Stop Wasting Money: The Difference Between a Coach, Strategist and Mentor

This episode breaks down the real difference between a strategist, a coach, and a mentor so you can stop guessing and choose the support that actually moves your business forward.

If you have been unsure what kind of help you need or investing without seeing traction, this episode brings clarity to why the wrong support creates frustration and the right support creates momentum. 

This episode is for women entrepreneurs who are ready to lead their business intentionally and want to choose support that matches the season they are in.  

Schedule your call here https://thevisibleceo.com/schedule-a-call-page

The OMNI Method is a diversified visibility strategy built across social media, search and AI - designed for female entrepreneurs who want to be known, found and unforgettable without living online around the clock. If you are ready to build visibility that works harder than you do, learn more at https://thevisibleceo.com/omni 

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Facebook: facebook.com/crissyconner 

YouTube: youtube.com/@CrissyConner 

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/crissyconner 

Transcript

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Welcome back to the Visibility Impact Show. I am your host, Crissy Conner, and for the last seven years, I've been obsessed with one question. How do we stay visible and human in a world that is becoming increasingly automated, increasingly overproduced, so that it's so easy to shortcut visibility, right? but not without costing you the connection, the community and your conviction. And I've noticed a lot of confusion lately, specifically in the DMs and people reaching out to me and things and searches and emails about what kind of support people actually need. So are you looking for a strategist to build your systems, a coach to... really help you mirror that mindset or a mentor who has already walked the path that you wanna go. And in today's episode, I'm gonna break down the difference between the architect, the mirror and the map. I'm gonna be sharing why I built Omni for those who need a strategy roadmap and then adding in those weekly calls to give you the coach and the mentor side. Why Elevate is my long-term home for private coaching to experience all three of those. And how by one-on-one, your week to peak is an intensive that acts like a strong strategist with coaching and mentorship as needed as we break down your plan and make it so clear. And finally, I'm going to share with you about Visible, the program I built back in 2021 that is going on its sixth year, which is a huge deal. It's a combination of strategy and coaching within an intimate community. featuring the one thing we need most right now, and that is in-person time together. By the end of this episode, you'll know exactly which hat your current season of business requires. So you can stop guessing and really start leading. let's dive in as we talk about visibility strategy, coach and mentor, so that you know what the difference is and which one you would need. You can be that leader in the time that you need it and know exactly which one is right for you. while the terms are used interchangeably, a visibility strategist really provides the road maps. We think of this as the architect. We have a coach that facilitates internal growth, the mirror, and a mentor shares lived experiences. So basically giving you the map, the cheat codes as we like to call it. So when we know how to choose the right support, It really depends on whether you need a technical system, a mindset shift or a proven path to follow. And it could a lot of times be a combination of all three. Let's talk strategist because this is what I'm known for. This is how I built my business. This is my love. This is my passion. I love finding the holes in your business and showing you where the puzzle pieces do not fit. And when they don't fit together, specifically they're not congruent like they should be. And when this happens, it creates a disconnect. And the strategist is what creates a visibility strategy that works harder than you do. So for example, let's say that we are driving traffic to a freebie, The disconnect is we drive traffic to this freebie, but we have nothing else. Like we get their name on a list and then we send them a normal email, a weekly email if that's what we send them, right? versus having a congruent path of welcoming them into your world, what we call a email automation. Email is another form of also being visible. But when that doesn't work together and it doesn't talk together, there's a disconnect. So it's like, okay, I got them on my list, but why did I do this? I used to have clients who would come up to me and say, hey, Facebook suggested I boost this post. So I put some money behind it I'm like, okay. Well, what's the strategy? Well, I don't know. What's the goal? I don't know. Okay, that is a problem, right? We don't know the goal. We don't know the strategy. We don't know what we're doing with it. So therefore we're just literally throwing money and set a spaghetti at the wall and we're hoping the money is gonna multiply. and that is a hope strategy and those don't work. So that's what a strategist helps you do, helps you make sense of the things that you're doing or show you what the things you could be doing to create a path of success for your business. typically strategist is going to focus on the systems, the strategy and the how. So this is what I do a lot of times with visibility. This is how I teach people how to be visible in search to the individual. in the comments, into the masses, into the offers, like giving your offers to Spotlight, So this is how I teach you how to diversify your visibility, but also increase your visibility in whatever time that you have per day. And a strategist really looks at your current business landscape and builds a plan for your visibility or a path. One of the things we do inside of your week to peak is I have created a lot of paths and plans, whether it's been a launch strategy or a video strategy, or I wanna start on YouTube and so I need a path, I need a strategy, I need exactly know what to do, versus just telling somebody to go start creating some YouTube videos and find a way to edit them, right? Giving them a path that helps them do that. And how do I know that I need a strategist? Well, Maybe you have the courage