Do You Need A Coach?
Coaching, Does It Cost…Or Does It Pay?
I believe that it does both. There is a lot of information about online marketing. Besides dealing with the onslaught of information, you have the technical aspect as well. As the saying goes, you either invest time or money in order to succeed in online marketing.
Online Marketing Cost…
To be a successful online marketer, you will need tools. You will need a domain name, web hosting, an autoresponder, just to name a few things. You will have to learn how to use all of these items too. Now, you can spend the time to learn how to use them, or you can pay someone to do them for you. Most people are under the misconception that online marketing is something that can be done without spending too much money. Once they get involved, they find out that is not the case. It takes a lot of money. This is where many people get discouraged and quit.
Information Overload…
There is so much information out there, that it is easy to get overwhelmed by it. It is constantly changing. Most people get started in one direction, and then receive some new information, and will change direction again. This ends up being a never ending cycle. Therefore, they just go from one shiny object to another. They will never stick with one thing long enough to master it and become successful.
If You Have Time…
If you have the time to study online marketing so that you can learn everything for yourself, perhaps you do not need coaching. However, that being said, you will need a lot of time. There will be a lot of trial and error for you to go through. Most people do not have that kind of time.
If You Have Money…
If you have the money, you can cut your learning curve and your time down tremendously. To be able to get the proper help and guidance will make all the difference to you. As the saying goes, “don’t be a pioneer. They are the ones with the arrows in their backs.” You need to follow a proven system from someone who has done what you want to do, and who is successful at it.
Are All Coaches Created Equal?
No. They are absolutely not! You do not always get what you pay for. As with anything else, you need to do your due diligence when selecting a coach. Make sure that you get referrals from other students. Be aware that some coaches will use their friends as referrals. Do proper research on your coach as well.
My Friend Steve…
I have a friend named Steve. Let me tell you a little bit about his coaching experience. Steve lives in Ohio. The interesting thing to me about Steve, is that he is in the swimming pool and spa business. Now I live in Texas. Our weather here is in no way like the weather in Ohio. I would venture to say that we have a longer swimming pool season here in Texas, than Steve does in Ohio. Steve’s business is a brick and mortar business. Meaning that he has a physical location for his business.
In order for Steve to make money during the snow months, he sells chemicals and does maintenance work. I cannot imagine how hard it would be to work on a swimming pool or spa in the snow.
Steve decided that he needed to do something to get more year round business. After studying online marketing, and trying to do some things on his own, and losing money; he decided to hire a coach. During his foray around the internet, he came across someone that was doing coaching. Steve did some research, some referral investigation, and his due diligence. He decided that this person was the coach he needed.
Steve hired this coach. The coach told him that it would probably take about six months to get Steve where he wanted to be. The cost to Steve would be $250.00 per each Skype coaching session. This was roughly for one call per week, for one to two hours per session.
The first meeting with the coach was to review Steve’s business, what Steve was doing to increase sales, and what Steve wanted to accomplish with the coaching. After the strategy session, the coach gave Steve some things to do before the next session. To be honest, Steve was not sure how this would help him, but he did what the coach told him to do. Steve admitted to me that he was very skeptical during this time. Like most of us, he wanted instant results. The coach told him from day one, that it would take time, and for him to be patient.
As the weeks progressed, Steve started to see small progress. In about four months he began to make money. At the end of seven months, his income had doubled. Before he got coaching, he had a monthly advertising budget of $2,000.00. He kept this same budget, but his coach showed him a way to advertise on the internet. This changed his whole business.
Steve said that he had people from places like California and Florida, where the weather is more swimming pool friendly, were calling him and buying over the phone. People were even willing to mail him checks for down payments. He was totally amazed at how easy it now was to get business.
His coach suggested to him that he should look into selling wave pools. The coach had done some research and found out that this market was exploding, and not many people were filling the void. Steve was surprised because one of his vendors had been trying to get him as a representative for his company and product. Steve now had a new product line, as well as a new revenue stream.
Steve spent around seven months with coaching at a cost of around $7,000.00. The end result was that he doubled his revenue, added a new revenue stream, and was able to use his existing advertising budget.
My Takeaway…
In Steve’s case, the proper coaching paid off for him.
To your success,
Roy
