Transcription
In today's video, we're going to talk about how to create a group life coaching program that your clients actually need. So, my name is Christa Kathleen and I am a professional life coach. I have been creating and running paid group coaching programs for the last 10 years and also teaching my coaching students how to set up their first group coaching programs as well too. So I am based in St. Louis, Missouri. It is July 1st. It is really hot outside right now. My hair is starting to get frizzy and on top of that I am 28 weeks pregnant with my second baby. Do you want to see my baby bump? Look it. Isn't it cute?
Okay, so I promise we're not going to make this video too long and just give you the essential information you need to get your f first group coaching program started and launched as soon as possible. So when most coaches are starting their first thinking about creating their first group coaching program, they're asking them themselves this question, hm, what should I teach? But that's actually the wrong question. So, the better question you want to be asking yourself is, "What transformation are people already looking for help with?"
So, today I'm going to walk you through the exact process that I use to teach my Born to Coach Training Academy students when setting up their first group coaching program. So, step one, start with the problem, not the program. So, just remember, people don't buy life coaching, they don't buy group coaching programs. It's so so boring and really doesn't mean anything to people. It doesn't emotionally evoke them. Instead, people buy solutions to their problems. You want to ask yourself these three questions. What problem keeps your ideal client up at night? What goal are they trying to achieve? What obstacle keeps getting in the way? I I guarantee your ideal client is not waking up at 3:00 a.m. and thinking, "H, I need to love myself more. I need to have less limiting beliefs. What other jargon do life coaches use? I need to rewire my brain and my nervous system, right?" So, they're not thinking in this typical life coaching jargon words that we normally use.
So, instead, these are kind of the things that they're probably thinking about. I need to lose more weight so I can feel more confident in my body. I need to find my soulmate and get married before I get too old. so the world doesn't judge me and I don't die alone. I need to get divorced and leave this toxic relationship without damaging my kids for the rest of their lives. I want to quit my soul sucking corporate day job that I absolutely dread. And I want to start a new business that is going to allow me to travel the world and be location independent. I want to find a new job that is meaningful, fills my purpose, and can still pay the bills and take care of my family. So remember that your group coaching program is the bridge of where they're at today and where they want to be going.
Step two, identify the transformation. So finish this sentence. I help blank go from blank to blank. So here are some examples. I help women rebuild their next chapter after divorce. I help aspiring coaches sign on their first set of paying clients. I help college students find careers they love. Remember that people buy transformation not information.
>> Hi, my name is Tamara and I just wanted to tell you about my experience with Christ's born to coach Training Academy. Before joining Christ's program, I was doing very well professionally and financially and pretty content in my life and then postco was one of the many layoffs and then I got u my second job got the funding cut. So, I found myself in a position of being close to retirement with no actual job and wanting to use the skills I had to still do some meaningful work. I came across Christa on social media and fully resonated with her and her message and her energy and decided to join her program. It was the best decision I ever made. It was transformative for me personally and professionally. It has been um the tool I needed to move forward in my life. And the way she's got this program situated, it gives back. Everyone in the program benefited from it personally, um through the community that we developed, through the friendships that we gained, through all the free coaching that we got to help us make um really positive, transformative life decisions. So, highly recommend it. I have 28 years of teaching. So, I uh say with my experience that she's one of the best teachers I've ever had. I love her style. She's very um positive and affirming and really helps you grow.
Step three, build around your story and expertise. So, the best group coaching programs combine your life experience, your professional background, your certifications and trainings, and your coaching skills. So you can ask yourself these questions. What have I overcome in my life? What tools, resources, practices, programs have helped me to get to where I am today? What do people always ask me for help with? What could I talk about for hours and never get tired of? So remember, your story and triumphs are going to be the roadmap for other people's successes.
So I can give you a personal example here. 10 years ago, I was a labor and delivery nurse and I was miserable in my job. I decided to become a nurse because I thought it was something that my parents would approve of. And my mom and my sister were a nurse as well. And I just didn't know what I wanted back then. And really quickly, I realized that nursing wasn't the right path for me. But I forced myself to stay in it because it was going to pay the bills. It was stable. And again, it's what my parents approved of. But then after five years, I had enough. I hired my first life coach to help me figure out what was next. And while I was working with her, actually ended up getting fired and decided it was a perfect time to retire from my nursing career. And in that time, I decided that I too wanted to be a life coach. So, I sold all my stuff. I got divorced and I traveled all over the world while I trained to become a life coach and set up my coaching business. And all of the private clients that I was working with and attracting over the years, I found that they started to have something in common. And they too were miserable in their jobs. And they wanted to find a job that was meaningful and fulfilled their purpose and that they could continue to help people with. And all my clients were wanting to become life coaches like me. And I found that over time uh they were bringing all the same types of problems to our sessions and they were asking similar types of questions. And so eventually I started thinking I need to create a program around this and just help more people at once. And so one of my first group coaching programs that I created was make your first 5K as a life coach. And it was a 12-week program and I created some modules and each week I took them through a new process and a new exercise of helping them to create money in their coaching businesses while providing weekly coaching in our online Zoom platform. And then eventually that turned into me creating the Born to Coach Training Academy, which is the ICF accredited coach training school that I run full-time today. So, as you can see that what I had to overcome was leaving a day job that didn't feel fulfilling and hiring my first life coach and deciding that I wanted to work for myself and become a life coach. And in that process is what allowed me to help other people do the same thing.
