How Lisa built the business of her dreams and recruited 25 new clients in her first year coaching
“You can spend a lot of time spinning your wheels online, trying to get eyeballs on your business. With Nick's help, I got clear on my goals.”
The founder
Lisa Hallee is the founder of Lisa Hallee Coaching. She helps women leaders reconnect with the richness of their lives and ultimately live out their dreams.
The challenge
Lisa wanted to pursue coaching, but building a client roster was daunting
“I wanted my work to reflect my values,” Lisa remembers. “I really wanted to help people in a tangible way.”
But when it was time to build a client roster, she felt daunted. She had years of experience in the nonprofit sector and lots of connections, but few actual clients yet.
“A lot of people knew me, but they didn’t know me as a coach,” says Lisa. “So the question was, ‘how do I present myself to the world in this new way?’”
She started recruiting clients one by one from her contacts. This was a good place to start, but she felt like she needed a compelling website to really grow. But, “technology and me do not get along,” she says, and building a site was more of a challenge than she had anticipated.
“I took this really nice, fancy marketing course on how to market your coaching business, and it was honestly a waste of time and money,” says Lisa.
She likes to do things herself, so “it really took me failing to realize I needed help,” she says.
When she reached out to Nick Rimsa, Founder of Tortoise Labs, she initially just wanted help creating a website that would help her stand out in a crowded market, so she could feel good about her online presence and have an easier time recruiting new clients.
And although Nick did help her create that website she wanted, Lisa learned that what she actually needed went way beyond that …
“I had some very bare bones ideas about what I wanted to do. I sort of said, ‘I'm just going to coach people,’” she remembers. “And then Nick followed up with all the questions I didn’t even know I needed to be asking, like, ‘How are you going to attract clients? What are the problems you're trying to solve? How are you going to solve those problems? What are the tools that you're going to use? What's your market?’”
She knew she had work to do — but with Nick in her corner, her next steps became clear and focused.
“I had some very bare bones ideas about what I wanted to do. I sort of said, ‘I'm just going to coach people.’ And then Nick followed up with all the questions I didn’t even know I needed to be asking, like, ‘How are you going to attract clients? What are the problems you're trying to solve? How are you going to solve those problems? What are the tools that you're going to use? What's your market?’”
The process
Trying to reach the whole world. Focusing on reaching the right people.
Setting clear goals
The first thing Lisa and Nick worked on was setting clear goals. They mapped out how many clients Lisa needed to get her business off the ground. Then, they worked on figuring out who Lisa’s target customer was. Nick helped Lisa shift her focus from trying to work with everybody to focus on working with the people she could best help.
“I realized I don't need to reach the whole universe,” says Lisa. “I just need to reach the people who really want to take advantage of the services that I have to offer.”
Learning more about the target market
Then, Nick gave Lisa a list of questions to ask her current and past clients, so she could learn more about her target market and gather testimonials.
Questions like:
Would you hire me if you didn’t know me?
What things would you look for to make a decision about whether to hire me?
By asking the right questions, Lisa was able to understand why people hire her, and how to adjust her messaging to speak directly to those people.
Building an optimized website to build authority
Next, they built and optimized Lisa’s website so it would speak to her target clients. They also added certifications and testimonials to give Lisa more credibility.
“I’m not good at tooting my own horn,” says Lisa. “It was helpful for me to give testimonials to Nick and let him decide how best to put them on the site.”
Bringing it together with a shiny new system for recruiting clients
Finally, they used the customer research Lisa had done to set up a new recruitment process. Rather than marketing generic coaching services, Lisa launched a small group coaching program for women CEOs: the clients she actually wanted to work with.
“Nick really challenged me to think about how I was going to help my client solve a problem,” said Lisa. “One of the problems I see, particularly among senior leaders and women, is that there aren’t a lot of places where leaders feel safe to express things that challenge them. I wanted to create a safe space where women leaders could talk about vulnerable things with other people who understood it because they'd been through it.”
They also implemented systems to help Lisa figure out which of her marketing efforts were working, and which weren’t.
“Nick taught me to be disciplined about looking at analytics to understand what was working, so I could identify where to invest my time,” says Lisa. “You can spend a lot of time spinning your wheels online, trying to get eyeballs on your business. With Nick's help, I got clear on my goals.”
The results
Going from zero to 25 active clients and generating revenue
Lisa is thrilled with the progress she has made as a business owner. She went from having zero to 25 active clients in one year. Plus, the clients she’s working with now are passionate about her offerings.
“Curating a group has been hugely successful because the people in it are so dedicated to the work,” says Lisa. “They take it very seriously. It is exceeding my expectations.”
Her new business model — teaching a course to a group of her target clients — is also serving her better, because she doesn’t have to search for new clients every few months.
“The course I teach has given me a great way to bring people in and grow them,” says Lisa. “I coach them sometimes before the course and then again after the course. Once they've attained an understanding of my methodology, they're ready to incorporate it into their lives, and the ongoing support is important to them.”
She has other critical pieces of her business set up, too, like her website email list.
“I ended up with a website that I love that works for me,” says Lisa. “I have a blueprint for how I'm going to move forward in terms of communicating with my clients. I've got a good newsletter email list going. I know the pieces are in place.”
And she’s continuing to build toward her revenue goals.
“I've taught this course twice, and I'm going to be going into my third cycle next month,” says Lisa. “I am generating revenue. I'm not where I want to be, but that's okay because I'm a whole lot farther down the road than I was certainly even six months ago. Every month gets better. And that's the trajectory I'm looking to build on.”
And thankfully, she’s not alone in it all. “I have a partner,” she explains. “Nick is like my business partner, and he helps me do things I can't do.”
“Nick helps you crystallize your thought process, define your market, and make your business dreams real.” Lisa’s dream as a Coach is to help her clients live out their biggest dreams. With Nick’s help, she’s achieving that. And she’s just getting started.
“If you know what you want to do, but you're not the most tech savvy person on the planet, Nick is a fantastic bridge to that world. He will tell you what you need to do and what you can just let go of. Nick is like my business partner, and he helps me do things I can't do. Every month gets better. And that's the trajectory I'm looking to build on.”
What if you could focus only on what you’re good at?
Start a conversation with Tortoise Labs about getting your business off the ground, finding your target customers, and working toward your dreams.