Welcome to episode 28 of the Free and Fearless podcast. Today, I’ll answer one of the top questions I get. Why I’m not a coach when this is such a profitable business model? When everyone seems to be doing it this way? When I could easily grow my income if I offer coaching packages right now? And especially why I don’t do it when people from my audience have asked me for that?
I’ll keep it real, as always, and I’ll discuss why this business model isn’t for me and why the other one I’m so in love with – being a course creator – is perfect for me.
I’m definitely not telling anyone not to become a coach, but most often we just hear about the benefits of this business model. I have enough coaches around me to know why this isn’t something I want and how it will affect my lifestyle, my mood, my work and so much more, in a way that actually gets me further way from the kind of business that I’m building.
Because I’ll always try to create my dream life and run my dream business, but most people out there follow the profitable and trendy ventures, and there’s usually a price to pay for that.
Tune into the episode below:
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Show Notes:
- [02:17] Why having coaching sessions goes against my business code
- [02:55] 2 things I dread that are a big part of being a coach
- [04:57] The connection between your learning style and the business model that’s best for you
- [06:24] The 1 thing I don’t wanna do to my audience
- [08:11] Why I need a more scalable business model
- [09:07] What I love the most about being a course creator
- [10:43] Courses vs experiences
- [11:35] The next 3 offers I’m releasing
Transcript
1. I don’t like working 1:1 with people.
The first reason why I’m not a coach and why I’m not planning on becoming one is because I don’t like working 1:1 with people, not as a student and not a teacher.
It’s just not for me and I believe that we should all do work we love. Of course there will be administrative tasks and more technical stuff we gotta deal with, but your day to day activities as a business owner should be something you’re really good at. It should be what comes naturally to you, what gives you energy, and puts a smile on your face.
Having a coaching session with someone would exhaust me, I won’t look forward to it. I won’t be happy and energetic for the rest of the day.
2. No calls or deadlines.
Reason #2 is closely related to the first one – I don’t want any calls and deadlines in my business. I’m just not that type of person and I’m okay with it.
I know it’s the opposite of how the world works today, but freedom and doing things my way were always priorities for me. Keeping things the way I like is also how I can serve my audience, how I can make the most of my time and skills, and keep providing value.
Most people tell me I’ve created more content than they’ve seen from any other blogger or business owner in general. One of the reasons why is that I stick to the kind of content I love. Mainly written content, which is blog posts in my case, and lead magnets. But also courses and the podcast.
I can keep going forever, as long as it’s on my terms.
If I had even 1 coaching call a day, you can bet you won’t hear from me any time soon and won’t show up the way I do now every week. I’ll need some time to recharge and my creative energy and most productive hours of the day will be invested in something else.
3. I don’t want to depend on my clients.
The next reason is that I don’t want to depend on my clients. Now I have blog readers, brands I work with on sponsored content, and students of my courses. But I don’t feel dependent on anyone.
They all reach out to me via email or Instagram and I respond when I can, when I have the energy and am in the right mindset.
When I had clients back in the days as a freelance writer, I wasn’t happy. I had to answer expectations all the time, we had differences on so many things, it was hard to set boundaries.
I wasn’t looking forward to doing client work but it was my main income stream so it was also my most important activity for the day. Once I got out of this thanks to becoming a full-time blogger everything changed.
I felt so abundant and more grateful for my work than ever because I was only working on what felt right.
4. This isn’t the best way for me to teach.
The next reason why I’m not a coach is that this isn’t the best way for me to teach.
It’s not how I wanna learn either. And if I don’t invest in coaching, I can’t just start coaching myself. But I invest in courses all the time, and have learned a lot as a student of them, not just as the creator of my programs. I’ve seen bad courses, and I’ve seen mind-blowing ones. And I always strive for progress with mine.
I understand how online courses work. They are self-paced and that’s what I need. That’s what allows me to learn anything I’ve wanted so far, dive deep into the knowledge of its creator and do a lot of mindset work. And while many people will say hiring a coach gets you there faster, it’s just not what I want.
Not everyone needs a coach. We all have different learning styles.
And yes, by not offering coaching, I’m missing out on working with some people who could potentially invest in me and who need that type of of teaching.
But I get to serve the many other beautiful people who are just like me. Who don’t wanna get on a call, who want to have their information organized neatly in an online course thanks to lectures and modules and the amazing online course platforms available today. And they can decide when to log in and do some work and when to take some time off and actually apply what they learn.
