Ali Brown – Coaching Business Secrets
Los Angeles, Calif., USA
Dear Coach or Consultant,
Listen, I know you love what you do.
It’s a fact that most people who go into coaching as a business do it because they LOVE helping others! They love working with someone and helping them get from where they are to where they want to be, bringing out their best, helping them think bigger, fostering those big breakthroughs, etc. I personally love nothing more than working with a client and seeing her have a “light bulb a-ha moment.”
But there is a huge problem with the traditional one-on-one coaching model. Sure it sounds easy at first… “I’ll just coach 20 clients a month” and then you realize you’re not only exhausted, but coaching isn’t as joyful as it once was.
The next phase most coaches go through if they are not resonating with the one-on-one model is introducing group coaching via teleseminars. Perhaps you’ve tried these as well, but you’re still not bringing in the money you need. Maybe you can’t figure out how to charge what you want to. Or you can’t get as many people in your programs as you’d like.
Sadly, I’m not surprised.
Do you realize that the typical annual incomes for experienced coaches are all over the board, ranging from $50,510 (2008 ICF Global Coaching Study) to $134,800 (2009 Sherpa Executive Coaching Study)?
For such a noble profession that dramatically helps others, that seems very low. Especially when you look at how weak the dollar is right now, and how much it costs to run a business.
No wonder most people’s eyes pop open wide when I share what my programs generate, and those of my students as well.
I’ve Learned a Lot, and Want to Share It With You…
First of all, you should know I never set out to be a coach. In fact, I never knew such a profession existed until I met a woman whom I hired to be my own life coach in 1999. I became curious about the industry, and nearly considered becoming a coach myself, until I calculated what I could make. I was living in New York City alone and could barely make ends meet, and didn’t see at the time how becoming a coach would help my bottom line. I decided to focus on my core business instead, which at the time was providing writing services for businesses.
In 2001, I decided to write a little ebook teaching how to market your business by publishing an email newsletter, or “ezine.” I sold it online, and was delighted at the extra $1,000 or so it brought in each month. Word got out, and something funny happened. People who bought the ebook then called and wanted me to work with them personally. They wanted me to show them how they could create an ebook and sell it online and make money too. They wanted me to coach them!
Well, I was flattered but I just kept thinking, “I’m not a coach. Hmmm. Would that even be legal? I’m sure I’d have to get certified or something to be able to coach people like this.” So I politely declined and got back to my core business.
I focused more on Internet and information marketing because it was inexpensive to do and I could work it in between writing clients. I soon started selling more products online and ventured into teaching teleseminars on specific topics too. I was really having fun now and had finally broken through the $100,000 mark between my client work and my Internet ventures.
Then, the same thing happened again! People were writing and calling and asking how they could learn how to do what I was doing. But they didn’t want to buy a product to show them how. They wanted me to work with them personally. They wanted me to coach them!
Again, I politely declined, simply because I was scared. I thought, “I don’t know how to coach!”
There’s a saying that when God’s trying to drop you a clue, first you get a few taps on the shoulder. Then you get whacked with a big 2×4. That’s what happened when one person said, “Ali I’ll pay you whatever you want, just show me how to do what you’re doing.”
I asked for what I felt at the time was an outrageous amount of money for a few months of one-on-one coaching: $6,000. She signed up on the spot.
I loved this! Being paid well to share with others how they could be successful too. I started to add coaching to my offerings along with selling my other information products and courses. In 2006, I launched what I considered to be my very first high-priced coaching program. I remember being so nervous when I announced the $12,000 fee on stage! Today, just a few years later, I happily command $100,000 per membership in my top-tier program.
To get from there to here, I had to learn a lot – the hard way. It wasn’t an easy ride. There was trial and error. Some things even blew up in the process! Some privately, some publicly. But the risk paid off…
Today, my coaching programs are well-oiled machines that one year alone brought in over $2 million. And that’s only part of my entire business I’ve offered various tiers of membership to be able to serve entrepreneurs of all income levels, ranging from $9.97 monthly continuity to $247 a month and $18,000 a year and $100,000 a year. (And my star members are experiencing stellar results, which is the best part of all! But this isn’t about that right now…)
Listen, I’m not sharing these numbers with you to impress you, but instead to impress upon you that I definitely learned how to expertly design, sell, and run coaching programs.
But here’s why I’m sharing this. I fully realize being able to charge these types of fees for coaching, let alone make 7-figures or more with it is extremely unusual in the traditional coaching industry.
I’m not claiming to be the best in the world at creating these programs. Nor am I claiming to be the best coach in the world. (Or the best at anything in the world for that matter!)
