That’s a good one.

Anne: Yeah.

Peter: Not their parents. I like that. Good. And so you also said, generally, it’s student or young people in some sort of transition. They’re either transitioning, so I’ll just say in transition, from college to a career, or I think you’ve mentioned to me in the past from college to, like, from undergrad to postgrad work.

Anne: I I actually really love working with graduate students too, having been one and just knowing, yeah, how much more you can get out of the experience if you’re if yeah. I just think if I had a coach, you know, like, you know, you got more out of the experience. If you have if you’re thinking about what do I wanna get out of this experience instead of let me get through this to check, know,

Peter: what’s going

Anne: end to you.

Peter: So we can just broadly say twenties to thirties here. And then generally, I would expect, unless you had a very mature high schooler, there again, there are some out there. We know them. But, generally, it’s folks that have gone to college or are in college that you’re gonna wanna talk to. And then you also said organizational leaders.

So let’s talk about that a little bit. So what do you mean by that?

Anne: Really love working with people who are leading other people. I mean, one of the reasons I like to work with young people is that they can learn things that will just and I probably said this in your last podcast, that will just kind of pay off, you know, over the course of their lives. And so, like, you can do things when you’re 40. But, you know, like, when you learn them young, you know, there’s a big payoff. And organizational leaders, I I feel the same kind of, oh, there’s a big payoff because they’re leading other people.

And so the more effective they just like the more health they bring to the world, you know, like like you’re a good leader. You feel confident and clear about what you’re doing, and then you bring that to your team and then they feel better. You know, it’s just like it’s just multiplying, you know? And I think also, I think, like, leaders, it can be lonely. And, like, having a partner to bounce things off of is just, you know, and help you hear yourself.

It just kind of lets you be your wisest self.

Peter: Got it. So I can you see my notes that I’ve captured there? Do you think that

Anne: Let’s say leading can be lonely.

Peter: Oh, yes. Leaders.

Anne: I’m sure the leaders too, but who might think that?

Peter: Yeah. Yes. I can sympathize with that emotion. Okay. So you’ve got two core groups, and I know you have coached others, but this is really your ideal target market.

I’m curious. How long did it take you to develop that model for yourself?

Anne: To get clear about those two. Yeah. Probably it was probably this year. So two years?

Peter: So you just went out and did it, and then it just sort of

Anne: And then as I was yeah. And then and also this book because, I mean, I think I I think you sent it to me. I won one of your raffles.

Peter: Yes.

Anne: Probably read the first chapter months ago. Mhmm. And it was like, oh, I get this. You know, I get the like, why you should have a target and just so then I was just clarifying my thinking about it.

Peter: And there are just to be clear, there are tools in the book on how to identify your target market. It’s not just you need a target market. Go figure it out for yourself. That’s the beauty of the book. It actually has tools, and it points to other ways to do that.

So I think for sake of what we’re trying to accomplish today, I think you’ve really done a great job of articulating this one. I work with a lot of folks that don’t have this figured out very well. Now we get to move on to your message to your target market. With respect to messaging, what we’re really trying to focus on is how you are presenting yourself to the market in the words that you use on your website, in the words and and the pictures on your website, and in the words that you use to describe your services in a networking setting. For example, we’ve talked about BNI, which is a networking group.

You and I have both been members of that. Each week, you have to give a commercial So that really is your message that you’re giving to your target market. Mhmm. So one of the things that so you do you’ve developed a a slogan or a tagline, and I think it’s coaching excellence. Is that right?

Yeah. You got that on your website? Okay. So you call your business and Gary and Coaching, which in itself is a message to your target market, and then you’re saying coaching excellence.

Anne: And that was kind of two ways. Like, my coaching will be excellent, and also I’m interested in helping people be excellent. So through coaching.

Peter: So it’s a double meaning.

Anne: Yeah.

Peter: Do you think that is obvious in the way that it’s stated?

Anne: I’m I doubt anybody pays much attention to it. Okay. I don’t know. But it’s also on my business card, this obsolete piece of paper. But I don’t refer to it either.

So it’s just

Peter: you know? It’s pretty generic.

Anne: And the reason I’m anchoring coaching was I had to come up with a the name for my business. But I was like, well, that’s straightforward.

Peter: What are the three words that sum up the value you bring to your clients? So this is one of the questions I asked you.

Anne: What did I say?

Peter: You said authenticity, structure, and support. Do you wanna stick to that?

Anne: Well, now. How do you feel about it?

Peter: Well, this is an audit. So right now we’re just trying to find out where you’re at. This is Okay. Yeah. We’re not I suppose I should be careful what I ask.

Authenticity, structure, and support. Okay. So I mean and you’ve thought about this, though. This is is This

Anne: is what I bring. This is what coaching provides. Yeah.

Peter: And so one of the other questions that we asked you is if your brand were a person, what would they be like? And you said authentic, which just fits that, courageous and kind. If you had to summarize the transition that a customer or a client could expect through engaging you? Have you thought about that? Like, is there a from something to something?

Anne: What I think most clients every client’s different, but I think what most clients get is clarity around their vision for themselves, clarity and confidence. For many people, it doesn’t matter how old you are. Like, saying what you really want is terrifying and saying out loud to someone else. And so hearing yourself say what you want and then the work is like, let’s just move towards it. Let’s move towards it.

Let’s move towards it. And so it’s very conscious and we’re afraid of failure. Right? So if you admit what you really want, then you’re creating an opportunity for failure. But you’re also like, oh my gosh, creating an opportunity for the life you want.

Peter: My own personal experience was your method of coaching, which is you don’t ever tell me what to do. For example, when we were working together, it was I ended up challenging myself. Right? You just Yeah.

Anne: I could ask questions. Like, I would never presume to give someone a vision.

Peter: Right.

Anne: What’s your vision? And then, yeah, and then we can talk about what’s important about it and different. But in the end, it’s your work. I don’t know if that’s what you mean.

Peter: Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Let’s move on to the last step. This is where we’re gonna talk about your website.

Well, you do have a website.

Anne: And it’s probably, like, two years old. And so I think my again, like, I’ve evolved.

Peter: K.

Anne: I like many parts of it. Yeah. But I think I could be more clear.

Peter: So this is your current website. It is kind of a forest theme talking about taking the next step. You do have some resources on your you’ve got your blog. So let’s talk about that. How often are you producing articles for the blog?

Anne: We do it once a

Peter: month. Okay. Then you are sending out emails. Right?

Anne: Yeah. So they go to a subscriber list, and it all I also post it on LinkedIn. I have a big network on LinkedIn.

Peter: How how big is just out of curiosity, how big is your network?

Anne: Well, it says over 500, and they don’t count over that.

Peter: Oh, okay. You probably got way over five.

Anne: I don’t know.

Peter: So are there any other

Anne: And then I have a Facebook, but I just I mean, I don’t I have a professional Facebook or whatever, Angiering Coaching Facebook, and I post it to there, but I do not interact with that site at all. I don’t even know how to do it. And and then I post it to my Google whatever.

Peter: Business profile. Yeah. How many people are on your subscriber list?

Anne: Close to a 100, actually.

Peter: Great.

Anne: I do have a question. Yeah. So one of the things that I kind of struggle with and I’m sure we’ll we’ll get to is, like, I just think that my two target audiences are, I think, organizational leaders, if they see, oh, I like to work with young people, are gonna be like, oh, I don’t wanna work with you. I think in their minds, like, really, it’s not different, but in their minds, it’s really different. And I just wonder anyway, but we can address that.

Peter: Yeah. So next week, we’re gonna dive very deeply into those first two items, your target market and your messaging. We’ll have Chris Goldman joining us next week. He is our messaging expert. He has done messaging and some of the target market work for over 50 companies.

So I think he can help us answer some of that question, how you are gonna appeal to different groups. Because that is a you know, that’s definitely a issue that we’ll have to solve for

Anne: for sure.

Peter: I feel

Anne: like I feel like with the LinkedIn again, just even in the two chapters that I’ve read, I’m already thinking about I feel like in the LinkedIn, it’s more like business facing. That’s what my connections are. And the way that I get to young people is personal connection and then referrals.

Peter: Having a very business oriented persona on LinkedIn, that’s expected, honestly. So

Anne: Well, it makes more sense. But and then the blog goes again to past clients and stuff like that if they so then that reaches young people.

Peter: And that’s where you’re going to get more of a mix. Let’s move on to they know who you are. They read your newsletter. Somebody forwarded your newsletter to them. Hey, you should check this out.

Now they know who you are. So now they’ve come to your website, they’ve contacted you, or what? What this is talking about is how are you capturing interests? So you’re not going to just take somebody from not knowing who you are to knowing who you are and instantly sign up. Right?

How are you capturing interests today? Is there a way that people can subscribe to your newsletter?

Anne: It’s not easily it’s underneath the blogs. So if you, there’s a subscribe button. And then mostly how people contact me is honestly through referrals, and I they’ll just text me. I’ve gotten I’ve only gotten a few people through the website.

Peter: So they text you. Okay. So that’s how they’re reaching out. If somebody texts you and they’re interested, what is the next step? What do you do?

