Is visibility on your priority list for this year? You’re not alone! My guess is that at least half of the entrepreneurs out there are looking for visibility in some way, shape, or form. Luckily, there are a lot of ways we can get in the spotlight!
And no, it’s not about creating more content. That’s not truly the way to get more exposure. It’s about putting yourself out there where new people can see you!
I get it though. It’s hard. It takes time. And it can be a long game. Little actions you take now can build over time, but it’s time to start now–even if you don’t feel ready.
On today’s episode, I’m talking with PR pro Lisa Simone Richards about her formula for positioning, publicity, and profit. She offers up tips on how to pitch yourself to media, including podcast hosts, and whether it’s a good idea to stick with that social media platform you’re married to.
It’s all incredibly actionable and designed to ensure you’re not the best kept secret in your industry!
About Lisa Simone Richards:
Lisa Simone Richards is a PR & Visibility Strategist for online coaches who want to get more eyes on their business.
Through her free workshops, masterclasses, and mentorship program, she gives you the insider secrets on how to get exposure and reach more people without spinning on social media or wasting more money on Facebook ads.
Her clients learn the lather-rinse-repeat formula for more visibility which makes them more sales. They go from invisible to in-demand getting interviewed on top podcasts, partnering with big names in their industry, and building their authority expert status getting featured on major media like FOX, NBC, Forbes, Inc., and more.
On weekends you can find her playing in the kitchen with her husband, petting ALL the dogs in the park, and watching way too many fashion styling videos on YouTube.
Links and Resources:
- Episode 112: Ditch the Content Marketing Overwhelm with Abby Herman
- Ask Your Audience Challenge
- Lisa’s quiz: How should I get visibility as an online coach?
Time Stamps:
[2:08] – Don’t be the best-kept secret in your industry
[5:20] – The longer you’re in business, the more difficult it feels to practice what you preach
[6:54] – How to get started with your visibility
[7:12] – Speak your avatar’s language
[9:52] – Know what your audience wants
[11:09] – Small shifts may seem inconsequential but it makes a big difference
[12:00] – Be more specific in your language
[14:01] – Creating content isn’t the same as getting visibility
[16:28] – If you haven’t checked in with your audience since 2020, it’s time
[17:53] – Lisa’s formula for positioning, publicity, and profit
[20:02] – Lather, rinse, repeat your visibility strategy–on one platform
[21:32] – How to pitch yourself properly
[26:05] – When is it time to reassess and use a different platform
[28:25] – “If everything worked the first time, we’d all be billionaires”
[30:01] – Leveraging other people’s audiences
[33:16] – If it looks great, you waited too long to get started
[38:53] – Lisa’s alter ego for putting herself out there
[41:49] – If this is your year to prioritize visibility…
Transcription
Amber Hawley 0:01
business owners are increasingly being pulled in so many directions, feeling like they aren’t reaching their full potential in business in life despite their type aways. With my background as a therapist, entrepreneur, and as a.com dropout with ADHD, I interview and coach high achieving business owners like you who want to stop struggling for success by using psychological systems, strategies, and the occasional care plantation. This is the easily distracted entrepreneur, your place to slay overwhelmed perfectionism and shiny object syndrome so that you can get done what matters most to you. Welcome back, so excited to have you here. And really excited about this series on visibility that I’m doing. I get to talk to some amazing people. And I have a really wonderful and very stylish woman with me today. Miss Elisa Simone Richards, who is a PR and visibility strategist for coaches. So welcome, Lisa.
Lisa Simone Richards 1:05
Amber, I’m so excited for this call today. And thank you so much for calling me stylist. I’m in a navy blue rifle pre play. Try but I will take it.
Amber Hawley 1:15
I was like the hair and the makeup like I don’t care. I haven’t even put on my makeup yet. And I’m wearing a sweatshirt. So I mean, you are rocking that simple blue t shirt. You are you are rocking it.
Lisa Simone Richards 1:27
My meditation in the morning is playing hair and makeup. Oh,
Amber Hawley 1:31
see, that’s what I need. I need to like find it meditative instead of like, Oh, damn, you got to put that shit on. Oh, it’s so fun. I am going to believe you and then stalk you and figure out how to make that Batman my morning meditation. But why don’t you share with everybody a little bit more about yourself, besides the fact that you do morning makeup meditation, and you’re very stylish?
Lisa Simone Richards 1:56
Absolutely. So a bit a little bit about me is I’m a PR and a visibility strategist. And I work with online coaches who want to get seen everywhere. So really one of the things that I one of the things that I hate, the thing that I don’t want to see people do is you know, a lot of coaches have been blessed with this incredible gift. They are so good and have an amazing skill and talent to offer the world. And then when I see that person staying is the best kept secret. You know, they’re not getting as far as they could people don’t know who there are their families wondering how come your business isn’t bringing in money yet. Like that’s the thing that I stand for online coaches not having to deal with. There is somebody out there who has your ideal client hanging out whether it’s on a podcast, a TV show, a website, a magazine, depending on your business, it might change who it is. But there’s someone out there regardless, and I love showing these coaches, how to figure out where that place is, who they need to know, and how to get their foot in the door so that they can reach more people and enroll more clients.
Amber Hawley 2:53
I love that I love that mission. And I think you know, having, that’s the hard thing. Like you’re saying, I meet so many talented, amazing people. And there’s these things that keep us like stuck or from like achieving what we’re wanting to, to achieve. And that’s why I wanted to do a series on visibility. Because I think that’s the one that’s one thing where it’s like, you could be doing all the right stuff. But if you’re not getting out there in the right way, then like you said, you’re the best kept secret.
