WEB DESIGNER FOR COACHES
A Career in Creating Websites for Coaches
Hi. I’m Kenn Schroder, a website designer for professional coaches. 25 years on the web helping coaches around the planet, here’s how it happened …
Two Hidden Lessons To Help You Attract Clients Online
A twinkle in my dad’s eye and a sparkle in my mom’s started a chain of events …
“Chiiiilllllll-dreeennnnnn! Dinneeerrrrr tiiiimmmmmee!!!”
I can still hear it today. Mom summoned us repeatedly for an hour, but we wouldn’t budge. We were mesmerized by the Commodore 64 — our gateway into the unknown world of computers back in the 80s.
Dad was more hands-on. My dad, a humorous, smart, hard-working man, had lost his patience one day, stormed into the basement and smashed the computer right before our eyes. Keys flew about like popcorn popping. Naturally, crying ensued.
Surprisingly, we figured out how to snap the keys back on. And the darn thing actually worked! There’s no way today’s laptops could handle that.
We were computer junkies from the start. When we weren’t bicycling around town or shooting hoops at the park, we were programming and gaming on the C64 for hours on end.
You can’t beat childhood passions. It’s no surprise that I’m online, creating and designing websites today.
~ Special Moment 2 of 7 ~
My dream house turn to dread.
My three-hour slogs to Manhattan were rough. But on the way, there was a street of beautifully built new homes. I loved them! They were modern, big, yet simple-looking. I dreamt of owning one with a neat sports car outside.
I dreamed. But then I dreaded. It looked cool, comfy, and simple. Maybe get a puppy. Put a nice sports car out front. That’s be sweet. I was in my 20s. A horrible feeling took over when I realized to make it a reality, I’d have to stick with my painful commute and a lackluster job forever. Scratch that idea.
Soon after, I left that job to pursue greener pastures. I do wonder how things might have turned out had I gone after that house and stuck out the 9-5. But then, you wouldn’t be here, would we? 😀
~ Special Moment 3 of 7 ~
Jumping the corporate ship.
My body spoke to me. In the last year of my nine-to-five job, I felt this dark, deathly piece of burnt coal growing in the center of my chest. My body was basically telling me that it was time to go.
My being gave me direction. Having invested four years in college and eight as an actuary (an insurance statistician), I quit and returned to my first love, “creating on computers.”
Passion took over. It was 2001, just after the Internet bubble had burst, the wrong time to become a website designer. But I decided to do it anyway.
And the 25 year new career sprang. I know it was a good move. I’ve been able to hop around the planet, work with superb coaches and earn a good income.
~ Special Moment 4 of 7 ~
My first-ever coaching session …
Dazed, delighted, and blow away. I remember my first coaching session lasting about 2 hours. With all the great questions, deep thinking, and big-picture dreaming, I left that session with a huge sense of relief, much clarity about the path forward, and ready to conquer the world.
Coaching was awesome! As I learned more, I quickly realized that I was coaching people all my life. With friends and family, I was the one who asked lots of questions, listened endlessly, and helped others see past limiting assumptions. And I always routed for the person willing to try new things.
And my new design focus too hold. I fell in love with coaching. It’s no surprise that I work with coaches and similar professionals today — leaders, mentors, guides, and caretakers — all folks helping others grow, change, and progress towards worthy goals.
~ Special Moment 5 of 7 ~
An Old Book on Selling, How to Earn More as a Coach, and Better Websites
I was excited even though I was struggling. In 2004, I lived in Huntington Village on Long Island, just a few years after leaving my city job. My fledgling website design business was slow-going and savings were depleting.
A magical book appeared. While I consumed all kinds of business advice, I clearly remember a book I stumbled upon in a local library. It was old-looking. I can’t recall the title, but it was about selling services. Oddly it had nothing to do with the Internet.
Thanks to Clem Onojeghuo on UnSplash.com for this photo
This book taught me two vital things that work for coaches too. I love library books because there’s a return date (deadline) and a threat of late fees (penalty) — which thus forces you to read them quickly. Talk about productivity 😉
Selling Wisdom #1. Don’t compete on price.
