How Much Should a Life Coach Charge?

by Benay | Mar 13, 2012 | New Coaches Start Here |

It Depends!

I’m sure you feel it and understand that pricing your coaching is quite a personal decision. I’ve seen prices range from FREE – thousands of dollars per session. So, there is no “right” answer. Ultimately, only you know what is going to work for you and your business.

If you can do it, don’t take your pricing personally. Your pricing is not so much about you. It’s about the people in your niche and what they can realistically afford to pay for the solutions your coaching offers!

Your Fee Will Change

If you are new to life coaching is is common to coach a handful of clients for at least 6 sessions each for free. 6-10 clients is plenty. This gets up your experience and confidence because it shows you that you can consistently get results for the people who work with you. Once you have a few of these case studies under your belt you know you can get results for your clients and you will be ready for paying clients.

Over the last 6 years I have tried out lots of different rates for a life coaching session raging from FREE to $300 an hour. These days I usually charge $250 for a 1-hour life coaching session. Sometimes I offer lower rates for when someone invests in six sessions or more. This works for me and my business at the moment and if I ever need to change it, I will.

Think Like an Accountant

Many new life coaches make the mistake of taking their fee personally as if what you charge is a way of measuring your worth. This is just not the case. I’ve seen crappy coaches charge heaps (their confidence usually exceeds their talent 😉 and wins them the work) and amazing life coaches charge surprisingly affordable rates.

Your fee has nothing to do with how good you think you are at coaching. What it boils down to is your bottom line.

So, let go of your emotional attachment to your fee and start thinking about it like an accountant would.

Ask yourself the following 7 questions:

1. What is 1 hour of your time worth to you?

2. How much do you need to make to justify spending time coaching  rather than doing some other income generating activity?

3. How many clients do you have or expect to have in the next 3 months?

4. How much you are going to spend on your coaching business?

5. What is the minimum fee you need to charge to cover your expenses?

6. Who you are marketing to?

7. How much money can your target market realistically afford to spend on coaching?

TIP – If your client base can only afford charity, $50, or $250+ then, realistically, that is the fee you should consider or change your target market.

Other Resources

The International Coach Federation (ICF) regularly commissions global studies on the coaching industry which are worth looking at. Sharon Pearson, of The Coaching Institute in Australia, has done a nice summary of the ICF 2012 Global Coaching Study which looks at what life coaches are charging.

What are you charging? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.