You never really know how a launch is going to go until you actually move through it. But every now and again there is a particular offering that I feel in my bones is going to be wildly successful.
This is how I felt in the Spring of 2021 when I was preparing to offer a new course called “Sacred Power: Coaching & Doing Business with Integrity” to my community.
For nearly two decades I’d been teaching about integrity and ethics – and the skills & knowledge you need to uphold them – when it comes to both working with clients/groups as well as when it comes to marketing, sales conversations, team leadership, refunds and beyond.
What I had found over the years is that practitioners and business owners who valued integrity and wanted to do the “right thing” didn’t always know what the right thing was.
This is because, for as amazing as the coaching industry is, there are a lot of practices that are simply taken as “standard business”, yet aren’t quite kosher. And you simply don’t know what you don’t know.
Practices like:
- Telling clients what to do versus giving space & permission for clients to have agency and see what they want to do
- Not checking our filters or privilege when we listen to clients and then inadvertently bypassing their needs
- Doing somatic work without really understanding how to do so without triggering the nervous system
- Not asking permission before going deeper in a transformational process
- Subtly shaming prospects into buying
- Pressuring prospects into buying by creating false urgencies that trigger the nervous system
- And these are really just the tip of the iceberg….I could name dozens more.
The principles of integrity and ethics are woven into every program and training I offer, into every skill I teach. That’s how important it is to me, not to mention I can tell you that the BEST, MOST TRANSFORMATIONAL client work happens when integrity is fully present and baked in to your skills and business practices.
So back to the Spring of 2021…
I was sooooo excited to offer a program that was dedicated exclusively to Integrity, Ethics, and how to Share Power in coaching and business (versus take power over, which is part of the energetic issue when integrity is breached). I thought people would really want this information and embodiment, and that they’d fly into the program. I thought this because I know how much my community values integrity, and I also thought this because in all the previews and pre-marketing I did for the program, the reviews were over the top.
People resonated so deeply with everything I shared beforehand. They were so passionate about it. But…
…and this is a big, important “but”….
….very few people registered for the actual program. It was close to crickets and I think ultimately about 20 people registered.
I was totally confused and stumped (and honestly, kind of depressed). My team was completely stumped as well.
What had gone wrong? Why were folks so seemingly passionate about integrity and ethics, yet not ready to invest time, energy and money into it?
Of course, many folks were already investing time, energy and money into it by participating in Sacred Depths as well as my other trainings. But what about everyone else?
What I ultimately realized is that the problem was in my messaging.
I had written so much about the importance of integrity from the lens of “helping the world” and “doing the right thing”….but I neglected to underscore the importance of integrity through the lens of how it makes YOU feel and act.
You see, if you’re an ethical person of integrity, you know deep inside when you’re doing something that doesn’t quite feel right, even if you can’t quite name it or articulate it.
And if you’re an in-integrity person, when you know that something isn’t quite right, you’re apt to avoid marketing yourself, to procrastinate on outreach, or to self-sabotage your actions.
On the outside it looks like you’re not organized or scared of being visible or being lazy (whatever that means)….but really your higher self is making sure you don’t break your internal code of ethics.
And to take it a step further, when you know without a doubt that the way you’re holding your client sessions, your groups, and your marketing & business practices is completely in integrity – you FEEL it. And it feels really, really good. You sleep better at night. And it activates confidence and more motivation. And you are then way more likely to make yourself visible and known.
Not to mention, your clients and prospects and community recognize it. And then end up holding you in higher regard as someone they trust.
The Sacred Power course I led in the Spring of 2021 was, well…phenomenal.
The folks that did participate learned so much, and I heard over and over again how learning the skills of integrity gave them so much more confidence and ease in their client work and in their marketing (I hear this from Sacred Depths students all the time as well).
I, too, learned a lot. About launches and messaging. And about staying passionate about what is important to me, and continuing to speak my truth and the teachings I know I’m meant to teach, even when it feels like it’s not being received with as much enthusiasm as I had hoped.
This is one of my favorite ever podcast interviews that I’ve done, and I’m so excited to share it with you!:
Let me know what ideas and energy it sparks for you. It is worth the half hour or so to listen!
