3 Secrets to Running a Highly Profitable Online Health Coaching Program

3 Secrets to Running a Highly Profitable Online Health Coaching Program

3 Secrets to Running a Highly Profitable Online Health Coaching Program

If you want to run a highly profitable online health coaching program, there are a few key components you need to have in place. 

After running many online programs over the last 10 years, we’ve learned a few key lessons, and we’re sharing 3 of the most important ones on this episode. 

Here’s what you’ll discover:

  • The 3 secrets to know before you run your program
  • How to create a system you can easily rinse and repeat
  • Why having a specific niche is important to the success of your online program
  • Common mistakes to avoid and what to do instead

Tune in to find out what you want to make sure you have in place to ensure the best possible results for your online program.

When I was a health coach, I loved running online group programs because it allowed me to help more people at one time while working fewer hours. I also loved the energy and community of hosting a Facebook group for each cohort, and the participants loved it too because they felt connected and not so alone in their journey.  At the time, my kids were still pretty young, and I only had a few hours each week to see clients, so this format of coaching gave me a lot more schedule flexibility which was important. Whether you want to add another income stream, or you want to streamline your business more, this episode will be helpful.

Before we get started, I wanted to let you know that my pre-made, 6-month health coaching program called Coach with Confidence is on sale right now. Today, through August 16th, it’s 30% off with code: AUG2023.  You get all the content and resources you need to run a successful health coaching program – both with your 1-on-1 clients and as an online program. One of the biggest hurdles to launching a coaching program is having all the content and systems you need, so the Coach with Confidence program solves that for you, so you can start coaching and helping people now instead of months from now. This program comes with 12 comprehensive health and wellness topics that can be customized to fit almost any niche.  One of the things coaches love about it is that it’s available in Canva too, so it’s super quick and easy to customize. 

Check it out and take advantage of the savings if it’s a good fit for you.

3 Secrets to Running a Highly Profitable Online Health Coaching Program

Let’s dive into the first secret.

1. Your program must be SIMPLE:  This applies to your tech approach and your program content.  As you get started, you don’t want to get bogged down with the tech, so the simplest way to deliver and run an online group coaching program is through a Facebook group. This can be a great way to go for your first couple of rounds that you run it, so you can test things and then decide what features or bells and whistles you want to have for the next time.  For example, you can use Practice Better to run your programs, or you can use something like Kajabi if you want it to be more like an online course.  Sometimes the biggest obstacle to getting started is the tech, so ask yourself what is the simplest way to deliver your program and do that. Taking action is always better than worrying about it being perfect.

As far as being simple for your clients, you want the action steps to be simple and easy to implement and not overwhelm people with too many things to do.  Less is more with our clients!  Each session should include no more than two action items at a time. An overwhelmed client is a frustrated client, and a frustrated client is likely to quit (and not refer people to you). 

While it may seem very basic to us, we have to remember that we are further along in our journey than our ideal clients are.  When you know where they are in the process, it makes it easier to share information that is relevant to them.  You just don’t want to assume they are further along, because most of them will not be.  Sometimes we feel like more is better, but in most instances, that is not the case at all, and that should be a relief for you.   

Secret #2

Your program should be SYSTEMATIZED: It’s important to have a program that you can use over and over again to save time and help more people. You need structure – a system that makes clients feel at ease and know they are in good hands. This will actually have you feeling more at ease too. A great way to do this is to have a signature program that will work with any ideal client.

When you look at the topics your clients need to know, and you map it out in a logical way, you are creating a path – a system they can follow. You can use this system with your 1-on-1 clients too.  This goes back to knowing your niche, who you help and how you help them. If you help everyone and you don’t have a set area of specialty, having a system is going to be very challenging because you’ll be covering 100 different topics, but when you focus on a specific problem and solution, creating a core foundational program becomes so much easier.

There are 12 popular health and wellness topics included in my Coach with
Confidence
program and it gives you a system you can easily rinse and repeat. 

3 Secrets to Running a Highly Profitable Online Health Coaching Program
Secret #3 – this one is critical too if you want to enroll more new clients.

Your program must be SPECIFIC: The more specific you are about who you help and how, the more compelling and irresistible your program will be, and the easier it will be to attract your ideal clients.  It will also be much easier to convey the results they can get, which is what they want to know. If you don’t know the answer to this right now, it’s okay. The more people you help, the more clarity you’ll get on who you enjoy helping the most. 

It’s important to understand that people are searching for a solution to their specific problem, so if you say you’re a health coach who helps people eat healthy and have more energy, that’s too vague and isn’t going to be compelling enough to fill your programs because people want a specific outcome or result.

But…If you say you help women who have Type 2 Diabetes lower and manage their blood sugar through a delicious whole foods diet, you are being very clear and specific. Your goal is not to be a coach for everyone, but to be the clear and obvious choice to a few hundred people who will flock to you because you have a specific plan for them.  Choosing a niche will be incredibly helpful with your marketing efforts, so when your ideal clients see your offer, they will be much more likely to enroll because it’s clear and obvious who it’s for and how it will help them.

This is a topic we cover in depth in our Wellness Business Accelerator program, and it’s one of the lessons that makes the biggest difference for the coaches who go through it because one they figure out who they want to help and how they help them, everything else becomes easier and more effective – and they start enrolling more clients.  We’ll be opening the doors to the Wellness Business Accelerator in October, and you can get on the VIP wait list to be notified as soon as enrollment opens.

Let’s RECAP.

The 3 secrets to running a highly profitable online coaching program are that it must be:

  1. Simple – for you as the coach to implement and run, AND simple for your clients to implement.
  2. Systematized – so you can run the same program over and over again.
  3. Specific – so you can attract your ideal clients who want the solution to the problem you help them solve.

If you want to run an online coaching program but you aren’t sure how to put all the pieces into place, check out my Coach with Confidence program that gives you everything you need – you can either use it for a 6-month coaching program or you can break it up into smaller programs such as two 3-month programs.  Use code: AUG23 to save 30% through August 16th 2023. 

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The Business Growth Formula We Swear By and Why It Will Work For You

The Business Growth Formula We Swear By and Why It Will Work For You

The Business Growth Formula We Swear By and Why It Will Work For You

We often get questions from coaches that start with the words, “What’s the best way to ________?”

You can fill in that blank with whatever it is you’re trying to figure out …

…the best way to grow my email list?

…the best way to attract new clients?

…the best way to get people excited about my paid program?

…the best way to fill my program the next time I open the doors?

These are common questions that usually have more than one option or answer, but it all comes down to having a SYSTEM that works for YOU. 

In this episode of The Wellness Business Podcast, you’ll discover:

  • The 4 main components that make up our business growth formula and how you can implement them into your coaching practice
  • The individual and successful process several coaches took to move from struggling to enrolling new clients in a short period of time
  • Why planning ahead, at least 30 days before a launch, can significantly increase the number of clients you enroll during the open cart period

BTW…

The doors to the Wellness Business Accelerator are now open, but only through this Friday (April 21st).

This is our signature course that we have just fully updated for 2023, where you will discover a proven system for reaching your ideal clients online, growing an engaged email list, and consistently enrolling new clients within 60 days. You will also get support from Karen and me for 8 weeks inside a private Facebook group, so you’ll know exactly what to do every step of the way to start getting clients consistently.  Click the link above and come join us! 

Systems and processes are what we teach in The Wellness Business Accelerator. We know our system works because it’s worked for so many coaches before you. When they work through our lessons and implement what we teach they start getting clients consistently and filling their programs. 

There are 4 main components to our business growth formula.

  • Identify
  • Attract
  • Convert
  • Repeat

We’ll explain why each component is important and share the stories of coaches, just like you, who took action with our system and completely transformed their business.

Component #1: Identify

IDENTIFY is the first step in our 4-part process because it’s all about identifying your marketable ideal client. A marketable ideal client is someone that knows they have a problem, is in the process of seeking a solution, and has money they can invest in that solution.

The reason this is important is because if your ideal client is missing any of those three attributes, you’ll struggle to get clients. You have to have a crystal-clear marketing message that speaks clearly to the problem and symptoms your dream clients are trying to find a solution to.

