Sell Coaching Services Online in 5 Easy Steps

“How do I sell coaching services online?” on your mind?

You are called to start an online coaching business, but you need exact steps on how to sell coaching services online from your website and deliver an effective coaching client experience.

This guide will show you the easiest modern way, step-by-step (with no steps skipped), how to sell coaching services online.

In Summary: The Power of Selling Coaching From Your Website

The dirty little secret in the online coaching industry is that online coaching platforms want you to sign up for their expensive online coaching software with overpriced monthly fees.

But to sell coaching services online, you don’t need to sign up for an expensive cookie-cutter online coaching platform.

You can sell online coaching services directly from your own unique WordPress website that you own and control using the free LifterLMS software, the best WordPress plugin for selling online coaching, and the LifterLMS Private Areas add-on.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to do and specific action steps to sell coaching services online from your first sale to full scale.

Step 1: Laying the Foundation – Setting Up Your WordPress Coaching Hub To Sell Coaching Services Online

The first step to sell coaching services online is to set up your own WordPress website. If you already have a WordPress website, congratulations, you are already ahead in the process.

Why WordPress For Selling Coaching Services Online

Serious online coaches build their online coaching businesses on WordPress for these main reasons:

• WordPress is more customizable
• WordPress is more affordable
• With WordPress, you own your website (instead of renting space on someone else’s website like with Kajabi)

Check out this summary for even more reasons why WordPress is a better platform for online coaches and course creators.

Get Started With WordPress For an Online Coaching Business

WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that allows you to build a complete website, write articles if you like, and extend the functionality of your website with other tools like coaching platform plugins and e-commerce plugins.

If you don’t have a WordPress website yet, all you need to do is get a domain name for your business and sign up for web hosting from one of these recommended WordPress hosting companies.

Getting your web hosting set up (where your website lives so the whole world can see it) and WordPress installed gives you the foundation for setting up your online coaching business.

If you are starting with a blank WordPress website, you can start by building out your homepage, about page, and contact page.

LifterLMS also offers a page builder called Aircraft with predesigned page layouts for coaches that make building web pages quick and easy with beautiful design.

If you are brand new to WordPress, I recommend you take this free course: WordPress Tutorial For Beginners.

Set Up Your Learning Management System (LMS) For Online Coaching

Now that you have your base WordPress website set up, the next step is to install your Learning Management System (LMS) plugin.

There is a common misconception that some online coaches think they need an online coaching platform software. These coaching software platforms are very limited and not customizable.

Many coaches also offer online courses from the beginning or later in their careers. Coaching is really a type of learning, so a customizable, flexible learning management system, like LifterLMS, is the best option for online coaches looking to sell online coaching services.

LifterLMS is the best WordPress LMS plugin.

Download LifterLMS for free here now.

Here is a complete guide on how to download, install, and activate LifterLMS.

I also recommend you enroll in the free LifterLMS Quickstart Course to learn the fundamentals about how LifterLMS sits as the foundation to help you sell coaching services online.

Install the Best WordPress LMS Theme for Coaching Businesses

Every WordPress website needs a theme.

A theme adds the design layer to your website and controls things like typography, colors, and spacing.

Of the best WordPress LMS themes for coaching businesses, Sky Pilot is the #1 pick because of its exclusive focus on online coaching and course creator needs.

Sky Pilot is also the WordPress theme with the most design attention given to the online coaching portal you get with the LifterLMS Private Areas add-on.

Here is a complete guide on how to install and activate the Sky Pilot theme.

Note: LifterLMS and Private Areas work with any WordPress theme, so if you are already using a different WordPress theme, you don’t have to switch to Sky Pilot if you are happy with your current theme.

Install The Best WordPress Plugin For Online Coaches: Private Areas

Now it’s time to install the game-changing LifterLMS add-on plugin called Private Areas.

This online coaching software extends LifterLMS with advanced online coaching capabilities so you can easily sell coaching, deliver online coaching through your website, and scale your business through automation.

Steps to install and activate LifterLMS Private Areas:

1. Purchase Private Areas a la carte or get it through the LifterLMS Infinity Bundle plan
2. Install your LifterLMS license key on your website
3. Install and activate the LifterLMS Private Areas add-on.

We’ll configure your Private Areas software at a later step in this tutorial.

Install Your Ecommerce Plugin to Sell Coaching Services Online

Next, we need to install your e-commerce payment gateway integration.

A payment gateway is the service that allows you to take payments on your website and transfer the money to your bank account automatically.

The most popular payment gateway is called Stripe.

Download and activate the LifterLMS Stripe add-on on your website.

