Seth Godin recently wrote about the concept of digital coaching, and how there seems to be a shortage of people providing this kind of service. And there’s no doubt that this is a huge growth area for online training and coaching concepts.
How do I know? Because it’s one of the seven business models we’ve already explored inside Teaching Sells.
Here’s a really meaty article that explains how it works.
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Looks like a good article. I’ll bookmark it and read it on Sunday.
Looks like a great article full of valuable content like all of your other posts.
Excellent points in the article - I thought it was going to be about coaching via the internet, not coaching on digital technology.
I used to work with the development team of a product that was very similar to Copilot (mentioned in Seth’s blog) and that mofo was a lifesaver for handling customer support. No more “tell me what you see …” - just take control of their PC, and show them how it’s fixed.
I believe you can do the same thing Fog Creek’s Copilot does for free with Yugma. I’ve seen some of Fog Creek’s software before, though, and they’ll likely do a better job with the interface and marketing.
Rock it -
Dave
The business model itself is about coaching via the Internet, not just about technology. But Seth is right that there’s a ton of people who need help doing a lot of things some of you know inside and out.
I get it. Meaty. Sunday.
Meatball Sundae.
I knew you were smart Schwartz.
I saw this article a week or so back (I think it was after you posted something about Meatball Sundae) and it spawned a few thoughts.
They say you can only be fluent in a language if you learn it before puberty. I took French in college, an intensive summer-length class where we met four hours a day and everything was in French. So I’m not afraid of trying to speak the language but I’ll never be fluent.
I’m fairly adept at technology. I’ve built many kinds of websites and tried many new things. The only technology my family owned before I hit puberty was a TV and a VCR. So while I’m not afraid to jump in with both feet when it comes to more modern technology, I wouldn’t call myself fluent.
My cell phone perplexes me a bit too. I guess I’m going to have to break down and read the manual because for the few weeks I’ve had it I still can’t figure out where to add contacts. The other option would be to ask any kid I know; any one of them could probably have my cell phone singing in a matter of minutes.
It’s because they learned the language before they hit puberty. When it comes to technology, they are fluent, they are native speakers and I’m stuck taking classes. I am a technology immigrant.
A technology native can take one look at just about any gizmo and intuitively know how to operate it; the native’s familiarity with one device transfers to others. An immigrant like myself and anyone from my generation or older views each gizmo as a separate and unique challenge.
Can I officially say “oof” to that? (Would have entirely missed it if Brian hadn’t pointed it out. Must consider sleep.)
I think there is a need for this. Seth thinks so. Brian agrees.
But do the folks that need such a coach realize that they need one?
As a blogging coach and a member of Teaching Sells, I can only but agree with Seth on this one. In fact, I jumped on the opportunity presented by his post to create a Squidoo lens on blog coaching (I won’t put the link in Brian’s comments,but you can find it by searching for it at Squidoo or through Google). Doing so led to a big jump in traffic to my site.
Good copy writing and digital coaching definitely go hand-in-hand, because there’s always a written component that precedes any coaching by phone or IM. Blogging is a big component of that.
That is a dead-on point, and it’s why we spend the upfront portion of the courses with techniques to find out what people actually want, as opposed to what we think they need.
I am constantly finding myself involved in all sorts of coaching and I appreciate the several tiers available on the internet.
For things that I am just trying to get a basic grasp of I usually opt for the memberships or group calls. For things that I want to master, I go for one-on-one.
I certainly agree that there is a shortage of digital coaching, and as a Teaching Sells member I am looking forward to filling a gap or two!