We are in the midst of an explosion in the availability of affordable, easy to use web-based technologies. And savvy coaches are beginning to realise what benefits this can have to their coaching practices.

For a coach, a website is taken for granted these days, as is their newsletter. If you look at several coaches’ websites you’ll see a remarkable consistency. They no longer differentiate. The area in which to compete has moved on.

So what are the fast-growing areas of web-based technologies for coaches? And where can we differentiate ourselves?

First, let’s identify three concepts coaches should embrace to make the best use of their limited time. These are outsourcing, leveraging of time and automation. Any worthwhile internet technology should use one or more of these.

Let’s just explore what they mean.

1. Outsourcing

Smart coaches outsource low-added value tasks like the transcription of teleseminars or presentations and also higher value activities like design. This allows coaches to concentrate on running their practices.

Two useful outsourcing sites are Elance.com, for a whole manner of services and 99designs.com for design work.

2. The Leveraging of Time

There are a number of technologies that allow the leveraging of a coaches’ time. Instead of always having to deal 1:1 with clients, you can interact 1:many with your clients via teleclasses, autoresponders, blogs and podcasts. In this way you can reach more people at the same time, and still deliver value.

3. Automation

We’re seeing far more use of internet automation – for taking payments, taking bookings, keeping in touch with prospects via autoresponders and newsletters, online surveys, membership sites… …the list is long and growing.

This means that services that previously required a small admin team can be undertaken

by coaches themselves.

Now let’s look at the hottest technology trends that coaches can benefit from.

The Rise of Blogging

The rise of blogging has been fuelled by the sheer ease of updating a blog. And this has meant a decrease in the need for webmasters. A coach can now create online content as quickly as one can type into Word. And with no need for html knowledge, either.

The Use of Audio

Both audio and video are creeping into coaches’ websites. And the ease of adding audio and video to a blog has led to multi-media, content-rich blogs. These are far more attractive to new prospects and to search engines alike.

The next big technology trend in audio is likely to be coaches’ podcasts, growing out of audio postings to blogs.

The Use of Video

YouTube videos embedded into websites and blogs are becoming commonplace. Anyone with a digital cam-corder, digital camera, webcam or even a phone can create video content, upload it to YouTube, and link from your blog or website.

And video recording and editing applications like Camtasia and Jing are making video content creation a breeze.

Using Autoresponders

I consider an autoresponder to be the first tool a coach should embrace. The ability to reach so many people so easily, the automation of admin tasks and the leveraging of time make the decision to have an autoresponder an obvious one.

Running Teleseminars

Those coaches who consistently utilise teleseminars, the content of which meets their clients’ needs will prosper. As with other media, the content must be relevant and valuable to the client.

The Rise of Social Media

There has been a dramatic rise in the use of social media sites and tools such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Used effectively, these sites can develop and deepen relationships remarkably quickly.

Conclusions – What These Technology Trends Mean

1. The rapidly expanding set of online tools are allowing savvy coaches to leverage their marketing efforts. The online tools available today can aid coaches in all aspects of their marketing – from market research through prospecting, new product development, packaging and distribution.

2. While the list of technologies can seem overwhelming at first, these technologies can help coaches now, and their functionality and scope will only increase.

3. The winners in the use of the web-based technologies will be those unafraid to experiment, and who use technology for the benefits it can bring to them and their clients, rather than for its own sake.

In other words, they will offering something that is wanted – their content will be relevant and valuable to their target market.

4. Coaching excellence is no longer enough. Being clear what niche you operate in as a coach is more vital than ever. Your coaching services must be differentiated from the mass of coaches out there. This differentiation may be via the target market you choose to pursue, via your specialisation, or both. These technologies can aid in your differentiation – but only if you’re crystal clear on it already!

5. Having a website and newsletter is not enough. Both must be targeted at the market segment that will value you as a coach – what you have to offer, your services. And of course, to have credibility, you must be able to demonstrate your skills, experience and knowledge in that area.

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