Lisa Simone Richards 3:22
Yeah, I always remember. So as a publicist, like by trade, my role is to get my clients featured in various places to get seen and builder expert status while they’re at it. And I remember starting my own online coaching business back in 2015. And I created my first online course anybody told me if this sounds familiar, you know, I bought the course on how to create a course it was called make media friends, because I knew if most people if coaches knew like five people, they could get featured anywhere and have access to their audience. So I built it, I gave my tax return to a marketing and branding person to build a pretty website and like logo and all that stuff. And I launched my course. And guess what happened? I’m sure it’s not a surprise. Nobody bought it. And not a single person bought it. I sat at my computer like, Oh, my paying runs. And that was when I really realized like, that thing that I do for my clients. I actually should do that for me, too. Nobody knows who I am. Nobody knows what this course is. It’s something that I named it because I thought that made sense. It doesn’t talk to what my ideal client is staying awake at night trying to figure out. So once I figured out those things, and I did my own visibility, all of a sudden things change. So it’s really funny that the teacher had to teach herself what she does for clients. But then once I saw how important it was, I was like imagine how many people don’t know how to do this. And their business isn’t taking off because they simply just don’t know how to get in front of the right people. And then once they do and they figure out what message to use and where to be seen. And we’re not talking about Facebook ads or social media over here. There are ways to leverage other people’s platforms. But once you figure that out, all of a sudden you have a stream of consistent leads that are actually hungry for what you have to offer. So Am I really passionate about sharing with people how to be able to like, actually take that skill and do it in their business? I actually used to have a PR agency. So we would take on clients for a few $1,000 a month and do the pitching for them. But I’m like, what if I could just show people how to do that themselves? And then they could just keep doing it over and over again for the rest of their business?
Amber Hawley 5:18
I love that. Well, first of all, can I say, I think the longer you’re in business, the more you realize, your genius that you often offer others we sometimes needs. We need like that feedback, or we need something like that to happen where we’re like, oh, yeah, I got to practice what I preach. Like that kind of thing. We all have those moments, right? Where it’s like, oh, you know, what is that the the cobblers kids have no shoes kind of thing where it’s like, that’s right, we need to do it. I mean, I think on the upside, because that’s your expertise, like, then you were able to quickly like, oh, okay, wait a minute, and pivot or not pivot, but start putting into practice what you do. But like you said, I think so many people, they go through that I’ve seen it as well, where, you know, you’re really, you’re doing this because you feel called to share something with somebody or you want to help people, and you put it out there, and then it’s crickets, and then it feels like shit. And, and then you’re like, well, now what’s, and most of us think like, Okay, now, okay, it’s social media, or, you know, whatever the thing is, and again, you know, different things can work for different people, but, but I think so many people feel stuck in that, or they get a little bit of traction, but not enough to make it feel consistent. So then it creates all that self doubt, and all the things. So I guess when somebody is in that position, where they’re like, Okay, I know what I, I know what I want to do. This is how my you know my magic stuff and how I help people. What is it but then they’re like, okay, but I’m talking to nobody, or I feel like I’m putting stuff out there to nobody. What, what are the what is the first step or suggestion that you give to people in that process?
Lisa Simone Richards 6:58
Yeah, I have, I have my five piece framework for positioning publicity and profit. So one of the first things I always have my clients do, and we can go through the formula, or I can just really dive into that specific nugget. One of the first things is always to talk with your ideal client avatar, like, what are what are their fears? What are their frustrations? What are their wants? What are their aspirations, once you understand those four things, and you can speak in their language, all of a sudden, now you can position yourself differently. Like I was sharing, you know, when I launched my first course, it was called make media friends. Guess how many entrepreneurs stay awake at night, because they want to make media friends? Like none, none. And so my idea wasn’t wrong. My idea for a program and of course, I had back in 2015, which is exactly what I still teach today. And 2020 to seven years later, that wasn’t wrong. It was the way that it was packaged. It wasn’t landing with the person. So when I had that conversation, I was like, oh, every time I say publicity to online coaches, they think, oh, that’s for celebrities, or people who can afford an agency, like that’s not heard someone like me. And then I changed the word publicity to visibility. They were like, Yeah, I do need visibility online, actually. Then I was like, oh, okay, so it’s not my my product that’s wrong. It’s the way that I’m communicating it and landing with somebody else. So I always start off with understand your clients fears, frustrations, wants and aspirations. Once you know those four things, like honestly, copywriters, I’m sorry, I don’t have to put you guys out of business. I love you, I hire you. But once you understand these things from your clients, you can literally start writing your own marketing copy and sales copy, because all of a sudden, when they read that stuff that you’re putting out there and your content. It’s like, wow, it’s like Lisa took the words right out of my head. She knows what I’m going through. And that’s because you understood what they’re saying. So that’s literally the first thing I begin with, before we even talk into, like, how do I get featured on podcasts and stuff, like, understand that what your client is saying and their concerns, because you can take that and turn that into your message. And now all of a sudden, when you’re putting that message around, it’s going to resonate with the people you want to attract.
Amber Hawley 9:01
I love that. And I I think that’s one of my Cornerstone things that I say is like messaging is everything. And I love look, first of all, I would probably want to name it that too, because I love alliteration. It sounds so clever, right? Like, you’re like for
Lisa Simone Richards 9:17
people to build their signature Success System. Can you tell me like for alliteration?
