Wendy (00:38)
Hello there, welcome back to the Coaching Edge. It's your host, Wendy McCallum. I am coming to you from my brand new studio. It's actually a combination of a recording studio, an office, and my art studio. And I'm so excited to be here. I actually have taken a couple of months off recently from doing live group work and in fact from most coaching.
and it's because I was finishing building this dream house of mine on the ocean and then busy selling a house in the city, moving everything out here, getting my two kids back to university, and also trying to take a bit of a break, frankly. And so, in all of that, I ended up taking a good long break from coaching. In fact, the longest break I think I've ever taken from coaching, which was five full weeks off, almost like a sabbatical. In the process of all of that.
The BBB community wrapped up. So that was my business building live group community that met every single week. I met with this group of people. And I had been doing that for over four years. It wrapped up at the end of July, and I shifted that program into what's called now the business building boutique. I've been talking about that in recent episodes, which is a series of self-guided courses with the option to add on some one-on-one support for me. For the first time in years, I found myself not running a live group.
And something really interesting happened. And that's what I want to talk about today. I missed it so much. Not the content delivery. I can do that through my self-guided courses, not the coaching. I still get to do that through the one-on-one work that I do, but the facilitation, the community building, watching other coaches connect with each other and being in the room when that happened.
and that's when I realized that that is, in fact, my special sauce. I have lots of strengths over the years that I have developed and built, and lots of things I do well as a coach. but I think my real kind of gift is in that facilitation and building of community. And I had stepped away from it, and I want to talk today about what happens when you build offers around your actual strengths, not
Based on what you think you should be doing, but based on what you're genuinely really amazing at and what lights you up, and how to make sure that aligns with what your clients really need. So we're gonna talk about the outside in versus the inside out approach to offer building today. And this is something that I have been doing, I think intuitively for the last few years, but this experience I had this summer.
with taking some time away from live group coaching, really made it clear to me that I needed to be focused on that this fall. So let's start with the outside in trap. Okay, and this is how most coaches build their offers. And that is that we look at what other coaches are doing, we look at what's happening in the market, and we follow formulas. And I get it, this probably sounds a little bit
I guess hypocritical, maybe even coming out of my mouth, somebody who helps and teaches coaches how to build courses. But I do emphasize inside anything that I do with coaches, any of my course building workshops or my programming, that you really do have to create something that is unique to you and your gifts and unique to your particular audience that you're serving and the particular problem that you're solving. And I'm always encouraging my coaches to lean into the things that really are their natural
gifts and the things that they're naturally better at and to stay away from some of the things that don't work very well for them. So what we tend to do as coaches is follow formulas. We tend to look for the recipe for how to do the thing. You need to get a course, you need to build a membership or a program. And we build what we think is going to sell based on what is trendy right now. And we often copy models because we think we should, because they're working for that person.
But we don't really stop to consider whether they're actually going to work for us. So that's the outside in trap. We look outside to figure out what we're going to do. And I think we've, we're all guilty of this. I've done this as well in the past. but I have learned a lot from that. And that's what I want to talk about today. This doesn't work very well for any of us because you end up delivering most of the time something that actually isn't a great fit for you, something that drains you. the delivery of it can feel like a real slog.
And you can start to really dread it and you can start to burn out. And even if it sells well, you start to resent it. Here are some of the signs that you're building against your strengths. These are the things to look out for. First of all, you're avoiding the thing you've created. It feels harder than it should to run the thing or to coach the thing, or maybe to sell the thing.
Clients aren't getting the results that you expected. And here, this is a really good one. You're relieved when someone cancels or when the thing doesn't go. So I've worked with lots of coaches who have had ideas for programs. They've based them on this sort of outside-in approach. They have created something that they think is going to be the solution to all their problems and all their clients' problems, but it's not actually something that comes from the outside in. It's the opposite. They're copying, they're doing what they think the market is telling them they should do.
