Welcome to the Masterful Coach Podcast with Molly Claire, where coaches learn skill mastery, business mastery, and life mastery at a whole new level. If you are serious about creating a meaningful coaching business that makes a difference, you are in the right place. And now your host, master life and business coach, Molly Claire.

Hey, coaches. I'm talking especially to you newer coaches. Today we're gonna talk about charging for your coaching. I talked last week a lot about you as a mission-centered coach, and I'm here to support your mission. I know your mission matters to you, and I know sometimes some of you can struggle to actually charge for your coaching.

And I've even had some clients who actually have a really hard time bringing charging into the equation because in our brain, somehow that means that it's like taking away from the good that you're doing. So I wanna talk with all of you specifically. And those of you who are not really money or financially motivated as well, this episode is really focused on helping you to look at charging for your coaching differently and how you can bring it into your practice with so much good and integrity. So, that is the topic today.

I hope you're all enjoying February. I love February. I feel like it's like we're just turning the corner and spring is right there on the horizon, which I love. I love nice weather and um, it's a good week. My, my husband's youngest daughter is turning 11. She is our youngest between the two of us. So with our hodgepodge of kids, we have 21, 20, 19, 18, 17, 12, 12, and now 11. So it's quite a crew and there is never a dull moment. There is always a birthday, there is always a celebration. And hey, if anyone needs a life coach, it is me.

So, all right, coaches, let's talk about making money. What do you need to have in order to make money? First and foremost, and I will stand by this all day long, you absolutely have to be qualified. I just wanna put that out there. Now, here's the thing. Most of you listening to this podcast, you are wanting coaching skill mastery.

You desire to be good at what you do, and so I don't feel that I need to spend a lot of time on this. Honestly, if anything, most of the coaches that follow me are really needing to be encouraged to have confidence in what you know and what you're able to do. And probably most of you listening know that.

Certainly there are people that, without really being qualified or without knowing much, just wanna go make money as a coach. That is not who I'm speaking to. And most likely if you're here, that's not you anyway. So we'll just get that part out of the way. One hundred percent, you need to be able to help your clients, right? That is a business built on integrity, and that is really the business we are in as coaches, is to help people transform their lives. So we're assuming that box is checked.

Now, what do you really need to start making money as a coach? Well, a lot of people, a lot of my clients, when they first come to me, they think they have to have a very big workbook. And they have to have a very detailed program where every moment is planned out and they have to have their entire marketing funnel dialed, and they have to have quite a few followers and they have to have 20 years of experience and 15 advanced degrees. And obviously I'm being a little bit sarcastic.

But my point is most coaches think you have to have way more in place than you actually do in order to start charging your clients for coaching. So I want you right now to think about if you have never charged or if you don't charge often enough or you don't charge enough. What is your list? What is it that you believe you have to have checked off in order to finally make more money in your business?

Now, the way I think about this list, as you look at your list of what you believe you need to have in place, I encourage you to be really honest with yourself and pay attention to the things on that list that will be nice to have and that you want to have happen and that you want to create, but don't actually have to happen before you can make money as a coach. So besides what we've already covered, which is the ability to help people, these are the things you need in order to get paid to coach your clients.

Number one, you need a conversation with people, a way for people to have a conversation with people, right? This can be a consultation, any way that you connect with people. That is one thing you need is a conversation. The second thing you need is a way for your client to pay you PayPal, Stripe. Make it easy for them. The third thing you need, are you ready for this? A way for them to schedule with you and time on that calendar for you to be able to coach them. These are the three things.

Now, think about that list that you had of all the things you have to do before you can charge or before you're qualified or before you're ready. And what if It's really just those three things. Now, some of you might feel relief. My guess is that many of you are now feeling even more anxious than before because you know that you need to start charging or you need to start charging more often, or you really should start charging more money. So I'm just gonna leave that at that. If you have those three things and you can help people, you should be charging, and I want you to take a step toward that today. In fact, if there are any of those three things that you don't have in place, make it happen today.

Now let's talk about the value in charging. When I first started my business, I was in this place of having this major transition in my life, right? I was becoming a single mom. I had all of this financial fear. I didn't know how I could provide for my kids. All these thoughts about if I could make money as a woman or if I couldn't.

And at this time when I had more financial fear than I had ever had in my life, I paid more money than I would've ever thought I would've spent on a coach. And I will tell you that it was the best thing that I could have possibly ever done. I know some of you have heard this story where I was in my closet scared to death about finances. I had just gotten off the phone with my ex-husband and you know, we were having a positive conversation sorting through it. But my reality was what it was financially, and I was terrified.

And in that moment I took a step to hire the best coach that I knew. Because I knew that I wanted to make my life better. I knew I wanted my life to be better for me, for my kids. I wanted to create an amazing future. And when I went and I paid for that coach, it was me stepping up and stepping forward into "I am capable of creating something amazing". And some people could argue that a woman that was going through divorce, I had chronic fatigue at the time - you know, single mom, all these things - like, well, she should get coaching for free. But that would've been the worst thing for me, maybe not the worst thing for me, but I will tell you that it would not have served me in the way that it did for me to put my money where my mouth was. Put my money on my future and bet on myself.

So I want you to think about this for your clients. Why do you struggle with charging them? Do you feel bad? Do you think that you should give it for free because you're helping someone. And whatever is there I really want you to question it for a minute. I am so grateful that I paid full price for my coach. I'm so grateful that it wasn't a no-brainer, low-cost amount. I'm so grateful that I had the chance to bet on myself and my future, and I hope that you will give your clients that same opportunity.

All right, coaches, we're gonna wrap up this episode. This is a short and sweet one. If you have struggled to charge your clients, if you feel bad, if you have imposter syndrome. Ask yourself these questions. Can I help my clients go through the checklist? Do I have a way to have a conversation? Do I have a way for them to pay me? Do I have a way for them to schedule and time on my calendar for them? And once you have checked all of these things off, please, please think about what is possible for your client when they have the opportunity to put their money on their future to bet on their future and to make their dreams happen.

That's what I've got for you, coach. Have an amazing week. I'm super excited for next week's episode, so make sure to come and listen to my amazing guest. And if you're ready to join me in the 10 K Accelerator for mission-centered coaches, go to mollyclaire.com, click on 'Work With Me' and you'll be able to get all the details and apply for a call with my team.

That's what I've got for you. I'll talk with you soon.

Thanks for listening to the Masterful Coach Podcast. If you're ready for complete support as you build your coaching business, check out Molly's collaborative community, the Masterful Coach Collective.

It's a place where you'll have access to the best experts in the biz, community support, and guidance as you build your perfect business 90 days at a time. Visit www.mollyclaire.com for details.