Direction, Focus and Clients in Just 8 Weeks
How to confidently attract a steady flow of clients that you love to work with … even if you don’t consider yourself to be a natural-born marketer.
It’s easy to be distracted by today’s shiny digital tools, sales funnels and passive income opportunities. But if you’re struggling to find enough of the right clients, these tech tools and funnels can make marketing far more complicated than it needs to be.
GID stands for Get It Done. And that’s what we do here. Working directly with Karen Skidmore, you’ll get the direction, the focus and take action on the exact steps on how to position, price, package and promote your services, products and programmes.
No fuss, no hype … just simple, sound advice and practical support based on Karen’s 14+ years of small business marketing experience.
GID School is now part of our Momentum programme
As of 2018, GID School is no longer offered as a stand-alone course. The good news is that we have now made the online modules available for all our members in Momentum.
Who is GID School for?
GID School is for coaches, consultants, therapists and service professionals, such as accountants and web designers, who are either just starting up their business or have been in business for a few years and are looking to refresh or reboot their marketing strategy.
When you sell your expertise, knowledge and skills it can be challenging for your prospective clients to truly get what they are buying. You don’t have a product that someone can pick up and experience; your programmes, workshops, done-for-you services and online products need to be packaged and portrayed so that the results of working with you can be easily communicated.
Plus, you often hate selling, you undercharge and you probably over deliver because you don’t feel confident enough to claim your expert authority.
Most GID Schoolers come from one of these places;
1) You’re Just Starting Out
You’ve recently qualified or left your corporate career and you want your first paying clients. You may not be exactly clear on what niche you want to focus on but you’re ready to take action if someone could tell you what the right action is to take.
2) You Hate Selling
When you sell “yourself”, it’s easy to get emotionally caught up about how much you’re worth and often means you undercharge. So understanding how to package your offer and making it easier to sell your services, products and programmes is critical to your long term success.
3) You need direction and focus
You’re drifting from one month to the next, accepting what work comes your way and often at a price point way below you know you’re worth. You want to reposition yourself and work with better clients but you need someone to point you in the right direction and give you a marketing plan that will work for you.
The 4 step process
GID School gives you the direction and focus on how to find and attract the right clients.
Step 1 - Position Yourself
Discover how to position yourself so you can sell with confidence. You’ll be working on your power introduction, your bios and social media profiles and creating powerful case studies that will enable you to confidently establish your credibility.
2) Get Your Pricing Right
Understand exactly how to price your services, programmes and products so that you can do your best work and still be able to bring in clients at entry level. Knowing what to charge can be one of the most draining decisions for most business owners, so following the simple process laid out in GID School can skyrocket your results overnight.
You’ll be creating a simple yet powerful menu of options that give you opportunities to generate the cash you need now (AKA your “bread and butter” clients who are critical to your short-term success) as well as developing your “pregnancy” clients who have a longer sales cycle.
3) Package Your Expertise
When you sell results-based services, it’s tough for your prospect to truly get what it is they are buying. It’s often why you get so many people telling you “Thanks … but let me think about it.” In GID School you’ll be getting crystal clear on how to communicate what you are delivering and how you are going to deliver it, and in a way that’s going to sustain and fuel you rather than burn you out.
4) Marketing Plan
Get working on a bespoke plan that focuses on your strengths, current resources and marketplace. There’s so much you could be doing, it’s easy to over-complicate and get distracted with shiny digital tools. So let’s stick to basics and focus on getting results.
When I came to Karen, my business was at a bit of a low point and I was struggling to get clear on the way forward. Doing more of the same obviously wasn’t the answer, but working out what was, along with the motivation to make it happen was proving hard.
Karen gave me clarity, a business model that works and loads of common sense advice and encouragement. With her help I’ve got my mojo back, my business is flourishing, and I’m serving my clients better than ever before.
Karen is the real deal. She gives proper, down to earth, relevant advice and support. She’s not one of those ‘gurus’ who throws a load of hype your way and leaves you to find out later that it’s not actually relevant to your own situation. She listens, she thinks, and she tailors her expert advice. She’s easily the best coach and mentor I’ve ever had.
