“Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Welcome to more on our marketing series. These blogs are designed to give you a plethora of information and direction when it comes to marketing your career coaching practice. So far, we have given you information on how to shift your mentality when it comes to marketing and how to get clarity in developing and communicating your brand. Now, we are going to dive into some of the nitty gritty aspects of figuring out what services and products you will offer in your business and how you will set pricing and income goals.

Figuring out how to earn money

As a career coach, you can offer a lot of different types of coaching services and products to your customers.  Instead of thinking about just one service to offer, consider offering several.  By diversifying your business you will be diversifying the way you make money, and that increases the chances of a steady income from your business.  It also increases the variety of work you do daily which is more sustainable.  Here are some examples of the types of coaching you could offer either as a combination package or charge for separately:

• Career discovery coaching (for those wanting a new career)
• Resume development 
• Interviewing Prep
• Job search
• Networking coaching
• Salary negotiation
• Professional/career growth (for those who are feeling ready to move up in their career)
• Leadership coaching
• Executive coaching

In addition to the types of coaching you can offer, just about anything you do or create for clients can potentially be something you charge for. Here are just a few examples to give you some ideas:

• Career training or consulting sessions for organizations or groups
• Curating resources
• Webinars
• Speaking/lecturing
• Podcasts or Vlogging
• Becoming an affiliate (earning a percentage of profit by helping to promote someone else’s business or products)
• Collaborate with a colleague or competitor to offer a course or product.
• Email short courses on career development topics

Pricing your services or products

Now that you’ve thought about which services and products you would like to offer, let’s take a look at pricing. There are several factors you need to take into account in setting your fees. These include the type of coaching you are offering, your certifications, expertise and experience, who your target audience is and what they can afford to pay, as well as the amount of time you will provide. (I.e. a 1 hour session per week, ½ day training session, package of sessions for a flat rate, etc.)

There is a lot of advice out there on how to attract clients. One of these strategies is to initially offer your services for free. This strategy may seem made for coaching at first glance. What could be better than giving your potential client a “little taste” of how great it is to work with you? The problem is once you do that it is very difficult to charge the higher pricing for the exceptional career coaching services you offer and rightfully deserve. Reframe this strategy and, instead, offer your services initially at a discounted price to act as an incentive to get the customer on board. Fees in the coaching world vary widely. The average coaching fee is between $100-$500 per hour. Think about how much you will charge for what you offer and if there is a level of flexibility for negotiation.

Now you can begin to think about your income goals

The next item on our list is thinking about what income goals you need and how you will reach those goals.  Based on what you plan to charge for your coaching and other income generating activities, do the math to figure out how many clients you will need to purchase your services in order to generate the income to keep your business viable and thriving. These clients become your target income.  However, not everyone who receives your marketing materials will convert to a paying client.  So, you need to learn how many prospective clients it will take to hit that paying client target and this ties directly into how and when you will market to these groups. 

 It is very much like when you have created a career presentation for a certain target population in your organization that is not required to attend. You don’t know exactly how many will show up, but you do have in mind a certain number you would like to obtain. To get to that number, you learn where these target audience groups hang out and you advertise to them in a way that you believe will motivate several of them to attend the presentation.

Hopefully, you have more arsenal in your corner now that you have begun to think through different aspects of the services and products you will offer in your career coaching practice. Don’t be afraid to charge what you feel your time and experience are worth. Set income goals and plans on how to reach them. 

If you are considering opening your own practice as a side gig or full-time, you may find our Empowered Entrepreneur Program (EEP) a good fit. The course will teach you about creating an effective marketing plan and what it takes to have a successful coaching practice. Sounds interesting? Click here to learn more about the program or to speak with one of our team members. Marketing can be a natural outcome of who you are. Let us show you the tools and techniques to make it a reality!