Anne: So then I set up a a coaching consult, a consultation. Okay. And that is complimentary. And we just talk about why they’re reaching out to me and what coaching with me is like. And then we talk about next steps.

Peter: Have you had anybody reach out to you that heard about you through a one of your posts or your newsletters?

Anne: I’ve had. Yes. I think, again, so they’re more likely to be have been colleagues of mine. And so they’ll see my posts on LinkedIn, which will say, oh, yeah. Anne Gearing’s coaching.

Peter: How are you nurturing the leads that you receive? One thing obviously is the newsletter, right?

Anne: Yeah.

Peter: So I don’t want to put words in your mouth, but it seems like somebody may contact you and now might not be the right time for them. Do you ever run into that?

Anne: Yeah. That’s happened a few times. And then they’ll just say, oh, like, they could say, for example, I’m thinking I want to work with someone like at the beginning of the year or whatever.

Peter: So when you hear that, do you automatically subscribe them to your your newsletter?

Anne: No. I’m not sure. I I I I don’t know how.

Peter: Okay.

Anne: Yeah. I’m sure this is just making you cringe. Honestly, most people that call, the next step is, okay. They’re calling because they want coaching and they’ve heard about me. And so we just go from that consultation for the most part to let’s schedule our first meeting.

Peter: K.

Anne: And I have there have been a few people who are like, oh, let me think about it. And then they just completely fall away, which is, I think, a mistake. Contact them again. Only just like a very few have been like that where they want to think about it. Most people just sign up.

Yeah. It was, like, probably, like, 95%. 95.

Peter: Wow. But your sales conversion strategy, it sounds like that really is kinda what you set up, a free coaching consultation. Boom. Yeah. That really should be here.

So it seems like that’s really the way you’re kinda getting it done. That’s how you’re converting. Then what do you do to sign somebody up?

Anne: Yeah. I have a contract. It’s a three month contract, and it’s mostly because I live in The US and contracts are important. And I tell them I would never if it wasn’t working out, like, I would never hold them to it. But it’s just an it’s we’re setting an intention that we wanna work together over time.

And then they also the first session is called a discovery session, and there’s, like, this long and elaborate and fun questionnaire. Maybe you filled it out.

Peter: I did.

Anne: Yeah. And so then that’s where it all start.

Peter: Got it. You ask for the if they wanna move forward, or do people just, like, say, yeah. Let’s do this.

Anne: Yeah. That’s what the next steps is.

Peter: K.

Anne: Yeah. So are you ready to start coaching, or do you wanna think about it? And then

Peter: So there is kind of a why are we here?

Anne: Yeah.

Peter: Fisher cut bait. Are we gonna dance? Yes or no? Okay. Alright.

Great. And then this is where I know you really shine for sure. How you deliver a world class experience. So what are some things that you do to ensure that you’re delivering that world class experience?

Anne: I like to think that I provide excellent coaching.

Peter: Yep.

Anne: I check-in with people. Are you getting what you want? Sometimes in the middle of a conversation, sometimes at the end. Is this their hour? Is this how you want to spend your time?

Is this productive for you?

Peter: How you deliver a world class experience? I would say that you have a set schedule, right? You set a schedule, you have kind of a cadence of meetings, right? You you establish a cadence?

Anne: Well, we yes. The cadence is every two weeks. And for most clients, we schedule the second this the next one at the end of the first one.

Peter: Mhmm.

Anne: Just kind of there are a few clients who really need a regular schedule so that it’s blocked on their calendar and stuff. Yeah. Happy to do that, but most clients don’t. K. So I so we just schedule like that.

I’m flexible on timing, so I actually have a fair number of East Coast clients. Even here, some people for some people, it’s better. Like, I take calls after basically after until about five and then after eight. So if that is better for people, we can do that.

Peter: So I I did say something here. You hold clients accountable with homework. Oh, yes. So that’s

Anne: Part of the magic.

Peter: You also have you also bring a massive depth of experience to the conversation.

Anne: Yeah. And especially for the leaders because I was in leadership development for so long and there’s tools and stuff. It’s I don’t want to be a consultant, but there are times when I’ll, like, you know, I know a tool or anything it could be useful to you.

Peter: How many years were you doing the how many years were you kind of in that side of things?

Anne: Fifteen.

Peter: Okay.

Anne: And then for the young people, I think too, like, I think, you know, I have this PhD in developmental psych, and I taught college level psychology for so long. And and I just I have an affinity for young people and

Peter: So hang on. You have PhD. What is your PhD?

Anne: Developmental psych.

Peter: And so you’ve worked with postgrad College

Anne: level students. Yeah.

