166. How Much Does a Business Mentor Cost?

Business coach or business mentor, what's the actual difference, and which one does your business need right now? The two words get used as if they mean the same thing, and I really don't believe they do. This week I'd love to explain how I see the difference, in a single clear sentence, and help you work out which kind of support would genuinely move your business forward. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: ◼️ A one-month update on my own SEO and GEO work, and the result in four weeks that genuinely surprised me ◼️ The single sentence that captures the whole difference between a coach and a mentor ◼️ The three questions that tell you which kind of support you actually need right now ◼️ The five-minute exercise that points you to the right kind of help RESOURCES MENTIONED: The Missing Piece, Free Training The Bright Line: Application form This week's Blog Post SEO and GEO Series: Episode 164. The big companies used to own Google Episode 165. The page that gets you found Episode 166. How much does a business mentor cost Episode 167. How to find a good business mentor Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: [email protected] SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS: Looking back, which has made the biggest difference in your business, a coach, or a mentor and what did they help you see. I would genuinely love to know so please do send me a DM on Instagram,  NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: My weekly newsletter is where I think out loud. It's where you'll find my behind-the-scenes thinking, where I share the tools I'm currently trying/using, where new resources are shared first and where the conversations happen that often form future episodes. I'd love you to join the many creative business owners already benefitting and joining the conversations.

How do you find a good business mentor for your creative business, and know they're actually the right one? The mentors who changed my business most, all had two things in common: they were completely in my corner, and brave enough to tell me when I'd got something wrong. This week I'd love to share exactly what I look for, the one question I'd ask before committing to anyone, and the quiet signs that it isn't the right fit. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: ◼️ The two things every mentor who truly changed my business had in common ◼️ The six specific things I look for, and the one that matters more than all the rest ◼️ Where to actually find a good mentor, beyond comparing websites and testimonials ◼️ The one question I'd ask before committing to anyone, and what their answer tells you ◼️ The quiet signs it isn't the right fit, starting with the one that feels the nicest RESOURCES MENTIONED: The Missing Piece, Free Training The Bright Line: Application form This week's Blog Post SEO and GEO Series Episode 164, The big companies used to own Google Episode 165. The page that gets you found Episode 166, How much does a business mentor cost Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: [email protected] SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS: What's the one thing you'd most want from a mentor, the one quality you couldn't do without? Reply to the Thursday newsletter or send me a DM on Instagram, I'd genuinely really love to hear! NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: My weekly newsletter is where I think out loud. It's where you'll find my behind-the-scenes thinking, where I share the tools I'm currently trying/using, where new resources are shared first and where the conversations happen that often form future episodes. I'd love you to join the many creative business owners already benefitting and joining the conversations.

How much does a business mentor actually cost for a creative business? It's one of the questions people ask Google and the AI tools most, and the honest answer ranges from almost nothing to thousands of pounds for a single day. This week I'd love to answer it properly: what the different kinds of support really cost, what you're actually paying for underneath the number, and what I'd look for if I were spending my own money. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: ◼️ The real range a creative business mentor costs, in both pounds and dollars ◼️ The one thing that changes the price far more than anything else, and it isn't the person's experience ◼️ Why I decided not to offer a single intensive day ◼️ The three things I'd want most if I were spending my own money on support ◼️ The ten-minute exercise to do before you compare anyone's prices RESOURCES MENTIONED: The Missing Piece, Free Training The Bright Line: Application form This week's Blog Post Episode 164, the introduction to SEO and GEO series: Episode 165, The One Clear Page That Gets You Found: Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: [email protected] SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS: Before you look at anyone's prices, what do you actually want from the support: one-to-one or a group, a single day or months alongside you? Reply to the Thursday newsletter or send me a DM on Instagram, I'd genuinely love to hear what matters most to you. NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: My weekly newsletter is where I think out loud. It's where you'll find my behind-the-scenes thinking, where I share the tools I'm currently trying/using, where new resources are shared first and where the conversations happen that often form future episodes. I'd love you to join the many creative business owners already benefitting and joining the conversations.

