Launching a new career is never easy. But with proper guidance and the right tools, today’s entrepreneurs can get their businesses off the ground much faster than before.
As you start to imagine what your career will look like, consider these steps for how to become a business coach.
1. Find your niche
Identify your specialty within the world of online business coaching. Once you have a niche, you can more easily market and grow your brand. Here are a few different types of business coaching that you might focus on.
Teams coaching – Build an interactive curriculum for groups of all sizes. By introducing teams to your business strategies, you’ll help them function with more efficiency and cohesion.
Executive coaching – One-on-one coaching can be a lucrative option when you secure clients who are willing to invest in their top executives. Mentor these titans of industry with your expertise in finance, management skills, shareholder relations, and more.
Performance coaching – A performance coach helps to optimize someone’s ability to do their job no matter what role they hold within an organization. As a performance coach, you can work to improve individual parts of the whole, boosting a business’s overall output.
Leadership coaching – Many business owners have their products and systems mastered, but they lack natural leadership skills. Help develop these entrepreneurs into better leaders by working on communication skills, strategic thinking, and delegation tactics.
Brand coaching – Leverage your marketing expertise to help business owners establish their voice and build a marketable brand. From social media campaigns to core content, your expertise will guide brands to a more sustainable future.
2. Get the right qualifications
Once you’ve established what your niche is, it’s time to back it up with the proper qualifications. While there is no one-size-fits-all degree for online business coaches, there are plenty of options to choose from when it comes to bolstering your bona fides.
Consider taking courses in your area to gain certification. Many coaching institutes offer online courses you can complete from the convenience of your home.
If you have a college degree in business management or a related field, you may be able to leverage your credentials with higher-paying clients. Whatever your approach, make sure you put all your qualifications front and center to build trust with potential clients.
3. Define your ideal client
Identify the types of business owners that you would like to coach. You might be tempted to define your ideal client as whoever pays the most. And we can’t blame you! But put aside the money for a moment and imagine what businesses you would like to help the most.
To define your ideal client, answer the following questions:
- Is there an industry you’ve always had an interest in?
- What are your greatest strengths, and what kind of businesses could benefit from them?
- Do you enjoy working for bigger corporations, or do you prefer small businesses and sole proprietors?
- What level of entrepreneurs do you see yourself mentoring? Beginners? Or established businesspeople?
- What would bring you the most joy from your coaching agreements?
These are crucial questions to ask when you decide to become a business coach, as well as along the way to keep your work focused and on brand.
4. Create a professional website
Now the fun part! What was once an arduous task of coding and debugging is now as easy as a few clicks and drags. We’re of course talking about creating your professional website.
With Kajabi’s website builder, you’ll be able to create a fully integrated website for your coaching business. From services and payments to blogs and videos, you’ll be able to curate an attractive interface that your clients can easily navigate. You won’t have to invest in expensive designers or deal with unreliable plug-ins.
As an online business coach, you need a website that runs smoothly on the front and back ends, and Kajabi delivers just that.
5. Market your coaching skills
So far you’ve got a great website, great content, and a killer online course. Now it’s time to get the word out!
Marketing yourself is the true secret of how to become a business coach. Take an all-of-the-above approach to marketing whenever possible. This means you engage in social media campaigns, email promotions, as well as word of mouth.
In addition, search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO) are effective strategies for getting the most eyeballs onto your content. Use tracking systems for each of these strategies to see what campaigns are working and what campaigns might need some adjustment.
