In this episode, Tara welcomes Sherri Coffelt to talk about online courses and coaching and to connect your life vision with your business vision.
Sherri Coffelt partners with service-based entrepreneurs to attract high-quality leads they can turn into high-paying clients…all while they live the life of freedom and flexibility they crave.
Sherri is living her bucket list now, having sold her home and most of her possessions to travel the world, taking her Coaching/Consulting business with her. And she’s never looked back!
Leveraging her step-by-step Freedom Finder Formula, Sherri’s clients create a customized plan to build a business around the lifestyle they want to create and the income it will take to support it.
She is living proof that you can build a business that allows you to work WHEN you want, from WHERE you want, with clients you LOVE.
You can find more about Sherri here: www.resultspartner.com
Check out her site for the free gift: The Freedom Finder Checklist
LinkedIn- @Sherri Coffelt
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Transcript
Hey, everybody, welcome to the course building
Tara Bryan:secrets podcast. I am so thrilled to introduce Sherry
Tara Bryan:Coffelt it today. And welcome to the show, I am so happy to have
Tara Bryan:you here. Just to get us started. Tell us a little bit
Tara Bryan:about who you are, what your experience is, and what brings
Tara Bryan:you here today.
Sherri Coffelt:I would love to do that. And first of all, thank
Sherri Coffelt:you for having me be here. I'm excited about the conversation.
Sherri Coffelt:So I have been in this crazy topsy turvy world of coaching
Sherri Coffelt:consulting for over 20 years, it's hard to say that out loud.
Sherri Coffelt:And I absolutely love it. I love supporting women to share their
Sherri Coffelt:gift to do it in a way that it gives them that freedom and
Sherri Coffelt:flexibility. It's why most of us started our business, right? And
Sherri Coffelt:gives them that that freedom and flexibility to live their bucket
Sherri Coffelt:list now and take your business with you. That's That's my big
Sherri Coffelt:thing is that we get to avoid waiting until Sunday and
Sherri Coffelt:instead, get clear on what our vision is for our business. And
Sherri Coffelt:then or excuse me for our life, and then build our business to
Sherri Coffelt:fit into that vision. So that's what I do all the time. I love
Sherri Coffelt:supporting my clients to build a virtual business because then of
Sherri Coffelt:course, it gives you more flexibility, right? And do it in
Sherri Coffelt:a way that that generates the income that they want to live
Sherri Coffelt:the lifestyle that they want to live.
Tara Bryan:Yeah, very cool. So tell us a little bit about you
Tara Bryan:personally, like how did you get into this work? And and what was
Tara Bryan:your journey to sort of go, I assume that you are in maybe
Tara Bryan:some sort of traditional brick and mortar kind of scenario, and
Tara Bryan:then moved into, you know, really being able to step into
Tara Bryan:more of a virtual lifestyle? What does that look like for
Tara Bryan:you?
Sherri Coffelt:Absolutely. Well, I started started my
Sherri Coffelt:career out of college and corporate world, which so many
Sherri Coffelt:of us did. And you know, corporate was really pretty good
Sherri Coffelt:to me. But after about 13 years there, I really wanted to make a
Sherri Coffelt:bigger, bigger difference. And, you know, ended up starting
Sherri Coffelt:three businesses in my first year out of corporate, you know,
Sherri Coffelt:from the frying pan into the fire as the saying goes. And
Sherri Coffelt:over over the years, I was able to turn them all into multi six
Sherri Coffelt:figures in one seven figures, business sold that the seven
Sherri Coffelt:figure business and have been concentrating on my coaching
Sherri Coffelt:exclusively for the last 12 years, I guess it is and had
Sherri Coffelt:been coaching that entire 22 years, believe it or not. And
Sherri Coffelt:you know, in that that time period, I had a lot of different
Sherri Coffelt:variations of my business, I think that we have to be nimble
Sherri Coffelt:as a business owner. And that as trends change, our businesses
Sherri Coffelt:need to change, I have to remember I started my coaching
