What do you think about this idea?

[SpartanWarrior77]

Hey guys,

I have a business that isn't working out the way I want it to. I mean I think its a really good idea and a lot of people I know agree but the fish are just not biting. So I need some help figuring out what I need to change for this business to work...

In a nutshell, I provide accountability and high-performance coaching for men. The reason it's for men is because I also have a self-help blog dedicated to men's self-development and I find that I work really well with men in general.

The gist of the service is based on the fact that most people would do really well in their lives if they had someone hold them accountable. Thus the problem that my business solves is helping guys that are struggling with self-discipline and anti-productive habits that are getting them nowhere.

I have had one loyal client and he's been with me for 6 months paying me $200 per month. He's an entrepreneur and Ive helped him stay accountable to achieve his own goals for months now.

I've tried Facebook ads and spent over $500 on them with no real results. Plenty of leads but no real results. The guy that has been with me was a friend that originally just tried my service out and ended up staying.

Im having trouble getting leads and actually closing them.

Im starting to really get discouraged and am wondering if anybody actually wants what I have. Should I pivot, should I modify it, abondon it? What the hell should I do?

Any ideas?

Thanks a lot!

 

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[rollerskates]

You're the coach. What would you tell yourself to do?

 

[SpartanWarrior77]

You're the coach. What would you tell yourself to do?

I would coach myself to reach out to other entrepreneurs and see what they have to say

 

[Merging Left]

I would coach myself to reach out to other entrepreneurs and see what they have to say

And are you doing that?

 

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[Interesting Life]

Half of any great idea is marketing/client acquisition.

In an old job I once had where a motivational speaker came to talk to us and was pretty much selling this service or at least very similar. This was about 12 years ago. Apparently it was working as a business for a while. He would talk to the client weekly and also have the client buddy up with another one of his clients so they could keep each other accountable on a daily basis.

I guess his way of gaining clients would be to give free speeches to business employess/sales people on accountability and at the end look to get them as clients.

 

[Mr.Rob]

@SpartanWarrior77 bro did you recently attend The 21 Convention? lol

If not disregard. I have a friend that has a business that sounds near identical to yours.

With regards to your question I've gotten a few guys to coach in the dating world from going on forums, answering questions, and then PM'ing them to "follow up" and see how XYZ went or just PM them to ask a personal question and give them some advice. I've never asked for money because it was more of a hobby to help out some guys here and there but I easily could have asked for money for Skype coaching and considered it at one point (but just isn't my thing for a full time gig).

Anyway you could be well served giving free advice on forums, PM'ing potential prospects, building a bit of rapport, and then offer to get them results if they do coaching with you or you give them their money back.

Good luck,
-Rob

 

[MJ DeMarco]

but the fish are just not biting.

It might be your marketing and messaging, not your product. I wouldn't cut bait unless I'm entirely sure you've exhausted this area.

Also it doesn't help that you're in a space that is flooded with people calling themselves coaches.

 

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[SpartanWarrior77]

And are you doing that?

Yes, thats why Im posting here

 

[SpartanWarrior77]

Half of any great idea is marketing/client acquisition.

In an old job I once had where a motivational speaker came to talk to us and was pretty much selling this service or at least very similar. This was about 12 years ago. Apparently it was working as a business for a while. He would talk to the client weekly and also have the client buddy up with another one of his clients so they could keep each other accountable on a daily basis.

I guess his way of gaining clients would be to give free speeches to business employess/sales people on accountability and at the end look to get them as clients.

So he was selling accountability to businesses? Im not sure if im getting this right...

 

[SpartanWarrior77]

@SpartanWarrior77 bro did you recently attend The 21 Convention? lol

If not disregard. I have a friend that has a business that sounds near identical to yours.

With regards to your question I've gotten a few guys to coach in the dating world from going on forums, answering questions, and then PM'ing them to "follow up" and see how XYZ went or just PM them to ask a personal question and give them some advice. I've never asked for money because it was more of a hobby to help out some guys here and there but I easily could have asked for money for Skype coaching and considered it at one point (but just isn't my thing for a full time gig).