They go to sell that program and it's super awkward. The marketing of it is awkward, which again is a sign. If you can't talk about it easily and you're not really feeling like you believe in the program, it can be really hard and awkward to sell it. But then nobody signs up for it and they feel this huge sense of relief. Okay. That is a sign that you're building against your strengths. So that's the outside in approach, and it's backwards, in my opinion. So let's talk about inside out, which is what I really want to.
advocate today and something that I have been taking to heart myself. And as always, I'm going to give you an example from my real life business and what's going on with me. The inside out approach involves starting with what you are great at. And this isn't just what you can do or even what you can do well. It's what you're uniquely good at. And again,
I am good at a lot of things, but the thing I'm uniquely, I think, positioned for and really good at that is my sweet spot, my wheelhouse, my jam, my special sauce is building meaningful community and connection.
This is going to be the thing that feels almost effortless to you. The thing that you just love doing. The thing that energizes you instead of depleting you. I actually thought it would feel like a bit of a relief to not have to run live group for those five weeks. And while I appreciated the break and needed the break to do all of the things that I had to get done this summer, I feel
More energized today sitting here recording this podcast. Today is the day that I got back to work with my clients at the beginning of September when I'm recording this. I felt so much more energized today. And I feel energized even talking about this topic and starting to think about what my next live group might look like. And I'm going to share with you guys my kind of intermediate thing that I'm trying in a second. I'll talk to you about that. But that's got me more energized than not doing it and taking a break from it this summer did. So that's really interesting information for me. So if
It's gonna be something that energizes you instead of dr of sapping you of your energy. How do you figure out what your special sauce is? Here are some really good questions. these are the types of things that I'm gonna encourage you to ask yourself. What do your clients thank you for that you didn't even realize you were doing? This is another reason why getting into the practice of asking for feedback all the time is really important. Now I've been lucky, I tend to have people in my groups who are just
Happy to give me feedback without me even asking. So I am often both actively asking for feedback, but also just receiving it in the course of conversations. So I can tell you with confidence that if I was to survey all of my past BBB group members, all of the coaches who have worked with me in the business building group over the last four years or so, and I asked them what the thing was that.
Was the most impactful and helpful and valuable to them in the BBB experience. And remember, the BBB, in its old iteration, involved an enormous content library, live masterclasses every month, and live office hours calls with me, and a community of like-minded coaches who were building their business. They would say, hands down, and I know this because they've said it to me time and time again, that it's the community.
That's the most valuable piece for them. It's connecting with me and other coaches. It's my special blend of kindness and straight talk. Those are the things that are the most valuable to them from that program. Not the enormous content library, not the experts that I brought in from masterclasses, not the masterclasses that I put on myself, but the ability to connect and know that you have a community of people around you who are going through the same thing and who you can crowdsource for.
motivation, for support, for a little pep talk on a day that you're feeling down. So that is the answer to that question for me. That's what my clients thank me for that I didn't even realize was that important. When I started the BBB, I had no idea that those would be the things that people would say are the most valuable about that program. Another good question is what feels easy to you but seems hard for other people? And I can tell you that this thing for me, this community building connection piece, it's so easy for me.
I love doing it. I just love meeting new people. I love facilitating conversations. I love connecting people, not in a salesy market marketing way. I I love connecting people just so that I can create some meaningful human connection. so that is really something that is is very easeful for me. And I don't have a lot of resistance around it, but I know that for other people that can be scary and uncomfortable. So
What feels easy to you, but f see seems hard for other people to do. what do you miss when you stop doing it? Well, again, obviously, my my example from this summer is really good evidence of of this particular question and the value of the answer to that question. I missed the group. I missed connecting. I feel kind of alone. In fact, so much so that I started a chat group just for the people from that live group.
so we could stay connected. And I said to them, Look, I have a feeling I'm gonna do something else. I just don't know what it's gonna be yet. And I want to create some space. I want to step away from it to try to figure that out. And frankly, I'm still trying to figure that out. I have a better idea of what that's gonna be, but I'm still trying to figure it out. I don't want to lose connection with you. Let's at least get into a WhatsApp group. And so just today or yesterday.
Somebody was sharing pictures of their daughter's wedding in Italy. There was someone else sharing pictures of a music festival they went to in Austria. We have, you know, members talking about their trips to Canada and what they're doing on this over the summer. And that's just wonderful for me because it gives me a sense of still being part of that community, even though I'm not I'm not facilitating an official live group of coaches right now. So I missed that when I stopped doing it.
