Starting an Online Coaching Biz
Writing to you from a cafe in Canada, which coming from LA already feels like the middle of nowhere (haha), and ironically enough... my Instagram got mysteriously deactivated yesterday morning.
So in addition to feeling like I'm living in the forest in the 1990s without social media, my advice for this article about starting an online coaching business begins like this...
While social media is everything when beginning an online business, our goal is to move beyond the point of relying on it!
I must admit, I panicked for a second when I couldn't login to Instagram. But then I remembered that my business is established enough to not freak the heck out. And this can be you too... biz running smoothly, with or without social media.
So let's talk about how we do that, beginning with starting an online coaching business completely from scratch and having it run itself without much or any advertising.
While I'm no pro, I'm here to share my process with you. Having run an online coaching biz for the past 10 years, here are 10 tips I've come up with to share with you so you can begin coaching from anywhere in the world, too!
Topics we'll cover in this blog:
- Passion over everything when choosing your niche
- Build a following by genuinely representing yourself and your company
- Deciding what to provide for your clients - outcome, process & deliverables
- Staying up to date with your education, training and coaching program
- Establishing a legitimate business and having the confidence to charge for your services
- Having flexibility while maintaining boundaries
- The difference between a coaching program and passive income programs
- Creating your own schedule and staying motivated
- Erasing all of the "shoulds" and doing it your way
- The ultimate goal - your business running itself without social media. And the ultimate ultimate goal, your business running itself without you!
Now let's elaborate...
1. Passion over everything when choosing your niche
We've reached an era where you can make money doing just about anything. So why not make money doing something you're passionate about? In my opinion, there's nothing more attractive than somebody, a coach included, who's so passionate about whatever they're doing.
So tip #1, find your passion. Find it, enjoy it, live it and then make a business of it. Don't try to make a business from something you're not passionate about because it will get old, quick.
For example, my passion was the gym. Specifically, muscles! I loved to train and so badly wanted to be a jacked fitness competitor. And that's what I did. From my love for training, my business developed. People would ask me, "how can I get abs? How do I grow my muscles? I want to look like [insert name here]." Naturally my niche was other people who wanted to look like fitness competitors and bodybuilders. But as I evolved and starting learning more about holistic nutrition and functional medicine, I learned that the bodybuilding lifestyle wasn't my passion anymore. I cared so much more about health, longevity, eliminating disease, maximizing digestion, etc... and less about muscles. Instead of holding onto that phase of business (despite weight loss being a multi billion dollar industry), I altered my program to match my passions, now attracting a new health-focused niche with a side of athletics and aesthetics, and hearing more rewarding statements like "this is the first time in my life I've been completely pain-free, not bloated, and can sleep through a full night."
It's the difference of continuing to love what I do versus forcing myself to do something that I'm not passionate about. And that's the difference of happiness over insanity.
Moral: find your passion and follow it. It will lead you to money + happiness!
2. Build a following by genuinely representing yourself and your company
This is where social media comes in so handy. Take advantage of free advertising and allow the world to get to know the true and genuine you.
Give your audience a glimpse into your life, both personally and professionally, and the bottom line is: BE YOU.
Key words for this topic are: genuine, personal, relatable, honest, open, consistent.
Genuine: don't endorse anything that doesn't feel true to you. A common example, be your own brand rather than trying to make a quick buck advertising a-b-c-d-e-f-g-h-I-j-k-l-m-n-o products! If you genuinely support a product or idea, talk about it. But don't be a sellout and endorse products that don't align with you and your brand. It's not worth the few extra dollars that make your suggestions diluted and sales-y.
The best thing I can hear when I meet someone in person who follows me on social media: "you're exactly like you are online."
How awkward is it when you meet an internet person in real life and feel so let down? Don't let that be you. Be yourself, be genuine, and don't try to be like anybody else. When people like and respect you for you, it makes doing your job 100x easier rather than trying to fill a role that you've made up online.
Personal & relatable: people want to know the real you, as stated above. But not just the professional side of you. When you share parts of your personal life, your story and your background, it's easier for people to relate to you. This allows your relationship to be so much deeper than just client + coach. A deeper relationship means more success for your client and more reward for your soul.
Honest & open: these speak for themselves. A good coach is an honest coach. And a happy, successful client feels like they can be honest and open with you.
Now let's talk about building your following. This is where the consistency comes in. Post, post, post. Stick to a consistent posting schedule and don't be discouraged if your following doesn't grow right away. Engage with your followers, reply to their comments and take the time to like and comment on other people's posts as well.
