What Tech and Systems Do You Need When Starting a Coaching Business? [Ep 54]

Welcome to the Thriving therapyneur podcast. The show for ambitious therapists who are ready to unapologetically make more money, scale their impact and build their dream coaching business. I'm Carly Hill, therapist turned coach turned CEO of a seven figure online business. I created the Thriving Therapeutic podcast because I'm obsessed with helping big hearted therapists outgrow the office and build successful and sustainable online businesses. So if you are wondering how you can continue to make an impact without sacrificing the life you love, welcome therapreneur. This is exactly the place for you. Think of it like the business school we never had. I am so excited to dive in with you. Let's get started. Hey there. Welcome back to the podcast. Today we're cutting through the noise and busting one of the biggest myths out there for new coaches and that is that you need a ton of tech to get your business up and off the ground. This is probably one of the most common questions that I get is what tech and systems do I need, Carly, when I'm first starting my coaching business? And what do I not need? What is not necessary for me right now? Because if you feel like you need thousands of dollars to start a website, have a fancy funnel system, and just get every shiny software system under the sun just to get your first paying client, you're wrong. And this episode is for you. It's gonna shed light and give you hopefully like a big old exhale. Because when I built my first coaching business, I built it with pen and paper, a Google Doc, and an Instagram account. That's it. And I didn't know how to work all of these things either. Like, I knew how to work pen and paper, obviously, but I wasn't that great with Google Drive or Instagram yet. I hadn't mastered it. So we don't have to overcomplicate things. I'm gonna walk you through exactly what you need, what you you don't need. How to keep things really, really simple so you can just focus on what actually matters. And that's getting your first paying clients. It's all through just connection, human connection. Having a conversation with your ideal client, having your messaging dialed in so they know that you're talking to them, and having your offer figured out too. That's it. That's all you need. No fancy systems. All right, so let's dive in. Starting simple. What do you really need to launch? Here's the thing. You don't need to overcomplicate it. You need three things. Because if you overcomplicate it. It's actually going to slow you down. If you get all of these fancy systems, you're going to spend time with an unnecessary learning curve focusing on all of these systems when you could be focusing on conversations and converting your ideal clients into. Into paying clients. So what do you need? You need a social media platform. You absolutely do need social media. It's 2025. You have to have social media. I would say kindly just get over it. If you don't like social media, you can learn to like it and you can learn how to do it in a way that's not a chore, that is a conversation I have already recorded. So we're not gonna go there right now. But you need social media. Okay, this is your free storefront. It's free. Choose one Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, whatever. Choose one platform where your ideal clients already are. You're going to post value, you're going to build relationships, you're going to start conversations. If you need help with social media, I have resources to help you with this. There's no excuse not to have social media. Number two is a professional email address. So you're not using your regular old Gmail address, you're having a professional one and you can buy one for like 12 bucks on G Suite. This means that you're buying a domain. You can use it with Gmail or Google Workspace. Like I said, not only does this look more professional, but it also ensures your emails don't go to spam. When you start emailing your leads or you're sending invoices or contracts, and then you're going to need a place to track your leads as well. You do not want people to slip through the cracks. This is big. So a fancy CRM system is great, and I'm going to explain what that is in just a second. But when you're starting out, you don't have to have a fancy CRM system. A CRM system doesn't equal paying clients. You could just have a simple spreadsheet to track all of your leads and know exactly who are your cold leads, who are your warm leads, who are your hot leads, who do you need to follow up with and when exactly do you need to follow up with them? What are the notes from the conversations you've had? So I use this spreadsheet for months before I upgrade it to a CRM system. So what is a CRM system and do you need one? Because I think as therapists we're used to EHR systems. A CRM is a customer relationship management system. It's a digital tool that helps you organize, manage and follow up with your leads and potential clients. And clients. It's keeping track of conversations, it's keeping track of buying behavior. You have pipeline stages, you can have a tagging strategy. It's basically like a huge online file folder to help organize and manage all of your leads and all of your clients. But like I said, a CRM doesn't make you money, it just helps you track people. Once you're generating leads, it can help you make more money if all of your ideal clients are slipping through the cracks and you're leaving money on the table. But as long as you have a way to organize your leads and they're