I Won't Be a "10K Coach"

I'm getting back into social media seriously this time. Before I post much more, I wanted to see how I'm growing.

By chance, I went through some of my older content. That's when I found a document I wrote all the way back in 2021.

In it, I wrote that I didn't want to label myself a "10K coach", because it's a self-crowned title, not an earned one.

The reason goes back to one conversation that stayed with me.

Why did I write that in 2021?

It came from a discussion with a prospect.

He asked me how much I was making from my content. I'm not someone who willingly tells people how much money I have or how much I'm making. He turned that around.

"Maybe you should pay me instead to coach you."

That left a very, very sour taste in my mouth for a long time.

I've even forgotten who he was. But what he said stayed with me.

So I wrote that document. I wanted to help people, not because of a price label, but because of the value I can give and the ways I can help.

Why post content showing I’m not doing great?

Perfection is my greatest procrastination.

I used to use it as an excuse: get everything right first, then post.

I always felt like I needed to be successful before I should post but it’s really the other way round.

Now I put content out even with flaws, even with inconsistency. It's polished to the best at the time, yes. It just doesn't have to be perfect.

What I've found is that I'm becoming a lot more attuned to what's possible.

Every video shows me what to improve in the next one. It also reminds me of things I should have put in place as I went along. Checklists, for example.

A lot of what I do is standard operating procedure. But looking back, I realised I built it very organically, as I evolved. It can be improved so I'm much more consistent in what I put out.

What happens when I get noisier?

I'm fully expecting people to unfollow.

Many of the people who follow me are connected through interactions in real life, and the topics I’m on is likely not what they’re interested in.

I'm going to be much noisier in this space than I was before. Ideally, I'm also going to be attracting more of the people I want.

And if I'm able to put out a lot of content, I’m putting the law of large numbers on my side.

These screenshots will let me know how much I’ve grown/shrunk in terms of followers.

• Facebook profile - 2,749 followers
• Facebook page - 584 followers
• YouTube - 304 subscribers
• LinkedIn - 7,586 followers
• Instagram - 1,424 followers
• TikTok - 1,934 followers
• X (not actively posting here) - 4,629 followers
• Threads (not actively posting here) - 366 followers

Now, it’s important I mention this that having an increase in followers does not mean an increase in revenue.

However, it is a sign that I am growing.

What did chasing data cost me in 2023 and 2024?

Even when I didn't do a good job in 2023 and 2024, I was still able to grow my account. But it led to a lot of burnout, because I was chasing something. I was chasing data. I was trying to get validation of my content.

I learned from that.

I used Meta.ai to go through my account and analyse what I posted from 2023 to 2024. It looked at 165 Reels: 114 from 2023 and 51 from 2024.

My best two Reels got 76 likes and 61 likes. Not huge. But the pattern underneath was clear. The generic motivational Reels averaged 7.5 likes. The ones anchored in my faith averaged 22.8.

The ones that did well also had something personal at stake. The Valentine's Day Reel about being single. The hospital Reel about smiling as a mask.

To be fair, Meta.ai also told me the numbers show what was different, not why. I'll take that. The things that resonated back then still hold true today.

So when I create content now, I ask myself: is there a personal stake in this? Is it real, with actual value, and not just something generic?

That lesson from back then still tells me what to do today. And I'm still reminded of the mistakes I made before, because of that old saying: "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."

I'm an old dog in this game. I need to learn to update, and not stay tied down to what I knew before.

There's a verse for this, Romans 12:2: "Be transformed by the renewal of your mind."

So I'm paying attention to what I can improve.

What am I fixing in my videos next?

Take my thumbnails. I do have one, but it isn't clickworthy. So when someone visits my profile, they probably won't click. They'll just look at the view numbers.

The old thumbnails

The updated thumbnails

After I finish this current set of videos, here’s what I plan on doing to improve:

• Using the 1st frame as the thumbnail
  • I used to do this in my older videos and it would save me a step on choosing thumbnails across multiple platforms
• Add a text hook at the extreme top for the short videos
  • Even if they’re not in the safe zones, it is out of the way from the main content I’m talking about
• Improve scripting
  • I have been fixated on using my old proven structure and frameworks so this will be experimental for a while as I test something

What should I be leaning into?

Content creation. It's what I'm good at.

Creating an offer and a sales process is something I know how to do. But it isn't what people are interested in when it comes to me.

Whenever I go to meetings or networking sessions and say I'm a content creation coach, or someone active on social media, they want to know how to create those things. I should lean into that. I've designed a full offer programme in the back. That's for me to know. It isn't what I should be putting out front.

My offer has 3 phases. Phase 1 is creating the offer. Phase 3 is the conversion and sales process. Phase 2 is creating all the atomised content, and that's where I'll lean in.

Getting people to my website still matters. But there's so much to talk about, including the trends and what's happening in the space. I already have plenty of topics.

I do have something coming up, so I'll carry on with that first. After that, the focus shifts to content creation.

There's one more thing I'm building right now. I use other tools to put my entire thought into a big diagram, then talk through it, so it becomes a long-form piece of content. That's organic and valuable. It also sharpens my content creation skills, not just for short-form but for long-form.

Because long-form is the name of the game. It's the content that can come back after years and still generate leads or business.

That's what sustains a brand.

So what about the money?

This is the challenge that takes me right back to the 2021 document. How much money am I making from all of this?

I'm still not going to tell people. But I think it's fair to show, in some way, that I've had clients and that this has gotten results. I think that'll be useful.

I'm also very thankful, because while all of this is happening, I'm getting referrals. I'm getting job and gig opportunities that bring in some income while I do this. That came not just from my content, but from the work I've built into my network and the people I've met. I shouldn't discount any of that. It's part of who I am.

Where does this leave me?

I wrote this post to remember what I was saying, and how I'm restarting, this time with much more clarity.

The future is still uncertain to me. I'm going on anyway. I'm going in.

I won't be a 10K coach or a 100K coach. And I won't plan the numbers either. I'll plan my actions, because if I keep stacking the actions that lead to the result I want, I'm putting everything in my favour.

#KeepTryingUntil