Want to start your own wildly successful health coaching business?

Good news: You’re closer to your goal than you might think.

If you want to help your clients create transformational and impactful change in their lives, read until the end. Today, you’ll learn how to become a health coach and get results like these (this is what one of my health coaching students had to say): 

Sounds exciting? Let’s get started.

Chapters

Chapter 1: Why you should become a health coach (and build an impactful business!)
Chapter 2: Can YOU become a successful health coach?
Chapter 3: The foundations of a profitable health coaching business
Chapter 4: What does a successful health coaching business look like?
Chapter 5: How to get your first health coaching clients
Chapter 6: How to scale your health coaching business with group programs and online courses

Chapter 1: Why you should become a health coach (and build an impactful business!)

Want to work with what you love and help people improve their health while creating a more flexible and abundant life for yourself?

That’s what a health coaching business can do for you. And you know, the internet is FULL of your ideal clients who can’t wait to start working with you to achieve their health goals. You can reach those clients right away and start building your health business.

Here’s how you do it.

Want to build your own 6-figure health coaching business? Get the FREE PDF:

What is health coaching?

What does a health coach do?

As a health coach, you help people reach their health goals by giving them advice and guidance based on your expertise. You help them improve and transform their lives.

There are tons of health coaching niches and not all of them are about helping people get slimmer. For example, you could help your clients with things like nutrition, reducing stress, or reaching their fitness goals.

My own health coaching clients work in various niches. As you’ll see further down, they get paid to help their clients eat right, become more energized, and, well, basically change their lives for the better.

Now, you might wonder if health coaching is the right thing for you.

Let’s find out.

Should you become a health coach?

Wondering if YOU should become a health coach?

Look: There is so much opportunity for you in this niche.

For example, my friend Nagina runs her multi-six-figure business where she teaches women how to lose weight with spices.

As a health coach, you’ll get to work with helping people improve their health every day… And get paid for it!

Plus, you can replace your 9-5 income fast. With a health coaching business, you build a scalable business that lets you stay in control of your own time.

The best part? You are close to making it happen for yourself.

By offering a premium health coaching package, you can quickly get a few clients and replace your income so that you can transition into full-time health coaching.

For example, if you sell a health coaching program at $2000, you only need five clients to earn $10000.

You do the math- you don’t need THAT many clients to get started.

But it doesn’t stop there.

Once you have a successful health coaching business, you can scale it by selling online courses. That way, you can help even more people improve their health AND grow your business faster.

In fact, the possibilities are endless. You can continue building your business with group programs, workshops, books, retreats, and talks. Not to mention cookbooks, corporate wellness programs, and meal plans.

Sounds exciting? I thought so. It doesn’t even have to be overwhelming. In this post, I’ll walk you through the exact steps you need to take.

But you might be wondering:

“Can I become a health coach?”

That’s what we’ll look at next.

Chapter 2: Can YOU become a successful health coach?

Can YOU become a health coach?

The answer? Yes! How do I know? Let’s take a look.

Are you qualified to become a health coach?

If you’re wondering, “How much does it cost to become a health coach?” and thinking you need a health coaching certification to become a health coach, think again.

You can certainly get one. But your qualifications as a health coach are based on something else:

The results you get your clients.

You see, most of my health coaching clients didn’t start by getting a degree. Instead, they started helping people who got results and that way, their businesses grew.

And the same applies to you.

Your experience and results are what matter, not your certifications.

Did you achieve a personal health goal? Have you helped others get results? If the answer is yes, you’re qualified to become a health coach.

Now, if you still want to get certified, you should go for a credible health certification, like Duke University’s Integrative Health Coach Training. Also, note that depending on local regulations, certain niches in the health space might require some form of certification.

How much do health coaches earn?

A normal health coach salary?

That’s a trick question because there isn’t one. Instead, you decide how much you earn.

You can do this as a side business or you can build your business to a five- or six- or even seven-figure business.

How do I know it’s possible?

Because so many of my health coaching clients have been where you are today. They’ve gone on to create a life that lets them work with what lights them up while earning more than they did in their 9-5.

Health coaching business examples

Want to see how others are doing it?