And as you can probably tell from the way I'm talking about this, I'm quite animated. This is the thing that makes me feel most alive in my work. I love one-on-one coaching. I am also very good at one-on-one coaching. I've been doing it for 16 years, and I had my first one-on-one clients today since the end of July, and it was just the best day. I just had such a fun day. it was really interesting because.
Last night I was saying to my partner that I was like a little nervous about coming back to it today because I've never taken this long a break from it. And I've had a really good five weeks, but I've also, you know, been really contemplating, okay, where do I want my business to go? What do I want to focus on this fall? And I was worried that today I'd come back to it and not feel the same energy and excitement about coaching as I have always felt. And
I was proven completely wrong and I just feel more energy today than I have felt in a in a really long time. So it's really great to take a break, but also really amazing to come back to it. So, you know, I do feel really good in the one on one coaching, but I still have this drive and this kind of burning right now to need to kind of create a group environment again because I love that so much. what would you do even if you weren't getting paid for it? Great question.
I would not one-on-one coach if I wasn't getting paid for it. unless it was like a very particular circumstance and I had agreed to do pro bono with somebody because I felt really deeply about helping that person, which I've done in the past, but I would not full-time one-on-one coach and not get paid for it. I I'm not even sure I would wanna be doing it more than an hour or so a week right now, to be perfectly honest.
But I would facilitate a group and not get paid. And I've done that, a lot of that in the past. In fact, it's been a big part of how I market, because for me, it really is something that energizes me, that I never regret, that I always feel good about. And so something I'm happy to do without getting, you know, sort of officially paid for it in the moment. so what would you do even if you weren't getting paid for it?
The thing I'm going to talk to you about in a little bit is the connection call that I am hosting at the end of this month. And I am doing that for free. And there is no catch. so that is an example of of exactly that, something that as a coach, I'm happy and delighted to do for free. you know, even though it is something that I could get paid for.
So you're looking for that. You're looking for what your clients thank you for that you didn't even realize you were doing, what feels easy to you but feels hard for other people, what you miss when you stop doing it, what makes you feel the most alive when it comes to the work that you do? And what would you do even if you weren't getting paid for it? Those are all really great, great questions to identify your kind of special sauce, your sweet spot, your zone of genius.
Notice patterns too around the work that you do. Where do you get the best results with clients? what do people say about working with you? Not just not just the outcomes, but the experience. And again, this is where that feedback from BBB members is is great because they'll say, my gosh, Wendy.
your your strategies, your advice, your ability to help me, you know, cut through all the the noise and get to the nub of what I need to do next to my business is is amazing. It's unmatched. And the way that you do it is really great. I love your combination of, you know, kindness and and just like direct honesty. That's really great. But this thing that this group has that no other group has had is this feeling of connection and this just genuine just the joy.
Of being able to connect every week with you as the facilitator. So again, that's the thing that you're looking for. What do people say about the experience of working with you? It'll often provide you with a clue as to what your special sauce is. Okay. when you look back at your favorite client moments, what were you doing? And I have some, I mean, I have the the pri I've had the privilege of doing.
thousands and thousands of hours of coaching now over my career. And I can tell you that I have had some absolutely beautiful moments in one-on-one coaching sessions. So many of them. But the the real things that I remember are things that happened in a group setting. When one person was able to support another person in a way that I couldn't, or when somebody for the first time ever became vulnerable and said the thing in front of other people and you could
You could see the weight being lifted off of their shoulders. Or, you know, when we just had a moment of like shared joy at a time when everything felt really hard in the world. Those are the things that I remember. Those are my favorite client moments. So that gives me a clue as to maybe what my, you know, special sauce is the thing I don't want to let go
Here are some different special sauce categories. Cause I've just been giving you the example of my special sauce, which I do think is community based.
building and facilitation. But here are some other things because that very well might not be your thing. But maybe you're a brilliant one-on-one coach. Maybe you are deep, you are focused, you are intuitive, and you just feel like you're in the zone and you get off of every client call and you just feel really good, really energized, really happy about what you have been able to do with that person in that session.
Maybe you're an amazing facilitator, a group facilitator, and you are good at creating energy and excitement and connection and community and getting people to actually join and participate and talk and share and all the rest of it. Maybe you're a gifted teacher. This is another thing that coaches are often very good at is teaching. So delivering content and curriculum, making a complex thing feel really simple.
