Podcast Intro
Welcome back to a brand-new episode of the Coaching Hive podcast. Over the past few weeks, you have had a glimpse into one coach’s journey of building her coaching business from the ground up. Every coach is different, but Julie has chosen to build a solo practice that combines her personal training and health coaching certifications.
But, as you know, building a business isn’t as simple as getting a certificate and posting a few times on social media. You have to build your email list, reach new audiences, build a brand so that your potential clients know what to expect from working with you. Julie is spending the majority of her time right now serving a handful of clients and building her brand. As you will hear, we talk about everything from splitting her social media into compartments to discussing how to handle what you share of your personal life so that you meet the needs of your business but honor your family values and decisions.
Although this is just a snippet of your conversation, I think you will gain some interesting insights about how you can take action today. You’ll want to be sure to stick around until the end for your action item based on today’s mentoring conversation.
So, with our theme of simplicity, clarity, and vision for 2022 in mind, let’s jump in.
Conversation with Coach Julie
(Transcript is auto-generated. Please excuse any errors.)
Last week when we were talking, it was really about flexibility and rhythm, knowing that you were going to be kind of on your own taking care of everything for the week. And we talked about, and you had really implemented some flexibility, knowing that it was going to be kind of crazy. And we talked about things like getting emails out to school districts, and I know you’re working on that.
We talked about kind of keeping track of what you’re doing, what you’re getting done and making sure that it’s simple. So one of the things we had talked about was the fact that you’re in a spiral notebook and you know, my love of all things, paper yes. That you were kind of keeping track of stuff. And, you know, is there a way to simplify that process and you were just sharing with me that you had created a template, is that a world? Yes. And for that, but I just, I do, I still have my, my spiral and I write a lot of my notes in my spiral. And so like my client calls our calls, I’m taking notes and things like that, but I’ve got my notes now completely separated from my action items of what needs to be done.
So I’m going to give that a try and see how that works. And you might find that I loved your idea. You were sharing with me before we got started, that you haven’t minimized on your computer and you’re able to kind of move things around as things start to shift. And I think that’s the epitome of flexibility recognizing that even if we have a template,
it doesn’t have to live that way. Right. Right. So, yeah. So I keep it minimized and then I’ll pull it up and add things to it. As I think about them, or as I’m working on a project, then I just pull it up, add that in. Or if I’ve got something that has a due date, it’s really easy for me to put a due date on it.
I can highlight things that are really important or I can put them in red or what have you. So I’m going to give that a try and see how it works. Okay. So that kind of really, you know, we’ve been working on that daily routine, that rhythm, and I think, is it safe to say that the rhythm is that there’s a lot of flexibility?
Yes, definitely right now. Okay. But It has its ebbs and flows. Yeah, yeah, Yeah. Which, you know, think about it. A tide comes in and out that it ebbs and flows life is kind of like that. So as our routine, so you’ve got stuff that has to happen every day and that’s really at the top of your templates,
so that you’re actually getting it done in a way. It doesn’t get shoved off to the side, knowing that a lot of the stuff under it is more fluid. Yes. And it just has to be done that week. And if it has a certain due date on it, and then I’ll put the due date on it and a highlighter or a put,
you know, put it in red text or something like that. So it’s really easy to do on out of state, a simple Excel template. And so it’s really easy to manipulate if I need to manipulate it. Awesome. That’d be great. Yes. So now that you are really, you’re starting to settle in, you’re starting to get a feel for what this is like,
and really focusing on getting your name out there, marketing, making sure people know that you’re there, who you are, what are you going to do actively this week to make sure that you’re getting your name out there knowing that this week is again, there’s a lot of ebb and flow. What are you going to do this week? Because relationships really are key.
And that’s kind of where you’re at. Yes. So I have to get the communication out to the school districts. Like they’re in planning mode right now for summer and for complications and things like that. So that has to get done this week, or at least get the template done of the email. I have it all in my head, so that really needs to get done.
And I have to do social media posts this week. I had, I didn’t get any social media done last week. I have the calendar is just a matter of making the time to sit and do it. So those two things have to happen this week. And then once I get those off my plate, then I can start adding more stuff. But I feel like those are a priority for me this week.
