7 Steps to create, promote and deliver your online business coaching program

As a business professional, the thought of launching an online coaching program has probably been in your mind more than once. Online coaching is one of the fastest growing industries for savvy entrepreneurs. 

This is due to large consulting firm’s slow adaptation to technology plus the growing trend in personal coaching which tops $15 billion. In 2019, the demand for coaching services will come less from large firms, and more from business executives, career builders and small business owners. According to the professionals at Endeavor, financial return on investment is very high with coached clients reporting a 99% positive experience. More positive benefits of coaching detailed in the infographic below. 

Executive coaching a solid investmentSource 

The International Coach Federation estimated that there are currently 53,300 coaches, up from 47,500 part-time and full-time coaches worldwide in 2011. Out of these, about 90% are active and 33% operate in the U.S (a total of 17,500 coaches). it is clear the demand for coaching and coaching programs is only increasing with time. 

Experts report that shifts in the consulting landscape will open up new opportunities for online competition. Boutique firms and freelancers are starting to outperform mainstream consultants with little to no overhead fees – reaping large profits. Clients also favor their specializations over general consultants.

We’re living in the Golden Age of internet marketing where nearly every average Joe has access to social media, allowing them to get in front of the camera and pitch their idea to the masses. But here’s the thing, a big idea will only help you get started – what matters the most to your success is how you package and market your idea. 

If you’re ready to take the leap, we’re here to help. 

This article will help you learn the EXACT strategies you need to know in order to launch your very first PROFITABLE online business coaching program. 

We’ll discuss how you can create a program that your audience will love and how some of the best tech tools and resources can help you achieve that – plus some valuable industry secrets on how you can effectively promoteyour program even if you don’t have a working email list. 

Sounds intriguing? Keep on reading. 

1. Create your coaching program

Every online business coaching program starts with an idea. Your idea has to be something that solves a specific problem faced by a specific group of individuals. Make sure you keep this in mind before moving ahead. 

But before you start creating the coaching program. Bedros Keuliian on The Entrepreneur insists writing a sales copy or video first. The reason is simple – you want to avoid making too many promises and deliver next to nothing through the program, a mistake a lot of new entrepreneurs make.


Tips to write your perfect sales copy with resource links

  1. Focus on one primary pain point – While your prospects likely have many issues, studies show that effective sales copy laser focuses on one main problem. This clarifies your pitch and prevents reader overwhelm.
     
  2. Determine your target audience – Before you can write compelling copy you need to know who your customers are and what are their buying motivations. What are their challenges and goals? How can you help them? 

  3. Address buyer objections upfront – Don’t wait for your customer to bring up common objections, refute them in your sales copy first. Your prospects will appreciate your frankness and you will be working around their objections subconsciously.
     
  4. Highlight your benefits not features – It is easy to get bogged down in all the cool features of your product and skip over the more vital benefits. People buy benefits not features. Sell the result not the product. Customers don’t care about what your product can do… They care about what it can do FOR THEM. An example is Diet Coke, feature is low-calorie, benefit is to be slim and beautiful. List of 101 examples of features vs benefits

Resources for sales copy tips:

How to write seductive sales copy like apple

How to write sales copy that wins more clients

Once you have a solid sales copy based on the idea of your coaching program, you will be able to create a program that satisfies the exact needs of your clients without overpromising anything. 

After the sales copy is out of the way, start by mapping out the program outline. List 6-12 topics that you know will help your clients. You can then place these topics in an order that makes the most sense to new learners. 

Now your topics have been listed, you can start creating content for each topic/session. You’ll also need to decide how you plan to deliver the content to your clients. We’ll talk about that in the next few steps.

2. Name your program & decide package contents

There are hundreds and thousands of good names to pick from for your coaching and consulting firm. When deciding on a name, you need to make sure that it says something about the benefits of your program.

