Is Life Coaching a scam? Is life coaching for real?
Life Coaching is a service that has been gaining a lot of popularity in recent years.
And it can be quite helpful.
For example, if you’re combating depression and are unable to get out of bed and make some drastic life changes on your own, a life coach could help out.
But like most industries, there are some scammers creating a bad rep for the market.
The problem is when a life coach charges thousands of dollars an hour and provides you with some generic – feel good – advice, taken straight from a motivation quote.
If you have been looking into hiring a Life Coach or becoming one, take a look at some pros and cons.
Life Coaching Cons:
The main issue I have with Life Coaching is it’s a label anyone can adopt.
There are no requirements to be a Life Coach, and anyone can start a career in the field.
Just throw up a website and you can call yourself an expert Life Coach, even if you’re not.
What ends up happening is a bunch of people start calling themselves Life Coaches, but no one really knows how to solve people’s problems.
Most professionals undergo thousands of hours of education and must practice their craft until they earn the required credentials.
Life Coaches rarely study as hard as other professionals, in fact, most don’t study at all.
So there’s a chance you could hire someone who doesn’t really have much experience.
Furthermore, there are no legal requirements for life coaches:
As I mentioned earlier, this means anyone can start offering a life coaching service, no legal documents required.
On the other hand, there are some associations that will credit coaches and provide certificates, such as the International Coach Federation.
Still, the majority of life coaches don’t use those channels to acquire certificates and accreditation.
There are upsides to this too, and we’ll discuss them in the next section.
Most life coaches don’t have a background in psychology!
Often, life coaches are considered psychologists; but very few have a background in psychology.
It’s important to make the distinction between the two services.
Psychologists will spend a lot of time listening to you and use their years of experience and study to find the best solutions for your specific issues.
Life Coaches can charge too much:
I came across a few life coaches that offer their services for upwards of $1,000/hour.
That’s a little too much.
There’s also no guarantee that theirs advice will benefit your life.
Most life coaches collect clients online, and though many do have legitimate testimonials from satisfied clients, some coaches create fake testimonials.
It can be difficult sifting through the coaches to find the legitimate ones:
That’s why most people are quick to assume life coaching is a scam.
But it’s not all bad.
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Life Coaching Pros:
We’ll look at the life coaching pros from two points of view; the life coach’s and the clients perspective.
For many people, life coaching is a dream service they can offer people.
There’s a lot of people who want to help other people with their problems but aren’t sure how to do it.
They feel helping others is their passion but they’re not sure which career to pursue.
Life coaching is an excellent way to help other people:
As a life coach, not only can you help others, but you can also make money while doing it.
That’s a win-win!
Most people aren’t able to make money doing what they love.
Considering the low entry-requirements, it’s easy to throw up a website and start offering life coaching services.
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As a client, life coaching can offer several benefits that are difficult to find in other industries.
There are a lot of people who have massive potential but they don’t pursue their ideas because no one nudges them in the right direction.
They don’t really know where to begin.
A life coach can work personally with these people to unlock their full potential.
This can start with issues like weight loss, a life coach can motivate you to hit the gym and lead a productive lifestyle.
In other words, a life coach can be a massive benefit in your life, especially if you’re stuck in a rut and can’t seem to change for the better.
Of course, no life coach is created equal.
And though some can drastically improve your life, others can break it down and make things even worse.
Especially if hiring them forces you to burn through your savings!
For ideal results, I recommend searching for a life coach that specializes in the particular areas you wish to improve on.
Example; if you want to lose weight and build an impressive body, look for a life coach that specializes in weight loss and fitness.
Or if you want to improve your business, look for a coach the has experience with business related topics.
The experienced and professional coaches will charge more for their time, and that’s to be expected.
Do the research first.
Is Life Coaching a Scam?
To conclude our original inquiry… is life coaching a scam?
Even though there are scammers in this industry, life coaching – in itself – is not a scam.
It’s a legitimate service.
On the other hand, due to low-entry requirements, anyone can say their a life coach and start offering their services.
This leads to a lot of scams and horror stories.