The regular accountability meetings where Karen focuses on specific marketing areas are also forums for sharing experiences, celebrations and support as well as getting honest feedback from Karen before you send it out to your prospects. These weekly calls are the core to the success of GID School because it meant I wasn’t working on my own.
Here’s how GID School works
This 8-week programme pulls together three key ingredients for your success: Expert Mentoring, Group Support and Accountability.
The first GID School programme was launched in the summer of 2014 and since then GID School has helped more than 200 students across the world, including Australia, North America, France, Belgium, Germany and Croatia.
Expert Mentoring
Accountability
GID School Online Course
Supportive, Inspiring Group
Marketing Critiques
Is GID School going to be right for you?
GID School is going to be the right next step in your business journey if you are:
- Ready to stop being distracted by shiny digital tools and focus on a marketing plan that’s going to work for your business
- Tired of hearing your own excuses about why your marketing is not working for you
- Prepared to be challenged and stretched so you show up and be able to charge what you know, deep down, you’re worth.
As you can see GID School is NOT just another online home study course.
This is a fully supported programme where Karen will take you by the hand, show you the exact steps to getting better quality leads, higher paying clients and help you put together a plan that, when followed and taken action from, gives you a steady flow of new business.
GID School is now part of our Momentum programme
As of 2018, GID School is no longer offered as a stand-alone course. The good news is that we have now made the online modules available for all our members in Momentum.
The Momentum Team
A combined total of 30 years of small business mentoring and marketing experience from your senior coaches, Karen and Melina, and personal welcome and support from our Client & Operations Manager, Alexia, means that you are getting assistance from one of the most experienced business growth support team in the UK.
Karen Skidmore: Founder & Lead Coach
Karen is a proven coach and business mentor, with more than 25 years of commercial experience. Her operations background and strategic thinking blends beautifully with her deep connection to using intuition and inner wisdom, a rare combination of skills in the world of business.
Her talents lie in spotting growth opportunities and understanding the operational needs of the business; the marketing systems, business processes and infrastructure needed for you and your team to work more profitably, make a bigger impact, and deliver 5-star customer service. She will always have your back and stretch you to think bigger and achieve your full potential.
Melina Abbott: Grow Strong® Coach
Melina joined the Momentum team in 2019 and specialises in supporting businesses on B2C and B2B sales training, pricing and packaging of offers, as well as being a ninja at challenging belief systems and identifying where you may be stuck in your thinking. She has an extensive career having worked for many years in manufacturing before starting her own consultancy and coaching business.
Melina hosts our weekly Monday Mojo Calls which means you also get direct access to her wealth of sales experience and mindset laser coaching.
Edward Haigh: Grow Strong® Coach
Ed is an accomplished and purpose-driven business leader with 25 years of international experience across a wide range of industries. He has a track record both of launching new, disruptive business ventures within established multinational organisations, and of scaling small start-up businesses, at all times putting people and purpose at the heart of his approach to leadership.
Ed supports Momentum clients by helping them to stay focused on what really matters, and to find their unique path to sustainable growth by developing strategies that are rooted in capability, resilience and authenticity.
Alexia Padgham: Client & Operations Manager
Alexia Padgham has been supporting Karen in her business since 2007 so she knows exactly what our clients and community members need to help them in their business growth journeys. She personally welcomes you into Momentum and ensures you know where to find all the resources available to you. If you need your password reset, links to any of the calls or the date of any our live sessions, she's here to help.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much time do I need to make full use of what GID School offers?
But please remember GID School is not a passive, online course. You have to implement and take action to see results. Simply turning up the regular group calls and watching a few course modules, won’t grow your business. So if you’re going to join GID School, please ensure you can give at least 4 to 5 hours a week for thinking and action taking.
What if I can't make one of the Group Calls?
Remember, the calls aren’t delivering the core training so you won’t be missing out on any of the course as this is all covered in the online modules.
How do I access the Group Calls? I'm worried about phone charges.
What if I can't keep up with the course? I'm worried I may get left behind.
Where previous GID Schoolers have got stuck is usually on making a decision, either on their pricing or how they package their offers. This is why GID School works as we help you make your decisions quickly and see that there is never a right or wrong answer … simply an answer to enable you to take action and keep moving forward. If you genuinely do get left behind because life has thrown a curve ball at you that you did not expect – such as a sick child or a family member needing help – then talk to us. We are more than happy to discuss you taking a short sabbatical and taking up your progress in a future GID School programme.
