How to Become a $20k/mo Coach (Copy This Formula)
In this article, I'm going to share how to go from $0 to $20,000 per month as an online coach or consultant.
If you want to make 6 figures in actual income, you need to hit $20k per month in revenue. Because half of that is going to go to your expenses, taxes, etc.
For context, my business has averaged over $20k per month for the last two years, working about 25 hours a week.
And I've helped a bunch of other coaches do the same thing. Like Andrew, who quit his job and doubled his old tech salary working for himself. Gemma, who started with no clients and ended up making over $20k per month and retiring her husband. Or Ryan, who went from $0 to $20k per month, and now generates over $100k per month as a financial coach.
There are only 4 things you have to get right if you want to hit $5k, $10k, or even $20k+ per month. It has nothing to do with running ads, being all over social media, or marketing in a way that feels pushy. You don't even have to build a course or a group program. You just have to do these four things.
Before we begin, a quick disclaimer. It took me 10 years of mistakes and hundreds of thousands of dollars to learn these lessons, and I'm going to teach them to you for free right now. If you don’t have enough focus to read an article like this until the end, don’t even start. This journey isn’t for you.
Still with me? Alright, let's get started.
1. Sell Surgery, Not Prevention
I was in middle school when they found a tumor in my dad's spine.
Spinal tumors are one of the most difficult and dangerous things to remove. I remember putting my face next to my sister's and crying into my Dad's shirt when he told us.
I asked if he was going to die and my mom said, "We don't know. But we got one of the best neurosurgeons in the country for this type of operation."
They were right. The neurosurgeon removed the entire tumor and my dad made a full recovery.
But let me ask you a question:
Do you think that the neurosurgeon found my parents on Facebook and asked them to let him operate?
Do you think he had to convince them that the surgery was worth the price?
Of course not.
It was a life or death situation and he was the go-to expert for this operation. My dad was lucky to even get a spot on this guy's roster.
Now you might be thinking, "I don't sell surgery, Greg."
Exactly. And that's the problem.
Most coaches try to sell prevention. And they try to help everyone with everything. In other words, they're not a go-to expert.
That's why they're always having to chase clients, instead of clients coming to them. And it’s why they can’t charge as much as they want to.
Look...
The coaches who are making the most money right now don't act like coaches.
They act like neurosurgeons.
They become known for one specific type of operation. They become the best in the world at it. And they charge a boatload of money, regardless of what's happening to the economy.
Your life will be so much easier if you can focus on selling surgery, not prevention. In other words: Choose a problem to solve with your coaching that is painful, obvious, and urgent.
When you get this right, you can charge way more. Marketing is easier. And clients practically sell themselves on working with you.
You don't have to be a business coach to make this work, by the way.
I'll give you an example. A while back, I built a fitness coaching business on the side. I wanted to help people build healthy habits, start strength training, etc.
Turns out, most people don't care about that stuff until it becomes a problem. There was one type of client who would pay way more than anyone else for fitness coaching. It was the person who had tried to lose weight their whole life and nothing had worked.
My first high-end client for fitness coaching was a guy who had gone to his sister's wedding heavier than he had ever been. He felt super insecure. He had his brother's wedding 3 months later and hired me to help him lose 20 pounds so he could look great in a suit. It doesn’t matter what you think about healthy habits or body positivity - people pay to lose weight.
Once I had this insight, of what the surgical offer was for my niche, I made $10k in a 30 day period on the side of my main business.
That's the difference between selling surgery and selling prevention. You don't want to be in the business of trying to convince someone that what you do is helpful for them.
So, how do you find your version of selling surgery?
I recommend making a list of all the painful problems that you've solved for yourself. Or results you've achieved that other people would be envious of. Then narrow it down based on which ones are the most urgent. Where there’s the most pain, frustration, or desire.
Here's a list of the most lucrative coaching niches to get you started.
If you can choose a niche that helps people make more money, it'll be easier to sell your coaching. Because you can clearly show a return on investment. But it's not essential.
Now, create a coaching package around that result that you can sell for $3k-$20k. If you've never worked with anyone before, you may want to get a few clients under your belt for free or cheap before you raise your rates. But the goal is to get into that range as quickly as possible.
