Introduction

Digital Coaching has become the “New Buzz Word” in the digital marketing circles these days.

People are touting it to be the next big thing!

So in this blog post, we’re going to find out exactly what is digital coaching and why there’s so much hype around it.

So let’s get straight into it…

What Is Digital Coaching?

Digital Coaching is about applying the Digital to the Coaching World, by using Technology-Enabled Solutions to coach, mentor, give feedback and performance reviews to ensure that the individual, team or the entire organisation is aligned with the right objectives.

Digital coaching is an approach to coaching that relies on digital technology as a primary means of communication.

Most digital coaches focus primarily on helping business owners and leaders coach their teams and improve performance through their digital platforms.

In addition to phone and face-to-face contacts, a digital coach will use various digital tools (e.g., email, text messages, internet-based chat, video, etc.) to coach their clients.

The idea of digital coaching is to help people achieve their personal goals by utilising the most effective means of communication available.

Digital coaching is a virtual one-on-one coaching experience that leverages the web to deliver a coaching experience without the need to travel or meet in person.

Using a combination of online whiteboard software, webcams, and chat, digital coaching leverages the power of the web to deliver a rich coaching experience that coaches and clients would find difficult or impossible to replicate in other mediums.

There are mainly 5 core pillars or elements of Digital Coaching.

Let’s take a look at each one of them…

5 Pillars of Digital Coaching – The 5 C’s of Online Coaching

digital coaching - 5 pillars — digital coaching – 5 pillars

Content That Is Transformational

Content lies at the very core of Digital Coaching. When I talk specifically about content, I’m not referring to just about any content.

There is no shortage of information on the Internet.

As a Digital Coach, you need to provide content that is transformational, not just informational.

You can provide content in the form of blogs, articles, podcasts, online memberships & masterminds, courses & even via community platforms.

It is the Coach’s responsibility to research, curate, organise & distil all the information on the subject and present it to their audience in a manner that is truly transformational.

Consulting & Coaching

Being a Digital Coach, is a given that you got to be an authority or an expert in your subject or field.

Consulting & Coaching Services are an integral aspect of being a Professional Online Coach.

You can provide one-to-one coaching or one-to-many i.e. group coaching to your clients.

Conferences & Virtual Events

As a Digital Coach, you need to host Online Conferences & Virtual Events.

Travelling and meeting in person is not always possible especially due to COVID, but you can certainly host Online Conferences and Virtual Events.

Community & Connection

We are living in an online world where we can connect with others from anywhere as long as we have access to the Internet.

The Internet has created many new opportunities for people to meet new people that can help them build their connections and meet their goals.

By engaging with people in online communities, you can learn a lot about the people you are interacting with, and build more meaningful relationships.

Community is a group of people with shared interests who are committed to create opportunities in that domain and rise equally with it.

Community is a place where people feel connected and safe with each other in the vicinity.

Digital Coaches help facilitate and encourage community building and fostering of connections and relationships.

Collaborations, Cohorts & Confluence of Like-Minded People

Digital Coaching is also about Collaborations between a group of like-minded individuals.

It is the coming together or confluence of like-minded people who share similar likes, goals, interests and objectives.

So in a nutshell, the 5 C’s of Digital Coaching are:

Content That Is Transformational
Consulting & Coaching
Conferences & Virtual Events
Community & Connection
Collaborations, Cohorts & Confluence of Like-Minded People

Digital Coaching Models [ 6 Levels ]

There are various approaches and methods to Digital Coaching but if we were to classify Digital Coaching into different levels or categories, we can identify primarily 6 Models or 6 Distinct Levels of Digital Coaching.

Let’s understand each one of them in detail…

2 digital coaching model digital coaching — digital coaching model

Level 1 – Do It For You Digital Coaching Model

Being an Expert and Digital Coach, you trade your time for money
You’re an expert and you are just starting out as an Online Coach
Level 1 refers to the initial journey of an Expert into an Online Coaching Model
This coaching model is therefore Service-Based

Level 2 – Do It With You Digital Coaching Model

You & Your Client Work Together On A Project
In Level 2, You do a few things and your clients also do a few things
It’s more of teamwork & that’s why it is called – Do It With You Coaching Model

Level 3 – 1 to 1 Digital Coaching Model

I also call this model, Base-Level Coaching Model
In this model, you tell your clients what to do & how to do it & make them do it
This is the 1st Model where you are not hands-on with regards to your client’s projects

