IAM869- Online Sales Coach Helps Service Providers Package Their Expertise
Podcast Interview with Candace Chatman
Candace Chatman is an online sales coach helping service providers package their expertise into sellable coaching programs, leverage live video to sell, and increase income through better communication on social media.
- CEO Hack: App- Blinkist for book summaries
- CEO Nugget: (1) Investing in coaches (2) Do your research (3) Simplify your marketing
- CEO Defined: Being a decision-maker
Website: http://www.candacechatman.com/
Instagram: @candacechatman_
Check out one of our favorite CEO Hack’s Audible. Get your free audiobook and check out more of our favorite CEO Hacks HERE
Transcription
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00:02 – Intro
Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.
00:30 – Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Candace Chatman of candacechatman.com Candice, it's awesome to have you on the show.
00:38 – Candace Chatman
Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here.
00:41 – Gresham Harkless
No problem. Super excited to have you on as well. And before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about Candice so we can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Candice is an online sales coach, helping service providers package their expertise into sellable coaching programs, leverage live video to sell, and increase income through better communication on social media. Candice, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
[restrict paid=”true”]
01:04 – Candace Chatman
Yes, I'm super excited.
01:06 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome, well, let's do it then. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit and hear a little bit more about how you got started. Could you take us through what I call your CEO story and we'll let you get started with the business?
01:16 – Candace Chatman
Absolutely. So I was my junior year in college and I had just gotten into nursing, a little bit late declaring my major. And I just didn't feel like it was truly my passion. I knew I wanted to serve. I didn't fully know what capacity at. And so I decided to take a business course, a random business course, you know, intro into business. I fell in love with it. I was, you know, brought into a world of being able to take your passion and expertise and just vision to help people and to create a business of it and also make money. And so I really started to figure out, well, what is my zone of genius? What am I good at? And my story sort of goes a little bit back to when I was younger, my mother passed away when I was young.
Father was struggling after that. And I just realized I'm really good at like giving life advice. I'm mature for my age. I'm passionate about speaking. And so I decided to jump into life coaching. I had no idea how this was gonna play out. I just knew I was good at social media. I loved the camera and I had a lot to say. And so, I started doing live coaching and that turned into mindset coaching. And I started gaining traction in it, got clients, and people were seeing success. And then people started asking me, Candice, how did you get on live video and how are you so confident? And how are you getting clients with such a small audience? And how did you create your branding?
And I just got so many questions that I turned into a business coach by accident. And it's been about 2 years now being into business. And I've most recently, at the beginning of the year, niched down into direct sales messaging, which is basically, you know, helping people to close clients in the chat, similar to private messaging on Facebook or LinkedIn chat. And I'm really helping clients to leverage their expertise, sell it, and communicate that through live video and funnel clients into the chat, to the DMs. And that's how I got started.
03:17 – Gresham Harkless
Nice, I absolutely love that. Obviously, sorry to hear about your mother, but you, it's so funny because a lot of times I say, anytime I was kind of faced with like a life decision or especially when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. A lot of times I went back to my youth because a lot of times you do it and it's in your zone of genius without you even knowing what a zone of genius is.
03:36 – Candace Chatman
Absolutely.
03:38 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, so when we go back to that you can kind of see that coming up in your life and it manifests itself in so many different ways, but it's still, it's based on that communication, being able to help people to know exactly what they do and serve as many people as possible, it sounds like.
03:50 – Candace Chatman
Absolutely, and I mean, the thing about business is, I didn't know exactly how I ended up or where that path would take me, but I knew I had a passion for something in that, well, with this internet age, you can profit on that. You can package it into something and you can impact a lot of lives. And so I just said, you know what, I'm about to graduate. Let's see where this thing goes. And I'm so glad I did it 2 years ago because it's my full-time job today.
04:15 – Gresham Harkless
Nice, I absolutely love that. A lot of times you have to take that leap of faith, so to speak, without seeing all the steps to the staircase exactly where things are going to go. So you kind of just have to take the first step and everything else starts to reveal from there.
04:26 – Candace Chatman
Yep.
04:27 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. So I know you touched on it a little bit, but I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper here, how you serve your clients and what exactly that process looks like. Could you take us through that a little bit more?
