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Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out?
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| General Discussion | Triathlon Talk » Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? | Rss Feed  |
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 2012-10-08 11:27 AM |
Expert  2355    Madison, Wisconsin |  Subject: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out?Hey everyone! I hope this is taken down as I am not trying to sell any business or goods, I am just simply asking to get my foot in the door, gain experience and help out a fellow BT member or two. I am reaching out to the BT community to see if anyone wants an online coach, or anyone to give them guidance for the 2013 season. I am looking at next year to break into the coaching industry in triathlon and feel that this site may have many perspectives to reach out to. I am only planning on coaching 1-2 athletes next year so I can focus all my attention on you. There is no charge for this coaching, I feel that the experience alone will be enough for me right now. More details can be discussed later if you are interested but I would like to write out a weekly training plan for any athlete interested in training, specifically in the HIM/IM distances. If you want to know what I am about and my background here is a brief bio/resume of who I am. Currently finishing up my Bachelor's degree in Fitness/Nutrition NASM Certified Personal Trainer 2x Ironman Finisher 6x HIM finisher 2012 USAT Age Groupe Nationals Qualifier 2012 USAT Collegiate Nationals Raced about 20 triathlons in the past 5 years I have coached swimming and high school lacrosse before Been swimming since i was 5 I have been coached by a professional triathlete the past year, as well as I have trained with many pros and top elite triathletes the past couple of years. My "school of thought" comes from my own experiences, knowledge as well as everything that I have learned from some of the best in the sport. If you have any interest at all please PM me, or email me at [email protected], hope to hear from any of you soon. Edited by bcagle25 2012-10-08 11:47 AM |
| 2012-10-08 11:34 AM in reply to: #4445096 |
Regular 311 Aalborg, Denmark | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? I am very, very interested. I'll be starting my first "real" triathlon season in 2013. The training has begun already, but my first events will be in 2013.
I'll throw you a mail |
| 2012-10-08 11:54 AM in reply to: #4445108 |
Extreme Veteran 1332 | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? email sent |
| 2012-10-08 12:04 PM in reply to: #4445096 |
Expert 1375 McAllen | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? I sent an e-mail a while back |
| 2012-10-08 12:07 PM in reply to: #4445096 |
Pro 6011 Camp Hill, Pennsylvania | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? I just want to say that taking on a few athletes for free to gain experience and build your resume can work well. I did the same thing initially. Later, some of them became paying clients. Also, try to find a mentor coach. Working under an experienced coach can be invaluable. Plus, they may give you a client or two. Good luck!
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| 2012-10-08 12:11 PM in reply to: #4445096 |
Veteran 784 | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? Just sent you an email |
| 2012-10-08 12:23 PM in reply to: #4445096 |
Champion 10668 Tacoma, Washington | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? Prospective vs perspective... Just sayin'. |
| 2012-10-08 12:25 PM in reply to: #4445220 |
Member 5452 NC | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? briderdt - 2012-10-08 1:23 PM Prospective vs perspective... Just sayin'. We could all use a little help with perspective.
Edited by Goosedog 2012-10-08 12:28 PM |
| 2012-10-08 12:41 PM in reply to: #4445175 |
Champion 10471 Dallas, TX | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? TriMyBest - 2012-10-08 12:07 PM I just want to say that taking on a few athletes for free to gain experience and build your resume can work well. I did the same thing initially. Later, some of them became paying clients. Also, try to find a mentor coach. Working under an experienced coach can be invaluable. Plus, they may give you a client or two. Good luck!