Peter: So you have a broad depth of experience that you are not afraid to bring to bear. I think the thing that impresses me is that you’re kind, that you are authentic and kind. I never feel like you have an agenda. It’s not like you’re trying to please your clients though, Right? If they’re not getting anywhere and they’re clearly wasting their own time, you’re gonna call a little BS.

Right?

Anne: Yes. I’m kind, but not a pushover.

Peter: Right. That’s what I mean. Yeah. K.

Anne: And the best coaches are not ones who tell you. They are ones that help you see what you already know, what is in you. So

Peter: I I would say the other thing that that I feel that helps you deliver a world class experience is that you are not trying to hook somebody up for five years of coaching.

Anne: Right.

Peter: You have a specific goal. If somebody’s going to come to you and they have a particular goal, they may reach out to you later. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s time bound, but it seems like your coaching is goal bound. Like, you’re not just trying to hook up a bunch of people for coaching forever.

Anne: Yes. That’s so true. And so what happens is as you as the goal is achieved or or they’re on the path, then the question is, is there something else? Is there something more that you wanna work on or have we done the work?

Peter: So your goal oriented coaching of not trying to go on forever. I don’t know what you call that, but this is goal oriented coaching, I think, is the key that I think is really important. We’ll talk about that more, but I think that what we’re talking about here will apply back to your target market and your messaging. I think some of this is not reflected in your current messaging.

Anne: And you totally feel when things are coming to a close. Like, you like, I feel it and they feel it. And Mhmm. And I would say most of my clients, I I do have longer than three months. I think I did the average is about probably eight months.

But again, it’s very goal oriented.

Peter: So let’s talk about how you increase customer lifetime value. So the concept there is I’ve been a coaching client, for example. At some point, I may need more coaching. What are you doing to increase customer lifetime value?

Anne: I think, actually, in conversation with you, I think I am a little hit or miss, but I tell some of my clients, tell some of them, and not for any reason. It’s not it’s not because I like them better or anything, but I’ll tell some of them that if they want to do more work later on, they should call me. And they all say that. And I have probably what did I say? Like, about a tenth of my clients have come back for more.

But I think it was news to you. And also and I think I’ve gotten more clear about, like, once I’ve worked with you for a while, then while I like to do the long term coaching, if what you want is like a session, like, I’m just struggling with this one thing and I wanna talk it through, gosh, I would totally love for you to hit me up. That’s great. And it’s so different. Like, if you just called me from the street and I don’t know you, like Right.

I don’t wanna do that. But if I know you, then I’d be happy to do that.

Peter: I’d call that after the initial engagement. Yeah. Anything else?

Anne: I can’t imagine what else.

Peter: How are you orchestrating and stimulating referrals today?

Anne: Again, I would say

Peter: From existing client.

Anne: Yeah. Hit or miss. I will ask some of my clients. I’ll just ask them. Hey.

As you are traveling through life, if you know anyone who would benefit from this. Yeah. And I have I would say I have two. Maybe I should count you. Yeah.

Maybe three, like, really great. They’ve been three people that have been really great sources of referrals.

Peter: Super referrers. Yeah. That’s typical. Yeah. That’s typical.

Got it. So it’s not you don’t have a system in place right now, nor no sort of formal system in place today.

Anne: I can’t even would be. Yeah. So

Peter: in looking over this, and this is current state audits, do you feel like this captures these nine squares for your current state? Do you think we’ve is there anything you’d like to add to any of these?

Anne: I don’t think so. I think that’s all that I’m aware of.

Peter: How do you feel about going through this exercise?

Anne: Hopeful,

Peter: yeah. So you see some opportunities perhaps?

Anne: I’m hoping. Yes.

Peter: Hopeful and hoping. Got it.

Anne: Yeah. I’m ready. I’m really ready to do different things than, like, I have done what I know to do, and now I’m ready to do something different.

Peter: I I think yeah. What I see here is a good foundation. You have already established a great foundation. So hats off. Seriously, I really mean that.

You’ve really thought through most of these steps. I think there’s a few opportunities here clearly, otherwise we wouldn’t be chatting. But I definitely see that you have really put in the time and effort and that you just haven’t been blindly going out and trying to drum up business here. So this is great. Well, am excited to get started on the next phase where we’re going to talk about your target market in detail and primarily your message.

This has been great. Thank you so much for your time and being willing to have me ask you all these uncomfortable questions. For those folks that are listening, we’re going to be doubling up on a couple of the topics, and then some of the topics will be, a single week. Thank you again. I can’t wait to get us on to the very next stage of this.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Biz and Life Done Well with Peter Wilson. You can subscribe to us on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and most of the other popular podcast platforms. Please tell your friends about us and leave us a review so even more people will find out about us. Thanks again. We’ll see you soon.