How long did it take to get your website up and running?

While it was less than 2 months from conception to launch, the general mood of the site, key points and focus had been developing over the 10 months previous, and the content  developing over the previous 15 years as I have lived my life, become who I have become and developed my ability as a coach.

How did you narrow down your niche?

I have been narrowing down my niche since I started coaching over 8 years ago.  Each time I would take on a client that was not quite the right fit or I would have a client where the coaching was pure joy, these were my clues. 

With the launch of Coach Joelle, Inc, I made a commitment to really show up as all of me and to work with clients who really resonated with my message, my unique energy and distinctly un-corporate flair!   Once I was ready to fully show up, identifying my niche was just a matter of having conversations; with my coach, with friends, with clients, and writing until the core of what I really wanted to serve shone through. 

Is it important to express who YOU are?

YES YES YES!  If your site does not express who you are then what is it expressing? Really consider that – If you are creating a business and a site that is not who you are (not an expression of you and your commitment to the world) then you are building something that is you trying to be something else or you holding back or you less than you! If your site is one thing and you turn up as another thing when it is time to deliver the service, there is a disconnect and your audience/target market will feel it. I am passionate about people living as a really great version of their authentic selves and in my opinion, done correctly a website can be the ultimate self - expression. If you express yourself on your site and people like what they see then you will attract people to your business that really get you and appreciate who you are and what you offer.

Logistically, how did you develop the graphics and colors for the brand?

A great question. I took it on as a very creative and playful process. To get me started my coach gave me some great tools for developing my website. For instance he asked me to create a mock-up of my first page of my website.  This was a blast and it allowed me to really start taking things out of my head and start making them reality.  I created the first draft in MS publisher and some of the copy on my site was taken directly from that document.  It was also during this process that I found the image of the Gerber Daisy that I have on my business cards and my website which I purchased from an online service and now own rights to use.

Another exercise I took on was writing what different colors meant to me and what moods they evoked ie. Yellow is sunny, white is pure or clean, a gentle “spa” green feels peaceful, red has energy etc. 

As a result of all my playing and exploring, one day the look and feel of my material just showed up.  I saw my business card in my head and then I saw the website, not exactly as it is but the general feel and the key images and then it was just about putting it together.

I am currently working with a branding firm to take coachjoelle.com to the next level and they have acknowledged that the brand is already there and it shouts from my site!  I attribute this to all the playing, exploring, and writing that came with the process.  If you really listen to yourself, to your gut, you will know what you like and what you do not.  You will know if something has too much energy or is too blah, if the color makes you uneasy or if the picture speaks to your soul.

Just how web literate were you when you started?

Well let’s put it this way.  On a scale of 1-10 I was about a 0.5! The extent of my web involvement before I started creating my website was doing google searches, sending email and reserving domain names on go-daddy that I figured someday I would get inspired enough to actually make into something.   To go from that to now being able to look at a page of HTML code and actually have a clue as to what I am looking at, managing my own broadcast mail messages and knowing what a “blog skin”  is, now that, is pretty darn cool!

Logistically, how did you get the web site up and running?

I had heard so much about various tools available on the web that I decided to try a do-it-yourself solution at this point in my business.  My intention was to get something out there for now and then hire a professional company when I was a little clearer on branding, and the scope of my site.  So for $25.00 a month I was in business with a hosting company called Thirdsphere.  What this service provided me was web hosting (a place to house my domain name) and access to a smorgasbord of various web development tools, email programs, web survey tools, blogs etc. 

Through trial and error, and many visits to their online support forums I was able to set up my own email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , create a basic site, make a sign-up page for my LIVLOUD! Newsletter, send broadcast emails to my community and even start my own blog!  I was almost ready to launch and I was pretty pleased with myself and what I had created, and then, my husband looked at my site and he said “because I love you, I cannot let you go to market with this site”.  Easy now, he was dead on, and I am so grateful he stepped in.  Jeff has a professional-web development company called Webtego and the expertise he brought took my site to a level of professionalism that was not available to me on my own.  The result is what you see at www.coachjoelle.com. 

Every day I get compliments on my site and I can honestly say, without the help of Jeff and Webtego, instead of enthusiastic praise, I would be hearing things like “Oh, how cute, did you do it yourself?”

What was the most difficult part of the process?

