Louisa Chan Interview

One of the main reasons I enjoy running this site is that I get to meet and help people from all over the world. There are many people that also do the same online in their own profession, one of which I wanted to talk to today. A great example of this is business coaches who can find great success online by helping people to grow their business in a more productive way. That’s why I have lined up an interview with Louisa Chan, a Business coach from Malaysia!

Louisa runs her own site ‘LouisaChan.com’ and has also got a new book coming out called ‘Teach Online – Multiply Your Talents, Making A Difference With Your Heart-Centered Business’ (out 6th Nov). Louisa is a fantastic writer (having written for us here) and loves to help individuals and businesses to improve and grow.

Over to Louisa…

What Do You Do and How Did You Get Started Online?

Thank you Matt, for having me. It is a pleasure for me to be sharing here and certainly technology has made it so much easier to connect with someone from across the world.

So to answer your question: I was an IT consultant in a consultancy firm and project managed systems implementation for medium size and multi-national corporations. I have also spent a considerable amount of time working in the educational and training industry, facilitating and training as well as designing curriculum. In fact I was designing and authoring computer based training (CBT) back when computer programs were stored on diskettes and tapes.

I enjoy sharing my knowledge and working with people and was looking to be certified as a Trainer. A friend asked if I had considered being a coach instead since she saw how people were coming to me and confiding in me. After some research I signed up for an online coaching certification course which opened my eyes to the idea of online coaching. Upon graduation, I started my own online coaching business leveraging on my experience in training, coaching, IT and marketing.

Today I help solo-preneurs and micro business owners start up and grow heart-centered online businesses, especially working with coaches, corporate trainers, teachers and tutors. The bulk of my coaching, consulting and training work is done online (through Skype and now moving towards Google Hangout’s) although I also conduct in person corporate training and live workshops for the public.

So that’s something briefly about me.

What Other Websites/Businesses Do You Run?

My first website was at www.AbundantLivesCoaching.com, that was the site I used when I was doing a lot more personal development and life coaching work in the area of productivity and stress management.

AbundantLivesCoaching focuses on helping personal management and personal development. I discuss discovering and understanding the true self, having awareness of how one functions, what one values, and how one sees one’s self and the world. I feel that before one can talk about building a business, one must be able to understand and manage one’s personal life. At that site you will see posts that help my clients work on mindsets, underlying perceptions, core values that inspire and motivate them.

Why Did You Go From Personal Development To Business Building?

This wasn’t something I planned. I was learning online marketing to promote my own online coaching program and soon people were coming to me for advice on how I use social media and digital marketing. I thought it would make sense to help coaches and other thought leaders do what I do; that is to run online coaching or teaching businesses.

The other reason too is that I believe in working with the foundation, which is the heart of the matter. With life coaching and personal development I was able to help clients work on the apparent surface issues from the inside and really deal with the issues at the root level.

So if someone says they don’t have enough time to start their own business or that they are really stressed and therefore could not get some tasks done, I was able to help them address these from the point of self management before we discussed the more peripheral issues like what social media platforms they should be on.

We know that successful business owners and entrepreneurs are motivated people and they are able to manage and control their thoughts, emotions, actions and their finance. So although I am offering more business coaching and consultation now it still touches on personal management and the background in human development work comes in handy.

What Has It Been Like Living & Working In So Many Different Countries?

This was again unplanned but work and studies have brought me to live in Canada, the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Australia and I am now based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Being able to live among locals and soak in local culture has definitely enriched my life. Apart from being able to appreciate the diversity in heritage, culture and underlying beliefs, I get so see how people relate differently to the same issues in life and in business. Some countries are further ahead in certain areas and this allows me to position myself so I am ahead of new trends.

The world is a much bigger place than the country I live in and I get to play a part and contribute my work to a much bigger cause. It has given me a broader perspective of life as a whole.

What Is The Best Thing About Your Job That You Value Above Everything Else?

I love being able to participate in others’ lives and businesses, that I am able to contribute to their success and I do that by sharing what I have learned from my mistakes as well as my experience. I love that I have the freedom to apply my unique approach and work directly with people who themselves are change agents and thought leaders.

What’s The Most Important Part Of Your Site?

The site at http://www.LouisaChan.com is really a representation of who I am and what I do. The focus is on the blog posts as I provide timely posts on marketing and business building tips and solutions for my website visitors and readers. The prominent feature at my site would be the email sign up form where my website visitors leave me their email addresses so I get to communicate with them continue to send them tips and resources that may be helpful to them.

