I always get this question from coaches: “How do I know what to do? There are so many ways to build a business, I am overwhelmed with all the choices! What’s right for me?”
Overwhelm… the biggest reason coaching exists in the first place 
But actually, it’s easier than you think to know exactly what to do – you simply need to know what business model you’re building and where you want to end up.
Here are the 3 distinct ways to think about building your life coaching career, 3 paths you can take to success in coaching:
Path #1: Celebrity Expert
I usually recommend this path to coaches who completely resist the idea of focusing on a niche market. You have to be able to reach your clients somehow, and this path allows you to do just that:
- Take a stand for something (e.g. “Spanking creates aggressive kids”)
- Write a book about your topic or approach
- Identify organizations whose members are your ideal clients
- Speak at their events offering strategy sessions and coaching programs.
It’s a great path for people who also love being on stage and travel. To help you get on path #2 and #3, be sure to record your presentations and workshops so you could build your content and start generating passive income.
Path #2: Specialist
This path is wonderful if you are focusing on a niche market and want to create many solutions and income streams from your expertise. This is the path you want to take if your goal is passive and residual income.:
- Focus on a niche target market
- Become an expert on it
- Create solutions (programs, products, events, and tools) for this target market
Path #3: High-Paid Specialist
This is usually for a more advanced, ambitious, and driven coach who thinks like an entrepreneur and wants to become the center of influence in his or her niche:
- Focus on a niche target market
- Become an expert on it
- Create solutions (programs, products, events, and tools) for this target market
- Develop your own success system in your field
I started out on pah #2 and went on to path #3, which is where every driven entrepreneur wants to end up. Which path have you taken? Are you trying to follow different paths at the same time? You can absolutely take all three, but probably not at the same time.
Any thoughts on this?
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{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Milana,
I love this strategy…I am starting on #2 (again) but the first time, I didn’t have this very simple yet focused roadmap. Thank you for this…I’ll be using this strategy as I plan my relaunch!
Milana,
Your emails are always right on time! I was just thinking…okay, I have a lot of great ideas and I selected my niche…but what kind of model should I use to structure my business. There are so many ways, I just need to break them down and decide what works for my niche.
Thanks for everything!
milana, sweety : i am 45 and a few years older than you, i know that, you are in your late 30’s somehwhere in thereabouts.
Anyway, so, milana, of course, i like ya…i been on your lists, ever since you started long-time ago…i been on-line long before you did milana in around 1997….i worked hard online for years, been there, done that…all online….then today i am broke…i know milana, you work far less on-line and still you have made millions online….i failed to make money…not for lack of trying.
Anyway, many of my on-line girl-friends tell me that…because of the different shift in the economy….coaching and mentoring is DEAD forever…because, people now-a-days, rightfully, demand fast results immediately, even before they give you the money.
Finally, milana….this is the END of coaching and mentoring at least, you will NOT make any EASY money like you did easy coaching money in the old days….and, that is right. People want guaranteed value for coaching money they pay to you,milana !
sincerely
Martha
(martha white).
You are absolutely right! I think this is the shift that most would-be entrepreneurs (not just coaches) struggle to make. If you start out taking pride in your craft, it can be hard to detach from “what I do” to “what I cause.” What I cause is the place of lifestyle choice, of abundance, and of helping the most people.
Love the manifesto – so true and to the point! I am a (9%/6 figure) business dvelopment coach specializing in small-medium service businesses. I facilitate mastermind groups for small business owners as well. Having owned a successful business for over 10 years has given me huge credibility, and expertise to share. Thank you for your leadership and inspiration!
It is such a shame (and I know Milana has said this for a long time) that most, not all coaching schools teach out-dated marketing. The marketplace has done almost a 180 over the last 2 years and unless you follow one of the strategies, you may well be going to go broke, slowly or quickly. Pick one strategy and do it. The word of the year is “IMPLEMENTATION”.
Cool post!
I am a business storyteller, and I guess I’m rocking the “celebrity expert” path by your definition. Although, I’d rather define myself as an inspired force that frames the conversation, invents new language, and provides relevant guides and valued resources for the practice of business storytelling. My work spans across traditional disciplines including strategy, branding, marketing, and social change efforts.
I’ve written a free storytelling manifesto for change-makers, and I’m now building an education and publishing platform that gives people a range of learning and growth opportunities.
By the way, milana….this is just an aside to my comment post above….i read Susan Ross post and thoroughly researched her website..(of which, i rarely do that, for lack of time big-time), i also heard on YuTube on her website….there is no question she is a hot-shot coaching star just like you are milana…and of course, it seems, Dr Bush seems to be in BIG leagues and stars of coaching and mentoring world….but, i assure all of you guys, you few people are in TOP 5 % of this coaching and mentoring industry, you guys are NOT typical of the rest of the 95 % of broke and floundering people on-line, coaching, mentoring or whatever else….and you of those 5% TOP people better understand that you guys are incredibly blessed and successful as compared to those 95 % broke online coaches, mentors and entrepreneurs….etc…and should pity those broke people, and see that, if you 5% guys can lend them a hand & help them.
martha
(martha white)
Champion for the 95%
online broke people.
