My Chat with Les Brown

I had the honor of interviewing Les Brown a while back. Here's an excerpt:

Andy: I have a number of questions here and I’d like to kind of dive right in with how do we find our life’s purpose if we’re not quite sure what that is?

Les: I think that you have to experiment. One of the most obvious ways is that what are the things that you enjoy doing that comes naturally to you and others recognize in you that you receive compliments about?

All my life I’ve always had people to tell me that I had a great sense of humor, that I had a good speaking voice, and that I was an encourager, that I made them feel good when they were facing challenges.

They would ask me questions and I would give them response to that. And, so when I look back on my life I’ve been told for years that I had a gift that I was not aware of. Because it came so natural to me I never paid any attention to it. But, the other thing is that’s important to find your life purpose, is just experiment what resonates for you.

I used to be a disc jockey, a state representative. I’m an author. I’m a speaker. I used to have a talk show. I was a radio personality. So, I was doing a variety of things to find out what resonates with me as an individual that would put me on the path to where I’m at right now.

Andy: So, we need to kind of feel that in us.

Les: Yeah, we have to experiment. We have to try and test a variety of things to see what fits. And, the other thing is listen to what people tell you that you’re good at and then try it and work with it and see what can come from it.

One of things that I always ask people to do is to try and find something that they love to do and leverage that to create income for themselves. I believe that man, and I say man in a generic sense, was not born to work for a living but to live his making. And, living his making will make his living. So, find out that which you love to do.

See, I speak and that’s my profession but I would speak for nothing. I used to speak for free for years. So, this is not work for me. This is what I would do twenty-four seven.

Andy: Now, okay let’s say that someone has been able to find their life’s purpose and what is the key to living your dreams once you know what you want? Is there some type of formula?

Les: I think it’s very simple. Once you find out what it is you love to do, do as much of it as you can until you leave here. That’s it. Because, when you find that which you love to do then there is a, what I call, the magnificent obsession that comes into play. And, that you want to do it not as often as you can, but that not just doing it often but doing it the best that you can.

And, right now at this stage of my life, I’m sixty years old, and so I’m finding things about myself as a speaker. I’m discovering things about the audience. But, now I’m beholding. I’m realizing some secrets. Anything that you do a lot you will master it. It will reveal its secrets to you.

And, so I’m doing things now that I’m amazed. I’m impressing myself because I’m still in love. This is a romance here. This is still my passion. And so as a result of my mastering this, this is has now allowed me to live a life that others just dream about.

Brian Tracy on Goal Setting

Here's a great excerpt from an AudioMotivation interview I conducted with Brian Tracy in 2006:

Me:
Can you take us through some of your world famous goal setting techniques for both long term and short term goals?

Brian:
When I began my life, I had not graduated from high school. I worked as a dishwasher for some years and as a laborer for many years after that. One day I discovered the concept of goals. It changed my whole life. The whole idea of picking a specific target to end that and then channeling all of your efforts toward that single target was a life transforming experience for me and I never recovered from it in a very positive way. Over the years, I have studied goal setting for thirty years. I’ve written books on it and trained more than a million people. I can give you one of the best techniques I have ever found. I use it myself virtually every single day. It’s called the Ten Goal Method.

The Ten Goal Method is very simple. You sit down with a sheet of paper and you put today’s date on it. Then you write out ten goals that you’d like to accomplish in the next year or so in the present tense starting with the word ‘I’. You start off and say, “I earn X number of dollars. I weigh X number of pounds. I sell. I live. I drive such and such a car. I travel to.” In other words, it’s I plus an action verb which locks it into your subconscious mind. I’ve given this exercise all over the world with phenomenal results. People write down their ten goals and then a week, month, or a year later they open up that list of goals and they have not even read it in the last year. They are absolutely astonished eight of their ten goals will have been achieved in the most remarkable ways.

