With so many people talking about Timothy Ferriss’ book, The 4-Hour Workweek (aff), I discovered that this book was exactly the right thing to enter my life at the exactly right time. I’ve been thinking about leading a more mobile life for about half a year, but with this book I gained massive momentum and increased my actions to actually do most of what Tim is writing about.
As I’m doing marketing consulting for coaches, I’ve been asking myself: How can someone who does life coaching (or personal coaching or whatever you might call it) combine his profession with an ultra-mobile lifestyle? So here’s my 0.02 euros on the Top Five Market Niches for Vagabonding Life Coaches
No. 5: Specialize in internationally universal issues
This is not as easy as it might sound. Unbelievable as it is for my stereotypically angst-ridden fellow German countrymen, there are countries or cultures where issues such as depression are nearly unheard of. But how about, for example, the catch-all of life coaches, “work-life balance”? In any given country that suffers from a 9-to-5-culture there are thousands of potential clients just waiting for an “expert from Germany” (or the U.S., or Japan, etc.) to arrive and assist them in escaping the rat race, especially when this expert (you!) has already collected experience about this universal issue in other countries.
No. 4: Specialize in issues specific to countries or cultures
If you’re planning to spend a couple of months in another country find out about culture specific issues that you can address with personal coaching or seminars. If you’re into crisis intervention, read the news about current events that might make people scared or frightened, and offer coaching specific to these events.
Keep in mind that while it is beneficial to speak the language of your destination country, it is not as important as you might think. Instead, invest your time learning the manners of your destination country. I once coached a gentleman from Saudi Arabia using only very basic English, and it worked out great. You can also hire a professional translator for your sessions or let your client bring one of his multilingual friends. This works even in intimate personal coaching and therapeutic contexts. Don’t underestimate the increased expert status you’ll have as “foreign expert!”
No. 3: Specialize in Sports Coaching
Mental sports coaching is a huge field. I’ve been doing Mental Golf coaching for a couple of years now, but there are dozens of other sports that benefit greatly from mental coaching. Just imagine: How much does the mental state of, say, a baseball pitcher, influence the quality of his throws? How about complementing Indian cricketers’ indigenous meditation methods with some left-hemispheric mental strategy coaching á la NLP? Or working with the coach of a soccer team and introducing modern hypnosis in the pre-game process? The possibilities are endless.
No. 2: Specialize in Coaching for Musicians
Often called an “international language,” music is very closely tied to a country and its culture(s). However, the issues musicians and vocalists are faced with are universal: Stage fright before performances is omnipresent, even with well-known (and well-paid) professionals. This is true especially in the field of classical performances, but I’ve also worked with jazz pianists who wanted to “get into the flow” faster. If you successfully specialize in mental coaching for musicians, you’ll never run out of clients and all-access backstage passes.
No. 1: The Power of Self-Referential Coaching and Training
Probably the easiest and most rewarding issue to specialize if you’re inclined to be a vagabonding coach or trainer: Teach others to do what you’re doing right now. Coach them to escape 9-to-5, coach them to build their own businesses, hold seminars on lifestyle design, and so on. If you’re travelling the world and want to coach or train people, teach others how to travel the world and coach and train people. Heck, you might even want to teach others how to teach others how to train. (Which is, incidentally, what I do most of the time.) Whatever self-referential topic you choose: You can be sure that it automatically comes with the added bonus of authenticity.
Go on and choose your preferred niche, or e-mail me with more suggestions. Now please excuse me, I’m off to Fiji finding new business opportunities …