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Is Life Coaching a scam in your opinion? Let us know below.
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I like that you mentioned that not all life coaching is created equal, and just like any other profession, there can be scammers. My sister is a life coach and it is hard for her because she loves helping people and that is why she does it, but a lot of people think it is just a scam. I know for a fact that life coaching can be very beneficial to most people who try it if you find a good life coach.
Great Beverly, thanks for your feedback and insight on life coaching.
It makes sense that life coaching can be pretty good! I can see why you would want to be sure to find someone qualified to help with that kind of thing. You don’t want to risk going about it improperly, after all.
That’s for sure Braden, making sure you’re following a proven plan or someone with a proven plan is key to life coaching or really anything.
Thanks for your feedback on the post,
Todd
Life Coaching does sound like it could be very helpful to some people. But getting the right one might take you awhile to find and I would not want to pay $1000/ hour for.
We have been taking are grandchildren to a Therapist for over three years now. That’s not cheap to say the least.
But the therapist has been to school for a long time to get their degree and it sounds like we are getting a better deal for our money with the therapist.
You do give some good Pros and Cons on it and I even sent your website address to my niece. She would be very interested in Life Coaching. Thank you for writing about it.
You bet Connie, thanks for your kind feedback.
If your niece is interested, she can certainly benefit from creating her own website and learning how to rank it to reach her potential clients.
For that, I’d encourage you to get our Free eBook on Targeting Traffic.
Any profession like Life Coaching will benefit from an online presence.
Thanks,
Todd
What I would like to say about this topic is: I don’t know if it is scam or not, but when I have incidentally heard for the life coach career I wasn’t too much surprised. In the 21st century everything is possible. Along with the increase of science and technology but contrary to an increase of many illnesses(most of them -physical) there are an increase of the new professions like life coach.
Have you Todd experienced some remedy from these new profession? You well explained pros and cons and I agreed although I haven’t asked help from them. I am believer and it is pretty enough for me to pray on a daily basis and to read God’s word.
But I wouldn’t undervalue somebody who wants to be life coach. I think it is the modern name for psychologist.I think it is good if someone feel like helping other people. But I wouldn’t approve too high prices ….especially if someone is not educated in that way. To conclude: one must be pretty wise and careful when asking to find help from modernly named – life coaches.
Thanks for the feedback Gordana on life coaching, much appreciated and I think that’s some good advise.
I have acted as a life coach back then when I went to a college. I was the person to whom many people came to talk about their relationship problems. My, maybe only, qualifying quality was that I was a good listener.
However, even though my friends were calmer after talking with me, I wouldn’t start to call myself a life coach and charge anyone for that.
I think that being a life coach is very responsible position and without adequate studying and acquired skills, a life coach can make a mess.
Unfortunately, not everyone has the correct moral that inhibits offering a service that is not good and even charges heavily from it. I had no idea that some life coaches could charge $1000/hour, that’s insane!
Is there a site where certificated life coaches can be found?
Can life coach offer help in every aspect of life, like from relationships to career etc.?
Cheers,
Maria
Hi Maria,
Thanks for sharing your perspective on life coaching. Sounds like you could develop this type of business.
Yeah, it’s crazy what people will charge and things like this are a bit of the wild wild west. Really, it’s a free market and a person can charge whatever they can get for their services.
I know internet marketer trainers that charge this kind of money per hour to optimize your site. Expensive, but if the optimized site resulted in 1,000’s of dollars more revenue per month, it would be worth it.
But yeah, it’s no good to get low value advise from someone who’s heart isn’t in the right place.
Cheers,
Todd
Its a funny topic but something that needs to be talked about simply because i dont think it has yet on any broad scale yet. The requirements i think are “if you’ve done it you can teach it” – but then you could argue that teaching is a skill in and of itself and the good player doesnt necessarily make the best coach. Interesting post!
Very good points Chris, thank for your feedback on Life Coaching. It is an interesting little pickle. I think if you want to be a life coach, then you definitely need an online presence along with targeted traffic.
For that, you should get hooked up with our Free Internet Marketing eCourse Training.
