Coaching: Another Way?

by
Nicola Bird

Have you ever heard the phrase the ‘busy fool’? For many coaches,
this is their reality. They work all hours of the day servicing their 1:1 coaching
clients, often into the evenings. Time for personal and family activities becomes
few and far between, but they think ‘I’m busy, I’ve got paying
clients, it’s just the nature of coaching…right?’

That mindset is a mistake made by many coaches and is something I hope to challenge
today. The reality is that if your only revenue comes from selling your 1:1,
you will always be limited by how much you can physically deliver. Unfortunately,
it will be very difficult to break through that ceiling, unless you can charge
significantly more for your 1:1 time.

For me, coaching was the perfect choice of career. It meant I could work around
my children and create my own schedule, while doing something I loved. This
is the motivation for many mums I know who are professional coaches. The danger
is that most of us fall into the trap of working too much and suddenly, many
of the reasons we started coaching in the first place seem to be the very things
we now miss out on.

I spent a huge amount of my time delivering 1:1 coaching and it left me exhausted.
It was at that point that I realised there must be a way to offer more of my
coaching expertise without it eating up all of my time. If I could package up
my coaching into a format that people could work through in their own time,
I wouldn’t need to be there at all! I could spend time with my children
and do the things we really wanted to, without jeopardising our finances.

I went on to develop an online coaching programme which included webinars and
online questions, split up into modules and packaged into specific programmes
that I would typically deliver to my clients. It literally transformed my business
overnight as one of my first product promotions resulted in $24,000 of sales,
the majority of which were a passive revenue stream for me.

I am not alone in my experiences. There are hundreds of coaches out there making
impressive revenues by selling their services online. The great thing about
it is that it applies to any type of coaching, not just the traditional personal
or professional development coaching. I know one personal fitness instructor
who made thousands from selling an online fitness boot camp, made up of content
she created years before, but never found a way to utilise properly. What I
love about that particular story is that it wasn’t simply creating additional
revenue from what she already did. It was a totally new market which opened
up for her, one she’d never thought about before.

If you are a coach already, I would encourage you to ask yourself one simple
question. Are you limiting yourself by not thinking outside of the box and exploring
new routes to market and new customer bases? Are there ways of attracting new
business that you haven’t thought of yet and if you did, what impact could
they make to you, your family and your lifestyle?

Whether you are an existing coach or are thinking about becoming a coach, my
advice is to truly think about how you can productise your expertise into products
that people will buy. Whether that’s ‘How to stop smoking’
or ‘How to become a great business leader’, the secret is to focus
on topics that you are passionate about, as the material will be stronger and
will help you stand out and sell more.

There are many different online tools out there to help you get started with
developing online coaching content and many offer free trials, so you can have
a look around and see what works for you.

It will take some initial planning and time to work out how to package what
you do into products your clients actually want to buy, but once you’ve
made that first online sale, you can do it over and over again. Any money generated
after the first sale will come with very little additional time or effort from
you. It will even come whilst you sleep or are out with friends and family.
What better business model is there than that? Worth considering, isn’t
it?

With
an MSc in Occupational Psychology and a diverse range of business
experience, mother of three Nicola Bird created JigsawBox as a way
for her clients to access her expertise online in a flexible and affordable
way, whilst leaving her free to concentrate on growing her business
and spending time with her young children. For more information visit
www.jigsawbox.com