Introduction
Welcome back to the Coaching Hive Podcast. This episode is near and dear to my heart, mostly because whenever I talk about this, I love seeing entrepreneurs’ faces light up with the possibilities. So here it is today, we are going to talk about being the go-to resource in your industry. Doesn’t that sound great to be the go-to resource? You are the person that everyone reaches out to for XYZ, but maybe there’s a little bit of trepidation when you hear me say don’t, you want to be the go-to resource in your industry and your thinking of course, but I don’t know exactly what problem I solve. I’m not really sure what I’d be the go-to resource for. It sounds nice, but I don’t know where to start with that. And maybe, you know, kind of what you’re the go-to resource for, but you don’t know how to be so specific about it, that people can see that you are clearly the go-to resource. That is what we’re going to talk about today.
If you are ready to get started, grab your notebook, grab your tablet, whatever you’re using to take notes on today, get your water and a snack. And if you’re ready, with our theme of simplicity, clarity, and vision for 2022 in mind, let’s jump in!
Be the Go-To Resource in Your Industry
When I first got started as a health coach, I struggled. And in fact, I struggled even as I started setting up the Coaching Hive. Then someone asked me a really important question and I had a hard time answering. The question?
What problem do you solve?
I said, oh, well, I help people live healthier. Except that wasn’t the problem I solved.
And this person kept saying to me, “Let’s dig deeper. That’s really not the problem you solve. You’re not helping someone to live longer to live healthier. You’re not really doing that.”
And then when I started my coaching business, as I started to mentor more coaches, as I started to really work with them inside the membership and one-on-one I had, again, people asked me, so what problem do you solve? What are you doing? And I said, oh, well, I’m helping to build a business. And they said, no, you’re really not. And if you’re anything like me, you probably know, I felt a little bit unsure and it felt a little bit kind of protective of my business.
And then I realized they were right.
I had no clue what problem I was solving until I realized that inside the Coaching Hive, the problem that I truly solve is that I help you to make sense of all of the stuff that’s out there for building a business, because it’s confusing. It’s overwhelming. And what you really want is just a way forward.
You want to know what to do, how to do it, and you need support to get there. So that’s the problem I solve. I help you wade through all of the stuff that’s out there so that you can build a business that you love, but it’s not really about the building the business that you love. It’s really about helping you wade through all the stuff that’s out there.
So when you think about what problem you solve, what you want to be known for, you may be struggling. It’s pretty common. I see it all the time. It’s something that I work with our coaches inside the Coaching Hive on probably every single week, because as your business grows, the problem you solve evolves. It grows and shifts a little bit.
And so this is something that is not a once and done thing, but you do want to know what problem you solve. So how are you going to do that? How are you going to get from this place of, well, I kind of know high level, but that’s not really it. I know I have to peel back the layers of the onion.
The first thing is to ask yourself how you help others. Okay. So start with that basic question. How are you helping others? And then peel back a layer of the onion. For instance, when someone tells me that they are helping someone live a long, healthy life, what does a long healthy life get them? Okay. And then we kind of say, well, what does that get you? What does that look like? What does that mean? How does it manifest? What’s actually happening? What do they really want? Because chances are it. Isn’t a long, healthy life. Most people aren’t actually aiming for a specific number in age that they’re trying to get to just like, they’re not aiming for healthy.
What they really want is what a healthy life offers them. And so that’s the problem you’re helping them solve. It is to be able to get to that point where they can do what they want. One of my coaches make helps her clients feel confident in being able to lift their grand babies in and out of the crib safely without hurting themselves. And being able to do that, even when you have to lean over the crib, you know how some of those are really low to reach the mattress, that they can reach their grandkids and get them up and put them in safely. So that’s really what that person is helping them do. O
Ask how you help others. This may feel tough. I encourage you to find a quiet place where you can just kind of sit and think about what it is you want to be, what it is you’re helping people with. I would also ask others what they think you help people with or what your product helps with. If you have a product versus a service, ask others how you have helped them or how your product has helped them. And notice what words they’re using. Notice what they’re drawing out, what attention they’re drawing out of their experience with you or with your product.
So get two different perspectives. Start with your own perspective. Start digging in a little bit, then ask for some outside perspectives. Then I know I usually only give you three ideas here. What I would go back to is think again, with that knowledge of what others are saying, go back to what you think. Okay. Go back to what you think you’re doing to help other people based on what you’ve just heard.
So really we’re just kind of doing step one, step two, step one again. And then we’re going to go to step three. So I think we’ll still count this as three ideas or three ways to progress when you want to be the go-to resource in your industry. So the third thing is to honestly ask yourself, what do you want to be known for?