Okay. What do you feel was the hangup with social media? Just making the time just sitting down and doing it? Cause I have the calendar, I have the content, I have everything. It’s just a matter of sitting down and doing it. Now I did a couple of stories, like really quick things that I could put on there, which really get good engagement.
They actually sometimes get higher engagement than an actual post. So that’s fine. There’s, there’s truly no hangup other than time. And last week I got pulled to help my parents with some things. And that took about three or four hours of one of my days. I was invited to go to fellow coworkers last day luncheon. So that took up a couple of hours was asked to volunteer for,
there was just things that took up chunks of time. And then in the evenings, if Keith was traveling, I was doing things. And so it’s really hard for me to sit at volleyball practice with a bazillion kids, screaming in the background and whistles and everything else to sit and concentrate and put together a post Right sentence gets, starts and ends with a full thought in between.
Yeah, no. And that was another thing that happened. Like I usually during Grace’s volleyball practice, I take her to practice and then Keith meets me there and I come home and I will finish up things from the day because it’s two hours. And then by the time they get home, I can spend time with them. Well, she had had a last minute meeting come up.
He didn’t get to volleyball practice until literally about 15 minutes before it was over. So there was just a lot of things moving last week. But I think the positive out of all of it is I didn’t let any of it get me down. I didn’t get in a negative spiral of, okay, this isn’t working, I’ve got to figure something out.
It’s embracing. The fact of part of the flexibility is there’s gotta be adaptability now that I am full-time at home. Some of these things that Keith took care of, I’m now able to take on since he’s doing more traveling. So it was one of those things. I just embraced it and said, it is what it is. And I’m starting this week with two things at the top of my list.
And that’s just, what’s going to happen this week. And it may take me four days to get those two things done, but we’re going to get them done this week. Absolutely. So what a great attitude, what a great way to reframe that for yourself is that, you know, I didn’t get it done. That’s okay. It’s going to get done this week and let me,
but yet on a secret it will still be there. Social media is not going anywhere. It will still be there this week, even though you didn’t get to it last week. So one thing I haven’t shared, I don’t think I have shared it with you. And I worked, I did work on last week and it wasn’t on my list, but it wasn’t,
it wasn’t a time suck and it wasn’t a rabbit trail, but it’s something that I’m, I’ve got on my bucket list and I really focused on it last week is I want to do a lifestyle and fitness portfolio shoot to submit to agencies. I don’t know if I’ve told you that or not. You mentioned it on our first call, so two weeks ago,
but, okay. So tell me more about what you did. The co I want the, the photo she was supposed to have happen this month and it’s just, it’s not happening because I didn’t leave my other job when I was wanting to all those things and I need a good solid 12 weeks to prep for it. So we’re doing the photo shoot in June.
Okay. Period. It’s not being rescheduled. So it is currently scheduled for June. I’m actually, I’m reviewing for photographers, their packages and pricing and what they offer right now. And I’m giving them the June date. So that gives me March, April, may probably a couple of weeks of June to get that done, but they are scheduling that far out.
So if I want it done in June, I need to schedule it now. So last week I found four photographers that are really liked. I sent out information to them to get their packaging and their pricing for an agency submission session done. And I’ve gotten information back on all four. So this morning I sat down and kind of compiled what I would get from each photographer.
I sent emails to two of them this morning to kind of clarify a couple of things. And then I will have that photo shoot scheduled this week. So that’s, but I’ve done all the legwork on it. So yeah, I did that last week, which was not on my to-do list, but knowing how far out I have to bucket, I needed to get it scheduled.
So I’ve done that. And then in a lot of the research that I’ve done for these models, they have their, they are their brands, right? So I have taken my personal Instagram page and turned that into my brand page. So I have re like my information on it. I have rewritten that I did that yesterday. So I have that on there.
And then I’ve kind of put together my strategy of starting to put together the content for that page. So when agencies are looking at like my portfolio, they need to see that I’m active on social media and that I’m getting followers. And if I’m doing any ambassador programs and things like that. So I really need to get ahead of the eight ball on that,
so to speak. So I have done those two things, which were big and they took some time they weren’t on my list, but knowing my timeframe that I wanted to hit, I needed to start working on it. That’s Huge, Julie. Yeah, that’s what I did do that You got a lot done. So it seems to me, if we were to look at the two tasks,
you know, social media that got a little ignored Or Pushed aside just a little bit and getting your ducks in a row for this photo shoot and finding photographers to talk, to getting all that done, knowing that you do have to book out so far, that’s it seems like, what do you think? Which one was the better choice For me? The portfolio shoot was the better choice just because of my timing.
