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Christine Sandberg is a one-on-one small business coach who works with women who are struggling to start or grow their business to take the next step with clarity & confidence!
If you’d like to connect with her, you can find her at www.newmorningcoaching.com
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Welcome to the no mercy business coaching podcast with Emily, a Woodruff, the podcast that walks you through managing your own small business through the highs and the lows. We’ll talk with small business owners from all over the us and share insights on how to help manage your business without the extra fluff and connect with other women.
Just like you let’s dive in everyone for joining me for another episode of the no mercy business podcast. This is your host, Emily, a Woodruff I have today with me, Christine Sandberg. Why don’t you go ahead and introduce yourself to our listeners. Hi listeners. Um, as Emily said, my name’s Christine Sandberg.
I am a small business coach and I’m located in St. Paul, Minnesota. And I’ve been business coaching since 2018 and last. Last year, I went full time with it after I sold my clothing boutique and I help women specifically start small businesses and turn their passion into a profit. That’s awesome. So I’m super excited to.
Dig into that a little bit more since I’m kind of going down the business coaching route too. Um, so I’m interested to hear how you’ll respond to some of these. So how did you, how did you get involved with coaching? Um, you said that you, you turned over your boutique. How did that come out of, or were they related?
Yeah, so I got started with, um, actually writing. I’ve always liked writing. Um, I was an English major in college, so I started a blog to kind of share some of the learnings that I was. Experiencing, um, while I was in business. And so I started a blog and that was entirely business focused and that’s all it kind of was, was just, um, just a blog.
But then in 2018, I went to the business boutique women’s business conference in Nashville, Tennessee. And I really loved the conference and I felt something like come alive inside of me where I was like, this is so cool. Like, this is what, this is what I wanna do. I want to inspire women to start their own businesses and encourage them that they can do it.
Um, so I’ve just been. So I took that nugget of an idea that seed of an idea and started testing it out. And so I got a handful of women to beta test with me and I just tried it to see, Hey, is this helpful to you? And does this come naturally to me? Is it. Is it, um, difficult? Is it hard? Does it drain me?
Does it excite me? Yeah. Um, and kind of pass all of those check marks. And then, so then the first year I just started coaching, um, at like a very low introductory rate, just to kind of get my foot in the door and. To build up a client space and experience. And I will say that this hasn’t been the only mentoring I’ve done.
I’ve done mentoring women individually, one on one for over 10 years. So that setting has, I have some experience in, so it was just combining these.
Two things that I love mentoring women and also teaching and business, um, altogether. So that’s how I got started. That’s great. So that kind of explains how you found your, your ideal client and your, your, your client base that you work with. Is women in business who are looking to expand their marketing or expand their businesses?
Is that what you would say? Yeah, definitely that I.
Say year one to five is that is where I land with my clients or clients who are doing a new business. Um, sometimes they already have many years in business experience. Like I worked with some clients who have had like 20 years of experience mm-hmm in business, but they wanna try something new and they feel like they’re stuck and they just want some, some.
Specifically, you know, with marketing and strategy and, um, learning some of the newer aspects of online business, like, um, marketing funnels and mm-hmm special media and those kind of things that weren’t around 20 years ago. Sure. That makes sense. So how would you. Just walk me through how you would find or connect with your ideal client.
Where do you, where do you succeed the most with that? Yeah, I found the most success with finding clients through Facebook groups that I activ, actively participate in. Um, not my own, unfortunately. yeah. That’s a work in progress. Yeah. Um, I’ve also had some clients reach out to me through word of mouth and through Instagram.
Awesome. I think we all face the same struggle with the, with our groups. For some reason, it seems like they just don’t necessarily gain the traction that we hope for. But it’s great that you get it somewhere else. I tell people. And I tell my clients, honestly, that sometimes I feel like the plumber with the leaky pipes at home.
Yeah. like, I can tell you what you need to do to succeed on Instagram and Facebook groups and you know how to put yourself out there and what to focus on and how to respond to comments, et cetera, et cetera. But then when it comes to me actually doing. I, I, I, I struggle sometimes. So I think, I think that’s very common for our line of work.
So don’t let that discourage you. How do you, how do you juggle all of your responsibilities, um, while still maintaining your successful business and your home life and everything else you got going on? Yeah, I’ll be honest. And that I work business coaching. Full time. Part-time okay. So I’m fully.
Get committed to it, but I work part-time on it. And then the other hours in my week, I have an Etsy shop that I devote some time to. And I also just enjoy the life balance of. Taking care of my home and gardening and doing those sorts of things. So I don’t, I’m not someone who’s putting out an image where I’m working 60, 80 hours a week and bringing in a huge hustle.
That’s not one of my life values, so that’s not something I do. Mm-hmm , that’s neat. That’s great. What, what do you specialize in for your Etsy shop? Just outta C. What was the question? Sorry. What do you specialize in, in your Etsy shop? Just for curiosity’s sake. Yeah. I have a Etsy shop that sells homemade hermit crab food.
That is so random, but so great. I’m sure you have a, a real niche client base there. Huh? I do. I. Have had, I have been in the hermit crab community, um, almost 10 years now and, um, have had my own pet hermit crabs for many years and, uh, have thought for a while of opening up the shop. And I love I’m like addicted back to my clients.
So. I don’t make a ton of money with the hermit crab Etsy shop, which is Christine’s crab care by the way. Okay. but I, um, enjoy it and it allows me to experiment and become more familiar with the Etsy platform, which helps a lot of my clients because Etsy is a great way to start a small business. So.
