Creating several sources of income is the path to success. If you’re considering what digital offer to launch as an online coach this year, explore these online income ideas for coaches.
Working online gives us quite unlimited options when it comes to earning extra income. The trick is to find the best fit and evaluate which offers will be the most valuable for you, as well as your audience.
If you’re considering to launch a new digital product or offer, through this article you will find several different ideas and considerations to keep in mind before you make the final decision.
Now, you know that I’m an online course kind of gal’ but even when it comes to courses – there are just so many different variations to consider! And if you don’t feel like creating a course might be the best fit for you, maybe you’ll change your mind by the end of this article… 🙂
What digital offer to launch as an online coach?
First of all, it’s important to consider if you want to launch an offer that will be a source of passive income or a more hands-on project where your active participation will be required.
Passive products are well known for their ability to bring in income “while you sip a margarita on a beach” (although I’d totally go for pina colada in a beach situation but okay…)
However, there’s quite a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes before these passive sales can be reached.
So while courses per se could bring in passive income in terms of making money while you sleep, the actual preparation and marketing of the course could take quite a lot of your time.
And the same goes for any other type of passive income! It CAN be passive but only to some extent – so this is an important thing to acknowledge.
On the other hand, you’re more hands-on. Either it’s showing up to lead a group coaching or 1:1 freelance work. Again, we have quite many variations but in this case each new purchase will require your presence in one way or another.
Now, the ideal formula would be to combine both types of income in your business but it’s really up to you!
Having a passive source of income is always a good idea. However, often passive income just doesn’t bring in as much money as one hoped for… Then, more hands-on work can come in handy.
Let’s explore online income ideas for coaches.
If you’re struggling to figure out your path, make sure to check out these mindset tips for online coaches!
Online income ideas for coaches
1:1 Coaching
Let’s start with the obvious, shall we?
1:1 coaching is why most coaches are coaches. It’s what put this term “a coach” on you – in most cases anyway. And so it seems like one of the most obvious online income ideas for coaches… How true is that though?
While many coaches end up transferring into other online income modules, 1:1 coaching can be not only profitable but also a quick way to get started.
So assuming you’re already a coach on a specific topic, you can easily add in 1:1 coaching offer into your product suite.
1:1 coaching usually will consist of a specific set of sessions that last for a specific time. For example, 8 sessions over 1 month. Or 10 sessions over half a year.
A good coaching package includes more than just a Zoom call though. Most coaches have additional student guides, worksheets or homework prepared.
But the final offer really depends on your specific niche, the goal of your students and, of course, your own preferences.
Strategy calls
Another option would be to offer Strategy call(-s) versus coaching.
The Strategy calls can have many different shapes and forms: it can be a one-off consultation, a combo of several calls or, for example, being on-call for one full day.
The main difference would be that the call itself is not as structured as a coaching offer. Usually, it’s a one time thing that helps your audience to solve a specific problem or just get a dose of inspiration or guidance from you.
Most strategy calls would last from 60 to 90 minutes. If you’re solving a specific topic, you might require your client to fill out the homework beforehand or just inform you about the topic at hand so you can prepare for the session and give as much value as possible in this timeframe.
Strategy calls is the easiest online offer to launch fast as it won’t require too much of your own preparation beforehand.
Online course
An online course definitely is another incredibly popular go-to and often feels almost like a must-have when it comes to various online income ideas for coaches.
(But it’s not really – it’s totally up to you what kind of digital offers you choose to have!)
Online courses are great for scaling your business and having a chance to help more people at the same time.
If your 1:1 offers are stretching you thin or you just feel like it’s time to uplevel your business with a course, it’s definitely a valuable offer to consider. There’s always a unique value or perspective you can give to your audience!
Plus it’s so versatile and can be sold in so many different ways.
When it comes to courses, it’s important to recognize that there are several different types of online courses that can be provided:
- Evergreen courses. An online course that is fully pre-recorded and will not require your participation. Such courses can be sold passively and the enrollment can be unlimited – at any time.
- Open-close cart course. This means that you will have a specific launch period and the enrollment in your course will be limited to a specific timeframe. Open-close cart courses have various pros and cons, for example, the fear of missing out might increase the signups but, at the same time, as it’s not evergreen you might be missing out on those who want to buy at a random time.
- Group coaching based courses. We’ll talk a bit more about group coaching in the next point. Generally, group coaching based courses rely on group coaching as the main method of teaching. There can still be additional material pre-recorded or additional guides or worksheets provided but the main element is Live group coaching. Such courses usually are open-close cart type versus evergreen.
As you see, different types of courses will have different pros & cons and it’s important to consider which type of course would be the best go-to for you.
Evergreen courses are perfect for starters as they take off the pressure of Live lessons plus you can always give yourself as much time as needed to prepare for it all.
Group coaching based courses usually have a higher price point which would increase your revenue but it’d also limit it to a certain timeframe…
There is no right or wrong way to go.
If you’re ready to make your course happen, make sure to join Your Course Creation Membership!
Group coaching
Group coaching can be course-based or it can also be led without the additional course component.
Group coaching often is used as a first-step and lower-priced offer before 1:1 coaching comes into play. So you’d, first, have a group of people being coached on a specific topic and then, the same people can get more of your guidance via 1:1 coaching.
Group coaching usually is based either in a Facebook group or also can be done via Zoom calls – whatever is your preference and it also depends on how much of additional content or features you might want to provide.
A FB group definitely gives you more options as you can save the material in the group plus give them a chance to interact with each other too.
You can also use platforms like Circle to create and host group coaching calls that create a sense of community! (Definitely my preference over Facebook groups…)
E-book
Having an e-book or even several can be an amazing way to earn some extra passive income.
I have to say though that it might not be your biggest revenue maker in terms of direct income BUT selling an e-book can be a great way to attract people to your more high-end offers like a course or 1:1 coaching.
Creating an e-book can be an especially good idea if you already have most of its base content done anyway: either in your blog posts, freebies or elsewhere. You can easily combine your existing content into valuable e-book material.
Besides that, if you’re enjoying writing (as I do!) creating e-books can really seem like the easiest or even fastest go-to with the smallest investment.
On platforms like Payhip, you can set up and sell your e-books along with any other digital products.
Templates
If you specialize in a niche where template creation might be relevant, selling templates can also be a great way to generate more revenue and it can be one of the most popular online income ideas for coaches because it’s SCALABLE.
This might be a great idea if you’re
- a graphic designer (sell templates for slide or worksheet designs, promo graphics, social media, IG templates)
- a website designer (templates for WordPress, landing page templates)
- a copywriter (sales page copy, website copy, blog post layout)
- a marketer (swipe files for emails, launches or product promos)
I hope this list gave you inspiration on what digital offer to launch as an online coach! Have you made your decision yet?
To learn more about creating profitable online courses, make sure to follow me on Instagram @coursecreationlab and join Your Course Creation Membership!
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