It’s not you.
Being an entrepreneur can be lonely when we believe we are solely responsible for everything in our businesses.
On one hand yes, ‘the buck stops’ with you, but on the other, that’s grandiose thinking, because we don’t live in isolation while pulling invisible strings attached to everybody else.
Lately, I’ve had to look at the coaching market and face a hard truth which surprisingly came as a relief: What I’ve done previously marketing-wise to great effect is no longer working.
Not because of a single one-star review on Yelp (out of twenty-plus five-star reviews) that in my weaker moments affirmed my mistaken inner sense of unworthiness.
No, it’s because, since I launched my business back in the early aughts, the coaching industry has burgeoned just as technology roared ahead faster than I ever could, and now the answers to everything are right at our fingertips. Or at least the marketers behind each technology would like us to think so.
People with ADHD are ripe targets for those apps. So are struggling entrepreneurs with ADHD.
Why should someone invest in a four-figure coaching package when there are ‘coaching apps’ and evergreen programs they can subscribe to at much lower cost? Well, for a very good reason, but I’ll get to that in a second…
Whether you have ADHD or not, if you’re an entrepreneur, building and subsequently sustaining success lies in your ability and willingness to respond to changes in the market. PLEASE NOTE: that does NOT mean getting sucked into catching all the shiny virtual balls others are bouncing. Then you’re just becoming part of the problem.
Watch out for that.
Now that I recognize the current trends in coaching, I can address them: why should one pay more for a coach than opt for an evergreen program or an app?
Here’s why:
People are used to getting the illusion of help through a lower investment. Then they eventually get distracted from that once-new app, or they don’t finish (or even start) the evergreen course they bought.
Meanwhile, they’re missing out on accessing positive change through commitment to a coaching relationship.
This does the buyer, especially the one with ADHD, a disservice. That is the message I need to get across now.
Of course, I can’t do so via what has stopped working. I need to do market research in order to find out where the people who need me have gone and join them there so I can put myself in front of them to make my case.
I’ve also engineered some offerings to match what people seem willing to pay, not by joining the race to the bottom instigated by a lot of new, less experienced coaches charging $100 for four sessions, but by structuring shorter, less expensive coaching packages as well as my first four-week course.
If you have ADHD and find yourself ruminating and blaming yourself because your business isn’t taking off, it may help to take an objective look at what’s going on around you in order to strategize more effectively.
That is probably a good place to start. Next, don’t try to do it alone. If you could figure it out yourself, you would have. Let’s talk instead.