I recommend starting off with 1:1 coaching. Don't worry about creating a course or a group program right now. First, because you can charge more for 1-1. So you don't need a big audience to hit your income goals. Second, it doesn't make sense to scale until you're getting results 1-1 and you've built a system. You don't actually have a capacity issue to solve right now so just focus on helping people 1-1.
Put together a 3-6 month package, however long it takes for you to get people results. Meet with clients 2-3 times a month with email support in between. Keep it super simple. When the package ends, you can enroll these people into a less expensive monthly retainer, meeting 1-2 times a month, for continued support.
Don't worry right now about your overall brand or niche. We're just creating a niched offer. You can always create a different offer later if you get bored or want to expand.
Don't worry about niching to a specific type of person either. Just choose one main surgery-style problem to solve and focus on that. As you start working with more clients, you'll be able to see who gets the best results and you can narrow your niche further.
You'll know you're done with this step when you've put together a coaching package for $3k-$20k+.
Here's why it's so much easier to focus on a high value, high-end 1-1 offer compared to low end offers like a course…
Let's say that my coaching package is $5k. That means I only need 2 new clients a month to hit $10k. 2 clients! I realize that $5k might seem like a lot to you right now but it's really not with the right offer.
Let's say I need to have 8 consults each month in order to get 2 clients. That means I need to schedule a couple of consults a week. I'd carve out an hour or two every weekday for marketing and I'd only do things that helped me book those consults.
Which brings us to our next step. What do we do during that marketing time?
2. Hunt and Farm
If you want clients now, you can hunt for them.
You can go to networking events, join facebook groups, and reach out to people who you can help directly.
The problem with hunting is that it's tiring. If you offer to help enough people, you'll get clients. So it's a good skill to learn. But it takes a lot of emotional labor. If the word "hunting" seems aggressive to you, that's because it is.
An alternative to hunting is farming. Creating goodwill through content and relationships. Preparing the soil, planting the seeds, and eventually reaping the harvest.
But farming is slow. It requires that you create something of value, for free, before asking for anything in return. You may have to do this for months or years before you establish a reliable flow of clients.
Everyone wants a farm. Clients that show up on a predictable schedule month after month. But very few people have the discipline to plant the seeds, water them, and wait.
Some people are lucky enough to start their business with a farm. They've already spent years building trust with their network. The day they go off on their own, everyone wants to hire them. All they have to do is harvest.
But most people aren't in that position. I definitely wasn't. I was 23 years old when I started my life coaching business. No one cared or took me seriously.
So, what did I do?
I started my farm on Day 1, and hunted until it started to produce.
Hunting means going to the client. If you never hunt, you'll run out of cash. And you won't know how to get clients quickly in a slow season.
Farming means getting clients to come to you. Growing your audience. If you never farm, you'll work just as hard a year from now as you do today.
So let's get really specific here. The first thing to do is to get some clients from your existing network. These are the people who already know, like, and trust you. If you already have an email list, great. Otherwise you're going to reach out to your existing network on social media, reach out via email, or text people.
The overall message is pretty simple - we're saying "I'm offering [this new thing] that solves [this problem]. Do you know anyone who might benefit?"
This approach allows them to let their guard down, even if they're actually the ones who would benefit.
If you have past clients, you can reach out to them individually with the same message. Re-enrolling past clients is pretty easy, even if you've raised your prices since working with them.
If you don't have an existing network or any past clients, then you can go to what Pam Slim calls "watering holes." These are places where your ideal clients are already hanging out to get their problem solved. Online groups, in person events, forums, etc. It's easier to hunt if you go to where everyone is gathering. So in the weight loss example, maybe there’s a wellness retreat you can go to and offer to support people 1-1 after the retreat ends. Paid events are great because they attract people who are willing to actually invest in solving the problem.
Okay, so that's hunting - the goal is to spend some time each day just reaching out to people individually or posting to your social media network with an invitation to book a call. Remember, the goal in our example is to book 2 consults per week. Keep reaching out to people until you hit this goal.
Now let's talk about farming. If I were starting from scratch, I would start by figuring out my Coaching Archetype. This would allow me to play to my strengths. I'd choose 1-2 proven tactics for attracting clients. I would focus on mastering those and ignore everything else. There are three Coaching Archetypes: Mavens, Connectors, and Salespeople. This framework is based on Malcom Gladwell's book "The Tipping Point." Mavens focus on content. Connectors focus on referral partnerships. Salespeople focus on cold outreach and ads.
