How I Landed My First Paid Client Before I Even Received My Coaching Certification

I enrolled in an online coaching certification program in July 2020.
One of the main reasons I chose the program I did was it helped with the business side of coaching as well as the coach training itself.
I had seen other coaches do certifications but when they got certified they then had to start building their business from scratch – I wanted to avoid this.
I liked the idea of working on both simultaneously so when I finished my certification, I’d have a website ready & a following on social media to sell to.
In the first 2 weeks of the program, I set up my website (I used Wix so it was nice and simple) & 2 social media accounts.
I would agree with the popular belief that at the beginning you’re doing yourself a disservice if you focus on more than one social media platform.
I made an Instagram account, converted my personal Facebook to a business page (that way anyone your friends with automatically likes your page – which for me was around 600 people) and created a Facebook group.
I ended up really only focusing my energy on Instagram and decided to just leave the Facebook group for the time being.
I had started a new Instagram account for my business so I really began from zero!
I organically grew that account to 500 within 6 weeks and was happy with that progress.
This set me up for having people to sell to when it came to my first 1:1 program launch.
Before that even happened, I ended up getting an inquiry from a complete stranger through my website who would become my first ongoing paid client.
I had a form set up to contact me just in case someone was interested in 1:1 coaching.
Because I was consistently putting out content on Instagram, she was able to find me there.
The next biggest tip I give anyone who wants to start a coaching business is to start coaching ASAP with practice clients.
It was the only reason why I was confident enough to charge for coaching when I got that inquiry.
I coached 6 practice people for 6 sessions in all. And countless one-offs (over 2 dozen).
TIP: ask for a testimonial from every single one of them!
So, if you’re just starting out:
1) Work with practice clients ASAP (this way you can begin to develop your own framework & finesse your niche in order to build your confidence as a coach).
2) Choose 1 social media platform to start building an audience on so that when you are certified (and/or ready to coach), you will already have a bit of a following to sell to!
And if you're looking for 1:1 support as a new coach to save yourself a whole lot of trial and error, just fill out the form here:
https://www.katieblodgettcoaching.com/work-with-me
I'd love to know if this helped or what your experience getting your first client was like!