You, Your Story, Your Brand

You

I have a saying: “Know your magic, trust your magic, use your magic and know that you are a manifestation of life's magic.”  

It all starts here; before you can help others to find themselves and flourish your coaching journey must begin with you. You have to coach yourself. You need to see your gifts, talents and potential. In that very moment, you will begin to appreciate the impact that you – and coaching – will have on others.

Take a piece of paper or open a document and list all your gifts, talents, qualities, strengths achievements and qualities. If confidence has been an issue for you do not stop there, ask others that you know, like and trust to do the same exercise for you. Spend time with this list. Soak it up. Appreciate it. This is where your confidence and your appreciation of your competence come from.

Your Story

Now it is time to look at and unleash your story. There are thousands and thousands of other coaches but there is only one you. Much of my career has been as a business coach – helping sole traders, small business owners and experts to start and grow their business. One of the things I often notice as a business coach is that when I look at the About page on their website there is something missing or underplayed. And that something is usually the essence of their story: who they are, what they do, and why they do it. Sometimes this story and the mission and vision are there but it is cold and stilted. It needs to be warm, authentic and compelling.

But before we think about your story for your website, Linked In, promotional literature and all the rest of it you need to have the story for 1) Yourself 2) Everyone you meet.

Take a few minutes to do this:  

1. Summarise your life story to date in 200-500 words?
2. Why did you become a coach / what led you into coaching?
3. Why are you passionate about coaching?
4. What kind of people do you want to help and why?
5. Briefly list some of the people you’ve helped and what the outcomes have been

Now you have a story that you can utilise and leverage to attract coaching clients. You can tweak and tailor this for various things: talking to contacts, leads and potential clients; your website; your LinkedIn profile; your social media.  

Your Brand

“Your career development is your business –  other people can support it but you must drive it.”   - Rasheed Ogunlaru

That brings us to your brand.  Your brand is really a manifestation and a projection of all the things that you are and all the things we have covered so far. It is the perfume of who you are and what you do. It is the sweet scent that draws people to you. That feeling and essence that lingers on long after people have met you.

Now that you have tapped into your confidence and your story it is down to you to go out there and build your brand. I have a saying that I often share when I’m running career development workshops  “Your career development is your business – other people can support it, but you must drive it.”  

From a visibility and attracting coaching clients point of view, it’s important to think about two things:

• How can you reach your clients?
• How can your clients find you?

If you’re looking for further reading on this and some very specific tips and help then you may well find my book Soul Trader very handy as you build your business. But there’s lots that you can do to really build your brand, visibility and to win business, for example:

1. Unleash Your Network: Make sure everyone in your network knows what you do, become a connector, see how you can help others
2. Get Networking: Online and offline and you need to network in a blend of places where a) potential clients b) peers c) related / complimentary businesses d) industry influencers are. Each of these types of audience will bring slightly different yields: leads, connections, support, introductions, know-how, clients and more
3. Be Strategic and Intuitive:  You’re a coach. You help people set goals, develop plans and take action. You are no exception. Develop a strategy, plan and action for your business. But you must also trust your instincts. Your heart, your intuition and your instincts serve as your compass, anchor, path and magic charm. Trust them.

Remember to connect deeply with yourself, your story, and your brand, and leverage your network and intuition to achieve success!

Rasheed Ogunlaru is a Coaching Academy trainer, a leading life coach, motivational speaker and business / leadership coach. His clients include entrepreneurs, executives, high achievers - and organisations. He is author of Soul Trader – Putting the Heart into Your Business and is life & business coach partner to the British Library’s Business & IP Centre. He often speaks in the media including appearances on ITN and BBC News. He is an associate trainer of The Coaching Academy and is  a former Co-Director of Samaritans (Central London Branch).