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How many people do you know took a life coaching course hoping to start their own little comfortable life coaching business?
The life style looks pretty cool. Nice clothes, mid day coffee shop meetings, you become the ultimate guru showing people how to succeed and how to create the major breakthrough in life...and after watching a few Tony Robbin videos on Youtube you start to think to yourself: "hey, I can do this!"...yes, everybody wants to be a life coach.
Now back to reality.
The reality is that most 'life coaches' are not in business. Why is that? What happened to the awesome "free your mind...breakthrough to success" concepts just learned in the 53 week + $3000 course?
When a life coach graduates and is dumped back into reality he/she begins to realize that this "life coaching business" is not so simple. The concepts and cool words learned in the life coaching course are really uplifting but from there to turning it into a business - its a long road.
Most people find it hard taking advice from a life coach who hasn't been there or done him/her self. Its a like a single guy becoming a marriage consultant.
So what now?
I am no life coach, I am a marketer. Many times I am approached by life coaches asking for help with their websites and every time I see the same content and information. As if they took the notes from their course and pasted them on their websites.
But get this: I always discover that each an every life coach is knowlegdable and an expert in a certain area/topic. This is where the business is my fellow life coaches... NICHE your business!
If you are not utilizing the web for growing and niching your business - you just maybe out of business before you know it.
Life Coaching - if done right - can be a very profitable business. On August 18 we will be running an Internet Marketing Seminar for Life Coaches in Jerusalem - In this course you will learn how to effectively create your presense online, how to market yourself and how to niche and monitize your business.
To learn more about this upcoming seminar - follow this link!
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Comments
08.10.09
Early this year, a colleague and I were researching the "life coaching" industry. My colleague's conclusion was "there is not enough 'life' out there for all of the life coaches that currently exist!"
Trust me on this one. The best life coaches are not necessarily the ones who have gone through one of the myriad of certification programs that are available. Instead, the best life coaches are the ones who have been seasoned and cooked by their own life experiences.
08.10.09
@ John and Hillel
I have a friend who is a life/business coach and he'd agree that the difference out there is often if someone can make a business work. As a person who speaks, coaches, and blogs on life and career issues as a hobby, it's actual work to do just as a hobby - 3-10 hours a week depending on what I do, and most of that is contacts and planning.
All successful coaches I've talked to have niches, plan ahead, and are good marketers. Also they're painfully aware of how many failed life coaches are out there (they just are too civil to discuss it).
I usually note that if it takes me this much work to do it as a HOBBY, then there's a heck of a lot more work to do it as a job.
08.10.09
I completely agree with you about the importance of creating a niche. I currently write advice on dating and happiness at my blog Kaneisha's Dream Catcher (http://kaneisha.com). My niche is Crazy Girls and the people who love us. It's perfect for me, because it fits with my personality and there are plenty of people out there like me seeking advice.
08.10.09
"Niching" is the way to go. Everyone knows something about something and the question is how can one turn that knowledge into a business.
The mistake many life coaches make is that they think they are social workers. The concept of "business" doesnt exist. Now the question is how can I bring down these concepts into their world. Thanks to the internet! Once a struggling life coach will learn how to do proper keyword research, how to get set up on social media and how to market information on the web..the sky is the limit.
08.10.09
That sounds like great advice---people love to be connected with others who can relate, or who have similar interests. I would think hiring a life coach would follow the same pattern---look for someone who can provide you with advice that's relevant to your own life.
08.10.09
It’s true that many people that want to become coaches do not conduct themselves as business owners. I’ve been a Life and Career Coach for a few years (http://www.wendesanders.com); I completed my first coach training program in 2007 and another in 2009. So many of us are passionate about our profession and view it as a “calling.” That can hinder some coaches from turning their purpose into a business. My experience as a Coach, and as a client, has taught me that having both extensive life/professional experience and specific coaching skills is essential to helping clients achieve significant results in reduced time.
08.10.09
Hi Hillel,
Your comments about niching applies to any professional service business. Many practicioners fear that by niching they are going to lose out. Really understand how to appeal to each niche is the key.
Good article
Thank You.
08.11.09
Finding your niche is one of the ways to be a successful life coach. Sure, you may be the best in the profession but if you're not able to reach your target audience, you will have no way of helping others and taking your skills to those who need them.
08.11.09
Hillel,
great post! I think that as more people link to this post, you are going to need to come do seminars in the USA too...
do you have a video or audio version of your life coaching course?
08.15.09
I definitely agree with your views on certifications not equalling success. I am a life coach, and while I am somewhat young (not telling my age though), I provide coaching based on experience (both good and bad), for clients. Certification was only a tool that clients sometimes like to see, but it is the actual knowledge and assistance that keeps them coming back or referring.
11.03.09
The same could be said about any type of professional training. How many attorneys out there are not actually practicing? How many engineers are without work at the moment? How many restaurant owners are in over their heads?
The ability to manage a career and own a successful business are both arts in and of themselves. Those who are good at doing so, will obviously attract attention from those who wish to do the same.
I agree that a good life coach has known a variety of successes and failures to effectively guide their clients. Education and professional experience/insight matter, too. Those who are smart enough to niche themselves obviously reap the benefits.
As for me, life coaching resulted from requests from friends and colleagues asking for my help. I really do believe the market (the universe, God, people, what have you) has a way of letting us know what to do, make, and sell. All I had to do was put a price tag on what I was doing for free. Sometimes, it's that simple.
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