Life coaches are becoming increasingly popular these days and for a good reason. They can provide important personal and professional support for young adults, middle-aged professionals, and everyone in between. The right life coach can help you get your life back on track after a few less-than-stellar moves. Or help you determine the right career path for your future.
If you want to be a life coach rather than take their advice, you might be in luck – this industry is easy to get into and potentially quite lucrative. That said, the life coach industry is not very heavily regulated, and wages can vary significantly. Let’s look at how much life coaches make so you know what to expect financially from this profession.
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How much do life coaches make annually?
Like any consulting job, the average annual life coach salary can vary heavily. According to the International Coaching Federation (ICF), the 2020 average annual revenue for life coaches was $62,500. But you can earn anywhere from $50,000 to $65,000 annually, assuming you are of average skill, reputation, and clientele.
The more clients you have, the more you may make (up until a point – then, you focus more on attracting fewer but higher-paying clients).
How much can life coaches charge per hour?
Similarly, your hourly rate can also vary heavily depending on factors like:
- Your reputation: The better your reputation as a life coach, the more money you can charge your clients, as your services will be in high demand.
- Your services: Some life coaches offer basic, sometimes generic advice. Other coaches go above and beyond for their clients, offering charts, life improvement programs, books, etc. Your hourly income will also depend on whether you do group coaching or individual sessions.
- Your experience: Generally, life coaches with many years of experience in the industry charge more than life coaches who are new to the business do.
According to sources like the Financial Times, the average hourly salary for life coaches is about $231 per hour. However, some life coaches start their careers charging less than $100 per hour. More experienced life coaches may charge upwards of $300, $400, or even $500 per hour.
To make sure others know the value of your coaching, consider featuring testimonials on your sales page. When other people can vouch for your service, it can make others see the value in it more readily.
How to make money as a life coach
The average life coach makes money by first acquiring a life coach certification from a reputable, accredited organization like the ICF. This life coach certification is a credential you can display on LinkedIn and other online profiles. As well as your resume and personal website. These are all places where your clients may discover you and look up your credentials before deciding whether to hire you.
As you train to become a life coach online, you’ll build a website and a list of services you provide to your clients in the United States and beyond. To be a full-time life coach, you’ll need to have equipment such as:
- A computer with a good webcam and microphone for your remote clients in North America and around the world
- An office space in your home or one that you can rent elsewhere for meeting your clients in person
- A notebook and other stationery for taking notes of your clients
- Any software or tools you can use to manage your client information
You’ll also need to start a life or career coach business, such as an LLC, to officially make money as a coach. Remember that starting an official business often requires filing a lot of paperwork and paying specific fees. In Florida, for example, LLC owners are still required to file federal business and Florida business taxes separately.
Ultimately, your life coach business services are all about providing professional advice that people can really use. To be a successful coach, you need to have a good grasp of skills and topics such as how to help people realize their goals, dreams, and desires. Recommending different programs or approaches to difficult problems, and listening to your clients.
Once you’ve acquired some clients, you can give them your PayPal or other payment service information. Your clients can pay you upfront for each hour you bill them. You can alternatively bill your clients via invoices and have them pay you after each session with a credit card, check, or other means. But if your services are hosted on Teachable, you can use teachable:pay and get all the benefits it has to offer like tax handling and chargeback protection.
Tips to advance your career as a life coach
There are a few smart ways to advance your career as a life coach. For starters, try to market your services extensively across social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Social media marketing is important for every business, but even more so for a personal consultancy business such as your coaching practice.
Through social media, you can attract clients to your website or business office, plus post important information like special discounts, customer or client testimonials, and new updates to your offerings or policies.
Additionally, social media lets you interact with prospective clients and give them more information about how you can help with their personal or professional problems. You can even advertise on social media by offering free advice to prove your credentials.
When it comes to reviews, social media is a great place to cultivate positive ones. Don’t forget to ask for referrals from previous clients or to post about you on Google Reviews and similar sites to bolster your online reputation.
Next, continually revise your pricing strategy. Many life coaches are starting to charge their clients by blocks of time, such as quarterly or half-year rates. This system only works if you have long-term clients you trust to stick with you. Still, it can be a great way to give your most loyal clients a discount and enjoy a stable income.
Lastly, don’t forget to diversify your income streams and create a passive income strategy. For example, you can make a blog about your life coaching advice and send out email newsletters to current or prospective clients. Monetize that content through ads, and consider undertaking other content marketing efforts, such as starting a podcast.
Alternatively, you can build up your online brand by posting regularly on platforms like Instagram and YouTube. You can start an affiliate marketing program, collaborate with other life coaches, and even start an online store with your books or other personal products.
As you build up your clientele, you’ll have more and more people willing to buy what you produce, not just your advice or sessions in your office (digital or otherwise). For example, if you write a book about how people can take charge of their professional futures, that effort will help bring new clients to your life coaching business. But it will also serve as an ancillary stream of income for your current or previous clients.
Bottom line: Don’t limit your income stream to just what you bring in from hourly client rates. Try diversifying your income to make even more money and enjoy greater financial stability in the long term.
Making it as a life coach
As you can see, your average salary as a life coach is heavily contingent on your reputation, whether you have already worked with some clients, and your ability to pitch competitive rates. The better life coach reputation you cultivate over time, the higher rates you’ll be able to charge and the more money you’ll make.
Like many careers, life coaching starts off slow but can eventually snowball into quite a lucrative profession. You can use Teachable to host your coaching and then add a primer course on too so your clients are ready to be coached.
FAQs
Are life coaches in high demand?
According to sources like IBISWorld, the life coaching industry continues to grow despite its recent boom in popularity. Thanks to the advent of remote working and videoconferencing technology, it’s easier than ever to start a life coaching and consulting business from the comfort of your home office.
How do life coaches get paid?
Life coaches can get paid in whatever manner suits their needs. Most life coaches opt to be paid via PayPal or other online payment systems. Some life coaches accept checks or money orders, and others don’t mind getting paid in cryptocurrency.
How much should a beginner life coach charge?
If you have just begun your career as a life coach, you should start by charging a relatively low rate. This allows you to build up your clientele and gradually raise your prices. As you do that you will attract more high-paying clients as your reputation accumulates. You should start by charging between $50 and $100 per hour in the first few weeks. Then bump that up to about $120 per hour after a month or two (assuming you have a few successful clients by then).
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