This is why a lot of coaches add their names at the beginning or end of the name of the coaching program. For example, John Bloggs Life Coaching, and Erin Henry – The May Collective. There are pros and cons to this approach. Sure it’s easy and that is your name, however, your personal name is not descriptive of the services you offer. Also if you use your name and in the future want to take on partners or sell your company it is a distinct disadvantage. Your firm will need to be rebranded, costing time and money while losing market awareness. 

You can also use chosen words for a name as a tagline – for example, John Bloggs Coaching – Rise up and get smart about your life. 

Kate Latham, CertSocSci from Oxford Brookes University recommends keeping the name simple, easy to spell and something that links it to your business, and making sure that you can find a matching domain name before you make the final decision. 

For package contents, you can decide between offering group coaching calls, Facebook groups, videos, live-streams, and pre-recorded slides on the topics you wish to talk about with your clients. 

A good idea is to start by offering bi-weekly group calls along with worksheets, client handouts, and discussions held in a private Facebook group.

3. Determine pricing, start dates & duration

Lucas Rubix on the Medium recommends sticking to three things when you are determining the pricing of your coaching program – Time, Skills, and Competition.

  • Time. Decide on pricing based on how much of your own time are you investing with the coaching program. You need to make sure that if you are spending two hours with a client, you must be getting paid for those two hours. So if you’re spending more than 10 hours a week on a single client and you are getting only $300 in return, you are undercharging.
  • Skills. If you have the record to prove that you have delivered consistent results to your clients, then you have every right to charge what you feel is right for you. As long as your coaching program delivers results, it is highly valuable. 
  • Competition. If you’re not sure what to charge for your coaching program, then it is always a good idea to check on your competition. See what other coaches in your field are charging and try to match or beat the price. But again, if your coaching program produces results for your clients, then you should charge with full freedom, making sure that your program offers value at the same time. 

The ideal start date of your coaching program should be after you have promoted your course for at least four weeks prior to launch (more on this later). The duration can be 3-months or 6-months depending on the depth of the content you have produced and the amount of time you are willing to spend per week on the program.

4. Set formats – Text, audio & video

Jeanine Blackwall, the creator of the ‘Create 6 Figure Courses Virtual Bootcamp’ recommends using a combination of content types to keep your clients engaged. She believes the value of the course and the success rate significantly increases if you include components such as activities or exercises to engage with. 

There are many options for delivering your content to your students via the internet. For visual appeal, you can create videos or narrated PowerPoint (keynote) presentations. People tend to take more interest when they are presented with videos or slides. 

You can also choose to record audio on certain topics when necessary. Just make sure to present your content with a mix of text, audio, and video.  Catering to customers preferences in multiple formats allows them to absorb the information in a manner that is best for them (visual or audio) and on their schedule (audio files can be downloaded and listened while driving or exercising) Professional platforms such as Kajabi offers all three formats options.

5. Pick online platform

An online business coaching program can be delivered simply through email or a Facebook group, but it is recommended to use membership/platform sites. Membership sites will allow your future students to access all the content you have in one place. 

Send out weekly emails to your clients to direct them to log into their accounts to access the information you have uploaded. Some of the best platforms to use for your online coaching program include KajabiWishList Member, and Teachable.

For email, we recommend using tools such as MailChimpGetResponse, systeme.io, and AWeber. These email platforms also allow you to build an email list for future marketing and promotion. Not sure which email marketing service to pick? Check these in-depth reviews.

6. Design launch promotion schedule & tactics

The best way to sell your product online is to first build trust with your clients. If your clients know who you are, and they love and trust you as an authoritative force in your industry, they will be well aware that you can deliver the results they want.

This is why a lot of internet marketers – including coaches – tend to offer free content via videos and blogs. Don’t be afraid to write a blog about the industry you are covering. Give people a reason to follow you and they will start trusting you. 

Use low cost lead generation resources such as quizzes which are marketing powerhouses. Outgrow reports that interactive content, such as quizzes, generate substantially more conversion and click-throughs. Then direct visitors to your program and include them in an email series to cultivate their trust and patronage.  

I especially like the use of interactive calculators for B2B marketing. These calculators takes inputs from users and makes calculations which offer specific solutions to their pain points instantly. 

