How To Stand-Out By Creating Your Signature Framework
As much as we try to avoid it, as an online business owner we may come up against imposter syndrome as we wonder why they heck anybody would choose us against someone else in our industry.
And though deep down we may believe there’s room for us all to succeed, it’s not uncommon to question how our services and our help are really different from anybody else out there?
That's where creating a signature framework comes in and our guest, Heather Crabtree, takes us through the steps to make one happen.
In this episode, we talked about...
- what exactly is a signature framework
- the impact a signature framework has on your business
- how often you should update or change your framework
- why they help you sell more effectively
- the most common issues business owners face when creating their framework
- how to make your framework stand out
- ways to adapt and use our framework in a launch
- Heather shared how she builds relationships to grow her business
- The reason why Heather focuses primarily on evergreen launches
...and much, much more
Things mentioned in this episode
- Connect with Heather online at www.heathercrabtree.com
Learn more about Heather Crabtree
Heather Crabtree, Your Savvy Business™ Coach, helps online coaches + service providers grow their business with a premium 1:1 or group offer. Formerly an attorney and owner of a successful event planning company for 11 years, she is the founder of Heather Crabtree + Your Savvy Business™ and has been a business coach + strategist for over 10 years.
At home, Heather is Mama to three beautiful littles, married to the man she met in law school 17 years ago, lover of people, encourager + optimist.
Connect with Heather online at www.heathercrabtree.com + on Instagram @heatherbusinesscoach.
Click here to sign up for Heather's free audio trainings, Your Signature Framework Sessions.
Read the full transcript so you don't miss a thing
Sara:As much as we try to avoid it as an online business owner, we may come up against imposter syndrome as we wonder why the heck anyone would choose us again someone else in our industry. And though deep down, we may even believe there's room for us all to succeed. It's not uncommon to question how our services and our programs and our help is really different than anyone else out there. But there's solution for that. And dear listeners, that's why I've called in today's guest.
You're listening to the launch playbook podcast, the weekly podcast for service based business owners to discover the starts, stops and tools to transformation that go into launching their online offers. I'm your host, Sara Vartanian. And if you want to launch your ideas into the world faster, with more success and less burnout. Well, friend, consider this show your secret playbook to get you there.
Sara: Heather Crabtree, your savvy business coach helps online coaches and service providers grow their business with a premium one to one or group offer for my an attorney and owner of successful event planning company for 11 years. She's the founder of Heather Crabtree, plus your savvy business and has been a business coach and stretches for over 10 years. At home Heather is a mama to three beautiful littles married to the man she met in law school 17 years ago, lover of people, encourager and optimist. Heather, welcome.
Heather: Thank you for having me, Sara.
Sara: I'm so thrilled you're here. And before we jump in, I thought I wanted to share a little something with our listeners. And you too, Heather, though you may already know some of this. So you know, I've been following you Heather online for few years. And I guess it was two summers ago now. Although to be honest, my date and time is a little fuzzy with these three years of you know, the pandemic and what lockdowns you.
Heather: Understandable.
Sara: But I remember that I got to work with you finally, for a month in the summer for an intimate group setting to create my group offer. And I had been putting off launching what I had envisioned for like so long, like maybe two years honestly had been in my mind, like percolating. But by the end of those 30 days with you, Heather, I had the whole experience mapped out. And with another 30 days it was launched and Phil, the founding members, and I've talked about that launch a little bit here on the podcast. And it was from my group program, the launch playbook Club, which is running from those very same foundations. So we didn't those 30 days.
So Heather, I took so many lessons from you during our time together. And it was just creating the program. It wasn't just about that it was the way you lead the group. And the way you made time for each of us inside the experience to feel heard. And I brought so many of those inside my own business. And that's why I'm like so especially thrilled to have Heather with us today. And I know that the next 40 minutes or so you spend with Heather, during this episode, you're going to walk away with a ton to.
Heather: Oh, I love that Sara, thank you for sharing that. It's always fun to hear when you're able to help people. But yes, we've been in the same realm forever. And I felt like we finally got to come together to work together. And it was really magical. So I hope Yeah, I really love that time together.
Sara: Thank you. It was so it was so transformative ritually. Okay, so let's set the stage. We're going to talk today about signature frameworks. And what exactly is signature framework Heather?
