5 of the WORST Mistakes Online Coaches Make & What It Takes to Be an Entrepreneur

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Today we're going to be talking about 5 of the worst mistakes that online coaches make when first starting out their businesses. But this conversation is also going to go a lot deeper. I'm definitely gonna break down like 5 very specific things I see happening in the coaching industry that are mistakes or that could really stunt your growth when you're first starting out. But we're also gonna talk about the entrepreneurial journey in general and what it really takes to be a successful digital entrepreneur in today's day and age. And if that's even something that you want or that you feel that you might be cut out for. So if you're an early or aspiring entrepreneur, I really think you're going to love this episode. Let's dive in. Welcome to the Makeshift Happen Podcast. I'm your host, Samantha Daly, entrepreneur, life coach, and your no BS bestie here to bring you all things mindset, manifestation, and personal development. This podcast is designed to help you expand your mind and uplevel your life. So turn the volume up and roll the windows down if you're coming along for the ride. Let's go make shift happen. So I was taking a shower the other day and I get a lot of my best content ideas when I'm either on a walk or in the shower. And I just had this idea pop into my head about, okay, if someone has been running their coaching business for a year or more and they're still not at the level of making at least $5,000 a month, what do I really think the problem is likely to be in their business? Like, what would my diagnosis be from afar? Obviously not knowing any of the details about this person or their experience or what they offer or anything like that. But from afar, what could I say is likely going on or part of the problem? So if you are in a position similar to this, if you've been running your coaching business for a year or more and you're not yet making at least $5,000 a month, here are a few of the things that I think might be happening. The first thing is that potentially your prices are just too low and you're offering things at such a low ticket cost that you don't have the appropriate level of volume yet in in terms of people buying your products or programs in order for that to make you enough money. The second thing that could be happening is that you're really just focusing on the wrong stuff. And so it's, uh, a problem with the directional focus of the business and where you're spending a lot of your time, or the things that you think that you need to do or that you think are important that actually maybe don't matter that much right now. And there's probably a lack of focus on the true income-producing activities that you should and could be spending most of your time on in your business. The third thing that could be happening here is that you're just not as serious about your business as you say that you are, or that you want to be, right? And so I see this a lot where people say like, I want my business to make more so that I can quit my job, but it's almost like they're waiting for that to be the case so that they can go all in. Rather than going all in now and hustling to make sure that that's the case. There's a big difference here, and I think this is the difference between like a, a regular person's mindset and like an entrepreneurial mindset is I'm either just letting my circumstances control me or I'm gonna be in control of the circumstances and I'm going to make sure that the things that I want to happen are happening. And after several years of, you know, being on this journey myself and experiencing certain levels of success and getting in rooms with people that are way more successful than I am, and also helping hundreds of my students and clients start to build businesses and step into their dream lives and build more beautiful versions of their lives for themselves, I feel like I've just noticed that you're either the type of person who gets what they want, or you're the type of person who hopes that they might get what they want but doesn't really take the action required in order to get there. Like, you're either the type of person who lets your circumstances control you, or you're the type of person who decides to be in control of the circumstances. And when I think about ways that this has showed up for me in my own life is even when I was first starting out out in the coaching space and I had just built my very first course or program, whatever you want to call it. And I had just run the beta round with my first ever 7 clients. And I, you know, was just kind of figuring things out. I hadn't even built like a digital product or anything at this point. It was just a workbook and one-on-one coaching. And, you know, I saw this coach on Instagram that I really looked up to. And at the time this was like 2019, I believe. And she was one of those first really explosive coaches that was earning $100,000 a month. And at the time I was, you know, living in Spain. I was still working as a teacher. I didn't have any money. And I just— it was so expansive for me to see that I couldn't even believe that that was real. I was like, how is this actually possible for someone? Like, what the fuck? But it was really expansive to me. And I was like, okay, I would love to work with someone like this. I really want to work with this coach. And it was so delusional at the time, which I love for me, that I reached out and I inquired about being a client of hers and I wanted to work one-on-one with her. I wanted to get a seat at the table. I was so hungry. I didn't even care that it was like she was light years ahead of me and it probably didn't make sense yet for her to be my mentor. But I reached out anyway and I inquired about working with her one-on-one and we had a conversation in the DMs and she was sending me voice notes and I was telling her about my business., and she was like, this sounds great. Like, I love what you're creating and you're doing, and I can tell you're really hungry, but full transparency, the investment is gonna be $15,000 to work with me for 3 months. And I remember exactly where I was. I was in a hotel room in Italy because Jaime and I were on a little vacation together right after New Year's. And this was like weeks before the world shut down with COVID So this was our like last vacation or trip before the pandemic, the onset of all of that, and then travel was not a thing anymore. But I remember exactly where I was. I was sitting on the bed in our hotel room and Jaime was next to me and I go, oh my God, she said it's $15,000. And