But here’s what I know for sure: I have grown my coaching business from what started as a little cash cow “on the side” into a substantial arm of my company that brings in millions of dollars a year. And I get so much joy from it and also see the results my clients receive. It’s a win all around. For my spirit, my bank account, my clients, and their bank accounts too!
The best part? There is an absolute formula to it. And now, it’s YOUR turn! I’m about to peel back the curtain and reveal for YOU my secrets for designing, selling, and running outrageously profitable coaching programs.
Discover how you can add an extra $50,000 to $1 MILLION a year to your revenues (no kidding) by learning these insider strategies – whether you’re already a coach/consultant or are ready to be one.
For the last several years my students and colleagues have been asking – BEGGING – me to share everything I know and have learned from developing my coaching programs to such a successful level.
I admit for a while I kept my strategies “close to the vest” as my business grew so quickly and was in transition. But, I decided to share my secrets for the first time EVER in a one-time only live event reserved exclusively for my Platinum and Diamond members and for experienced coaches. It was called the Coaching Business Intensive, and it took place in July 2010.
The response was INCREDIBLE, even at a ticket price of nearly $10,000, and that’s when I realized I wanted to create a home-study version for those of you who could not be there. It’s called:
Coaching Business Secrets (CBS):
Strategies for Designing, Selling and Running Profitable High-End Coaching Programs.
This program covers ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING I have to share regarding creating, promoting, and “working” coaching programs that give you HUGE leverage in your business and what you can charge. Some would even say it gives you an UNFAIR advantage over others in your industry, but all I know is I’m sharing what works.
In Coaching Business Secrets, not only do I share the specific strategies I recommend, but I also give you every email and web page I used for my launches, launch calendars that walk you through every step of sales, exactly what I SAY on stage when making a live coaching offer, flowcharts I use to run my programs, checklists my team uses before every coaching call, and more. It’s truly the BUSINESS of advanced coaching, A-Z.
I know you’re eager to know exactly what will be covered in CBS. But first let’s take a look at the opportunities available to you…
What Are Today’s Opportunities in Coaching? Problems? Challenges?
While many hem and haw about our “recession hangover”, coaching is still in demand. Why? Some say people are overwhelmed. We are confronted by too many choices. We are accosted daily by too much information. Life in general has admittedly become more complex. Add to that for many of us the pressure of running and growing a business, and you can easily understand how it’s well worth it to hire someone to help navigate rough waters.
There are two broad areas of coaching: business coaches and life coaches. For the purposes of keeping this letter brief, I am going to make some gross sweeping generalizations here…
Business coaches are typically trained in helping business owners or entrepreneurs excel, or they are successful leaders in a specific industry who turn to coaching others in their industry. Examples of industries with niche-specific coaching programs are direct sales professionals, dentists, wedding planners, hair salon owners, restaurant owners, dog groomers, image consultants, etc.
Life coaches typically work on a wider variety of topics, helping their clients make strategic decisions about careers, relationships, marriage, divorce, motivation, creativity, health, fitness, finances, lifestyle, and sometimes some business matters.
Coaching can be conducted live in person, or over the phone, or via email. (Some old fogeys are still using fax too.) It can be delivered one-on-one or in groups ranging from 5 to 500. The possibilities are endless, and I still don’t know of many more portable and lifestyle-friendly businesses such as coaching. You can conduct your calls from anywhere you are — at home, an office, or on the road traveling. And if you’re going to host live meetings or retreats, I say why not host them in locations you’d love to visit? (As an example, one of my Diamond member retreats last year was held in Maui, Hawaii. What a great “vacation” that was also a legitimate business write-off! Of course always check with your accountant.)
There are dozens, if not hundreds, of coaching schools and certification programs out there in the world that teach you how to be coaches in many different industries and niches. Many of them provide good information on how to set up your basic practice and work with clients.
But here’s the problem… these schools teach you how to make enough to get by, but you never learn how to generate serious revenues. The coaching industry on a whole seems to be very small-minded. If you don’t stick to their “traditional and approved” business models, they not only look at you with a crooked eye, but you may even be shunned.
In fact, a quick example: I know of one coach and speaker – an extremely qualified and successful one – who applied to present at an industry conference on how to charge more for your coaching. Nothing would even be sold – she simply wanted to share this great information. She told me they declined her topic because it was “too focused on money”!
Very ironic for an industry that promotes ideas like thinking big, getting “unstuck,” performance excellence, breaking through your limits, and being your best – I’m sure you’d agree.
Listen, I know you’re here on the planet to help others. That is your personal purpose, and I completely understand. It’s mine too. But the purpose of a business is to make a profit. It’s imperative you charge well for your services. In fact, it’s a requirement you charge well in order for you to truly deliver your clients the value you want to deliver and that they expect.
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