Heather: So a signature framework to me is a method or a way that you as the business owner, as the coach can share your the way that you help people, right. And I feel like a lot of times with coaches or service providers, sometimes we know what we were doing, right, we're really good at it. But sometimes we don't can't see outside of our own head in our own business. And what really happens is when you're working with business owners, you have a way that you work with them, and you usually go the same path every time. Another might be you know, you personalize it to them, but you're usually taking the same path of helping your people. And so what I help people do is really taking what they already do, and creating this framework that is not only that is visual, that is easy for people to remember that suggestible and, and really allowing that to be the base of everything that you do in your business or when you're helping people, you can take them through this kind of method that you've created yourself, and also allows you to brand it right, and to share it with the world when you're marketing, how you how you work with people and kind of what are the steps that you take people through?
Sara: Amazing so the beginning of this episode, I mentioned how I know it can feel really hard to stand out in this world amongst like, let's call them competitors or your peers or whatever you want to look at them. And so it sounds like having this signature framework can support us with that.
Heather: Yeah, absolutely. It really allows you To I say, name it and claim it. So you can name this framework and then we get to use that to not only, you know, help your clients members, but also like I said, market it into the world. So it becomes a part of your, your brand.
Sara: Right! And then so signature frameworks, are they generally static then or should they be changing over time? Like, tell us more about that.
Heather: Good question. So I can say from experience that mine has definitely changed over time. And I think it's going to, I think it is going to be a fluid fluid piece of your business. Because we all know that, you know, as we grow, we evolve, our business is growing and evolving, your framework is probably going to do that, too. And that's okay, I think the base of it is always, it's kind of like your core values and your business, those usually don't change. But they the way that you express them might change, or the way that you visually show that might change. But the underlying core is usually similar, or the same throughout.
Sara: So let's talk selling a little bit. What do our dream clients need to know about our framework?
Heather: Yeah, I mean, when I'm helping people make or when we discuss their framework, or when we're coming up with what their framework is going to be, I like to really simplify it first. And so I start small, and then go, kind of dive into the details. And so when you're using it to sell, right, you want to, I like to come up with like three words, that doesn't have to be three, that usually is a good number, and then we kind of break that apart. So for mine, for example, is serve sell scale, right? And so that is I'm serving my aligned audience, I'm selling impactful offers, and I'm helping them scale with intention. So I start with those three words. And then I kind of broaden them a little bit, and then I break it down. And I refer to it as a piece of pie. So I visual, you know, you're thinking of either whether it's pizza, or pizza pie, or, or like an apple pie, talk about dividing that into sections. And so when you think of your framework, you can start with those, what are those core things that you do? So maybe you're assessing stuff, maybe you're curating things, it depends on what your business is, right? And this isn't just for this really can work for any business or a service business. Or if you're doing digital, you know, products or programs, it works for that. And when you're selling to people, you can share that you usually use that copy that you're
you're using in your framework to sell what you do as well.
Sara: Definitely. And it sounds like when we have this when you're saying like didn't I love that name it and claim it you mentioned, it really helps us I would say stand out or seem different than people who are doing maybe something similar to us.
Heather: Yeah, it really allows you to have your own method framework. Because what happens is, when we're in business, we feel like you said, we feel like you get in that kind of a bubble. And it feels like everyone's doing what you're doing, and it starts to sound the same. And so when you're getting your framework, what I really love about creating a framework is not only are you coming up with these words, but these are words that you use, these are the ways that you would explain it to your people. So it really is it embodies what you do in your work with the words that you're using. Right. So like for me when I say aligned, impactful, intentional, these are words that I use all the time in my business when I'm talking with my clients. So it kind of it, like I said, embodies your your business too, which is really great. Because you can use that to stand out from from the crowd.
Sara: Absolutely. So you've gotten suture framework, will you tell us a little bit about yours?
Heather: Yeah, so mine is called your Savvy Business framework. I started off in the online world, having a Facebook group called savvy business owners, so that that that has stuck around from the beginning 10 years ago or whatever. So I use that in a lot of things that I do, it actually stands for something serving others aligned action, being versatile value and purpose driven. And then the last is your why and that includes like all the ways that I important to me community, humanity equity, and I can't think of all of them right now. But there's a lot of why is and why but also what is your why why are you You know, why do you have this business? So that's what the savvy comes from and your Savvy Business framework that I break it down into my framework, like I said, three pieces, which is serve self scale, because I'm helping business owners either take a walk On one signature, or create a one on one or refine a one on one signature offer, or the other thing I do is help them create group programs, whether it be membership or a group program, or what I call success pods or a course whatever that is in a group setting. So with serve it is serve your lined audience, like I said, Sell impactful offers, and then scale your business with intention. And then I break that down into eight different parts that I can go through those if you want me to, to Yeah, I'd love to hear we'd love to hear for sure. So my first is identify your audience. So who is your aligned audience? When I talk about that it's, you know, who are the people that you are setting out to help then clarifying your message, I find that a lot of people have issues or have problems with their messaging. And so it's really clarifying those two things, who are you serving? What is their message, and then we go into create. So this is the other thing, when I'm going around these eight pieces, I have main words for them, too. So the first one is identify, and then identify your audience, then clarify, clarify your message. And the next one is creates, we're going to create your offer, and then craft your content, launch with ease, deliver with the light automate to Evergreen, and then delegate to team. So those are my eight pieces of the pie. So everyone that I work with no matter what these are the eight pieces we go through. Now, it might not be we go through all of it, you know, at the same time, or we might be over time we work through these pieces, because some people aren't to, you know, the automation and delegation sometimes. But those are that's kind of the path I take everyone
through.