Sherri Coffelt:business in 2002 1000. And virtual businesses didn't barely
Sherri Coffelt:existed at that point. So I've seen a lot in in the two decades
Sherri Coffelt:plus that I've been in business. Getting to where I am now, quite
Sherri Coffelt:honestly was a bit of a knock upside the head moment. It was
Sherri Coffelt:about six years ago now pre pandemic. And I was updating my
Sherri Coffelt:vision letter, which is part of my process for my annual
Sherri Coffelt:planning. And I had that that proverbial knock upside the head
Sherri Coffelt:moment where I was looking at the vision letter I had done the
Sherri Coffelt:year before. And the one I did was doing for this year, and
Sherri Coffelt:realized that I wasn't living my bucket list. What I really
Sherri Coffelt:wanted to do was travel full time. And yet I unconsciously
Sherri Coffelt:grown my business very successfully, but was relying
Sherri Coffelt:mostly on live speaking. So I was you know running around
Sherri Coffelt:doing speaking from stage and getting client getting leads
Sherri Coffelt:that I turned into clients. But it kind of kept me at least
Sherri Coffelt:fixed to the US if not California at the time. And so I
Sherri Coffelt:realized that I you know, I felt pretty out of integrity, I have
Sherri Coffelt:to be honest, because I teach this whole process of getting
Sherri Coffelt:clear on your envision and then having your business fit into
Sherri Coffelt:that business, your business fit into that vision. And here I had
Sherri Coffelt:unconsciously got me into a place where I wasn't doing that.
Sherri Coffelt:So within six months, I completely changed my marketing
Sherri Coffelt:strategy when 100% virtual, sold my house, put my stuff in the in
Sherri Coffelt:storage and was traveling about nine months of the year
Sherri Coffelt:internationally, taking my business with me. And that's as
Sherri Coffelt:the intro I've not looked back. And even during the pandemic, I
Sherri Coffelt:was able to keep doing some travel in the US and spend a lot
Sherri Coffelt:of time with parents and family and friends and started
Sherri Coffelt:traveling again in beginning of this year and I can't do it. I
Sherri Coffelt:have no idea when I'm going to kind of get over the travel bug.
Sherri Coffelt:I don't know if it'll be forever or not.
Tara Bryan:Yeah, that's so cool. So So for our listeners, I
Tara Bryan:think just to break that down a little bit, which I think is
Tara Bryan:really powerful is is that you sort of you evolved right so as
Tara Bryan:you went from corporate to starting your own thing to doing
Tara Bryan:live speaking which I assumed sort of as the baby step to Oh,
Tara Bryan:I'm gonna I want to travel more so I'm going to do live speaking
Tara Bryan:in different cities. And then it was like Wait a minute, now I'm
Tara Bryan:traveling for other people still not for myself. My business
Tara Bryan:isn't serving me. It's it's sort of chaining me to travel Bakley
Tara Bryan:that isn't really travel I want to be doing right, right. It's
Tara Bryan:your Yeah. And so then just to sit and have that moment of, we
Tara Bryan:have to shift, we have to pivot and then actually move into
Tara Bryan:integrity. I love that I had a
Sherri Coffelt:cell what I do, whatever point now I decide
Sherri Coffelt:where I want to travel to. And then I reach into my community,
Sherri Coffelt:find out who lives there, and find out how I can do speaking
Sherri Coffelt:there. So then I can write off 100% of the trip.
Tara Bryan:Well, yes, See, there you go. It all comes full
Tara Bryan:circle. But yeah, you're so you're able to choose where you
Tara Bryan:want to go. And then you know, you can work there. Because
Tara Bryan:you've set up your life in order to work wherever you are,
Tara Bryan:instead of, you know, having to be dictated by where you're
Tara Bryan:going. So I love that. That's so cool. Okay, cool. So let's shift
Tara Bryan:into your business and talk about, you know, how do you
Tara Bryan:deliver to your deliver to your people, while you're able to do
Tara Bryan:all the things? What does that look like? So courses, programs,
Tara Bryan:one on one speaking, all those different things?
Sherri Coffelt:Yeah, most of those things will be part of it.
