Vince Del Monte: Five Things You Need To Create a Highly Successful Career As a Life or Business Coach

At the essence of coaching is the mentorship that’s involved when working with your students. This relationship is key to a coach’s success and in order to build a strong relationship, you need to be fully investing in your clients goals and needs — this takes passion.

The coaching industry is now tremendous. It is a 15 billion dollar industry. Many professionals have left their office jobs to become highly successful coaches. At the same time, not everyone who starts a coaching business sees success. What does someone starting a career as a life coach, wellness coach, or business coach need to know to turn it into a very successful and rewarding career?

In this interview series, called “Five Things You Need To Create a Highly Successful Career As a Life or Business Coach” we are interviewing experienced and successful life coaches, wellness coaches, fitness coaches, business and executive coaches and other forms of coaches who share the strategies you need to create a successful career as a life or business coach.

In this particular interview, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Vince Del Monte.

Vince Del Monte is a highly-sought after online business coach, the founder of the 7-Figure Mastermind and 6-Figure Coach Program, one of the world’s leading sales and marketing authorities and a best-selling author. Known for helping his clients create consistent revenue growth, Vince has helped thousands of people transform and scale their businesses to six figures and beyond with his easy-to-follow steps and mindset coaching.

A former WBFF Pro Fitness Model, Vince broke into the coaching world teaching fitness professionals how to create online programs before scaling his own business empire, generating over 25 million and working with professionals from industries across the board.

His expert advice has been featured in: Martha Stewart Living, Ladders, ABC, Ask Men, ESPN, Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Inside Fitness Magazine, Bodybuilding.com, T-Nation, and many more.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and what brought you to this particular career path?

Growing up, I was always known as the ‘skinny guy’ which led me on the path to becoming a former WBFF Pro Fitness Model, a fitness coach, and subsequently a business coach. I was always attracted to endeavors that depended on my own work ethic and living ‘under the shadow’ of a father who impacted thousands of lives spiritually each week as a pastor, I felt the pressure to have some type of impact on the same magnitude. This led me to begin my coaching career creating the 7-Figure Mastermind & 6-Figure Coach program where I teach professionals from various industries how to create successful online programs that generate consistent revenue growth.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

1. Discovering The One Way Play which is how I built 4 different 7 figure online fitness businesses. Market to one person, with one specific problem, one clear promise, one irresistible program, one price point and one unique process. This is how you scale an online fitness offer.

2. Mentorship. My first business coach gave me clear and simple marching orders, one task at a time. The key is to have singularity of focus and lay one brick at a time, don’t attempt to build Rome overnight.

3. Constant masterminds. I’m a product of being in environments where I’m getting PUSHED by others far ahead of me who are challenging my self limiting beliefs to think bigger and act faster.

How have habits played a role in your success? Can you share some success habits that have helped you in your journey?

1. Avoid toxic people
2. It’s impossible to succeed when you are surrounded by negativity.
3. Give up the need to control everything
4. Understand that some things are up to us, while most really aren’t’.
5. Have patience
6. No one achieves success overnight
7. Don’t feel the need to be liked
8. No matter what you do, there will always be people who don’t approve

This will be intuitive to you but it will be helpful to spell this out directly. Can you help explain a few reasons why it is so important to create good habits? Can you share a story or give some examples?

The little habits in your life matter greatly. The “small” things will have a massive impact on whether you win or lose in business.

Speaking in general, what is the best way to develop good habits? Conversely, how can one stop bad habits?

One day at a time. I’ve learned that less is more. So if you’re looking for changes, smooth is fast and fast is slow. People try to change too much overnight and set expectations that are too high in the short term and too small in the long term. Focus on ONE habit every 90 days. Get daily and weekly accountability from someone you do not want to disappoint or else it’s easy to quit.

Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?

“Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm” — Winston Churchill

If you thought your first, second, or even 5th business launch was going to be successful, but it ended up completely flopping, then you’re exactly where you need to be. Even if you’re currently failing at your business, you are exactly where you need to be. Because when you fail, you’re gaining experience, learning how to improve and how to not make that same mistake again. Entrepreneur skills aren’t gained overnight and eventually success will be achieved.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

I’m currently writing 3 books for online fitness coaches revealing my signature systems to build a high ticket fitness empire. My specialty is helping fitness coaches scale without sacrificing their soul and with systems that reduce the stress that comes with building your own business.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Many coaches are successful, but some are not very successful. From your experience or perspective, what are the main factors that distinguish successful coaches from unsuccessful ones? What are your “Five Things You Need To Create a Highly Successful Career As a Life or Business Coach”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

1. Need to pass the 4 year test
2. One of the most important factors for becoming a successful business coach is passing the 4 year test. If you can show that you’ve successfully performed and yielded consistent results for at least 4 years, then you’re on a great path for success in the coaching space.
3. Reputable track record
4. Being a business coach is one thing, but without a proven track record your chances at success are slim. In order to become a successful business coach, you must be able to show that you’ve achieved actual results for yourself and for your past students.
5. Strong personal brand
6. With all of the business coaches out there, if you want to find success and differentiate yourself from everyone else it’s integral that you create a strong personal brand. You want prospective students to completely comprehend the value that you bring to the table as a coach. Take advantage of social media by making your presence known to the world, and make sure that your messaging effectively portrays your expertise as a coach.
7. Effective team
8. Achieving lasting success as a business coach means putting together a team that can support both you and your students’ endeavors. An effective team is a collaborative one, and the value of a strong team is simply unmatched in its ability to create the environment needed for becoming a highly successful business coach.
9. Passion
10. At the essence of coaching is the mentorship that’s involved when working with your students. This relationship is key to a coach’s success and in order to build a strong relationship, you need to be fully investing in your clients goals and needs — this takes passion.

What are the most common mistakes you have seen coaches make when they start their business? What can be done to avoid those errors?

One of the most common mistakes I’ve seen coaches make when starting out is that they’re trying to grow a business without understanding that you can’t grow the top line if every other line on the financial statement isn’t also going up. Ninety five percent of your time has to go to that top two inches of a financial statement. If you want something to grow, you have to be prepared to pay bigger and bigger expenses, you can’t expand without bigger expenses. That’s one thing that’s really been eye-opening for me. Additionally, your competition has the same problems as you do so you’ve got to stop over thinking — “maybe I can get my tech cheaper”, “maybe I can get started without a coach and I’ll be saving fifteen hundred bucks a month”. That is not how the rich have become rich. Multiple streams of revenue are necessary for success and that doesn’t come without investing the proper amount of money in your venture.

Based on your experience and success, what are a few of the most important things a coach should know in order to create a Wow! Customer Experience? Please share a story or an example for each.

1. Create a jumpstart video package that puts your client immediately into motion with next steps
2. Hold weekly live Q&A calls, bi-weekly check ins and client spotlights to get the most engagement out of your group
3. Value connection — Build deep connections with your students so they can all support each other. People will leave a program, but they will not leave a family.
4. Anticipation leads to retention, so your clients should always know what’s coming next month.
5. Frame your coaching as a 1 year journey and they just started with “the first 12 week phase” of 4 unique phases.

Lead generation is one of the most important aspects of any business, and particularly in coaching. What are the best ways for a coach to find customers? Can you share some of the strategies you use to generate good, qualified leads?

Organic marketing must be marketed on one platform. Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, they all work. But you must choose one channel and stick with it until you dominate it. This could take 3–4 years, but these platforms are so large that you don’t need to be multitasking on multiple platforms. On Instagram we produce V.P.S. content which stands for valuable, purposeful and shareable. In the fitness space this could include social proof of your clients, carousel workouts for people to follow and save, and selfie posts showcasing your lifestyle. People need RESULTS IN ADVANCE before they will trust you to do business with them. The key is being consistent. Our students post 3 times per day on Instagram to cut through the noise — once on the feed, one LIVE and one story. Some people will say this is too much but it’s been proven to work for hundreds of our students.

Coaches are similar to startup founders who often work extremely long hours and it’s easy to end up burning the candle at both ends. What would you recommend to your fellow coaches about how to best take care of their physical and mental wellness when starting their business?

Hard stops. I work from 9am until 4:30pm Monday to Friday. Turn your phone off when you’re with family and your partner. Don’t work on the weekends. Mandatory date night. Prioritize your faith, family and fitness before your finances or else you’ll start a race you can’t win. Non-negotiables that feed your soul, body and relationships are the key to avoiding burnout.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

FIRST I want to be famous at home with my wife and kids before I worry about bringing good into the world. If what you’re preaching isn’t working inside the home, don’t export it into the world. My Dad taught me that. With that being said, the movement I would start would work with men to become the leaders of their home and ensure that they don’t kick their family to the curb in the name of ‘impact’ of ‘value’.

We are blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

Wow! I’d love to have lunch with Pastor Steven Furtick. He’s leading one of the fastest growing churches, Elevation Church, and seems to have a good head on his shoulders and is extremely focused on his calling. I’d love to know what type of boundaries and habits he’s put in place to be what I consider a true man of God.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Website — https://vincedelmonte.ca/

The Vince Del Monte Podcast — https://vincedelmonte.ca/podcast-2/

Instagram — @VinceDelMonte

YouTube — @VinceDelMonte

Facebook — @VinceDelMonte

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!