Amber Hawley 9:22
I love alliteration. I think it’s so good. And sometimes it’s really hard for me to let go of those names because it’s like but no, but this is so cute. But you’re right though it’s I like that you make the distinction of it doesn’t mean you have to change up everything or that you’re doing it wrong. It’s it’s about how are you talking to people about it? Is it connecting with the words that they use, right? Like that’s such an important piece and I have a episode that while we’re recording this in the beginning of January, by the time this episode goes live, this other episode will have come out but Abby Herman has a she does
Amber Hawley 10:00
He gets the content experiment. And she talks about and she even has a little challenge or a challenge that is about asking your audience and that’s a big thing. I mean, there’s so many people that kind of talk about that, like, you know, you may think, you know, and I feel like I’ve I work with enough people, like, I know, my I know who I work with, I know how I help them. But I’m always surprised sometimes when you pull them or ask them, like a very specific question, that there are times where you’re like, Oh, I wouldn’t have thought that was the thing you thought was important, I would have thought it was this. So I think that’s a great, I love that you start with that. Because I mean, the message is, the goal is really,
Lisa Simone Richards 10:40
to fail. I feel like I always like apologize to my clients, when they start working with me. I’m like, I know you’ve been through B school and other foundational programs before I know, You’ve done the ideal client avatar exercise to death, I’m gonna make you do it one more time. Because this is the foundation of everything we build. Because if we start with the wrong message, and I get you on TV, or I get you on a podcast, and what you’re saying doesn’t click with the people that needs to click with, then everything we did is for naught. So I’m sorry, bear with me one more time, or
Amber Hawley 11:10
it’s true, though. And I think sometimes even revisiting that because yes, it’s been, I don’t want to say done to death, but it because it is foundational, like you just like building a house, you always got to start with a foundation. And I think when you revisit it, especially if you’ve been in business for a few years, or maybe you pivoted like sometimes revisiting it, you have new fresh eyes with it. And like you said, sometimes it’s like, oh, this small shift may seem unconscious, inconsequential to you. But it actually makes a big difference in how you talk to that person. Right? Yeah, I
Lisa Simone Richards 11:44
really think it’s important to have those conversations quarterly with your ideal clients, the past clients that you’ve loved working with the ones that you know, would be perfect for you. But they haven’t said yes with yet. And have that conversation find out from them every few weeks. So it ends up even changing just a little bit. One thing I can say that I find with a lot of coaches is that their messaging can be very esoteric, like, Oh, I’m going to help you get to the next level or something like very, like not blue airy fairy, because like, I’m totes all about that stuff. And I have some principles. But like, it’s not landing on something so specific, like when I started talking about going beyond like, how to get exposure and how to grow your reach. But I started saying things like, you don’t have to be spinning your wheels on social media all day, I promise I’ll never ask you to do a tick tock or real people were like, how do I not have to do that and get visibility of like, all because I said you don’t have to be on it, like just a little people really landed with that. So again, it doesn’t have to be like a seismic shift, it can be a small tweak, and what you’re saying that they’re like, that is me, that’s exactly what I don’t want to have to do or what I do aspire to have. And then you just add that sentence in and all of a sudden, you’ll have your clients reflecting at you and you’re like, Wow, I did not know that sentence made such a big deal.
Amber Hawley 12:54
I know it will. And I appreciate that. Like it’s being very specific, because we can be very, like nebulous, or it’s we can be very vague about things right? Like we can be in that space where it’s like that sound, it’s sometimes it takes effort to actually chunk it down to that actual specific thing. And sometimes it’s like, oh, da, and it comes to you in that magic moment of you don’t have to make it tick tock. I know a lot of people that that would speak to
Lisa Simone Richards 13:24
I know, I’m on my phone, and I wear that like a badge of honor, I don’t intend to download it.
Amber Hawley 13:30
I will I will admit, I have lost I know better than I do have tick tock downloaded but now that they put it on Instagram and Facebook it I have lost hours of my life. And you know, missed my shower Windows sometimes because it is so addictive. I have ADHD. So like for me, it’s like, oh, you’re gonna you’re gonna show me like music and fun stuff like I just will be there forever. But like you said, is that a good use of your time? If you’re trying to grow your business? Maybe maybe not. Right?
Lisa Simone Richards 13:59
But that’s, you know, especially because you’re doing this series on visibility, I’d love to even just tweak this in or add this in. While we’re talking about like social media and love social media. That’s how I found a lot of people that I work with. But I think a lot of coaches are also struggling with understanding the difference between creating content and actually getting visibility. So what I’m seeing is a ton of coaches are being sold like you have to be on social media have to do these posts, you need to use these hashtags. And sure there is a place for that 100%. But when you’re posting to your same audience of 250 followers, or however many it is over and over and over and over again and being surprised that people aren’t buying from you. Like that’s because you’re just creating nurture content to people who already follow you. What are you doing to grow your visibility? How are you getting new people to follow you? How are you getting new people on your email list? How are you reaching new people because that’s the difference between content and visibility. That’s why I think a lot of coaches feel like they’re spinning on social. They’re doing all the TIC TOCs and the reels and the posts and the tags, but you’re not getting new people into your funnel. You have to make sure you’re getting that visibility to reach more people. And not just followers, you want to be reaching buyers and bringing them into your world because now once these new buyers and these new followers are following you, all of a sudden the content that you’re making is getting in front of the right people. So again, it’s one of those things where you got to make sure the foundation is coming first. I think the analogy that I often use is like baking a cake and then putting icing on it. If you’re doing the icing first. That’s all well and good, but you need the cake.
