How to Become a Successful Life Coach - 8 Steps to Build Your Coaching Business

1. Tune into your vision – Life coaching is a career where you can fulfil your life purpose as you help others fulfil theirs. Take the time to tune into why you want to be doing it and make sure that you are in it for the right reasons. So, what are those reasons? Really, get a clear picture of all the ways your life will change.

• How will you be living?

• Will you be making more money?

• Will you have more time with your family?

• Will you be more satisfied and joyful in your day to day circumstances?

• Will you have autonomy and freedom over your work and the decisions that you make?

• Are you travelling more?

Take a look into the future at your family and how your success has impacted them. Now take a look at how you have helped your future clients and see the positive impact you have had on their life. Spend time visualizing yourself as the coach you want to be and see yourself living the life you want to live. When you are emotionally connected with your goal, the work you put in will flow naturally, and effortlessly. It is a passion project.

2. Get certified by the RIGHT person – There is no governing body for life coaches. That can be a good thing, or it can be a dangerous thing. Anyone can call themselves a life coach and anyone can call themselves a life coach teacher. Make sure you find someone credible, with experience and integrity who you fit with and who is going to help you grow. I recommend you don’t sign up until you speak with someone personally and get a sense for yourself of what you are getting into.

I am a member of the International Coaching Federation and I abide by their code of ethics. My Inner Workout Life Coaching certification was in 2009 and I am grateful that I had such a wonderful teacher and my relationship with her is still strong to this day. That course was just the beginning, I have gone on to many other certifications and courses since and have brought together a comprehensive 6 week program. I don’t offer a cookie-cutter factory course. My program is geared to connecting with every student and making sure that spiritual, emotional and mental learning is addressed. We form a relationship that lasts a lifetime. It is important that as issues come up, there is always a safe space to talk and share and to be supported.

Coaching is not just a job, it is a partnership and you invest and commit to the success of your clients. I understand that when you are getting certified, you want someone who is in partnership with you and is invested and committed too, not just for the length of the course but as you develop your client base and your business.

3. Focus on a coaching niche- You will want to save the world but that is not your best strategy. Yes, you want to help people of course, but always keep in mind that this is also a business and there is a simple formula. You must be the best at solving a problem that someone has. What problem are you trying to solve? Is it actually a problem? What makes your solution special?

If you are still thinking “I want to solve everyone’s problem” because then I have more chance at getting a client, I get it but…no. Casting a wider net doesn’t get you more clients, it just makes you seem less “knowable” and knowledgeable. People want to know who you are before they are willing to tell you who they are. You need to decide who that is. Are you going to be a business coach, a health coach, a success, spiritual, intuitive coach, a wellness, women’s, men’s, nutrition, lifestyle, relationship, change, confidence coach… and narrow it down even further. Are you a women’s empowerment coach, a women’s business, a women’s relationship coach? Do you offer any other services? I am a women’s intuitive life coach, educator and energy healer. Think about how you look for help when you have a problem. You are specific when you enter your search criteria. If you want help with your weight, you don’t enter into the search bar: “life coach” you enter “weight loss coach” or “wellness coach”.

Think about what your client needs and how you can let them know you have it. Stop thinking about fancy words and ways of saying what you'd like to say or want them to know, just keep it very practical and focused on that formula: problem/solution.

4. Start writing things down- People get inspiration at the strangest times. I often get downloads of whole blogs, or webinar topics in the shower, or out on a walk. Unless I captured it immediately, I would have everything worked out almost perfectly and then I’d move on to something else, and the entire thing would be lost. Later I would rack my brain to try and re-create it again but it just never flowed the same. Now, as soon as I step out of the shower or stop walking I use the notes feature on my phone and I make as many jot notes as I can to get the ideas down. I can flesh it out later (once I dry off or I’m home) but at least I have captured the essence of the thoughts, and let the idea blossom.

Writing things down is key to keeping intuitive juices flowing. The Universe will provide you with amazing insights and inspirations, with the expectation that you will act on them. If you forget, then no action is forthcoming. It seems like you just don’t care. And when you don’t care, then why would/should the Universe bother to keep that tap flowing. If you feel like you are not an intuitive person, just see what happens when you start

a)listening

b)start writing things down

I guarantee there is a lot of inner wisdom just waiting to be discovered. You can uncover the name of your business, or a tag line, or a new approach to take with a client you are struggling to reach, a creative post, a person to reach out to, a collaboration to pursue, a new direction to explore and so much more.

5. Decide how much you want to work and how much money you want to make – this will help determine how much you charge, and the structure of your coaching: group, one:one, hourly/program etc. If you want to make $100,000/year and you set your price at $80/hour that means you would have to work 1,250 hours or see 25 clients a week.

• Is that what you want to be doing?

• Is that how much you want to be working?

• Do you want to spend that much time one: one with clients?

If not, then how do you want to structure your business? Perhaps group coaching is a more attractive model, or a package cost versus an hourly fee?

Set yourself up for success when you design your offer and set your price. Always remember to keep your vision in mind. You are doing this for others AND YOU. Remember that if you work beyond the amount of time you envisioned, you can burn out and that means no longer providing the best service to your clients or fulfilling your purpose.

6. Start doing it – The biggest obstacle to you becoming a successful coach is NOT being a successful coach! If you are waiting to feel ready enough to start then you will never start because one thing you never feel is READY ENOUGH. There is a phenomenon, you might have heard of called “imposter syndrome” where basically, you don’t believe you are good enough to call yourself an expert. You might think to yourself “just one more course, or one more certificate” but here’s the thing: there is no magic piece of paper that will fill that void. The lack is not in your education, skills or knowledge. The lack is in your confidence.

You SHOULD prepare. Always be sure that you are as prepared as you can be, and then relax and have faith in yourself. Assuming you have trained and gotten certified with a reputable program, you are the expert!! You are doing this because you are meant to be doing it. You know who you are, you know what your gifts and strengths are and why you are doing it and so DO IT.

You SHOULD be UNCOMFORTABLE. As Price Pritchett says, “If you're experiencing no anxiety or discomfort, the risk you're taking probably isn't worthy of you. The only risks that aren't a little scary are the ones you've outgrown.”

7. Get a system in place – start to simplify your life right from the get go. You are going to want to jump in to some things to get your name out there: like a website for example. But if you set it up without the right links, and behind the scenes systems in place it might look pretty to you and for you and no one else. The purpose of a website is to act as a calling card to attract, and inform potential clients. Spend some time and get yours set up properly the first time. GoogleTM is hugely important and all of the platforms you use need to work together seamlessly to ensure that you are seen and that you rank well.

I don’t pretend to know about the ins and outs. I started with a rudimentary understanding. I had to educate myself and develop a strong team of people who DO know what they are doing to manipulate the algorithms, optimize SEO and automate email systems. It was explained to me in these terms: there is not a person at each platform screening your information and saying, “oh look, there’s Fiona again”, it is all automated logic. If you put a comma in a different place in the title of your business in one post than in the title on another, you become completely unrecognizable. It’s as if you don’t exist. You can not build your profile that way. Everything has to be consistent, uniform, and identifiable to an algorithm for your ranking to improve. That is how you become a familiar name, someone people see when they are looking for an answer, and the solution to their problem. That is how you become their coach.

8. Continue to learn and grow – I got my first certification in 2005, I was just too scared to do anything with it ( remember Imposter Syndrome!) I became an Inner Workout Certified Life Coach in 2009 and was off to the races but that was not the end, that was only the beginning of my life long journey of learning and expanding my knowledge. My Life Coaching Certification program is comprehensive, and includes a wide range of modalities and I encourage you to continue to explore them in depth beyond your certification. In fact, I urge you to keep learning, growing and expanding for the entirety of your life.

As humans we are designed to grow. When we ignore that need we stagnate. Every day, my routine includes meditation, visualization, and an hour of study. Most days it is a topic that relates to self-development, confidence, or life coaching in some way. Sometimes it is an area of fun or interest like tai-chi, or Reiki or photography or travel. I love to read other people’s stories of triumphing over adversity, or how they were inspired to innovate something extraordinary, or share their success with others. There are so many amazing stories and so much to learn.

You don’t have to have a University degree to be filled with knowledge. Study is to develop as a person. It makes me richer every day. It also makes me a better coach. I can draw on this knowledge for inspiration with my clients and in my business.

These are eight ways for you to begin immediately to build your coaching business into a success.

If you are looking to become a coach let’s connect so you can register in my certification program today. Start living your purpose!

If you are a coach getting started, lets talk about how you can get the confidence you need. Start thriving today!

Contact me now at bennett.lifelearningstrategies@gmail.com or book your free 30-minute clarity session here.