Tips for Building a Coaching Business

Breaking the Mold: Why 90% of Coaches, Consultants, and Advisors don't make it past the five-year mark– And How You Can Defy the Odds. This statistic frustrates me. It’s heartbreaking to hear about so many killing themselves or suffering in silence instead of seeking help. Owning multiple businesses in these industries, I've met many people who have shared their challenges. The main reason for failure? Lack of clear direction. Many advisors and coaches struggle to figure out: -> Where to begin. -> Where to concentrate their efforts. -> What to prioritize. Today, I want to share the strategies that have driven my businesses to over 300% year-over-year growth since 2014, expanding our wealth coaching services to all 50 states and our consulting firm globally. These insights are applicable to anyone in the service industry. 1. Define Your Ideal Client with Laser Precision Every business decision I make is guided by a crystal-clear picture of my ideal client. I've detailed: -> A fictional name -> Family background -> Career and income level -> Biggest fears and challenges -> Aspirations and dreams 2. Frame Your Service as Exciting & Continuous Planning A one-off plan isn’t enough. It’s just a momentary snapshot. Each year, we craft a new plan for every client. Clients especially value spontaneous, unstructured calls during major life or business decisions. Having our team on retainer, ready to assist whenever needed, is what clients appreciate the most. 3. Know & Measure Your Value Relentlessly We quantify every aspect of our value, even the intangible ones. Get Creative. We offer free strategy sessions, free workshops, and scholarships. We even done plenty pay on performance at the beginning. To this day, we offer scholarship -based plans supporting single moms, veterans, and Team USA athletes. We meet clients where they are, helping them grow their businesses and protect their wealth in ways that are safe, grow tax-free, and are shielded from market losses. Clients love it and refer us to others. We’ve collected thousands of video and written reviews over the last decade. 4. Focus on Clients and Prospects Delegate everything else as soon as you can. Acquiring new business and meeting with existing clients are the most valuable activities. When you’re not worried about where your next client is coming from, you can be fully present with your current clients. 5. Build Your Personal Brand Your online presence might not bring in direct clients immediately, but it keeps you top of mind with your existing ones. Want to grow faster? 🗣 Start speaking on stages and around your community more often. In conclusion, I didn’t come up with all of this on my own. I’ve been mentored and coached by incredible people and listened to thousands of clients over the years. This is all a culmination of those experiences. ♻️ Repost this. You never know who we may save. ♻️ Click my name + follow + 🔔 #success #linkedin #leadership #resilience

How to grow a coaching business to $100K per month: 3 meta-level components: 1) Audience Acquisition 2) Customer Creation 3) Client Conversion Let’s break it down: 1) AUDIENCE ACQUISITION This is a simple concept: acquire attention. You must have a traffic source and be able to extract buyer attention from that traffic source. Social Media = a traffic source. You can acquire attention from this traffic source in 3 ways: Ads, Organic Content, Direct Outreach (or use all 3 together). If you are time-rich but don’t have a budget, then become a wizard with your content. This means you’re studying copywriting and learning why people buy. It means every post, whether it’s 3-5-7 or more times per week, is a psychological banger. People read, they get warm, they follow, and eventually reach out. It does not mean you’re posting one of those billboard quote posts and hoping people start to like you. You must learn how to make a reader pay attention, then take action. If you have a budget, but little time, then master ads on the front end and leverage your organic content to warm people on the backend. Both ads and organic work. Whether you choose one or both, you must move people toward your email list. Always, always, always, be building your email list. Your major KPI at this stage is conversations from content. For example: How many buyer-specific conversations am I getting per post, whether it’s a DM or a sales call? You must build a pipeline of conversations because conversations close deals. Know the answer to that question. 2) CUSTOMER CREATION Once you have attention from your target buyer, it’s time to begin monetizing in short order with a buyer ecosystem. A buyer ecosystem consists of low cost digital products that create customers—people who initially followed you but demonstrated that they are willing to buy vs remain a follower only. Digital products can be tools, templates, mini-courses, virtual events and beyond. Don’t overthink. You could easily create a valuable Loom training on something you know well—something your target audience wants—and put it behind a paywall. Customers are usually those who buy from you in the $100-$500 range. This is NOT your main source of income. It’s only meant to move customers toward client status. 3) CLIENT CONVERSION Here, you’re targeting customers for upgrade to your core offer. If customers were your “product” stage then clients are your “service” stage. Clients are buying your time and implementation whereas customer are buying your one-off tools. You must have a premium offer that sells the full transformation your particular audience is after. Conversion at this stage is best done with Offer Assets: a document or page that speaks to the transformation and the “outcome-based roadmap” they’ll complete with you. And Long-form Content (YouTube, Podcasts, Livestreams). I’m getting rate limited on this post, but will continue writing about this.