04:35 – Candace Chatman
Yes. So I have a big philosophy on creating community, right? I wouldn't be where I am today without a community, whether it's my audience that I'm selling to, as well as my peers, my, you know, biz bestie, so to speak, and my own coaches and other experiences. And so I have a main program, Direct Message to Profit, which is really about helping service providers hone in their expertise. A lot of people say I have so much passion, and so many things to talk about, but how do I package it? How do I sell it? Helping people to take that and create high ticket courses or packages, one-on-one programs, and group coaching programs. Find their people on their internet, right? Through, you know, market research and dialing down their messaging.
And I help these women and men from all over the world. I have clients in Nigeria, Australia, Belgium, the Caribbean, all over, which is so beautiful. Helping them to then take what they know and talk about it confidently on my video. I think that's the key, we're in the digital age. People wanna see what you have to offer, right? A lot of my clients are selling packages of $3,000 and more. People wanna connect to you and have that community aspect from you and see you before they buy. And so, you know, through my program, teaching them through my secret sauce, how to show up and sell without selling on my video. And that brings a raging, you know, a fan base that has been ready and willing to buy from you.
And then I'm helping them to learn how to convert that, how to do that through self-psychology, and how to close confidently without getting on sales calls. Because again, we're in the digital age. You can just do all these things from your fingertips on your phone and create a life of impact and a very profitable 1 at that.
06:23 – Gresham Harkless
Nice, I absolutely love how you empower that and that life of impact that you said as well because I think so many times as entrepreneurs and business owners and CEOs, we have products and services that we provide that are high value to the greater world and trying to make that impact. But I think sometimes the impediment to that is the ability to communicate, especially using these digital tools or being able to sell to really be able to provide that product or service for the world. And I love that you're able to kind of, for lack of a better term, maybe bridge that gap so that those really confident or maybe lacking confident entrepreneurs and business owners are able to do that.
06:58 – Candace Chatman
Absolutely. I mean, That's a lot of my fan base. They know they have the passion, the voice, but it's how they articulate that and communicate that in a way that's persuasive and exciting. Again, the market's quote-unquote is sort of saturated, but not so much that people can't make success out of it. Grab your little piece of the internet, and your niche, and really show up for your community and sell, right? I think especially I help a lot of women, not to derail too much, but when it's not our like innate knownness to sell, you know, we, we, people think of that as like a manly thing, a masculine thing. And so a lot of women take my program and learn that just being yourself and talking about what you have to offer is selling in itself, right? And it's just beautiful and it's power in that.
07:45 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that's very powerful. Like you said, and I often say, like, if you run your own race, you can never lose. And I think so many times with selling or communicating or, you know, starting a business, sometimes we can be so hourly focused, which is, of course, you know, there's a time and place for that. But I think a lot of times that work isn't done internally to where we know how we can be ourselves and be authentic and natural to ourselves and how we can communicate that on video and using these digital tools that you talk so much about to allow our products and services to reach as many people and impact as many lives as possible.
08:17 – Candace Chatman
Absolutely.
08:18 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. And so you mentioned that would you consider that to be like your secret sauce? Is your ability to obviously be able to see that in other people? And it sounds like really be able to help them communicate using these tools.
08:29 – Candace Chatman
Yes, I would say that's a big part of it. I've spent years and a ton of money and a lot of resources and time understanding myself as well as emotional intelligence. I think that plays a big key in that. Having a deeper level of awareness and then being able to apply that to branding and sales is huge, understanding why people buy, how they buy, and how you can best leverage your unique abilities to communicate with them. I don't think that's widely known by so many people or else we'd all be rich off the internet, right? Right.
But more than not, specifically speaking around my program and how it's structured, a lot of sort of industry leaders or just coaches in general in this space tell you to continuously educate your audience and that is the way to sell to them. You know, how-to content tips. And I'm sort of the complete opposite, especially when it comes to high tickets. And this is where that, you know, sales psychology comes into place. A big believer that in order to get people to spend the big bucks, you've got to radically change their beliefs. You've got to shift their perspective on the way they see life in their business or their results, no matter what type of coach you are.
And if you can do that, then people are going to say, here, I will gladly pay you $5,000, $10,000 packages, right? And so my secret sauce is built in doing less educating, which is very counterintuitive to a lot of coaches, personal trainers, how to lift weights, how to diet, how to get a good job as a career coach. Instead shift their mindset around their limiting beliefs, their objections, and their current limitations. That is very powerful and that does a lot of the selling.
