More and more people are talking about life coaching and it’s making you wonder.  Can you really make money as a life coach?

Simply put, yes you can make money as a life coach.

Resources: What Is a Life Coach (blog post)

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My Experience

When I first started my business I heard so many online coaches selling their stories of hitting $10,000 months right away, making six figures in their first year, and retiring their husbands.

But as I dove into building my business and started personally talking to other coaches and online entrepreneurs, their stories sounded much different.  I started to wonder if making money as a life coach was a lie. Like you, I started to wonder if I could really make it as a coach.

I knew without a doubt that I loved coaching. And I knew that I was good at it. I’d been a teacher for many years and I basically spent my career building relationships and listening to people. I was my job to understand where people were coming from and help them get where they wanted to go.   I was good at simplifying complex concepts and teaching in a way that every student could learn and feel successful. But I wasn’t making very much money.

I knew I was made for coaching. And I was determined to figure out how to make money helping people, and doing it through coaching, which I loved.

How I Started Building My Life Coaching Business

I started building my business by word of mouth.  I also showed up a bit on social media but connecting in real life came more easily to me. This is one of the first things I learned as an entrepreneur, there is no “business in a box.”  You get to build your business in your own way.  And that’s what I suggest to you too. Find out what you enjoy, what gives you energy, and what comes naturally to you.  Try a bunch of those things at first and see what works.  And then do more of that. If you stick with it, yes, you can absolutely make money as a life coach.

How To Get Started to Make Money As a Life Coach

If you’re wondering how to get started, let’s keep it simple. Keeping it simple worked for me. I started by talking to everyone, sharing what I did, and making offers to help them. At that point I was a general life coach and I was happy to work with anyone.

As I coached more people, I discovered who I liked coaching, what topics I liked coaching on, and what didn’t really interest me. I found out that I liked working with people who had more flexible schedules and who didn’t have corporate rules that limited their creativity or ability to do what they really wanted to do. I wanted to work with people who already had some experience with coaching and were interested in doing the work.

That information was so beneficial that I used it to narrow down my niche.  And I focused on helping overwhelmed women find more time to do what they really wanted to do. Then again, I noticed what I liked, what worked well, and what I would rather not continue to do.

From there I niched down again.  I’m now helping overwhelmed coaches narrow down their niche and grow their businesses with ease.  I chose this niche because I’ve found that having a really specific niche has helped me simplify my business. I know exactly who I’m talking to. I’m clear about the problem I help solve. And I’m clear about how I help solve it. This makes it easier for me to create content in less time and share my message without all the drama and confusion. The less time I spend spinning in overwhelm and confusion, the more time I have to actually focus on creating clients, helping them, and making money.

So let’s talk about niching down.

Where Do I Even Start?

I suggest starting with the specific group of people who you want to work with. In the entrepreneurial space, you’ll hear people use the term ideal client or dream customer.  That’s just who you would like to work with in your perfect world.

Let’s dig into this.

Who Do You Want to Work With?

If you’re anything like me and the clients I’ve worked with who have struggled with this, you might not know.  You might think you don’t want to decide because you’re afraid you’ll exclude people.  Or you might think you’ll lose followers or interest if you narrow this down and only talk to a small group. 

I know it’s counterintuitive! But, narrowing down who you want to talk to actually helps you clarify your message and share it with more of the people who actually want to hear it and want your help.

Think about it this way. If you don’t really care about technology and you have a phone that works just fine, you’re not paying attention to the commercials about the newest iPhone. You probably tune them out and miss the message. 

But, if you hate your phone, it’s not taking good enough pictures for you to use it for your business, and you desperately want a new phone, when that commercial pops up, you’re paying attention.  You are their ideal client. You have a problem they can solve. They’re speaking to you and you’re now interested in how they can help you solve your problem.

So You’re Ready to Niche Down Now, Right?

Your niche is in your personal story. So you’ll want to mine your story to find the perfect niche for you. Here are a few questions to help you niche down if you’re not certain about who you want to talk to and help.

