To be successful in life coaching, you need to have the passion and curiosity for learning new things daily. In addition, you will need to demonstrate that you are committed long-term by investing time and money in your development.
You will also need to learn how to help others while showing them how they can help themselves. You're in the business of helping others help themselves.
What's life coaching?
What is life coaching? Life coaching is an interactive process that allows clients to maximize their personal and professional potential with the help of a skilled coach. Life coaches are trained professionals who set goals with their clients, establish action plans, provide regular check-ins, and offer support throughout the journey to success.
A life coach is an individual who helps people achieve their goals. The concept of coaching is to help clients get out of their way by putting systems in place that will assist them in being successful.
What does a life coach do
Life coaching is not therapy or counseling – it's a supportive process designed to help people identify their goals and take action with guidance from an objective third party.
With coaching, clients are more motivated than when they were on their own because coaches help them set goals and improve self-esteem.
Life coaches use the coaching process to support, encourage, provide empathy and accountability. They don't give advice but rather facilitate the discovery process so that people learn how to apply what they are learning.
People who hire life coaches are typically looking for guidance with setting goals, overcoming obstacles, eliminating negative patterns, achieving success, and helping them make significant changes in their lives.
Life coaching vs therapy
The difference between life coaching vs therapy is that life coaches typically work with people who want to make changes and accomplish their goals, while therapists typically help people recover from a mental health issue or emotional crisis.
Life coaches will often engage clients for shorter periods than therapists because the coaching process focuses on providing practical tools that clients can implement immediately.
The goal of a life coach is to provide support and guidance until the client can maintain the changes on their own.
Where does a life coach work
Life coaches can work anywhere. Life coaches work in various environments, including corporate boardrooms, one-on-one sessions in an office or home, or using video/phone coaching sessions.
They can work for corporations, entrepreneurs, independent professionals, the self-employed, college students, or anyone else who wants to take control of their life and be accountable to someone other than themselves.
As a life coach, you are in charge of where you work and whom you work within your business.
How much do life coaches make
There is no limit to how much money you can make as a life coach. You decide how much to charge, how to deliver your services, and which clients to target.
Those variables will impact how much money you make as a life coach.
However, the average salary range for a life coach is $40,000 – $100,000 per year. So you can make a great living as a life coach, and many coaches are earning six-figure incomes (and more) successfully.
Life coaching requirements to be successful
1) Get a Life coaching online certification
Is a life coaching certification required? No. Will you significantly benefit from obtaining a life coaching certification online? Yes.
Certification is one of the life coaching requirements I highly recommend. With a life coaching certification, you will learn the skills necessary to succeed in your coaching career.
The certification will help you gain confidence, authority, and credibility in this new profession.
You can obtain a life coaching certification online in an area relevant to the services you plan on providing. In addition, many excellent life coaching courses are available at affordable prices, so start looking today!
Coach Training Alliance has a fantastic online certification program. I'd highly recommend checking them out. You can visit their page by clicking here.
Or you can read my in-depth review on Coach Training Alliance by clicking here.
2) Start a life coaching business
Starting a life coaching business might seem like a Captain Obvious statement. But it's not. Far too many wannabee life coaches fail because they don't take the "starting a business" step seriously.
I hear the same thing all the time from coaches that are struggling, "But, Stewart, I just want to coach. I hate doing X." And that X has something to do with starting, running, or marketing a business.
(The X is like accounting, invoicing, bookkeeping, etc. I hate that crap too. LOL. Hint…Freshbooks simplifies this!)
As a life coach, you are a business owner. So before you do anything, remember this, if you want to be a six-figure life coach, starting a business is 100000% one of the most critical life coaching requirements.
I wrote a very in-depth and step-by-step article on "Starting a Life Coaching Business from Scratch." You can read it by clicking here.
3) Determine your life coaching niche
You'll see much debate on if you should have a life coaching niche or just coach anyone.
Let me ask you this if you were a single parent going through a divorce, which life coach would you want to work with?
No Niche: "Hi, I'm Sarah. I'm sorry you're going through a divorce. Sure, I can support you. I'm a life coach. "
Niche: "Hi, I'm Bob. I'm a life coach that helps single parents going through divorce find their strength, passion, and sense of self. We work together to get you on your feet and happy again."
Now, ask yourself:
Which life coach instantly instills more trust?
Which life coach is an expert in what you're going through?
Which life coach can likely charge more?
"But, what about Tony Robbins? He doesn't have a niche. What about this other famous so and so."
Sure, those famous so and so's make tons more money than you and me. And presently, they might have ten niches.
But, read Tony Robbins biography. Or, Google these keywords: "tony robbins niche."
4) Create an ideal customer profile
Create an ideal customer profile (ICP) once you understand your life coach niche.
What is an ideal customer profile? Essentially, an ICP is a perfect person that would hire you. A simple way to create an ICP is by answering these three questions:
Whom are you targeting in your niche?
Why are they hiring a coach?
What do they want and need help with?
The answers to these questions will help guide your business and marketing (we'll talk more about this later).
The benefits of having an ideal customer profile include knowing your ideal customer's needs, aspirations, and struggles. You'll also have a starting point for how to market your services, which business model and delivery method is best for coaching your ICP, how much to price you, and much more.
For example, if you're coaching divorced parents with children, you might write something like this:
"My ideal customer is a single parent that has kids between the ages of 10-14 years old. My customer wants to get back into the dating scene. They want to be happy again so they can navigate their own life."
5) Determine your value proposition
What is a value proposition?
It's what you do for your ideal customer that makes you unique, different, and memorable. Your value proposition is how you will solve problems in the simplest way possible.
You're also going to be able to use your value proposition when marketing your services, promoting yourself as a coach, pricing your services, determining your business model, and much more.
For example, if you are coaching single parents that have kids between the ages of 10-14 years old, that want to get back in the dating scene and be happy again, your value proposition might be: "I help single parents find happiness, passion, and strength again so they can fully live their lives and raise their children in a happy household."
How do you determine your value proposition?
Start by talking to your ideal customer. Determine what is holding them back. Then, try to solve that problem in the simplest way possible.
Next, look at your competitors to see what they are doing and what they are not doing that you can do.
Last, analyze coaches that you admire. Why do you respect them? What service do they offer? How are they unique? What can you learn from them?
Take all that information and create your custom value proposition based on your niche and ideal customer profile.
6) Decide on a life coaching business model
Deciding on a life coaching business model is challenging. Too many coaches want to start out doing everything – One-on-one coaching, group coaching, retreats, webinars, building an online course, etc.
When you try to do everything, you are good at nothing. You spread yourself too thin. Find one business model. Learn to get clients and execute your coaching model.
Once you get that model down, add another. As you grow as a coach, it's essential to have multiple revenue streams to reach six figures and beyond. But start focused on one.
I wrote an article about multiple revenue streams. You can click here to read it.
7) Price your services
There are tons of different strategies to price your coaching services. Pricing is complex. Large corporations have people whose full-time job is "pricing."
Life coach pricing is also highly debated. Charge by the hour (session), don't charge by the hour, create a package. Don't create a package, use value-based pricing.
Whoa! No wonder people get caught up.
Let me give a simple answer to get you started. Use this strategy to get up and running as quickly as possible. Coach for 6-months to a year, learn from your experience, then re-evaluate.
If you don't have a life coach pricing model, charge $200 per session. So, if you charge by the session, that's $200 per session. So, if you create a package of 12 sessions, that's $2400.
8) Create your online presence as a life coach
Now that you have your niche, ICP, value prop, and business model in place, it's time to create your online presence. Here's what you'll need.
Domain Name: You're doing to build a life coach website. But first, you need a domain name. Consider using your name or your company's name if available. You can use Namecheap to find an affordable domain.
Life Coach Website: You have two options.
WordPress - You can create your life coach website using WordPress. If you're on the more technical side or you plan to hire a developer, WordPress is a fantastic option. For hosting, consider using Bluehost.
DIY - You can use a DIY, drag and drop website builder like Weebly. With DIY website builders, you don't need technical expertise. Plus, there are tons of YouTube videos and blogs to help you.
Social Media Profiles: Before you go out there and build profiles on every social media platform, ask yourself, where does my ICP hang out? If you're going after parents going through a divorce, they likely hang out on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.
But if you're targeting businesswomen, you might look at LinkedIn, Facebook, and Pinterest.
Build 1-3 social media profiles, not 10. Use all of the information you've put together above to start building your online presence as a life coach. Join groups that your ICP belongs to and interact with them.
We'll discuss this later in the inbound marketing funnel and personal branding sections.
9) Reach out to your network first
One of the most overlooked but crucial life coaching requirements is reaching out to your network first. Here's why.
People buy from those they know, like, and trust. Your network already knows, likes, and trusts you. Therefore, your network already includes people that match your ideal customer profile.