When I checked, not one AI tool named me as a Creative Business Mentor, and Google's AI still had me down as a florist. The fix turned out to be surprisingly simple, and completely within reach: one clear page on my website, written to answer the exact question my ideal client would ask. This week I'd love to walk you through exactly what went on that page, why it matters far beyond SEO, and the four simple steps to writing your own. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: ◼️ The surprising place the AI tools pulled most of their recommendations from, and why that's such good news for creatives ◼️ The one short paragraph at the top of the page that an AI tool is most likely to lift word for word ◼️ Why saying clearly who your work isn't for matters just as much as saying who it is ◼️ The kind of visibility that works quietly in the background, with no videos or reels needed ◼️ The four steps to writing your own page, starting with one question in your client's own words RESOURCES MENTIONED: The Missing Piece, Free Traning  The Bright Line: Application form  This week's  Blog Post SEO and GEO series started at Episode 164.  Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: [email protected] SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS: What's the exact question your ideal client would type into Google or an AI tool when they go looking for someone like you? Reply to the Thursday newsletter or send me a DM on Instagram. I'd genuinely love to see it. NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: My weekly newsletter is where I think out loud. It's where you'll find my behind-the-scenes thinking, where I share the tools I'm currently trying/using, where new resources are shared first and where the conversations happen that often form future episodes. I'd love you to join the many creative business owners already benefitting and joining the conversations.    

This week I'd love to explain SEO and GEO in plain English, because there is a part that genuinely surprised me: For the first time, AI search (GEO) is quietly levelling the playing field between the big corporates and small creative businesses like ours. And the thing that tips it in our favour is the exact thing I talk about on Creative Strengths more than anything else: Being known, clearly and consistently, for your one thing. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: ◼️ What SEO and GEO actually are, explained in plain English ◼️ The one line Google's AI served up about me that showed the whole problem at a glance ◼️ Why AI has quietly levelled the playing field for small creative businesses,  ◼️ The single thing both search engines and AI tools reward above everything else ◼️ A twenty-minute check that shows you exactly how Google and AI describe you right now RESOURCES MENTIONED: The Missing Piece, Free Traning  The Bright Line: Application form  This week's  Blog Post Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: [email protected]  SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS: Try this: ask ChatGPT, or any AI tool, the exact question one of your ideal clients might ask, and see whether it names you. I'd genuinely love to know what comes back. Reply to the Thursday newsletter or send me a DM on Instagram. NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: My weekly newsletter is where I think out loud. It's where you'll find my behind-the-scenes thinking, where I share the tools I'm currently trying/using, where new resources are shared first and where the conversations happen that often form future episodes. I'd love you to join the many creative business owners already benefitting and joining the conversations.

Marketing has a habit of taking up more room in your head than almost anything else in your business. It never feels finished, and so much of what we are told about it is just do more, be louder, be everywhere, which for most creatives feels like a huge performance. This week, I'd love to show you how marketing can feel so much lighter, because underneath it all, it's really just one simple thing you are already brilliant at. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: ◼️ The difference between time and headspace, and why marketing quietly steals far more of the second ◼️ The one thing marketing really is underneath all the noise, and why you're already a natural at it ◼️ The 1966 line about advertising that takes almost all the pressure off ◼️ The simple habit that means you never sit down to a blank page again ◼️ Why a room of twelve people once beat posting to 125,000 followers RESOURCES MENTIONED: The Missing Piece, Free Traning  The Bright Line: Application form  Episode 153, Why Saying It Again And Again Is So Important Episode 156, The Thing That Grows A Creative Business This week's  Blog Post Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: [email protected]  SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS: Where do you capture your ideas before they slip away, a notebook, an app, something else? Reply to the Thursday newsletter or send me a DM on Instagram, I'd love to hear what works for you. NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: My weekly newsletter is where I think out loud. It's where you'll find my behind-the-scenes thinking, where I share the tools I'm currently trying/using, where new resources are shared first and where the conversations happen that often form future episodes. I'd love you to join the many creative business owners already benefitting and joining the conversations.

How do you find the time and headspace to actually be creative, when the business side of things seems to swallow both? It's the question Rosy wrote in with this week, and I suspect you feel it too, that constant tug between the creative work and everything else that has to get done. This week I'd love to answer it properly, and gently challenge the one idea underneath it that I think keeps so many of us stuck. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: ◼️ Why you're almost certainly far better at the business side than you've ever given yourself credit for ◼️ The real reason most systems, tools and courses leave creatives overwhelmed ◼️ The small shift that stops the creative and business work fighting over the same hours ◼️ How to bring in exactly the right person to take something off your plate, right down to their personality ◼️ Where AI genuinely helps, but the one line everything depends on before it can RESOURCES MENTIONED: The Missing Piece, Free Traning  The Bright Line: Application form  This week's  Blog Post Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: [email protected]  SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS: This whole episode came from a question someone sent me on Instagram. So here's my invitation: what would you most love me to talk about to help your creative business? Reply to the Thursday newsletter or send me a DM on Instagram, and I'll either weave it into a future episode or reply to you directly. NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: My weekly newsletter is where I think out loud. It's where you'll find my behind-the-scenes thinking, where I share the tools I'm currently trying/using, where new resources are shared first and where the conversations happen that often form future episodes. I'd love you to join the many creative business owners already benefitting and joining the conversations.  