Level 4 – Group Digital Coaching Model

This is a gradual evolution of the 1 to 1 Coaching Model
You take the same coaching model but you have many people you work with
You may also call this the 1 to Many Coaching Model or Group Coaching Model

Level 5 – Base-Level Digital Coaching Model – Online Courses & Memberships

This is the next step in the 1 to 1 & group coaching model
In this model, you do not coach people 1 to 1 or 1 to Many live or in-person – You do not trade your time for money like how you have to in Level 3 & Level 4
Instead, you leverage the power of Online Courses & Memberships to create a Knowledge Repository for digital learning.
You do not need to deliver the content again and again to a single person or a group of people.
You create online course material via videos, articles, audios, swipe files, templates etc and people can go through it anytime as per their time convenience.

Level 6 – Digital Eco-System Coaching Model

The Digital Eco-System Model is the Ultimate Online Coaching Model.
This model combines the power of Online Courses & Memberships and also leverages it with the help of Online Communities
This model provides for maximum leverage as it involves the building of Online Communities using modern digital platforms.
Because of the community element, the power of the entire community can be leveraged to help and coach individuals to reach their goals & objectives.
As a result of Community-Led Content (CLC), there is a cross-pollination & promotion of ideas, tools, products & services inside the digital platform.
If this model is done right, you can create a fully scalable & automated digital money machine.
This Coaching Model gives you FREEDOM! That’s because you are not trading your time for money as a Coach or Expert.

Advantages of Digital Coaching

Here’s a list of some of the advantages of becoming a digital coach:

Convenient

Becoming a Digital Coach provides a great deal of leverage and convenience.

You can coach people online and leverage the power of the internet. You do not need to meet anyone in person.

Therefore you save a lot of time, money and energy as a result.

Cost-Effective

It is extremely cost-effective.

If you’re a traditional coach and a highly sought after expert in your field, you generally charge a lot higher as you are trading your time for money.

But if you transition yourself into a Digital Coach, you can leverage internet technologies to coach not just one individual but even groups of individuals at the same time by creating digital coaching programs.

You are no longer trading your time for money and hence you can drastically reduce your prices, reach a lot more people and as a result help a lot of people achieve the results they are looking for.

Content – On Demand & Self Paced

You can create content that can be viewed or consumed by your clients or students on demand.

They can binge-watch your content at their convenience and from any part of the world.

Also, one of the great advantages of having the content available online is that your students or clients can not just consume the content but also watch it again if they do not fully understand it in one go.

You can provide for self-paced training via online courses.

Your students can rewind, fast-forward & re-watch certain portions of your training to better understand the subject.

Controlled Environment – Tracking, Assessments & Evaluation

Another massive benefit of being a digital coach is that with the help of online courses and training programs, you can create a Controlled Environment that fosters learning and growth.

You can track the progress of your students, ask them to take assessments and evaluate their progress all at the same time.

Community Fostering & Building

If you are using the Level 6 – Digital Eco-System Coaching Model, you are combining & leverage the power of Online Coaching via Courses along with Online Communities.

This further leverages the power of your coaching efforts because if you happen to build a thriving community of highly passionate people, your community itself becomes the gold mine of a knowledge repository.

When your clients or students help each other grow, it facilitates the fostering & building of a Powerful Community.

Complements Traditional Coaching

Digital Coaching doesn’t compete with Traditional Coaching.

You can complement Online Coaching with Traditional Coaching or vice-versa in order to achieve exponential results.

How To Become A Digital Coach?

Become An Expert On A Subject – become an authority, gain credibility & trust
Have Passion For The Subject
Have A Genuine Passion To Help People – Have Empathy, Compassion & Kindness
Have A Good Understanding of Human Psychology
Gain Technological Skill-Sets viz, Marketing Automation, Community Building, Mentoring, Teaching etc.
Don’t Jump The Gun – Start From Level 1 & Slowly Move Yourself To Level 5 or 6

What Are The Different Types of Digital Coaches?

