How I Became a Successful Life Coach
There are Life Coaches that are far more well-known than me, so I am always pleased when someone asks me for advice on building their coaching business. I’ve worked very hard at building a brand that speaks to the masses. I have a support team that has my back. I’ve also developed some deep relationships with people that have guided me on this journey.
There are many courses that specifically train people on how to earn profit based on their area of expertise, so I highly suggest finding a program that meets your needs. This is not meant to be structured advice on starting your business, but I wanted to share my methods for finding success in the lane I’ve created. By the way, if you want to check out my Coaching page for inspo, here it is.
Why do you want to Coach others?
Many people become coaches because they’ve been told by friends that they give good advice. Perhaps you’ve presumed yourself empathetic and you have a keen talent for helping others see the best in themselves. Or maybe you have gone through a major life experience and now you have gained insight that can change someone’s life. Maybe you heard that Life Coaching is easy and a quick way to make lots of money!
Whatever your reason: stand firm and make it known. Your prospective clients are paying to have a piece of YOU. They have hired you because they feel connected to your message. You’ve made them feel confident in trusting you. Your clients chose you to be the person that will usher them into the next chapter of their lives. This is a major responsibility and not to be taken lightly.
What qualifies you?
Truth is, anybody can call themselves a Life Coach. There is no uniform academic association that qualifies coaches. There are programs that cost $50K and there are certification classes on the internet for $60! I earned a Bachelor’s in Family and Consumer Sciences from University of Tennessee. I had to prove my qualifications, present 15,000 professional hours in my field and get references from colleagues and bosses in order to become a member of the National Council of Family Relations. I also hold many professional memberships and I do all sorts of continuing education work. I suggest you get training so that you can best serve your clients. I make my academic accolades known because I’m proud of myself and I’ve worked hard enough to celebrate me! I also want my clients and colleagues to feel confident that I’ve done the work!
Who will you best serve?
You can’t coach everyone! I mean, you can, but it’s not going to work out well. Take the appropriate time to clearly define your target audience. Here are some of my friends that are very specific in their Coaching and they’ve found success in their niche:
Jennifer helps women heal from toxic mother wounds
Anita helps domestic abuse survivors
Chris is an addiction recovery specialist
Consistency will set you apart
Some business coaches will tell you to remain elusive and to post sporadically. I personally try to post on my main pages and stories on a daily basis. It keeps engagement high so whenever I share or mention a product, I know that my audience will see it. Also, be consistent and clear in your message. The fastest way to lose trust is for your audience to realize that you’re wishy-washy or disingenuous.
Position yourself as an expert
I’m a Master Stepfamily Coach all day, every day. With that said, not one perspective client, television producer or decision maker has grilled me about my education before they’ve hired me. They call me because I am an expert. See, you believe me because I said so! To back it up, I have a blog with hundreds of articles I’ve written. I have a new podcast that has garnered 5K downloads already. Since I pay all the costs to run my podcast, I mention myself and my book, Girl, Bye! as a sponsor. In less than one month of my podcast being live, I’ve sold 340 books!
Lastly, I eat/sleep/breathe blended families. I know the stats; I know the trends. I read all the professional journals! I am always putting out information for the public to consume. I’ve also written blogs for others with similar platforms. At least once per week, I am a guest on someone else’s podcast. Collaboration has been vital to my growth!
Click your fave app to listen to my podcast, I Know I’m CRAZY with Naja Hall
Branding is everything!
Branding is fun, but don’t get so caught up in making a cute website and taking pretty pictures that you neglect to form a solid money-making strategy. While money isn’t everything, you need it to survive. A starving Life Coach isn’t an effective Life Coach. Be consistent in your theme, message, colors and brand name. I can be found everywhere on social media @blendedandblack. My name and images are prominently featured on my marketing materials. I do this because I want to ensure that my audience recognizes me by name, face or my business name! Heck, my phone number is 315-75BLEND. (I’m dead serious).
Use social media. Don’t let it use you.
Social media is fluff. It’s consuming. You can easily get sucked into being a slave to numbers and metrics, but none of that is real. We all know people with lots of followers that have not been able to translate their massive numbers into massive coins.
Find ONE social media platform and make it your nest. I like Instagram for fast interactions and Facebook for more in-depth connections. Luckily, you can auto-share Instagram posts to your Twitter, Facebook page and Tumblr. You can schedule Instagram posts using an app. I’d like to note that I also use YouTube and Pinterest, but now I have a team to help me keep all the bases covered. Pinterest has really led a LOT of traffic to my blog, so don’t sleep on it!
Wanna see my Pinterest page?
Develop a monetization strategy!
I did not start my platform with money on my mind. I started it because I was MAD at the hell my family was experiencing! My passion for blended families stems from my own life circumstances and quite frankly I LOOOOOVEEE my job. I haven’t always gotten paid from it though. When someone I was coaching (for free) referred me to their friend, it dawned on me that I had a unique commodity and I began to feel confident for trading my time in exchange for a coin! I currently have 30+ international clients of all races, ages and demographics. I’m also developing a paid group coaching service. I sell books and I’m doing a t-shirt line. There are people that support me to the ends of the earth, and I am committed to always keeping them close to me. I lost much potential profit by not developing a business strategy first. Don’t be like me. Be better than me!
HERE IS WHAT MY BOOKING PAGE LOOKS LIKE