And I needed to hit that and I need to have representation of myself and my, and my brand. And I really sit and kind of thought about it last week. I don’t want to intermingle my personal stuff with my business because my business is about my clients and I don’t want to be putting everything on there about me and me doing a portfolio shoot and me doing this.
So I’m re they’re going to be completely separate. I do have my website on my personal page. So if people want to go check out my business, they can. But I feel like it’s really important that I keep those two things very separate, especially as it relates to coaching and really helping clients, I would never want to discourage them or make them think they couldn’t work with me because I’m different than they are when I’m not.
So that, so instead of having a third Instagram page, I kind of talked through it out loud with my husband, you know, like all the thoughts in my head and kind of used him as a sounding board and said, okay, so what if I take my personal Instagram page? And we turn that into my brand page and I can still post photos,
like fun photos of my family. Like we were out hiking and things because that’s still me. Right. That’s still things that I do. I did research quite a few other influencer pages to kind of see what they put on there. So that took some time last week to see kind of the type of things they post, what they look at, what they do.
And then I can just use that for my brand’s page. And I’m unlinking my, that page from my Facebook page. Okay. All Right. A Facebook page, my personal Facebook page is more like kind of fun stuff, but to be honest, I’ve really gotten away from posting so much on my personal Facebook page. I’ve really started focusing more on my business page and putting the effort there because that’s where I want the effort to be.
And then Keith, and I’ve also made a very focused effort and a very, I don’t know what the right word is. A very conscious effort to stop posting so much about grace and putting grace on social media for a lot of different reasons. But I think our family things, and we do have fun family vacation and where whitewater rafting that can go on like our Facebook page if we want.
But a lot of the other stuff about grace, we’re super proud of her. Don’t get me wrong and we love her dearly, but I feel like we are subconsciously building her social profile without her even knowing it or having say in it. Right. We’ve never posted anything about our song online. You occasionally, like if someone goes to a profile, they’ll see me saying our son,
but you’ll never see his name. You’ll never hear his name. You don’t see any pictures of him. And we, you know, we did it for the same reason is that we wanted him to have that opportunity to build his own social profile when the time is right with assistance. And you know, that guidance, of course, we’re not just going to send them out into the world and say,
go try. Right. I understand that We, we did a lot of photo posting for our families, so they could see pictures of grace and different things like that. But I’ve told keys I’ve created, I haven’t figured out which one I want to use yet, but it’s either Amazon photos or Google photos and I can share the albums. So when we go and take a great vacation,
or grace has a softball or volleyball tournament, it does take a little bit of more time and work on my end, but I can put them all into those folders. And then I can share those folders with people that I want to share them with. Yeah. And then I don’t think it becomes, I think there’s also where we live. It’s a very competitive school district.
It’s a very competitive area. And so people, I feel like parents have started using their children’s activities and stats almost as a way to give them, like the parents are kind of boasting about it. And I was just like, I don’t want to be that person. So you don’t want that associated with your business? No, I don’t. Okay.
So that’s really where I’m at right now. So I’m focusing Facebook and Instagram for my business. Okay. And then my Instagram personal account is going to be my brand account for like building my brand and my image for modeling and things like that. And then my personal Facebook account is just going to be kind of, I’m not focusing on it, just if I want to post something or if I want to share my business account over onto it,
I can do that to help grow it. But I’m really, I really kind of went and planted that out last week as well. Okay. One of the things you mentioned was that your, you checked out some influencers, one that I would really recommend. I love the balance of what she does is Jasmine star. Okay. She is a professional photographer by trade,
but has kind of shifted gears and is an influencer. She’s a thought leader in, in Instagram space and social media space and how to build know like, and trust, build rapport, build a following that is actually converting to something, not just to have tons of followers to have tons of followers. So she is great at balancing like family with business,
with, you know, she does a really nice mix of posts that get a lot of engagement. So you might notice she does certain things with her posts, so you might check her out. Okay. She’s a good one. If you’re thinking lifestyle and just really having that brand coming, coming through on your Instagram brand page. Okay. Perfect. Thank you.
