How to Get out of Overwhelm as a Coach -
Most coaches I know are feeling pretty overwhelmed with all the things they have to do.
The company isn't sure who their dream customer is.
There are too many deals.
They try too many different things to attempt to create attention and lead.
They're not clear on how to sign up people for their programs.
They have too many programs that they need to glue together with elastic bands and zaps.
They put too much effort into their clients and eventually burn out, even though they love to coach.
Does any of this resonate with you?
Three types of overstress that I regularly observe coaches suffering from:
Overwhelming strategy
Client overwhelm
Systems overwhelm
Let's look at them one at a time.
Strategy Overwhelm
If it's about strategy, coaches are often faced with too many offers, they're performing too many activities to try and get more attention or get leads and they often don't know about which kind of client to target.
The company is also unclear about how they'd like to sell to draw customers to sign up for their programs.
In the beginning you'll experiment. That's okay.
However, you're really hoping to nail those Five Ones.
The Five Ones say that if you focus upon...
One avatar
One traffic source
One offer
One enrollment mechanism
A year in the making
You can hit a million dollars of revenue.
When you've reached your million dollar mark and you've reached your million dollar mark, do not even consider creating a second avatar, a second website, a different advertisement, or even a different enrolling mechanism.
Coaches that aren't earning as much money as they'd like to think that they should to expand their offering and products, additional avatars, more traffic sources ... every step to expand their reach to bring in more clients.
In the opposite actually the situation.
You need to narrow down. You must be particular. Choose.
It's not about making the right choice.
The key is to make a decision to make it the right one, and getting it done.
There is a way to make one of them work.
Select one you like, and then stick with it, till you've reached the million-dollar mark.
I know how hard it can be.
If you have the proper mentorship and guidance, you absolutely can make any of them work.
If you've seen someone succeed in this way, then it's possible.
It's then a matter of figuring out the details.
Client Refusal
While coaches enjoy coaching and adore our clients, sometimes it can be somewhat overwhelming.
When you're doing lots of one-on-one work with clients, it's not hard to get burned out.
It is common to say the same thing over and over again.
There is incredible energy flowing out of you in an interview, and you don't exactly where it came from. It feels amazing!
But now you're bummed that a lot of people will not have the opportunity to listen to your dazzling story as you're sharing that in a personal 1-on-1 conversation!
Certain coaches don't just do the work in a 1:1 manner, but they're working for their clients. A done-for-you type model.
Yes, you are able to boost your prices so that you are paid more as a coach, and maybe take on fewer clients.
But it's fundamentally not scaleable.
The most scalable method is to do group coaching.
Craft a group program that allows you to interact with all of your clients simultaneously.
The template, the framework as well as live group coaching as well as a community.
You don't only get them and they also receive each other.
That means that since the amount of clients grows, so does the effectiveness of your service.
If you're not currently offering group coaching or if having a group coaching program isn't the mainstay of your organization, it should be your top priority and must be your "One Offer" within your Five Ones.
Systems Overwhelm
These days, it's quite common to have five or seven, eight or more softwares to run your coaching company.
Website host similar to Wordpress or Wix
Marketing software for email or the ESP (Email Service Provider) similar to MailChimp or ConvertKit
Shopping cart like Shopify or Samcart
Platform for courses or LMS such as Teachable or Kajabi
Video host like Vimeo or Wistia
Funnel software or a page builder like ClickFunnels or LeadPages
Software for community like Circle or MightyNetworks
Scheduler like Calendly or SavvyCal
Survey Tool such as TypeForm, or SurveyMonkey
Tool for tracking 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 in!
There's some overlap with this list, as many of these tools perform more than one thing.
But then again, there are other terms that are often used and I didn't list.
The list can get rather long quite quickly.
It's not just adding an enormous cost per month.
Additionally, it adds lots of additional work and your mental capacity.
There's first the issue of fatigue from deciding on all of these options.
In each of the categories listed there are many alternatives, and they each have the advantages and disadvantages as well as some that are in multiple categories.
It is important to test them in all of them, before deciding the one you'll choose and then determine what they'll do when integrated with other components of your stack.
And then comes the actual process of integration.
Do they speak directly to each other, or must you use Zapier to "zap" them?
It's another issue and the connections are weak.
They'll fail, especially in the time of vacation and it's up to you (or your team, if you are one of them, and if they can figure it out) to repair it.
And then there's the mental strain of having to switch between the programs, with each doing things a little differently.
It creates a lot of contextual switching, where it is necessary to switch your work style every few minutes.
If your logo is being uploaded at more than four locations, it might be time to find a more effective alternative.
With NO zaps.
No glue.
No rubber bands.
All your business operations in all in one location.
It's like finding your home along the border.
Then all of the parts communicate easily with each other.
The clients you have on your database only need to input their data once, and you have it within your database.
You can connect the opt-in for them to schedule an appointment with you to discuss strategy.
Easy. Clean. Simple.
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