During the gold rush in the 19th century, the only people making money were those providing advice on how to mine for gold.

And the ones who sold the shovels.

Its spectacular collapse was due to people wising up and realizing that there was no gold.

When the amateur miners disappeared, so did the money. And so did the wealth of those who sold advice. And shovels.

Sadly, the coaching industry that grew in the 20th century mirrored the gold rush of so long ago…

For far too long, the ones who made money were the ones giving the advice. And just like the gold rush, the coaching industry is witnessing a spectacular collapse.

Coaching will always be what it is:

• A profession designed to help people navigate through their most pressing problems.
• A profession designed to help people move from a place where they’re stuck.

Coaching is valuable…

I played competitive basketball right up to university and with the best coaches, I shined. So, coaching will always exist.

However, there’s an economic imbalance in the coaching industry…

It was never designed to become one big pyramid scheme. Where there is gross imbalance, the pathway to balance is ugly, messy and violent.

So, what’s next for coaching?

1 – On demand coaching. Instead of signing up for 6 or 12-month programs, offer laser coaching at set times. Similar to clarity.fm.

2 – Micropayments. Instead of five-figure coaching contracts that last a year, offer 20-minutes of coaching for $27-$47. Use a 900-number and charge by the minute.

3 – Package training differently. I’d love to see coaches use apps instead of binders full of papers at their workshops to capture attendee transformation in real time.

4 – Pick and pay. Similar to the above, let clients choose which part of your signature system they’d love to invest in right now. Coaches currently offer one part of their signature system at certain times of the year. People want to choose from your suit of offerings (like Netflix) instead of waiting for you to go through your launch sequence.

5 – Binge consumption. If someone invests in your training, offer the live call/webinar, offer the recording and then offer all the recordings at once. This would mean that you’ll need to pre-record all your content in advance. With the right conference bridge line or webinar software, you can replay a recording as if it’s live. And some people prefer to be told when to show up in order to consume the content. However, some don’t want to wait 2-days for video #2. They want all the videos NOW. So, like “Orange Is the New Black” release all your calls/videos NOW for those who want to binge consume your content.

6 – Become a media centre. Chris Brogan offers this advice in a podcast interview I listened to. Social media isn’t just a place to push your offers and deals. It’s a place to tell your stories and to do so in an entertaining way.

The current revenue model that coaches rely on is really dead. Coaches need to revive their revenue models to match how consumers consume content in a 21st century marketplace.

The inspiration for this post came from this article, Confessions of a Failed Self-Help Guru. Originally posted on Facebook.