We’ll configure the LifterLMS Stripe add-on at a later step in this tutorial. For now we are just getting all the software you need on your website to sell coaching services online.

Congratulations on assembling your online coaching business website platform tools.

In summary, you have laid the software foundation for your online business to sell coaching services online.

If you haven’t finished assembling your online coaching platform tech stack, be sure to get your:

• Domain name
• Web hosting with WordPress
• LifterLMS plugin (free)
• LifterLMS Private Areas add-on
• LifterLMS Stripe add-on
• LifterLMS Sky Pilot theme (optional)

Step 2: Crafting Your Coaching Offers and Packages for Online Sales

You may want to keep building your online coaching business website to sell coaching services online because it’s fun, but we need to slow down here.

Before we finish building your online coaching platform, you must have your online coaching business model and packages figured out.

Create Your Coaching Packages to Sell Coaching Services Online

It’s easy to overcomplicate the “offer” that your coaching clients will buy from you.

After decades in this industry, I’m going to offer a proven online coaching package that you can copy and use as your own.

I recommend you have one coaching offer with 3 options attached to it.

It looks like this:

Your Coaching Offer

What else can I add to make my online coaching more valuable?

I recommend keeping it simple, but there is a menu of support mechanisms you can add to your coaching plans to make them more valuable and helpful to your clients.

It is possible to support coaching clients privately and in groups. And you can support your clients synchronously (in real time) or asynchronously (not immediately, but promptly).

In addition to the above support mechanisms, you might consider adding the following to your online coaching offer benefits:

• Online courses
• Templates (worksheets, spreadsheets, PDFs, and other digital files)
• Member directory
• List of recommended service providers
• List of products you recommend

Keep it simple when selling online coaching.

Even though we’ve given you more ideas of benefits and deliverables you could add to your online coaching business offer, we recommend keeping the offer simple.

The world can feel overwhelming these days. As a coach, it’s important to help your clients get the results they seek as efficiently and quickly as possible with the minimum amount of required work on their end.

Strong coaching programs efficiently offer speed, certainty, and insight.

But also keep in mind that your coaching program should be effective, even in challenging circumstances.

Design your coaching package to surround your ideal client with the support they need.

Step 3: Building Your Sales Engine with LifterLMS To Sell Coaching Services Online

As a coach, you need an automated sales machine so your time is spent helping clients, not managing selling coaching services online in a manual way.

How To Price Your Online Coaching Program

Before you finalize the automated e-commerce on your website, it’s important to select the best pricing for your coaching plans.

Pricing when selling coaching services online can feel like a mystery, but it does not have to be complicated.

Optimal pricing for online coaching is determined by 3 variables:

• Perceived value of the coaching result
• Target market’s willingness to pay
• Level of support provided in the program

As a general rule, you can follow these pricing guidelines using our suggested online coaching offer plan levels in the top 3 mega coaching niches:

Life Coaching Package Pricing

• Do It Yourself (self-paced online course): $100 for lifetime access
• Done With You (course + group coaching): $200 / per month
• Done With You (course = group & private coaching): $300 / per month

Health Coaching Package Pricing

• Do It Yourself (self-paced online course): $300 for lifetime access
• Done With You (course + group coaching): $500 / per month
• Done With You (course = group & private coaching): $1,000 / per month

Business Coaching Package Pricing

• Do It Yourself (self-paced online course): $500 for lifetime access
• Done With You (course + group coaching): $1,000 / per month
• Done With You (course = group & private coaching): $2,000 / per month

For a detailed recommended price for your coaching offer based on your unique situation, complete this free pricing calculator to discover your optimal price to sell coaching services online.

How To Set Up Automated E-commerce to Make Money Online Selling Coaching

LifterLMS automates the e-commerce aspect of your online coaching platform.

Here are the exact steps to automate your website to sell coaching services online.

1. You already have the LifterLMS Stripe plugin installed on your website. If not, install the LifterLMS Stripe plugin now.
2. Click the “Connect With Stripe” button.
3. Connect to Stripe, or if you don’t have a free Stripe account yet, follow the steps to create your Stripe account.

Here are detailed instructions on how to connect your online coaching platform to Stripe.

Stripe makes it easy to accept credit card payments directly through your website, but you can also allow coaching clients to make their purchases with PayPal as well.

Add Pricing and Access Details To Your Coaching Program

Now that you have automated payments set up on your website, all you need to do is set up the pricing and access plans for your coaching offer.

Create a membership in LifterLMS for your coaching opportunity.

Add your access plans for the coaching based on the plan levels you will be providing. Access plans control the pricing and access for the membership.

If you use our example of the plans for the coaching, set up 3 access plans with price points like and access rules similar to these:

For a detailed look at how to set up LifterLMS access plans, follow this access plan tutorial.

