7 Deadly Sins of Coaching Websites with Jason Gracia: An EOFire Classic from 2020

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. Brought to you by the HubSpot.

0:30that convert. And today, Fire Nation, we're going to be talking about what you actually want. It's a high converting machine. We'll talk about how to separate yourself and to avoid the curse of knowledge and so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode to Jason and our sponsors. Outbound Squad, hosted by Jason Bay, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Tune in for convos with leading sales experts and top performing reps to help you land more meetings with your ideal clients. One of my faves, the monthly app with Jason and Ethan, where they share hacks, tips, and tricks.

1:04Listen to Outbound Squad wherever you get your podcasts. Jason, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something interesting about yourself that most people don't know. Hey, what's up, Fire Nation? Jason here. And something most people don't know would probably be that I was the lead guitarist in a punk band in college. I think with my image online now, I don't think most people would see me. What was the name of that band? Okay, so the name of the band was DSB. We made that up because the drummer's mom worked at a bank, Denmark State Bank, and they had a ton of shirts and hats that said DSB. So we thought, we're just going to call ourselves DSB.

1:51Free swag. Yep, exactly. So we handed out hats. They didn't know it was from a bank in Wisconsin. That's spectacular. I love it. That's what you call making things happen, Fire Nation. Bootstrapping when you need to bootstrap to get that runway extended and to get that tipping point, of course. Now, as I mentioned in the intro, we're talking about the seven secrets to coaching websites that actually convert. And let's just jump right in, Jason, by breaking down to Fire Nation, how important a website actually is to either a coach, a consultant, or a service provider. Yeah, you got it. Like, not just coaches, anyone who needs clients.

2:31A lot of people think of a website as a brochure. But actually, it is the single greatest asset you have. Because you have an automated sales force who has the right image and the right pitch to every single person. I ran a company once with a brick and mortar with employees. And to get them to say anything at all that I wanted to was hard enough. But to get everyone to say the exact same thing the right way to every person to give them the experience of a lifetime, that's impossible. But with a website, because you can craft that message over time, you can have that perfect automated sales force that greets every person the right way.

3:09And it's your PR firm. It's customer service and support. It's a client-generating machine. when you have it set up the right way. So for me, the website is the foundation of any service provider because it's a place, it's a hub where you can send everyone and have that machine run like clockwork. Now, a little spoiler alert, Fire Nation. We're gonna go through seven secrets that Jason has crafted for us today. And secret number one that he's gonna be revealing is what it actually takes to make a website look professional. So share that secret with us, Jason. So I've got four things, four musts.

3:50And number one is images. So especially for service providers, because in a lot of cases, you are the product or service. You're selling yourself. And so as much as I try to save clients money in places where I can, when it comes to images, you really need to invest in professional headshots. It makes such a huge difference when people land on a site because we judge quality of what we see with how good you are. Low quality images, we assume low quality service. We make that judgment within seconds. So I always tell clients that's one area you really should invest, high quality headshots. Now, if you can't afford a photographer, you can get stock images.

4:34There's still a lot of great places. pexels.com unsplash.com for your free images but then you can also get paid stock images and you can still create that premium professional image but i really do like when coaches or consultants use their face just to connect with that person the next is colors so a lot of people we work with they pick colors they love and as many as they they want on a website you got to think of the person who's coming to that site. So you need to know just a little bit about color theory. Green, we're going with natural and nature. Blue, we're going with relationships and friendship.

5:13That's why Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter are blue. There's reasons behind those color choices. And stick to three. One primary, two accent. And then stay consistent throughout your website and your marketing collateral. That's how you create a brand, that brand image. When people see that you're consistent across your platforms. Same thing with fonts. So that's number three. Pick one header and one body and do your research online to make sure that these complement each other. Not all fonts work together well. And the simplest tip is if you're not sure what to do with fonts, use the same font, make your header bold and big, and then your body and your callouts, a smaller version of that same font.

6:01But if you Google online, you can find a ton of great font combinations. But you just don't want to dive in with the fonts that you love. Right now, what's hot online is that script font for a lot of websites. But that can be difficult to read, especially on mobile. So that's what you got to think about is it's the experience of the person coming to that website. So not just personal preference, but something that's going to help you convert. And then the last, low-calorie layouts. And what I mean by that is we need white space. We need to breathe. People don't read websites anymore. They scroll and they scan.

6:37And so we have to take that into account when we're laying out our pages. So I want to see a lot of white space. When you do write words, I want to see bullet points and call outs, one to two sentence paragraphs. So we have to make sure that the brain is not overloaded because then it becomes work. And when someone comes to our website and it's work, they bounce. We want to keep them there with low-calorie layouts. So professional headshots, a consistent color scheme with a primary, and then two accent colors, consistent font pair, and then give our brains a break, low-calorie layouts. So Fire Nation, usually it's my job to kind of go back over and sum up all the great points that Jason made during that last segment.