For example, when we worked with Courtney inside our program she got these results:

Using our unique process to dial in on and identify her ideal customer was a game-changer for Courtney. Once she applied what we teach it was clear to her dream clients what she had to offer and how it would help them reach their goals. We’ve worked with many clients just like Courtney that have been close to giving up so many times on their business. Maybe you can relate to her experience of struggling for years before finally having the right coaches like us and the right formula to dial in on her marketable ideal client which finally had sales rolling in.

Another similar story in this category is our student, Sherly. Here’s what she had to say about working with us inside the Wellness Business Accelerator program.

The Business Growth Formula We Swear By and Why It Will Work For You

She took the initiative to change her niche and then work through our system one module at a time. When she implemented what we teach using our proven signature program she not only enrolled 5 new clients into her diabetes program so believes the WBA is the best investment she’s ever made.

We don’t take those words lightly because we know how frustrating it can be when you’re working so hard day after day but the clients aren’t enrolling in your program. Here’s what we know for sure. It isn’t about working harder. It’s about working smarter and following a step-by-step system that has been designed specifically for those building wellness businesses.

Component #2: ATTRACT.

Once you’re clear on who your marketable ideal client is, now it’s time to decide how you are going to attract those people, particularly when you are launching your program.

Creating a launch plan ahead of time makes all the difference in whether you have a successful launch or one where you hear crickets and walk away feeling defeated. In the Wellness Business Accelerator program, we teach you the exact steps necessary to execute a prelaunch runway that will not only get your followers and subscribers excited about your program before opening your doors, but will increase your overall number of sales during your open cart period.

That’s exactly what happened for our client Ann-Marijke. Here’s what she had to say about her launch when she implemented a prelaunch runway. 

Those are amazing results, right? A successful launch starts with what you do 30-45 days before the doors open and when you follow the step-by-step prelaunch runway system we teach in the Wellness Business Accelerator program, you’ll experience increased sales just like Anne-Marijke.

Component #3: CONVERT.

Convert simply refers to anytime you guide a new email subscriber or social media follower to take action with you in incremental steps that eventually leads to that person becoming a paying client.

A couple of the biggest challenges that we know many health coaches face is that they aren’t making offers often enough and they aren’t exactly sure how to make sales without feeling salesy.

We get it, none of us want to feel salesy but when you have a program that you believe in and you know it gets results you have to build up the confidence to invite people to join you. For instance, we believe 100% in the power of our Wellness Business Accelerator program to change the trajectory of your business to one that is profitable and scalable. We have testimonial after testimonial from past clients sharing their personal stories of struggle to triumph using our unique system and coaching support. We know it worked for them and will work for you too if you follow what we teach.

A great example of this is one of our past students, Brooklyn. Here’s what she had to say…

We love to hear this because so many of our students come to us trying to do all the things, blinded by shiny object syndrome and never feeling like they accomplish what they start out to do that results in paying clients. Inside the Wellness Business Accelerator program, we love to keep things simple so you can get organized and set up your systems. Just like Gianna you’ll be able to flush out so much of the unnecessary nonsense leading you to a more streamlined business that gets results and makes sales.

Recap

We’ve shared some important details today about the business growth formula we believe in and teach our students. We’ve built the foundation of our Wellness Business Accelerator program around this formula and are excited to share it with you. We use it in our own businesses and teach what we know works for our clients. The doors to the Wellness Business Accelerator are open right now and you are invited to join us. We have completely updated, rerecorded and streamlined this entire program for 2023 as a way to get you profitable faster than ever before.

If any one of these stories resonated with you, we invite you to join us! The doors will be open through the end of the day on Friday, April 21st and it would be our pleasure to work with you in our Spring WBA cohort.

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How to Increase New Email Subscribers Each Month

How to Increase New Email Subscribers Each Month

How to Increase New Email Subscribers Each Month

Growing your email list is something you probably already know is important, but you may not realize that the size and quality of your email list is directly tied to the profitability of your business.  That’s because most of the people who enroll in your programs will do so as a result of your emails and not directly from social media. That doesn’t mean you won’t get ANY clients from social media, but when it comes to sales, email is where a lot more transactions will happen. Even if you do a lot of in-person networking, growing your email list and staying in touch with your subscribers really isn’t optional if you want to get new clients on a regular basis.

