If you clicked on this first, remember that software won't get you clients. Software won't make people satisfied with your service. Your best clients don't invest in you because of your landing page software.
All software does is enhance your current ability to acquire and retain satisfied clients.
So rest assured and don't believe the hype. You do not need £1000s of monthly software to be a successful online coach, especially not until you have a steady flow of leads that you are consistently converting.
Software can make your life easier, but we recommend relying on the bare minimum to deliver the best service to your clients.
Secondly, there's the ballache factor. The more software you have, the more that can go wrong. More moving parts introduces cost, complexity and risk.
Your coaching app service decides to increase their rates? Tough.
The integration between your payment processor and app has broken? Woops.
Getting a 404-redirect on your homepage? Oh dear.
Start with the minimum effective dose 💊️
It is entirely possible to run your online coaching business with nothing but:
- Getting customers: Social media accounts
- Closing sales: Free Mailchimp account
- Coaching clients: Email/client messaging service, Google docs
All free.
We did exactly this for years.
No bells or whistles, but all the features you need to scale up to the point where software costs aren't an issue.
How to decide if software is worth the investment
When you begin online coaching, you are cash-poor, and time-rich.
Then you become time-poor, and cash-rich. b
When deciding on upgrading your software setup, ask yourself:
What problem would this solve?
Does this generate or protect revenue in my business?
How much time is this problem costing me? Is it worth my hourly rate? What would I pay for a tool to solve that problem?
What is the switching cost of moving platforms? (Migration, time, ballache, client complaints).
How would this improve the client experience?
If you were a carpenter starting out, you'd buy an AmazonBasics Toolbox starter kit and stick it in the back seat of your car. The universal saw and screwdriver are good enough to get the job done.
What problem would this solve?
Does this generate or protect revenue in my business?
But as you start to position yourself as a professional, your clients won't take you seriously if you're not using professional tools. Better, specialised tools mean a better quality job, and a more efficient workflow. You now have a buzzsaw, 10 screwdrivers and a van. You're no longer a bloke with some tools. You are now perceived as a quality workman.
How to get this wrong 📉️
There are two ways to get this wrong:
1 - 'All the gear, no idea'. 🧰️💸️
The carpenter who buys the silver Mercedes van and more kit than he knows what to do with. He has shiny object syndrome, and doesn't use half of the tools that he has. This guy should spend more time working on his skill
2 - 'The Skilful Cheapskate' 🔧
The workman who tries to do it on the cheap. He's outgrown his tools years ago.
We all know the guy who has barely been training for 3 months and gets on the naughty juice, dressed head to toe in Gymshark and glugging every pre-workout supplement going.
Compare that to the guy who trains in his socks and P.E shorts in his basement, deadlifting 250kg with plates that have been sellotaped together.
Or the guy who tried to start a youtube channel and bought an expensive DSLR camera, lighting, mixer, and directional microphone, but got caught up with it all and never got started.
Likewise with software, the key is recognising when you're limited by software, and when you could finally do with a new pair of shorts.
When enough clients are voting for you with their wallets, they are indirectly paying for your software upgrades.
There are several youtube channels with 100k+ subscribers that film entirely on their phone.
Where to start?
The best budget all-rounder (and one we still use today) is ClickFunnels. It handles the page building, payment processing, email automation and members area functions, so rather than trying to fudge together and integrate unconnected pieces of software (costing more overall), ClickFunnels does it all, and it's pretty stable. You don't need much more than this when starting out.
It has its downsides, but no software is perfect. Then if you do move to a custom solution for any of the moving parts later, you can make clean substitutions. This link gives you a 14 day free trial.
Conclusion
Think of software less as 'good' or 'bad', but more in terms of 'what problem does this solve', relative to the price, impact on client experience, and time saved.
With this in mind, see the posts below for our tech &software recommendations to solve specific problems.
How to pick the best software:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvRdTJ3HxFs
Recent posts: