If you like being a part of others’ success and have mentored or coached others, becoming a professional coach may be appealing to you. This article provides insights and considerations around making coaching your full-time profession. It is part of a broader series by Whispered on Career 2.0 options.
What kind of coach will you be?
How you position yourself as a coach determines the kinds of problems your clients will hire you to help them solve. The name you choose to describe your coaching practice is a first step to narrowing your practice. You can get creative with how you describe yourself, but coaching basically falls into these three main categories.
Life coach. Help people look at life holistically (career, relationship, health, overall wellbeing) and make positive changes to improve the quality of their life.
Career coach. Work with people at a career transition – or those who desire a career transition – to build and execute a plan for a successful and rewarding career.
Executive coach. Help clients increase their impact, presence, and effectiveness as leaders in their company.
Note: For insights on business coaches/advisors, see our article on Fractional Executives.
Within each of these types of coaching, you may choose to narrow your focus. As a career coach, you could specialize in a particular skill (like resume writing or interview skills) or a specific point in someone’s career trajectory (job transition, corporate-to-consultant, career change, etc.). Similarly, as an executive coach, you could focus on communication, conflict management, culture, new managers, c-suite leaders, and more. Your choice of focus area will be a combination of your skills and interest, and your sense of market demand.
Considerations
Working as a full-time coach means running your own business. There is more involved than just the coaching work. Here are some of the key elements to consider.
Marketing & Business Development. Expect to spend 50%+ of your time on marketing and business development, maybe higher when you’re getting started.
Your network matters. Referrals are a common source of business. The better your network, the more opportunities you will get.
B2B or B2C. You can choose to build a brand and market to individuals, or you can target businesses (including VCs, PE, etc). Once again, your network matters. Leverage the connections you have.
Pricing. You have a huge amount of leeway in pricing – both in structure and amount. You can charge hourly, sell packages/programs, or sell projects with a specific outcome. Coaches charge anywhere from $75/hour to hundreds of thousands of dollars for company-wide organizational change.
Differentiation. There are thousands of coaches. What makes you unique enough to stand out?
Coaching Framework. Do you have a toolkit / roadmap / coaching system that you will market and sell? Similarly, will you use personality / strengths / leadership assessments or other tools to support your work? You don’t need these, but they can help with your marketing and sales.
Certification. Very few clients ask about professional certifications, but certifications may boost your confidence and give you frameworks as you start your coaching business. They may also lend credibility to potential clients. If you get a certification, go for a big brand name like ICF.
Sales. You will always be the first and most important sales person for your coaching business. If you aren’t comfortable and familiar with sales, consider a class or coach to improve your sales skills.
Ways to Get Work
If you don’t invest regularly in building a pipeline of work, you will have the curse of most coaches: feast and famine. The following approaches for building a pipeline are largely the same as how you land fractional work:
Speaking at conferences and on podcasts
Writing and creating content. Build a content loop. Give away your knowledge and monetize operationalizing it. Make sure you reply to every comment… it provides more content ideas
Social Media Find posts you bring special insight and comment on them. And post your content to drive dialog and build your brand
Customer Referrals. Deliver amazing value, especially early. Ask for testimonials and referrals early – after a few months.
Workshops. Provide free (or low cost) one hour workshops or webinars. These can drive word of mouth, and if you have good connections with venture firms, they may promo you to their portfolio. Some coaches also advertise to fill their workshops.
Relationships where you have a dialog with a decision-maker and nourish it can often lead to coaching work
Consider Joining a Marketplace: Marketplaces can be a source of business, but you have little control over your clients and pricing, which is often low. Examples: Exec, BetterUp.
CEO Groups. Groups like Vistage, EO, and YPO have paid facilitators that often have their own coaching business. You can also be a speaker at these organizations.
Cold Outreach: Unless you build a great funnel, you’ll have to do warm/cold outreach
Set Yourself Up for Success
Be clear on your super power and build your brand:
Stand out by niching down on your value proposition
Build your brand and network
Understand your target ICP deeply
Join a community
Connect with other coaches. They aren’t competitors; they can be referral partners, resources, and business support
Invest in yourself. Whether it’s a coach, sales training, or ongoing professional education, keep learning and investing in your skills.
Consider building your own team. A virtual assistant is an easy and low-cost way to start
Struggling with your Career 2.0 vision?
If you want help thinking through your options, we have partnered with some career coaches who specialize in helping you get clear on your next step.