Amber Hawley 15:29
I love that’s a great analogy. That one that’s a good that one sticks. But I appreciate I think that’s a really good distinction too. And that yeah, it’s you’re speaking to the same people, which is great, you stay top of mind. But if all of your energy and effort isn’t that, then how do you actually grow and and get that get the right people who are actually somebody who are wanting to buy from you? I think that’s the part that always I think that’s where I see a lot of people, you know, because I help people with like burnout and overwhelm and, and, you know, all the emotional stuff that comes up in business feeling so defeated, because it’s like, here, I’m doing all the things. Yeah, no. And nothing. I just did air quotes. I just realized this is a podcast. I did air quotes, I wanted to say like, hashtag all the things, but then feeling like okay, but I’m not seeing the momentum. So. So you have somebody go through, go back to and I love the suggestion of even checking in quarterly. As I can imagine, now that you say that I’m like, Yeah, because even if you think about the last couple of years, I feel like there are things that do like shift for people, like the thing that scares them the most, or the thing that’s kind of like, present for them in that moment might shift a little bit. So you get us. Yeah, just
Lisa Simone Richards 16:47
asking about people’s concerns before March 2020. vs. Now, if you haven’t done that, you know, it’s time to
Amber Hawley 16:56
guess if you were pre COVID, questioning people, I think it’s it’s about time, my friend, it’s about time
Lisa Simone Richards 17:02
for us. And our concerns have shifted a little bit since then. So yep, yeah, check in.
Amber Hawley 17:07
And I think 2021 like that. I mean, 20, even 2020 was a whole different animal. And I have seen that time and time again, where this year I think people like we didn’t give each other as much grace or ourselves as much grace. And there was this expectation of like, okay, it’s over now. And we have to be back to normal and better. And it’s like, I don’t know what you think is over, but it’s just chronic fatigue. So I appreciate that like going back. So you go back, you talk to your people, you really solidify your ICA, yet again. And then we’re What do you suggest people do after that?
Lisa Simone Richards 17:45
Yeah, why don’t I actually formalize this and go through the five P for like, for this list takers, it’s easy to note this out. So the first step in my five p formula for positioning publicity and profit is number one, to pick your ideal client avatar, we got to know who we want to get in touch with. That’s coming back to something we’ve heard over and over again, niching Canadian, I know the American saying niching but this is where the Canadian comes out me. Um, you know, a lot of people for example, they’re marketing to moms. And one really great quote that I got from Rebecca cafiero, who’s another visibility strategist. So I always love to give gloves to give props where props are due. And she says that your ideal client avatar should always have I believe it’s an adjective before it. What’s describing that mom, for example? Is it a new mom? Is it an empty nest mom, those are two entirely different types of moms. So number one, pick your ideal client avatar, get really clear on who that person is. Number two, that’s where we go into position yourself as the solution what we were talking about just now, ask your ideal client avatar, what are their those four things again, here we go was takers, fears, frustrations, wants and aspirations. Once you understand what those things are, then you can now position yourself as the solution. Because people aren’t just giving up their credit cards. Because you’ve launched a program or a course or a mastermind, they’re buying a solution to their problem. So it’s imperative that you position yourself as that solution. We’re not buying icing unless you got a cake to put it on. Right, we’re gonna keep going back to that analogy. So um, step three in the five key formula is then to pick your platform. This is where you need to understand from your ideal client avatar, where are they paying attention? Are they listening to podcasts? Are you a brick and mortar business? And it doesn’t matter if someone on the other side of the country knows about you, you can only service people in your local area. Maybe that means you need to be on a local morning show or a local newspaper. Are your clients on social media all day? Great. You probably are too. Maybe your visibility strategy is going live on Facebook group, something you probably already do. But let’s go live in someone else’s. Let’s bring their people back into your world. Maybe it’s going on somebody else’s podcast. So there’s so many different platforms that you can pick, I know that our audience here might be what is the easily distracted entrepreneur, so they may be jumping from thing to thing. So something that I often tell my clients to do is pick one platform and lather, rinse, repeat and do it over and over again. For me, it’s 10 podcasts every week, I’m not necessarily trying to be on TV and websites and this and that I just podcast every 10 a week, that brings in one leads every single year. Imagine that if I pitch 10 podcasts a week, so that’s what 40 A month, not all 40 are gonna say, yes, let’s be real. But if like 10 of them did, that’s cool. If I want 10 podcasts a month, and I do that for 12 months, I’m on 120 podcasts in the year. Again, we’re not going to go too deep into math, because I suck at math. But let’s say I got 20. That’s 120. Yeah, let’s say you got 100 seats from each podcast, each of the 120. I’ve brought in what is that over 1200 new leaves this year that I didn’t have to pay for on Facebook, where and lead is somewhere between 10 and 30 bucks,
Amber Hawley 20:58
right?
