Feeder Courses – What are they and how do they help your coaching business? (Mary Williams)

• Episode summary: Bootcamps, introductory webinars, books, and joint ventures are some of the best methods of attracting clients who are immediately interested in what a coach has to offer. But why are these sometimes known as feeder courses? How much should you charge for a feeder course? Or should you just give them away as freebies?  Today’s coaching conversation clarifies what feeder courses are, how to use them, and when to create them.

• In this episode, our host Melinda Cohan engages in an in-depth and lively discussion with Mary Williams about feeder courses and how to use them to grow your coaching business. Mary is a Chief Technology therapist who runs her own coaching and education business Sensible Woo and is also a coach for course creators at Mirasee. Mary and Melinda are both very excited about the prospect of using feeder courses to grow your coaching business and in this session, they’ll explain exactly how it’s done.

• In this episode we discuss:

What are feeder courses? The pricing of feeder courses. Freebies or paid?The problem-solution problem-solution model. What is the best format for feeder courses? 

– “Feeder courses are a really special little corner of our universe and it can be used really, really powerfully.” – Mary Williams

• Guest Bio:

• Mary is the Chief Technology Therapist at Sensible Woo, where she teaches highly sensitive & neuro-divergent online business owners how to replace technological chaos with a harmonious system. Through programs like Digital Feng Shui, her clients optimize their business foundation from an emotional and intuitive perspective so that they can delegate and automate without wasting time, money, or energy.

 • She is an accredited librarian with a Master of Science in Information and set the foundation of her career as the first digital archivist for Disney Animation Studios. From there, she has worked with marketing agencies, entertainment technology companies, public libraries, fundraising organizations, and technology start-ups.  You can connect with Mary at sensiblewoo.com, subscribe for updates, and access her free library of learning resources.

Resources or websites mentioned in this episode:

Mirasee Coaches Console Sensiblewoo.com 

Credits:

Guest - Mary WilliamsHost - Melinda CohanProducer - Cynthia Lamb Executive producer - Danny InyWriter - Michi Lantz, Melinda Cohan and Cynthia LambAssembled by - Geoff GovertsenAudio Post Supervisor: Evan Miles, Christopher MartinAudio Post Production by Post Office SoundMusic soundscape: Chad Michael Snavely

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• Music and SFX credits: 

1. Track Title: Clouds

Artist Name(s): Acreage

Writer Name: Marshall Usinger

Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS

2. Track Title: Coastline Dream

Artist Name(s): Wild Sky

Writer Name: Adam Simons

Publisher Name: BOSS SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTIONS

3. Track Title: Coo Coos

Artist Name(s): Dresden, The Flamingo

Writer Name: Matthew Wigton

Publisher Name: A SOUNDSTRIPE PRODUCTION

4. Track Title: Stars & Trees

Artist Name(s): Outside The Sky

Writer Name: Dustin Ransom

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Episode transcript: Feeder Courses – What are they and how do they help your coaching business? (Mary Williams).

[00:00:01] Melinda: Mirasee 

 

[00:00:05] Mary: How do you know you want to spend weeks and weeks and also lots of dollars on an experience? And a feeder course can be a very easy, low priced entry point for somebody to not feel the pressure of making that big decision so that when it does come time to make the big decision to do the deeper work with you, it becomes a no brainer decision. 

 

[00:00:29] Melinda: Hello and welcome to just between coaches, the podcast that tackles difficult coaching conversations. Head on. My name is Melinda Cohan and I run a business called the coaches console. The coaches console has supported more than 50,000 entrepreneurs and creating their own profitable coaching business. 

 

Today we're going to talk about an interesting and important topic, a subject you'll have to dive into if you're a course creator or thinking of becoming one. I'm talking about feeder courses. But first, what exactly is a feeder course? I sometimes call them intro courses or intro webinars or intro workshops but whatever you call them, feeder courses are an opportunity for people to experience you. They can learn a little bit about what you're about. They can experience your style as a coach. They can see how you support and interact with clients and there's an opportunity for prospects to just dip their toe in the water to see if they want to make the full commitment to pay for your premium services or programs. 

 

Now to talk about feeder courses today, I've invited Mary Williams onto just between coaches. Mary is a chief technology therapist of her own coaching and education business sensible woo. She is also a coach for course creators of Mirasee. But before I bring Mary on, I'm going to read an email from a listener that reflects today's topic, as I've said in other episodes. Unless you tell me otherwise, any email that you send me that we read on the air will be anonymous. We want to encourage you to be open about what's troubling you without worrying about what your clients might think. Here's what anonymous had to say:

 

• Melinda. I know you are both a coach and of course creator. So I want to ask you how to deal with clients who are reluctant to do boot camps or give away freebies. A couple of my clients have expressed reluctance to jump into adding free three part webinars or courses to their action plan. They think it's putting their full expertise out there for free. They feel they dilute their service and also come off as too sales. E I also think they're afraid someone will steal their work. How can I help clients who are reluctant to do this when I believe that offering some type of feeder course is the next best step to expand and grow ...