Under The Influence

A new breed of entrepreneurship coaches is espousing the benefits of nonstop sharing. But is it really necessary?

- Laura Entis

FOR ENTREPRENEUR and success coach Chris Winfield, who holds regular conferences on the art of self-promotion, life and content blend together. His commute is the backdrop for a series of videos—live-streamed on Facebook—in which he spouts stream-of-consciousness musings about success and failure in business. A journal entry doubles as a motivational Instagram post. A visit to the candy store with his daughter is the impetus for a lesson on the importance of persistence, a conversation he broadcasts to his followers. Manyof the takeaways are so broad, they feel ripped from an inspirational poster.

Winfield is far from the only person to turn his life into a LinkedIn-themed, one-man reality show. The strategy, popularized by guru-like business figures such as Gary Vaynerchuk, has become widespread among a certain entrepreneurial set, particularly those who market themselves as coaches and consultants. The underlying message is simple: Success and exposure are two sides of the same shiny coin. Exposure begets success, successbegets more exposure, and the cycle repeats in a flurry of hashtags, memes, and video clips.

If that sounds exhausting to you, you’re not alone. Consider Rebecca Horan—a soft-spoken brand strategist with experience at Penguin, Unilever, and NYU Stern School of Business—who decided to strike out on her own after having her second child. She recently paid $2,500 to attend one of Winfield’s day-and-a-half conferences, which was marketed to attendees as a way to “skyrocket your exposure.”