When Is It Time to Spend Money on Your Dream?

There is an audio version below.

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In 2012, I was making progress on my dream. I was over the horrible defeat of no one buying or caring about my book. I had a plan to grow my audience, exposure and hopefully my income. At that point, I wondered if I should hire a coach. I thought about it and talked to my wife. We were skeptical.

We settled on a compromise; I would take a course offered by a well-known online marketer. The course was $697, which was a HUGE investment in my world at the time. I paid for access and got the login information—boy was I disappointed. There was some good stuff in there, don’t get me wrong, but a lot of the course was very generic and designed to up sell me on his “elite” program. I took what I could come from the program and was stuck at step three.

For the rest of that year, I was a little bitter and decided to figure this out on my own. I worked hard and guest posted on 50 different blogs. I was a guest on 80 podcasts and took every “strategy call” I could when anyone who hinted at hiring me. By the end of 2012, I was making enough money to quit my day job.

Despite the progress, I found myself stuck at step six at the beginning part of 2013. I knew I was missing opportunities, so I caved and hired a business coach. Do you want to talk about investments? I paid $5,500 a month for my business coach and did it for three months. It hurt to spend that kind of money, but it wasn’t long before I started having five-figure months.

When Should You Spend?

I wish I could tell you, but I don’t know your situation. For most of you reading this, the answer is probably not right now. We know so much from the blogs, podcast, webinars, and the videos we absorb every day. If we just applied the knowledge we have right now, we would make significant progress.

There are a few, however, that a coach or good program would benefit. I’ll tell you upfront, I’ll take a coach over a course any day. A coach can guide you—hold your hand so to speak–and answer all your questions. One of the biggest knocks on programs from big names is that they don’t come with Q&A access. I guarantee you’ll have questions as you start implementing the course. If you can’t get your questions answered, you’ll be stuck.

All of this is contingent on the coach knowing what they’re talking about. You have to research what results they have gotten for their clients. I have seen a lot of successful people start coaching and can’t replicate the results they have gotten. If they did it–great, but if they can’t teach you to do it, you’re just wasting money. Also, make sure the coach isn’t trying to coach you on something they haven’t done themselves.

I see so many coaches who coach on “book marketing” but haven’t sold more than 100 books themselves—that won’t help you. I see coaches who coach on “online business” but only make their money teaching online business. They don’t have a successful online business themselves.

You’ll know when it’s time to hire someone or to take a course. When you haven’t gone as far as you can on your own and need guidance for the next steps—that’s when it’s time to spend money. When spending that money can leapfrog the progress you have ALREADY made, that’s when it’s time.

Don’t hire anyone—not even me—unless you have done your research, have seen the person has duplicated what they say they can do. And, you are in a place where spending money won’t turn your dream into something your spouse hates. This is your business. Make a smart business decision.

I can’t tell you when you should spend money. I can only tell you to listen to your gut. Apply all the free information you can and work harder than you think is possible. When you are sure, research what works best for you.

Audio version:

Have you spent money on your dream?

 

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Photo: Flickr/ Murilo Cardoso