you know what's funny is like looking back, neither of us had any business in even considering an investment of that level into my business. But again, we had the delusion of believing that I could make something of myself and that this was really powerful and that my work mattered and that I just needed to get into the right rooms. And we actually had a conversation about it as if I was going to invest $15,000, which I did not have anywhere, nowhere to be found. Let me promise you, I promise you, there was— that kind of money was like insane to me. I don't even know where I would find that. I was like, I don't even know anyone that I could ask that is rich enough to like just give me $15,000 or let me borrow it or whatever. But we were like, okay, what would I need to do in order to make that happen? Like, there's a monthly payment plan option, but I'm like, even that, I don't even have that amount of money. And Jaime's like, well, you know, I think I could lend you maybe like $3,000, maybe $5,000. We were young at the time, you know, and we were just kind of getting started and in our lives and my career was all over the place. I had no idea what I was doing or I didn't even know if, you know, coaching was really going to take off for me or be the next thing. I was just doing what I loved and teaching while I figured it out. And so, you know, ultimately I of course was like, okay, this is just— I couldn't ask my parents for that amount of money. Like, this is just way too far out of reach, but I am going to work with this coach and so I'm going to take label this for now, but I'm going to come back to it. And I told her, I was like, I can't make it work right now, but I will be back. And that was January of 2020. And then I believe it was May of 2021, so a year and a half later, when I signed my first contract with that coach. And I hired her for 3 months, and we started working together. And I've worked with her multiple times since then, and we've developed a friendship, and we've become close. And she has always been someone who's really been an expander for me in my life. And so I, instead of going, oh my God, like, I'll just have to wait until, you know, my business takes off to be able to do this, I was like, I'm going to make my business take off so that I can do this. And so maybe I can't hire the $15,000 coach right now. But what I did was I went and I found a coach that I could hire for $5,000. And I started with that coach and I learned how to build a course and develop a program and, you know, build my audience online and start getting clients and all the things that I needed to learn to start making more money. And then as I continued to grow and expand, I invested in a mastermind and I learned even more. And then I was like, okay, I can actually go back and like hire this coach. And I remember she had posted on Instagram. I was already in this, year-long mastermind. It was a huge investment. And so I already had mentorship and coaching and I was doing well in my business. I had already crossed 6 figures and I was like, okay, I'm cruising now. This is good. But I remember that this original coach that I had wanted to work with, she posted like, I have 1 spot available for private mentorship. And I just remember thinking, again, this goes back to like, what is the entrepreneurial mindset? Instead of going, oh, like, you know, I already have a mastermind that I'm in. This is already good enough, blah, blah, blah. Someone else will probably take it before me. Someone who's more qualified, someone who's further along. I didn't think any of those things. I thought, that spot is mine. There's one spot, it's mine. It's meant for me. It has my name on it and I'm going to get it. And so I applied. And of course, like, yeah, there's probably a bunch of other coaches that are further along or more qualified that were also applying, but I got in fast and furious, and I made sure that I got on a call with her really quickly. I didn't want to wait until the next week to get on the phone because again, I said, that spot is mine. I was hungry for the growth. And so I said, can you get on the phone any sooner? I want to talk to you as soon as possible. And so we moved up the call. I made sure that I talked to her really soon, as soon as I could, because I didn't want anyone else taking my spot. And we got on the phone. We had a great conversation. It felt aligned. I was really excited and I said, okay, let's sign, let's do it. And so I got the spot. And so again, it's like, can you have this mentality of knowing what is meant for you, knowing the destiny that you are walking towards, and instead of hoping that it will happen or waiting for the right circumstances for things to evolve so that you can reach it, it's actually becoming the person who would be able to reach it. Like, going out of your way to be in control of the circumstances and manipulate things to find your way to get there. I also remember, I think a good example of this that's a little bit different, it's more of like a life example. But during the pandemic, I shared about this on the podcast. If you guys have been listening for a while, but you'll know that it was during the pandemic when I was really wanting to move back home. We were, we had been in Spain for 6 and a half years and my business was growing a lot and I really wanted to buy a house and grow roots and just get more serious about my business by bringing it back home to the US. And so Jaime and I really wanted to make this move, but it was a horrible time in the world to try and move internationally, especially with the fact that, you know, Jaime is not a US citizen, and they had all kinds of crazy restrictions and things for people that were not US citizens to be able to even come into the country to visit, let alone to move or whatever. And so we had no idea how this was going to happen. And it felt really, really impossible. And, you know, they told us that we'd have to get this, that, and the other thing, and we'd have to do this. And, you know, all the stuff that we just didn't feel aligned with at the time. And we're like, we're just not accepting that there's not going to be a way for us to move unless we follow these arbitrary rules. That we don't agree with. And so we just didn't accept that as our story. We found a fucking way. We found a different way. Was it extremely challenging? Yes. Was it a little over the top? Yes. Did it cost us some money? Yes. Did it give me some anxiety? Yes. But I really feel like getting what you want out of life is simple when you have that entrepreneurial mindset. Of I'm going to figure it out no matter what. I do not accept this as