to show up on video and, or you have at least the courage to show up and put yourself out there, but you don't have a plan that converts your views or your reach into revenue. So when there is that disconnect, a lot of times it is a strategist that you will need, And what we want to make sure of in 2026 is the strategist is ensuring that your automation or your AI doesn't replace your soul. It is making your life easier. It is helping you truly work smarter, not harder. And that's what I wanna focus on in 2026 with my clients is giving you tools, right? That work smarter, not harder, They don't replace you. They don't create a disconnect with the human connection and the conviction and the community that we're trying to create in the online space or in the in-person space, right? So when it comes to Crissy the coach, I got certified as a coach in 2023 because it was important to me that I take my clients needs seriously. There were times in my client's life when things were going on in their personal lives that were halting the things going on in their business life. And so understanding how to support my clients, even when they cross the personal slash business support, I wanted to make sure number one, I wasn't harming my clients, but supporting them in a way that served them. And when it comes to coaching, we go deepest to find the internal thing that has you stuck, that is causing you not to be able to execute that strategy that we talked about that I create as a strategist. Now, sometimes this is a block. There's a lot of people that have a block when it comes to getting visible. I used to be there. A lot of people have fears and concerns about getting visible. And so there's a lot of things that we work on when it comes to the visibility aspect as a coach. We also work on putting ourselves out there. We also work on like, why am I not as successful if I'm doing all of these things? What's the internal thing, right? Is it a belief system? it a faith issue? Is it a doubt issue? Like what is the real issue that's keeping me from creating the success that I desire? And so we focus on mindset. We focus on the internal, the inner work, the emotional intelligence, a lot of those things when it comes to the coach. And the thing that's different, and we'll talk about mentorship in a minute, but a coach doesn't give you answers. a coach ask you questions that allow you to find the answers within yourself. And I don't know about you, but if you've ever had a situation where you had a massive aha on your own, you were most likely, more likely actually to take action on that because it was so aligned with you, right? So when do you need a coach? When you have the strategy, but something is paralyzing you to post or get on video, or maybe you have a lot of imposter syndrome, a lot of fears, again, that belief, that knowing, that certainty, all those things that can come up when there's some inner work that needs to be done that could be keeping you stuck. And then there is Crissy, the mentor, and this is truly how I built my personal brand, by sharing my experiences. It's why I believe that, and I teach that we put in the reps, not just any reps, but the uncomfortable reps. I believe in stretching ourselves always. And I've proven to myself over and over again that it works. It's very hard to separate the strategist and the mentor in me. So these two are almost always going to be combined in some way. And the mentor really helps see what's possible through my experiences. So it really is how I can help clients collapse time, how I can help clients really get the cheat codes of what doesn't work and what does work, Because I've done all the failures and I've done all the wrong things. And so also with that aspect, It's helped me see that through my own experiences and through the way that I've built my business and grown my business, that it's also possible to do different things than I do to build a business. I've seen this with my clients who blew up a business using Google My Business, And didn't immediately get on video. And so there is always the opportunity to grow in a different route than me, I'm always willing to share my experience, but I also have helped over a thousand women get visible. And I've helped hundreds of clients. I've done their social media strategies. I've done their marketing strategies. And so having all of that experience, not just myself and the things I've gone through, but I've helped other industries and niches It helps me to help a variety of people when it comes to growing their business and whatever may be holding them back or be the thing that feels most comfortable to them to get visible because visibility can mean a lot of different things. And so the mentor and the strategist in me combined helps me help clients start a little bit in their comfort zone but still in a place where I can stretch you. and we can grow through that stretching and that discomfort. I know that doesn't sound fun, but I'm telling you, the more discomfort you put yourself in, the more growth you're gonna have. So let's talk about the mentor a minute. So the mentor is the experience, the shortcuts, the been there. A mentor says, like, have walked this path for seven years. Here's where the potholes are. Here's where the speed bumps are. Here are the things that are gonna slow you down. And you need a mentor when you want to bypass the trial and error phase and model someone who has already reached the stage that you desire. When it comes to a lot of my programs, I can wear many hats in a given conversation. And especially when we're doing office hours or group coaching calls, like I feed off what my clients need in that moment. So I'm going to have many different hats on in that conversation, especially group coaching, because there are many different women are dealing with different things, And I love that I can flat out ask my clients, specifically the ones definitely that work with me on more of a one-on-one basis, do you wanna work through this? Like, do you want me to help you work through this? Or do you want me to tell you what to do? Now I have some clients that say Tell me what to do. But sometimes we can do both, And there are some instances. that I know my clients so well that I know it's not my place. And so I support them to come up with a solution on their own. And it's a beautiful process when we can do that. I wanna talk about how I apply these in different containers. So