If you're a leadership coach, here's how to connect leadership development to bottom-line profits... Most leadership coaches I speak with are struggling to break through a glass ceiling. What I almost always discover is that they're struggling because leadership, while we all agree is a skill in short supply, is easy to talk about but hard to sell. It's hard to draw a straight line for your prospect from your coaching to their bottom line. Here are seven ways you can do this: 1. Link Leadership Skills to Business Goals Leadership development should drive business outcomes. Easily do this by: • Identifying key business metrics: revenue, customer satisfaction, employee retention • Tailoring leadership programs to impact these metrics directly 2. Use Real-Life Success Stories Showcase how leadership coaching has led to tangible business results. Find examples by: • Collecting case studies from past clients • Highlighting before-and-after scenarios 3. Create Customized Coaching Plans Design coaching plans that address specific business challenges. For example, a company might need: • Improved team collaboration • Enhanced decision-making skills • Better conflict resolution 4. Communicate ROI Effectively Show potential clients the return on investment from leadership coaching. Optimize by: • Using clear data: percentages, dollar amounts • Providing visual aids: charts, graphs 5. Develop Strong Sales Conversations Your pitch should connect leadership coaching to business growth. • Understand the client’s pain points • Explain how coaching will solve these issues • Use simple, direct language 6. Leverage Testimonials and Referrals Happy clients are your best marketers. Learn: • How to ask for testimonials • The best way to encourage referrals 7. Continuously Measure and Improve Track the effectiveness of your coaching programs. Maintain: • Regular feedback loops with clients • Adjustments based on feedback • Ongoing development of your coaching skills And when someone asks you what you do, tell them, "I help you become the leader that the most talented people in your industry want to work for." --- Want the secrets to building a successful consulting and coaching business? Subscribe to my resource letter, The AI-Powered Business Advisor, at: BusinessBreakthroughAdvisors[dot]com

82% of coaching businesses fail within their first two years. Launching and building a thriving practice is no small feat. May marked the 5-year anniversary of my own practice. How did I beat the odds? Three things made all the difference: 1. I invested in mastery. Just type “coach” into LinkedIn’s search and you’ll get almost 5M results. Standing out requires you to know how you’re unique and how to clearly and consistently communicate this message. 2. I leveraged my network. Yes, it can be confronting to reach out to people but if this blocks you, you’ll have a hard time growing your practice. Don’t “wait until you’ve been doing it awhile” before leveraging your connections. Your connections are often your most supportive prospects and sources of referrals. 3. I got good at understanding and serving my target. Knowing what your clients need, what obstacles they face, how they feel, and what will happen if they don’t take the right action is crucial. Show tangible proof that you can guide them to results, and your business will have legs. Succeeding in coaching means doing these things well—and not shying away from asking for help when needed. We’re all in this together.

These past 12 months, I've operated in a way many post-MBAs would scoff at. Last summer, I launched a chess startup alongside a part-time coaching business. Time to put the side hustle to the side. Coaching is cute and all, but now it's time to do the "real thing". Short-term cash make way for a VC infusion, podcasts, conferences... ...except for the part where I did the exact opposite. I leaned into Leland and built a fully-fledged coaching practice with their help. I don't operate with a safety net; I can't raise a "family and friends round" at the drop of a hat. Not to mention, I think my own parents would be harder investors to convince than most VCs who see stamps like Stanford University Graduate School of Business and McKinsey & Company and think they mean something when it comes to starting a business. (NB: It's 2-0 VCs on the 'term sheets received' scorecard. Turns out mom needs to see more MoM before any allowance comes through) But even if I accept that I've missed out on growth these past few months at TownSquare Chess by leaning into my coaching practice, here's what I've learned: 1. As someone who built their own freelance practice before, 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁: every time you coach someone, be great. You can't be perfect, but go above and beyond.     2. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗻𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂: know that you represent an organization, even if you're not an FTE: if I come up short, 𝗶𝘁 𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁. Care about that, and it will come back around.  3. 𝗗𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆: you need to really like doing it. Don't manufacture meaning just to fool yourself. Only coach on things you (a) are skilled in helping, and (b) where you feel super-invested in the outcomes of everyone you're helping. I do free events all the time and come away with more energy than I started with. 4. 𝗚𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲: define a niche, dig in, and build a layered offering with multiple options. Accumulate testimonials and your practice will grow itself. 5. 𝗬𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆: I've learned how to better build my own marketplace, what great customer focus looks like, and how to differentiate a product in my time with Leland. What more could you want from a "side hustle"? I'm not about the thing that people say to do. I'm about the thing I learn the most from and the stuff I'm excited to get up in the morning to do. In a world where everyone has GenerativeAI at their fingertips, I decided to start my coaching work at Leland around 𝗪𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚. Turns out it's a more valuable skill than ever. Oh and one more thing. This "side hustle", this "coaching thing", is now what's allowing me to scale TownSquare Chess in 2024. One marketplace fuels another — financially and intellectually. Just do your thing.

3 Pieces of Advice I wish someone had told me early on in my Coaching Business Advice #1: Clarity Without clarity, you will not attract your ideal clients, your dream income or have the time-freedom you want. You need to be clear on ✔ your mission  ✔ your strategy ✔ the problem you solve  ✔ your clients  ✔ your USP and  ✔ your offer. Advice #2: Mindset Not only do you need to work on your money mindset, but you need to make the shift from an "Employee" or "Worker Bee" to a CEO mindset. You have to schedule CEO time to look at your 🧠 overall strategy  🧠 data  🧠 team (or outsourcing)  🧠 software or tools 🧠 offerings  🧠 potential collaborators Without scheduling CEO time you will never get off the hamster wheel of doing. Advice #3: Numbers You don't have to understand all the #s in your business, but you need to understand key ones - that go beyond just profit. You need to know what's working and look at the growth. Numbers like:  #️⃣ Website Traffic  #️⃣ Email List (trends)  #️⃣ Sales  #️⃣ Clients  #️⃣ Content Marketing and more. When I made these shifts, my business skyrocketed. What shift do you need to make? #coaching #business #mindset #entrepreneurship #businessowner