How to Become a Life Coach Online
Have you been looking for a fulfilling career change that lets you impact the lives of others positively? With the change in the economic landscape and the way people value their time, staying in an unsatisfying job that doesn’t contribute to your personal growth is no longer an option. If you’ve been looking for a change, have people skills, and want to improve your life and that of others, you can do so online by becoming a life coach.
As a life coach online, you can establish a unique schedule, set pricing and conduct your business from virtually anywhere. You can learn to market your business to find your first clients and retain them once they start working with you. And if you’re worried about where to start – don’t fret – it’s not as complex as it may seem.
What Exactly is Life Coaching?
Life Coaches help their clients improve or transform their lives to reach specific goals. Life stressors and every person’s unique circumstances may pose obstacles that some people cannot overcome by themselves. They may need help to manage their affairs more constructively and consistently.
In some cases, it’s simply having a person from the outside constructively give them advice that allows them to flourish in the field that they want. Any perceived shortcomings may lead to self-doubt, which reduces confidence and overall productivity. A life coach gently guides clients to more realistic thought patterns and helps them see the bigger picture. They help build trust by addressing client needs positively and effectively.
Life coaches may go by different titles depending on their specialization and expertise. Examples include Relationship Coaches, Spiritual Coaches, Grief Coaches, and even Motivation Coaches.
Life Coaches help their clients turn their lives around. They guide them to develop skills, such as effective communication, assertiveness, effective public speaking, being consistent with their mindfulness and meditation practice, and managing finances.
Since the term “Life Coach” could be considered for each of these scenarios, it’s easy for potential clients to become overwhelmed when trying to choose one. Choosing a niche or a specialized portion of the market clears the confusion. It allows you to set up your business, whether Personal Style Coaching or Retirement Coaching Online.
Do You Need to be Certified to be a Life Coach?
It is not necessary to become certified to become a Life Coach, but some niche specializations do require it, such as Nutrition Coaches. There are numerous Life Coaching courses and programs available offered online.
If you seek a certification program, be sure that it is an established one, either accredited or approved by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). Being a member of ICF gives an edge over someone who is not, as they are the organization that dictates the standards and ethics within the industry.
Certifications assure your clients that you know what you’re doing and that industry professionals have trained you. There is a fee to join the ICF, which varies by the time of year. You first need to complete Level 1 and Level 2 of their training to join.
For those who prefer a traditional educational route, there are Life Coaching certificates available from universities, such as the University of California, Davis (UC Davis).
Best Niches for Life Coaching
The best and easiest way to stand out as a Life Coach Online is to choose a niche.
Depending on where you believe your strength lies, you can narrow down how and what to help your clients. People often get caught up in whom they want to be and how they live their lives. They’re not enjoying the present and need guidance to get things running smoothly again. They want to lose or gain weight, become athletes, enhance their relationships or simply be more productive. They want to have more money, more friends, or more robust relationships.
These are just a few of the most common opportunities to guide you in choosing a niche for your Life Coaching Online business.
To determine what niche works better for you, evaluate your strengths. Work towards expanding them to turn them into a successful Life Coaching Online business. With hard work and choosing the right path, the opportunities are limitless.
For example, Marie Kondo, a self-proclaimed Tidying Expert, has built an empire with her KonMari method. She now has a TV show, is a bestselling author, offers consultant courses and online tidying courses. People have changed their homes and lives based on her tidying methods. All they needed was to find more effective ways to tidy up their homes and lives, and Kondo found that pain point and remedied it.
Finding the right niche that aligns with your strongest skills can immeasurably benefit you and your clients.
Extend Your Reach by Working Online
Working as a Life Coach Online has multiple benefits over a standard “brick and mortar” business.
For one, being online allows you access to an unlimited number of potential clients worldwide. Setting up your business within your community limits you to your geographical area and those nearby.
Startup costs for an online business are also far lower. There could be initial setup costs for ergonomic office equipment, proper lighting, and possibly a computer with a microphone and camera built-in if yours is an older model. Aside from software or office supplies, there’s not much required. You can work away from your home office as well. You’ll just need your computer and access to the internet.
There are some specific electronic and software tools that any online Life Coach should have and know how to use.
You’ll need fast, reliable internet service. What this means varies depending on the services in your area. If available to you, fiber optic internet cable offers the fastest connection.
Accepting multiple payment methods makes it convenient for clients to pay you. Some of these include Paypal, Zelle, Stripe and Venmo. Most people have an account with at least one of these services.