So before you launch your online business coaching program, have your blog filled with a lot of free but valuable content. Once people start using your free advice in their respective businesses, they will start seeing results. And once that happens, they will be inclined to join your coaching program as soon as it launches

7. Promote course 4 weeks prior to launch

If you already have an email list (no list, no problem, check out the bonus tips on how to promote without no list), or you post regularly on social media, you can start promoting your program as soon as you have done writing your sales copy (read the first step). Write blogs, hold live webinars and videos on social media and start inviting people to join your program. Just ask them to fill in a simple form with their email address and you’ll build an email list to promote your program. 

You’ll need ample time to do this, so make sure you start promoting the program four weeks prior to its launch. 

BONUS: How to market your coaching program if you don’t have an email list

An email list is a great way to promote your coaching program, but what do you do if you don’t have one? We understand that a lot of entrepreneurs start with zero people on their email list, so if you’re one of them, don’t worry – there are many other ways to promote your online coaching business. Here are 3 that work wonders for a new program.

Hold webinars. Webinars help build trust and authority. Moreover, they are a low-cost way to raise awareness for your brand or product. Promote your webinar on related groups and invite people to join. |

Write blog posts. Write high-value blog posts on the relevant topics and include opt-in to a relevant freebie in the post.

Run a contest. You can use tools like contestdomination.com to run a contest where you can offer free enrollments to your program in exchange for sharing your content on Facebook and other social media platforms. It is easy with incentive widgets with fun interactive digital scratch cards and slot machines. Your golden ticket to getting leads, higher response rates, and a memorable experience for your prospects. 

More ways to promote your coaching program with no email list

Conclusion

We really hope that this guide helped you in understanding how to create. Promote and deliver your online coaching business. The tools and resources included in the post should give you enough firepower to create a program that will sell.

As a business professional, the thought of launching an online coaching program has probably been in your mind more than once. Online coaching is one of the fastest growing industries for savvy entrepreneurs. 

This is due to large consulting firm’s slow adaptation to technology plus the growing trend in personal coaching which tops $15 billion. In 2019, the demand for coaching services will come less from large firms, and more from business executives, career builders and small business owners. According to the professionals at Endeavor, financial return on investment is very high with coached clients reporting a 99% positive experience. More positive benefits of coaching detailed in the infographic below. 

Executive coaching a solid investmentSource 

The International Coach Federation estimated that there are currently 53,300 coaches, up from 47,500 part-time and full-time coaches worldwide in 2011. Out of these, about 90% are active and 33% operate in the U.S (a total of 17,500 coaches). it is clear the demand for coaching and coaching programs is only increasing with time. 

Experts report that shifts in the consulting landscape will open up new opportunities for online competition. Boutique firms and freelancers are starting to outperform mainstream consultants with little to no overhead fees – reaping large profits. Clients also favor their specializations over general consultants.

We’re living in the Golden Age of internet marketing where nearly every average Joe has access to social media, allowing them to get in front of the camera and pitch their idea to the masses. But here’s the thing, a big idea will only help you get started – what matters the most to your success is how you package and market your idea. 

If you’re ready to take the leap, we’re here to help. 

This article will help you learn the EXACT strategies you need to know in order to launch your very first PROFITABLE online business coaching program. 

We’ll discuss how you can create a program that your audience will love and how some of the best tech tools and resources can help you achieve that – plus some valuable industry secrets on how you can effectively promoteyour program even if you don’t have a working email list. 

Sounds intriguing? Keep on reading. 

1. Create your coaching program

Every online business coaching program starts with an idea. Your idea has to be something that solves a specific problem faced by a specific group of individuals. Make sure you keep this in mind before moving ahead. 

But before you start creating the coaching program. Bedros Keuliian on The Entrepreneur insists writing a sales copy or video first. The reason is simple – you want to avoid making too many promises and deliver next to nothing through the program, a mistake a lot of new entrepreneurs make.


