5 Tips for Starting Your Life Coaching Practice

October 07, 2020 by Brittany Salsman

5 tips for Starting Your Life Coaching Practice

Starting a life coaching practice can be both exciting and overwhelming. There are so many moving parts and most new coaches don’t have a support staff to help piece everything together. The key is to prioritize what is most necessary when starting out. Here are five tips for coaches looking to start their own practice:

1. Define Your Niche

It should come as no surprise that our number one tip is to niche down. This isn’t meant to limit your client-base, but rather to help you hone in on the message you should be sending to potential clients. How you discuss coaching with an executive will be very different than how you discuss it with a student or guardian. Even more specifically, how you share with a CEO is different than how you would share with a mid-level manager. Defining your niche is an experiment in the beginning. As you begin to work with clients, you’ll learn more about what’s useful, what’s not useful, and who you want to work with. Be open to adjusting or adapting your niche as you see who you attract.

2. Start With Your Strengths

If you’re an excellent networker, find events, locations, or opportunities (virtual or in-person) where your target audience hangs out. Connect with them. Get to know their pain points. Share your work. If you’re an excellent web developer, create your website that can then be shared as a virtual business card of sorts. When you meet people, whether they are in your target audience or could serve as a connector, share your website with them. If you’re an excellent facilitator, seek opportunities to host workshops. Make them interactive and powerful so participants get a taste of what it’ll be like to work with you. What you do at the start is not as important as starting. The key here is two-fold: (1) By leveraging your strengths, you will almost certainly have quick wins that will build momentum and motivation, and (2) ensure that the actions you take through your strengths are income-producing activities. In other words, don’t just go to the networking events and walk away with no one’s contact information. Don’t get stuck in creating the most perfect website that you never share. Don’t host workshops hoping that participants will reach out to you afterwards. When you leverage your strengths, make sure to go the extra mile.

3. Create an Enrollment Process

Research shows that there are, on average, seven touchpoints before someone decides to make a purchase. While some people make decisions quicker and others may take longer, this is why it is so important to have an enrollment process. Very rarely do clients enroll in a coaching program after one conversation. During your enrollment process, you want to constantly be adding value to your client. It’s also important to note that every touchpoint does not need to be a conversation with you as the coach. In fact, it will free up much of your time if you plan an enrollment process that includes components and resources beyond conversations with you. Some examples of touchpoints that can be leveraged in an enrollment process include newsletters, vlogs, blog posts, workshops, introductory sessions, podcasts, pre-recorded webinars, online courses, to name a few. The key to implementing a successful enrollment process is to always inform your potential client what comes next. You don’t want to leave them wondering and you also don’t want to leave it up to them to reach out to you. An example of a clear next step at the end of a workshop might be sharing a link to your calendar to schedule an introductory session with you or, if you’re in person, having a laptop available for participants to schedule a session on the spot.

4. Choose a Tracking System

Once you begin sharing the work you’re doing, it’s important to have a way to track your conversations to ensure no one falls through the cracks. You should not only be tracking progress with potential clients, but also with those who can serve as a connector for you. You don’t need to have a fancy Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system right off the bat. A simple spreadsheet is sufficient in the beginning and you can upgrade when you’re ready. 

5. Share your Story

At the end of it all, the only way you will enroll new clients is telling others about the work you’re doing. You can define your niche, start with your strengths, establish an enrollment process, and choose a tracking system, but if you don’t start telling people what you’re doing, it’ll all be for nothing. Don’t let the creation of systems and structure prevent you from actually doing your life’s work.

Are you interested in learning more on best practices for starting your own coaching practice? Check out our Biz Launcher course.