After creating an awesome freebie or lead magnet, you want to get as many subscribers from it as possible, but you may be wondering HOW to do it.

Today, we’re sharing how to increase new email subscribers every month, so you are consistently welcoming new people into your ecosystem.

Before we share how to grow your email list each month, we need to touch on something first because getting new subscribers from your free offer isn’t just about promoting it on social media – it goes back to the free offer itself.

Whether it’s a PDF guide, a video or something else, your freebie needs to do a few things, including:

  • Solve part of a problem you know your ideal client has
  • Lead to the next step in the customer journey, such as joining your coaching program or booking a discovery call
  • It also needs to have a compelling title, so when your dream clients see it, they think “I have to have that” and they sign up for it.   

Let’s dive into how to promote your freebie to get more subscribers. 

1. The first thing that’s important to do with your email list-building strategy is to share about it in different mediums on social media.  It’s easy to think you should just share it once after you create it, but it takes repetition, and it takes people seeing it more than once before they take action.  This is a big mistake that is commonly made, and it means your followers only have one chance to sign up for it.

Here’s one example of what this could look like:

Week 1 – Share a static post about it on Facebook and Instagram

Week 2 – Do a Reel or other video of your choice such as a livestream

Week 3 – Post about it in your Facebook group

Week 4 – Write and share a blog post on a topic related to the free resource and include the link where people can get it, and then share your blog post on social media

There are more ways you can promote your free offer, but these 4 are a good place to start. Each format will allow you to reach different people.  After month 1, be sure to include different email list building strategies each month – twice a month in different formats.  Kathleen and I pick our top freebie and we promote it over and over again each month. We always include one of our freebies in our FB groups, so new members can get on our email list too. Keep in mind that you are probably getting followers each month, so you want to make sure they know about it too.

Growing your email list is something you probably already know is important, but you may not realize that the size and quality of your email list is directly tied to the profitability of your business.  That’s because most of the people who enroll in your programs will do so as a result of your emails and not directly from social media. That doesn’t mean you won’t get ANY clients from social media, but when it comes to sales, email is where a lot more transactions will happen. Even if you do a lot of in-person networking, growing your email list and staying in touch with your subscribers really isn’t optional if you want to get new clients on a regular basis.   After creating an awesome freebie or lead magnet, you want to get as many subscribers from it as possible, but you may be wondering HOW to do it.    Today, we’re sharing how to increase new email subscribers every month, so you are consistently welcoming new people into your ecosystem.    Before we share how to grow your email list each month, we need to touch on something first because getting new subscribers from your free offer isn’t just about promoting it on social media – it goes back to the free offer itself.    Whether it’s a PDF guide, a video or something else, your freebie needs to do a few things, including:    Solve part of a problem you know your ideal client has Lead to the next step in the customer journey, such as joining your coaching program or booking a discovery call It also needs to have a compelling title, so when your dream clients see it, they think “I have to have that” and they sign up for it.      Let’s dive into how to promote your freebie to get more subscribers.    The first thing that’s important to do with your email list-building strategy is to share about it in different mediums on social media.  It’s easy to think you should just share it once after you create it, but it takes repetition, and it takes people seeing it more than once before they take action.  This is a big mistake that is commonly made, and it means your followers only have one chance to sign up for it.    Here’s one example of what this could look like:   Week 1 – Share a static post about it on Facebook and Instagram Week 2 – Do a Reel or other video of your choice such as a livestream Week 3 – Post about it in your Facebook group  Week 4 – Write and share a blog post on a topic related to the free resource and include the link where people can get it, and then share your blog post on social media     There are more ways you can promote your free offer, but these 4 are a good place to start. Each format will allow you to reach different people.  After month 1, be sure to include different email list building strategies each month – twice a month in different formats.  Kathleen and I pick our top freebie and we promote it over and over again each month. We always include one of our freebies in our FB groups, so new members can get on our email list too. Keep in mind that you are probably getting followers each month, so you want to make sure they know about it too.

2. Include who the free resource is for and how it will help them.

Even though this is a free resource, you still have to “sell” it. Everyone is protective of their email address, so it has to be something really good, that your audience thinks will help them.