You can see a lot of course creators like Amy Porterfield. She Ha she, I wouldn’t say she’s an influencer, but she is. So you might check out, she has a mix, like on the weekends, she’ll post more family type stuff. Her kids are out of the house. So it’s like her and her dog or going on a walk,
you know, so stuff that’s still lets you into her life. Okay. But not in a way that you would go, Ooh, I’m not sure if I really want to post that. Okay. So There’s Amy Porterfield Or she’ll show something in her kitchen or, you know, just something that lets you see that you get to be with her. Okay.
But it’s not Uber personal, Right? Yeah. There’s that mix. Okay. So You have, you are going to decide on a photographer this week. Yes. Okay. Photographer and schedule the shoot this week For June. For June. Yes. Okay. Social media is going to get bumped up on your list of things to do for this week.
Yes, Yes. And so what’s that going to look like? What, what will you accomplish from that? So on my business pages, communicating with my audience, I feel like I need more consistency there. How many times this week, Two times this week, and then I’ll do stories. So I just need to have a consistent contact or connection with my followers and help that grow.
And then for my brand Instagram page, I just need to start building that page. Like I just need to start putting stuff on it. And I had been putting, I mean, I do stories more than I do posts because they’re quicker, but it’s just one of those things I needed to start building that that’s going to be one of the key things is on some of these agencies,
they want to know how many followers you have. Yeah. I mean, you have to put that on like your stat card is how many followers you have. So I really need to kind of explore some ways to grow my following on Instagram without Real. Okay. Because then you can here’s here’s what I heard you say about stories. They’re fun. They’re quick.
They’re easy. I can put them up. Guess what? You can share your reels to your stories. They can also be on your main Instagram feed. And that is going to reels are truly going to be the quickest way to get your name seen. So that’s where I need to figure out is I need to get my name seen outside of my current audience.
Yes. Yes. So you’re going to need to do some hashtag research. Okay. Who Do you want to see these reels? And the beauty about reels right now is they can be super short. They can also be up to 60 seconds. And with Tik TOK, having just brought out longer videos, long form video, I think we’ll see reels going long form.
Not yet, but I think we’re going to see that trend carrying over. Okay. So reels, you don’t have to dance and be silly and funny. Okay. You don’t have to, if you want to. That’s cool. You can, but it doesn’t have to be Okay. Add trending music. So find that it will show you when you go into the reels builder on your phone,
it will show you what songs are right at the top of the list for being used all the time. And even if you turn the music all the way down, it will still register that your reel has that trending music on it. Okay. So even if you don’t need the music to play, still choose a music to add to your reel. Okay.
Does that make sense? Yes. It’s silly, but So I’ve never done a real, so I’ll have to, I’ll have to research that this week. No, I’ve never done them. Okay. I’ll send you some stuff. Okay. I’ll send you some things. Yes. I’ve never done them before, but that’s the main thing is I need to grow that audience on my brand page without staying within my current.
That’s the way That’s it? Yep. That’s it right there. Yeah. So do you use hashtags within the reels as well? You use them, so you film the real kind of like you film a story, it’s the same concept. And then you’ll be able to write your comment or your description, which usually isn’t as long because people are really just watching the video.
Okay. And you can add either a comment on the real with your hashtags or you can add them in the description of your reel. So you could do it either way, but yeah, you add hashtags just like you would on a regular IgE post. Okay. Okay. Okay. And that really seriously build your, your following and your audience. It’s nice.
If you can do this, one of Jasmine star says this, you know, if you can post your reel and plan to be online for the next 15 minutes, that way, if you get comments, you can be right on top of it and comment back that’s best. Okay. Simply because it keeps pushing your reel up as it’s getting engagement. Okay.
If you can’t and I almost never do. It’s okay. The life, the world is not going to stop spinning, but if you can know, to be around when you post that real. Okay. Okay. So that’ll take some research this week and some time to figure out Yeah. That’s going to be your fastest way. Okay. So that’s what I hope to accomplish with Those.
All right. So really continuing to build those relationships, getting your name out there and making sure that you’re taking those steps forward. Yes. So if we think about it like a car, your vision is the frame of a car. So you kind of have this vision already in mind. It’s ready to go. The wheels. That’s that’s those relationships.
