Episode 44. 5 Things You Didn’t Know About My Business (Tips, Lessons, and Mistakes)

Here are some miscellaneous tips, lessons, or mistakes that I’ve encountered in my business. These bits and pieces may be useful to you and your own business, so I hope they provide value!

In This Episode:

Building my website by myself and why having a website is helpful for my business
Why I don’t believe in teaching my clients what I’ve learned from a course or program I previously invested in
The truth about my Instagram stories views and other metrics
Setting boundaries with clients
Being confident on Instagram stories

Building my website by myself and why having a website is helpful for my business

Did you know that I have created all of my websites since starting my business?

From my first website quarterlifeproject.com on Squarespace (which no longer exists) to cheryllau.com on Squarespace (also no longer exists) to my current website cheryltheory.com on Leadpages, I have built all of them myself.

I created them quickly – for example, I put together cheryltheory.com in just two days, which includes all the webpages, copy, visuals, layouts, and more. Everything you see, except for the podcast page which was added later, was created in just two days.

I wanted to share this fun fact with you because I know many people who never publish their websites due to seeing it as a time-consuming task.

While it can be, I always remind myself that there is always another way.

Rather than spending too much time on copy or design, I write as quickly as possible so I can hit publish.

I use drag-and-drop website builders like Squarespace and Leadpages to make the process easier.

I urge you to prioritize speed in your business – a website is one of those things that doesn’t warrant too much time.

I have spoken to peers in the coaching space who spent months working on their websites, and some have still not published them.

If you don’t want to spend time designing or building your website, consider working with a web designer instead.

Next week, I will be working with one of my clients, Brittany, who is a web designer, to create my new website cheryltheory.com. We will be using WordPress this time, as that is Brittany’s area of expertise.

The specific reason why I wanted to redo my website is that, even though I liked Squarespace and Leadpages for their ease of use and the time they saved me from having to learn coding, I must admit that none of my websites on those platforms looked the way I wanted them to.

I know that WordPress can give me much more control over the website’s appearance, particularly for mobile view. Squarespace and Leadpages don’t allow much customization for mobile views, which is one of their limitations.

I’m going to be working with Brittany inside her “Website in a Week” package where we’re literally going to create this entire website from scratch and publish it in one week.

I believe that it’s important to invest in areas of your business where you need the expertise and where it can save you time and energy in the long run. I really don’t want to spend the time building a website from scratch.

Compared to when I first created cheryltheory.com on Leadpages, I now work with a lot more clients than I did at that time in mid-2020 when I made the website.

I also now have a podcast and I’m also a PhD student. With all these new responsibilities on my plate, it simply wasn’t worth it to me personally to DIY it myself.

I’m super excited for this and cannot wait to show you all how the new website will look like! Shout out to Brittany for working with me on this. You can find Brittany at @brttnytrnh on Instagram or you can check out her website.

Having a website has been particularly helpful for me because it provides a space to showcase information that potential clients would like to see, such as specific details related to my coaching program.

It is also useful for collaborators to review. For example, during Q3 of 2020, I conducted several paid workshops, including one for an organization called Join the Cosmos.

The CEO of the organization informed me that she had reviewed my website while discussing a potential collaboration.

This instance confirmed that people do spend time looking at my website.

Overall, I think that having a website can be helpful for potential clients or collaborators who are curious to know more about working with you, and it really doesn’t have to be complicated.

What’s often the most complicated part for many people is agonizing over the details – the colors, the copy and the way things look.

But if you just keep it simple and know that good enough is good enough, then I highly recommend creating a website.

There are also many cheaper alternatives than the usual options you hear about, such as Squarespace, Wix, or Showit.

For example, one thing Brittany taught me was that you can create a free Google Sites website and simply purchase a domain from Google Domains or Namecheap, and connect the domain to your Google Site. That’s probably the most cost-efficient way to do it.

I hope that this gives you that gentle nudge to create your own website for your business and do it efficiently.

It doesn’t have to look beautiful or fancy.

Instead, it just needs to be clear and can articulate the main information you want people to know about you and your business.

Why I don’t believe in teaching my clients what I’ve learned from a course or program I previously invested in

I don’t believe in teaching my clients the same information I learned from a course or program in which I previously invested.

For example, while promoting my 5-figure soft launches + thought leadership workshop in April 2021, several people interested in the workshop asked me how it differed from a very popular business course and whether I would be repeating the same information.

