Episode 10 - Value Added Marketing; Attract Clients with ease with Caterina Rando

Value Added Marketing; Attract Clients with ease with Caterina Rando

Announcer:  This program is brought to you by personallifemedia.com.

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Jason McLain:  Welcome to ‘Coaching the Life Coach’.  I'm your host Jason McLain, your guide to the 21st-century marketplace.

This week on ‘Coaching the Life Coach’ we've got Caterina Rando as our guest.  Caterina will assist you in attracting clients with ease.  In fact, you can find her at www.attractclientswithease.com.

Caterina Rando:  The reason I started to speak was I was in my late 20s building a coaching practice.  Every time I would go networking there would be five other coaches in the room.  They all looked a lot more polished.  They were all a little older or more to a lot older with a lot more experience under their belts.  So how do I differentiate myself?

That's what we all have to ask ourselves.  How do we differentiate ourselves?

Caterina Rando:  This whole idea of value added marketing is all about looking at different ways that you can share your expertise with people before they decide to work with you.

Caterina Rando:  Everybody who has half a savvy brain in their head wants to promote their business through speaking.  Why?  Because it doesn't cost you anything, right?  And you could be in front of a whole room that is all your potential clients.

Jason McLain:  On the show we will be talking about value added marketing and how to create a system so that you can always have as many prospects as you could possibly want for your coaching practice through just providing value and giving value away and contributing to others.

So again I welcome you and enjoy the show as we talk about value added marketing with Caterina Rando.

This interview was conducted on the phone, so as in previous episodes of ‘Coaching the Life Coach’, the sound is about to shift, and that's just perfect.

Welcome to the show Caterina.

Caterina Rando:  Thank you.  It's great to be here.

Jason McLain:  [laughs] So I'm curious, what do you feel has made you so successful as a coach?

Caterina Rando:  Well, I would say that we could have a whole discussion on that.  But a couple of the things that are really key for anybody that wants to be successful in their coaching practice are these.  One is recognizing that it's not just about being a good coach.  It's about getting the word out there about yourself and your business.

So that is my really major focus, getting the word out there but really in a value added way.  My commitment to my people that I work with but also to any business entrepreneur is that you have to recognize that you want to provide value to people so that it makes their buying decision easier.

So speaking to promote my practice is really, I think what has made me the most successful.  That's because I am providing value added content to people before they have to make a buying decision.

We also recognize that it's not about sales.  It's not about selling.  It's about people wanting to work with you because you have already provided them value.

Jason McLain:  Why is it so important to provide value up front and to provide service upfront?

Caterina Rando:  Well, the thing is that for coaching especially, like any personal service, it's not just about a service like getting your oil changed.  It's about a personal relationship and a personal connection.  So you are going to give more consideration to someone that you are going to let not only into your house but also let into your heart or your mind.  It's more significant than trimming the hedges in the back.

It's an intimate relationship.  So people are going to give it a lot of consideration before hiring a coach.  Well, how you create a personal connection with them before they have to buy is through writing or speaking or them listening to some content that you have developed so that they feel they have a personal connection with you before they have to make a buying decision.

But also that experience has to be full of ideas or perspectives that they feel are positive and impacting to them.  So that's where the idea of value added marketing comes in.

Jason McLain:  Great.  Can you give some specific examples of how you have employed this value added marketing?

Caterina Rando:  Sure.  So the easiest one, the one that I started with and the one that I continue to do is to go speak to people and talk to them about ‘10 Tips to Improve Your Business’ or five ways to what I call success stamina, to stay motivated day after day.

So you want to go to groups where your potential clients are gathered and speak to them.  The other one of course is writing articles.  I used to do it in the paper.  Now I do it a lot more on the Internet because it's really easy to get your articles posted on the Internet.  That's another one.

Doing podcasts, doing tele-classes, doing interviews like we are doing today - these are all value added marketing ways in which people have an experience of you or even meet you.  It doesn't matter how good you are if nobody knows about you.

Jason McLain:  Right. [Laughs]

Caterina Rando:  You’ve got to get the word out.

Jason McLain:  Great.  Great.  What does that make possible for people in their business and in their lives if they really come from - because I know a lot of coaches to whom I have talked that have some fear around providing value up front.  They don't actually want to provide value up front.  They're not thinking about opening a relationship.  They are more concerned with closing a deal.