Now to make this exercise even more powerful I also had people write out their ten goals, which takes about three or four minutes. I then have them say, “Imagine you could wave a magic wand and you could have any one of the goals on this list within 24 hours.” Which one goal would you choose? Which one goal would have the greatest positive impact on your life? Whatever that goal is you put a circle around it. Then you transfer that goal which now becomes your major definite purpose, your focal point in life. You transfer that goal to the top of a clean sheet of paper and you set a deadline for achieving that goal. You make a list of everything you can think of that you could do to achieve the goal. Then you organize the list by what you should start doing first, what you should do later, what is more important, what is less important, and take action on that list. Every single day you do something to achieve that one single goal. Here is the most remarkable thing that happens. As you begin to move toward that goal, which you will, you will start to make progress on all of your other goals as well. That one central goal will have the greatest positive impact on your life and begins to activate all of your other conscious, superconscious powers. You begin to attract into your life people and circumstances that you never would have imagined in the past.

This is the great miracle of goal setting. Decide what you want. Write it down. Make a plan. Work on it every day. You will be absolutely astonished what happens. When you get up in the morning think about that one major goal. All day long think about that goal. In the evening think about that goal. Read, learn, talk, discuss, and do things to achieve that goal. Surprise, surprise a week, a month, or a year from now you will look back and will be absolutely astonished at the progress that you’ve made.

Drive-through boo-boos

Few things in business offer such opportunity for
increased repeat business, positive word of mouth
and extreme consumer convenience as the fast food
drive-through window.

And yet so few actually get it right, and that my friends
is inexcusable.

Let's face it, in the drive-through you're at their mercy.

If they screw up your order, it negates the entire
convenience factor. Even if you check your order before
pulling out, which you always should, you then have to
either pull back around and inform them of their mistake
or, worse yet, park the car and walk in.

This results in annoyed and, in many cases irate customers.

So you would think that they would take extra care to get
the order right, but it appears, judging from the frequency of
these mistakes, that they don't.

Oh you might be thinking that this is just a nit-picky rant
but there are 3 lessons to be taken away from this, and here they
are:

#1. Customer service is King. You have to go above and beyond
for the customer at all times. It must be one of your top priorities.

#2. Always check to make sure you've covered everything your
customer or client wanted covered, whether you're coaching,
speaking or creating products. Cater to the needs of your target
market at all times.

#3. Always check your order in the drive-through.

Working With Coaches

With the 4th of July just about here it reminds me
of what happened at a recent family gathering where,
over dinner, someone asked me what I do.

"OK, here we go again," I thought to myself.

People who don't work from home don't "get it" and
never will. I'm sure my wife's relatives think I'm some
type of vagabond or going through a mid-life crisis,
hoping that soon I will go back to a 9 to 5 job and
everything will be back to normal.

So when they asked what I'm doing these days I said,
"I'm working with coaches,"To which my brother-in-law
responded, in all seriousness and curiosity, "oh really?
in any particular sport or all of them?".

Even though the coaching industry is growing rapidly
around the globe, most people who aren't looking to
improve themselves personally or professionally
really aren't aware of the vast resourcesof help
that are now available to them, if they were to
only reach out.

95% of people in this world live in a vaccuum,
oblivious to their own potential,which is really quite sad.

We can only hope that with the continued aggressive
growth of the coaching industryand the increased
visibility of people likeyou both on and off the Internet,
in the form of quality websites with compelling copy, a
strong marketing plan and a powerful message, that it's
only a matter of timebefore coaches are used in every
small town and far reaching hamlet on the globe.

And when that happens, just watch how fast the world
becomes a better place for all of us.
Either way, I will always be proud to say,
"I work with coaches."

Guarantees

The guarantee can be a high wire act that many coaches don't want to mess with.

Lumped into the same category as a complimentary first session, the guarantee can be a potential time and money waster.

This is why many coaches have no such assurance on their websites, or only provide guarantees for their ebooks or other products and not for their actual coaching services.

But looking at it from another point of view and you'll see a whole new array of opportunities.

1. A guarantee virtually eliminates the possibility of buyer's remorse, so the potential client knows that there's no risk to at least try you out.
   
   
2. As a result of #1, a guarantee, when worded and framed properly within the context of your overall message, can increase the number of clients who reachout to you for help.
   
   
3. A guarantee is a lethal competitive edge. All other things being equal in your niche, do you think a potential client will choose a coach who guarantees their work over one that doesn't?

Some things to look out for however.

