7 Habits of Highly Successful Health Coaches

The statistics are alarming.

90-95% of people who try to make a living as a health coach fail. Their dreams are crushed. And many of them have to go back to an unfulfilling job.

It’s easy for me to forget how real those statistics are because I work with so many successful coaches. (By successful, I mean they make $10k to 20k a month or much more regularly.)

So this week, I want to tell you about 7 things they have in common that put them on the path to success. I call them the 7 habits of highly successful health coaches.

Let’s dive in…

1. Successful health coaches create “Relevant Uniqueness”

One of the main problems health coaches run into is they don’t stand out from other coaches. That makes it very difficult … even impossible … to get enough clients to build a sustainable business.

So they look for ways to make themselves stand out. And the advice they’re often given is to create a personal brand that showcases something unique about them. That may include a “look” that reflects their personality or a way they want people to perceive and remember them.

Many coaches will even invest in a brand photo shoot and guide so they have a consistent look across all their social media and marketing platforms.

There’s nothing “wrong” with doing those things. But they aren’t going to move the needle on their business.

Why? Because they’re all about the coach.

If you want to attract more clients, your uniqueness needs to be something that’s relevant to your audience and the problem they have. This helps them see why you’re uniquely qualified to help them.

I call this relevant uniqueness.

I don’t really hear marketers talking about this. And it’s a shame because it’s extremely powerful.

At the end of the day, people don’t care about your brand. They care about getting the results they want.

They’re probably fed up and disheartened with all the time they wasted trying different things that haven’t helped. And if you’ve done the work to craft your relevant uniqueness, you’ll help them understand why the things they’ve tried haven’t worked.

It will also help them see why your approach will get them where they want to be.

2. Successful health coaches focus on creating an offer (instead picking a niche)

Many coaches spend months (even years) trying to pick a niche. Some tell me they’ve gone around in circles, not able to decide.

And all the while, they limp along trying to find clients.

I don’t know who came up with the pick a niche idea, but it’s turned into “marketing jargon” that’s thrown around like it’s the Holy Grail. Like it’s THE thing that will lead you to Health Coach Heaven (when in reality, it keeps many people in Health Coach Hell).

The fact is, no one buys a niche. So why spend so much time focusing on something people don’t buy?

Instead, put your attention on the thing people DO buy - your offer.

Do that first. Get clients. Make money. Then decide if you want your offer to be your “niche.”

(If you’d like more detail on how to create an offer, there’s a link at the end of this article that will help you.)

3. Successful health coaches craft messaging that’s relevant to their audience

This may sound obvious. But it’s not so easy.

Many coaches miss the mark with their messaging because they believe they have to sell what they do. But that’s rarely the case in health & wellness marketing.

In most cases, people don’t know why they have their problem. They may think they do, but they often don’t. And they rarely know what will fix it.

That’s why messaging that focuses on what the coaches do often flops.

Messaging is one of the most difficult things to get right. But it makes all the difference. (See the link to the post at the end of this article for specific examples.)

4. Successful health coaches are thought leaders

Successful health coaches help people see their problem in a new light. This is so important because it explains why people haven’t gotten results from the things they've tried.

And, more importantly, it helps position YOU as the solution.

In some ways, AI is making it easier for you to become recognized as a thought leader… provided you don’t use AI to write your content.

Remember, AI just regurgitates what other people have already said. It’s not new. So it can’t help you be a thought leader. (Unless you want to take the time to create a custom GPT. And it takes A LOT of work.)

Since so many people are letting AI write their content, many coaches sound the same.

Please don’t think I’m asking you to create a groundbreaking discovery (though it would be great if you did!). Thought leadership is contextual.

It might be hard to sound like a thought leader when you’re in a room with a bunch of other coaches. But to your audience, your perspective could be nothing short of mind blowing!

5. Successful health coaches show their audience why they’re the obvious choice for them

Successful health coaches don’t settle for marketing that basically says, “I can help you.”

Instead, they want their marketing to say, “I’m the best person to help you.”

This is why focusing on an offer is so important. Because when you’re specific about what problem you solve and who you solve it for, you can be specific about why you’re the best coach to help them. It will be apparent in your relevant uniqueness and your thought leadership.

Here are 3 more ways you can get the “I’m the best person to help you” message across.

First, you need to know all the reasons people will be resistant to working with you. And then make a point to address that resistance head on.

For example, I’m creating a webinar funnel for one of my clients, Sarah. She worked as a physical therapist for years helping people get out of pain. Physical therapy is obviously very hands-on. But Sarah now does everything virtually. (And she gets people better results that way than with manual therapy.)

Many people will be resistant to that idea. They can’t imagine that someone can help them get out of pain without actually doing something physically to them. So I will be addressing this resistance in her webinar.