Here are some of my clients who are using their expertise and results to build their health coaching businesses (and yes, they’re crushing it).

1. David Alsieux helps people use herbs to take charge of their health

David coaches people on how to improve their health with the help of herbs. He started this business after a family health emergency and after having gone through his own weight loss struggles. Today, he’s helped 50+ clients lose a total of 1,000+ pounds.

2. Jamie Ballew helps stressed-out entrepreneurial women improve their energy levels

My client Jamie started her business after she experienced a car crash that made her feel drained and miserable but that ultimately made her realize she could turn her life around. Today, she helps other women implement habits in their lives to get great health results.

3. Brenda Sillas is a weight loss strategist and nutritionist

Brenda helps busy women become the healthiest versions of themselves by helping them implement healthy weight loss and nutritional habits. To this day, she’s helped tons of people improve their health.

4. Lorisa Leigh helps women become healthy with plant-based nutrition

Lorisa is an online health coach who, after 10 years as a nurse, was diagnosed with cancer, which made her rethink her health. Today, she helps women lose weight, feel more confident, and live healthier lives with plant-based nutrition.

5. Lisa Stigliano is a personal trainer who helps women keep fit after 40

My client Lisa helps women struggling with midlife changes to develop healthy habits. She started her business after reaching her 40s and fully understanding the changes women go through at this age.

6. Cristina de la Fuente helps high-achieving women get out of overwhelm and exhaustion

Cristina, a stress coach, helps busy women overcome exhaustion and overwhelm so that they can live a life of balance, flow, and ease. She started her business after realizing that her successful career wasn’t going to make her happy in the long run. After going through a process of self-discovery, she is now helping other women do the same.

7. Cristina Cantu is a naturopathic doctor

As a naturopathic doctor, Cristina helps her clients treat things like allergies, boost their immunity, and overcome stress and headaches.

Now you know what a health coaching business can look like.

Ready to find out how you can build one? Here we go.

Chapter 3: The foundations of a profitable health coaching business

What are the first steps you need to take to become a health coach?

You first need a profitable health coaching niche. And here’s how to pick a niche you know WILL work.

The “secret” to a successful health coaching business

Curious to know what it looks like to start a 6- and even 7-figure coaching business?

It’s a lot simpler than you might think. But to get there, you will need a health coaching niche.

Now, why can’t you just call yourself a health coach? Because you’re being too general. People don’t see what results you can get them.

But if you go for something more specific, like a running coach, a weight loss coach, or a stress coach, your clients will instantly see the value you can get them.

How to find YOUR niche

To find a profitable niche you know will work, ask yourself:

What health coaching experience do you have? What results have you helped people get?

Note that “experience” doesn’t necessarily mean work experience. You can use the skills you’ve taught yourself on the side. For example, if you’re an avid runner and have trained for marathons, that’s a skill you’ve developed and can teach others.

Once you have a niche figured out, make sure it’s an existing niche.

How? Go to sites where your audience hangs out. People who’re looking for health coaching could be hanging out in Facebook groups, on Reddit, Instagram, or even a site like Pinterest, or you could use Google to find people who are in your niche.

Are people already selling the service you want to get started with? Great, that’s a sign that there is a market for your service.

Different health coaching niches

Need some inspiration?

Then, let’s look at a few different health coaching niches. But remember that there are tons of very specific niches you could focus on. After all, remember how my friend Nagina and my client David have built their businesses helping people lose weight with spices and herbs?

1. Fitness coaching business

As a fitness coach, you help your clients stay fit. For example, you can work as a private trainer (PT) and design workout programs. Or you can focus on a specific niche, like helping people build muscle or training for a marathon.

2. Nutrition coaching business

As a nutrition coach, you help people eat right. You might work with more general meal plans to help people eat a balanced diet or lose weight. Or you can work with more specific nutritional needs, like allergies.

3. Weight loss coaching business

As a weight loss coach, you help people who struggle with losing weight. You might do it with exercise and/or nutrition plans.

4. Stress coaching business

As a stress coach, you help your clients overcome stress in their lives. You might work with their overall health and mindset.

5. Sleep coaching business

Sleep coaches help people who struggle with insomnia or sleep quality.