my story and I will find another way. Because when an obstacle gets thrown in your path, if you have that entrepreneurial mindset, you don't just sit down and go, oh, boohoo, look, there's a big boulder in the way of the path. I guess I have to sit and wait for someone else to come along and help me move this out of the way before I can continue. No, you go, all right. Shit, there must be another way, right? Like, there's got to be a way that we can move this and I'm going to find it come hell or high water. So if you are not resourceful enough to find a way in the face of challenges, I just don't think that you will survive as an entrepreneur. And that's the first thing that we have to tackle before we even get into like mistakes or growth hacks or any of the other stuff. It's like, do you even want to be an entrepreneur? Do you have the right mindset? Is it something that really is calling you? Because it's not the easy breezy path that we're sold of, like, work from the beach on your laptop and do whatever you want. Like, first of all, working from the beach on your laptop sucks. There's a horrible glare, it hurts your eyes, you're sweating. It's like, that's not even aspirational. First of all, I've done it, I've tried it, and then I was like, this sucks. So the images that we're sold of entrepreneurship and all of the freedom and everything. Yes, there is truth to a lot of it, but also a lot of it is glamorized and glorified because it's designed to sell you something. And I think I just wanna be really real with the people in my world that are pursuing entrepreneurship about the fact that yes, there's a lot of amazing things that come with it, but it's also not the easier path. I think that's the misconception is like, oh, this would just be easier than having to wake up to an alarm every day and go to this job and follow the rules and, you know, ask for my vacation days and do whatever. Like, yeah, those things kind of suck, but also there's a lot of stuff that sucks about entrepreneurship. And so I, I think that you have to have grit is the first thing that's absolutely required if you want to be an entrepreneur, whether it's an online coach or you run some sort of product-based business or you have a brick-and-mortar physical product business, like whatever it is, I think for entrepreneurs of all kinds, you've gotta have grit. And so if you Google like, what does grit mean? It says grit is a personality trait possessed by individuals who demonstrate passion and perseverance toward a goal despite being confronted by significant obstacles and distractions. Those who possess grit are able to self-regulate and postpone their need for positive reinforcement while working diligently toward a task. There is no other word I feel that better describes what it takes to be an entrepreneur than grit. So just taking a look at that and having a real conversation with yourself of like, is this something that I really want? Like, am I cut out for this? Am I, am I willing to sign up for not only the freedoms that come with this journey, but also the immense challenges and the mountains that you're going to have to climb. Okay, so let's get into 5 of these worst mistakes that I see specifically happening again in the online coaching space that are slowing people down or kind of spinning them into the wrong directions, especially when they're starting out. So the first thing is when people try to do something like memberships this too early on in their businesses. I have had so many conversations with clients, with peers, with mentors even about memberships, because I think memberships are one of the most challenging models in the online coaching space to truly master. And the thing about memberships is that it requires a lot of volume of people that are going to be part of it in order for the the, all the investment of the, the work and the resources that have to be poured into it in order for that to give you a true ROI, not only monetarily but also energetically because of the work that you have to put towards it. In order for that to be worth it, you've, you've got to have like a significant amount of volume, and that just is not the case for a lot of people, especially when they're first starting out. Unless you got your start in the online space as an influencer or someone who already has like a really big audience or a huge community of people that would be wanting to do something really low ticket, and then that might make sense for you if you have the volume to go along with it. But the mistake that I see a lot of people making is they think, oh, this will be easier than selling a high ticket offer or one-on-one packages or whatever, because I can just put in, you know, some journaling stuff and some worksheets and some meditations or some workouts or whatever it is that you, that you've used in your own journey to give yourself some sort of result, you think, I'll just throw those all into like a membership and then people can pay, you know, $20, $30, $50, $90 a month and be part of this membership. And it's just not a smart model to start your business with at all for several reasons. One of the reasons is that, you know, these monthly payments are one of the most volatile forms of payments that you can receive in your online business because it's a, it's a subscription and people are gonna be canceling their subscriptions without notice or canceling their cards or things are gonna, payments are gonna fail and not go through. And there's a lot of like customer service. You've gotta have something. I feel like you would have to have someone on your team that can help you with the customer service element of a membership before you're beginning that endeavor. Because if it's— if you're the only person that works for your business and you're trying to do a bunch of other stuff and grow your socials and put content out and serve clients and all the other stuff, and then you also want to do this membership and there's no one to do customer service for you with like emails about people who lost their login information, or when is this happening, or when is my thing renewing, or my payment failed and I need to change my credit card, and blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. Like, you need the support and the infrastructure to run a really smooth and successful membership that's going to be profitable for you. And the other thing is just the workload that goes into building something like this, having continual resources being added to something of this style, and being— I think it's the pressure too of feeling like I've got to continuously create new things or put new things in there for