Using a calendar application such as Acuity, Calendly or Doodle will help keep you organized.
Online meeting software will be one of your most essential tools. Some examples are Webex, Zoom and GoToMeeting.
Setting Up Your Business
It’s unnecessary to have a website when you start, but you should be active on social media. The beginning phase of your business is meant to concentrate on your clients and develop your business.
Create a business plan early on to outline the details of your business and its goals. Additionally, there’s the task of choosing a name for your business. It should align with your brand identity. The name doesn’t have to be super creative either. Calling it “Jane Smith Minimalism Coaching” or “Sanders Leadership Coaching” is perfectly acceptable, as is “Audrey’s Etiquette Coaching.” It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant, but it should be easy to remember.
Some points to consider include:
- How is your business different from other Life Coaching Online options?
- What values do you bring to your clients that others can’t?
- What is your brand identity?
Having a solid brand identity helps create a narrative about your business and allows you to stand out from other Life Coaches. Everything carrying your logo should have a similar look and feel.
Clients should see that everything from your website, email signature, social media pages, and any promotional or branded items have the same font, colors and be identifiable as an extension of your brand. This attention to detail translates to reliability, and continuity gives a feeling of that. These seemingly simple factors help create and maintain client loyalty.
Marketing Your Life Coaching Business
Marketing can sound intimidating if new to you, but it’s not nearly as tough as it sounds. You can start out with people you know. If they do not require Life Coaching services, they likely know people who do. Your business will kick off from those first few clients.
Gaining new clients on a perpetual basis is your next goal. Social media is an excellent tool for bringing in new clients. Joining communities on social media fosters new relationships with people you might not otherwise meet, who can later convert to additional clients.
Posting videos, offering live Q&A sessions, or offering a complimentary coaching session builds trust and allows potential clients to understand your Life Coaching business. LinkedIn and Facebook could be ideal tools to make this work for you. Engaging with people on Twitter, Instagram and Reddit can aid in initiating additional clients. You must choose the correct approach for each platform, or this particular marketing strategy will not benefit you as intended. You may even want to try your hand at Tiktok.
It’s best to concentrate on one social media platform. Find out where your future clients are. If you have multiple accounts, where are you experiencing the most interaction? Where do people ask more questions and engage? That platform is where you will invest your energy.
From there, you want to create Life Coaching packages that appeal to future clients. Simply calling it a package sounds like it is a “deal” or at a special discount and can even be presented as such. For example, not only would they have weekly calls with you, but throughout the time they’re your client, they’re offered additional support via text or email.
A 3-month package also has perceived value because of the time involved. Not only are they investing that time in themselves, but you are investing your time and expertise in them as well. Most people can learn new skills and create new, positive habits within that time, which allows them to see progress toward their goals or even reach them.
Specialized Life Coaching packages nearly sell themselves with the right social media content to market them.
Set Your Pricing
How you decide to bill your clients should be established from the start. There are multiple ways to bill for your services: an hourly rate where you are paid by the hour, a package rate where you set up multi-session package options for clients to choose from, or a monthly rate where the client pays a flat monthly fee.
Given that the purpose of Life Coaching is to guide clients to reach their goals, package deals are often the most popular. Once you have chosen a specific niche market and put your marketing plan into action, your clients may seek you out. They would prefer to work with you for your expertise in that specialty. As your business is starting out, you may charge something like $1200-1500 for a 3-month package.
Once you have built up your client base, have positive reviews posted on review sites, as well as client testimonials on your website and social media pages, that builds trust, shows off your capability, and you earn the opportunity to increase the price for your services. Ultimately, this is your business, and the rates are up to you.
Establishing Your Life Coaching Business While Working Full-time
In the beginning, you’ll want to work on your business whenever you can and do everything possible that sets you up for success. You can conduct Life Coaching sessions, work on your social media pages or make other arrangements around your day job, before and after your shift, on lunch breaks and, if you choose, on weekends. Most people can’t just drop their 9 to 5 for a fledgling new business, so managing your calendar is necessary.
You might be wondering how soon you can quit that day job. A good rule is to wait until you make enough as a Life Coach to equal twice your monthly salary. If your salary is $3,500 per month, you need to sell enough packages to clients to make $7,000/month. It can take some time and hard work to fulfill that, but it’s possible. Considering the above pricing model, if five clients purchased a $1,500 package, you’ve fulfilled your goal of making $7500.
Once you have more clients and can raise your rates, those numbers will add up even more quickly, allowing you to work exclusively on your Life Coaching Online business.