Why Many Health Coaches Struggle To Make Money

When I was starting out as a health coach, I was doing all the right things.

I had a website, I was sending out a newsletter, I gave talks, posted flyers, and was networking like CRAZY!

But the truth is, it wasn’t getting me the results I wanted.

What I soon realized is that for someone just starting out, this marketing stuff can be TOUGH.

While the health coaching program I went to at The Institute for Integrative Nutrition did touch on how to get clients, they didn’t spend a lot of time on this area.

As a new health coach, I was flying by the seat of my pants, trying lots of strategies that everyone seemed to sell as the ‘magic bullet’… while, scrambling to figure out what worked.

I felt frustrated and honestly a bit foolish for leaving my full-time job and thinking this was going to be smooth sailing. But I held tight to my vision of having a thriving health coaching business.

Finally, I decided that “winging it” wasn’t really working for me. I needed to learn from people who had been in my shoes and knew HOW to grow a successful business.

I needed a strategy.

So I did something really scary.

I hired a coach.

It was a 5k investment for 6 months – a pretty substantial investment for a new health coach like me! But I bet on myself and pulled the trigger.

Turns out it this was one of the best decisions I ever made.

I developed a clear plan of how to market my business… and my business skyrocketed. My confidence increased, and I was finally able to pay myself!

The missing piece wasn’t one individual trait or tactic. It wasn’t about my list size or my social media following.

I was able to make real money as a health coach once I got help and learned the art and science of how to consistently get clients.

The reason some health coaches struggle to make money is because they think they have to do it all on their own.

They *think* they shouldn’t need more than the information they received in health coaching school. In fact, they may even feel shame about seeking help.

Unfortunately, all the passion for and knowledge about health and wellness in the world can only take you so far.

The Strategy That Allowed Me To Finally Earn A Living

What finally made it all click was getting help to create a cohesive plan and strategy to grow my business.

Once I had a strategic plan, things started to flow.

I woke up each day knowing exactly what I needed to do.

I went from ‘winging it’ and trying random strategies to see what stuck, to having a very clear focus and plan of action.

I knew which marketing strategies deserved my time and energy, and how to implement each one more effectively.

I got really clear on what to offer clients.

I created coaching packages that were really enticing, and I developed a way to communicate my offerings and my value to my audience in a way that made them want to work with me.

Most importantly, I learned how to get clients consistently.

At my peak, I had 23 private coaching clients and was earning great money.

When I think back, I wonder why I didn’t hire a coach right after I graduated from nutrition school.

But at the time, I thought that completing my health coach certification program meant that I had all the knowledge I needed to have a successful business.

I didn’t realize that knowing how to be a wellness practitioner and knowing how to be a successful business owner are NOT the same thing.

Nutrition school prepared me to work with clients…but didn’t necessarily teach me how to get those clients in the door!

Getting Clients Is A Teachable Skill

After months of struggling with my own business (and years of watching other health coaches go through the same struggles) I’ve realized that getting clients is a skill that has to be learned.

We’re not born with it. It’s not in our DNA.

Think of it this way. Just because someone went to culinary school does not mean they know how to launch a successful restaurant.

They might know how to create a menu and prepare an amazing meal, but they probably know very little about how to get customers, how to create a marketing plan, how to price their meals, etc.

Once I took the time to learn how to get clients, things really changed.

And I don’t just mean learning about the marketing strategies to create leads, I’m also talking about the skill of CLOSING clients.

Closing clients is the ability to guide a potential client to say “yes” to working with you.

Focusing on cultivating this skill allowed me to start signing on 80% or more of the potential clients I was attracting. That means 4 out of 5 people I spoke to became paying clients.

When you know how to close the deal, it makes ALL of the time spent marketing, networking, giving talks, and generating leads worth it.

Think of it this way – if you started closing twice as many leads today from the same amount of marketing, you could double your income with no additional time or effort. This might sound impossible or far-fetched, but it’s true. It’s just math!

The reason some health coaches aren’t making money is either because they don’t truly know how to attract potential clients or they don’t know how to close clients – or both.

Investing in these two areas made all the difference for me.

If you’re interested in getting support like I did, in The Health Coach Profit Lab I focus on teaching exactly what you need to get clients. Enrollment opens in January. You can click here to get on the waitlist.

 
Now I’d love to hear from you!
Do you find that running a health coaching business is more challenging than you anticipated? What are your biggest questions when it comes to how to attract clients?