That’s neat. That’s neat. We can definitely link it in the comments if you want. send some people your way. Um, so what would you say? What would you suggest to others in your field? Sorry, let me try that again. Who is someone in your market? I was reading two questions at the same time. Who’s someone that’s in your market that you would suggest others in our field or your field follow.
Yeah, no, that’s a great question. So I have three recommendations. Sure. And these are all. Um, Instagram experts, like I know Instagram is a real struggle for a lot of my clients, so that’s why I mention it. Um, getting reliable, solid information, not hacks and click bait. And. All this, like fluff that doesn’t, that doesn’t produce fruit.
That’s not actually beneficial in the long run. Um, kind of cutting through the noise, like what is actually beneficial to me and what is just a time waster or benefiting them because it gets them ads or views or whatever. So three of these Instagram accounts, I would highly recommend if you are looking to grow on Instagram are the first one is creators.
And that’s spelled just a normal English way. Um, and that is an official Instagram account and they share kind of the best of Instagram on there. And we’ll share some tips for growing an audience, Mo monetization, other things like that. And then the other one is, ER, M O S S E R. I. And he is the head of Instagram.
And when an Instagram change happens, where a lot of people will like run around with a chicken, like a chicken with their head cut off and be like, the sky is falling. Yeah. Like he’ll just like break it down for you in a really calm and easy to. Like understand way that, Hey, we’re not doing this, but we are looking to do this.
And here’s why, so that’s an, an enjoyable account. And then the last one is, um, Brock Johnson. He’s an Instagram coach and he shares a ton of free information online, um, on his Instagram account. That’s really helpful. So his Instagram is Brock 11 Johnson. That’s awesome. That’s great. I never thought to follow the creator of Instagram, but that totally makes sense.
seems like they would be able to mitigate some issues, you know? Um, so what’s something, what do you think is important for a new client to ask when they’re searching for a business coach, what’s something that you encounter a lot or something that you kind of look for when a. Reaches out to you. Yeah. So I ask clients what they hope to get out of business coaching, and I want potential clients to be explicit as possible.
Like, tell me exactly what you’re looking for so that I can be honest with you and tell you if I’m the right coach or not for you. Mm-hmm . Um, and I think when you’re searching for a business coach, you should get a straight answer from whoever you’re potentially looking to hire. Um, I don’t. I think it’s a red flag.
If they will bring you onto a discovery call or bring you onto a call, but then won’t answer that question. Um, so I, I would say for anyone else, looking for a coach, you need an honest answer. That’s explicit on both what. What are they going to provide for you? What are, what are they gonna help you with?
What do they think they can help you with? And you can ask them if they’ve had previous experience, helping clients with that issue, and also, um, coaches that are transparent in their pricing and telling you how long they think it would take to get those results and how much that will cost you. Because it’s one thing to say, oh, here’s.
Per coaching call fee or here’s my monthly fee. But if you don’t, if you’re thinking this will will be solved in three months, but the business coach knows this is more of a 13 month pro program. Right. Um, I just really appreciate as an individual integrity and, um, saying those things out loud. So that’s something that I always give potential clients in that first call.
Um, and something that I would say, you know, to look for. That’s great. Is there anything additional or anything extra that you would want our listeners to know about you or your businesses?
Yeah, as I mentioned, I’m just, you know, a it’s serial entrepreneur myself. Yeah. Um, and I’ve tried. A lot of different things. I’ve had an online retail shop, I’ve done Etsy, I’ve done reselling, um, I’ve had service businesses and productbased businesses. And, um, so I feel like it’s important for, you know, to know what experience that business coach has.
And it’s interesting. Like I’ve had clients come to me who have a degree in business, but need help starting their business. I don’t have a degree in business. And, um, so that’s just, I think that’s cool. And maybe a little ironic. Um and yeah, so, and just like where my expertise is, my expertise is not onboarding.
It’s not growing a C-suite, it’s not, um, those corporation style. Levels of business because that’s not what I’ve done. I’ve done startup DIY. Do it yourself. Scrappy, pull.
Everything together. And as I tell my clients, like, let me help you get the ball rolling, rolling. So that you can have knowledge of all these different hats that we wear in business. And then get to a point where you can proof your concept of like, Hey, this is gonna work. Now I can start to hire out help for these different avenues that I’m not successful in.
Yeah. And. Because I’ve already done it a little bit. I know exactly like what I’m looking for when I make that hire mm-hmm um, so that’s the earliest stage of business that I’m talking about that I help with is that I have an idea or I’ve tried an idea and it stalled out to let’s get you rolling. Let’s prove your concept up until the point of all right now I’m rocking and roll in and now I can hire an, a social media expert or I can hire.
A team lead. I can
hire a HR department, those types of things. And then I kind of sign off. I’m like, all right, we did, we did the thing. I’ve gotten you to the finish line, my finish line. Now you continue on. And, um, yeah, that’s great. Well, thank you so much. If you want to, uh, just tell our listeners where they can find you.
Yeah, of course. My website is new morningcoaching.com and same on social media, new morning coaching. Awesome. Well, thank you so much. It was great to talk to you today. Um, yeah, thanks for having me on Emily. Yeah. Thanks for listening to the no mercy business coaching and consulting podcast with Emily, a Woodruff, we specialize in branding and design for women by women.