Here’s what you want to include in your posts and videos when you are promoting your freebie:

  • Who the free resource is for
  • How it will help them – what problem it will help them solve
  • How they can get it

Here is an example for a post for a guide called “5 Secrets to Eating Gluten Free While Traveling.” 

Your post could say something like this:

Traveling when you’re on a gluten free diet can be challenging, right?  You don’t want to be stuck at the airport or on the road without any good food options you trust.

I know what a struggle this can be and that’s why I have put together this FREE guide that shares 5 Secrets to Eating Gluten Free While Traveling.

Download your free copy here: [url to landing page here] 

Discover my top insider tips for travel-friendly snacks and food to take with you on the go, plus recommended apps to use once you reach your destination, so you’re never left wondering where to find food you can eat. 

So, you address the problem you know they have, and how your guide will help them, and then the link so they can get it. When you explain it in an easy-to-understand way, you’ll have more people opting in for it.

The two most common reasons why coaches aren’t growing their email list more each month is that they aren’t sharing about their freebie often enough (in different ways) and the benefits aren’t really clear.  When people see your post and/or they click the link to the landing page where they learn more, it has to be very clear who it’s for and what the benefit it. If people are confused or unsure, they don’t take the next step.

When you incorporate these strategies, you will be pleasantly surprised at how many new subscribes you’ll be welcoming each month.   

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How to Find Out What Your Ideal Clients Want

How to Find Out What Your Ideal Clients Want

How to Find Out What Your Ideal Clients Want

One of the most important elements of good marketing is connecting the dots between what your customers and clients want and the solution you offer.  Sometimes we think we may know what our ideal clients want, but often times, we’re really guessing and that can mean there is a disconnect between your audience and your offers. This is the most common reason for people not signing up for your free resources and enrolling in your paid programs.

Today, we’re sharing 3 easy ways to find out what your ideal clients truly want, so you can – A. Attract more of your ideal clients and B. Have more paying clients.

You’ll use the information you gather in places such as your website, sales pages, landing pages for your free offers. You can also use it for some of your free content such as blog posts, podcast episodes, and social media content, including videos.

The good news is that this is actually really easy to do, and we’ll kick things off with #1: 

1. Your Facebook group. 

If you have a Facebook group or any other online community, you can find out a ton of information about your ideal clients there.  The first way to utilize your group to find out what your ideal clients want is to use the membership questions feature to screen people before you approve them to join.  When you go to your admin tools section of your Facebook group, you’ll see the option for ‘membership questions’.  You can ask up to 3 questions, and one of them should give prospective members the opportunity to share their top struggles and challenges with you.

A simple question to ask would be “What is your biggest struggle with ______________.”

So, if your niche is helping women balance menopausal symptoms naturally, it could read something like this: “What is your biggest struggle with your menopausal symptoms.”   This should be a one very short, concise question, so people know how to answer it.  You want to keep track of the answers and look for common words and phrases they’re using to describe the problem.  One way to keep track of these answers is to use Google sheets, and you can just copy and paste the answers. When you use the same words that your audience is using, they are going to feel like you really understand them, and that helps them see you as a possible solution.   

Another way to use your Facebook group to find out what your ideal clients want is to use occasional polls, direct question posts and paying close attention to questions that are posted and conversations that are going on.  Polls aren’t the best because they aren’t open-ended questions, but if you’re narrowing down some options, it can be helpful to get some input.   For example, if your niche is related to gluten-free living, a poll question could be: What would you say is your biggest frustration when it comes to eating a gluten-free diet?  Poll answer #1.  Finding affordable food options. 2. Preparing meals.  3. Eating out.  Then allow people to add their own answer if there is something else that is a top struggle for them that’s different than the choices you list.   

A direct question post would be where you ask a question which can give you more information than a poll.  You can ask the same question I just mentioned about “What is your biggest frustration when it comes to eating a gluten-free diet?” but leave it as a regular post and people can add their answer in the comments.

Facebook groups are great because most of the members already have a level of trust with you, so they will feel comfortable being open to sharing their answers.