Sara: Amazing. And so you're saying that sometimes you don't go through all of it. But generally speaking, at some point, people will move through that step happy
with you.
Heather: I mean, with through my different offers, I've done different things over the years, right. And so depending on what the how, like when we went through, it wasn't, you know, when I worked with the group that you were in, we were really just getting to the launch? Yeah, so we didn't move a lot farther past that. It was really about creating that offer, and what's in it, and what's meaningful, and what needs to be included in all that. So creating and launch getting to the launch.
Sara: And I love that you mentioned the Evergreen in there as part of like the goal part of your framework. Yes. How did that come about? As opposed to let's say, just like live launches.
Heather: Yeah, for me, it became it came about because in my life, I have a lot going on. Personally, I have three kids I have one of my kids has cancer, you know, we've had COVID, I had a baby unexpectedly couple years ago. So a lot of things were happening in my world, doing live launches, to me felt really stressful. And my life was I didn't know what was happening day to day. And so doing these big launches, and everything kind of being focused on that big launch. And that's, you know, my business succeeds. If if that launch succeeds, and it doesn't if it doesn't succeed, right. And that's what I do feel like. And when I was working with, when I was working with the people that I was working with, I felt like this, they were going through the same thing, like they needed this balance. And I don't like the word balance, actually. Because everything's I feel like an ebb and flow. But they needed to have something that felt like it was ongoing. And it wasn't this big, everything relied on this one or two launches a year or four launches a year, some people are, you know, four to six launches a year, it just didn't work for me and it doesn't work for the most the people that I work with not doesn't mean that you don't ever launch, right, I really believe in this kind of hybrid, there are going to be times where you're going to have to talk about it more, you're going to have to do kind of a more, I still don't do traditional launches. And I don't encourage the people that I work with to do them. But I do think that going evergreen allows you to do your best work because really what that means is that you've got a process down that everyone goes through. And it's an it's automated Now, that doesn't mean because this is the one thing that always people always say, Well, if it's evergreen, and then you're talking about automation, then where does the personalization come in. And I always say like when I'm talking about deliver with delight, that's one of the pieces of the pie. That is where that that and you're still gonna have these personal touch points and you know, celebrating milestones and stuff like that. But you can do it so that people can come in that's the other thing people can come in in my programs whenever they want whatever feels right for them because I don't like icky like, you know, you have to come in now or you know, your world is gonna end or the you know, the business is gonna the worst. No, it needs to work for these people and needs to work for you for your life. And that's a big part of my messaging is I want your business needs to fit into your life. And so when we're talking about launching, I want that to feel good to you. And for most people that I work with, it needs to be flexible, we need to have systems we need to have create something that yes, at some points we can put more into into it and, and talk about it more. But we need to still have that evergreen, and you know, when we're talking evergreen, meaning people can people are coming in all the time. And they can always join, you know, so there's some, there's some cons to that, too, right? So we can talk about that. But if you don't set it up properly, I guess I should say there can be a downside to that if you don't set it up properly, because then you're always getting people in all the time. And if you don't have your processes set up in the backend, that can be exhausting for a business owner.
Sara: So what are some of the ways it can be exhausting? Like, what are some of the things that you see happen if it's not set up properly the backend?
Heather: Well, I mean, when we're talking about so say, you're launching a membership or a group program, and it's evergreen, so people can come in any time? Well, if you don't have processes and systems, so if you don't have an onboarding process, if you don't have a pathway that they're going to be walking through, right, in order to create what they're creating, it's going to be a lot of you. And that means that all the time, every day, 24/7, you know, 365 years, or 365 days a year, you could be in your business working with these people. And the whole goal of like creating a group program is creating it so that we don't have you know, that all we don't, it's less one, I don't wanna say less one on one, because there's personalization to it. But there's, a lot of times when people are creating this, it's for a bigger impact on the people, but also to scale your business. And you don't want to be working one on one in the, you know, in the group every day. And that's what can happen if you don't have those processes set up so that when you're you know, how to onboard people, for example, if someone comes in one day, well, and then the next day or the next day, you know, what are you going to do like are you going to be the one that has to take them through all of that. So when you're thinking of evergreen, and the differences, because when you're launching and you're doing traditional launches, you're getting a whole bunch of people all at once. And so usually you bring all those people in at once, and then they're on the same path the whole time. So let's say you do a six month program, right? They come in, you unboard them all at the same time, they go through the same stuff over the six months. Well, if you're doing evergreen, that doesn't happen, you know, so people are at different stages, too. So you have to have checkpoints, you have to, you know, things set in place, that when you're doing something on evergreen, they're still getting, they're still feeling that impact and they're still feeling like when they started the beginning it it feels great. They're having you know, like I say deliver with delight. They're delighted when they first joined, they're delighted when they're hitting milestones, and you're celebrating that with them. It's sometimes easier for people to do it, not evergreen, because like I said, then you can it's everyone's on the same course, everyone's kind of doing things at the same time. When you do evergreen, it doesn't line up that way. So it's something that you have to make sure that you adjust for if you're turning things evergreen.
Sara: That makes so much sense thinking about that and, and why we really need to have the systems in place for an evergreen process, or let's say launching life evergreen be set up.
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Sara: I've always loved about your framework that deliver with delight piece. And I don't know I don't think you know this. But in one of our previous episodes, I talked about scaling with human connection and I actually brought up a little bit about the sample of meaning in your group and how you have these beautiful touch points in the Facebook group throughout the week. And it's something that I've adopted something similar in my program. Why don't you talk to us a little bit about delivering with delight and what that means because I really so appreciate that you are so dedicated to that the idea of like we can still have evergreen but we can still have that personal connection in touch. So how do you do that? How can we get those business owners?
Heather: No? Yeah, absolutely. So, I think that businesses run on relationships, right? So, for me, I am never a person that's going to be like, you know, the, you will see that sometimes where people will be really great at marketing, but then you get into their program, or you get into working with them one on one, or whatever it is. And it's kind of like, want want wall like, what do you like the excitement and all that was gonna be in there, then you get in, you're like, Whoa, what happened? Like, this feels like a different universe. And I really believe that, especially after the past few years, building these relationships in your business is going to be so more important. People need people. And so I really feel that having this delivering your whatever it is with delight means how can you make that personal connection? How can you make someone feel good? How can you celebrate them? That's a big part of what I do. And my stuff is, I call them confetti moments. And I always like to celebrate every we do them every Friday. And then for me, what I do is every Monday I check in so in this can happen. People think well, how do I do that in a group, right?
Or how do I do that on a course or something? That's I call them group Group offers. So anything that's more than you're just serving one person at a time? How do you do that? Well, you create check ins, you create milestones, you create checkpoints, whatever you want to call them, that you're checking in with people. So for me, I do this weekly. So on Mondays, we do a focus check in what are you focusing on for the week on Wednesdays, we do Wednesday check in and I use a green light system that I actually got from another coach that I was working with that I think he got from a coach he was working with. So we use a stoplight system. And we say on Wednesdays are you red, yellow, or green. And if you're red, that means you're you're kind of stopped, you're you're stuck. And you need to ask for help.
And then if you're yellow, you might be like, I'm not sure you're unsure. And you still need to ask for help. And if you're green, you have clarity, you're moving forward, I always say if that's happening, then you probably have wins to celebrate. And if we're in yellow or red, we have lessons to learn, right. And so I love to do that on Wednesdays. And then on Fridays, we do confetti moments, which is a celebration. And I love to actually like send things in the mail to people. When I work with people for you know, multiple months. I love to create touch points where I celebrate them and actually send them send them stuff in the mail. The other thing is when I another another touch point is right. When from the beginning, when I start working with people, it's like what is your onboarding look like? So a lot of times when people think deliver with delight, they always think about gifting, right? That's like, I feel like everything, everybody goes to that what what gift can I send them? And that's great, you know, like you should do that you should send them something people always love to get things in the mail, I think there's a way to a lot of questions that I get about that is how do we automate that. So we're not like, you know, sitting here stamping and writing out all the ways to automate it right, or pick a gifting service that you can, you know, send everyone the same thing, but it's still personalized, and you can send them a gift or a card or something with it.