And remember, you can build the most successful business without a huge following. Don't let the numbers discourage you or prevent you from getting started. I only keep 40 people on my client roster at a time. Not hundreds, not thousands. Only 40, max. So don't trick yourself into believing you need thousands of followers to be successful.
Finally, don't rely on one form of social media only. Build your email list because even if IG kicks you off for no reason, you'll have that! lol hiiii!
These days, I believe it's easiest to grow a following using TikTok and YouTube. IG is hard to build now because of their algorithms, the saturation, etc. So be open to TikTok, YouTube, and get started on your email list + investing in a good website.
3. Deciding what to provide for your clients - outcome, process & deliverables
So now you have your passion, your niche and an audience. Next ask yourself, "what do I want to provide for my clients and how will I do that?"
The outcome I want for my clients is a program that is life changing, educational, and filled with support. I want them to be successful indefinitely, not having to rely on me forever. So for me that process looks like this:
- Someone contacts me through my website or by email.
- I reply with info about my coaching program and ask if it sounds like what they're looking for. You can reply manually or you can set up an automated reply eventually so your biz is much less hands-on. Tip: I prefer to do things manually... sure, it's more work but I would rather stay in tune with what's going and and add my personal touch than be completely automated. There's benefit to having a real conversation with someone, especially these days with everything being so automated and impersonal.
- I give people the option to book a free consultation call with me personally so we can make sure the program is right for them and so I can already start to get to know who they are and begin our relationship. I never rush these calls! Picture going to the doctor and NOT being heard. Every dang time. You're rushed, made to feel crazy, and then you leave being like "wtf!" This is the experience you don't want to provide for your client, even if it means taking extra time.
- Once they register, I gather a ton of info using a questionnaire form. I have my coaching platform hosted with Kajabi, but you can use Google Forms, JotForm, or even send the questions in an email body to keep it super simple. Just find the process that works for you. It doesn't need all of the bells and whistles to be effective.
- With their info, I design their training and nutrition program. Again, you can use apps like Trainerize or whatever's out there. I personally use Numbers on Mac to design nutrition and training plans. This allows me to customize anything and everything and not feel limited to an app or website's layout. Plus, it's 100% my own creation! In addition to numbers, I have a ton of useful PDFs, forms, worksheets and demo videos that I've created as resources too. I love using Canva.com to create PDFs and I host my videos privately on Vimeo. These are considered the clients' deliverables.
- In terms of process, I opt for open communication between my clients and I. This means they can email or text me freely, and they always have a link to my calendar to book unlimited check-in calls. Nobody has ever taken advantage of my availability, and my most successful clients are the ones I chat with often! This allows me to learn more and more about them to then customize their program more appropriately for their success. Getting to know my clients also makes my work so much easier - instead of having to refer to notes every time I work on their program update, I just go "oh, Nancy, yep I know everything that's been going on with her because we just chatted!"
Be willing to give your time. That's what clients pay you for. It doesn't benefit anybody to try and take shortcuts. Be thorough in your work, your replies and genuinely set out to help somebody. Changing someone's life is far more rewarding than making a few extra bucks.
4. Staying up to date with your education, training and coaching program
Regardless of the industry you're in, things change. A good coach stays up to date with their knowledge and education.
Hire coaches yourself in the same industry to learn new things and get new ideas. Once I paid a ton of money and hired the "best of the best" trainer. I learned that his program actually sucked, I had zero support, the content was dull and cookie-cutter and while I didn't learn much in terms of programming, I gained so much confidence in my own program. Point is, there's always something for you to learn so stay up to date with information.
My program deliverables and presentation have changed so much over the years too! I do my best to keep up with technology while still making the process easy for my clients to follow.
Be open to feedback and always aim to produce the best content that you can!
Oh and ps... what's valuable to people is how you can help them. Not the way your program looks, not the certificates hanging on your wall, not the amount of IG followers you have. Yes, education and credibility are important, but if you can genuinely help somebody, that is the most valuable thing you can provide.
5. Establishing a legitimate business and having the confidence to charge for your services
When I first started receiving email inquiries about coaching, I felt like I should just be giving out advice for free, haha! I felt so weird replying with prices and packages because I was just getting started and "what made me qualified to coach people anyways?!" Despite having actual qualifications, I lacked the confidence to take people's money.
Registering a legitimate business and having a website helped tremendously. Plus, it's 2022 and online businesses are so much more common now. Moral, register a business and assuming you are qualified to coach, you ARE so deserving of your clients' money. You will provide an amazing service so make that money honey!
