3 Signs of a Great Podcast Coach

Last week I spoke to you about the three big "sins" of podcast coaching; the three red flags that you should look out for when hiring or working with a podcast coach.

When it comes to coaching, there are inevitably the very bad ones, but there are also the very good ones, too. After I'd told you my views on how to spot the bad ones last week, Steph Fuccio asked me to do a "good list" - so here it is... my 3 signs of a great podcast coach. Plus a little bonus tip at the end, because "3" sounds better than "4", but I have 4. So...

(If you do need help and can't quite afford a coach, the Captivate Podcast Growth Labs will help if you're a Captivate podcaster, too.)

I used to play a bit in the online business world.

Well, actually, I HAVE an online business. But it's podcasting software-as-a-service (SaaS). What I mean here is that I used to be around people who have online businesses but sell things that are a little less... developmental.

You know the sort of thing: a course, masterminds and of course, coaching.

It's a nice space to live in but it's hard to scale. Look at any online business person who sells those things: the smart ones diversify into other, more sustainable revenue channels and the more, erm, blinkered ones keep trying to "fill the funnel" of new clients OR up-selling to current clients (see last week for more on that and why it can be bad for you).

You know how to spot the red flags in podcast coaching, then, but how do you start to identify a good podcast coach?

1. This is what they DO.

For some online business people, coaching is a way to support their income or bridge a financial gap. It's the lowest hanging fruit when it comes to making money because they already have the saleable knowledge and all they have to do is package that up into something that's clearly positioned, marketed and easily understood. 

By creating some content that then positions them as just enough of an expert, popping a lead magnet on their site ("How I Started My Podcast in Just 3 Minutes [My Exact Playbook!]", probably) and warming you up with some emails, they can make some sales.

There's nothing wrong with that - it's how it works, after all.

But as a podcaster, you don't want someone who uses coaching to bolster their revenue and keep themselves afloat enough to do the thing that they really want to do. 

No, you need a coach who does coaching for a living. Someone who lives, breathes and loves podcasting and who focuses on maintaining their knowledge and building quality, deep processes for their podcast coaching endeavours.

Ask yourself, would you rather work with a podcasting expert who coaches, or a coaching expert who has decided to coach on podcasting because it's trendy?

Looking for a coach who works with a well-developed client base, can show testimonials from that client base and who is willing to share contact details of a few key clients so that you can verify them is a superb place to start.

If someone is doing anything as a side hustle, they can only dedicate so much time to it. That is ok in a lot of cases, but you need to know that from the outset. Maybe your coach only coaches part-time as they transition from employment to their own business but because of that, maybe...