Martha – I hear you. So how do you propose to lend you a hand?
I understand Martha’s point, but I also think that with nearly 7 billion people in the world, if you can’t pull out a few dozen to fill a practice, the problem is not the coaching, it is the method. Secondly, where did the notion that it had to be done online come from? Start in your community. Having said that people should learn to model success instead of constantly criticizing it. Find out what the 5% are doing and act on it or stay with the 95% whining that nobody buys. Sorry, but I think people need to get real about THEIR business and do it the right way instead of the “get rich quick” thinking that has infiltrated the coaching market. Business is business.
i really thank you milana, for your good, up-beat response.
you are good and kind, milana!
i also want to help those other 95 % broke people, after i learn
from you, whatever you can teach me about getting started
and start making some money on-line in short order, even if
it is small and just few dollars in the beginning, just like all
those 95% broke people that are hoping to make in the beginning
after they and me have been just consistently losing money on-line for years….whatever i learn from you, milana, be sure that i will pass that onto a lot of my broke girl-friends on-line. You will be helping a lot of people thru me milana !
i am in NYC in Brooklyn…i know you are in PA…but, i have no money to come to your house to learn from you and i also cant afford long-distance charges, even tho they may be cheap for some people, who have special plans for long distance.
The only thing going for me, a cheap 10 bucks per month diap up
at netzero right now….that’s all i have…so, then, all i can afford right now is the email, which you have now from me..so, if you can, please send me in your email brief email (because, i know you are busy and dont have time for long emails).
So, simply email me a few tips and pointers in right direction to show me how i can get started making money just a few dollars at a time….i dont mind….and it can be anything you have like your money-making ebooks or whatever else you have there in your collection that will simply get me started on a right-footing.
And, please, i also ask kindly, to those hot-shot stars like : Susan Ross and Dr. Bush….and others who can please thrown in some tid-bits to me in their emails on how to get started making some money, any money on-line, right away ?
i will be thankful for that, from all of you, and be sure to be
passing that along to dozens and dozens of my on-line broke
girl-friends, they are good people, you know ?
God bless, milana and Susan Ross and Dr. Bush and others,
sincerely
martha
(martha white)
i wanna help
on-line broke people,
as much and as many as
i can…will you,please, too ?
please write me here :
netlifebuddy@hotmail.com
Martha,
Do you coach people how to be bitter?
The people who fail at coaching, and any profession for that matter are the ones who want to get rich quick. Because the only thing they’re qualified to do is get conned.
The truth is people don’t want to do the work that it takes to run a successful coaching biz. Not to mention a lot of people weren’t meant to even own their own business. A lot of people like the “idea” of being their own boss but don’t contain the skills to run one. People think if they just say they’re a coach, especially life coaches, offer a free session or two that they’ll be turning people away, cause they’ll be so busy. Not to mentioned they “manifested” it!
It doesn’t work that way, not in coaching, or any business. Its true the economy has changed revenue models, which makes smart coaches look at different ways, especially scalable ones, to get to their market.
So maybe a little less of a condescending tone on someone elses blog would be a great start to others helping you. I’ve been online longer than you, and that doesn’t mean squat. Nor does age. The clients are there, you have to look and approach it differentley.
martha,
some of us were doing “coaching” long before it had such a label and it never has been about getting rich or more importantly getting rich quick it is about sharing, guiding and finding what each individual wants for their life (which rarely ends up being millions of dollars–even though many people think that’s what they really want out of life) … for many of us it’s about living where we want, doing what we want to do, and spending more time with family … happiness is found in passions and helping others not in $$$.
practice your craft (whatever it may be) and when you think you are getting good practice some more and then give more than you take and everything else will fall into place.
focus on $$$ and you will end up broke. focus on being the best that you can be and others will reward you for your skills and the value you bring to any endeavor.
I first came across Milana when I was going to start a coaching biz 3 years ago. My life got in the way (divorce) and I am just now picking it back up.
I don’t understand Martha’s comments at all. I am amazed at all of the resources that are available now as opposed to just three years ago. I have paid very little to get caught up with all of this and get involved in social media in an effort to learn some of these new tools. There are so many generous people out there who are willing to share their expertise if you just spend a little bit of time to look around. People like Milana, Scott Stratten, Alexis Neely, Sarah Robinson, and I could go on the rest of the night listing all of them.
I still have to work a full time job, and I know that I have to be realistic and know that it is going to take me longer to get my business going than I would like. But… nothing worthwhile comes easy!
