Me.
…the most arrogant blog post in the history of blog posts.
I should say, or someone like me. Because believe it or not, this post isn’t about me (Julie) as much as it is about the state of MOST business owners looking for help with their digital marketing efforts by hiring a business coach.
I’m going to be crucified.
And yes, there are exceptions, I know. Let’s get this outta the way now.
The first time I heard the phrase business coach, I was confused.
The only context I had for the word coach, was in relation to my super intense and very driven Romanian soccer coach husband. He works very hard. He holds team practices, works on individual player skills and team development, oversees games, gives direction and correction, helps his players crush their competition, and provides moral and emotional support/kicks in the ass when needed.
He is a professional soccer player, who’s spent 1000’s of hours on the field himself, and now teaches others to do the same.
It stood to reason (in my mind at least), that a business coach for online business would do all these same things…just in business.
- Brainstorm business plans
- Create to-do lists and milestones and schedules
- Advise and strategize on marketing efforts
- Give insight to the competition and how to leverage it
- Oversee launches and the development of funnels
- Train on high level digital marketing skills to help business owner succeed
- Provide emotional support/kick in the ass when needed
- Offer their extensive knowledge and expertise in DOING the work of online business themselves…to their clients
So imagine my SURPRISE! when I realized many business coaches are only skilled in a few of these areas, and…the most important area of all…the teaching and training in the steps and execution of pulling off a new business venture, campaign, or launch…is the one most often missing from the resumé.
Business coaches now are what my brother would call fat squishy babies. It’s a term coined over at Google (where he works)…and it describes the state of many of the Google employees…so used to their cocooned and hyper-privileged working environment, they’d have no idea how to succeed in the real world if Google disappeared. In fact 20/20 just recently did a documentary on this very phenomenon.
But I digress…
You see, here is the landscape of the common business coach today…
Business Coach #1: Provides moral/emotional support, but has no idea how to use a Clickfunnel.
Or
Business Coach #2: He/she helps you bust through mindset and money blocks and encourages you to manifest your next 100k through vague and non-quantifiable steps, and doesn’t provide any guidance on profit & loss statements, money management, or income projection.
Or maybe…
Business Coach #3: He/she provides strategy and ideas and operates as a safe sounding board for creating plans, and then tells you to hire a project manager to oversee the plan because that isn’t what they do….
or
Business Coach #4: He/she tells you how to spend your money and what to launch and when, but then has no idea how to actually execute ANY of it.
How about…
Business Coach #5: He/she is a great idea generator and motivator and every meeting feels like a rainbow of dreams and ideas, and then nothing actually happens in real life because everything is just an idea.
And these are supposedly the good ones. It’s not even worth mentioning the bad ones. The ones with no real life business experience, training, or skills.
Business coaches are paid thousands and thousands of dollars, and at the end…you still have to hire a consultant and project manager and a financial advisor and a slew of virtual assistants and freelancers to pull off what said business coach helped you drum up. Cha Cha Cha Ching.
And…we’re assuming of course that their plan is actually smart.
Ask yourself this question: Does your business coach know how to….
- Design a sales page?
- Write great sales copy?
- Dig deep into audience research and targeting?
- Run Facebook Ads that convert like gangbusters?
- Develop a sales funnel that will be profitable?
- Launch a course to six figures?
- Hook up the payment gateway to your CRM so you can take payment?
- Write a welcome sequence?
- Segment a list based on survey results?
- Setup a website?
- Design a value ladder for your business?
- Rise above hardship and limited funds to create wealth?
I can hear you gawking…no one is supposed to know how to do all of this….
Oh really?
Are you sure?
Because there are people that can do ALL OF IT. And I’m one of them. And I know there are others out there too. I can think of a bunch actually.
But guess what…very few of them are calling themselves Business Coaches.
They are hiding out as strategists, consultants, freelancers, designers, online business managers, and yes…even as VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS.
Right now, I have a virtual assistant that works for me that could help a business do all of the above better than 50% of coaches advertising their services on the market…fancy outfits, yachts, and all.