It gives you all the resources and tools you’d need to set this up.
If you are a life coach and there is no standardization of credentials, then a professional website that brings in traffic would be the next best thing to establish yourself as a pro.
Thanks,
Todd
Hi Todd
This is a fascinating topic, I have always wondered what kind of qualifications a life coach must have before he/she becomes a life coach.
Personally, I really don’t understand it, but then again I’m not in the shoes of people who think they require some form of life coaching.
I hope you don’t mind me saying this but it seems like life coaching is the first world profession.
I have never seen life coaches in the third world.
Do people need life coaches because of their hectic lifestyle?
I don’t understand it, but everyone is different.
Fascinating topic.
Thanks Minhaj for your kind feedback. It is an interesting concept and I think there is always a value in a mentor relationship as long as the student is gleaning important information to take them to the next level.
Over time, depending on the topic or career, that student should become the teacher and no longer need a life coach.
Your point on the 3rd world/1st world is interesting and I bet holds true. I’m not sure if it’s the lifestyle or the that the world economics are changing and more people are looking for work online.
I know when I got started online, I paid a $1,000 dollars to create a website I could have created within a few days with the proper guidance.
Now I’ve got online businesses that run on their own or I simply manage them. I couldn’t have done that without proper training and mentoring/support.
So I’m a big fan of life coaches if the value is there.
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Best,
Todd
It sounds like Life Coaching provides a good opportunity for both people who need help and who are actually a coach.
From past experience, I have met many experts and coaches from different fields specialties.
What I’ve found is that sometimes a simple inspirational quote, or even a cheer you up phrase comes from a co worker and this can help inspire someone more than a life coach.
The reason is everybody comes from different background and life coaches obviously need some specific criteria to provide help.
It is a good thing to provide an incentive(money), but a problem is what it is. As you mention, not everyone is actually qualified as a coach.
To be honest, there are many ways to make money and your suggestion to build up the online business is a good choice in my experience.
If your problem is something personal, you can even build a online business based on that. That is essentially what life couches do.
That is, help someone go from Point A to Point B. Right?
You’ve got it George. Now doubt.
Any problem can be turned into a niche and learning how to connect to that niche audience that has that problem is an entire online business.
Connect this info with the billions of niche websites and the ever increasing internet use and consumption of online goods, and yes, you’ve got the makings to a passive online income source.
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Cheers,
Todd
Its crazy to think that there are no licenses required to work as a life coach. In my opinion life coaching is most certainly not a scam as a whole, but its obviously very easy for some random idiot to prey and take money from another idiot that didn’t put in the proper research before paying for things.
Absolutely, well stated.
I think if you do want to become a life coach, you can do it much more easily by ranking in Google based on your life coach niche.
I mean, it makes so much more sense to tap into Google and connect with your audience that you want to coach.
Anyone with a solid product should go this route, it’s so much easier for long term success.
Do you want to repeat the work you do for money, or do the work once and let the money repeat for you.
I know my answer.
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They’ve helped make the connections for me.
Best,
Todd
Sounds like anybody and everybody can claim to be a life couch and try to get paid for it. The fact that there is no licensing requirement blows my mind. But I guess society has specific areas that require licensing.. like a social worker or doctor…
Some people may be good at proving life lessons and guiding others through life. If somebody really thought they need a life coach I would hope they find one that has some impeccable references with a proven track record.
I don’t believe life coaching is a scam, but nefarious people might try to use it as a scam.
Interesting article, thanks!
TD Bauer
Great points TD, thanks for the great feedback and advice on those thinking of using a life coach. Cheers, Todd
Greetings Todd,
Lately, I’ve noticed a surge in the number of ads promoting the life coach profession. I’ve often wondered about their qualifications; I would have thought that, at the very least, all would be required to have some sort of certification.
So basically, after I leave this comment, I could set up my own “business” as a life coach…and charge up to $1,000 an hour!!!
I also didn’t know that someone could seek a life coach in a specific ares of intetest. As with anything, it seems research is the key.
Thanks for the info, Todd.
