The 4 Ms of a Successful Coaching Business

Emily Merrell and Lexie Smith break down the 4 Ms of a successful coaching business – Management, Mindset, Money & Messaging. They reflect on their own journey in their coaching businesses and how these 4 Ms have created successful businesses both for themselves and their clients.

Here’s what you’ll learn: 

• The 4Ms of a successful coaching business
• How mindset comes into play in your business
• The importance of knowing your numbers
• Tips on management and how to create a successful business using such
• The importance of messaging - and tips
• The importance of positioning yourself as an expert in your field - and how to do so
• Ideas on what people aren’t taking advantage of when it comes to messaging
• How the 4 Ms come into play in the Ready Set Coach Program
• Organization and development tips to help uplevel your coaching business
• And More! 

Follow Em & Lex on Instagram at @readysetcoachprogram

Learn more about the Ready Set Coach Program at Readysetcoachprogram.com

Learn more about Six Degrees Society and THEPRBAR inc.

Transcript

The 4 Ms of a Successful Coaching Business - Podcast Transcript

Emily Merrell  

Let's coach. Hi, Lexie.

Lexie Smith  

Hello, Emily. Welcome are happy New Year.

Emily Merrell  

Happy New Year. God, it's been a whole year since I've seen you. I

Lexie Smith  

know in full transparency. We're also recording this in December, but we're pretending that it's the new year and that we had fabulous holidays. Why did you recover? Because I was gonna say what are your holiday plans? And then it kind of blows blows it a little bit?

Emily Merrell  

I'm actually I'm not going anywhere for once, which is such a weird new thing. I feel like there's always this hustle and bustle, which lacks Do you have any hustle and bustle happening this week?

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, I've taken the taking that on for you. So we're recording this on a Wednesday and last night, so I was supposed to fly. So quick reminder, everyone, I'm in Southern California and from Oregon. That's where my whole family lives. And I was supposed to fly up on Friday. And now there's this big ice storm hitting Portland. And so all the trip, I mean, actually, it's hitting the whole country. And this is wild, because who knows what happened. So like, when you're listening to this, the ice storm will hopefully have passed and everyone's safe. But anyways, long story long. Last night, we had to change our flight from Friday to Thursday, which has really, you know, just added zero stress to the holidays of getting everything together. So yeah, anyways, I'm going up to Oregon grateful we were able to get a new flight and get to spend time with the family and see friends. And I'll be up there for a little over a week. And I'm really excited.

Emily Merrell  

Oh, I love that. I want to just share with you with the weather is in Denver right now. It's a high of 52. But tonight, it's going to be a low of negative four. And tomorrow it's going to be a balmy two degrees with a low of negative 14. Okay, so

Lexie Smith  

sunscreen and bathing.

Emily Merrell  

Because I was working on my tan tomorrow, that's what I was.

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, I guess the whole country has been hit for whatever my mom was texting me Portland, there's gonna be like four inches of sheet ice. And so it's there like rerouting everything. And this has actually happened to us in the past. There's been multiple winters in Oregon, where we've been stuck like at the airport just or where my family lives. It's not that close. And so anyways,

Emily Merrell  

I they that's why Santa it Santa does it on purpose. It helps them fly the plane. I mean,

Lexie Smith  

it keeps the airways clear. Yeah.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah, it does, right. Yeah, he doesn't want to get into any traffic with planes. He usually just grounds them all.

Lexie Smith  

Grounds them all. And Santa is so so Mary. And Mary starts with the letter M. And you know what else starts with the letter M the four M's to a successful coaching business.

Emily Merrell  

I liked it. I liked it. And also my one of my best friends is having a baby and her her name starts with A J, her husband starts with a K. Her dog starts with an L and so her babies is going to have to start with an M. Personally, I think that if you're listening, you know who you are. I think that the that the order should be different and maybe it should be L and then next dog starts with an M but we're prioritizing the dog over

Lexie Smith  

them like trying to spell does that spell something funny? J K.

Emily Merrell  

LM? Then if they have another Oh,

Lexie Smith  

they need three more.

Emily Merrell  

I know. p

Lexie Smith  

m n m n o p degress? Any news any news? Any who's the four M's to successful coaching? Emily, will you please kick us off with the first end that is so freakin critical to having a successful coaching business.

Emily Merrell  

Obviously, Lexie mindset or mental power, no mindset mindset. That was really bad. That was really

Lexie Smith  

corny. let that one slide so yes mindset and tell tell us what specifically about mindset is important.

Emily Merrell  

So with mindset it's everything from money mindset, like knowing your worth charging your worth believing what you're worth, overcoming limiting beliefs, confidence, adopting abundance and And so much more.

Lexie Smith  

I cannot underline bold italicize this point enough how much I underestimated the need for a strong mindset and how much it does truly correlate to earnings.

