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If you follow me, you know I’m kind of a rebel when it comes to business. I’m a huge believer that it’s totally possible to createa successful coaching business to fit your desiredlifestyle!
The problem is, I see a lot of people going about coaching in the wrong way… they come at it from a very traditional business model.
The Traditional Business Model
They set up a business plan. –> They invest in their business. –>They go looking for customers. –> They do what they can to retain customers.
Theissue with this traditional model is it includes a ton of risk, AND this is why I believe MOST businesses fail. According to the Small Business Administration, 50% of new businesses fail within the first 5 years!
Why new businesses typically fail
When we dig a bit deeper into those stats, the two biggest reasons they fail are due to a) a lack of cashflow and b) businesses are trying to sell something that no one actually wants.
If you use the traditional business model, you are most likely investing all sorts of money in training, products, inventory, and sometimes even a location. This means you are laying out a ton of cash right from the get go!
And that doesn’t even include the ongoing investment in marketing to find customers!
An unconventional life coaching business model
Early on in my business, I decided to throw out the conventional way of doing business, and I came up with a little process that I still use till this day to connect with new and ongoing clients.
When I started applying this method with my very first business, that’s when I started connecting with higher levelclients.
The life coaching business model I use looks like this:
Get clear on your message –> Build up your audience –> Create an offer just for them –> Expand on what’s working in your business
The benefits behind an unconventional life coaching business model
The beauty behind this unconventional life coaching business model is it allows you to start a business without a ton of upfront expense.
You don’t need to buy a business license. You don’t need business cards. Heck, you don’t even really need training. All you need to focus on when starting out your life coaching business (and this works for any business really) is picking a topic that solves a problem, gives people steps through a transformation, or helps them overcome something challenging.
Once you pick the topic, start writing about it in your content online and sharing it in person. If you solve a heart felt need for people, they will become fans.
The more you talk about their challenge, and they resonate with your message, the faster you will build up an audience… so it’s really up to you how much you want to contribute in your content.
Your content can be shared through blog posts, lives on Facebook and Instagram, speaking engagements, and more.
Related Post: How to Start a WordPress Blog on Bluehost
What to do once you’ve built up an audience
Once you have established yourself as an authority or expert in the topic, now it’s time to get feedback from your followers so you can create an offer tailored just for them. People are most likely reading your content and warming up to you at this stage. And this is your opportunity to poll them or create a soft launch of a product to test out its viability.
A perfect way to do this is to start talking about a topic in more detail. Pick something your audience has been resonating with and invite them to be a part of lives, challenges, or to sign up for emails about the topic.
While you are hosting the live or challenge, ask your audience questions about their struggle and get feedback from them. Pay close attention to the questions and comments they have about the topic. It’s very important to be listening during this time. If you do this right, your audience will tell you exactly what they need!
Then your job becomes creating products and services that fill their deepest needs.
Create an offer or product to serve them
Now that you know what your audience need most, it’s time to step into being a life coach and create products or services that walk them through the transformation.
I suggest keeping the topics focused and on the simple side. In your live or challenge, you probably spoke about what they are struggling with and what they can use to improve their life.
Your product or service should show them HOW to do the steps. What specifically do they need to do to get from point A to point B?
Outline these steps (keep it to 3 to 5 main steps) and create an eBook, online class, or group program to walk your audience through the steps.
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10 Tips for Creating an Online Course Fast
How to Start a Blog and Make Passive Income Mini Course
Digital Products- How to Decide When to Offer an eBook, a Masterclass, or an eCourse for your Audience
Selling without being salesy
Once you have created a simple product or service, you must be willing to offer it to your audience (technically, this is selling… BUT by now, your audience is warmed up to you, and they are probably eager for the steps to get through their transformation.)
At no point do you have to become salesy or pressure people to buy your product or service. Simply invite your audience to join in, and the “right people” will sign up or buy from you.
Expanding your life coaching business
As you observe your audience over time and see what products and services are best serving them, you can make educated decisions about where to focus more of your energy in your life coaching business.
When you have a better idea of what is working in your business, you can look for ways to delegate tasks, expand your team, invest in tools, outsource and more.
Creating a business plan at this point in your business can help you get clear about what next BIG steps to take. It may seem backwards to create a business plan once your business is thriving, but it actually makes more sense to do one at this point. In the traditional business model, creating a business plan at the beginning creates a lot of overwhelm and decisions are based on guessing.
The difference with this unconventional life coaching business model is your decisions become based off of real results and real numbers, and THAT is the best guide of all about where to focus next!
What are you at in the business set up process? Are you clear on your messaging to your audience and what they struggle with? What ideas from this post would best serve your audience right now??? Comment below!
More Resources:
Start Your Online Business Bundle– our flagship course designed to walk you through the process of creating a business in complete alignment with YOU.
Affiliate Marketing Course– this course walks you through how to make money from your blog or online business by using affiliate links.
A Host Provider for Your Blog– this is the Host Provider we recommend if you are setting up your online business, website, or blog.
