Personal Branding Strategist – The Dirty Reality Of The Online Coaching Business (Or What I Do)
If anyone were to check out any Internet Marketer, you will get the following gimmicks:
- DRIVING AN EXPENSIVE CAR?
A guy sporting on sunglasses, driving a super-expensive car through Beverly Hills, taking you around as the camera focuses on him until he reaches his house which has another 6 to 8 super-expensive cars. - SITTING RELAXING ON A BEACH?
Another Online Coach will show you a scene of him sitting near the beach under a coconut tree with a pina colada with a Mac Book Pro relaxing and enjoying himself - SHOWING YOU HIS CHEQUE OR WADS OF CASH?
Feels good right when someone shows you a big huge massive cheque with big numbers on it or a lot of dollar bills with tons of money all wrapped together? (I tried that bit with real cash myself!). It makes you want that life — isn’t it? - OUTLANDISH STATEMENTS?
You will hear statements like “How to earn a 6 figure income within 6 months through a proven secret system” or “Zero to $100,000 in 3 months” - WEBSITE INTERVIEWS?
You will see news links & interviews on Business Insider (sponsored of course) where they will be portrayed as the “New Age Online Coach” who is today minting millions through passive income. - AMAZING PHRASES?
And yes, you will always get smart sounding statements like
“Work from Home”
“Be Your Own Boss”
“Passive Income”
“Earn when you sleep”
“Location Independent Work” - FREE BONANZA!!!
You WILL ALWAYS HAVE a
–Receive the SECRETS for FREE in an E-book
– SIGN-UP for the FREE Newsletter
–Receive a $997 Website for FREE - “I WAS JUST LIKE YOU” EMPATHY STRATEGY……
Makes you feel like he knows where you are coming from and what you went through when he lets you know “I was just like you” (in other words, I was earning shit) but now I am earning 6-figures….
I am sure you must have watched an advert like this in some place or another and wished that you too could live that life! After all, wouldn’t it also be nice to live that life? Have that amazing freedom? Work whenever you like? Do whatever you like? Earn those Millions of Dollars?
In fact, when many people talk to me from all over the world, they express their undying interest to become “just like me” and to do whatever it is I am doing.
But now, here is the question.
Is this really the reality? Or are people being taken for a ride?
I do not wish to speak about others but let me share with you my life so that you get a perspective.
Now before I do go further, let me pinpoint something here.
Trying to ‘fake it till you make it’ doesn’t work in today internet-connected & social media savvy world. People are far more educated, far more intelligent & far more smarter than you think they are.
Let me give you an example.
These are two people whom I know personally. However, I will keep their names confidential. Both have been my students/clients in the past and they both expressed the desire to move into coaching. Being my clients — I didn’t keep any secrets — I let them know what went into being an online coach.
A few month later, I saw on my Social Media feed:
- She had created a Website, Facebook Fan Page, Twitter, Instagram & Whatsapp Group (inviting people to join) where she positioned herself as an Expert Coach.
- She was now ‘certified’ as a Personal Branding Coach as she completed various courses from different coaching institutes
- She was now creating 1 to 2-minute videos where she was giving her expert views on the subject of her choice.
- She was also posting motivational & inspirational images & videos from youtube to spread ‘motivation’ & ‘inspirational’ messages
- She was also collaborating and conducting various competitions with other people in the industry.
I also saw the young man with his updates appearing on my feed. He was also moving more or less in the same direction. The only difference both of them was — in her case, she had a rich boyfriend who could pay for her bills — so she didn’t have to worry about getting new clients, while the young man had to struggle to balance work life + his dream to become a coach.
Now, this is not me making fun of them.
No.
I started off exactly like them.
I did exactly what they are doing today.
In fact, I had done a lot more than what are doing — the majority of them being embarrassing mistakes and stunts I should have pulled off.
However, today through this article, I will share with you the Ugly Side that most of us Internet Marketers or Online Coaches do not share or speak about — The Reality of our business.
