“You can't create desire. It’s either there or it’s not.”

This lesson—marketers can’t make people want something they have no inherent interest in—is the most significant insight I’ve gained so far from the biggest investment I have made in my coaching business.

Last week I decided to reinvest most of my January earnings in a program called High Impact Coaching, which promises to help first-time coaches build 6-figure businesses in under 90 days.

I know that this pitch might sound a little gimmicky, but the reality is it worked.

In the business world, as I am learning, the only vote that matters is the one our clients make with their credit cards.

So far, the program has been phenomenal.

Another concept it has drilled into my mind is that people who pay, pay attention. Just as I argued in The Moral Case for Premium Pricing in Islam, your clients are likely to experience the best results if they are fully invested.

I am certainly seeking to milk every last drop out of this coaching program after making such a big investment.

I was the perfect target for the HIC offer: an early-stage coach who is finding traction in the market but is seeking to really nail his offer.

The questions that I am wrestling with now are:

“What is the avatar of my ideal client?”

 “What are his ‘bleeding neck’ problems?”

“What is the prison he currently lives in, and what is the dream he is seeking?”

“How am I uniquely qualified to push him towards Heaven or pull him away from Hell?”

As I have begun applying these frameworks to my business, I have run into a quandary. And I need you to help get me out.

As a college coach, one of my particular challenges is that my clients (Muslim parents) are not the primary users of my service (Muslim students). So, should my offer be aimed at parents or students? Or both?

For today, given that the audience of Five Before Five skews older, I am going to focus on the “bleeding neck” problems Muslim parents are facing.

Allow me to unveil the avatar of my ideal client.

His name is Faisal, and he is 47 years old. He completed medical school in Egypt and emigrated to the States when he was in his mid-20s. Once he finished his residency at NYU, he married a Palestinian nurse named Amina who also emigrated to the States just after college. Faisal now works long hours at a hospital in Southern Connecticut. They have 2 children, Mariam (age 15) and Ahmed (14). Both go to a large public school in New Haven. Mariam is a great student and dreams of going to Yale, but she seems to be drifting away from Islam. Ahmed, on the other hand, is obsessed with video games and soccer, and the only thing he seems interested in is becoming a gamer on YouTube.

I am going to sketch out five different problems I believe Faisal and Amina are facing.

My ask of you is to tell me in the comments which of these five problems most resonate with you.

Which problems are Faisal and Amina most likely to seek professional help with? Please also share any problems or challenges I may have overlooked.

1) Navigating Admissions and Paying for College

As successful immigrant professionals, Faisal and Amina want Mariam to achieve her college dreams and reach the Ivy League. They see how hard she has worked in high school and want her to get into a college that will help launch her career.

The problem is that neither Faisal nor Amina went through the admissions process themselves, and they don't know how to guide her. They know SATs and APs and extracurriculars are important, but they feel overwhelmed by the amount of college information out there.

The also feel the cost of college is out of control and don’t know what to do. He and Amina make too much to qualify for need-based financial aid but not nearly enough to be able to pay for two $75K tuitions at the same time. They want the best for their children but are afraid they will either have to get involved with riba or let Ahmed and Mariam down by not being able to pay for them to go to the college of their dreams.

2) Mariam is Becoming Disconnected from Islam

Faisal's mother instilled a rock-solid faith in him from a young age. Even more than dunyawi achievement, his greatest desire is for his children to fully embrace their Islamic identity and achieve eternal success in the akhira.

Faisal brought Mariam to Saturday school for years and got her a Quran tutor, but he is afraid that her non-Muslim peers and social media are pushing her further and further from Islam. He overheard her talking about a boy she likes and is frustrated that Olivia Rodrigo seems to be her idol. With college on the horizon, he is afraid he will lose his daughter to the arrows of Shaytaan forever.

3) Ahmed is Addicted to Technology

Ever since the pandemic, Ahmed has gotten more and more addicted to playing video games. Minecraft became Roblox which graduated to Fortnite. Every free second, Ahmed is on his device. Discord and Instagram notifications constantly interrupt him on the rare occasions he sits down to do his homework. Efforts to limit his screen time result in explosive conflict and resentment.

Faisal wishes he could go back in time and never give Ahmed a phone, but he feels helpless to change things because he is always at the hospital.

4) Academic Anxiety is Crushing Mariam

Faisal and Amina are so proud of how Mariam is doing in school, but they are worried about the constant stress she is feeling. Her ultra-competitive school is pushing her to the edge, and they are afraid her anxiety will prevent her from achieving her college dreams.

As much as they want her to succeed, they are more concerned about her mental health. They don’t know what to tell her, though, because every time they try to intervene, Mariam says she has to do all this if she wants to have any chance at Yale.

5) Ahmed is a Rudderless Ship

When Faisal was Ahmed's age, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life. When he looks at his son now, he sees no ambition or direction in his life. What he wants more than anything is for Ahmed to develop a passion outside of video games and soccer.

Faisal desperately wants Ahmed to develop a vision for his career, and he doesn't want to waste a lot of time and money waiting for his son to “find himself.”

I imagine that several of these problems might resonate with you, but which one is keeping Faisal and Amina awake at night?

How true-to-life do my avatars of Faisal, Amina, Mariam, and Ahmed sound to you?

What other problems do you face as a Muslim parent that I am overlooking?

Please let me know in the comments or by replying to this email.

Just as desire cannot be manufactured, the solutions we offer must resonate with the deeply rooted aspirations and values of Muslim parents and their children. Please help me design a coaching program that best serves your needs.

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