Business Women Peer Mentoring Spotlight

[Tami Szabo]

Hi Ladies,

I had an idea on how we could really offer some support to one another here on the Forum.

I thought it might be fun if we invited one of the Ladies here to put her business in the spotlight. Then we could all have an opportunity to do a little Peer Mentoring.

After a specific length of time, we could then open it up for the next woman to present her business.

What do you think? Do you want to be the woman who gets some free tips first? If so, tell us your situation and we'll get started!

I'm looking forward to hearing what you think.

Warmly,

Tami

[Tami Szabo]

Hi Ladies,

Wow! I thought someone would be interesting in being in the spotlight here and get some great peer feedback on what she could do to grow her business.

Perhaps, we should change the approach. What is your greatest challenge as a Business Woman? Do you have some questions of others here as to how to overcome it?

Wishing you the best in your business success!

Warmly,

Tami

[David Hurley]

Hi Tami,

It would be a great idea as a way to attract people to the forum, so if you don't mind I'll add it to the list of ideas on Kevin's thread about attracting forum traffic...

[Tami Szabo]

That is a great idea, David. This is what I had in mind for the Women's section, but it makes sense to post in on the main site.

Of course, I'm waiting for some women to step up to the plate and share how they could use some support on taking the next step with their business!

If you are a Business Woman reading this, I invite you to consider that this is not displaying weakness in any form. Peer mentoring and Coaching is incredibly valuable. You get to bounce your ideas off others, hear perspectives from outside your own box, and feel the power of others cheering you on.

To me, it's wisdom to use all of our available resources to move towards business success. That's why I have my own Coach and my own Mentor Coaching Group. I also offer that to my clients. These are services one usually has to pay for and you could enjoy some of it free right here!

So who wants to start?

Can you tell I'm excited about the possibilities for you even before you begin?

Warmly,

Tami

[ideasuniversity]

Tami if women are not responding to this great offer, may be men could be allowed to be your protege. . At least this is what gender equality is all about

[Tami Szabo]

Good point, if no women answer in the next few days, (because this IS the women's section), I'll present it to everyone on a different thread.

I think this would be fun to get us all involved. I might do that anyway!

[David Hurley]

Hi Tami,

I'd be happy to give you a hand on another thread. If this sort of service is both given and received in the right spirit it can be very helpful - to both parties!

[TheRainmaker]

Hey Tami,
I think its a great idea..

Why dont you start ....and see what kind of help we can give you??

[Tami Szabo]

What a generous offer... thanks, Jude! I hope you'll take a turn, too.

I would love to be the first in our Women's Entrepreneur Peer Mentoring since no other women have stepped up to the plate yet!

Here's my situation: I want to develop a number of Group Coaching/Peer Mentoring Groups for Women Leaders using the Mastermind Process. I also plan to include Business Development Tips or Leadership Development Tips or both, depending on the group.

By Leaders, I mean Business Women, Entrepreneur Women, Executive Women and Women in Other Leadership Roles.

I have a number of reasons for wanting to offer this. I'm a person who wants to really make a difference. I feel I can impact more people in the long run if I reach the leaders. As well, if I group them together I can reach more leaders at once. On the flip side, this also allows me to offer support in a group setting at a lower price point for the client than one on one Coaching.

I want to target women who have had no connection with me as of yet. This is where my dilemma lies. What is the most effective way of reaching these women to fill the groups? How can I present a program that will interest them enough to sign up with no prior knowledge of me?

I already started with focusing on one specific group and pre-setting a time, but the sign ups have been very minimal. Posting it on my website and including it in my ezine just hasn't produced the results I'm looking for. I have daily webtraffic, but no more sign ups. (Perhaps it's because I put the info on the Limited Time Offer Page instead of Home Page? However, I thought it would be stronger to put a Free Teleseminar Offer on the Forefront of the Home Page and I can let them know about the Groups once they sign up.)

Anyhow, I'm doing the first group as a pilot. I'm not sure if I should develop several groups targeting each leader (eg. Newer Entrepreneur, Established Business Women, Executive Women) and just set start dates or if I should be more persistant in building my pilot first.

My current pilot invites women to, "Join a NEW Coaching Mastermind and Peer Mentoring Group for Women who want to grow their Businesses and enjoy group support." One thing I'm considering is if my approach is a little too weak and if it would be better to name the program.

Well, I didn't mean to write a book here, but I must say writing this has helped me see some things clearer! (Give it a try, Ladies!)

I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Warmly,

Tami

[David Hurley]

Hi Tami,

I wonder if you are targeting the right market. Your definition of the women you are targeting was quite broad, and my first impression was that they perhaps already feel that they are successful...

How about targeting work at home mums? A lot of women in this niche are talented, but struggling to make ends meet and in need of the kind of support you can offer, I would have thought...

Looking at your squeeze page, http://www.destinysdoorcoaching.com/teleseminar.html, my impression is that the opening sally is a bit weak:

"If you are a Woman who wants to MAKE A DIFFERENCE,
we would love to inspire you to use your powerful ability to do so."

I suspect that opening on an "if" clause invites a quick rejection because it is a kind of veiled "yes" or "no" question which gives the reader a nice excuse to say "NO!"