6. Health coaching for midlifers

As a health coach, you can target a very specific audience (after all, as people age or their life situation changes, they need help in different ways). For example, you might work with midlifers…

7. Health coaching for baby boomers

…Or an audience like baby boomers. See how they are completely different audiences with their own needs and goals?

8. Productivity/habit coaching business

Lots of people struggle with their productivity or keeping up healthy habits. As a health coach, you can help them change that!

9. Health coaching for families

Just like you might focus on midlifers or baby boomers as an audience, you can focus on families as your target audience and help them live healthier lives.

10. Vegan health coach

Or why not work with an audience like vegans, who want to keep to specific diets AND live healthily?

11. Wellness coach

As a wellness coach, you help people improve their wellbeing. This might be through exercise, mindset, nutrition, habits, or other life changes.

Want to build your own 6-figure health coaching business? Get the FREE PDF:

Chapter 4: What does a successful health coaching business look like?

To start a thriving health coaching business, you need to be strategic from the start. What do I mean by that?

Instead of building your website, designing a logo, or ordering business cards, figure out your business first.

To do that, you need the right business model. Here it is!

Your ideal clients

The first step you need to figure out is your target audience.

A mistake people make? They target everyone. Or they niche down but end up with an audience who will never pay for their services.

I don’t want you to go through that! So choose an audience who is WILLING and ABLE to pay.

Think about it. People in secure jobs are much likelier to pay for your services than recent college grads who are still searching for their first job.

Want to learn more about it? Check out this short video:

Your health coaching offer

Next, figure out what it is you offer people.

This is where most people make a mistake that keeps them from making any sales and growing their businesses. Instead of selling what people WANT, they offer them what they NEED.

Think about it:

YOU know that your clients need to take certain steps to solve their problem and live a healthier life. It’s easy to think that’s what you should offer them.

But THEY don’t know it. What they want is the outcome. A flatter stomach, abs, more energy, or glowing skin. And that’s how you need to phrase your offer.

Plus, your offer needs to be tangible.

You don’t just help people feel less stressed. Instead, you help them reduce their stress in two weeks with a few simple steps.

For example, remember my client David? He doesn’t help people “get healthy” or “lose weight.” Instead, he helps them “jumpstart their weight loss with the right food (without eating less or moving more).”

This is key to being able to position your coaching package as a premium offer.

How to stand out as a health coach

Now that you know WHO to target and WHAT to offer, the next question is:

How do you stand out with your health coaching offer among all other health coaches?

In this quick video, I share my five best strategies:

Take me as an example.

When I started this business, I wasn’t sure how to stand out as a business coach.

The market was SO saturated. What did I have that wasn’t already out there?

But after digging a bit deeper I realized:

I DID stand out even if I am pretty “normal” without a rags-to-riches story. For example, my background is in engineering and so my approach is very analytical. And I even stand out with tiny personality traits, like the fact that I love TV shows. That makes me feel more human and real.

via GIPHY

One of the best ways for health coaches to stand out?

Think about how you help your clients get results, your “secret sauce.”

David, my client, helps his clients lose weight with herbs. My friend Nagina does it with spices. Kayla Itsines, a multi-million dollar fitness personality, started her business by offering a program that only requires 30 minutes every day and can be completed anywhere (including your living room). Another of my clients offers customized trainings. And yet another uses the power of mindset.

Ask yourself:

What’s YOUR secret sauce? How does what you offer your clients differ from what other health coaches offer?

Your pricing model

How should you price your health coaching offer?

Now, in the long run, $2000, $5000 or even $10000 health coaching packages are quite normal.

(That’s right. People do care about their health and are willing to pay for it!)

But we all need to start somewhere, right?

When I first started my first coaching business (a Facebook ad coaching business), I priced my first package at $5000. I had chosen that price based on my hourly salary at the time.

While that first client said yes without hesitation, I had trouble getting more people to sign up.

I would regularly get messages like these…

Why? Because I hadn’t built up enough trust. People needed to see that my services were worth it, but how could they when I hadn’t worked with other clients and proved myself?

That’s why I decided to lower my rate to $1500 for a 3-month commitment, even though that rate was lower than what I was making at my job at the time.