My business is different. How will I know GID School will work for my marketplace?
If you are unsure, email us and we’ll be more than happy to answer your questions and tell you if GID School is right for you or not.
How many people do you have in each GID School programme?
In GID School our groups are small enough that you can’t hide or be forgotten. You will always be asked about your progress, particularly if we feel you are getting lost or overwhelmed.
What don't you cover in GID School?
As you may have already discovered there is a plethora of marketing tactics and internet strategies you could be doing right now but when you are your business, you frankly don’t have the time, resources or money to do them all. This is why we focus on the fundamentals in GID School; positioning, pricing, packaging and promotion plan.
Of course, we can answer questions you may have about Facebook or LinkedIn or landing pages and lead magnets. But until you have the solid foundations in place and know exactly how to get yourself a profitable client with the resources and skills you’ve got right now, so much of that can wait.
We promise that your marketing can be so much simpler than a lot of the gurus and experts out there will have you think and after 8 weeks of GID School, you’ll be pleased that you’ll have been focused on less so you can achieve more.
How long has GID School been established?
Momentum was recently created to support the demand for GID School graduates who wanted to carry on with the unique GID School Accountability System, without covering the same course work each time.
We’ve had more than 200 students go through the GID School process in small, intimate groups so this is a proven programme with successful graduates from across the world with clients in the corporate market place through to selling to individuals.
Where does GID School take place?
The Accountability Calls happen via an online conference, so no need even for costly phone calls. And the support between the weekly calls is via our private Facebook Group, only open to current GID Schoolers.
Is GID School just for women?
Do you offer a guarantee?
What if I'm not techy - is GID School focused solely on internet marketing?
You will discover that the simplest and easiest way to find your next profitable clients could well be by picking up the phone to someone you know. Not cold calling (we don’t do stuff like that in GID School, you’ll be pleased to know) but making your marketing plan as simple as possible is a BIG focus of GID School.
So don’t worry about not being techy. We keep things simple in GID School and don’t teach the latest, fancy smancy internet marketing tricks because we know, from experience, that’s often not the quickest and easiest way to get results.
If you do want something techy set up in your business as a result of the promotion plan you create, we have a select list of suppliers and recommendations we can share with you, personally vetted by Karen Skidmore.
What happens after GID School? Can I access further support?
After you graduate from GID School, you will have the opportunity to build on what you’ve put into action and continue with Momentum, if you want ongoing business and marketing support.
Momentum runs on a quarterly cycle, around your 90 Day Plans, and you can stay as little or as long as you like with a simple monthly or quarterly subscription.
This is obviously not compulsory. GID School works as a stand-alone programme and you certainly don’t need to bolt Momentum on to ensure your success. But if you enjoy and benefit from The GID Accountability System and want to keep this going throughout the year, then this can happen when you move into Momentum.
Can I still access the core training modules after I've completed GID School?
You will obviously lose access to the GID School private Facebook Group and no longer have the Group Calls, but you’ll have a login and password to access all the GID School core training modules at any time in the future. If you ever lose your password or forget your username, email us anytime and we’ll reset your access.
Rosie’s Story
Name: Rosie Letts, BSc Hons in Health Science
Business: Rosie Letts Nutrition
Success Highlights:
- Confidence skyrocketed because 95% of enquiries are saying YES to her new programme and referrals are coming in with ease
- Working with less clients but with increased profitability and more in control of her business
- Clients are getting better results as they are showing up for a more engaged, structured programme
- Marketing system set up so website visitors easily sign up for a free report and receive weekly recipes and emails, structured in a way that’s easy and simple to do consistently
What was business like before GID School?
“Last year I had a clear vision to what I wanted to create and understood the steps that I needed to take but they just weren’t happening. I felt I was stuck in the small time, chasing and reacting to everything and never feeling supported enough to get my business moving in the direction I knew was possible.
“I knew I needed help but was very nervous by everything on offer on the internet. I wanted to work with someone who had credibility and when you’re not sure who to trust, it was tough making a decision to reach out to Karen. Plus I had to be careful about what I was investing in because business cashflow meant that I didn’t have spare cash to join just any programme.”