Presenting your prices is where so much of your hard work can quietly come undone: one hedging line at the bottom of a proposal or in a conversation, and the whole thing wobbles. This week, to close the pricing series, I'd love to show you exactly how I communicated my prices. The page a client read before they ever reached a number, the single sentence I used for the number itself, and the small, excruciating thing I learned to do the moment after I'd said it. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: ◼️ The four little hedges many of us tuck into the pricing sentence, and how they invite a discount ◼️ Why the first page a client reads should never be the price, or a list of what they're getting ◼️ Why an itemised quote hands the client a pen to challenge you ◼️ How to write the number itself, in a single sentence, with nothing tucked in beside it ◼️ The three seconds of quiet that do more than any justification ever could RESOURCES MENTIONED: The Bright Line: Application Pricing series: 160: How To Price When You Are Not The Cheapest Pricing series: 159: How To Price What Comes Easily Pricing Series: 158: How To Price Creative Work This week's  Blog Post Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: [email protected]  SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS: Will you try it this week, presenting your price as one plain sentence, then holding the three seconds of quiet? I'd especially love to hear from anyone who manages the silence, because it really is the hardest part. Reply to the Thursday newsletter or send me a DM on Instagram. I read every one personally. NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: My weekly newsletter is where I think out loud. It's where you'll find my behind-the-scenes thinking, where I share the tools I'm currently trying/using, where new resources are shared first and where the conversations happen that often form future episodes. I'd love you to join the many creative business owners already benefitting and joining the conversations.

If you charge what your work is really worth, won't clients just go and find someone cheaper? It's the pricing worry I hear most, and this week I'd love to show you why it isn't the threat it feels like. Because a client comparing you to a cheaper option is only ever seeing the one part of your work they can actually see, and once you change that, long before they reach the number, comparison quietly stops being the thing that decides. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: ◼️ Why arguing for your price never works, and the thing that quietly does instead ◼️ What a client is really asking when they push back on price ◼️ Why "getting three quotes" is the best opportunity you'll get, not the threat it sounds like ◼️ How deVOL sell handmade kitchens at the top of the market while putting every price on the website ◼️ The three specific things to name this week that a cheaper option simply doesn't include RESOURCES MENTIONED: The Bright Line: Application Pricing series: 159: How To Price What Comes Easily Pricing Series: 158: How To Price Creative Work This week's  Blog Post Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: [email protected]  SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS: What are your three things, the specific ones a cheaper option simply doesn't include?  send me a DM on Instagram. Join the conversation, I'd genuinely love to know NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: My weekly newsletter is where I think out loud. It's where you'll find my behind-the-scenes thinking, where I share the tools I'm currently trying/using, where new resources are shared first and where the conversations happen that often form future episodes. I'd love you to join the many creative business owners already benefitting and joining the conversations.

Pricing the work that comes easily to you is one of the hardest things a creative ever does, because we've quietly decided that ease means low value. This week I'd love to take apart the sentence I hear more than almost any other, "I can't charge more for that, it comes so easily to me," because the speed you're discounting to nothing is very often the most valuable thing you do. What if it isn't the reason to charge less, but the very thing you spent years earning? IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL DISCOVER: ◼️ The tiny word you don't even hear yourself say, and what it's costing you ◼️ Why "how much effort did this cost me today" is exactly the wrong question to ask yourself ◼️ The reframe that changes everything about the work that comes easily to you ◼️ The three disguises this sentence wears ◼️ The single change I made after years of underpricing, and why it had nothing to do with the number RESOURCES MENTIONED: The Bright Line: Application This week's  Blog Post Subscribe: Weekly newsletter Website: www.philippacraddock.com Instagram: @philippacraddock Email: [email protected]  SHARE YOUR INSIGHTS: What's the one thing clients thank you for that you've never once charged for, because it comes easily to you? Reply to the Thursday newsletter or send me a DM on Instagram. I'd genuinely love to hear from you. NEVER MISS AN EPISODE: My  weekly newsletter is where I think out loud. It's where you'll find my behind-the-scenes thinking, where I share the tools I'm currently trying/using, where new resources are shared first and where the conversations happen that often form future episodes. I'd love you to join the many creative business owners already benefitting by getting involved in the conversations. "The thing you can do in twenty minutes may contain twenty years."  Philippa Craddock