Katie McManus argues that "build it and they will come" fails for coaches and creators. You need to identify your ideal client and their specific problems before you build anything, or your offer won't attract paying customers.
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The movie of the field of dreams has fucked over a whole generation of business owners. And I really want to talk about it for a second. You know that saying, build it and they will come? Yeah, that only fucking works if you know who you're building it for. Okay? They built a baseball field, okay? Presumably because they wanted to attract people who like baseball, okay? They didn't build a baseball field thinking that someone who wants to do a cooking class would show up. I talk to new business owners all the time, and they think that they have to build all this stuff to just attract the clients who will just magically show up and be like, yeah, this looks cool. And I'm speaking specifically to, like, coaches who, you know, say, well, I can empower anyone. I can work with anyone. Anyone who's going through a transition, I can help. And it's like, everyone is going through a transition, every moment of their goddamn life. You. You gotta narrow it down. Okay? If I hear one more coach that they are building a course, like a digital product, before they have an ideal client avatar, before they have a description of the person that they want to work with and the problems that person struggles with and the things that person wants. If they're just like, well, I'm just going to build this coaching program and then the right people will show up for it. Babes, no, no, People don't buy coaching, okay? No one gets their paycheck and is like, I would like to spend hundreds of dollars of this paycheck on a coach. No, it's not how it goes. People don't care about coaching. They care about the problems they have in their life and they care about the goals they have, and that's it. And if a coach is going out selling coaching, they're not going to have any clients. Clients, because no one buys coaching. They buy solutions to their problems. So if a coach goes out and says, you know, this is my ideal client, they describe in detail who they work with, the problems that person has, the goals that person has. That is what makes it easy for someone to be like, wow, they're talking about me. I have that problem and I want that goal. And you know what? Maybe I should look into this coaching thing, because it seems like this could be the thing that solves my problems and gets me to the goal. Stop trying to build something. And the other thing that drives me insane about this is that the people who want to build everything, they are smart and they are capable and they are qualified. Like, up the butt qualified. They are so qualified. They have certifications coming out of their ears. Okay? And here they are spending hours, like, hundreds of hours and so much money and, like, so much energy. And just like, they're like, the spiritual cost of. Of investing all this into building something that no one is gonna buy because you don't have an ideal client in mind for. Makes me furious. It makes me furious that this advice got turned into some pseudo business building stuff like, no, don't build it and they will come. Figure out who you're building it for and build whatever it is that they want, please. Makes my life so much easier. But also, this is what I help people with. So if you're struggling with this. Yeah. Message me. Let's. Let's get you sorted out so you can actually make money. Right? Because if you keep following this advice, build it, and they will come. You will never make any money. No one's going to sign up for you. Right. And even if they do, they're not going to be willing to spend much money with you. Right? When you have a really specific thing that you solve and, like, a specific goal that you help people get to, that's when people are willing to invest big money in you. That's it. And really, like, let's. Let's be real. They're not investing money in you. They're investing money in themselves. You're just kind of like the Yoda that's helping them get there. Anyway, that is my rant for the evening. I hope you have a good Friday. Bye.