not slipping through the cracks, such as pen and paper or a simple spreadsheet, then you're good to go. But if you're not consistently booking calls or you don't have a bunch of funnels like skip the fancy tech and just use a spreadsheet or use pen and paper. I've had clients write down names on sticky notes like whatever helps you follow up and just stay in integrity without getting lost in the tech world. Hey there. Did you know we give away one of our incredible digital products every single week? All you have to do is leave a review for the show, then submit proof using the link in the show notes and you'll be entered to win. Prizes include amazing resources like our passive income course, the license protection bundle, top business trainings, my best selling book, and so much more. It's super simple and your review helps us reach more listeners just like you. So take a moment to share your thoughts, enter to win and maybe you'll be our next winner. Fancy funnel builders and course platforms are helpful and you will need one. Absolutely. But it's not the first thing that you need. You will need one when you want to create lead magnet funnels or webinars or BSL funnels or book funnels or join my Facebook group funnels. You will need a funnel building system and there is free ones that you can get. And a lot of my clients use GoHighLevel because I can copy and paste all of my funnels and templates into their system if they choose to use GoHighLevel, which is awesome. I personally love to use GoHigh because I do all my email marketing on there, I host my course on there, I have all of my pipelines, I have my website on there. Anything and everything in my business basically lives in go high level and it is awesome. Okay, so you can build a funnel when you're ready to scale, but you don't need it to get paying clients. You just need going back to the three things that we need. Social media and email, and either a spreadsheet or pen and paper to track your leads. Okay, you need to be booking consult calls and then you need to just be selling them and sending them the contract and taking payment. I've had clients sell out programs with just a Google Doc and a PayPal link. That's it. But when you do want to build funnels, I've been talking about Go High Level. Okay? That's the CRM system that I use. You could also use Click Funnels, Kajabi, ConvertKit, LeadPages. I have clients using all of those actually. So it's really personal preference. And they all work pretty much the same. I've used most of them to be honest. And sometimes you'll start with one and then you'll outgrow it and then you'll need to transfer to another one and that's okay. But I don't want you to get distracted by all the bells and whistles. None of these platforms will save a poor offer or unclear messaging. So again, going back to what you need, you need social media and on that social media you need to have clear messaging to your ideal client and tell them what your very crystal clear offer is once you sell them. Because they didn't slip through the cracks. Because you are organized on your awesome little spreadsheet or sticky notes. When you sell them and you are delivering your course, you're going to need a place for your course to live, right? You're going to need a place to host your course. Now I do this in Go High Level because it's really my one stop shop. But a lot of my clients use Teachable or Thinkific or Kartra. You can really use whatever platform you want. Teachable I think is like 60 bucks a month. But I have also had clients do it for free on Google Drive. The very first time I created a course, I had it in Google Drive and it was free. I've even had clients put their course on YouTube and then mark it as unlisted. Like they created a private YouTube channel and then gave their clients the link for that. That's another free way to do it. Basically I will meet you wherever you are. I know all the free ways to do it. I know all the low cost ways to do it. And then I know all of the. If you want to go all in and have like a one stop shop way to do it. So I meet my clients where they are depending on how much funds do they have to invest. Because let's be real, when you're starting off in your coaching business, you're probably trying to make more money and get out of the burnout cycle. You just invested in mentorship. I know that you don't have all this extra cash to invest in all of these fancy systems and get all of the tech bells and whistles and it's not going to help you get paying clients asap. It could just hinder you because you're going to be more overwhelmed. When I first got go high level, I stared at it for like two to three months because I had no idea how the hell to use it. There is a learning curve and yes, you can hire virtual assistants and they can help you with all of this stuff. But I hope I'm driving home the point here to you, that sometimes simplicity is better. And know that you can graduate and ascend into getting these systems when your business needs them. You will need a place to take payment and to send your contract. That's a non negotiable. So you will need a payment processor. I use Stripe. This is a way for you to accept credit cards. Stripe integrates with most every platform out there. You could also use PayPal, you could use Square, you could use ThriveCart. Many of my clients use all of those as well. It really doesn't matter contracts. You could use whatever CRM system you're using if that's integrated. Or you could use HelloSign, Sinewell, PandaDoc, DocuSign, Dubsado. There's tons of free places that you could