Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Melanie Benson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Melanie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Taking risks as a business owner started the moment I left behind a decade long career in a Fortune 500 company and embarked on my journey as a business coach. And that risk was probably the easiest of all of the risks I’ve taken as an entrepreneur.

I made many significant risks during my 22+ years in business, most of which have been investing in future success. From investing in mentors to hiring A level team members to being willing to try marketing tactics that were outside my comfort zone, I learned very quickly that I had to be willing to take risks to grow.

One of the biggest risks I took was putting on live events, which terrified me, but often paid off with high-ticket client enrollments.

But, in 2009, one of my risks turned into a catastrophic nightmare. My goal was to move from high 6 figures to 7 figures in revenue. I invested heavily in hosting a luxury event for high-achieving, 6 figure+ entrepreneurs. I could not have foreseen the market turbulence that ensued with our financial crisis, which froze credit cards and cut off the financing capability of many of our clients. Many of our on-going clients who were on automatic billing cycles couldn’t pay their monthly fees and we lost over $40000 in revenues in a 3 month period.

We had a much smaller than anticipated turn out for the event, mostly due to our client base not being able to use their credit cards to pay for their attendance and lodgings (which left me in massive debt and a bit of PTSD.)

That risk, even though it did not pay off the way I envisioned, became a blessing. As I dug my way through that financial tornado, I discovered significant problems in our financial systems, unaligned offerings, and team members who were not pulling their weight.

Ultimately that failed attempt was a blessing which led to a valuable brand pivot to the work I do today, a simplified business model and a top 1.5% podcast, Amplify Your Success.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Since 2000, I’ve been a business optimizer — I quickly recognize a client’s monetizable assets and superpowers and what’s blocking them from actualizing it. I specialize in guiding experts who feel like a “Best Kept Secret” into a 3 – 5 times revenue increase with a clear brand message and easy to sell offerings.

So how did I get here? I got into business coaching from a series of coincidences.

During my Fortune 500 career in the tech world, I felt like an odd-shaped peg looking for my perfect fit role, I was entrepreneurial from the get-go, and found myself moving from special project to special project. Towards the ninth year in my time with this company, the leadership team went through Stephen Covey training. One day my manager stopped telling me what to do, and started to ask me questions. I felt empowered instead of limited.

I started to research “coaching” at a local bookstore and as I walked through the personal development section, I bumped a table with a stack of books. One of the books fell to the ground. As I picked up that book I was astonished that it was a book called “Take Time For Your Life” by a coach named Cheryl Richardson,

I devoured the book and as I read every page, I knew that I wanted to become a coach too. As there were not any career paths available as a coach inside that company, I decided to strike out on my own.

My early days were very scary — I gave my notice to leave the Fortune 500 company (and my cushy paycheck, company car and expense account) and 10 days later the world was turned upside down with 9/11.

It took me almost 2 years to work out the foundations of my first successful offering to achieve bold goals, and break 6 figures in my business.

One of the assets I developed early on was my ability to get people unstuck and achieving goals they never knew were possible. Using my Coach Training and advanced certification in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, I had access to brain recoding tools that helped entrepreneurs dissolve unconscious barriers that kept them in fear and limitation.

And my project management training and background helped me integrate practical tools to achieve big goals in record time with leverage strategies.

Today I integrate a variety of tools from mindset, revenue breakthrough strategies, collaboration and authority positioning techniques that help talented experts become well-paid (and enjoy their business more too.)

One of my favorite visibility strategies is speaking — its an amazing opportunity to make a huge impact with an audience and attract new clients at the same time. By leveraging the fast growth of the podcasting industry, especially during the Pandemic when everyone was stuck at home and looking for inspiration. I was able to leverage my love of speaking AND accelerate the impact and income growth for myself and many of my clients.

By using all of my growth strategies, my podcast, Amplify Your Success, has steadily landed in the top 1.5% worldwide. I’m also a huge fan of being a Guest Expert on other people’s podcasts and shows, and teach my clients how be an in-demand, profitable podcast guest.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My strategy to build an audience on social media was simple — connect with the people I’d met IRL at events where I was a speaker. But this was back in 2007!

Today, if I had to start all over again, my formula to build a connected, engaged audience starts with sharing relevant, valuable content.

And don’t just build an audience of potential clients, but included connections with your competitors, colleagues and other industry influencers. Often your peers will be the ones who recognize your value and will open a door to an opportunity or make a referral to you — simply because you’ve been consistently visibile with a magnetic message.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

My best source of new clients has always been collaborations, which includes speaking on stages, podcast interviews and being a featured guest expert during virtual events.

When you understand how to build what I call a “Golden Thread”, then you have a good chance of inspiring the audience to want to work with you. Sharing a relevant message on a stage is powerful for multiple reasons — a stage puts you in front of the audience, you have instant “implied” authority and you are in a position to showcase how you help your ideal clients solve a costly problem.

When I spoke at live events early on in my career, I discovered that having a relevant topic was a key factor to attract clients.

When you apply this strategy to being a Guest Expert on podcasts, which are available for listeners to consume 24/7, you turn on a steady stream of leads!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://MelanieBenson.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/CoachMelanieBenson
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/CoachMelanieBenson
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/success/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/melcoach
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MelanieBenson