But when we're talking about deliver with delight, it's not just about gifting, right? It is about how can you deliver your program or your service in a way that it feels really good. It's like those delightful moments. And sometimes they're like surprising moments. But from the, from the beginning, you need to implement that. Because when if you're not starting out with that, then people I kind of it's kind of like when people say, Well, when you get in a program or you getting started working with someone, I always like to create a quick win. So whatever that would be for you and your business, what is something that they can get really excited about at the beginning, and they can feel accomplished? And they can you know, sometimes people just like to check it off the list. They've done it. That's a that's a deliver with delight, right? How can you get them to that? And then how can you celebrate that with them, if you can start however, whatever service or you know, like whatever you're launching, if you can start with that, it's going to be a really good way to then a pathway to create that momentum and create that excitement throughout the time you're working with them.
And so there's a lot of ways you can do that. Right? You can like I said, you can have milestones where let's say for instance, you're working with people and you have them submit something to you. Well if they submit it, then maybe they get you know you could gamify this I've worked with people that you really can like really get crazy with it right and fun but it can be simple to just like you have a marker of like once you get to this that Maybe it's unlock something for them, maybe they get something that someone else doesn't get, or in their program, once they get to that they get to unlock the next part. You know, there's several ways that you could do it. But think about it as yourself, like, what would be exciting for you, and then personalize it to how you work with people, you know, what is fun for you what is fun for them, for however you're rewarding, you know, quote, unquote, rewarding them celebrating them. You can personalize that to your people. And you know, how you how you like to work with people.
Sara: That's so good. I took that lesson. I remember from working with you in the group program, one thing that we did was when people launch they unlock like a one to one with me to debrief it. Yeah, something that we do. So yeah, incentive to, like get to that, like, let's get it out there.
Heather: Because people again, want that one on one attention. But when you have something that, you know, is a larger program, you can't do one on one all the time, right, as a business owner, you will be overwhelmed and burnout, for sure. So but you can bet you can, you know, I love that how that's that's something right away that they're able to unlock and be able to do with you. And I get that personal attention.
Sara: And like probably as it grows, it might end up being like a Lou might give you back instead or things but like, right, it'll be something different. But for now, that's what it can be. I so appreciate how you walked us through all these different ways that you know, you deliver with the light in your business. And it really helped illustrate how this like piece of your framework, like one piece of your pie, really, and all the thought that went behind that like one, just that one piece of like all your eight other things that you have going on?
Heather: Yes. Yeah, for sure. I was very intentional with how I created it.
Sara: So we've heard from you now about the importance of having one and a little bit about also like what yours looks like and and then going down a little bit deeper into GaNS, livers light, and how that actually flows out into your business. Can you talk to us and help us get a little interaction here? Heather, can you help us talk about giving us your top tips for creating a refining our own signature framework?
Heather: Absolutely. So I really like to start, like I said, you're gonna think of your framework like a pie. So we're gonna just make it into three pieces. Okay, we're gonna have three pieces of the pie. Now, three is the number that I use, I always tell everyone make it your own. If you if you want to start with, you know, five, that's fine. The reason I start with three is because we're going to break this down into smaller segments in what you don't want to have is this, like 40 step framework that you have to take people through. Because here's the thing, in each of my steps, you know, I have the eight pieces of the pie. There are multiple things we do within each of those. But your framework doesn't have to show that right? This is overwhelming, I bet you will, will overwhelm people, that's the biggest complaint I hear about, especially when you're doing group stuff is that they come in to a group, whatever that is, again, that can be a course a membership group program, what I call success pod, other people call a mastermind, whatever it is, in a group setting, the biggest complaint I hear is that people come in, and then I have access to all of this stuff, ever, you know, the business owner has put the kitchen sink into the program, and there's no pathway. And so they're like, Here you go. But you know, we have monthly calls, we have all this stuff. And it's like, no, you have to create a pathway for them. Like where should they start based on where they are, what should be their next step. And so I think that when we're thinking about the framework, we have to think about that, too. We don't want to overwhelm people, we just want to give them a piece of the pie quote, and show them what we're able to do, how we're able to help them and the process that we take them through, right. So that first part is we're going to take those three pieces of the pie. And we're going to think of what are the three how how do you help people what are the three ways like the three if you had to break it down into three buckets? How are the ways that you've helped people? And so when I was thinking about mine, I thought, well, I help people I really want to help people serve their audience, their aligned audience, and that's a big part of what I do and I think it's so important the foundation of having that and and what do we do in that right and so what we're going to break that down more but that serving is a big part of what I what I help people do making sure you serve your people really well. And then the second part was the selling that you don't have to use I love it when people use like words that start with the same letter or you know, spells out someday you can do that. But it doesn't have to be it can just be whatever you know it is that you think you're helping people with so for me it's helping them serve their audience, helping them sell their offers and helping them scale their business. This, but whatever those three words are, you want to start there. And then you're going to break it down. And I say the step second step is make it digestible. So we're going to break down your three slices of the pie you created into like smaller pieces. And what I help you do or want to help people do when we do this is I just start like, brain dumping, or like downloading all the thoughts in my head. And sometimes you have to work backwards, right? Sometimes you have to get all of it out of your head, and then group them together and say, Oh, these are actually the three thing the three main things I do with people and help and I don't know what that is for you. Sarah, do you have like your three? Or how many? Do you have? Like your your main things that you do?