Read also: From Losing Her Job During The Pandemic to Building a Successful Coaching Business
5. I don’t want to tell people what to do.
I still do, but not directly. Not on an actual coaching call where they share their struggles and I tell them what exactly to do. It won’t feel right for me. Just like I don’t wanna be told what to do. It sort of affects my freedom and independence because it’s just someone else’s opinion.
The way I teach is more passive. For example, it means that you came to this episode, pressed play and stayed till this section because you want to. You might walk away with a few tips and decide for yourself if you wanna take action on them.
I love this, that’s how I want to affect people. Which means only those who are ready to make a change and do the work come to me.
They find my content, invest my programs and aren’t waiting for me to tell them what to do. I’ve shared all this inside each program I have but they only need to take what resonates with them. And as long as they put it into practice, there will be a massive shift happening in their life and business.
6. I do what feels right.
I’m also following my purpose, doing what feels right. And coaching isn’t that, online courses are.
That’s why I’m learning all I can about creating the best programs I can, keeping in touch with my students, launching and doing email marketing in a way that attracts my ideal students to my audience, not just freebie seekers.
7. I do what comes easily to me.
Finally, I do what comes easily to me, which I think is directly related to passion and skills.
While for most people it’s much easier to just hop on a call with someone and talk to them for an hour than to create a whole new online course or worry abut launching it over and over again, for me it’s not.
8. I want to help more people.
I’m interested in scalable business models. With coaching that is sort of possible with group programs, but still, you put yourself out there so much that there’s only so many people you can help.
With courses, it’s the opposite. You create the best program you can on a specific topic once, and people can enroll and find the same value for the rest of your life. There’s nothing you need to do about it, it’s passive income, and you are free to work on other projects. This is creative freedom and it’s a big deal for me.
So, I think that pretty much covers why I’m not a coach and why I don’t wanna become one.
Also, with the examples I gave you sort of already saw why I’m so passionate about courses. But let me share a few more reasons why that business model is so amazing and so right for me.
Why I Love The Online Course Business
Creating a great online course is your way of leaving a legacy and helping people in the best way you can. You can put your heart and soul into creating such a transformational program, even if it’s not that long or expensive, and it can truly help anyone who gets to be part of it.
There’s also the fact that you get to decide whether you want to keep launching new programs any time you’re inspired to teach a new aspect of your main topic of expertise. Or you can stick to one program, make it as big as you feel like and update it every next year. You can also launch it 1, 2 or more times per year and there are no limits to how much you can earn.
As long as you keep growing your audience and learn the ins and outs of sales and marketing, you’ll be good to go.
It might take a few failed launches till you get there, but that isn’t a sign that you aren’t made for this. The mentors I learn from, whose online courses bring them over $1 million in revenue any time they release them, started from zero.
They updated these courses many times and launched more times than they can count. From experience, they learned more than from reading about all this. Any next time you get to tweak one or two aspects of the whole marketing process and eventually, you’ll find what works for you and your audience. When you do, you can double and triple your revenue in no time.
Another thing I love about being a course creator is that it feels like a game, and that’s an important part of business for me. It’s what keeps it interesting.
Every new course I create is like a whole new mini business, or a branch of my existing business. I can give it a cool name, cover a specific topic that I haven’t yet and get all the knowledge I have on it out of my head and package it into this wonderful experience.
I call courses not just programs but experiences.
I try to take the student on a journey. With what I teach, they go from A – which is the reality they had before enrolling in the course, and that usually involves a problem, to B – a reality in which they have the solution and are working on it.
Every course I create feels differently for me. There’s different energy, the structure of the lessons and the whole course framework is totally new and it keeps me excited.
In fact, I have more ideas for courses than I know what to do with. I’m currently creating one program which I plan to release quite soon. It’s something that’s been on my mind and even outlined in a document for over a year now, the timing just wasn’t right. Now it is and I can’t wait to get it out there because I know exactly who it can help.
Then, once this is done, I’ll create my first course bundle. I’ll be selling all my existing programs at a big discount. This will be for bloggers and the only different course in the bundle is Fearless Content, which teaches content marketing and branding. But it applies so much to a blogging business that it’s the perfect addition to the bundle.
When that is done, I will finally be able to move onto the biggest project I have in mind and which I’ve mentioned on the podcast already. That’s Bold Business School – a 1-year membership program that teaches you how to build a digital product business. It will be released some time next year, but the waitlist is open and some people got on it already.
That’s it for today. I’m curious whether you’re a blogger, coach, course creator, do a bit of all of these, are just starting out or are thinking of changing business models. Reach out on Instagram @letsreachsuccess and let me know.