 

 

2. Discovery Calls.

Yes, these calls are designed to enroll clients, but they are also meant to find out what your clients really want and see if you are a good fit to help them.  Discovery calls are going to give you the most detailed an in-depth information. This is why really listening during these calls and taking notes is critical.  When you ask the right questions, you are going to get invaluable market research about where they are struggling the most, how they are feeling about it, what they actually want and why they want it.  Most people will open up to you during this call and you’ll get a lot more detailed information, you’ll hear their tone of voice and emotions, and you’ll have the chance to ask follow-up questions if you need clarification.

Asking questions such as: What is your biggest struggle with this right now?  What has been the biggest roadblock for you?  How would it feel if you reached your goal or had this problem solved?  can give you a ton of great insights into what they really want and why.

If you want a complete step-by-step discovery call script, so you have more great questions to ask, you can download my FREE Ultimate Health Coach Toolkit which also includes a Food Diary, Meal Planning Worksheet, Exercise Log, Coaching Session Template and more.

 

3. Surveys to your email list.

Surveys are another great option for gathering information about your target audience.  You’ll get a lot more responses when you offer an incentive. We’ve done this several times with great success and we like to offer Amazon gift cards because everyone likes them.  You can offer two $25 gift cards and let people know you will be choosing two winners at random – include the deadline of when they need to complete the survey and pick a date then you’ll announce the winners.

You can use surveymonkey.com or Google Forms for this if you want, and make sure one of the questions you ask is for their email address, so you can notify them and send the eGift card.

You don’t have to limit this to just your email subscribers since you can also share the survey link on social media and in your Facebook group.

Your survey doesn’t have to be super involved.  You can ask 3-5 questions to find out what their biggest struggle is that relates to your niche, what they have already tried, how is it impacting their life and what are their top 1-2 goals.   

Start with whichever of the 3 options we shared seems easiest to you right now and you add more later if you want.    

Take the information you gather and compare it to your current messaging and see where you can make some changes and/or additions to make it really grab the attention of the people you are trying to reach. Remember, you aren’t trying to attract everyone – you only want to get the attention of your dream clients. This will take a little time to do, but it will be so worth is because you’ll be enrolling more clients.

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Successfully Building A Health Coaching Business While Working Another Job – Part 2

Successfully Building A Health Coaching Business While Working Another Job – Part 2

Successfully Building A Health Coaching Business While Working Another Job – Part 2

Many coaches that we talk to believe that they don’t have the money to invest in virtual support but truth be told, you can find help for a lot less than you may think, and it will free up your time to work on more of the income-generating tasks and projects for your business.

We both wish that we would have outsourced things much sooner than we did. It took us quite a while to realize that there are tasks in our own business that anyone can do and there are some that only we can do. If we are focusing on the tasks that only we can do then we are able to make more money because a big portion of those tasks are related to working with paying clients.

Today we’re sharing 3 budget-friendly ways to get virtual support.

Option #1: Project Only Support.

This type of help would be related to a certain project, for example, having a pdf created as a freebie, video editing for your paid program, or graphics created for your next promotion.

Option #2: Promotion Only Support

This type of help would be for a certain period of time. For instance, you bring someone on for a 14-day period during your next launch. They would help you during the hectic periods, (right before, during, and right after the launch). This type of support can be invaluable during a launch period because there are so many moving parts that are happening all at the same time.

Option #3: Pre-Established Number of Hours Each Week/Month

This is an option that offers more consistent help for you and your business but can still be budget friendly when you plan ahead with the tasks and job description of what you want support with. This is a great opportunity to pass along repetitive tasks that need to be done but don’t require that you handling them. It’s also a great way to add accountability and consistency to your business because you have a set schedule with another person.

The top 5 tasks that we recommend outsourcing when you’re first starting out are:

  1. Blog posts – formatting and uploading to your website
  2. Social media – scheduling posts, creating graphics
  3. Uploading and scheduling emails into your email management system
  4. Client resources – recipes, PDF guides
  5. Graphics for your website and/or social media

We’re sure your next question is… where do I find virtual support. That’s a great question. We’ve found amazing people through the years using a couple of different resources.

The first one is Fiverr.com. This website is great for finding contractors for one off projects like PDF creation or creating graphics.