people or produce more in order for people to feel like this is valuable enough to continue paying this monthly subscription, because is also when things get challenging for people, one of the first things that they go to is they try to cut down their monthly expenses and they look at subscription services and they start, they start cutting things out. And so memberships are an incredible way to build monthly recurring revenue in your business. If you have the capacity for the work that it's gonna take and the customer service support, and if you have the volume in order to give you a proper ROI on it. But for people that are just starting out, It's usually not the case. And so I would not recommend beginning with a membership model. The second mistake is that people waste a lot of time on things like websites and logos or how to set up their LLC or what to call it before they even know how to sell their product. And I think this is one of the beautiful things about the online space that we live in nowadays is that you can really practice and refine your product and build it into something that is really going to get an amazing result or transformation before you do all of this other stuff, like build a website and get a graphic designer and all the bells and whistles. Like, you— the truth is that you don't need that stuff when you're first starting out. You really don't, because you could spend a bunch of money on lawyers and graphic designers and web designers and all of that stuff. And then you could realize 6 months in, I don't actually like this, or I'm not that good at selling this, or I feel like this program isn't what I want to do anymore and I want to shift to something else, or I want to completely pivot and change my niche. And it's just kind of like when you go to university, you're still testing things out and trying to figure out, do I even like this career path? Who do I want to be here? And I feel like we also do that in entrepreneurship. The first couple of years is like formulating your idea of who you want to be and what you want to share with the world and how that wants to come through. And so of course at some point it will probably make sense for you to set up an LLC and to have a logo and to maybe have a website, although I feel like the website is probably the least necessary of, of all things. And there are coaches that I know personally that run multiple 7 and 8-figure businesses that still to this day do not have a fucking website. So if you're getting stalled out on, oh, I need to make a website, that's the wrong thing to be focusing on because first you've got to be on social media attracting an audience, practicing promoting yourself and selling a product. Like if you don't know how to sell the thing that you offer, there's no point in investing all kinds of money in these bells and whistles. Because you ultimately aren't going to need it if you find out that you can't sell your thing or that your thing is ineffective. If your coaching practice still feels more like a passion project than a profitable business and you're ready to actually take it to the next level, Abundant and Ambitious is your one-stop shop for the entire blueprint for how to get there. It is literally everything I did to scale from $0 to $100,000 in one year, and I'm so excited to guide you through it. Some of our incredible guests expander sessions that you have access to include Monica Yates talking about embodying the female breadwinner, Mel Wells teaching on feminine leadership and community weaving, Rachel Hunt talking about the CEO mindset and spiritual business, Laura Heard on mindset, balance, and burnout, Chelsea Rife on the power of podcasting, Alexandria Maria on soulful business and six-figure launches, Michaela Jay on bougie business and getting what you want, Lauren Russell on social media strategy on Instagram and TikTok, and Grant Atkinson talking about the law basics— LLCs, trademarks, and copywriting for online businesses. We've got several major discounts happening throughout the week, and prices will continue to rise gradually until we close the doors on Wednesday, September 27th. So that is the last day that you can enroll in Abundant and Ambitious, is Wednesday, September 27th. And the earlier you get in, the better deal you get. Yet. Click the link in the show notes below for all the details and payment plan options, and feel free to DM me over on _samanthadaily on Instagram with any questions that you might have. This is the last round of 2023. Are you ready to make your passion your paycheck? Okay, so I have something I think you're really gonna love, and your business is gonna love it even more. Do you want to steal the strategy I've been using to seduce premium buyers and sell out my offers on Instagram Stories? Chances are you're already posting, you're already making sales. But if your Instagram Stories aren't working as hard as you are, you're leaving money on the table. Sold Out Stories is going to teach you exactly how to change that so that you can sell out any offer at any price point. And even high-caliber coaches miss this because selling on Stories isn't about how much you post or how frequently you show up face to camera. It's about psychological sequencing. And the way you're posting right now might be giving the premium buyers in your audience the ick. Documenting your day and hoping it builds trust, posting look-at-me content and calling it authority, sharing client wins as soon as they drop in instead of strategically weaving them into a story selling sequence designed to drive demand and convert sales. We both know that you're not here to learn how to show up more. You're here because you know your content could be converting faster and more effectively. Sold Out Stories is gonna give you 5 high-converting story selling frameworks built specifically for premium buyer psychology. Inside, you'll get over 6 hours of deep dive video trainings, real IG story breakdowns, and live walkthroughs that show you exactly how to elevate your slides from authority building all the way to offer flow in less than 10 slides. My clients have already been using these frameworks to pull 5-figure sales days while posting less. One client generated 14 premium leads from a single story sequence. Another sold out her event in under 6 hours with 8 strategic story slides. No sales calls, no paid ads, just the right frameworks. You'll walk away knowing how to sequence for desire, transition into your offer seamlessly, and sell daily without ever feeling salesy. You already know your offer is incredible, so now it's just time for your stories to sell it like it is. Grab Sold Out Stories today