Yes, it is a great way to start building clientele! I wish I could do it myself, but the club I coach with forbids me to do it. I will say this, I had a coach who coached me for free (I started as a paying client and ended up a free one since I lost my job). He was very kind and generous to coach me for free, but I also felt like I got what I paid for. Which ended in me having to take over part of my training plan 3 months out from my IM (details are in my RR: http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp... Luckily because I am a coach, I realized that what he was giving me wasn't enough. Then, he didn't even remember when my race was, and realized my IM was the next day, only because I sent him a text message. It was very disappointing. He then sent me a race plan 12 hours before my IM. It was a pretty horrible experience. Moral of my story: If you are going to coach someone for free, coach them as if they are a paying client. While he can use me on his coaching resume, I will not refer any clients to him. So him coaching me for free didn't do him any favors or help his business. I'm sure you will do the right thing. Just sharing my experience with you, and others, on the "free coaching" experience I had. Good luck!  PS- If you can't find a mentor, maybe think about coaching a Coach. Coach a regular athlete, and a Coach. So that way you can get two different perspectives. The Coach you are coaching will give you feedback and input. Just a thought. Edited by KSH 2012-10-08 12:42 PM |
| 2012-10-08 1:00 PM in reply to: #4445096 |
Expert 2355 Madison, Wisconsin | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? Thanks for the spell check, I wrote this quickly as informal post so a good spell check was skipped. To KSH yes I know exactly where you are coming form on your experience. While I am offering this for free, I want to better myself and gain experience as well, this cannot be done by skipping out for 3 months. Also anyone willing to work with me is putting A LOT of trust into me and I will respect that and treat them as a paying client. The last thing I want someone to experience is what you experienced. Too much time and money is invested into this sport for that to happen o anyone and I will not do that to them. Thanks for the advice and help! |
| 2012-10-08 1:02 PM in reply to: #4445096 |
Regular 98 Raleigh, NC | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? I am interested. I just finished my first season of tris - all sprints. Although, I did train for an Olympic distance that I was forced to miss due to the passing of my father the day before. -- I am currently scheduled to run my first HIM in June of 2013 (Raleigh 1/2 Ironman) and would love to have someone to learn from! - Adam
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| 2012-10-08 2:51 PM in reply to: #4445096 |
Coach 9167 Stairway to Seven | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? I agree with both the spellcheck, lol, but also KSH's perspective. When I started I had a couple of 'free' clients, and then several 'low cost' clients, and then did some 'training peaks fees' only clients as well. I can tell you that the amount you charge not only forces the client to value you for what you are worth, but also forces YOU as the coach to give that person what they are paying for. There are always going to be behaviors going in that are subtle and even though you say you'll coach taht person as if they are full price, once you realize how much time you are putting in, you'll start to feel resentment, EVEN IF it doesn't show on the surface... The other side holds true as well. I've gotten training advice for free from people but if I have not hired that person to be my coach, the value I place in it doesn't hold up well. You clearly have a lot of experience and education...why aren't you currently placing any value on it? As long as you are upfront with your athletes and let them know this is your first year of coaching, I think it's completely reasonable to offer perhaps 1-3 months of free or low cost coaching with the provision that from months 2-4 and on (whatever you think is good) that you'll get paid a reasonable amount for your time. Next year if those athletes really enjoyed working with you, you're going to have a difficult time raising your prices on them. Trust us working from experience!!! I also have a few coaches that I mentor...but I pay them what they are worth which includes the time an education they have placed in learning the skills they currently have AND the time I add in mentoring, answering questions & reviewing clients schedules etc. anyway, in the end do what feels best to you. You may find it easiest to simply start some local group training sessions and do some free consults on those athletes whom you get to see often. Edited by AdventureBear 2012-10-08 2:52 PM |
 2012-10-08 3:06 PM in reply to: #4445472 |
| Subject: ... This user's post has been ignored. |
| 2012-10-08 4:05 PM in reply to: #4445096 |
| Veteran 580 | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? Coming from a different lens, I am a clinical psychologist who has worked with a few clients on a probono basis or markedly reduce rate when the situation has dictated (e.g., loss of job). Charging people for your services and feeling good about it is something that comes with experience. I do agree with some of the posts that have shared their views on the benefits of charging clients. If you do not feel comfortable with this notion to start, I have a suggestion: Perhaps request your client to donate some part of their time, if they can, to do some volunteer work in the community - an hour a month at a soup kitchen, donate food items to a food pantry etc., as part of their contract (motivation) with you. Regardless, I appreciate your willingness to help others and I hope it goes well. C |
| 2012-10-08 5:06 PM in reply to: #4445472 |
| Pro 6011 Camp Hill, Pennsylvania | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? AdventureBear - 2012-10-08 3:51 PM I agree with both the spellcheck, lol, but also KSH's perspective. When I started I had a couple of 'free' clients, and then several 'low cost' clients, and then did some 'training peaks fees' only clients as well. I can tell you that the amount you charge not only forces the client to value you for what you are worth, but also forces YOU as the coach to give that person what they are paying for. There are always going to be behaviors going in that are subtle and even though you say you'll coach taht person as if they are full price, once you realize how much time you are putting in, you'll start to feel resentment, EVEN IF it doesn't show on the surface... The other side holds true as well. I've gotten training advice for free from people but if I have not hired that person to be my coach, the value I place in it doesn't hold up well. You clearly have a lot of experience and education...why aren't you currently placing any value on it? As long as you are upfront with your athletes and let them know this is your first year of coaching, I think it's completely reasonable to offer perhaps 1-3 months of free or low cost coaching with the provision that from months 2-4 and on (whatever you think is good) that you'll get paid a reasonable amount for your time. Next year if those athletes really enjoyed working with you, you're going to have a difficult time raising your prices on them. Trust us working from experience!!! I also have a few coaches that I mentor...but I pay them what they are worth which includes the time an education they have placed in learning the skills they currently have AND the time I add in mentoring, answering questions & reviewing clients schedules etc. anyway, in the end do what feels best to you. You may find it easiest to simply start some local group training sessions and do some free consults on those athletes whom you get to see often. I don't necessarily agree with the assumption that we'll always give less and resent free clients, but I do agree that it frequently affects the coach-client relationship. I worked hard for my free clients, because I didn't feel I wasn't being compensated for my time. I simply viewed it as working to earn referrals that would get clients who pay with money. I felt it was crucial to give them a good experience if I was serious about building a good reputation and earning their dollars in the future. I did have 2 free clients, though, who seemed to take my time less seriously, because they weren't paying me money. Overall, it was well worth my time, because it provided the opportunity for me to prove myself. Serious question, Suzanne - Even though my athlete portfolio was small, would you have been as quick to take me on as a mentee coach if I had zero real world triathlon coaching experience? If I hadn't taken on free clients, my experience likely would have been limited to volunteering as an assistant coach with the high school team, mentoring Team in Training participants, and working as a personal trainer.
