Last week, we received lots of positive feedback on our post about Digitizing Your Coaching Expertise.
But knowing the various formats that digitization can take is a wholly different thing from actually taking action and creating these digital products.
Life is complicated and I know all of you are busy, so it’s really easy to fall victim to false beliefs or come up with a myriad of excuses for why you’re not ready to get started.
Let's be honest. People procrastinate and hard work is uncomfortable. You’re not alone!
But creating digital products NEVER take as long as you think they do. You’ve already done the hardest part by finding your niche as a coach and acquiring customers.
Digitizing and automating that expertise is the first step to creating highly valuable and lucrative products. And it’s SO worth it.
So today I want to highlight 3 of the false beliefs I hear most often when I encourage coaches to create alternative revenue streams.
And, in my typical fashion, I’ll argue why they’re worth fighting against.
Let’s get to it.
- Not Enough Time
“My family eats up all my free time…”
“I already coach too much…”
“I’m burned out, the last thing I want is to start new projects…”
This is probably the most common false belief I hear from coaches.
And, while I’m not denying the fact that you are busy, I truly believe that people make time for what’s important.
That is, I think it’s less an issue of not HAVING enough time, but more of an issue of how you prioritize your time and what you believe is worth pursuing.
And I really get it!
One of the trickiest things about product development is the fact that it takes a while for the work to pay off. The “feedback loop”, so to speak, can be a little slow, which can easily be mistaken as wasting time if the payoff isn’t immediate and/or obvious.
In fact, this mindset can become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Part of the reason you “don't have time” is BECAUSE you likely don’t have additional revenue streams beyond coaching. If all you’re offering is time-for-money “lessons”, you’ll NEVER have time to grow your business (or life) to its full potential.
The entire POINT of creating alternative revenue streams is to free yourself up by delivering value and making money while you sleep. Putting the time in now will save you SO much time down the line once you see the magic of multiple streams of income.
Stop telling yourself you don’t have time. You do. You just need to convince YOURSELF of what I’m advocating for and get started.
2. Lack Of Direction/ Motivation
“I would start a new revenue stream or launch a new product, but I don’t know where to start.”
“I want to”, “I need to”, “if only…”
This one is easy! You’re already here. That’s the first step.
We’ve already covered the basics of Digitizing Your Coaching Expertise, How to Stop Selling Time For Money, Using CoachNow PRO tools to automate your coaching, and even provided some live audits of coaching websites and social media touchpoints.
As soon as you shift your mindset from “I don’t know where to start” to “What can I do today to get started”, I promise things will come together.
Action is key.
Think of small steps you can take to launch a product and chip away at them over time.
That could be writing a “mission statement” for a product, a syllabus for a course, taking inventory on the drills or processes that you regularly teach, purchasing a domain name, or researching website builders. Once the ball is rolling, the path will become clear.
Tell other people in your life about your intentions and brainstorm ideas with other coaches or entrepreneurs you know (maybe even partner up!). Get some skin in the game, get inspired, and keep yourself accountable.
Doing SOMETHING is better than nothing. The extensive (and growing) library of content at The ConnectedCoach Academy will give you more than enough to get started.
Stay tuned with your blog content in the coming months… Based on your feedback from last week, it seems “getting started” is a pain point for many of you, so this is a topic we’re gonna really drive home. 👊
3. Lack of Confidence / Imposter Syndrome
“I’m just a coach…”,
“I need more info before I…”,
“Who’d buy this? Who cares what I have to say?”
I’ll say it again. You aren’t just a coach, You’re an entrepreneur.
One of the biggest plagues of human nature is “imposter syndrome” - the false belief that you’re not competent enough to be considered a “true” expert.
But here’s a well-known secret: literally everyone you see as an “expert” has also felt like a fraud at some point. Literally every professional has felt imposter syndrome at some point in their career.
The reality is you’re working with athletes in your sport every. single. day. And many of you have been doing it for 5,10, even 20 years!
You’d be surprised by how much knowledge you think is “obvious” is actually not obvious at all. Odds are, if you think you aren’t ready, you’re probably comparing yourself to the best of the best –not the average person who can benefit from what you have to say.
Believe it or not, you are MORE than primed to be successful selling your expertise. I believe that everyone has some knowledge that’s valuable, worth sharing and worth paying for.
And, as has been a clear point through this post, you just need to take action.
Plus, keep in mind, the reality is it’s unlikely you’ll “get it right” the first time. So instead, take on the mindset of curiosity and experimentation.
It’ll free you up to be creative, have fun, and detach your self worth from the outcome. And, ironically, this approach will increase your chances of success – you’ll feel much freer by relaxing a bit and enjoying the process of experimentation.
Practice makes perfect - trust me, the confidence will come once your audience raves about you. Digital products have the ability to make your impact (and income) reach further than time-for-money ever could.
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There you have it!
I hope you found this valuable. I’m not denying that these things take time and iteration will likely be your best friend as you start trying new things.
BUT, I’ll say it one last time, ACTION is what counts. I’ve seen this work countless times, and I know it can work for you.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions.
Here’s to moving past these 3 false beliefs and making money while you sleep!
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