I assume they asked this because they were already enrolled in the course and didn’t want to invest in my workshop if it covered the same material.

To be honest, I was lowkey upset when I received that question, because I believed that the content I share for free is completely different from what that course teaches.

When you compare my content to the course creator’s material or even their overall brand, I think you’ll find very few similarities.

However, after being asked that question multiple times while promoting my workshop, I realized that I must not have been communicating clearly how my workshop and coaching program differ from other business coaching programs and courses.

So, after I finished promoting that one-time workshop, I had to take a look at my own content and messaging and analyze why I got those questions during that promotional cycle.

That’s one thing I hope you can take away from this, which is: If you’re not satisfied with the results, analyze what’s going on and make changes.

For me, I did not like people asking me that question, so I took some time to analyze my marketing around my workshop and observed some interesting things in my content that might have prompted such questions, as I rarely get such questions when promoting my coaching programs, for instance.

Another reason I wanted to share this fun fact is that I firmly believe that we should not be merely regurgitating information we learn from someone else and selling it as part of our programs, especially for business coaches.

I have seen too many instances where people create similar content or coaching programs, heavily modeling them after the original coaches.

It becomes apparent who is a student of whom because they all do very similar things.

I don’t want this in my own business, and I don’t want any of my clients to simply copy me.

Many of my clients have previously invested in one particular business course/program before, and several clients have worked with other coaches before, and they all tell me one thing: my program is very unique and different from any other course or coaching program they’ve invested in before.

That is something I really pride myself on.

The truth about my Instagram stories views and other metrics

I typically get between 100-150 views on my Instagram stories in a 24 hour period, because Instagram stories will go away after 24 hours.

I recently made an entire post about this on my Instagram feed, which you can check out.

First, I polled my audience on Instagram stories and had them guess how many views I tend to get on a typical day.

11 people voted for 100-150 views, 29 voted for 150-250, 11 voted for 250-350, and 9 voted for 350+.

The answer is 100-150.

As you can see, most people assume that I get more than 150 views on my Instagram stories.

And I even shared screenshots of my Instagram stories view count to back up what I was saying.

I’ve found that many people, such as my clients, are always surprised when they find out my stories’ views are 100-150.

This is because many tend to expect that I have more than that, given that I create 10k months in my business at this point in my business journey.

I guess it’s because many of them correlate higher stories views with higher income months, which theoretically makes sense, but it’s not the fact, right?

Here’s the lesson we can all learn from this: Instagram stories views don’t matter as much as we think they do.

When people get caught up with vanity metrics like engagement, followers, or stories views, they lose track of what matters most: providing value.

Isn’t that why we started a coaching business in the first place? To help people.

The reason we create this specific type of business isn’t to get stories views, but to help people. Your content is a powerful vehicle to create value and impact others.

And with all that being said, I also want to add that we are not entitled to any number of views on our Instagram stories, no matter how many or how few.

We are not entitled to having clients simply because we posted on Instagram. We are not entitled to any form of vanity metrics because the truth is, people don’t have to tap on our stories and watch them.

They don’t have to follow us, and they don’t have to join our coaching programs.

It’s a choice that they make, and we should never take that for granted.

It’s seriously amazing that strangers on the internet are choosing to consume our content simply because they find value in it! That is INCREDIBLE.

The fact that we can create content that gives value, helps people, shifts their perspectives, educates, uplifts, inspires, and so on and so forth, is truly incredible.

Another thing to keep in mind is that clients can come from anywhere.

A person doesn’t have to be following you right now in order to become a client.

In fact, I’ve had clients who didn’t follow my Instagram until AFTER they joined my program.

Similarly, people don’t have to watch your stories in order to become a client. I have many clients who barely watch my Instagram stories, and many never like my posts.

Instead, what matters more is being intentional yet strategic with your content. That matters way more than the vanity metrics, which are rarely accurate indicators of your business success.

It’s more important to create content that really resonates with your ideal clients, showcases your thought leadership, builds demand for your offers, and so on.

If your content is working, that’s what matters.

On a more personal note, every morning I write down five things I’m grateful for, and seriously, not a day goes by without me writing down “I am grateful that I can create content that people find value from” in my journal.

That is the energy I want us to operate from.

People just want to see that you like what you do, you mean what you say, and you care about helping others like themselves. That’s it.

