Feeling GOOD About Failure!
“But my coach tells me that…”
I got an email from one of my readers - seems that whlle he was busy, he didn’t think it was the right kind of busy - and he suspected that if he ever wanted to attract a different type of client, he needed to change his marketing. All well and good. I shot back a couple of thoughts, said to let me know if he wanted to talk further. He replied that his coach had since told him he had plenty of business and didn’t need to worry about marketing right now. (Tip: The time to “worry” about marketing is when you’ve got enough business to fund new things. Otherwise, you’ll end up in panic mode, calling someone like me who won’t be able to help you. It does take some money and time to get results - even in guerilla, down-n-dirty, get ‘r done marketing.)
Here’s where we hit one of my pet peeves: Coaches. There are some dynamite life and biz coaches out there - I’ve had several for clients. However, there are also about a million who got into coaching because, well, they could. Then, they decide they’re instantly and imminently qualified to give advice on everything from finance to marketing to web site development. All because - well - they can. Their clients may fail but golly, they’ll feel good about it, ‘cuz “My coach is so supportive!” (At least until the bank forecloses on their home and the kids have to drop out of college.)
What a bad and/or inexperienced coach doesn’t/can’t tell you:
Starting a business is hard. Keeping it running is even harder. You’re not going to have “more time with the kids,”- you can’t take a sick day, even when you’re sick - you’ll be exhausted for at least the first year - and you’ll have to do a lot of crap work that you hate. (It’s not all “doing what you love.”) This is just as true in a sole proprietorship as it is in a high-tech venture with a $500M market cap.
It’s not enough to have good intentions or feel good about what you do. You’ve got to deal with a lot of people who don’t know you, don’t have to buy from you and have no reason to be nice and supportive. They may not even like you. (You’re not paying them a coaching fee.)
There is no marketing magic formula. Every business, market sector and customer target is different. A coach who has read a book and is now repeating the “top ten tips” to you as a mantra is doing more harm than good. Sure, get the basics, but you can do that on your own.
Your baby may be way fug ugly. The idea you love may not be any good. This is hard for all of us - we simply can’t be objective about our own stuff. (I regularly ask colleagues to critique my ideas for my own marketing. And I really wish somebody had slapped me up side the head before I lost about $25,000 in a “fun” little venture a few years back.)
The money doesn’t always follow the passion. This is particularly true if you’re passionate about something for which there is already a gazillion other providers (like - um - coaching.) As a client (a coach) said to me during one of my entrepreneur sanity check sessions, “Mary, I’ve followed the passion and the money ain’t comin!’”
You may very well fail - miserably, horribly, stupidly. Many entrepreneurs do on the first one (or two…or three) gigs. You can recover and learn from failure, but you’ve also got be able to deal with it - mentally and financially. It’s all well and good for a smiling coach to blithely quote Thomas Edison on failure (1) but the blithe one isn’t the one paying your bills or staring at your bedroom ceiling at 3 a.m. wondering “How in the hell am I….”
P.S. Everything above can also be said about “consultants.”
(1) “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Read More: Jeffrey Eisenberg on toxic web “experts.”
Related Posts:
I Hate Consultants
First, Kill All the Consultants
Martini Musing: The Only 4 Secrets You Need to Know!
Why I Have Trouble with “Expert.”
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September 17th, 2007 at 7:02 am
I’ve learned something very valuable from a client who is a coach - one of the good ones. She advises people to put at least 60% of their effort into accomplishing what needs doing TODAY, not into what you want to happen tomorrow. Do what needs to be done today, to make the tomorrow you’re hoping for materialize.
And, if you put 70% of effort into that project TODAY, think of the positive return on investment. Want more clients? What are you doing today, right now, to make that happen? More $$$? That’s a today task, not a tomorrow one.
It works for me.