Last updated on October 29, 2020
Whether you’ve decided to start a new career as a life coach, or you already have a few clients, deciding how to charge for your coaching is an important step in building a solid foundation for your business.
At this stage, it’s important to take the time to consider how you’re going to charge for your life coaching services. If you haven’t given your rates much thought yet, you’re not alone. Determining your life coaching rates, in addition to the services you offer, can be challenging..
But there’s no need to worry! If you need advice on creating life coaching packages, you’ve come to the right place.
In this article you’ll find everything you need to know about how to charge for life coaching including:
Table of Contents
Charging Hourly vs Offering Packages
When it comes to setting life coach rates, there are two main options. You can charge by the hour or create life coaching packages. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of these options.
Charging Hourly
One way to charge for life coaching is to set an hourly rate. An example might look something like: “Life Coaching for Expats: $100/hour.”
Pros: Setting your life coaching rate by the hour will provide you with a set income based on the number of clients and hours you work. You can also set an hourly rate and try to find clients on platforms like Upwork and Thumbtack.
Cons: One major problem with offering life coaching fees by the hour is that it may not give the client a clear idea of what they can expect as a result of your work together over time. It also limits your ability to create a more stable income stream, since any of your clients can stop working with you at any time. This is why so many life coaches choose to offer life coaching packages instead of setting life coaching rates by the hour.
Offer Life Coaching Packages
The other, more common approach to charging for life coaching is to create packages, typically defined by a number of months you’ll work together. This is the option we recommend.
Pros: Life coaching packages allow you, the life coach, to define exactly what it is you offer to your clients. Clients also get the benefit of knowing what results they can expect to see over a period of time. Setting up life coaching packages also ensures that you work with people who are committed to earning those results over the course of your time together.
Cons: The only real con here is the time and effort it takes to clearly define your ideal client and the results you want to offer. But we think it’s definitely worth it.
Determining What You’re Offering
Before you jump into creating your life coaching packages, stop and consider what it is you offer your clients. In other words, who is your ideal client, and what kinds of results are you going to provide them?
In order to better clarify what you want to offer as a life coach, here are three questions you should ask yourself:
Question 1: Results
What results do you want to promise when you take a client on?
If you work with writers, for example, will you help them deliver a novel on schedule? Maybe you work with small business owners to help them increase sales and profit margins, or to set up processes to simplify their business If you work with other life and business coaches, will you help them increase their revenue? Maybe you work with stay at home moms who want to stop getting mad at their children.
Question 2: Value
What is the value of delivering these results to your clients?
Consider how much the results you are offering are worth to your clients. What would you be willing to spend for similar results in your own life? If you’re working with clients to help them earn money, how much revenue can they expect to earn as a result of your work together?
Question 3: Time
How much time do you expect your average client will need to achieve the results you are offering?
Once you have clearly defined the results and value you’re offering, you can then determine how much time you will need to work with a client to achieve these results. For example, you might need six months to help a client write a bestselling novel but only three months to help someone build his or her business. If you are working as a mindset coach, how long do expect it will take your clients to experience significant change?
Creating Your Life Coaching Packages
Once you know what you can deliver, you can start to create life coaching packages that are ideally suited to your clients.
A typical life coaching package will provide the following information:
- Number of months
- Expected results
- Coaching work
- Initial assessment
- 1-on-1 coaching calls
- Group coaching sessions
- Worksheets, programs, and other homework
- Anything else you offer as part of your coaching
Here are some examples of life coaching packages:
Organize Your Home – 1 Month Life Coaching Package
- Learn the mindset and skills you need to keep your house organized.
- 1 hour initial assessment
- 1 45 minute 1-on-1 session per week
- Goal setting and access to worksheets
- Email and chat support
Transform Your Money Mindset – 6 month Life Coaching Package
- Find out what’s holding you back from earning more money. Remove your money blocks and achieve the income you know you’re capable of.
- 2 hour initial assessment
- 1 45 minute 1-on-1 session per week
- Monthly group coaching session
- Access to worksheets, reading materials, and Facebook group
- Email and chat support
Setting Your Rates
As you develop your life coaching packages, the natural question to ask is “How much should I charge for life coaching?”
It’s an excellent question! Setting your life coaching rates is one of the most crucial steps in building your business. If you charge too much, you may have a hard time finding clients, or feeling confident in your ability to provide that much value. If you charge too little, you might end up with clients with commitment issues. You might also end up overworked and underpaid, burned out, and start to resent your clients.
According to a recent study commissioned by the ICF, life coaches make an average global salary of $51,000. For those of you living in North America, the average life coach earnings are closer to $61,000/year.
Something else to consider is the average fees for a life coaching session. In North America, the average rate for one session is between $100 to $500. It’s also important to note that life coaching fees are not regulated, so your rates are entirely up to you.
Ultimately, you will want your life coaching package rates and fees to fall in line with market rates, to reflect the value you are offering your clients, and be enough to make you excited to work on your business.
Tips, Tricks, & What to Avoid
When you’re building your life coaching packages and determining your life coaching fees, it’s easy to fall into a few traps. Here are some tips, tricks, and things to avoid when coming up with your life coaching package rates:
The Comparison Game: While it’s great to know who the competition is in your field, it can also hold you back. You know your value as a life coach better than anyone else. When you determine a rate for your life coaching packages, feel confident that you will attract the right clients in your niche market.
Offering Free Coaching: Many life coaches like to offer free sessions to help build a relationship with a client. This can be an excellent way to market yourself, practice coaching, and find new clients. Unfortunately, it can also attract clients looking to take advantage of you and your services. This isn’t to say that you should never offer a free coaching session. However, you should make sure to set clear boundaries around your free coaching and what it includes. That way, you leave no room for debate or confusion, and don’t get trapped spending all your time working for free.
Discounts: To try and generate more client interest, life coaches will often discount their packages. While this is a great way to increase your visibility as a life coach, it can also decrease your revenue in the long-term. Make sure any discounted life coaching fees you offer still leave you with enough time and money to feel good about your services.
Moving Forward: Increasing Your Life Coaching Rates Over Time
As your business grows, so will your experience and number of satisfied clients. With each new client who agrees to pay your rates, works with you, and is satisfied with their results, you will gain confidence in your abilities as a life coach. This confidence will help you to increase your rates over time.
Earning additional degrees or related certifications in your field is also another way to gain even more credibility as a life coach.
Increasing your rates can feel scary. You might worry that your existing clients will want to move onto another life coach. You might also wonder if you will continue to attract new clients. It’s important to keep in mind the value you are offering your clients. When you remember that you’re providing something your clients want and need, it’s easier to charge what you feel it’s worth.
Well, there you have it! We’ve covered a lot of ground to help you know how to charge for life coaching. For you life coaches out there just starting out, hopefully this article has given you plenty of food for thought. You can use the information and examples here to create your own life coaching packages and rates.
Have any other thoughts, recommendations, or questions about charging for life coaching? Leave them in the comments below!
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