Caterina Rando:  Right.  OK.  That's a great point.  That's a great point.  I personally am not a proponent or subscribe to the idea that you do half an hour coaching free consultation with people.  I don't do that.  I have maybe done it a few times in 13 years.  I never really found it to be and I don't think it is a good marketing strategy because you want to get to the point where you are busy enough that you don't have enough time to do that.

So that's why if you give a speech or you write an article or I have podcasts on my website to which people can listen and there is lots of value there, then you don't have to do that. 

So people have to recognize, and I hear what you're saying. People say, “Well, I don't want to give it away.”  I believe in not giving away your time.  Don't do a free consultation.  I don't believe in giving away your time but I do believe in sharing ideas and giving people value before they come to work with you.  Because that's what works.  That's what works.

Yeah, somebody could make a $20 buying decision if they have never met you. ‘Oh, this special report or this book sounds good.  I'll buy that for $20.’

Jason McLain:  [laughs] Sure.  Right.  Right.

Caterina Rando:  That’s fine.  They are going to make a small buying decision before they know you.  But they're not going to make a few hundred to a few thousand dollar buying decision, especially for a personal service.

We have intimate relationships with our clients, whether or not it's as a business coach or as a relationship coach or as a life coach or as a nutrition coach.  All of these are intimate relationships.  People have to know you, like you and trust you before they are going to want to write you a big check or hire you.

Jason McLain:  I was listening to Dan Kennedy and Ron LeGrand’s ‘Information Marketing Boot Camp’.  One of the things a Ron LeGrand said in there was he said, “You can forget about trying to sell anything without somebody meeting you that is over $1900.  Just forget about it.”  [Laughs]

Caterina Rando:  Right.  Well right.  And I would actually bring that price way down.  $1900?  I'm not going to spend $1900 with somebody I haven't met.  I will spend $19.

Jason McLain:  Sure.  [Laughs]  Right.

Caterina Rando:  I mean, maybe $70.

Jason McLain:  Right.

Caterina Rando: Of course, it is different markets.  It depends on who your market is.  If your market is a corporate executive, then yes, I would agree, $1900 might be right.  But if your market is the small business owner, for whom $1900 is their whole budget for the next quarter or the next year, they are not going to spend that kind of money.  So depends on your market too as to how much they will spend without seeing you or hearing you.

Jason McLain:  Especially again, just to reinforce what you said, especially when it is a service they are buying.

Caterina Rando:  Right.  Right.

Jason McLain:  A tangible product maybe, but a service - no way.  No way.

Caterina Rando:  Right.  Right.  I buy a lot of stuff on the Internet - clothes, books, and nutritional supplements.  Sure, that's fine.  But those are products.  But services are very different.

Jason McLain:  Right.  So what does it make possible in peoples’ business and in their lives if they take on this idea of value added marketing?

Caterina Rando:  OK.  Well, first of all, the thing about the value added is that that really helps to have people feel like, “Oh, you're for me.  Oh, that's for me.”

Other people feel like, “Oh, that's not for me.” That's OK too.  OK?  Because we don't want to be the coach for everybody.

Jason McLain:  Right.

Caterina Rando:  That's one mistake that some coaches make.  They are the relationship coach.  They are the time management coach.  They are the productivity coach.  They are the sales coach.  They are this coach.  They are that coach.

Not to say that it's not possible to support people in all those different areas, but then nobody's going to feel like you're the answer for them.  You know?

Like, for example, I was working with a coach recently.  She said, “OK, I'm a life coach.”  Well then we dig a little deeper and she says, “Well, I really love to work with people after they have suffered a major illness when we want to help them reinvent their life.”

Well that's beautiful.  If that is somebody’s situation, then they are going to say, “Oh, that's for me.  I need to talk to her.”

Jason McLain:  Right.  Right.

Caterina Rando:  Whereas if she just says, “I'm a life coach”, well so are 10 other people in the room.

Jason McLain:  [laughs] That’s right.