Lisa Simone Richards 21:00
Like just do the same thing over and over again. Like when you hear that mouth, it’s like why am I not doing this? Why am I jumping channels, so you can pick one platform but you got to pick what that platform is and the same strategy honestly can really apply to a lot of them. So that was number three, pick your platform know where your ideal client is hanging out so you can get seen heard or feature in there. Number four in the five key formula for positioning publicity and profit is to pitch yourself for publicity. So okay, your pay your clients are in a mastermind that you want to do a guest training on or they’re listening to a podcast. How do you make the ask to be featured? Number one mistake I see online coaches make is they make it about themselves. Hi, Amber. My name is Lisa spoon Richards and appear and visibility strategist and I have a six month mastermind call the online visibility accelerator. I come on your podcast and talk all about it. How quickly would you hit delete on that email?
Amber Hawley 21:55
Yeah, I was like, how many of are you reading my emails? Because I get pitched a lot. And that’s most of them. And it’s really like, okay,
Lisa Simone Richards 22:03
yeah, so that’s the number one mistake. Let’s quickly flip that. So I can quickly give your listeners some insight on how you pit yourself properly. You lead with value, don’t make it all about yourself. Let’s try that again. Hey, Amber. My name is Lisa Simone Richardson. I’m a PR and visibility strategist for online coaches who want to get seen everywhere. I know the listeners of your podcasts have been working really hard to be to build their business. And there’s nothing worse than being the best kept secret. I would love to share with them three ways that they can start getting featured on podcasts, for example, would it be interesting for them to have me come on the show? Different? Maybe? Are we talking right now?
Amber Hawley 22:44
Exactly.
Lisa Simone Richards 22:46
So it’s all about learning? Who has that audience? How do you find that individual who has made the decision as to whether or not you’re going to get access to them? How do you ask them for access in a way that it’s not just about you, but it’s actually leading with value? And how do you do that in a lather rinse repeat strategy that you can just get access to audiences over and over again. So that’s number four, pitching for publicity. And finally, step number five in the five key formula for positioning publicity, and profit is publicity for profit. For business owners, we’re all just trying to get featured on forbes.com. Because it sounds cool, which it is, but like, we want to make money on the back end and enroll clients too. So how do we take the visibility that we’re getting being on podcast doing lives on other people’s Instagrams or Facebook groups? And how do we use that to actually bring and call the right people in to work with us? So that’s the last part of the whole puzzle.
Amber Hawley 23:39
Love it. I love it. It’s very clear. And I like that you’re, I think your approach sounds like it’s more about simplicity and ease, which I think is what’s really important. Because when we get it too complicated, and then it just feels really overwhelming. And then most people kind of give up, right? That’s,
Lisa Simone Richards 23:57
that’s what I feel with social media. And again, I don’t want to poopoo on social media. I love it. I have a Facebook group I DM people, I’m using social media all the time. But the thing is, like how overwhelming does it feel when there is tick tock and Facebook and clubhouse and Instagram and Pinterest and Twitter, and YouTube in all the and all of them work. Everybody has a story on how each platform worked for them. So it feels like you have to be on all of them. And then the other thing is, is who remembers vine, or Periscope, or MySpace? Like we know that all these platforms are constantly evolving. So once you feel like you’ve gotten the hang of one all of a sudden now the next things come out and something you spent so much time building effort to build a following on is now becoming obsolete. We’re seeing Facebook starting to go that way. You’re marketing to like Gen Z and younger. So I really believe there’s such a power in figuring out who has already built an audience. And rather than me figuring out how I build How do I start a podcast for example, thanks for building this in advance. Rather than figuring out how do I do art How do I get on iTunes? How do I find an editor? How do I make sure I’m getting listeners? Why not figure out as you’re getting started, you know how you can leverage other people’s platforms? And also make sure you’re doing things in the right order?
Amber Hawley 25:12
Yes, no. And that’s a I think that’s, I love any strategy again, that goes like, let’s find the easiest way to do something, but do it well, because I know a lot of people that only guest on podcasts and have no interest in starting one. And they do really, really well. And so it’s like figuring that out. I guess, knowing my people, because I am also my people, I can have this tendency, but that I haven’t, I’m lucky to have a team now that basically shoots me down as I like, oh, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, you know, like the next thing? And they’re like, No, nope, we’re doing this. What would you suggest for somebody who’s like, Okay, I’m going to commit to, I just want to say Instagram, for some reason, Instagram, I’m going to commit to Instagram. And that’s going to be the platform that I use, and I lather, rinse, repeat, you might think, how long because I already know people will be like, well, this isn’t working. How long would you give something that you’re doing before you say, Okay, I need to reassess and like make a maybe look at something else? Like maybe I was wrong about where my ideal client is?
Lisa Simone Richards 26:18
That’s a really interesting question. You know, I guess it depends on what the medium is, I’ll have a different length of time for this. Like for business coaches, I totally believe in being with a coach for three years, we didn’t get everything in freshman year at university. But if it comes to a specific platform, my recommendation would probably be six months, like there’s a learning curve, you need to figure out what you’re doing, you need to see what’s working. And then you need to test variables. I feel like a year is probably a long time, but I would probably give it at least six months. But again, like the challenges, maybe even figuring out what you’re going to do consistently and testing on a different platform, not changing the variables, that may be something I recommend as well, just having two and seeing which one’s working. And then at least you know, Okay, this one’s performing better than that one, I’m going to drop the low performing one and stick with this one. Maybe I compared this one was doing better with a different platform. Now, that could be a way that maybe you’re running to, and actually getting data from doing it. That was a very just off the cuff answer that didn’t have a ton of forethought into it. But just being put on the spot. That’s what I would write.
