As I set up my own coaching business, I struggled with what technology to use and how to set it up. So I’ll pass along what I’ve learned. Where available I am using referral links which may pay me if you use my link to sign up. I’d love to have you tell me more about what you want as you grow into your coaching business and/or add Race + Gender Equity skills to your coaching portfolio.
Client Portal | Coach Accountable
I tried several small business and coaching apps. Coach Accountable is hands down the best for both the client and coach experience. It has worksheets that you can associate with sessions, courses, or packages. You can assign clients to groups. Individual clients and groups have whiteboards, controllable access to courses, appointments, worksheets, action tracking, and metrics. The courses can be used to schedule worksheets, surveys, etc. The samples and knowledge base are excellent. It integrates with Stripe for invoicing and with multiple email and calendar clients. The owner holds regular office hours and answers questions on the forum. Best of all, most of the time when I think it can’t do something I need, I find that I’ve over-complicated it and there is simpler, cleaner option in the tool.
Transcript | Otter.AI
When I’m working with clients sometimes we will have a breakthrough moment that hinges on a specific phrasing. Or they have an insight that they stop to write down, breaking the flow of the session. In those moments having the Otter.AI Pro Plan transcription service automatically logged in and on for every session can be very useful – they can choose to return to the moment later. The service can be configured to automatically send the transcript to attendees. It also creates an outline and summarizes keywords, which can help them see patterns in how they speak about themselves or the issue they bring to the session.
Image Design | Canva
Canva makes it easy to create social media images sized to fit various platforms. I also used it to create the icons on this site and all sorts of other images. I use the Pro edition because there are so many additional images included, it offers easy resize options, and I can save my fonts and colors as a brand so they are easy to apply as a style to my Pixistock templates.
Content Planner, Canva Templates, Stock Images | Pixistock
Pixistock offers a variety of Canva templates and stock images that are intentionally diverse and include a lot of culturally feminine elements. With an upgrade you get access to the “Content to Profit” content and a series of Masterclasses which are fabulous collections of worksheets and videos that help you define and deliver on your niche, package(s), content strategy, and visual brand.
Livestream Video | StreamYard
I saved a ton of time using StreamYard to livestream to LinkedIn. No waiting for a Zoom recording to process, download, edit, then upload. My logo, name, and tagline are set once and there by default for each session. I can customize an overlay and a variety of preset banners that I can add to any recording. I can record in advance or go live, interacting with viewers across platforms. Bonus – with a paid account I can stream to multiple sites at once. This is an excellent way to market my events that I use to attract clients, deliver high quality content for potential clients, and to do short reels as the Pixistock Masterclass taught me to do.
Social Media and Broadcast | LinkedIn
As a leadership and career coach my content naturally fits with LinkedIn. I use it to connect with people I meet at community events, in my own events, and through referrals. I send a DM about where we met and what I do when I request a connection. I switched to creator mode so I can easily host events (either as a Live feed via StreamYard or with my Zoom link) and send newsletters.
Calendar | Calendly
Once a client purchases my coaching package all scheduling is done from within Coach Accountable. However, I still need to schedule meetings with people who want to have me speak at an event or on their podcast, interview me for an article, or who might be potential clients or partners. For that I use Calendly.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) | Mailchimp
I use Mailchimp to manage all my client information. This is where I have their mailing address for their welcome package, all their contact information, and demographic information they have shared. I send newsletters both from here and on LinkedIn. I create a landing page for each package, event, or anything else where I need a specific download, verbage, or data. I used the free plan until I really needed the ability to use “journeys” and was exceeding the limits of the free account. It’s not a full CRM but it’s a good starter for customer info early in your business days.