10:10 – Gresham Harkless
I love that you help people do that. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?
10:22 – Candace Chatman:
One app is called Blinkist. And this is an app around reading books and sort of getting summaries. And for the busy entrepreneur who maybe doesn't have the time to read all of the books and get every, you know, part of it. I think this is a phenomenal app to still keep your brain exercising and learning new strategies and just getting more information through reading or listening, sort of like if audible met like quick, you know, Cliff Notes or something like that. But why I really love this is because it can be a strategic asset, especially as someone as a coach, you're going to use social media to create content, right?
And you're typically going to need some sort of motivation and you want guidance. I think this app is phenomenal because you can find pretty much every niche from fitness, health, and psychology, to career, motivation, and finance, and you can find information from these books and sort of talk about it, speak about it. And so I think it's a great asset to use for content generation and content creation.
11:19 – Gresham Harkless
Nice. I absolutely love those hacks. And so now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client, or if you hopped into a time machine, you might tell your business.
11:32 – Candace Chatman
Yes, this is a good one. And I have, again, 2 things I got to say about this. So the first one is around investing in coaches or, you know, consultants or some sort of sort of service provider to elevate your life or your business. Take the next level. I definitely would tell my younger self to do my research. I've invested over $30,000 in coaching and services to help grow my business. And that's not even talking about people on my team. That's to grow my knowledge, and my business, right? There have been times when I have shiny object syndrome and I just buy and don't get the best results.
And so I'm just really big on, especially when you're investing in a coach, talk to them, do your research, feel comfortable in the decision you're making, don't just be pressured so that you can really find your community and your people and feel like you've made a really good decision. And I wish I had just taken the time when I first started out in business. No, I like to say that when you first start out, you're sort of like a victim in that way. You don't know enough, you haven't done enough. So you feel like I need I need support, I need knowledge, I need something and it's easy for you to just like hand over your money.
This is a great thing in terms of being able to get support, but I just think it's really important to just do your research. And I would say that to any one of my clients or people who are even wanting to work with me, I'm very open and transparent. And I mean, that's just a life rule, right? Like before you buy a car, do your research, right? But we can forget that and just say, oh, just buy it. Especially in the online business world, you know, the e-commerce world. And then the second piece of advice I really wanted to give is around positioning your business for success so that you can scale your messaging, especially within my sort of niche around business coaches or just people with any coach as well.
It can be easy to start to speak in a very complicated tone and messaging and overcomplicate what you have to say. I have found that speaking almost like a fifth-grade, eighth-grade level in your writing, when you go live when you show up anywhere on any platform, LinkedIn, Facebook, IGTV, speak very plainly. A lot of my clients come to me wanting to use a lot of coach jargon. And I simply say, does your ideal client really understand what you're trying to say? Right? If you can really speak at their level and of course then leverage your expertise to sell well, you're going to be much further than those who are using big fancy words.
And I mean, there's a time and place for that. But I have found that you know, One of my quote-unquote-kept secrets is that I speak very plainly and my audience loves it. They say, wow, I truly just understand what you're saying. It's just very simple. And so if you can just simplify your marketing in terms of your communication style, I think that's going to help you go a long way.
14:26 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. So now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Candace, what does being a CEO mean to you?
14:35 – Candace Chatman
I think first and foremost, it's being a decision-maker.
14:40 – Gresham Harkless
Absolutely, absolutely. Well, Candace truly appreciates that definition. I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know and of course how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.
14:55 – Candace Chatman
Yes, I would say the last piece of sort of my testimony, My advice is really we're in a time, a very unique time right now, COVID, right? I think it's actually one of the best times to start an online business. More and more people are looking for online opportunities and services and just getting results and support. And so if you've been on the fence about growing your business or just really going all in on your business or just putting in that time and effort, now is the time despite the uncertainty and all of the things we've been through in 2020.
I can't speak highly enough of like just being resilient during this time and just showing up for your passion. And if you're interested in learning a little bit more about me, just being a part of my free communities, and paid communities, you can find me at www.candacechatman.com and I'm primarily on Instagram at Candace Chatman underscore.
15:47 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much again, Candice. We will have the links and information in the show notes. And some time ago, I read that a lot of times some of the most successful businesses we see now were started during a very less than great economic environment. So what you said, you know, really hits home. And I think everybody should definitely listen to that because, within this disruption, there are seeds of opportunity. And it's only by making that decision, taking that action that those things are to come to fruition.
