Written by: Danielle Raine, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
In our modern age of obligations and overscheduling, freedom is the new wealth. So when it comes to earning a living or creating a new income stream, freedom-friendly opportunities are in high demand.
People from all walks of life are craving a work life that allows for more soul-nourishing freedom, and there are many reasons why you might seek a more liberated lifestyle. Perhaps time freedom is what's important to you. You want to spend more time with your family or your favourite hobbies. You want to set your own hours, so that you can work in alignment with your wellness rhythms or commitments, rather than rushing around on a schedule that doesn't suit your lifestyle preferences or energy type. Or maybe what your soul is craving is location freedom. You want to travel the world at an enjoyable pace, or work from home in your pyjamas, or set up your virtual office in a different luxury hotel space every afternoon. And of course, there's personal freedom. In Positive Psychology, one of the markers for happiness is the aspect of autonomy – being in charge of our own lives. So it's not surprising that so many of us are drawn to the idea of being our own boss, doing things our way, and not having to answer to anyone else. So, if you’re looking for a new income stream and these benefits call your freedom-seeking soul, you might like to discover a little-known service modality that features all these lovely liberties, while at the same time enabling you to express your uniqueness and help your fellow humans. Allow me to introduce the wonderful world of Email Coaching…
What is email coaching?
As you may imagine, Email Coaching is simply carrying out a coaching relationship via the email format. It can be as simple as the most basic email exchanges between client and coach – making it a perfect low-cost start-up business. Or Email Coaching can be part of a more complex coaching arrangement that also includes support resources, such as online materials, courses, workbooks, guides, or audio, etc. Email Coaching can also be a valuable add-on to the classic coaching modalities such as live calls, Voxer or WhatsApp access, and in-person sessions. While Email Coaching has long been regarded as a secondary option for many coaches, I believe the time has come for the power and magic of Email Coaching to make it a potent and transformative modality in its own right.
Who is email coaching perfect for?
The unique advantages of Email Coaching make it particularly appealing to certain types of coaches and clients.
Here are a few of the types of people this flexible format is perfect for:
Writers
Whether as a client or a coach, Email Coaching is a wonderful option for those of us who love the quiet power of the written word. There's something both soothing and liberating about expressing ourselves in writing, and science is increasingly highlighting the therapeutic benefits of journalling or creative writing, and the advantages of self-expression. So, Email Coaching is perfect for those who love to write, or who feel they express themselves best in the written format, as opposed to public speaking or in-person exchanges.
Introverts
As a proud introvert, I'm happy to report that Email Coaching feels like an answered prayer of a support service. No phone calls, no appointments, no public speaking, no group events – this can be a welcome balm to the introvert's soul in a world of more demanding modalities. Beyond the blissful calm of the Email Coaching format, this type of communication allows for an introvert's strengths to shine. We tend to excel in low-pressure, minimal-contact environments and Email Coaching can offer us a beneficial oasis that supports how we like to think, work, and process information, emotions and ideas.
Freedom-seekers
The flexibility of Email Coaching makes it an appealing choice for those of us who love to set our own schedules and design our optimum workflow. Work best in the early morning quiet before the children wake up? Perfect – you can catch up with client questions and feedback in those peaceful dawn hours. Love to take one full day a week away from work? No problem – you can advise your clients on the days you’re available for coaching responses. (One of the perks of Email Coaching is that clients can email you anytime, especially when they most feel the need to express something, yet you can respond on your ideal schedule.) Or perhaps you’re happy to work the conventional 9-5, but you simply want to work from your kitchen, home office, garden or favourite creative cave. Your clients won’t mind where you are or what you wear, all they need is your best attention and your unique insights. PJs or yoga pants welcome!
Purpose-Seekers
If you feel called to help your fellow humans in some capacity, Email Coaching can be an inspiring vehicle for sharing your unique wisdom. There's something deeply nourishing about helping others to benefit from our hard-won lessons and life experiences – it’s a humanity-boosting win-win. Of course, this applies to all coaching modalities, not just the email format. But for those looking for a freedom-friendly income stream or a fulfilling work-from-home business opportunity, offering Email Coaching can be a richly rewarding way to satisfy a craving for purpose, contribution and meaning.
Is email coaching effective?
It’s easy to see the benefits of offering an Email Coaching service, but what about its effectiveness for your clients?
Here are some of the many ways this format can be a powerful and transformative modality that creates inspiring and measurable results.
A Virtual Meeting of Minds
Many of the world's great minds and creatives have benefitted from some kind of correspondence partner. Think of Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud, Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes, Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone De Beauvoir, or the various members of the Bloomsbury Group. These great minds flourished and created world-changing legacies partly as a result of their letters to peers or mentors. Bookshops are filled with collections and anthologies of the writings and works of the greats that were revealed, nurtured or even birthed during these written interactions. The potential for postal correspondence partners may have fallen out of favour in the digital age, but the spirit of this highly creative and transformative practice lives on in the modern equivalent:
Email.
While much of the world might use email purely for transactional exchanges or basic communication, there's no reason why electronic mail can't deliver the charm, passion or encouragement of the great letters of old.
