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4 Great Tools You Will Need For Your Online Coaching Business

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To run an effective and profitable online coaching business you will need the right tools. Obviously you will need a computer or high end mobile device and a connection to the Internet to provide your services. In this article we will look at some good tools and platforms that you can use to make your online coaching business a success.

Skype

If you are providing one to one coaching then you need a good communication tool for this. Over the years Skype has come in for some criticism but Microsoft have worked hard on the application and now it provides some of the best quality conferencing tools out there. It is free to use as well which is another bonus.

A lot of business people are Skype users. Some have used it for years to make audio and video calls over the Internet. There are tools that you can use to record your Skype calls as well and they convert the calls into MP3 files.

When you record your coaching sessions you can go over them to remind you of any agreed actions. It is also a good way to monitor the performance of your coaching sessions and make improvements. You can also impress your coaching clients by sending them a copy of the coaching session in audio format.

You and your clients will all need Skype accounts to use this platform. All that is required is a valid email address to do this and then download the application and install it on your device. It will work on mobile devices as well as computers.

Google Docs

One thing that you will definitely need for your online coaching business is documentation. You will need to provide text based documents and possibly spreadsheets and presentation slides. The easiest way to produce these and share them with your clients is by using Google Docs.

Microsoft Office is a great application and used by a lot of people. But not everyone has it. The great thing about using Google Docs is that everyone can access them as long as they have an Internet connection.

Another advantage of Google Docs is that you can share them with one person or a select group of people. This is great for you if you offer one to one or one to many live coaching. If you are creating training courses or a membership site then you can convert all of your Google Docs into PDF document format really easily.

You can start using Google Docs for free. If you need more than a free account offers then you can upgrade to their GSuite service for a few dollars per month. Use Google Docs for your online coaching business so that everyone can access your documentation.

Accountability Apps

There are a number of accountability apps available that you can use. Trello and Slack are good examples of these services. These are great platforms to use for keeping track of everything and they are easy to use.

You can assign tasks to clients and they can provide feedback to you and ask questions using these apps. There are many of these apps available and Satori, Coach Accountable and Nudge Coach are all worthy of a mention here.

Calendars

You need to be organized as an online coach. Using a calendar is a great way to do this. The Google Calendar has a number of great features and is completely free. Another great free application is Calendly where you can actually send out email notifications for coaching sessions to your clients.

Use Your Website To Convert Your Visitors

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To be a successful online coach you need a website that will convert your visitors into leads and then clients. This is not an easy thing to do and you need to use the right approach here. A ice looking website is only part of the story – it needs to work hard for you 24/7 generating leads for your business.

You need to accept that you may not get this right the first time around. We recommend that you use tools such as Google Analytics to see what your website visitors do when they visit. Do they stick around and explore other areas of your website? Or do they get out of there as quickly as possible? This is your bounce rate.

Copywriting

Your website needs to persuade your visitors to take action. So what actions do you want them to take? Well you are selling coaching services so the ultimate aim is that you want to convert your visitors into clients. If you are charging a high price for your services then it is pretty unlikely that they are going to click a payment button and send you money right away.

So you have a couple of choices here. You can encourage them to get in touch with you by using your contact form or you can persuade them to join your email newsletter so that you can keep in touch with them. Good copywriting will help you to achieve both of these aims.

If you are not a good copywriter then find someone that can do this for you. Copywriting is a skill developed over time and it is a good thing to have in your armory so if you have the time and patience then learn it yourself. Otherwise find a good copywriter to ensure that all of your website pages work hard for you.

Engaging Content

The more that you engage with your website visitors, the more likely that they are to become clients. Make sure that all of your blog posts provide value and make use of different media such as related images, videos and infographics.

You always want to give your visitors a reason to return to your website. There is an old adage in the sales world that says it takes around 7 contacts to turn someone into a customer. So provide the most engaging content that you can to encourage people to return.

Think about how you can provide value to your visitors without giving too much away. Show them how to solve problems that they are experiencing but always leave room for more help that they can get through your online coaching services.

Case studies are always a good way to hook visitors. When you are able to demonstrate that you have solved problems for others and helped them to achieve the results that they were looking for you will entice your visitors to find out more about you and what you can do to help them.

About Us Page

Most people overlook the importance of the “About” page on their website. Research has shown that this is the most popular page for visitors after the home page. People will always be interested in knowing more about you and what you stand for.

So put some effort into your “About” page. Tell your visitors that they are in the right place to solve their problems in the niche. Add your photograph to the page and a video where you explain who you are and how you help people.

 

Why You Need To Use Content Marketing To Get Online Coaching Clients

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You should use every tactic that you can to attract new clients to your online coaching business. Content marketing is very effective and you need to use it to your advantage. There are different types of content marketing and we will look at some of the most effective ones in this article.

You need to make a commitment to publishing great content on a regular basis. If you don’t have the time or inclination to do this then find good outsourcers to do this for you. It is essential that you published high quality content as often as possible.

Blog Posts on your Website

If you do nothing else with content marketing then you must add regular blog posts to your online coaching website. All of your blog posts need to offer value and prove to your visitors that you have the expertise to be their online coach.

It is best to plan the blog posts for your website. Do keyword research in your niche and write blog posts around the keywords that you identify. Make sure that you optimize all of your blog posts for search engine optimization (SEO) so that each post has the best chance of ranking high in Google, Bing and the other search engines.

When you have a website you need to provide visitors with a good reason to return as they are not very likely to become your coaching clients straight away. Providing value to them through regularly publishing high value blog posts is a great way to get them to return.

Adding regular posts to your website is also a good way to improve your search engine rankings. Google and the other search engines reward websites that post often and you can find keywords that have little SEO competition and rank these on the first page of Google for free traffic.

Guest Posting

This is similar to writing blog posts for your own website but this time you will publish them on other people’s blogs. Most blog owners are always on the lookout for high quality content for their sites so identify the blogs with the highest traffic in your niche and write content for them.

A lot of these blog owners will welcome guest posts. They usually have a set of rules that you need to adhere to when making a guest posting request and these are around the quality of your submission. All guest posts need to be of the highest quality and if you do not think that your writing is up to scratch then find a good quality professional writer.

All of your blog posts must be unique and you can check for this using copyscape.com. This applies to posts that you publish on your website as well. Add a link back to your website from your guest post to generate more targeted traffic to your site.

Videos

You knew this was coming didn’t you? Never underestimate the power of video. These days people would sooner watch an informative video than read a lot of text. So create videos in your niche that add value.

It is essential that you setup a channel on YouTube for your videos. You can use other sites such as Vimeo and Daily Motion as well. Invest in quality recording equipment so that you can create your own videos rather than hire professionals all the time. Always remind people in your videos that you are an online coach. Post all your videos on your website and social media accounts.

Ways To Get Online Coaching Clients

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You are not going to make the money that you want from your online coaching business if you do not have a steady stream of clients. Once you have setup your website and are ready to go then finding clients is your number one priority.

A lot of online coaches fall down in this area. They do not do enough marketing to generate the new clients that they need to meet their financial goals. There are many ways that you can find good online coaching clients and we will discuss some of the best methods in this article.

Social Media Advertising

Most social media platforms offer an advertising feature these days. Facebook have being offering this for some time now and LinkedIn are also making their service better all of the time. The good thing about using social media ads is that you can specifically target who sees your ad.

At the moment, social media ads are more cost effective than par per click (PPC) ads offered by the major search engines. You cannot specifically target people with PPC ads either. You can test social media ads for a few bucks to see how effective they are. The analytics with Facebook and other accounts are good now and you can see what is working and what isn’t.

PPC Ads

In order to use PPC ads from Google or Bing effectively you will need to conduct keyword research in your niche first. This is something that you can do yourself or you can outsource it for a few dollars.

Using the Google Keyword Planner is a good place to start. Just enter a seed keyword e.g. “digital marketing coach” and you will see the number of searches per month and keywords that are related to this that you can use.

With a PPC ad you will only pay when people click on your ad and go to your website. At the time of writing this article the cost of PPC ads on Bing were cheaper than with Google Adwords. Google does get a lot more traffic though.

PPC ads are a great way to test the conversion rate of your website. If you want people to join your email list or contact you about your coaching services you can use them to drive traffic to the relevant pages of your site and then measure the conversion rate.

Email Marketing

Have you heard that “the money is in the list?” This is a well known saying in digital marketing circles and it is true. The first time that someone visits your online coaching website it is pretty unlikely that they are going to hire you as their coach. You need an effective way to follow up with them and email marketing is a great way to do this.

In order for you to persuade your visitors to join your email list you will need to give them something valuable in exchange for their email address. This could be a high quality report, case study or even a short video training session.

People are pretty reluctant to join email lists these days because they know that they are going to receive promotional offers. Some email marketers abuse this and send several emails a day to their list. Do not do this. Send out an email every few days that provides value and remind your list that you offer high quality online coaching services.

How To Stand Out As An Online Coach

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Your success as an online coach is directly linked to the reputation that you have in the market. Clients expect their online coaches to be experts and an authority in their niche. So when you are just starting out it is essential that you do everything that you can to let your target market know who you are and what you can do for them.

There are likely to be a lot of other online coaches available in your niche so you need to find a way to stand out from the crowd. To some this will mean proving that you can help people and offering a lower price to obtain clients. But this is not the only way to do it.

Write a Book

If you really want to be successful as an online coach then commit to writing a book. This may fill you with dread especially if you do not consider yourself to be a good writer. There are some very good professional writers out there that can help you to write your book. You just need to tell them what you want in the book.

It is going to take time, effort and possibly money to write your book. But in the long run this will provide you with a good return on your investment. As an author in your niche you will be perceived as an expert and an authority. This is exactly what you want to attract new coaching clients.

You must plan your book properly whether you are writing it yourself or outsourcing it to a professional writer. Think about the problems that people experience in your niche and how you have solved these. Add as many examples of how you got the results that you wanted in your niche. Once your book is complete get a professional cover for it from Fiverr.com.

Social Media Influencer

Social media and online coaching are a great combination. You need to have a presence on the right social media channels and provide valuable content so that you can develop a strong and committed following.

You do not need to have accounts on every social media platform. If you serve the business market then use LinkedIn and Facebook. If your target market are individuals then Facebook and Instagram will be enough.

It takes a fair amount of effort to maintain one social media account and build a good following so having 8 or 9 of them doesn’t make any sense at all. The reason that we recommend using Facebook whatever niche you are in is that you are always likely to be able to find your target market there.

Look for groups on Facebook and LinkedIn that are related to your niche so that you can make a contribution. Your aim here is to demonstrate that you know what you are talking about. Make consistent posts that provide value to your followers and encourage them to visit your website.

Video

Nobody that is serious about becoming a successful online coach ignores the power of video. If you don’t like the idea of appearing on video then you need to get over this any way that you can because it is so important.

Create a YouTube channel and make a number of short videos that offer solutions to the problems that your target market has. Do not give too much away here. YouTube gets tons of visitors and well optimized quality videos will always get a lot of views.

Different Types Of Online Coaching Services

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There are different coaching services that you can provide to your clients which is great because you can use all of them to scale your online coaching business. Don’t get fixated with one of these services. Open your mind to alternative coaching methods that will make you more money and free up more of your time.

One to One Live Coaching

A lot of people think about one to one live coaching when they are starting out. This is fine and it is definitely something that you can do. With this type of online coaching you can charge the highest prices. Clients will appreciate the personal attention that you provide to them and will pay what you ask.

It might not be that easy for you to get live coaching clients at first. You will probably need to build up your reputation to do this by offering other services first. Once you are established as an expert in your niche you can charge hundreds or even thousands of dollars for your one to one coaching services.

The only disadvantage of one to one live coaching is that you are selling your time. You will need to prepare properly for your coaching sessions and this will take time too. But in the end you can make a serious amount of money for a small time investment.

One to Many Live Coaching

Here you will coach a small number of students in the same coaching sessions. Some niches are more suitable to this approach than others. You need to manage these sessions properly to avoid several people talking at once etc. Keep the numbers low so that they will receive the maximum attention for you and it will be easier for you to control each coaching session.

Remember that you are selling your time here again and you will need to follow up with more than one person so make sure that you charge the right price for each client in the session.

Provide High Quality Training Courses

A lot of successful online coaches start with this. They identify the problems that people are experiencing in the niche and then they create training courses that solve these problems. They use platforms like Udemy.com to start with and make a small amount of money doing this. This is OK for getting the word out about who you are and what you can do.

A number of people who offer courses on sites like Udemy have ended up with one to one coaching clients where they can charge a premium. So do not dismiss these kinds of platforms because you will not make a lot of money from them.

Once you are established you can charge hundreds or thousands for your training. You can host the videos and everything yourself and offer commissions to affiliates to promote your courses. This is a great way to generate passive income from your knowledge.

Membership Site

Passive income should definitely be in your plan for your online coaching business. There is nothing better than making money when you are sleeping or on vacation. Recurring passive income is the very best and you can achieve this through a successful membership site.

You will need to put in some effort to create your membership site as there needs to be new content added on a regular basis. A good idea for this is a member’s only webinar that you run on a weekly basis.

Getting Your Mindset Right For Online Coaching

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The difference between a very successful online coach and a mediocre one is the mindset that they have. If you want to be very successful as an online coach your mindset has to be right. So here we will look at the most important elements of a successful online coach mindset.

Confidence is everything

All successful online coaches have a high level of confidence. They have a magnetic personality that attracts clients to them in droves. They are fearless and will take on any challenge for their clients.

If you do not believe that your confidence is as high as it could be then you need to work on this. Clients expect you to be confident at all times and deal with them in an attentive and calm way.

You can practice your coaching sessions before you open your doors for business. Record your practice sessions on camera and then review them for areas of improvement. Ask trusted friends and family members to give you there opinion as well.

Be Clear about what you want

You really need to be clear on what you want from your online coaching business. We are not just talking about money here. Think about your time and how valuable it is. An online coaching business can provide you with a lot of free time when you are up and running. Decide on how much time you are willing to spend on your business.

Always think Solutions

All successful online coaches provide good solutions to their clients. It doesn’t matter if this is through live one to one coaching, training courses or a membership site. You need to know what problems your clients have and create effective solutions to these.

Your clients will expect you to have all of the answers. This is not always possible straight away and you need to manage expectations here. Tell clients that you need to think about the best solution to their problem because there are many different options.

Your Business needs to fit with your desired Lifestyle

What lifestyle goals do you have? Do you want more time for other projects or to spend more time with your family? Do you want to travel the world? Take time out to come up with a lifestyle plan and design your online coaching business around this.

How much money do you need to make to support your lifestyle choices? Push through your comfort zone to achieve your lifestyle goals. There are a number of options available to you to create passive income such as creating high quality training courses.

Set Goals

If you don’t set challenging goals for your online coaching business then you will never know if you are succeeding or not. Most people cannot be bothered to do this and become mediocre coaches as a result.

Collaborate with Others

Make sure that collaborating with others is part of your mindset. Find influencers in your niche that can help you to find more clients. You will need to give them something in exchange for this. Always remember that others know people that you will never find through advertising and use this to your advantage.

Look for people that own high traffic blogs in your niche. Do they accept guest posts? If so create a high quality post (you can outsource this to a professional writer) and then add a link back to your website.

Why A Website Is Essential For Your Online Coaching Business

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You may read online that you do not need a website for an online coaching business. This is bad advice as far as we are concerned. When you are in the online coaching game your reputation is everything and you need to do everything that you can to increase your credibility.

It is essential that you have a professional looking website. You do not need to spend thousands of dollars on a web designer. It is pretty easy to create your own website for a small investment. Never be tempted to use a free website service such as Blogger.com or Weebly.com. This tells prospective clients that you are a cheapskate.

So in this article we will explain how you can setup a professional website for just a few dollars.

  1. Get a good Domain Name

You need to choose a domain name that reflects your online coaching business. Some people use their name and you can check to see if this is available. We recommend that you get a .com domain name if you can. A lot of these have gone but with a bit of creative thinking you can still find a good one. A domain name will cost around $10 a year.

  1. Get Web Hosting

You need a web hosting account for your website files so that it will be live on the Internet. There are many web hosting companies out there offering all kinds of plans. When you are starting out just get a shared hosting account.

It is going to cost you around $10 a month for your web hosting. When you are looking for a host make sure that they have a “one click” WordPress installation feature as you will be using WordPress as the basis of your website.

  1. Install WordPress

WordPress is a free blogging platform that is very flexible and has a lot of great features. There are millions of website using WordPress as it is easy to create a great looking website without knowing any web code.

There are thousands of WordPress themes available that you can choose from. The theme is the design of your website and the look and feel. You can look for free themes and there are premium themes that will cost you a few dollars. Search for “themes for online coaching” using your favorite search engine.

A lot of plug ins are available for WordPress that will enhance your website. Again there are a lot of free ones and some premium ones too. It is really easy to add content to a WordPress website which is one of the main reasons why it is so popular.

  1. Capture Leads

It is essential that your website looks professional and highlights your credibility as an online coach. You need to make your website work for you all of the time so create a valuable giveaway so that some of your visitors will provide their email address to you and join your email list.

