What can you do to avoid overwhelm as a coach -
Many coaches I've spoken to have a feeling of being overwhelmed by all the things they have to accomplish.
It's not easy to determine who their dream customer is.
They have too many offers.
They do too many things to try and get attention and lead.
It's not easy for them to figure out how to sign up people for their programs.
There are too many applications that require them to bond with zaps and rubber bands.
They put too much effort into their clients to end up burning out, even though they enjoy their coach.
Are any of these topics in tune with you?
There are three types of overwhelm that I routinely witness coaches struggle with:
Strategy overwhelm
Overwhelmed Client
Systems overpower
Let's take a look in one by one.
Strategy overwhelm
When it comes to strategies, the majority of coaches have numerous offers. They're doing too many things to try and get the attention of leads and gain their interest, but often, they aren't able to decide about which kind of client to target.
There's also a lack of clarity of how they'd like make sales that will draw people into their programs.
Now, in the beginning you'll experiment. That's okay.
However, you're really hoping to master the Five Ones.
Five Ones: The Five Ones say that if you are focused on...
One avatar
One source of traffic
One offer
One enrollment mechanism
For one year
You can hit a million dollars of revenue.
If you're not at the million-dollar mark and you've reached your million dollar mark, do not even consider the possibility of adding another avatar, a second traffic source, another advertisement, or even a different enrolling method.
Coaches that aren't earning enough money to pay the salaries they'd like to think that they should to expand their offering, more products, more avatars, or more sources for traffic ... everything in the hope of expanding their reach to bring in more clients.
The exact opposite of the case.
The goal is to narrow it down. You must be specific. Choose.
It's not about making the right choice.
The key is to make a decision, and making it right.
There is a way to make one of them work.
Choose one and stay with it, till you've reached the million-dollar mark.
I am aware of how difficult this could be.
With the right guidance and direction, you will be able to make them succeed.
If somebody else has been successful in this way, then that it's a possibility.
After that, it's simply figuring out the details.
Client Overwhelm
While our coaches are passionate about coaching and love our clients but sometimes, it's somewhat overwhelming.
If you're putting in a lot of 1:1 work with clients, it's easy to become exhausted.
You find yourself saying the same thing repeatedly.
It's that feeling you get when there's something absolutely brilliant just flowing out of you in the course of a session with a client, but you don't know where it came from. It's fantastic!
You're disappointed that no one else will have the opportunity to listen to your dazzling story since you're speaking it in a private 1:1 meeting!
A few coaches do not just the work in a 1:1 manner, but they're working on behalf of those they coach. It's a done-for-you model.
Yes, you are able to increase your fees so that you are paid more to coach and possibly take on fewer clients.
But it's fundamentally not scaleable.
The most scalable method is to do group coaching.
Create a group plan where you can interact with all of your clients simultaneously.
Templates, frameworks and live group coaching and even a community.
You don't only get them however, they also gain each other.
This means that, as the number of clients increases, so too does the worth of your program.
If you're not already conducting group coaching, or if a group-coaching program isn't the mainstay of your organization, this should be the first thing you consider and should be the "One Offer" in your Five Ones.
Systems overwhelm
These days, it's quite common to have at least five, seven, nine or more tools to manage your coaching business.
Webhosting like Wordpress or Wix
Email marketing software or ESP (Email Service Provider) such as MailChimp or ConvertKit
Carts for shopping similar to Shopify or Samcart
Platform for courses or LMS, such as Teachable or Kajabi
Video host like Vimeo or Wistia
Funnel software or a page creator such as LeadPages or ClickFunnels
Community software similar to Circle or MightyNetworks
Scheduler similar to Calendly or SavvyCal
Survey tool like TypeForm or SurveyMonkey
Tracking tool for affiliates like Post or Tapfiliate, Affiliate Pro
Pipeline for Sales like Pipedrive or Close.com
CRM similar to Hubspot or Ontraport
Zapier to connect them all!
There's some overlap on this list since some of these tools do more than one thing.
There are others that are also often used and I didn't list.
The list can get rather long quite quickly.
It's not just adding up to a hefty cost per month.
It also adds a lot of extra work and mental bandwidth for you.
There's first the issue of fatigue of having to choose between all of these options.
Each category is represented there are many alternatives with each having the advantages and disadvantages, and some of them cover multiple categories.
You have to evaluate them in all of them, before deciding the best one to use and then determine how they integrate with the other stacks you have.
It's then time for the integration.
Are they able to speak natively each other, or are you required to utilize Zapier to "zap" them?
This is another headache, and the connections are weak.
The devices will break down, particularly when you're on vacation, and it's up to you (or your staff if they have one, and if they are able to figure it out), to fix it.
And then there's the psychological bandwidth that comes with needing to switch between softwares, each of which is performing things in a different way.
It causes lots of context switching in which it is necessary to switch your work style every few minutes.
If you're uploading your logo on more than 4 different sites you might want to find a more effective alternative.
With NO zaps.
The glue isn't there.
No rubber bands.
All your business operations in one place.
It's like finding your home along the border.
And all the parts talk effortlessly with one another.
Clients only need to enter their information once, and you can store it stored in your database.
Connect their opt-in to their application form to them scheduling an appointment with you to discuss strategy.
Easy. Clean. Simple.
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