We are in some of the best times one could be in
to be able to build our coaching businesses,
but do it online.
So what would one do, what would Ajit do if he was to start
a successful online coaching business today?
First step is to identify what is the result
I want to drive for my particular market?
Most of us start our coaching businesses
without actually identifying what is the result
that we are driving for our market.
For that matter, most of us are not even clear
what our market is.
Identifying a clear market that you want to address
or at least want to get started with
helps you focus your energy.
So the first thing that I would do
is I would identify a market.
Most likely than not,
I will choose one of the most profitable niches
that is in 2023, which is small businesses,
and start with that market.
And then for that market, I would go, what is the result
that I can provide them
based on my experience and my training?
I'm somebody who is really good at helping small businesses
turn a great profit while building sizable teams
and generating even more revenue,
so that's probably where I would start.
I would either make my main story
around helping companies grow revenue,
turning a better profit,
and I would target my marketing
and my content and my conversations online
mostly around small businesses.
Now, if you're not a business coach,
that's still perfectly good.
If you are a life coach,
focus your attention towards what is that result
that you can drive for your clients.
For example, say you are a life coach
that is really good at helping people build more confidence.
Then become a confidence coach
for a market that is lacking confidence.
You may say, I help individuals that are in jobs
or women who are in jobs at C-level positions
to build more confidence.
Or maybe you're somebody who helps men
have more confidence in their relationships.
It doesn't matter what you pick.
What matters is that you pick something,
because once you pick something and you define the outcome
that you are going to drive for that market,
it makes the next step easier.
The next step is content platform and content model.
You see, to be able to create new conversations
in the online space, in the online marketplace,
to build a coaching practice,
you must be able to deploy
a lot of content, a lot of transformations for people,
even before they have a conversation with you.
That's the beauty of online presence.
You don't necessarily have to talk to people
for somebody to experience an outcome.
For example, this.
Me communicating this video to you.
is going to create a transformation for you.
It doesn't mean that we have to sit down
and have a one-on-one conversation.
This could happen while you watch this video,
take your notes, and define how you are going to create
a successful online coaching business.
It is that simple.
But for me to be able to deliver that, I have to know
what's my content platform.
In this scenario, my content platform is YouTube,
which is my first content platform of choice
because it allows me to deliver a content format
that I really like,
which is long-form media.
Long-form media is any media
that is over seven minutes long, and most of my videos
are over seven minutes long on YouTube.
And YouTube gives me the platform to be able
to give information, allow for transformation to happen
through that information over a period of time
that I require to fully communicate my ideas.
And keeping that in mind, now you wanna find out,
what is the content platform
and what's the content model
that you are most comfortable with,
and you are willing to deploy and test and figure out
so your audience that you found,
the market that you wanna address, can find you.
Now, how does one find what content format
and what content platform to use?
It's pretty straightforward.
There's a natural inclination
that you have.
You are somebody who really likes talking to other people,
podcasts might be your platform.
If you are somebody who are good at videos
but take a little bit longer to explain the concept,
maybe YouTube is your platform.
If you're somebody who's really naturally good at video
and can communicate a great idea in 30, 60, 90 seconds,
well, Instagram or TikTok might be your platform.
If you're somebody who writes really well,
then LinkedIn might be the platform
that might be the perfect platform for you.
So it really depends on what is the format of content
that you wanna deliver, which will help you decide
which content platform you're going to use.
Any and all of these content platforms
are viable for your first 20 to 50 clients,
so you absolutely can pick
just one format, one platform,
and start your journey there.
And that brings me to our third step.
Third step is, you wanna take the content that you posted,
turn it into a conversation
and take that conversation and turn it into coaching.
You can call them the three Cs.
The content is something that we already discussed.
The content's job is to incite or start a conversation.
Everything that you share,
irrespective of the platform that you're in,
you want it to be able to start a conversation.
You want people to engage with that conversation
so you can have a dialogue back and forth with them.
