There are a lot of revenue streams waiting for coaches on the web. The six figure potential is just around the corner and the best time to start an online coaching business is now.
With online coaching, you can touch base with your prospects and clients any time of the day. They can attend events, book a call with you, and connect with fellow community members.
Launching your business online is cost-effective. No need to spend time and money on venues or commuting. Just plug in and enjoy more time with your clients.
-
Define your niche
-
Set your coaching business objectives
-
Identify your online business process
-
Build your community
Define your niche
You know you’re knowledgeable at something. That’s great! Now, the first step is finding your niche by narrowing down what you’re really expert about in your chosen industry.
Your industry could be fitness, career, finance, or personal development. A niche is a more targeted and specific approach. Here’s how to differentiate:
-
You could be a career coach OR a career coach for fresh graduates seeking guidance in landing their first job
-
You could be a fitness coach OR a fitness coach who helps women balance their natural hormones through exercise
-
You could be a life coach OR a life coach that helps people in their early 20s get through challenges commonly encountered at this age.
PRO TIP: When choosing your niche, think about the positive impact you’d like to create and who are you dedicating it to.
Define your online coaching business objectives
Your objectives are your core values. It’s the heart of business and will help you make decisions along the way.
What experience would you like to give? And what would you like to get from it?
As a guide, here are some business objectives you can set now:
-
Value proposition
Deciding on a niche helps a lot with this because you know exactly who it is for. The value is the benefit your clients and community members gain by joining your classes. You can design unique curriculums, exclusive resources, and 1:1 coaching tailored to meet different needs.
-
Finances
Set your rate and target revenue for the next 3, 6, 9, or even 12 months. Do the numbers add up when you’ve examined how much it costs you to offer the services? How much is your time worth? Is it worth all the mental, physical, and emotional capital you have poured into the programs?
-
Sustainability
It’s always easier to start than keep the business going. That’s why planning ahead is vital to pave the long road. Plan how you can attract more prospects and what will make them stay. Geekout PRO, for example, offers discount pricing for those working in public sectors to invite them over to the community space.
When you have all these, you are set to become a rising online coaching startup!
Identify the process on how to start an online coaching business
Now that you’ve set your goals in your chosen niche, it’s time to make them happen!
But how? You can break down your planning into three: onboarding new clients, booking a session, and payment methods.
They want to see you what you do right away. Your services, rates, and booking details will be the first questions in their minds. The answer is a clear and concise landing page that prompts them to sign up, schedule consultations, and purchase your digital products.
2. Booking process
Online coaches commonly use apps like Calendly, Google Forms, and Google Calendars to manage their business. These tools are great but you have to switch from one to the other to lock in clients. And you have to manage these accounts separately.
When finding the best platform, look for one where you can stay connected with your clients 24/7.
A confusing payment process can lead to cart abandonment.
Make sure your payment process is smooth. It reduces frustration and increases the likelihood of customers completing their purchase, leading to higher conversion rates and customer retention.
In business, your goals should be measurable and that’s when using analytics comes in handy! Having a database allows you to track your members’ growth and see your active members.
You can see your monthly earnings and payouts. Plus, track your best selling products.
Analytics is a great tool to optimize your services.
You see, these things are technical and that means they can be automated. It’s even better if you could use a single platform that allows you to do all these.
Then, you can focus on more important things in your coaching career—your value and expertise.
Build your Community
Hardselling your products and services in the online coaching industry tends to shy prospects away. Trust and communal relationships sustain this business.
You can create a website or build an app where you can manage your community, but it takes years to perfect. If you’re looking to start now, there are free community platforms like nas.io. You can integrate existing channels like WhatsApp, Telegram, or Discord.
The great thing about using community platforms is how easily they make the process. Just think of a name for your community, set up your landing page, and connect to your chat app. All of this takes as fast as five minutes.
Once you’re in, you can now upload exclusive courses, display available slots for coaching, and invite everyone. They can enjoy exciting events and participate in daily, weekly, and monthly challenges.
You can create a fitness community like Fitness with Apoorva doing 1:1 coaching to support her Personalized Strength Training
Program. Web3 Communities like Moonhunter offer a 1:1 coaching program to help their members onboard from Web2 to Web3. And Personal/Career Development Communities like Dhairya Decodes offer a 45-minute mentoring session for career guidance.
All this can happen on a community platform that is super easy to use!
As soon as you launch your business online, your market is wider than ever. The World Wide Web is your oyster!
An online coaching business also breaks down geographical barriers. You can go beyond the limits of your town and open networking opportunities with people of diverse backgrounds.
This will promote a better, sustainable, and engaging community.
Conclusion
At this point, you have the roadmap to start a successful online business. The next step is to execute these steps one by one and start making a positive impact on your community. The secret to your success as a virtual coach is out and it’s time to begin the journey of constantly adapting and optimizing to give your community the best experience!
If you want to learn more about community benefits, check out our blog on Why Building a Community Pay More than Amassing Audience.
