About Success Becomes You and Robin Jones

What qualifies you to coach people on their lives and their marketing?

I struggled for the first couple of years of being in business for myself.

Like many coaches, I felt passionate about helping people break down barriers and have great lives, but I knew very little about the business end of running a business. Effective marketing eluded me and I felt disappointed much of the time. The only thing that kept me going was sheer will and persistent tenacity.

When I finally learned the essential principles of Action Plan Marketing, everything changed. I developed a complete system that helped me meet my prospective clients where they were, communicate my message clearly, and build strong relationships. Best of all, the system wasn’t someone else’s formulait was all my creation, aligned with my values, and a complete expression of me. As a result of finding a new way to market, my little business went from hanging on by a thread to an unstoppable force.

What qualifies me are two things: my love for the work and my clients, and a proven track record using the most current and innovative techniques to grow the businesses of coaches, consultants, financial planners, and other service professionals.

What’s your background?

Perhaps the best way to tell you about me is to tell the story of how I got into business in the first place. I was working as a secretary, the last of a long string of career choices that didn’t match my values or personality. I had also worked as a rental car branch manager, bartender, operations director of a regional theatre, even a farmhand.

My daughter was born in May of 2002, and I took two weeks off work to be with her. The morning I went back to work, I sat down at my desk wondering what the #@$%*! I was doing there. Nothing made sense any more. Here I was at an unfulfilling job that meant nothing more than paying my bills, and the one person I was completely responsible for was home without me. It was like a slap in the face. What intensified my frustration was the realization that I was now modeling life for my child, that she would understand the world through my actions. This was not the person I wanted her to see.

That same day I stumbled across coaching, seeing that it held the potential for everything I wanted in life: a flexible schedule, an income that I controlled, daily variety, and especially the opportunity to help people in a powerful, tangible way. That week I signed up to start my coach training and started with my first client the following week. Since then, I’ve never looked back and I’ve never been happier.

Why did you expand your business to include marketing coaching?

Because I struggled to bring in clients, I know that frustration and disappointment firsthand. As I coached my entrepreneur clients, I realized that traditional coaching could only get them so far; that what was missing was practical information and a systematic approach to marketing. Having learned a simple method that worked so well for my business, I wanted other professionals who were longing for more clients to bypass the difficulties I had found and make it easy to succeed quickly.

It is also a perfect expansion for the success of my business. My mission statement is: “I create the means for people to have experiences that enrich and transform them.” Coaching people in their marketing efforts allows them to have exactly those sorts of experiences, so it’s a great fit.

What are you like as coach? Beyond the coaching and information, what makes it enjoyable to work with you?

My clients report several things about my personality that make it great to work with me.

The one I get most often is that I’m easy to talk to and people are quick to open up to me. They know I’m not going to judge them or put them into a box. We all have our “stuff:” our fears or idiosyncrasies that we don’t always want to reveal. I make meetings with clients a safe space to connect and get to what’s real.

Secondly, I hold my clients’ agenda as sacred. I get fierce with people about having the success they want out of life, so I often push them beyond their fears and insecurities. I’m fascinated by human potential, and I don’t let my clients settle for anything less than the fullness of what they can achieve.

And we have fun. When I started my business, I made a policy that I wouldn’t work with anyone I didn’t connect with personally. If we don’t laugh a lot, we’re not having a good time, and if we’re not having a good time, it’s probably not worth doing.

Who are your ideal clients?

First and foremost, they want more out of life. They’re hungry to take their businesses to the next level and willing to do the work to make it happen.

My clients are growth-oriented. They enjoy (or at least are ready for) the process of looking into themselves and allowing the truth to come out for the sake of forward movement. For me, growth is what gives life meaning.

Courageous. My definition of courage is, “the act of putting needs and desires ahead of fears.” My clients practice this each and every day.

They’re also human: perfectly imperfect. They make mistakes, sometimes huge ones, and yet they have compassion for themselves and are able to let go of their shortcomings. I have one client who describes himself as, “pathologically self-accepting.” That’s a sentiment I like to foster in my clients.

What are your credentials?

Certified Action Plan Marketing Coach
Certified Professional Co-Active Coach
Coaches Training Institute’s Leadership Program Graduate
Master of Fine Arts, University of Louisville

Click on this link to contact Robin.