Don’t try to be the low-cost provider as a service professional — designers, consultants, coaches, and all. Price ought NOT be the primary reason to hire with you.
No, no, no, no, no. This is because there will always be someone else trying to undercut you. And that leads to an unsustainable business. And bottom-feeders will seek you out, caring less about your skills and more about saving a buck.
I’ve been there. Tried that. It’s crap. Don’t lowball your fees. And, ironically, you’ll won’t feel like going to the moon for your clients. The framing is fear and failure focused — all bad! So what do you focus on when talking to a possible client?
Selling Wisdom #2. Deliver high value.
Focus on value. Aim to help the potential client in a big way. For coaches that clarifying and painting vivid dreams for clients. It means giving structure and support for their success. It means mastering your skills.
Both wisdoms — don’t try to promote yourself based on fees, discounts, savings — and instead aim high, go big, and serve clients greatly. That’s a win for all.
So much coaching goodness here. That book taught me to do better for the coaches I worked with. It taught me to bring more value to them succeed in business.
~ Special Moment 6 of 7 ~
Taking My Show on the Road
I would have been on The Santa María with Christopher Columbus. In 2006, I was living in mid-town Manhattan, laptopping at the local Starbucks on Park Avenue, when the travel bug bit hard. It was time for a change — and a challenge.
Trial remote work-ation in Paris. I went to visit my girlfriend at the time and test-run remote operations. Could I work and travel at the same time? Luckily, I pulled it off, and more multi-month trips followed. Some of my faves …
Sunset-blessed beach town of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I failed to convince this young-preneur to sell his springy animals online.
Straight from the airport, high on excitement, Greg and I headed to One Tree Hill for a “sweet as” view of Auckland, New Zealand.
Downtime, beach, pools, and history were on the menu when I went to Greece. I’m at the Acropolis in Athens, mimicking that statuesque star.
In Buenos Aires, days were filled with co-working, city walking, meat, and Tango. This was my first three-in-a-row summer experience. Wild.
L’Etoile de Montmartre, The Star, is a cute little café and the Parisian branch office for my first work-abroad stint of six weeks.
That is a giraffe. A very tall, spotted, unreal creature. I’m a short walk away. An arica’s wonder of the world.
~ Special Moment 7 of 7 ~
Paris. 10k in a week. Wait what?!
Testing out the new “design with the client in mind” approach. I wanted to see if I could travel and work at the same time. I visited my French girlfriend at the time, staying in a tiny maid’s quarter in the Northern part of the city, Montmartre.
The universe was rewarding me for bravery. The universe was rewarding me for bravery. Here, the planets aligned, and I managed to sign three new high-paying clients, in one week, for over 10k USD.
And the big lesson was …
Make everything about your website (pages, headings, emails, images, calls-to-action, etc.) to speak to the needs of your clients. Everything is about the client’s journey, with you there to support them.
Kenn’s big takeway for websites (and incidentally your business).
I took that discover to my design process. After that trip, I started to apply my learnings to make even better websites, help coaches find more clients, and do that via the Web.
I’ll admit, and I’m sure you’d agree that the greatest joy is not so much about my own growth and success, but watching it happen in support of our clients. It’s like double the joy.
And that leads us to today.
New Zealand / New York.
I go between New York and New Zealand, chasing summers, enjoying the beach, and helping coaches with their websites.
There are so many interesting people doing important work and being a part of their journeys keeps my soul a glow.
If you want one juicy PDF with my best learnings, check out my book, The Coaching Website Guide.
Definitely enjoy my blog posts, especially the top posts, which will teach you a lot.
And if you need a designer to get online, revamp a website, or take your biz to the next level, learn more here.
Thanks for reading.
~ Kenn
You’ve already built real work and life experience. Your coaching presence should reflect it.
Moving into coaching doesn’t mean starting from scratch. You already bring years of professional experience, judgment, perspective, and credibility.