Tips to write your perfect sales copy with resource links

  1. Focus on one primary pain point – While your prospects likely have many issues, studies show that effective sales copy laser focuses on one main problem. This clarifies your pitch and prevents reader overwhelm.
     
  2. Determine your target audience – Before you can write compelling copy you need to know who your customers are and what are their buying motivations. What are their challenges and goals? How can you help them? 

  3. Address buyer objections upfront – Don’t wait for your customer to bring up common objections, refute them in your sales copy first. Your prospects will appreciate your frankness and you will be working around their objections subconsciously.
     
  4. Highlight your benefits not features – It is easy to get bogged down in all the cool features of your product and skip over the more vital benefits. People buy benefits not features. Sell the result not the product. Customers don’t care about what your product can do… They care about what it can do FOR THEM. An example is Diet Coke, feature is low-calorie, benefit is to be slim and beautiful. List of 101 examples of features vs benefits

Resources for sales copy tips:

How to write seductive sales copy like apple

How to write sales copy that wins more clients

Once you have a solid sales copy based on the idea of your coaching program, you will be able to create a program that satisfies the exact needs of your clients without overpromising anything. 

After the sales copy is out of the way, start by mapping out the program outline. List 6-12 topics that you know will help your clients. You can then place these topics in an order that makes the most sense to new learners. 

Now your topics have been listed, you can start creating content for each topic/session. You’ll also need to decide how you plan to deliver the content to your clients. We’ll talk about that in the next few steps.

2. Name your program & decide package contents

There are hundreds and thousands of good names to pick from for your coaching and consulting firm. When deciding on a name, you need to make sure that it says something about the benefits of your program.

This is why a lot of coaches add their names at the beginning or end of the name of the coaching program. For example, John Bloggs Life Coaching, and Erin Henry – The May Collective. There are pros and cons to this approach. Sure it’s easy and that is your name, however, your personal name is not descriptive of the services you offer. Also if you use your name and in the future want to take on partners or sell your company it is a distinct disadvantage. Your firm will need to be rebranded, costing time and money while losing market awareness. 

You can also use chosen words for a name as a tagline – for example, John Bloggs Coaching – Rise up and get smart about your life. 

Kate Latham, CertSocSci from Oxford Brookes University recommends keeping the name simple, easy to spell and something that links it to your business, and making sure that you can find a matching domain name before you make the final decision. 

For package contents, you can decide between offering group coaching calls, Facebook groups, videos, live-streams, and pre-recorded slides on the topics you wish to talk about with your clients. 

A good idea is to start by offering bi-weekly group calls along with worksheets, client handouts, and discussions held in a private Facebook group.

3. Determine pricing, start dates & duration

Lucas Rubix on the Medium recommends sticking to three things when you are determining the pricing of your coaching program – Time, Skills, and Competition.

  • Time. Decide on pricing based on how much of your own time are you investing with the coaching program. You need to make sure that if you are spending two hours with a client, you must be getting paid for those two hours. So if you’re spending more than 10 hours a week on a single client and you are getting only $300 in return, you are undercharging.
  • Skills. If you have the record to prove that you have delivered consistent results to your clients, then you have every right to charge what you feel is right for you. As long as your coaching program delivers results, it is highly valuable. 
  • Competition. If you’re not sure what to charge for your coaching program, then it is always a good idea to check on your competition. See what other coaches in your field are charging and try to match or beat the price. But again, if your coaching program produces results for your clients, then you should charge with full freedom, making sure that your program offers value at the same time. 

The ideal start date of your coaching program should be after you have promoted your course for at least four weeks prior to launch (more on this later). The duration can be 3-months or 6-months depending on the depth of the content you have produced and the amount of time you are willing to spend per week on the program.

4. Set formats – Text, audio & video

Jeanine Blackwall, the creator of the ‘Create 6 Figure Courses Virtual Bootcamp’ recommends using a combination of content types to keep your clients engaged. She believes the value of the course and the success rate significantly increases if you include components such as activities or exercises to engage with. 

There are many options for delivering your content to your students via the internet. For visual appeal, you can create videos or narrated PowerPoint (keynote) presentations. People tend to take more interest when they are presented with videos or slides. 