Caterina Rando:  Really Jason, that's not exaggerating because the reason I started to speak was that I was in my late 20s building a coaching practice.  Every time I would go networking there would be five other coaches in the room.  They all looked a lot more polished.  They were all a little older or more to a lot older with a lot more experience under their belts.  So how do I differentiate myself?

Jason McLain:  That’s right.

Caterina Rando:  That's what we all have to ask ourselves.  How do we differentiate ourselves?  And how can we connect with our ideal clients?

Another thing I will say Jason is that teaching speaking and studying speaking for many years, I have heard a lot of people say, “Just go talk to any group.  Practice.  Get in front of any group.”  Frankly, I don't think that's a good strategy.

Yes, the more you do it the easier it gets and the better it gets.  I want you to upfront find the right group that is the right match for you and go speak there.

Jason McLain:  Can you speak a little bit to that kind of prospecting and identifying your potential prospects, the ones to whom you can most provide value.

Caterina Rando:  Yes.

Jason McLain:  And how you find them.

Caterina Rando:  OK.  So the first thing is, get clear in your business before we even talk about value added marketing.  Get clear in your business.  Who do you want to serve?

It is possible to have two niches.  Some people have three.  That seems a little too complicated to me.  But it is possible to have two.  But the thing to recognize is that you do have to keep them totally separate.  OK?

Jason McLain:  Do you mean separate websites?

Caterina Rando:  So what I mean by that is you have two separate websites.  You have two separate business cards.  You have two separate email accounts.  Everything.  Because if you put them all together, that dilutes your brand.  OK?

Jason McLain:  OK.

Caterina Rando:  So for example, I did a search the other night on time management plus speaker.  OK?  I got a speaker site.  She had time management.  She had protocols.  She had business writing.  She had something about friendship.

I'm thinking - and she wrote four books - well obviously she's smart.  But she is diluting her brand too much.  Nobody's going to feel like, “Oh yeah, she's the big time management expert”, OK?

So we need to keep everything separate if we cannot make a decision about what we want to do or if you actually have two, big flowing income streams, from two separate sectors, that's fine.  Just keep them separate.  Don't dilute them.  OK?

Jason McLain:  Great.  Perfect.

Caterina Rando:  So that's the first thing.  So when we jump to speaking, recognize everybody who has half a savvy brain in their head wants to promote their business through speaking.  Why?  Because it doesn't cost you anything, right?  And you could be in front of a whole room that is all your potential clients.

But, you first need to identify who are your potential clients and get as narrow as possible.  OK?  So for example, don't just say working moms, say working mothers of preschoolers.  OK?  Because why?  Then we can identify MOPS - which is the national organization, which has a Mothers of Preschoolers group in practically every city in the country.  We can get you on that speaking circuit.

Jason McLain:  Right.

Caterina Rando:  OK?  Because the more specific you can get the more you are going to come home with business.  OK?  And that's what we want - for you to come home with cash in your pocket and contracts in your hand.  OK?

Jason McLain:  Sure.

Caterina Rando:  Hey, I like that.  That's good.  Cash in your pocket and contracts in your hand.  Because, when the room is perfect for you, that's what happens.

Jason McLain:  Sure.

Caterina Rando:  Now, so - but here's the thing.  Let's say you are a financial planner or you are a coach who works with financial professionals.  Well guess what?  So is every other Tom Dick and Harry.  Right?

So how do you differentiate yourself?  You need what is called a speaker sheet, which is now with technology, simply a PDF document, you know, Adobe Acrobat, that you put together, that lists you, with your beautiful picture, a bio about you as a speaker, so it doesn't just say your background.  It also says, “Jason is dynamic and straightforward and provides ideas that people can implement immediately.”  So it talks about you as a speaker.  OK?  Not just your background.

Then it has one or two or three topics about which you talk.  Not too many.  Then you focus on the benefits.  So you need a speaker sheet.  Why?  Because you know what?  Let's take that coach that's working with financial professionals.  Well guess what?  If he's got his speaker sheet and he has got a piece of PDF positioning him as a speaker with exactly what he is going to talk about to this group and exactly what the benefit is, that's much different than any other person who is trying to get in front of that group. 

Most people don't have speaker information presented in that way.  They are not presenting themselves as a speaker.