Maybe you're really good at connecting people. So you're a natural connector or networker and you're good at introductions and helping people build relationships and building your own relationships. Maybe you're amazing at accountability and you're really good at providing clients, whether it's in a one-on-one or a group setting with structure, follow-through, and keeping people on track. You might be a blend of some of those things. I'm definitely a blend of many of those things and probably some other stuff.
but there's usually one thing that stands out, and that's what you're looking for. So again, my example of how all this worked for me is that the BBB, when it wrapped up as a live community, I restructured everything into these self-guided courses, which are now available as the business building boutique. And that link I've been sharing on podcasts now for the last couple of weeks, and you can get it through the show notes if you're curious. and so for a couple of months this summer, I actually didn't do any live group work.
And I I thought I'd enjoy it. And again, parts of it I did really enjoy. as I said, I read a lot. I actually built an art studio. I I spent some time just with people that really matter to me. It's probably my last summer with my kids ever sort of living in the same house as me. And so that was you know, something I didn't want to wish away. I wanted to be there for that. So that was all great, but I also noticed that I really missed being in the room with coaches. I noticed that I missed
Not just the teaching, the teaching part of facilitating and the coaching, but the hosting. I missed inviting people to come to a call with me and having them show up. I missed watching people connect with each other. I missed the energy that comes from that community piece. And again, that led me to this conclusion: okay, that's missing for you now, and you're going to want to figure out how to get that back.
In as part of your business model, as part of your practice. And so I'm looking now to try to figure out how to fill that gap for myself and how I bring that back in a way that fits both my life right now and my business right now. And the past model of the BBB, for all the reasons I've talked about in other episodes, doesn't work for me anymore. So I'm getting creative around this and I don't have the answer yet. But I'm very committed to staying connected with people.
And to continue using that strength that I have and to keep building those relationships. For now, here's what I've come up with, guys. And this is the part I'm excited to share with you today. because I also hopefully you you know this from listening to other podcast episodes, but just a reminder: you don't have to have the whole answer right away to start. And sometimes taking small steps and just treating it like a beta.
Is the way to do it. In fact, I think all the time treating it like a beta is the way to do it. So I'm starting a new beta. And my beta is that I am going to run something called a coach connect call for completely free at the end of this month. So this episode's going to air, I think, on September 28th. The call is in two days on September 30th. I would love to meet you there. I have over the summer had coaches from all over the world contact me, which is just so cool.
And already for this Coach Connect call, I was just looking at the the list of coaches who are signed up. I have, I'm not gonna remember all of them, but I have someone in Denmark, someone in Austria, someone in France, a bunch of people in the US, some people in Canada, somebody in the Emirates, someone in Poland, and and a bunch of other countries, which is very cool. They're gonna join this call. It is a free call. It's open to anyone, anyone who listens to this podcast, anyone who's on my newsletter list, you can sign up through the link.
That I will put in the show notes. It's a beta. I'm going to see how it goes. I'm going to give it a light structure for now. So I'm going to bring a topic and we're going to talk about something that is relevant to all coaches right now, but it's really going to be more of a conversation style. I'm not going to be teaching, it's not going to be coaching. We're just going to be talking to each other and sharing our experiences. I'm going to facilitate, I get to connect and be in the room with coaches again, which I'm excited about.
but it's also a way for me to like keep a bit of a light touch in terms of like the live group aspect of my my practice while I figure out what a bigger offering might look like down the road. So this is my beta. I'm trying this Coach Connect call. We already have I think probably 25 people at least registered for it right now. And I just started talking about it this week. I'm sure that by the time September 30th comes around, that'll be a bigger group.
I'm excited. I'm saying it's a 90-minute call right now because I think there'll be lots to chat about. and I'm not gonna record it. It's you gotta come live. So it is on September 30th. I'll put the time and the link in the show notes so you can register if you're interested. but that's me doing what I'm encouraging you to do, which is pay attention to what lights you up. And then if
You don't feel lit up at some point, or it feels like there's a gap or something's missing, or you just notice you're not as energized, ask yourself what's gone. And then look at how you can bring that back. What is the thing that you're really strong at? And how can you build an offer around that? your special sauce, as I like to call it, only matters if you solve a real problem. So this is the practical side of this. And this is really the piece that I'm trying to figure out right now. You might love doing something that nobody wants to pay for.
