What Would It Feel Like to Step Into Your Power?
How to move your book coaching business forward.
I spent the last two days running a Goal Setting Retreat for 15 certified book coaches.
We were looking at the hard numbers about how the current year went (number of clients, number of hours, dollars earned, dollars spent to earn it) and we were thinking about what we want to try to make happen in our businesses in 2025.
People want to serve more clients and feel the joy of helping them transform their writing.
They want to make more money.
They want to feel a sense of control over their schedule.
They don’t want to feel the pressure of constant marketing on social media.
They want to streamline their systems and processes.
As we discussed all these desires, we talked about the strategies and tactics to make them happen — whether or not someone should launch a self-study class and if so on what platform; whether or not someone should try giving live webinars and if so what’s the best way to deliver it; whether or not a sales page was bringing in the right kind of client and if not how to change it; whether or not someone should change the deliverable on a certain package and if so what to charge for it.
But whether the book coach was brand new to their business or someone who has been in business for many years, the conversation always circled around to the same point: the desire to step into their power.
It’s shocking how many very accomplished people question their skills, talents, and experience.
They ask, “Who am I to give that presentation?”
“Who am I to pitch that conference?”
“Who am I to develop that course?”
“Who am I to charge this much?”
Since I recently announced a big price increase in my book coach certification program, I have been asking myself some version of these questions, too.
Not too long ago, my business coach, Claire Pelletreau, said that the biggest change I needed to make was to believe in the program I am offering.
I laughed when she said this because this is my eleventh year running this business. We have brought in several million dollars. Our certified coaches are out there proving their excellence and their awesomeness every day so we know our program is effective. If I didn’t believe in what I was doing, I wouldn’t be here. So what on earth did she mean?
The answer came to me on a 1:1 discovery call I had last week with someone who was a perfect fit for our program. After an hour of talking about this person’s desire to be a book coach, and how our program could help her, and what the challenges she might encounter in building her book coaching business might be, she stopped and said, “Are you trying to talk me out of doing this? Because I really want to do this and it sounds like you are trying to talk me out of doing this.”
I was playing small in this conversation. I was tamping down my excitement about having this person join our program. I was equivocating all over the place about what a certified coach can accomplish, saying things like, “Well, SOME of our coaches might earn their tuition back with just a few clients” and “SOME people get all the coursework done while simultaneously launching their own books,” and “SOME people crack six figures in their first two years of business.”
I was so afraid of over-promising or coming across as sleazy and salesy — so afraid of trumpeting the incredible power of the training I offer — that I was giving this potential client every possible reason to opt OUT rather than all the reasons to opt IN.
In answer to her question, I told her a version of the story I am writing here.
I told her I was NOT trying to talk her out of it; I was desperately excited for her to sign up. I thought she would be the ideal client and I could see exactly how her future book coaching business could grow and thrive. I said, “You are the kind of person I made this program for; please come join us.”
And she did.
Believing in what I am offering means sluffing off the whole “Who am I?” mentality.
It means knowing that what I offer is transformative to the right people who select it for the right reasons and put in the right amount of effort.
It means not worrying about whether or not my program is going to absolutely, 100%, without any doubt deliver wild success to every single person who signs up, because that’s not my job.
My job is to make a good program and clearly communicate what it is. The client’s job is to decide that what I offer is going to give them what they need and to take responsibility for using it to achieve their goals.
Stepping into my power means believing in what I am doing— and it feels amazing.
Do you believe?
There are only a few weeks left to get the 2024 pricing on Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification Program. Current pricing ends on December 10, 2024. Visit bookcoaches.com/coaches to watch a free training about becoming a book coach and get the details on the program.
I have been the client in this case, where all I wanted was for someone to invite me into a program, but I've never stopped to think where I might do that in my own business. This is such a helpful reflection.