If you need help with digital marketing, you don’t need a business coach. You need an experienced DIGITAL MARKETER, and they come in LOTS of forms.
I know, profound.
Digital Marketers are freelancers, designers, virtual assistants, online business managers, course creators, entrepreneurs, FB Ads strategists, and yes..consultants and strategists.
Here’s the problem: Click on ONE Facebook Ad for a Business Coach, and you’ll start to see a SLEW of Business Coach ads…in beautiful clothes, in beautiful cities, with beautiful cars…all promising the dream life once you sign on to their formula.
All the other people…the ones who can actually help you get sh*t done…are too busy DOING the stuff, to jaunt across the world for photo shoot #463,789.
Before you drop $3k, $5k, $10k or more on a business coach, PLEASE….listen to my advice.
I’ve worked with too many to count clients who found me AFTER hiring a business coach…and said…“Well I just wasted $___ because I could have come here first and gotten my plan off the ground without all that time and money spent.”
Of course there are horrible VA’s and online business managers and freelancers too (different topic), but I’ll bet — that right now, that super VA who does awesome work on your Pinterest account, if you paid her to develop a strategic social media plan, she’d do it…better than a coach.
Or if you asked your sales funnel designer about what would convert, he would know. Why? Because he’s done a MILLION of them.
Or if you talked to your copywriter about how to sell a new product idea, they’d have some killer advice.
Perhaps if you paid your team to get digital marketing training for the gaps in their skill sets, you’d bypass the need for a Business Coach altogether.
The people who say you can’t find someone for all those skills…are most likely the fat squishy baby business coaches who need to say that in order to maintain job security.
I worked for a client about a year ago. A business coach.
She had no idea how to do half of what she was teaching. She covered it up with the “stay in your lane” rhetoric that meant you’re supposed to delegate out work and stay in your zone of genius. I frequently had to bail her out when she couldn’t answer people’s technical questions.
I had other clients who came to me after spending $10k plus on a well-known coach, but still…did not know how to put together the lead magnet and opt-in they came up with, never mind the marketing funnel attached to it.
I had clients hire me who couldn’t even figure out the most basic of online marketing tools because all the business coach did was work on manifesting.
This is not me taking one bogus example and blowing it up to make a point. This is over, and over, and over again.
It’s my experience.
It’s my client’s experience.
It’s all over groups and chats online.
An industry of business coaching — riding high on their own self-importance, charging outrageous amounts of money for a few nuggets of wisdom, without any intention of either helping you implement the plan, OR AT THE VERY LEAST…teaching YOU how to implement the plan.
The answer to why your business isn’t performing online…is probably sitting in the hands of an experienced VA or OBM who studies this stuff day in and day out. It’s sitting in the hands of digital marketers who eat, sleep, and breathe Facebook Ads. It’s sitting in the hands of people like me…who are addicted to online marketing tools, strategies, and skills — and can not only DO what you need done, but help you strategize as well. Because we’ve done it over and over and over. For ourselves, and others.
It’s right in front of you. You don’t need a business coach.
You need someone like me.
If you’re interested in learning digital marketing — The Digital Gangsta is the way to go and has a free workshop on growing any kind of online business. If you’re looking for a tight-knit network full of entrepreneurial support, check out The CYLL Network. If you’re looking for a high-end mastermind to take your business to the next level (and get help building a sales funnel), check out the mastermind.
Kristie says
The funny thing is, I’ve never felt qualified to call myself a coach until now! I’ve limited my title to (like you) strategist and consultant. And I definitely don’t charge thousands! I think your post has motivated me to rethink some things haha because I absolutely can do all of those things. Thanks!
Chichi Eruchalu says
SO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS POST! This is why I hate the term Business Coach and much prefer consultant and/or strategist.
I too do all the stuff you mentioned above and it’s frustrating to see what you get with some of these “high level business coaches”. Thank for talking openly about this.
Elvita says
Ha. I love this. It is so true especially in the therapy business. It’s all fluff if you ask me and very few are ready to role up their sleeves and do some work. Not to mention consultants often advocate the same old tired ways of doing business without teaching new skills.