16:15 – Candace Chatman
Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me on the show today.
16:18 – Gresham Harkless
You're very welcome. Super appreciative of you being on and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
16:22 – Outro
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.
00:02 - Intro
Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.
00:30 - Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Candace Chatman of candacechatman.com Candice, it's awesome to have you on the show.
00:38 - Candace Chatman
Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here.
00:41 - Gresham Harkless
No problem. Super excited to have you on as well. And before we jump in, I want to read a little bit more about Candice so we can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Candice is an online sales coach, helping service providers package their expertise into sellable coaching programs, leverage live video to sell, and increase income through better communication on social media. Candice, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
01:04 - Candace Chatman
Yes, I'm super excited.
01:06 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome, well, let's do it then. So to kind of kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit and hear a little bit more about how you got started. Could you take us through what I call your CEO story and we'll let you get started with the business?
01:16 - Candace Chatman
Absolutely. So I was my junior year in college and I had just gotten into nursing, a little bit late declaring my major. And I just didn't feel like it was truly my passion. I knew I wanted to serve. I didn't fully know what capacity at. And so I decided to take a business course, a random business course, you know, intro into business. I fell in love with it. I was, you know, brought into a world of being able to take your passion and expertise and just vision to help people and to create a business of it and also make money. And so I really started to figure out, well, what is my zone of genius? What am I good at? And my story sort of goes a little bit back to when I was younger, my mother passed away when I was young.
Father was struggling after that. And I just realized I'm really good at like giving life advice. I'm mature for my age. I'm passionate about speaking. And so I decided to jump into life coaching. I had no idea how this was gonna play out. I just knew I was good at social media. I loved the camera and I had a lot to say. And so, I started doing live coaching and that turned into mindset coaching. And I started gaining traction in it, got clients, and people were seeing success. And then people started asking me, Candice, how did you get on live video and how are you so confident? And how are you getting clients with such a small audience? And how did you create your branding?
And I just got so many questions that I turned into a business coach by accident. And it's been about 2 years now being into business. And I've most recently, at the beginning of the year, niched down into direct sales messaging, which is basically, you know, helping people to close clients in the chat, similar to private messaging on Facebook or LinkedIn chat. And I'm really helping clients to leverage their expertise, sell it, and communicate that through live video and funnel clients into the chat, to the DMs. And that's how I got started.
03:17 - Gresham Harkless
Nice, I absolutely love that. Obviously, sorry to hear about your mother, but you, it's so funny because a lot of times I say, anytime I was kind of faced with like a life decision or especially when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up. A lot of times I went back to my youth because a lot of times you do it and it's in your zone of genius without you even knowing what a zone of genius is.
03:36 - Candace Chatman
Absolutely.
03:38 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, so when we go back to that you can kind of see that coming up in your life and it manifests itself in so many different ways, but it's still, it's based on that communication, being able to help people to know exactly what they do and serve as many people as possible, it sounds like.
03:50 - Candace Chatman
Absolutely, and I mean, the thing about business is, I didn't know exactly how I ended up or where that path would take me, but I knew I had a passion for something in that, well, with this internet age, you can profit on that. You can package it into something and you can impact a lot of lives. And so I just said, you know what, I'm about to graduate. Let's see where this thing goes. And I'm so glad I did it 2 years ago because it's my full-time job today.
04:15 - Gresham Harkless
Nice, I absolutely love that. A lot of times you have to take that leap of faith, so to speak, without seeing all the steps to the staircase exactly where things are going to go. So you kind of just have to take the first step and everything else starts to reveal from there.
04:26 - Candace Chatman
Yep.
04:27 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. So I know you touched on it a little bit, but I wanted to drill down a little bit deeper here, how you serve your clients and what exactly that process looks like. Could you take us through that a little bit more?
04:35 - Candace Chatman
Yes. So I have a big philosophy on creating community, right? I wouldn't be where I am today without a community, whether it's my audience that I'm selling to, as well as my peers, my, you know, biz bestie, so to speak, and my own coaches and other experiences. And so I have a main program, Direct Message to Profit, which is really about helping service providers hone in their expertise. A lot of people say I have so much passion, and so many things to talk about, but how do I package it? How do I sell it? Helping people to take that and create high ticket courses or packages, one-on-one programs, and group coaching programs. Find their people on their internet, right? Through, you know, market research and dialing down their messaging.