Once I had a few of those clients, I went back to $5000… And never looked back.

Today, most of my clients, health coaches included, start at $1500 for a 3-month coaching commitment.

It’s easier for people to say yes and you can earn that social proof you need to increase your prices. And three months give your clients enough time to see results.

The best part? You will quickly get enough clients to replace your income.

In fact, once you’ve doubled your monthly salary, you’re ready to go full time as a health coach.

Why doubled? Because that way, you have money to spend on business expenses and taxes and you don’t have to stress about your income.

But if doubling your income feels far off, don’t worry. It’s closer than you think.

Let’s say you raise your rates to $2000 after having worked with a few clients who pay you $1500.

That means just 4 clients to get to $8000. And if you raise your prices from there, you’ll soon get to $10000 by working with 2-3 clients.

Want to build your own 6-figure health coaching business? Get the FREE PDF:

Chapter 5: How to get your first health coaching clients

You’re probably eager to know how you can get your first few clients and start building your health coaching business.

At the end of this chapter, you know exactly how.

What your health coaching marketing plan looks like

What’s the first thing on your list of marketing activities to get clients?

Not a website! That’s right. Instead, as a coach, you first need to build trust and relationships by providing as much value as you can.

That’s what I did with my first client. I gave her an insane amount of free information and support until she asked if we could work together.

Note that I didn’t have a website until I had signed several clients. And even then, it wasn’t the fanciest website out there.

But how do you provide value to people at scale? So: How do you not get stuck in helping people one by one, hoping one of them will convert?

I always recommend my clients to get started on social media.

But not just ANY social media. Instead, a platform where your clients already hang out.

And you know what? It works. So many of my clients have used social media to quickly build their businesses to 5-, 6- and even 7-figure businesses.

How to get your first clients in the next weeks

Ever wondered how some entrepreneurs seem to have that golden touch that makes all their ventures profitable from day 1?

It’s not that they’re smarter or luckier than you. No, they have figured out a system that works time and time again.

And to set up that system for yourself, you need to first figure out where your audience is.

As a health coach, your clients are likely spending time on one or several of these platforms:

• Facebook.
• Reddit
• Instagram.
• Pinterest.
• LinkedIn.
• Quora.
• YouTube.

For example, my client Cristina Cantu (a naturopathic doctor) got one of her first clients on Instagram. Cristina de la Fuente, a stress coach, found her first client on LinkedIn.

But how do you find your audience? Let’s take Reddit as an example.

Go to Reddit and type in a relevant keyword in the search box. If you’re a weight loss coach, that keyword could be “weight loss.”

You’ll now get a list of groups where your clients are.

The same goes for Facebook. Type in a health-related keyword and you get several groups full of your ideal clients.

Get your ideal clients to notice you!

Once you’ve found those platforms and groups where your audience hangs out, you want them to notice you. And not just notice, but think: “Oh wow! This resonates SO much with me. Wonder if there’s a way for me to work together with this person?”

How do you do it? With these three steps:

#1: Answer questions

Be helpful and answer relevant questions. By giving helpful advice, people (who are struggling with what you help them with) will quickly notice your expertise.   

#2: Post valuable content

Post content in groups and start discussions with people. But not just any content. You see, most people will go for “informational” content.

I know because I did it when I first started marketing my business in Facebook groups.

But here’s the thing:

On social media, people want to be entertained. Give them short, fun, and interesting content and you’ll quickly get noticed by your ideal clients.

#3: Livestreams

If you use a platform that lets you broadcast live videos, use them to your advantage.

In my own free Facebook group, Entrepreneurial Leaders, I use livestreams to answer questions and engage my audience.

Because video is a powerful tool to build engagement, livestreams are a great way to quickly connect with your audience and show you’re an expert.

In fact, a lot of my own private clients have found me after watching my livestreams.

#4: Keep consistent

The MOST important piece of the puzzle?

Keep consistent with your social media plan. If people start seeing you in their newsfeeds on a regular basis, they’ll be a lot likelier to notice you and see how much value you give.

Sign up health coaching clients

Last, sell your services. The easiest way? Get people you’ve already talked to on social media to book a call with you.

And not just any call, but a strategic, free health coaching session.