You can also choose to record audio on certain topics when necessary. Just make sure to present your content with a mix of text, audio, and video.  Catering to customers preferences in multiple formats allows them to absorb the information in a manner that is best for them (visual or audio) and on their schedule (audio files can be downloaded and listened while driving or exercising) Professional platforms such as Kajabi offers all three formats options.

5. Pick online platform

An online business coaching program can be delivered simply through email or a Facebook group, but it is recommended to use membership/platform sites. Membership sites will allow your future students to access all the content you have in one place. 

Send out weekly emails to your clients to direct them to log into their accounts to access the information you have uploaded. Some of the best platforms to use for your online coaching program include KajabiWishList Member, and Teachable.

For email, we recommend using tools such as MailChimpGetResponse, systeme.io, and AWeber. These email platforms also allow you to build an email list for future marketing and promotion. Not sure which email marketing service to pick? Check these in-depth reviews.

6. Design launch promotion schedule & tactics

The best way to sell your product online is to first build trust with your clients. If your clients know who you are, and they love and trust you as an authoritative force in your industry, they will be well aware that you can deliver the results they want.

This is why a lot of internet marketers – including coaches – tend to offer free content via videos and blogs. Don’t be afraid to write a blog about the industry you are covering. Give people a reason to follow you and they will start trusting you. 

Use low cost lead generation resources such as quizzes which are marketing powerhouses. Outgrow reports that interactive content, such as quizzes, generate substantially more conversion and click-throughs. Then direct visitors to your program and include them in an email series to cultivate their trust and patronage.  

I especially like the use of interactive calculators for B2B marketing. These calculators takes inputs from users and makes calculations which offer specific solutions to their pain points instantly. 

So before you launch your online business coaching program, have your blog filled with a lot of free but valuable content. Once people start using your free advice in their respective businesses, they will start seeing results. And once that happens, they will be inclined to join your coaching program as soon as it launches

7. Promote course 4 weeks prior to launch

If you already have an email list (no list, no problem, check out the bonus tips on how to promote without no list), or you post regularly on social media, you can start promoting your program as soon as you have done writing your sales copy (read the first step). Write blogs, hold live webinars and videos on social media and start inviting people to join your program. Just ask them to fill in a simple form with their email address and you’ll build an email list to promote your program. 

You’ll need ample time to do this, so make sure you start promoting the program four weeks prior to its launch. 

BONUS: How to market your coaching program if you don’t have an email list

An email list is a great way to promote your coaching program, but what do you do if you don’t have one? We understand that a lot of entrepreneurs start with zero people on their email list, so if you’re one of them, don’t worry – there are many other ways to promote your online coaching business. Here are 3 that work wonders for a new program.

Hold webinars. Webinars help build trust and authority. Moreover, they are a low-cost way to raise awareness for your brand or product. Promote your webinar on related groups and invite people to join. |

Write blog posts. Write high-value blog posts on the relevant topics and include opt-in to a relevant freebie in the post.

Run a contest. You can use tools like contestdomination.com to run a contest where you can offer free enrollments to your program in exchange for sharing your content on Facebook and other social media platforms. It is easy with incentive widgets with fun interactive digital scratch cards and slot machines. Your golden ticket to getting leads, higher response rates, and a memorable experience for your prospects. 

More ways to promote your coaching program with no email list

Conclusion

We really hope that this guide helped you in understanding how to create. Promote and deliver your online coaching business. The tools and resources included in the post should give you enough firepower to create a program that will sell.

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About the author:
Marsha Kelly

Marsha Kelly

Marsha is a serial entrepreneur and consultant for small business owners and those seeking fulfilment through self-employment. As a private consultant and blogger, she helps eager entrepreneurs through her blog: Best4Businesses.com.

2 Responses

  1. Thank you for this information. I’m not a coach. I am a consultant and CEU presenter. I have several programs I created using PP but can’t upload to WP through their Media library. SO I need to loof for another avenue.

    Thanks!!!

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