Want To Be A Successful Life Coach? Learn These 10 Lessons

When I first became a coach, I had no idea what I was getting into.

At the age of 47, I had just lost 70 pounds naturally, I was unemployed, and I had begun my entrepreneur journey — again. (I had been a serial entrepreneur most of my life.) Working out of my mother’s home, I had started teaching small groups of people what I had done to lose weight. That led to me publishing my first book, a cookbook, with the recipes I used during my weight and wellness transformation.

Shortly thereafter, I attended a conference. There were many speakers on stage, and I was mesmerized by the energy and excitement there. One speaker announced that he was a life coach, and I knew that was what I wanted to be.

In fact, I actually was a life coach; I was already doing it, I just didn’t have a title for it.

A couple months later, I went to a life coaching event, was called to speak on stage and received a standing ovation. I officially began calling myself a life coach from that moment forward. Because I changed my life mostly on my own, I thought I knew everything I needed to know about being a life coach.

Of course, I didn’t.

I ran across a successful life coach online and sent him a video message asking if I could travel with him as a life coach and speaker. He said he had something better to offer me.

That something better was to take a credible life coaching course and receive a life coaching certification upon successful completion that was recognised by a world wide regulatory body. I was hurt that he said no to traveling, but I graciously took his course. I then became a certified life coach.

I had already created my own life coaching videos for weight loss and wellness, which led to my first private, one-on-one life coaching sessions. I found myself getting stuck as a life coach, however, because I was juggling it with trying to grow my business online as an entrepreneur.

Here’s a list of things I wish I had known as a beginner life coach that would have helped me then:

  1. Have multiple products to sell. It is easier to resell to a current client than it is to find a new client. Therefore, a beginner life coach should have multiple things to sell other than life coaching services. This allows you to increase your income without additional advertising costs to find new clients.
  2. Recognize that not everyone is coachable. The signs are clear when you run into a non-coachable person. Don’t waste your time; it is not worth the money. Someone who wants a new life but won’t listen to anything you say or won’t put in the work is a non-coachable person. Working with this type of person may cause you to have to dramatically lower your fees because they don’t see the value, or they will get mad at you later because they felt they paid too much and want a refund. This group of people is hard to work with and will suck up your time and energy.
  3. Only work with  coachable people. As previously stated, non-coachable people will waste your time and money. Working with coachable people makes your career enjoyable and frees up time and energy to earn more money.
  4. Being an entrepreneur and being a coach are two different things — learn to be both. Being a coach means knowing how to work with your clients, but being an entrepreneur is about knowing how to reach clients and attract them to you.
  5. Have a contract and stick to it. Before signing a client, create a contract so each side knows and understands the expectations. This will make your job easier when a client is a no-show. If there aren’t rules in place on how to handle no-shows, you are obligated to make it up for them if they request you do so.
  6. Don’t chase after clients. If a client doesn’t show up, don’t chase after them to find out what happened. It lowers your value and makes you look desperate. A one-time text or email is enough.
  7. Have a questionnaire. Create a questionnaire for potential new clients so you understand what they really want to accomplish. This helps the client to get a clear vision of what they truly want, as well.
  8. Offer both private and group coaching. A great way to increase your income is by offering both one-on-one private phone or Skype coaching, as well as group coaching via Free Conference Call or Skype. Private coaching is great for those who can afford to pay for it. Group coaching can work for those who don’t have the funds for private coaching but still want your help.
  9. Not everyone is the right fit for you, so don’t try to force it. When you first speak to a potential client and you see that they are not a good fit for you, don’t sign them up as a client. It will become a nightmare (for both of you).
  10. Coach for free to get experience and testimonials. In the very beginning when you have no testimonials, offer your coaching services to a few people for free. Later, you can ask them to do a video testimonial to help build up your reputation.
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