On Friday afternoon, I went to a place called Verger Belliveau Orchard (about 30 minutes from where I live) to do some apple pickin'.  

It's one of those u-pick orchards, where you get to walk around rows and rows of apple trees and pick the ones that you want. 

The place was PACKED  - I had no idea that apple picking was such a big thing around here?

The orchard charges $5 to $15 for the bags to put your apples in, but they're smart and do some other things: 

They have a front building with a diner that draws people in with the smell of apple pies and other goodies. 

They have a number of books about local stuff, orchards, wineries, etc to appeal to the apple-picking crowd. 

They have a market with fresh produce. 

They even make their own wine and have a cool little wine-tasting room set up (we bought a bottle of pear wine and apple wine, which will come in handy on a quiet Saturday evening). 

Like the orchard, the main building was packed and the cash register was kept busy the whole time we were there. 

The owners of this orchard are smart: when they advertise, they don't try to cram in everything that they do at their orchard.

If they screamed out: "Hey, come pick some apples and check out our diner and buy some produce and some candy and also some wine while you're here. Oh, we have books too!!" the message would be confusing.

However, their ads and signage focuses on the u-pick apple part of their business. 

They draw people in with a fun activity that's easy for people to get their heads wrapped around - apple picking - and after everyone has a great experience with the apple stuff, they're primed to buy the other offerings. 

The same goes for your coaching business. Like the apple orchard, you have a multitude of skills, talents, and offerings that can help people ... 

But if you go out there and try to list off ten things that you offer, that muddies the waters. 

Instead, go out and pick your most attractive thing to lead with to get people through the doors. Once they're in, then you can show them what else you have. 

If you never get them to step foot in your door, you won't get to do all the other stuff. 

I help coaches set up their businesses to make them appealing and to get those clients through the doors. If you'd like to learn how you can do it, click here: 

I'm off to eat some apple pie,

Marc "An Apple a Day" Mawhinney