Life Coach: How To Successfully Make Money In 4 Vital, Clear Steps
There are many ways to make money as a life coach, but some avenues will work better than others. This article discusses four questions surrounding life coaching and how you can make money as a life coach.
This type of coach is an individual who encourages and challenges clients in varying aspects of their lives. Whether you need help in your business or something else, a life coach may be the person you need.
If you naturally gravitate to guiding those around you, pursuing the path of a life coach is likely a good fit. We all need people in our lives who are willing to challenge us to be the best we can be. Some of us just need a bit of extra encouragement.
However, there are specific steps you can take today to begin making income as a life coach. You have the potential of making a million dollars, or even more, down the road.
Let’s talk through the following questions to get you started on your journey:
- What Skills Are Needed To Be A Life Coach?
- Is Life Coaching Profitable?
- How Much Do Life Coaches Actually Make?
- What Kind Of Jobs Can I Get As A Life Coach?
Remember whatever stage you are at, with determination and persistence, you can begin your life coach journey. What’s important is that you equip yourself with the specific skills you need and know how to move forward.
Knowing how to equip yourself brings us to the question:
What Skills Are Needed To Be A Life Coach?
Life coaches use a variety of skills. Some skills, such as effective communication, are non-negotiable. Below is a list of additional life coaching attributes. Take some time to go through the list, assess your strengths and areas for growth, and jot down notes.
Remember, we all have areas of improvement and strengths we should press into.
Effective Communication
Ability to Listen Well
Interpersonal Awareness
Compassion
Challenging Others
This list is by no means exhaustive, but the above attributes are critical for effective life coaching. For example, effective communication is the start of a relationship. Knowing how to listen to understand rather than simply answer is crucial for successful coaching.
Awareness of yourself and your coachee is essential. Therefore, pay attention to the following:
How you come across
What your clients need
Their strengths and limitations
These areas are vital to a thriving life coaching relationship.
Meanwhile, a healthy mix between compassion and challenge is critical to pushing your client forward. Understanding their fears and struggles and how to encompass empathy will build trust between your client/coach relationship.
Is Life Coaching Profitable?
Life coaching is profitable in two ways:
1) You get the privilege of directly impacting individuals’ lives positively.
2) You can reap the financial rewards of your dedication.
However, while life coaching can be interpersonally profitable from day one, monetizing your coaching may not show financial results for some time. Therefore, if you decide to pursue coaching, it is likely because you are passionate about a particular niche, helping people, or both.
But how do you impact a coaching industry saturated by influencers on social media?
The first step is never to underestimate your beginnings. Stacey Boehman started her coaching business when she was selling mops in Walmart.
You don’t have to be a mega-influencer or expect to make a full-time income in the first 12 months of your new business.
Next, determine what type of profit you want to pursue:
1. High interpersonal gain, with less focus on financial gain.
2. Focus on business and financial gain, with interpersonal gain as an added benefit.
Notice that individuals often view life coaching in two ways:
1) As a hobby (little financial gain, high interpersonal gain).
2) As a business (high financial gain, high interpersonal gain).
The difference lies in how you pursue the steps of being a life coach.
Getting a coaching business off the ground and running can be challenging. Start-ups are often slow, arduous and rely more on grit than passion. If you’re in the start-up realm, this article can help. If you’re willing to make the necessary sacrifices, you can make good money as a life coach.
How Much Do Life Coaches Make?
According to Natural Healers, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics includes life coaches in several categories:
- Education
- Guidance
- Career counselors and advisors
While these categories earn a median salary of $57,040 to $96,090 per year, according to The International Coach Federation, coaches’ average hourly pay rate is $235/hour. If this pay rate sounds too good to be accurate, remember your niche, location, and additional offerings such as retreats, conferences, or other resources contribute to your gross income. Also, consider how many hours of coaching you need to fill to make an annual income you are comfortable with.
In an ever-expanding field, you must separate yourself from the crowd. The International Coaching Federation projects this field to grow 8% through 2029. This projection is above the national average for all careers.
