How I Finally Built the Coaching Business I Dreamed About for 15 Years
Why do we always have to learn the hard way?
After 15 years, I’ve finally created the coaching program I’ve always dreamed of.
Today I will explain how I’m doing it. Hopefully, you can use my experience as a way to build something of your own.
LFG 🔥
Getting Out Of My Own Head
For more than a decade, I’ve dreamed of having a personal brand. When I was first getting started, I would read Copyblogger every day, but I would also watch Gary Vaynerchuk’s YouTube videos. I always started my workouts on the stair master watching The Daily Vee, which was Vaynerchuk’s daily vlog.
They had two conflicting viewpoints.
Copyblogger argued that social media was a waste of time because the only thing that mattered was the email list. Vaynerchuk argued that social media was the most important thing because it’s where all the attention was.
Now that I’m older and more mature, I realize both of these statements can be true at the same time.
For whatever reason, this stuck with me. Anytime I saw other people building brands on social media and creating digital products, I would secretly feel envious but also judge them, as if they were hacks who didn’t have real entrepreneurial skills and just sold courses about how to sell courses.
Last year, during a conversation with my business coach, I finally broke free of this limiting belief. I accepted what I wanted and, most of all, stopped judging myself for wanting it. I don’t need anyone’s permission to build a personal coaching program, and doing so doesn’t make me any more or less skilled as an entrepreneur. It certainly doesn’t take away from anything I’ve already built.
Sometimes the hardest part is getting out of your own way.
Lessons Learned From Coaching
Once I decided I was going to do coaching, I first added the service to my Substack. I thought one-on-one coaching was the best way because I could guarantee results and deliver value personally.
But for me, it was actually a failure.
On two separate occasions, I had to refund a month’s worth of time because I got too busy and couldn’t keep track of my calendar.
It’s a flaw of mine as an entrepreneur. I have the ability to laser focus on growth and sales, but as a byproduct, I lose sight of the daily work. I’ve always made up for this by building a great team, which allowed me to stay focused on growth. But with coaching, there was no one else to depend on. It was just me.
So I learned quickly that one-on-one coaching was not for me. I wasn’t being accountable to my students, it was hurting my reputation, and I was delivering a product that didn’t make me feel good.
That’s when I decided to build the Launchpad.
I figured that if I was ever going to build a scalable product of my own, I had to do it now before I psyched myself out of it. One thing led to another, and it looks like I’m about to have my best month.
I’m getting new signups every day. I honestly can’t believe it. This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was 24, but I always convinced myself I needed to stay focused on my directories and agency. The timing finally came together, and I feel like I’m building something special.
The Secrets To Building A Successful Membership Program
I can’t tell you how other people do it. I can only tell you how I’m doing it.
1. Sell before you’re ready: The biggest fear for most people is that their product isn’t good enough. I started by charging 99 dollars a year, built some momentum, and now I’m at 697 dollars a year and will soon increase the price to 1000 dollars a year.
2. Sell sell sell: Everyone is scared to sell. You’re scared to come across as pushy or overly salesy. You have to break that pattern. If you really believe in your product, then you’re doing your customers a disservice by not promoting something that could change their lives. Don’t be scared.
3. Build in public: My product isn’t even finished. I’m recording and publishing lessons live on the platform. I’ve been extremely honest about this, and the truth is, people appreciate it. They get early access, and in exchange, they get to watch me build it and influence how it grows. I’m completely making this up as I go, and I’m realizing that this is a feature, not a flaw.
4. Stick to your idea: I never imagined people would be interested in agencies, directories, and newsletters. My business flywheel is so boring. Turns out, lots of people are into boring and profitable businesses. I wish I believed in myself sooner.
5. Start with one social platform: Right now, I’m publishing on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Threads, Pinterest, Instagram, TikTok, Spotify, Reddit, and Substack. But I didn’t start this way. At first, I focused only on Twitter. Over the last four years, I’ve expanded to other platforms, but if I tried doing it all from the beginning, it never would have worked. Start small and expand.
6. Build a sales process: If there’s one thing I’ve done really well, it’s building a sales process. Selling access to my platform has been different from selling high ticket agency work, but treating sales and marketing seriously from day one has had a big impact on growth.
7. Be an open book: One thing that bothers me about other coaching programs is how much they gatekeep. If someone asks me a question and they aren’t a customer, I still help them as best I can. So far, no one’s tried to work me for free info, and many of those people end up joining.
8. Don’t take yourself so seriously: I was nervous that my laid-back, unpolished style wouldn’t translate to a membership community. I’ve been thrilled to discover that people are interested in me, not the bells and whistles.
9. Believe in yourself: The biggest thing holding me back was the belief that I couldn’t do it. I used to think other people knew how to build membership platforms, and if I tried, I’d make mistakes and look stupid. That was all in my head. The second I decided to go for it and believed in myself, everything started coming together.
10. Have fun: I’m having a blast. It wouldn’t work if I wasn’t having fun.
Hope this helps. If any of you are thinking about building a digital product, I invite you to go for it full send. What’s the worst that can happen?
Love you guys. Talk to you tomorrow
Tim
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