How my 6 days glamping can help you create a more marketable coaching business

Well, it’s day 6 of my life as an “accidental glamper.” 

My state (Connecticut) got hit hard by tropical storm Isaias.  It knocked down a bunch of trees and left over 700,000 of us without power.

For me, no power also means no water.  Not only that, for the first 48 hours of this adventure I didn’t even have cell service!  

It’s been pretty eerie being that disconnected from the outside world. 

I don't have much choice but to stay at home.  I can cook on my gas stove.  I just can’t watch TV, shower, flush the toilet without filling the tank with water first, and I can only eek out a little bit of slow internet on my phone … if I stand outside.  

So that’s why I say I’m glamping.

As frustrating as this experience is, it could be A LOT worse.  I’m just dealing with everyday inconveniences.  But some people are dealing with a lot of property damage.

The worst inconvenience for me is that everything I do in my business relies on having internet service.  So needless to say, it’s been challenging to meet with clients over Zoom and to stay connected.

I’m also just starting Week 3 of the training I’m doing with a small group of amazing health & wellness coaches.  I’m helping them take what they do and turn it into a highly marketable health coaching business that attracts and engages more clients. 

I wanted to share with you part of the framework I’m taking them through, because it mirrors what’s been going on in my life over the past 6 days.  And it also mirrors what’s happening in your clients’ lives, too.

It all starts with a desire

At the heart of every problem is something a person wants.  Whether it’s to look better, feel better, find love, a better job, more money, etc.

When I went to bed Tuesday night, all I wanted was to wake up Wednesday morning with my power and cell service restored.  I just wanted to go about my day as planned.  I had 2 group calls with health coaches and practitioners who are creating lead-gen funnels.  I had my guest lined up for Website Wednesday Live on Facebook.  And I had a mastermind meeting later in the afternoon.

But when I woke up Wednesday morning, I still had no power or cell service.

Now if this was B.C. (before Covid), I’d have just found a Starbucks and settled in.  But it’s not B.C.  So that’s not an option now (at least not where I am).

So I tried to find a parking lot with cell service.  I figured I could turn on my personal hotspot and do my coaching calls over Zoom as usual.

… except I couldn’t find a parking lot with a strong enough cell signal.  Anywhere.  

I tried connecting at my former husband’s place (he hadn’t lost anything in the storm).  I had to pick up his key at work.  He didn’t know the wifi password, but he said I could connect with the ethernet cable. 

But when I got to his place, I realized my laptop didn’t have an ethernet port.  And I couldn’t pick up a strong enough cell signal to use my hotspot.

I spent hours trying to get my day back on track.  I was putting in the time and effort, but I wasn’t getting my desired outcome.  I was getting upset.  I was frustrated.  It began to feel hopeless.

This made me think of how many of the people who want the help of a health coach feel. Maybe they’ve tried to lose weight, lower their blood sugar, or get rid of their brain fog, exhaustion, anxiety, or digestive issues.  If they’re not getting the results they want, in spite of their efforts, it makes them feel frustrated and hopeless.

And as what usually happens, problems start to affect other parts of a person’s life.  As it did with me. 

It just got worse

I had a fridge and freezer full of food.  I like to cook meals I can freeze in the full-sized freezer in my garage.  And I had really stocked up during Covid.

So I had a crisis to deal with.

It’s funny how a crisis alters your time frame.  Mine went from, “What am I going to accomplish this week,”  to “What do I need to get done today”  to “I need to get this done in the next hour.” 

It had been about 24 hours since I’d lost power.  I hadn’t opened the fridge or freezer.  But I knew I was on borrowed time. And I didn’t want to throw out hundreds of dollars’ worth of food.  So it was time to fire up the generator!

Except I didn’t know how …

I knew I had to solve this problem.  But I didn’t know how to make it happen.  

And that’s the same reason people decide to work with a health coach … to help them solve a problem they haven’t been able to solve on their own.  

That brings us to your role in the story

They need a guide.  Someone to help them go from where they are now to where they want to be.  Just like I needed.

Luckily, my former husband came by to show me what to do.  To start the generator, there’s a specific sequence of steps I had to follow:

Step 1 - Fill the generator with gas

Step 2 – Turn the 2 knobs to “on”

Step 3 -  Push the choke lever to the right

Step 4 – Pull the cord (and keep pulling until it starts)

Step 5 – Push the choke lever to the left

Then I could plug in my fridge and freezer and keep them cold!  (Not only that, I could also plug in my coffee maker and charge my cell phone … just not at the same time.)

Armed with this simple, 5-step process, I went from feeling helpless to being a confident generator operator!   I transitioned from, “I have no idea what to do,” to “There will be no spoilage or meltage … not on my watch.” 

That’s the power of a system.  It gives people confidence, and it gives them results.  

So the pieces of my glamping experience followed part of the same framework I’m showing my group of health coaches.  It goes like this:

1. Understand your Perfect Client Avatar … what do they want?  What problem do they have that’s standing in their way?
2. Position yourself as The Guide … the person who will help them succeed 
3. Create a Signature System … a method that will get them from where they are now, to where they want to be

Once you have these 3 things in place, you will be well on your way to creating a highly marketable coaching business.