and turn 10 slides or less into your highest converting content. Let's make your next story your most profitable one yet. Click the link in the show notes below and I'll see you inside. The third mistake is starting with an ebook as your first offer. And I'm gonna raise my hand because I actually did this, and so I can speak from experience about this just being a bad idea. And I think the reason why I did this was because when I was first getting started, it was like 2018, and so this was very much the kind of fitness influencer era where the fitness influencers and even like the fashion bloggers, I would say those were like the biggest types of influencers at the time. And so a lot of those people, they had these really big audiences and it was a really common thing for them to do to build out an ebook, whether it was an ebook about growing your Instagram or taking better photos or how to get fit or build a booty. There were so many ebooks and guides If you were on Instagram at that time, you will remember this era. And so it was like the ebook era. And so I just kind of saw that as, as the example of how people were selling products online and building their brands. And I was like, oh, well, like I could totally do that. I love writing. I'm, I'm a good writer. Like I'll make an ebook. And the thing about ebooks is, again, it's like this really low ticket offer and it's only ever gonna bring you an ROI if you have massive volume. If you have 500,000 followers and you can sell an ebook for $11 and, you know, let's say 10,000 people buy it, amazing. Fucking amazing. That is awesome. But the reality for most people when they start is that they don't have big audiences, they don't have the volume. And so they pour all of this time and effort and hours and energy into like creating this ebook that could actually probably just have been a course or a program that you could pair with coaching calls, whether it's group or one-on-one, however you want to hybrid the offer. All of that energy and time that you poured into writing an ebook, instead of selling it for $11, you could build it into an actual course or program that has the power to really transform someone's life. Because not only are they going to read the information on a page, but they're actually going to be put into a container where they are held accountable and they are seen and they are heard and they can converse and they can share and they can actually work through these things in real time with your help or with the help of a group support system. And so you could actually make it not only financially smarter for you and your business, but also more impactful and get better results for your clients if you just transitioned that offer into something different. So I mean, this is just massive right here alone. If you took this, this is like kind of like a little mini training. But do not, please just don't do an ebook as your first offer unless again, you're like already an influencer of some kind and you have a big audience and you have the volume to do so. But for most of us, it just doesn't, just doesn't make sense. The fourth mistake is waiting until you are years into your business to start building an email list or a podcast. I've had a lot of clients come to me over the years and go, okay, I think I'm ready to like build an email list now. And they've been on Instagram or TikTok building their, their brand for a couple of years. And it just, I don't know, it blows my mind sometimes. Or the people that I get coming to me like, I really wanna revamp my podcast, or I really wanna get serious about my podcast again, or I wanna start a podcast for the first time. And they're already a really well-known coach and have an established business. And everyone is going to do things in their own divine timing. And I don't feel like there's any right or wrong way to run or build your business. And ultimately, you've got to do things that are going to work for you and your creation style and your energy capacity and what's going on for you in life and what you feel called towards and what you're excited about and where the passion is for you. And so there's no right or wrong. But I do think that there's people that probably wanted to start an email list or a podcast earlier, but they didn't because they felt like they weren't ready yet, or they felt like they should wait in order for their brand to become bigger or more powerful before they invited people to listen to them on a podcast or something like that. And that's the kind of thinking where I'm like, wait, why? Why would we do it that way? Because the thing about an email list, or especially a podcast, is that those forms of media you've got to be in it for the long game with that. Like, you don't just build an email list and you're like, okay, I'm going to use this for the next 6 months. You don't just build a podcast and go, I'm going to put out episodes for the next 6 months and then shut it down. Like, you've got to be in it for the long game. And I think that's also why people resist it, to be honest, is because they know— they look at it and they go, that's a commitment. And they don't want to make the commitment because they don't want to, you know, get to that point where they're like, oh shoot, you know, I was inconsistent with that, or I didn't follow through with it and whatever. And so we're trying to, as a self-protection mechanism, avoid that sense of, of failure or letting ourselves down, we instead sabotage. That's really what self-sabotage is, right? It's self-protection. So we sabotage the ability to really connect with our audience in a deeper way by building the list or, or launching the podcast. So the reason why I think these things are valuable to do earlier on in your business is because they take a while to nurture and grow. And so if you're already at a certain stage of your business and you're like, great, I want to build a list. And it's like, you have— you've done all of this stuff, but it's still going to take you some time to grow that list. Like, you don't get to jump to 10,000 people on your email list overnight unless, again, of course, you've already built an enormous community and you have the volume. But for most of us, that is not the case. That's the last time I'm going to caveat that. But everyone kind of gets that, I think, at this point. And the same even with a podcast, like, unless you are a really big influencer or you have been on a TV show or you are famous in some way, shape, or form. Most people don't start their podcast and then immediately get on the charts and have a million downloads in the first month. Like, it just doesn't work like