You’re not going to go anywhere without Yes. The car can’t go anywhere without its wheels. So I’m really focusing in on that. Okay. Yup. Okay. That’s on my list. Okay. And you’re going to get a draft of school district letters or the template at least done. You have it ready to go out. Yes. And that’ll be an email that goes out because I have the direct emails to all of the counselors and everything else.
I already have that. So I will send, instead of like one big group email or something, I will send like individual one so that I’ll just have the template, but I can personalize it on each one of them that I send out. And then that is one of the things that’s on my list of ongoing. So I will continue to follow up with those.
So if I don’t hear back from them in, you know, two to three weeks, just follow up and say, want to make sure you received, my email would love to discuss with you further. Please let me know if you have any questions, but that’s on the ongoing List on my thing, on my, my list of things to do Your template,
your lists to my Template list. Yes. Those ongoing things. I know. Okay. How does it feel to think about getting those things done this week? So the school district template, your scheduling, your, your lifestyle, shoot, choosing the photographer and scheduling it. Let’s put those in order. And then social media is starting to be consistent with two times this week posting and then starting to understand what it means to do a reel and what that might look like for you.
Knowing What you have for the week is that No, I need to get it done. And so it’s just a priority. And I really kind of know what my week is going to look like this week. I shouldn’t have any surprises or any hiccups or anything else Or someone you need to knock on it right now. I know, right. My desk is what,
I’ll not. There we go. But you know, while if, if for some reason I have to sit at volleyball practice, I can sit and research hashtags or I can learn how to do reels or, you know, I can do something like that. Whereas last week I didn’t feel like I had some of those things that I can do really quickly.
And you also have to kind of pay attention so that you don’t get hit in the head with a volleyball. That’s another very important thing where your computer get knocked off your lap or off of the bleachers, because it has just got pounded with the volleyball. So all that softball, I can do a lot more workout because I’m not feeling like I have to Dodge things,
but at volleyball you really do kind of have to pay attention. I mean, it’s, it’s a real thing. I’m just going to be honest, but that’s something that I can sit there and do. So I feel like there are things that are on my list this week are things that I will require me to sit at my desk and focus on for,
you know, a period of time. But I’ll also have things that I can do in the evening while I’m sitting on the sofa, watching a movie with Keith and grace or while grace is in the shower, Keith and I can be researching hashtags or something like that. Okay. What is the best way to research for hashtags? You know, I was just about to say,
do you know how to research hashtags? I do. I have researched them. I’ve done more like keyword research for like SEO on websites, which I figure I can just go in and just start Googling, you know, popular fitness, hashtags, or popular lifestyle hashtags, or some of the influencers that I’ve looked at. I can go to their pages and see what they have used for their hashtags,
Your best place to start, find some influencers that are trying to reach the same people you’re reaching. That’s going to be your best bet to start and see what hashtags they’re using, but don’t stop there. What I’d love for you to do is go look at those hashtags, see what’s in there because it may be that certain posts get certain hashtags. You don’t want just like 18 hashtags you use for every post,
right. There are going to be some that are consistent every time. Okay. There are going to be some that if you’re doing something about food, then you might have a set of hashtags you pull in. Or if it’s about being active outdoors, there’s a set of hashtags you pull in. Or if it’s lifestyle, there are hashtags you pull in.
Okay. So when you find those hashtags, examples, go look at them to see what they’re about. Okay. Sometimes they will not be what you think. Right? Okay. You got to actually go look and make sure that what you intend is, is actually what that hashtag is about. Okay. Perfect. But yeah, start there because that’s a great place to start.
Here’s another thing though. If a hashtag has a ton of posts, it’s going to be harder to be found. So don’t be afraid to go with the ones that just have a thousand, 2,010,000 posts. You’re thinking, oh, they’re not as popular, but guess what? Your stuff is going to be seen a whole lot quicker. Okay. Because if you have,
if you’re using a hashtag that has 5 million posts, they’re rolling in. Right, right. And your posts get pushed, gets pushed down much faster. So don’t just go for the big hashtags. Also find some of the smaller ones that are kind of riffs on the big ones. Okay. Find those too. Okay. Perfect. So it’s very much like SEO research.