Anyway you could be well served giving free advice on forums, PM'ing potential prospects, building a bit of rapport, and then offer to get them results if they do coaching with you or you give them their money back.

Good luck,
-Rob

Hey man,

Yeah, I was at the 21 Convention lmao.

And I've thought of that before. That's some pretty solid advice.

 

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[SpartanWarrior77]

It might be your marketing and messaging, not your product. I wouldn't cut bait unless I'm entirely sure you've exhausted this area.

Also it doesn't help that you're in a space that is flooded with people calling themselves coaches.

Thanks for the response MJ De Marco!!!

So yeah, I think you're right. I was just thinking that recently: "What if I'm just not positioning myself right?"

By the way, loving your book "Unscripted "

 

[Tiago]

Have you read the Prosperous Coach by Rich Litvin and Steve Chandler?

 

[Blaise84]

Hey guys,

I have a business that isn't working out the way I want it to. I mean I think its a really good idea and a lot of people I know agree but the fish are just not biting. So I need some help figuring out what I need to change for this business to work...

In a nutshell, I provide accountability and high-performance coaching for men. The reason it's for men is because I also have a self-help blog dedicated to men's self-development and I find that I work really well with men in general.

The gist of the service is based on the fact that most people would do really well in their lives if they had someone hold them accountable. Thus the problem that my business solves is helping guys that are struggling with self-discipline and anti-productive habits that are getting them nowhere.

I have had one loyal client and he's been with me for 6 months paying me $200 per month. He's an entrepreneur and Ive helped him stay accountable to achieve his own goals for months now.

I've tried Facebook ads and spent over $500 on them with no real results. Plenty of leads but no real results. The guy that has been with me was a friend that originally just tried my service out and ended up staying.

Im having trouble getting leads and actually closing them.

Im starting to really get discouraged and am wondering if anybody actually wants what I have. Should I pivot, should I modify it, abondon it? What the hell should I do?

Any ideas?

Thanks a lot!

@SpartanWarrior77
Have you read the book "Ca$hvertising"? It sounds like you're a great coach in need of great marketing, and this book is a good starting point.

 

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[Laughingman21]

What other ways are you marketing yourself other than Facebook? What offline marketing do you do?

Some of the coaches I know do things like:

• Run Meetup groups
• Attend seminars and do talks for free
• Run YouTube channels
• Offer free ebooks to signup to their email list

Look at what the successful people in your market do and copy them. They're successful for a reason.

 

[AndrewNC]

Hey guys,

I have a business that isn't working out the way I want it to. I mean I think its a really good idea and a lot of people I know agree but the fish are just not biting. So I need some help figuring out what I need to change for this business to work...

In a nutshell, I provide accountability and high-performance coaching for men. The reason it's for men is because I also have a self-help blog dedicated to men's self-development and I find that I work really well with men in general.

The gist of the service is based on the fact that most people would do really well in their lives if they had someone hold them accountable. Thus the problem that my business solves is helping guys that are struggling with self-discipline and anti-productive habits that are getting them nowhere.

I have had one loyal client and he's been with me for 6 months paying me $200 per month. He's an entrepreneur and Ive helped him stay accountable to achieve his own goals for months now.

I've tried Facebook ads and spent over $500 on them with no real results. Plenty of leads but no real results. The guy that has been with me was a friend that originally just tried my service out and ended up staying.

Im having trouble getting leads and actually closing them.

Im starting to really get discouraged and am wondering if anybody actually wants what I have. Should I pivot, should I modify it, abondon it? What the hell should I do?

Any ideas?

Thanks a lot!

I work in a similar market and it could be a number of things that are the kink in the chain.

What are the demographics you are targeting?

I have one client who is helping out 18-24 year old males who are in need of his services. The only problem he runs into is that they can barely scrape together $10 for a product he offers, yet alone hundreds to thousands for the service.

Are you reaching out and connecting with people one-on-one, or are you just going off the online demographics? It wasn't until he started talking to the guys one-on-one until he really started figuring out what they need, as well as their financial position.