Dealing with my ridiculously elevated expectations! Let’s face it, I had been exposed to the idea of creating a website for less than 3 weeks and I figure I should be able to just pick up a computer, snap in some programs and build my dream site with all the bells and whistles without a hitch! Wrong! If I can give a little advice to fellow entrepreneurs, I want to say that it is amazing that an “average person” with no specific training can create a website AND you really need to ask if this is the best use of your time and energy.  Yes you can do it yourself, which is amazing! However, I have found that to really create my site as the full vision that I have for it, I need some outside help from the professionals.  I am a coach and a writer, I am not a web-developer and while I am grateful for the experience I have acquired and the knowledge gained,  I am also grateful that I am now ready to relinquish some of this to others so that I can focus on what I do best.  It is a trade-off, the time and energy of figuring it out versus the financial commitment of hiring a professional and all the different variations of these two.


What do you do to keep your website content fresh, to keep people coming back for more?

There is what I am doing and then there is what I will be doing. For now I am making sure I do at least one blog posting a week and I add pages to my site as I am moved to. This is the really exciting thing about being able to manage my own content and knowing how to use the system. I can have an idea about my site and have it implemented within the day! One of the things I am working on is having different practitioners write articles about “making your life” from their perspective, as a coach, through aromatherapy, through yoga or interior design or spiritual practices. This allows the different providers to be exposed to a greater audience and it brings value to my community. Down the road I see the opportunity for a really powerful forum for the coach Joelle community that will keep them coming back to share, learn and grow with each other.

Your LivLoud! Newsletter is a wonderful way to reach new clients and connect with current ones. How big of an undertaking was it to get LIVLOUD! Launched?

At first I was a little afraid of the task of creating a newsletter. What would I write? What would be interesting and keep people coming back for more? It was in a burst of inspiration at 11:00 pm on a Tuesday night that I shot out of bed, went to my computer and typed out my idea for my very first article.  Hot on the tail of the first was a second, and a third! By the time I went to bed at 2 am I had written down 72 newsletter topics – I figured this was a pretty good start.

As for how to make my newsletter happen, I have explored many options, everything from building it from the ground up on my computer to hiring someone to create the format and me being responsible for entering content and sending it out, to hiring a company to do everything and I just send them the content. At this point I have decided to have a professional design the newsletter template and then have the ability to play with it and send it out on my own schedule.

What percentage of your leads are generated through your site? Do you find it more effective for booking speaking engagements, or for connecting with new clients?

I don’t have those exact numbers for you right now, however, I can tell you a couple of things about how the internet has impacted my process. 

1) my site is a great credibility tool and instead of sending out a brochure (which I tend to resist like the plague) I can offer that they go to my site. 

2) The internet allows Coach Joelle to be a truly international business. By communicating through online resources and sharing opportunities with my email list it allows me to get the word out to a global audience without ever leaving my patio.  For instance, whenever I have a program or a promotion, I just never know who is going to show up. I have had newsletter subscribers and program participants from every state and from all over the world.

I can really see how with the growth and development of my newsletter, and exposing the Coach Joelle conversation and message to an ever-growing base, that prospecting in the way I have previously, will soon be a thing of the past.

What is the most important reason for you to provide this service via the Internet?

Great question! Because I am committed to making my life and supporting others in making theirs.  The internet supports me in making my life by allowing me to live anywhere on the planet and have a thriving business. As well, the use of the internet and technology creates HUGE economies in time once you get everything set up.  As an example, my experience is, once people get to know me they want to work with me.  By using the internet, my newsletter and the coachjoelle.com site I can have people getting to know me, the business and what we stand for while I am sleeping, or out speaking or coaching or on vacation.  That is sooo cool! 

But wait, there’s more! When I started Coach Joelle, inc. I was committed to really being all of me.  I mean all of me all of me! The all of me that in the past I thought some people maybe didn’t get or didn’t like. The me that uses exclamation points all the time and would not conform to corporate stuffiness!

By using the internet, I am reaching a broad enough base that I can be peaceful that the people who like who I am and what I bring will have access to me and the people who
have no interest can self-select themselves out and as a result I get to have a huge community of people who are ready for the message and I get to bring all of myself to every engagement.  This is really important and will ultimately be the difference between having a good business and being a significant force in the world of personal development and great living.

For anyone that is stepping out and building their brand, the best advice I can offer is to speak your truth and be yourself, ask for help when you need it and remember that Rome was not built in a day.  Be patient, clear and committed and enjoy the process as your website and your brand evolve and grow with you and your business.


Coach Joelle


Coach Joelle Prochera is a Professional Certified Coach, writer and inspirational speaker committed to bringing the gift of joy and empowerment to the work and lives of others.   Joelle has supported thousands of people over the past 8 years to create their personal and business dreams in their reality.  Explore your own creative personal power through Coach Joelle’s live speaking events, her LIVLOUD! Newsletter, the Make Your Life Program, and individual coaching. Learn more at www.coachjoelle.com.