that. And so these things require nurturing in order to grow them over time. And so why not start them earlier? It's gonna take you a while to grow it anyway, so why not start it earlier on so that you already have more weeks, months, and years under your belt of nurturing this email list and growing this podcast following, it's just going to help your brand overall when you get further along in the journey. And like I said, the time is going to pass anyway, and it's going to take a while to grow it, so you might as well start sooner rather than later. And these types of long-form content, emails and podcasts, or if you're someone who does YouTube, like, I think that would fit into the same category. It's like having these long-form pieces of content is going to be the thing that really gets people addicted to your brand on a deeper level. Like, they're just going to connect with you so much more. They're going to feel so much more— Hey, don't forget that every month we are picking a Listener of the Month to win $50 in cash just for showing love to the show. All you have to do is leave an epic review of the podcast on Apple Podcasts, screenshot the review before you hit submit, and DM that screenshot to us on Instagram @makeshifthappenpodcast. And that's it. I want to thank you for being such a loyal listener and show my appreciation by putting a little extra cash in your pocket. I know it's super easy not to do it, but every single rating and review seriously helps the show rank higher and reach new people, so we appreciate them more than you know. We'll announce the next winner at the end of the month and slide into your DMs if it's you. So keep an eye out and good luck. Love you guys and thanks for supporting Makeshift Happen. Bonded to you by watching your weekly vlogs on YouTube or listening to your weekly hour-long podcast that comes out every week on the same day. It's like a, a bonding experience with a creator when you get to see them in long form, whether that's through video or through audio. Or even through something like an email list. If you act— if you're someone who actually reads emails and you get emails from some of your favorite creators, if they're writing emails where they tell you things that are going on in their lives or things that they're doing, or they share behind-the-scenes photos, like, that can be a really great way to build rapport and just feel like you're bonding with that individual. And the more that people feel like they like you and they know you and they can trust you, the more likely that they are going to be to want to work with you. And so it's a really, really valuable thing to have in your business and in your personal brand is some form of long-form content that creates that level of connectivity and like, know, and trust. And I think, like, at least in my own experience, podcasting has just been so incredibly powerful in that space. And I have some clients that are— even just now, I'm working with a one-on-one client, and she had a podcast previously, but she kind of fell off the wagon with it. And she's a successful coach, you know, She makes probably over $50,000 a month is her norm. And so she has an audience, but it's still this labor of love to build the consistency with the podcast. But once she got back on track with it and she started putting out those weekly episodes, we got on a call and she was like, I can already tell that there is more momentum in my audience because I've resumed doing the podcast. Like, I can already tell I'm getting so many more messages and people are more invested and they're more interested and they're asking about my offers. And it's because they feel that sense of connection and they're— they feel like they can trust her more, they like her more, they know her more. And so these things are really valuable to do earlier on in your business rather than later. Okay, and the fifth mistake is that coaches who are starting out are sometimes worried more about their course than their personal brand and their actual online presence. And I did a reel about this a while ago, and people really liked it because it was, it was super simple and it was kind of meant to be like fun and cheeky, but it was basically like, should you build the course or the audience first? The chicken or the egg? And it's kind of this, this question that I see a lot of early coaches struggling with of like, what should I focus on? Do I bother building this course? Do I just focus on my online presence? Do I do both at the same time? And they're not really sure where to go. And I have the answer for you. And the answer is that you should focus on building your audience and your personal brand and your online presence first before you spend a ton of energy pouring into building this like course or program. And is this gonna be the exact way that everybody should always do things? No, but it's a really smart way to do it for several reasons. The first reason is that when people decide, okay, I'm going to build a course or a program, a lot of times what happens is they're not even posting consistently or showing up on social to build their brand. They're just so tunnel vision because they're probably working a full-time job at the same time, let's be honest. So then all of their free time gets diverted to building this course or program. And so they're pouring a lot of time and energy into building out this product or this thing, but yet they have no one to buy buy it because they haven't even been consistent enough online with building a brand to where people are like, hey, I want to work with you. No one wants to work with them yet because no one even knows what they've been doing behind the scenes. So they spend all of this time building this beautiful course or program, and then they go, okay, I'm ready to launch my thing, and they go on Instagram and they put a post up and they share about their stuff, and then they come to me and like, I don't know what I'm doing wrong because no one's reaching out to me and saying that they wanna join this. And it's like, okay, but that's because we've done everything backwards. Like, this is not, this is not how it works. It's not build it and they will come. Like, you've gotta build the audience and the desire for people to want to work with you, and then you can offer them something amazing and go, all right, now that you like me and know me and trust me and we have this relationship I've provided you so much free value and we have this kind of connection and relationship going online. Here's what I'm offering. Are you interested? Because you actually have someone to speak to. You actually have someone who's on the other