First, your promise needs to be phrased in such a way that it makes the client feel secure while not leaving you exposed to potential abuse. So don't do some "double your money back" thing, think it through.

Second, the guarantee should be written in a sales context, so that it's fun, enthusiastic and makes you look like you are so completely certain that they would never use this guarantee--because you're that good.

And finally, if you do have a guarantee, make sure you can follow through on it and don't give them a hard time.

Your reputation is on the line, which is much more valuable than any refund you may end up giving out.

I can help you with this and other elements of your website, so just let me know if you want to increase your client base and we'll make it so.

To Your Success,

Andy O'Bryan

PS...

I love the PS. And I'm not the only one.

The PS is one of the first things people look at when they visit a sales page.

They read the headline, then they scroll down at lightning fast speed to read what the PS says.

It's like a do-over.

The PS gives you a chance to re-state your benefits and re-affirm your unique selling proposition.

You can talk about a guarantee in the PS.

You can talk about the urgency of your offer in the PS.

You can bring out the emotions of your reader all over again in the PS. Emotions that will cause them to take action.

You can even do all of the above, because you can have PPS, PPPS and even a PPPPS.

And they will all get read.

Yes, I love the PS.

If your website, sales page or emails don't have a PS, then you're missing out on some potential clients or product sales.

Think about adding one in and what you might say.

Let me know if I can help you with it. I've written thousands of them.

Until next time...

To Your Success,

Andy O'Bryan

How to put the 'You' in Unique

If there's one thing you can take away from American Idol that will help you to grow your business, it's this:

The most successful contestants, the ones who make it the farthest in the competition regardless of talent level (ie: Sanjaya Malakar), are the ones who have differentiated themselves from therest of the pack.

Sanjaya, who was finally voted off the show this week, certainly didn't possess the talent necessary to win the whole thing, but what he lacked in singing ability he more than made up for in his ability to appeal to the masses with his personality, his hairstyles and his underdog image.

You can do the same thing. Now I'm sure you are extremely talented at what you, but you need to find your unique abilities and emphasize them on your website.

If your niche is "business coach who helps people grow their business" or "life coach who helps people to achieve their dreams" those are way too broad.

Everyone and their Uncle Louie are trying to build their coaching practices with those tag lines.

You need to narrow your focus or risk getting lost in the crowd.

I recently instructed one of my clients to record their next coaching call and listen to what they are saying to get a better idea of how you can differentiate yourself.

Also, look at what you're most passionate about in your business. What jumps out at you in terms of precisely how you want to help people?

Are there any other coaches who you would like to emulate? What do their websites look like? What are they saying to their prospects?

Go to Google and type in "life coaches" or "business coaches" and this will give you a good idea of two things:

1. what your competition is up to

2. your alternate niche possibilities, what's being underserved and what markets are saturated

If you don't have any clients yet, try to paint a vivid picture of who your ideal client would be.

What specific problem would you be solving for them?

What unique talents do you have that makes you eminently qualified to be their port in the storm?

Then, when you have the answer, run with it.

Make sure your website conveys your unique message and you'll have a much better shot at making yourcoaching business something that will bring you a steady flow of clients and, in turn, financial security and peace of mind.

If I can help you do that just give me a call or send me an email.

Until next time...

To Your Success,

Andy O'Bryan

5 Ways to Convey Urgency on Your Website

Urgency is a necessary component of a website that converts casual visitors into clients.

Why is urgency important?

Because if people coming to your site think that there's no hurry to hire you, then they probably won't. Remember, the people coming to your website are web surfers, and probably to a certain degree, procrastinators. They need a coach like you because they need to be prodded into action in their lives or their businesses.

Giving them urgency is your first opportunity to do some coaching before they even hire you. In fact, if you write it well, you are actually giving them their first assignment: hire me! There are a number of ways to convey urgency without coming across as an infomercial or a shopping channel host.

Here are a few things you can do today to generate some "do it now" emotion in the minds of your website visitors:

1. Have a discounted rate for a limited time

2. Say that you can only take X number of people right now, because your schedule is filling up (ethics warning: don't exceed your self-imposed client limit!)