Here are a few examples of the different types of Digital Coaches:

Life Coach
Health Coach
Wellness Coach
Mindset Coach
Spirituality & Mindfulness Coach
Peak-Performance Coach
Career Coach
Business Coach
Executive Coach
Skills Coach
Financial Coach etc

Digital Coaching Platforms, Tools & Services

If you intend to become a Level 5 or Level 6 Digital Coach, you would need an online coaching platform that can host your courses and coaching materials, create sales funnels, help with email and marketing automation etc.

Here are a few examples of some of the best available All-In-One Knowledge Business Coaching Platforms:

Kajabi (Highly Recommended – This is the one we use in our coaching business because it is simply the best!)
Kartra
Builderall
GrooveFunnels etc.

If you intend to become a Level 6 Digital Coach, in addition to using an online coaching platform, you would also need to use a Premium Online Community Platform.

Here are a few examples of some of the best available Premium Online Community Platforms:

Mighty Networks
Tribe
Circle (Highly Recommended!)

What Is Full-Stack Digital Coaching?

A full-stack digital coach is a person who understands everything digital-related, from SEO to social media, from web design to user experience, from conversion optimisation to mobile development.

They are the people you end up turning to when you need advice on all things digital, and they are always at the forefront of digital industry trends.

A full-stack digital coach is a coach that can deliver services across the digital marketing spectrum.

This person is a jack-of-all-trades, but a master of digital marketing.

A full-stack digital coach can build your online presence, whether you need a website built from the ground up, want to revamp your current site, or need to update your social media presence to keep up with the latest trends.

The term full-stack comes from the fact that a full-stack digital coach helps you with your content, marketing, sales and distribution.

It’s a whole new way to deliver the performance you want. A full-stack coach gives you one point of contact.

Is Digital Coaching A Fading Trend?

There’s a lot of debate doing the rounds in online forums and groups whether Digital Coaching is a fading trend or not.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

If anything, I would consider Digital Coaching to be one of the biggest emerging trends.

As a matter of fact, due to COVID, Online Coaching has seen a huge spike in growth potential and these are only the early days and there’s a massive growth potential up for grabs.

Challenges & Problems Faced By The Digital Coaching Industry

Problem #1: A lot of people want to get into the multi-billion-dollar education industry. But they have no idea how to stand out. They think if they create an amazing product, course or book, it will sell. but then, it doesn’t.

Problem #2: A lot of Digital Coaches take way too long to launch their products. They want their products to be perfect. Watch my Digital Coaching Masterclass where I reveal to you the secret to making world-class products quickly & easily & make them even better over time.

Problem #3: Digital Coaches these days use way too many digital tools & products to run their online businesses by duct-taping all the tools together. Not only do these tools cost a lot of money, time, energy & effort but this also leads to overwhelm, confusion & too much noise.

Online Training vs Digital Coaching

There’s a small overlap when it comes to Online Training & Online Coaching.

Online Training is mostly educational courses that people can get access to.

Online Coaching Strategy may also include mentoring, Q&A Sessions, hand-holding, guidance etc in addition to Online Training.

Online Training, however, does not include mentoring, coaching & hand-holding to help you achieve a certain result.

Life Coaching vs Digital Coaching

Life coaching is all about focus. You want to be the best version of yourself you can be, and a life coach has the tools to help you get there.

A life coach will help you break down the obstacles in your life and create a plan for success.

On the other hand, a digital coach is focused on what you can do on your own.

A digital coach wants to help you learn the tools you can use to be successful.

Because digital coaching is a self-sufficient method, it can help you achieve your goals faster and effectively.

Summary & Final Thoughts

So there you have it…a complete breakdown of exactly what is digital coaching and if it is something that appeals to you, what do you need to do to become a digital coach.

We’re living in the most exciting time in human history when it comes to becoming a digital coach and marketer.

There are so many amazing options & powerful tools we have at our disposal.

We simply need to learn the mechanics of becoming a Full-Stack Digital Coach and that is all there is to it.

Related Blog Posts You Will Find Useful:

If you found this blog useful, you might want to save THIS PIN below to your Digital Marketing or Digital Coaching Pinterest Board & check this post later when new updates are published!

Now that you have an in-depth understanding of Digital Coaching, I would love to hear your biggest takeaways.

Which aspects of Digital Coaching are you interested in learning even more?

I’m looking forward to hearing from you in the comments section below…

What Is Digital Coaching | Ultimate Guide On How To Become A Digital Coach | The 5 Pillars & 6 Models of Digital Coaching

Introduction

What Is Digital Coaching?