You bet Veronica.
I have a friend who has killed it in importation. We used to speak about the potential online years ago and he told me that the internet is like the wild west.
It’s really true, there’s a few regulatory agencies that pursue fraud, but really it’s impossible to police the entire internet.
That’s why it takes time to shut down online scams. In this situation, if you could market yourself up well enough, created a landing page that shows personal testimonials, and then you explain your methods to coaching someone, you could certainly charge what you want.
The questions, will someone pay it.
The point is interesting for one reason, you can create any type of cool online niche based business and make yourself the authority of a niche.
Then traffic and sales come and you build out your business as you see fit.
Best,
Todd
I don’t feel Life Coaching is a scam, you point out some interesting points of view from both people who have spent time to get accredited to help people on a personal note.
At the same time, there could be a person out there that educates themselves and can really help people.
They may not have a degree, but could help someone out if it’s the right fit.
I know your online business training Wealthy Affiliate that you mention. I can say that they are a remarkable source and can help anyone create any sort of online business they want.
Life Coaches included.
Thanks for your feedback Gary. Much appreciated and well taken. We just don’t want people to get taken advantage by Life Coaches that don’t have the right intentions or aptitude.
Thanks for exploring the question about whether life coaching is a scam. I agree with you, there’s no straightforward yes or no answer.
In some cases, it’s definitely a scam – esp if the life coach is charging obscene sums, or worse, making unrealistic promises to clients.
But in cases where someone can devote to helping another person unpack problems, or try new strategies, I say it’s a positive, and valid adjunct to something like psychotherapy.
Perfectly stated Penelope. Life Coaching done by an intelligent nurturing person can be of great value, and a great way to work online.
That’s the cool thing about online life, you’re only limited to your imagination. The focus should always be on value, and if you can bring value to people’s lives, awesome.
Best,
Todd
You know, you have some great points here!
I was also considering becoming a life coach at some point but shortly realized how serious some problems can be, that are way beyond a rookies expertise.
Throwing “positive vibes” and motivational quotes is not enough.
In the end I decided to not pursue life coaching which will be of a better service to people than doing it wrong and making things worse. 🙂 It’s a frigging responsibility, just like any biz!
If you do it, take it seriously and get a degree and some skill in that field.
Is it a scam in my opinion? As a job, no. Of course there are people, who abuse it too. I would simply advice to do good research before requesting help.
Awesome Angie, thanks for your feedback and insight into the Life Coaching profession.
Very helpful.
Great overview on Life Coaching here. I didn’t realize how easy it was for anyone to call themselves a life coach.
I’m a professional counselor with grad school and state licensure. Maybe I’d make more money as a life coach! lol
One thing I’ve learned, both in grad school and in my years as a counselor since then, is that the relationship between the helper and the helped is the number one best predictor of successful healing and life changes.
I bet the same is true in life coaching.
That’s some awesome feedback on life coaching. I can only imagine that the relationship is one of great respect.
The Life Coach is getting you from point A to point B in life which may a significant impact on your life.
We all need mentors at times in life to help use get wherever we want to go.
Thanks,
Todd
Nice thoughts on life coaching, interesting topic and I think the pro’s and con’s can be utilized for good or bad.
The internet is like the wild west without much regulation in many areas.
Life coaching being one of them.
I saw this post on Facebook and I’m trying to put together a niche based site. How long does the process take in your opinion.
Your site is set up nicely, it’s easy to navigate and there’s a ton of great content to go through here.
Plus I like that your pages are well laid out and easy to read.
Ellehcor
Hi Ellehcor,
Thanks for your feedback on our take about Life Coaching. For those that are serious about helping people in a niche, there’s many ways to go about becoming an expert.
One is getting formal training, the other is following your passion and learning everything you can about it.
Either way, if your intention is to help people, and you can get or create a training program that works and helps people, the internet can allow you to create a career out of this for very little money.
On your question, I created a post about how long it takes to make money or a career online as well as some solid resources and tips.
Click here to check out the post.
All the info is there to succeed.
Best,
Todd