Right. So are coaches willing to pay for a structured, facilitated community with other coaches and, you know, an expert coach who's been coaching other coaches around business for a really long time? I don't know. That's something that I need to figure out. you might be building something that people want, but it doesn't fit you. So you need to pay attention to that too. Is this actually the right thing for me? Is this the right thing for them?
And the sweet spot really is where those two things intersect. So it's what you're great at, where that intersects with what your clients actually need and want. And the way to check whether that is there, that alignment is there, is to ask yourself, are people actually asking for this? And you might need to survey for feedback, which is something I'm about to do to get the answer to that question. But are people actually asking for this? When you delivered this in the past, how did it land?
Were people into it or was it crickets? is there a gap in the market that your strength uniquely fills? I happen to believe very strongly that there is an enormous gap in the market right now when it comes to meaningful, real human connection and community. And that is because of the surge in AI right now and because we're all online all of the time. So I think there is actually a big gap that whatever's coming next for me is going to solve. And certainly the Coach Connect call in the interim.
is going to help fill. Are you solving a problem that people are really willing to invest in? And again, this, if I'm being honest, which I always am, is the thing I'm struggling with right now. What can I create that actually feels incredibly valuable to coaches and that they're willing to invest in? is it just connection and community, or is it that plus business coaching? Is it something, you know, where that also gives you access to a library of tools and resources?
You know, and then what works for me in my real life right now. Whatever you come up with that you think is in this intersection area of what you're great at and what your clients actually want and need right now, make sure you test it before you build it. Talk to your audience, ask them what they need, pay attention to patterns and conversations in your DMs, in discovery calls.
Run a beta, run a pilot, run a free version before you commit to a full build. Again, the coach connection this month is an example of that. I'm not sure that the format of that is exactly what I would do if I actually built something like that into the business model that I have. but it's a start. And I'm going to just see how it goes this week to have coaches from all over the earth, sorry, this month. Well, no, it is this week, actually. When this airs, it'll be in two days. To have coaches from
countries all over the world join in on this call and just connect and communicate. And I think it's gonna be a really good way for me to test that intersection and to see what resonates and to see what people want more of and what's working and what's not working.
I am doing this episode because I've been a little bit focused this month as we kick off this season of the coaching edge, talking about offers and how to build offers and the right offers and all of that. And I think I just want to reiterate that you get to evolve, you get to change your mind, you get to change your business. This is, in fact, the beauty of running your own business: that you have that flexibility. Your offers should change as you learn more about yourself. What did I learn about myself this summer? I learned that actually.
Love community calls and group calls and I don't like it when they're not part of my life. I want to have those be part of my business model somehow. whether they're just a free call like the Coach Connect call every quarter, or whether it's a more structured program with you know, with other other things attached to it.
What worked for you three years ago might not fit now. And it's important to pay attention to that too. I talked about that in episode 104, which was actually the first episode of the season. If you haven't listened to that episode yet, go back and listen to that. That's that's the episode where I talk about like you get to change as a business owner, and your business gets to change. You're allowed to stop doing the things that drain you. And I had gotten to a point where the last iteration and structure of the BBB with the very intense call schedule.
wasn't working for me. And I don't think it was working for the the program very well either. And so it was in many ways draining me, even though I loved every time someone got on a call with me, I loved talking to them. The way that was structured and the responsibility that I had to show up 12 times a month on these calls wasn't working for me anymore. So you're allowed to stop doing the things that drain you and you're allowed to bring back the things that you miss. That's what this episode is all about. This is an ongoing process. I'm obviously still figuring it out.
BBB restructuring into the business building boutique was part of it. The Coach Connect calls are part of it. There's probably more coming. I don't know yet. What I do know is that I want to build around my strengths, not against them. I want to stay connected to coaches in a way that feels sustainable for me and feels really useful and valuable to them. And I want to keep listening and learning about what you need and be responsive. and and I am committed to doing all of those things.
On that note, I really want to hear from you. And I want to encourage you to do this with your audience if you're also thinking to yourself, you know what, there is something missing. I don't think that I'm really focusing on my my special sauce or my gift. and I would like to start thinking about a new offer for the fall. survey your audience. Ask them for their feedback. What is it they actually want? And so I am building something that is clear here. I don't know what it is yet, but I want your input.
