It helps you to Grow

When you decide to become an online coach it will do a great deal for your own professional and personal growth. If you are an expert in your subject there is always more to learn and you will be committed to doing this so that you can provide your clients with the most up to date and useful information.

It is very satisfying to teach others what you know and to help them achieve their own goals. You will need to be a good communicator, and as you perform more coaching you will refine your communication skills. Dealing with all different kinds of people will open your mind and help you to develop as a person.

To be a good online coach you need to be disciplined and organized. If you commit to a coaching session with a client at a specific time then you have to be on time. You should plan out your coaching sessions to ensure that your clients get the best from them and feel like they have received a lot of value from you.

There is Good Money in Online Coaching

Online coaches charge hundreds if not thousands of dollars for personal coaching. If you are coaching several different people at the same time then you can charge on a per person basis which will bring you in a good amount of money.

Most people never turn what they know into hard cash. This is exactly what an online coach does. They are happy to provide their knowledge to others in return for a significant sum of money. Experts in the digital marketing niche can charge thousands for an hour of their time. The same goes for coaches in personal development and life coaching.

When you are starting out you will need to charge less than this but an hour of your time can still be worth hundreds of dollars. By providing personal one on one attention to individual clients they will appreciate this and will reward you handsomely for it. As long as you are providing good value people will be happy to pay you what you want.

Create your own Schedule

You decide when you will work. Obviously you need to be around when your clients are and if they are in different countries then you need to plan for the differences in time zones. With today’s technology you can send out reminders to your clients and use the Internet for all of your coaching sessions.

It is fairly easy for you to tell your clients when you are available for coaching. You need to be flexible here and make yourself available to your clients when it suits them. Some of them may have full time jobs and only be available at evenings and weekends. What you can definitely control is the number of coaching sessions that you provide in a day.

Very Easy to get started

You probably have all of the tools that you need to become an online coach right now. A laptop or desktop computer and an Internet connection and you are ready to go. Some online coaches claim that they can provide online sessions when they are on the move by using a tablet device. This is not something that we would recommend when you are starting out.

Clients will expect you to communicate with them using a messenger service such as Skype, Zoom, Facebook etc. You could offer your clients the choice of platform for your sessions. All of these services are free and you can even record the sessions that you have with your clients (there may be a small charge for this).

Everyone has email so you can use this as another communications medium. We recommend that you setup Google Drive or some other cloud service so that you can share materials with your clients. If you need them to see video footage then this will often be too large a file to send via email.

Then there is texting. You can send text messages anywhere in the world for very little these days. If your client likes this form of communication then ask them for their phone number and provide yours as well.

We recommend that you go for the best Internet package that you can for your coaching business. It is also a good idea to have a backup service as well. If your Internet access is down then you cannot provide coaching sessions. This is not going to go down well with your clients so always have a backup plan.

With high bandwidth Internet access you can hold video calls and easily share your computer screen for demonstrations etc. Your clients will appreciate this as you are really helping them to learn what you know. Most people appreciate over the shoulder training.

In the next chapter we will discuss the mindset you need to become a successful online coach… 

Chapter 2: Developing a Successful Online Coach Mindset

People often think that they need some special “insider knowledge” to become a successful and profitable online coach. This is not the case. What you do need is the right mindset to make a success out of online coaching.

You need to have the right plan and take the right action. Assuming that you are providing effective coaching sessions for your clients this is all that you need. If you were to analyze a successful online coach you would find that they have the following traits:

• They are confident
• They have clarity
• They have a mentality of abundance
• They are always positive

Basically successful online coaches have a magnetic personality. People are easily drawn to them and look forward to their coaching sessions with them. Take a look at Tony Robbins for example. He has to be one of the most successful coaches of all time. So many people like him because of his magnetic personality. He started life as a janitor!

Unfortunately there are a number of online coaches that do not succeed. This is because they do not have the right mindset for success. They do not exude confidence and as a result they take the wrong action. Clients are not confident in their ability to deliver what they need. 

These coaches may be total experts in their niche. But this is not enough. If they do not have the right mindset to wow their clients then they are going to struggle. Successful online coaches never appear desperate for business (even if they are). They are always certain that they can get the right result for their clients.