This call is about 15-30 minutes long. During it, you help your prospective clients get a specific result. For example, as a nutritionist, you might help them change one dietary habit so that they will get more energized in the next 30 days. Or as a running coach, you might help them with one running technique they can implement now to improve their running style.

See how you’ll instantly build a relationship and make people see your value?

It doesn’t end there. At the end of the call, you ask them if they found the call helpful.

Most likely, they’ll say yes. Now, you can ask them if they want to talk more about working together.

If they say yes again, you can schedule a call where you talk through their pains and dreams and you show them how your services could help.

To book and schedule your calls, you can use Calendly (scheduling software) and Zoom or Skype (video marketing software).

How to stop overwhelm in its tracks

Finally, how do you manage working with 1:1 clients while juggling a demanding 9-5 and your life?

When I was in my corporate job, I used to meticulously schedule the work I had for my side business, which I eventually grew to six figures in 4 months. It helped me keep sane while I was working a demanding managerial job.

I recommend you do that, too. Schedule short, 15-minute work sessions during your lunch break and before or after work. That’s all you need for now to build your health coaching business!

Chapter 6: How to scale your health coaching business with group programs and online courses  

Once you have a few health coaching clients, you’ve replaced your income, and your health coaching business is growing nicely, it’s time to scale your business.

You see, you can only scale so much with a one-on-one coaching offer because you can’t really add extra hours to your day. Here’s how to leverage your time and create a more flexible schedule for yourself.

How to use group programs and online courses to grow your health coaching business

When I had scaled my first coaching business to six figures, I had a problem.

I couldn’t continue to grow that business because I only had so many hours every day to use on client calls.

At the same time, I wanted to scale my business faster and create a more flexible schedule for myself. One that didn’t require me to be on every sales call or work 1:1 with every client.

That’s where group programs and online courses are your best friend.

You see, with these offers, you can help more people without taking on a lot of extra work.

To put this into perspective:

With my first coaching offer, I made 6 figures. In my first year, I made a million with two online courses. I couldn’t have done that by personally working with every client.

While scaling your business, I recommend that you keep your offers lean. You don’t need a ton of different offers and programs. Still today, I only work with a few different offers- 1:1 coaching, a group program, and a flagship online course.

Group programs

Group programs work much like your 1:1 offer, except you’re now helping a group of people who also benefit from getting to know like-minded people.

You basically take your health coaching 1:1 program and apply it to a group with group calls instead of individual coaching calls.

See how this helps you get your clients amazing results while scaling your business?

Online courses

An online course fully detaches you from your offer. Your customers download your training material as an e-course and learn by themselves.

After having worked with your 1:1 clients, you can quickly set up your courses. You see, you can use your coaching outline and create your online course based on that.

For example, the courses my clients have created courses based on their coaching offers include weight loss courses and courses that help people with their nutrition.

Meal plans and other digital products

But what about meal plans and other digital products you can create as a health coach? Maybe a membership site? Recipe e-books?

What I recommend? Wait with creating those. You first want to focus on products that let you scale your business.

Think about it:

An online course can be priced at around $500-2000.

A recipe book or a meal plan? About $20-200.  

It’s MUCH easier to first scale with your online courses than with smaller offers. So stick with online courses until you have a manageable five- or six-figure business!

Building funnels that do the work for you

Something that makes the deal even sweeter is that with your scalable offers, you don’t have to hop on more sales calls.

Instead, you set up marketing funnels that do the work for you.

What do I mean? You use webinars and emails that automatically market your offer to your clients.

For example, that’s what David does with his program that teaches people how to lose weight with herbs.

The result? You get much more time to use on those things you want to use it on- building your business, traveling, or spending time with your family.

That’s how I grew my business from the thousands to $1 million in the first 11 months.

By using this system, you can quickly scale your health coaching business to five and six figures and beyond.

Want to build your own 6-figure health coaching business? Get the FREE PDF:

Excited to get started building your health coaching business?

Feel pumped and ready to get started? You should because YOU can become a health coach and get all those things you want in life, whether that’s income, impact, or time.

Now, over to you:

What’s your health coaching niche?

I’d love to know! Leave a quick comment here below and let me know.