I'm thinking about what a longer term community or support structure for coaches might look like. And instead of guessing, I just want to ask you directly. And you'll probably see if you're on my newsletter list, you'll probably see something come out in a newsletter on this as well, where I ask for you to just hit reply or fill out a survey or something like that. I'd love your thoughts on if you could design the perfect support support community for building your coaching business, what would that look like? And what I mean by that is how often would you want to meet?
Would you want to meet weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly? would you want it to be more about connection and community, or more about coaching and business building and strategy, or a blend of those two things? What would you be willing to invest monthly in this perfect support program?
Is it $97 a month? Is it $4.97 a month? Is it $9.97 a month? What do you want? What would you be willing to invest? Obviously, the value of the program is going to be directly tied to the pricing of the program. That's how that's how pricing works. So you know, I can I can certainly create something that is lighter touch and lower price point, but if you're looking for more
For deeper support and for more regular connection, then obviously that's that's gonna be at a different price. would you prefer flexible month-to-month commitment and pricing? That's what I'm leaning towards right now, to be honest, because that works better for me too. Or would you rather commit to a longer term program with a discount? which is how I did it before with the BBB. The commitment was always 12 months, and then in more recent.
Years, months, it became a six-month commitment. And that allowed me to price it lower. But I think, you know, the upside of doing it monthly is that it provides tons of flexibility for both coaches who are members of the program. You can leave anytime. and lots of flexibility for me as well, as the person running the program.
so yeah, those are all the questions that I would ask you. And if you want to take a second to let me know, you can send me a note at Wendy at wendymacallum.com. I would love to hear from you. I just love hearing from people who listen to the podcast. It just makes my week. Every every time a new episode comes out, I get a few notes from people. And I love to hear, you know, where you are and what kind of coaching you do. Anyway, if you want to take a second and answer some of those questions, I would love, I would love to know the answers.
as I said, I'll probably do some kind of more structured feedback request at some point. But those are the types of questions to ask your audience as well. If you if I could design the perfect coaching program for you right now to help you solve this problem, right? Or what is the problem that you're looking for a coaching program to support? Would you like that to be group or would you prefer for it's one on one? Would you like it to be self guided or would you like it to be, you know, taught live?
Ask all of those questions. What would you be willing to invest in in solving this problem and in this in this program? and how long would you want to have to commit to this? Like those are good questions to ask your audience, and those will really help you as you design this program. So you can always DM me on Instagram. I'm at Wendy McCallum Coach. You can send me an email, as I said, at wendy at wendymacallum.com. I am I'm genuinely asking for feedback on this. I genuinely want to know. I'm building a
really amazing community through this podcast, but I don't get to see most of you or talk to most of you. I would love to see you on the Coach Connect call on Wednesday if you can join. No idea how that's going to go. It's a beta. But I guarantee you it'll be cool. And you'll get to meet me and meet coaches from all over the world. And so I'm going to leave it at that. The question to ask yourself is what is my special sauce as a coach? What
Do I do that feels almost effortless to me, but creates incredible impact and value for my clients? And then this week, I would really suggest that you take away a couple things to think about and work on in your business. Ask a couple of your past clients.
What they valued most about working with you. This is such a good exercise. We call it sometimes the most valuable buyer exercise, where you look at the client that's done the most with you, has come back and done more and more work for you. They're usually a really good example to do a little data mining with to really ask them, you know, what is it about working with me that's so valuable? What do you love about working with me and coaching with me? look for patterns in what you hear from people. And then look at your current offers.
Are there any offers right now? And again, this is along the lines of what we've been talking about all month on the podcast. But is there anything there that feels like a slog? Is there anything there that doesn't feel fun to me anymore? And ask yourself if that program is actually focused on your strengths or against your strengths. And what would need to change for that to feel more aligned and more easeful for you? Because the more easeful it feels, the more joyful it feels, and the more joyful it feels, the better.
The coaching is. And also, guys, honestly, from a business perspective, the easier it is to sell.
that's it for me today. Thank you for listening. Hopefully, I'll see you on the Coach Connect call. If you're listening to this episode after September 30th, click through the link anyway. There may be another coach call, Coach Connect call scheduled by this by this point. We'll just see. It'll all unfold. I'll see you next time on the Coaching Edge.
