Mike Hunder: Experienced Professional in Your 40s & 50s? You Should Consider Online Coaching

We have all seen this happen to family members, colleagues, and friends time and time again — corporate professionals who have given years of good performance being laid off as companies look to hire younger people at lower pay!

Variously described as “overqualified “or “too old”, experienced professionals in their late 40s and early 50s are especially vulnerable, with kids still going to school and parents needing care.  So, experienced professionals have rightly worried about the growing uncertainties in their corporate jobs.

Less noticed, however, is the growing demand for online coaches! It is time to pay attention to the online coaching market.

The online coaching market is surging right now. In 2011, the online coaching market generated $35.6b in revenue. The market was projected to reach $107 Billion in 2015 and it did. Now, Research and Markets forecasts show online learning will grow to $325 Billion by 2025, a triple of 2015 revenue figures (source: Forbes).

If you are an experienced professional, here are 6 good reasons to make a switch to the online coaching business:

The growing search for good coaches

As the online coaching business gets bigger and bigger, the search for people with a high level of expertise to coach online is equally becoming a bigger issue. As an experienced professional, you already have the experience and the drive. So you are good to go.

Quality is really starting to matter

Quality is really starting to matter in the online coaching business. For instance, coaches need to identify and understand their audience’s pain-points in order to create targeted and relevant learning experiences for learners. That’s why online coaches now have to think much more about quality and how to personalize learning experiences. As an experienced professional, you already know how to arrange your content and presentation in a logical sequence, so it provides actionable solutions to your clients’ problems.

The market is becoming more sophisticated

One high-level shift we have seen is that the online coaching market is becoming more sophisticated and learners are looking for learning opportunities that put the concepts and experiences that they will encounter into practice. Hence, experts from all walks of life are being sought after to create online coaching courses that share real-life scenarios.  The thing is, experienced professionals “have been there” and “done all that” and they are uniquely qualified for this role. They are in a good place to share their firsthand knowledge, experiences, and ideas with learners.

A great way to meet people from around the world

Another thing is that as you share your expertise and ideas with learners’ across national boundaries online, you impact lives and get to meet people from around the world.  So if as a successful professional, you are enthusiastic about meeting new people and helping others succeed, then the online coaching business is a great way for you.

It’s very rewarding

The online coaching business is growing and evolving in all geographic markets and it’s very rewarding. For instance, Tom Trainer – a chartered accountant with over 20 years of experience – is helping people break into the accounting profession online and he is doing well. Gordon Ramsey, a British chef proved that you can coach online on just about any subject, and make a living. Specifically, he teaches cooking online. In Nigeria, over 6m people are joining the internet every year, with many engaged in the online learning space. World tennis star Serena Williams teaches tennis online, and she is killing it! Thus, the online coaching business is a unique window of opportunity for experienced professionals.

Free from growing vulnerabilities

Finally, every experienced professional – including you – deserves to be free from worrying vulnerabilities in 9-5 jobs and from “salary trap”.  You already have the expertise, and the world wants to hear from you. That’s why more and more experienced professionals are making the switch to full-time online coaching business to impact lives while making their marks in the world! This is something many senior and experienced professionals can relate to. And that’s how I came to join the online coaching industry.

In conclusion, knowledge is power; but knowledge without action is nothing. So if you are an experienced professional who is  worried about vulnerabilities of your 9-5 job, it is up to you to decide whether to wait for another leap or take it now!

For additional reading, you can request “The Experienced Professional Online Coaching Checklist” at www.mikehunder.com