The next resource that has served us really well over the last few years is a Facebook group called: Virtual Assistant Savvies. This is an excellent group to find virtual support in every possible area of your business.

You can also try onlinejobs.ph. This is a virtual assistant finder website for help from people who live in the Philippines.  You can find people who charge as little as $6 – $8 an hour because the cost of living there is so low.

Oher options include Upwork.com and asking your colleagues for recommendations. 

The key to getting great help is to take the time to figure out exactly what you are looking for, (including a task description, number of hours per month, or if it will be periodic help/one-off projects).

Karen has a free download that will help you be successful in hiring virtual support no matter what your needs are. It’s called Outsourcing Like a Pro: 10 Steps to Outsourcing. It will be a valuable resource as you work through this process.

Here’s the thing, when it comes to successfully building your health coaching business while working another job it’s important to realize that there is only so much of your time to go around and while you can build your business at a slower pace, which is fine, it’s still important to pull in virtual support as needed so you can focus on the things that actually get you clients as well as leaving time in your calendar to actually work with clients.

As we wrap up this two-part series, we want to address one more topic that we get asked about all of the time.

How will I know when it’s time to transition my coaching business full-time so I can quit my 9-5.

This is such a great question.

While we can’t give you an exact formula because it’s different for everyone we can give you some parameters to help you make your own decision.

  1. Decide how much income your business needs to make for you to live the life you want to live. That may require some sacrifices for a while but the decision has to be yours. Once you figure out what that income needs to be you’ll then have a target for your business revenue to make the switch.
  2. You’ve tested and proven your business model. It’s important that you have some consistency with attracting the right clients as well as testimonials with client successes. Until you’ve built processes and habits into your business routine, (everything we’ve talked about in these two episodes), our recommendation is to not quit your job. Having a proven method that is getting results is a key indicator that you can transition.
  3. You’re willing and ready. Just because you can go all-in on your coaching business doesn’t mean you’re ready. Having a proven business model, building a cash cushion, and bringing in consistent income are great financial signs that you may be ready to take your business full-time, but that doesn’t mean you’re mentally or emotionally prepared. Wait until you’re ready. If you like your business being a side-hustle and don’t really want to make it your full-time gig then honor that. Trust your gut!

Decide what action you will take based on what we covered part one and part two of this series and see what a difference it makes. 

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Successfully Building A Health Coaching Business While Working Another Job – Part 1

Successfully Building A Health Coaching Business While Working Another Job – Part 1

Successfully Building A Health Coaching Business While Working Another Job – Part 1

One of the most challenging situations a health coach faces is when they are trying to build their wellness business while also working another job. We get it – you need to keep paying the bills until your coaching business can replace your income.

When this is the case, it’s important that you become extremely intentional with your time as well as streamline your day-to-day tasks as much as possible. That’s why we’re bringing you a 2-part series on the podcast called: Successfully Building A Health Coaching Business While Working Another Job

If we’ve learned anything over our 10 years in business, it’s that time management is key. Whether you have 5 hours per week to work on your business or you have a full 40 hours, the goal is always to get as much done as possible in that allotted amount of time. That requires good time management skills.

In this series, our plan is to start with the big picture and slowly zoom in on routines and planning tools that will help you to be your most productive.

Successfully building your health coaching business starts with planning and we love the 12-week planning model. We’ve talked about this method many times before on the podcast. We learned this method by reading the book The 12 Week Year by Brian Moran. The premise of the book is that rather planning in advance for an entire year, (which is what we used to do), you instead plan in 12-week or 90-day increments. Each 90-day window is its own year inclusive of list growth goals, revenue goals, and any other goals that are important to you.

When you take time to plan your next 90-day window you’ll have your marching orders for what tasks you need to prioritize and when they need to be completed.

For example, let’s say your goal is to grow your email list by 150 subscribers in the next 90 days. You can break that down to a weekly goal of 13 new subscribers. Next, you can decide if you already have a freebie that will attract those new subscribers or if you need to create a new one. Once you have that answer you can decide where you will share the link to your freebie and how often you’ll need to share to obtain those subscribers.

It could look something like this…

13 new subscribers each week means that you need to create 1 Facebook group post, 2 Facebook page posts, 1 Instagram post and 2 Instagram stories each week to meet your goal.