Sara: I have a five for my big, like my big signature service. And then in the group program, there, we have a for like a modified version of it.
Heather: Yeah. And I love that because it shows that you don't have to have three like it's, it's just a way to start. But when you're doing it, you might find that it looks different. Right? And that's okay,
Sara: It's evolved to actually did have three to start. And it evolved a little bit because I felt like I was trying to cram too much into one of them.
Heather: Yeah, yes, that makes so much sense. I feel like that happens all the time. Like we said, this is going to evolve this, this framework is going to evolve, when you evolve and your business evolves, and naturally is going to happen. So then once we take that in, like make it digestible, and kind of break it down, we get it all on paper, brainstorm it out. And then we kind of come back, and then piece everything together, like gather the the things that make sense together. And put that's another piece. So for me, you know, when I was thinking of how I've helped people, and how I want to continue to help people, this is how, and then you kind of put it in an order of how does that make sense. And usually, you're already doing this. So it isn't like you have to create some unknown kind of like out there. It makes me think of like when people say you need to create your create your like, your ideal client avatar. It's like, oh, I'm going to create it. Especially if you haven't worked with a lot of people I'm going to create it from like, it's like outer space. I'm just bringing stuff in outer space.
Sara: And I remember that feeling when I first started like, a pic. Like, I'm just sure they read Cosmo, I don't know.
Heather: Your client avatar is like a whole other. I think it's archaic. But yeah, Midway, when when we're doing this, you know, if you've worked with even if you haven't worked with a ton of people, you're still gonna see this thing. And same things keep popping up with the clients say that you're working one on one and you're trying to shift to group programs, or you want to just do one on one, that's fine, too. And you're launching like a service, we're really going to see when we go back that we're coming up with the same thing. So when I work people, I always have him kind of talk about who are you working with? Whether it's group or in one on one service? And like, what are the things that come up? What are you talking about? What are you helping them with? And then I help them like, group it all together? And they're like, oh, wow, there's a lot of similarities here. Yes. So this is what we can work with. So that's the next thing you're going to do. And then you're going to group them into these kind of sections, however many that is, I would say don't go more than 12 is what I say usually Nine, eight to 12 is when you're breaking the framework up. That's I think that's if you go beyond that, it's too much. So then the next step, the third step is to name it. So I did mine your Savvy Business framework, but yours my you know, I don't know what yours is, Sara?
Sara: The launch worthy framework?
Heather: Oh, love it. Okay. So yeah, you want to make it, you want to make it so that your your clients or your members understand it, like it needs to be it needs to work with whatever you're teaching them, right? It needs to. And a lot of times when I like to say like it needs to be, I don't wanna say catchy, but like it needs when you say it, you need to understand, be able to understand it. Now, I will say with mine, your Savvy Business framework, sometimes. I'm like, Oh, is that too vague? Or is that too broad? And you know, it works for me. But you probably want to get a little bit more descriptive. I love yours. Like an amazing title of it. That so that right away, I know what is I'm going to be taught. I know what you're gonna be talking to me about when you say launch worthy. I understand. I mean, I don't know the details, right? But I understand what you're going to be the framework is about you get the concepts. Yeah. So then the The fourth step is to make it visual. And I like to use a diagram or chart and there's different ways you can do this. Some people have like Venn diagrams, mine is I go off the pie, and that's how you do it. But there's several ways that you can, you can you can do that. And then the last thing is just to like share it with the world. You know, share your framework and use it as a marketing tool. To set you apart and how you coach or how you provide services, and really use that, not only internally but externally for your business.