Step 4: Delivering Personalized Coaching with LifterLMS Private Areas

Now that you have figured out how to sell coaching services online, it’s important to be prepared to deliver your online coaching experience through your website.

Essential Coaching Tools You’ll Need

You will need a few more tools to deliver effective online coaching.

Virtual Meeting Software

If you are offering group or private 1:1 coaching, you will need a virtual meeting software like Zoom.

Video Hosting Software

It adds a lot of value for your coaching clients to record your group and private coaching sessions. Tools like Zoom make it easy to record these sessions.

Once you have your recordings, you’ll want a private video hosting service like Vimeo to upload your videos to for embedding on your website.

Set up LifterLMS Private Areas To Sell Coaching Services Online and Deliver World-Class Coaching

Now it’s time to set up the private coaching part of your website.

You have LifterLMS Private Areas software installed and activated on your website.

All of your clients with private coaching access have an “inbox style” area on their account dashboard, where they can access their coaching content and connect with you.

Note: You can rename what your learners see in the dashboard as “My Private Area” to whatever you like. You could rename it to “My Coaching Hub” as an example.

Private Areas creates a place on your website where you can post private content (also known as private posts) for your individual coaching clients and have private conversations with them.

Deliver your online coaching for each client through private content.

There is no limit to how creative you can be with your private post content. Example of private post content could include a:

• Welcome video
• Link to schedule a private coaching call
• Intake diagnostics form for the client to fill out
• PDF you made for the client
• Article or list of resources for the client
• Questions you would like to have a discussion around
• Audio recording you made for the client
• 1:1 coaching call video replays
• Much much more

For detailed instructions on how to work with LifterLMS Private Areas to deliver your online coaching, follow these instructions.

How to Onboard New Coaching Clients

The first private coaching interaction your private clients have with you is important for establishing the relationship and getting your clients results quickly.

Using LifterLMS Private Areas, here are some ideas of ways to onboard your new coaching clients effectively:

• Send them a personal welcome video
• Send them a calendar scheduling link to immediately schedule a coaching “kickoff” call
• Send them a form to fill out so you can better understand their unique situation, so you can coach them more effectively
• Encourage them to get involved in any community aspects of your coaching, like group coaching calls or in your social learning community

How to Deliver Ongoing Coaching and Support To Your Clients

When you sell coaching services online, it’s important to put just as much thought and effort into delivering effective coaching as into selling the coaching.

Once you have effectively onboarded your coaching clients, here are the key concepts to deliver world-class coaching.

Create a repeatable structure so clients can get into a rhythm with your program.

Great coaching has a rhythm to it.

Clients are more relaxed and productive when there is a structure to how you deliver coaching. When they know your cadence, they can plan around it and get into your rhythm.

Here are some examples of creating a coaching rhythm:

• Create private content for your private clients on Mondays and Wednesdays
• Respond to private client questions and messages weekdays in the morning and afternoon
• Hold your group coaching calls on the first Tuesday of every month at the same time
• Check in with your private 1:1 clients every week

Actively engage with your clients with multi-modal feedback and content.

Your clients will have different content consumption preferences. It’s helpful to use multiple modalities to deliver your coaching.

The main learning styles are visual (learning through images and spatial understanding), auditory (learning through listening), reading/writing (learning through text), and kinesthetic (learning through movement and hands-on experience).

Here are some examples of multi-modality coaching content:

• A recorded video message for a client that you post to their private coaching area
• A text-based strategy and action plan that you post to their private coaching area
• A link to a podcast episode that deep dives into a topic relevant to your client that you post to their private coaching area
• A PDF worksheet with action steps that you post to their private coaching area
• A virtual meeting group coaching call where you present, take questions, and clients can interact with each other
• Live in-person events
• A diagnostics form for clients to fill out so you can best serve them

Anticipate client needs and be proactive.

Coaching clients often cannot articulate their challenges or desires clearly. They need help from you, the coach.

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”

~ Henry Ford

Help your clients better identify and articulate their challenges.

Dig deep. There may be a bigger challenge under the surface of what they think their main challenge is.

Some coaching clients have trouble asking for help. Anticipate what might bother them, and use proactive questions to help surface challenges and desires.

“A problem well stated is a problem half solved.”

~ Charles Kettering

When you see common struggles, create evergreen resources.

As a coach, it can get frustrating when you get the same questions repeatedly. These recurring issues are opportunities for you to productize your knowledge.

With recurring client challenges, create reusable resources so you can save time pointing clients to evergreen resources instead of having to repeat yourself on live coaching calls.