If someone in your network isn't your ICP, reach out to them. Explain that you're now a life coach. Tell them whom you work with and how you help them. Ask if they know anyone.
Your network is a honey pot of referrals for clients. But find a way to provide value for value. Give your network some value in exchange for a referral.
10) Create an inbound marketing funnel
Once you've built your life coach website, created your social media networks, and started reaching out to your network, it's time to make an inbound marketing funnel.
What is an inbound marketing funnel?
An inbound marketing funnel is a process that you use to attract website visitors, leads, and customers.
The key to building an effective inbound marketing funnel is to create content that shows people how you can help them. Remember, your ICP has problems they want to be solved. So they will do research online, looking for someone who can solve their problem.
You need to give them a reason to choose you. And that way, they will reach out to you for help.
To create an inbound marketing funnel, consider the following:
Write blog posts: You can write helpful articles about your ICP's problems and how you can solve those problems as a life coach. Then, you use search engine optimization to show up in Google searches and drive traffic to your website.
Create a lead magnet: A lead magnet is given away for free in exchange for an email. Examples of lead magnets include eBooks, worksheets, checklists, and cheat sheets.
Canva is a perfect option for a DIY Graphic design tool with thousands of templates to create lead magnets. Plus, you can use Canva for building your social media post, Pinterest pins, etc. Click here to start a free Canva Pro trial.
Build an email list: Use a tool like ConvertKit to capture leads and convert them into clients. ConvertKit is an email marketing tool that includes popups, landing pages, automated sequences, etc.
For example, first, you create a lead magnet. Next, you build an automated email nurturing sequence in ConvertKit.
Then, you add a simple ConvertKit popup to your website that allows website visitors to download your lead magnet. Once they download your lead magnet, your email nurturing sequence kicks off.
As your emails go out, they nurture your prospects and convince a few of them to schedule a consultation with you. Then, you hold the talk and sign them as new life coaching clients. Click here to learn more about ConvertKit.
11) Share on social media
When you write a blog post, share it on social media. When you create a lead magnet, share the link to it on social media. Other content you can share on social media includes motivation quotes, opinions, thought leadership, testimonials, etc.
Learn how to communicate your value proposition on every social media post. Also, always provide a call to action. A call to action is an explicit instruction that tells people what you want them to do.
For example, when you share a blog post, describe the post, then literally tell people, "click on this link" to read the blog.
P.S. Canva also allows you to schedule social media posts.
12) Engage with your ideal customer
Your ICPs are on social media asking for advice. They interact with one another in groups. Find those groups.
When they ask for advice, engage with them, but don't sell your services. Instead, answer their questions and have conversations. Let the conversation naturally flow.
Then, and this takes a little practice, you'll spot an opportunity to say something like, "Well, Suzy, I'm a life coach that specializes in X. Would you want to continue this discussion offline? I'd be happy to help you more."
What I wrote wasn't perfect, but I'm sure you get the point.
Here's the bonus. As you're engaging in a conversation on social media, other people (ICPs) are reading the interaction. If they are gaining value, they are Googling you, looking at your social media profile, and checking out your website.
13) Build your personal brand
A personal brand boils down to what you're known for and how the world perceives you.
Having a distinctive personal brand is one of the most fun life coaching requirements. But notice the word "distinctive." You have no idea how many life coaches look, act, write, and post the SAME SHIT over and over and over again.
If you want to stand out from the crowd, combine the niche and ICP information with your personality to build a personal brand.
A personal brand differentiates you by allowing you to put a little bit of your personality, spin, and flavor into your business.
Elements of your personal brand include the way you dress, colors you use, how you communicate, how you write, how you post on social media, etc.
But, don't forget to include your values, morals, and belief system into a personal brand that works for you.
Your personal brand will attract ICPs that connect with you on a personal level. Your personal brand makes you stand out from the crowd and get you noticed by your ideal customers.
14) Start coaching today, make mistakes, learn, and grow
The last and certainly one of the most important life coaching requirements is to start coaching. You don't need everything to be perfect. Just start.
You're going to make mistakes, and that's good. We learn the most from mistakes. The biggest jumps in growth come from mistakes.
Don't let the fear of making a mistake stop you. Instead, get out there, start coaching, and learn as you go. You'll see significant growth and be on your way to six figures in no time!
I hope this article helps you understand the twelve most crucial life coaching requirements to reach six figures. Get out there and kick some ass!
Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or want support. I help new coaches start their businesses and build their business brands. Click here to learn about my startup coaching.
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