Those two organizations are about as legit as the field of life coaching gets. Make sure whatever school you go to works through one of these organizations. If not, it’s either a scam, a waste of your money and time, or both.
This will be your bread and butter. No life coach can really succeed without it. If you have education on top of it, you’ll be even better off. Just remember to include it on your business card!
Use these to your advantage. Not only should you go home and try to really take in what was addressed (each seminar should have a different topic), but you should also talk to the people there. Having mentors (or at least friendly faces in the field) will be infinitely useful to you when bumps come up in the road. Someone’s gotta show you the ropes!
It could take years to build up a steady, sturdy clientele base. This is not a get-rich-quick scheme. While some life coaches can charge exorbitant amounts of money for just a quick phone call, most aren’t so lucky. With less experience, you’ll have to charge less money (in addition to having fewer clients). And you’ll probably have to start out doing work for free – so don’t go flipping your boss the bird yet.
You’ll need to pay self-employment tax along with invoicing all your clients yourself and establishing methods and schedules of payment (just to name a few). If you’re unsure of all the bases you need to cover, talk to someone else who is self-employed – or other life coaches! What a nice set-up for the next step.
You’ll need to pay self-employment tax along with invoicing all your clients yourself and establishing methods and schedules of payment (just to name a few). If you’re unsure of all the bases you need to cover, talk to someone else who is self-employed – or other life coaches! What a nice set-up for the next step.
The other side to this equation is that you need to see what a life coach actually does. You may think it’s all, “You’re ruining your life – do this instead,” when it’s really anything but that (if you’re a good life coach, at least!). To get a better grip on what you’ll actually be doing, you should have a life coach yourself. If your school doesn’t provide one for you (or at the very least give you a few names to hit up), find one either through your friends/school buddies/teachers or through a directory – much like your future clients will find you.
Most websites will charge a fee to put your image and information up. Make sure it’s not a complete hoax/waste of time before you hand anyone your credit card information or money. There are plenty of scams out there, so step lightly.
Business coaching Carbon coaching (helping others reduce their carbon footprint) Career coaching Corporate coaching Executive coaching Relationship coaching Retirement coaching Spiritual and Christian coaching Time management coaching Weight and body image coaching Work/life balance coaching
Consider marketing yourself as a specialist. You’ve got your niche, right? What might your prospective clients be reading, viewing, or listening to? If you want to reach executives, you wouldn’t post an ad at the local daycare – but you might want to do that if you want to reach new moms or women balancing career and family life. Studies have shown that coaching is just as great for employees as it is for employers. Companies that spend $1 on their employees (be it through coaching, personal wellness, etc. ) make $3 in savings for decreased turnover and the processes that go with it. If you’re considering walking up to a business and suggesting they provide you as a coach (and if you weren’t, you are now), arm yourself with these facts.
How many and for how long you do this is up to you. The correct answer is “until you feel comfortable charging for your services and confident that you can truly help others enrich their lives. " It could be weeks, it could be months. Luckily, there’s no wrong way to go about it. However, waiting until you feel completely “ready” will delay the work of truly helping people, especially if you’re a perfectionist. At some point, you’re going to need to jump in and make the decision that you are running a real business.
. . . But how much? Quite frankly, that’s up to you. Do you want to charge a daily rate? A monthly rate? And what is that rate? Consider how steep the challenges are for this individual – both for you and for them. What can they afford? What can you afford? What demographic do the majority of your potential clients fall into? When in doubt – ask around about the competition! * You need to learn to charge for results, not by the hour or day. Worrying about what the competition charges and trying to undercut them is why very few coaches make money. You’ll need to hire a business coach to learn the correct way to set up your services and price them so that you can make a good living and eventually quit your day job. It’s also important to set up longer-term programs, and not just meet with a client one time or let them hire you monthly.
Most people will come in with an idea – a very specific idea (hence the reason most life coaches have specialties) of what they want to accomplish. Whether it’s weight loss, wrapping their minds around their blooming business, or tackling their relationship issues, they know. Let them guide you initially and listen.
It’s also important to make them feel like they are your most important client. Every little detail they’ve told you needs to be something you remember and take into account when you’re working with them. Not only will they be impressed and trust you more, but you’ll be able to make more accurate decisions on what would help them if you keep your facts straight.
You don’t necessarily have to do the sessions in person, though those are obviously the most personal. You could also do them over the phone or even via programs like Skype. If you’re corporate or executive, you may find that your clients are traveling a lot and session over the phone are the only option. If you want to really be successful, you’ll want to open up your business to clients all over the World. Skype is a poor option in many countries and areas as it drops frequently. Learn to use other systems such as Google Hangouts where you can meet face-to-face without the frustration of poor technology as with Skype.
No one else needs another person (much less a virtual stranger) telling them what to do with our lives – we all get that from our in-laws, our siblings, and the occasional high school friend who thinks they know everything. You’re answering the “how,” not the what. You can give them the process.
You will have clients that don’t cooperate. You’ll have clients that don’t agree with you. You’ll have clients that think you’re wasting their precious time. These will happen. You have to take the good with the bad and know when to cut your losses. If a client doesn’t like your style, then it could be resistance and fear coming up. Don’t take on a client you don’t get along with, and you won’t have these problems. As you work with more clients, you’ll be able to discover in your discovery session whether or not you will be a good fit. If you don’t know how to do a discovery session (it is NOT a coaching session), then you need to learn how to do one right away. See your business coach or group for help.
Face-to-face contact is not always necessary to be a life coach, as many coaches work with clients over the telephone. However, it has many advantages: it is less inhibiting and therefore easier to build trust. It’s convenient as it is global and flexible.
You’re probably going to have clients that you wouldn’t walk across the street to have a 5 minute cup of coffee with in the next life. That’s fine. We can’t all mesh with everyone. But that’s fine – you don’t have to have coffee with these people. All you have to do is help them. Help them and want them to succeed. Even if you find their personalities akin to fingernails on a chalkboard, still have their best interests at heart.
When you cross the line from coach to friend, your clients will feel less of a push to do what you’re suggesting they do. You’ll also feel less inclined to be real with them – one day you’ll need to be harsh with them and they’ll get personally offended if you’re friends. It’s just general good, logical practice to keep the boundaries clear.
In addition to being flexible with hours, be flexible in terms of an open mind. What you see working for this person may not be something that actually does. In the end, everything is relative. If they’re not keen on something, you may have to respect their wishes. You are always working with a unique individual. Cater your program to them as specifically as you can, but leave a little wiggle room for improvement.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t be logical. Nope – you gotta be both. All in all, you gotta be zeroed in on the path to success. A healthy balance of reality mixed in with a have-you-thought-about-it-this-way attitude will get you far in the eyes of your clients. And when they’re happy, you’re happy – and they might tell their friends, too!
