What’s wrong with traditional business coaching?

I want to demystify what’s wrong with the traditional business coaching advice that the vast majority of online business coaches give out and what to do instead.

Business coaching: Strategy aspect

I truly believe if you want to be successful in the online world, you need to have the following in place:

• a strategy
• marketing
• technology/ systems

Once you have all these 3 things in place, you need to implement them. Everything must work together and come together to build what I call an online business ecosystem .

The problem with the vast majority of online business coaches is that they only truly understand the strategy. Many of them do not get involved in the marketing, the implementation, or the technology aspect. Therefore, they are then giving out advice from a 30,000 foot view versus the 5,000 or 1,000 foot advice that you would give to somebody who’s in the nitty-gritty of the designing a sales page or the copywriting.

Understanding how everything is connected together is super important to bring a business to life.

Many group coaching programs, courses, or one-on-one business coaches, focus on that strategy piece and they will 100% help you with the mindset stuff that comes up along the way. But, when it gets into the nitty-gritty details, where you really need that support, there’s often a big gap and a complete lack of understanding of

• what the limitations of a particular type of software are
• understanding the nuances in a headline and bullet copy
• the psychology of getting somebody to click
• the colors that need to go along with all of that

There are a many different nitty gritty things there that need attention. Because I have been behind the scenes in the industry for so long, it’s very easy for me to see that that’s a glaring gap when it comes to the strategy piece in that world.

Number two: Most of them don’t understand that and they hire people to do that. That is a weak spot for them in terms of being able to provide feedback to their clients. Their solution of coming up with another group program and restarting the whole process of creating the course, creating the sales page, creating the landing page, etc, and it keeps their clients in this never ending cycle of I’m stuck, I’m stuck, I’m stuck… They are always hitting that reset button and not taking what they’ve already created in making it really, really profitable.

This is a BIG No No for me! There is a distinct lack of focus. I truly believe that you can launch one signature program and a few ancillary products and build a seven-figure business.

I believe with six to eight months of hardcore focus and going through a season of building assets, you can set yourself up for success for the next two to four years and counting.

Look at people like Marie Forleo , Brendon Burchard  or any big name in the industry. The vast majority of them have a couple of products:

• usually something under a $100 or a book
• a self-study program or some sort of low barrier to entry membership
• Then they have their signature program

I would contend that the vast majority of business owners and entrepreneurs, who are reading this blog post, could build if they choose to focus = follow one course until successful , a seven-figure business with one signature program and a few ancillary products.

This really goes against the traditional wisdom that people put out there and I think it ties into the fact that the vast majority of online coaching programs are fundamentally flawed.

It sucks if you’ve ever spent a whole bunch of money on a program and didn’t get the results that you’ve wanted out of it, especially when you feel you’ve upheld your end of the bargain in terms of taking action, implementing and doing all the listed steps. I’ve been there! I’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars on coaching programs that have left me feeling like, “what am I missing here?”

It goes back to the fact that the industry has no regulations and no rules saying that you must have worked 10 years in online marketing before you can become an online business coach. That is a huge part of the problem in the industry today.

People don’t take the time to learn

Another problem is that most people don’t take the time to learn, get in the trenches, and to do the work. They don’t really see where and how it all comes together.

The reason I am bringing that up is that I very rarely talk about my 16 years of running an agency and being behind the scenes of some very big influencers in the online space.  I saw where their launches were fundamentally flawed or watched where big aspects of their businesses were just falling apart. In part, this was due because most of what they were teaching was not original content. It was something they tried in their business because their coach said that they should.

The online space ultimately ends up being a regurgitation of other people’s information, rather than a coalescing, an education, and a practical experience of being behind the scenes watching, studying, learning, massaging, and truly optimizing someone’s business so that it becomes wildly successful.

It breaks my heart because I think a lot of good people out there spend lots of money with the wrong people and then don’t get the results that they’re hoping for.

80% of business coaches operate this way

I’m not sharing this today because I want people running to me for support. No, I’m sharing this because I want to open people’s eyes to the way in which the online industry operates. Again, not every coach is like this, but I would say probably 80% of the people operate in this way.

I want you to be aware of this when you hire a coach or join a group program.

• Ask the person what their previous experience is with respect to being behind the scenes
• What their understanding of both the technology and systems side is, but also the marketing and strategy.

Here’s what’s going to happen if that person doesn’t truly understand

• how those four things come together
• how the mindset needs to be woven in through all of those elements
• how the implementation needs to be woven in through it all

then ultimately, you’re going to be in “the cycle of stuck”. Do a new launch, create a new program, etc… Yes, there is a time and a place to add in new layers and other programs in your business, but for the vast majority of people, you can focus on one program and build a seven-figure business.

A new way to be successful

I want to challenge the traditional thinking around business coaching because there is a new way in which you can be successful. That doesn’t involve being on this constant rat race and hamster wheel of building assets and always being in a season of building.

I truly stand behind that and this is where I support my clients. I really help them step up and own who they are and the program that they’ve created and be clear on the ideal client they want to serve.

If any of this resonated with you, then you can become one of the members of our Business Ecosystem Builders program. We talk about strategy, marketing, implementation, systems, mindset and all the fun things that need to come together to build your online business ecosystem.