How to Become A Life Coach [WITHOUT A Certification]

One of the lingering questions most new coaches have is whether or not they should get a coaching certification. And this one little question can potentially cause you to self sabotage, so let’s talk about it!

 

If you’re new here I’m KellyAnne and I help coaches create profitable coaching businesses by monetizing and scaling their genius in signature programs and other digital products.

 

So, If you’re ready to learn how to become a life coach and build a life coaching business (regardless of whether you choose to get certified) then this is the blog for you.

 

Now friend, as you’re starting to explore whether or not to get your coaching certification I’d like you to ask yourself or journal on why you think you need one.  

 

Maybe it’s to build up confidence in working with clients.

Or, perhaps you think people will take you more seriously if you’re certified.

Or maybe it’s even to avoid potential awkward discovery call questions at some point.

 

Friend, I’ve been coaching since 2013 and have been able to generate multiple 6 figures in my coaching business online WITHOUT A CERTIFICATION...   I’ve also never been asked by a client if I was certified.

 

And do you want to know why? Most people don’t care.

 

What I know to be true is that your clients care about 1 thing--- getting results. If they think you’re the person to support them in getting the results they want, they’ll hire you.

 

Now, I find a lot of people prevent themselves from starting their life coaching business and attracting clients because they have a false belief that they need a certification before they get started. 

 

But I’m here to tell you, friend, that it’s really just a mindset. And today I want to show you that if you’re called to get your coaching certification ...great! But, you don’t need one! 

 

So let’s get into the 6 tips on what you DO need (whether you’re certified or not) if you want to become a successful life coach.

 

 

Become A Life Coach Tip 1: Choose Your Method  

The first step is to decide if you’re planning on coaching, mentoring, teaching or a combination of all three. 

 

Oftentimes I’ll hear clients share that they want to coach, but then when they describe what they want to do, it sounds more like mentoring.

 

Now, it's important to know that there is a difference between the three.

 

Coaching involves asking questions and facilitating insights so that clients can discover their own answers, and come to their own strategies.

As a coach, you facilitate an experience to help clients explore their own ideas and come up with the best solutions. 

 

Mentoring is when you’ve accomplished something and are willing to show a client the steps you took to get there. This will typically include a coaching element so a client can discover their own path towards a similar result, however, you’re providing the step by step or outline of concepts and topics they will follow.

 

Teaching is taking that outline and simplifying, organizing, and packaging complex topics so that they are easily understood by your clients and simple to implement.

 

If you were to really sit with what you anticipate doing with clients you may find that you’re a lot like my 1:1 clients who do a combination of all three.

 

And while you don’t need a certification (like I said before, I don’t have one), I certainly recommend honing in on your skills and practicing coaching, mentoring and teaching so that your client relationships are win-win for everyone!

 

I’ve personally read books on coaching and practiced on people in my life. I’ve taken copywriting courses to learn how to simplify content. I’ve reworked my signature programs multiple times based on feedback I received and watching clients flow through the programs.

 

So, as long as you go in with the mindset that you’re a lifelong learner and that your business and skills are ever evolving, you’ll be able to coach, mentor, teach and support your clients to get results without a life coaching certification.

 

Become A Life Coach Tip 2: Claim Your Empire 

As you embark on this journey of becoming a life coach, it’s important to determine your lifestyle plan & map out what you intend for your empire to look like, so you can build a business that fits into your lifestyle.

 

So, let’s start with your lifestyle plan.  If you’re anything like my clients and I, you’re becoming a life coach to make an impact in people's lives,  AND to live a life of freedom.

 

To me freedom means doing what I’m aligned with, whenever I want, however I want. 

 

For example, right now I’m traveling the US in an RV!  I can do that because I’ve set up my business that way.

 

Freedom also means having financial overflow so I can experience everything this world has to offer.

 

And now that we’re talking about this, I’d love for you to take a moment and think about what lifestyle freedom means to you.

 

Okay, so now that you know your lifestyle plan, you can get an idea of how much time you’ll have available to work on and in your business. 

 

Maybe you want to work 10 hours per month with 1:1 clients, or 3 hours per month facilitating group coaching programs, or maybe you don’t want to be present with clients at all and want your impact to come from serving students through online courses and digital products.

 

You get to do your business however you want!

 

For me, I’ve always had a big vision for the amount of coaches I wanted to support, and when I first started my business in 2013 one of my first mentors said something I’ll never forget. 

 

When I was initially setting up the mind map for my coaching business, she told me to “build my business like I had a 1000 clients & students right now.  How could I serve 1000 people and still have a fulfilling life experience?”

 

That question changed how I organized my entire online empire from the beginning and I encourage you to consider the same thing.

 

Become A Life Coach Tip 3: Create Your First Signature Program 

 

Your Signature Coaching Program is the one thing that sets you apart from all of the other coaches out there, and it will help your clients understand what to expect when they work with you.

 

When a coach comes to me struggling the very first thing we talk about is their signature program. I ask questions like:

• Do you have a signature coaching program?
• What’s the topic?  
• What’s the title? 
• Tell me about your marketing strategy.