And I help these women and men from all over the world. I have clients in Nigeria, Australia, Belgium, the Caribbean, all over, which is so beautiful. Helping them to then take what they know and talk about it confidently on my video. I think that's the key, we're in the digital age. People wanna see what you have to offer, right? A lot of my clients are selling packages of $3,000 and more. People wanna connect to you and have that community aspect from you and see you before they buy. And so, you know, through my program, teaching them through my secret sauce, how to show up and sell without selling on my video. And that brings a raging, you know, a fan base that has been ready and willing to buy from you.
And then I'm helping them to learn how to convert that, how to do that through self-psychology, and how to close confidently without getting on sales calls. Because again, we're in the digital age. You can just do all these things from your fingertips on your phone and create a life of impact and a very profitable 1 at that.
06:23 - Gresham Harkless
Nice, I absolutely love how you empower that and that life of impact that you said as well because I think so many times as entrepreneurs and business owners and CEOs, we have products and services that we provide that are high value to the greater world and trying to make that impact. But I think sometimes the impediment to that is the ability to communicate, especially using these digital tools or being able to sell to really be able to provide that product or service for the world. And I love that you're able to kind of, for lack of a better term, maybe bridge that gap so that those really confident or maybe lacking confident entrepreneurs and business owners are able to do that.
06:58 - Candace Chatman
Absolutely. I mean, That's a lot of my fan base. They know they have the passion, the voice, but it's how they articulate that and communicate that in a way that's persuasive and exciting. Again, the market's quote-unquote is sort of saturated, but not so much that people can't make success out of it. Grab your little piece of the internet, and your niche, and really show up for your community and sell, right? I think especially I help a lot of women, not to derail too much, but when it's not our like innate knownness to sell, you know, we, we, people think of that as like a manly thing, a masculine thing. And so a lot of women take my program and learn that just being yourself and talking about what you have to offer is selling in itself, right? And it's just beautiful and it's power in that.
07:45 - Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that's very powerful. Like you said, and I often say, like, if you run your own race, you can never lose. And I think so many times with selling or communicating or, you know, starting a business, sometimes we can be so hourly focused, which is, of course, you know, there's a time and place for that. But I think a lot of times that work isn't done internally to where we know how we can be ourselves and be authentic and natural to ourselves and how we can communicate that on video and using these digital tools that you talk so much about to allow our products and services to reach as many people and impact as many lives as possible.
08:17 - Candace Chatman
Absolutely.
08:18 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. And so you mentioned that would you consider that to be like your secret sauce? Is your ability to obviously be able to see that in other people? And it sounds like really be able to help them communicate using these tools.
08:29 - Candace Chatman
Yes, I would say that's a big part of it. I've spent years and a ton of money and a lot of resources and time understanding myself as well as emotional intelligence. I think that plays a big key in that. Having a deeper level of awareness and then being able to apply that to branding and sales is huge, understanding why people buy, how they buy, and how you can best leverage your unique abilities to communicate with them. I don't think that's widely known by so many people or else we'd all be rich off the internet, right? Right.
But more than not, specifically speaking around my program and how it's structured, a lot of sort of industry leaders or just coaches in general in this space tell you to continuously educate your audience and that is the way to sell to them. You know, how-to content tips. And I'm sort of the complete opposite, especially when it comes to high tickets. And this is where that, you know, sales psychology comes into place. A big believer that in order to get people to spend the big bucks, you've got to radically change their beliefs. You've got to shift their perspective on the way they see life in their business or their results, no matter what type of coach you are.
And if you can do that, then people are going to say, here, I will gladly pay you $5,000, $10,000 packages, right? And so my secret sauce is built in doing less educating, which is very counterintuitive to a lot of coaches, personal trainers, how to lift weights, how to diet, how to get a good job as a career coach. Instead shift their mindset around their limiting beliefs, their objections, and their current limitations. That is very powerful and that does a lot of the selling.
10:10 - Gresham Harkless
I love that you help people do that. And I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?