What do you want to be known for? What do you want to be known for? This is not a time to be conservative. Think outside the box. Get excited and brag a little bit. What do you want to be known for? Don’t be humble here. Dig in and get excited for this. This is what you want to be the go-to resource in your industry for what do you want to be known for?
Where someone says, “Sally is great at…, you have to talk to her.” What do you want them to say? Sally is great at… what that’s? What you want to be known for. Now, there is a little trickier that I’ve noticed with entrepreneurs and it’s something that’s easy to fall into. Sometimes you’re really good at something. And so you become known for that, but it’s not what you love. And a lot of times I see entrepreneurs kind of closing that business down because yes, they got to be known for it, which is fantastic. They were the go-to resource, but it was not in alignment with who they are. And so they shut down that business and they really focus on what’s in alignment with them.
As you start exploring what you’d like to be known for as the go-to resource, make sure that whatever you uncover is still in alignment with who you want to be, what you want your business to represent and to be because otherwise you aren’t going to love it. And being an entrepreneur has a lot of hard aspects to it. I think you’d agree with me.
We don’t need to add not loving your business to that list. We want to make sure that the tough stuff it’s worth it because it fulfills you because it’s in alignment with who you are, because it’s really heart and soul ingrained in you and you love it. You don’t always like it. Sometimes you don’t like it just because things are tough sometimes, but you love it deep down.
And you feel excited to go to work every day when you are known for what, what happens when you are clear on the problem you solve, when you are clear on what you want to be the go-to resource for, you know what happens? You attract the right clients. You have a clear message. You have a clear offer. You have a more profitable business.
You have a more aligned business. Sounds good. Right? Look at someone like Colin Boyd. Colin Boyd excels at speaking on stage. He loves it. He’s good at it. He wants to be known for selling on stage. And in fact, he is, he has an entire program, Sell From Stage Academy, where he teaches you how to sell from a stage, whether it is a direct offer, whether it is some kind of transitional offer or whether it is truly just to gain brand awareness or audience awareness for your business. But when you talk to Colin, he is grounded. You can tell he’s in alignment with his business because he shows up every single time with an enthusiasm for working through the challenges for experimenting and trying new things, because he wants to be known as the person who helps you sell from stage successfully. It is in alignment with who he is.
Amy Porterfield is another great example. She loves offering courses. She loves to help entrepreneurs build their courses. She created an entire course on how to build courses called digital course academy, DCA, digital course academy. She is so enthusiastic as she presents this.
There are live elements and Q&As each week, as the course is being launched. Each round and each year she shows up with energy. She is always enthusiastic to problem solve. I remember one call I was on with her, she was taking a mini vacation, but we had a live call scheduled and she wasn’t going to reschedule it because she loves to show up for her students.
And the lighting was kind of funky. The tables were kind of funky. So she ended up sitting on top of a table in this place they had rented with her laptop on top of the box and she had forgotten her water. So she had to run and get her water, but she had to climb off the table first. You know, you don’t do that unless your business is in alignment with you. If she hadn’t wanted to be there, she could have canceled it. She could have rescheduled and said, Hey guys, I’m slipping away for a few days. I’m going to reschedule this Q&A for a different day. But she loves, genuinely loves, showing up for her audience and for her students.
And so she made it work including sitting on a table because that’s what was available. And that’s how she could make it work for the day. She wants to be known for helping students get their courses launched. And she is, you attract the right clients. You have a clear message. You have a clear offer. And it’s in alignment with who you are both personally and professionally.
Action Item And Conclusions
Are you ready to step into being the go to resource in your industry? If you are, I have an action item for you this week, because we talked about three different things. I said, you know, ask yourself how you help others peel back the layers of the onion, ask others how you’ve helped them. You may have to peel back some of those layers too.
And then the third thing I said was to answer the question, what do you want to be known for? And that’s your action item this week. I want you to think about what you want to be known for so that when your area of expertise, someone is looking for your area of expertise, the person that’s listening to them says, Sally is your go-to for that.
You got to contact them and you get that referral. That’s being the go-to resource. You want to be known as the go-to resource for something specific. Okay? What happens is when you do this, you’re attracting the right clients. You have a clear message. You have a clear offer. Your business is in alignment personally and professionally, and you’re building a business you love.
So this week, what do you want to be known for?
Take some time to explore that.
That’s all I have for you today. I look forward to seeing you back here next week for another episode of the Coaching Hive Podcast, where a focus on mentoring and community removes the overwhelm of building your successful and profitable business and adds in a dose of momentum.
Until next time, have a healthy, safe, and happy week!