Setting boundaries with clients

Let’s talk about a mistake that I’ve made. Well, it’s not so much a mistake, but rather something I should have changed much sooner.

Until recently in my business, I allowed my one-on-one clients to book their sessions on a week-by-week or biweekly basis since we meet every other week instead of weekly.

However, this created a lot of unexpected bookings on my end because some clients would only book two or three days in advance. It led to a lot of scrambling on my end to shift my own plans around.

Also, sometimes clients forget to book their calls or they skip a week, and that slows down our momentum because our coaching calls are really, really important.

If a client delays their coaching calls with me, that usually results in slowing down their own progress because the calls are where we put our heads together and evaluate the strategy and mindset that is holding them back.

We specifically look at potential thoughts that are getting in the way of the client moving forward with ease.

Honestly, I should have enforced boundaries a lot sooner. But in my mind, I wanted to be flexible.

However, the truth is, not having clients set a specific time for us to meet biweekly actually caused a lot more scheduling conflicts on my end.

I only started asking all of my current clients to book their remaining calls in advance recently. As for my newest clients who are starting in August, instead of giving them a Calendly link to book their calls on a biweekly basis, we will be finding a time that we can meet on a biweekly basis, so we can block off those times for the months ahead in advance.

This will create a lot more structure and predictability for my own schedule as well as for the client.

And one thing I might add is that I actually think having boundaries like this creates more professionalism.

Being flexible is important, but I could have done that by being flexible if clients need to reschedule our initially blocked out time, rather than being too flexible by letting them book their calls anytime they want.

And speaking of scheduling and boundaries, I recently decided to block off all of my Thursdays moving forward so that I won’t be booking any client calls or sales calls on those days.

I’m also planning to block off Sundays, but one particular client at the moment has a bit of a tight schedule so I currently meet with her on Sunday mornings.

Moving forward, I plan to block off my Thursdays and Sundays on my calendar so I won’t be doing any coaching on those days.

I decided to create this new boundary because trust me when I say that client calls, whether it’s for one-on-one clients, group program clients, or even sales calls, take a lot from me energetically.

I really need to give myself one weekday and one weekend day where I can take a break from coaching, recharge, and show up fully for the other days of coaching.

Being confident on Instagram stories

I only started using Instagram story filters on my stories in mid-June 2021.

This may sound totally random, but I was super resistant to using filters on my videos for the longest time, despite seeing many other people use them in their video content on Instagram stories.

The reason was that I felt like people might think I was being vain. I worried that they would think I was self-centered if I used filters on my stories. It sounds pretty silly now that I’m saying it out loud.

But the reason I started using Instagram filters in mid-June was because I felt more confident when I found a filter that smoothed out my skin tone and made me look less tired.

I admit it’s a vanity reason, but it improved my energy in my videos, and I feel even better now that I found a filter I really like.

I’m pretty sure some people will look at my videos and think, “Wow, she uses filters on her Instagram stories? That’s so vain. She’s so self-absorbed. She thinks she’s all that.”.

Okay, I don’t know what people are thinking, but it definitely is possible.

However, you know what matters more to me? Delivering my message and ideas in the best energy possible.

And if using a filter makes me feel more confident and allows me to show up even better, then you know damn well that I’ll use that filter!

Here’s something I tell my clients: create the path of least resistance in your business.

For example, I recently suggested to a new client who’s pretty new to Instagram to simply make her account private and start creating Instagram stories within a safe space she created, so she can ease into creating public Instagram stories very soon.

The reason is that she created a brand new Instagram account and only a few people are following her, and those current followers are people she’s comfortable with.

The takeaway here is that if you’re ever finding yourself resisting something in your business, look for another way of doing things. There is always another way of looking at things or another way of doing things.

Often, we need to look for another way that creates a lot less friction for us and go with that because what we’re currently trying to do is simply causing too much inner conflict or frustration.

Instead, look for another way that feels easier or is simpler. If that means using an Instagram filter so you can show up even more powerfully, then do it.

That wraps up the five things you probably didn’t know about my business.

Hopefully, you learned something new about my business and also found value from the random tidbits I shared.

If you have any follow-up questions regarding any of these five fun things that we covered today, feel free to send me a DM on Instagram and let me know! I’d be more than happy to chat more 🙂

Sounds good? Awesome. Let’s get to work.