Expert Support
When hiring an Email Coach, the benefits go beyond a simple correspondence relationship, because this modern-day pen pal is far more than just a patient supporter, cheerleader or champion – the best ones are often experts in their fields. This means that clients get double the benefits – the encouragement and support of a devoted writing partner, plus all the benefits associated with traditional coaching, eg collapsing timelines, reducing learning curves, and opening up to inspiring possibilities. For example, I began my own Email Coaching practice as an extension of my work as a Creativity Coach. Although I stumbled across it more through serendipity than strategy, it turned out beautifully as many of my clients have been writers or introvert creatives who love to communicate via email.
Time to think
One of my favourite advantages of the Email Coaching format is something that's just not possible with live coaching calls, and that's the spaciousness to consider responses. As a coach who values the role of intuition in my practice, it's a joy for me to be able to contemplate client comments, questions and feedback, so I can tune into my intuition for the best response. Even though my intuition can work fast these days, it's still a blessing to be able to ponder a particular client challenge and not need to have the perfect answer straight away. For coaches who like a slower process with plenty of thinking time or processing intervals, Email Coaching is the perfect format to allow this integrative and contemplative approach. This can be especially beneficial for new coaches, as it removes the pressure and fears around having the ‘perfect’ coaching response on the spot. I believe this aspect of breathing space can add a richer layer of value to the service we provide our clients, and it can pave the way for cultivating deeper relationships over the coaching period.
Over the years, I’ve received a wealth of feedback from clients who truly appreciate this Time To Think aspect of Email Coaching, enabling them to explore ideas more deeply than they would have been able to do during a call or meeting.
Email coaching business benefits
So you now know that Email Coaching can be beneficial for both you and your clients – but what about your business goals or your vision of multiple income streams?
Here are a couple of ways this new venture could be the start of some inspiring and exciting business developments or career assets.
Content building
How would you like to be the proud owner of a ready-made online course, that you can sell over and over again, while you sleep? After you’ve been offering Email Coaching for a while, you’ll naturally have built up a bank of captivating and highly relevant client questions, possibly ones you would never have imagined. You'll also have a collection of your responses in written format – these can often be easily edited (for privacy) and shared as lessons or modules in an online course. Or your coaching notes may make insightful and helpful blog posts that can serve as additional resources for all your new clients. By its very nature, Email Coaching lends itself to producing a body of work that reflects your unique wisdom, experience and insights, as well as the challenges of your Dream Clients - the people you love to work with.
Complementary Offerings
There are many opportunities to repurpose your content collections in ways that can enhance the value of your services or even become a new income stream in their own right. For example, I edited a number of my Creativity Coaching responses into blog posts which ultimately became a book about nurturing the creative spirit. After all, the chances are good that your genius insights for an individual client could well be valuable to a much wider readership. With care, consideration and creativity, your Email Coaching notes and client questions could form the basis of a much larger body of work, almost automatically. You may find that you move into the realm of Hybrid Coaching, where your valuable wisdom is shared partially in the 1:1 format, alongside a library or bank of articles, exercises, workbooks, etc. that clients can access on their own. When your Email Coaching business reaches this level of sophistication, you’ll be able to enjoy even more of those freedom-seeking benefits that make for the perfect life balance.
The joy of email coaching
Since I discovered the many benefits of Email Coaching almost a decade ago, I've become a passionate advocate for spreading the word about this blossoming branch of coaching. Whether it appeals to your love of freedom, or you prefer the other advantages, or even all of the above, I believe everybody has valuable wisdom to share, and Email Coaching can be such a beneficial win-win modality for helping our fellow humans.
“All of us are teachers for each other. This is a tremendous, priceless service.” – Fredric Lehrman
If you’d like to know more about the perks and potential of this rapidly growing coaching format, I’ve created a comprehensive resource hub to guide you. Over on The Joy of Email Coaching, you can help yourself to a support series of free resources, including a sample extract from my Beginner’s Guide online course, The Secret to Success in your new Email Coaching Business.
You’ll also discover The Pros & Cons of Email Coaching, so you can get a balanced overview of what works well. So, I hope I’ve inspired you to ponder how you could turn your wisdom and insights into a fun, fulfilling and freedom-friendly new income stream.
It’s no secret that coaching is a booming industry, and with good reason – coaching works. While Email Coaching may not be as widely known as the classic live coaching methods, I believe it has a very bright future in the years ahead.
Would you like to be a part of it?
Danielle Raine, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Danielle Raine is a Holistic Creativity Coach who has been working almost exclusively via email since 2014.
After discovering the benefits of Email Coaching first-hand, and seeing the inspiring transformations possible using this little-known modality, she has become passionate about sharing the potential of Email Coaching as a rewarding new business or income stream.
Her particular focus is helping purpose-driven solopreneurs and creatives to fast-track their success and impact with the Email Coaching format, so that they can help more people benefit from their unique skills, experiences and wisdom.
Through her coaching, courses and writing, her mission is to share all she's learned on her journey, so that her clients, students and readers can design an inspiring and fulfilling lifestyle business that uplifts others and serves the world.
