One of the Top Marketing Coaches: Meet Sue Rasmussen
Meet Sue Rasmussen, one of the top marketing coaches and a Master Certified Coach
"What was your first experience with marketing?"
Good question! When I first started my coaching business in 1998, I had a LOT of questions about marketing.
OK, the reality is that I knew nothing about marketing.
I didn't even like the word marketing.
:)
But I knew I had better figure it out — and fast — if I wanted to keep that business going.
So I started reading everything I could get my hands on, attending seminars, and asking all the marketing coaches and other types of professionals I could find how they had built their businesses.
Plus, I started using what I was learning on my own business, as well as with my clients to help them grow their businesses. We had some really good R&D happening!
Thousands of hours of research, study and taking action later, I figured it out. And somewhere along the way, business marketing became my passion.
Who woulda guessed it?!?
Since that time, I have honed and refined that process down to a step-by-step system that I have used with over 2700 of my small business owner clients, which I will share with you on this site.
"Why did you decide to specialize in marketing?"
For years, I've been showing hundreds of professionals how to grow successful businesses: how to differentiate themselves from others doing similar work, how to effectively market their business, and how to focus on what they're most passionate about.
As my own business has evolved, I have continued to look at what I was most passionate about...and for me, that just happens to be marketing.
As I watched what worked best for my clients over the years, time and time again it was crystal clear that choosing a very specific target market and an area of expertise was the core foundation of their success. Thus, my Find Your Niche™ philosophy was born.
"Tell me about yourself."
What I love: family, friends, great conversations with people I love, dark, dark, dark chocolate (the color of this site reminds me of chocolate!), books by Elaine St. James, red toenail polish, sunrises in the desert, hiking in the mountains, Northern Lights, and my Border Terriers Coco and Harry (I believe dogs have the answers to life - be present in the moment, play often, and enjoy your food!)
My favorite activities: Being outside on my deck, home projects in my 1928 cottage, hiking, traveling, scuba diving, swing and salsa dancing, watching great movies, and reading.
My favorite place in the world: the dock at Kabekona Lake in Minnesota, early in the morning before anyone else is awake.
My not-so-secret quirk: I love to organize my closets!
"What experiences have you had that are most valuable in working with your clients?"
When I first started growing my coaching business, I had a LOT of questions about marketing. I knew I wanted to specialize, I knew I wanted to have a solid niche, I knew I wanted to have focus and direction, and I knew I wanted to leverage my marketing and make it as simple and effective as possible, but I didn't really have a good idea about how to go about it.
On separate occasions, I hired four different marketing coaches and professionals to help me define my niche and came to find out that, although they were all great at what they did, they didn't have the specific tools, resources, or expertise to help me figure it out, either. :)
So I started reading everything I could get my hands on, attending seminars, and asking all the marketing coaches and other types of professionals I could find how they had built their businesses. Hundreds of hours of research, study and implementation and hundreds of clients later, marketing has become my passion!
"What is your style among marketing coaches?"
My style is down-to-earth, straight-forward, and supportive. Everything I do is focused on making marketing simple, effective, and a good fit for my clients.
One of my favorite coaches calls me a "Yoda-digger". Like Yoda, I expect that my clients "do or do not…there is no try." I expect my clients to take action. I want you to get results, not sit around talking about getting results.
"What is your background?"
Professional Experience:
My background includes personal branding, marketing, and program development for companies in France as well as for employees and consultants of major US companies including Motorola, Boeing, and American Express.
After working in the corporate arena for 12 years, I shifted my focus to private practitioners, working with the top marketing coaches in the country to coach the clients of such companies as Peter Montoya, Inc. and Successful Professionals. I have worked with over 2500 small business owners in 27 countries in a variety of fields, coaching the owners on niche marketing, personal branding, and growing their businesses.
In addition to working with my clients one-on-one, I specialize in leading small business development groups. I'm a Certified Teleclass Leader with Teleclass International and Teleclass.com and an active teleclass-leading faculty member of Coach U, specializing in leading marketing, practice management, and small business success and development classes.
Educational Background:
I'm a magna cum laude graduate of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, receiving a double major in French and Business Administration, with an international business emphasis. I finished my undergraduate business studies at the l'Institut de Gestion de Rennes in Rennes, France (an international management institute).
Coach Training/Credentials:
I'm a graduate and faculty member of Coach U, which is considered one of the premier coach training programs in the world.
I have also achieved the highest coaching credentialing level of Master Certified Coach (MCC) from the International Coach Federation. To date, there are only 600 Master Certified Coaches worldwide. I'm also a former member of both the Coach Inc. and ICF credentialing assessor teams which work to uphold the quality and integrity of coaching worldwide.
Affiliations and Memberships:
International Coach Federation (ICF). The International Coach Federation is the professional association of personal, business, and marketing coaches that seeks to preserve the integrity of coaching around the globe.
Coach U. The leading global provider of coach training programs.
CoachVille. A world-wide community for coaching, coaches, and coach training.
"What was your first experience with marketing?"
What I love: family, friends, great conversations with people I love, dark, dark, dark chocolate (the color of this site reminds me of chocolate!), books by Elaine St. James, red toenail polish, sunrises in the desert, hiking in the mountains, Northern Lights, and my Border Terriers Coco and Harry (I believe dogs have the answers to life - be present in the moment, play often, and enjoy your food!)