Personal Branding Strategist – The Dirty Reality
PLAN OUT YOUR COST STRATEGY
You can dress up in an Armani Suit, you can drive a Lamborghini, you can rent out a house at the Hollywood Hills. Fine. There are many ambitious ones who do this. And then there are the average folks who make themselves look amazing ‘online’ while taking amazing pictures, showing you heavily edited videos of them living a perfect life (while traveling on other peoples money or on budget travels) but showing you a glamorous side of life. All this is fine. But if you start portraying yourself living the high life — guess what — you will need to maintain that for the rest of your life. That is why early on in my career — I decided I would not flaunt the expensive stuff simply because that wasn’t me. I didn’t want to ‘fake it till you make it’ kind of style. I decided then and there itself — I would be ME — as I was — simple — where my dress, my demeanor & my demonstration was very simple, very down to earth and very affordable BUT my content was world class. That is why in all my videos, training programs & live sessions — I wore simple jeans, black t-shirt and yes — slippers. I kept my cost low where ‘appearance’ was concerned. But I focused and spent a lot more on where my education & brand was concerned. So where a typical person A would spend USD $100,000 on appearance, marketing & showing off & USD $10,000 on Education. I would spend $109,000 on Education & Learning and USD $1,000 on my appearance.
Personal Branding Strategist – The Dirty Reality
CONTENT IS KING!
So many Coaches, Online Marketers & Guru’s forget the most basic fundamental rule. Without Content, you DO NOT exist. And by content — I am not talking about rehashing what others share. Seriously — anyone and I mean ANYONE can copy some else’s content. And that is what I see so many of these aspiring Coaches try to do. After all — it doesn’t take a genius to read what Tony Robbins taught or Gary Vaynerchuk stated and reuse it. You may assume that you are THE ONLY PERSON who managed to read his book or his content. But here is news flash — people like Tim Ferriss, Evan Carmichael, Oprah & Gary Vaynerchuk keep giving other peoples material in large quantities. And everyone on this planet has access to youtube, podcasts and Mp3’s just like you. So if you are going to use the same old outdated stuff that all these people have used, you will lose your credibility in seconds.
DO NOT COPY OTHER PEOPLES CONTENT — CREATE YOUR OWN CONTENT!!!
And when doing so — focus on the 3 principles I follow where Content is Concerned….
Personal Branding Strategist – The Dirty Reality
THE THREE PRINCIPLES OF CONTENT CREATION
A) Keep it Consistent(I bring out 30 new articles 10 new videos per week)
B) Make it Communicative(understandable) The language is simple and easy to understand. Even a 13 year old can understand what I communicate.
C) Give it YOUR Character (Personalize it)
You can rest assured whenever anyone reads my article or watches my video — they know it is done by Loy Machedo.
Personal Branding Strategist – The Dirty Reality
IT MUST HAVE THE 3’E’s
– Keep your content ENGAGING where people can interact with you.
– Make sure it is ENTERTAINING
– Keep it ENTHUSIASTIC & FRESH!
Personal Branding Strategist – The Dirty Reality
APPEAL TO YOUR TARGET MARKET
Now, most people mistake the target market as those people who have the big money or those who have the capacity to pay money. Well, guess what — even I made the same mistake. Until I realized there was a massive market of people who couldn’t afford my services but they were loyal fans, followers, and friends. And these people may not pay you money but they will do whatever it takes to make sure your content goes viral. And this, in turn, brings in more clients.
I changed my strategy by working closely with these people. And over a period of time, my brand grew. However, this takes a LONG TIME — really LOOOONG TIME. It is like finding the right marriage partner. Think of all the complications and headaches this takes. And then just copy/paste the same to where working for your brand is concerned.
The bottom line is this — you have to figure out where your target market is, where you can stand out, how you can become viral and yes — in the end — how you can make money…..which brings us to…
Personal Branding Strategist – The Dirty Reality
THE LIFEBLOOD OF ANY BUSINESS….
If you are not making money EVERY SINGLE DAY then you better close down shop and do something else. I am pretty sure you must be shocked at this statement. After all — who can earn money every single day?
Well — here’s new flash for you.
Every single day your expense meter is ticking.
Every single day, you have bills to pay.
Every single day is a Cost.
So if you are NOT earning money but spending only — seriously what is the point of being in business?
I get hundreds of hopefuls who tell me how many fans, followers, likes, comments and compliments they get on their Social Media pages. But then I ask them a simple question — “How much money are you making?”
If the answer is ZERO — then you REALLY need to rethink your strategy or line of work.