I can tell you, I had one client who is a financial consultant to the construction industry.  We put together a speaker sheet for her.  She is speaking at every construction conference nationwide.  Why?  Because there is no other consultant to the construction industry that has been savvy enough to do that.  So she looks like the ultimate person to have in front of your group because she has this information.

So that's something that's very important that I really encourage people to do.  And that's something that we do in the Expert Advantage Program that I offer.  We put together people speaker sheets for them.

Jason McLain:  Great.  Thank you Caterina.  We are going to take a short break to support our sponsors.

Caterina Rando:  Great.

Jason McLain:  We’re here with Caterina Rando.  We're talking about value added marketing.  We'll be right back.

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Jason McLain: Welcome back to ‘Coaching the Life Coach’.  I'm your host Jason McLain.  I'm here with Caterina Rando.

Before the break we were talking about value added marketing.

Caterina Rando:  Yeah.

Jason McLain:  Caterina, you mentioned the Expert Advantage.  Can you talk a little bit about that program?

Caterina Rando:  Yeah, sure.  OK.  So this whole idea of value added marketing is all about looking at different ways that you can share your expertise with people before they decide to work with you.

Jason McLain:  OK.

Caterina Rando:  OK?  So there are many different ways to do that.  We touched on the first one a little bit, which is getting clear about exactly whom you want to serve.  Right?  OK.  That's important.

The other thing is paying attention to your brand.  Now I've got to tell you, I've been around a long time now so I have a strong sense of my brand and what branding is.  But honestly, the first several years in business, I couldn't get my arms around this idea of brand.  What is your brand?

Well, just for our listeners who may not get it yet, let me share that that is the impression and the reputation that you leave on the marketplace.  So you want to think about how you want to be perceived.  Do you want to be perceived as compassionate?  Do you want to be perceived as energetic?  Do you want to be perceived as straightforward?  How do you want to be perceived?

Then you want your colors and your look to reflect that.  Also, if you have a tagline, something that kind of says the benefit of what you do and that you are going to use consistently, that is part of your brand too.

But also, your brand is your reputation.  So it's how people perceive you in the marketplace.  So that's something that's important to consider.

Once you do those two things, you want to look at all these different ways that you can connect and share your expertise.  So for example, interviews or podcasts or tele-classes are all expert ways that you get your word out.  When you develop information products, those are another way that you not only solidify your brand, it's also additional income stream.  But also it also shares your expertise.

Your website - I cannot tell you Jason how many websites I have looked at for entrepreneurs that, you know what, there is no value added content on there.  It's all sales.  It's all bio.

Jason McLain:  Right.

Caterina Rando:  And testimonials.  Sorry.  OK, you're impressive.  But you're not giving me any value.

Jason McLain:  Right.

Caterina Rando:  So in the Expert Advantage program, which is to help entrepreneurs and coaches upgrade their expert impression in the marketplace, we always talk about where are the articles on your website.  Where are the podcasts or the tele-classes that I can listen to?

Also, for some people I say let's put some quizzes or some assessments up there because that makes it interactive with the visitor.  That's what we want.

And yes, we do want people raving about you too.  But that's not all we want.  I see with information, you know, coaches and speakers and people like that, they are doing way too much, “I'm so great” on their website and not enough value added content.

Jason McLain:  [laughs] That’s funny that you say that.  I have several clients who had been just reading my articles for years.  And then they just called me up out of the blue and said, “You know I've been thinking about working with you for a while.  Can we set up an initial session?”

So what you're saying is quite true.  These are people who -

Caterina Rando:  Exactly.  And let's just hang out.  Jason, let's just hang out there for a second.  OK.  So it didn't cost you one dime to market to these people.

Jason McLain:  Right.

Caterina Rando:  You didn't take a half an hour of your time or 40 minutes.  You didn't have to have a big enrolling conversation.  OK?  They are ready to go because they have been having a relationship with you for years.

Jason McLain:  That I was unaware of. [Laughs]

Caterina Rando:  You didn't know that.  OK?

Jason McLain:  [laughs]

Caterina Rando:  But they have been having a relationship with you for years.  And then when they are ready for what you have to offer –

Jason McLain:  That’s right.

