Discovering my inner gifts didn’t happen overnight. In fact it took many years, and several changes of profession, before I had a light bulb moment that changed my understanding of myself and my true capabilities. It happened in the most unexpected of places and went something like this..
A business mentor I was working with a few years ago said to me, “Tell me more about your background Shelley”, so I started talking and briefly mentioned that I was a University Lecturer for 7 years and wrote a degree programme. At which point my mentor interjected and said, “So how come I did not already know this about you? Do you talk about this part of your life when you talk to clients about your business?”.
I stopped for a minute and reflected on this question. The truth was that I had felt that because my marketing background had been developed in an academic and not industry environment it wasn’t as good as it could have been.
But in that moment, I suddenly realised that far from being not good enough, it was a part of ME, and actually given I was now teaching online programmes educating people in marketing and business skills – it was perfect!
About 6 months after this a-ha moment I went on a three day marketing seminar. I had been invited by a friend to go to this seminar, and had received a free guest ticket. I knew of the coach who was leading the seminar and had followed her work for many years, so had no doubt it would be a very valuable experience.
Over the course of the three days, I learnt more about marketing, than I had learnt in all my years teaching marketing. I also walked away from this event slightly in shock. It turned out that my inner gift when it came to marketing was in the area of helping people identify their niche that is in alignment with their gifts.
To say that realising this was my zone of genius was a shock is an understatement. I had formulated my approach to marketing from my psychotherapy and marketing background many years previously and had come to think of this as being obvious and therefore nothing special.
It felt like during the seminar I came full circle and could finally see that my approach to marketing, which I named, “Soul Based Marketing”, was not just special, it was in fact ground breaking. Better still, it was ME, yes it was my filled with my heart, soul and joy. In addition to this its foundations have a strong basis in current psychological thinking.
This approach could help people who have a complete block around marketing to recognise that at its core all marketing is simply clearly, concisely and as authentically as possible explaining what your business does and how it does it, to its ideal clients.
Read also: Take inspired action
Soul based marketing is an approach which allows individuals and businesses to get in alignment with their inner gifts and their zone of genius. It enables them to market their business authentically so that the people who they are best positioned to help can recognise that they need to work with them.
Once I had recognised and accepted that my inner gifts included teaching and a gift with marketing (and in particular my Soul Based Marketing approach), everything started to fall into place in my business.
I created a programme which has become my core programme, this is my Client Attraction Academy. In this programme I support Coaches, Therapists, Trainers and Consultants with setting up their online coaching business and gaining clients for their 1:1 and group programmes.
At the heart of this programme is my guiding participants to discovering their perfectly fitting niche. That is the niche that is in alignment with their inner gifts and zone of genius. So yes I use my gift of helping people discover their gifts to help my students discover their gifts and perfectly fitting niche, make senses, huh!
Of course, it is not enough just to apply my gifts to my programmes, I also needed to apply my own approach and start to tell my ideal clients about my gifts and how I help people (this is a core principle of Soul Based Marketing!).
What then happened was amazing – suddenly I had a wave of people coming to me saying that I was exactly what they needed. They had been struggling for ages to define their niche, and guess what they appreciated that I wanted to TEACH them how to solve their problems on my free webinars.
You could say that by communicating authentically what I do and how I do it to my ideal clients, in turn they were able to respond with a resounding YES! My approach was in fact EXACTLY what they were needing.
So how might this help you? Well getting your niche in alignment with your inner gifts and zone of genius is my second pillar in the series of how to set the world alight with your business in 2017.
It is over to you! Have a go at identifying your inner gifts and zone of genius. Remember to look at those capabilities you have that up until now you have not valued.
As Elizabeth Gilbert in her book Big Magic writes, “Do you have the courage to bring forth the treasures that are hidden within you? The treasures that are hidden inside you are hoping you will say yes!”
I will reveal my Number 1 Pillar for setting the world alight with your business this year in my final blog of this series – so make sure you look out for that!
Read also: Be a thought leader not a follower
If you’d love some help in planning out how you can get your Coaching business off the ground – then book in a call with me, and my team.
We’ve helped hundreds of Coaches and Therapists, just like you, to launch their heart-centred and highly profitable online Coaching businesses.
I’ve opened up some times this week to speak to motivated Coaches like yourself and help you to gain clarity on how to start attracting the clients you are here to help..
“Together we can make your business dreams a reality!”
Shelley Hutchinson is founder of Client Nectar, she combines mindset coaching, with online marketing and heart-centred selling to provide Coaches and therapists with powerful, easy to follow and life changing business and marketing programmes.