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| 2012-10-08 5:27 PM in reply to: #4445096 |
| Champion 9407 Montague Gold Mines, Nova Scotia | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? I think that you are going about this in the right way by building experience working with athletes who know that you are novice coach and not charging for your services. I see many novice coaches start coaching and in less than a year, are charging more than coaches who have been in the sport for more the decade. IMO there really needs to be much more to what a coach charges for their services than simply what the market will bear. I would also highly recommend that you volunteer your services with a local triathlon club (preferably one that has youth and junior developmental athletes as this is a very underserved portion of the triathlon community when it comes to coaching). There is a danger that athletes will not take a coach seriously if they are not paying or paying very little for the service but there is also a danger of that when an athlete is paying more typical rates for coaching. Just be upfront with them about what you expect from them as athletes and let them know that if the relationship doesn't work out for them or if coaching isn't what they wanted/expected, that it is better for both of you to discuss that and move on. As far as mentorship, this is definitely something to pursue and would suggest that you start building a network of coaches with whom you can discuss coaching. There is tremendous value in having someone with discuss coaching with, bounce ideas off each other and to have your views and assumptions about training challenged. Finally, I believe that something Jordan Rapp posted on Slowtwitch should always be on a coach's mind - "The real professional coach tries to figure out how to make money while coaching. The typical USAT-certified "coach" tries to figure out how to coach while making money." Shane |
| 2012-10-08 6:07 PM in reply to: #4445670 |
| Coach 9167 Stairway to Seven | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? TriMyBest - 2012-10-08 4:06 PM I simply viewed it as working to earn referrals that would get clients who pay with money. I felt it was crucial to give them a good experience if I was serious about building a good reputation and earning their dollars in the future. So this WAS your payment! Your internal motivation was more than just "getting experience". But often for a new coach they just don't know where or how to start. For Total Immersion coaching, Terry's guidelines are something like this: Offer up to 20 hours of free one on one or small group swim lessons to people you know until you are convinced that you can deliver a quality product. Then offer lessons at 50% of what you plan to charge for another 10-20 hours Then you have the confidence to charge 'full price'. The danger with the OP's proposal, which is REALLY common is that a full year of coaching at no charge is still a significant time investment on the new coaches part, and on the athletes part, there is the unknown of what THEIR motivation is. I think there should be a pre-existing agreement on how long the Free will last and what the expectations are in reverse. Otherwise it also diminisihes the value of coaching itself to an athlete thinking, "I'll try to find a new coach who won't charge me and just wants to gain experience". To answer your question directly, I"m mostly interested in working with coaches who have expressed, either through previous actions, writings or working with clients that their philosophy is similar to mine and that they want to learn from me based on what they have seen me write or heard me talk about. So in short, YES I would have still worked with you because YOU ARE AWESOME!!! |
| 2012-10-08 6:11 PM in reply to: #4445096 |
| Regular 311 Aalborg, Denmark | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? |
| 2012-10-08 6:37 PM in reply to: #4445096 |
| Iron Donkey 38643 , Wisconsin | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? Interested in helping me with completing IM WI 2013?? (my 3rd IM) |
| 2012-10-08 9:09 PM in reply to: #4445699 |
| Master 10208 Northern IL | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? gsmacleod - 2012-10-08 5:27 PM Finally, I believe that something Jordan Rapp posted on Slowtwitch should always be on a coach's mind - "The real professional coach tries to figure out how to make money while coaching. The typical USAT-certified "coach" tries to figure out how to coach while making money." Shane That was an excellent thread. |
| 2012-10-08 9:20 PM in reply to: #4445917 |
| Coach 9167 Stairway to Seven | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? brigby1 - 2012-10-08 8:09 PM gsmacleod - 2012-10-08 5:27 PM Finally, I believe that something Jordan Rapp posted on Slowtwitch should always be on a coach's mind - "The real professional coach tries to figure out how to make money while coaching. The typical USAT-certified "coach" tries to figure out how to coach while making money." Shane That was an excellent thread. Link please? Or search term? Sounds good... Although just that quote taken out of context doesn't really do it justice. Plenty of enterpreneurs & self employed people started their businesses as a side business...how can I XXX while making money at my regular job? |
| 2012-10-08 9:50 PM in reply to: #4445096 |