Caterina Rando:  Now you're the answer for them.  That's what I want people to recognize.  And I have been fortunate to have the same experience.  When we are out there in the marketplace and we are providing value, by the time people call us they are ready to go.

I just got a new client, for me a very big client.  It's a company.  I'm doing a lot of tele-classes for them.  I am doing a lot of training for their people.  You know what?  When they called me, they were ready to go.  So isn't that what you want?

Jason McLain:  [laughs] Yeah.

Caterina Rando:  Now sometimes I get a little intimidated going after a huge client with a lot of zeros in the contract.  Wouldn't it be great, and this is what happens more and more now, if by the time they call they are ready to go.  So I don't have to convince them.  I don't have to persuade them.

Jason McLain:  Right.

Caterina Rando:  And that's what we want.  OK.

Jason McLain:  You have demonstrated credibility, competence and you have provided value upfront.

Caterina Rando:  Right, exactly.

Jason McLain:  Great.

Caterina Rando:  Now the other thing is, you know, it's OK to share a little bit of yourself too, on a personal level.  Like, you know for example, one of my clients who is a coach for financial professionals, every year she does a big run.  She puts together a whole group.  You know, they do a big fund-raising run.  She includes that in her newsletter and on her website.  It gives her a personal side.  And that's OK too.

You know I just put in my newsletter last week that I got engaged.  Now honestly, I have been engaged for a while but I thought you know, I should put it out there just as a personal antidote.  And you know what?  I got probably more response from that than from the content of the article, which was very good and very valuable.

Jason McLain:  [laughs]

Caterina Rando:  But sometimes that gives people a way to connect with you in a more personal way.  That's OK.

Now don't be like some people I have seen.  They are giving me their life story.  I don't want your life story because I'm going to you for some information to improve my life or build my business.  OK?  A little bit of that is good.  You know, if you are a dog lover, if you have a charity you're into, you know, let your people know because that gives them an additional way to connect with you.

Jason McLain:  Can you speak to the line between what to share and what not to share and how much to share about your personal life.  I have seen people over the full range.

Caterina Rando:  Yeah.

Jason McLain:  I've seen them where they want to know that you are a real human being and that you have struggles.

Caterina Rando:  Right.

Jason McLain:  And I've seen the other end where they want to know that you are a resource, you are always resourceful and they expect you to be sort of superhuman.  And I've seen everything in between.  Can you speak to where you think the risks are?

Caterina Rando:  Well that's a great point Jason that you bring up.  I think that being human and not being perfect is part of what people have us feel like they want to work with us.  There are certain self-help gurus, call them, that do seem perfect.  Then that makes it tough for the people who work with them because it's kind of an unattainable goal.

Jason McLain:  Comparing themselves against that standard.

Caterina Rando:  So I do think it's important to be human.  But the thing is, it's not about you either.  Not all self-help people or coaches get that.  It's not about you.  So that's why it's important to share a little bit.  You know.

And if somebody wants to ask you - you know, somebody called me last night and wanted to talk about my wedding.  Well that's fine.  I'll do that.  But you know I'm not going to do that in front of a whole room.  I'm not going to hang out there.  I'm not going to write a whole article about that you know.

Jason McLain:  [laughs] Right.  Right.

Caterina Rando:  Because why?  Also, what impression is that leaving on people?  So I don't want them to think about me like the wedding coach, right?

Jason McLain:  Right.  You don't want to negatively impact your brand.

Caterina Rando: Right.  So that's why a little bit is OK but we want to remember that it is not about us.  And I've got to tell you that from way too many coaches I am getting their life story in their newsletter.  I do feel like they're missing the point.

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Jason McLain:  Great.  OK. [Laughs]  Well Caterina, we are going to take a short break.

Caterina Rando:  OK.

Jason McLain:  To support our sponsors.

Caterina Rando:  OK.

Jason McLain:  I'm Jason McLain your host.  And I'm here with Caterina Rando.  We have been talking about the Expert Advantage.  And we will be right back.

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Jason McLain:  Welcome back to ‘Coaching the Life Coach’.  I'm your host Jason McLain and I'm here with Caterina.

Caterina, you know I wanted to ask you, we have talked a lot about specific marketing strategies.  So now what I wanted to do was just first of all find out what you have got going on, what services you provide and how people can reach you.  Can you say a little bit about that?

Caterina Rando:  Yeah, absolutely.  My website is www.attractclientswithease.com and there you can go and there are several articles to help you build your business.  There are a couple of interviews and there are going to be even more tele-classes that you can listen to right when you go there that are all about helping you build your business.

Also, I come at it really only from the strategies place but also from some attitudes and philosophies and perspectives that I want you to embrace in your business so that you are doing well and you are also having a full life and you are doing it with ease.  My thing is all about ‘with ease’ because I've seen so many coaches that are having a full practice but they are also getting burned out and they are not have a full life.

So one of the things on which I always like to focus with my clients is how can you do it with more ease?  How can we create more income streams for you?  How can we create systems and structures that support you in your business so that you're having more ease and flow?  So that's the primary focus of my work.

One of the things you will find also at www.attractclientswithease.com is info on the Expert Advantage program, which is a 12 week tele-coaching course that focuses on all these different aspects of creating your expert advantage - speaking, writing, getting articles out there, getting articles in directories, doing your speaker sheet, the branding, the niching.  We talk about podcasting and all the different ways to get the word out. 

We also talk about information products, which is key for coaches.  I thank my lucky stars every day that I got into information products right away.  Because when I go and speak to a group yes, there might be a couple of people in the beginning who want to work with me, which is great, but it's that cash in my pocket tonight that I am taking home that is very positive and impacting not only for my mood, but because that improves the bottom line, because there are a lot of people.

And here's what I want people to know about information products.  There are a lot of people that are not ready for your services yet or can't afford your services.

Jason McLain:  Right.

Caterina Rando:  But they can afford the $20 special report or the $99 CD pack.

Jason McLain:  Right.

Caterina Rando:  And really you have to recognize that that is a huge income stream of which you want to take advantage.  That's one of my favorites.

Jason McLain:  It's a huge income stream.  Also, if you're coming from purpose and really wanting to assist the community and the world at large, you just get to reach so many more people too.

Caterina Rando:  Right.  Right.  Right.

Jason McLain:  So information products are just fantastic.

Caterina Rando:  Thank you.  And let's just stay there for a second.  So let's say you go and you have a positive experience with somebody.  You go to their workshop. 

You know, we haven't really even talked today about public workshops where you put on your own workshop.  Now those are a little bit harder because you've got to build the room too so there is a lot of enrolling involved although it can be really beneficial to your business because it's your show and you get to do it the way you want.

Well let's say 100 people come to your seminar that you're doing this weekend.  Some of them are ready for ongoing work.  Some of them are ready but they can't afford it.  Well, they still want to have you impact their life.

Jason McLain:  Yes.

Caterina Rando:  So, information products are a way for them to take you home.  Sometimes I say that to people.  I say, “If you would like to take me home this is how you can do it.”

Jason McLain:  Oh, that's great. [Laughs] That’s great.

Caterina Rando:  Because really you know, that CD pack is the best of me right there.  So take that home and that will positively impact you.  That way people that cannot afford your ongoing work or your one-on-one work or your group work can afford your CD pack or your special report.

Then of course those people become your future clients.

Jason McLain:  Sure.

Caterina Rando:  Because you have given them a lot of value.  And let's just hang out there.  It's important for you to give them a ton of value in your information products because that will keep them coming back as a client or it will make them never want to work with you again.

I am sure Jason, you and many of our listeners today, have a lifetime supply of information products in your house.

Jason McLain:  [Laughs] More than I could list right here.

Caterina Rando:  Right, exactly. [Laughs] And here's the truth.  You know, when I hear a speaker, I go to the back of the room, even if it's $20, I remember one very famous coach now with whom I was speaking at a conference.  I thought she did a great job and I went and plopped down $20 in the back of the room for her stuff.

I took it home.  It was very poor quality.  I couldn't understand half of what was going on half the time.

Jason McLain:  Right.

Caterina Rando:  She recorded a live seminar.  And my $20 investment, I feel like I got ripped off, you know.

Jason McLain:  Right.

Caterina Rando:  Now, that's important because if it's going to be $20, it had better be something that I feel, “Wow, I got a ton of value on that” not that I got ripped off.

Jason McLain:  Right.

