5 Simple Steps to Become a Life Coach

The coaching business is on the rise and you are wondering weather to join the bandwagon or not? There are some questions you need to ask yourself before anything else.

STEP 1 - Is coaching for you?

Is coaching for you? Do you have what it takes to be a great coach? Are you ready to be a coach? These are questions that need answering before anything else. You can try one of those free quizzes online or better yet, try talking to a coach specialized in career, or life purpose.

STEP 2 - Choose the type of coaching you want to practice

Evaluate yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, your skills, your area of expertise, your accreditation. Also think about your likes and dislikes regarding professions and areas of expertise. If you feel like you can not do all this work alone, ask the help of a career coach.

STEP 3 - Coach training and certification

You do not need to be certified to begin coaching, at the time of writing we know of no countries that require certification to practice as a coach, however some US states are making moves to regulate the profession.

Don't get certified if you think it will make you "worthy" as a coach, few clients bother to ask about your training. Getting certified may differentiate yourself in the long term, can be a reason for charging higher rates and it is important for the development of your skill. There are some very successful coaches from both camps, the certified ones and the non certified ones.

Forget about accreditation until you have around 1000 hours of paid coaching in your "portfolio"

Pick a school whose training inspires you, if that school is ICF accredited than you will end up with both the school's and ICF accreditation. If you choose Coachville, than no ICF accreditation, but you will have a CV and IAC accreditation.

STEP 4 - Prepare yourself

Start building your services, products or programs before actually selling them. Here are some steps that you need to follow through:

- Research & Development: Define your product or program, assess the need in your market, research competitive products and programs, research production and delivery options

- Finalize Your Content and Assemble Your Product: content, packaging, delivery.

You can read books on the subject of creating your own product or program, or you can take a course, there are lots of good online and offline courses. Of course you need to decide initially how much money you want to invest in yourself before making any money. All this is your strategy.

STEP 5 - Book Yourself Solid

You will need to teach yourself notions of selling and marketing if you want to make any money. You can read books and resources on the net or you can attend a course. A good course should teach you about:

- how to develop a personal brand

- building trust and credibility

- promotion strategies like: networking, referral, web strategy, writing, speaking and demonstrating, keep-in-touch strategy and so on.