7ways to grow a successful coaching business
The personal development industry is booming across the world and in fact, according to a study by the ICF & PWC coaching within this, is the second fastest growth industry worldwide.
Demand for coaching in all areas is higher now than ever before, and is a billion dollar industry. Which means, the allure to become a coach and run your own business is strong. Yet, the statistics for small business owners remain unchanged, with 97% of small businesses failing. It’s crucial that you find a way to grow your business fast and successfully.
There are seven main steps to setting yourself up for success
- Be you in your marketing
Regardless of your area of speciality, you have to embrace the fact that you are going to have to show your face online. People online can smell BS a mile away and are looking for reasons to distrust you rather than trust you. You must be willing to put yourself out there and showcase what makes you different.
- Choose a niche you will enjoy working with
Niching is one of the topics that many coaches struggle with because they worry that they’re cutting out a big chunk of the population that they could help. Niching is a tactic that will help you to create powerful marketing.
For example if you want to work with women who are 35 years old with two children under the age of five, you can talk about sleepless nights, the juggle of children and losing herself in the mix of having children.
If you’re stuck for a niche, a good one to start with, is someone who is like you one to five years ago. That way, you’ll know exactly what’s going through their heads and how to help them.
- Learn how to market yourself
The competition in the coaching world is fierce, with more and more coaches coming on the scene on a daily basis. You have to learn how to market yourself without relying on the features and benefits of coaching.
Create content that educates, inspires and entertains your audience. Think about the problems, stressors, goals and desires of your audience and share things that will help them.
When you personally deliver this content, it will be the way that you do it that will have you stand out. It will be the stories that you share about yourself that will have you standing out.
- Learn how to sell
Without sales, you don’t have a business. The first thing to learn about sales is that people like see is how you are able to take them from where they are now to where they want to be.
For instance, if you’re a relationship coach and you work couples who are having a rough time, you want to share with them how you take them from having a rough time to feeling connected with each other. Perhaps they feel unheard in their relationship. You would share with them that coaching with you will help them to learn how to communicate with each other so that they both feel heard.
5. Knowing when to pivot
As you grow in your coaching business, you are likely to learn more about what you like and what you don’t like about it. When you are feeling disengaged and uninspired, it’s time to pivot. Try a different way of delivering your service or a different niche.
Make sure you give whatever you’re doing a six month period, though. It’s not a good idea to pivot to often because you can lose momentum.
- Moving from one-on-one coaching to one-to-many
Most coaches start out with gaining their confidence and experience working one on one with people.
There may come a time where you may become booked out and hit an income ceiling. This is the time to consider a more leveraged coaching model. You can consider a one to few or a one to many model. This could mean that you start running workshops or event either online or offline.
- Price yourself based on the value you provide
Every coach has to start somewhere and many coaches feel that they’re not prepared to charge $200/hour or more at the very start. The first thing you can do is to start! Pick a figure that feels good for you and rolls off the tongue. After a while, increase it by 20% or more. Then when you have the evidence that your clients get amazing results, increase it again.
Most coaches fail to price themselves at a point that feels easy and good for them to say, so when they make an offer, it falls flat because they don’t have the confidence to charge what they’ve been told they ‘have’ to charge.
The bottom line with everything is this: Be you in all that you do and market yourself consistently. This will set you up with the bet chances of success.
Nicola Moras is an online VISIBILITY expert and author of Visible, a guide for business owners on how to generate financial results from social media and digital marketing. Nicola helps clients around the world achieve visibility, impact and profits, enabling them to become ‘professionally famous’ online. Find out more at www.nicolamoras.com.au/events
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