Dont have a rags-to-riches story? Three methods to display your coaching abilities without a rags-to-riches story.

Hi everyone, Shikah here. Today we will be discussing whether a rags-to-riches story is necessary for you to sell your courses or to sell your services as a coach.

At the end of this episode, you will have 3 techniques you can use to boost your credibility as a coach if you don’t have a dramatic rags-to-riches past.

Before we start, I want to mention that I have a done-for-you Confidence Workbook which you sell on your coaching website. It is fully customisable with Canva so you can make it your own. I have written the text and content for you so you don’t have to think what to offer to your clients or community this week.

It’s a workbook, but you can repurpose it to be a blog post, or a high value lead magnet to get more subscribers. Or offer it during your coaching sessions and save so much time and money. I will place the link here and you can check it out if this is something you need.

Alright, let’s get back to this topic. If you have been listening to podcasts, you would realise that many big-name coaches have a rags-to-riches story.

I came across one money coach who said that was living in the front seat of her car with $10 in her pocket before she started her business.

I came across another one who said that her mother was a drug dealer and she had an abusive father.

I also came across another manifestation coach who said she was living on her grandparents’ couch whilst launching her business.

So you may be wondering, firstly, why do these coaches tell these stories of their past? And what if you do not have a rags-to-riches story?

What if you have an average middle income family background? What if you come from a privileged background? Does that mean that your coaching has less value?

Frankly you don’t need a rags-to-riches to be a successful coach. However, I understand the some coaches want to prove to people that they overcome many difficulties and hence, their coaching is very powerful.

That’s why they bring our focus to their difficult past. These coaches may also be targetting a group of people who have the same type of challenging life.

This is an unpopular thing for me to say, but it may be eye-opening for you to know this. I have attended business seminars in the past. And the business coaches will literally encourage business owners to come up with some rags-to-riches story.

They will ask you to dig deep into your past, recall something that made you feel grief or some other similar emotions. And literally write your rags-to-riches story on the spot. Because in business, emotions sell. So the logic is that, if you can evoke emotions in people, you are going to sell more.

This is one reason why coaches like to draw your attention to their ‘troubled’ past. Another reason is because they want to prove to people that their coaching techniques work.

However, this is ironic, but people may be more drawn to you if you have a more average, non-drama background. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I do feel that many people do not have dramatic childhoods.

There are a great many of people out there who have mundane, almost uneventful past. There is no need for you to dig up or worse, write a fake rags-to-riches story simply to show your coaching worth or play with people’s emotions.

You can own your past even if there is nothing dramatic about it. Being authentic is a fresh direction to take in business. So how can you showcase or display your coaching abilities without resorting to dramatic stories?

I will share 3 techniques with you.

Technique #1 to display your coaching abilities without a rags-to-riches story

Think of a time you have overcome a challenge in the past which relates to your coaching expertise. If you are a self love coach, you can share a time when you overcame a self-love issue for yourself or help others do the same.

Do take note that even overcoming a small challenge counts because let’s face it, we face small challenges everyday. If you can share with your clients how to,say, make wise decisions in 3 steps for example, people can relate to that.

Technique #2 to display your coaching abilities without a rags-to-riches story

Check and see if you have any related certifications. You don’t necessarily have to take long courses or a degree program for this. Perhaps you can even take short courses which give out certifications.

I think certifications are very helpful even though we have seen many coaches claiming that they have made 6-figure years without certifications.

Usually, we need to put in some hard work and effort to get through even a short course, so it’s a good thing to do for us to gain knowledge and get certs to our name.

Certs are a tangible representation of someone who continually upgrades themselves.

Technique #3 to display your coaching abilities without a rags-to-riches story

Consistently show up on YouTube videos, podcast episodes or other types of video content. The keyword here is ‘consistently’. Perhaps uploading a video every week or go ‘live’ on Instagram every week or so.

Videos are obviously the fastest way for you to gain trust, respect and show your expertise to the world. There are instances where I have gained so much knowledge from listening to someone on just two podcast episodes, that I was ready to buy her mid-priced course.

Well if you are new, YouTube is a good option for you because your videos will show up on people’s ‘suggested’ videos even if they are not subscribed to you. YouTube is a great way to get fresh views and for people who don’t know you to know you.

I have so many coaching tips to share with you so that you can get inspired and motivated about your business.

You can join my email list of 9000 coaches and I usually email a few times a week with coaching tips to help you with your business.

I’ll see you in my next video and take care. Bye!

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