Sherri Coffelt:Yeah, I typically serve my clients in two ways. Excuse me,
Sherri Coffelt:I just still do one on one coaching. I actually love
Sherri Coffelt:working with people one on one. And I do believe that the
Sherri Coffelt:fastest path to success is typically one on one coaching,
Sherri Coffelt:when you could really go deep and have someone that's that's
Sherri Coffelt:kind of hooking arms with you and with you step by step during
Sherri Coffelt:the process. But I also believe in the power of small groups,
Sherri Coffelt:and what I call hybrid courses. So yeah, most of my pro in fact,
Sherri Coffelt:all of my programs, I've chosen not to sell Do It Yourself
Sherri Coffelt:courses for a long time, because people, people just don't
Sherri Coffelt:complete them. I mean, the statistics are less than 10% of
Sherri Coffelt:people make it through the second module of an of a do it
Sherri Coffelt:yourself online course. So what I do instead, is I use my
Sherri Coffelt:courses, and I have three major courses, I use my courses to
Sherri Coffelt:deliver information, that would be the same thing I'd say to
Sherri Coffelt:anybody, pretty much no matter who's watching it, and I use the
Sherri Coffelt:coaching part of it to really go deep answer questions, get
Sherri Coffelt:engagement, have people learn from each other in the group
Sherri Coffelt:programs that I do that are around a course, if you will.
Sherri Coffelt:And really add the value that keeps people engaged, keeps
Sherri Coffelt:people moving forward, and actually creating the
Sherri Coffelt:transformation that they bought the course in the first place
Sherri Coffelt:for?
Tara Bryan:Yep, that's so powerful. One of the things that
Tara Bryan:we focus on too, is exactly what you're saying is like, how do
Tara Bryan:you how do you, you know, package as much as you can? And
Tara Bryan:we are we even like talking about like, creating a virtual
Tara Bryan:version of yourself, right. So it's not just information, but
Tara Bryan:it's also the experience that you're creating for people that
Tara Bryan:they can become successful, and have that transformation. And
Tara Bryan:then you're enhancing it by being there, you know, to help
Tara Bryan:coach them along the way. Have you found like, in your
Tara Bryan:experience, those typically the that, like it's helpful for
Tara Bryan:people, because my statistic is actually 97% of people don't
Tara Bryan:finish courses. So giving them the benefit of the doubt. Yeah,
Tara Bryan:you're Yeah, you're like, Yeah, though, you know, maybe some
Tara Bryan:more people will, but most people don't. And the reason is
Tara Bryan:that they need that guide, they need somebody to guide them down
Tara Bryan:the journey. And if you can do that virtually, that more power
Tara Bryan:to you, right, like, we specialize in helping people
Tara Bryan:actually build a journey online that helps them progress, not
Tara Bryan:just like giving them a bunch of stuff. But one of the things
Tara Bryan:that I find so fascinating, and I'm interested to hear your
Tara Bryan:opinion on this is it, it's it's beneficial for the learners, but
Tara Bryan:it's also beneficial for the for the coach for the person who's
Tara Bryan:teaching because more often than not, if you haven't, uh,
Tara Bryan:something that's just all automatic, all automated, right,
Tara Bryan:we're not serving your people in the way that you want to show up
Tara Bryan:and serve your people. And so you tend to just like, then make
Tara Bryan:more stuff, and then go, Well, I don't feel connected, I don't
Tara Bryan:feel like I'm making a difference. And so it's actually
Tara Bryan:for both it's for the for the person who's doing the coaching
Tara Bryan:and training, and it's for the learner to have that hybrid
Tara Bryan:model.
Sherri Coffelt:I agree. 100%. And when I first started
Sherri Coffelt:coaching courses, and I've had close courses for, I know, 15
Sherri Coffelt:years or so at least more than that, anyway, for a lot of
Sherri Coffelt:years. And and they were doing it yourself when I first
Sherri Coffelt:started. And that's exactly why I switched to more the hybrid
Sherri Coffelt:model because I didn't feel connected with the people that
Sherri Coffelt:were buying my product. And then you know, I would look at what
Sherri Coffelt:they were consuming. It's like wait a minute, you know, you're
Sherri Coffelt:not opening the videos, you're not using the worksheets, and so
Sherri Coffelt:I knew they weren't creating the transformation that they had
Sherri Coffelt:spent their hard earned money to buy this course. And the reality
Sherri Coffelt:is when people don't get results. We know human nature,
Sherri Coffelt:right? Who do they blame? When they look in the mirror? They
Sherri Coffelt:don't look in the mirror and say, I didn't take action. So
Sherri Coffelt:I'm the one that is to blame. Too often they actually blame.