3. Give away an ebook, audio or ecourse to the first X number of people, or give a time limit

4. Throw it back in their court by saying something to the effect of "the sooner you take action the sooner your situation will improve"

5. Offer a new coaching package at an introductory price or make it available only to the first X amount of people

Implement some urgency to your website and you should see some client growth.

If you're not sure how to word things, or if you need help making your overall website copy more persuasive, just call or send me an email. I'm here to help you grow your client base.

To Your Success,

Andy O'Bryan

3 Ways to land clients from your About page

The About page is a chance for you to let your hair down and talk about yourself. You probably have some excellent qualifications, experience and stories to tell, and this is the place where many coaches like to put that information.

Indeed, most people who click on your About page, if you have one, is precisely because they want to get to know you better.

Here are 3 ways to play your About page to your advantage and get more potential clients to contact you.

1. Have a compelling headline

Some attention grabbing text that introduces you and your story to your visitors will help to keep them interested. Pretend you're writing a newspaper article about yourself, using the most interesting part of your life in the context of how it might relate to your niche and your potential

client's needs.

2. Keep it casual

This is not a resume page. You're not applying for a job, you're citing reasons why you, and only you, can help them,based on what you've been through, what training you've had and how it all relates to getting results for them.

Don't put people off by simply rattling off your college degree and past employment history. This is your golden opportunity to toot your horn, talking about how you've helped someone just like them, maybe talk about your family, your life experiences (good and bad) and any amusing or inspirational stories that come to mind.

Get personal, get real and get them hanging on every word.

3. Ask for the sale

Yes, it's ok to get them thinking about hiring you at this point. You have them interested in you, you've kept their attention, now talk about how easy it is for them to work with you and what results they can expect, all as a logical conclusion at the bottom of this page--a page that they clicked on specifically because they are showing some curiosity. Make it as easy as possible to start the coaching process right then and there.

If you don't yet have a website then save this email for future reference, or forward it to someone who you think it may help.

Or if you have a website but don't have an About page, then just work this into the part of your site that talks about you.

As always, I'm here to help you grow your client base, so if you'd rather concentrate on coaching instead of copywriting just give me a call or email.

Until next time...

To Your Success,

Andy O'Bryan

Say it With Feeling

I'm going to reveal one of the main ingredients of an effective website, and by effective I mean one that brings you clients.

It's one that invokes feelings.

Emotions.

See, when people are surfing the Internet they have their guard up. And justifiably so.

They are constantly bombarded with advertising. There's the slick sales people, the scams and the utter lack of integrity that runs rampant online, so there's a very thick wall of skepticism when your visitor arrives at your site.

And skepticism is a very powerful emotion.

So when you trigger an alternate emotion in your visitor you begin reaching them on another level. The wall of skepticism starts to lift and you are being given some wiggle room to state your case.

This isn't easy, and this is why people hire professional copywriters

Sure, there are the obvious emotions that you can bring about with your copy, like fear, envy and greed, but everyone is going for those emotions and consumers know it.

But what about the others? I mean, there are a whole multitude of human emotions that you can tap into.

How about vanity, pride, boredom, sadness, love, pessimism, anger or guilt?

There are literally dozens that you can speak to with your copy, and much of it has to do with what ache you are trying to fix with your potential clients.

When you invoke the right emotions with your copy, your website visitors will begin to see themselves as potentially working with you because you are speaking their language.

It will be like a breath of fresh air to them.

They'll say to themselves, Wow, _________ gets it!

Then watch how fast people start contacting you.

Take a look at your website and see what emotions you're tapping into at the moment. If they don't jump out at you then they're not jumping out at your visitors either.

If you need help with this critical component of your web copy just let me know.

Until next time...

To Your Success,

Andy O'Bryan

Coaching to the Choir

Here's a different spin on a very old joke:

How many coaches does it take to change a light bulb?

Just one. But the light bulb has to want to change.

Coaches tend to write their web copy to people who may or may not want to change. If they're not willing to change their habits, the way they look at their past, their financial patterns, their negative attitudes, their limiting beliefs and so on, then they probably haven't found your

website.

And if they have found your site, then at the end of the day they probably won't be spending their money on a coach.

They're the ones who spend their tax refunds on new leather furniture, or a Bahamas cruise or a flat screen TV, then continue living paycheck to paycheck.