Amber Hawley 27:21
Well, and that’s no, but that’s still I mean, it’s a great answer. Because I think that’s where, you know, I see it so much of, again, I have done it. So I say this with somebody who has also done it, but it’s like you’re feeling oh, it’s not working. But you’re like, ah, but have I been consistent? Have I really given it a chance? You know, and I see this, you know, all the time, even in therapy, we we can have these short attention spans, even if we’re not ADHD, where we feel like we’ve been doing something forever and you have somebody who’s with you like a business bestie or somebody who’s like, Girl, it’s been two weeks like you’ve been posting for two weeks, maybe you should relax and not think that you have to reinvent the wheel right? So I think it’s an important thing but I love I love your suggestion off the cuff or not like I love your suggestion that I do think giving enough time but like you said maybe just to quell even those that mind stuff where people sit and like, you know, per separate on a thought, like, maybe you post a try it out somewhere else and see like is does do you get different traction. So
Lisa Simone Richards 28:24
yeah, I’m doing Facebook ads, like the first time that I did them properly. So not least is homemade Canva designs in coffee. Like the time I actually hired an agency for 1000s of dollars a month and could barely even match my ad stand after hiring them. The first month like I didn’t get a ton of like I don’t even know if I broke even on my span. But it wasn’t like these don’t work froze hands in the air and never does it again. Like no, I’m working with them again. Like I know that it takes time to get it if everything worked the first time we’d all be billionaires by now about who’s willing to put in the consistency until they get to the result on the other end. But it is also a matte unit. There’s a quote for everything like what is it I didn’t send D is the definition of doing the same thing over and over again. But there’s also a quote supporting like consistency is the thing that’s going to get you there.
Amber Hawley 29:11
I actually have a podcast episode coming out about contradictions, because that’s exactly that’s where it gets overwhelming. Because literally every piece of advice has almost the exact opposite advice. But I think like the situations are nuanced, and if we just we could be very black and white about it, but but it’s so true, right? Like there’s that it’s a long game like that’s what we hear even podcasting is a long game, like you start to see momentum after you’ve been consistent for a while. But you know, there is always that fear, I think for people of like, am I even doing the right thing? Am I or is this am I right? They’re like, teetering on the edge of like hitting getting traction and, you know, going or is it I’m just like wasting my time here. So I think it’s one of those things that I think it’s helpful to have an expert who knows some stuff about some stuff be able to tell by that.
Lisa Simone Richards 30:01
And I think it’s helpful to have a deadline too. Because when you have a goalpost and an end in mind, that helps you know that okay, this is, this is the measuring stick that we’re going up to, you’re not in a limbo. I’m not sure if you’ve ever read. Oh, what is it? The David Goggins the book, something need the Navy SEAL? Dude, not the one with Garcia third can hold me down or something like that. He talks about there was an exercise where they just told the guys to run. And like they didn’t tell them how long the run was, is that a 5k 20k? A 40k. And like, imagine just being told, okay, you’re going for a run, go. And you don’t know when it’s stopping? Like, at least when there’s when I’m going for 5k? I know, it’s going to end in my mind, that’s different than like, where are we at now. So even just setting that for yourself gives you a frame of mind to go into it with,
Amber Hawley 30:46
Oh, I love that that’s a great one, that that’s a, I’m gonna hold on to that one. Because it’s true, you got to have something. And I’m a big fan of that of like, doesn’t mean you change things. But I think you should evaluate and reassess. Right? So I love that one. So if somebody decides, Okay, I’m going, I want to start by leveraging other people’s audiences. And, you know, I’m going to try to get into other people’s groups are, like you said, where do people even start with that? Like, do students use them research? Or what do you suggest?
Lisa Simone Richards 31:20
Can I do a small plug here? Cuz I have an answer for that? Oh, yes,
Lisa Simone Richards 31:23
do I have. So it feels like there’s so many different options, we were talking about it you could be on podcast television, in someone else’s Facebook group, live trading someone else’s mastermind, you could speak on a stage, there are so many different options. And I know, entrepreneurs with ADHD, it’s like we’re trying to like pick shiny object syndrome, like abandon all of them. So something that I created was a quiz called How should I get visibility as an online coach? pretty specific, tangible, and real there. So there are two things I figured out during this quiz. And we all love doing the quizzes, and Cosmo back in the day, if I can speak on our behalf. With this one, I love to figure out two things about the person taking out the quiz. Number one, what are your business goals? Are you brand new, and you’re looking for clients to pay you? Or you do have a few clients who already have a few programs, and now you’re looking to build notoriety? I want to understand what stage of business you’re in. The second thing I want to learn about you from the quizzes. What’s your personality type? Are you likely so with only child syndrome, when you can throw me on stage in front of 3000? People? I’ll be like, Hey, everyone, put your phones down. I’m here, but it’s on me? Or is that something that’s going to terrify you and you would rather be behind the scenes. So let me understand your business goals and your personality. And I’ll take you through a series of questions. And at the end of it, I will give you one of five ways that you should focus on getting visibility. And not only are you going to tell you this is what makes the most sense for you. But I’ll also send you a training video so you can put it into practice. So that is called How should I get visibility as an online coach is available at Lisa Simone richards.com/quiz.
Amber Hawley 32:57
Awesome of well, I know I’ll be filling out that quiz. Just because I mean, hello. Well, because who doesn’t need visibility? We all don’t
Lisa Simone Richards 33:07
let me know. Here’s what to focus on. Here’s how to get started. There you go. You’re off to the races.
