When you are presenting your coaching services as a teleclass or as group coaching, there are several ways to “deliver the goods” to your clients.
The “traditional” way is through a series of emails with class materials attached. This way would look something like this:
- Email 1: Welcome to class and include dates for all calls as well as manual or “homework” for the first class.
- Email 2: The day before live class send a reminder. Attachment will include written materials for the class (manual/homework etc)
- Email 3: Day after class. Attachments include recording of class and repeat of written materials sent previously.
- Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for each class in your series.
The advantages of the “traditional delivery method” are:
- Initial costs are low. You probably already have (or should have!) an email delivery system in place.
The dis-advantages of this method are:
- It’s not “evergreen.” Repurposing of your coaching materials is paramount to your services being effective and efficient. “Reinventing the wheel” for each new class or group is not. Each class will require the same energy and time commitment as the first.
- Emails get lost or (gasp!) sent to the dreaded spam folder. Then each client has to email you to get the course materials and downloads. This often happens at the last minute when YOU are preparing for your live class.
- Problems with email attachments/downloads. With so many different email delivery programs, there will always be issues with an attachment or download not going through to someone. In the case of your call recordings, the files are too large for most email programs. So they have to be stored on line somewhere for download. While it may seem “old hat” to you and me to download files, some of your clients may not have a clue.
The NEW Trend in coaching delivery services is Membership Portals. You may think of these portals as websites committed specifically to your coaching program. They are membership sites so only your students can access the valuable information and tools you provide.
The Membership Portal delivery method looks something like this:
- Set up your Membership Site. This site has your branding. You can load all your materials – manuals, homework etc. in to your site set up much like the chapters in a book. Each “chapter” or “module” can be time released so information is dripped to students as needed.
- Enroll you students and they have immediate access to read the course materials on line or download to their computer. You can also give them access to any “bonus” material.
- You can also include a forum where students can interact or ask YOU questions.
- You will still send reminder emails but they will refer to the site for all downloads.
The advantages of the Membership Portal method are:
- It is “evergreen.” Starting a new class every 3 months? No problem. Make a few quick edits to your portal and you start enrolling the new class!
- Repurpose. After your first class, you have the recordings from each of your awesome live presentations. Maybe you want residual income without having to repeat the class live? With everything in the membership portal, you can now sell access to the portal as a “self-guided” coaching program.
- Convenience for your students. All class dates, materials and recordings are in one convenient place. You students don’t have to be searching for that email you sent them last week. They just log on to the portal and read or download at their convenience!
- No Email issues. Since all materials and recordings are in the portal, there are no worries about attachments to emails and recordings to large to send.
- Easy FAQ. Students will have questions and, of course, some may not know how to download. Instead of your inbox being flooded with these questions, you have a convenient FAQ forum where they can get specific directions.
- Students feel valued and part of something special. We all love the exclusivity of “membership.”
The dis-advantages of this method are:
- Initial Cost. Unless you are a “technical” person and some extra time to set up your own portal, you will have to hire someone to set your portal up for you.
- Ongoing Cost. We recommend Kajabi for the coaches we work with. This program has a monthly subscription cost starting at $99.
I hope this has answered your questions about the delivery methods available for your coaching program. It is a very important decision that will have lasting impact for your business. If you would like assistance, we would love to help. Please visit our web page.