5 Things They Don’t Tell You About Online Coaching

1. It’s Not As Easy As It Seems

That Coach with 20k followers and 50 online clients. Yeah, that didn’t just happen overnight. Online Coaching is a process of trial and error, which takes quite some time to get the hang of. Figure out what works best for you and your clients. Don’t start off on too large a scale, as you’ll soon regret it down the line. Start small. Limit the amount of clients you can take on. Figure it out with them and constantly rethink and adapt your online process. Build from there as you get more and more comfortable with the workload. If you take on a lot of clients and do a crappy job, then a lot of people are going to know about it. If you take on a few clients and do a wonderful job, you’ll be surprised with how fast word will get around. 

2. Focus On The Clients You’ve Already Got

Don’t spend all your time thinking about what you’re going to do when you get on a larger scale. If you don’t retain any clients, then you’re always going to have the same amount of clients. You have been employed to be their coach, so act like it. Leave no stone unturned as you seek to help them to reach their goals. If you don’t care, then it’s not the right fit and don’t be afraid to let them know that. You are literally employed to care about every fine detail. The more information you have, the better you’ll be able to program and help them. But your job is not just to program for their physical training. Monitor their progress, seek to devise collective strategies to help them feel better mentally, as well as physically. Don’t be afraid to ask the tough questions and don’t complain when you’re given too much information.

3. Your Marketing Strategy is Crucial

So once you’ve got the hang of the actual online coaching, your next goal has got to be growing the business and your platform. Be authentic in how you do this. Make sure how you market yourself is tied closely to how you are as a person. People don’t want to sign up for a package and be disappointed, when the service isn’t how it seemed from the outside looking in. It’s no secret that the people who make the most from online coaching are not necessarily the best coaches, but the best marketers of their product (eg. Joe Wicks and whatever huns have their buns out on Instagram). Define your target market, sell to them and fuck everybody else. Make sure that your social profile gives a reflection and insight into how you are as a person. People do not sign up to use your program, they sign up to WORK WITH YOU!

4. Be Extremely Adaptable in Your Programming

“Everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the face.” Sometimes life happens and things get in the way. Don’t be too rigid in how you structure your weeks, sessions and check-ins. As the old saying goes, “life is what happens when you’re busy making plans.” Your clients will miss the odd session, they will get the odd niggle, they will miss the odd phone call and they will go on the odd bender. What’s important is that you work with them to get back on track, be understanding of their issues and never judge them for doing or not doing what they do. If they’re really taking the piss, then don’t be afraid to let them go, but always try to find the root issue first and develop a strategy around it.

5. Value Your Time and Be Efficient With It

When they say that being an online coach is a 24-hour job, they’re not lying. When you look at that online coach that’s off enjoying themself all the time, either they are very good at time management, or they are very bad at their job but have an elite marketing strategy. Your clients are going to ask you stupid questions, morning, noon and night. Be careful and value your time, whilst setting boundaries around when and how they can contact you. Always make sure to reply within 24 hours. Always give a comprehensive answer, with ifs, buts and maybes. This reduces the amount of dialogue necessary for the client to get the information that they need. Two paragraph long messages, or voice-notes, take up far less of your time and energy than a series of one sentence text messages. Be clear in what information you give them and make sure that you’ve solved the problem that they have experienced.