| Champion 10471 Dallas, TX | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? Really good discussion going on here! I wanted to add some thoughts I had after reading some of the posts. I think that people put value into what they pay for. When I was looking into being a personal trainer, I asked some friends to let me help them for free, for 3 months. In those 3 months, they started strong and ended up not doing any of the workouts I was sending them. Basically I was working my tail off for them to not even use what I sending them. It was frustrating on my part. I felt like my time wasn't being respected. Luckily it only went on for 3 months. The idea of giving services for free for X months is a great idea. But with triathletes it can be different because they need coaching till their race. When I started coaching triathlon, I offered my services at $75 a month. I felt like that was a fair price for my time and education, and that my clients would put some value in that monthly amount. It worked great. I had one client start with me at that price in October 2010. She's still with me, and gave me a $25 raise (all on her own) last year. Then in January 2011 I started coaching with a club, who required me to charge $150 a month. I have been with them for almost 2 years now. We will see what works out in the future... as at times I wish I could charge less a month to make my services more accessible to a wider range of people. Also, when you take on these free clients, you need to ensure that they are going to be on board with training and dedicated. I say that, because if they don't follow through with the training, and don't succeed, you look bad. While we would hope that people would analyze what the person did and didn't do with the training they were given... the reality is that they see that so-and-so was coached by you and so-and-so had a horrible race that he/she is complaining about. More than likely it won't happen that way... as most people who get into this sport and pretty driven and motivated, but it COULD happen. So pick your free clients carefully. Also, pick clients who have the potential to refer you to friends, family, their tri community, etc. Even with my paying clients in town who loved my services, they aren't doing tri's anymore. Word of mouth is how you grow your business. If you coach someone for free who doesn't talk to anyone else who might want you services, then your free coaching was all for not. Something else to think about. |
| 2012-10-09 4:52 AM in reply to: #4445931 |
| Elite 7783 PEI, Canada | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? AdventureBear - 2012-10-08 11:20 PM brigby1 - 2012-10-08 8:09 PM Link please? Or search term? Sounds good... Although just that quote taken out of context doesn't really do it justice. Plenty of enterpreneurs & self employed people started their businesses as a side business...how can I XXX while making money at my regular job? gsmacleod - 2012-10-08 5:27 PM Finally, I believe that something Jordan Rapp posted on Slowtwitch should always be on a coach's mind - "The real professional coach tries to figure out how to make money while coaching. The typical USAT-certified "coach" tries to figure out how to coach while making money." Shane That was an excellent thread. |
| 2012-10-09 9:54 AM in reply to: #4445931 |
| Champion 9407 Montague Gold Mines, Nova Scotia | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? AdventureBear - 2012-10-08 11:20 PM Although just that quote taken out of context doesn't really do it justice. Plenty of enterpreneurs & self employed people started their businesses as a side business...how can I XXX while making money at my regular job? Jordan's point (at least as I understood it) was not that making money coaching was a bad thing or that coaches shouldn't consider how much they would make from coaching, whether as a full time coach or not. Rather that coaching is a passion and that while coaches can and should value their time, that the primary goal of a coach shouldn't be making money. It seems there are many people who become coaches because they got into the sport, read the TTB, saw how much coaches were charging, took a certification course and then hung out their virtual shingle. No coaching experience or ability necessary to start making money. Shane |
| 2012-10-09 10:31 AM in reply to: #4446392 |
| Coach 9167 Stairway to Seven | Subject: RE: Anyone looking for an online coach or want to help a perspective coach out? gsmacleod - 2012-10-09 8:54 AM AdventureBear - 2012-10-08 11:20 PM Although just that quote taken out of context doesn't really do it justice. Plenty of enterpreneurs & self employed people started their businesses as a side business...how can I XXX while making money at my regular job? Jordan's point (at least as I understood it) was not that making money coaching was a bad thing or that coaches shouldn't consider how much they would make from coaching, whether as a full time coach or not. Rather that coaching is a passion and that while coaches can and should value their time, that the primary goal of a coach shouldn't be making money. It seems there are many people who become coaches because they got into the sport, read the TTB, saw how much coaches were charging, took a certification course and then hung out their virtual shingle. No coaching experience or ability necessary to start making money. Shane Got it, thanks for the summary. Headed to the thread now... |
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