Wrong.

That mindset is a mistake made by over 95% of business coaches and it is something I hope to challenge today. Those coaches whose only revenue comes from selling their 1:1 will always be limited by how much they can physically and mentally deliver in a day, week or month. They will never be able to break through that ceiling, unless they can charge significantly more for their 1:1 time.

For me, coaching was the perfect choice of career. It meant I could work around my children and pick and choose the times I wanted to work. This is the motivation for many mums I know who are professional coaches. The danger is that most of us at some point fall into the trap of working too much and suddenly, all the reasons we started coaching in the first place seem to be the very things we now miss out on!

I spent a huge amount of my time delivering 1:1 coaching and it left me exhausted. It was at that point that I realised there must be a way to sell more of my coaching without it eating up all of my time. If I could package up my coaching into a format that people could buy and work through in their own time, I wouldn’t need to be there at all! I could spend time with my children and do the things I really wanted to, without jeopardising our finances.

I went on to develop an online coaching programme which included webinars and online questions, split up into modules and packaged into specific programmes that I would typically deliver to my clients. It literally transformed my business overnight as one of my first product promotions resulted in $24,000 of sales, the majority of which were a passive revenue stream for me.

If you are already a coach, or are thinking about becoming a coach, my advice is to really think about how you can productise your expertise into products that people will buy. Whether that’s ‘How to stop smoking’ or ‘How to become a great business leader’, the secret is to focus on topics that you are really good at or passionate about, as the material will be stronger and will help you stand out and sell more.

There are many different online tools out there to help you get started with developing online coaching content and many offer free trials, so you can have a look around and see what works for you. I used a couple when I started out and then decided to invest in building my own coaching platform JigsawBox, which is now available to any coach wanting to offer web-based coaching products and services.

I’m sure you are reading this thinking, it can’t be that easy. It does take some thought to work out how to package up what you do into products your clients actually want to buy, but once you’ve made that first online sale, you can do over and over again I’m able to make money literally whilst going out for the afternoon swimming with my children and I absolutely love it!

About the Author

With an MSc in Occupational Psychology and a diverse range of business experience, mother of three Nicola Bird went from earning $0 to over $500,000 online by mastering technology to transform her coaching business. She created JigsawBox as a way for her clients to access her expertise online in a flexible and affordable way, whilst leaving her free to concentrate on growing her business and spending time with her young children.

Through JigsawBox, Nicola helps its members to package up their expertise and deliver it online so that they can create more time, money and freedom to do the stuff they love. Nicola is passionate about inspiring women in technology and helping more people to gain a better work/life balance. For more information visit www.jigsawbox.com