It’s an undeniable fact.
Every freelancer knows that once in a while the gigs pipeline runs dry.
You can’t find a gig anywhere no matter how hard you try. You return empty-handed from all your searches and pitches. Usually reliable sources yield nothing.
Nothing on your favorite job board.
No projects from your top client.
No referrals from current customers.
Thankfully, there’s a way out.
It’s an easy gig any writer at any level can do.
I’m talking about business coaching— one of the many ways of making money online.
Through coaching you can survive the dry seasons or flourish even more in times of plenty by providing professional advice to your clients. According to Statista, in 2016 the global consulting market was worth more than 250 billion U.S. dollars. That’s a lot of dough. You can have a piece of the juicy pie if you like.
How?
By adding advising businesses to the services you offer.
In this post I’ll walk you through the basics of how to become a freelance business coach. While we’re at it we’ll also discuss how you can set up your own coaching gig fast. Before we talk about the nitty-gritty, let’s take a moment and discuss what coaching is.
A Snapshot Of Professional Business Coaching
Here’s my working definition of coaching:
Professional coaching is when an experienced and knowledgeable person partners with another less experienced person or brand to help them achieve their personal or professional goals and grow to their fullest potential. This is achieved through teaching, training, support, and strategic advice.
There’s only one thing missing from the definition. For the coach to pour out his knowledge and expertise, money must exchange hands ha-ha. The person being coached should pay for services rendered.
4 Reasons Why People Need Coaches
Why do people hire coaches in the first place?
In short, people need coaches to bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be. This graphic from Sam Ovens who teaches ordinary folks how to make money through starting and growing a consulting business captures the gist of the need for coaching.
Let’s dig a bit deeper.
There are four reasons why people need coaches.
#1. The inability to reach their goals on their own
People (and companies) have goals.
But sometimes they find it tough to achieve them alone. So they need a professional guide (that’s you) to help them achieve their dreams.
#2. They want to reach their goals faster
Some people are already on their way to reaching their goals but they’re unhappy with their pace.
They realize that without help, it’ll take much longer than they’d like. The answer? Hire someone to speed up the process.
Donna Merrill sums it up beautifully: coaching is a shortcut past the dreaded learning curve.
#3. They want a proven system that’ll get them there
For every destination you want to reach, there’s someone who’s been there and back.
Why waste time and resources trying out different strategies to achieve your goals when there’s a simpler way? Why not hire someone who’s got a tried and tested system or roadmap to make things easier?
#4. They want to be accountable
In a sense coaching is a cry for accountability.
People want someone to check on them, support, and nudge them along as they journey towards their dreams.
3 Sumptuous Benefits Of Coaching
Coaching is such a sweet gig in 3 ways:
#1. First and foremost, you get paid for it.
That’s the whole idea, right? 🙂
#2. Second, it’s easy to start.
You don’t need any capital to start earning through giving strategic advice. The only significant investment you have to make is time.
#3. Thirdly, coaching is a marketing research lab.
You get paid to learn about your audience’s most pressing needs. How cool is that?! And, once you know them, you can develop a service or product to meet them.
John Morrow is a good example of the power of coaching.
For several years, he worked as a sub-editor at Copyblogger. Then one day he wrote a blog post and offered the Copyblogger audience coaching services.
He netted 5 figures. But that’s not all. Through intimate interaction with his audience he noticed all his clients were longing for one thing: traffic. He then launched Boost Blog Traffic now Smartblogger, a thriving blog that makes $100k+. Monthly.
Not bad, hey.
Me, A Pro Company Coach…No Ways?!
I know what you’re thinking.
How on earth can I be a professional coach? Have people pay poor little old me for giving them advice? How’s that possible?
I don’t have credentials or a string of letters behind my name.
I feel you my friend.
Let’s say you’re a grade 4 writer on a scale that ranges from 1-10. So you can’t coach anyone, right? Wrong.
There are a couple of rungs below you.
You can certainly be a great coach for newbie writers who are at 0-1. You can help them improve their skills to level 2-3. If anything, you are the best coach for these people because you’re not too far ahead of them. You can identify with what they’re going through.
Empathy is a big part of successful coaching.
You have what it takes to become a professional coach. You just have to see what part of your knowledge and expertise you can take advantage of to meet the needs of your audience.
Don’t be scared. You’ve got what it takes to do this, okay.
4 Easy Ways To Land Your First Coaching Client
Starting a coaching service is not as difficult as it looks. Here are four sure-fire ways to land your initial clients.
#1. Send an email to your list
The first and easiest way to start a coaching service is to write an email to your audience. In your email just let them know you now offer coaching.
#2. Write a guest post
Guest posts are another way of kick-starting a coaching career. Target a blog where your ideal clients hang out. In your bio market your coaching services.
#3. Do a webinar
Another proven way to get coaching clients is to do a high-value webinar directly connected to your coaching topic. In the webinar provide part of the solution to your clients’ problems. Pitch your service as a natural progression to complete the process.
#4. Run some Facebook Ads
Facebook ads are a cheap and easy way of launching a coaching service. Decide on your budget and run ads advertising your services.
Coaching: Much More Than A Side Hustle
Indeed, coaching is more than a side hustle.
It’s a lucrative standalone business.
Many folks like you earn six or seven figures from coaching alone. Those with off-the-charts results make millions. That’s a pretty dollar for just advising people 🙂
Even if you’re not aiming so high you should still try it because through coaching you’ll:
- Earn decent supplementary income to keep the lights on or go for that dream holiday you’ve always desired.
- Learn about your audience’s deep needs so you come up with ideal products or services for them.
- Test and tweak pilot services or products and get valuable feedback on how to improve.
- Sharpen and deepen your knowledge and expertise as you dig deep in order to help your clients.
What are you waiting for?
Go land your first or next coaching client. Things may be rocky at first. But eventually you’ll steady the ship and become a better coach.
Coach your way to the bank or beach.
It’s cool either way if you ask me 🙂
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