end of that conversation rather than showing up to an empty Instagram and going, here's my course. And then wondering why the algorithm hasn't pushed that content to the right people so that you can get clients. Like it just doesn't really work that way. And so in this post, you know, a lot of people were like, oh my gosh, this is so helpful, thank you so much. But then there were also some comments of like, follow your intuition and do what feels best for you, and if the course is wanting to, you know, come through you, then you should let it. And 100%, I totally agree. I think if you can do things simultaneously, then go for it. But for a lot of people, it's not as realistic because again, like I said, they're probably working a full-time job. And so if you're wondering, all right, I only have so many hours, I only have so much time that I can spend on building this business, and you're really wondering like, what should I prioritize? Where should the focus mainly be going? Then that's my answer for you. The focus should mainly be going to building an online presence and building a personal brand so that you can have this collection of people who are actually interested in what you're going to sell. When you decide to sell something someday. And while we're on this topic of, you know, these common mistakes that I see a lot of online coaches make when they're first starting out, I also want to mention that I feel like the biggest mistake of all that you could make is waiting to feel ready to go on this journey and to take the leap into entrepreneurship, waiting for the perfect conditions to present themselves in order to press go on your dream, waiting waiting for there to be more money so that you can finally invest instead of getting resourceful and going out and thinking, all right, how can I create the money? Where can I source the money? Who can lend me the money? Like, you've got to have again that entrepreneurial mindset and be willing to be hungry for your dream instead of waiting for the conditions to fall into your lap so that you can finally go, all right, I'm ready to really get serious about this. The biggest mistake of all is probably taking on other people's fears and doubts as your own, or letting them affect what you do. Taking on other people's fears and doubts about what they perceive as what's possible, or what's realistic, or what is considered good, or safe, or smart, and then allowing those fears and doubts of other people people to influence the actions that you take or don't take. I mean, that is one of the most detrimental things that you could do as an entrepreneur. I, I think if you are— if you're wanting to follow the societal norms, if you are wanting to avoid risk and just stay safe, if you are wanting to never risk money or potentially losing money, if you're wanting to live your life in a safe and cozy way based on the guidance of what other people are saying is the right thing to do, then you should probably just stay in a regular job. And there's nothing wrong with that. Like, there's a lot of people— I have friends that love their jobs and they are so happy in their careers, and I am so happy for them. And sometimes I actually get jealous of them on the entrepreneurial path because I'm like, oh, Oh, wouldn't it be nice to just close my laptop at 5 o'clock and never have another thought about work or clients or whatever is coming up, and not having this pressure of it's all up to me to create the outcomes, and if I don't do this, then there's not going to be any money. And so yeah, like, if you're wanting to be safe and cozy and not take the risks and not lose money and not do any of that stuff, then just work a regular job. Up and find a way to be happy doing that. There's nothing wrong with that. But being an entrepreneur is literally the exact opposite of that. It's the exact opposite of safe and cozy and no risks and never losing money. Like, that's not what entrepreneurship is. It literally requires risk. It requires breaking the status quo and going against the grain of the societal norms. It demands creativity and ingenuity and doing things that other people will say is impossible or pointless. I mean, think about things like the iPhone or the Tesla or Amazon. These are all incredible inventions that have changed our world, and they came from entrepreneurs who had the courage to be disliked, to try a new way that no one had thought of before, and to do something that other people would say is silly or impossible or a waste of time. Like, do you know how many people have probably told Elon Musk, like, bro, you are so strung out, you're insane? But he keeps going and creating these incredible new inventions in the world. Or think about, like, Amazon ordering books online. It first started as books, and it was like, dude, why would you want to do that? Like, there's bookstores everywhere. Like, you can just go down the street to a store and get book. Like, I don't need to do this whole, like, online store thing. Or when the iPhone came out and it was like the mission was to create such simplicity with mobile devices and there was just a singular button on it. Like, do you know how much pushback there probably was for Steve Jobs or whoever was working on the model of the first iPhone being like, and there's gonna be only one button. And they're like, I'm sorry, come again? On a phone, one button. Like, we just can't even comprehend the courage and the adversity and the challenges that these types of entrepreneurs had to go through in order to birth their creations into the world, and as a result, change the way that we do things forever. And so I think a really important part of the conversation that we're having today in this episode is is being able to ask yourself really honestly, like, do you even want to be an entrepreneur? Is that even what you want to sign up for? I think it, it's funny to think about, like, if entrepreneurship, online coaching, whatever it is, the, the endeavor that you're thinking about pursuing— it's funny to think about, like, if there was a job description for it. Like, if you were to go on Indeed or LinkedIn Jobs or wherever and, and look up, try to find a job description for what it was that you were getting yourself into. I feel like entrepreneurship underneath the description of that job would say things like willing to be rejected over and over again, open to investing lots of money with the understanding that sometimes they will lose it, ready to learn hard lessons and face problems that most other people will not understand. Someone who is adaptable to change and understands that they will lose friends by accepting this job. Someone