Back in 2015, I formed my first coaching/training partnership and we launched a podcast to support it. 18 months later we were hosting a standing-room only session at a major industry event. I know what it’s like to launch a venture with no name recognition. It’s not easy, but thanks to developments in podcasting and online marketing, it’s easier than ever. The big challenge for any new coach or consultant is this: What big name people do NOW isn’t what got them there. We look at them running ads and putting on big events and think that must be why they succeeded. Often the real story is that they’re losing money on their events, losing money on their ads, breaking even on their books or low-priced digital products, and their real money comes from things you can’t see. For Gary Vee, it’s VaynerMedia, his agency that sells marketing services to huge companies. For Grant Cardone, it’s his sales training for companies and now his real estate investments. For many coaching companies, their events are lead generators. They break even on the events and only make money on coaching packages sold at the event or shortly after, often through boiler rooms of salespeople using high-pressure tactics. So before you imitate what you see others doing, I wanted to share a plan that would work for any new coach or consultant, regardless of your name recognition in your space. Let’s start with some basic assumptions about you… You have a skillset that is both rare and valuable You can apply that skillset to solve a big, valuable problem for a particular kind of person You have some capital, let's say $5k You have an assistant or the ability to hire one If you have those things in your favor, here’s a controversial opinion: Don’t worry about a website and setting up a bunch of social media accounts. Just get started. For a website, maybe set up one-page at most, but odds are it may be completely unnecessary. Same for social media accounts. Things have changed so radically in the last couple years, it now takes a TON of time and effort to build a new account from scratch, especially if you sell in the B2B space. For both of these, the time and resources you’d invest in building a website, a new social media account (or hiring people to help) is much better invested in actual conversations that will lead to business. So here’s what I’d recommend to any new coach or consultant if you want to hit the ground running, generate revenue and get profitable as quickly as possible, and set yourself up for a wide range of options in your first year.