The Coaching Academy Blog

So here’s the final installment of the most common marketing mistakes made by coaches. Judging by some of the feedback already received, this series has been well followed and welcomed which is always great to hear.

By passing on my experience to you I hope you will be well equipped to learn from my mistakes and move closer to combining a coaching heart with a commercial mind.

Here’s marketing mistakes 9 and 10 and how to avoid them:

• Marketing Mistake 9 – Relying Upon Exchanging Your Time for Money as the Only Way to Make an Income

Most coaches earn money only when they are either on the phone to a client, or meeting face to face, but there are many opportunities to create, sell or distribute products. It is relatively straightforward to create MP3 downloads, CDs, tip books and so on that can be made available and sold on your website or added as extra products to your coaching courses.

As interim support between coaching sessions you might want to provide a series of downloads that can be delivered on a weekly basis to your client’s inbox. That way even while you are sleeping there is the potential for you to be making money if someone downloads one of your products. The bonus is that you can capture their email address and register their potential interest in your coaching services in exchange.

Whether you are busy, on holiday, ill, or asleep, there are more ways to be earning money – it’s not just about charging for your time.

Everything you sell or give away will help your prospective client to decide “do I want this person to coach me?” and the answer should be “YES!”

• Marketing Mistake 10 – Undercharging or Charging by the Hour

Think of a situation or a problem that a coach could help you with right now. If this problem disappeared what would that be worth to you in both commercial and personal terms? If you were to hire a coach how much would you be prepared to pay for one hour’s coaching?

Very often the price we are prepared to pay for specialist advice equates to the price we are confident about charging for our own services. If you would pay only £45 for a coach yourself, but you are thinking of charging £100 for your services there is an incongruity and likely to be in internal conflict. The price you charge depends on your confidence in your competence and the way you position yourself as a coach.

If you are positioning yourself as an expert (and I suggest that you do) then you are likely to become highly sought after and people will be prepared to pay more for your help.

Focus on selling a course of coaching sessions. After a short telephone consultation you can assess how many sessions a client is likely to need.

You can then say something like, “I would estimate that we will work together for about six weeks. During that time will have four face-to-face (or telephone) appointments with email or telephone support between sessions to share your success. The price for a 6-week course is £X.”

Offering a coaching course that is paid for in advance encourages a greater level of commitment from both coach and client.

Bev James

Learn from the UK’s leading coaches and business experts at the next Entrepreneurs Business Academy for Coaches event. The next Marketing Fundamentals day takes place on the 26th November in London and we will show you how to turn your coaching skills into a successful business.