Show Notes
Are you a coach who is really struggling to "put yourself" out there in the world? Is there a voice in your head (that perhaps harks back to your childhood) that is telling you that everything you need to produce has to be perfect before you share it? Are you convinced people are not interested? Scared of rejection? Worried about what people will think of you? Embarrassed about (being seen to want to be) taking centre stage? If you've read thus far, you are - what we call in the Better Bolder Braver community - "Problem Aware". YOU are not the problem... the problem is the hold up at your end. And the JUDGEMENT about that hold up! Please - give yourself a break. Put your feed up. And have a listen to our resident Mindfulness Coach, Alex "mindfulskills" Irving, sharing and caring all about what you - as a fellow coach - can do to befriend yourself and your relationship with what we are calling here your "Inner Critic". The aim of the BBB game is to provide coaches with a safe and compassionate community within which we can play with, and practice, putting ourselves and our services out there with great clarity, confidence and joy. Alongside technical tools and strategies for doing good, ethical marketing, we hold each other kindly - and to account - for taking our goodness out to the world, so that we - and "Our People" can benefit from this work. "We are not for everyone" - says Marketing Godfather, Seth Godin... and that's OK".
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Seth Werkheiser is a writer, musician, a "wizardly guide to platform independence" and the founder of the Social Media Escape Club. I met Seth for the very first time whilst creating this episode! We talk about escaping social media without a rigid detox plan, why a newsletter beats a feed, the "work-work balance" almost nobody admits to, and why community - not content - might be the actual antidote to burnout. We also cover: Seth's path from third-generation musician to music blogger (2001) to AOL Music editor to email marketer for record labels and a music publicist - and how that same "help creative people get seen" mission has never really changed
In this episode, I get to profile one fabulous member of the Better Bolder Braver community, Simon Hill. Simon is a coach, facilitator and consultant who works with people-helpers of a particular kind - leaders in charities and social purpose organisations - and he's been part of our community for two years now, most recently taking the reins as chair of our book club. We talk about what actually happens in a community like ours - how the thinking and feelings associated with marketing are slowly absorbed (after the eleventh time, or in Simon's case, the fifteenth), and how marketing starts to feel more human and less daunting. We cover the five P's of Positioning, the power of kindness at work, why good contracting is quietly brilliant marketing, and Simon's beloved concept of entering every conversation without Memory, Understanding or Desire - or as he calls it, “MUD”. There's humour, there's parenting, there's talk of doodling, and there's a couple of very good book recommendations.
What if your best marketing move wasn't saying more - but asking better questions? In this episode, I'm joined by Rob Lawrence: seasoned podcast producer, experienced coach, and - I'll be honest - one of my marketing heroes. Rob is also, rather wonderfully, the reason Better Bolder Braver exists at all. It was his generosity in inviting me onto the Association for Coaching podcast that kicked the whole thing off. Together we explore one of the most liberating ideas in good, ethical marketing: that coaches are already equipped with one of the most powerful marketing tools there is. They just might not have recognised it yet. What we talk about Why asking questions often generates more engagement than sharing expertise - on LinkedIn, in podcasts, and in life How "holding the space" in marketing creates the same trust and intimacy as a coaching relationship The connection between self-awareness in coaching and self-awareness in marketing Why you don't need to say something new every week - and why saying the same five things, creatively, is actually the goal How questions can move your ideal clients through the Journey of Consciousness - from "I didn't know I had a problem" to "I'm ready to work with you" The difference between posting publicly and taking conversations offline - and why Rob's quieter LinkedIn strategy works beautifully Rob's 10-year weekly mastermind with his Australian counterpart Steve Palfreyman - and why he calls it his single biggest business secret How to translate your best coaching questions directly into your marketing