Are You Ready To Dip Your Toe Into Coaching?

I am passionate about health and wellness. I wanted to start a coaching business where I help busy home entrepreneurs and seniors become healthier. But I was worried that I lack the experience to actually do this. My own weight loss hasn't been that dramatic. But I am pretty healthy for my age and despite my extra pounds. So I decided to go for it. 

One small problem...how to get clients when my most visible selling point, weight loss, was happening so slowly!

If you want to coach others, you may be facing a difficult problem. You want to coach but you don’t have any clients yet. How will you get clients if you’ve never actually coached? This dilemma can make you feel like coaching isn’t attainable for you.

But that’s not the case. Here’s what my coach advised me to do…

Coach for Free

Take a few clients on for free or low-cost. Explain that you’ll coach these potential clients for a month or two in exchange for honest feedback and a testimonial at the end.

Keep in mind that the clients you work with should fit your image of an ideal client. For example, if you want to coach busy moms to become healthy then taking on three empty nesters looking to change career paths is a bad move. You’ll struggle to coach them and you’ll feel frustrated when you can’t help them reach their goals.

Host Open Phone Sessions

Start by hosting weekly calls. Welcome your Facebook group to join in these events and share what problems they were facing that week. Then try to provide solutions to their problems.

Invite your community to call you with their concerns. Chat with them for 5-15 minutes. This works best if you have a list or community already built up. Follow up with callers who sound like they might be a good match for your coaching services.

Join Coaching Groups

Look for coaching groups on social media platforms. You might join a business coaching group. Then you see someone has posted a thread because they have a potential client who’s looking for a WordPress coach. You can offer your services as a potential solution.

The advantage of joining a coaching group is that you get to meet other coaches who can refer you and who you can refer. That means if you have a coaching client that needs help with her finances, you can ask your group for a recommendation and know your client is in good hands.

Take It Seriously

Even if you’re just coaching your friend, treat her like you would a real client. Show up to your meetings on time. Take the time to listen to what she’s saying. Ask follow up questions. Go beyond the easy answers to offer real solutions.

Don’t stop there though. Be sure to take notes about what results your client is getting. I started by documenting my own weight loss. I logged how many pounds and inches I lost. When I was ready to start my health and wellness business, I was able to turn my notes into a case study. I even got two clients because they downloaded my study and enjoyed it.

You don’t have to jump into the coaching niche and make a big splash. It’s OK to dip a toe or two into the water. This lets you discover which clients you could be a good fit for and helps you develop your unique coaching style.