For my business, I noticed the same thing with the targeting.

• I have an 19 year old aspiring entrepreneur who needs my help and has $250 to his name. My services range from $2,000-$5,000.
• I had one client who is a hedge fund manager with over $10 Million in net worth. He could easily drop $5,000 on a package to help him overcome stress, anger, and frustration in his life (this is for my NLP service - not traditional coaching).

my business solves is helping guys that are struggling with self-discipline and anti-productive habits that are getting them nowhere.

^ You have to understand what motivates these type of people, and how to apply that motivation to motivating them to hire you to help them out.

Overall, this is what has been working for me....

1. Narrowing down who I am helping (the ones who I know I can help, who also can afford my help).
2. Connect with people one-on-one, on skype or on the phone - and help them out for free. During this stage of the process, I don't even have sales on my mind. My number one goal is to get them one quick, big, kick-a$$ win in their lives to demonstrate my value. For example, with entrepreneurs - it is helping people select a product or service to sell and gaining clarity there. If it's for relationships, it could be to boost confidence in themselves and stop chasing and start becoming the best version of themselves (I don't really work in this industry, but the topic came up on one of my free calls).
3. If they get the big win on the first call, I offer them something within their price rang (startup incubator program for the higher price, video training course if they don't have that much money, or a link to my book on Amazon if they really don't have the money). By having different tiered products, after the initial consult - I can send them to what will help them the best in a way they can afford.
4. If they don't get the big win on the first call, I schedule a second call and have them complete a quick workbook in between the calls (once again, 100% focused on giving them the big win before ever thinking about selling them). In virtually all the cases, by the end of the second call together, they get their big win and then I present my services to them at that point.

The most important thing I learned from my experience in this field is the 100% outward focus of helping them one-on-one and actually getting them results before the sale. I don't do direct sales calls - I offer my services first and demonstrate my value to them. Because my offers are $2,000-$5,000 for multi-month packages, this works for me with my conversion rates.

Feel free to shoot me a PM if you'd like any more specific help.

 

[JAJT]

1. How much value are you adding pre-sale? IMHO it should be "F*cking tons".
2. Do you offer any kind of money back guarantee or trial period?
3. Are you generating email sign-ups and marketing to them after sign up?

I think those three would likely help quite a bit.

If you are coaching, you need to very clearly demonstrate the value you can bring by absolutely knocking their socks off before you ask them to spend a dime. You should have a wealth of blog posts, instructions, tips, advice, newsletter, etc... all available for free.

Demand that folks give you their email somehow. For a free guide. Or to read the blog. Or something. You need those emails.

Market to those folks by email - send them daily motivation. Help. Advice. Tips. Case studies. Etc...

All the while reminding them every step of the way that you have a paid accountability program. Show testimonials. Results. Remind them that what you give away for free is the tip of the iceberg and they would be astounded at what they can do with the paid version.

In my experience, all those things above have what have seriously impressed me about a few of the folks I've at least considered giving money to. Ramit Sethi does this extraordinarily well, for example. He posts a million things but also runs courses, info products, paid webinars, etc... (or used to, it's been years since I checked).

When you are absolutely in love with the free stuff, you really, really consider "taking it to the next level" when you see there's paid stuff.

If, however, you are coming out of the gate with "buy my program, because I promise results" I wouldn't even consider it. There's no proof. No reason to trust you. I need to fall in love with you before we talk about my credit card.

 

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[SpartanWarrior77]

Have you read the Prosperous Coach by Rich Litvin and Steve Chandler?

Nope but just put it in my Amazon wishlist and I'll get it

 

[SpartanWarrior77]

@SpartanWarrior77
Have you read the book "Ca$hvertising"? It sounds like you're a great coach in need of great marketing, and this book is a good starting point.