who is skilled at ignoring the opinions of other people and is able to show up regardless of outside pressures, fears, and doubts. Like, the description would be so— it would just have to be so ruthless where you'd be like, shit, like, is this is really what I'm signing up for? But of course Of course, there's the flip side to that coin where there's those incredible rewards of entrepreneurship, especially digital entrepreneurship and the freedoms that were afforded with the, the coaching model. Uh, uh, above all, like I think it's a really incredible model and, and industry to be in because of all of these rewards, you know, things like having more paid vacation days than anyone that you know and the freedom to live and travel and reside anywhere in the world and be able to work when you want to, create your own schedule, take as much time off as you need, having complete control of your income with absolutely no glass ceiling or limit whatsoever. Like truly, especially in the coaching space, there are people making $5 million a month. Like there's just no limit. There is no limit. And I think that is an incredible thing. And also it can be a psychologically damaging thing because it fucks with you sometimes. But you know, there's other things like having the opportunities to meet some of the most amazing people as an entrepreneur and form deeper, more aligned friendships than you ever thought possible or that you've ever experienced in your life so far. The ability to not only just do work or go to work, but to actually inspire a movement and create ripples of real change in the world through your message and your work. Waking up excited every day about the work that you get to do and the people that you share your life with because you get to be so— you get to have such a, a strong filter on who gets access to you and who you work with and, and never having to work with a misaligned or grumpy or rude client ever again like you might have to in a regular job because you get to choose soulmate clients only. There's no doubt that there's so many freedoms that we are afforded by this journey of digital entrepreneurship, but we also just have to be real with ourselves about the cost and what we're actually getting ourselves into. And so I hope this episode was helpful for you, especially for my early and aspiring online coaches, and kind of taking a look at some of these mistakes and and the characteristics that you're gonna need as you go on this journey and you embark on your entrepreneurial path. And I just wanted to remind you all that if you are actively seeking mentorship on this path and you want a group of like-minded entrepreneurs to get in a mastermind with so that you can learn from each other and grow, my 4-month business mastermind for early and aspiring coaches is now open. For enrollment. Abundant and Ambitious is back. This is one of the programs that people most love from me. It gets incredible results for my clients. We cover all kinds of topics inside, but it's really going to help someone who's at that stage in their coaching business where maybe they haven't even really taken off or started yet, or they are in this space where they're not yet earning $4,000 to $5,000 a month. If you're not yet there, then this program would be really, really ideal for you. Because we're going to cover business foundation, stepping into your power, overcoming imposter syndrome, selling on social media, identifying your niche and branding, the conscious creation of an offer, helping you build out courses and programs. I'm going to teach you my launch formula for live launching, how to grow a successful podcast, attracting soulmate clients, upleveling your content creation and copywriting hacks, masterclasses, challenges, workshops, money mindset and the management of money in your business. We're gonna go over Soulful Sales. I'm gonna give you the sales survival guide that helps so many people lock in more sales in their businesses, whether it's over the phone or in DMs. We're also gonna talk about feminine energy in business and how to support your clients from a heart-centered space while avoiding burnout and setting really important boundaries, and also scaling to six figures and starting to think about things like hiring and systemizing for when that becomes relevant for you in your business journey. So inside of ANA, we have weekly hot seat coaching calls, which means every single week you're gonna be able to jump on Zoom and ask me your questions and get direct support and feedback on the things that you're working on in your business. You also get access to all of the trainings that cover the topics I just listed off, as well as our incredible guest expanders that are inside of this program. We have people like Monica Gates, Mel Wells, Alexandria Maria, Laura Hurd, Chelsea Rife, Michaela J, Lauren Russell, Rachel Hunt. So many incredibly inspiring conversations that are going to expand you and teach you new things and help you grow as a business owner. So this program is really going to be for you if you are building a conscious online coaching business, if you again are at that stage of making anywhere from $0 to $5,000 a month, but you to expand your impact and income, if you are ready to learn these proven strategies and cheat codes, you want to build a business that feels fun and authentic, and you're committed to the well-being and success of your clients. It's really important that the people that I bring into this program are heart-centered entrepreneurs, and they are in it for the right reasons, and they actually have something really important to offer the world. So if you are looking for more guidance and accountability so that you can stop this guessing game and you're excited to show up and do the work, then Ana is for you. It doesn't come around that often. So click the link in the show notes below for more information, or the link in my bio will also take you to the page that tells you all about Ana. You're going to be able to see all of the pricing details on the page. The price is incrementally rising throughout this launch, and so it is continuously changing, but it will be reflected as it is currently on the website. So if you're wondering what the price is today, click the link, go to my website, you'll be able to see the prices reflected. We have payment plan options, all of the things. I'm so excited to see you inside of this program and help you grow your business. Doors close Wednesday, September 27th, and this will be our last and final round of 2023. All right, you guys, thank you so much for tuning in and listening. I love I love you so much. I'll talk to you soon. Bye!