Don't Be Vanilla: How to Stand Out as a Coach

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[00:00:28] Don't hate on me if you love vanilla ice cream. You know, I love you babes, and I'm happy that you love vanilla ice cream, but in terms of personal branding, in terms of messaging, in terms of being magnetic to your person, vanilla just won't cut it darling. Vanilla will not help you stand out from the saturated coaching crowd.

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[00:01:09] And the coach said, Leanne, stop being vanilla. You are not vanilla. So why are you playing so safe and coming across as being this vanilla coach? And you know what? I took that on the chin and I've never ever looked back because I'm not vanilla. And Queen, you're not vanilla either. Do you know what? I get that it feels safe to be vanilla when you first start putting yourself out there because you don't want to stand out.

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[00:01:57] If you want to be successful, you have to be willing to be seen. And if you want to be seen, you can't be vanilla. So you might be wondering, how the hell do I know if I'm vanilla or not? Or you might be listening to this and you might know that you are being a little bit vanilla. Answer this darling, if you look at your Instagram grid, if you look at your website, does it look like everyone else's?

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[00:02:43] So we need to use your personality, your energy and your vibe to set you apart. Because how else are you going to be different? And the best way to do this is to show off your personality because that is what is going to be magnetic. This is what is going to be attractive [00:03:00] to your person. So there are three stages to signing a client.

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[00:03:30] We have to really stand out so that our ideal clients Even have a chance of finding us, of picking up that leaflet, of being drawn to a poster with your beautiful face on in a yoga studio. Or stopping their scroll when they're sitting on the sofa in front of Netflix. That is why being vanilla. And being the same as everyone else, it's just not going to serve you, it's not going to cut it.

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[00:04:23] Because you are your unique selling point. You are your USP. You are the reason why your clients are going to sign with you and not someone else. So please give yourself permission to and remind yourself that it is safe to be yourself online and of course offline in real life darling. So the first thing that I want you to do is to check your branding.

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[00:05:07] You know that you stand more of a chance of having people wanting to invest in you if you look professional and by professional, I don't mean that you have to pay someone to do it, but if you can afford it, do it. I think it's a worthwhile investment. And it doesn't need to look like a full on campaign for the latest Dolce Gabbana perfume.

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[00:05:48] That will bring you clients in. But you're missing a trick if you don't have branding. Branding is such a huge part of your vibe. It acts as almost like a [00:06:00] reminder of you to your ideal clients. You won't believe how many people associate me with certain colours because I've had the same brand kit, the same six colours for three years, that people now associate those colours with me.

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[00:06:52] And just before we move on to point number two, darling, I just want to say that your branding, once you've chosen it, should be cohesive across all of your channels. I'm talking the same colors, the same fonts, all over your Instagram, your Facebook group, um, all over your website, or all over your course materials.

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[00:07:32] And maybe they've already got a brand, some of my clients do. Maybe they've tried putting their own together or maybe they haven't got one at all. One of the first things we do together is create a brand kit based on their personality, what they like, what they're drawn to and the essence of who they are and who they want to come across as.

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[00:08:15] That makes her feel like an expert. Honestly, the difference is like night and day. And I think for new coaches or coaches that are struggling to stand out online or struggling to step into their big deal energy, having beautiful branding that you are proud of and get excited about is a confidence hack.

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[00:08:51] To build connection with your person, you need to just be you and your copy. If you're being too vague, too vanilla, or sounding too much like Professor [00:09:00] Plum, or like Elaine from the auditing team, your ideal clients are not going to vibe with you, babes. And I know that a large proportion of you will have had previous careers, previous jobs, where you've had to write in a really formal, corporate or even academic way.

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[00:09:37] And it's really easy once you start getting into the practice of doing this. A really good way of checking whether or not you're being vanilla is to take a look at your Instagram bio or your elevator pitch or your marketing message, whatever you want to call it, and really ask yourself, honestly, could this belong to any other coach?

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[00:10:21] I just want to say as well that so many coaches get caught up on their marketing message or their elevator pitch. But to be honest, I really don't think that we need to worry about it that much and we certainly don't need to get stuck on it for days and weeks.

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[00:10:57] That's all they want to know. Let it be easy, babes. But I totally understand that it's almost like a rite of passage for you to come up with your marketing statement just for you to solidify in your own brain who it is that you work with and what you help them achieve and how you help them do it. And in fact, I do help my clients inside my container to create a marketing message.

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[00:11:39] Association anchors. I'm buying an association anchor and I almost have to put my teeth in for that. In terms of having an association anchor, I mean something that your ideal client will associate with you. And this can be an anchor to do with your personal branding, but also it could be an anchor to do with things that they know [00:12:00] about you.

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[00:12:37] And I've done that on purpose. I want them to associate certain things with me so that when I'm not in front of them on Instagram or whatever, they're going to be reminded of me. I would love for you to consider having maybe five, actually not five. Let's go with two first. We don't want to overwhelm anyone.

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[00:13:15] When you are showing up for your audience on Instagram or on YouTube or in a masterclass, make sure that these anchors are visible. So the second type of anchor that I'm going to talk about are your interest anchors. Interest anchors are things that you love, that you're obsessed with, that you're passionate about, that you regularly talk about or mention to your audience.

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[00:13:58] I've been doing these walks for wellness for years and whenever I do them, I share them on my Instagram and now people tag me when they're out doing their walks for wellness. It's amazing how many people know that I'm interested in getting outside amongst the trees. Another interest anchor of mine that is totally associated with my branding is the bright colours.

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[00:14:52] Because when you do that, it really builds this trust and connection factor. We want your Your audience to feel [00:15:00] like they are in your inner circle. So share some things that maybe feel a little bit stretchy, not uncomfortable or shameful, but things that may feel a little stretchy and then, and then you will be building trust with your person.

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[00:15:45] So I want you to think about three to five interest anchors that you can start sharing with your audience. And again, They are going to be unique to you, so I can't tell you exactly what they are. If we sat down together, obviously, and we talked about it, I could pull out these beautiful threads. But you get to decide that you want your audience to know about you, and you just keep sprinkling these in your content and in your copy.

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[00:16:35] We've covered what you can do to find out if you are being a bit too vanilla. And I've also given you three action steps as to how you can start to let your uniqueness shine through and stand out from that coaching crowd. I just need to say that it is safe for you to be seen, okay? And it's safe for you to be you.

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[00:17:18] And if you think that someone needs to hear this episode too, please share with them. It would mean the absolute world to me. And if you are ready to step into your big deal energy and build your rockstar coaching business sooner rather than later, come under my wing, darling.