first I wanna talk about Omni. It is the group coaching program where I teach people the Omni method. there is a lot of strategy in Omni, specifically in the recorded Omni method. So there's a whole portal that has recorded programming that we're still adding to, and that is a lot of strategy. And the group coaching calls give you an opportunity to receive coaching and mentorship. So you get both in those. So you get a combination of all three. even on the coaching calls, we do strategy, Because the strategy that I'm going to teach inside of the Omni Method, all that recorded programming, it's gonna be very general. for most people. And when my clients come on these group coaching calls, this is where we can break it down for them specifically. And they can say, okay, you talked about a YouTube strategy, you talked about it generally, but for me, how would I go about this? And this is why I love having these group coaching calls, because we can break things down and I get to see deeper in your business. When you just go through a course and you do the course, or you go through live programming, you do it, how this would work for your business. And so I love being able to do that for my Omni members. we do that in a weekly group coaching call. And so I love that experience for them. This is a six month group coaching program. that's gonna support you to create a visibility strategy that works harder than you do. I have many clients that have been there for much longer than six months. And so I love that clients stay. I love that clients still want to grow and work through their strategies and their plans. And I absolutely love this program. We created the original Omni in September of 2021, and it has been around and evolved quite a bit since then. I love the direction that we're taking it now. And I love the group coaching aspect because I know that's one of the reasons, and we'll talk about this too, the visible inner circle has been around so long and has done so well because of that weekly connection that clients can have with me. The next thing that clients love and has been doing really, really well over the past three months that I started creating this container is a your week to peak. And this is where we take five days together. It's one-on-one. and we go deep in your business. So it's five days, an hour a day, and we find the holes in your business and support you with launch strategies, visibility strategies, video strategies, marketing strategies, whatever you need, offer strategies, creating an offer suite, stop leaving money on the table. But it really depends on what your biggest need is in that moment. And I help my clients create congruency and to support conversions in their business. We don't only want to plan, but we want a plan that's gonna help them convert into sales. We have another offer, it's called Evolve Coaching, and this is where we either do on the go telegram coaching or we do a bi-monthly call, which is twice a month. And we really work on the specific goal that you're focusing on in that moment. Now, if I work with somebody for six months, we're gonna have a lot of different, Focuses because things are going to be going on in your life and so you get to see the coach at the mentor hat and the strategist hat in this program because of that and What's going to be the biggest priority right to get that congruency? That's going to lead to conversions the program that's been around for the longest is the Visible Inner Circle. This is a hybrid program, meaning that we do group coaching, right? We do group coaching, we do group calls, we do group training, and then we also have one-on-one aspects as well. So they get a quarterly call with me. We do four in-person accelerators. One of them is always like a retreat experience where we travel and spend time together and there's deep community. And so... the visible inner circle definitely gets to see a combination of very, very personalized strategy. Also that coaching and that mentorship. So it's all there, like it's all three. And whether you're looking for strategy or you're looking for coaching or need somebody who's been there, done that so that I can collapse time. That's what I'm here for. And whether again, you need a combination of all three. Or you're like, I know I just need strategy right now. I know that's the thing. I'm gonna do the work. I'm not afraid to do the work. There's no block. I will do the work. Then strategy is what you need, And sometimes you need a combination of all three or two. And we always get to decide that when we're working together or when you show up to group coaching calls or we get on a call for doing one-on-one. And so that is the beauty that I love about this business and my evolution. I've been in... this business since 2016, I started to support people more in the group coaching style in 2018 is when I created my first course and 2019 and then really went with the inner circle. I started talking about that the end of 2020 and again, we started in January of 2021 and it has been going on ever since it's grown is evolved. It has been a beautiful experience. We keep the visible inner circle very intimate for that reason. The Omni is a bigger community. And no matter what you feel is right for you, and maybe it's not right in this moment, like understanding how strategy can help you, understanding how coaching can help you, understanding how mentorship can help you is a... is a breath of fresh air because it's not like, what do I buy, right? Or what kind of support do I need? It really helps you. And a lot of times you need a combination of all three. And when you're looking for those, Omni, the visible inner circle are great options for that. If you prefer one-on-one only and you don't want community, then I would do something like your week to peak, which is a short five days together, or something more long-term like six month evolve coaching. but check out my link I challenge you to schedule a call with me. Let's chat about it and we can see exactly what the path is for you. Talk about what is right for you in this moment. And then also potentially create a path that's like, okay, I want to start here, but eventually I want to be here and we can do that as well. So feel free to check out the link and let's schedule a call and let's talk deeper about. what you're really looking for, specifically in 2026, what you want to do, how you want to grow, and how you want to be supported.