Sherri Coffelt:Who they? Who sold them? The course?
Tara Bryan:Yep, yep. And there's a little less visibility
Tara Bryan:there. Right? Like, there's
Tara Bryan:a responsibility there from us to say, how do we help help
Tara Bryan:somebody get there? But yes, your your 100%? Right. And then
Tara Bryan:do you find that like, when you first were doing it that way,
Tara Bryan:then you would just like, poke in and like, check in and like,
Tara Bryan:do all these little things anyway? Because
Sherri Coffelt:even more of your energy because it's from a
Sherri Coffelt:frustrated, almost anxious is checking in,
Tara Bryan:how's it going? Exactly. Like, yeah,
Sherri Coffelt:the other thing that I would say to that was a
Sherri Coffelt:big shift for me, and there's so much technology out there now,
Sherri Coffelt:that helps us around this is adding things into our courses
Sherri Coffelt:that encourage engagement and encourage forward progress. You
Sherri Coffelt:know, I have my courses on a platform that allows me to do
Sherri Coffelt:reward points. And I have something I call Rapid Rewards.
Sherri Coffelt:And so when people take action, that can collect points, and
Sherri Coffelt:then they can turn those points into an extra call with me, or
Sherri Coffelt:an invitation to a live event or whatever different different
Sherri Coffelt:things they can use the reward points for, and people love to
Sherri Coffelt:get those badges or reward points, right. So whatever you
Sherri Coffelt:can do, to encourage people to, to acknowledge them for taking
Sherri Coffelt:action, first of all, and then have some kind of a way that
Sherri Coffelt:they can see their progress makes a huge difference.
Sherri Coffelt:Checklists help with that, too. I have a checklist I need to my
Sherri Coffelt:modules. So when they check off the different things that
Sherri Coffelt:they're completing, they feel that sense of accomplishment,
Sherri Coffelt:because that's what stops people is they get into the course, and
Sherri Coffelt:they get stuck in some way. And there's not something there
Sherri Coffelt:that's helping them through that obstacle. So they give up. And
Sherri Coffelt:that's where we'll start. As course creators. That's our
Sherri Coffelt:responsibility.
Tara Bryan:100% Well, and and just like all of us, right,
Tara Bryan:there's, you know, this going on and this going on, and they may
Tara Bryan:have great intentions. But if you don't have anything that's
Tara Bryan:helping them progress, like exactly what you're talking
Tara Bryan:about, then, yeah, then they're like, oh, yeah, I really need to
Tara Bryan:get to that. I mean, I have courses like that, that I've
Tara Bryan:bought, right? I really need to get to that. Yeah. And that he
Tara Bryan:stays on the to do list forever, because I don't have time, time
Tara Bryan:to get into it. And and if you're, you know, meeting with
Tara Bryan:somebody and you know that you have to be prepared, then you
Tara Bryan:tend to take a little bit more responsibility to get there
Tara Bryan:because you don't want to let that other person down. Right.
Tara Bryan:It's that accountability. We all need to yep, yep. Very cool.
Tara Bryan:Awesome. Okay, cool. So what would be? So I have two
Tara Bryan:questions for you what would be the first one is like, give us a
Tara Bryan:tip, something that you see all the time that if only people
Tara Bryan:would do that, then their course or their program would be so
Tara Bryan:much better?
Sherri Coffelt:Wow, if only people would do that, the
Sherri Coffelt:rewards reward system that I talked about would probably be
Sherri Coffelt:one of them, making sure that they have some way to
Sherri Coffelt:acknowledge people for making forward progress. And I think
Sherri Coffelt:the second one we haven't talked about would be creating a sense
Sherri Coffelt:of community. One of the things people like about group programs
Sherri Coffelt:is that they don't feel like they're alone. And creating
Sherri Coffelt:that, that group dynamic people can learn so much from the
Sherri Coffelt:questions other people ask, giving them that, that, that
Sherri Coffelt:space to feel comfortable and confident that it's a safe space
Sherri Coffelt:that they can ask any question, and that they can learn from
Sherri Coffelt:each other. It's just, it's just invaluable in terms of creating
Sherri Coffelt:that forward momentum.