7:19But he just did that at the end because he's a true pro. So let's just move on, brother, because you've got some more great secrets for us. and one of my favorite topics in the world is conversion because you can do everything right, Fire Nation, and if you don't get conversion correct, you're never ever going to have a successful product or service or fill in the blank. So Jason, when it comes to conversion, what is the most important piece to get right? Could not agree more. There are countless gorgeous websites out there that don't make a penny. And so conversion is all that matters. and this my friend comes from you inch wide mile deep yes that is that's everything and so I've run a lot of businesses um before I built coaching websites I started just building websites and business was fine but then when I really dove in and I listened to you I just I'm not going to try and figure this out on my own he's got to figure it out and I did it I dove in I I went an inch wide, coaches only, but a mile deep.

8:22So I understood everything about what they needed. And that transformed my business overnight. Because when you target like that, everything changes. Your marketing changes, your messaging changes, your brand changes. And it all becomes easier. The changes, everything becomes easier. Because you're on the stage and you're not screaming to a thousand people at once. you're screaming to that one guy in the front row with the red hat and the yellow shoes, and they're going to listen. So when it comes to conversion, the most important part is what I call a differentiating value proposition. So value proposition is I help X do X so that X.

9:05We create coaching websites specifically and exclusively for coaches to help them get clients. And what that does is it eliminates alternatives. And especially for coaches and consultants, the ocean is so, so saturated. Coaching is on the rise,$2 billion industry and rising, which means there's a lot of coaches entering the market. So you need to differentiate. And how you do that, like JLD taught me, target market. Three times, which is painful, but it works. because the deeper you go, the less alternatives there are. When I was a designer, I was compared to every other designer. But once I narrowed down to exclusively coaches, they all disappeared.

9:52And what was left was just a handful of people who did what I did. So I eliminated alternatives to me. And because of that, my business grew on its own natively just because of that choice I made in the beginning of my business. So for coaches, you can't go general. You can't be a life coach because you are competing against 10 ,000 other life coaches. You need to dive deep and talk to one person that you know you can help. Well, first off, Jason, thank you for listening. But even more importantly, thank you for executing and implementing some of the things that we're sharing on Entrepreneurs on Fire because that's what's all about, Fire Nation, is you consuming this content, but then using it and implementing it and executing upon it in your day-to-day life, just like Jason listened, consumed, executed.

10:38And I love that phrase, I help X do X to get to X. I mean, if you just think about that process, Fire Nation, it eliminates those alternatives that overwhelm people. That's the biggest reason why people start off on fire and then they get overwhelmed because they just bite off way more than they can chew. Go niche within a niche within a niche until it flipping hurts. It hurt, but you were right. My business transformed because of that one decision. Secret number three, let's break into it. Because most coaches and consultants get this wrong about their website. What is it? They think that clients are visiting.

11:21They think that if 100 people come, 99 will be interested in signing up for their coaching or their consulting services. As you and I know, it's the reverse. It is the reverse. And up to 95 % of the people who visit are not ready. And I even, I lower that when I'm talking to coaches because it's so hard for them to believe because they're sold, they're sold on that myth that you'll put up a website, you know, you build it and they will come and that's just not how it works. So the biggest mistake they make is that they think all these clients are coming when really it's cold traffic or warm traffic, but not the hot people who are ready.

12:02That's a sliver. Usually it's one to three percent. So you have to have a way to follow up with these people. So if 100 people come to your website and all you have is hire me, 99 will leave and you'll never see them again. But in that group that's leaving, there are clients. They're just not ready yet. They don't see the value yet. they're not far enough along in the sales cycle. So you're seeing tens of thousands of dollars leave because you don't have a way to capture them. And the best way is a great lead generator. So that is what I, we help people create a lead generator for cold traffic.

12:42So for the people who are just getting into the idea of getting help, they may not know they have a problem. They may not know you have a solution, but they're just starting that journey. We capture them with a lead generator. So we'll give away a checklist, a cheat sheet, a guide. That way you can capture their contact information and then build that relationship over time until they are ready. So I know for me, in all of my businesses, 95 % of that income came on the follow-up. But the only way I could follow up was by having a lead generator. And not just that, but an autoresponder. So once you capture that information, I tell all my coaches, we need to set up a series of emails that welcomes them to our world and introduces our offers to them over time.

13:30So lead generator to capture that contact information and then an autoresponder to build that relationship until they are ready to sign. Fire Nation, we've had over 6 ,000 people joined Podcasters Paradise over the years. But guess what? By far, the first time that they visited the Paradise sales page or attended one of my webinars was not when the majority of them bought. They were just coming because they're like, oh, I want to learn more about podcasting. They weren't ready to either launch a podcast or invest significantly in this podcasting journey. But guess what? The emails that I get are, hey, John, I went to five webinars and then I just joined today.

