The best athletes, performers, and business leaders in the world have something in common. They utilize coaches to help them reach their personal and professional goals.

Coaches can help even the best of the best find and make improvements. Famous business powerhouses like Serena Williams, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs hired business coaches to improve their already excellent brands.

​Could you use the help of a digital marketing coach for your business needs? Let’s review some fears, misconceptions, and benefits to help you decide.

If coaches are so great, why doesn’t everyone get one? For some, fear stops them–fear of wasting money on something that doesn’t work. For others, misconceptions about coaching hold them back. Many see it as a last resort for a floundering business.

It’s true; not all coaches are created equal. With their unique abilities and personalities, not everyone will be the right fit for you and your business. Thankfully, you can search until you find the one that meets your needs.

A coach is practical at any step in your entrepreneurial journey, even if you’re doing well. They aren’t just for poorly functioning businesses–successful business leaders can thank a coach for their accomplishments.

​If some of the world’s most prominent entrepreneurs lean on coaches to make their bright and shiny brands more brilliant, why not you? All it takes is the willingness to be coachable.

Larger businesses and big corporations have dedicated marketing departments and full-time staff working on creative ideas and marketing initiatives. Some even outsource to a marketing firm. All that to say, marketing is typically someone else’s full-time job. However, not everyone has the capital to hire a marketing firm or team, let alone one dedicated marketing employee.

Your business might be a single person operation right now. You are the one wearing many hats, with lots of pokers in the fire, surrounded by spinning plates in your delicate juggling act (at least, that’s how it feels).

Marketing is more than throwing up initiatives and seeing what sticks. It’s research and experimentation, measurements, and calculations.

If you love those things and you’re interested in them, great! Keep on keeping on. If you love, are interested in, and are good at them (they are proving fruitful), even better.

Let’s say you’re all those things. Do you also have the time to put into it? Remember, it’s somebody else’s full-time job. If not, a digital marketing coach can relieve you of some of those duties. Moreover, their expertise validates their ideas and gives you confidence in your steps along your journey.

In addition to experience and insight, coaches have something that you don’t–a third-party, impartial perspective. They can unbiasedly and critically assess your ideas and designs. They can be the advisor and confidante you need, suggesting improvements, optimizing your efforts, and providing overall clarity to your path. And they do that faster than a DIY trial-and-error approach.

​Marketing coaches give you:

Depending on how they set up their program, a marketing coach can give you one-time or limited-time access for help with a specific goal. You can consult with them as needed at scale.

It’s not unusual for experts to leverage their knowledge and experience to create careers–doctors, attorneys, mechanics, etc. However, there have always been those who freely share their wisdom.

With today’s technology, experts and enthusiasts are at your fingertips on the internet. You can learn to build a house or forage for food from bloggers. You can also learn to market from bloggers who post free content.

You become the expert as you learn at your own speed, investing zero capital but gaining a lot of knowledge that will help you for years to come.

​Using free information online allows you to:

With many coaches and a plethora of online advice, the best decision on whether or not to hire a digital marketing coach comes down to your goals and resources.

Determine your marketing goals. Do you need help with broad achievements, like creating your brand and developing a marketing plan? You may have a specific goal in mind, like creating lead magnets or finding a software solution.

Established and clear objectives don’t necessarily point to one option over the other. However, they do help you determine the value of candidates and online content.

Research your options. Look for testimonials, credentials, and background information. Does your potential coach or the author of your online resources have personal experience with a similar business or situation? Can you get a free consultation or trial period from the coach?

Typically, you receive personal guidance from a coach and general advice online. Which best suits your needs?

​Do you need more than marketing education? Do you need support, time, or someone to help with implementation? If so, that leans more towards hiring a coach.

With so many digital marketing coach services available, deciding whether to hire a personal coach or use the information readily available online can be challenging.

​We’ve given you the pros of each. It’s up to you to decide which is right for you. Just don’t let fear or misconceptions hold you back from boosting your business efforts. Lean into the teachings of someone with experience. Their knowledge could be the missing link that takes your business to new heights.