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!