There is such a sense of community out there, and it’s very easy to tap into. It’s easy to feel like you actually “know” these people, even though you only “know” most of them online. If you take just a few small steps to develop relationships with people, they are more than willing to share their knowledge with you. I’ve learned so much just from reading some of the great blogs that are out there!
Yes, it takes time. But no one gets anything in life for free. I’ve always worked hard and had a damn good work ethic, and I will do the same in my new business. Milana is a great example of a hard work ethic. No one handed her success to her!! But a huge part of being successful starts with the right attitude – and that has to be a POSITIVE attitude. You have to believe in yourself and what you are working toward, and anyone who has ever been successful in anything in life has done that.
There’s an old saying “you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.” That has served me well all of my life, and it continues to serve me well today.
And do not misunderstand – Milana does not know me from Adam’s house cat – I’m sure she has never even heard of me. So there is nothing in it for me to say any of this. But there are many, many kind-hearted people out there like Milana and the others I mentioned who willingly share their gifts and talents and should not be attacked for being successful! She is what the American dream is all about. But she worked her ass off for it. And that’s what I intend to do.
Just my opinion…
Lori, thanks for your comments. Also, thank you to everyone sharing your thoughts.
Interesting enough, I actually UNDERSTAND where Martha is coming from. Unfortunately, it’s a very negative place to be mentally in, and the only way to get out is to surround yourself with positive successful people. No money to attend live events? BEG to volunteer! Many well-known people are known for doing that in their early days. Nobody will pay you for your stuff? Get better stuff - that is, master a valuable skill or study an important topic, then offer people advice on it.
Finally, #1 book to read: Harv Eker’s “Secrets of the Millionaire Mindset” will help you stop seeing successful people as snobs and big-shots. Because I can tell you Martha one thing – there are no more hard-working people in the world than successful entrepreneurs! Nobody had an easy ride, so you have absolutely no right to speak this way about any successful person.
Someone wise said, that your current situation is the direct result of what you’ve been up until now.
P.S. Lori, now I know you from Adam’s house cat
This has been my extremely WASTE of my time here.
All i said about you guys was you 5% are incredibly
blessed people….many greatly sucessful people
have publicly said that, they have been blessed.
Is that such a BAD thing to say, that they are blessed ???
And, i said the same here for you 5% and rather
than helping anybody who are 95% in down dept. and they
are licking their wounds, you 5% guys jump on them
and kick them harder…READ all above posts thorughly
by giving some thought, and not reading them on the fly
and you see that, you 5 % have been unnecessarily just
EVIL here….and unfortunately, milana…bought into
you guys and she put in her boots too, now you guys
can feel better, right ?
Look at all the vitriol and venom directed at me
and my fellow 95% failed on-line people, by all you
5% top people….here.
The ONLY huge problem here is you people dont
READ what i wrote ?….READ-ing is NOT scanning,
skimming and skipping, you know, brilliant top 5% ???
Scott Statten, talks about condecending tone, that is
his own…not mine….he and others talk about wanting
“get rich quick” … cant you people READ at all ???
Go back and READ there, i never wrote anything up
there about wanting to be get-rich-quick, it was
actually exactly opposite that, when i said…if milana
could show a way via an ebook or some tips via an email to
just get started with making just a few bucks on-line ?
Just getting started making a few bucks on-line sounds like
“get rich quick”….to you guys ???? …then, heaven help
you 5 % guys !
This just totally appalling and attrocius behavior on
part of you 5 % guys….your sins of omission or
delibertely, omitting what i have said above
and more so, twisting everthing above what i said
above and now enjoying yourself with mob rule
against me.
IF you from 5 % guys have not been ganged up
on me like a mob….milana, would never have
responded in her last post above the way she did,
milana has got more class than that…unfortunately,
she did join the mob rule up here.
martha
(martha white)
NYC-Brooklyn.
Martha, your tone is what upset everyone – not WHAT you were saying. Calling people “hot-shot stars” is dismissing the years of hard work they put in to become successful. There is a lot of free advice out there, no need to buy anything to make your first $100 online. Do you have a web site you started? What do you sell? Perhaps it’s the product or service people may not want. Just a thought.
milana, thanks for your come-back.
i knew, you got more class than mob rule.
i dont have any tone against anyone,
and please understand that calling
anyone “hot-shot stars” is not the end
of the world….there are a lot of worse
things people can say to anyone!…martha.
Still would love to see your web site, Martha.
milana….your offer to check out my website,
is music to my ears.
you are a swell (nice) gal, like we say
here in Brooklyn (NYC).
i need to do a few tweaks on it, and
after i do that, i will rush my site over
to you milana, for your kind advice,
before the week-end is over.
thanks, milana…you are a sweety!
martha,
(martha white).
I like your strategy. Thanks for sharing. Very helpful.
One of my early mistakes was trying to be everywhere and to make it in every market… Since i’ve narrow down my choices and started to specialize in niches, things are doing much better!
It’s amazing…