Thread by @izzydoesizzy

1/ Building a Coaching Business
Part 2: Updates Since Launch

Since the last thread (attached), there have been some really exciting developments.

https://twitter.com/izzydoesizzy/status/1296984393307783168?s=20

2/ First, I got my first 4 paying students in my first cohort. We've had our first two classes so far and it has been so incredible.

The format has generally been:

1- Introductions/Check-Ins/Learnings
2- Agenda for the Day
3- Lesson + Interactive Workshop
4- Homework

3/ Every week, I've been taking my outlined curriculum and building out the slide deck in @canva (just so beautifully easy) to prepare and refine the module and presentation for the week.

I try to make the presentations a combination of lecture + workshop + accountability.

4/ From the very first week, students immediately saw some very significant progress. Everyone managed to land an informational interview in the first week, which accomplished 3 things:

1. Motivated them
2. Provided opportunities to learn
3. Gave way for new introductions

5/ Each week I provide some homework, for them, and we have an accountability Slack group as well where we can share progress, resources, and updates in between classes.

6/ One of the really important parts of having the Slack group, and working in a group setting, is for students to inspire and encourage one another.

Whenever one of them makes progress or has a win, it gives the other students a motivation boost, which is exactly what I hoped!

7/ The worksheets we do during lecture at first felt a bit awkward. Giving people 4-5 minutes in the middle of a zoom call to be silent felt weird. But in reality it was extremely valuable to them and forced them to do the work and break through their roadblocks together.

8/ One thing that became abundantly clear from all of them was that people very rarely are as intentional as they should be about their job search.

Rather than DESIGN the career they want, they just look for whatever is available. And it does them a great disservice!

9/ Looking back at your previous roles and pulling out your career highlights, and favourite parts of your previous jobs really helps job seekers figure out

a) What they love to do
b) What they're good at
c) What they're accomplished
d) What they have to offer

10/ It was incredible seeing how something so simple allowed for such a big breakthrough for most of them. Helping them really refine what to look for next, and the types of people and companies they should connect with.

11/ The next really inspiring thing for me (another win for group coaching) was that as the students learned the best practices for reaching out and connecting, they started CONNECTING ONE ANOTHER WITH NEW OPPORTUNITIES.

Needless to say, this was me on our last call:

12/ So next steps, pushing forward, I needed to plan for our next cohorts. I've done a few important things since the last update.

13/ First, I published my first free mini-course on @teachable called "How To Land An Interview In 1 Week", which focuses on how to find specific people and companies, then reach out to connect with them.

You can find it here:
joinclearcareer.teachable.com/p/how-to-land-…

14/ It works really well because when you're not asking for a job, but asking for help and advice, people are more empowered to give you a hand.

When you ask for a job, it often puts people on the defensive, because they can't necessarily help you.

15/ But you'd be immensely surprised at how frequently people will agree to hopping on an informational interview call to give you advice on how to break into the field.

Like I said, every single student in the class got at least 1 in the first week. More since then.

16/ I messed around and spent about $25 on Facebook and Instagram ads (learning and fumbling along the way) + organic posts and managed to get 20 signups for the mini course.

I frequently paused and changed the campaign, the goals, and the ad creative as I learned what worked.

17/ Also I found the Facebook Ads mobile app way more user-friendly if you're just getting started. Because Facebook Ads is HELLA FREAKING CONFUSING!

Easily one of the most frustrating user experiences I've had with any piece of software.

18/ Ok got some sign ups, got some people going through the course, and I can track who has completed modules etc. What I did next was really significant.

19/ I spent 1-2hrs looking up each student on LinkedIn, learning a bit about them, their experience and job history, what they might be looking for, and crafted super personal emails to each of them.

I offered each of them a 30-minute chat to connect and learn more about them.

20/ The emails went something like this:

- Introduce myself
- Connect personally and show them that I've spent time trying to learn more about them
- Offer to have a chat

21/ As I teach all my students, I track all my emails to see which ones are being read, which ones are being clicked on, so I can determine which people I should focus more attention on following up with.

I use @Mixmax to do this.

Here's a referral link:
ssqt.co/mQgAZ13

22/ From there, I found out today that 4 of the 14 people I emailed booked a 30-minute interview with me.

On these calls I plan to:

- Learn more about them
- See what they thought of the mini-course and if it was useful
- Tell them about my group coaching offerings

23/ Having these 1-on-1 calls has by far been the most fruitful experience in getting people to join my courses.

So far, I've converted 4/12 of the people I've had calls with. Some of them were interested but perhaps for the next cohort.

We'll see how the next 4 calls go.

24/ This has really taught me how important it is to connect personally with new customers, ESPECIALLY when starting your new business.

I've always felt like this, that I am a caring, authentic person. So naturally in an interview/1-on-1 call I do better.

25/ It took me far too long to learn that SALES is not a dirty word. It's just building a relationship and showing people what you have to offer and how you can help them.

If it's a good fit, great, everyone should walk away happy WIN-WIN. It's not an I win, you lose situation.

26/ I largely have @dpriemer to thank for shifting the way I think about selling (although he probably didn't know it until seeing this tweet - so thanks David <3)

I've watched a number of his YouTube videos and just bought his book.

Check it out here:
cerebralselling.com

27/ The next step now has been following the instructions on the @teachable website to continue building an audience.

So I'm building a newsletter, and today, I just launched a giveaway for job seekers.

28/ The idea was to create a giveaway with something desired, so I asked Twitter what they would value most in a free giveaway and they spoke.

29/ So today I launched my giveaway. I'm offering $850 in goodies including:

- a 6 month subscription to LinkedIn Premium
- 4 weeks of 1-on-1 career coaching

I would really love your help with a retweet ❤️

https://twitter.com/izzydoesizzy/status/1303338814669238273?s=20

30/ This wasn't something that I just threw up, it actually took careful planning of what resources I have access to, and where I can promote. So I made an excel sheet to list them all out.

Tomorrow I'll be working on posting on groups, though my fear here is being scammy.

31/ Asking for help:

Learning: Asking for help

Here are 2 ways I'd love help
1- Do you know any communities that would benefit from a free group career workshop? DM me!

2- Do you know any communities where I could share this giveaway? Please let me know!

Thank you <3

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