Do you see how the goal of 150 new subscribers can be broken down into weekly, and even daily tasks? With this method you always know what you should be working on. No more shiny object syndrome.

Now that you understand the 12-Week Year planning model, let’s zoom in a little closer to weekly time management. Again, it comes down to planning ahead. Time management looks different for each individual. Some work better first thing in the morning, some need periodic breaks to be their most productive and some are actually more creative and productive in the evening. More than likely, you have some idea of what that looks like for you.

Karen prefers to start working in the morning and power through until lunch, whereas Kathleen breaks up her day by taking a break ever hour or so. 

Let’s say you are at your best in the mornings, you’re working a full-time job, and you have 10 hours per week to dedicate to your business. If that’s the case you may want to block 1 hour off in the evenings on Monday, Wednesday & Friday and then split the other 7 hours in the mornings on Saturday & Sunday. The evening hours can be spent doing repetitive tasks like uploading your blog, scheduling your social media, and answering questions in your Facebook group. Then the weekend can be used for content creation, coaching calls, and planning an upcoming promotion. These types of tasks require you to be at your best.

One of our mentors, Amy Porterfield, always says, “If you don’t schedule it, it’s not real”. We couldn’t agree more. Having set work hours is part of a successful business. When you wait to have everything else done before you prioritize your business the time will never come. It has to be scheduled to make it happen. This may require a conversation with your family to let them know when you need privacy to get things done. We know it can be a tough conversation sometimes but setting boundaries for your dream business is as important as time management. Maybe you need to remove yourself from the proximity of your family by going to a local co-working space or coffee shop. It’s up to you to set the tone related to your schedule.

One of our favorite time management tools is time blocking. Time blocking is a time management method that asks you to divide your day into blocks of time. Each block is dedicated to accomplishing a specific task, or group of tasks, and only those specific tasks. Instead of keeping an open-ended to-do list of things you’ll get to as you’re able, you’ll start each day with a concrete schedule that lays out what you’ll work on and when.

The key to this method is prioritizing your task list in advance — a dedicated weekly review is a must. Take stock of what’s coming up for the week ahead and make a rough sketch of your time blocks for each day. At the end of every workday, review any tasks you didn’t finish — as well as any new tasks that have come in — and adjust your time blocks for the rest of the week accordingly.

Time blocking works no matter how many hours you have to dedicate to your wellness business each week because you always know what your top priorities are for the following day/block of time.

The beautiful thing about this process is you can create routines for certain days of the week.

For example, each morning the first 4 things Karen does is:

  • Check her email
  • Go through her social media accounts to reply to any posts
  • Review her project management software ClickUp to see what her team needs reviewed as well as what due dates she has coming up
  • Check Slack to see if her team has any questions for her

She does this first thing every morning without fail.  Because she’s made it a habit the process using takes 10-15 minutes. It’s super quick.

She also knows that every Wednesday morning she’ll be writing the next podcast email and social media post so her team can get those uploaded and scheduled. These rituals keep her on track and allow to work on other projects that are being prioritized.

Kathleen’s weekly tasks are structured a little differently, where she doesn’t have set specific days that she does things, but she had due dates for each task, so she knows when she has to get them completed.

Now let’s zoom in a little bit more by discussing outsourcing.

We know that some of you are saying, “I don’t have the funds to outsource”. We get it because there was a time that the two of us felt the same way. It’s one of those scenarios of what comes first the chicken or the egg? Should you wait until you have the extra funds to outsource or will outsourcing help you make additional funds?

We actually did an entire episode dedicated to this topic called: The Secrets to Outsourcing Even if You’re on a Tight Budget, so we recommend listening to that if you haven’t done so already (or if you need a refresher)

Here is a simple exercise you can do before part two of the series comes out next week.

We will be diving deeper into the outsourcing topic next week but in the meantime, start making a list of the recurring tasks that you do week after week that anyone could do. Things like scheduling posts on social media, uploading emails into your email management system, posting a blog to your website, tracking stats, etc. Having this information will arm you with data that will help you make decisions around outsourcing in the coming weeks. Feel free to make this a brain dump for now by listing everything you do.

Join us back here next week for part 2!

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