I've also learned that clients are 10000x more successful when they're paying for something. So don't shortchange yourself.. or them. You are worth every penny and they will be happy to pay for a good service.
6. Having flexibility while maintaining boundaries
I like to be flexible with my clients' and potential clients' needs if it means them achieving success. For example, I use check-in photos to keep clients accountable and gauge their progress. However, I'm not married to this rule. If a client contacts me who's overcome an eating disorder and body dysmorphia and knows that tracking their progress with photos may send them into old habits, I am 100% willing to be flexible. On the other hand, let's say a client is only interested in 50% of what your program has to offer so they feel like they should only be paying you half price. Sometimes you may have the availability and flexibility to say yes, but if this means you're compromising your needs, it's ok to say no and suggest they work with somebody else. Know your boundaries but accept some flexibility, especially as you're getting started.
Find what works for your clients while staying within your own boundaries. You are there to make their life easier and it's a collaborative effort. Sure, it may be your program, but nobody in the world knows and understands a client's body better than they do. Be open to their ideas and desires and find a process that works for you both.
7. The difference between a coaching program and passive income programs
An online coaching program is likely customized for each client and will require work compared to a pre-designed program that earns you passive income once it's designed and available on your website. I like to have both options available. Of course passive income is nice, who wouldn't want to make money in their sleep?! But DIY programs that are generalized for the majority are usually cheaper than a personalized coaching program. So not only is it something to strive for as a coach to earn you money without all of the work, it allows your clients who may not be able to afford your coaching to have a cheaper option. This is usually an ebook, how-to manual, or something of the sort. They're much less in-depth than a coaching program and don't require any of your time once the finished product is complete.
Passive income programs are also a cheaper way for a person to test out your methods before they commit to your coaching program.
8. Creating your own schedule and staying motivated
This can be a hard one for entrepreneurs... on both extremes! It's so easy to work too much, and can also be easy to procrastinate and simply suck at time management when there's nobody breathing down your neck.
Simplest solution for me: create a schedule and stick to it. For as long as I can remember, Mondays are my client program update days and everybody around me knows not to bother me on Mondays. It's a work day, plain and simple. Yes, I am my own boss so if I need to take a Monday off here and there, I can adjust my schedule.
So, make a schedule and stick to it, but also take advantage of working for yourself and allow some freedom to move things around.
I keep track of how much money I earn monthly and as the years go on, I make sure my business is growing in the positive direction. This keeps me motivated to constantly improve my business whether it's my education, my deliverables, my marketing, etc.
Working for yourself does mean you have to stay on top of your discipline. There's no constant paycheck and it involves some creativity. But it also means there's no cap on your earnings!
Think BIG. Realize this - there are people making tens of thousands (and more) every month. That can be you. That will be you. It may not happen right away, but start by realizing that earning money online is limitless!
9. Erasing all of the "shoulds" and doing it your way
Think outside the box. This is your business, you run it how you want! Stay professional and committed to helping people, not just getting rich, but beyond that, you make the rules. Take days off, work at 2am, wear your PJs on calls. As long as you're giving it your all in terms of effort and effectiveness, the rest doesn't matter. Remember when parents told us that if we got tattoos in visible places we'd never get a job? Times have changed baby! Run your biz with good intentions and however the heck you want.
For me, I needed to erase the "should" of being busy from 9-5. I actually sometimes prefer to enjoy my 9-5 and do my work in the evenings. Your biz, your call.
And finally...
10. The ultimate goal - your business running itself without social media. And the ultimate ultimate goal, your business running itself without you!
The main reason I didn't flip when IG punk'd me is the confidence that my business runs itself mostly by word of mouth and returning clients at this point. Because of my tips above, not approaching coaching as a 'get rich quick' but with the intention to provide the best service I can, majority of my clients are referrals or returning clients. By striving to provide a great program, you end up making your marketing life so much easier.
You could also offer a referral kickback to clients if they refer friends.
I'm also thankful for my email list.
And will eventually be pretty bummed if IG doesn't cooperate.
So all in all, cover all of your bases and you'll have a solid foundation for a coaching program!
Once we're ready for the big leagues, processes become automated, you can hire coaches and content creators to reduce your workload and your business will run successfully without you... or with very little of you. But don't rush that process. Build a great reputation for yourself, enjoy the benefits of doing things on your own, connect with clients and devote your time to helping them. Eventually when your business has an awesome reputation, you'll be able to sell your methods & program rather than selling you and your time.
Hope that's helpful to get you up and running! Always available by email for your questions.
Happy hustlin',
Steph