14:09Or John, like I went through your free podcast course four times and I just joined now today. So the lead generators that I created, you know, the auto responders, the sequences that I put them into by, you know, having them visit my sites and then converting them into somebody who I can continue to add value to over the days, weeks, months, and in some cases, even years, has led to that 6 ,000 plus number. Not the, you know, instant conversions of somebody being like, I want to, you know, people don't wake up and say, I want to spend a thousand dollars on a podcasting course. They wake up and they say, huh, I feel like I might want to start a podcast, but what's the next step?

14:49You got to be that next step, Fire Nation, and then nurture them along. And we've got some more secrets coming up, specifically secrets number five, six, and seven. As soon as we get back, Fire Nation, from thanking our sponsors. Content is a major driver of traffic and leads in most businesses, but creating great content takes a lot of time and people. That's why AI is making major headlines these days and HubSpot's AI-powered content assistant is coming in hot. HubSpot's AI-powered content assistant helps marketers brainstorm, create, and share content quickly and easily. It not only can help you come up with content ideas, it can also help you draft blog outlines, write content on any topic, develop prospecting emails, and more.

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16:05So Jason, we're back. And this is just something that most coaches and consultants get wrong about free sessions. This is what you're going to talk about in the secret because listen, it used to be kind of novel for a coach to be like, Hey, I'll do a 15 minute free call with you. That used to be novel. That used to be unique. That used to be different. And it was a great strategy for a long time, but now everybody's doing it. So now Now you need to do something different. You need to do something right during these free sessions and different during these free sessions to make sure that you are actually going to be providing the kind of value that's putting you head and shoulders above the rest.

16:43So talk about this, Jason. This is such a huge topic. And like you said, at first, the idea was great. It was like the old days. So I started 20 years ago when you wanted to email your list, you just loaded them into AOL.com and then sent out an email. So back then you could say, sign up for my newsletter. And people thought, what is this? A newsletter? I can't wait to get this. Just like with free sessions. When they first came on board, people were – they loved it. I could work with a coach for free. We see these everywhere now. And what we see them as is sales calls. So every coach that we see says, click here for a free session.

17:28And they know that person who's clicking, they know they're just going to be pitched for 60 minutes. So getting on the phone is essential. I don't think a coach or consultant, you can definitely sell from a webpage. But at the price points that most coaches and consultants are at, you need to talk to somebody. And so calls are still the number one conversion mechanism. But to get people on that call, you've got to totally reframe how you think about these free sessions. So first, don't say free session. Don't say discovery call. What I do is I teach my clients, we need to craft an experience that you could sell, that people would be happy to pay for, but you are covering the cost.

18:10So there's two things there that I point out for clients. One, we have to create a branded service that you could sell. and two, you're covering the cost. So we want to get away from undermining ourselves by saying free session, like we're just throwing out our value. So I like my coaches to say they're covering the cost of this. It's usually X amount, but we're going to cover the cost for you. It just adds a little bit of value to show this isn't just a throwaway call. Branding it, you got to give it a name. So we worked with one coach and it was find your soulmate now. That was their free session.

18:46Now, if you're someone who's alone and lonely and you see someone saying free session, which you think sales call, or find your soulmate now session where you get to do X, Y, Z and we list the benefits, it's a no brainer. So if you're going to offer a call, I want you to brand it and I want you to have benefit bullets. You've got to sell it. And I actually want you to deliver value. So on our free sessions, we teach four steps, the ideal, the real, the blocks, and the bridge. So the ideal, first get clear about what your caller wants. What is their vision? Now, yes, this is typical. We always want to find out where our client is, but there's such value in that because as an expert, you can help them clarify their goals.

19:31And clarity is something people will pay a fortune for and most people never have. So giving them that clarity, that's value. And you can mention that in your benefit bullets. The next is the real. Where are they now? Most people, they're ambivalent about it. They know they need to make a change, but they rationalize. And they cover it up and they sugarcoat. As the coach, by helping them take inventory of where they are now, you can shake them out of that ambivalence. You can motivate them to take action. So there's another piece of value that you can then promote when you're talking about your session.

20:08And what you do there between the ideal and the real is create a gap. What they want, what they have. And that's where your coaching lives. The only reason coaches and consultants have a job is because of that gap. So you establish that gap on the call. So you're giving value and you're helping your people, but you're also creating a space for your service. The next part is the blocks. So what's stopping you? Here's what you want. Here's what you have. Now what's getting in the way? Now, as an expert, you usually know the common things that are getting in the way. So what I love my coaches and consultants to do is help them identify those points.

