By: Sabrina Schleicher, PhD, PCC, BCC

Sabrina, I'm a new coach just finishing up Coach Approach. Eventually, I want to have some private clients who pay me to coach them. Should I start learning how to market now? I feel like there's so much I need to learn to be a good coach.

My short answer to this question is YES, learn to market now! By all means, start learning to market as early in your coach training as you can. Let me explain why.

The #1 best way to improve your coaching skills is to coach. Coursework will definitely improve your skills as a coach. But, even the best training in the world does not compare to the real life coaching wisdom you gain when you coach clients. Moving from novice to expert requires EXPERIENCE. What's the best way to gain experience? Coach!

How do you gain experience if you don't have anyone to coach? This is where it is CRITICAL to know how to find clients and get them interested in coaching with you. If you don't know how to do this, it becomes very difficult to find coaching clients with whom to practice coaching. Furthermore, it becomes very difficult to afford on-going coach training if you don't know how to get paying clients.

By taking your first coach training course, you've already made a significant investment in yourself. You've not only invested money, but you've also invested your most precious resources--your time and energy. Don't squander those investments by failing to learn how to attract coaching clients.

New coaches who have clients to coach and who continue investing in on-going coach training are much more likely to be successful long-term than new coaches who struggle to find clients and thereby struggle to invest in on-going coach training.

Do yourself a favor, learn marketing now. You'll have a much more enjoyable time building your practice. Plus, you'll also have the opportunity to serve more people with your newly acquired coaching skills. The world needs what you have to offer! Don't keep it a secret by failing to learn how to get coaching clients.

Dr. Sabrina Schleicher specializes in training coaches and therapists to double their Ideal Clients so they can build thriving, lucrative practices working part-time. Get her free audio training, 3 Secrets to Doubling Your Ideal Clients in 90 Days, plus script to discover exactly what your Ideal Clients want from you at www.tapthepotentialcoaching.com