7 thoughts to weigh before you invest in a coaching program
Do you really know what you get for your money?
Signing up for a Coaching Program can accelerate your growth as a writer greatly. It can help increase your reach, your readership, hopefully, your earnings, too.
You can learn a ton of new things. A few of the most popular courses teach you how to network your writing career on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. There are also programs on how to be a better writer and how to grow your side business.
The most successful programs provide you with actionable information, personal involvement by the coach, and ongoing support from a living community of learners.
But it is a big decision. One where you will be asked to invest your hard-earned time and money. How do you decide on coaching programs that will help make you successful from the ones that won't?
I have done years of research on this topic and came up with 7 criteria you should consider when you are deciding if a program is right or not.
- What will this course provide you that you can’t do yourself? Think about this. No course will change you if you are just lazy.
- Do you have time to do the work? 90% of your success is your investment of blood, sweat, tears. Block out the time in your Google calendar. Don’t sign up if you are overbooked.
3. Will the coach be personally involved or do you know them already?
You should know specifically if the coach will be personally getting to know you, promote your goals, and answer your questions.
4. Community? New research shows that community support has become the most significant factor in lifting students' career trajectories. The course you buy should not be the end-all. Your ongoing learning and support need to be part of the benefits provided.
Let’s take a minute to discuss how you can most benefit from online communities.
The communities I belong to are not just linked to a product but have ongoing most participants. Few are simply newly-created Facebook groups. Most are on more interactive platforms like WhatsApp and Discord. Look for groups where members post job openings or freelance jobs. You will benefit beyond the course.
For example, I belong to Work Stays and the Indian Digital Nomad groups both with super-engaged members and were founded a long-time ago.
5. Can you benefit from joining this learning course community in multiple ways — not just from the course itself?
6. Do you have a reasonable idea of the tools that will be delivered. Is the coach hands-on with providing them or are you on your own once you pay and enter the paywall gates?
7. Be suspect of programs where the course seems to have little interaction and the program runs on auto-pilot feeding you just evergreen videos and texts. You deserve better.
I was able to interview Raja Patel, who has been coaching successful groups for many years on why he felt that some coaching programs worked for students and some failed. He summarized the most important criteria were the following.
Raja felt that students who know specifically what they wanted to get out of the program and who had both the time and commitment, were the ones who succeeded and continued to implement what they learned, long after the course had ended.
He felt the coaches who were successful in fostering positive outcomes, were personally involved in the outcomes of their students and hosted a successful community of ongoing learners who regularly interacted. Check out Raja for more information at his site here.
In summary, making the decision to invest in a coaching program can be a needed step in moving your writing and business forward. Just make sure that you are willing to put the work into doing it and have a coach who is personally invested in your success.
Questions, comments? Hit me up in the chat. Here’s to your success. I’m with you!
Shoutouts: Justiss Goode wrote a great article on communities worth reading. Here. I really love it.
Happy Weekend to my engaged community of creative superstars!
Rhea Anglesey Janice Macdonald Sara Burdick Stephan Moore Scot Butwell Yana Bostongirl Zaha Hyatt Patrick OConnell Ema Fulga WrittenMastery Art Bram Sreese Cherie Gaskin Cheyenne Noelle Jan Sebastian George Kao
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