Amber Hawley 33:12
Perfect. That is so perfect. Awesome. Okay, so now you’ve they’ve taken your quiz. They know where they’re supposed to be going in the in the training. And the next step. The one the one thing that I think about when I or that I hear the most like the biggest and I’ve again, I always own that also, I’ve done these things. So is that people will say, Well, I don’t want to pitch yet because my website isn’t good enough. Or I don’t I want a bigger following. So they’ll say yes. Like, they there’s like this fear of I can’t put myself out there yet until everything else looks right. What do you have any feedback or advice on that? Yeah,
Lisa Simone Richards 33:49
it looks great. You waited way too long. Like I didn’t even need time to think about that. That is probably one of the number one things that I hear from people who work with me or interested in the work that I do. I’m one of my best clients and I love to pieces. Actually, our coaching contract ended in December and like what’s happening anytime anyway, it’s one of my clients, Nora Devorah. She is a preconception health coach. And when she came to me a year ago, she was like, oh, man, I would I’m just getting she No, she started off as a nutritionist and a yoga teacher, but then she narrowed into preconception health coaching. And she came to me literally a little over a year ago and was like, you know, I would love to be on podcast talking about this. Maybe once I’ve been doing it for a year, there’s this one called fertility Friday, like I’ve been listening to it for years, I wouldn’t die to be on it. And I was like, why? What do you need to wait for? No, we’re just going to come up with a pitch you’re going to have your own signature Success System or your own five p formula. And we’re going to pitch it to a bunch of podcasts. And lo and behold within six months you must have been on something like 15 or 20 podcasts. Definitely brought in foot multi five figures of revenue from doing those shows changed the way that not only she saw herself but the clients saw her because if they were interested in getting pregnant they’d look up Nord board and see her on all these different podcasts which totally up her credibility to them, made them more confident in hiring her. And lo and behold, guess what podcast she was on back in November, December fertility Friday, the one that she thought was like three or four years down the line. So something really powerful that I heard on I don’t know if it was a podcast or an audio book a few weeks ago, but this is what comes to mind for me every single time I faced resistance now, the person the character in whatever I was watching or listening to said, I choose confidence. So when a moment of procrastination hesitation comes up for me, I’m like, Okay, I have the choice between fear and confidence. What do I choose in this moment? And I think when you ask yourself that question, and we all know which one we want to pick, that just really helps you take the push in the right direction. So if it’s like, Oh, I’m not sure if I’m ready to pitch a podcast send a pitch anyways, what’s gonna happen they hit delete, you never hear back from them. I’ve never gotten a podcast sending you dumb love, love like him believing reached out, let’s never happen. They just haven’t heard back from someone. You’re not any worse position than you are. Now. You gotta know. It happens. I’ve been pitching my entire life. I’ve literally never had a fear aside from publicist, I don’t I’m not that in 100. I don’t get yeses, 10 out of 10 times. So you’re not in any worse position. And best case scenario, someone says yes. And you get to talk about what lights you up, and you get to share with people who are the right audience for you, regardless of whether they’re ready to take that step or not. And what if like two people from that podcast said yes to working with you. And that brought 1000s of dollars in for you would that have been worth the discomfort of Oh, no patient put myself out there yet.
Amber Hawley 36:40
I love that. And that goes. So this year, I changed my word of the year my theme to be courage, right? So cuz that’s the thing where it’s like combating that perfectionism. But I love that I choose confidence. I think that’s so wonderful. Even if it’s enough in that moment to just hit send, right? It’s kind of like that thing where you know, where they say, if you’re starting to like, run, if you want to start, you know, exercising and running, like saying, Oh, I’m just gonna put on my shoes. And then it’s like, I’m just going to get to the front door, I’m just going to go to the end of the block. It’s like tricking yourself into, like those little baby steps to get there. But I think that that last little piece, I love that
Lisa Simone Richards 37:18
I choose confidence and love. Yes. Every time I’m thinking about doing something, you know, and like this comes up multiple times a day, let’s not make it sound like Lisa’s got it all figured out. No. Like, I have to nurture clients and reach out to people who said no to the program at the time, but they were kind of Yes. Or maybe I have to follow up with them think that feels weird. Sure and can but what’s my choice? Do I choose confidence? Do I know that the work that I do can make a huge difference for them? And is a time for me to get over myself and how I feel about it and just see if I can make a difference for someone who said that they want what I have to offer. I’m not here selling anyone anything they don’t want. So like why don’t I just get over myself and reach out to them? Because I because I’m making it about me like no, it was confidence. What if they said yes, yes.
Amber Hawley 38:01
I love that. And that’s, I mean, so many people are struggling with that perfectionism of trying to get it just right. But I love the idea of saying, if it’s already perfect, you’ve waited too long. Like you I love I think that’s such a powerful message for people because I think this is the big thing that like, I know, people will be like, Ah, I just want to make enough money so I can hire someone to do it for me. So I don’t have to do it. Because I know like it’s so scary to hit sand or to put that pitch out there or do that follow up right like it. It brings up so much of our stuff. So I think that’s a fantastic one. It reminds me of when I would do some things that scared me before I used to go like what would Sydney Bristow do from alias? Because she was a badass spy. Like she did everything so like I feel like you got to get into that like power place of saying, you know, yeah, I choose competence. I
Lisa Simone Richards 38:50
love that. Yeah. And you know what, let’s let’s take a note from Queen Beyonce over here who has her Sasha Fierce that she steps into when she goes into performer mode. Like even with social media, which was one of my goals for the year. Like I couldn’t be bothered to post my life online. I love looking at people’s content, but like my husband would go like batshit if I was like filming our meals and stuff all the time, but I’m working on putting myself out there and I’m thinking about the separation between Lisa Simone the individual who’s like oh, people from high school are gonna see this guys I dated are gonna see this and have an opinion on it. And I shift into Simone Elizabeth, the business owner who’s like I’m using this for business this is why this is happening like so your ex boyfriend season so what he’s not feeding your bank account, no one gives a shit like do so like you know what I mean? I have to actively step out of how I want to be into like, what would the seven figure CEO the future Lisa Simone Richards, aka someone Elizabeth would do. That’s my alter ego.