 

So many times the coach and I don’t get beyond that first question… especially if it's someone who is fresh out of getting certified. 

 

It’s important for you to know that getting certified as a coach is only about obtaining a coaching certification and has nothing to do with building a coaching business or attracting clients.

 

That’s why regardless of whether you have a coaching certification or not, one of the first things you’re going to do in your coaching business is to create your signature program.

 

This is your unique, simple step by step process that guides your future clients from the challenge they’re having to the solution you’re promising.

 

No matter how you slice it, a signature coaching program is the launch pad for everything in your business.

It helps to

• clarify your ideal clients
• marketing message
• organic traffic strategy
• email list building techniques
• sales funnels
• and so much more!

 

It's your "gameplan" to help you step into a world of possibilities and opportunities!

 

So, if you don’t have a signature program yet, go ahead and read this blog and I’ll walk you through it. 

RELATED BLOG: How to Create A Signature Program [THAT SELLS]

 

Become A Life Coach Tip 4: Stand Out From The Crowd

 

Mhmmm, you know you weren’t getting out of this video without hearing about niching down… and that’s because it’s SO important! 

 

A niche is a specialized section of the market that’s looking for a particular kind of product or service. In simple terms, it’s a group of people who share a common problem or struggle.

 

A niche coaching business allows you to focus on a specific area of expertise and build credibility on that topic. So, honing in on ONE niche of life coaching is what will set you apart and magnetize the perfect clients and students to you! 

 

To do this, consider something you enjoy talking about and teaching.  And I mean really enjoy… so much so that it’s a passion and you can’t help but shout it from the rooftops.

 

Think about the ONE problem you’ve been able to solve for yourself and want to help others overcome. 

 

Maybe you're a new single mom who’s been able to create a smooth lifestyle transition for your kids.

 

Or maybe you’re a relationship coach that specializes in helping clients consciously uncouple in a respectful and loving way.

 

Just saying you’re a life coach can be too vague because there are SO many things a life coach can do. So, we want to go a little deeper than that.

 

Being able to narrow down a specific problem or topic is what’s going to help you stand out from all the other life coaches who are marketing themselves in a more general way. 

 

So, if you want to go deeper on this topic, go ahead and read the blog below and I’ll walk you through choosing a more specific and profitable niche for your life coaching business.

RELATED BLOG: How To Choose A Profitable Coaching Niche | Life Coach Training

Become A Life Coach Tip 5: Create a solid personal brand

Your personal brand will either attract the perfect clients for you and weed out the rest.

 

It's more than just a logo, custom script fonts, or a lovely color palette.

 

Yes, those things are important, but what's more important is your story, your personal results, and YOU as a person.

 

Your personal brand is a representation of who you are, which is why it's called PERSONAL, right?

 

Gone are the days when we think we have to show up a certain way in order to be taken seriously or seen as a "professional". You get to add who you truly are to everything you do.

 

And that, my friend is scary at times, and 100% liberating.

 

It’s also how you create influence, which then leads to impact and ultimately income.

And if you want to learn some actionable personal branding tips to implement so you can build your personal brand in your online coaching business, click the blog below!

 

RELATED BLOG: How To Build Your Personal Brand

 

Become A Life Coach Tip 6: Self Leadership

 

Coach, enrolling consistent clients & students takes more self leadership & strategy than you think. 

 

Self Leadership is being able to lead and influence your mind, emotional state, behaviors and your connection to your personal power in order to create an intentional result.

 

And influencing your habitual mindsets and emotions is a serious commitment; one that you’ll be working on a lot. 

 

In fact, building a successful life coaching business will most definitely challenge your beliefs and capabilities on many levels, and will call for you to rise internally which will lead to external shifts. 

 

Basically, you can expect to mostly do self leadership work, with strategy and systems mixed in.

 

And whether you’re certified or not, there’s no way around this!

Now Coach, as you can see from these tips, you don’t necessarily NEED to be a certified life coach in order to create an online coaching business and start working with clients. 

 

Although, there is an “order of things” to follow so that you can work with clients, make money and live a life of freedom faster. 

 

🔥 And if you wanted to dig deeper on this, I created a program for this called Signature Program That Sells. 

This is going to walk you through not only mapping out and building your signature Program from scratch, but also the process you need to SELL it in an aligned and authentic way...whether that’s in one product, program or service, or by creating multiple streams of income with digital products. So, go ahead and click the picture below to learn more and get that now.

 

📣 Lastly, if this blog was just what you needed in your coaching business, please let me know by sharing it with your coach friends.

  

Until next time, Coach, keep building your empire!

 

XO KellyAnne

 

📣 Psst... If you're looking for the next level of support, check out the Signature Coach 1:1 coaching package! During this 4 month 1:1 experience you and I will create, package, market and begin to enroll clients into your shiny new Signature Coaching Program.  CLICK HERE to learn more about The Signature Coach 1:1 Coaching Experience!

 

 

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