It is very unlikely that a visitor to your website is going to become a coaching client the first time that they visit. So you need a way to follow up with some of your visitors. Getting them on your email list is a great way to do this.

You Must Have A Plan For Your Online Coaching Business

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Many people start online coaching businesses but only a small number are really successful and profitable. It is really easy to start an online coaching business so a lot of people tend to dive right in without thinking about what they really want from the business. You need a plan to make your online coaching business a success.

What do you want from your Online Coaching Business?

You must clearly define why you want to start an online coaching business and what you want out of it. Does it fir with who you are? Are you someone that likes to give back to the world? It is really important that your online coaching business aligns with who you are so that you enjoy the process.

How much do you want to earn?

Be clear about your financial goals for the business. If you are going to offer live coaching sessions then how much will you charge per session? For training and membership sites what will the cost for the clients be?

There are not that many costs associated with running an online coaching business which is good news. But your time is very important and you want to ensure that you are getting the best return on it. So work out your numbers and charge accordingly.

What kind of Lifestyle do you want?

It will take some time and effort to setup your online coaching business and get your first clients. After that you can run your coaching business just as you want it. Most people want more time freedom from online coaching and if you organize things well then you can obtain this.

If you want to take days or even weeks off then you can do this with online coaching. It is possible for you to provide coaching sessions from anywhere as long as you have Internet access and a computer or mobile device. Tell your clients when you are available and when you are not.

Set Goals for your Online Coaching Business

You need to set goals for your business. Write these down and keep a copy of your goals with you wherever you are. We recommend that you use the SMART FOR ME method to set goals. This stands for:

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Attainable
  • Realistic
  • Timed
  • Focus
  • Optimism
  • Ready
  • Meaningful
  • Exciting

It is essential that your goals are inspiring and excite you. They must be specific and measurable so that you can see how well you are doing. There is no point setting a goal that you cannot measure.

Take Consistent Action

Once you have created your detailed plan you need to break it down into daily actions. It is essential that you take action towards your goals each day and develop momentum and build on this. Once you have set up everything the most important thing that you need to do is to find clients.

You can never have enough clients. Some will stay with you for just a short time and others will be long term. Taking action consistently will provide you with the maximum chance of making your online coaching business a success. The business will provide you with the lifestyle that you desire.

Why Clients Like Online Coaching

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There are a number of reasons why clients like the idea of online coaching which is all good news for you. In this article we will look at the most important reasons why clients choose online marketing so that you can use this information to create the best marketing messages for your business.

  1. Personal Attention

If you provide one to one live coaching then clients will really appreciate the personal attention they are receiving from you and will be willing to pay a high price for this. Training courses are fine but they do not offer that level of personal commitment that one to one coaching sessions do.

Clients will look forward to their coaching sessions with you if you perform them effectively and make them feel good. They will want to book more sessions with you if you get the right results for them so it is a win-win situation for you and the client.

  1. Flexibility

Clients like the flexibility of online coaching. If they purchase an online training course from you they can learn at their own pace whenever it suits them. For live coaching sessions they can choose when they speak with you (within limits of course).

Online coaching is fast replacing the classroom scenario where people have to travel and sit in a class and try to learn at the same speed as everyone else. Now a client can use their mobile device to learn while they are on the move as well.

  1. Accountability

When you provide live one to one coaching sessions with clients you are accountable to them and the client is accountable to you. During the coaching session you can agree actions on both sides and monitor this so that the client gets the results that they are looking for.

There are many ways that you can keep track of these actions. You can use platforms where you can record actions and share them with your client or you can just create a document and share this between you.

The fact that the client has a follow up coaching call with you will put the pressure on them to perform the actions on their side. You can send them reminders a few days before the next call as well. You need to complete your actions thoroughly and on time as well to prove to the client that you really care about them and want them to succeed.

  1. Ease of Communication

It is very important that you respond promptly to any communications that you receive from your clients. This can be emails, text messages, Facebook messages and so on. The client needs to feel that you care about them and are very responsive even outside of coaching sessions.

  1. You are their Mentor

Whether you set out with this intention or not (and we believe that you should) when you provide online coaching services to clients you become their mentor. They will feel very comfortable with this as it is always good to have an expert to turn to when you need help.

So we recommend that you tell your clients that you will be their mentor in all of your online coaching services whether they are live or through training courses or your membership site. After a while you can offer high ticket mentorship services to all of your clients.