10:22 - Candace Chatman: One app is called Blinkist. And this is an app around reading books and sort of getting summaries. And for the busy entrepreneur who maybe doesn't have the time to read all of the books and get every, you know, part of it. I think this is a phenomenal app to still keep your brain exercising and learning new strategies and just getting more information through reading or listening, sort of like if audible met like quick, you know, Cliff Notes or something like that. But why I really love this is because it can be a strategic asset, especially as someone as a coach, you're going to use social media to create content, right?
And you're typically going to need some sort of motivation and you want guidance. I think this app is phenomenal because you can find pretty much every niche from fitness, health, and psychology, to career, motivation, and finance, and you can find information from these books and sort of talk about it, speak about it. And so I think it's a great asset to use for content generation and content creation.
11:19 - Gresham Harkless
Nice. I absolutely love those hacks. And so now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client, or if you hopped into a time machine, you might tell your business.
11:32 - Candace Chatman
Yes, this is a good one. And I have, again, 2 things I got to say about this. So the first one is around investing in coaches or, you know, consultants or some sort of sort of service provider to elevate your life or your business. Take the next level. I definitely would tell my younger self to do my research. I've invested over $30,000 in coaching and services to help grow my business. And that's not even talking about people on my team. That's to grow my knowledge, and my business, right? There have been times when I have shiny object syndrome and I just buy and don't get the best results.
And so I'm just really big on, especially when you're investing in a coach, talk to them, do your research, feel comfortable in the decision you're making, don't just be pressured so that you can really find your community and your people and feel like you've made a really good decision. And I wish I had just taken the time when I first started out in business. No, I like to say that when you first start out, you're sort of like a victim in that way. You don't know enough, you haven't done enough. So you feel like I need I need support, I need knowledge, I need something and it's easy for you to just like hand over your money.
This is a great thing in terms of being able to get support, but I just think it's really important to just do your research. And I would say that to any one of my clients or people who are even wanting to work with me, I'm very open and transparent. And I mean, that's just a life rule, right? Like before you buy a car, do your research, right? But we can forget that and just say, oh, just buy it. Especially in the online business world, you know, the e-commerce world. And then the second piece of advice I really wanted to give is around positioning your business for success so that you can scale your messaging, especially within my sort of niche around business coaches or just people with any coach as well.
It can be easy to start to speak in a very complicated tone and messaging and overcomplicate what you have to say. I have found that speaking almost like a fifth-grade, eighth-grade level in your writing, when you go live when you show up anywhere on any platform, LinkedIn, Facebook, IGTV, speak very plainly. A lot of my clients come to me wanting to use a lot of coach jargon. And I simply say, does your ideal client really understand what you're trying to say? Right? If you can really speak at their level and of course then leverage your expertise to sell well, you're going to be much further than those who are using big fancy words.
And I mean, there's a time and place for that. But I have found that you know, One of my quote-unquote-kept secrets is that I speak very plainly and my audience loves it. They say, wow, I truly just understand what you're saying. It's just very simple. And so if you can just simplify your marketing in terms of your communication style, I think that's going to help you go a long way.
14:26 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. So now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Candace, what does being a CEO mean to you?
14:35 - Candace Chatman
I think first and foremost, it's being a decision-maker.
14:40 - Gresham Harkless
Absolutely, absolutely. Well, Candace truly appreciates that definition. I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know and of course how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things that you're working on.
14:55 - Candace Chatman
Yes, I would say the last piece of sort of my testimony, My advice is really we're in a time, a very unique time right now, COVID, right? I think it's actually one of the best times to start an online business. More and more people are looking for online opportunities and services and just getting results and support. And so if you've been on the fence about growing your business or just really going all in on your business or just putting in that time and effort, now is the time despite the uncertainty and all of the things we've been through in 2020.
I can't speak highly enough of like just being resilient during this time and just showing up for your passion. And if you're interested in learning a little bit more about me, just being a part of my free communities, and paid communities, you can find me at www.candacechatman.com and I'm primarily on Instagram at Candace Chatman underscore.
15:47 - Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much again, Candice. We will have the links and information in the show notes. And some time ago, I read that a lot of times some of the most successful businesses we see now were started during a very less than great economic environment. So what you said, you know, really hits home. And I think everybody should definitely listen to that because, within this disruption, there are seeds of opportunity. And it's only by making that decision, taking that action that those things are to come to fruition.
16:15 - Candace Chatman
Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me on the show today.
16:18 - Gresham Harkless
You're very welcome. Super appreciative of you being on and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
16:22 - Outro
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.
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