The Strategy I Implemented To Make Two 5-Figure Months

If you’ve been in my world for any length of time, you know that teaching voice & performance online is not new to me. I’m extremely lucky that I ironed out all the kinks in that back in 2009 which allowed me to be almost unaffected in my work when the pandemic hit. Up until a year ago, for years, I travelled all over the US and even internationally, so it was necessary for me to coach online in order to continue to do this work.

And now it’s become necessary for everyone.

This pandemic (hopefully) is the craziest experience of our lifetime. It’s been devastating due to the loss of life, loss of capability, loss of income, loss of hope… the list goes on and on.

A couple weeks ago, I shared with you about all the advantages I discovered from moving my coaching business online. One of the advantages I shared in that post was that I’ve made more money teaching online than I did in person.

In fact, in the middle of the pandemic when the performance world was shut down completely, I had a $22k month. And then, I turned around and did it again.

Oh – and I didn’t pay for any advertising whatsoever.

I don’t normally talk about stuff like this, but I want you to know that this kind of money (and SO much more) is possible in the performance coaching industry, EVEN IN A PANDEMIC.

There are a few reasons I was able to accomplish this, but one of the main reasons is:

THE STRATEGY I IMPLEMENTED.

You’re getting a glimpse of the wizard behind the curtain, here, but if this can help you, I’m happy to share.

Before I tell you the steps I took in my strategy, let me tell you this:  the #1 thing that led to this burst of income was…

I SHOWED UP.

Consistently.

Showing up is something I talk about A LOT with my performers. But it applies to performance coaches just as much.

Let’s look at this strategy like we would approaching a scene in acting class:

FIRST STEP: Set an objective. In acting, ideally, you want to pick something that can be accomplished within the scene, so we’re not going to pick “world peace”, for example. In marketing, it’s the same thing – pick a goal that can be accomplished within the scope of the project. ***TO CLARIFY:  I’m in NO WAY asking you to shoot for “reasonable” goals or goals smaller than you desire, but, for example, if you’re running something in April, maybe pick a goal that can be achieved in April rather than something you won’t be able to measure until December.

NEXT, just like in acting (and in life, for that matter), it’s not as often that you’re going to get exactly what you want in the first stab you take at it. That’s why we figure out tactics. We try our best idea first, then if it doesn’t do the whole trick, we try something else, and something else, until we get the desired outcome. Think of a teenager who is asking to go to a friend’s house – she’ll try every tactic in the book until you give in. So, in your marketing, come up with a few ways you intend to reach this goal you’ve set for yourself. Things like incentives, samples, free gifts, or exclusive access are each “tactics” you can use to meet your goals.

SECOND STEP: Make bold choices. In acting, one of my favorite things is making choices about my character based on the information I have been given in the text. The best choices are bold ones because wimpy ones often don’t even read to an audience, where bold ones give you more skin in the game. The same is true in marketing: let’s say you decide to do a giveaway. If you pick the thing that is the least sacrificial of you to give, you’re playing it so safe that your audience isn’t going to pay attention to it. But if you choose to give away something that is of HUGE value to them, they are much more likely to jump all over it, bringing you that much closer to your goals.

ALSO, just like when you only halfway commit to an action in a scene you seem fake and unbelievable, if you don’t go ALL OUT with the delivery of whatever it is you are deciding to give away (for example), your potential client will lose interest immediately. Be just as bold in your actions and delivery as you are in your decision-making.

THIRD STEP: Keep it consistent. In acting, when a character seems inconsistent, it looks bad on the actor – they seem unqualified to do the job, not to mention untrustworthy as a character. Just like in real life, you don’t trust someone who says one thing to you and then turns around and says or does something totally different. When you make a choice, you must stick to it at all costs or you totally lose your audience. In marketing, it is exactly the same. If you say you’re going to show up at 9:00 am every single weekday and deliver a free vocal warm-up, you have to keep that promise no matter how tired you are on Wednesday. Likewise, if you communicate with your audience at a regular interval and then just suddenly ghost them all, you’re going to lose their interest.

PLUS, this step is kind of synonymous with your integrity. Whether in acting or in marketing, you always want to show up as someone who keeps their commitments. Failure to do this not only demonstrates crappy personal values, but keeps you much farther from your financial goals.

LAST STEP: Be open to how it comes in. In acting, you only get to make choices for your own character, you don’t get to also decide how the actor opposite you is going to play her role. This means you have to be open to whatever she decides to give you and respond accordingly. Guess what? Same thing in marketing!! Even though you are setting a specific goal, always be open to how you receive your yeses. For example, a couple months ago, I made a financial goal for myself but instead of saying I wanted xx number of private clients and xx number of group members, I simply said the dollar amount I desired to create and remained opened to how it showed up in my bank account. This is important because a lot of times – even with a specific goal – there will be someone following what you’re putting out there who may not be right for what you’re selling but who might be perfect for something else.

WITH THAT, since this step is much more about your mindset, be sure you also believe that you’re going to receive what you’ve asked for. Think of it as something you’ve already done rather than something you are wishing and hoping will happen and we’ll see if it does.

And that’s it! If you want more specific details, I’m going to share a link with you to a handy little tool I created that walks you through more of the specifics of how to implement this strategy if you’re looking to bring in some big bucks into your coaching practice. Download it and use it! And be sure to let me know how it works out for you!