The ones that want to change are the ones who are on your site as we speak. They are the ones who will be swayed by your copy. They are the ones who will eventually hire a coach, quite possibly you.

There's a different way of writing for these people. They're ready. They probably don't need to read a "Why Coaching" page or a "Whatis Coaching" page.

Instead, change that page to "Why MY coaching"or "How is MY Coaching going to help you". Seethe distinction?

The question is: are you speaking to them? Are you coaching to the choir? Or is your copy generic, speaking to both the people who want to change and the ones who will never change.

If it's generic, then you'll be relegated to the pile of all the other coaching websites out there who don't yet know how to speak to their potential clients.

You have just a few seconds to hold the attention of your website visitors. Take a look at your site right now and imagine you're a potential client who is ready to change. What are they seeing at your site in the crucial first 5 seconds?

If they're not seeing themselves and their personal plight, along with a brief summary of the benefits of hiring you over the thousands of others on the web, then you may need to tinker with your website's copy.

I hope this helps you see things in a different way, because I want you to grow your client base exponentially, and this is the quickest way to do it.

To Your Success,

Andy O'Bryan

Is Your Coaching Easy or Hard?

Here's what I mean by that:

When people come to your website, do you tell them how much work will be involved on their part? Whether your coaching is easy or hard isn't really my point. Either way, whatever your coaching style is, you can play this to your advantage in your web copy.

For example, if you make the process easy for your clients then tell them how easy it is for them to succeed with you helping them. Use words like "step by step," "I'll be with you every step of the way," and "even if you've tried before and failed." There will be certain people who will love this so much they'll hire you in a heartbeat.

Now, if your coaching is hard, that's ok too, and you can maximize this as well. Use phrases like "I'm not going to sugarcoat this, it's going to be tough" or "my coaching isn't for everyone, only for people who are willing to roll up their sleeves..." People who aren't afraid of a little elbow grease to get where they want to go will feel they're up to your challenge. You've drawn a line in the sand, and some will cross it and hire you.

So decide how you think your clients perceive your coaching methods, and if you're not sure, ask some of your current or former clients. More importantly, how would you like to be perceived in the marketplace? Once you have your answer, run with it.

But a word of caution. If you're hard, don't say you're easy, and vice versa. Get it right in your own mind, then convey it on your web page.

Until next time...

To Your Success,

Andy O'Bryan

What's your story?

If you had your ideal client in the same room with you, the one person on earth who is most in need of the service that you have to offer, what would you say to that person?

It's just the two of you, face to face, in a room with one table, two chairs, four walls and no windows.

You have just a few seconds to get their attention, and if you manage that, you then have just a few minutes to tell your perfect client why they should choose you. You, over the thousands of other coaches. The clock is ticking. This person is in a hurry.

What's your story? How did you get to where you are now, which is, in the position to be uniquely qualified to help?

How can you help them (give them specifics)?

What do you bring to the party that is so unique that no one else on the planet can even come close to matching?

This is what your website should convey.

Tell your story to your ideal client in a way that is compelling, energizing and almost poetic.

Invoke curiosity. Entice, persuade and always, always, always make it as easy as possible for a potential client to hire you.

This means giving your services and fees upfront, giving contact information on every page, and not making them jumpthrough any hoops.

Remember, you are always in control of what your website visitor does. The minute you lose control, the instant you yield to your visitor, they are lost, confused and exiting out the nearest door.

Your website visitors want you to be in control. They want you to help them. It's your turf. Your place. They are a guest in your house. Make them feel at home, welcome and comfortable.

The text you use and the manner in which you use it is the key component here. Your design and navigation help it along, but the way you bring forth your message is, first and foremost, in your words.

Before you know it, it will be one of the most important parts of the year for coaches. People look at the end of one year and the beginning of another as an opportunity to start fresh, to wipe the slate clean and begin again.

So many will be looking around for a coach.

When they surf the web to begin their search and they reach your website, they will, in essence, be sitting in your room and many other rooms, a room much like the one I described above.

They'll be going one on one with you and potential coaches to help them set goals, attract abundance, follow their dreams, find their true self, be a better parent,a better spouse, a better person, grow their businesses, or any number of other individual objectives.

