Everyday, coaches ask me for advice on how to save time, increase their income, and become a more effective coach.
Over the last 10 years, I have noticed a few key patterns that differentiate early stage coaches and 6-figure+ coaching businesses. From these learnings, I wanted to create a roadmap for coaches who are aiming to increase their income and impact, while working less than 40 hours per week.
This is what I call the "ConnectedCoach Pathway", a new way to illustrate the development cycle of coaching entrepreneurs in a post pandemic world.
Starting at the bottom of the pyramid, I have noticed that when coaches feel stuck at their current income level, they are invariably selling "Lessons." Simply put, they are making the mistake of selling their time for money.
Moreover, when an athlete purchases a lesson, they are usually looking for a quick fix. They often believe that they can meet with an expert for an hour, get some easy advice on how to improve one aspect of their game, and play a little better than they did before.
But here's the truth: one-off lessons don't lead to long-term improvement. To truly make an impact in your coaching, you need to understand where your athletes want to go, create a roadmap with numerous touchpoints, and provide personalized and timely feedback every step of the way. Your clients need a gameplan, and it is up to you as the coach to provide the framework, expectations, and, ultimately, the coaching relationship that will help them hit their goals.
Don't fall into the trap of "quick fix" lessons. Your time is more valuable than that. When you sell lessons, your impact and income will plateau quickly, and you will overwork yourself. You and your athletes deserve more.
That brings us to the next level of the pathway: Coaching.
At this level, coaches typically bump up their prices and focus more on the "performance" impact of the athlete. Because of this they'll typically work with athletes that have bigger aspirations and are more serious about their development.
Additionally, as they scale their business, coaches may begin using more technology (e.g. video analysis, launch monitors, 3D motion, or other data-centric tools) to help their clients see results.
But, no matter how you slice it, those who are in the Coaching level are still selling their time for money. They still have one stream of income, and are required to show up at a specific time to deliver their knowledge.
In the next decade, as the world becomes increasingly digital, those at the Lessons and Coaching level will be left in the dust.
This brings us to the pinnacle of the pathway: ConnectedCoaching.
All coaches, no matter how experienced, should strive to become a ConnectedCoach.
ConnectedCoaches adopt technology to curate real-time feedback and facilitate intimate, lucrative, high impact coaching relationships. As a result, they can charge top dollar for their expertise and produce significant results for their athletes.
ConnectedCoaches know how to sell their expertise instead of their time. They create evergreen digital products using the latest and greatest technology empowering their clients to improve 24/7. They prioritize asynchronous communication, offer a consistent feedback loop through micro touch points, and proactively share the coaching resources their clients need to achieve their goals.
ConnectedCoaches create multiple, automatic streams of income through digital subscriptions – They can easily make more than $100,000 per year, while working half as much as their colleagues selling "Lessons" and/or "Coaching".
The best part about ConnectedCoaching? It's also in the best interest of the athlete. You significantly increase your client impact by digitizing your expertise, focusing on their holistic athletic transformation, and providing targeted feedback any time of day.
Plus, once you're off the treadmill of selling time for money, you'll eliminate the risk of burnout, enjoy more leisure time and, ultimately, a more fulfilling life outside of work.
So, with this new ConnectedCoaching Pathway in mind, I want you to think hard about the following question:
Where is your business in relation to the ConnectedCoach Pathway? Are you still selling "lessons" and/or "coaching"? How would your life change if you became a #ConnectedCoach?
Now is the time to look critically at where you stand on the pathway and where you see yourself going in the coming years.
To that end, I hope this framework helps!
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