get your contracts sent to your clients. They can e sign and send it back to you. So there's simple ways for people to pay you and to get your contract signed. Done is better than perfect. Okay. I have also had clients just email the PDF contract to their clients and they'll have their clients sign it and send it back now. Makes it a little bit harder for the client, especially if they're not tech savvy. But done is better than perfect, right? Let's talk about bookkeeping for a second. Because early on you can also use the spreadsheet for bookkeeping. You could track your income, your expenses, you can categorize them all on a spreadsheet and then when tax season comes, you just give your spreadsheet to your CPA. Eventually you might want a system like QuickBooks or Wave or FreshBooks or Bench. I use 1-800-accounting. Now remember, none of these actually create revenue. So I want you to first focus on your offers. First focus on your conversations, building your social media. The backend can come later and it's important not to let the backend completely slip where you're scaling and you're so disorganized. Right? But you don't have to build up all the fancy platforms and systems first when you're just getting your first few coaching clients. That's what I'm saying. Let's talk about some tools that I use because I get that question a lot. Obviously. I use Go High Level. That's my all in one CRM system, my funnel builder. It does my email marketing. My course platform has all of my automations, my tags. I also use Slack. I use that for my internal team communication. I pretty much live in Slack all day. I'm just constantly like checking in and kind of overseeing my team. In Slack I have different channels for all sections of my team. ClickUp we use as well. This is for task and project management. Airtable is great for custom tracking and automations. Group Kit or Group Track, this is for managing Facebook groups and lead tracking. I also use Front. This is a shared inbox system where my team can help me manage my emails and keep client messages organized. I use Loom or Vimeo to record content, so that is another thing that you will need. We're talking about needing social media and needing a professional email address and needing a place to host your course. You will also, in addition to needing a credit card processor and a way to send your contract, a place to record your content for your curriculum. Loom not to be confused with Zoom. Loom with an L is what I like to use. Or Vimeo either works and there's tons of other recording platforms as well. I've had clients even just use Zoom and they pull up a Zoom session with themselves, they hit record and then that's what they drop it to their Google Drive and then that's what they email their first paying client. Again, we don't have to overcomplicate it. I like to use LastPass to store all of my passwords. It's a password manager so everything stays secure. Now there is tons of other platforms and subscriptions that I use but on a high level these are the ones that I use most often. All of these are helpful but none of them are replaced by those foundational pieces. The clear niche, the consistent, the marketing and having your bomb.com signature coaching offer. So let's Recap. When you're starting out, you don't need a hundred dollars a month CRM system or a hundred dollar a month funnel builder. You don't have to pay for DocuSign. You don't need any of that. You need clarity. You need commitment. You need consistency. You need social media, you need your email address. You need a way to track leads. You just need a simple way to take your clients money when they sign up for you. Because you're going to transform their lives and you need a way for them to sign the contract. And then you can deliver your content for free via Google Drive, via YouTube. You could do it for 60 bucks a month. On Teachable, you could get an all in one platform. If you choose to do so, wherever you are, I can help meet you there. This is what we do with our clients. Everything else can come later. So if you're feeling overwhelmed, you're trying to figure out what tech you do need, what you don't need, I hope this just gave you a sigh of relief. Okay, again, this is what we walk our clients through Inside the Therapist to Coach Accelerator. From simple systems to messaging, sales, delivery, we're helping you keep it streamlined so you can focus on growing and buying back your freedom and your flexibility and security, but all without burning out. So you can check out the Therapist to Coach accelerator program on carlyhillcoaching.com, visit the show Notes. You can book a call with my team. It's a 45 minute, no cost, no pressure call. It's with my wing women. They have been working with me for years. They'll just answer any questions you have. They can walk you through what mentorship options we have. If anything, you guys will leave it friends and have some clarity in your next step in business. I'm always rooting for you. Go ditch the tech overwhelm. It's not necessary. Go sign up a client. You got this. I'm rooting for you. I will see you in the next episode. Thank you so much for listening to the thriving Therapy Neuro Podcast. I hope that this episode has inspired you to reduce burnout, work smarter and see the freedom potential you have as a therapist. We would love to have you inside the Therapist to Coach Accelerator Facebook group where we have live trainings and cheat sheets on all things marketing, sales and adding coaching ethically and legally. I am here cheering you on and I'll see you around.