Become a Coach

There are many ways to become a coach. However, there are also many things you don’t need to do in order to be a coach. Many people think they need a certification in order to become a coach, but, in reality, many places in the world don’t even require this. Yes, a certification /multiple certifications look more credible, but, many people still feel inadequate as a coach WITH a certification. If you aren’t good enough without it, you’ll never be good enough with it. I’m not suggesting you don’t get a certification – I’m suggesting that you get some experience under your belt to make sure this is really what you want to do with your life. If it isn’t, a certification is a waste of time and money. Below are many things that will be helpful if you are seriously considering becoming a coach.

Start Where You Are

• Figure out how many hours you can devote to your coaching business (10+ hours is best).
• What supplies/equipment do you already have (see list below)?
• Who do you want to work with? Corporations? Individuals? Both?
• What is your passion? What makes money? Ideally, you want something that fits both.
• What services do you want to offer?
• What price do you want to charge (Do research to find out what coaches are charging)?
• What medium do you want to use (public speaking, online, face-to-face, etc.)?
• How do you want to market your services?

Find a Coach Who Can Help You Become a Coach

• Do a Google Search on coaches who train others to be coaches.
• Watch or create YouTube videos about coaches who train coaches.
• Look online for websites or contact information of coaches who can help you.
• Drive around looking for businesses of coaches in your neighborhood.
• Network by joining networking clubs in your area or talk to people you know.
• Hire a coach for yourself to find the value you can give to others.
• Look no further – you’ve found me (Jeffrey Sooey/JTS Advisors).

Supplies/Equipment That Can Be Helpful/Essential

• Your roladex or internet database to find contacts who can become clients.
• A phone book/superpages.com can help you find more people who can become clients, since you may run out of your own names to call.
• A microphone can be useful for webinars, videos or phone coaching.
• A whiteboard for brainstorming of ideas.
• A website, Auto-responder, Squeeze Page, Google Ad (if doing internet marketing) are important ways to obtain and organize more clients.
• Read books from successful coaches/entrepreneurs.
• A webcam is useful for webinars, videos or phone coaching.

How to Find Clients to Coach Offline

• Offer 100 free coaching sessions.
• Make coupons for no-cost coaching sessions.
• Ask family and friends if you can practice on them.
• Ask for referrals from family, friends or current clients.
• Place ads at local grocery stores, gyms, colleges, or wherever you can.
• Go to businesses that will allow you to help their employees.
• Go to expositions of your chosen trade.
• Ask to speak publicly for personal development groups/network marketing businesses.

How to Find Clients to Coach Online

•  Advertise your services on websites that have a classifieds section.
• If available, place an advertisement on a local online newspaper.
• Ask to write a guest post for a blog that would be viewed by your target market.
• Start writing a blog for your target market.
• Purchase or create an SEO-optimized website.
• Find an auto-responder that works well for your needs.
• Place an advertisement using Google Adwords.
• Post your website onto website directories (dmoz.org, etc.).
• Purchase an SEO advertising platform to help your website rank higher in Google.
• Present a webinar to your target market, either for free or charge a fee for it.
• Find your target market online and answer questions for those potential clients using websites like Yahoo! Answers or answers.com.
• Look for your target market by participating in forums (omgili.com, etc.).
• Post information and updates about your business on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, etc.).

Believe You Can Become a Coach Successfully

You have all you need inside of you RIGHT NOW to become a great coach. You simply may need some additional skills to become profitable. Make sure to be honest with your circumstances and make a plan to make it happen. Positive thinking is wonderful, but you’ll also need a LOT of true grit and hard work. You CAN achieve what you currently think is impossible. Help is always on the way at just the right time if you prepare yourself for it.

By the way, why should you even listen to me? First of all, many coaches have helped me become the coach I am and I am willing to do the same for you. Yet, I have learned to become a coach by doing some things the hard way. Because of this, I can teach you many things that will save you a lot of money, time and heartache. I started this blog to make it simple for you to become a profitable coach. Feel free to stick around the blog to learn more. I would love to help you become a coach, the best coach you possibly can become, soon.

Hope you took some great value out of this post today! I’d love to hear your feedback, so make sure you leave a comment with your thoughts or questions. And also, you can click on the Twitter button below to retweet this article…Thank you!

Jeffrey T. Sooey
CEO, JTS Advisors
Founder, Coaches Training Blog community