Biggest Coaching Mistakes and What You Can do About Them
Updated: Feb 16, 2024
Written by: Tina Brigley, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
When I started out as a new coach, nobody prepared me for what it was going to take to grow a business. I felt derailed and tricked.
“Become a Coach is the next 6 months and make 6 figures”.
“Leave your job, and when you have faith, you will grow.”
“Manifest your dreams and meditate to make your goals become a reality.”
Really?
I believed I could make 6 figures and I manifested AND I believed some more, and it STILL didn’t work. So, what mistakes did I make that I NEVER want you to make? Well, many, but I’ll share the 5 biggest ones and the ones I took that ACTUALLY WORKED- For real this time.
Mistake No.1 Building a fancy website
Truth: There are over 1 billion websites on-line TODAY. Unless you are marketing your website and spending money on SEO (Search engine optimization) and diverting traffic to your website no one sees it. It’s a long game and an expensive one. That is not what you need when you are growing your business in the beginning.
New Actions:
Optimize your social media profiles. LinkedIn is like a website, resume and business card in one place.
Start with a great cover photo highlighting who you are.
Put a professional photo on display. That is an investment that will come back to you. People are all about “Looking Good” and sad to say but people still judge a book by its cover so give them a great cover.
Create a clear description and highlight your uniqueness so people know exactly what you do and who you are.
Optimize your “About” section to build the “know, like and trust” factor. This means make it in the first person!! It’s your profile so it’s weird if you put, “Susie is head of…” people will feel more connected if you are real with them.
Mistake No.2 Paying for Facebook ads.
Truth: Even if you have a large budget investing in ads is a waste of time and money if you don’t know how to convert those leads into conversations.
New Action: Show up powerfully online and share yourself- vulnerably. YUP! Share your story and remember, “Storytelling is not drama telling” always keep your target niche in mind and share stories they can relate to. Storytelling calls forward people that can relate to you! Warm them up and give them value! They will become your raving fans.
Mistake No.3 Doing on-line research instead of applying a system
Truth: People give away their gold but never their system. It’s the system, support and accountability that creates results.
New Actions: Hire a coach. Time is money and money is impact. The more time you waste not getting results costs you thousands per week. You don’t have to work for free for years “While you’re growing.” That’s a limiting belief to justify not getting results.
Mistake No.4 Holding back on asking, “Do you need help with that?”
Truth: People pay for coaching, and they are willing to pay lots of money if it’s a priority. It’s our fears that hold us back. We all could use some form of help and that is our job as coaches so why do we make this weird and scary?
New Actions: Bring your fears out of darkness and into the light. Write them out- all of them. Write out your beliefs too. Then ask yourself, “Are they true? Are they happening NOW?” Chances are they aren’t, so recognize when they pop up and let them go in the back seat! If you don’t make offers, you won’t have a business! Repeat after me: “NO conversations- no business.” If your calendar isn’t booked with calls, you need a strategy to do that ASAP!!
Mistake No.5 I believed that to be a successful coach, I had to be a good coach.
Truth: Being a great coach is definitely going to help, but I know not such great coaches that are making 6 figures. Why? They know how to grow a business and convert potential clients into paying clients. Coaching is a small fraction of what we do as coaches. The majority of the time, we have to grow a business and “sell.” But, we can’t sell coaching. Coaching is about relationships and having people step into the vision of their future self. This requires:
Connect/ invite Strategies
Enrolment strategies
How to make your offer and charge a high fee
How to coach on breakthroughs.
Yes, we get an exchange of value, but people aren’t buying our knowledge and expertise, they are buying a belief that they can have a better life.
If you’re stuck or stopped in growing your coaching business. Let’s chat. Your future self will love you for it! See you on the other side.
Tina
P.S. We’ve helped 2000+ coaches grow their business on-line. If you want to learn more about how to apply these strategies, please join us at our next Free Workshop For Coaches.
Please connect with me on LinkedIn or Facebook, and visit my website for free resources to help you grow your coaching business.
If you’re curious about how our stories create our biology, watch my TEDx Talk.
Tina Brigley, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Tina Brigley, is a TedX Speaker, storyteller at heart and the personal development trainer to coaches around the world. After leaving her career in education to follow her passion for becoming a coach, she realized that the stories she told herself were keeping her stuck. Determined to rewrite her narrative, she embarked on a personal development journey that transformed her life and business. Since discovering the power of stories, she has helped thousands of coaches around the world discover what's stopping them from showing up as leaders. As Co-founder and Head of Social Influence at High Performing Coach Tina's mission is simple: To help every passionate coach to powerfully share themselves and their stories with the world.