"No! I don't want to make a difference! I just want to earn some more cash so that I can..." etc...

I think "make a difference" is itself too vague...

Instead of "we would love to inspire you", speak in a more imperative voice: Find out how... Let us... Learn how you can...

Finally, I guess you might do better by building up a picture of the problems the women in your niche market have to face, problems which your coaching service can help them through.

Putting yourself up for peer mentoring can be a tough experience! I hope that was not too harsh!!

Best wishes in your ventures!

David Hurley

[Kevin Lee]

Here's my situation: I want to develop a number of Group Coaching/Peer Mentoring Groups for Women Leaders using the Mastermind Process. I also plan to include Business Development Tips or Leadership Development Tips or both, depending on the group.

By Leaders, I mean Business Women, Entrepreneur Women, Executive Women and Women in Other Leadership Roles.

Hi Tami,

A suggestion would be to move your profile picture and advertisement for your "Business Women Coaching Group" to the top of your homepage for more exposure. I've seen a lot of business coaches' websites and I feel it's of critical importance to show what you look like from the very start. If I was in the market for a mentor, I'd base my decision heavily on a third party recommendation and how "approachable, trustworthy and friendly" the person looks.

And to build on David's point of being more specific on what kind of difference you make would be to include brief testimonies. For instance, if I was in your target market, I'd like to see...

1. A small headshot of another female entrepreneur
2. Her full name
3. Her business name and title
4. A one sentence testimony of how she's improved quantitatively and qualitatively from your help

Moreover, I'd also advertise how you're a forum moderator and active participant on EvanCarmichael.com That in itself is a testament to your coaching abilities.

Lastly, I feel as if your Leadership Coaching Program page has too much text to read. A few pictures of yourself working with a small group of women or even one-on-one would definitely help break up the monotony of words.
http://www.destinysdoorcoaching.com/limited_time.html

Hope this helps!

[TheRainmaker]

Hi Tami,
Have you reviewed other comparable sites and coaches? I think that you will find that they have positioned themselves a bit more 'out there', and they dont focus on cheap pricing as the key benefit.

I think your copy needs to be much tighter with a focus on the key features and BENEFITS that group coaching provides. Look at The Strategic Coach model etc. Your bio needs to be stronger if you are going to be pitching business development and leadership development.

Also, have you put together a strategy for list building and promotions? how many subscribers do you have currently. Local networking as well as grouping some of your existing clients into the first BETA group might help.

People dont like 'NEW" services because it comes off that they will be the guinea pigs.

Those are my initial thoughts for now. Hope it helps. I'll try and spend some more time reviewing over the weekend and get back to you!
Jude

[Lifecenter]

Hi. I just read your piece on mentoring women. I am available. I just joined this community some few minutes ago and I am looking forward to creating a real money making business for myself. I am currently doing a Bachelors degree in a distance learning university, university of south africa. I hope to have built up something for myself by the time I am done with my study programme.

Thanks in anticipation.

yours sincerely,
Aderonke
www.Lifecenter.iblog.co.za

[Tami Szabo]

Hi Everyone,

Gosh, I REALLY appreciate your concrete feedback. This was far more than I expected and I'm glad you said what you thought straight out.

Each of you have shared something of value and I want to take some more time to think and really go over what each of you have said. However, I can see there are some things I need to change right away. What an interesting point about a NEW program perhaps making people think they are guinea pigs! This is NOT what I want to convey!

It's funny how we can see some things so clearly in others while not always seeing it for ourselves! I must admit there are a few things I've been meaning to change (like my bio which is very outdated). Obviously, these things need to be higher on my priority list. You caught me like the plumber who puts his clients first and doesn't get around to fixing his own tap!

As far as my target market, I do feel quite strongly about working with Women Leaders and doing Leadership Coaching with them. It's non-negotiable in my books. In my Executive Coaching training, the terms "Leaders" and "Executives" are interchangable. To me, an Executive is a Leader and so is the Business Woman or Entrepreneur who is CEO of her own business. I love working with decision makers!

What I did learn is that I need to avoid opening up the Leadership term beyond what I described above. I'm also wondering if there is a misunderstanding with the general public as to what Leadership Coaching really is.

Leadership Coaching is all about developing your leadership skills, both as a people manager and in more effectively running and growing the business. There is ALWAYS room for growth in some way. As well, sometimes, we just need a sounding board to clarify what our next BEST step is.

In fact, if a woman thinks she has nothing to work on, then we aren't a good Client/Coach fit anyway. How can she grow if she doesn't see the value of expressing ALL of the great ability within her? How can her company grow if she doesn't see the value of strategic planning for the next best level?

Thanks again to you all! I will go back to my website and really question whether I am conveying the right message.

I got more than I bargained for in this Spotlight... you generously offered way more than I was asking. I think we could be on to something great for the Forum.

Now it's time to let someone else have the spotlight. It would be great if everyone took a turn!

In gratitude,

Tami

[David Hurley]

It's funny how we can see some things so clearly in others while not always seeing it for ourselves!

How true! I am sure that I suffer from that problem!!

The national poet of Scotland put it like this:

O wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion

Source: http://www.robertburns.org/works/97.shtml