There are seven different ways to be a financially
successful coach. I’ve captured each as a certain persona. Which one fits you
best?
1. The Celebrity Coach – This coach has a huge reputation among people in their
target market. They are probably a best-selling book author or public
personality. They’ve appeared on TV or perhaps been in the news (in a good way).
Everyone in the target market knows them. They have a kind of celebrity status
in their target market. They get clients based on the strength of their identity within their market. Examples are Tony
Robins and Deepak Chopra. I’m not saying that they aren’t skillful. Many are
highly knowledgeable and skilled coaches. But their level of skill isn’t what
gets them clients; their clients come from their celebrity status.
This persona isn’t for everyone. Some of us don’t want the kind of celebrity
that this persona requires. And some of us who do want it still don’t have it.
If you don’t have the celebrity already, this persona doesn’t fit you.
2. The Guru Coach – This coach also has a
strong reputation among people in their target market but not for their
celebrity. Instead, they are known for being a “guru.” They know more than anybody
about their specialty. Typically, these coaches “wrote the book.” They are usually pioneers of new approaches, founded
new fields, created new markets, or opened new kinds of businesses. These coaches get clients on the strength of their identity as leaders in
their field. After all, who wouldn’t want to hire the guy or gal that “wrote
the book?”
As you can imagine, this persona only works for a handful of coaches. Not many
of us can lay claim to guru status in our target market. If you aren’t a guru
already, then this persona won’t work for you.
3. The Superstar Coach – This coach has been
very successful in life. They’ve made so much money that they really don’t need
to work. They coach because they want to give back the support they received
from others. And they want to stay active and do work that fulfills them. Often
they were founders or CEOs or successful companies that made a big IPO splash
or got acquired by a bigger fish. They took the golden parachute plan and now
they are coaching. Whatever their path to stardom, they’ve been wildly
successful and want to help others do the same. Clients hire these coaches
because they want the same level of success, fame, or wealth in life that their
coach has. It is not hard to see why these coaches get clients.
Again, this persona only works if you’ve already been wildly successful. If you
haven’t yet been wildly successful, then obviously this persona doesn’t work
for you.
4. The Hyper-networked Coach – This kind
of coach is very well connected
within their target market both in terms of the number of people that know them
and who those people are. Typically they have been working as an insider in
their market for decades, often in the very roles their clients now hold. Take,
for example, a coach who was previously the VP of Human Resources for Nike who
is now starting a business to coach Human Resources leaders in the sports
apparel industry. Usually, these coaches worked for several different
organizations within this market and they have relationships with key people
that offer them referral after referral. They get clients based on the strength
of their referral network within their market.
Having a relationship with everybody who’s anybody in your target market is
wonderful. These coaches find it must easier to get clients. However, if you
haven’t spent years (or even decades) building a strong referral network, then
this persona won’t work for you.
5. The Contractor Coach – This coach does
contract work for one or more large consulting and training companies. Instead
of focusing on getting coaching clients, they focus on getting contracts. The
company that hires them focuses on getting the coaching clients. Consulting and
training companies contract external coaches as a way of scaling their
workforce up and down in a cost-effective way. In times of plenty, these
contracts are not hard to get. However, when times are lean, these contracts
are scarce.
Often such contracts require you to coach using a particular model or approach.
This works for some and not for others.
6. The Internal Coach – This coach works
full-time for a company or organization doing coaching or coaching-related
work. They might have a small private practice on the side. What makes then
viable is full-time employment with a company. The company pays them and provides
an ample supply of clients. This used to be an extremely rare path to success.
But it is becoming more and more common, especially with large multi-national
corporations who are trying to cut costs by hiring coaches as employees instead
of hiring them as external service providers.
This persona has many merits: full-time employment with benefits. However,
full-time employment, working for someone else, isn’t for everyone.
What do you do if none of these personas fit? Many coaches
don’t have a celebrity, guru, or superstar identity that they can leverage to
build a successful coaching business. Many coaches don’t have a superb referral
network feeding them client after client. And both contract coaching and
internal coaching have limitations that rule them out as options for many, even if the
economy is cooperating and producing these job opportunities.
Fortunately, there is an alternative – become an Entrepreneurial Coach.
7. The Entrepreneurial Coach – First, this
kind of coach has an unconditional commitment to renew the life of people in
their target market. They become knowledgeable experts about the kinds of
challenges that their target market faces but can’t easily address. They find
new and innovative ways to address these challenges and turn them into unique
entrepreneurial coaching offers. These coaches offer a unique value. This
enables them to build a strong identity and a strong referral network within
their target market. This enables them to get clients and grow a viable coaching
business serving a target market that their passionate about serving.
This blog is dedicated to exploring what it takes to become
a successful entrepreneurial coach. This is the only persona that is
immediately available to anyone. It isn’t necessarily the easiest path to having
a thriving practice. It takes a lot of sweat and tears. But this persona can work for anyone who is willing to put in the effort.
Of course you can blend approaches to being viable too. For example, you might be both a
Contractor Coach and an Entrepreneurial Coach. From what I’ve seen this
combination is quite typical until the unique entrepreneurial offer takes off.
What is your persona? Is it working for you or not?
-Steve
P.S. – If you know of other personas for building a thriving
and successful coaching business, please let me know. Thanks!
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