Hey man, yeah I actually have that book and occasionally read through it

 

[SpartanWarrior77]

• Run Meetup groups
• Attend seminars and do talks for free
• Run YouTube channels
• Offer free ebooks to signup to their email list

Hey man,

Yeah, I already do all of those things except #2. Dunno where to give a free talk...hmmm

 

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[SpartanWarrior77]

I work in a similar market and it could be a number of things that are the kink in the chain.

What are the demographics you are targeting?

I have one client who is helping out 18-24 year old males who are in need of his services. The only problem he runs into is that they can barely scrape together $10 for a product he offers, yet alone hundreds to thousands for the service.

Are you reaching out and connecting with people one-on-one, or are you just going off the online demographics? It wasn't until he started talking to the guys one-on-one until he really started figuring out what they need, as well as their financial position.

The demographics Im tapping are definitely younger guys who can barely scrape together $20. That is true.

The thing is Im a young guy too. Part of likes the idea of working with younger guys because I just feel more genuine doing so. Do you think I should target succesful entrepreneurial type people? Would they even need accountability if they're making money?

 

[SpartanWarrior77]

1. How much value are you adding pre-sale? IMHO it should be "F*cking tons".
2. Do you offer any kind of money back guarantee or trial period?
3. Are you generating email sign-ups and marketing to them after sign up?

If, however, you are coming out of the gate with "buy my program, because I promise results" I wouldn't even consider it. There's no proof. No reason to trust you. I need to fall in love with you before we talk about my credit card.

Thanks for the response man,

Yeah, I have a Youtube channel and a blog with tons of free content. And I do have a lead capture (free book) on my site.

I also do offer a money back guarantee.

 

[Blaise84]

The demographics Im tapping are definitely younger guys who can barely scrape together $20. That is true.

The thing is Im a young guy too. Part of likes the idea of working with younger guys because I just feel more genuine doing so. Do you think I should target succesful entrepreneurial type people? Would they even need accountability if they're making money?

Of course they'll want accountability! My thought is that just because they're currently making "good" money doesn't mean the don't want to make even more money. I think of my days as a competitive athlete-- I always wanted to run faster times and break more records. "Enough" was a non-existent concept in my mindset. I think the same would apply to entrepreneurs-- they want to grow. Someone making 100k wants to reach 1 million, etc. Wishing you well.

 

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[journeyman]

Hi

I really don't want to discourage you, but give you my view which potentially reflect other people's as well.

I wish I could give you advice on how to market it, but I haven't done anything similar successfully so my opinion is worth nothing.

Even though I am immersed in self development content, no FB ads would make me pay for performance coaching or accountability. I can find it for free in the friends that I surround myself with and the masterminds that we have created or are going to create.

This doesn't mean that your service is not useful.

My guess is that there is probably a very niched sub-group of men that actually need this level of coaching. And you are probably not going to find them online, at least not initially.

Hang out with as many self development dudes you can. Go to meetups. By speaking with people, you may be able to pin down who is actually going to benefit from your services.

I wish you figure it out soon

 

[Puppy]

Yeah, I already do all of those things except #2. Dunno where to give a free talk...hmmm

Myself, I would step offline and look at the people around you, in your city, in local forums. Build up with one on one connections with people. Im not sure if Id be chastised for this but Id speak to AA groups and/or sponsers, guys struggling with addiction and rehab, guys going thru divorces or having troubles in the dating game, guys struggling with depression or low self esteem, ect. guys who are trying and need some help in changing behaviors and encouragment to keep fighting their demons.

not in a 'buy my service' way but in a 'i want to connect and help' way. even if it means lowing your rates or doing a sliding scale rate.

It might be slower growth but if you deliver real value to these people growth is enevitable just from word of mouth and visable results.

*i cant spell, please disregard my mispellings.

another idea, not sure your religious views but possibly speaking with a church could get you some leads.

 

[Mr.Rob]

Hey man,

Yeah, I was at the 21 Convention lmao.

Lol. Small world man. Don't tell ADJ I'm on these forums working on some business ideas of my own haha. (JK he knows)

Keep us updated down the road when you implement some stuff and see what works. Curious to see what happens here.

-Rob

 

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