This is a question I was asked a few weeks ago, after making The Profitable Associate programme and community free for all coaches everywhere.
I was a bit surprised. I thought that producing an innovative programme for coaches not available anywhere else, with 100% feedback scores, and making it completely free to the coaching community would be perceived as interesting, not met with skepticism. But then I thought about it a bit more and realised this:
The community remains bruised (and I am aware of my mass generalisation so please don’t roast me) and wary of where, or if they even should, spend their hard-earned cash. And I get it, I’ve been there too. When I started The Profitable Associate journey nearly four years ago, one thing that never occurred to me is just how sensitive the coaching community is to senior coaches ‘selling’ their experience to newer coaches.
This sensitivity, or doubt, doesn’t seem to happen in other industries in quite the same way as far as I can tell. As a coach who, obviously, firmly believes in coaching, I’ve personally hired other coaches to help me improve my business, to help me define my strategy and to teach me how to be a better business owner. And much of it has worked - but much of it has not.
I’ve written articles in Coaching At Work about the perils of going in-house for this information. It’s not a bad idea but coaches are not a community with deep business acumen and there is not a defined professional track to take or career ladder to climb. This means we are susceptible to the “I’ve been successful and you can be too!” business model. I can’t find a coach, and believe me - I’ve tried - who doesn’t have a story to share about an investment they’ve made in programmes like this. And again, don’t roast me, I also know a lot of coaching for coaches has been amazing.
I was a mentor coach about 15 years ago until I noticed that 75% of my practice was made up of coaches and I wasn’t quite sure how I could call myself successful. So I stopped coaching coaches. I know many strong coaches who do - but they keep their coach numbers small and offer special rates for this type of work. This leads to a core business that is not about coaching peers.
The first sentence above was feedback I actually received when I asked a fellow coach about their journey into saying yes to The Profitable Associate. For the record, their feedback has changed now that they’ve joined TPA and are now reaping the benefits of this entirely free programme.
“[I’ve] changed my attitude from scepticism to admiration. I listened carefully to all the module audios (currently just going onto module 3) and I found gems everywhere! The more I listen, the more grateful I am about your generosity in sharing your experiences and knowledge in the real business of coaching associates. What a gift to us all! Thank you a thousand times!!"
What a difference.
Today, at 10am UK, I’m hosting a live chat with Lisa Farr for The Profitable Associate community. We’re going to talk about how to find out what marketing will give you that warm fuzzy feeling at the end of the week - we always do Q&A in these sessions so participants can get stuck in and ask an expert about scenarios specific to their coaching businesses.
Future live chats are scheduled to include associate partners talking about how and why they hire associates and what they look for in an associate. One upcoming chat host is a one-man band, who uses a lot of associates - and his business is fascinating.
I’m sure I’ve clearly made my point about TPA being absolutely free. As part of our community, you'll have access to all of the above and more. AND you’ll get to hang out with other coaches, all of whom who want better businesses.
Have I mentioned that The Profitable Associate programme and community is a free gift, costs nothing, nada, zip, gratis?
Go here, sign up, get involved.