Life coaching is a product development approach and is entirely different from the famous traditional therapy. People pursue the life coaching field because they’re driven to help others. But it’s important to note that life coaches are not just good listeners or advisors - they’re entrepreneurs. Life coaches are the ones who act as motivational figures to bring you out into the limelight. But sometimes even for the coaches, there are a million decisions to make and it seems impossible to know what to do first! It’s time to ditch the guesswork and get clear guidance on becoming a coach and starting a life coaching business.
We can understand starting up your practice can be a little overwhelming. To succeed as a coach and establish a sustainable and profitable life coaching business, it's essential to go beyond mere knowledge and acquire astute business strategies. So we figured with this guide to take some of the guesswork out for you and help you through the process of becoming a successful life coach.
Choose Your Niche
Every life coach should have their signature program framework. Determining a niche is a deal breaker and an important factor when deicing on the clientele. As we all know life coaching is an extremely broad field but the question here is how to decide on one profitable area that matches your skills and interests. A list of profitable life coaching businesses:
- Career Coach
- Health Coach
- Relationship Coach
- Financial Coach
- Parenting Coach
- Life Purpose Coach
You can start by writing down your skills and achievements. Skills can be anything that you’ve learned as part of your day job. For instance, you might know how to manage clients, negotiate a higher salary, lose weight, do public speaking, be a star performer in marketing, or handle yourself under constant stressed time. Identifying your niche is pretty much about learning to contemplate.
Understand Your Clients
Once you decide on one winning idea it’s time to research the clients. Being crystal clear on who you’re planning to market your services to is more convenient to increase profits. If you don’t know your audience you won’t be able to speak their language and make them understand the benefits of your life coaching business. For instance, if you’re discussing stress handling without really knowing what your clients are going through, very few people will pay attention. But if you talk about the same thing after researching your potential clients, you’ll attract far more clients.
To do it, find out where your clients are sharing their experiences. For example, Reddit or Quora, or other self-development groups. Take notes on what topics people are talking about, challenges, goals, or what’s the best suitable approach for them to solve those issues.
Craft a Package
The next essential step in starting a life coaching business is having a variety of packages with different prices. Pricing is an essential factor in every business to get the ball rolling. Pricing is dependent on the budget of your business. How much will it cost you to set up and take forward the business, including both one-time and recurring costs? For new coaches in the industry, $1500 for a three-month package is suitable. While you can increase the rates after a few clients, this is a good price to start at.
When new in the market, working with a few clients will help polish up your skills and your clients will get lower prices with quality service, so it’s a win-win for both. Two other important tips to note when crafting a package are to create an irresistible offer and a different package that can be easily customizable.
Work on the Marketing Plan
Doing marketing in a life coaching business is a challenging job as you’re selling a tangible product. You’re selling outcomes based on a piece of advice that may or may not happen. The success of your business is variable and depends on the willpower and determination of your client. A great way to start on your marketing plan is to write a description of someone you would love to work with. Now keep that in mind when working on your future sales and marketing activities. There are numerous ways to position yourself in the industry. Some approaches to include in your marketing plan:
- Testimonials & referrals
- Word of mouth
- Publishing (blogs, articles, books)
- Social media platforms (Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Facebook)
- Podcasting & guest speaking
- Networking in public events
Make Your Business Visible
With the advancement of technology, you need a digital presence for your life coaching business. The two biggest pieces to focus on for online presence are the website and social media. You don’t necessarily need to spend an arm and a leg when working on the online presence of your business. You can use platforms like Wix and Squarespace and focus your time and money on meeting new clients and getting the word out. To make your business visible we recommend using a trusted tool to handle the extra time-consuming tasks. Picktime is a coaching scheduling software. From easy appointment bookings to adding services and staff, Picktime can handle it all.
With Picktime you’ll get a customizable booking page and a unique URL for your business. Using Picktime you can save time and can book solo or group classes within a few seconds. You’ll get 24×7 email support, SMS & email notifications, faculty & staff management, recurring classes, an integrated smart calendar, supported by all devices, detailed reports of all business activities, and many other effectual features.
Work on the Legal Documents
You don’t need to secure a list of certs and credentials to start with the life coaching business but you should have a coaching agreement to share with your clients. You see, a contract is like setting a borderline with your clients. All the conditions & terms, if you have them on paper it’ll be easier to settle any miscommunication and disputes. While you can simply search for free templates online you can also take a safer route and invest in paid templates.
Now that you have all the fundamentals in place you can get out there and start looking for clients. One thing to always remember in the life coaching business is that the best clients will go for the best-positioned clients in the industry. As in, the most in-demand coaches who may not give their best but have a reputation in the market. It doesn’t matter if you’re new and have less experience, be consistent and keep it simple.
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