Sara: That's so good. Heather, thank you for walking us through all of that. All right, I know that I'm gonna go back and re listen, I'm but our listeners can go back and be taking notes on all that. So over the years, I know that you've coached a lot of business owners, and I'm curious, what stands out to you as the most common issues we can run into when creating our frameworks? And how can we avoid them?
Heather: Yes. Okay. So I think we've talked about a few, but I would say number one, is that people say, I don't know how to do it. So I've created a way for you to easily do it, I feel like it's a pretty simple way to at least start right you can, it can evolve, you can refine it, but this is a pretty simple process to go through. And then so you don't have to be overwhelmed by it. Right. I think the other thing is that, so that's kind of like we don't know how to start it. Right? I think the other thing is, when people get into it, they try to cram way too much in and they're trying to say everything they need to say, and the signature framework, I don't think you need to do that either you're going to be overwhelming your people, your message is not going to be clear. It's you know, you're using this. So internally, you can help, it can help work with your clients and members. And also externally, you can help mark it. Well, if it is, you know, really overwhelming and all the things, then that's not going to help you at all or the people that you're wanting to help. So that's that's the second issue I see people having. Third is that, Heather do I have to create this one method, and this has to be for everything I do in my business. Now for me it is. So whatever I do, I have different programs I work with I have worked with people privately, everyone. Now again, it might not be we go we start from identify your audience. But we're working through parts of this and I work through. So you know launch with ease, I have a way that I work with people deliver with delight, there's things that we talk about. So for me, it does work like that. But you might have several different frameworks based on the programs, you have the things you're launching, usually, there's like a one main framework, but you might have smaller ones that you use within your program to teach something. That's another thing I get asked a lot. Do I just have to come up with this one for my whole business? And then that can becomes overwhelming? And how do I you know, put all this in here. So you can have separate ones, you can have different ones? And then I think that I'm going to do it wrong? Is the other one that I don't they started to do it. They've gotten through it. They've created it. And they're like, I don't know if is this good enough? Is this the wrong way? And there's no wrong way, right? It's your way. That's the whole point is that is your signature way. And again, I think knowing that this is a fluid tool. So that doesn't have to be the way it is for the rest of your business for the rest of your life that you're working with people. It can just be a guide right now. And you can evolve it and change it as you evolve and change. So I think don't be so scared of creating it. Like it's the, you know, end all be all of your business. You know, if you don't get this right, it's not going to be right. That's not the case.
Sara: Oh my gosh, I so love that you give us that basic permission slip to evolve. And to know that like, what you start off with might not be where you end up down the road just as we change as humans, like this is going to change with us. Yeah. So I'm curious, what excites you most about helping business owners create their signature frameworks? What do you love about it?
Heather: Yeah, I think it really allows me to see into their business and see how they're helping people. And what I've realized is when I help people do this, you know, I'm a business coach. I'm a business strategist. So I can, I can see it pretty clearly from the beginning. And sometimes as business owners, especially, I do this with myself, right, I can see it for other people really clearly. For myself, sometimes it's like a hot mess. But I can usually see really clearly right when I start working with people like this is what it's gonna look like this is but it's usually different than what they envision because a lot of times they're basing the signature framework on where they are right now. And I like to create the signature framework based on where you're going, instead of where you are. Now, maybe that may be where you are is where you're going to be for a while, and that's okay, so like maybe you do need to create it for now. But I just worked with one of my private clients the other day, and I was like, Oh, you're shifting into this. And this is like, this is bigger, you know, and this is what we need to do. And she was like, wow, I didn't even see that. But now that you're saying it, it makes so much sense to me. And so I say create your A framework for what you want it to be. It doesn't have to be. Exactly. So let's say, we're creating our framework. And we really want to help, maybe we're helping people on two pieces of that pie that we've created like two of the three things, but we really want to help people. And this third way, and really kind of round out this, because for me, it's a pie, but it's also a circle. So people as they evolve, they're creating more things. And so we just take them through the same process, again, whatever, eating that's the other beautiful thing I love about kind of the pie or the circle. But when we are working together, I love to see that we create something that will work for them in the future as they're growing and scaling their business, and not just for where they are right now. And so that's kind of a beautiful thing that I when I work with you I love because I'm like I see this, I see so much more for you. Like, let's think of that instead of staying in the bubble that we're in.
Sara: Oh my gosh, what's that saying? It's like, you can't read the label inside the jar or something like they need someone else to help reflect back to what they see. Yeah, yeah.
