3 Common Mistakes Health Coaches Make that are Sabotaging Their Success
After working with and serving thousands of health coaches over the past few years, we’ve noticed some patterns and mistakes that are commonly made that sabotage their success – sometimes without them even realizing it.
Truth be told, we made some of these mistakes when we were new too, so we totally get it. Once you know what they are and how to remedy them, you’ll start seeing results sooner.
In this episode of The Wellness Business Podcast, you’ll discover:
- 3 common mistakes health coaches make that are sabotaging their success (and they probably don’t even realize it)
- The best and quickest way to get feedback and input on your plans and ideas
- The question we ask ourselves to help us make decisions every time we feel stuck
- The #1 thing that holds coaches back from taking action and moving forward, and what to do about it
If you are making any of these mistakes, you’ll know how to turn things around after you tune in.
Mistake #1: Thinking there is one best way to do something.
This came up a few times on my live office hours in my Health Coach Biz Support Facebook group a while back. Coaches kept asking ‘What is the best way to….” or “What is the best_____” Here are a couple of examples. What is the best lead magnet? What is the best way to run my online program? I think when we’re new at something, we’re afraid of making mistakes, so we want some level of certainty which makes sense, but the truth is that there is rarely one ‘best’ way to do something that works for everyone. This could be due to your budget or it could be that the tech is too involved, or it could be something else. We like to ask ourselves this question when we’re trying something new for the first time: “What is the easiest way to get this done right now?” Sometimes THAT is the best way and then you test it and see what you want to do differently down the road.
An example of this would be that you’re trying to figure out what type of lead magnet to create. You know there are several options, so you feel a bit stuck about how to move forward. A video series sounds like it may be a good idea, but it seems a little too involved right now, so what do you do? Create a great PDF guide instead, and if it converts well and people are interested in the topic, you have some feedback about that, and if you have the time and bandwidth later, you can consider doing something with more bells and whistles like a video series or something that involves more tech. You can create a beautiful PDF guide using Canva for free, or you can find someone on Fiverr to do it for you. In the beginning, simple is best, so you don’t get bogged down with too many logistics and it takes months instead of days to complete.
Mistake #2: Not launching a program because it’s not perfect yet.
We have both been guilty of this in the past, so we know how easy it is to get hung up the perfection trap. The best and quickest way to find out what works for you and your audience is to test it and get feedback to know what to add or change for next time. Fear of imperfection or fear of making mistakes can hold us back from taking action and making progress. We recommend taking messy, imperfect action as you figure out some of it as you go. Your clients don’t care about the tech, the graphics, what type of platform you use, and the little things we tend to get hung up on; they just want your help.
If you knew your program didn’t have to be perfect, what would you do right now? Write it down and set a deadline to get it done.
Mistake #3: Not having a clear niche you can easily describe, and one that people understand.
This is a biggie! We see a huge difference in the level of success with coaches who have a specific niche and those who do not. Why is this?
When you aren’t clear about who you help and how, your message gets lost and buried and does not stand out and compel people to want to take action. But when you carve out a specific niche and you help solve a particular problem you know your ideal clients have, you will attract those people because they want to learn more about your area of specialty or expertise.
Here are a couple of examples, and you can see if one is clearer and more specific than the other, so you get an idea of what we mean:
- I help people achieve their wellness goals
- I help women over 40 lose weight and keep it off through a whole foods diet
The first one is very vague and generic – “I help people achieve their wellness goals”. What are wellness goals exactly? It’s going to be different for everyone, so how do you create messaging? It’s going to be very difficult.
The second one is more specific – “I help women over 40 lose weight and keep it off through a whole foods diet”. Who you help is women over 40 who want to lose weight for good and they do that with your help through a whole foods diet. It’s going to be much easier to know what content to create and what type of coaching program to provide when you know your niche.
You WANT people to know in an instant if you are for them or not, so they can self-select. Your goal is not to attract everyone – your goal should be to attract the people who want what you have to offer. If you tell people what you do when you meet them and you get a blank stare or a puzzled look, you know you have some fine tuning to do.
We know this takes time, so if you are still working on this, we recommend listening to episode 265 where we covered: 3 Simple Steps to Validate Your Niche Marketing Message.
We also have a very detailed lesson in the Wellness Business Accelerator that walks you through this process, step by step. It’s called How to Finally Nail Your Niche Within 30 Days to Fill Your Program.
Once you have your ideal client dialed in, everything becomes much easier – knowing what content to create, being clear on your marketing message, attracting and converting more of your ideal clients. It all starts with your niche.
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