Tara Bryan:Yep, for sure. Awesome. Okay. And then, so if
Tara Bryan:somebody is first starting out, okay, this is a two parter. So
Tara Bryan:if somebody's first starting out, like a cloud, or you help
Tara Bryan:them figure out like, what to teach and what they should be
Tara Bryan:doing in their course, that's the first part of the question.
Tara Bryan:The second part of the question is, when should somebody start a
Tara Bryan:course?
Sherri Coffelt:Great questions. So what the approach I take in
Sherri Coffelt:my business is I use what I call creating your genius roadmap.
Sherri Coffelt:And your genius roadmap is simply a way for you to take out
Sherri Coffelt:of your head onto a least virtual piece of paper, how you
Sherri Coffelt:support your clients in solving the problem and creating
Sherri Coffelt:transformation that you promised them. So whatever your promises,
Sherri Coffelt:think of that as the end of the roadmap, if you will, the end of
Sherri Coffelt:the road, and you getting clarity on what are the literal
Sherri Coffelt:steps if it's more of a sequential process. What are the
Sherri Coffelt:pillars of success? If it's if it's not necessarily sequential,
Sherri Coffelt:that make you unique in how you help people get to a specific
Sherri Coffelt:end result? And the reality is we all have a process, whether
Sherri Coffelt:or not we realize it. And I typically go through a process
Sherri Coffelt:with clients where you're asking a lot of questions. It's like,
Sherri Coffelt:think about your favorite client, what did you do with
Sherri Coffelt:them first, and this having them be get out of their head? How
Sherri Coffelt:they did work with that client to create that, that
Sherri Coffelt:transformation. And when you do that for two or three, one on
Sherri Coffelt:one clients, or even in a group, how you work with them, you can
Sherri Coffelt:get pretty clear on that. So that's the first thing, then, in
Sherri Coffelt:terms of where you start, once you have that genius roadmap
Sherri Coffelt:laid out, the approach I take is now where along that genius
Sherri Coffelt:roadmap, do you want to focus first, on helping your clients
Sherri Coffelt:create success? Are you wanting to create a course or a program?
Sherri Coffelt:Let's say? Because we've kind of talked about the hybrid hybrid
Sherri Coffelt:approach? Do you want to create a program where you help people
Sherri Coffelt:get from A to Z on that entire genius roadmap? Or do you want
Sherri Coffelt:to focus in first on a particular stop or pillar if
Sherri Coffelt:you're not an adequate sequential approach on that
Sherri Coffelt:genius roadmap, my genius roadmap is five steps AI is
Sherri Coffelt:fairly sequential. Most of my work focuses on the first three
Sherri Coffelt:steps. And I do have some, you know, some go into the fourth
Sherri Coffelt:and fifth step. But I really love to focus more on the first
Sherri Coffelt:three steps, which are kind of pretty much from startup to
Sherri Coffelt:multi six figures in your business. I have VIP clients I
Sherri Coffelt:work with on on leveraging scale, which are my fourth and
Sherri Coffelt:fifth steps. But for the most part, I focus on those first
Sherri Coffelt:three steps, either is perfectly fine. But when you get clarity
Sherri Coffelt:on that, then you know where to go with your program. And what
Sherri Coffelt:you want to include in the course. In order to deliver on
Sherri Coffelt:that problem that promise, excuse me, because the big
Sherri Coffelt:promise you have for your entire zone of your work, if you will,
Sherri Coffelt:can be bigger than the promise that you that you solve in a
Sherri Coffelt:particular online course. That makes sense.
Tara Bryan:Yep, yep. Yep. That's great. Yes, I love I love
Tara Bryan:the roadmap, we talked about that all the time is, you know,
Tara Bryan:what, what is the step from point A to point B, you don't
Tara Bryan:just like get into a car and drive?
Sherri Coffelt:Exactly right. You've got routes from LA to New
Sherri Coffelt:York?