Emily Merrell  

And then you had a mindset experience to LAX Didn't you have a I hired

Lexie Smith  

so yeah, I started entrepreneurship and was very prepared for a lot of things. I was not prepared for all of the scarcity, the limiting beliefs, the imposter syndrome that was going to come up. So one of the the second biggest investment I made in my business was hiring a mindset coach and realize that I truly think when that started to click into place for me, it is what catapulted my business over six figures. Now, I will say I think mindset and not I think we think Emily, and I know it's something that you have to routinely consistently upkeep and work on. Yeah, it's

Emily Merrell  

like going to the gym, basically, you need to practice it, you need to put it into motion you it's not equivalent to sitting on the couch and having a good mindset. And everything just falls into place. There is work involved in putting mindset out into the world to help sell your offers.

Lexie Smith  

And just to like put an asterix here, we've done quite a few episodes on mindset, if this is a topic, an area of opportunity for you to further develop, I highly encourage you to pop on over into our podcast feed in listen more.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah. And I also I am, it's something that's important to us and something we bring up. And it's a big component of already set coach program. It's something that we have some sort of exercise on mindset, and every single week that we do live coaching, and it's a practice that we we build upon, and we help strengthen help the individuals in our cohort strengthen throughout their time working with

Lexie Smith  

us. Yep, yep. So it's a big one. And that's our first m of our flags. What's our second one? That's our second one. Second M for us here at ReadySet. Coach, which by the way, guys, this is our core methodology is management. Does that mean? Yeah, I don't mean management like the manager at Macy's, managing your team. When we talk about management in terms of building a successful coaching business, we're talking about time management, systems, workflows, operations. In order to have a successful coaching business, you really have to have a hold, and a grasp on the different things that enable you to manage your business effectively.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah, if those sticky notes are working for you, that's awesome. But most people need a little bit more than that. So from implementing Trello workflows, or clickup, or Asana, whatever project management tool works, or setting up a CRM system or newsletter that goes out social media strategy. Good on you, if you can just decide in that moment, but I'm sure your nervous system will thank you when you put management tools into place.

Lexie Smith  

If you're an ambitious, professional, consultant, or business owner, who is feeling called to do more, be more or make more, we'd like to invite you to learn more about Ready Set coach,

Emily Merrell  

do you feel called to create change, help others do something outside of your day to day that generates true impact.

Lexie Smith  

While you may or may not be content with your day job or existing business? Do you feel called to dip your toes into something more? Whether it's tapping into another zone of genius or the side hustle is calling your name? Are you ready to explore what being more would look like?

Emily Merrell  

Do you feel like your business or career is leaving money on the table or you're looking to launch a new revenue stream or side hustle?

Lexie Smith  

Turning your expertise into a coaching revenue stream or side hustle is rewarding, impactful, and a great business model. It's the triple threat, multibillion dollar industry that Perhaps you've been looking for this full time. If you

Emily Merrell  

want to explore more on how to add a coaching revenue stream into your life. We invite you to explore our website. Ready Set coach program.com

Lexie Smith  

applications are now open for our 2023 cohort. And again, we have another podcast episode specifically on systems for coaches. I do want to highlight if you're someone listening, who when we just rattled off all those things you're going I don't have time for that. Here's where mindset and management get married in this beautiful thing that is time management, that perception of time and not having enough of it some there's some reality to it. There's also some decisions that can be made. And something that helps you save time is having the systems in place to support that,

Emily Merrell  

I was just on a sales call actually before this, and one of the things I talked about was, I run two businesses. I have a coaching arm of my business. We have two podcasts. We have kids, and I've watched every single thing that there is to watch on Netflix and read books regularly and workout. So when people tell me that they don't have time, it's it's laughable time is always exactly what you said Lex. It is it is. It's a decision. And it's something that is a mindset because how much time do you spend scrolling on Instagram or lost down the rabbit hole of tick tock? That time can be better managed?

Lexie Smith  

Yes, it's actually becoming more and more of a pet peeve of mine, but it's myself because I'm further along in my journey. So anyways, we all back to mindset. consistent practice. Okay, so mindset is our first M. Management is our second M. Emily, what's our third M? Money, money, money? Money, money, Dolla dolla bills. My money, Emily.

Emily Merrell  

So what I mean by money, Miss Lexie Smith is knowing your numbers. That means being able when I asked you, Lexie Smith, how much money have you made this month? Or how much money have you spent this month, being able to tell me what that is? That means identifying and securing money making opportunities for you and your business. That means paying yourself first and foremost. It also means being able to know your pricing. And to be comfortable knowing how much it is to work with you. You would be blown away by how many people I've met who are like, yeah, yeah, I think I might I think I charge like, 3000 3000 something to work with me. And I'm like, wow, that doesn't. I don't I don't feel convincing. You know what you're doing for me, too. I

Lexie Smith  

don't know your numbers. Yeah. And something you you mentioned, that's super important. I'm going to pull out when we say money making opportunities. This also means marketing. So it's kind of like an asterix of another m. But we mean lead generation PR, events, podcasts, things that lead to money in the bank.

