Congratulations, you are a life coach! Now what?

Starting your own business is exciting; especially entering the field of life coaching. You have recognized your ability to inspire others and have committed to taking your gift to those who need your help. The biggest hurdle was finding out what that gift is, and now that you’ve realized it and accepted it, it’s your responsibility to share it.

But how do you go from giving your gift to packaging it so you can bring a product (or service) to market?

Here are our top 5 tips:

1. Understand your customer, who they are, where they socialize, and what their habits are. Understanding this helps you know where to find them (either in person or online). Is your market local to yoga enthusiasts? Then you’ll know how to spend your time getting to know yoga studio owners and see if there’s a way to work together. Is your target market young moms struggling to balance being the best mom they can be while also being the best partner they can be? So your market is online and you’ll find them on Facebook or Instagram, maybe even on Pinterest, but you need to know when they’re online for your posts to have the biggest impact.
2. Analyze this information. If your ideal client is a yoga enthusiast, don’t just practice yoga and chat before and after class. Instead, look for strategic partnerships with yoga studios. How can they benefit each other? If you know your ideal client is all about the Facebook life, how do you get your posts in front of her? What about your ads? How often should you post, images or text? At what time of the day? When are you most likely to relax during the day? Once you know this, you’ll be able to better target your ads. This goes beyond marketing, to spending habits. You need to charge what it’s worth, but also offer different services at different prices.
3. What tools do you need to grow? Do you have a merchant account, have you invested in Infusionsoft? Do you have a toll free business line? An online calendar app with appointment setting options? What processes can you put in place now, so that you can start as you should continue?
4. How will you structure your practice? You may feel like you can have the biggest impact doing individual 1:1 work, but what will that look like? For a one-on-one session, how much time is spent on pre and post work, billing, confirming appointments, or rescheduling? Be realistic about the amount of time you can provide 1:1 training. Perhaps it would be better to incorporate group sessions or a self-directed online platform.
5. Start building your list! Keep the pipeline full so that as soon as you can get more customers, you have some ready. A Lead Magnet is a great place to start – it’s simply a free gift that you offer to potential customers in exchange for their contact information. Not sure what Lead Magnets are all about? You can download your copy here.

And an additional tip: Create a successful team to support you. This could be real office support (in-house or virtual), but also friends and family who are there to cheer you up when you have bad days, but are also ready to celebrate every success (big or small!).

Congratulations on choosing this trip! We’re always here to listen (and cheer you on!)