The good news is that you can develop the right mindset to be a successful online coach. If you follow the advice in this chapter then you will be well on your way. So let’s take a look at the mindset changes that you need to make to be a profitable and in demand online coach:

1. You have to be Confident

People that hire you as their online coach expect you to be very confident in yourself and your abilities. They see you as their mentor and want to look up to you. If you don’t have the right amount of confidence then you are going to struggle to find and keep profitable coaching clients.

You need to be confident in the way that you look and when you speak. One way to identify weaknesses in your coaching delivery is to record yourself providing a fake session. Use a video recorder so that you can play everything back and identify problem areas. Do this alone at first and then you can find people that will provide you with honest feedback.

Pay particular attention to the tone of your voice and your facial expressions. How do you greet your clients? If they ask you difficult questions how do you respond? How is your body language during a session? Do you look attentive and ready to listen?

2. You have to have Clarity

This starts with you being clear about what a successful online coaching business means to you. We all have different definitions of success so you need to define your own and work out how this will look and feel to you.

There is more to being a successful online coach than just money. Some people that have a lot of money are not happy with their lot in life. So we recommend that you do not make money your sole focus with your online coaching business. 

Think about how being a successful online coach means to you emotionally and spiritually. Once you know this you can practice it all of the time. There are many online coaches out there that make good money but are not happy. This is not a place that you want to be in.

3. You need to think Solutions

Clients will come to you as an online coach because they are looking for solutions to their problems. You need to have the belief that you can provide a solution to any problem that your clients have. When you are first starting out you may be hit with some questions that you were not expecting so you need to handle this in the right way.

Unfortunately if people are paying you hundreds of dollars for your time and expertise they are going to expect you to have all of the answers right away. If you don’t know the answer to something then you need to provide a credible response such as “there are several ways that you could approach this”. 

What you want to do here is buy some time so that you can come up with the right solution. When you first engage with your client tell them that you are an expert and you are committed to finding the right solutions for them. Tell them that you may need to spend time after your call finding the most appropriate solution.

You can find yourself getting into a negative thinking spiral if you cannot provide the solution that a client is looking for right away. It is essential that you do not let this overwhelm you and always believe that you can find solutions for every problem. 

4. Adopt the right Lifestyle Mindset

Because it is easy to get started as an online coach, a lot of people make the mistake of diving in head first and then end up working crazy long hours for very little money. We recommend that you come up with a lifestyle plan before you open your doors for business. There are limits to what you will do – working long hours for very little reward will soon grind you down.

Think about the return on investment (ROI) you want from your online coaching business. This is not just financial. You need to think about time freedom and satisfaction too. If you are a prisoner to your online coaching business then it is not going to last very long.

So think about the money that you want to make and also the free time that you want from your new online coaching business. Also think about what will give you the most satisfaction from being in this business. This could be helping others for example.

Once you have your lifestyle plan worked out you can then decide how you will operate your online coaching business. You can choose what you will deliver to your clients and when so that it supports the life that you desire.

5. Be Goal Orientated

You need to set yourself challenging goals if you want to be a successful online coach. Standing still is not an option – it may be easy for you to share your knowledge with the world but always be thinking about moving up to the next level.

Don’t stay in your comfort zone or you will never realize your potential. You need to embrace change and different challenges. Think big and set big goals. If you get too comfortable then you can become complacent and your clients will notice this.

What other ways can you further your online coaching business? Can you turn what you know into a successful digital product that you can sell for a high price? Or what about a membership website where clients pay you each month to view training videos that you have made and learn from other resources?

6. Be a Collaborator

While it is possible to become a successful online coach on your own you are likely to achieve a lot more by collaborating with others. Having the support of a good network will have a significant impact on your ability to attract new clients and increase your income. 

There are many different ways that you can collaborate with others. You can do a lot without having to travel anywhere. Find people that have authority blogs in your niche and work something out with them. Offer them a commission to advertise your coaching services. Write guest posts for their blog with a link back to your website.

You can also find influencers on social media that will promote your business. These people have large followings and can instantly connect with people that you could never find on your own. So have a collaboration mindset to really grow your online coaching business.

In the next blog we will discuss the essential steps that you need to take to develop a successful online coaching business…