My Coaching Archetype is "Maven" so I would focus on creating content about things that my potential clients were searching for. I'd do this via my blog or YouTube. Since it takes some time to build up traffic to a blog, I would also do some guest podcast interviews or guest blogging early on. That way, I could use other people's audiences to build my own.
Each time I wrote an article or went on a podcast, I'd direct people to a relevant lead magnet. This could be a checklist, cheatsheet, or quiz related to the topic I just shared with them. They could get it for free by entering their email address.
Once they entered their email address, they would be automatically redirected to a thank you page. On this thank you page, I'd let them know that the freebie was just sent to their email. I'd also invite them to a complimentary Strategy Session with me.
Even if they didn't book a Strategy Session right away, they'd be on my email list where I'd continue to send them content, build trust, and invite them to book a consult.
Another example of hunting and farming is from my client Gemma Gilbert. When she came to me, she didn't want to reach out to her existing network. She just didn't want to do it. So instead, she posted in Facebook groups where her ideal clients were hanging out.
Now she uses ads, workshops, and her own free facebook group to build her audience. And then whenever she has a new program launching, she just reaches out to that audience.
Okay, so we're spending 1-2 hours every day, first thing, hunting and farming. The goal is to start booking 1-2 consults each week.
If you want some more ideas on how to book those consults, I put together a free resource with 21 ways to find potential clients. Click the button below to get it:
And that brings us to our next step - how to actually enroll the people you speak to in those consults.
3. Clarify The Cost of Inaction
Sales is like sex. Everyone thinks they're good at it.
Most coaches assume that they're already amazing at sales and just need more or better leads. But when I ask how many consults they're having, it becomes clear that one of three things is happening:
They don't actually know if they're good at sales because they aren't having any consults;
They're converting fewer than 25% of the people they speak to and actually suck at sales, they just don't know it; or
They're converting more than 25% of the people they speak with but not at the rates they need to be charging
In order to enroll people at the higher prices we're talking about, it's not enough to book consults. You need to know how to convey the value of what you offer without being pushy or weird about it. That way you can actually turn those consults into clients.
If people are saying they can't afford it or they need more time to think about it, it doesn't necessarily mean you need better leads. Very few people are going to just drop $5k without thinking about it. You need to learn to ease those concerns because they're normal and you're gonna hear them.
This isn't about convincing someone to work with you or trying to prove your value. It's about asking the right questions.
So, what are the right questions?
I have a whole process I use to run these calls. I call it the 3C Sales System. But the thing to keep in mind is that you need to help people understand the cost of inaction. Of not changing. Of continuing on with the status quo.
If they perceive the cost of inaction as higher than the cost of working with you, they'll find the money. Otherwise they won't. That calculation is at the core of every sale.
This is why we're selling surgery instead of prevention. The more aware of the problem they are when they talk to you, and what it's costing them, the easier it is for them to sell themselves on working with you.
But you still need to help them commit to getting support. Help clarify where they are, where they want to go, and what's been stopping them from getting there on their own. If you can help them overcome those obstacles, tell them how and offer your package to them.
The goal is to get 25%-50% of consults to convert into clients. If you're converting less than 25%, you need to improve your sales skills and marketing. If you're enrolling more than 50%, you need to raise your rates.
My client Andrew Capland was getting a lot of leads when he came to me. But he was only closing about 10-15% of those people. Think about how much work it is to get 10 consults booked just for one client.
I taught him my 3C Sales System and we bumped his conversion rate up to 30-40%. Meaning he converted three times the amount of clients without having to change anything about his marketing. And he was able to raise his prices from there.
One of the big things we worked on together was how he handled objections.
A lot of coaches and consultants are terrible at this. They share their price, the potential client says they'll think about it, and they end the call. Then they never hear back from the person.
Instead, make sure you leave enough time, at least 15 minutes, at the end of a consult to talk through their concerns. Again, we're not trying to convince them to work with us, we're just asking questions that help them see the cost of inaction. If they are a Yes, get the money on the call. If they are a No, thank them and hang up.
If they still need to think about it, book a second call to touch base before you hang up. Don't go to email. Always book another call. That's the rule, ignore it at your own risk.
Okay so at this point we have a high end offer we're selling for at least $3k. We're spending 1-2 hours each morning generating consistent consults. And we're enrolling 25-50% of people.