• What have you gone through in your life that was challenging?
• What experiences have you overcome that you would feel comfortable sharing?
• Who were you 10 years ago, 5 years ago, or last year? How have you changed? 
• What were your struggles then and how did you get through them?
• What’s a topic you love talking to people about and helping people with?
• What do people come to you and ask for your help with?
• Would that be something you’d enjoy helping other people with?

Notice any patterns here.  Look at what excites you, what you’re good at, what skills you have, and/or what you’ve personally overcome.

When you’ve identified something that lights you up and you really want to focus on, journal about the process you went through to get the results you have now. Start with where you are and work your way backwards step by step until you see the full journey you took to transformation.  That’s the journey you can share with your ideal client and that’s the journey you can help walk her through!

Now it’s time to make sure you have a clear answer to these two questions. 

Who Do I Help? & What Problem Do I Solve?

You want to clarify who you help and what she will get from working with you. Who do you want to help and what specifically do you want to help her with?

Make sure you’re keeping this simple so your clients don’t have to work to understand what you’re saying.  Don’t add any creative language. Speak directly to your ideal client and keep it really clear.  And, make sure you let your dream client know what they will get from working with you.

Create Your “I Help” Statement

Your “I help” statement helps you share your message clearly and without a lot of words so it’s easy for people to read quickly.  That way they know right away if you can help them.

Here’s an example of a clearly written I help statement:

I help midlife women have more energy everyday.

Notice how you want to identify a specific group of people who you help and you want to tell them what specifically they will get from working with you.

Many coaches add the byproducts they’ll get through working with them but I don’t suggest doing this.  So, for example, don’t say something like I help midlife women have more energy by changing their diet and increasing their exercise and self care routines. Remember, keep it simple and tell exactly how you help.

Also remember, your niche will likely change over time as you grow your business and as you grow as a person and entrepreneur. That’s normal!  The goal is to decide on a niche for now and stick with it for a period of time.  Remember, success doesn’t happen overnight and switching back and forth or bouncing from niche to niche doesn’t help you gain traction and move forward.

Is My Niche Profitable?

Now that you have your niche clarified, you want to look online to see if it’s profitable. This is where we start to answer the question, “Can I make money as a life coach?” You can look at other accounts and see if anyone is serving who you want to serve. You can use one of these tools to see if your niche could be profitable: Google, Google Keyword Planner, YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook.  And you can also use the keyword search tool in Facebook to see if there are any groups that help solve the problem you’re wanting to solve.

Finally, you can interview a handful of your ideal clients. Choose 3-4 people who you think are your ideal client and ask them questions that will help you understand exactly what they’re struggling with and what words they would use to describe their problem.

Here are a few interview prompts and questions you can ask your ideal client:

• Share some of the things that you struggle with most as a ______________.
• What are your biggest stressors or frustrations?
• Why do those things stress you out or make you feel overwhelmed?
• Have you tried to do anything to solve this problem?
• What have you tried that hasn’t worked?
• What have you tried that has worked?
• If you could have any result you wanted, what result would you want the most?

Don’t forget to thank these people by sending them a little gift to show your appreciation! It doesn’t have to be anything big.  Sending a Starbucks gift card is a simple and affordable idea.

Resources:

• 7 Steps to Find Our if Your Niche Ideas Are Profitable (blog post)

So, Can I Make Money As a Life Coach?

Yes, you can make money as a life coach.  And there are many ways for you to go about making money in this field.  But, my suggestion is to start by narrowing down your niche. Then you’ll know exactly who you’re talking to and how you will help them get what they want.  Starting with this will simplify everything in your business. And it’ll help you make money more easily with less stress and time.

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One Last Note!

If you want help defining your niche and creating an offer for your ideal client, I’d love to help you.  My Dream Business Blueprint 1:1 coaching program was designed to help you finally get your business off the ground. You’ll get access to my signature method and I’ll walk you step by step through my process to help you stop spinning in overwhelm and start taking massive action in your business.  After coaching with me, you’ll have the foundations of your business set so you can focus on doing what you love, coaching.

If you’re ready to narrow down your niche and feel certain about what you’re doing in your business so you can help more people and make money, email me at hello@katrinaklooster.com.

Resources:

• How to Make Decisions Without the Stress (Blog post)
• How to Create a Plan to Get What You Want (Blog post)