What Makes You The Most Money?

My income stream comes from coaching / training and marketing services that we provide. That would include the online coaching programs as well as the in person training workshops. Some clients prefer that we do the marketing services for them instead of coaching them through it. In those cases we help them with online marketing work that they need done. That could include web design, website makeover, email marketing, video marketing, content management, PR work and so on.

All these projects are made possible because of a strong and credible online presence. New prospects who found my ebooks or my videos online through Google or YouTube can check me out to see if I am the right fit for them through reading my posts or my white papers. Some would join me on social media and observe me while others may get onto my mailing list before they hire our services.

You Were Recently Interviewed On National Business Radio For Your eBook. What Three Pillars Are You Referring To That Are Important For Building An Online Business?

Yes, I was featured on BFM radio (above) for my eBook ‘Three Essential Pillars For Growing An Authentic Heart-Centered Business‘ that you can see on the homepage of my website. The 3 pillars refer to winning mindsets, winning strategies and structures.

While having the right strategies is important, you’ll need systems and structures to help implement these strategies. But without the right attitude and mental fitness, your business cannot not take off even if you have the best strategies or the most advance systems. This is because your business is an extension of you, the solo-preneur or the business owner.

This is one area where the business owner will have to do the work herself. You can’t buy or outsource this part of the business, it is the core. Often times much work is needed to help nurture positive and winning mindsets so business owners can steer their business in the direction of their goals.

Why Is It Important To Be Authentic?

It is important to do work that you enjoy; work that has meaning to you. I believe you stand a much better chance of running a successful and sustainable business if your business goals are in alignment with your vision or purpose and you are able to operate your business in accordance with the principles that you value. Without a solid reason for running your business you will soon give in to obstacles and challenges.

On the contrary, businesses that have a clear vision will not give up so easily. They have a goal that means a lot to them and that vision will them going when the going gets tough.

In Your Kindle Book, You Wanted To Discuss Another Element That Could Make The Difference Between Making Real Progress And Not Producing Results. What Is This Additional Element And What Has It Got To Do With Heart Centered Business?

Yes, the Kindle edition of the book ‘Teach Online – Multiply Your Talents, Make A Difference With Your Heart-Centered Business’ has just been launched and you can find it on Amazon. I have very good reviews from those who got the first eBook and I was getting emails telling me that I need to seriously consider publishing it as a proper book. So after some persuasion, I started preparing the manuscript for the new book and realised that I wanted to add in topics that I was not able to address in the eBook. I wanted to include the discussion on multiplying one’s talents and give teachers and coaches to a sound reason for starting their own online businesses.

And the point is quite straightforward; we have all been given talents, talents which can be interpreted as gifts and skills or measures of money. In the books I talk about the need to make use of, to share and to multiply the gifts and talents given to us because if we don’t what we have will be taken away from us. But if we build this business the heart-centered way, we will indeed have multiplied our talents, reached out to impact more lives and have generated greater financial returns.

So You Talk About Multiplying Talents For The Heart Centered Entrepreneurs. How Does One Who Is Spiritually Inclined See The Notion Of Riches And Making Profit?

Yes, this is one area that some conscious, mindful thought leaders may need to re-frame their perception. In the book I discuss why there is not a conflict. We looked at what being heart-centered means through various angles and we see that mindful people are just as concerned about making profit and seeking abundance. The difference is that they are not attached to these riches and are not controlled by them, In fact they use them to further their higher purpose, the cause that they care about.

I quote very rich people who do honourable business and who support a bigger cause with the riches they have. We know of people who donate 90% or more of their income to various funds and causes.

What Would Be Your Best Piece Of Advice To Any Newbie Blogger/Marketer Out There Reading This?

I like to congratulate them for taking the first step! That is half the battle won. Then have a clear reason for building that business. Know what you want this business to accomplish and how this fits into your total personal and business plan, these two are not separate.

Sometime you may not know what that purpose is so do not be afraid to reach out. Those who are clear about what they and why they want it will stand a much higher chance of success.

Louisa helps coaches, trainers and teachers and thought leaders set up and grow heart-centered business; business that you can be proud of. Louisa is an established business coach and consultant who has worked with multi-national corporations as well as solo-preneurs. You can find out more about Louisa and get marketing tips from LouisaChan.com and connect with her on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.

Louisa Chan Interview – Getting To Know A Business Coach