20:48They may not know, or they may be misinformed, which is usually the case. People think this is standing in my way. They have excuses. But as an expert, you can say, no, it's actually this and that is such an eye-opener and such a relief for people when they realize this is actually what's holding me back and I can get past that with their help and that's the bridge the bridge is how we get from where they are to where they want to be so that's the kind of recession that we teach something that is packed with value that is named that has benefits and that you could sell but you're covering the cost and then at the end of that call, you naturally go into your service.

21:30So that's the big picture. That's what most coaches get wrong about it. They treat it as a throwaway sales call when actually it's the lifeblood of your business. Now, the other secret, I see a lot of coaches say, email me or contact me to set up a time. Yeah. Right. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. There's no way it just doesn't work. There's friction there. And you have to realize when we look at our websites, we're looking at a work of art. We're looking at our passion and our life. When someone else visits our website, they're looking at one of 30 tabs that they have 10 seconds to invest in.

22:08So you can't have any friction. It's got to be seamless. So that's why you have to have a calendar integrated into your website where people can book right then and there. We usually use Acuity, Acuity Scheduling or Calendly. Those are great, but there are a ton of options out there, free and paid. But that's what I have. My coaches have to have it integrated so there's no friction. It needs to be seamless. And then the last mistake, new coaches. I think once coaches are in a little bit, they see this. But a call booked is not the same as someone who shows up. I realized that quickly. So you need to have a follow-up sequence.

22:50So what we teach is on that thank you page, once someone goes through your calendar and make sure you include an intake form. Make sure that they are answering questions so that you can vet them. Because when you have a great free session, you're going to have a lot of people sign up. Not all are going to be prospects for your coaching. And so you want to make sure that they have to fill out an application or an intake form so you can vet to make sure you know who you should be spending your time talking to. But when they do that, when they book that call, have a thank you page that builds on those benefits and talks about the value of the call and shows testimonials of other people who've had that call.

23:27Send follow-up emails. You can even send follow-up materials like prep work, homework, guides to get them ready and excited. And then day of, make sure you're emailing them to let them know, today's our call, here's how I want you prepped and prepared, and here's all the great things we're going to go over. You've got to do your work after they book to make sure that they show up. And what I really like coaches to do is create a spreadsheet. I want you to track how many calls are booked, how many are showing up, how many are closing, and then tweak. Tweak your systems to try and get those percentages up.

24:03Now, that's a little deeper than most coaches want to go, but it's all the numbers. In the end, the game is numbers. And so I want you to treat this like a science. After someone calls up, what are the steps we need to take them through to get them to show up? Just because they don't show up doesn't mean they couldn't be a client. People get busy. Things get in the way. So you got to take those steps because once you can get your show up right up, well, then your conversion rate will go up too. So now that we know all the right things to do from secret one all the way through secret six, and that was a little two for one Fire Nation, a free session with secret five, you know, and how you should be refocusing that.

24:39And then secret six was the online calendar. Let's talk about getting more people to book calls, to show up, to enroll in programs, AKA the funnel. Take it away, Jason. So, of course, the funnel is the hot game out there right now. Everyone's talking about funnels, and it's because they work. Russell Brunson has done like a hundred million dollar company with the power of funnels. But they can also be overwhelming for a lot of coaches and consultants. So what we build and what we teach, I just want you to have a simple funnel that brings them from cold to warm to hot. The cold offer, get your lead generator on that site, promoting something that leads directly into the warm offer, which is your free session.

25:30And then, of course, that hot offer is your coaching. So I want you to link those together. They have to talk to each other. So what you want on your website is you want people to be able to drop into each of these independently. So you want your lead generator promoted. you want a big bold button in the upper right hand corner to book a call and you also want a sales letter that talks about your coaching and allows them to apply individual beings that people can drop in wherever they are but the power comes when you link them together so when someone opts in for your lead generator what i want you to do is have them automatically go to the free session landing page.

26:10Thank you so much for requesting our guide. In the meantime, check out our next offer. I also want you to promote that in the auto email they get first that delivers your lead generator. So I land on your website. I request your giveaway on that email that gives it to me in the PS. Mention that next step. Free session. And then, and this is something I don't see a lot of coaches doing, in that lead generator, in whatever giveaway that you're going to create, the last page should be a pitch for your free session. A lot of people either don't pitch anything or they pitch their program. A lot of times it's too early.

26:49Remember, we're just coming in. We're just opening the door to this idea of getting help. Now, you could pitch your program and test your number, see if it works. But I think if you pitch your call, that's the perfect next step. So by doing that, you're sending them to the landing page as a thank you page for the free session. You're mentioning it in the email that they get. And you're mentioning it in the lead generator itself. So three times, within three minutes, they know what's next. So that's key. You took step one, open the door to step two. Connect those pieces. And then keep following up with those emails to get people to book a call.