Regardless of your financial dreams, you must take the time to build yourself a strong foundation. So, if you start a coaching business or join an already-existing one, take the necessary time to coach yourself.
If you want to make money as a coach, take quality time and ask yourself the right questions. Does starting a life coaches business, training programs, or a personal development program interest you? Why?
4 Tips To Make Money As A Life Coach
Many successful authors exist globally, but not all sit at desks typing books 40 hours a week. Instead, they spend their time writing their books. They are authors. We also see authors on book tours, speaking at writing conferences, creating writing courses, and offering to coach.
Tip #1 - Consider Your Current Experience:
Perhaps you lived in northern California and grew up hiking. You could offer group coaching programs on outdoor survival. If you offer group coaching, the individual’s investment will likely be lower, but you will also bring in more clients.
Tip #2 - Consider Your Platform
Public speaking is a gold mine if you want to work as a life coach but don’t have a strong following. Whether you do this through:
- Free Webinars
- Online Courses Or Offline Workshops
- Youtube Videos
- Social Media Reels
- TEDx Talks
There are never-ending opportunities to sell your offerings online. The bigger your platform is, the further your reach, and the further your reach, the more potential clients. Speaking is one of the best ways to build your platform and coaching business. Here’s more information on how you can share your expertise on one of the world’s biggest stages.
Tip #3 - Consider Your Target Audience
If you target professionals and bring credible material to your platform, they will want to show up. A live webinar may not be the best way to engage, as experts and professionals often have pre-arranged schedules.
Consider offering pre-recorded webinars, providing a replay of workshops, or taking your seminar online for your audiences’ convenience. Then, go bigger once you further establish yourself through these income streams.
Your audience will see your content’s value and likely be willing to fit you into their busy schedules.
Tip #4 - Consider Your Communication Strengths
You have options if you don’t feel as comfortable as a public speaker but still want to make money coaching. According to the Universal Coaching Institute, the E-learning market was worth more than $200 billion in 2019. Furthermore, they project it to be worth $325 billion in 2025.
Online courses are a great way to present potential clients with your coaching services with the rise of online businesses. In addition, specific services allow you to make passive income.
Additionally, E-learning is an efficient way to coach large audiences and grow passive income. The Universal Coaching Institute goes as far as to say that digital courses are the most popular passive income stream for life coaches, business coaches, and others.
Other Frequently Asked Questions
What Kind Of Jobs Can I Get As A Life Coach?
Career coaching (both individually and corporately), relationship, retirement, and personal training are examples of jobs you can get as a life coach.
How Do Life Coaches Make Six-Figures?
How Much Should I Charge As A Life Coach?
Your strengths are why your client hires you. Be transparent with what you offer, what you expect, and why you charge the prices you do. Conduct your research on what others in your niche and experience level charge. Then work from there.
Moving Forward: How To Achieve A Successful Life Coach Career With Intention
If you want to see success as a life coach, focus on your long-term goals. Moving into a coaching business is an exciting step, but it’s the first step of many. You will likely experience big wins as you help clients move forward, but the financial profits may take longer to see.
As you begin your life coaching journey, articulate why you want to coach and who you want to help. Understanding who makes up your audience will help you target the right audience when it comes time to market yourself.
Also, remember, the bigger your platform, and the better you articulate your niche, the better understanding potential clients will have of two areas:
1) What you offer.
2) Why they should hire you.
As a coach, you bring a unique perspective to your clients that no other coach can. Clients have a variety of personalities, just as life coaches do. You don’t have to be the most outgoing one in the room to start group coaching programs successfully.
There are steps you can take today to begin your journey as a life coach intentionally:
Work on your communication skills
Articulate your target audience
Know your strengths
Begin your research
And lastly, resist the urge to embrace the scarcity mentality. Yes, coaching is a fast-growing field and more saturated than ever before. However, these facts do not negate the unique perspectives you will bring to your clients.
As you move into the coaching business put your best foot forward, be compassionate, and challenge those you interact with. This intentionality will help you grow your audience, reach, and eventually, even your business.
