Mistake #1: Avoiding face-to-face training
Coaches who try to learn how to coach from manuals and limited (anything less than 50 hours of training) training generally struggle to achieve the success that is possible.
How to avoid this mistake:
The reality is, when you’re coaching your clients you will be coaching them both on the phone and face-to-face. You MUST learn how to do this advanced technique and the only way to learn this is through seeing successful coaches demonstrate it, and then you practice it with supervision. Learning through manuals is only part of the picture and your success is accelerated when you participate in a live training.
Mistake #2: Not specialising
People who remain “Life Coaches” and who don’t develop a special niche or area of expertise earn much less than specialist coaches.
How to avoid this mistake:
Choose a program that teaches you how to develop your own niche from someone who has already done it. You need to also learn about a number of niches so you will eventually be able to explore which niches you might like to specialise in. (Start to learn about niches immediately, but allow 12 to 18 months of starting your training before you specialise, unless you already know what you want to focus on.) The simple reality is that coaches who specialise earn more than double that of “generalist” coaches who don’t specialise. Niches can include (this is not the whole list):
- Spiritual Coaching
- Career Coaching
- Leadership Coaching
- Image Coaching
- Parent Coaching
- Business Coaching
- Executive Coaching
- Sales Coaching
Mistake #3: Not enough focus on marketing
Most people (more than 90%) start their training with us with no experience of marketing. Too many new coaches are strong at coaching but have little clue about how to market their business. The clients are there if you know how to reach them. The best coach in the world will not succeed unless people know they are there!
How to avoid this mistake:
Firstly, you MUST choose a Life Coaching School that will provide extensive training in marketing your coaching practice. This training needs to take the form of classes, Webinars, manuals, demonstrations, support, and mentoring of a recommended minimum 6 months of training. The more our students learn about marketing, the more success they can create. We have coaches who haven’t graduated yet who are already earning six figure incomes because they know how to reach their audience.
Mistake #4: Rely only on one-on-one coaching for their full-time income
In the E-Myth, Gerber talks about the “entrepreneurial seizure’ that people have – they go into business because they love something, but when they have a holiday, so does their income. This is not a business, it’s a hobby or a “Mum and Pop Store”. A BUSINESS has sustainable income even when the business owner is not there. Too many coaches ignore this when they first start out. If you plan on staying part-time, then you can disregard this. If you plan on coaching full-time within the next 2 years, then we strongly suggest learning these skills.
How to avoid this mistake:
We strongly recommend you learn about “multiple sources of income” as early as possible, say, within 6 months of starting your training. This can include developing a CD, a DVD, a series of articles, an online membership business, a training company, an agency of coaches, a series of teleclasses, downloadable e-books and e-classes...
The Coaching Institute is the ONLY Life Coaching School that provides this training, through its Diploma Diamond Club Membership.
People become Life Coaches for a variety of reasons, including to:
