The Best (And Worst) Online Business Models For Coaches

I sold over a million dollars online before turning 30 and what I realized is this:

It's not necessarily about how hard you work. It's about choosing the right business model. Because some are way easier than others.

In this article, I'm going to rank the best and worst online business models for coaches and consultants.

There are a bunch of different ways you can use your expertise to make money online. They each have their own pros and cons, most of which I learned the hard way.

I'm going to be using a “tier system” to rank these 7 models. Here’s what each tier means:

S = Excellent

A = Great

B = Good

C = Bad

And I think you'll be surprised by the last one because a lot of people look down on it. But I actually think it’s one of the best options.

So here they are, from low price to high price:

🤝 Affiliate deals

Not a lot of coaches consider this, but it's worth mentioning. This is where you sell someone else's product or service and get a percent of the sale. You can do this for small things (linking to Amazon products or software) or big things (helping sell other people's high end courses and programs). For most coaches, affiliate income is a bad fit. It takes a big audience to start making money. You're not in control of the actual product and you end up disconnected from client results. That said, if you love creating content and are able to build up a big email list, it's an option. I have a tools page with affiliate links but it's represents a tiny percentage of my revenue.

Ranking = C (Bad)

📚 Books

Let's assume from the outset that your book won't be a major bestseller. It might be, but hope isn't a good strategy. So what are you left with? A product that you can sell for about $10 bucks. To hit $25k per month in revenue, you'd have to sell 2,500 books per month (more when you factor in the printing costs). Books usually aren't a great way to make money online. I view my book as a way to get interviews, speaking gigs, and consults with potential 1-1 clients. So basically, it's a marketing tool. But there are more efficient ways to market yourself. My advice? Only write a book if the writing process would be worthwhile in and of itself.

Ranking = C (Bad)

📆 Low priced memberships

These were very in vogue a couple of years ago. The most common price point for memberships is $47 or $97 per month. Again, you need a large audience to make this work. You'd have to have 257 members paying $97 to make $25k per month. Only around 5% of your audience will actually convert into your membership. So you'd need an email list of at least 6,425 people. The big pro of a membership is the potential for reccuring revenue. It's a subscription, so you're not "starting from 0 each month." But unless you're collecting multiple months upfront, it can take a long time to get decent cashflow. Plus, you have to continue creating content and maintaining the community. Otherwise too many people churn (churn = the percentage of members who leave each month). My client Gemma had a successful membership, but ended up switching to a high end group program. She said the membership model was overly complex.

Ranking = B (Good)

📽 Online courses

These typically sell for between $100 and $2,000 depending on the course. Sometimes they are DIY and sometimes they include Q+A calls or other forms of community support. You can launch them live or create evergreen sales funnels. I like online courses, and I think they have their place. A few years ago I did the math realized I had made a total of $176k from online courses since I started making them. They can be a good form of semi-passive income but they do require a lot of work upfront to create and a lot of skill to market. Many coaches assume they can sell online courses without learning copywriting and funnel building. Not the case. When done right, people can great results from your course without having to invest in expensive 1:1 work. But even if you design your course to be easy to complete, the majority of people won't put the course into action. So you need to accept that. And you need to enjoy teaching.

Ranking = A (Great)

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BTW, if you have an existing business online but you're considering switching up your model, or trying a new one, apply for a SS with me at gregfaxon.com/apply.

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🎤 In-person events

In most cases, I think live events are more trouble than they're worth. They're expensive to put on and a pain to fill. I sold a live event for $750 per person. The tickets were hard to sell since people had to travel to Washington, DC. The goal with a live event is to break even and then make money on the back-end (usually through coaching and courses). This is what I ended up doing. I got a couple of high end clients, and the recording is also available as an online course. But in most cases it's just easier to invite people to a consult and enroll them on the call. The live event was more of an ego thing for me than anything else. I don't regret doing it but I wouldn't recommend it to other coaches. Speaking at someone else's event or doing a corporate workshop is a whole different calculation and can be worthwhile.

Ranking = C (Bad)

🧑‍🏫 Group coaching

Group coaching is interesting. You can charge high prices for it ($3k+ per person) while also getting some time leverage. But there's still a cap on the number of people you can support without hiring team members. And there's a big difference in how these programs feel compared to 1-1. Personally, I don't always love facilitating group calls, and I don't usually enjoy attending them as a participant. But some people love it. If that's you, then group coaching is a great option. It's also a great option if you can't charge super high 1-1 prices because of your niche. It doesn't take many clients to hit your monthly revenue goals. Your clients benefit from the group dynamic. I've run many group programs over the years. They usually make a bunch of money and clients get great results. The mistake most people make is starting one too early, before they've filled their 1-1 client roster.

Ranking = S (Excellent)

👥 1-1 coaching

This is where most coaches start. In the trenches, helping people 1-1 and charging enough to sustain themselves. But most people assume that they need to change their model in order to make more money. Not necessarily. You can make $25k per month from 1-1 coaching alone if you do it right. It just takes one or two high end clients per month. You can even do what I did and hire an associate coach to support your clients. The reality of any model is that in order to scale, you're going to have to build a team. You're always in some sense trading time for money, but it doesn't have to be your time. I think people sell 1-1 coaching short. It's great for cash flow, it's very simple, it gets great results, and it's very fulfilling to run. Whatever models you end up experimenting with, it's great to have 1-1 to come back to when and if you need it.

Ranking = S (Excellent)

Keep in mind: This is all based on my own experience and what I've seen happen with clients. It's possible that you'll have a different experience of these models.

You’ll notice that, in general, the more high-end business models are ranked higher than the low-end ones. It’s easier to make a business work when you don’t have to sell as many units to hit your income goals.

My main piece of advice is to keep it simple. Focus on mastering one at a time and double down on what works for you. You can be successful with any of these models, but you can't be successful with all of them at the same time.

If you want to see which of these models I focus on in my business, watch this video.