Heather: So I love being able to do that I have I feel like that's one of my gifts is that I'm able to really see something before a lot of people are able to see it. For others, again, not for myself. I need help to coaches need coaches, it's really fun to be able to kind of say, okay, here you are. Now, this is where we're going. This is the goal. And I think the other thing is almost always we get their way before we think so like say I'm working with someone for six months, right? We usually are getting there and you know, 123 months, and then it's like, oh, wow, okay. And then we have this momentum. And it's, you know, it's because we've created this frame. I mean, it's not just the framework, right? But it's because we've created this framework of how you are going to work with your people. And it opens up this whole other world of like, oh, okay, I can do this, and this. And we can make this bigger. And we can make this and not always bigger, but like just better by by using this framework and kind of making it our own.
Sara: So good. So if our listeners were only to walk away with one thing from this episode, what do you hope it would be?
Heather: Create your signature framework? No. No, I don't think I mean, it's not one of these things. Like, if you don't have it, your business will fail. But I do think it really provides because what it has, what happens is it makes you think through your business, and especially for people that have been in business for a little while and think I have all my stuff together. Or maybe they don't, you know, creating this signature framework really looks like such makes you step back and create the foundation of your of your business. And a lot of times when I because a lot of people that I work with have been in business for three plus years. And so we are at a point where they're shifting in their business. And so we have to come back and step back for a second and create that foundation. Because the foundation, although we've created it from the beginning, we have evolved. And so things are different now. And so the foundation, we have to build it up a little bit more, and like clear it out and clarify it right of like, what is that foundation of our business? What are the things that we're going to be doing, and when we're creating this signature framework, it lets us it lets us step back and do that. And so I think that's a lovely part too, when you're creating this, that you can step back and go, Oh, wow. And it kind of it starts to create, I think once especially when business owners have been you know, they've been in business for a while, it creates such excitement again, because like, oh, wow, this is this is what I do. And this is how I can do it. And this is how I can make the impact that I want to make. But a lot of times we're not given or we don't give ourselves permission to like step back and create that for our business so that it feels like that, you know, one excitement again, and be able to move forward. I don't know if you had that experience, Sarah, when you were going through it, but I know most people that I work with, that's the kind of experience they have, they get all like excited again about their business and where they're headed and their goals and all this stuff because they've kind of stepped back and created this framework of like how we're moving forward.
Sara: Oh my gosh, I found that's exactly how I feel. And like when we when we worked through that 30 days we spend together that was like the one big piece I came away with, you know, along also the structure of my program, but like that being based on my signature framework, and then that evolved out into my one to one services, and they're really heavily linked. And so now I feel like I talk about it all the time. It's actually given me a structure to my business that I think existed but I didn't realize existed. Yeah, it's and so now like when my proposals I go through like the four pieces of it all the time and and my sales calls are so much easier because I just talk through those pieces, right? Yeah. And then people like I get a buy in right away. Right? They're like yes, that because cuz it's so friggin clear. And the same in my, you know, my group offer we go through these pieces. And so it's something that has just made my business life so much easier having it. I love it. So, if you like this episode, you're gonna love Heather's free audio training. Heather, will you tell us about what it is and where we can scoop it up?
Heather: Yes. So it is your signature framework sessions. So it's an audio series. And there's also you can, you know, you can also just read it if you prefer to do that as well, and not listen, but it is an audio series of seven part series. It's a quick series. So I like to do things that you can take action on right away. And there's actually a workbook within the series, I mentioned that you can DM me and I'll give I give you a word to DM to me and then I send you the the workbook that goes along with it. So you can kind of walk through as you're listening to the audio, you can have the the workbook to work through actually, like just start doing it and taking action. And we've had a lot of success. People are really loving it. And like I said, they're really short segments. So it's really quick. And yeah, and then you at the end, the goal is to have your signature framework at least mapped out if not finished.
Sara: Amazing. And so we will drop the link for that in the show notes. I love that you put in that fun like magic word to get the word.
Heather: Yes, there's a whole strategy behind that too.
Sara: That's amazing. Okay, so yeah, that was I'll be in the show notes and where to find Heather's so you can work with her and Heather. I know that you're a pretty active on Instagram, so I'm sure they can come find you over there as well.
Heather: Yes, I met Heather business coach and I love to be on Instagram. So yes, I if you want to chat, hit me up in the DMS there.
Sara: Perfect. Well, Heather, thank you so much for joining us today on the launch playbook podcast.
Heather: Thank you, Sara.
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