My job is to make this easy, and fast. What can be surprisingly difficult is turning all of that into a website that feels clear, authentic, and relevant to the clients you most want to help.
For more than 20 years, I’ve helped coaches around the world find the strongest story in what they bring, shape it around the people they want to serve, and turn it into a professional website they’re proud to share.
The goal isn’t to make you look like a professional coach. It’s to make sure your website shows the professional you already are — and gives the right clients every reason to want to know more.
Get in touch when you’re ready.
My Top Ten Accomplishments
Much of this I hesitate to talk about. But I know it’s important to let you know about what I bring to the table. You should do the same on your website.
- 25 years remote web designer
- Over 100 websites built
- Over 1000 consulted
- Clients in over 20 countries
- Reached 100k design biz
- Sold course for 12k in a week
- Ebook 791 sold worldwide
- Over 100k in digital products
- Gumroad Creator Award
- Multi-month work-actions abroad
What I’ve Learned About Helping Coaches Look Credible, Get Understood, and Get Contacted
People will check you out online. A clunky, boring, or ugly website hurts credibility and stops clients from discovering the amazing value of you and your coaching.
People want to find a unicorn. If the content isn’t engaging and exciting, then your talents, credibility, and professionalism won’t come through. Clients want to know your best stuff that’ll help them succeed.
Do you cringe when sending people to your website? When your site ain’t right, you’ll sense it. If you’re not proud of it, you’ll won’t share your website, and that’ll hinder your marketing efforts.
You should feel confident and eager to share your website with everyone.
You should be eager to share it with everyone. Your website should be easy to use, lightning-fast, and look top-notch. It should reflect you authentically and help you gain trust with visitors. Clients want your best, and you should tell them.
People want to feel like they found the perfect coach. They want to get excited and engage with your content. It should naturally flow and lead them to getting in touch for coaching. How do you do that?
What I Found to Work Well for Engaging Visitors and Generating Leads
Your website must flow. If your pages, paragraphs, and buttons don’t lead people logically, then they get lost — and don’t take action. If the layout doesn’t look right or is hard to read, or slow, people just leave.
It should be mostly about them. Make the website experience (including words, images, buttons, and pages) so easy and smooth that users can see and feel themselves working with you.
And it should highlight your best. Tell your best stories, and share your helpful tips. Highlight your most credible results and testimonials. Clear, directly show up as you — not generic. When trust and connection is felt, action naturally follows.
How I Can Help You
Website design and digital strategy services. Learn about working with me as your web designer, and how I help coaches grow online. Go here.
Check out my book. Visual design, content tips, and conversion strategy for creating a website that helps you attract clients online. Check out The Coaching Website Guide.
Read my blog. I post about tech, content, design, and traffic. Learn from my experience, enjoy the comments, and grow your biz. Blog.
Join me on email. For the latest tips and tricks, and stories from my hands-on design work as I work with coaches. Hop on my email list.
Where You May Have Seen Me
Top Web Design Voice on LinkedIn.
Connect with me on LinkedIn for handy tips and fun chatter about websites.
The Coaches Support Group
I support coaches at The Coaches Support Group on LinkedIn with my homey EG.
Recipro Coach Partner
I guest post at Kerryn Griffith’s ReciproCoach global community.
The Coaching Tools Company
I guest post at The Coaching Tools Company website and Facebook group.
International Coach Federation
I’ve been a supporting member and contributed to their blog.
Creator Award at Gumroad
I won an award at this popular platform for creators.
My Book is on Amazon.com
My book, The Coaching Website Guide V4, is available in print at Amazon.com.
MEET
YOUR
TEAM
From New York to New Zealand to South Africa, we chase the sun and help coaches around the world. Can you see what everyone has in common? Get in touch and we’ll help you.
Global Conference 2023
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FREE CHECKLIST
10 tasks to do now so your website attracts clients later.
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ABOUT
Kenn Schroder is a website designer helping coaches get online, get visible, and attract new clients.
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