At this point, you should be making good money. But your job isn't done yet. In fact, it's just begun.
4. Stop Asking For Testimonials
A lot of coaches think that you should ask your clients for testimonials at the end of an engagement.
One of two things ends up happening:
Either the client procrastinates doing the testimonial and never sends you one. Which leaves you feeling bad about yourself.
Or the client sends you a weird testimonial that sounds overly formal and vague. Which doesn't actually hep you get clients.
I want you to take a different approach. But before I explain what it is, we need to get one thing clear:
The most important thing you can do for your marketing and the success of your business is to actually get results with your clients.
That's the big secret. Everything we've been doing up until this point is just to set you up to help them get results.
You can't just take the money from a new client and then focus on getting more clients. You need to do everything in your power to help that person win. That way, each client you get ends up staying on longer and sending you referrals.
The real thing we're after isn't a testimonial saying how great we are. What we want to have at the end is a case study that documents how someone got actual results. How they made more money, lost weight, landed a higher paying job, whatever it is.
So instead of asking for a testimonial at the end of the package, I want you to book a bonus call with that client to celebrate their progress. I want you to record the call and ask three questions:
What was happening before we worked together and how did it affect your life?
How did working with me help? What specifically made the difference?
What results have you gotten and how is life different now?
If you absolutely hate video, you can do this in a written form, but video is better. Either way, we're going to take their responses and edit them into a clear narrative arc that tells their story.
These case studies become your most powerful marketing asset. You’ve made it easy for the client by interviewing them and asking specific questions instead of hoping they figure it out on their own.
And we're not going to stop there. Once we get a case study, we're going to invite them to keep working with us in a monthly retainer. Make it super easy to say yes here with a lower price and lower commitment than your initial offer. So if your original package broke down to $1,500 a month for 3 sessions, you could keep working with them at $1,000 for 2 sessions a month.
Finally, you can ask for referrals - who else do they know who would benefit from your coaching?
But notice this all hinges on how good their experience was in the initial package. If they got great results, it's easy to get a case study and have them sign back on or refer you to someone else.
So you need to start paying attention to what your successful clients do differently and then recreating that in all your engagements.
One of my clients, Ryan Roi, has done such an amazing job at this.
He's a financial coach for tattoo artists and went from making $350 total as a coach to over $100,000 per month in revenue. And the reason why is because his program works. He gets great results.
On his website, you can see all these case studies from tattoo artists who saved tens of thousands of dollars using his process.
And one reason why he gets such great results is because he's created a surgical offer that solves a very specific problem for a specific type of person.
Look, you can get a few clients here and there just being okay at what you do. But eventually it becomes a house of cards. If you're charging a lot of money but you can't point to specific results, it's going to be harder and harder to get clients.
But if you can create a process, and keep improving it, and give clients a great experience, growing your business starts to get easier and easier as word spreads and you get repeat clients. Then you don’t have to spend so much time marketing.
***
So let's summarize what we've covered so far. The four things you need to do to get to $20k per month are:
1. Create a coaching offer that people will pay high prices for
2. Attract those people in a way that utilizes your strengths
3. Enroll 25-50% of those people into your package
4. Get great case studies, retain clients, and generate referrals
You basically want to refine each part of this until you have a full roster of clients. Then you return back to Step 1. Look back at your packaging and either raise your rates or create a more scalable group program or course. But that's a video for another day. First, you just want to build consistency in your business by nailing these four things.
Because here's the deal:
There's a big difference between having one $20k month vs. repeating that over the long term. And this is actual cash collected - people will say they had a $20k month but they’re actually talking about future sales they haven’t collected yet.
If you follow these 4 steps, you will definitely be on the right track to making a 6 figure income as a coach.
But there’s one thing that a lot of coaches get stuck on when they try to implement these steps.
They don’t know exactly what to do each day to book consults. Or they run out of ideas. So, to help with that, I put together a 2-page PDF with 21 ways to find potential clients.
Just click the button below to download it:
It’s completely free, so click that button and enter your email to take a look.
And one more thing:
If you're still a little bit hesitant to charge the types of rates I talked about in this article, you're going to want to watch this video. Because a lot of coaches assume that if you charge more, you'll get fewer clients. But that's not necessarily the case.
And if you’re not charging enough, the other three steps won’t get you to $20k per month.
So go watch this video now.
