How to Start an Online Health Coaching Business

Are you an aspiring health coach ready to launch your own business but not sure where to begin? Taking on the task of setting up an online health coaching business might sound overwhelming, but with a clear plan and focused strategy, it can be done!

The healthcare field is in flux. Once upon a time, doctors were the only experts anyone trusted with concerns about wellness, fitness, and overall health.

Today, the average person may consult with an RN, collaborate with a nutritionist or personal trainer, work with an acupuncturist, seek answers online, or all of the above.

How we construct our fitness routines, adjust our diets, and manage our bodies’ needs is changing. And health coaches are right on the front lines of this healthcare revolution.

I’m not the only one who thinks so.

Dr. Mark Hyman, Medical Director at Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Functional Medicine, spoke with Chris Kresser for Revolution Health Radio. And he had some surprising predictions.

“I think we’re going to see future healthcare without walls ... that most problems will be dealt with by people by themselves at home without healthcare providers or maybe health coaches or maybe online groups or whatever the Facebook of healthcare is. That’s where I think we’re going that’s going to change the face of medicine.”

Well said, and so true!

As people’s needs and wellness-fueled desires evolve, the practitioners who help them must also evolve. Becoming a health coach is the first step—and it’s a doozy—but starting a health coaching business and finding ways to reach and help more clients online is the logical next step.

In this blog post, we will look at tips that can help any eager health entrepreneur take their dream from idea to successful reality. Get ready – let’s dig into what you need to know to start an online health coaching practice today!

7 Reasons to Take Your Health Coaching Practice Online

Here are seven of the many reasons that offering your skills and expertise to online clients is a smart move.

Market demand and support: Prominent MDs are saying that health coaches are key to the future of medicine. That’s significant. And encouraging.
Supplemental income: The studio may be your bread and butter, but you’re ready to add a new revenue stream. And you’d rather build it yourself than tinker with an existing MLM model.
Spreading knowledge: You’re an experienced, passionate, articulate expert. And you want to share what you know with as many people as possible.
Community-building: You’re craving the support and input of other health-conscious people and expert practitioners. Folks who might live outside your immediate geographic area and be able to share insights that your offline community lacks.
Need for change: Or perhaps you’re feeling restless and unfulfilled in your current work. Something is missing, and you’re craving deeper meaning and new opportunities.
True flexibility: Work wherever, whenever, and however you choose.
Balancing family: Speaking of flexibility, if you’ve got kids and want to be home with them, an online business component makes that possible. And does so while simultaneously feeding your need for a rewarding creative outlet.

In all likelihood, you can add another three or four deeply personal reasons to this list. So you’ve got the “why” fully covered. Now let’s talk about the “how.”

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How to Launch Your Online Health Coaching Business

Naturally, there isn’t just one way to jumpstart the online arm of your coaching practice.

We’ve helped dozens of coaches use Marvelous to build and enhance their practices, and each has taken a unique, customized approach.

You should feel free to tweak, add, or eliminate steps as you see fit, of course! But these actions have worked for many now-established and phenomenally successful online health coaches, so we’re sharing them as a loose template.

Create an online home base: Many coaches start with a blog since it offers an accessible platform for sharing insights and ideas. If you are more community-minded, a Facebook group or self-hosted forum can work, too.

Share your activities: The home base is your hub, but leverage other social media to share photos, quotes, and glimpses into your doings. This gives folks who tend to hang out elsewhere online a reason to visit your blog or group to see what else you’re up to.

Consider a certification or degree: Some health coaches go without, but many find that “making it official” helps instill confidence in readers, followers, and potential clients.

Create and offer products, classes, or packages: Once your following is robust and engaged, it’s time to find paid ways to engage them. Webinars and online coaching packages are where many choose to start. Be sure to listen to your community as you begin to design and build online offerings.

Forge strategic partnerships: As you continue learning, writing, and working with clients, keep your eyes peeled for natural partnerships with other practitioners or lifestyle brands. Leveraging the visibility of aligned colleagues and companies is just smart business.

Expand your offerings: Producing ebooks and workbooks may seem like a step that should come earlier in the process, but it’s best to establish your client base and ethos first. Writing, packaging, and marketing these tools later tends to work best.
Health coach marketing: Building a successful online business requires that you become confidently visible, grow your audience and take action on your specific marketing strategy that is unique to you and your business (The Visible Program could be just what you need!)

More Tips for Making Your Online Coaching Business Successful

Tackling those concrete steps is essential, but building a sustainable, scalable online coaching practice isn’t just about nuts and bolts.

Here’s even more, heart-centered advice from the Marvelous team designed to help your business thrive!

From Susan: Be authentic and empathetic.

It’s tough to be a wellness coach if you appear to have sprung—fully formed and with 2% body fat—from out of nowhere! Share your story, share your struggles, and let your potential clients relate to you on a personal level.

From Sandy: Be specific.

Attempting to be everything to everyone will just lead to overwhelm and burnout. Hone in on what you love most and do best, and build your essential offerings around those things. Doing this puts you in position to attract your ideal clients who need your exact expertise, and allows you to pass on partnerships and opportunities that aren’t perfect-fits. If you want to work with women who cope with chronic pain or men recovering from eating disorders, make that completely clear. And watch as those people flock to you.

From Jennifer (me!): Be informed.

Even if you don’t pursue degrees or certifications, make sure you understand both your own field and the basics of entrepreneurship. It’s essential that you understand how to make money and embrace the basics of keeping your business afloat. Working with a strategist or business coach can help, but so can hitting the books on your own. And don’t just read, learn, and execute. Always keep learning! (Our Membership Marvelous program could be just what you need!)

From Kathleen: Be talkative.

Embrace social media with both arms, then leverage your following. You’re gonna have to get comfortable with tooting your own horn, tooting it often, and tooting it across multiple platforms! Whenever you learn something new, hear about a class or read an article that excites you, hit a milestone, or create a new offering, tell everyone. And tell them multiple times.

From Chris: Be available.

Offering in-person classes and services can only serve to support your online endeavors. You can expand your reach exponentially by working online, but there will always be a few folks who prefer to learn analog.

Make yourself available to them, too. Overwhelmed? It’s a lot to absorb, we know! But the process of taking your practice online is one that requires time and energy and effort. It’s easy to get revved up and dive in before you’ve created a solid game plan, but believe us when we say doing so can lead to wasted time and deep frustration.

Create a thoughtful plan of action, let your plan be your roadmap, follow its steps in logical order, and you’ll soon find your online coaching practice blossoming.

If you're interested in starting an online health coaching business, there are many great reasons to do so.

You can offer your clients a convenient service, make supplemental income, spread knowledge, and build community support, among other things. Plus, with technology today, it's easy to get started. Just be sure to avoid some common mistakes people make when launching their businesses.