The hardest thing about making money as a coach or expert isn’t ACTUALLY the coaching or speaking or expert-ing.
Truth:
That’s the stuff that comes easily to us…
naturally…
IN FACT,
we went off to get certified or “credentialed” because we WANTED to
SOMEHOW
make money doing what we loved, and were ALREADY so great at.
And the majority of the schools that certify experts or coaches or speakers… they focus on FORMALIZING (read: homogenizing, STANDARDizing) the stuff you ALREADY know how to do.
It’s actually this homogenized approach to coaching that makes it hard for you to get clients, but that’s another article.
What IS NOT taught,
or not taught EFFECTIVELY
is how to make a living
how to create a substantial income
as an expert.
So, experts go seeking.
They find more certificates or credentials,
something NEW that will make them “in demand” as a coach. They align themselves with big names and go about the work of PROMOTING that big name, in hopes that some of the fame, respect or WHATEVER will somehow fall onto them as a result.
It’s sad.
Because in their quest to find THE SECRET
to making big money as a coach,
EACH program they join
dials them down even more….
giving them language that isn’t their own,
standardizing their approach,
making them more predictable perhaps,
but infinitely more boring.
LESS unique.
And, of course,
LESS desirable.
One of the hardest tasks I have working with coaches and experts is getting them to FULLY go out on their own... BEGGING them to give their OWN voice a try…
convincing them to LEAVE OFF the big name they PAID to associate themselves with… and go in as something their prospective client
CAN NOT
GET
ELSEWHERE.
I beg them to use their own analogies,
write their own books,
and CREATE a category of one. (Naked. Naked is here. DO NOT miss out. There’s still room for those in the TOP 20 bonus.)
Those that end up making six figures (and more) as a coach DO exactly this. Those who do NOT, those who CLING to their certifications and brand name heroes, struggle indefinitely with making money.
But even when you’re standing up and standing out,
being the AUTHENTIC voice of your own brand,
you STILL have to grasp the fundamental ASPECTS of what you are selling as a coach or expert.
You see, you’re not selling a gadget.
You’re not pitching a product that has specifications and measurements and predictable performance.
And so most coaches belittle their work to the MOST basic measurement possible: time.
They try to sell TIME.
They will literally write something like this in their pitch email:
“In this package, we will meet 4 times per month for 45-minute sessions by phone or Skype.”
How BORING is that?
And also, what hubris?
I mean, I talk on the phone for 45 minutes with friends. I don’t CHARGE them for it.
No one wants to PAY for time spent on the phone with you.
They DO want something, though.
They want a change.
They want a transformation,
or clarity,
or accountability.
They want a shift,
a push
or a partner.
And so, you’re NEVER selling time.
You’re selling two things as an expert:
1) ACCESS to you.
This means that you CANNOT afford to have your brain picked by everyone who asks. Stop the coffee meetings, where you try to PROVE yourself in each conversation. This “accessibility” will work against you. Because AT ITS CORE, our industry requires us to have a CERTAIN degree of Inaccessibility.
And you should DESIGN
DELIBERATELY
when and how you are accessible.
Message me for details on this.
and
2) RESULTS.
You are selling a result that THEY want. Depending on your particular coaching approach, you may be selling them a SYSTEM to get a certain result, or a safety net as they pursue a certain result or a partner to help them get a certain result.
But, every time you PITCH someone, you’ve got to align YOUR offer with a CERTAIN “end point, ” a certain GOAL, be it tangible OR psychological.
Can you see how this recognition of WHAT you are selling can transform how you PROPOSE to clients? Can you see how when you SELL access and results, it’s INFINITELY more appealing than selling time? Can you see how selling access and results is SO MUCH MORE COMPELLING than selling a series of time-limited conversations with you?
DON’T EVER CHARGE FOR THE TIME IT TAKES.
CHARGE FOR THE DIFFERENCE YOU MAKE.
You’re not selling time.
You’re selling ACCESS (to you) and RESULTS (for them.)
Tomorrow, I’ll talk more about why FREE coaching sessions DO NOT work to sell coaching and the SMALL TWEAKS you can make to get more clients THIS MONTH than you have in the last year.
