Become a Professional Life Coach

Become a Professional Life Coach: Four Life Coach Tips to Find Your Niche

One of the most important aspects as you become a professional life coach is to develop a niche. Defining a niche tells the world that you are a specialist, and not just trying to be all things to all people. Often when people decide they want to become a professional life coach, they are afraid to choose a niche because they think they might miss out on potential clients. A niche simply allows you to clearly define your target market so you can become the expert. Here are a few life coach tips to get you started:

The 3 ‘Niche Creation and Exploration’ Tips for Those Who Want to Become a Professional Life Coach:

Life Coach Tips #1

Establish your coaching vision by asking yourself these 3 questions:

What am I most passionate about?

What can I be the best at doing in the world?

What can I make money doing?

The answer lies where these 3 answers intersect. These questions are difficult, and may not be apparent when you first decide to become a professional life coach. You may need to get some general coaching experience before you truly can define your niche, and that’s OK in the beginning. But hold yourself accountable to the process and your vision will start becoming clear.

Life Coach Tips #2

Consider different life coaching niches based upon these 4 criteria:

1. Become a professional life coach for a specific group. This can be a religious group, a profession, a demographic group, or a group that shares a common interest. For example, maybe you want to be a health coach for women over 55. This doesn’t mean you can’t coach a woman in her 20’s that needs your services; it’s just not the niche you’re initially targeting.

2. Make sure you become a professional life coach in a target niche that is actively searching for solutions. To find out if people are searching for solutions in your niche, go to the Google key word search tool. It will show you the exact key word phrases people are searching for and how many times those key word phrases are used in searches.

3. Your niche should serve an emotional or irrational need. One of my mentors once referred to this tendency as the “’Oholic factor”.

People have who love chocolate, cars, or wine have an emotional need/desire.

People about to loose their home to foreclosure have an irrational desire.

Techies that have to have the latest gadget before their friends do have an irrational desire.

Real estate agents who are passionate about being the best have an emotional drive and desire.

4. Your target niche should have few perceived options. They may have options, but they may not be aware of them, or not see them as truly viable options.

Life Coach Tips #3

If you don’t already have one, hire a coach to help you through the process. If you are going to become a professional life coach, you should walk your talk and value professional life coaching enough to become a client yourself. If you don’t feel it is worthwhile to pay for coaching, how are you going to convince others that it is? .

These life coach tips will help you get started in your search. Some examples of niches include: Wellness Coaching, Relationship Coaching, Parent Coaching, Life Purpose Coaching, Career Coaching, Success Coaching, Wealth or Financial Coaching, Sales Training Coaching, Time Management Coaching, and Leadership Coaching. Just make you are passionate about your niche and that you have potential to be the best at in the world in that area. That way you will be able to serve your clients’ deepest outcomes and needs.

Colette Seymann

Accountability Coach, JTS Advisors

Technorati Tags: Become a Professional Life Coach, Life Coach Tips

Empowering Life Coaching Training: How to Boost Your Confidence Immediately as You Get Started on Your Path to Become a Professional Life Coach

Did Life Coaching Training Give You Enough Confidence?

So, you have decided to become a professional life coach and have a little life coaching training under your belt. Despite your life coaching training, do you ever wonder if you really are providing value for your clients? Are you afraid that you don’t have all the answers? Do you worry that you might give someone bad advice? Are you ever afraid that you won’t be able to become professional life coach because you don’t really have anything to offer?

Sometimes we all need a little confidence boost. For many of us, lack of confidence is what keeps us from moving forward. Even when we have enough knowledge and life coaching training to become a professional life coach.

You probably don’t realize how much you have to offer your clients.

AT THIS VERY MOMENT!

Do you know that you can make a positive difference in someone’s life right now?

The Top 5 Valuable Ways You Can Provide Value to Your Clients, Even Before you FEEL Like You’ve Become a Professional Life Coach:

1. As someone who listens

Many people have never had the experience of having someone really listening to them. Most of the time when people are talking, the “listener” is waiting for their turn to talk…and the “speaker” is trying to get their point across as quickly as possible before the other person interrupts them. To become a professional life coach, listen with the intent to really understand the other person. Make your intent is to understand your client so well that you can see the world through their eyes, not your own.

2. Being there each week

Just knowing that someone is going to be “watching them”, or making sure they are following through with their commitments, can be enough to get people to take action toward their goals. It’s just like scheduling to meet a friend at a gym. You are far more likely to go, because you don’t want to look bad.

3. Someone to bounce ideas off of

Just talking to someone often helps people get clarity over issues. Some people just need to talk about what has been rattling around inside their heads all week. Getting ideas out in the open can provide value by helping them sort through their ideas and get focused.

4. A Second Opinion

Sometimes people feel stuck, and can’t see all their options. Become a professional life coach who can add perspective and help your clients (They can’t see their blind spots).

5. Someone who is committed to their success

Just knowing that someone is on their side, providing encouragement and support, can make a huge difference in your clients’ confidence to take steps toward their goals.

These are just a few things you bring to the table – before you think that you have anything to offer clients. And for the record, I’m not advocating for anyone to stop getting more life coaching training. In fact, if you ever think you know everything you need to know…it’s time to take another life coaching training program and make sure you continue to challenge yourself. Before you know it, you will feel like you have become a professional life coach.

Colette Seymann

JTS Advisors Accountability Coach

Technorati Tags: Become a Professional Life Coach, Life Coaching Training