Client Spotlight

We often hear about the difficulty of starting and growing a business but not all the lessons learned and success strategies. In my monthly Client Spotlight series you’ll hear stories of how clients have created lifestyle businesses they love.

This month’s Client Spotlight is brought to you by the lovely Krista Martin of www.MakeYourMark.com. Keep reading our interview together to see what she’s done to create a business she loves…

Tell us a little about your business and how you got started?

Krista: Sure, I’d love to.

Ever since I completed my MBA and took a class that I thought would be a “blow off” course (and ended up being nothing of the sort!), a course called Executive Coaching, I have been intrigued by the power each person has and how asking the right questions can lead a person to live a much more fulfilled and meaningful life.

Every few years I’d order as many coaching books as I could from Amazon and I finally decided to take the plunge.  I took my first course through CTI and I was hooked. My business officially launched about 2 years ago and has seen many iterations since that day.  It’s funny to think about my first version of my website and my first “ideal client”.  My business – and I – have come a lot way and have gone through many growing pains as my business has grown to what it is today.  I was working full-time when I had this dream so I spent many nights and weekends building my business.  I’ve managed to grow my business, with your support, by focusing on the most important things that need to be done so that I can spend my time where it really matters:  with my family.

What do you most love about working with your clients?

Krista: I love seeing them succeed and achieve their goals with less effort than they thought possible.  I love seeing them land their “ideal clients” and how they light up when they talk about how their business is growing and how they are making their mark on the world by supporting their clients.  I love hearing their stories about how they didn’t feel “salesy” and actually went through the sales consult process that I helped them to develop to fit their unique needs.  I love getting emails that go on and on and on about the learning, the growth, and even the challenges that are coming up for them.

I love it when they have their “best month ever” several months in a row.  I love seeing them recognize that they do, in fact, have what it takes to create a business built around their life instead of the other way around.  I love seeing the light bulbs go off for them and the relief that they feel when they gain the clarity and the structure and the plan to support their dreams.

Where were you before we first started working together? What was your business like?

Krista: Before we started working together, I had a great business on appearance – – I had a good newsletter, regular blog content, a list that was growing and all of the surface pieces but not the clients. So, I learned that even when you have a great website and great content and only a few clients, you also have a very expensive hobby.

Where are you now?

Krista: Now I have clients that I love to work with and I have even learned how to turn down business if the client and I aren’t a perfect match.  It’s a great feeling to know that I don’t HAVE TO take on a client just to make ends meet.

I have a steady stream of clients and they are paying much more (more than double!) than prior to working with Jeannie. I have a signature system and know, with great certainty, who my perfect client is and who it isn’t.  I know the value that I bring and I am confident about how I can support other business owners to build their own dream business.  My list size has double since working with Jeannie and she is a true partner in my business growing adventure.

Something we’ve really done in our work together is launch your business through speaking online. Tell us what you’ve been doing? Where have you been speaking? How has that helped you get more clients?

Krista: Jeannie has helped me to craft a talk that fits me and that I can give over and over and over again to grow my list.  I now have a “specialty” and can focus on my unique skills to attract the perfect clients for me.  I love speaking through teleclasses and will continue to use that platform moving forward as I grow my online list and create raving fans by providing value and demonstrating my expertise to my target peeps.  It’s a fun way to grow my business – and I love that I can do it from the comfort of my own home.  

I have been speaking primarily through teleclasses that I set up but have recently been approached by several networking groups to see if I am interested in speaking and sharing my expertise with them.  I immediately shared the success with Jeannie by email and I know she was smiling on the other end!

Clients have been drawn in by a teleclass, joined my list and my community, and then through building the “know like and trust” factor and providing great value, I’ve been able to grow my client base in a very comfortable way.

What’s on the horizon for Krista Martin and Make Your Mark?

Krista: Wow, that’s a great question!  Right now I’m working with client one-on-one and have launched several free online courses to groups with very good success.  As I continue to build on my client successes over the next few years, I would love to delve into the world of group coaching so that I can support more people and at a lower price point to create a business that they love.

Outside of that, there are definitely beach trips and margaritas on the horizon, too! 🙂

Krista is CEO & Founder of Make Your Mark. As a business strategist and coach, she partners with entrepreneurs to build their service based businesses to serve more clients, make more money, and have more fun.

Krista has a MBA in marketing and is a CPCC (Certified Professional Co-Active Coach). In addition to working in the marketing and sales arena for more than 12 years, she built and sold her first “side biz” and now loves that she has the opportunity to partner with female entrepreneurs that have so many great ideas but no clear plan of how to build their dream business. By putting together an action focused plan and learning how to “sell” in an authentic and comfortable way, she loves supporting clients to build a business that fits into their lifestyle instead of the other way around.

She and her husband have two perfect (ha!) kids, ages 4 and 2, and an equally as perfect dog. Originally a native of the Midwest, she is glad to call Atlanta her home as she has much better access to the beach and ocean from there. You can learn more about Krista at www.makeyourmark.com

Want results like this in your business too? Enrollment in SHINE Mastermind is open.  Head here to learn how you can create a thriving online business too~