Life Coach as a Home Based Business
What is a life coach? A life coach is someone who works with another person coaching, encouraging, motivating, and inspiring him or her to do what it is they seek to accomplish or to meet the goal the person is trying to reach. Life coach home based businesses have become pretty popular in recent years. The title of life coach includes a number of different types of areas or type of coaching that include relationship, business, personal, Christian, career, and weight loss to name a few specific areas.
A brief explanation of what each type of coach does is listed:
�· A relationship coach works with a person regarding relationships, both business and personal.
�· A personal coach works with a person on different aspects of their lives.
�· A Christian coach works with someone regarding the religious aspects of their life and their overall life as it relates to their religion.
�· A business coach works with a person regarding their business life. It could be a small business owner or a person in a management position.
�· A weight loss or fitness coach works with someone regarding his or her fitness, health, and wellness.
�· A career coach works with someone regarding his or her career goals or changes.
Life coaches are not counselors and cannot administer any sort of counseling unless they are already a licensed counselor. Life coaches provide mentorship and a buddy system for those people that seek their service. Coaching includes a number of strategies to effectively accomplish their service and goal, which includes the life coach working with the person to change behavior, assess values, and set goals. Life coaches usually refrain from setting guidelines and instead allow the person to set his or her own guidelines, while the coach mentors and motivates them. Life coaches can also be consultants if they have prior knowledge in a certain area.
Qualities of a life coach
�· Personable
�· Great communication skills
�· Professional
�· Patient and Tolerant
�· Compassionate and Sympathetic
�· Good listener
�· Sociable
Ã?· Internet Savvy – if using forms of online communication
Currently, there are no required certifications or licenses necessary to become a life coach or set up a life coach home based business. However, there are a number of training programs that offer certifications and provide life coaches the knowledge and ability to effectively practice coaching.
A few of the more popular and well-known online training programs include:
Coach U – www.coachu.com
Coaches Training Institute – www.thecoaches.com
International Coach Federation – www.coachfederation.org
Coach Training Alliance – www.coachtrainingalliance.com
Christian coach training – www.pccca.org/clcc.htm
Fitness Coach training – www.nestacertified.com/nutritionist.html
Career Coach training – www.careercoachinstitute.com/
Relationship Coach training – www.therelationshipcoaches.com/index.html
The cost of most coaching programs, however, is not cheap. Make sure you choose the best one that fits your needs and will provide the most valuable information for your money.
Life coaches usually offer weekly telephone or teleconference sessions via online communications. Sessions usually last no more than an hour. Life coaches also offer email communications for their clients to email them any questions or concerns outside of the scheduled sessions. Life coaches own their own business and work from the comfort of their homes. Life coaching can be a very lucrative and rewarding home-based business if you like helping people. The average rates for most life coaches range anywhere from $30-$70 an hour per session. Some life coaches charge by the hour or session, by the week, or by the month.
Marketing your life coach business can be done online and offline, through business cards, creating a website, ads, and, of course, word of mouth. If you provide excellent coaching services, your business can flourish just by word of mouth. So some prior knowledge about the subject and training will go a long way in promoting your business and allowing you to have a successful life coach business. Since this is your business you will need to take care of your own taxes, insurance, and schedule your vacations. Nonetheless, for many people a successful home-based business is well worth it.