Amber Hawley 39:47
So I know. I think it should say something to people. If Beyonce has an alter ego, for fuck sake. We all need an alter ego. I mean, come on. Like you would just assume she doesn’t need one. Like, why would she need one? Right? So I love that I think it’s so great. And it’s I love again the simplicity of it of just like like psyching yourself up and doing it. And yeah, I agree with you. Like, if they aren’t paying your bills, who
Lisa Simone Richards 40:14
gives a shit? Literally, right? Like, why am I giving my power to those people, I still have to move past it don’t it comes up, the show comes up, like, Hey, Lisa, let’s let’s change the thinking, I understand where this is coming from. And let’s say okay, you have a choice between a or b, this guy having an opinion of you, or an extra 5k in your bank account.
Amber Hawley 40:35
I choose money, confidence and money, confidence and money. I think they do go hand in hand, they do go hand in hand. So I love that. Awesome. Well, I know I want to be respectful of your time. I feel like this was a lot of value. There was so many for me, I’m like, Oh, I love I love writing down all the things that you say. And I think this is gonna be really helpful, because anything that’s really concrete and simple for people to do. But I love even that. That’s supportive. Okay, I choose confidence, like going with that, when you’re, you know, worried about your pitches? Is there any last piece of advice you would give people or for people who are like, Okay, I need I know, visibility, because I’m telling you that you know that there are going to be hundreds of 1000s of people whose word of the year is visibility. That every year, every everyone, every year, I know, I know, I talk to people, and I love talking to people and finding out their things and visibility. I’m, I’m gonna guess that that’s probably if it’s not 50% of the words of the year, it might be more. Is there one last nugget or piece of advice that you would give to somebody who’s like, Okay, this is I know that this is my year to prioritize visibility.
Lisa Simone Richards 41:52
Yeah, you know what I think whether you’re a brand new coach looking for their first handful of clients, or you’ve been doing this for years, and you just want to have your name mentioned in the same sentence, as a group that you’ve always looked up to, it always comes down to the confidence of putting yourself out there, that imposter complex, no matter what tech making eight figures here, great, your imposter complex is still going to pop up brand new in business, awesome, you can count on it showing up. So let’s expect that it’s going to happen, because then we’re better prepared. And what’s your plan for confidence. So one of the things I love to have my clients do is they fill out a not so humble brag sheet, and they put this up on their fridge. So I encourage anyone listening to the show, set yourself a little two minute timer. And you can just list out you know, how much money have you invested in yourself to offer the skill the and the service that you put out there, you know, you probably went through some sort of formal training or certification program, maybe what you did an undergrad makes a difference to this or in high school. So list out the money you’ve invested the time that you’ve spent the transformation you’ve created for yourself the transformation you’ve created for your clients, write a tangible list of this and stick it on the fridge. Because when that confidence moment comes up, and that imposter complex is telling you who are you to do XYZ, you can look at that piece of paper on the fridge and really tangibly see everything that you’ve created. And it reminds you of who you are, that other people don’t have this gift that you take for granted. And that it truly is your obligation to be able to create more impact, like you’ve already done on that sheet for more people, and lean on that as your credit for confidence. If that little gremlin comes up and tells you you can’t do something. So take a few seconds like what’s the beginning of a new year, start off by celebrating yourself, we did this on my mastermind call at the end of December, I had everyone take a minute and just list out in bullet points, all the awesome things they did that year. And I was like and at the end of this minute, each of you is going to take the floor and you’re going to take up space and you’re not going to rush through it and you are going to love up on yourself. And we’re all going to celebrate you. And when you take the time to do that for yourself. It’ll make putting, you’ll be like Oh yeah, that is right. Yeah, that is what I do. Alright, let’s hit send.
Amber Hawley 43:58
I love it. That is fantastic. And a wonderful piece of advice. And obviously, I think people are gonna be like, well, I need I need me some more of Lisa. So how would they find more of all about you?
Lisa Simone Richards 44:11
Oh, I always love to send people to the quiz. Again, if you’re figuring trying to figure out how to get visibility as an online coach. That’s the name of the quiz. So head over to Lisa soon returns.com/quiz. I will give you your answer. So you don’t need to figure it out in a trading video. And then once you go through there, you’ll find out how to find me on Instagram and social media and all those different things. But start off with the quiz so that you can take something from this conversation today and tangible tangibly, put it into practice to move your business forward.
Amber Hawley 44:39
I love it. I love it. Well, we’re gonna put all of that in the show notes if you are driving and not remembering this, but we will all be there and love your energy and can’t wait to take the quiz.
Lisa Simone Richards 44:51
So much Amber’s been so much fun talking with you today. Thanks for having me on the show.
Amber Hawley 44:55
Yes, thank you
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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