Create Freedom By Leveraging Your Offering

As a coach, you maybe really enjoying the one to one work and difference you are making in people’s lives. Do you also wonder if there are better ways to reach the people you serve? Do you sometimes feel totally stretched and wish you could clone yourself to create a more effective and a desired work/life balance? And/or do you wonder if there are more efficient and successful ways of earning income?

These are questions we at Empower World and many coaches we know ask themselves as they continue to expand their business, get more referrals, do what they love as well as finding their work life balance becomes untenable. And when it does, we may start to ask ourselves questions to seek another effective way forward. A way where we can spread ourselves further by utilising different approaches and channels in addition to expanding our income, which can then lead to further expansion.

Colin Boyd, a coach, trainer, facilitator and founder of his successful business Oxygen Coaching and Training – which he created over seven years ago – effectively expanded his business to suit his needs and goals in recent years. He explains his business became much more efficient and rewarding with the introduction of audio and video online programmes based on his particular areas of specialism.

“Depending on what frame of mind you’re in, or what season you’re in, your business will evolve with you. Right now I have two kids, married for just over 10 years – which is awesome – so really busy at the moment. I think if you’re consistent enough and your messaging is consistent, then you get work. And although the income can be lumpy, the type of money you can earn and the impact you can make in the online space is phenomenal.”

“You can’t compare it to working in a job,” says Colin. He shares it can be difficult and a little bit of a roller coaster sometimes, but reflected the freedom he has found is amazing and growing more and more while working less and less hours. And in addition, he is still making a great impact on the people he works with.

Colin describes his journey into the online space was very basic. He explains, “I recorded some audio (information) onto my iphone and sold it as a CD. And then that evolved into doing a tele-seminar: a 6-week career makeover product and that turned into an online product. Each level has got better leading to what I have now.”

“So one of my main flagship products is called The Productivity Academy. Essentially it’s designed for small businesses and for coaches, but it’s also transferable to leaders and executives. So I sell this to corporate clients as well.”

He advises to get into this online space, we don’t have to start at the premium end of our product: that we start basic and it will evolve. He calls it version 1.0 and recommends releasing this before releasing version 2.0.

“So often people try to release a 3.0 version and that’s why they haven’t released anything because they haven’t released 1.0 yet. The offering evolves through the process,” says Colin.

The beauty of developing these type of programmes is you can also add value to what you offer to your clients. Colin shared that he recently did a three-day workshop with a company and he mentioned to them he had an online course that helps add even more value on the basis of what they have learnt over the three days. The client could see how the programme potentially would support and enhance what the group had already explored and said yes to investing further in their people. 91 people attended the workshop, and 91 people got access to his productivity programme. This enabled Colin’s clients to get further support from him whenever it’s convenient for them, as well as adding to his income.

To get started, Colin suggests three key steps: “First of all, I would look at what’s really working in your business. Do you have a one or two day programme or a coaching process that’s really working well that has seen some great results. And from that you get testimonials, which is the social proof of when you create the product.”

“Essentially you take the core of the product – the big idea, whatever it is – and you take the core of the product and map out the process and you take the people through it. And from there, you just record modules, similar to like a live-day training, and instead of delivering it all day, you just deliver it in bite sized modules.”

In summary, Colin says you map out your product, record it, package it up and make it available in various platforms that are available – for example audio, dvd, written – and then promote and sell it.

“It is a strategic investment because so often we are focused on putting money in the bank, but this type of thing is about continuity and leverage. And so, it’s almost like a ‘mind hack’ that you have to have because it’s never seen as urgent. Seeing it as a strategic high impact activity is important to make it happen.”

Colin said it’s useful to work out whether to sell the products via outsourcing channels such as Udemy, which is an organization that promotes many online courses on the behalf of providers. These organisations get a percentage of your sales when you sell your offering through their medium. Or promote and sell it directly yourself. He said you can be as technical and complex or as simple as you want.

In fact our mobile phone devices such as iphones are incredibly easy to use to create these programmes and then send out to our clients. This is something Empower World has used, together with Zoom recordings we have utilised in some of our coaching programmes.

As Colin’s business has evolved, he has become more sophisticated in terms of what he is offering and chooses to outsource the technical aspects to his team as his business has grown.

Colin goes on to say, “It’s a great opportunity for coaches, consultants and speakers and trainers to really help their clients more and to have more income without doing all the work. I realize that the only limit is the stuff you put on yourself and that the biggest obstacle you’re going to face is not the techy stuff, not the tactical stuff. It’s actually the mental stuff (to put to put new channels in place).”

“It’s about not working hard all the time. It’s really learning how to think better. At the start of your business, hustle is important, but then it comes to the point you’ve got t stop hustling and start using your head more. Because if you don’t, you just burn your self out.”

So as a coach, if you want to look at how you can diversify, yet still do what you love, support people with your programme, as well as achieve more freedom and income, ask yourself:

• What can I do differently that still supports what I love to do?
• What is my niche or area of specialty that I can share with my clients that can be broken down into modules?
• What are the steps I would take to share my information?
• How would I like to deliver my programme, for example, audio, video?
• What is the logistics of my programme, for example, how will I promote, what is the price of my programme, equipment required etc?
• What are the first steps I can take to make this happen?

Enjoy the process of adding value to your business, and be empowered.

With love and gratitude,

Jeanine and Marie