Your website is your room.

You can be the one for them during this potentially very busy and client-rich time.

Are you ready?

Take a look at your website and look at it in this context, or if you don't have a website

yet, consider this as you create one.

If I can help you get ready for the client push, including copywriting, email marketing, list building or consulting just let me know. I'm here to help.

Either way, I wish you all the best.

To Your Success,

Andy O'Bryan

How to Sell Your Site without Selling Your Soul

The Internet is overloaded with sales pages and high intensity websites that go out of their

way to sell you something, while leaving nothing on the table in terms of salvaging any credibility, integrity or respect.

And while that may be fine and dandy for some industries, it's totally unacceptable for coaches.

Your name, your reputation and your integrity are all on the line, so you better make sure

you're not coming across as an online snake oil salesman.

People have found your website as if it's a port in a storm. So you want it to be warm, inviting

and friendly.

Web surfers are becoming more and more jaded every day. They can see through superficial

sales copy faster, and their nimble fingers can skim through web pages with more skepticism

than ever, so you want to stand out as someone who is not like all the others.

But obviously you still want to bring in clients from your web presence, and as long as people

remain on your site, you still have a chance.

So how do you do sell without compromising your principles?

Here are 3 ways:

1. Focus on the needs of your target market. They have a need, and you have what it takes to fill it. If you can write with that in mind at all times, then you've made some headway.

2. Cite success stories and testimonials to state your case for you. This way you let your clients

do the selling. If you don't have any testimonials send an email to current or former clients and ask for one. This is no time to be shy.

3. Tell a story. You must have a favorite anecdote that you can share with people who visit your site. Maybe explain in a paragraph or two how you evolved to where you are now, or talk about a unique way that you helped someone with your coaching. People love compelling stories, as long as they don't run on too long.

It can be a tricky proposition to make your website sell without sacrificing everything you stand for.

If you do it right you'll start seeing an increase in your online client base.

Give these suggestions a try, and if you're still stuck, or you'd rather delegate this part of your

business to a professional so you can focus on things you do best--like coaching--just let me

know.

Until next time...

To Your Success,

Andy O'Bryan

Help, Hope and Hype

If you're a coach and you haven't yet seen the results you're expecting from your website yet, it's possibly because you're offering help and hope for their business and themselves, without offering any kind of marketing or sales enthusiasm, hiding your contact information or timidly calling people to action.

If this is because you're hesitant to come across too strong, I don't blame you.

People who visit your website have probably seen it all before online. They've seen the hype, the outrageous claims, the guarantees, the promises, and frankly, most of these folks are jaded. They don't know what to believe anymore. The sales letters that worked last year aren't working anymore, because of increased skepticism and the law of diminishing returns.

We're all witnessing a constant evolution of what the Internet is and isn't, what marketing claims are ok to make and what are out of line, especially in the coaching industry.

Whether you're a life coach, a business coach, a speaker, an author, a mentor or all of the above, your website needs to walk a tightrope between being professional enough to hold your credibility and reputation intact, and sales-focused enough to have a competitive edge and bring in more clients.

I just Googled the term "life coaches" and came up with 1,470,000 results. Your competition isn't just all the other solo entrepreneur life coaches, but it's also the big names out there who have teams of coaches on staff.

As a result, your website copy needs to be very strong to hold their attention and compete effectively. But not only that, your niche has to be in-demand enough to gain widespread notice, but specialized enough to make your services truly unique. After all, you probably sacrificed and took risks to get into this business, and you should start seeing an exponential return if you're not already.

Take a good long look at your current website, examine your traffic to see how many unique visits you're receiving, and try to get a handle on what makes your website visitors unique. Why did they come to you and not someone else? How long did they spend on your site before clicking away, and why did they click away without contacting you?

Your site has to constantly evolve to keep pace with the Internet's perpetually changing landscape. Keep the content fresh, add audio, even video, grab the visitor and lead them along the path to hiring you, instead of just showing them the equivalent of an online brochure.

I want to see you succeed. If you'd like some help just send over an email and we'll set up a time to talk.

Until next time...

Andy O'Bryan