Now, this means that when somebody engages
in a content piece that you publish,
or when somebody engages in something
that you have posted and and commented on it,
or even engage with them by simply liking it
or following your content and following you,
you want to have
a conversation with them.
Here's the classic mistake that people make.
Most people start that conversation by saying,
"Hey, I saw you commenting on my post.
"I have this offer for you.
"Do you wanna buy?"
While that seems like,
well, it's a very straightforward offer,
when somebody meets somebody online or offline,
there is no immediate trust that is established.
And without trust, we don't really purchase anything.
And this is why it's so important for you
to not lead with the offer that you wanna make.
Lead with a conversation.
How would you meet somebody at a cafe?
How would you meet somebody if somebody bought your book?
You wouldn't simply say, "Oh, you have my book.
"Do you wanna buy my package?"
That's not how you start a conversation.
You start, "What did you like about the book?
"What was the conversation?
"What stood out for you?
"What is it that you're working on right now
"that the book could help you?"
You would wanna understand the value
that book is generating for that person.
Or if you're meeting somebody at a cafe,
you again wouldn't just simply jump into their problems.
You'll first establish some kind of camaraderie,
the context that you might have.
If the cafe was in Paris and you are traveling to Paris
where you met this person, you might say,
"What are you doing in Paris?
"How come you're traveling?
"What is the thing that inspired you to travel?
"It seems like you're traveling alone.
"What is it that you're looking for?
"Oh, you're looking for self-discovery."
You see, naturally conversations
will lead to some moment, and that might happen immediately,
that might happen in days from then.
That may give you
an opportunity to bring them in a coaching conversation.
Once that conversation lead to that place,
you can invite them into a coaching conversation with you,
which could also as well be an enrollment conversation
between you and them if there's the right fit.
So here's the trick to remember.
When you post content,
don't post to enroll.
Post to start a conversation.
When you have a conversation,
don't have a conversation to enroll.
Have a conversation to have a conversation
to understand the person like a human being
and see if they're a right fit,
and then bring them into a coaching fold
so you can have a real conversation with them.
And if it feels right, then make an offer.
This would be the most easy, congruent pathway
that you can take to get your first few clients.
And then what I would do, and which is the final step,
which is the fourth step, is I would repeat the cycle.
I would make content my priority every single day
that opens up conversations and dialogue.
And as the conversations open,
I would continue these conversations
on this channel that I have chosen to
and see if some of them can be graduated
to a coaching conversation
or a coaching dialogue or a coaching engagement,
and from there, I would enroll.
And the fourth step really is all about testing
your pricing
and your packages.
See, as you're having these conversations,
you will discover a lot more about your potential clients,
people who are engaging with your content,
what they're engaging in, what their problems are,
what their solutions are, what their solutions might not be.
What pricing works for them,
what pricing does not work for them?
How could you change pricing?
Could you bump your pricing?
Do you need to lower your pricing?
All of those things are things that you would test
for the first 20 to 30 clients
that you would get using this online model.
And as you get these 20, 30 clients, you may find
that if you started your coaching package at 1,500,
that now you've actually found
that coaching packages do better
when you charge 2,500 or 3,500 or 5,500,
and because of that, you might get your first 20 clients
making you $100,000 over the course
of the first year or first 12 months,
which would be deemed successful.
Heck, I would say if you're a new coach
and you're just starting this,
this is the model that you're using,
anything over $40,000 in annual revenue
generated through your first year in coaching practice,
I would consider that successful.
Now, you may wonder, "Hey, listen, I got that,
"but what is the first thing?
"How do I identify what package do I sell to my clients?"
Well, I have a simple quiz for you
that will help you identify
which is the right kind of package that you should offer
to your coaching clients.
Go ahead, click on the link
that is in the description box below
that will take you to that quiz
to help you identify what that package might be.
Which part of this four-part process do you find
that is most exciting for you?
Something that you feel that you're so aligned to
that you're ready to get started now?
Share that with me in the comments section below.
Thank you so much for watching.
This is Coach Ajit,
and I'll see you in the next video.