Examples of evergreen resources include:

• A welcome video that explains how your coaching program works and how the client can get the most value out of it.
• Lessons in an online course that address specific issues
• PDF worksheets and templates that help clients get results
• Saved text replies you can use in discussions in your private client communications

Hold space for your clients.

One of the most important things a coach does is believe in their clients and see their potential.

The great coaches see even more potential in their clients than the clients see in themselves.

This authentic belief motivates clients and helps them achieve the results they seek.

When you show up on time, maintain a safe space, and consistently over-deliver for your clients, you are holding space.

Continuously refine your repeatable coaching process.

When you sell coaching services online, you become a better coach over time.

Continuously improve your processes and methods that help your clients get the results they hired you for.

Areas to improve your coaching process include:

• New client onboarding
• Group coaching delivery
• Private coaching delivery
• Private coaching content
• Companion online course content
• Document library of worksheets, PDFs, and other resources

How To Automate Your Online Coaching Business

When you sell coaching services online, you can automate a huge majority of your online coaching platform business.

What cannot be automated is where you deliver live coaching. Almost everything else can be automated.

When you set up LifterLMS, you are automating the e-commerce aspect of selling coaching services online.

You can automate some of your coaching process into a self-paced online course using LifterLMS.

With LifterLMS Private Areas automations, you can automate private coaching content delivery for all new clients. For example, you can create a series of private posts that go out over time to all new clients as they join. This automation of private post content could look like this:

• (Immediately) Welcome and orientation video
• (Day 2) New client questionnaire
• (Day 4) Link to schedule your first private coaching call
• (Day 7) One-week check-in post
• (Day 30) Feedback request
• (Day 90) Refer a friend

Step 5: Getting the Word Out – Marketing Your Online Coaching Services

When you sell coaching services online, one of the most important questions to ask is “How do I get clients?”

Marketing is a vast topic, but here is a condensed version of how to get coaching clients through relationships, content marketing, prospecting, and paid advertising.

Online Coaching Business Marketing Through Relationships

Relationship marketing is leveraging relationships to connect with prospective ideal clients.

When you do relationship marketing, it’s important to give as much (if not more) value than you take from your relationships. High-quality relationships in business should always feel like a win/win.

Here are some examples of how to get coaching clients through relationships:

• Do a joint venture with someone who shares a similar audience, where you both promote each other’s business
• Do a free presentation to someone else’s audience who has your ideal customer
• As your existing clients for referrals

Online Coaching Business Marketing Through Content

Most coaches know how to create content based on their subject matter expertise. The secret is to not just create helpful content for your paying clients, but to also create free content for the public.

Content marketing can feel overwhelming, but all you need to do is focus on the channel that comes most naturally and easiest for you.

Pick your content marketing channel. I recommend you choose one of these 3 channels to attract your ideal coaching clients through content marketing:

• Write articles on your website
• Start a podcast
• Start a YouTube channel

When you commit to content marketing, it’s important to consistently produce new content, weekly if possible.

Online Coaching Business Marketing Through Prospecting

Prospecting, also known as “cold outreach,” is the most underused form of marketing and sales for coaches, but it can be the most effective for selling coaching services online.

Prospecting is reaching out to strangers to connect, add value, and ultimately sell them into your online coaching program.

Prospecting can feel like “pushy” sales, but that is a limiting belief.

If you understand your ideal customer persona, you know where these people spend time.

Prospecting is simply reaching out to them. Ideally, you add value and give them an invitation to explore working with you.

Prospecting is not pushy when you have good intentions, add value in advance, and don’t spam.

Here’s an example prospecting message:

These days, it’s easy to find prospects to reach out to. Look for ways to contact them on:

• Their website
• Social media
• Public directories with contact info
• Public email
• Public phone number
• The physical mail

Online Coaching Business Marketing Through Advertising

The fastest way to sell coaching services online is through paid advertising, but it’s not cheap and not a great fit for new coaches.

I recommend not starting with paid advertising as your first method of getting clients. Paid advertising works better as a way to scale a sales and marketing process that is already working.

The counterintuitive thing about paid advertising is that it works much better in the coaching niche when the advertisement sends traffic to a free resource rather than to a direct sales pitch.

So if you have a free resource, like a free online course, from which a percentage of your course students naturally upgrade to your paid coaching program, you are better off doing a non-salesy paid advertisement that promotes your free online course.

Here’s What I’d Like You To Do Next To Sell Coaching Services Online…

You’ve just learned how to sell coaching services online and deliver world-class online coaching from your website.

LifterLMS and the Private Areas coaching add-on have everything you need to sell coaching services online.

Frequently Asked Questions About How To Sell Coaching Services Online