There is a fine line between being a successful coach and being a shameless self-promoter. No offense to Debbie Allen (author of Confessions of Shameless Self Promoters), but those coaches who shamelessly promote their products and services are secretly regarded as peddlers of hype, spam, and B.S.
The Fine Line
There is even a finer line between a cautious promoter and a starving coach. The question becomes, "Are you in business to make money, or to give charity?"
I talk to many different people in our business, and they all fall under one of four categories:
#1: The Curious Coaches are brand new to coaching. They have either just graduated from a coaching school or simply decided to become a coach. They either break through the first year of business building struggle, or call it quits within just a few months.
#2: The Conscientious Coaches believe that their expertise should speak for itself. They know they are good and feel it is below them to market. Their biggest concern is that helping people contradicts asking them to pay and usually never reach a full practice.
#3: The Methodical Coaches believe that no business is possible without marketing. They consistently promote their coaching business and build full practice within 6-12 months. These coaches also begin developing products within their first year in business. They make a good living.
#4: The Hard-Core Coaches never miss an opportunity to promote. They rarely care what other coaches or business owners think of their tactics. Their over-promoting makes them look like they'll market anything just to make money and they start losing respect.
Where are YOU? Which category do you want to fall under?
I think I'm in category #5, the Hard-Core Conscientious. I never miss an opportunity to over-promote, but I'm embarrassed by it.