Emily Merrell  

Mm hmm. And then Miss Lexie Smith, why do I keep calling you miss? Oh, no, we can

Lexie Smith  

run with it.

Emily Merrell  

My manager you owe me money. What is the last m,

Lexie Smith  

our last and fourth? M is messaging. So this is a huge, huge part. It's nailing your messaging, we're talking about positioning and positioning yourself as an expert, which is so important in the space of coaching. It's marketing your value choosing the right words. So in summary, our fourth M is messaging.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah. And as our our in house messaging guru, and thought leader guru, what is something that you see people not taken advantage of enough?

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, I think we can both agree that one of the biggest issues challenges, what's the word I'm looking for things people are doing wrong, is letting the fear of limiting themselves prevent them from niching. Here's what I mean people want to do or when people can do a lot of different things, they're afraid to hone in and niche down and become known for one thing, because they feel like they're gonna leave money on the table. For example, a marketing coach could say, oh, I can I can teach you on websites and Pinterest in this in this, there's a lot of things you can do. But actually, if you really want to stand out, pick one, pick one lane to really, really be known for.

Emily Merrell  

I feel like we see that with our clients, when they first come in, they're like, I want to help people who are 14 to 49, you're like, Wow, a 14 year old was very different than a 49 year old. And especially how you talk to them. So maybe we talk to one of them. But you can have a 14 year old client and you can have a 49 year old client, but one of them is going to be a majority.

Lexie Smith  

Yeah. And to the to that point, it's messaging. It's how we're talking to them. So that doesn't mean you can't you know, on the back end work with with other people or have these other offerings, but you really want to know what it takes to start to have things clicking into Papes place to have a successful coaching business. nailing your messaging is key.

Emily Merrell  

Yes, so and how I'm gonna ask you the questions, because you're always asking me the questions Lex. How do these all come to play in the ReadySet? Coach program?

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, so this is our Ready Set core methodology, meaning these four categories mindset management, money and messaging touch, every single thing that we learn and every single thing that we focus on, and it allows us to really start to put our efforts into buckets and instead feeling like there's 5000 things on the table, it allows us to feel a little bit more organized and how we approach the development and growth of a coaching business.

Emily Merrell  

And I want to emphasize to you that we teach working to live not living to work. As we mentioned, we've watched every single Netflix show that there is DMS, if you need Rex, we teach people how to work smarter, not harder. So we're not the Gary V's of marketing, we're not going to tell you hustle culture, and you got to go and you got to do this. And we're not that bro, we attempt we meet you where you are. And we also want to let you know that you're built, you're building a business and building your business should be built in a way that feels good and authentic to you. People are going to maybe have some areas that they're stronger in and some areas that take them a little longer to process. But that's what we're here for.

Lexie Smith  

And I think that segues perfectly into the homework we have for you today. So your homework is to take out a physical piece of paper, remember that? Remember those papers, not just our phones, and I want you to make a grid, and you're gonna make four categories, you're gonna go mindset, management, money, and messaging, okay. So when you have those four categories, we then want you to make two buckets per category. So you can now this is going to start looking like a grid. One is going to be what's working. The next is what's not working. And we want you to just sit down and have a real objective slash heart to heart with yourself in category by category, look at mindset, what are you doing, right? What's not going so hot, and then move to the next category, and so forth and so forth. When you have your two categories of what's working and what's not working, we want you to first celebrate what is working, take a moment, pat yourself on the damn back, do a little cheer little chicken, little dance, and then focusing on the challenges and what do you suggest they do with the challenge category?

Emily Merrell  

I think that there is areas of opportunity, they can focus in on one of the categories basically, and focus one at a time and be really be really dedicated to spending time and being like where am I challenged in my messaging? Am I currently talking to a very vast audience? How can I narrow it down? And what is narrowing down look like? Yeah.

Lexie Smith  

And so really, by going through this, you can start to then also brainstorm solutions. And I love what I'm said pick one, one category to start, even though you're doing it's kind of like a SWOT analysis, like an overview. Pick one, pick one to start and identify a solution and a way you can begin to Tim's point, take that challenge and turn it into an opportunity.

Emily Merrell  

Yes, I love that. So with that being said, thank you as always, for listening to the forum. If you're enjoying the ReadySet coach podcast, please leave a review wherever you are listening. For more information about Ready Set, coach, Visit Ready Set coach program.com