According to the International Coach Federation, the global coaching industry was worth around £1.6 billion in 2017. Earlier this year, Real Business reported a current valuation of over £9.4 billion. Among the fastest growing industries in the world, coaching has been behind only IT for the past ten years.
As for why this astronomical growth has occurred, there are many reasons. For one, we know that people are more stressed than ever before, but recent advancements have helped us learn more about the way we think and feel, facilitating an endless opportunity for improvement.
Additionally, the internet has made it easier for us to seek help and advice on important aspects of life, one of them being business. As an aspiring business coach, you probably already know a thing or two about this. What you may not know is that only a small portion of coaches are raking in six-figure incomes.
In fact, the average coach who has five to ten years of experience makes less than £40,000 per year. Why is this? Perhaps it’s largely due to the fact that they’re relying on traditional and quite frankly outdated ways of running a business. So, what’s the solution? Take your business coaching operations into the digital space.
Get a website
Of course, your first step should be to create an effective website. The sooner you do it, the better. This will help you secure a suitable domain name. Remember, it should be short, simple and relevant to what your business offers. While you’re at it, get a logo designed and start performing some SEO work on your website.
You should also consider how you intend to deliver your online coaching. Read this Passion.io review to see how some coaches are building their own apps to easily build recurring revenue from their clients by monetising their passion.
Get qualified
Even mentors have mentors, so you should too. A great way to build your skills and stand out from the competition is to get qualified as a business coach. If you’re not sure where to start, you can visit thebcfgroup.co.uk and see what options are available there. This company is a popular choice for business coaching courses in the UK.
Their one-on-one sessions will help you gain all the knowledge and skills you need to become a successful coach. In doing so, you can proudly display your newly acquired business coaching qualifications on your website. This will immediately improve the level of trust your prospects will have in your business, which is important when starting out.
Get on social media
Today, a social media presence is simply non-negotiable, no matter the type of business you have. Even if you find the likes of Instagram and Facebook annoying on a personal level, these platforms are key to the success of your online business. Business owners also use social media, although you’re more likely to find them on LinkedIn than on TikTok.
This brings us to our first step, which is identifying the platforms your target market most frequently uses. For an online coaching business, this will naturally be more professional social hubs like LinkedIn, though you might want to consider Facebook when starting out as you’ll likely be working with smaller businesses in the early stages.
From here, you should start crafting a professional-looking profile and start posting. Remember, your social media page shouldn’t look like an advertising board. Work on providing value. For instance, you can start posting informative articles on your website’s blog and link to them on your social media pages.
On a similar note, be sure to integrate social sharing buttons on your blog posts. This way – provided your content is good – your readers will perform some free advertising for you by sharing the posts they like. You can also use social media to engage with your audience and find out what your competitors are up to.
Know your market
For your online coaching business to succeed, you need to understand your audience – their pains, desires, needs and troubles. You are not only there to get coaching clients but to support and help them achieve their goals. This will help you formulate a solution that they cannot resist. Remember, you need to be serving your clients in a way that the market isn’t, or is not currently doing so effectively. There are many ways to do this.
Once your website is up, start looking into your analytics and learn about the behaviour of your prospects. How far do they click and scroll before deciding to leave? If it’s always in the same place, chances are you need to work on that page. Read their conversations on social media and their reviews on the platforms where they’re active.
Charge what you’re worth
A common misconception in coaching is that you should start charging a modest fee in the early stages before scaling up. However, all this will lead to is you becoming overworked and underpaid.
You’ll end up spending more time on marketing and less on actually coaching. Additionally, subpar rates imply subpar service and the absence of long-term commitment. Instead, be clear about your service and charge accordingly.
Keeping the above in mind will help you build a successful and rewarding online coaching business. It’s simply up to you to put in the work, so start today.
Leave a Comment