Personal Branding Strategist – The Dirty Reality
SHOE-STRING BUDGET
Ever heard of this phrase? Let me put it into perspective so that you understand. Right now, if I choose to live LIFESTYLE AT LEVEL 100 — I can literally show off, have a good time and enjoy my life for the next 12 months. However, if I choose to live LIFESTYLE AT LEVEL 50 — I can live my life effectively for the next 3 years doing the same thing but yeah — at a lower scale of luxury. And if I choose to love LIFESTYLE AT LEVEL 20 — I can live my life like an average man for the next 6 years doing the same thing. Guess which lifestyle would I choose?
Most Internet Marketers live life at Level 100 and then burn out and die as they cannot sustain their lifestyle. However, I realized, if I had to survive, I had to keep my expenses to its bare minimum. Which is where I strategically choose to migrate to a country where the expenses were 60% cheaper than where I was staying. I also make sure my choice of my life partner also supported this dream. Otherwise, I knew 100%, I wouldn’t be able to sustain or survive. Today, if I am able to live my life comfortably — its because of this simple basic advice.
Personal Branding Strategist – The Dirty Reality
THE DRY SEASON
Here is a pop-quiz. What happens when you do not get any client for days and days, and then for weeks and weeks. And then for months and months together. What do you do then? This is something not many people think about and many people plan for. But this is a reality that everyone will go through at some point in their lives. And sometimes, you would have to endure this many times in your life. The reality of not having a client at all for months is scary but this is a horrific reality.
Be ready when this happens. And it can happen at any time.
Personal Branding Strategist – The Dirty Reality
OWN EVOLUTION
Do have a target how many books, courses, workshops and educational seminars you will attend per year? Do you have a set number of hours per day where you focus on developing your own brand? Do you have a time allocated per week where you spend the entire day ONLY studying & developing your skills?
If you are not going to focus on developing yourself — you will be outdated very soon. The knowledge economy is very fragile and is unforgiving. If you do not know MORE than others, READ MORE than others and RESEARCH MORE than others — you will be relegated to being a joke.
Personal Branding Strategist – The Dirty Reality
THE MARKETING STRATEGY
There are two ways of going about marketing your brand.
1) By paying money
2) By paying through blood, sweat and tears.
The former is VERY easy, brings in EASY customers and is MOST popular.
The latter is VERY hard, brings in customers SLOW and is very ORGANIC. I didn’t have a very big budget when I started. In fact, I had NO budget. But I had to survive. So what was the choice I had?
None!
So what did I do?
Put my head down and slog it out.
I kept creating content while studying, learning and educating myself and at the same time trying cost-effective tricks to see what would work and what wouldn’t.
It wasn’t easy but I got where I wanted to reach AFTER 6 YEARS!!!
Now — my strategy may not be the best strategy for you. So that is why you need to ask yourself:
1) How much money can I afford to spend per month
2) How long can I afford to spend that sum of money
3) What channels should I be marketing this content to
4) How much of each content should be marketed to each channel
5) How do I measure & study the analytics to know the ROI
Based on this — you can know what to do next.
So, I hope these 10 points kind of give you an insight into what really goes into the world of being an Online Coach or Personal Branding Strategist.
Remember what I told you before — any idiot can call himself or herself “Personal Branding Strategist” like I have. But a lot goes into becoming one. And it is NOT your degrees, it is not even the amount of books you read. Rather it all comes down to what you are able to create, how much you are able to create and how consistently you can create & sustain yourself while creating this content.
That is what differentiates you from others.
End of the day any career on this planet is a career ONLY if
1) You are offering value consistently
2) People are paying you serious money consistently
3) You are evolving consistently
If you are doing all these three — great. You are whatever you say you are.
If not, you are just giving everyone bullshit.
And sooner or later, people will come to know you are a wanna-be, and that my friend will be the end of your Brand, your Bravado and your Bullshit.
****************************************
TO CONTACT
+66-92-541-4884 | loy@loymachedo.com
IF YOU WANT TO JOIN MY WHATSAPP GROUPS
Send me a Whatsapp message to +66-92-541-4784
FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
www.ThinkPersonalBranding.Com
DONATIONS
If you wish to support my channel and wish to contribute:
Please go to PayPal & make the payment to loy@loymachedo.com
Loy Machedo
www.LoyMachedo.Com
www.WhoIsLoyMachedo.Com
www.ThinkPersonalBranding.Com
****************************************