Here’s another way to show people that you’re the obvious best choice for them…

Tell them about some key discoveries you made about the problem they have. These discoveries should be new and surprising to them. This will show your depth of knowledge about the problem and help add to your thought leadership.

Then the third way is with your Signature System.

Your Signature System is a way to show people how you’ll get them results. Keep in mind it’s a marketing message, not the steps of your program. And if you do it right, it will get people excited to work with you.

Here are 3 tips:

1. Use steps that overcome people’s objections

2. Create steps that address specific parts of the problem that you revealed in your discoveries

3. Make the steps be transformational (not informational)

(There’s a link to another post at the end of this article that goes into this in more detail, including examples.)

6. Successful health coaches are intentional with their marketing

Of course your marketing needs to showcase your relevant uniqueness, your thought leadership, and why you’re the best choice for the people you want to help. You also want to make sure it doesn’t look like it comes off an assembly line.

I talked a lot about this problem in my last post (link below). To summarize, I said there are a lot of business growth programs out there now that encourage using templates and AI to create marketing assets. The danger with that is a lot of health coach marketing now looks the same.

And your potential clients see that. Because once they go into one coach’s funnel, for example on Facebook, the algorithm will send them other funnels about the same topic.

When I started working with Sarah, she said she saw quite a few webinars from coaches who also help people out of pain. And they looked practically the same!

I predict this is only going to get worse.

So be mindful of this when you’re considering a business development or marketing program. Of course the best solution is to use handcrafted marketing assets by creating them yourself (or find a skilled copywriter who will do it for you).

7. Successful health coaches strive to build a relationship with their future clients

Relationship building has alway been important. But it’s even more so now.

As I mentioned in #6, people are flooded with options. So coaches who put the effort into building relationships with people convert more of them into clients.

One of the best ways successful health coaches do this is by building and nurturing their email list. That’s where your marketing funnel comes into play.

The 2 key factors in your marketing funnel for list building are:

1. A way to get your dream clients’ attention (content, ads, etc.)

2. Something to opt in for, such as a lead magnet of some kind

One of my favorite types of lead magnets is a webinar that invites people to book a call with the coach. The call is a way for both parties to see if it makes sense for them to work together.

At first, a lot of the coaches I work with are frustrated that their webinar funnel doesn’t get more people to book calls with them. Then I explain buying speed.

To understand buying speed, let’s look at a couple of popular dating apps. (Because dating apps are nothing more than marketing funnels.)

Tinder is known to be the place for a quick hookup. So a lot of people there aren’t necessarily looking for a relationship. (No judgement.)

Match, on the other hand, is more known for people who want to find a relationship.

So Tinder is for “fast buyers.” When someone sees a profile they like, they swipe. If there’s mutual interest, they’ll have a little back-and-forth messaging. And assuming that goes well, they meet and … you know 🤭.

Slower buyers prefer Match.

Match profiles are a lot more in depth. So you have to invest more time in reading them. If you like what you read, you’ll let the person know you want to match with them.

Once you’re matched, you’ll message back and forth a bit. Then if all goes well, you’ll progress to a phone call. Then you might meet for coffee. If you’re still interested, you’ll have an actual date. Then another. And so on…

The Match route is about getting to know each other a little more with each step. You want to see if you’re a good fit.

So there are fast buyers and slower buyers. (And of course, on both apps there are non-buyers. Those are the ones you swipe on who don’t swipe you back.)

When it comes to marketing your coaching business, generally speaking about 50% of the people who come in contact with you will be non-buyers. So we can forget about those.

Of the remaining 50%, only a tiny percent will be fast buyers. Those are the ones who see one of your marketing assets and click the “book a call” link right away. The rest of the potential buyers need to get to know you better before they take the next step.

That’s why building an email list is so important. It gives you a way to warm up the slower buyers. You stay in front of them and top of mind.

What Now?

There’s a lot more that goes into each of these habits. And I cover them in this Substack newsletter.

Subscribers get a front row seat! If you’re not a subscriber yet, click the link below to join the growing community of like-minded health coaches and practitioners. You’ll get all the newsletters, right in your inbox!

I promised you links to some articles that go more in depth into some of the habits covered in this article. Here they are:

1. Your Offer: Here’s an article that walks you through the steps of creating an offer.

2. Messaging: This article gives you specific examples of how to create messaging that will resonate with your audience.

3. Your Signature System: This article goes into more detail about creating a Signature System (with examples)

4. Intentional Marketing: For more about the dangers of AI and factory-style marketing, look at this article

Do you have thoughts or questions about any of these habits? Let me know in the comments!

(And if you got some value out of this article, let me know by giving it a like!)