What were the key things you worked on during GID School?
“Pricing and packaging were two key areas we worked on together and I was amazed by how quickly results started to happen. Initially, I had joined GID School to get help with a new detox course I was promoting. I needed to seriously make some money and setting up a new 6-week course was what I thought would make this happen. But boy, did I learn some lessons quickly.
“Karen helped me realise my expertise wasn’t with marketing “just-another-course” that anyone could deliver. I was a qualified nutritional therapist who was specialising with pre and post natal clients and fertility and I realised I was never going to make my riches in the saturated detox market.
“I went from offering £55 ad hoc client sessions to creating a 3-month programme for £1,995. Over the next 2 days, I had 3 prospective clients booked in for consultations and all 3 said yes to me! Karen gave me the structure and process to putting this new offer together and when I followed her instructions, the selling was made easy.
“Clients are now getting better results with me too as they are following through on a programme and committing to their “homework” and actions between our sessions. And I’m working more effectively because I’m no longer working reactively, juggling my week from one ad hoc session to another.
“The other key area we worked on together was setting up the sign-up process on my website so interested people could easily get a copy of my PDF report offers and then receive my weekly email newsletters. Before a weekly email was just “another thing to do” and I couldn’t see a way of getting it done consistently.
“I now have a slick system setup and structured in a way that it’s easy to do and creates amazing content. In fact, I met someone at a networking event the other day who was getting my emails and told me she “loved my emails … I look forward to getting them every Tuesday morning.”
“As people are joining my email list, they are building up a certain expectation of what I have to offer and it’s almost as if they are working up the courage to book a space with me without me having to do any hard selling. This system is going to reap massive rewards for me in the coming months and years.
“What’s really interesting is that I am now getting LESS enquires than I did before joining GID School but as almost 100% of people contacting me for a consultation are now saying YES to my newly priced programmes, my business is better than ever.”
What words of wisdom can you offer others who are thinking about joining GID School?
“I see being successful in business as very simple: work hard, be consistent and believe in yourself. It’s not rocket science to work out what steps other successful people do and follow them. But always have a coach.
“How do you expect to get somewhere without someone guiding you and supporting you? If you were an athlete, you would be getting yourself a sports coach to train you so why should it be any different in business.”
The prospect of launching and promoting my first online product felt overwhelming, scary and lonely. So many new technologies to learn. Plus the prospect of writing sales letters filled me with horror. Karen gave me the perfect mix of down to earth marketing advice, positive encouragement, combined with the (gentle and friendly) kick up the backside I needed.
Not only did the product launch successfully (without technical glitches), it also met sales targets. I cannot recommend Karen's mentoring highly enough to anyone taking their first steps into online marketing.
Karen gets to the heart of your business and business objectives with her great questions and ability to really listen. She will be ambitious for your success and really helps translate that into practical, actionable steps.
Karen was recommended to me and I can see why. She helped me make sense of the marketing jungle, stop dithering and crack on in a structured way.
You un muddle the muddle! You’ve helped me see the clear process of generating leads and nurturing those leads so that I can see when and how to make my offer. You’ve given meaning to why I am doing any aspect of my marketing. You certainly know “your stuff”!
I have delivered a campaign that delivered increased sales for a particular product and it has opened up a communication channel with new potential customers that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. You have used simple language and given me deliverable actions ... not just a load of jargon!
I've followed Karen for years and knew that one day I would work with her and benefit from her experience and knowledge. This year I joined her GID School. For those who know me this might seem an odd choice since I work in marketing and teach it but ... there is always something new to be learned. I also wanted the accountability of having to get something accomplished before each weekly call.
I'm so glad I joined in as I really moved forward in some of my endeavours. I had an 'aha moment' as Karen said to me "that is so you - that is what you could be really passionate about and make happen". I'd thought it for a while but thoughts don't make things happen - actions do. Now, thanks to Karen, I'm all action!
I had a lack of system before I came to you. I’d been working on various areas of promoting my business but it was all very scattered and none of my activities was really moving the needle. Working with you has given me a new approach to marketing my business in ways I just wouldn’t have thought of.
You really know your stuff and you’ve got an ability to laser in and identify precisely what needs to be done. You peel away all the stuff that we don’t need to worry about to instead focus on a targeted plan.