Step four, keep it simple. So, you don't need to create 12 modules, 80 worksheets, or a giant online course. Remember, if it's if it feels overwhelming for you to create, it's probably going to be overwhelming for your clients to consume. So, instead, you can start with weekly Zoom calls for 3 months. Do teach one new topic each week or each month. Provide coaching and worksheets with easy exercises and accountability. Remember, you can always add in more later. And your first set of clients are actually going to help you to co-create your program. They're going to give you feedback. They're going to give you suggestions and ideas. And the more that you run this program, you're going to constantly tweaking and refining things. So it doesn't need to be perfect for the first round.
Step five, validate before you create. So before spending months creating this program, go ahead and ask yourself these questions. Are there examples of people already paying for this? Would I pay for this? Have I already paid for this? Have I coached people through this before? What questions do clients keep asking me? So, when I was thinking about creating and launching an ICF accredit coach training program, I literally asked myself these questions. I said, "Are there other people out there who are investing to go through coach training? Is this something that I invested in?" Yes, I did. And is this something that I'd be willing to pay for? Again, absolutely. going through coach training was the best decision of my life and it's what catapulted my life coaching career in business. So I already had evidence that it worked for me and that there was other people out there who was paying for this service already. And so you can do the same thing. You can do a little bit of research and you can get out there and and make sure you don't do this from a place of comparing yourself or having comparitis as I like to say. But if there's examples of other successful coaches out there offering one-on-one services or or group programs around the topic that you want to teach and help people with, then that's great. That's a great sign that it doesn't have to be about competition, but that what you want to create it actually already works and there's people already out there investing in it. So, just remember your first group coaching program, it's going to be all about research and gaining testimonials and getting data and finding out what works and finding out what doesn't work. Don't worry about making money the first round. The money will come later as you continue to run the program.
Step six, create a clear outcome with a specific time frame. So, please don't sell a a sixe group coaching program. Like, nobody's going to buy that. instead. These are some examples of what you could sell. Land your dream job in 8 weeks. From burnout to balance in 10 weeks, life reset 90 days to more purpose and confidence. So, the strongest coaching programs answer these three questions. Who is this for? What will I achieve? And how long it will it take to get there?
All right. So, here are some of the biggest mistakes that coaches make when forming their first group coaching program. They're trying to help everyone. They try to teach everything they know. They're trying to create content before validating demand. They're making the program way too long. And they're selling coaching instead of results.
So, here's your next action step after watching this video today. Go ahead and journal on these three questions. Who do I want to help? What problem do they desperately want solved? And what transformation can I confidently help them create? And in what time frame? So, congratulations. You just found the foundation of your first group life coaching program. Or here's a really simple framework to use to remember when creating your program. The problem, person, promise, program. So problem, what challenge are you solving? Person, who are you helping? Promise, what transformation will they experience in what time frame? And program, what step-by-step process will help them get there?
So, if you're thinking about creating your first group coaching program, I would love to hear from you. So, tell me below in the comments what transformation do you want to help people create or what problem do you want to help them solve? I'd love to read your ideas and cheer you on. And if you would like further support and training from me to help you turn this idea into a real thriving coaching business, then be sure to check out our school, the Born to Coach Training Academy. We would love to help bring your vision to life. So, you can get more information about the school below the video and you can book a coaching career discovery call with me to help you get clear on what are your goals for your coaching vision and what's a plan that we can put together to actually make this program come to life this year. I look forward to hearing from you. And make sure that you like this video, give it a thumbs up, and subscribe. and that way you can keep getting notified when I release new coaching videos each month.
>> I would not be where I am today had I not met you. I mean, from being my life coach to being my trainer to being my mentor. I mean, you were one of my references to get my first coaching job.
>> Um, you know, and after talking to my boss there, she's like, "You were part of the reason what you said about me was part of the reason that I got selected." um you know and so it yeah I would not I would still be miserable doing HR because that was what my dad told me I needed to do and cuz psychologists can't make money and people who study psychology cannot get a job. Um that was my dad's mindset and that he was not going to pay for me just to get a psychology degree. I had to get a business degree along with it
>> and um I was miserable and now I'm finally free like I can
>> and I know he's happy because I'm happy now.
>> That's right. Yeah.