It’s just, you’re doing it within Instagram To see what’s working. Okay. Yeah. But, but same concept, exact same concept is when you do SEO keyword Research. Okay. Okay. You’re looking for what’s out there. I would encourage you to make a list, like keep a running list and this might be a good one for Excel and that you can kind of,
you can track, like, especially if you do a reel and you use a certain hashtag, you can start to get some data like, well, am I really, you know, if I use this set of hashtags and the real deal really well, what if I use that hash set of hashtags again, do another reel. Is it working the same way?
If it’s not, is it the content is different? Is it the music you can start to parse out what’s working. Okay. Knowing that growth is your key. Cause you’re trying to hit some really good stats for those agency cards. Yes. Okay. Perfect. Start. Really getting scientific about it. Okay. Okay. Noticing when you’re posting those kinds of things.
All right. That works. Yeah. And be prepared to be surprised. Some stuff that you post is going to just go like hotcakes and you do it again, a different, slightly differently. And it’s and you get crickets or you think, wow, this is going to be a dud and it gets, it just blows up. And the next thing that you put a ton of effort into gets five views.
Okay. It’s just kind of the nature of real, some stuff hits some stuff doesn’t but the more you do it, the more information you’ll get to hone it. Okay. Perfect. Okay. All right. So you have a plan. It’s kind of a big one. And what happens if this doesn’t get done quite in the timeline you’re hoping for.
Oh, it’ll get it done by Friday. Oh, okay. It’ll get done by Friday. If you find, you have to push something, let’s have a fail, safe plan. If you find you have to push something to next week, what’s it going to be Learning how to do reels? Okay. I mean, I feel like I can still do posts without having to do a reel right now,
but that would be one thing I could push to get the other stuff done and then putting reels at the top of the list next week. Okay. I think that’s reasonable. I think it’s always nice to have, you know, especially for you with flexibility, you know, what is it that really can get moved? Let’s just go ahead and identify it then there’s no guilt.
Yes. Yeah. That would be the one thing that would be pushed to next week. Okay. Wonderful. So you’ve got your template, you’ve got social media, you’ve got booking the photographer and then if there’s time, you’ve got reels and hashtag research yes. Which you might be able to do at volleyball practice because maybe, maybe it’s not quite as intensive as writing a whole.
Yes. Or we have a softball tournament this weekend. So it’s stuff I can sit and do at a softball tournament as well. Okay. Yes, absolutely. All right. The plan is like a plan. Yes. All right. I cannot wait to see and hear how this week goes and I will send you information on reels and kind of a little bit of hashtag research type stuff as well.
Okay. Perfect. All right. Thanks.
Conclusions and Tip for the Week
Wasn’t it great to really think about the nitty gritty details of building a brand that works for your business and for your family? As you heard, sometimes there has to be compromise. If you aren’t comfortable sharing your children on social media, you don’t have too. But you will need to find other ways of creating a real connection with your potential clients. Whether it is fun pictures of your outings, a snuggle with the family dog on the couch, or preparing a favorite family meal.
Your action item this week is a really practical one. Think about what you want to share with the world about your life. By making this decision early on, it becomes easier to create your content. You aren’t constantly wondering if you really want to share this photo or that event. You know where your comfort line is for you and your family. Just because you have made a decision doesn’t mean you can’t have exceptions, the decision is meant to give you a guidepost on which to base your decisions.
If you are listening to this series and wondering how you can get more plugged in with a mentor, I’d like to invite you to join my upcoming masterclass on March 24 at 8pm ET. Head over to www.coachinghive.com/profitablehealthcoach/ to register for your seat in the masterclass. We are going to talk about the secret to attracting more clients, the number one mistake health coaches make that can bring things to a grinding halt, and how to jumpstart your business as a Visionary Health coach.
You will leave with action items, and a feeling of confident and focus. This is a completely free masterclass and I’d love to have you join me on the 24th. Just go to www.coachinghive.com/profitablehealthcoach/
Now, if you found this episode helpful, please subscribe and leave a review. Be sure to tag me on Instagram @coachinghive letting me know what was most helpful.
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 coaching business and adds in a dose of momentum.
Until next time, have a healthy, safe, and happy week!
P.S. Julie has been so kind to sit down and share her business and her journey with all of you. If you’d like to connect with Julie, you can find her at www.yourfitandhealthylifestyle.com and n Facebook and Instagram via @yourfitandhealthylifestyle.