Caterina Rando:  So I know that there are a lot of information products gurus that tell you to tape everything and sell everything.  There are coaches telling me all the stuff they are doing and they are selling it.  That's really a mistake if it's not an incredibly valuable product.

So I'm old school on that.  I want to really encourage people to make them outstanding before they put them out because you don't want anybody to feel that they got ripped off.

Jason McLain:  I think it takes somebody who has already done a lot of personal development work to look past that kind of forum and to look just to the quality of information.  Even for me after 17 years now - you're probably going to go, “God, this just sounds horrible!” - but the information is good, you know, but I still have to, it is a two-step process.  For somebody who is just –

Caterina Rando:  Right, but wouldn't it be better if an expert had great quality and great content?

Jason McLain:  Absolutely.

Caterina Rando:  You know?

Jason McLain:  Absolutely.

Caterina Rando:  That's what we want. 

Jason McLain: These are people's lives that they are trying to improve.  If they get turned off - maybe it's their first audio product.

Caterina Rando:  Right.

Jason McLain:  If they get turned off by that experience then they have negatively impacted the world.

Caterina Rando:  And that potential client is not going to work with you again.

Jason McLain:  Right, right.  OK.  I'm going to ask you one more question.  But before that, I just want to encourage our listeners first of all to go to the Personal Life Media website and subscribe to this show or other shows so you can be sure to listen to other fabulous guests like Caterina.  And for transcripts of the show and other shows on the Personal Life Media Network, again go to www.personallifemedia.com.

I'm your host Jason McLain and your guide in the 21st-century marketplace.  You can reach me at [email protected].  I'm here with Caterina Rando talking about the value added marketing, the expert advantage and lots of other really incredibly valuable tips and tricks and ways of thinking about provide service and value.  You can reach her at www.attractclientswithease.com where you can learn to innovate, motivate and accelerate. [Laughs] I love that.

Caterina, I just want to ask you one last question.

Caterina Rando:  Sure.

Jason McLain:  If you were to leave the listeners with one single organizing principle, one tremendously powerful distinction that would change their lives today if they took that on, what would that be?

Caterina Rando:  Well, I'm going to say two.

Jason McLain:  Great.

Caterina Rando:  One we have already really underscored but I just want to mention it again, which is recognize it’s all about providing value.  The more value you provide, the more full your practice will be, the more money you are going to earn.

The second thing is, and this is something that I have learned Jason in coaching extremely successful people and paying attention to what they do in a coaching context or in a speaking context, there is a big difference between people who come to me after a coaching session or after a speech and they say, “That was really great.”  Compared to people that say, “I'm going to do this” and they do it today.

What I have seen is that people who are extremely successful don't just show up for the workshops and listen to the interviews and take notes.  They take action immediately.

Jason McLain:  Right.

Caterina Rando:  So if anybody is listening to this who has gotten an idea and said, “Yeah, I want to do that”, don't do it tomorrow.  Get busy right now; right this second because that is the difference between people that get to the top of their profession and people that don't.  If you're getting ready to get ready to get started to begin to check out where you want to go –

Jason McLain:  [laughs] Right.

Caterina Rando:  [laughs] You are wasting way too much time and you're not moving forward.  So one of the things, you know - you want to follow the energy.  So if you have listened to this interview and you are in the positive energy of this interview that gives you momentum to make it easier for you to take action now.  If you take notes and you try to take action next week, it's going to be a lot harder.  So get busy right now.  That's what leaders do.  That's what I do.  And that's what successful businesspeople do.

Jason McLain:  And the second one?

Caterina Rando:  Oh, well the other one was about making sure that you're providing a lot of value.

Jason McLain:  Got you.  Great.  Thank you Caterina.

Caterina Rando:  Thank you.

Jason McLain:  Thank you for your time.  Thank you for your insight.  Again, Caterina Rando, you can reach through www.attractclientswithease.com.  I'm your host, Jason McLain, your guide in the 21st-century marketplace.  You have been listening to ‘Coaching the Life Coach - Strategies to Grow Your Transformational Practice’. 

Join us next week when we will be joined by Isa Gucciardi, founder of ‘The Sacred Stream Foundation’.  Thanks for listening.  I'll see you soon.

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