Tara Bryan:Yeah, yep. Exactly. Awesome. Okay, so then, like,
Tara Bryan:when should somebody get started? When they're trying to
Tara Bryan:package their expertise, I think that there's a perception out
Tara Bryan:there that you can just go from, you know, having an idea to
Tara Bryan:packaging your expertise. But tell me a little bit about your
Tara Bryan:philosophy around that. And when is the right time to do that?
Sherri Coffelt:My philosophy is that as a newer coach or
Sherri Coffelt:consultant, the best place to start is almost always not
Sherri Coffelt:always, but almost always, with one on one clients. And the
Sherri Coffelt:reason for that is multifold. The key reasons are number one,
Sherri Coffelt:it's the fastest path to cash. Because when you're first
Sherri Coffelt:starting out, you don't maybe don't have a list, you don't
Sherri Coffelt:have a lot of people to draw from. So a lot easier to have
Sherri Coffelt:people say yes, on a one on one basis, where you just talk to
Sherri Coffelt:one person, ask them to work with you. And they say yes or
Sherri Coffelt:no, than it is to get even a half dozen or a dozen people
Sherri Coffelt:into a group program. So start with one on one, because it's
Sherri Coffelt:easier to get some cash in that foundation going for you. It's
Sherri Coffelt:also the greatest market research incubator that you can
Sherri Coffelt:ask for. Because when you start working with those one on one
Sherri Coffelt:clients, you in essence, are implementing whatever section if
Sherri Coffelt:you will, of your genius roadmap that you promised them, either
Sherri Coffelt:all of it or part of it. You're taking them through your process
Sherri Coffelt:on a one on one basis. And you're going to learn from that,
Sherri Coffelt:what works really well. What maybe doesn't work as well, and
Sherri Coffelt:what's missing. And so many people that that jump into
Sherri Coffelt:creating online courses, they literally go and they create the
Sherri Coffelt:entire course before they even try to sell it, let alone
Sherri Coffelt:deliver it. And what ends up happening is that when they do
Sherri Coffelt:start delivering it, they realize oh my gosh, I've missed
Sherri Coffelt:this and Oh, this isn't working at all, and the end up redoing
Sherri Coffelt:it all. And that's a that's just breaks my heart because I have
Sherri Coffelt:met people I'm sure you have to that have spent a year
Sherri Coffelt:developing their online course never made a penny from it. And
Sherri Coffelt:then it either does it sell or when they sell it for you to a
Sherri Coffelt:few people. It doesn't deliver. Yep. And that's just oh my gosh,
Sherri Coffelt:that just breaks my heart.
Tara Bryan:It's like It's like this, this you know,
Tara Bryan:masterpiece, and unfortunately, it's too early to make a
Tara Bryan:mistake. As a minimum viable option, so Exactly, yeah.
Tara Bryan:Awesome. Okay, cool. Well, we could talk all day like, I am so
Tara Bryan:happy to have you on the show. And we'll have to have a second
Tara Bryan:episode later where we can just dive into some more detail
Tara Bryan:because it is, you know, what we talk about is all of the action,
Tara Bryan:the tips, the tricks, the nitty gritty, in this podcast, and so
Tara Bryan:I am just so thankful that you're able to share some of
Tara Bryan:your expertise with us. It is fabulous. Yeah. And so if people
Tara Bryan:want to learn more about you and and, and your stuff around the
Tara Bryan:bucket list and building, they're building their
Tara Bryan:businesses, where should they go to find you?
Sherri Coffelt:Well, they can always reach out to me on my
Sherri Coffelt:website at results partner.com That's results with an S partner
Sherri Coffelt:70 singular, and there's a free gift there that they can opt in
Sherri Coffelt:for it's called the Freedom finder checklist, great way for
Sherri Coffelt:them to get started to see where they are on their journey to
Sherri Coffelt:building their bucket lists life and maybe some steps along the
Sherri Coffelt:way they might have missed. And I also connect with a lot of
Sherri Coffelt:people on LinkedIn, it's my handles my just my name Sherri
Sherri Coffelt:Coffelt.
Tara Bryan:Perfect, awesome and those will be in the show notes
Tara Bryan:so you can grab them. Thank you so much for being on with us
Tara Bryan:today. And we will see you later.